Goandai attempts to decipher meaning from the barely present tracks on the wood planking
Victor
when you see that the armory has been rated, you rushed down to check the food supplies. After a quick inventory with Leila you determine everything looks to be in good order, although it would be difficult to determine if a few rations were taken.
Goandi
While you are able to detect and trace the blood trail leading away from the scene of the murder, it becomes much more sparse at the Armory. But Nekare is able to detect the scent of blood and with her assistance you are able to trace the killers back to the hidden room where the prisoners were held. the lock is broken and the door slightly ajar. When you open it, the grate is missing and you find the group of four Southerners. Each is armed with a boarding pike that they have pointed at the entry should any attempt to approach. Remnants of a hastily eaten food lie discarded at their feet as though you interrupted be starving men's meal.
"oh praise be. We're not going to starve to death."
Victor comments in relief.
He scans the room looking for footprints or anything that might give away the presence of a person passing by recently.
Goandai slams the door shut and braces it with whatever is available, even if it's his own scimitar or himself, and "pennys" it with his scabbard. He put his thumb and forfinger in his mouth and blasts out a screaming whistle, trying to mimic the typical sailors' call of "hey, get over here!"
the noise predictably incites an answering howl from Nekare` which adds to the din
Victor
There is no sign of passing there than some bloody fingerprints, likely left by the murderers.
Goandi is able to bar the opening to the pit, although with their weapons they could potentially break through, or even carve through the walls on either side fo them. But they do not seem to be reacting as of yet.
"oh dear me. back to the rest then."
victor paces out of the room.
Goandai shakes his head confusedly for just a moment before casting mending on the broken lock and retrieving his scabbard from between to the hinges.
we tracked four men to the prison hold. they have weapons stolen from the armoury and are likely the ones responsible for the quarter-master's death... incidentally, the weapons they have look particularly good for cutting through these wood walls and haul. we should get some back-up
"As acting captain, I surely have some influence, right? Maybe I can, I don't know, convince some people to join the guard? I don't know, this whole trip has been a mess ever since I opened that grate. I'm sorry. At least those danishes were good, right?"
Thoyoitu paces back and forth for a minute thinking and finally speaks up, "Goandai, I'm transferring the title of captain to you, effective immediately. This ship is now yours, sir. My dagger is yours. I'm sure my family will follow you as well. Perhaps I could sneak around, see if I find anything? Where would I start looking?"
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What. In. The. Nine hell are you thinking, Thoyoitu! We just got the Reavers to back down, what, an hour ago. Don't you think that weak-willed response to the situation will, i don't know, undermined our pretty precarious situation as is. I got the pirates at large to view you with respect, you lose that respect and all we'll have is a pirate's promise not to murder us in our sleep. Buck up birdy, your the face for the lives of all the passengers and imprisoned crew.
Des tries to calm his pulsing heart, and take as calm a tone as he can. He lets a long exhale, and focuses back at the group.
Ok, your right Thyoitu, you have some influence. We'll need you to use it to solidify our status as power on this ship, I'll assist you in that. Let's start by seeing if we have friend or foe on the other side. The store room looked fine when I left Victor, they may just be starving men with a grudge. We can use that.
Victor paces up to the rest of the party, catching most of the conversation.
"men? Grudge? This ship holds more and more surprises."
"I know what the situation is, Des, and I'll help how I can, but I can't keep calling the shots. I'll pretend to be a captain if that's what's best, but I don't really want to be the captain. You're right, so let's go do that, then. Store room sounds good. Go, Vic, we'll be back soon." Thoyoitu follows Des' advice and heads to the store room.
stuffs his eyes back in his skull and lifts his jaw from off the floor I could not have said it any better, Desula. Now, lets see what our tired, poor, huddled mass in the hold has to say...
he knocks and calls in HEY!!, YOU IN THERE... YOU GOT A REASONABLE EXPLANATION YOU'D LIKE TO TRY FOR WHY YOU TORTURED AND KILLED THE QUARTER-MASTER?...
There is a sound from within, and then one of the fellows shouts something in a language none f you speak.
Thoyoitu can recognize the sounds as ones used by deep southerners, but the language is totally foreign.
"well i don't know any southerners..... i think all people might be equally dangerous though, if that's what your asking."
Well say Lela and the rats are around. Ain'never sayin nut'in'. Nossomuch leastways," Tickle volunteers with a shrug. An'nut'in I unnerstood. Squeak only nods in agreement.
They kept to themselves. Were already here when we were taken.
