Guillaume spends the next several days in mourning. Just when he had begun to get close to Sammie, and now she was gone. He attend Bessie's funeral service, take solace in fervent devotion to the Pirate Queen, and devotes much of his gold share to the sea, praying that it would speed Sammie's journey in the afterlife. Nevertheless, he drinks heavily and speaks little for the next few days.
Orslaw does his best to stay low-key over the next few days as he realizes that his former position upon the Man’s Promise could put him in the bad graces of even more of the crew. “Not like I was ever an actual crew member though,” he thinks to himself. “They took me on to save a man that probably couldn’t have been helped by the best priests in Chelyabinsk, much less me.” Still, if anyone asked he made sure to be up front about the beatings and confinement he suffered for more time than he was considered crew.
Orslaw spends the first evening joining in the celebration with his rescuers, but his participation is short-lived as weariness overtakes him. After finding out where he can lay his head, he excuses himself before the celebrations wind down and rests well for the first time in days.
He wakes early the next morning and flexes his jaw and wrists, noting that the swelling was going down but soreness would remain for a bit longer. He fully devotes himself to whatever task is given to him for the day, aiming to show himself a functioning member of the pirate crew. “Blessed tides, what am I doing on a pirate crew? Well, it’s a crew so I might as well make the best of it.”
Bessie will utilize their good favor while they have it, and prepare the dead for burial at sea. For their comrades it will be a touching service. She makes sure that each of their dead has a gold coin clenched in their teeth, so they have an offering for Besmara.
She will spend her time and actions to tend to the wounded and assist Quarne.
In her spare time she will talk to Orslaw and give him a heads up that like it or not he is now part of the "Peril Crew"; because they spoke up for him, Scourge and Mr Plugg and their allies will not be friendly to him, but being one us has been good so far!
The morning of the second sunrise, the morning bell tolls to assemble the crew. When the crew is assembled, a long line of captured officers and sailors from the Man’s Promise is brought on deck and paraded before the crew.
Captain Harrigan, standing on the poop deck, addresses the captives. "Arrr, you've been bested by the Wormwood. Now you have a choice to make. You can join our crew or like this feisty officer," he pauses while Mr Plugg brings a defiant female officer forward. He draws a dagger from his belt and and quickly crosses the proud officers throat drawing a red line which quickly turns into a torrent of blood. "You can become shark food!" He finishes by heaving the enemy officer over the rail.
Several of the captives step forward to join the Wormwood. A third of them refuse to capitulate but contrary to his words they are thrown into irons and sent below. Apparently he wants to try ransom or slave sales before just tossing them overboard.
Then Harrigan turns his attention to the crew. “All right, you scurvy tars! You’ve done a right good job by me—we’ve got a second ship now, and she’s quite a prize from the looks of her. But I still have only one crew. So here’s the plan—the Wormwood will sail on to our planned destination with our new shipmates here, while Mr. Plugg will pick a skeleton crew to sail the Man’s Promise to Port Peril, where she’ll be worth a pretty penny as salvage. Yer dismissed except them that Mr Plugg chooses."
As they disperse, Mr. Plugg and Master Scourge pick out several of the Wormwood’s original crew, telling them to be aboard the Man’s Promise within 10 minutes to set sail for Port Peril. The Peril Crew, to include Orslaw, is chosen to join the skeleton crew as well, and Scourge smiles evilly at them as he picks them.
The crew members make the most of their few minutes; packing their belongings and making last minute trades or purchases from the ship's store. Before they depart, Grok tracks down Nasifi, the half-orc is crying.
"I hate to see ya go," Grok snivels. "You're like the sister I ain't ever had. Here," she says and hands Nasifi a small sack. "They're small and the Captain won't miss 'em." She finishes and then gives Nasifi a rather crushing hug. Before Nasifi can say anything, Grok breaks into tears again and rushes off. Later, when she checks the sack, Nasifi finds a labeled potion of cure light wounds and three flasks of alchemists fire.
Us?! Plugg and Scourge want us?! Besmara's holy booty, that can't be good. He whispers to the others as they collect their gear, "Everyone knows this is a trap, right?"
In the calm after the battle, Nasifi is relieved that all of her group from Port Peril have made it through alive and well, as did Jack Scrimshaw, Sandara, and Rosie. She's saddened though to learn about Sammie. She didn't know the woman as well as some of her other friends, but from what she did know Sammie seemed alright. Nasifi is also saddened that Arthur and Tibbs are dead, but she had barely spoken to them so it doesn't feel as personal.
