Xanxan got up that morning grabbing his newly reacquired rapier. The better to dissuade any would be thugs what wanted to teach him a lesson. When he hears of the job at hand, he's glad he did. He contemplates getting his leather armor to boot but recalls Grok's advice about not showing too much too soon.
He decides to take a risk, and get the leather armor but only for this job, hopefully before the other sailors can see it or make too much of it.
"Infestation can mean a lot at sea Tully man. Worms, rats, rat-worms...it is good to be ready for anything."
Xanxan finds himself agreeing with Ko'Ulu, "Seen a lamprey get in a ship's bilgewater once. Left a mark like a ring out of the man's flesh."
Jirobo slips the blade gifted to him by his father into his belt and listens to Ko'ulu and Xanxan, "Maybe tasty bugs too? I miss mother's candied beetles. So delicious." If tengu could drool, Jirobo would be drooling at that point.
Calvin heads down to the quarters to grab his spear before heading into the bilge. He hoped that he wouldn't need it - skewering pests wasn't exactly his forte - but he supposed that it was better than going in unarmed. While he is grabbing his gear he can be overhead saying - almost musically - "sharks, tigers, worms, rats and rat worms" in various random orders over and over again.
Tully hefted the solid weight of his sap. Against a knife weilding man... but with the threat of "rat-worms"...
Tully buckled his rapier to his waist and clutched his buckler. The weight of steel felt more reassuring.
He stood to side of the gangway. Shall we descend, gentlemen?
Callum follows the rest into the crew quarters and don's a suit of leather armor with plates of wood sewn around the vital areas. Not so useful in the rigging, but won't be sinkin' me should I get lobbed overboard. Might help against the scourge, too. He then re-dons his coat overtop the armor. He pats his boarding axe at his side and then picks up his hat, brushes it off and replaces it in his locker.
"Shall we descend, gentlemen?"
"Aye, cleanin' the bilge of whatever them whats infestin' it... I be thinkin' it were good practice fer when we need to clean the rest o' the ship whats infestin' it."
Having gathered your gear, you raise the trapdoor in the crew quarters that leads to the bilges. The smell hits you first, some of you already experienced in it's potency. Tully scrubs his hand across his face. This is what you've been doing these past few days?
Climbing down the ladder, you spread out as much as the room will allow and almost as soon as you do, the water ripples around you as pointed faces with gleaming eyes burst out of the offal with the intent to bite you.
The rats scurry amongst the water, their fevered eyes gleaming as they look to make a meal out of all of you.
Callum curses as one of the rats bites into him. Blast ye, ye damn dirty rat! He then takes his boarding axe and swings it down at the foul creature.
Jirobo seems to shrink down again as he descends into the bowels of the ship once more. The tight, dark space of the bilges stresses the tengu which is pretty obvious. As the rats scurry about, one even having the audacity to nip a chunk from Jirobo's leg, the tengu plunges his wakizashi down at the fleeing furry body, "Little rodent, little rodent, Jirobo is going to bite you back!"
The fetid murk virtually exploded with scurrying, lunging, biting rodents. Tully batted one attack aside with his buckler, blessing the Inheritor for granting him that much foresight. The creature practically vanished as it fell back into filth. Tully marked his location as best he could.
He cursed under his breath, Bah! This is no chore for a man! They should have dogs for this!
"Pretty clear that the 'officers' of this ship treat their sailors LIKE dogs, or worse."
Xanxan realizes the rats are focusing on the bigger folk this time around. Given the chance, he'll try to stab one that's focusing on someone else nearby to buy them some room.
"Tigerman was wrong. These are dire rats. Not rat worms. Or worm rats. They carry disease. Watch their bite."
Calvin takes an exploratory poke with his spear, attempting to skewer the one nearest.
for
Ko'ulu stands, feet apart and braced, his dagger in his hand as he stabs again and again into the muck, attempting to pin the vile little bony form as it squirms through the fetid sludge.
