Attack
damage
Gatherine skipped over the slashing blade of the captains scimitar,bootheels drumming out a tempo on the floorboards.She retaliated with a swipe of her pistol in an attempt to catch the man across the chin.
CMB Maneuver
With that,she gave him a stiff shove with a boot.
As Gabrorn tries a second key, his reserves of willpower begins to fade, and he begins to babble to himself.
"No no nonononon! I must find help, they are killing them as I speak.
Please let there be prisoners to save here! Please let me find help here!"
Tears begins to streak down his gaunt cheeks as he fumbles with the key, truly fearful of losing both the people who helped him off the island, as well as his only connection to his past.
~~First Mate's Cabin
There is a flash of concern on the pirate's face, but he does not relax his threatening stance. "Not a chance..." The razor grazes the pirate's arm - held up to protect himself - then slices near his heart. The pirate drops his dagger reflexively to try to hold the blood in, but topples dying within a few seconds.
~~Kitchen/Mess Deck
Sito jerks his head toward Iolana - trying to get the nearby pirate to intervene. Sito's feet leave the steps as he's jolted by Iolana's grasp. He lands a few steps down - bug-eyed and motionless.. crumpled up next to another fallen pirate.
Cap Craw leans back to avoid the butt of Gatherine's pistol, and steers clear of her kick. "Yer starting to wear me out, ye squat scallywag."
~~Hidden Hold
The lock opens, and with a little effort, Garborn is able to lift the bar. Inside, he sees a hulking Ulfen man as well as the missing crew from the Moana Tarqona. Their own tension breaks with a cheer.. in unison "Garborn!" Captain Boabdil throws his head back and laughs.
Only the Ulfen and two crewman are free of their chains.
Garborn's tear streaked face goes through a myriad of emotions, surprise, fear, elation as well as a few that are harder to place, perhaps even for himself.
"You...you're alright..."
After a few moments he manages to clear his head a little.
"We're taking the ship, but they need us upstairs! T...the others are in danger!"
The ax-wielding bandit climbs over his fallen shipmates up the steps to the main deck.
From the lower half-deck, Braeder's lasso flies up and around Iolana... he pulls it snug around her.
Captain Craw slashes at Gatherine.. no words, just a scowl across his red-bearded face.
When the pirate fell, Marco hesitated. Not knowing anything about healing, he wadded up the mans sleeves and stuffed them against the wound.
Then he went over to Tusara and undid/cut her bonds.
"Sorry you had to see that madame. I am Marco Enrotheld; honored to make your acquaintance. What might be your name?"
Then he searched the cabin, looking for his equipment.
Marco hesitates, but keeps the dagger as it is.
Remembering the sack of tools under the desk, he tries to finesse open the various locks using those.
Considering things for a moment, Tusara flexes her wrists slightly, free of the chains. "Thank you for freeing me, you can call me Tusara" she responds to Marco, as she watches him work the locks.
Iolana has stopped moving and trying to get up and is now on the floor, but she still refuses to go down without a fight.
Feeling someone pulling the rope that is ensnaring her, she points at him and releases a last volley of magic bolts.
my last one...enjoy it mo********er
Garborn hurries over to the others, doing his best to help them get free, very anxious to get reinforcements upstairs before it's too late.
Tusara touches Marco lightly on the upper shoulder (since I assume he is bent over, working on the footlocker). "I will go now", she remarks softly, indicating the noise of combat. Opening the door, and peering out, Tusara makes a beeline for where the sounds of combat sound most urgent. Along the way, she casts a quick Prestidigitation spell, making her eyes glow white, and generally making herself look more unearthly. In combat, the spell wouldn't do anything at all, but the intimidation factor could not be ignored, and Tusara supposed that it was always worth heading into combat looking your best, assuming nothing else.
"Madame wait!" Exclaimed Marco. "A delicate lady such as yourself should not be charging into combat, especially alone and unarmed! Please wait until I can recover my sword at least, if you will not hide!" He said, astonished that a lady would move towards more pirates.
Tusara's eyes flare slightly in irritation. "You forget yourself sir, I am not merely a helpless female that needs to flee from the sight of violence".
Pausing slightly, Tusara consider things before responding in a softer tone "Seeing however, that you feel rather strongly about this, I will wait for you to find your weapon before continuing onwards".
The lasso-wielding pirate, Braeder, is hit hard by Iolana's arcane bolts... he wheezes before yelling out "Gaufe?!" - now concerned he's not yet heard the musket fire... the captives may have overcome their guard....
Marco gets the locking mechanism in the right position, but it snaps back before he can open the box.
You all hear several splashes, and then an incredibly loud creaking sound. It seems to be coming from the main deck.
