Toramin smashes through the creature's shell and it stops moving. After that it takes a minute to cut Rilka out, but she takes no further damage.
With ample time and the immediate crisis averted, Dalton floundered to the surface.
"I've never seen anything quite like that!" I suppose that's what I get for thinking the ship's rocking was a problem...
Bjorkus paddles up to the side of the boat and grabs a hold. He extends a hand to help some of the less able climbs on board.
"You'll wanna get out of the water. The blood's likely to attract sharks or worse before long", he warns.
One of the crew members swims over to Bjorkus as the rest start climbing up. "Good news captain. We got her righted quick enough that none of our equipment got ruined. Might have to dry it for a bit, but no real harm was done. Looks like the sides where we were hit have nothing but scratches."
Bjorkus grunts and gives the crewman a nod of gratitude for the good news.
"See the holds pumped and the injured below decks. We'll get 'em treated soon enough."
Once he and his friends are back on the Storm's deck the bull laughs. "It's too bad those things sink when they die. We couldn't eaten like kings for weeks."
Dalton ponders Bjorkus's thought aloud. "I've never had turtle before."
"How often do those beasts roam about the waters here? It seems a barding or some such would be beneficial for them, though I'm no expert on ships."
The wizard looked in his spellbook but came up dry despite his soggy status. "I am not particularly specialized with woodworking. I can make repair jobs easier for your crew, but not do any special job."
"Beasts like that show up all time", Bjorkus explains. "But normally I'd have Kal up in the crow's nest instead of the wheel. He'd have seen them comin' in time to give us a proper warning and Aisha wouldn't been on the ballista to help drive 'em off." The bull shakes his head. "The sea's gunna be a whole lot more dangerous until we get the rest of the crew back."
With the immediate danger past, the party begins the search for the isle with the old crew. Unfortunately the horizon is full of isles, spread apart across the ocean.
Dalton confidently zones in on a cluster of islands, then a trio of islands, but as he directs the ship between two of them the realization that the Raging Storm is about to hit an underwater rock cropping dawns on everybody. With a commanding shout Bjorkus brings the crew to order, nimbly maneuvering the ship between the rocks with such finesse that the only damage is a small scratch starboard.
And then everybody sees the fire. A smoky, billowing fire that was clearly made to attract attention. In the next few minutes the old crew is spotted on the sandy beaches of the northernmost isle.
In the immediate aftermath of the battle, Rilka accepted the help of the sailors in getting back into the ship. She sighs once she reaches the soothing darkness bellow deck. ”I can heal myself,” she says as she begins mixing reagents. Her fingers aren’t quite as deft as they normally are, but soon she has two healing extracts finished.
As the ship continues on, she takes off her armor and inspects the links for damage from the turtle-shark. Oh, it would have been good to make a nice meal out of one of those...I can’t believe I’m this sea-sick. You’d think with all the flips and tumbling I can do, I’d be well equipped for dealing with life on a ship. No luck so far.
Her sickness symptoms feel slightly better at the aft’s ship. She watches the wake and the islands they passed. Eventually a shout of excitement. Smoke? Rilka thinks turning her attention to where people are pointing.
”Captain, who’s going in the shore boat?”
If bringing the Storm back under his command had filled Bjorkus with joy, seeing the rest of his crew alive (if a little worse for wear) had him grinning like a fool. He sets the crew to dropping a couple dingies into the water where they're rowed in short order onto the sandy beach. A few minutes later the rowboats return with the island's contents, a scrappy mismatch of sizes and shapes that could only be the remaining crew of the Raging Storm.
Bjorkus greets each of them as they climb on board the Storm's deck, some with a handshake and others with a quick tight embrace.
The bull introduces each of them with pride, both to his friends and the green collection of former mercs and slaves.
"It's a about damned time you came to find us Captain", Luthor says, a strongly built young human man of northern stock sporting knuckles thick with callous. With his unkempt beard he looked a younger version of the late Ragnar. "A few more days and I thought for sure Axen was going to kill poor Chubs. A man can only endure a goblin's singing for so sodding long."
"Like the rotten fathead ever could", a wretched goblin with a mouth full of needle-like says in a grating chirp. "Chubwart was king of the island!"
"King of my Arse more like" the massively built dwarf grumbles through his greasy beard. "We were all alone on the wee island goblin. Nobody woulda known..."
