Doc Imogene bursts into a grin. "Would I? I've been yearning to hear the Tide's bones creak, see what she needs! I've been grateful for all that you all have given me and the rest of us who turned away from Varossa, but I admit this was starting to feel samey. And what's this I hear about a wheel needs installing?"
As for Quinn, she straightens, startled by the offer. "Well, as the First Mate's job is usually to clean up the Captain's mess, and that's what I generally do anyway, would be my honor. I'll still plan to stand by for magical healing, but Imogene I'm guessing is better set to be Ship's Doctor in terms of practical knowledge."
About a day after Kahuranga had his chat with Caulky, she approaches him and says, "I want to stay on the crew. Someone's gotta keep an eye on Owlbear and those two dumb orc brawlers ain't a good influence on him."
Lark holds a brief ceremony to officially hand over the captaincy of the Fearsome Tide to Threnody, and a fair amount of grog and food follows. More questionable but certainly strong moonshine is also shared by Rotgut the alchemist. An impromptu band forms of Conchobar singing, Rosie on her fiddle, and Melissiel and Randiel both on elven flutes, and many take to drunken dancing.
Doc Imogene bursts into a grin. "Would I? I've been yearning to hear the Tide's bones creak, see what she needs! I've been grateful for all that you all have given me and the rest of us who turned away from Varossa, but I admit this was starting to feel samey. And what's this I hear about a wheel needs installing?"
As for Quinn, she straightens, startled by the offer. "Well, as the First Mate's job is usually to clean up the Captain's mess, and that's what I generally do anyway, would be my honor. I'll still plan to stand by for magical healing, but Imogene I'm guessing is better set to be Ship's Doctor in terms of practical knowledge."
About a day after Kahuranga had his chat with Caulky, she approaches him and says, "I want to stay on the crew. Someone's gotta keep an eye on Owlbear and those two dumb orc brawlers ain't a good influence on him." No one has particularly observed a bad streak created by Larry and Barry but Caulky perhaps needs to create a reason.
Lark holds a brief ceremony to officially hand over the captaincy of the Fearsome Tide to Threnody, and a fair amount of grog and food follows. More questionable but certainly strong moonshine is also shared by Rotgut the alchemist. An impromptu band forms of Conchobar singing, Rosie on her fiddle, and Melissiel and Randiel both on elven flutes, and many take to drunken dancing.
Thren, with her typical lack of decorum, will enjoy the revelry. She won't drink much-that won't change. But she'll dance with whomever suits her whims that night. She won't sing unless asked, letting all the others enjoy themselves.
She will, however, attempt a speech.
"Lark is my captain. That will not change. Handing me the Fearsome Tide is an act I can't repay. And I won't, because you didn't ask for payment first Lark," she jokes. "Like many of you, I bled for this ship. I bled for this island. But now...the seas are opening up, strange things are afoot. and I aim to go out to meet them! Some of you will remain here with Lark, and I respect you for it. Some will join me as we set back out to sea. Here then, raise you mugs. Raise them high, and maybe Besmara find us worthy to be pirates of the Shackles!"
The next day, Thren will get the building team rolling with directions for her quarters, as well as discuss watchtowers along the beach and the state of the lighthouse. Then she'll start getting ready to set sail.
"I'm delighted to hear it, Caulky. Wind at your back. You will chart your own path. Metaphorically, of course. For now, we will all follow Captain Threnody's orders."
Our new captain assembles her officers, such as they are, to plot out their next move. "I'm in favor of going to Beachcomber to report what we found. I want to end our business with those Norgorberites. But I'm open to the insights of others."
"Beachcomber sounds good to me," says Quinn. "Hopefully it won't take us long. But we don't want to lose track of our leads either."
"Beachcomber seems like best course. They have a question, we have the answer. How often do we have the benefit of such a lack of ambiguity."
"I wonder, are we going to surrender the wheel to them? We agreed to give them the secret, not the means to implement the secret. Still, I don't want to be on their bad side..."
"I want to keep our options open. I would love to install it aboard my ship, but if it's lucrative enough selling it is a good idea. But it sounds like we're off to Beachcomber. I'd say Port Peril after to pick up our new hire."
"It may be worth investing in us. The short term gain from selling it wouldn't compare to how it will improve our capacities. But we shall see. We may need the leverage, and ultimately Fairwind's favor may be worth more than the wheel."
Agreed upon a destination, the crew of the Fearsome Tide sets a course and sets sail.
Thren spends the beginning of her maiden voyage as the captain with Doc Imogene, going over the ship to see what maintenance the Fearsome Tide needs as she's been out to sea for a bit. "We're pirates. That doesn't mean we have to sail in a wreck. This is a fine old ship, and if we take care of her, she'll be a fine old ship for us for long as we want."