Lela pauses, Wait, they said Kumunde... Yeah twice there. I dunno if that's a word, but it's what the Bosun's name is. I can fetch him, maybe he knows the language? She suggests. She rushes upstairs, returning with him a minute or so later.
He looks at you with eyebrows raised, wondering what the hell you want now?
Bosun, the four Southerners from the break out are locked in the hold right now. It looks like they're responsible for what happened to the quarter master, but no one understand their lingo and they seem to be asking for you. Can yiu talk to them? see if they can explain themselves?
"Yes, you must do this, Bosun."
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Des shakes his head with wearily. Everyone's in such a hurry with no time for courtesy or sensibility. Is this how the brightlanders operate
Des eyeballs the Bosun to show a sign of measurement in his thoughts. "Your the boatswain. I've seen you on deck, you run a tight ship."
Des reaches and shake the mans hand and says, "My name is Desula. Me and this merry lot stumbled upon the corpse of the quartermaster. Goandi here tracked the perpetrators, the Southerners, to the hold. Victor found they didn't take anything of note besides weapons to defend themselves and food. Lela says they been calling out your name. That's the gist of the situation. Would you help us in settling the situation, we've had far to much chaos on this ship as is?"
My name? I guess we'll see eh?
After a minute or two of speach in the southsidrn language none of you speak, and a fair bit of yelling and harsh tone from within the hold, and from the Bosun, the tattooed human turns. Well, they did kill the Quartermaster. He was one of the ones that captured them, took their freedom from em. He pauses for the briefest moment. but they won't attack if you unlock the hold and let them alone, and stay armed...
he's definately hiding something about the current situation and the southerners. You can try to roll SM for more info.
They will. . . the Bosun says. "We took them as slaves to bring to the darklands. Just a transaction, an order while we were in the area. Lost a few of them, sold off a couple. Once we found Buchanan's men we figured we'd re-stock." The man shrugs. They didn't much care for being slaves, so they hunted down the Quartemaster, took his keys and geared up... There is still something he's not mentioning
But I'm the only one that speaks their language, so I can translate for them
"We'll keep two guards down here to watch them. Ones I trust, I promise. That is the only way I'll agree to let them keep their weapons."
Victor scratches his chin thoughtfully.
"we should offer them healing if they need any.should make us appear less threatening to them ."
Victor dashes off and quickly returns with healing balms and such creams
Kumunde opens the trapdoor and tells the southerners something, which they discuss and one replies. They don't much care about Buchanan's men, nor you. But they willing to not kill anybody else long as you don't try to take their weapons or nuthin.
Nuthin much else really, on my end. They don't much care for me seein' as I were crewed with the Drow what took 'em and sold their tribesmen off. There is likely more to it than that, but he seems to be intent on avoiding any specific mention of wrongdoing.
"This arrangement is acceptable to me."
The southerners give you the quartermaster's key and set their weapons down, going back to theri meals. one mutters something and flashes the Bosun a wicked grin. the man flinches and says "Works for them too. They can contribute here too, sooner we get to port, faster they get off the ship."
Everything proceeds fairly normally through the day. Rosalyn eventually flied down from her pearch and mentions clouds in the south, but they are still on the horizon and she's been observing them all day. The groups of crewmen seem to keep to themselves the Orc and the human woman with them taking up some of the more exhausting tasks while the rats, Halfling and Gnome vanish into the rigging working the sails. As the day wears on, even the southerners are on deck although they are still armed.
Lela is in the galley's preparing dinner and Hezala has taken up caring for the wounded, as the Doctor is gone. The human passenges seem to be making themselves scarce, but there are plenty to crew the ship.
Is there anything else you want to do with the day? If not you can take a night acton then let me know where you plan on bunking down.
Thoyoitu takes the captain's quarters, and searches it for loot before going to sleep.
Victor retreats to the sickbay, to finish work on the corpses before he turns in for the night.
Desula
Desula gets some rest rather early, as twilight barely begins, taking a light supper in his cabin. It’s not the quality of Butchy’s fresh cooking, and you’ll miss that about the Half-ogre. When the Drow awakens a celebration of sorts is in full swing. The ship was stopped when night overcame the vision of the crewmen, and the night-crew of Drow have not come up to deck. Lela has pulled up an entire cask of ail with the assistance of one of the Orcs. Desula, you happily join in, having just enough that you can keep your head about you, barely. As the evening wears on, the food runs out but the drinks keep flowing. Most of the prisoners are being sociable, although tend to gravitate toward their little cliques. Tamerand and Akryat seem to be discussing things with the noble’s attendants keeping their conversation private.
