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The Varisian thinks for a bit, quietly, then says, "I think we have time to get more people on our side before we take such an action. If Scourge comes at us hard, it would be good to know it would be an unpopular move... maybe even have some help on our side. I say we give it a little more time to see what happens."
The goblin starts two piles of rat carcasses on his box - each with a single rat. "That's one For and one Against."
Garavaen smiles grimly, "Wasn't saying it wasn't worth it... Just wanted to be sure everyone knew what we were signing up for. "
He chuckles, "I'm in, though I do hope we can be as clever as you think... And I think we're going to need to accept where this is heading... We're talking mutiny... So we'll need all the allies we can muster.. And getting all our gear back is another priority."
Eli slaps a fat rat on the 'For' pile. "I wanna play this simple, slow, and subtle otherwise Plugg and Scourge may smell a..." he lays a hand on the rodent pile. "You all are doin' good with making friends among the crew. I think you should keep on doing that. IF we're going to do this other thing... I think I should do it by meself for awhile. If you all keep your hands clean, any accusations comin' your way will be false and look false. And me, well, no one expects a goblin to be normal, right? With luck, I'll be able to talk my way out if things get tight. So that's the simple part - me on my own. Slow is this thing may take weeks to work so you'll have time to do your own magic on the crew. And subtle, well, just trust me on that, OK? I don't want to be keelhauled or worse so I'll be working it very quiet - just nudging things into place."
Eli watches the back-and-forth about mutiny before throwing in his coppers, "If the Captain and Wormwood were good back in the day, I'd like to see if they can be brought back. I don't even know if Scourge is the real problem or if he's just under the First Mate's thumb. Fear makes a man do strange things. Not saying I want him as a bunkmate, but I'm not willing to heap all the blame on him just yet. I wanna peek through the curtains and see who is the puppet and who's the puppet-master."
Listening to all that is being said and thinking it over, Davina finally decides her vote, "While I would prefer to simply fade away from his awareness I don't think that will happen, and I don't know that I can afford the time that would take. I can't spend forever out here on this ship, I have something I must do." She gets a thoughtful look, "I will go along with this but I need something from all of you in return once we are free of this place."
The goblin looks incredibly intrigued. "Go on. What do you want?"
Deciding she has little to do but trust these other people, Davina decides to explain why she was in port Peril, "I've been looking for my sister for over a year now. She was taken from our home in Tian Xia and sold into..." She takes a deep breath as though gathering her courage, "She was sold as a pleasure slave to a merchant who made his way to this area of Golarion. I followed her trail as far as a pirate vessel that took her as spoils when they captured the merchantman and executed him and his crew. I was told the best place to ask would be Port Peril and I was, when I got taken in with the rest of you."
She pauses a moment to collect herself, "the bargain is this, if I help you, I put myself and my sister at risk, I can't do that without some kind of return. So, if I help you, you have to help me find he. I don't see how I can find her, but I think my best bet may be aboard a pirate vessel my self, but it is not safe for me as it stands, I hope you can make it so."
Eli places another rat on the pile. "Can't promise we'll find her... but I'm willing to keep looking for her as long as you do. We might hear word of her when we make port next or maybe from another ship. Does your sister have wings too?"
Accepting Elias word, "Then you have my help. As for my sister, yes, she has wings, though they are not like mine."
Garavaen looks to Davina, adding quietly,"I'll also help you in your search.. And just so you know, if the flash and sparkle show lose its menace... they'll have to go through me to get to you."
The goblin smiles at the news. "Our chances of finding your sister grow. Pirates gab like fishwives. A pretty woman can go unseen... but a pretty Tian with wings? They'll talk of her."
Laughing at Elias comment, "Oh, I can assure you, she will not go unseen. Little Nisha never could stand to be ignored, we may be like night and day to each other, but we both share a fondness for people."
While conversing and still searching about, Garavaen finds a heavy mace in the dark waters of the bilge, and Astein finds a hand axe with a master's mark on it.
Garavaen asks, "Does anyone use one of these, or should I keep it to trade with Grok?"
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Ri'el nods as well.
