First day as a pirate and I am going to make it good.
"Vermin duty it is... Aye Aye Sir"
Edmund heads below deck to find his fill of vermin.
Roaming down below Edmund chases creatures all about the ship.
Edmund makes a comment as he passes the quartermaster, Cut-Throat Grok, with a shirt full of creatures some he never even saw before.
"You think a ship wouldn't be so full of creatures. How do they get here?"
On his way back to turn in his catch he caught the eye of Tilly and made sure to show her his catch. As he passed her he said a quick few words and then moved on.
" Can you believe it, look at these things. I bet we eat these for dinner don't we?"
Whew! That was close!
"Rats...? Aye, sir. Consider it done," she mutters as she heads back down below with Edmund.
As they head back with their haul, she merely chuckles at his comments, "Believe it or not, they'll be back'n full force day given the chance."
Revhi takes over the main sail for the day, more to show off her knowledge of sailing than anything.
It's not her best work, but it's more than sufficient for the easy weather they have and she makes sure to conserve her energy, showing that she knows how to work smart. Maybe this is the best place for me for now.
Reginald joins Edmund and Sylvia on Vermin duty, and waits till they're below decks, or otherwise unsupervised, and speaks to them in a low voice to stop it from carrying, "We need to bide our time until we know more about what's going on, and make allies with other disgruntled crew. The more that any of we 'new crew' make ourselves noticed, the worse off we are. At least until we change our fortunes a bit."
Man the bilges!
Work diligently!
Fatigued!
Janis is, alone, assigned the duty to head down to the lowest of the low, the bilges of the ship, the most vile and filthy place on board. Cleaning and carrying out the water that seeps in, she focuses diligently on her duties for the day, working her ass off to make sure she delivers a satisfactory performance, putting in a little bit of overtime if necessary just to make sure. She's really making an effort to please, isn't she? Nah, more like she's making an effort to buy time to get her bearings. When she finally, at dusk, emerges from the "basement" of the ship without having been seen for much of the day, she looks quite different from the carefully beautified woman of earlier. Her hair is a mess, makeup smeared, clothes wrinkled and rumpled, maybe even torn in places, not to mention wet with bilge water and her own sweat. She looks quite exhausted, and after finding some food, she will try to go directly to bed to work off her fatigue.
Day 1 Nighttime Action: Sleep
Reginald will spend his evening general carousing, paying attention to who is openly hostile towards he or any of the "new crew." If he can, he'll swap tales with the quartermaster (always good to get in with the person that controls the goods), and make up tall tales in general to keep people he thinks can become friendly leaning that way.
Edmund upon turn in of his catch turned to the others,
" I was so busy sneaking about I didn't even notice you two. Nice catch Reggy. Sylvia I am sure you will lead us tomorrow as todays work was definetly not meant for a lady."
As for the evening Edmund would like to further expand his knowledge and experience with Tilly Brackett and her rum drinking habits.
Still upset about losing his old job, Jack isn't really paying attention to an obvious drunk Ambrose. His non existing cooking skills can’t help him either. So its salty rat stew for dinner.
After tasting the stew he understands he has to do better. The rest of the day Jack tries to keep out of trouble and tries to pay better attention to the chef.
That evening Jack finds himself tied to the mast with his back bare. He takes his beating silently, knowing it was his own fault. Next time he would think twice before helping another. When his punishment is over he goes to sleep, thinking tomorrow can’t be worse.
Revhi gets back from her successful job and sees the state Jack is in. Once he lays down Revhi slips over to him, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry that you were punished for standing up for me. I won't forget your valor, and I intend to pay it back." With a reassuring squeeze she goes back to the others. "They must vastly overestimate their hold on the crew. Pressing this many people into service can quickly backfire. For now we should bide our time, wait and watch. Communicate with and help each other. I'll work on talking to some of the crew and finding out who isn't happy with the situation. We need some sneakier types to get some dirt on the captain and the first mate, although that might want to wait for the right opportunity."