After the food and drink is out for the crew Nasifi joins the celebration. raising a cup of rum to each of the three in their turn. A little later, when the food is taken away, Nasifi breaks off to take the remains of the meal down below to make sure the prisoners from the Man's Promise get something to eat, and water as well. Nasifi drinks a bit more than usual for her. Feeling a little more gregarious than usual, she chats up Orslaw some, welcoming him aboard with examples of their persecution by the ship's officers. She thinks he seems a little put off by her. As the evening wears on she gravitates toward Jack, making it clear she'd like to get some private time with him again.
The next day along with her cooking Nasifi squeezes in some time breaking down fish scraps into sulfuric acid. Running out of bombs the previous day has made her wary of being without something to throw at all times.
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Nasifi feels her stomach drop when they're chosen to crew the new ship. While she may not be exactly pleased to be aboard Harrigan's ship, she's worked hard to carve out a secure niche for herself where she can avoid the worst of the troubles aboard.
Grok's emotional goodbye surprises Nasifi, she hadn't realized the two of them had grown that close. Nevertheless, she returns the quartermaster's emotion, partially because she's so flattered to have made a good friend, and partially because she's unhappy to be leaving the ship. She thanks Grok profusely for her gift. Nasifi also asks her if she happens to have a better set of thieve's tools locked away for her to buy.
"I don't think it was Captain Harrigen's plan Vlad, but yeah, for all practical purposes this is one nasty trap."
Grok holds it together when Nasifi shows up at the ship's store. She does have a set of master work thieves tools but the Captain is rather fond of them, their quality is obvious. Therefore she feels she can only let them go at standard price (100gp).
Orslaw swallows hard at Nasifi's words, but nods his appreciation. "So this is about more than just me, then?" he asks rhetorically. "I was worried I was on my own because that idiot nearly blew himself up and I saved him. For what its worth, I'm very glad to have you and a few others with me. You were more than capable earlier and you can be assured that I'll have the backs of you and your friends."
Now that he's seen who Mr. Plugg seems to be targeting, he does his best to stay near at least one of them whenever possible and always keeps his eye on Kipper. Having very little of worth, he grabs his few meager belongings an makes his way over to the new ship.
Harrigan's a hard man, but at least he seems to be a fair one. Guillaume thinks as Plugg makes his choices. This fool? Nothing of the sort. This is going to get...interesting.
Ship's store is known to contain:
1. Wooden Locker: Contains a random selection of mundane adventuring gear with a value of 10 gp or less.
2. Wooden Locker: Contains a starknife, 3 flasks of acid, 3 flasks of alchemist’s fire, three sets of thieves tools, and a battered iron box containing six candles.
3. Wooden Chest: she does not open
4. Wooden Chest: Contains a masterwork light crossbow, three cutlasses, 31 daggers, three masterwork daggers, 43 masterwork darts, four saps, a masterwork sap, 120 arrows, 20 masterwork arrows, six +1 arrows, and 200 crossbow bolts
5. Wooden Trunk: states it has armor but does not open.
6. Metal Trunk: does not open.
These were the items scouted out and reported by Bleepos earlier in the trip.Many items from the Man's Promise have been added to the store so it is really a matter of asking.
Bessie will see if Nasifi would be willing to go shopping; mentioning to Nasifi that her bond with Grok may make things easier. Either way she will look through the items to see if there is anything useful.
Afterwords she will gather her gear an report to Man's Promise as ordered.
Once onboard, Bessie performs a ceremony thanking Besmara for their prize and asking the Pirate Queen's blessings and favor on ship and crew.
A splash of rum and blood (gathered from the days meat in the galley) upon the bow for the adventures they sail into, and an empty glass raised aft, that they leave nothing behind. A kiss blown to the sails for strong and steady winds and a swipe of a holy stone across the decks, that they stay strong and pure.
Nasifi takes Bessie along with her when she goes to pay for the thieve's tools and collect them. She doesn't complain about the price one bit. "You've already been very generous Grok, and we surely don't want the Captain cross with you."
She says goodbye to both Grok and Ambrose before transferring to the Man's Promise, promising to put a good bottle of something aside for each of them when they meet again. "After all, we're taking the ship in to sell for salvage. It shouldn't be too long before we're all back on this one again."
Nasifi also takes the opportunity while she's there to slip the really fine knife she's been squirreling away in different spots around the kitchen into her stuff.
Ambrose gives Nasifi a surprise when she comes to him to say goodbye. He is going to the Man's Promise as well. Plugg said Captain Harrigan was sick of Fishguts belly aching. So, he will be the ship's cook at least until they trade her in.
