"Oh sure there are others, but why settle for second best?" he says with an utterly serious face before finally the smile escapes again.
Horatio turns to Adular with a ghost of a smile.
"Well spoken," he says.
"If you are willing to use your magic on fallen on the enemy ship - I will sail with you. I will come to aid you as I can. If only we two journey with the aid of the corpses then we will have enough to move the ship and sail it, though it will be difficult, and not as fleet as this ship."
"Further - we may take the prisoners aboard the enemy ship so our own ship is not endangered."
"I will not kill them, if that is the choice of this group - but they can sit in their chains below and will not pay them unless they join our crew fully and sincerely."
"Is that acceptable?" he adds to the others.
Seijiro contemplates the options laid out so far and just shakes his head, a little overwhelmed by all the permutations of the various ideas put forth.
I don't much like the idea of chaining men below decks like galley slaves, nor do I want to see them put to the sword. But I can see the difficulty of making a decision. I'm just glad I'm not Variel on whose shoulders the ultimate decision has to weigh heavily even if it isn't his decision alone to make. I don't suppose just locking them in the hold would be enough, especially for Flynn, who despite his hatred of slavery, seems to want them dead or in chains. Still, it seems a good option to me, though I guess it could be circumvented and lead to a mutiny. So maybe it's not such a good idea, after all.
His mind racing through the labyrinth of ideas put forth so far, he has little to say, though he does finally mutter softly, "I, too, am against killing those who won't join us."
"Sailing both ships back to Bloodcove sounds like a good idea to me, if we've the crew to handle it. I'd hate to lose the value of her by just cutting her loose, and it seems to me we can do far better selling her than scuttling her."
Though his comments come late in the discussion, his thoughts on the matter are now known to the others, and he relaxes a bit, though he still seems a little tense.
Horatio listens to Seijiro's point about the ship and agrees, but it seems that the others are missing his point.
Realizing that his earlier concerns were not heard, he tries to explain one more time, but using the other thought on his heart, the one which he did not wish to share, for it is weak, though valid.
Taking a deep breath, he states his other case.
"I do not think that these men are safe, no matter what we offer them."
”Please remember, there are at least twenty of these scum. Even if we offered them this 1,000 gold that would only be fifty gold pieces a man, or less, for nearly a week worth’s of work,” he says patiently.
”But also, remember this - their captain committed suicide, rather than be taken alive. So now we must ask ourselves; are these men filled with the same sense of honor? Would they rather die than endure the shame of joining us, as their captain did?”
”Knowing that is very important and it is naturally why I threatened them with death after seeing the captain suicide."
"Obviously, if their captain hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t have had the need to test their resolve by threatening them with death.”
He attempts to get to his point quickly.
”It is logical to believe that men who would rather die than join us must have a strong sense of duty, and honor, and have accepted their sentence of death, even as their captain has. These are men who would rather be killed than join us, and they believe they will die if they do not join us, because I told them that they would and was deliberately barbaric to show them what we do to people who are our enemies and not our friends.”
”That didn’t matter to them; rather than join us, they would rather die with some sense of honor and dignity; as even a samurai would,” he continues.
”Now comes the suggestion that we promise these men – men who have accepted the sentence of “Death” with dignity – less than fifty gold pieces a man, if they merely renounce their hatred for us for attacking them and killing their mates, if they are prepared to ignore the honor they have shown in accepting their fate and if they are willing to swear true oaths to us that they will work like dogs so that we may sail them back to land, take their gear and goods and sell their ship and leave them in an open port.”
He shakes his head in confusion at that idea.
”But even if we assume that paying each man a trifle of gold will accomplish all of that, we must still be vigilant during the journey."
"Remember, we now have thirty some odd men between two ships who we believe are loyal; five of them have just joined us. We do not yet know the hearts of these five, though we count them loyal. But those who have refused us have nearly the same number of men. If they mutiny, the five "loyal" men may suddenly go back to their friends, hoping for victory, and even now they may be secretly plotting revenge against us."
”So even if the five who joined us are absolutely loyal and do not plan any personal vendetta – what of the other twenty or so men that await their fate?”
”There is at least five days to port and we barely outnumber them. If they are all on one ship, with only a few of us to watch them while they are working, those Rahadoum folk may decide to overpower all of our friends and mutiny with relative ease."
"If we divide our men equally between both ships, and their men equally between both ships – they may still attempt a mutiny, or not. But if they are divided we must spend the greater portion of our day watching them on both ships; how can we do much sailing then?"
"And in such a situation I am less worried about a mutiny than a single fanatic who is prepared to do something rash, even though it may cost him his life in the process, simply for revenge.”
He looks around helplessly.
”Can you be certain that the money we offer them is enough to buy their loyalty when they have already proven they would rather die than join us, as their captain did?"
"Can you be sure that if we let them work on our ship; free of chains, that they will not as a group try a mutiny?"
