Bessie slices with her rapier, trying to eliminate this opponent so they can man the crossbows.
Hang in there Nasifi - Besmara is with us!
As much as he doesn't want these guys escaping, he's also barely standing. Vlad casts a quick healing spell on himself so he doesn't collapse.
Nasifi misses but Bessie does not. The young cleric's rapier cuts another fine hole in the sailor's clothing. After hearing the splash and glancing over his shoulder to see the longboat is down, the sailor breaks for the far side of the ship. He runs across the deck and leaps in.
The two sailors now in the water begin to scream. A quick peek over the edge of the ship gives Vlad a grim show of sharks feeding. Blood surrounds the sailor nearest the boat. The other goes under in a froth of red as a shark rips him apart.
Greatly relieved the sailor decided to flee rather than keep fighting, Nasifi pauses to drink down the contents of a small jar from her belt pouch.
Besmara's beasts shall feed! Nasifi.... Kill him!!!!!!!
Bessie points at the fallen sailor as she mans the mounted crossbow. targeting the sailor in the longboat.
Load the crossbow or if it is loaded she will fire, otherwise she loads it.
Over the next few moments, Guillaume rushes to the rail and blasts the man in the boat with a couple of water blasts and puts the sailor down. The other sailor in the water is finished off by a shark. The fog swirls on the main deck showing a battle that is cooling down. More pirates have moved below decks and several sailors are seen with their hands up. A brief view of Captain Harrigan shows him holding what appears to be a heart. The fog rolls back over him as he appears ready to take a bite.
Vlad staggers over to Bessie and tries to catch his breath. "Ha, that was more of a fight than I expected. I'm afraid I'll need some new clothes after this one," he says poking a finger through the hole left by the sailor's blade.
Bessie smiles at Crow, We shall both need a new a new shirt, but they are well earned! she says pulling at the crossbow bolt hole in her shoulder.
She raises her arm high and calls on Besmara Amandla wesiteshi! a golden glow flashes across her tattoo holy symbol.
She repeats her call to Besmara,
Between her own potion and Bessie's healing light Nasifi is on the mend.
She quietly ignores Bessie's call for her to deal with the unconscious sailor. Nasifi just isn't bloody-minded enough to kill a helpless man. Although she has due respect for the Pirate Queen, some things about Besmara can really skeeve her out.
Before she decides for sure on using the mounted crossbow, Nasifi jogs over to the edge of the poop deck. She looks out over the fight to see if there are any tough knots of resistance that her couple of remaining bombs could help break up.
Nasifi steps to the edge of the poop deck to get a better view of the battle. The fog still swirls so it is hard to make out much. Nearby, in separated from her by fog, she sees two of the crew fighting it out with two of the rahadoumi sailors. More pressing however, the fog clears revealing a team of two men and a woman trying to undo the port side longboat. The woman is no ordinary sailor. She wears a finely decorated chain shirt, a wide belt adorned with pearls, and a fiery ruby pendant that catches the sun. She is armed with a boarding pike and is obviously commanding the two sailors.
Nasifi takes a step back onto the stairs behind her for a little more elevation and to make sure she's well clear of the woman's pike. She calls out "Boat launching!" to make sure others are aware of them.
Then Nasifi tosses a bomb down amongst them to force them off their task.
His attention drawn by Nasifi's shout, Guillaume calls the water to him, then unleashes it at the woman.
His hastily aimed blast misses her by a good margin, however.
"No rest for the wicked, eh?" Vlad laughs as he bolts across the deck. As much as he hates to use up his last spell for the day, it seems like a good time.
Despite her bloodthirsty bravado, all Bessie has wanted to do was keep her friends safe. She was happy they had not had to kill the sailor on the deck, as she could simply exclude him from her channel after the others jumped ship, but now it seemed a tougher fight lay ahead... and this fight had been tough enough.
Oh Hades, Besmara give me strength to see through this storm. she sighs.
Nasifi's bomb misses its target but conveniently splatters all the same. One of the sailors takes a nasty burn from the liquid explosion but the others seem little affected. Then they are all distracted by the blast of water that slams into the deck next to them and so are unprepared for the cone of shards that slams into them. All three of them get cut up from the shards. Finally, Bessie draws a bead on one of the sailors but just misses him with a bolt.
"Kill them" she orders. The two sailors step up to attack the nearest of the Peril Crew, Vlad. They both engage but are unable to penetrate Vlad's defenses.
"Have at ya, ya ponce," Vlad says, parrying one of the sailors and riposting with a slash to his ribs.
Guillaume takes aim at the nearer of the sailors, and lets rip with another blast of high-pressure water.
Besmara, bring your strife upon our foes and bring us to victory.
Nasifi tosses her last bomb at the sailors in front of Vlad.
Vlad drops his immediate attacker. Then Bessie and Guillaume, combined, drop the other sailor. Nasifi, with no other target, smashes her bomb on the female officer. The woman yells in pain and fury and rushes to the attack. She steps forward with a professional lunge and takes Vlad in the gut. Only his armor keeps his guts from spilling out and only the ship's rail keeps him on his feet.
Nasifi takes a step back to the top of the stairs and to the mounted crossbow. She quickly reloads it and shoots at the officer.
Bessie is horrified to see Crow take such a blow, and thanks Besmara that he stays standing. She then raises her arm high and calls on Besmara to heal her friends again. Amandla wesiteshi! a golden glow flashes across her tattoo holy symbol.
3 healing for all Peril crew wounded.
Vlad's looking a little worse for wear. Deciding that discretion is warranted, he steps back to clear the shot for bolts or bombs and assumes a defensive position.