"We're just glad you're alive", Zandra and her amazonian 'sister' Anya say in perfect unison. Immediately after Zandra pulls at the shabby rags she's dressed in self-consciously. Anya's similarly dressed but doesn't seem uncomfortable in the slightest.
"We thought for sure you were dead when Blakros dragged you off in irons", Gabby adds, somehow looking elegant despite the poor conditions.
"Ha! I might have raised a fool but there's no way that coward could kill the Captain, the heavily tattooed Aisha says proudly. "The spirits said it and the spirits never lie."
The last two, Seg and Zirul (a big hideously scarred orc and rail-thin elf) only nod weakly in agreement with the rest of the survivors but look glad to be off the island.
Bjorkus stands up prouder than he's been in months. "Crew, these are friends I made while I was away. They helped me live long enough to make it back to you and take back the Storm. This is Toramin and Ianna Gearsmith, Dalton Barrowwheel, and Rilka Featherfeet. Toramin and Ianna are dwarven royalty from Dagin Kalp up in the mountains west of Andril. The prince is a warrior, the best I've ever seen maybe, and the princess is a priestess of the dwarven love-goddess; Dalton's a mage and a merchant in equal parts; and Rilka's a burglar. She's packin' one of those pistols you used to have Aisha."
Dalton nods in greeting to those who don't extend hands and returns the gesture with those who do. It seems we weren't as mismatched as I'd thought. This group looks like they escaped from a menagerie.
The crew not seeming to be perishing of disease, the wizard gazed inland. "What have you found on this island? It's without name or note that I can remember." His inquiry of the crew was mostly due curiosity, but he also wanted to gauge what people did when stranded on an island for an extended time.
Ianna makes sure her brother is alright.
"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance," Ianna proffers with a curtsie.
Toramin nods at the introductions. Perhaps some of these were villains, but they can chose a new path.
Luthor shrugs in response to Dalton. "A few wild animals, but no other people."
Dalton thinks about the group of islands and the shape of the one he is on currently.
"Large predators by any chance?" Unspoiled resources in cave walls, perhaps - if this island has them.
Bjorkus cocks a brow at Dalton's line of questioning. "You lookin' for some kinda beast? Ragnar and Kal should be able to help you. There a couple of the best trackers I know."
He shakes his head. "Nothing too big. Biggest problem was getting food, not fighting off predators. Although we did find a lot of bones in a cave close to that big rise in the middle of the island."
Rilka smiles wearily and waves a hand as if lazily brushing away a fly. ”Good to meet you.” She thinks, Burglar? Hmmm. It does make sense he’d see me that way. Disarming traps and picking locks. Still, I don’t want to be the prime suspect among a ship of pirates...hopefully former pirates, if things go missing.
”I’m really good at ‘stealing’ knowledge and sea-sickness,” Rilka quips, a part of her mind wondering how anyone could steal sea-sickness.
The mention of Rilka’s struggle to find her sea legs reminds Bjorkus of the brief encounter with the dopple-Rangar.
"Thanks for the warning 'bout Ragnar", Bjorkus says. "The Ragnar that was with us when we took down Blakros and took back the Storm was an imposter - some kinda shapeshifter. When it learned we'd found it out he attacked the crew and took off into the sea."
"A shapeshifter? Like Kal?" Luthor asks with a glance at the young druid.
"No, nothin' like Kal. This thing was wearin' Ragnar's skin. And it was a damned good liar. He had me fooled for the real thing until he tore out poor Dolok’s throat with his teeth."
Chubwart immediately begins laughing loudly until an angry glare from Aisha shuts him up. "Sorry Captain... Ragnar was a good pirate."
"So what's the plan captain?" Opal, the pale and beautiful sylph sorceress asks breaking the bout of awkward silence. "I get the feeling you didn't bring your priestess along for some honest piracy", she says with a wink at Ianna.
"First we're stoppin' in Pine Lake to drop a few of these folks off and handle an errand. We'll resupply while we're there then we're headin' south - towards Wasco. With a little luck we'll find a nice fat merchant ship along the way."
Toramin frowns heavily at this last part, waves the bull over to whisper in his ear.
"Bjorkus, I will not tell you how to run your ship, but I will not be party to piracy. I thought your days as an outlaw were done."
”Did I ever stop bein’ an outlaw? Aren’t we all outlaws? We’ve brought ruin to two different nations in a short few months. The Aestherics are a whole lot more dangerous than a bunch of pirates.”