"And - finally - can we be truly sure that none of them is a fanatic like their captain, willing to die for vendetta? For if even one of them has that passion in their heart - which seems likely to me - such a fanatic could try to slip below to detonate the alchemical weapons we took and blow a hole in our ship, or wake during the night and kill our friends when they sleep though it cost him his life?"
He sighs.
"I think we already offer too much money, but - as a whole - I do not think that fifty gold pieces a man will be enough to buy their good faith and I am not willing to risk the life of another of our proven friends on even one fanatic who keeps his heart hidden.”
”I am not sure that those things will happen if we let them move about our ship without being chained. But if you have proof that won’t happen, I will listen to that proof. But at least consider what I said, first.”
"Very little in this world is 'certain', Flynn," Adular states, trying to explain his own view without rancor, "With all due respect, you couldn't be certain o me at start, you had only an old friend's judgement that I'd make a good addition to the crew. Yet the captain took a chance on me, as did all of you, and I'd like to think everyone is of an accord that it paid off so far. You seem to be making it so there's no compromise. We pay too much, ye find it dishonorable, we pay too little, you're sure it's not to work. There has to be a middle ground, has there not?" He looks to the others, "Sometimes it don't take, but I could curse em. It'd take some time, the bestowal of a curse is no easy thing for a humble cleric such as meself, but reducing an unruly prisoner to incompetence or imbecility often takes the vinegar out of him." He shrugs, "Hell, I could blind one with a spell. Then later, I could undo it."
"Very little in this world is 'certain', Flynn," Adular states, trying to explain his own view without rancor, "With all due respect, you couldn't be certain o me at start, you had only an old friend's judgement that I'd make a good addition to the crew. Yet the captain took a chance on me, as did all of you, and I'd like to think everyone is of an accord that it paid off so far. You seem to be making it so there's no compromise. We pay too much, ye find it dishonorable, we pay too little, you're sure it's not to work. There has to be a middle ground, has there not?" He looks to the others, "Sometimes it don't take, but I could curse em. It'd take some time, the bestowal of a curse is no easy thing for a humble cleric such as meself, but reducing an unruly prisoner to incompetence or imbecility often takes the vinegar out of him." He shrugs, "Hell, I could blind one with a spell. Then later, I could undo it."
Horatio is clearly uneasy, but he struggles to keep that part from his face.
”I am afraid that if we keep them aboard our ship, they will try to mutiny,” he says eventually.
”Right now we outnumber them only by seven men – but of those seven men; five of them were recently on their ship. They could easily change sides again, if the time was ripe.”
”Right now we have two ships and will sail to a port. They have no pilot.”
He speaks a bit quicker, trying to explain better.
”If it was me, and we were in their position – our ship captured, and an enemy ship next to us and our pilot dead – I would want my ship back, and the goods, and revenge. But I can’t steer in deep waters without a good pilot, so I would pretend to be won-over. I would act grudgingly more friendly – and when we were close to port, I’d have my friends attack our captors – who, by now, after four days of safe sailing – may have relaxed their guard, and try to retake our ship in force.”
”Hell, they may even promise some of our own men extra loot for betraying us in a fight, and we may not be sure of any of our crew at that point, if a true fight started."
He shakes his head.
”That is what I would do.”
”But, even if the majority of their crew isn't like me, all it takes is one fanatic hell-bent on revenge. He may attempt some suicidal act which could kill another friend, or cripple the ship – or something like that. And even if we kill him, it will be too late.”
He looks at Adular.
”I don’t think money will buy their honor if they are already prepared to die, rather than join us,” he says.
”But even if honor did not matter, why should they settle for so little when they could take everything?”
He continues to speak to Adular.
”So far I have heard two ideas.”
”One idea is to use your spell to raise the dead as sailors and keep the men we bested in chains until we reach port. I think that would be safer for both ships. I think that letting them wander over both ships may be alright for some of those sailors, perhaps – but in the end, I think that all it takes is one man who is prepared to die for his cause – like their captain did – and that one man could do great harm to one of us or our friends, or even all of us.”
”The alternative plan, it seems, is to let nearly thirty sailors to our thirty-six mingle on both our ship and their own ship for five straight days and trust in that time nothing will happen – and give them 1,000 gold to aid us in our five day journey, and gamble that they will not try to retake our ship, or even sink our ship or theirs with our lads on it, simply to hurt us or our companions simply out of a need for revenge.”
"You spoke of cursing them? That seems reasonable, but will keep them in line? Perhaps it will. But we can be sure that the dead you raise to sail will not need such arguments; and they will not mutiny."
”Those are the two plans offered. Tell me what is the best choice and I will no longer protest. I have said my piece,” he adds with a glum look.
"Seems to me offering them all the gold we found is far too much. We either offer to pay them a fair wage or we keep them below and not use them at all. Maybe split them between the two ships so they don't have enough men to overpower either ship, whether they agree to help us or not." Seijiro shrugs, not having any further ideas on the matter.
