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“Looks like they may need aid, which brings up the question what damaged their ship.”
Unless zey are trying to lure us into a trap...
She turns and says softly to Lady Riverbane so most of the other crew members can't hear.
But in that case they are pirates, and I would zink you would want to stop others from poaching on ze Marquis's river. But you know better zen I do Captain, so it is of course your decision. We will follow your lead.
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(a faint smile lies behind the mask)
With an equally good natured chuckle in response...
"Sir Kegan, discretion is a talent indeed. And would i be correct to assume your talent lies in wordplay and fencing?"
"Rest assured, no monstrous features are mine to utilize, should i take off my mask. At least, not unless i consume one of my elixers."
But in that case they are pirates, and I would zink you would want to stop others from poaching on ze Marquis's river. But you know better zen I do Captain, so it is of course your decision. We will follow your lead.
Riverbane merely arches a curious eyebrow in the direction of the approaching ship as she crosses her arms. "Let's see what they do first," she replies.
As what could barely be considered a ship sails haphazardly closer, the two boats barely avoid colliding with each other. Abruptly, a call goes out from the approaching ship: "...NOW!" A volley of grappling hooks fly out from the sailors on the junk, latching onto the side of The Scrag Fisher!
Initiative:
Round 1:
Tetsudo
Melisande
Aryxis
Kegan
Locke
Riverbane
Enemies
Tereze
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“Tereze, you are correct about their intent. This should be fun!” Kegan says as the cog approaches.
As the grappling hooks are tossed over towards the Scrag Fisher, Kegan draws his adamantine rapier. Stepping up to one of the hooks that connected, he slices through the rope.
“Let them come to us!”
Crit 15-20
Crit 15-20
5 is precision damage
Tetsudo moves forward and skewers one of the boarding pirates with the reach of his lance. Melisande fires an arcane bolt across the air, but the effect misses and fries a bird off in the distance. Aryxis buffs himself with some guidance and prepares to attack an enemy that approaches his reach.
Lady Riverbane shouts "Crew! Get below decks and let the Pathfinders handle this threat!" The crew on the boat quickly scurry out of the way of combat, while Riverbane pulls out a rapier of its sheath.
Four of the sailors attempt to jump across to The Scrag Fisher. Tetsudo and Kegan completely eviscerates one that attempts to leap between them; while Kegan and Aryxis defeats another that leaps near to them. Two others make it across, attacking Tetsudo and Aryxis; only one attack landing on Aryxis for some damage.
The remainder of the sailors on the junk fire a volley of arrows through the air, one arrow striking Tereze and another hitting Melisande for some damage.
Round 1:
Tereze (-5)
Round 2:
Tetsudo
Melisande (-3)
Kegan
Locke
Riverbane
Aryxis (-3)
Enemies
Tereze (-5)
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Locke beats the demon wings underneath the mantle, which gets pushed back, as Locke takes flight to 20 ft altitude between the ships, drawing the longbow they were carrying.
Picking the enemy sailor due west as the target, Locke fidgets with the sphere at the belt, combining it with an arrow, which is then aimed at the sailor, though in a calculated angle, as to exclude Kegan from the ensuing blast, should the explosive arrow connect.
A fiery explosion greater in radius than an average alchemist bomb follows.
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Feeling through her link that no one in the group is really hurt bad, Tereze instead spends a moment praying to the Gods above that the fight would go quickly.
She calls out in a loud voice.
Drunken Hero up above,
Give these pirate bums a shove.
Gift us all with strength and might,
That we triumph in this fight!
With that she casts bless on all of her allies.
Roshi nips at a nearby pirate, injuring him seriously. Tetsudo then lowers his visor, levels his lance, and charges forward on the large sized turtle to end up straddling the two ships with its size. He pierces his lance forward into one of the pirates, the force of his blow literally rending the unsuspecting villain into gory, bloody chunks that fly in all directions in a crimson rain.
"What in the Nine Hells are you?!?" shouts the pirate next to his vaporized ally, the man's pants now visibly soiled in fright. He doesn't get much time to say this, as glitter explodes in his and his nearby allies' faces'; the gore and glitter mixing together in a macabre fashion statement as they all end up blinded by the mess. Kegan joins Tetsudo on the other boat in an elegant flip through the air, landing a strike on one of the gawking pirates.
