As the group parts their ways, Quinn says good night to Thren; she herself, obviously tired from her work that day, also goes to her hammock.
Lee approaches Grok, who at this point is still minding the rum dispensation (and helping herself).
She listens, and gestures him to come close. She passes him a cup and she clinks it with his, clearly making the motions of simply sharing a cup of cheer (or paint cleaner, whatever). Since she is an officer, the lower ranking crew are less apt to skulk near her, so you are less likely to be spied upon anyway.
She says quietly to Lee: "I'm going to say this once, so absorb it well: Harrigan is paranoid. He likes and serves this rum exactly as it is for many reasons. He WILL take ANY proposition to 'improve' the rum as an attempt to at best defy his orders, which is punishable by keelhauling or crow's cage, and at worst to poison the crew, which is punishable by a triple keelhauling for all suspects." She points to herself and you to indicate who the 'suspects' would be.
"And no, he will not take someone asking him first as an act of good faith, but rather a brazen attempt to get him to give you permission to poison the crew. Doesn't matter what you really intend. I've worked with him long enough to know how this would go down. Trust me on this. I've survived as long as I have," she points at the scar on her throat, "Because I've learned the hard way already how to see a losing situation coming."
She claps Lee on the shoulder. "I like you, Lee. I don't want to see you get hurt. The way you don't get hurt is you keep your head down and your mouth shut in front of the high ranking mates." She takes a breath. "However, you want to privately share with me any decent drink you find while you're cleaning the galley or brew yourself, that can remain between you and me, and I can compensate the trade." She offers her cup to clink again.
She adds more loudly. "Once you're done, help me get this barrel back upstairs, I think Kroop's passed out."
And I will need a second Stealth check
You may enter the store, but I will need extra Perception checks involving whatever you wish to explore within.
Lark grins at the unlatched storeroom door; here is an opportunity too good to pass up! He eases it slowly open, alert for any noise from the hinges. Moving carefully, Lark pays special attention to the room’s organization (or lack of). What items are clearly cared for and what might go missing without being noticed?
Lark You carefully step into the store, which has a surprising amount of stuff in it for a relatively small room. In addition to more ship supplies as well as a keg of more Shackles rum, there are two wooden lockers, two wooden chests, a wooden trunk, and a metal trunk. A cursory glance doesn't tell you much more than padlocks keep the lockers and trunks shut, and likewise the chests have built in locks.
Lark feels the night slipping away, but he sees one metal trunk that stands out amid the wooden shelves and boxes. "What makes you so special?" Lark whispers as he approaches it.
After taking the time to examine the metal trunk Lark decides he doesn't want to push his luck any further. He heads back to his hammock for what little remains of the night. On his way out of the storeroom Lark leaves the door as it was, closed but not fully latched.
Lark sees no obvious signs of a trap, but does note the lock on this and the other trunk are fancy combination locks, and probably beyond his current capability to crack. Comparatively, the locks on the lockers are much simpler. The metal casing is excellently reinforced and to guess it contains the most valuable items in the store would not be outlandish.
After retiring to bed, some later than others, you rest, dreaming of better days on the sea.
The next day starts, and you have started to get into your routine, grabbing breakfast as you ascend the ship's levels and reporting for duty.
Some ropes in the sails are fraying from use, and both Lark and Thren are assigned to assist in the repair, working under Quarne's supervision. Lark on deck splicing in new hemp and then passing it to Thren, who climbs up and does any replacement work.
Thren notes while she is up in the tops, that the ship seems to have changed direction.
Lee in turn gets a new assignment. Fishguts tells him that the ship is traversing through a (relatively) narrow (but safe for ships) passage full of reefs and sea-life, and they're entering an area known for leatherback turtles. The captain loves these so he wants to take the opportunity to get some. He hands Lee some harpoons and tells him to go to the foredeck where he will also find some nets. He is to use them to catch turtles.
Late in the morning, young Jack Scrimshaw scrambles onto the main deck, peaked and terrified. A massive gash in his calf oozes blood onto the deck. "Rats! Rats the size of dogs!" he shouts.