"Won't say no to helping someone in need, Davina. I know what it's like to lose someone dear to you, and that's reason aplenty for me to help as far as I'm concerned. And Eli, anything that undermines Scourge and Plugg is a good idea by me. Just be careful how you go about it. We'll be toeing a very dangerous line here. If there's anything we can do to help, let us know. You already know I can be subtle or put on a show when I need to," he adds as he nods towards Davina. "Granted the bilges aren't the best place to end up, but I reckon it beats being at the receiving end of Scourge's advances. And the air here is still fresher than anywhere within 5 paces of that guy."
Eli adds another rodent to the pile. "When I need help, I'll let you know."
Garavaen says, "If none else wants it, of prefer it to the two-handed mace... But buying back our great may be a better use of its value."
"I don't like telling a man who found something what he should do with it... but I think either of those weapons would go some way to buying back our gear. I owe Grok for kindly returnin' my bow. I can live without the rest of my stuff but I owe her a bit for that." He shakes a dead rat. "I was hoping to find something to trade her down here but luck may be against me on that... unless Longblade there has a good rat recipe."
"While I could probably use the mace, I am not very good with weapons and would likely fail to hit any target badly. I agree with Garavaen that they would be better used to buy our own gear back."
"Here you go Riel." Arenya says as she tosses him the dagger. "You can owe me one." she says flashing the angel a devlish smile and a wink.
"Come on Eli, lets see if we can find you something for your lady." she adds as she dives into the bilge waste in search of some unclaimed bauble.
[ooc]Sorry Eli[/dice]
The goblin's red eyes widen at Arenya's willingness to dive into filth. He hitches a green thumb in the direction of the fishing Bard and says with surprise and delight, "Now that is a game girl!" Like a seal, he dives into the muck after her.
Arenya digs around in the muck, but is unable to uncover anything. Eli dives in and hits his head on something. Coming up for air he surfaces with a muck covered longsword in tow.
Eli looks at his unwieldy and over-sized prize. He gives the bard a sweep of his filth-speckled hat in salute. "You got my thanks, Miss. I think this'll do." The goblin lashes the longsword over his shoulder like its a two-handed sword... a two-handed sword for a giant. It drags the floor like an anchor behind him.
Arenya surfaces dripping in the drenched in the bilge water. She sees the goblin surface with his prize and is immediately delighted. "Well done Eli. It seems these waters are a treasure trove. I'm certain a warrior such as Grok would be honoured by such a fine gift."
A laugh escapes her as she sees the goblin wield the blade like an oversized great sword. "Perhaps we should make it worthy of a gifting first. " Arenya calls upon her in inner magic forcing all the filth to flee from it and revealing a clean if not simple and effective weapon.
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Sitting, legged crossed, on top of a crate in the bilges Jack had listened to the conversation between his fellow rat slayers for the last 15-20 minutes. Standing up he walks to a rodent corpse, picks it up by the tail and walks to the piles Eli made. He tosses the rat on the Yea pile.
I don’t necessarily agree with all that has been said by you lot, but I do feel that Scourge will be the death off one or all of us if we don’t take action. I will stand by your side when the inevitably confrontation takes place. Anyways from now on if any of you get hurt and are in need of some healing, come see me.
Jack then joins in the search of the bilges.
Arenya calls upon her in inner magic forcing all the filth to flee from it and revealing a clean if not simple and effective weapon.
He admires the suddenly clean sword and smiles at the woman with approval. "You're all sorts of handy, ain't ya?"
To Jack's cautious comments, the goblin nods, "Fair enough. If you're willin' to help out, I've got your back. I know nothin' about healing but I'm a hazard with or without a weapon and sneaky to boot."
Arenya considers what she has heard and commits it to memory. "If there is nothing else, we should get going topside. I still have duties to finish for the day and I have intention of getting whipped for failing in them."
Garavaen says, "Let's find what treasures remain in here first."