Bjorkus frowns and shakes his shaggy bovine head.
”But unlike the soddin' Aestherics, I’m not gunna ask you to compromise what you believe is right. No piratin’ while you and your sister are on board. I’ll have to find another way to keep the crew paid in the meantime. We should be able to move some of those drugs in Pine Lake. Maybe we’ll be able to pick up some bounties too.”
"I suppose you'd have the same complaints 'bout knockin' over slave ships? We're bound to run into plenty in these waters. After Akropash I still feel like I owe those sods a few black eyes."
Dalton passed on the discord between the two. While he was not keen on the piracy either, he could turn the other cheek for now.
He waddled back to Luthor. "Were those bones you spoke of human? I'm wondering who would've been here."
Luthor shakes his head. "Animals, looked like."
"We brought ruin to the wicked. The sad fact of the matter is that "fat merchants" could be good men like Dalton. What have they done to potentially lose lives and goods to a pirate's greed? We do not know enough of the lives and the source of their wealth to make that judgment.
On the other hand, liberating slaves and reducing the resources of slavers seems like a wise and true plan. A plan that reflects the growing nobility of your last few months. I believe you are a good man, Bjorkus. I am happy that you will act like one."
Toramin continues to keep his voice low as he councils Bjorkus -- ever aware of not trying to undercut his authority on The Storm.
Bjorkus laughs. "Yeah, I'm one miracle away from being a soddin' saint."
With the issue settled, Bjorkus returns to seeing his rescued crew taken care of. He makes sure they're given food and fresh water from the barrels Ianna had been replenishing.
"Rest up because there's a whole lotta work that needs to get done and these swabs can barely tie a knot. Aisha, see about gettin' a few of 'em trained on how to use the cannon and the ballista. Zirul, there's crates of drugs in the hold leftover from when Blakros had the Storm. Take a look and find out what we can sell in Pine Lake without stirring up a fuss with the port authority. Axen, get 'em drilling. We were attacked by giant turtles on the way here and I've never seen men slower to grab a weapon when their lives depended on it."
I hope we don’t see a merchant ship, Rilka thinks, attempting to gauge which people will be easier to convince to renounce the pirate life. Need to talk to Bjorkus and the others about that. Maybe this crew could go after slavers or pirates. Or offer protection to a merchant ship for a fee. I don’t know. She sees Toramin whispering in Bjorkus’ ear and can guess what the dwarf is saying.
”Aisha was it?” she asks. ”You got the pistol? I’ll attempt to fix it for you and teach you what I know about gun care.”
Despite missing a few teeth, the older woman's big smile is warm and inviting.
"You've got it girl, Aisha Banson. I had pistols - two of 'em. Midnight and Calypso had been with me as long as I've been on the water. I'm going to miss 'em alright."
At the mention of aid she kneels down to kiss the halfling's forehead. "Nothing would make me happier but tell me where the captain found a kind soul like you. That bull only brings two types of girls around here - pirates and bedmates."
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Rilka blinks in surprise after being kissed on the forehead. Does she go around kissing all the halflings she meets? Maybe I remind her of a human child. It happens.
”Sorry to hear about the loss of your pistols,” Rilka says. ”As for how the Captain found me,” she pauses, shrugging. ”You’re right, I’m not a pirate nor a bedmate. I’m more of an adventurer. I was in a position to help him out, and I’ve been told that the sea provides an education, so that’s why I’m here. So far, I’ve learned I make a good snack for a turtle-shark.”
The detour put the party one day behind schedule, but on the evening of the eighth day the small port just north of Pine Lake is seen. The Raging Storm is docked and dwarf with bulbous features and a sunburnt nose waddles up the dock. He has some parchment in his hand. "Welcome to the domain of Moha the Brave. What's your business and how long will you be docked?"
Around the port is a small settlement of around fifty people. A dozen armed men sit around a table next to the docks, playing some sort of game with stone tablets. They're vaguely paying attention to the conversation.
As soon as she’s docked and the crew is put to work cleaning things up, Bjorkus exits the Storm to greet the dwarf.
”Resupply and drop off passengers”, the bull rumbles. ”Shouldn’t be more than a couple days. Where are bounties posted around here?”