"What's this about?" Plugg snarls, annoyed by the interruption. "If you're skiving from working in the bilges..." he stops as he sees the wound on Jack's leg, and curses.
"There's at least three of them, and huge! Big enough to eat that cat in the cargo hold whole!" Plugg eyes the bleeding wound, which is certainly large enough to have come from a rat the size of a dog.
The Stitchman walks over and begins looking over Jack's leg, in the meantime. Quinn also walks over to help, saying quietly to Jack, "I believe you, I thought I heard something moving in one of the crates yesterday."
Scourge sidles up to Plugg. "How about we send the newcomers into the bilges, chief?" He says to Plugg. "Captain said to make pirates out of'em and we don't know if they can fight worth a damn yet."
Plugg looks over to Lark and Thren, passing rope to one another, and smiles. "Indeed. You two, and you!" He shouts over to Lee. "Into the bilges at once, the three of you, and deal with this 'giant rat' problem. If they're not all dead within the hour, it'll be three lashes for each of you. Well, don't just stand there, go!"
Thren definitely stops to grab her short sword and buckler from her locker before going down into the depths of the ship. "I've missed having a weapon at hand!", the bard says with a smile. She waits for Lee and Lark to get their own gear. "I just wish I had some armor to go with it."
Lark follows Threnody to their lockers and takes up the dagger. ”You’re right about armor, Thren, we’ll be missing it soon. Young Jack looked properly mauled.“
Lee smiles at his friends. "I have a solution for that..."
He makes sure any crew in the area are indeed asleep, and then looks between Thren and Lark, and touches Lark, granting him the benefit of mage armor , then casts the spell on himself. He says to Threnody, "You've got the shield and your own magic. If they come after you, I can give you the spell too, but I also want save some energy for the critters." He does hand Threnody one of the harpoons he is carrying. ()
Moving quietly so as not to disturb the sleeping night-shift crew in the hammocks nearby, you open the hatch to the bilges and descend.
As with the rest of the ship, the otherwise darkened area is lit by a light spell someone placed at some point, but shadows still abound in the cramped "basement" of the ship ()).
The room, predominantly occupied of course by the bilge pump, stinks of fetid sea water and waste of all kinds. Spider webs are everywhere, adding to the gloom. The floor is covered in about in nearly a foot or so of water, hindering movement ().
Manacles are bolted to the wall, indicating the bilges' double service as a brig. Shelves are built into the upper part of the bilge walls, to provide extra storage space away from the water, the shelves are stacked with sacks and boxes. The cobwebs and dust on some of the boxes here indicate that some of these have been there for some time, possibly having been forgotten, but some of the crates are clearly newer. One of these newer crates, marked "cured hams," has a giant hole very recently chewed through it.
The agile Thren crawls down first to help offer a hand to Lark and Lee as they descend the rickety ladder. At first, you see nothing and presume perhaps Jack had hurt himself some other way. Then you realize there are four very large lumps are moving in the water. Something leaps out...!
Thren moves to try to close ranks with Lark and Lee; no point in getting cut off and then cut to pieces!
Once the tiefling has her friends at her side (literally), she's swinging at the first dire rat that she can reach with her short sword.
Unfortunately, the water makes her footing slippery, so her attempt to stab said rat goes awry. Her short blade flashes over the head of the dire rat as the bard steadies herself.
As Lark gestures for his friend to take action first, Lee takes a brief step to a more strategic position in hopes of letting his friends get into a more advantageous spot. He swings at the dire rat that is leaping out of the water with his extremely well balanced cheese knife.
Unfortunately, his being over knee deep (for him) in water throws him off balance and he swings wide.
As the dire rat turns to face Lee's attack, Lark slips behind it and tries to land a telling blow.
"Gotcha!" Lark exclaims as his blind-side attack finds a weak spot.
Lee moves into position and creates a strategic opportunity for Lark to step in and deliver a precise strike into the rat's neck, neatly severing its spinal cord. It falls into the water in its death spasms.