After all the searching has been done and decisions made, Eli gathers a couple dead rats - one disemboweled and one with a broke neck. He dips one of his arms - up to the elbow - in the gutted rat, making sure it is coated in gore. He gives the crew a smile by way of explanation, "Just giving them something to worry about. Grab those other rats." He slings the two rats over his small shoulder and knocks on the door with the bloody claw, saying mildly. "We've left nothing alive in here. You can open the door or we can start a game of Poisonball with all these bodies."
Looking almost longingly at the hatch, "Good luck up there!" Davina turns back and gets to work.
Arenya quickly gets to work at the repairs. She doens't find it too hard. Her limited knowledge of sailing with a bit of mending magic manages to see her through, though the fight and all the repairs really takes a lot out of her and she finds herself exhausted. That looks like a pretty good job if I do say so myself. I think I'm getting the hang of this.
Garavaen searches around for a while longer, coming to the conclusion that this area of the ship no longer has any hidden treasures of a useful nature to reveal.
When the hatch opens and the group brings the rats up top, they're all amazed at the size, except for Jack, who exclaims, "See, I told you!" The only good thing that comes of it, is that Plugg relieves you of your regular day jobs, because of your work with the rats. As you start to feel relieved however, Plugg has an announcement.
"Since you alls feelin' like conquering heroes an all that. I think it's time we have ourselfs some sport." You see that he holds a chain in his hand that leads back to one of the bigger men you've ever seen. A hulking brute of a man, who grins at the rest of the crew with a simpleton's grace, and yells "Shiver me Timbers!" and then laughs as the crew laughs. Although you get the distinct impression that they are laughing at the man instead of with him. In fact, there appears to be dark shiny patches on his skin with feathers stuck to them, evidence of his being tarred and feathered.
"You. The newcomers. I'll make you a wager. One of you against Owlbear, fair fight, no magic, no weapons. Last one conscious wins." He fishes out a pouch and throws it to the floor with a heavy thunk, "I'll even puts up 100 gp for the winner. Safe money, since you'll never beat him. So, who's it goin' ta be?" He looks at you all with a sneering grin.
The rest of the crew forms a fighting circle on the deck, and Owlbear looks around at it with an excited hoot, "Blow em down!" He looks around at the crew who all start laughing again, and Owlbear smiles.
Relieved that she isn't being forced to continue work after the rats, Davina delightedly comes up from the bilge, and when she has a brief moment, prestidigitates herself clean of the muck she has been wading in. "Well, it is not perfect, and I still feel the need for a bath...a long hot bath...but it will do."
"For the victor. You win, you keep it. Owlbear wins, I keep it. Plus anyone that wagers against me." The rest of the crew chuckles at this, and Plugg looks around smugly. "So, quit beating around the bush, or I'll choose one of ya ta fight."
Garavaen sighs, Hopefully they didn't stick claws on him too..
He whispers to the others, "I can go. Let them get their jollies. I can take a punch or two, at least... Though, to be honest, I kind of wish I could win, just so Plugg loses face.. And coin."
Eli presents the cleaned longsword to Grok. "I thought you might like this." Any thoughts of further conversation are eclipsed by Plugg's idea of 'fun'. The goblin's mind starts working the angles and how it might fit into his plans... Whether winning or losing was better... What Plugg might mistakenly think of someone desperate enough to risk a hard beating for a handful of coins... The value of getting on the First Mate's good side while nudging Scourge into fear... All of it balanced against revealing all that any of them could do...
The goblin eyes the wrecking ball named Owlbear. He looked strong and probably used his fists all his life. If someone could get in good with him, maybe earn some respect... it might pay off.
The little archer glances up at the larger one and shakes his head, "No, I got this." He hands Gar his hat and steps forward, then off-handedly recalls his blood-stained arm and quickly cleans it off in a bucket while he goes over the proposition with Plugg.. "So a bag of gold against a faceful of bruises? I'm in." He steps over to the massive Owlbear and looks up... and up... and up. He offers his hand to Owlbear bracing for a handshake like a vice. "Hi, I'm Eli. You wanna go a couple of rounds?" He half-way expects a vicious surprise attack - that would be like Plugg.
I’ll go a couple of rounds with Owlbear. Jack says while stepping forward.
Jack studies the movement of his opponent to see if he has any chance.