The dwarf grunts and scribbles something down. "Docking is a gold a day. Are you carrying any contraband? Would you consent to a search?" He scratched at his peeling nose. [b]"I have the bounty list, although it's usually two to three weeks out of date. Pine Lake would have an updated version."[/b{
"Nothing to report and I don't think a search'll be necessary", Bjorkus says as he drops the requested coins and then several more in the dwarf's palm. "Out of date or not I wouldn't mind seein' the bounties."
The dwarf gives a satisfied grunt. "Yeah, we're a busy lot around here. Can't spend our precious time checking every honest boat." Bjorkus can't help but notice the dozen men lounging in the background. The dwarf pockets the coins and takes out a scroll, unfurling it.
Parting from the dwarf, Bjorkus considers the nosy dockworkers while looking over the bounty list.
Climbing back on the Storm’s deck, Bjorkus addresses the crew.
”Axen, work leave out with the crew. Half can spend the day in town today and the other half tomorrow. I shouldn’t need to say it but stick together out there. Slavery is legal in most of Yenrick still and a couple sailors drunk out of their wits make for easy marks . There aren’t a whole lotta rules around here but don’t go makin’ any trouble that’s gunna find its way to me”, the bull warns.
”Luthor, take Zirul and a few of the new guys into town. Sell off as much of the s*&! in the holds that you can without causing a fuss.”
”Opal, grab as many men as you need and resupply the ship. We’ll need a couple more week’s food and materials for repairs. Bandu and Seg you go with her as muscle.”
With his orders given, Bjorkus turns his attention to his friends.
”I don’t know if Ninnec had a place in mind to meet him but I can send some of the crew along if you’d like”, he offers Dalton.
When the group has some privacy, Rilka asks, ”Bjorkus, do you think this ship or any of the crew might have a bounty on it? Is it likely we’ll run into bounty hunters?”
When Rilka has some free time, she approaches the men playing the game of stone tablets. ”Mind if I watch?”
”Bjorkus, do you think this ship or any of the crew might have a bounty on it? Is it likely we’ll run into bounty hunters?”
As Rilka closes in on the men a few of them look over, but none seem very concerned about her approaching. A few raise eyebrows at the question. One of the men playing, a human with broad shoulders, lanky brown hair, and a scar running through his cheek, grunts and shrugs. "Sure. Just killin' time with this old game." From Rilka's experience working with games in Akropash, she quickly recognizes the game. It's a game that's about 80/20 strategy/luck, and it's all about how the tablets interact with each other when placed certain ways. The goal is to clear your opponent's "home line", which means discarding all of the tablets in the line closest to them. Right now the broad-shouldered human is losing, but he has a tactical advantage.
"Don't think so", Bjorkus says looking over the list. "But that doesn't mean there aren't killers out here lookin' for one of us. Keep an eye out."
Two hours later the party and part of the crew walks into Pine Lake. It takes about five seconds to understand the irony of the name. The 'lake' is more of a pond, borderline a bath. It's a small town of crumbling stone and flimsy wooden buildings, the outer houses arranged to act as a barricade. As the large group comes up to the doors, two armed guardsmen lazily block the path with crossed spears. A grey lizardfolk and a tiefling with a shaved head and little nubs of horns. The tieflings slowly glances over the group. "What's your business in Pine lake?"
”Axen, work leave out with the crew. Half can spend the day in town today and the other half tomorrow. I shouldn’t need to say it but stick together out there. Slavery is legal in most of Yenrick still and a couple sailors drunk out of their wits make for easy marks . There aren’t a whole lotta rules around here but don’t go makin’ any trouble that’s gunna find its way to me”, the bull warns.
”Luthor, take Zirul and a few of the new guys into town. Sell off as much of the s+~$ in the holds that you can without causing a fuss.”
”Opal, grab as many men as you need and resupply the ship. We’ll need a couple more week’s food and materials for repairs. Bandu and Seg you go with her as muscle.”
"We're just passin' through and lookin' to resupply", Bjorkus explains.
The tiefling continues scanning the group. "Mmmhmm. And what exactly is your business?"
"We're unaffiliated sailors", Bjorkus explains. "Right now we're escortin' this merchant to his family", he adds with a nod at Dalton.
The lizardfolk hisses at 'unaffiliated sailors', but the tiefling looks at Dalton with the same neutral gaze. "Tell me Mr.Merchant, how'd you end up hiring unaffiliated sailors as escorts?"