As the first dire rat dies squealing, the other shapes in the water move to assault the intruders upon their newfound home.
Dire rat #2 leaps out of the water to bite at Lee.
Lee squeals as the rat takes a chunk out of his thigh.
Sticking to the shadows, Dire Rats #3 and #4 slither toward Threnody. #3 bites while #4 stays in the water.
The rat misses the agile tiefling.
She reciprocates but likewise misses the awful creature.
=================
Hoping to repeat his last performance, Lark moves in tandem with Lee and strikes out at their next opponent.
"Be with you soon, Threnody!"
"Damn rats," Threnody curses , taking a swing at the nearest rat.
The water continues to give the bard unstable footing, and the lunge nearly puts Thren into the water. Only by grabbing the ladder with her tail at the last moment does she avoid falling in. Irritated, the tiefling thinks for a moment....
Seething with anger from the pain,
Lehland makes another NW step in order to be a good flanking partner for Lark.
Hoping to catch the giant rodent off-balance with such a bold
move, Lehland wades in again with his deadly cheese-knife...
...and barely misses stabbing his own leg.
"Hey, Thren? Know any good rat-stabbing ditties? Or maybe a heroic vermin-slaying opera that will give me a hint as to what to do? Specific details, not the general "stab rats better" instructions..."
In pain from the nasty bite, Lee sidesteps and misses the rat again. To add insult to injury, Muffin sends him a sense of sneaking and biting on the neck, followed by a sense of wondering why that is so hard. (He, however, has not seen the size of these rats.)
Lark is at least able to press positional advantage, following with Lee's suit and killing another rat.
Unfortunately for Threnody, rats 3 and 4 position themselves to surround her and each snap at her legs. Rat 3 remains in the shadows at the edge of the bilges and will be harder to strike.
The rat in the shadows manages to get a good nibble on her kneecap, but the other misses.
Threnody stumbles and misses, and wonders if it would be wise to climb the ladder. While this could get her out of the way of the rats, its rickety nature would probably negate any height advantage she could attain.
As the group moves to try to finish off the rats before the rats hurt anyone else, they are startled by a loud clatter followed by a THUD! -- someone above has just slammed the hatch to the bilges shut, and slid the bar atop it to lock it in place.
Meanwhile the rats look eager to try to avenge their fallen brethren and protect their precious crate of hams.
Reckless with success, Lark rushes to engage the rats around Threnody. Risking a bite in passing, he steps behind the closer animal and attacks!
"Ok, that hurt." Thren concentrates for a second. Her short blade glows in the dark a bright red, arcane energy imbued into the steel.
The bright red blur that is her blade goes over the rat by a hair's breadth. Threnody's strike is so close that a few hairs are visible in the dim light, mute evidence of how close she had come to hitting the creature...and yet still so far from hurting it.
"I didn't sign on to fight rats!" Thren curses. Then she hisses in anger. "Not that I signed on at all." The blade's light fades.
”Ouch!”
Lee summons a bit of magical energy and touches an item on one of the shelves, making it glow using a Light cantrip.
Lee, likewise, makes ready to douse the light once the last rat is seen to. He wants his 'arcane' nature to remain unrevealed.
"Alright, ratty. See if you can hide now..."
Lee casts light on the shelf above his head, standing on his tippy tippy toes, negating the shadows that protect both him and the third rat.
Lark dashes through the water as fast as he can, but the fourth rat nips at him as he finds the best spot to stand and fight, painfully digging into his ankle. On the upside, continuing his streak, he returns the favor and then some, killing it.
Rat #3, still alive and irritated at the strange monster that just shone a light in its eyes, squirms safely forward in the water () and lunges at Lee.
Luckily for Lee, it misses.
Threnody tries to stab at the rat, but its movement through the water causes her to merely give the creature a close shave.
===================
Lee considers staying put and stabbing the rat right in front of him (and maybe playing the part of Lark's flanking partner for a record 3rd time in a row), but then decides that discretion may be the better part of valor.