Locke's arrow flies true across the boats, striking the shouting pirate square between the eyes. He staggers briefly as he reflexively clutches and pulls slightly at the sizzling projectile lodged in his brow; before it blows up explosively and results in the pirate joining his ally in littering the boat in his bloody body parts. The pirates nearby caught in the explosion for some reason back flip over the blast and take no damage from the effect.
Riverbane leans on a railing at the helm with a very amused expression gracing her visage. She does nothing but take in the sanguine spectacle taking place before her.
The two archers on the helm flip out and fire off arrows at the turtle torpedo, attempting to strike Tetsudo. Only one arrow lands a lucky shot, lodging in an opening in his armor. The two blinded pirates nearby flail uselessly in the turtle knight's direction, their attacks not doing anything appreciable.
To the north, the remaining two pirates pull out their scimitars and attempt to attack Kegan. For the first pirate, this is a fatal mistake as Kegan deflects its attack that nearly hits him and pierces the man's skull with his rapier. The pirate collapses in a meaty pile on the deck, leaving his ally alone nearby.
The northernmost pirate from the junk on The Scrag Fisher attempts to tumble out of the turtle knight's reach. His attempt is unsuccessful, as Roshi nips (and misses) and Tetsudo pierces the man's side painfully with his lance. The pirate moves to Tereze as the remaining pirate next to Aryxis adjusts five-feet to engage her in a flank. The two attack her, one of their strikes slipping past her defenses for a sneak attack. Finally, the westernmost blinded flailing pirates manages to clear the gory glitter out of his eyes; his reaction to the carnage indicating he might prefer being blind to the sight before him.
Round 2:
Aryxis (Delayed, -3)
Tereze (-14)
Round 3:
Tetsudo (-5)
Melisande (-3)
Kegan
Locke
Riverbane
Enemies
Aryxis (-3)
Tereze (-14)
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Wiping some of the gore off himself, Kegan cheerfully tells the would be ambushers “I will not pursue if any of you wish to drop your gear and dive into the water to swim away. It would likely save me on my cleaning bill.“
He then slices at the fool that is still next to him.
Crit 15-20
5 is precision damage
Crit 15-20
5 is precision damage
Crit 15-20
5 is precision damage
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Tereze feels her life force slip away slightly as Tetsudo heals to full.
As she is surrounded Tereze masks her pain and calmly looks over at the two pirates. With a slight smile she simply waves her hand and softly prays:
Ladies of Light, Keep me safe.
Ouch. That was close... But maybe we can save some of them.
Then she calmly walks away from the two pirates keeping her face frozen in that smile as if she has not a care in the world.
She turns on the top of stairs that lead up to Riverbane and calls out:
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Would be more fun watching them swim for shore...but since she gave better terms I better accept them..
Kegan tells the ambushers around him "Seems she is going to let you off easy. I will honor her offer for your surrender, even though I would have found it more amusing watching you all swim for it."
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Aryxis turns towards the remaining enemies with his blade bare. He jumps across to the other boat but stops short of actually attacking waiting to see if the pirates will leave as they have been asked.
Aryxis whips out his blade and tries to return the wound he just received..... but with interest.
As his opponent goes down, he stares grimly at the others....
”Time to leave gents...”
Aryxis' attack strikes his target, the pirate grunting as his blood sprays on the deck of The Scrag Fisher. The two pirates lash out at Tereze as she saunters away, their faces changing to confusion as their blades change direction mid-swing to strike nothing but air as she goes by.
A look of fear ripples through the pirates, but their swarthy scurvy-ridden resolve still remains! Seeing them still clutching their weapons, Roshi nips out at a nearby pirate as it draws blood from its attack. Tetsudo lunges his lance out behind him, skewering and killing the northern most pirate on The Scrag Fisher. Kegan follows up on his earlier words and strikes his remaining target, heavily wounding the pirate. Locke fires his arrow directly downwards, taking out the one wounded by Roshi to thin the numbers down a bit.
"Artfully done," Riverbane says to Tereze as she ascends the stairs to join her at the helm; though the lieutenant raises a crafted eyebrow at the wounds that Tereze has sustained. She turns to adjust the steering slightly on the boat that had drifted a bit from the boarding process, but continues to observe the battle.
