Alain is pretty jumpy starting his shift but eventually settles down to work. He keeps up with the pumps but finds himself tiring quickly.
Aldous sighs at the thought of another day of fishing, but grabs the pole gratefully when he sees that Kroop isn't drunk. "I'll be back in a bit!"
Praying for a quick assist from his spiteful goddess, he begins attempting to catch some fish for the crew.
Having a fair amount of luck, he brings his catch down to Kroop to help cook.
While cooking, Aldous makes a point to imply lots of things without saying anything, trying to be as ambiguous as possible as to not 'kiss and tell'.
Enya works hard throughout the day. Once her shift is over (as the crew's gathering for the Bloody Hour), she sings a little ditty.
Evening
Any minor slip-ups you might have made are ignored. Seems the Captain wants everyone to be healthy and well-rested come the morn. By the looks of it, that ship you've been following is a merchant vessel and is only about a couple miles away. By morning, you should be able to board her (barring unforseen circumstances).
Tao decides to take the night off from his constant focus on his little project and try to do some gambling to win some money to buy tools (or some other swag if he can make a deal with the quartermaster). Since Tao has no gold of his own, he offers to do 2 days of work against their gold for anyone that could beat him in a Hog Lob contest. During each throws, Tao will be Raging adding 4 to his Str for a total of 8 CMB. He will be sure to stagger each challenge by two rounds a piece to ensure that he is not fatigued before the next attempt.
Alain will attempt to entertain the crew with a story...
When Captain Don Sandovate voyaged from Spain to the New World in search of treasure, he found gold in abundance. But among his crew there were many sailors who did not wish to share the new-found wealth with the monarchs of Spain. On their journey up the Atlantic Coast, the sailors mutinied and imprisoned their captain, tying him to the main mast and refusing to give him food or drink. Day after day, the captain lay exposed to the hot sun of summer, his body drying up as the treacherous sailors worked around him. Finally, his pride broken, Don Sandovate begged: "Water. Please. Give me just one sip of water." The mutineers found this amusing, and started carrying water up to the main mast and holding it just out of reach of their former captain.
In the terrible heat of a dry summer, the captain did not survive long without water. A few days after the mutiny, the captain succumbed to heat and thirst. The new captain, a greedy Spaniard with no compassion in his soul, left Don Sandovate tied to the mast, his body withering away, while the ship turned pirate and plundered its way up the coast. But Providence was watching the ruthless men, and a terrible storm arose and drove the ship deep into the Atlantic, where it sank with all hands, the body of Don Sandovate still tied to the broken mast.
Shortly after the death of the mutineers-turned-pirate, an eerie ghost ship began appearing along the coast, usually in the calm just before a storm. It had the appearance of a Spanish treasure ship, but its mast was broken, its sails torn, and the corpse of a noble-looking Spaniard was tied to the mast. The ship was crewed by skeletons in ragged clothing. As it passed other ships or houses near the shore, the skeletons would stretch out bony hands and cry: "Water. Please. Give us just one sip of water." But none can help them, for they are eternally doomed to roam the Atlantic, suffering from thirst in payment for their terrible deeds against their captain and the good people living along the Atlantic coast.
I sigh quietly when I realise that I will not be whipped today and after the Rum Ration, as per usual I head straight to bed to get an early night before the next day's activities.
Aldous spends the evening going about the crew, making sure everyone is all healed up and has no wounds to worry about. If they are to go into combat, he will not let any of them be harmed, whether they like him or not. After doing so, he heads to Kroop.
"If I promise to get a good night's sleep can I count on another night of freedom?" he asks as he makes his friend a nice large glass of wine...that was once water.
Provided Kroop is with Grok, he will smile to her and ask afterwards, "Do you have any tools for woodworking or crafting small devices? A friend of mine was interested..."
Cuddles stays on deck to watch Tao toss the pig. Why it's called a pig escapes him, but he enjoys himself nonetheless.
Honestly, he's not quite sure what to do with himself. Aldous is healing people, everyone's prepping for a battle, and Cuddles is... confused. So he defaults to his preferred activity: shadowing his friends around and making sure none of them are in need of a good hug. If he encounters someone who he deems is in need, he will fill that need with gusto.
@Tao: It's close, but you manage to come out on top in the Hob Lob contest. You win a total of 74gp! If you head down to Grok's store, you'll be able to gather everything you need for a mere 30gp.
@Alain: Everyone's very impressed with your story .