CMB
Reeling from blood loss and a growing collection of stab wounds and lacerations from the red-bearded captain's keen blade,Gatherine desperately gestured with her free hand and activated her magnetic gloves in a last ditch effort to gain an upper hand in this skewed duel.
Beyond frustrated with her repeated lack of sucess,the dwarfmaid fired TwinBellows once more.
Attack
Captain Craw's shoulder rocks back from the impact of Gatherine's shot. He sneers. "Been in far worse shape and won the day, missy."
-CREEEAK CRACK!-
He looks upward upon hearing the troubling sound. The collar cracks where the mast meets the ceiling. "Me ship!"
Braeder steps cautiously into the room, recoiling his lasso and looking up as well.
Iolana drops as if fainting... the oil of taggit has taken effect.
The sounds of splashes continue sporadically, and you all hear a woman's voice from the main deck - lilting like elf-speak, and a haughty indifference in her tone.
"You've knowingly brought battle to my waters, Captain Craw. Cannons fire flame above my refuge.... This breach is impermissible. I give no second chances. No trade, no parley, no appeal. I have taken what I will today. I will take you all.. in time. Your ships will not sail, and these waters are safe no longer."
Captain Craw is in daze... speechless shock - visibly terrified.
Blood dripping from her wounds,sweat stinging her eyes,Gatherine paused at the ominous noise....Uh-oh.
Sighing with relief, Marco quickly dons his sword and other equipment.
"Do you have training then madame?" He asked Tusara, offering an undamaged dagger and/or a light crossbow.
Tusara waves a hand in dismissal of the offered items. "I have Arcane training" she replies simply, moving to the doorway and peering out into the corridor.
Breathing a quiet sigh of relief when he found his fathers' journal, he strapped it closed again and returned it to his belt pouch.
Taking sword in hand, Marco also quickly glance out into the corridor.
Aersten snarls defiantly. "Hah! Then let's have at it! Show them who they're messing with...!"
Tusara doesn't really waste time with words, demands or challenges, preferring to react on instinct (also, she's pissed), popping a Glitterdust at location F3, (I think that hits everyone within 10 feet of that), hoping to blind everyone within that area.
"Ah..."
Garborn hurries after the hulking Ulfen, unsure if he can really help, but still willing to try.
From the doorway, Marco darted across the passageway to the mouth, where it opened out on deck, and flattened himself in as much of a hidden spot as he could.
There he glanced out on deck to see what the situation with the pirates was.
~Main Deck
With a clear view of the main deck, Tusara and Marco now see the warped mast... bent nearly into a "C".
The "sea-folk" writhe and hiss as they are blasted with Tusara's sparkling golden powder.
One of the "fish-tailed" humanoids points toward Marco coming out the door, and speaks "Man there!"
The blue bipedal female snarls, then speaks in another tongue.
The two furthest from you flop over the rail into the water. The others move around the female - one (who can apparently still see) aids her in climbing over the rail.
~Lower Deck
Aersten reaches the top of the ladder (the deck below main deck), and sees First Mate Kangus - who happens to be "looking himself over". "Hmm back to normal size." Kangus then notices who has come up the ladder, and readies his cutlass. "Cap! The prisoners are free!"
Upon hearing this, Captain Craw backpedals a few steps from Gatherine, and holds a defensive posture. "Bigger problems than what's between your crew and yours truly, me'Miss. Swear ye won't kill me, and I'll surrender... right here and now."
Tusara spots two of the fish folk leave, it doesn't take a genius to realise that most of them were retreating. Fully aware that her dust had done its work, blinding some, if not all of them, Tusara attempts a parting shot.
Gatherine glared at the cringing captain,glanced down at the vicious cuts he made with his blade in her attire and flesh,and all the blood she'd spilled,and back at him....Seriously?!
Gatherine switched from Twinbellows to Sneezy Dragon,put a hand on her hip and lowered the dragon pistol to point low--aiming towards the floor for the time being....Reload Sneezy Dragon,dragon breath cartridge.she ordered her bandoleer.
You surrender to me with an apology and that culverin you dropped and I'll agree to NOT turn you into a two-legged torch and make the rest of you match your hair.
"Try not to kill one of them Sir", Tusara addresses Marco. "Angry as I am, I would very much to know why they are here on this ship, and what the purpose was. "
"Yes madame; I must say, those green men do not look like the pirates who took me." He whispered to Tusara.
He deliberately took a step forward and waived his sword in the air, ready to dodge back into cover if needed.
"Halt and declare yourselves!" He shouted, unable to think of anything else.
"Cap! The prisoners are free!"
"A prisoner no more!" Aersten roars as he swipes his claws at the man he figures to be one of his captors.
I need to get to the others! But the way is blocked...
Garborn stands behind the hulking Ulfen, unsure of what to do.