"As for using the dead to crew the ship, I'm not comfortable with it, but if it is agreed among the rest of you, I'll not say no to it. I think if Besmara would provide Adular with the ability to bring this about, it can't be all bad, after all."
|
Variel listens to Flynn, Adular and Jiro for a bit before even trying to form a response. Also weighing on his mind was what Rain had said about the hat and her position aboard the Lady. He agreed with her and Adular that the main concern would be the safety of their primary ship. Whatever would happen to the Sanbalot was acceptable as they had already unloaded her cargo and goods and transferred the ballistae over. The real question was how to get both ships to port. He would not chain the deflated sailors up as he had made his ideas known about slavery and bondage. Locked below where they were still free to move about but restricted at night was an option and the harshest Variel would get. For in that instance should something happen to the ship all it would take is to unlock the door to free them all for them to make it to safety. If they would not take these stipulations along with being paid for the week of service as part of the price for their lives then Variel would allow Adular to cast his spell that Besmara grants him.
A skeleton crew it would be though as it would have the 14 bodies of the dead to be used until they could be properly be laid to rest. Along with them would be Flynn and his new acquisition, Adular, and Jiro. This would allow Adular to pilot the ship during the dayaweigh Jiro and Flynn and Amen-set at watch at night. No one else but those four would know what appended and hopefully it would say hat way. This would also give the best chances of quieting any idea of mutiny on The Dread Lady. Dhaavan would be there to keep an eye on the crew and captives, Rain would pilot the ship, and himself would be available to issue orders and keep watch at night.
5 days is all it would take and Variel hoped that the gods and spirits would not hunt him down for his actions and mistreatment of the dead. If that was the only choice then that is what he would have to do. His mind made up unless they changed it as he talked, Variel looked at each of them for eye contact before he explained to them his rational and plan. Once done he sat back and waited for affirmation from some, objection from others and wisdom from all.
"Seems to me offering them all the gold we found is far too much. We either offer to pay them a fair wage or we keep them below and not use them at all. Maybe split them between the two ships so they don't have enough men to overpower either ship, whether they agree to help us or not." Seijiro shrugs, not having any further ideas on the matter.
"As for using the dead to crew the ship, I'm not comfortable with it, but if it is agreed among the rest of you, I'll not say no to it. I think if Besmara would provide Adular with the ability to bring this about, it can't be all bad, after all."
Horatio turns to Seijiro.
"I agree with you; we either treat them like crew completely, or we don't use them at all."
"But they do not wish to be our crew," he sighs.
"Well, perhaps, after Nightstorm's suggestion that he pay them 1,000 gold pieces out of his own pocket, they will change their minds. I think he is being overly generous with his own coin, but I cannot tell a man how to spend his own money. Personally, I don't think it will work, but I may be wrong."
"And Seijiro, I agree with your other point also; Adular is a servant of Besmarra - as she is his patron, using the spell can only offend those who are enemies to Besmarra. She is not my patron, but I do not wish to offend the goddess, so that is why I have no issue with the spell."
"And I hear your suggestion about splitting the men, but consider - if we split them between both ships; that means that it will still be roughly fifteen of their men to fifteen of ours. If one set decides to mutiny, they may manage to kill five our of ours, and we five of theirs before they quit, leaving a very low group."
"Whoever is on that ship may not have enough to sail onward, even if all the sailors on the other ship are good and docile," he adds, frustrated by the entire situation and wishing the enemy sailors had simply been killed already so there wasn't such an argument.
He looks at Seijiro with a helpless expression.
"I thought they would all be together, locked up and for our protection. Now I'm not sure how they will be divided."
Variel listens to Flynn, Adular and Jiro for a bit before even trying to form a response. Also weighing on his mind was what Rain had said about the hat and her position aboard the Lady. He agreed with her and Adular that the main concern would be the safety of their primary ship. Whatever would happen to the Sanbalot was acceptable as they had already unloaded her cargo and goods and transferred the ballistae over. The real question was how to get both ships to port. He would not chain the deflated sailors up as he had made his ideas known about slavery and bondage. Locked below where they were still free to move about but restricted at night was an option and the harshest Variel would get. For in that instance should something happen to the ship all it would take is to unlock the door to free them all for them to make it to safety. If they would not take these stipulations along with being paid for the week of service as part of the price for their lives then Variel would allow Adular to cast his spell that Besmara grants him.
A skeleton crew it would be though as it would have the 14 bodies of the dead to be used until they could be properly be laid to rest. Along with them would be Flynn and his new acquisition, Adular, and Jiro. This would allow Adular to pilot the ship during the dayaweigh Jiro and Flynn and Amen-set at watch at night. No one else but those four would know what appended and hopefully it would say hat way. This would also give the best chances of quieting any idea of mutiny on The Dread Lady. Dhaavan would be there to keep an eye on the crew and captives, Rain would pilot the ship, and himself would be available to issue orders and keep watch at night.