Everyone gets a good night's rest but is woken up abruptly by Riaris Krine the next morning. She rushes you up on deck, and you see that you're closing fast with the merchant ship. You estimate you'll be beginning a boarding action within the next 10min. If you don't have a weapon, Riaris hands you a dagger as she explains, "The ship's wheel is on the aft deck, just below the sterncastle. You're going to grapple over, kill the guards on the sterncastle, take the wheel, and guard the ship's boats. Kill anyone who tries to get away in one of the boats. Don't move from the wheel until the fighting's done, or you'll have to answer to me. Oh, yeah, as we get closer, it's going to get foggy. Just stick with what I told you to do." She points to Cuddles. "You. You're in charge of the boarding party." Then she rushes to another group of sailors, leaving you alone.
Once we're on our own Alain will ask, "I can cast five spells, mage armor or sleep. What do you want? I'm thinking four mage armor's and save one sleep for the assault."
*edit*"Also, given our history of failing climb checks we should probably spend a few minutes tying knots in the ropes we're to use to grapple over. Just sayin'"
Cuddles needs a moment... He stares at the dagger... well, it would be a dagger to a normal person. More like a thumb tack in his hands. He shrugs and tucks it in his rope-belt. Then he is appointed 'in charge'. Alain starts talking about casting armor somewhere before he can get his thoughts together, so he sits and ties knots in a rope. That seems to help. After a moment he says,
CUDDLES LEADER? CUDDLES NOT LEAD BEFORE. CUDDLES DOES HUGS. WHAT 'IN CHARGE' MEAN?
Alian looks at Cuddles expectantly, "So who do you want me to cast mage armor on boss?"
MAGEY ARMOR HEAVY? ALAIN NEED CAREFUL IF IS. NOT HURT FRIENDS.
Cuddles obviously has little to no experience with magic.
"I cast it on you once before. When we were trying to board this ship, remember? It doesn't weigh anything. It just makes you harder to hit."
I look to Alain and smile, "Umm, I'd love a casting please. I know the incantations and the hand gestures but I didn't get time to prepare it today." I look at the dagger in Cuddles' hand and hold onto my own short-spear with a firm grip. "I'd rather have this than that ... with that you get too close, easier to get hurt."
Cuddles scrunches his brow in concentration, trying to remember. It takes a couple seconds, but finally he remembers. OH! THAT! SURE! PEOPLE FIRST OVER ON SHIP GET SHELL. CUDDLES, TAO. AND RIVER, BECAUSE SHE NICE LITTLE GIRL AND SAY PLEASE. WE KEEP BUSY WHILE OTHERS SKITTLE ABOARD. ANGRY CUSSING LADY SAID WILL GET FOGGY, BUT CUDDLES NO SEE FOGGY. MAYBE SHE KNOW THING CUDDLES NOT KNOW. HAPPEN MUCH.
RIVER WANT SKITTLE WITH FIRSTIES CUDDLES AND TAO? THAT WHY WANT SHELL?
I look to our large leader, "I have a couple of spells prepared, however I have to be quite close to the enemy to be able to use them. Once they have been used I will focus on cursing them with bad luck."
YOU BE WITH CUDDLES THEN! He scoops her and Alain up at the same time in a crushing embrace . Cuddles feels like he's starting to like this battle thing. Then he notices that he has the wrong person, drops Alain, and ensnares Tao in that arm.
I giggle a little, then let out a gasp of air as I am pulled close to Cuddles and held there firmly but not painfully. "I...I'll try to stay by you then." As Cuddles picks up Tao I give him a little wave, before holing onto Cuddles arm tightly but not painfully.
Cuddles drops the pair shortly thereafter and continues knotting rope. As far as he is concerned, the battle is planned to a T. What could possibly go wrong?
Tao drops to his feet stumbling ever so slightly after the tremendous hug. He takes his place with the others and begins to knot the ropes with them. He smiles to himself at the plan with no comments either way. There is a bit of brilliance and beauty to its simplicity. A round before they are within range, Tao attaches a grappling hook to one of the ropes and readies to get a line onto the vessel.
Cuddles scrunches his brow in concentration, trying to remember. It takes a couple seconds, but finally he remembers. OH! THAT! SURE! PEOPLE FIRST OVER ON SHIP GET SHELL. CUDDLES, TAO. AND RIVER, BECAUSE SHE NICE LITTLE GIRL AND SAY PLEASE. WE KEEP BUSY WHILE OTHERS SKITTLE ABOARD. ANGRY CUSSING LADY SAID WILL GET FOGGY, BUT CUDDLES NO SEE FOGGY. MAYBE SHE KNOW THING CUDDLES NOT KNOW. HAPPEN MUCH.