Nasifi does in fact have some pull with Grok. Everything will go for 10% off standard retail except magic and masterwork items. Harrigan has a particular eye for those sorts of things. At 10% off the flasks of acid and alchemist's fire will be 9 and 18 respectively. There are 3 each for a total of 81 gold if you want to get them all. She has a selection of armor running from padded to breast plate. Additional weapons from the ship seizure include a dozen short swords, another six crossbows, two short bows, a boarding pike, and a magical boarding pike.
Mr. Plugg sets sail that afternoon. He sets the same grueling standards they had on the Wormwood but declares slackers will not be tolerated and instructs Master Scourge to give corrections with the scourge and not the lash. He also announces that he expects discipline on his ship and no one will be drinking rum or carousing above decks after sun down.
The new officers; Mr Tate, sailing master; and Mr Lonegan master gunner. They will be berthing along with Master Scourge in the officer's quarters. Quinn and Cusswell will be joining them to help keep them warm at night. Everyone else is in standard berthing except Fishguts, he's in the cook's mate cabin.
Master Scourge puts the Peril Crew and their new friend on the toughest of duties. With Scourge walking around whacking people with a cat-o-nine-tails and Mr Plugg following up with a constant complaint of slow or lackluster work the day is grueling.
Day 1 work detail:
Bessie: Swab the Decks - Backbreaking work mopping the decks and scrubbing them with sandstone blocks called holystones, requiring a DC 12 Strength or Constitution check. Failing either check results in the PC being fatigued at the end of the shift.
Guillaume: Swab the Decks - Backbreaking work mopping the decks and scrubbing them with sandstone blocks called holystones, requiring a DC 12 Strength or Constitution check. Failing either check results in the PC being fatigued at the end of the shift.
Nasifi: Mr Plugg declares Fishguts doesn't need an assistant. Nasifi is assigned as a swab. Hauling lines and knot work - Tying and untying knots in the ship’s ropes and moving heavy coils of rope from one part of the ship to another, requiring a DC 12 Profession (sailor) or Strength check. You must also make a DC 14 Fortitude check to avoid being fatigued at the end of the shift.
Orslaw: Man the bilges - Vile and sweaty work cleaning out the bilges, requiring a DC 14 Strength check. You must also make a DC 14 Fortitude check to avoid being fatigued at the end of the shift.
Vlad: Mainsail Duties - Tough work raising and lowering the mainsail, requiring a DC 12 Profession (sailor) or Strength check. You must also make a DC 14 Fortitude check to avoid being fatigued at the end of the shift.
Vlad's all for keeping his head down for the moment, which means focusing on his work and not giving Scourge an excuse to beat him.
During the evening, he tries to make sure he and Tate are still on the same page (influence).
As the night falls, Vlad's pretty annoyed at how Plugg is using the ladies (Cusswell and Quinn). It's one thing to invite someone to share a bunk, but quite another to require it.
Orslaw assumes that Scourge is trying to separate them for the most part. He is appreciative that Bessie and Guillaume are together on deck and nods to them with a silent message to watch out for each other. Before he head's down to the bilges he makes sure Nasifi and whispers "Be strong" knowing the difficult tasks she will face that day.
His first ever day in the bilges hit him far harder than anticipated. He had hoped to see if he could attempt to mend things with Kipper, but he decides to head to bed for the night.
Nasifi reaches up to briefly clasp Orslaw by the shoulder , returning his show up support. Considering the assignment he'd been given she thinks it very kind of him to be concerned about anyone else.
She spends her first day at her new job working hard, concentrating on figuring out how to do it well enough to avoid unwanted attention. Although she's quite small, and no stronger than her stature would imply, she manages to make it through the day no worse for wear.
That evening at dinner, or whenever the chance might arise, she tries chatting with the new Master Gunner Lonegan. Nasifi hopes he'll decide he needs some assistance and will recognize the value of her talents to him. Otherwise she talks to Sandara and Rosie, asking about their situation with both concern and fear.
Bessie works diligently at her task, part of her efforts are a burning anger at the loss of their comrades, the other is being under the lash of Scourge and Plugg. Fortunately her anger fuels her work well.
That night she will check out the ship's boats for damage and potentially anything that might have been left behind and useful.
Foredeck: The foredeck rises 10 feet above the 6 main deck. The ship’s nameplate on the hull reads Man’s Promise. You think there may be another nameplate under it but you would need to take time to inspect it to be sure.