5 days is all it would take and Variel hoped that the gods and spirits would not hunt him down for his actions and mistreatment of the dead. If that was the only choice then that is what he would have to do. His mind made up unless they changed it as he talked, Variel looked at each of them for eye contact before he explained to them...
1. After listening to the Variel's decision to give the enemy his own money, Horatio says nothing more on the matter. He thinks that is bad for moral for their crew to see the "captain" give the enemy money, but if Variel wants to pay the enemy crew out of his own pocket after the loot is equally distributed, Horatio will not protest it anymore.
2. Hearing that Variel is suggesting that roughly 30 men can move about in freedom below decks with only a door between them and a few people is something Horatio is completely against. The “Skeleton Crew” can’t fight. This would mean these men could come up and kill all of them, with only a door to stop them.
That’s dangerous for whoever is on the other ship, so he would certainly insist that the prisoners were properly secured.
However, at this time Horatio realized something and is planning on trying to figure out why it is that the safety and relative comfort of the prisoners was something Variel kept arguing for in the first place. Why does he seem to care about men he who he and and fought against, the same men who killed his friends? Killing in cold blood might be something, but refusing to bind them doesn't seem very wise to him. But perhaps there is a deeper answer?
Horatio is curious on the answer, because it occurs to him that through their time sailing together that Variel always seemed very protective of prisoners, often times more so than he was of his own crewmates.
Horatio also makes a note to speak to the elf on that point later privately. Perhaps it is a personal issue that Variel hasn’t mentioned, but if it is – Horatio would like to know about it, as he may have unknowingly offended the elf.
3. If the other ship really is going to have such a small amount of people – Horatio wants to know who “exactly” is going to be on it. So far Variel hinted at Adular, Seijiro, and for some reason he volunteered Amen-set. If Horatio went aboard the enemy ship, he believes Amen-set will want to come, but that remains to be seen.
Horatio also assumed that having the captain on one ship and the First Officer to govern the other ship was the rule – but if Dhaavan wasn’t going to be on the ship, he wants to know who will. They need at least 20 men to sail her; 14 skeletons is not enough; even with Seijiro and Horatio working. It seemed very likely that they at least need a guard or two at the door, no matter what the conditions are for the prisoners.
4. Horatio heard some mention earlier of having the ships a league a part, or three miles. He thought that wasn’t a very good plan at the time, but now feels it is very bad.
If the men actually break out and attack, The Lady will not reach them in time to do much good, and in fact, will be out of range for even ranged weapons. Even if all the people on board the ship dive over the side, they may be shot at, or hurt, and The Lady may still not get the three miles needed to do much good.
He wants to be sure on the range of the ships from each other; and does suggest if they sail close, it may actually act as some sort of “intimidation” to any other enemy from a distance.
That’s pretty much it, though.
Horatio takes a deep pull from his cigar as the others continue to discuss things, nodding occasionally, his mind feeling distracted and his eyes growing distant.
”Excuse me,” he says suddenly and gets up.
”I’m sorry, it’s been a rather long day for me,” be adds by way of explanation as he moves to the door.
Pausing, he turns.
”I’m sure whatever your eventual decision is will be a fine plan.”
”If there are any complications… well, we are ultimately in the hands of the gods.”
”Madam,” he says to Rain ”Gentlemen,” he adds to the others.
”Good evening,” he says and quietly exits.
Letting the others discuss, Dhaavan sits relaxed with his feet up aas he had been since the start of the meeting.
"Horatio, yer input matters, and it's been a long day for us all. Please, take it easy." Dhaavan says with a sigh.
"It' cleat what were worried the prisoners'd be trouble. There's nothin wrong with lockin' em up below, if they refuse to join us. I can have another word with em, make the situation clear. They can join us for the trip to port, get paid a fair wage and be free after we land or they can get locked up below for the duration of the trip, and if they attempt to fight us, sabatoge, or muteny, they die. And as a bonus we let em know that we make their bones work for us anyway, give em some extra incentive ta be on the level."
"Now the Undead are a tricky thing. Even more so than demons an' devils, cause folk don't sit well with the thought their corpse'd be descecrated like that. Now unless we lie to our mates about how we're sailin the Sanbalot they'd likely figure out what's goin on, least the clever ones would." dhaavan suggests. Then turning specifically to Adular, "Besides, I doubt yea'll score many points with Sandara when she figured yea get dead bones sailin for yea."
"Still think we ken avoid most o these issues if we go to Goatshead. Yeah, it's less money, but we save ourselves the month trip to port, as well as the week or so to get back to where we are now." He adds with a shrug.
Letting the others discuss, Dhaavan sits relaxed with his feet up aas he had been since the start of the meeting.
