Enya begins her trek up the boat, still singing.
Tao reaches the rail and rolls over onto the deck as he grabs a hold of the hook on his landing. He whirls around hook in hand glimpsing the deck hands readying their saps. At least their attention is no longer on his friends on the small boat below. Unfortunately, their attention was now squarely on the three up top. He needed to change these odds fast. Taking up a defensive stance, he spins the line in hand and tries to hook him a pirate.
Again, the pirate is able to shake off River's intimidating glare. He steps up and smacks her . Cuddles' target screams in terror as he's wrapped up in his beefy arms. He struggles mightily but is unable to break free. Tao successfully hooks his opponent with the grappling hook. It's latched on pretty tightly, and the pirate can't seem to get it undone. The fascinated pirate continues his blank stare at Enya.
The remaining two pirates swing their saps. Cuddles is struck a glancing blow . Tao's attacker seems particularly unlucky, as his sap gets stuck in the rigging when he tries to swing. It'll take him a couple seconds to get it loose.
Cuddles smiles as his prey wiggles in his grasp. He reaches down to his grappling hook and attaches it to the poor soul. He looks down to make sure enya or someone is the one connected to this rope, then tosses the poor man overboard, launching his teammate up.
Enya taps her foot and decides to hightail it up there herself.
She gets up and pulls herself onto the boat, all while keeping the song going.
Tao makes a great heave as he tugs the hooked man with all his might trying to swing the unfortunate sailor overboard. He wants to make quick work of this and get to River's side after seeing the devestating thumping she received from the pirate. His chest swells as he lets out a thundering bellow and yanks the rope with all his might.
INCOMING BELOW!
Enya taps her foot and decides to hightail it up there herself. [accelerated Climb] She gets up and pulls herself onto the boat, all while keeping the song going.
It was probably a very accelerated climb since Enya is the only one light enough to ride Cuddles elevator :-)
Alain will try and throw a grappling hook...
+1 for Enya's song?
I let out a sudden "Oomph!" as the pirate smacks me in the gut, I nearly topple over but manage to keep my footing, however I do stumble back a couple of feet before looking to Cuddles for a little help, but upon seeing him occupied I glare at the pirate that Cuddles is holding onto. All the while still laughing. I place a hand on my stomach to cradle the pain in one hand.
Again, the pirate shakes off River's intimidating glare. Maybe they're getting used to the mad laughter. Cuddles hurls his grappled foe overboard with minimal effort. Tao does the same with his opponent. The other pirate takes a swing at him but - again - gets his sap stuck in the rigging. It looked like it would have been a nasty hit too. Such bad luck... Enya's halfway up her rope when she's suddenly catapulted skyward on the "Cuddles Elevator." Alain easily hooks the ship's rail with his grappling hook.
Grabbing the rope, he tries to pull it free from the pirate who was thrown overboard.
Tao's pirate has become the unluckiest man in the world as, once again, he gets tangled in a particularly pesky bit of rigging. The other pirate, however, smacks Cuddles again . Fascinated pirate is still fascinated. Everyone else is swimming.
Tao takes a long stride forward to where the sailor WAS standing as he hefts the huge blade off of his back. His knuckles whiten and leather can be heard straining under his grip as every muscle in his arms go taut. He spins once as he moves forward building momentum and strikes the closest assailant with the flat of his blade, determined to "chop" his way to River.
Cuddles looks about. And sees a pirate having a lot of trouble with some rigging. Cuddles moves to assist. Whether the pirate appreciates it remains to be seen.
Enya stops singing but the words remain. The pirate she had facinated still sways to the song. "So that's how its gonna be, eh?" She smiles. "Alright! Come at me! But um you... Can you help me?" She smiles at a pirate holding a sap and beckons him over with her finger. "I could use a big strong lad like yourself to help me have some fun!" She giggles and winks at him, her perfume wafting over in his direction.
Tao flattens his pirate. Still conscious, but he doesn't look like he wants to get back up. "No fair... Ya didn't have to hit me that hard..." As Enya nimbly lands on her feet and beckons enticingly at the pirate attacking Cuddles, he lowers his weapon and starts to walk towards her. This throws off Cuddles' aim, and his barely misses his grab .
Riaris Krine looks at the six of you appraisingly as you finish climbing on board. "Unorthodox, but effective, and it got the job done. And you gave a couple of my boys a much-needed bath, so I'll give you the win here. Don't let it get to your heads; most of you still can't climb worth a damn." As she walks off, you think you stifle a slight grin.
At the Bloody Hour, six angry pirates are given lashes for incompetence and failure to perform their required duties.
Rum Ration: If rum is drunk, gain 1d4 CHA, lose 1d3 CON, and be fatigued for 1d8 hours. DC 5 to prevent addiction (or in Tao's case, to completely cure it).
Alain will try swapping his rum for a mug a crewmember has already drained.
The ache assails Tao as the time for rum rations arrives again. Tao grits his teeth as the rations are poured into his prototype "Sneak-a-Grog" Mug, it's golden shimmer reflecting the sparking, glowing torches flanking the server. He shakes his head as he realizes he is romanticizing the filthy drink and steeles himself once more and fights the urge to drink.
Walking back to the railing, Tao peers down into his tankard as he makes his first attempt to use his prototype. He leans over the side and swirls the drink around a few times hoping that the mechanisms in place work, and if they don't, what he can do to modify them.
[dice=Knowledge (Engineering) on The "Bottomful Tankard" (patent pending)]1d20+3[/dice]
With the test complete, Tao inspects his tankard and tries to sneak the liquor over the edge without anyone noticing.