The archers in the back let loose another volley of arrows, one of them managing to slip past the alchemist's defenses and deal a smidgen of damage. The remaining pirate next to Tetsudo attempts to attack him, but is unable to get through the turtle knight's armor. The pirate on Kegan takes advantage of the swashbuckler's burgeoning confidence to land a chance attack of his own, Kegan caught off-guard slightly and unable to parry away the man's blow. Back on The Scrag Fisher, the remaing pirate there lands a blow on Aryxis to return the favor for the attack earlier.
Round 3:
Aryxis (-11)
Tereze (-20, Sanctuary)
Round 4:
Tetsudo
Melisande (-3, Invisible)
Kegan (-5)
Locke (-3)
Riverbane
Enemies
Aryxis (-11)
Tereze (-20, Sanctuary)
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Tereze looks at Riverbane as another small cut appears on her face and
her a larger bruise appears on her neck and extending down under her breastplate..
Zis is but a scratch, but I suppose.... but Tereze closes her eyes and a golden mist flows out from her refreshing all her allies except Kegan. However it strangely flows around all the pirates so they are not healed.
She turns back to look at the fight saying softly to Riverbane.
Zis will be over soon. Are zere many this desperate here? Zey must know zey have no chance.
Seeing no surrenders happening around him and not in a great position to charge, Tetsudo swivels around and perforates the remaining pirate on The Scrag Fisher; the man collapsing incredibly dead on the deck from the perfect hole puncturing directly through his chest. Meanwhile, Roshi continues to nip at the nearby pirate, dealing the man some damage.
I don't think this counts as an offensive action, breaking my invisibility, but please let me know if I am wrong.
Melisande shimmers into sight as her invisibility spell drops, the pirates at the helm of the junk slipping and falling face first with a surprised curse to the deck!
Shaking his head at the stubborn pirate, Kegan tells him “A fellow should really know when to cut and run.”
"But runnin' on the deck is an OSHA viol-" the pirate begins to reply before Kegan pierces the man's gut, causing him to collapse to the deck with a convulsion. The swashbuckler saunters across the deck, not even turning his head to deflect the other pirate's attack effortlessly while shoving his rapier forcefully through the man's skull. Kegan arrives at a ladder that leads up to the helm as the pirate next to Tetsudo drops to the deck with a bloody gurgle. He finds that the height difference between the deck and the helm provides cover between himself and the archers.
Locke fires his arrow at the pirates at the helm of the junk, but his arrow whizzes past the prone humans to lodge itself in a nearby railing instead.
Back at the wheel on The Scrag Fisher, Riverbane pulls out a slender wooden rod with quartz stone at the tip. She flourishes it, causing a bolt of shimmering energy to shoot across the air to blast a hole through the skull of the convulsing pirate that Kegan recently knocked unconscious.
The remaining pirates flail about in the grease, struggling to their feet as they fire more arrows through the sky at Locke. Yet another arrow still manages to pierce the alchemist's defenses for some reason, dealing him some damage.
Round 4:
Aryxis (-6)
Tereze (-20, Sanctuary)
Round 5:
Tetsudo
Melisande (-3)
Kegan
Locke (-8)
Riverbane
Enemies
Aryxis (-6)
Tereze (-20, Sanctuary)
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"But runnin' on the deck is an OSHA viol-" the pirate begins to reply before Kegan pierces the man's gut, causing him to collapse to the deck with a convulsion.
“Never heard of them!” Kegan says as he flicks the blood from his blade.
Kegan climbs the ladder up to the poop deck. Seeing most of the deck covered with some sort of slippery substance, he moves to the edge of the deck.
Bringing his rapier up, he says “Looks like there are just the two of you left. Any chance either of you will be sensible enough to surrender?”
“Wrong idea!”
Crit 15-20
5 is precision damage
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Tereze feels her side twinge as Locke's arrow wound closes and an deep bruise appears under her breastplate.
She simply shakes her head sadly, as she closes her eyes and says a brief prayer to heal herself.
When she opens her eyes she looks less flushed. Then she moves to stand over the body of one of those dropped by Aryxis.