"Horatio, yer input matters, and it's been a long day for us all. Please, take it easy." Dhaavan says with a sigh.
"It' cleat what were worried the prisoners'd be trouble. There's nothin wrong with lockin' em up below, if they refuse to join us. I can have another word with em, make the situation clear. They can join us for the trip to port, get paid a fair wage and be free after we land or they can get locked up below for the duration of the trip, and if they attempt to fight us, sabatoge, or muteny, they die. And as a bonus we let em know that we make their bones work for us anyway, give em some extra incentive ta be on the level."
"Now the Undead are a tricky thing. Even more so than demons an' devils, cause folk don't sit well with the thought their corpse'd be descecrated like that. Now unless we lie to our mates about how we're sailin the Sanbalot they'd likely figure out what's goin on, least the clever ones would." dhaavan suggests. Then turning specifically to Adular, "Besides, I doubt yea'll score many points with Sandara when she figured yea get dead bones sailin for yea."
"Still think we ken avoid most o these issues if we go to Goatshead. Yeah, it's less money, but we save ourselves the month trip to port, as well as the week or so to get back to where we are now." He adds with a shrug.
Right, so - in a nutshell...
Horatio will go back to sitting down.
He has talked a long time, though, and is more curious to hear what others have to say, such as Rain, as she will be handling the ship and may have thoughts on navigating or handling the crew.
As for undead, Horatio has always had more of a personal issues with creatures from the Inferno and the Abyss (but he has no ill-feelings for those who employ them) then the Undead, but understands that others have other opinions. He will do what he can to accommodate those people.
He will suggest to Dhaavan that the journey to Bloodcove is a month long if they are "towing" the enemy ship. However, if they are "sailing" the ship, it will only take five days to get back to Bloodcove.
The concern was – did they have enough able body sailors to sail both ships, as the current amount of sailors which had promised to serve The Dread Lady were roughly 36.
That would leave to metaphorical “skeleton crews” on each ship.
The good priest Adular suggested augmenting that force with a literal “skeleton crew” to help sail via magic, but some were concerned that using the undead may be an issue.
Variel suggested offering the Rahadoum sailors who had refused to help a second chance at sailing, with some extra coin to encourage them, would gain enough sailors for both ships without Adular having to use the spell, because Variel believes that using undead may not be a good thing in general, and he believes if the Rahadoum sailors agree to help they should be at least compensated for their labor.
Horatio felt that having the Rahadoum sailors moving freely during the day as sailors on either one or both ships would be too risky; because there was 29 of them to The Lady’s 36 and of The Lady – 5 of those men were recent recruits from the Rahadoum ship. If a mutiny happened, those 5 may join their old mates in a fight, further causing issues. He does not want them to help sail, and would rather those that refused be locked up securely at all times under guard to prevent against a mutiny.
At this time Variel suggested that they keep the Rahadoum folk on The Lady under guard, and Variel would go with Adular on the other ship and the two of them alone would sail it with a literal and metaphorical “skeleton crew” – because Adular can only create 14 undead sailors to help in the sailing; and this way there will be more guards on The Lady and none of the crew will have to be around undead, if they don’t want to be.
Horatio also feels that having the prisoners secured on the enemy ship would be better. If for some reason they did try a mutiny and Variel and Adular had to swim for it that wouldn't be so bad because the enemy ship has no siege guns to attack The Lady, and no ranged weapons to attack Variel and Adular as they swam. Also, they would have no supplies or plunder for the prisoners to take if they did retake their ship.
However, Horatio himself is worn out from almost dying, upset that he lost friends to those sailors and he is angry at those sailors because of that, and that is affecting his mood.
But he will remain in the meeting to listen and offer any other opinions, if they will help.
While touched by Seijiro's support, Adular laughs at Dhaavan's comment about Sandara, "Well, I wouldn't want to get on that beauty's bad side. Let me simply say this... what I've offered are simply ideas and suggestions, no more. I prefer we go for the bigger purse, and think stopping at Goatshead for crew before taking BOTH ships to the bigger port might be wise, but if folks want to settle for smaller, I'm fine with that too. The goddess has already blessed me with good looks, good health, brains, charm, and , o course, humbleness. I'd like to be rich too, but that might be gettin' greedy." He winks "So I suppose I'm saying, whater the Captain decides in the end, I'm behind him."
Dhaavan Has the Rahadoumi bound up and brought below decks, and speaks to them with Adular and the Captain, since they don't like Flynn, it would be better for him to be elsewhere... "Alright, here's the thing folks, you're stuck with us here, we tried to offer you terms of surrender, so we could get googd and go, but your beast shot our messenger. We faught, you lost, and that's the reality of your situation. I have an offer for you here. You can sail with us to port, get paid a fair wage for your work and be free to go as soon as we land, and I promist this is more than you'd get from any other pirate. If you don't, Adular here's got ways o' sailin yer boat anyways, but it's less than...reverent to yer dead. I'm given yea the choice o given em their proper rites instead, makin a wage and sailing comfortable. Whaddaya say, let's not make this too hard eh?"