A heavily-muscled, unarmored man in a green tunic and bruises on his wrists comes up on deck carrying an injured man over his shoulder. His eyes quickly take in the battle as he gently sets the wounded down. Focusing on the woman with the ruby pendant fighting the pirates, he calls out to the woman, "Beat me when I'm chained up, will you?" He begins moving across the deck towards her, glancing for a loose weapon.
Bessie smiles, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Thank you Besmara for bringing this one to our cause. Even if it is only for a moment.
"Here friend, take this. It's better than being unarmed." Guillaume says, drawing a dagger and tossing it to land near the man.
Orslaw attempts to catch the dagger as he moves across the deck. After he makes the effort to grab the handle of the slowly spinning blade, he also reaches down to pick up a cutlass as his bare feet stomp across the deck towards the one who put the bruises on his cheek.
The female officer turns to engage the approaching vagabond and finding herself too close she steps back to get space. She jabs him leaving a horrible wound, though not quite as bad as Vlad's.
Bessie see the newcomer take a vicious shot. With her arm still raised she calls out to Besmara again. Amandla wesiteshi! and a golden glow flashes across her tattoo holy symbol.
Thank you Besmara for your healing powers, that we may prove worthy this day!
Orslaw drops the dagger as he covers the fresh wound on his side and let's out a scream mixed with pain and rage. When the healing glow comes from the nearby pirate, he silently nods his appreciation to her and grabs the cutlass with both hands as he attempts an overhead chop to overpower the officer's defenses.
Nasifi cranks the big crossbow as fast as she can and reloads it. She takes aim at the officer and shoots when she thinks she has the best opening.
Orslaw and Nasifi drop the officer. There, the newcomer stands, battle ongoing but slowing in the fog behind him and four pirates before him. The Peril Crew watch him warily but do not attack.
With his tormentor lying unconscious at his feet he takes in the pirate crew around him and lets out a sigh. He lifts his right hand over his head while reversing his grip on the cutlass flipping the blade out past his left side. “My score is settled,” he says with a quick gesture to the bruises on his wrist and the left half of his face. “Parley?”
"The enemy of my enemy," Vlad quips with a smile. "Much obliged fer yer assistance."
One of the pirate women manning the crossbows waves that Orslaw should join them on the aft deck. She has a bag slung over her shoulder with a Jolly Rodger tied to it, and a clearly visible tattoo of the same on her forearm. Besmara be praised, stranger, nice work! Come on up here, their crew will know you and not like you, our crew won't know you aren't part of theirs... If you are willing to join us, come up and we can make sure you don't get skewered until then!
The new man joins the Peril Crew on the aft deck and waits. No one else makes for the longboats so the Peril Crew has an easy and relatively brief wait before the end of the battle. The fog drifts away and reveals a successful ship takeover. Captain Harrigan beams with pride and malice. The remaining crew of the Man's Promise is secured in the hold, the wounded and dead are dumped overboard. The Wormwood crew is tended to by Quarne, who also calls on Bessie to lend a hand. In the end, the Wormwood loses three; Bansion, Tibbs, and Toppin.
Then Harrigan calls his officers over to the poop deck on the Wormwood. The pirates loot the Man's Promise and bring it all to the officers. Harrigan and his officers then split what is there with the pirates. For their actions, the Peril Crew receives 150 gold like all the other sailors plus an extra 125 for taking the aft deck quickly. For aiding Harrigan they get an amulet of natural armor (+1) and a short sword (+1) to split between them.
Orslaw, based on the good report by the Peril Crew, is given his original gear and offered a position with the crew. Kipper was calling for Orslaw to be flogged and thrown to the sharks claiming the captive had jumped him in the hold causing his new grenade to go off in an untimely fashion. When the Captain chooses to accept the Peril Crew endorsement, Kipper storms off and is later seen talking with his good friend Mr. Plugg, who merely looks at Orslaw across the ship and nods.
During the split of the loot, Kroop, Grok, and Nasifi bring out food and rum. The party begins.
Would Bessie be allowed to hold a ceremony for the dead? I am sure that Crow will be saddened by the loss of Sammie, as Bessie is by the loss of these friends.
@bessie: Master Scourge understanding the Peril Crew is in the good graces of the Captain right now is still not happy about the request but says, "Do what you want, they're in Besmara's hands now anyways."
Vlad is indeed sad at the loss of Sammie. He agrees to help Bessie with the bodies as she prepares them for the next life. Besmara's boots. It happens, but it's a damn shame, he sighs as he rips off a piece of her shirt and ties it around his arm. He can be seen tossing a few coins in the sea, and possibly a couple of tears. He's not really in the mood much to party, but he'll raise a cup in her honor.
During the evening, Crow isn't really into celebrating. He rambles off a story, but his heart isn't really in it.
Night 1: entertain:
The next day, he tries to focus on work, hoping to occupy his mind.
Day 2: work diligently:
The work seems to help, but in the evening, when left to his own devices, he can't seem to focus. He tries to chat up the half-orc a bit, but again, he's not really feeling it... nor is Jaundiced Jape.
Night 2: influence Jape:
During the next day, Vlad tries to concentrate on his work, but it's slow going. Instead his mind is occupied with a new story. That's the way to honor our fallen crew members! I should have been doing that since the first.
Day 3: work diligently:
Although it kept him from performing up to par during the day, his performance that night of "The Man's Promise" is simply fantastic. Even though everyone was there, and it only happened a few days ago, his embellishments make the Wormwood's crew look like they defeated a great ship against overwhelming odds. The dead are featured prominently, along with the Peril crew.
Night 3: entertain:
That night, a feeling of peace descends upon Crow as he sleeps, the first he's felt in a long time.