"Aye, that makes sense, though without my spellbook or reagents, dunno how much good I'll be. Still have a couple of spells up here," she says, tapping the side of her head. "But ain't many, and they'll be gone quicker than ya can count to ten in a brawl, if'n it comes to that. Which, at this point, kinda hopin' it does..." she glares at the ceiling of their "lodgings."
She looks over at Jack a bit sadly, So boisterous and proud of himself, completely broken in one day. So unfortunate.
"My power comes from Besmara, and she blessed me with her mark so I need no focus to cast. What do you have right now?"
"At the moment? All I can do is shield myself from blows, but won't last for long, and once it's used up, nothin', gone from m'memory till I read from my book again, which is likely gone forever," she sighs. "Other than that, I can set the green globs of sizzlin' on 'em, or see aura's of magic if I concentrate real hard like. Neither is my style. Just wish I had a proper blade back on my hip all lady-like is all..."
@Edmund Ha, you think those are big rats, you should see what sometimes comes out of ole Kroop's kitchen, he must feed them when he is drunk, which is quite often. Grok laughs to herself before she goes along her way. Edmund you noticed that she is carrying a bottle of rum with her and her breath stunk of rum.
@Edmund Tilly smirks at Edmund but goes about her daily duty with little mind to him.
@Jack: throughout the day Jack continues to struggle with trying to find ingredients, and attempting to cook on a moving ship. It doesn't help that Mr. Plugg constantly comes down to berate Jack for the poor job that he is doing. Lunch time goes over horribly as most sailors are barely able to stomach the food that Jack made. Listen boy if you can't cook something edible for dinner you will get 3 lashings yells Scourge. Jack feelings defeated makes his way back down to the galley to being prepping for dinner. Jack puts his best effort forward (+4 working dilligently) and comes up with a stew, but it is completely bland to taste, almost non-edible again. Before giving up he hears a noise of somebody approaching, assuming it is Plugg he pays no mind. Sandara sneak in Listen, I am not the best cook, but let me help you real quick. I can't stay long or I will get caught. Sandara quickly helps Jack add spices and other ingredents to make a mediocre stew. Which simply gets a verbal lashing from Scourge, but no whipping.
Prior to dinner, Captain Harrigan signals the bell and the crew all line up alone the main deck. Several of the officers, including Master Scourge head below deck. After a few moments the officers bring up a sailor who has his hands tied behind his back. You quickly learn that his name is Jack Magpie. Jack is brought before the Captain and pushed to his knees in front of Captain Harrigan.
For your crimes of stealing from the ship and from your crew mates, I deem your sentence to be kneelhauling!
Jack is led over to the side of the boat and tied to the rope that is hanging over the side of the ship. With a head nod by the captain, Mr. Plugg and the others throw Jakes Magpie over the boat (still being attached to a rope) and he is drug under the boat for several minutes before being pulled up the side of the boat. Mr. Plugg looks at the bloody, torn apart body and once he is satisfied that he is dead, they throw the limp body overboard.
That is what happens to those who steal on my boat, now lets eat! Captain Harrigan retires to his quarters with Mr. Plugg joining him.
During dinner Sandara approaches the the PCs.
The name is Sandara Quinn and it is a pleasure to meet you. Like you I "volunteered" to join the crew the same night you did. While you were sleeping, I managed to convince the Quatermaster to give me a few items. My advice for now is to keep your heads low and befriend the Quartermaster. I have heard tales that Captain Harrigan is ruthless, powerful, and not one to be crossed. And from what I gathered today, Plugg has his ear, so be careful. Sandara hands Sylvia her spell book and her spell component pouch.
Once everybody is finished with their dinner, Scourge passes out everybody's rum rations. Which you know you are expected to drink and not allowed to dump it, give it away, or refuse to drink it, which are the Captain's orders.
Revhi nods in approval at the spell things returning, giving Sandara a word of thanks.
Revhi handles her drink like a champ, drinking it down quickly and climbing onto a table to tell a story about valiant heroes, impossible acts, and raunchy comedy. She's doing it to keep the night entertaining but also to get on the good side of the crew in general.
Janis will drink the rum.
