Nesipho's sparking rapier drives deep into Danava's back, and the captain staggers before pulling himself to his feet again via the ship's wheel. With a shout in Vudrani, he turns toward his attacker, and all the pirates around him begin doing the same.
Casting Shatter against the helm. (Will DC 19)
Tania feels a mix of relief and exhilaration as things finally get in motion. Here we go!
With a weave of her fingers, she summons forth the energies of this world, and all the cables and sails seem to explode in a tangle of sticky wires engulfing the crossbowmen.
As she does so, she appears, five versions of her, floating 15 feet above deck: "You picked the wrong ship..."
Although two of the pirates manage to dodge the writhing tendrils, the third is not so fortunate, as the grasping magic wraps him up.
With the sudden appearance of their foes above and among them, the pirates react quite slowly, giving you the chance to drive home your advantage. Markis suddenly appears in the air over the ship as well, massive demonic wings flaring behind him, as he concentrates chaotic energies toward the ship's wheel. Unfortunately, the vessel seems infused with some hellish power of its own, and resists the effect with disturbing ease.
Tania now turns her attention to the captain. She points an extended palm at him and four red shards like crystal blood drops exit her palm and fly to strike the man in the chest.
Hit them, and hit them hard.
The blurred form of swirling images around Nesipho is mixed with further arcane energies.
A faint smile plays along Nesipho's lips as the adrenaline of battle rushes over him. Battle is not something he seeks, but he does not shy away from it either - hunt or be hunted. "Captain Danava, command your crew to stand down or be washed aside with the tempest." I have no doubt the law of the sea will find the man hanged anyway, but no need to shed the blood of his entire crew if it can be helped.
Tania's mystic bolts slam into Danava, and he staggers again - but Nesipho's enchanted rapier is unstoppable in its speed and fury. With two lethal strokes, the Mwangi warrior ends the threat of Captain Danava forever, and the body of the infamous pirate tumbles ignominiously to the deck, smoking slightly.
Unfortunately, if you were hoping that the captain's death would break the morale of his crew, your hopes turn out to be in vain. With shouts of fury, the marines manning the ballistae and the two unentangled corssbowmen raise weapons and aim them toward Nesipho's shifting form.
Breccia sends two arrows into the marine manning the forward ballista, and he is almost knocked over by the force of the shots. Although bleeding heavily, he nonetheless joins the others in shooting at Nesipho.
Two images disappear in the barrage of crossbow bolts, but Nesipho escapes unscathed. Below him on the main deck, the final crossbowman struggles to free himself from Tania's webbing so he too can join in the assault.
With a tearing of spidery strands, he works his way free and readies his crossbow once more. Although most of the rest of the marines begin reloading their crossbows, the marine nearest Nesipho, just a few steps away near the aft ballista, draws his scimitar and rushes toward the magus.
As the marine rushes towards him Nesipho sidesteps to let the man pass, lashing out with his rapier as he does so.
Frowning at the fact the helm didn't burst under his spell, he surveys the unfolding scene.
Tania, not wishing to cut Breccia's line of sight, opt for a more subtle spell. She turns to the men operating the ballista closest to her and hums softly a lullaby from her youth.
Nesipho easily steps behind the marine, but his rapier attack is clumsy and awkward - the blade nearly slips from his grasp, and he has to spend a moment recovering it while his foe turns to face him.
Markis looks for a tight-enough grouping of enemies to make his mind-shattering spell worthwhile, but cannot find one. He decides instead to try physical shattering again instead, turning his magic against the ship a second time. Although the wheel shivers and twists in the hands of the crewman who has grabbed it, it still does not yield to Markis' will, and the ship sails on.
Seeing that only one of the ballistae still has a user, Tania attempts to knock the man out before he can ready his devastating weapon again. The man's eyes roll up into his head, and he slumps to the deck, snoring loudly.
On the main deck, the three marines start trying to work their way free of the magical webbing. While the two closest to the edge manage to work their way completely free of the webs and climb to the higher decks , the third manages only to get himself entangled in the webbing again.
On the aft deck, the newly arrived sailor drops his crossbow and draws his scimitar but cannot quite reach Nesipho's position for an attack. His compatriot, however, has no such difficulty, and slashes at the magus. On the forecastle, the still-conscious marine aims his crossbow at Tania and fires. Both attacks accomplish nothing whatsoever, however.
Breccia, seeing as his current target is asleep but that a new one has climbed into view in almost the same spot, aims his bow there. His first shot hits the man's arm, but the second very nearly clips one of Markis' wings.
Tania makes a funny face as the bolt flies past her: "Careful with pointy things! They poke holes you know!" She then targets the sailor that drew on Nesipho and force his will to succumb to bad humour.
The pirate gives Tania an odd look, but otherwise does not respond to her jape. Maybe it's a language thing...?