Our tiefling will also finally try to answer a question plaguing her for months. At some point when it's quiet, Thren will wait till Yamtisy has her notebook out. Then the tiefling will wait a bit before asking the bosun the question: "What're you drawing Yamtisy? I've seen you drawing in your free time before. Mind letting me see? It's not an order, I've been curious for a while." The captain puts on her most polite, respectful smile when she asks.
Kahuranga notices that the new recruit, Dariel Deadeye, hasn't made too many connections with the crew, though he has settled into his work. Chakam recruited him, and now Chakam has stayed behind at Ghoral Rey. He will take the time to pay attention to the new gunner's mate.
Yamtisy in the past has seemed a little reluctant to share her drawings, but she has served with you long enough, and Threnody's approach is with a light enough touch, that with a bit of a sheepish look. You see a drawing of a serpent-like creature with flaming wings. It is very good, and the drawing on the previous page seems very similar. You had gotten her some inks not long ago and so the recent pictures use color.
"I want to get a tattoo," she admits. "I know everyone on the seas gets a tattoo, but if I'm going to get marked up, I want it to mean something. I saw a creature like this in my home town growing up. We thought it was going to kill us all, but it ended up saving us from a pack of wyverns hunting in from the jungle. I... if I'm going to do this, I want to get it right." She does a quick flip through the pages and indeed she has tried different angles and colors for the image. "Trying to get the right balance of fearsome and hopeful."
Dariel is working with Cog on oiling the mechanical parts of the ballistae--Cog on the fore, Dariel on the aft end of the ship. He seems almost startled to be approached, but is glad someone has approached him. He doesn't have a lot to say, but is curious about Taniwha. He traveled down from the north, his human mother Varisian like Cog's is, so they had chatted with each other some on that, but he is still getting used to the Shackles. "I thought Varisia was rowdy! But I here the Chelis try to get their dirty boots all over here too. I am happy to help send them home."
Your travel goes reasonably smooth the first week, with decent weather for the most part, although an unexpected downpour mid week makes things a little tricky.
The first week you also spot a ship sailing Absalom colors. It is likely a cargo ship full of wealth. You can opt to pursue to pirate it or let it be. It appears to be heading toward the Smoker.
"Well Captain, it seems we have a decision to make. Are we pirates, or are we spies? Sandara, do you think Besmara smiles on us this day?"
As for Dariel, Taniwha, in his tiny piratical hat and polished scales, is more than happy to charm the newcomer.
"Here in the Shackles, we are the best at being rowdy, as you say." the cat-sized dragon starts a silly chant. "Let's...get...a little bit rowdy..."
"You've got quite a few good pieces here. When you want that tattoo, it'll be a hard choice to make. But a good one. You'll wear it with pride, knowing it's yours." Thren tells her bosun with an encouraging smile. "Next time we're in a suitable port, why don't you get it done?"
When the ship is spotted sailing towards the Smoker,the tiefling grins in reply to the sea witch.
"We're pirates, of course. So unless that ship reveals its full of marines, I say we chase it down while we're here. It's flying Absalom colors. So to me, that's fair game." Thren grins. "Unless we're now honest businessmen and someone forgot to tell me, we're supposed to chase down ships for sport. Change course. I want that ship's hold in our hands as fast as we can manage!"
Conchobhar begins chanting a song of pursuit, casting ghost sound to add the sound of war drums for some extra drama. The crew cheers and man their stations to be ready to do some piracy.
The ship is well ahead (), but not so far that you can't catch up. It is not yet aware of you, but if you take a direct approach it surely will be soon.
You can attempt to
1) Go full speed and chase full on. It will notice you and be more likely to put up defensive maneuvers, but it will be easier to catch up. DC 10 Profession Sailor Check, advance 1 step, ship will become aware of you.
2) Skirt around a nearby atoll and approach from another direction. This will be harder--risking getting further behind.
DC 22 Stealth check, advance 1 step, ship will not yet be aware of you; failure means you remain 2 steps behind; failure by 5 or more means you lag another step behind (3 steps).
The captain looks up at Conchobar and grins as the war drums sound. "Let's see about taking them by surprise. Aim us towards that atoll, let's get nice and close before they even know we're here." She directs.
As the riggers manipulate the sails excellently under Threnody's guidance, Belina navigates expertly around the atoll. The target ship, though moving steadily ahead, has no idea you are there just yet. This round of the chase, you begin 1 step away from the ship.