Aryxis double moves around to the other ship, then advancing to be next to the ladder up to the helm. Tetsudo charges forward, his height on the turtle giving him enough clearance to lunge his lance forward to completely obliterate one of the pirates up at the helm. Roshi delicately reaches his head forward, taking a bite out of the remaining pirate. Melisande's bolt of energy rams into the remaining pirate, causing him to gasp as an arrow from Locke takes him down into unconsciousness.
Lady Riverbane calls out "Well done, Pathfinders!" as she fires a bolt of energy out of her wand to cave in the last unconscious pirate's skull. With no further combat in sight, the crew from The Scrag Fisher begin to cautiously emerge from below decks to start detaching the mooring lines from the other ship.
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Tereze reaches down and stablizes the couple dead pirates within reach.
Zere. I have made it so zat zese two will not die. Maybe when they wake up, we can find if zey were just randomly attacking ships, or were waiting specifically for us.
She then proceeds to strip the pirates she healed and tie them to the mast of the ship so they are not a danger when they wake up.
Tereze reaches down and stablizes the couple dead pirates within reach.
He then starts searching the ship for anything of value, hauling it back to The Scrag Fisher as he finds it.
The swashbuckler doesn't find anything of particular value on the ship, beyond a fairly well-weathered set of maps that detail the waterways of the River Kingdom in what could account for the captain's quarters on the junk.
The Scrag Fisher sets sail after the altercation, leaving the junk ship adrift on the river to its fate. The remainder of the day on the Sellen passes uneventfully, the sun setting to a slightly chilly night that is warmed by a spartan stew cooked by the pirates in the galley below decks.
In the morning, the weather is fairly overcast; the pale sun peeking weakly through the grey clouds overhead the pass over the looming trees now crowding the river shore on either side of the ship. The wind seems to come to a dead still as the Scrag Fisher approaches the wreckage of a hulking river barge.
“It’s the Hanspur’s Luck, Milady—or what’s left of it,” grumbles one of the pirates as he digs into a bowl of gruel left from this morning's breakfast. Like a large bee stuck in a spider’s web, the partially sunken boat bulges out of a mesh of sticky tangles, its deck slightly sloping abaft. Slowly turning the wheel, Lady Riverbane orders her ship toward the ensnarled derelict, and a minute later the Scrag Fisher’s moorings are secured to the Hanspur’s Luck.
“Here we are mates. That looks like a good place to start your investigation, wouldn’t you say?” Riverbane asks the party as she finishes navigating the boat into a stable docking position.
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Locke had been relaxing during the downtime on the ship, wondering if any new concoctions should be made in advance, eventually deciding 'meh', and just awaiting the situation where required.
When boarding the ship, Locke drily states...
"Hmm, i am willing to bet we will encounter spiders here, with all these webbing all over the place."
Looking back at Riverbane, "How long was this ship missing, again?"
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When Kegan arises the next day, he once again uses his wand to find out what luck he will have today.
——
On seeing the Hanspur’s Luck, Kegan gives out a low whistle. “Lots of webs. Wonder why the ship is so low in the water.”
Before going across to the other vessel, he drinks the vial of antitoxin he had purchased. Making a face, he says “Blech! Tastes every bit as awful as it smelled! It better work.”
Hoping the toxin would fortify his system against the expected spider venom, he then hops across to the other ship.
After a quick look around on the deck, he says “Guess we need to go below!” and makes his way to the stairs down.
Looking back at Riverbane, "How long was this ship missing, again?"
"Well...it was missing for about a week when we sent the letter to your Venture-Captain," she replies to Locke. "It took a while for your group to reach us, so about three weeks or so now." Riverbane moves down from the helm as the sailors continue to batten down the hatches on the boat. They look about nervously at the surrounding trees, several of them anxiously fingering their daggers as if a spider is about to drop on them. "We will keep watch out here while your group investigates. If you take more than an hour or so, I'll send someone down to check on you all. Who wants to volunteer?" she turns to ask her crew with a mischievous smile on her face. The crew abruptly finds something to busy themselves with as they studiously avoid her gaze.
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“Everyone careful, any fire is likely to cause the whole area to explode!” Kegan says, pointing to one of the barrels. “Those are the sort of symbols Locke should put on all their stuff.”
At Melisandre’s mention of spider webs in her hair, he asks “Don’t you have some sort of magic to clean things? I thought that was common.”