~~Lower Deck
Captain Craw clears his throat - preparing to respond to Gatherine... "Oh I do. I apologize. Terr'bly sorry fer me actions'n such. Been at sea too long I s'pose." He drops his scimitar... "Eh... Ye want it now?" He jerks his head toward his cabin - referring to the culverin.
First Mate Kangus deflects Aersten's claw-strike with his cutlass, but takes the second swipe to the gut. He drops. The adjacent pirate, Braeder, drops his weapon, and backs into the corner. "I surrender! I surrender!"
~~Main Deck
The sea-folk shield their eyes and shriek as Tusara blasts them with radiant light. The female glares, and responds to Marco...
"Never again speak to me so, hyooman."
As she sits on the rail, her blue skin melts away. She grows taller, but remains rail-thin with a hunched back and flesh like that of a corpse long underwater - her face is beyond hideous. "I will return for you.", and drops into the water.
Her two henchmen flop over the rail after her.
On that same side of the ship is another, much larger ship. The boarding plank has been pulled, and a lightly armored female is patrolling around the perimeter - bow pointed downward over the side.. ready to fire at any who'd attempt to scale up the hull. Their mast is twisted as well - only the top 6 or 8 feet, but it's enough the bungle the main sail's rigging.
Marco flinched back, but resisted the Horrific Appearance of the green woman.
With no other opposition, he quickly goes through the rest of the ship (keeping a wary eye on the archer).
Tusara cries out as the female reveals her true form. Curling into a ball Tusara huddles there for a few moments, before regathering herself and hailing the archer. "Do you have a name?" she asks.
Gatherine accepted the halfarsed apology begrudgingly and went about retrieving the manacles she kept in her backpack from the adventure on Smugglers Shiv and slapping them on the surrendered captain,making sure his arms were crossed awkwardly behind his back to make it more difficult for him to maneuver around while cuffed.
She pushed him into a corner like a naughty child in a time out where the others could watch him before going back to collect his discarded culverin for herself as a trophy and that gaudy scimitar,stowing it into her belt to give to Iolana when she recovered.She pried her dropped Thunder hammer out of the floor with a screech of splintered wood and bending nails and returned it to her hip.
While she passed the sullen captain huddled in his corner,she gave him a dope slap upside the head in passing....You idiot.Did u honestly expect to pull that off? And that's for writing that note with that awful poetry.she scolded in annoyance.
She picked out the unconscious gnome alchemist from the prone bodies sprawled out on the floor and awkwardly probed for the poisoned crossbolt embedded in her back.Using her flexibility,the dwarfmaid managed to twist and wrench the foreign object out of her flesh with a yelp.Staring at the bloodied shaft,she tossed it at the gnomes prone body before stamping on his groin as spiteful revenge for both the sneaky attack and poisoning of her and her party.
Grrr! You little TURD!!
Garborn moves over to Kangus, trying to staunch the bleeding.
If someone where to ask why, he would be unable to explain it.
Mercy? Maybe, even if he surely did not deserve it, being a slaver and all.
Perhaps it was just on of those...things.
Afterwards, he quickly hurries to see to Iolana.
After that, he happily waves at Piendy.
"My friend! You...you are safe!"
With the look of someone trying to perhaps swallow a half a bite more food than he should have chewed off, Aersten stands still for a moment and wills the change in himself to go... wherever it goes when he doesn't let it out.
Fairly winded, he takes a few steps and looks around. Seeing no more imminent threats, he goes to a knee to catch his breath. Piecing together what little he knows, he sees the man who opened the hold try and tend to the last man he attacked.
He nods in acknowledgment at the man. "Then I guess you led this attack that set me free...?"
The woman on the other ship responds... "I'm Aerys... quite a &*%#storm over there. You know if our people alright?"
Two dwarves and a Mwangi man come to the rail to check things out, then get to work setting the boarding plank up again.
The dwarf with the longer beard snaps at the other dwarf - overzealous with propping the plank "Easy easy lad!"
The dwarf with the shorter beard... "We gotta get to Miss Gatherine! She might need us!"
Kangus - though unconscious - winces as Garborn bumps one of the wounds he hadn't noticed. After a bit of re-wrapping, Garborn's tourniquet appears to have stopped the blood loss.
Piendy is pretty banged up... when he sees Garborn he tells him right away "Gahbone... Goba and Fweek are out code.", and leads him to where they lie on the main deck.
Garborn looks up at Aersten, unsure how to answer him. That in combination with the battle being over and his natural fear returning made him pale and gulp heavily before stuttering out a tentative "Y...yes, in...in a w...way"
After seeing to Gorba, Fleek and Piendy, he sighs and relaxes just a little, glad that all three of them are at least alive and relatively safe.
"We'll l...live, we'll a...all live Piendy, th...thank the gods."