Unfortunately the most direct route to pursue is past a reef that one wrong move could cause you to run aground right quick. You can try to plow through it at a DC 30 Profession Sailor check. Failure means you end up having to slow down and lose the way you've gained (putting you 2 steps away). Failure by 10 or more means you have run aground and the chase ENDS. Success has you nearly catch up to the ship.
You can skirt the reef, alternatively, where you will most likely lose the advantage you just gained. Succeeding on a DC 20 Profession Sailor check, you will end up again 2 "steps" away but will be more likely to be able to keep going. Failure by 10 or more puts you 3 steps away--you skirted too cautiously.
Either way at this point the ship will be aware of you and will be making maneuvers to evade.
"We're almost on top of them! Man the weapons and go straight through!" Thren directs, point straight at the reef. "We've got a strong keel, let's put it to good use! We'll be on top of them before they know what hit them!"
"Hold on, it's going to be a bumpy ride."
Taniwha flies up to the crow's nest to get the best view he can of the opposition.
With remarkable maneuvering, The Fearsome Tide closes in swiftly, and you can tell from the movement from the other ship that they have now realized you are there--but they are unlikely to be able to escape you. The question is can you close to boarding, or how else will the fight unfold?
You are about 180 feet away from each other. Both of you are facing the same direction, ahead (one chasing the other). To board you will need to be 30 feet and, ideally, parallel to one another (although you can be facing the same direction or opposite).
Thren stands by Belina as she steers the ship after their quarry. "Let's use a little magic to make a good pirate better," Thren says with a vicious smile.
Belina is at the helm!
While Belina steers very well, the other ship is used to sailing in Shackles waters and seems to be taking the best advantage of the wind and currents. The Dowager has the upper hand this round. Their free action is to steer the ship away from you by 90 degrees. So their stern is facing the side of your ship.
"Hey, Kahuranga! You got anything that can slow them down?" Thren calls.
"Never mind Kahuranga. I have an idea."
Thren stands on the deck of the Fearsome Tide and feels the mystical energies around her. Of a ship known over the decades for its legendary acts. She draws on that power. And the power of the reputation of the crew around her. This she twists into shape and forms in her mind a fog bank. Then she places it right where she can make out the wheel of the Andoran vessel lies, hoping to obscure their vision.
Kahuranga draws a nub of a black and white candle from a pouch at his belt, lighting the black end. Then he draws a small pouch filled the slivers of body parts from a wide variety of creatures. He chants over the candle, opening a tiny aperture into a hellish realm and calling to the creatures who live there.
Kahuranga summons giant bats as Thren calls upon the ancient majesty of the ship and the seas it sails to enshroud the helmsman in a fog cloud.
You can see several crew maneuvering on the upper aft deck of the Absalom vessel, the Dowager (as spotted through someone's spyglass), and in a moment, there is a whistling sound as a huge, steaming bullet is hurling toward the air toward you.
The bullet strikes your mainmast square on, and explodes into myriad ice particles. Threnody and Barefoot Samms, standing on the mainmast, get the brunt of it.
Threnody's natural athleticism and trained seamanship is no match for a bit of ice on the mast.
Barefoot Samms, being barefoot, stumbles from the cold and grasps onto the yardarm to keep herself from falling.
Nearly everyone else on the crew is also showered with the slivers of ice. Only Cog and Tilly, moving toward the catapult, escape the damage.
The ice also embeds itself in the sails, and while it has barely done enough damage to sails designed to withstand tropical storms, the sails and rigging will be very hard to manipulate temporarily.
Shocked by the unexpected, if brief, snowstorm, Belina can only keep her grip on the wheel. The other pilot cannot see but is a seasoned enough salt apparently to know the feel of the wheel and the water to keep a steady hand on the rudder. The Dowager begins to move away from the Fearsome Tide moving straight ahead.
"Beware all, they've got some magic on their side too! Belina, continue the pursuit. Cog, load the catapult. Tilly, Barry help Cog!" Thren orders. "I'm of no mind to lose a race to some soft Andoran merchant today! Run that ship down!"
Thren breaks out the One Reason to Live and blows a mighty blast up on it before moving on to an epic shanty. The bard's focus is on Belina specifically.
Sandara spends her round helping to get everyone armed and ready for when we manage to get close enough to board.
Kahuranga barely responds as the cold blast hammers him, his focus impeccable. From the tiny hellish aperture, three smoky forms resolve into very real bats with dagger-like fangs and 10 foot wingspans.
Kahuranga points to the Dowager and says [b]"Attack that ship and its crew as you wish."[b]
Then he casts Haste encompassing himself, Taniwha, Sandara, Thren, and the three bats.
The hell-bats leap gleefully to cause destruction on their target.