Cuddles once again surrenders his drink to Owlbear. Today he stays down there. He's pretty beat up from the fight, and doesn't want to hang around all the others and their complicated talking.
Climbing up over the amount of time he has, he shakes his head as he pulls himself onto the deck. "I am not meant for that aspect of being on a boat...clearly."
With Rum Rations, he sloshes the cup around in circles and shakes his head with a slightly shudder. He takes his chance to pass it off as he so often does.
After his hand off, he looks about, trying to decide if he wants to talk to anyone...other than Enya.
Finally, he decides to go and find Fishguts, since he didn't get to spend his day with him.
Enya laughs as Aldous and Alain come aboard. "That was fun!" She blows a kiss at the pirate and bounds off to check on Mica before the ration.
Once on deck for the ration, she tries to find an easy way to dump her tankard. She walks over to the side of the boat and lets it pour out into the ocean.
She decides to look around a bit until she goes down to the galley to be with Aldous.
As the call for victory is called out I stop my cackling and let out a very deep sigh of relief, then rub my throat. Obviously that is something I am not used to yet, laughing that much or that hard, but a little practice will be in order. I am also relieved to see that none of us boarders are among the whipped today.
During the Rum Ration I try to find someone who is rather drunk, so I can pour my drink into their mug.
After the drink has been disposed of, I head to my hammock where I lay there quietly for a while, stroking Arirai gently before drifting off into a peaceful sleep.
Alain: Scourge happens to walk by right as you dump your rum in Ratline's mug. He doesn't say anything, but you think you see him talking quietly to Plugg later on. The rest of the night goes by uneventfully.
Aldous: After ditching your rum, you find Kroop chatting with Grok. He grins as you walk up. "Ay there, laddie! Grok here was just tellin' me about your successfully capturing our ship this afternoon! Wish I coulda been there to see it; Cap'n wanted roasted pig for dinner, so I been slavin' away in the galley all day. Missed ya down there, but hey, everyone needs a break now and then, right?"
Cuddles: As always, Owlbear gratefully takes your rum and quaffs it thirstily. This time, as he hands the mug back, he offers you a live crab.
River: You ditch your rum without a problem, make it belowdecks without being accosted, and fall asleep quickly and painlessly.
Tao: Your device doesn't leak, but it doesn't seem to be working at all. Maybe because it's not waterproof, or maybe because it requires finer manipulation than your improvised tools can handle. Still, nothing broke, so keep on tweaking.
Cuddles accepts the live crab and has little trouble crushing its thin shell. The little thing tries to defend itself, but Cuddles's thick callouses protect him. He slurps the little animal's innards through the crack and pulverizes the claws and legs with little effort. When he's done, he scoots over to sit opposite the barrel with Owlbear, and the two enjoy a nice, quiet evening of simple sentences, grammar, and grunts the smarter folk have a harder time appreciating.
He then heads to bed.
As Enya waits in the galley, she gets a strange vision. Two humans - one male, one female. The names Whackarogue and KatsuneSage appear in her mind. Suddenly, the man drops to one knee and removes something from his pocket. A moment later, feelings of extreme happiness erupt from both of them. As the vision gradually fades away, Enya gets the sense that it was possibly the most important thing she's ever witnessed.
To love someone deeply gives you strength.
Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage.
~ Lao Tzu
Congratulations!
Alain: Man the Bilges
Aldous: Fishing (Kroop is drunk, so you also get to cook! Don't forget the -4)
Cuddles: Runner
Enya: Hauling Rope/Knot Work
River: Swab the Decks
Tao: Mainsail Duties
Enya easily gets he work done and, though she feels tired, hums a small melody. It comforts her and all that can hear.
"This isn't looking good. Two riggers who hate my guts assigned to bilge duty with me. This isn't going to end well...
Once Scourge leaves he'll cast mage armor on himself (AC15).
I perform my usual activities in the morning and once I am back from Grok's I wait to hear what I have been assigned to today. I look at the decks when I hear I am to clean them again and let out a very quiet sigh, my throat still hoarse and sore after all of the laughing yesterday.
I do my work, not stopping for anything, keeping my head down and making sure that I finish all that I can within the day.
Both pirates pull daggers and glare at you.
Both pirates step forward and swipe at you. Red's weapon bounces off an invisible force field, but Blue takes advantage of your distraction and gashes your chest .
[ooc]Your Turn. Please keep posts in spoilers for the moment.
EDIT: Map
(fail. provokes AoO from blue)
Dehydrating Touch (Sp): Starting at 1st level, you can make a melee touch attack as a standard action that inflicts 1d6 points of nonlethal damage + 1 for every two sorcerer levels you possess and sickens the target for 1 round.
As you move away, Blue stabs you again - just barely getting through your invisible armor .
Round Two
Again, Red moves forward and slashes ineffectually at you. Blue grunts in pain at your touch , then starts laughing. "It's no use, pretty boy. You're as good as dead. Stop prolonging the inevitable."
A shaken character takes a –2 penalty on attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks. Shaken is a less severe state of fear than frightened or panicked.
Cuddles just barely manages to trip and blunder through his daily duties, but the task is easy enough.
Time to put pride aside,
After his shout for help Alain will go full defensive (AC 19) and cast sleep defensively
Tao notices the absence of the two riggers as he begins work. It takes a moment for him to piece together what was happening. Tao curses under his breath when it finally all clicks together as he drops down from the rigging and bolts for the bilges.
The hatch is thrown open as Tao, panting and wild eyed, look down into the dark bowels of the ship just as the yell for help echoed up to him. Seeing Alain bloodied, his eyes shift to the other two. With a primal growl, Tao closes the distance between Alain's assailants drawing his greatsword with true fury in his eyes.
This ends...