"That's my favorite part about pointy things Tania" Nesipho grins knowing full well she wasn't talking to him.
Disregarding the strangely resistant helm, Markis switches his target to one of the horizontal spars holding up the lowest yard, hoping to bring down an entire section of sail. And if it lands on one of the marines, so much the better.
Markis finds that his magic is no more effective against the sails than it has been against the helm.
Nesipho's first attack sinks deep into his foe's stomach, and his second, magically-enhanced one slices the pirate's arm, but the man manages to keep his feet. Painfully, he draws a small bit of coiled rope from a pouch and tosses it into the air next to him; beside him, the other pirate does the same thing before stepping up to confront Nesipho. The two coils of rope do not fall to the ground, however - they instead hang in the air for a moment, writhing and twisting and growing, until they become massive whips, 25 feet in length, that quiver and vibrate in the air. Both whips snap forward to try to lash the magus' flesh with their cruelly-barbed tips.
The two magical whips do not manage to make contact with him, but another mirror image is destroyed by their attack.
Up on the foredeck, the pirate who shot at Tania begins reloading his weapon, while below him on the main deck, the last pirate caught in the web makes another attempt to free himself. He works his way free of the strands enough to push through to the ladder leading up to the aft deck, but the dense tangle of fibers keeps him from actually being able to climb up.
Breccia aims another arrow at the reloading pirate on the foredeck, and this shaft flies true - the man gives a cry and falls, his crossbow falling uselessly to the deck next to him. Breccia's second shot soars toward the pirate at the base of the aft deck ladder, and this one too hits its target, albeit only glancingly.
Across the divide of the vessels, Breccia maintains a steady arm with his bow. The rhythm that he draws and looses arrows is precise, a steady beat of ready, draw, fire that moves in a flowing cycle. As the opposing ship draws nearer, Breccia's arrows become more lethal, felling members of the crew more than just bristling across the deck and hull.
This is starting to get dangerous.
Nesipho dashes to the side, ducking around his opponents blades trying to place a little distance between himself and his attackers.
Invoking his arcane powers a great torrent of water rises from the side of the ship and sprays one of the marines with a forceful blast.
"Any time now Markis" he shouts out.
Shaking his head in bewilderment, Markis casts another spell to disrupt the foul magics of the pirates.
Markis' dispel attempt and Nesipho's magic have roughly the same effect on their targets, which is to say, none to speak of. The enchantment on the whip is shockingly strong, and the pirate manages to brace himself against the blast of water enough so that he only gets soaked.
Tania's magic, however, is more successful - both pirates near Nesipho crumple into unconsciousness, leaving only their whips floating over them. The whips, though, continue to attack despite their users' slumber.
Another mirror image is lost to their attack. Below, the last conscious pirate struggles to climb up the ladder out of the webbing to join the fight. He cannot free himself, however, and is stuck fast to the ladder's rungs.
Less than a hundred yards now separate the pirate ship from the Fare Winds, and it is perhaps this proximity that seals the last pirate's fate, for Breccia's next shot with his bow is one with lethal, astonishing precision. Trapped as he is within the webbing that covers the ship's main deck, the sailor can do nothing as the shaft pierces his throat, tearing it out so thoroughly as to nearly decapitate the man. The body slumps, but is still held upright by the webbing in a grisly display of violent death.
Tania waves at Breccia then floats back to the deck. She turns to the others: "Well done! What do we do with the sleeping ones? Is there a hold big enough in our ship? I'm curious about those ropes..."
She shifts her aura to sense magical threads binding objects and persons, looking at the captain and the ropes.
One arrow in hand, Breccia watches the marauder ship with a squint, spotting Tania's wave. Seeing the threats subsided, the oread stows the arrow back in his quiver and slides his longbow back in the leather sheathe on his back beside the quiver. Turning to look at the ship, he finds the shattered remains of the ballista bolts that struck him, then looks down to his injuries.
"Aid," Breccia states in a deep, rumbling tone to anyone in vicinity, then moves to midship and stands beside the mast to await proper medical attention. It is only then that he looks back to the other ship so far away and nods once, slowly. Tania may not even see the subtle gesture, but the universe sees acknowledgement of a job well done, and that is enough for Breccia.
With the threat taken care of Nesipho takes a moment to catch his breath, breathing in deeply of the sea air.
They won't sleep long, best take care of that first.
He retrieves the rope from his haversack and tightly binds those who had the mercy of a more temporary sleep. Once they are tightly bound he searches them for weapons or other items they might use to try and free themselves or could pose a threat with should they manage to escape somehow.
He calls out to the remaining crew, "Bring her in next to the Fare Winds then line up on the fore deck and await to be boarded." As he calls out these commands Nesipho collects the crossbows, bolts, and other weapons of the marines, ensuring they are well away from the hands of any remaining sailors.