It's a one for one battle it seems as Jirobo and Callum exchange blows with the vermin, Callum cleaving the rodent in half but not before it bites his leg. As it's carcass sinks to the bottom of the bilges, Tully scores another hit as well, slicing the large rat across the back as Jirobo stabs the one that bit him, which quickly dies off.
Everyone else struggles to find their footing in the slimy confines, the strikes going wide.
The rats continue to furiously bite at you, their tiny fangs gnashing in the water.
The rat was wounded. Tully suspected its spine had nearly been severed. Still it waded through the filth to come at him again. He fended it off with a few quick thrusts, turning its attack harmlessly wide. As it fell back into the murk, Tully drove the rapier into it.
The rat was skewered. But its death throes splattered the fetid bilge-water across Tully's doublet.
Damn Plugg for this insolence! If ever he falls under my power, I will force-feed him this s*&% with a spoon I'll carve from his own rib!
"Ha! Tully man! You are brutal in the heat of battle! Ho ho!" Calvin cackles madly.
Seeing the rat he was formerly facing fall to Jirobo's attack, Calvin takes a step and turns to one of the rats . He imagines that the rat has been caught in Jirobo's beak and the bird man is crushing its bones. He projects this image to the small creature in an effort to shake its morale.
Callum steps towards the rat by Ko-ulu that Calvin had hexed.
"Oho!" Callum said after he hacked the rat in half. He then motioned to the last rat. "One left lads! Pretend 'e's the scourge!"
"Oho!" Callum said after he hacked the rat in half. He then motioned to the last rat. "One left lads! Pretend 'e's the scourge!"
At that, Xanxan stabs at it whether its still alive or not!
"if only." A wide grin.
Ko'ulu grunts, and moves forward, slicing and stabbing the muck in an attempt to corner the rat against the wall of the bilge.
A fierce gleam in his eye Ko'ulu lashes out with his boot, kicking the rat up into the air where it squeals in panic for a brief instant before he drives the dagger in his hand through the rat and into the side of the ship, pinning it there, its tail and legs dangling and twitching spasmodically.
As the last rat dies, the bilge water calms as the movement around you stops. Dead rats float in the water and sweat drips from your brows as you clean your blades.
"Dire rats are nasty rodents," he says, toeing one of the floating bodies. "Very poor for combining with other animals. The disease makes them incompatible. Once put a dire rat head on a toad's body. Tobias ate it before I was finished. Made him sick for a week."
Tully continued stabbing his rapier into the now, long dead rat. Almost oblivious, he continued growling to himself, I will bring all the pain of the Stygian torturers down upon him! The most stone-hearted Hellknight will weep at the torments I will bring!
For a brief moment, the Chelaxian aristocrat Tully might have become bubbles to the surface. Then, in a flash, it vanishes. Once again, he is the calm, composed gentleman you've known.
As he picks his way gingerly through the filth towards the trapdoor, Gentlemen, it occurs to me that we may have a few minutes to speak without fear of observation. Loathe though I am to subject myself to more of these fetid humours, we would be wise to take opportunity where we find it.
"Aye, our minds be gustin' in the same direction lad," Callum said nodding.
"Mayhap this be the first time we be alone without the ears o' the ship bein' close. Let us verify the solitary nature of our predicament but if it be as ye suspect, we may have time whats fer plottin'"
Xanxan finds some 'high ground' as best he can to get out of the muck, "Aye, now this be more to my like." But he wisely lowers his voice as well, "I love the sea, and I love sailing... Hell, I might even like the idea of pirating, but lets face facts. There are only a few pirates on this ship, the rest be slaves and crimpees like us... even if they don't all know it." He looks about and listens as well to see if there is anyone else here besides, Callum, Jirobo, Calvin, Young Tully, Ko'Ulu and himself in there or listening in.
With a nod, Tully directed attention towards the bird-man. First, though, I would know the mind of our Strix companion. Our friend Xanxan has won your trust, perhaps... But, can you set aside your prejudice of humans at least insofar as our fellowship is concerned? If fortune is kind to our endeavor, you may yet direct your hatred towards our would-be masters.