"Course there'd be consequences if yhea attempt muteny or some such sabatoge and whatnot, but let's not make that an issue, please?". Dhaavan seems to REALLY not have to resort to negative reinforcement, but if that make the choice to necessitate it, he's have to follow through.
While a secret message isn't exactly necessary, I like em...
It is heavily implied that when Dhaavan says consequences, he means a horrible death that would make a Keelhauling look merciful, considering what thr Rahadoumi have seen of Flynn so far. Potentially followed by the earlier mentioned unpleasantness regarding the dead and other methods of piloting their old ship...
"I really don't want to make this whole situation any worse for anybody, particularly you." it is odd to hear such honest compassion from a captor, but the enigmatic sorcerer seems genuine in both wanting to help them, and that the consequences for betrayel will be harsh.
to guage their reactions.
Dhaavan Has the Rahadoumi bound up and brought below decks, and speaks to them with Adular and the Captain, since they don't like Flynn, it would be better for him to be elsewhere... "Alright, here's the thing folks, you're stuck with us here, we tried to offer you terms of surrender, so we could get googd and go, but your beast shot our messenger. We faught, you lost, and that's the reality of your situation. I have an offer for you here. You can sail with us to port, get paid a fair wage for your work and be free to go as soon as we land, and I promist this is more than you'd get from any other pirate. If you don't, Adular here's got ways o' sailin yer boat anyways, but it's less than...reverent to yer dead. I'm given yea the choice o given em their proper rites instead, makin a wage and sailing comfortable. Whaddaya say, let's not make this too hard eh?"
[Dice=Diplomacy]1d20+14"Course there'd be consequences if yhea attempt muteny or some such sabatoge and whatnot, but let's not make that an issue, please?". Dhaavan seems to REALLY not have to resort to negative reinforcement, but if that make the choice to necessitate it, he's have to follow through.
[Dice=Bluff]1d20+8
While a secret message isn't exactly necessary, I like em...
** spoiler omitted **"I really don't want to make this whole situation any worse for anybody, particularly you." it is odd to hear such honest compassion from a captor, but the enigmatic sorcerer seems genuine in both wanting to help them, and that the consequences for betrayel will be...
One of the Rahadoumi, a big swarthy fellow with arms like tree trunks, looks at you up and down. He says with a voice that booms across the waves Our captain sacrificed herself instead of surrendering to you. We will not be cowed by your veiled threats and you have already defiled the bodies of our mates with that butchery we saw afterward. I promise you that if that violation continues I will hunt you till the end of my days.
He sits back down and you can see the others nodding in agreement.
One of the Rahadoumi, a big swarthy fellow with arms like tree trunks, looks at you up and down. He says with a voice that booms across the waves Our captain sacrificed herself instead of surrendering to you. We will not be cowed by your veiled threats and you have already defiled the bodies of our mates with that butchery we saw afterward. I promise you that if that violation continues I will hunt you till the end of my days.
He sits back down and you can see the others nodding in agreement.
Adular raises a brow as the Rahadoumi talks of defiling, "You speaking of Flynn's wrath, or me own prayers for the fallen?"
The man says I speak of the one who went around with smashing and cleaving skulls and bodies. A demon in human flesh who eats the hearts of enemies.
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Wehen the man speaks up about Flynn, Variel's blood starts to boil again. It was this exact sentiment that he was striving to avoid and yet at every turn Flynn's actions were undermining their ability to work with others. Instead of voicing his frustrations Variel tries a different tactic. Speaking quietly to the men, I assure you, this was not done by my orders. In fact I told him to desist as soon as I saw it. Rest assured this will not happen again. Now this does nothing for you now except I give you this concession for I agree with your sentiments. Take the offer that we have given you and I will keep you all separate from 'The Butcher' as you so named him. He will stay on our ship and you will stay on yours. The three of us will stay on as your officers from whom you will take your orders. Other than that and the change in destination nothing needs to change. Refuse this offer and I can tell you that Flynn will make your life miserable. He wants your death, each and everyone of yours even though you were just following orders.
Variel looks at each man before finishing. For your sake and ours, if you refuse then we will be forced to lock you in the hold.
Diplomacy aid
"Ah, the captain's deal is a square and fair one. Bettern' you'd get on many a vessel. Think on this, which evrr o you sees yourself as the leader of those left. You're holding the bag now. Getting your men home, that going to be easier in this hold with who knows what awaiting you, or being dropped off at a port with real COIN in your pockets? Think of what's best for your men, and any family they may have that relies on them to getting back to making a decent living."