Lee takes a 5' step to the SW and uncorks his arcane might in the form of a Magic Missile. The bolt of hot, magical death flies unerringly at the vicious rodent, dishing out...
...a mildly below average amount of damage.
"Okay, for Desna's sake, somebody finish that thing off."
Seeing their final opponent injured by Lee’s eldritch might, Lark rushes forward once more. Ignoring the risk of snapping teeth he moves into range for what he desperately hopes is the final blow.
"Uh oh."
After seeing Dire Rat #3 , through the grace of whatever ratty god it worships, survive two vicious and successful attacks, Lee comments:
"Well, I can't say that wasn't totally unexpected.
Come on, Thren! Do it!"
Lee uses force magic against the creature, and Lark nicks the rat behind the ear, but rats are well known for being a tenacious type of creature, and dire rat #3 still yet lives.
Lark's movement also spurs the rat to snap at him at he passes.
It fortunately misses, especially in thanks to Lee's protective spell.
Feeling cornered it prepares to fight for its life, and leaps at the throat of the creature the same size as it, rather than the larger ones.
Luckily, disoriented from its wounds, it goes wide.
Threnody nods at Lee's encouragement and jabs at the rat with her short sword.
And finally, after a surprisingly grueling battle, she wounds it deeply enough it loses consciousness, falls under the water, and drowns to death.
Looking upon one of the now dead rats' bodies floating in the bloodstained murk, you notice a gleam, a reflection of the light spells above you. Caught around one of the rat's legs is a leather cord necklace with a vial for its "pendant." The vial's cork lid is sealed in wax and has prevented contamination from bilge muck. The water it contains is noticeably very clear and pure looking. Thren and Lee can easily deduce it is magic, likely holy water.
The cord and vial must have fallen to the floor of the bilges and gotten caught on the rat's leg. Who knows what else has gotten lost in this filthy chamber?
There is also the minor issue that someone has slammed the bilge hatch shut and locked you in.
Thren cleans her blade and sheathes it before doing what she can to bind up her wounded leg. Her tail snakes around the limb protectively.
"We need to check around to see if these rats left anything else of use. Then we need to find a way out of here, before we give Plugg reason to flay off the skin of our backs."
The tiefling begins methodically searching along the bottom of the bilges.
”Nicely done, Threnody!” Lark exclaims as the bard delivers the final blow to that particularly tenacious dire rat.
”Plugg gave us an hour to take care of the rodent problem. We might still have time for a nice methodical search. I should probably go ahead and start on the hatch, just in case.”
Lark climbs the ladder and begins investigating the sealed trapdoor.
”What do y’all expect we’ll be facing when we open this? They may not like rats, but bolting this shut is meant to hurt us, ya think?”
”Also, Lee - thanks for that extra bit of protection. I surely felt better about rushing right at those things knowing it was there. And to both of you for fighting opposite me. I couldn’t have hurt them nearly so bad without that help!”
Threnody, searching through the area, takes a look at the crates and other items strewn along the shelves in the upper parts of the bilges. The area is seldom this well-lit, and it's obvious that while the crate that held the rats (in lieu of the "hams" that were supposed to have been purchased) and a few others were stocked recently, many of the crates and storage areas are old and neglected and their contents unseen and forgotten. Half-hidden within mouldering packing material, broken crates, and behind other objects, Thren finds three heavy maces, one suit of leather armor, and loosely scattered about coinage amounting to 12 sp.
The maces and armor could probably be re-hidden easily if you did not want to take them with you at this time.
She tries to poke around in the water for where more things like the vial came from, but in addition to the general bilge-muck muddying the waters, the liquid is now swirling about with yours and the rat's blood, making it difficult to find whatever may have been lost within.
Lark climbs a ladder to look at the hatch, but can only confirm it was latched from above. Unluckily for him, as he climbs the ladder, he startles a hairy red spider, which drops from the ceiling and lands on his cheek...
And sinks its mandibles into his tender flesh.