"My father was a ship's surgeon," Calvin says, interrupting the conversation. His voice is calm and sounds almost normal. "At least that's what he was called. 'Amputator' might be more accurate. He was quite good at removing the infected limbs - much better than when he tried to salvage them. And I was his assistant. He taught me well." His speech finished, he continues absentmindedly toeing the rodent's body in front him, while listening to the others.
"My father was a ship's surgeon," Calvin says, interrupting the conversation. His voice is calm and sounds almost normal. "At least that's what he was called. 'Amputator' might be more accurate. He was quite good at removing the infected limbs - much better than when he tried to salvage them. And I was his assistant. He taught me well." His speech finished, he continues absentmindedly toeing the rodent's body in front him, while listening to the others.
Amputations seem like nasty affairs. Still, it is a skill that will likely be of use if we fail to change the scenario.
You and gentle Tobias, it seems to me, have abilities far in excess of a mere handiness with a bone saw, though. I have seen some evidence of this, though I can only guess at its true depths. We must come to a better understanding to achieve our goals.
Jirobo tries to clean his blade as best he can as the others finish off the rest of the overgrown rats. Once the brief battle is concluded, the tengu looks for a spot to get his wounded leg up and out of the muck of the bilges, scared of infection in such a dank, gross place. He gulps at Calvin's speech on amputations, "Do you think rats infected us bad?, he says as he holds up his wounded leg at the surgeon.
With a nod, Tully directed attention towards the bird-man. First, though, I would know the mind of our Strix companion. Our friend Xanxan has won your trust, perhaps... But, can you set aside your prejudice of humans at least insofar as our fellowship is concerned? If fortune is kind to our endeavor, you may yet direct your hatred towards our would-be masters.
Jirobo tilts head head at Tully in confusion, "I am no Strix, merely a tengu. I hold no prejudices to you humans, my mother warned me just to be careful about the bigger folk or I'd end up someone's pet parrot or dodo. I think point is moot now as we are all pets of a mean master of cruel men. Bad karma-juju of such men grows greater with each passing day until the scales are balanced and mean men washed away like huts in a storm." The tengu appears miserable in the bilges, his shoulders slumped and his breathing shallow as he attempts not to inhale too much of the bad air. He looks up at the trapdoor as well, listening for a moment with the others before looking back down at the eclectic group gathered there, "I hate being down here but if we talk, we talk. What is idea fermenting in your heads? We are outmatched at moment, too many against, too many who listen to Scourge, Plugg, and Captain, but winds shift and the storm can change direction in blink of the eye."
Ko'ulu reaches out, and pulls his dagger from the wall, letting the corpse of the rat fall into the sludge with a ker-plop.
"Birdy is right." Ko'ulu says as he moves over to the pump and begins cranking.
"When you are fishing, it is best not to jump around too much and make a lot of noise. I don't think that this crew has been fishing too good."
The ratcheting squeal of the pump echoes through the bilge.
"Wait for wind and tide to be going the right direction and then move with them. I look forward to seeing Plugg and Scourge carried out to sea."
Ko'ulu grins and continues pumping.
"Aye. We need te convince the crew to hang their flag with us. I'm thinkin' we got the quartermaster, an' we're close te pullin' tha' halflin' swab what sings 'n fiddles. Might be wise te try te capture the cook into our boat too, so we can' have the stores an' the suppers with us." He then scowls, "That Tate feller'll be a tough nut te crack fer sure. Do we go for the low hangin' fruit o' them what don't care neither nor, or aim for them tough ones first?"
"Rosie is grateful to me, it's something to build on. She's been the object of some affection from another gnome. He doesn't seem a bad chap, but it will be hard to win him over and keep her on the same side. Least wise I think. I'll give him a talk to and find out."
I am no Strix, merely a tengu.
Not a Strix? Tengu? Tully cast around in his memory, delving for any remembrance of the mention of a Tengu. There were legends he could recall of the birdmen. Supposedly, sailors believed they were good luck in the sense that they "soaked up" bad luck on ships. A Tengu! I was a fool not to think of it!