She stays pretty quiet and muted however, both exhausted by the day's work, and disgusted by the treatment of the unfortunate Jakes Magpie. She will not go out of her way to interact with anyone tonight. Perhaps tomorrow will be less exhausting.
Edmund wants to impress the crew and look like he belongs thus he dives into his rations before trying to talk to Tilly and the other crew members.
"Thanks Sandara. It's a relief to know that we have someone we can rely on. Janis is right. At this point the seven of us"he gives a brief nod and smile to Sandara, "need to keep our heads down, and look for opportunity. Mostly we need to look out for one another, try to keep an eye out to see if anyone is gunning for any of us. I'll work on the quartermaster, and see if we can garner another ally."
Reginald will spend his evening general carousing, paying attention to who is openly hostile towards he or any of the "new crew." If he can, he'll swap tales with the quartermaster (always good to get in with the person that controls the goods), and make up tall tales in general to keep people he thinks can become friendly leaning that way.
"Oh, my, thank you! Didn't expect ta see these ever again and thought I'd need to start over from scratch. I'm in yer debt," Sylvia says, wide-eyed as she takes her spellbook back with her pouch of components.
"You, uh, wouldn't happen to have a right scimitar stashed away, too, wouldja?" she asks with a wink.
As the evening wears on, she drinks her ration of rum...
and dances the night away, slapping more than one greedy hand away as she does.
She dances gracefully, and soon picks up a dry mop, integrating it into her routine, twirling around the deck and vaulting through rigging to an unheard beat (unless there's music being played, then she dances to that!). Finally, perspiring from the extra workout, she drops the mop back where she picked it up and sits back down with her companions, face flushed red with excitement, "That'll get the blood pumpin'!"
At dinner Jack thanks Sandara for her help earlier that day but doesn’t mingle, still being in a bad mood he drinks the rum in one gulp.
Feeling the rum going to his head he makes the decision to go to bed early.
@Edmund: Tilly jokes a little with you, but once somebody more interesting comes along she walks away with no significant change in her attitude.
@Reginald: By the end of the night you have Grok falling on the flooring laughing and sharing all kinds of stories about Fishguts and her life as a pirate. Listen I like you, you can come by any time after normal hours and I will give you a good discount on anything in the store. Grok beings to stare and cheer for Sylvia as she dances That girl can dance, what you say about the other 5 that are with you? You seem like a good enough guy, and anybody who can dance like that girl, is alright in my book.
Reginald laughs along with his newfound friend, "Much obliged Quartermaster Grok. He watches Sylvia dance as well, admiring the sheer abandon, "I can't say that I have seen anything like that. I dare say if she continues that kind of dancing, she'll have a good lot eating out of her hand! He laughs with Grok, "The group seems a good sort, although we've not been given much time to meet each other. Only briefly when we woke up, and just a bit now. Other than the new crew, who would you recommend we get to know, or steer clear of?"
Edmund has enjoyed an interesting evening of rum drinking and mingling among the other newly recruited pirates. Indifferent of his own attempts to sway Tilly to his liking he is now proud of his first days accomplishments.
"I am a pirate" he says openingly after finishing his rations.
oops did I say that out loud... he begins laughing before heading off to his hole to sleep for the night.
Tomorrow I will only get better.
That night Jack finds himself in a familiar place. He is standing on a small Island, looking at a ship in distress. Then in a flash the ship disappears and he stands in the middle of the storm. A beatifull woman is standing next to him. When he tries to ask her name she puts her finger on her lips. With her other hand she touches his forehead..... Then everything goes black and he wakes up. Who is this woman?Where is the island and what is the name of that ship?While the dream only brings more questions it also gives him a comforting feeling. It's the middle of the night so Jack tries to go back to sleep.Tommorow will be a new day,with new chances and opportunities
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Meself, and ole Fishguts tend to steer clear of everybody else. Them other officers believe they are better then us, as far as the crew, they mostly leave me be. We havn't got many new prizes lately so the crew don't need to be buying much. They prefer to spend their money on gambling.
Edmund you draw several weird looks from the fellow crew members before they turn around, however a big Rahadoumi approaches you, flanked by a large half-orc, You ain't now pirate, you are scum and the bottle of the barrel. Several other crew members look on awaiting the results of this confrontation.