Aft Deck: The aft deck sits 10 feet above the main deck, and steps lead up to an even higher deck behind the mizzenmast. The ship’s wheel stands just before the rail overlooking the main deck.
Before anyone can engage Mr Tate (he left the conversation not angry but not swayed last time) or Lonegan they are called into a meeting with Mr Plugg. Plugg names off several others and orders everyone else below decks other than Quinn and Cusswell who are sent to their room. Looking back before descending, you see Cogward and Fipps are left outside the Captain's room as guards. Those in the meeting are Plugg, Scourge, Tate, Lonegan, Sahani, Maheem, and Jape. Mr Plugg is keeping Harshorn chained in his state room.
"He's planning to take the ship for himself," Rattsberger says.
"What will we do then?" Conchabar asks. "If he's going to Port Peril, he's likely to have concerns about those of us press ganged from there."
"We could take the ship." Scrimshaw suggested. "Vlad's seen all these things and survived so much. He could make a plan that would work." The young fan of Vlad's stories suggests.
Guillaume spends the day scrubbing decks, boring but not terribly onerous work. For the moment he keeps his head down, waiting to see how much tougher Plugg decides to be.
When the discussion below deck turns to mutiny, Nasifi begins thinking about feasibility. The first question that comes to her mind is just how many people at a minimum it would take to sail the ship, compared to how many of the crew could be relied on.
"I can't believe this is happening," Orslaw says to himself. "I know Mr. Plugg would happily put a knife in any of our guts, but would he really stab the captain in the back like this?" He looks back and forth between the crew below decks while he thinks out loud.
"Mutinying against a mutiny? I'm honestly not sure where that would put us. Do we carry out the captain's orders and meet back up with him or go off on our own? I sailed in from Cheliax and have been in the Shackles less than a fortnight. So I don't know what the feasibility of either would be."
Orslaw shakes his head while he paces in the fairly small area. "And all of that is IF Mr. Plugg is looking to mutiny against the captain. I'm still not convinced of that."
We need to be ready. If, and it is still an if, there is a mutiny the first thing Plugg will do is gut us, and blame us. Remember Besmara's teachings, we need to outfight, outsmart, or outrun our enemies. As for what to do "after", lets live that long and the survivors can decide what happens then. Stay armed, stay weary, stay together. And when the time comes we fight for our lives, and each other. We show our foes no mercy, we know them too well and they will show us none.
There is no bravado, no sense that Bessie is enjoying this moment. Just a firm resolve that the Peril Crew stays alive, stays together and stays free.
She holds out her arms, and offers a prayer for the Peril Crew. Besmara we follow your code, please grant unto us the strength to fight, the wits to win, and safe passage upon this storm. On my word, I promise to do all I can to keep you healed and fighting, we stand or fall together.
Vlad shakes his head wearily. "It's a tale as old as sailin'. And not much of a mutiny when the 'captain' isn't really on board. I've no doubt Plugg means to scupper us one way or another."
He has little doubt they could handle the ship on their own. "Aye, tis a good question, Orslaw. We may need to take a vote."
He smiles at Bessie's blessing. "The first step in avoiding a trap is being aware of it, right? So we're at least there. We may need to have at least one person on watch every hour during the night. I've no desire to have me throat slit while I doze."
Orslaw gently rubs his neck with his fingers while his other hand tightens a bit on the hilt of his falchion on his hip. A bit of resolution crosses his eyes as he says, "I believe what Scrimshaw says about you, Vlad. For what its worth, you've got my blade and anything else you need from me."
"It could well be he just wants us thinking mutiny, then he'll spring a trap when we act. I say wait, for now."
About an hour later the other crew members return to the berthing area. They look at the Peril Crew and your friends and laugh. Then settle in to dice a little before they bunk down.
The next day is similar to the last except a dark line can be seen at the edge of the horizon. The wind is good. The same jobs are handed out and Scourge seems to be looking for someone slacking off.
Everyone had figured out or been told by others that you were in the Fever Sea, south of the Shackles. So in order to get back to Port Peril you would need to push north through the shackles, possibly even northwest. Vlad noticed rather quickly that the ship was headed east by northeast.
Bessie continues to put her focus on working hard, and not giving any opening to be targeted.
The rigging is solid. Vlad had a really good day.
Since he had such a successful day, he's in the mood for a bit of story telling.
He weaves the tale of the Siren's Song, and her captain, Uhle, who was betrayed by his officers. But they got their comeuppance. The galley slaves broke free and fed the mutineers to the sharks off the Sargavan coast, bit by bit by bit.