RIVER WANT SKITTLE WITH FIRSTIES CUDDLES AND TAO? THAT WHY WANT SHELL?
Alian nods, "Sure thing boss."
He'll cast mage armor on Cuddles, Tao, and River (+4 AC, 2 hour duration).
Just before boarding action is called, Cuddles attaches a grappling hook and looks to see if he can spot anyone important on the other ship.
As with every morning, Aldous wakes up earlier than most so he can say his prayers and give his brief sermon. At this point, he can include everyone in his sermon, so Alain gets full use of his powers, as well.
He realizes, if they are boarding a ship this day, then a bit more offensive power would be required and prepares spells accordingly.
"Remember, if someone attacks you and misses, you can evoke the powers granted by my goddess. She will help you move to get better positions." With that he pulls his scorpion whip from his waist and gives it a nice crack. "Also, don't be surprised if they attack their own men...or simply jump off the boat."
Looking over to Enya, he leans in and whispers,
Enya nods at Aldous, winking and smiling. "I can distract some of them. Ill do my best to keep them out of our hair."
The ships continue to draw closer together. Suddenly, thick fog billows over the decks of the enemy ship. Right as this happens, a couple crossbow bolts shoot towards you, and one hits Tao in the meaty part of his shoulder .
As soon as the other ship is in range, cuddles tosses his grappling hook over to the other ship and makes ready to pull like a fisherman if anyone attempts to grab the hook and remove it.
Tao placed a foot on the ship railing and gives the hook a few quick spins before giving it a great heave at the other ship.
Alain will cast message on River and Tao and prepare to cast sleep (DC15, 10'radius) on the deck of the merchant ship timing the spell to go off just before the spearhead of our assault (Cuddles, Tao and River) get across the ropes. He'll target the area near where the boarding hooks grip the rail in order to clear a space for them to get aboard.
Aldous watches, at the ready to follow his friends over. "If we see someone in charge, let me try to hit them first before you charge them. I have a trick I would like to try," he says to the leading group of their little boarding party.
But haw ah you planning to see da leaduh though da mist?
I hold on to Cuddles as we are about to board and hold my breath slightly, in my furs something moves and Arirai pokes his head out, licks my cheek and hides in my furs again.
As soon as I have my feet on the enemy ship I will cast Burning Hands, but hold the charge until I can see an enemy to release it upon.
The two ships crash into each other with a loud thud, and you know that it's time to begin. The fog is extremely thick, but you can vaguely see the enemy ship's rail. Around you, pirates throw grappling hooks, swing over, and are lost in the fog. Seconds later, you hear the fierce sounds of battle being joined. As the first bodies begin falling into the water, you see sharks circling....
Waiting to cast sleep once the climbers get close.
Targeting the deck adjacent to where Cuddles, Tao and River will be climbing aboard (10' radius).
Cuddles throws the rope and just barely manages to latch it on the enemy rail. He reaches down to climb on, then realizes that River hanging on his back would make climbing very troublesome. He takes a step back and says over his shoulder, HANG ON!.
With a step and a grunt Cuddles launches himself over the rail with a tiny River clutched onto him like a baby monkey. His 400 pound frame sails over both rails and he impacts the deck of the other ship with a tremendous THUD.
Enya casts Unwitting Ally and holds the charge. She will use it on the first baddie she sees.
Alain casts his spell just as Cuddles and River jump across to the other ship. Immediately as they land on the deck, they see an enemy sailor, and River's spell goes off. The blast of fire burns away a clump of smoke and reveals two pirates patting out flaming clothing. The far one looks like he just woke up. Enya casts her spell at the closest pirate, but he seems too surprised by the sudden appearance of a Half-Orc and an "Elf" to notice.
Seeing Cuddles ingenious idea, Tao flings his hook, grappling the opposing ship, but just barely. He pulls the line taut and lays the rope down next to himself for someone else to use. He then moves back 10 feet, takes a deep breath and darts to the edge as he pulls his greatsword out during the run. Taking a mighty leap Tao flings himself toward the opposite deck landing heavily next to Cuddles and River, but on his feet.
Taking a running jump, Aldous, moves off behind his friends, begging his goddess to assist in this endeavor. Give me luck, give me luck, give me luck
Upon his landing, he steps forward to give room for the others.