Revhi slips close and quietly listens to the potentially violent talk.
Edmund's smile disappears then stone faced he stares directly at the Rahadoumi and then the half orc. With hands up he states,
"Good evening. Did I say something? You look and sound kind of upset. So fellows it takes two pirates like yourselves to deal with bottom of the barrel scum? Wait... maybe we can do this differently. "
Edmund tries to get the attention of a larger group. He looks the two over while talking and walking closer to them to see if there might be something of interest (weapons, a bottle, a pack of cards, a good looking lady) that he could take or use on the two or nearby.
"What about a challenge of skills?"
Just stay out of my way if you know what is good for you, scum, The Big Rahadoumi and half orc push Edmund out of the way before leaving.
Once they are out of sight, Sandara approaches Edmund, You may want to be careful with those two, from what I hear they are pretty close with Scourge and Plugg. The Captain don't take real kindly to the crew fighting each other, just a piece of advice.
Edmund although shoved aside does not retaliate but does get back to his feet.
Whew that was a close one. Maybe that earned me some points for courage or stupidity.
After the thought he turns to Sandara,
"Thank you Sandara. They are surely a pair to watch. Time for a good nights sleep."
The night passes by uneventful. The next morning the bells begin to ring and as all of you guys get up and make your way to the deck, 4 pirates stand in you way (Aretta, Fipps, Jaundice,
Slippery, and Maheem). None appear to be armed but they are all blocking your way to the stairs. You can see a handful of other pirates watching on the stairs waiting to see what is going to happen next.
Maheem sizes up Edmund You think you are a pirate, but you are nothing, and I am going to show you that you are nothing, Jaundice laughs as he pushes Edmund back.
yeah you ain't going nowhere, chimes in Slippery
Revhi smiles. "Pathetic." She shakes her head and steps to the front. "What is it you two intend to prove? That being a real pirate entails winning a fist fight? If you really wanted to prove he's not a pirate and avoid pissing off the Captain to boot than you'd see who's actually a better pirate, not a better thug." She cocks her hip to one side, flicking her hair behind her hair with a hand in a semi-suggestive way, trying to get the man's attention off of violence. "Perhaps a...competition of sorts." She gives a coy smile. "There are many traits that a good pirate needs. Strength, dexterity, drinking...Experience with cannons, sailing, women..."
Janis will also resort to trying to talk her way out of her own confrontation with Aretta Bansion, although she will attempt a less sensual tactic and try to make friends instead. "Aretta -- that's your name, right? Aretta? I have absolutely no desire whatsoever to fight you. A crew that fights each other will only wear themselves out and be easy pickings when another predator shows up in the horizon. We need to work together, and I am more than prepared to be on your side. Let's work this out and have some drinks together later, all right?"
Edmund groggy from a night of rum rations is slow to react to the initial encounter but quickly jumps to his feet when he realizes their are five here challenging him and the other new recruits.
I must watch my tongue. Now will it be fists of will these ladies talk this down. I think I will surprise him. YES.
"Maheem. Maheem. Maheem. You brought a handful of backers and then challenge me as a pirate. I think we already know who the real pirate is, dont we."
Edmund starts the brawl and looks for an advantage so he goes for his opponents legs.
"Maheem is it? Do you really want to start a brawl, with the new crew? Two things are likely. You'll get caught fighting, which will not go over well with the captain. If you get caught starting the fight, AND lose the fight against the crewmembers lowest on the totem pole at the moment, where would that sit you? You see, you have everything to lose, regardless of how the fight finishes. We have little." Reginald grins, appearing disinterested, but still ready to fight full defense.
Not wanting a repeat of yesterday Jack tries to squeze trough when he sees his ally of yesterday go head to head with the stairs blocking pirates. If I get trough I turn and use my full bodyweight to push the pirates from the stairs in an attempt to clear the way. If I dont get trough I ll take a swing at the pirate that just pushed Edmund .In the immortal words of Al Bundy Jack says with a smile on his face "Let's do this"
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