The man looks like he is considering it for a second before shaking his head and saying I cannot and will not take money from those who attacked us without provocation and slaughtered our men and who have among them those that would defile our fallen just so that you can get this ship, our lifes blood, to market. The young one, he says nodding to Dhaavan Even threatened that you would be less reverent to our dead. I trust your word not one bit farther than I could throw the lot of you. You who make such threats and attack peaceful ships. Lock us in the hold Pirate! We make no deals with devils.
"A shame then, though I do find it dark amusing to be lectured of how to respect the dead by those that don't respect the gods and thus show little care for their souls. You value the husk more than the light within it. Still, Were I in your lands, symbol along me neck, I doubt I'd think much of the reasons I'd be attacked for by your government either. To each their own then." The half elf turns to the Captain, "Sorry, Captain. Pride rules this one and his friends."
"What's untrustworthy about us?" Dhaavan asks, as the men seem set on there course. He's not so cajoling, but still relaxed, almost fatalistically so as he no longer appears to have hope of changing their minds. "We came with no pretences, attempted to ask for surrender, let you stand down as soon as you wished, and save for one mad-man, whom you drove to the brink of death in that fight, we've all been downright civil.". Then to the captain and Adular, but also for the Rahadoumi's benefit, Dhaavan adds "Not that I approve o' that kind o thing. Even when yer cranky yea aught ta maintain control. We're not a bunch of reavin savages after all. I'll be havin' word with him."
Nodding in acknowledgement to the prisoners now Dhaavan admits, "Sure, we meant to rob you, and now are taking your ship to make up for our losses, but it's not like we threw one of yea to the sharks and ask who wanted to join em! Nobody's bein pressed to service on pain o' death, we're even offerin ta compensate yea after the trouble we caused."
"I was even more honest than I really had to be, warning yea that if yea didn't cooperate, there may be some unsavoryness what nobody wants. That was a courtacy, mind yea. The only threat that I made was that if you gave us your word and betrayed it, that you would suffer, obviously! Oathbreakers deserve whatever the worst them what they're beholden to can dish out if they willing give their word and turn on it!"
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Very well, then, I will see to it that you are locked below in the hold with plenty of food and water. We will see you in port in hopefully 6 days time. Until then, gentlemen, wish us good sailing so that your imprison,ent may go quickly. I may not have time to visit again. Good day. Looking to Adular and Dhaavan Variel shrugs his shoulders and indicates to them that he is ready to exit.
In Variel's mind he gave them every opportunity but they decided to be stubborn about it. He will keep true to his word though and ask Ambrose to gather enough food for them, himself and Adular. Once that is stowed to satisfaction, Variel will make sure the door is locked and secured before heading top side. Once there he will order the dead to be brought to the Captain's quarters on the Sanbalot. Next he will convene with Rain for some quick instructions on which course both ships plan on taking. He would have Jiro and Adular present as well when relief is needed. He will check with everyone to make sure that the watch is set for the night on both ships. Finally he will prepare to get some rest so they may leave at first light and make all speed to port.
In the morning Variel refreshes his mind and waits for the signal from Adular that all is ready. Hopefully The Dread Lady is far enough away that the crew does not notice the dead rise and go about the ship.
"Afore we go out Cap'n, a word?"
Privatley with Variel, Dhaavan says, "I'm really not sure about how the crew'll react to a skeleton crew o' corpses, so my thinking is that maybe you and Rain, maybe Jiro stay on the lady, and I sail on the Sanbanlot with Flynn and his cohort, and Adular. The crew may believe that I got the prisoners ta sail, and not have reason to suspect anything. I don't like decievin em, but I also don't like the dea of scarin em too bad. Just my thoughts on keepin such unsavoryness quiet and ignorable..." in hushed tones as to avoid bein heard.
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very well but make sure that Flynn stays away from them at all times. I don't even want him talking to them. He has caused enough trouble the way it is. Also I would appreciate it if during the next 5 days you touch base with him and explain that his actions went against everything we agreed about before. If this happens again I don't know what recourse I will have to take with him to get him to listen and quit flying off the handle. You just experienced what his actions caused and I won't let one person jeopardize all of our pursuits.
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Ending the meeting with a quick nod, vAriel grabs a drink and toasts his officers, Well done all of you today. Hard fought and hard won. When we get to port we will have time to mourn and celebrate. Until then you all know what to do and how to make it happen.
Walking out Variel goes to address the crew. Well done indeed, but now the hard part. We are taking the Sanbalot with us to port to sell. That means splitting you up between the two ships. Dhaavan and Adular will take care of that. Rain will stay as pilot of The Dread Lady while Jiro will pilot the Sanbalot. Three of you will be on watch between the two ships with me at night. When we get to port, we will have time to mourn the dead and celebrate our victory. First round is on me except for those on watch. To those once relieved the first two rounds are on me.
Variel will then step aside and let Adular and Dhaavan get to work. In the meantime Variel goes to his cabin and tries to grab a couple quick hours of sleep before he needs take watch for the night.