The spider, having done its damage, looks ready to leave, but you could try to smash it if you wished.
Thren hears Lark's startled cry as the large arachnid bites him. "You have GOT to be kidding! What's next, a barnacle swarm?" Threnody exclaims. She lunges toward the ladder but curses as her wounded leg slows her slightly. This doesn't stop her from drawing her blade again, prepared to stab the multi-legged monstrosity.
Half lunge, half scramble, Thren's blade swing is too low as she tries to leap up the ladder at the oversized arachnid. All she manages to do is startle the creature further.
”Argh!” Lark scrambles down the ladder away from spider.
Lark takes a deep breath. ”I thought the human vermin on this ship were bad enough, but I may need to revise that opinion. Maybe I'll just take a look around and come back to this later.” Lark edges away from the ladder and emulates Threnody's examination of their recent battlefield.
The spider skitters away, having had today's fill of tasty human flesh.
Lark asks to borrow Thren's harpoon, which Lee had lent her, and together, using the longer spear with its hook-like portion, they manage to clank against something solid, that had been half stuck in the wood of the floor. Pulling it up by its handle, they find a very finely balanced () handaxe with a darkwood handle that has fortunately resisted rotting in the unfavorable conditions of the room.
They clanked against a few things in the waters, but it's hard to determine what is trash and treasure and worth pulling out of the water. Additional searching could commence if they wanted to spend more time doing so.
Lee spent the pre-spider-attack time period searching the shelves as well...
...potentially enjoying some success as well.
Upon seeing his friend return to the foot of the ladder, Lee offers,
"You okay? If you are having problems from the spider bite I can give you a dose of antitoxin."
Lee comes over to see if Lark has a scar-with-interesting-story kind of bite or a necrotic-facial-tissues kind of bite.
"Also, if the bolt holding the hatch shut isn't too tight I can probably Mage Hand it open. It'll take some fiddling around and won't be easy to explain away. Probably worth two lashes or a half-hearted keel hauling," the Halfling finishes glumly.
At least for now, the tiny welt left by the spider is just that. It does not appear to be swelling or turning unfortunate colors, and thus if the spider bite was venomous, Lark is not having a dangerous reaction to it.
Lee notices a lump others passed by as likely detritus, but it is a very dirty--but easily cleaned with prestidigitation--pouch of assorted coin worth 21 gp. The pouch also contains a small watertight capsule containing two tindertwigs.
"As much as I might enjoy poking around down here, maybe we should focus on getting out," Thren says carefully. She sheathes her sword and then climbs up the ladder to get a better look at the now-barred hatch, hoping to see a weakness or a rusty hinge or something else exploitable. "Can you raise that light up here? Thren asks, poking around carefully and keeping an eye out for the arachnid terror of the deep.
"You okay? If you are having problems from the spider bite I can give you a dose of antitoxin."
"Thanks, Lee. I think I"m OK. More annoyed than injured."
Lark offers up the finely crafted handaxe ”It’s awful nice, but not my forte. Do either of you want it? Maybe we can chop open that trapdoor. I think we should hide most of the stuff we found where we can get it later. The coins we can probably sneak out with.”
”Also, you know what I forgot to try? Banging on the door and calling for help. Once we’re ready we ought to give that go. If no one answers then we can decide which might be worse - suspected magery or destruction of property.”
The tiefling shakes her head at the offer of the handaxe. "If I try to use that, I'm more likely to cut off my tail than hit someone with it. Thanks anyway." She looks up at the hatch speculatively. "You might be right about cutting through the door though. It might be worth it to get out of here. If none of us can use it, we might be able to hide it down here with the rest of this stuff."
Lee jangles the bag of coins
'We needn't bother leaving this, right? Though my quick estimate is that it's one gold piece more than it takes to get keelhauled to death. So maybe down here is a good spot for it. One of you two should take these. I have flint-n-steel."
And Lee holds out the sealed tindertwigs to his companions.
Lee offers the bag of money to Lark and Thren. "I'm just an amateur hider. You two are the pros. Who wants to do it?"