At the end of the night, the Gnome is passed out under the table with the Halfling asleep in her seat. The two orc are passing a pipe back and forth while the human woman is out cold, face down on the table. The humans from the original crew have taken their bunks, along with the dwarf, rats. The Oracle and several others are asleep by the time Desula arrived. You can influence one group of characters this evening, The Rats, Short Folk, Orc group, or Old crew. You can also casually listen in on Tamerand and Akryat with a bluff check
Then make a perception check.
Victor
You are able to complete your preservation of the body and are quite proud of your work. While it’s not going to be in perfect state, hopefully it will satisfy Tamerand. You bunk down to take your rest.
Please make a perception check.
But the sound is wrong. Your eyes hurt as you look into the shadow, leaning down you see not blades of grass, but feathers growing out of the earth. Yet placing your hand upon the ground, it isn’t permeable like mud but solid like flesh. The stench of death takes you, fills your nostrils and in an instant you know exactly where you are even without seeing.
Home, in a field of the dead, tengu men and women fallen defending your home. Without seeing you pass vicious goblinoids in the midst of the raid knowing what evils they commit. Serpent-folk and human capture screaming tengu too weak or injured to fight. Even others of your kind peck and claw at your tribesmen. You walk on the bodies of the dead, blind and unable to change course in the darkness until before you stands a young tengu. The darkness parts around him, pulled back like a curtain obscuring everything around him. His sharp eyes appraise you. What do you think you’re doing boy? Are you really going to let this happen again? No, “Tenguin”, you will not let your people to be lost and perish. You will not abandon them to starvation and death. You’re like me, too clever for that. At least I hope you are. Now get your act together and stop sleepin’ on the job!”
The tengu hits you upside the head, something your old grandfather used to do when you slipped up.
Make a perception check.
Everyone please make perception checks please, as well.
Like it or not, you're a leader now. Act like it.
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Des eyes Akryat and Tamerand when he walks into the mess hall. He immediately falls into carousing around the two to pickup on their discussion.
Des looking for an interesting group to fall in with goes to the Short Folk. The short ones always seem to find themselves in mischief.
"So how did you all fall into the pirate game"
Des keeps well in his drinking limits, having pushed his limits all through the trip.
Pyre looks around thinking something is off.
Deula, after a few drinks with the Little Folk and some banter you skip up. It instantly becomes appatent that it was a mistake to speak to the drunken dwarf. He glowers at you Well, I took a liking to murderin and pillagin as a lad. What young digger don't love the waters and weather, eh? he snears. There is clearly a story here that the Dwarf does not wish to recount. His mates eye you skeptically. and you feel it is an appropriate time to mosey away from them.
Good timing too because you hear a clattering coming from the kitchen. There seems to be a scratching noise coming from the walls. Just them Nekare bursts from the stairs to the storage and races through the dining area.
Thoyoitu
You awaken from your dream with a start, and are keenly aware of motion within your cabin. The sounds from your dream translate into reality, the thunder of battle was the sound of someone climbing the dumbwaiter brom the kitchen directly into the captain's cabin, while gut-wrenching screams fade to the subtle squeak of an oiled lockpick, the thud of bodies thrown to the ground is the clicking of tumblers being set your locks is disabled. You keen senses detect footsteps outside your cabin as the door to your sleeping quarters creaks open. The silent intruder must still believe you to be asleep. Your muscles tighten instinctively and your fingers grip the dagger you didn't realize you were holding.
Goandi is awakened by Nekare whining and pouting. As soon as he has her attention the Wolf races up from the pens to the middle deck.
Victor, hears Nekare coming and up the ladder from the sick-bay by the time the wolf is heading toward the rickety stairs to the upper deck.
Pyre also hears the Wolf pass his cabin. Something is most definitely off.
Tamerand seemed to be trying to recruit Akryat as an agent in some of his ventures. There was an offer to sell off plundered goods at better rates than most pirates are able as well as listing targets, such as Tamerand's competitors in exchange for less risky passage for the Nobleman's ships. There was also mention of the dead crewman having valuable information that could lead to great profit for any party involved in ensuring the information is protected as well as acting upon it. Tamerand is still very cagy about the details there. Akryat seems interested
I pretend to sleep until they get close, then surprise them with a dagger to the face!
"oh blasted wolf. I haven't gotten a wink of sleep for while now and I do hope the drama dies down soon."
Victor rubs his eyes and gets his stuff on.
"Oh I do hope it isn't much of a commotion."