Nasifi hasn't completely recovered from the strenuousness of her her job by the next day. Despite her determination she can't quite keep of with its demands on the second day, and is exhausted by the days end.
To add to her pains, Nasifi receives a lash or two for being too slow. However, she is not alone and by the end of the day others including Scrimshaw and Rosie Cusswell are sporting red lightly bleeding cuts for their efforts that day.
"Doesn't happen that way!" Plugg yells after hearing the conclusion of Vlad's story.
Vlad is stunned by Plugg's outburst. He never even thought the guy was listening. "That's the way the story was relayed to me." After a moment's pause, he adds, "Sir." He gestures to the crew as he says, "If you've a different tellin' of the tale, I'm sure we'd love to hear it. Or perhaps a written account." He wonders if Plugg can even read.
Orslaw is relieved that nothing happened right away, but anxious when heading back down to the bilges. He attempts to be a bit more subtle, but at least makes eye contact with each of the others as a sign of support. He busts his tail in the bilges again, making sure not to give Mr. Plugg or the others a reason to flog him.
However, the work in the bilges completely exhausts him again, even though he feels he is getting a bit more used to it. He tries to determine if the Peril's crew will be keeping a sentry up at night and seeing when he can get in the rotation. If he is not needed, he'll plan on resting so he's in top shape the next day.
Keeping his head down and scrubbing the deck diligently, Guillaume easily accomplishes his work.
The crew was below decks during the story telling as Captain Plugg, as the officers are calling him, forbade anyone to be above deck after sunset. Instead of taking the bait that Vlad throws out, Captain Plugg merely gives a dismissive smirk and sniffs before heading above deck.
After he leaves, Kroop slips into berthing from the galley door. He looks over at the far side of the berthing where those more loyal to Plugg and Scourge are bedding down before saying in a low tone, "I think I know where Plugg is headed." He pauses to ensure the Peril Crew is paying attention. "There's a dry dock in this direction called Rickety Squibb's. They specialize in helping men change a ships lines and her silhouette. Allows one to disappear in a manner of speakin', if you know what I mean."
Nasifi hands gives Jack and Rosie each a potion to take care of their lashes. If she needs to, she'll use one on herself the next morning.
The next day work goes better for her and she gets through it unscathed.
"If Ambrose is right, Plugg and Scourge won't be answering to Harrigan for much longer. When they don't have to worry about him, we're as good as dead. We're going to have to do something."
"So the question becomes, what can we do?" Orslaw states, more than asks. "I spent some time in the Chelish navy and have seen some pretty nasty stuff. I think we can confirm that Plugg is definitely going against the Captain Harrigan's stated orders based on our current path alone." He pauses and considers, "Not to mention the secret meetings with his lackeys and his out burst towards Vlad. You definitely managed to find a sore spot to confirm our fears."
Orslaw looks back an forth between the faces on this side of the berthing as he continues to speak quietly. "You all know the others better than I do," he says pointing over his shoulder towards Plugg's lackeys. "Are any of them likely to give us information on what Mr. Plugg is planning? Maybe someone we could recruit to have our backs? Barring that, I think we have to decide to either take action before we hit port or stay on our guard and try to take action afterwards."
Bessie gives Kroop a wink and a smile, silently acknowledging his information, and understanding the risk that such sharing entailed.
She listens to Orslaw. We won't make port, alive anyway. I say we be prepared and allow them to spring their "trap" as oft as they have tried, we always win out. Besmara's blessings being upon us. Otherwise, we need to find an opportunity to thin their ranks, and I don't rightly like the idea of turning on my own crew... it just ain't right.
Vlad nods to Bessie. "As much as I'd like to have a few of Plugg's dogs "disappear" on watch, it ain't right to shank a man based on suspicion and paranoia." He scratches his chin as he considers their odds.
"I don't think anyone who ain't already on our side is likely to take our side, Orslaw. Don't mean we can't try, but I think our best bet is the ladies. If Cusswell or Quinn can get us some intelligence, we might be able to turn Plugg's trap around."
"You going to ask them in the morning?" Scrimshaw asks.
Conchabar leans in, "Rosie is rather nice of late and that worries me," the gnome shares. It is widely known he is sweet on the halfling (Rosie) but that she normally lives up to her surname of Cusswell when he makes advances. "I fear they are treating the ladies poorly but, perhaps they talk."
"I'll see what I can get out the boys while we're working the lines. I haven't been fully ostracized yet." Rattsberger adds as he has been with the original crew for quite some time.