"Hai, Variel..." He grins over at Rain and gives her a little wink, then walks out of the cabin with the others and observes Variel give his orders to the crew.
Once that is done, he heads to his own cabin and collects a few things and cleans up before hopping over to the Sanbalot and taking up his new duties as her pilot.
Can't quite recall the numbers of the crew... but we got enough for a skeleton. with more details, I'll have more details to add.
Were we putting them on the Sanbalot or the Dread Lady? I'm guessing the Sanbalot here, but if there's an issue I can change things.
"So we got the prisoners locked up tight, below, and we'll send over the tougher folks what i know on our crew, Rosie, Tate, Japes, Jak, Shortstone, Shivikah, an' I think Johnson and Riisa. Then Flynn can hop over, Rather him not be on deck with the new recruits for a while after all that business," Dhaavan makes a face and a chopping motion on the top of his head. "I'll stick on the Lady with the five new fellas, Reevah, Shix an'..."
Dhaavan shakes his head. "Wow, I can't actually remember what the names o' some o the rest are off the top ah m'head. Anyway, i think it may behoove us ta have a Priest per boat, if yea can bear ta be away from yer sister in th' cloth, so whichever boat yea want, I'd station Sandara on the other, in case someone takes ill or what."
So I named the crew split and the rest are divided to keep us with even numbers of crew. Flynn's call whether he takes Piper and Amen-set onto the Sabanlot, or leaves em on the Lady, misc-crew'll even it out, and Adular's got his pick too.
"How's zat sound, eh?"
"Sounds grand then," Adular states with confidence.
Can't quite recall the numbers of the crew... but we got enough for a skeleton. with more details, I'll have more details to add.
Were we putting them on the Sanbalot or the Dread Lady? I'm guessing the Sanbalot here, but if there's an issue I can change things.
"So we got the prisoners locked up tight, below, and we'll send over the tougher folks what i know on our crew, Rosie, Tate, Japes, Jak, Shortstone, Shivikah, an' I think Johnson and Riisa. Then Flynn can hop over, Rather him not be on deck with the new recruits for a while after all that business," Dhaavan makes a face and a chopping motion on the top of his head. "I'll stick on the Lady with the five new fellas, Reevah, Shix an'..."
Dhaavan shakes his head. "Wow, I can't actually remember what the names o' some o the rest are off the top ah m'head. Anyway, i think it may behoove us ta have a Priest per boat, if yea can bear ta be away from yer sister in th' cloth, so whichever boat yea want, I'd station Sandara on the other, in case someone takes ill or what."
So I named the crew split and the rest are divided to keep us with even numbers of crew. Flynn's call whether he takes Piper and Amen-set onto the Sabanlot, or leaves em on the Lady, misc-crew'll even it out, and Adular's got his pick too.
"How's zat sound, eh?"
The voyage begins well and progresses fine over the first two days heading back towards Bloodcove. The ships are running as well as can be expected with such short crews but you are managing. The Rahadoumi seem content to sit below decks and have not been making much fuss.
Beginning on the dawn of the third day, fully 20 crew members wake up with raging fevers. These men and women are spread throughout both ships and include some of the men in the prisoners hold.
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Fort save
Seeing the signs of the illness take over most of the crew Variel is forced to call a halt to sailing until the extent of the sickness is realized. He approaches Adular and Sandara and inquires to them about the possibility of magically healing the crew (via remove disease) or at least keeping them on their feet for another 3 days till everyone arrives at port.
Adular answers Variel, "I can bring two such healing spells a day, captain. I can also help with the weakness and such it brings, but that one is a stop gap at best."
He tries to determine just what in blazes folks are coming down WITH. Maybe it's plague, maybe it's something else.
Horatio feels the sickness grip him; the terrible grasp it has on him, and the tell-tale stirrings of the problem.
He informs Amen-set that he is not well; and recommends that she keep clear of him, until something can be done about it and asks her to see if she can send word to Adular.
Her face blanches at his condition, and she seems very frightened.
He looks at her face, his eyes glittering.
”Where is your courage, eh? Where is the fire of your spirit?” he asks with a somewhat harsh whisper, conserving his strength for whatever sickness the gods have sent.
”Do you remember the prayer I taught you when we faced those scum - cough-cough - two days ago?” he asks intently, his voice a dark hiss.
”Aye, hatey-a',” she responds, her voice nervous at his condition.
”Good... good... Today I say that prayer again; so do not fear for me,” he adds with a grim smile.
He mutters low so no non officer can hear, "How the hell did we pick up Athrakitis?" And then tell the captain of it. "Captain, Keep anyone who is not sick away from the ill. Anyone who gets this is contagious as hell. Athrakitis can even be spread by corpses. We're kind of screwed here, Capn'. I can't heal that many folk." He gives more details as why and just what that disease does.