Sir, I fear I have done you a grave injustice, in thought, at least, if not necessarily in deed. I most sincerely beg your pardon.
We need te convince the crew to hang their flag with us.
I agree. And we must assume that any who have not yet made common cause with us will likely stand against us if we move against the officers. We shall also need to know as much as possible about the ship. I fear I can tell you little, aside from where we keep the fishing nets... and where not to cast them.
One more thing... Tully relayed Fishguts' warning from the first morning.
"Oh aye. We got a big ocean te sail 'ere," Callum said and began counting off his fingers. "Them whats can charm or whats can threat or whats can tricks them whats don't already think us dubloons needs te focus on the convincing. Them whats can't can swing through the shadows o' the ship te see what they can see. And them whats can't can feel out the crew we haven't had a proper meet with, te see how the think o' us. An' I know I be fergettin' somethin' or more 'n somethin'..."
We got a big ocean te sail 'ere
Tully nodded sagely. Which begs the question, "Where in all the sodden, storm-tossed Shackles are we?"
We must be prepared to steer the ship, if ever we gain control of her.
We must be prepared to steer the ship, if ever we gain control of her.
Aye, but there be no need te worry 'bout that. With the right crew on the rig, I can steer us well enough. I been doin' it since I were young. An' I've some charts if we don' get whats the Cap'n 'as.
"Not that Scourge wants me to see the daylight, but I'm a trained sailor as well... if you can navigate, I can join in with those getting us to any place where sea touches sand."
We got a big ocean te sail 'ereTully nodded sagely. Which begs the question, "Where in all the sodden, storm-tossed Shackles are we?"
At this, Calvin's eyes light up. At almost precisely the same moment, Tobias comes waddling down the narrow bilge stairway. "Tobias! Oh...yes...good thinking...I have been a fool!"
Looking to the group he says, "Tobias has just made a fine point. I've been so worried about 'how' we're going I've neglected to pay attention to 'where' we're going. I've sailed these waters my whole life. Perhaps there is something I'll recognize."
Xanxan listens to talk of where they are, and where they are going, "If I thought I could get into the captain's quarters I'd try to steal a peek at the charts early. Risky though, sure to get my flogged or worse if I botch it." Seemingly randomly he blurts"You folks sure there isn't a way to arrange an 'accident' for Scourge at least? I really want the bastard dead."
"From the sounds o' things," Callum began, "Calvin an' me, we could figure things out right quick on our locale and direction, so no riskin' yer neck on that unless there be more whats we need."
"An' let's not put the X 'afore the map. Thinkin' 'bout those whats we need in the end aren't goin' te help if we can't get there. We'll need more'n a few hands on the rig te keep us from bein' a dead whale on the ocean. Mayhap we focus on gettin' te know the ship and 'er crew an' makin' friends. We got that, then there's nothin' whats te stop us from plankin' or keelhaulin' those whats wronged us," Callum said with a bloodthirsty smile.
"Patience is not a gnomish virtue, but as you say," the gnome says, "Now, about Miss Quinn, she seems on our side, and I'm willing to treat her as such but figured I should ask, anyone nervous about her?"
"I wonder if the worms in the wood talk to the Captain?"
Xanxan laughs at that.
"Now, about Miss Quinn, she seems on our side, and I'm willing to treat her as such but figured I should ask, anyone nervous about her?"
"I've no nerves regarding that lass. It be fortune indeed te number a priestess of Besmara amongst our friends."
"I wonder if the worms in the wood talk to the Captain?"
Callum snorts and then looks around at the walls and the filth. "We'd best be hopin' that's not whats his ears. There likely be plenty o' worms jes swimmin' around 'ere."
Then after a moments thought, "Yet ye filled me sails with a thought... It be unlike most on the ship te be searchin the bilges fer any but their own s***e. Mayhap we could find a place well hid where we could safeguard a message or a larcenied item where none but us whats knowin, savvy?"