At last he turns to Tania and Markis, "That should hold them long enough for captain Harwood to inflict whatever passes for law on these primitive seas" he jokes. [b]"So what have we got here?" Nesipho asks, his gaze going to the objects Tania is inspecting. Without waiting for a response he picks up one of them to study it.
Markis alights on the deck, willing his ominous wings away. He looks about, rather sheepishly.
This ship must have been pieced together by the most skilled shipwrights in Golarion, he marvels. He casually puts his hand on one of the handles on the ship's wheel to give it a slight turn as he looks about. The piece of wood comes off in his hand. He looks at it and sighs.
I suppose that when a crew works together as one aboard a vessel, they can impart a collective will that can resist destructive magics. He looks at the others of the boarding party, still feeling embarrassed. He tosses the piece of wheel overboard.
Captain Danava was carrying a potion of invisibility and a +1 spiked chain, and was wearing a +1 chain shirt and cloak of resistance +1. Neither Tania nor Nesipho can determine the specific nature of the enchantments on the coils of rope carried by the other pirates.
"That pirate had some nice things! Her armor, weapon amd cloak have minor protection enchantments. Oh and she has a porion to become invisible. I wonder what we'll find down her hull... It must be good business, pirating with the powers of the Plane of Fire behind you!"
Tania waits for the ships to be connected before venturing anywhere, unless someone else goes first, of course.
Once the pirate ship has been captured, Prashant gathers everyone together and calls upon the Irori's serenity to wash over his allies.
+ half again on die rolls (13) = 48
"So ends the bloody reign of Captain Danava. Hopefully, the rest of the trip to the Impossible Kingdom will be far less eventful."
The pirate crew brings Danava's vessel, the Burning Scourge, alongside the Fare Winds, and Captain Harwood orders the unconscious marines placed in the Burning Scourge's hold. The pirate ship's hold is otherwise nearly empty - apparently the raiders had not yet claimed any prizes on this trip. Harwood puts her first mate in command on the Burning Scourge, but asks some of you to remain aboard her as well, to discourage any... incidents... with the surrendered sailors. The repairs to the sails of the Fare Winds take several hours, but by sunset, both ships are moving once more toward the port at Niswan.
Reaching Jalmeray takes another three days, but other than a brief rainstorm that provokes a round of seasickness from those of you least comfortable on the ocean, nothing of significance happens in that time, and you arrive in Niswan only a day behind schedule. When you first see the city across its bay, the shining white walls of the buildings that climb its hills have been covered with multicolored tapestries that flutter in the wind, and bursts of light fill the twilight sky over the palace on the highest hill.
The two ships ease into port, and although the port guards initially swarm all over the Burning Scourge, your report and that of Captain Harwood soon see you being celebrated as heroes. The fates of her crew are less pleasant, however - the surviving officers each lose a hand, and all the rest are branded on their wrists and their faces. But their problems are not yours, and as you leave the port district, you find that you have all of Niswan at your fingertips.
As he is tended to by the foreign healer, Breccia looks down to Prashant with his emotionles, hematite-colored eyes. When the wounds beneath his chipped armor seal shut, Breccia nods in slow, stony approval to the dark-skinned human. "તમે ઉપયોગી છે, આ એક ઓળખે છે," is spoken in a rumbling terran tongue, then followed up by a loose translation in Taldan. "Your skill is helpful, it is appreciated."
You are useful, this one recognizes.
When the ships dock in Niswan, Breccia marvels at the multicultural splendor of the harbor and the colorful spread of sails venturing as far as the eye can see. Departing from the ship, he carries the cloak taken from the pirates as trophy and utility, folded over one arm until he has such a time to properly have it affixed to his armor. He expects no camaraderie from those he battled alongside, merely content to have experienced a fight on the seas.
Breccia is slow to depart, though, walking casually among the crowds and easy to spot with his exaggerated height and stone-plated armor. His plan is a simple one: explore.
___________
Markis looks over the trophies and shakes his head. He doesn't dare touch them. He backs away, and casts ashamed glances around the rest of the ship's defenders.
As the ship approaches, he does get a little more talkative, asking around about noteworthy temples in and around Niswan.
Seeing Markis distance himself a little from the others Nesipho approaches him with a big grin on his face, "Don't look so glum Markis", he says the name slowly, making an effort to pronounce it correctly. "Other than that rock over there", he gives a vague wave in Breccia's direction, "we came through without a scratch."
In the next few days as the storm hits though Nesipho is gloomy, the violent rocking of the ship on the seas leaving him ill. Not until they are docked and his feet are on unmoving land again does he fully recover from it.
As he prepares to disembark he speaks to the other defenders of the Fare Winds. "We've a few items here to sell for coin. If you trust me to it, I can look for buyers for these things. We can meet in the morning at... captain Harwood, can you recommend a reputable inn here in the city?"
With the city now before him Nesipho is finally able to enjoy some of the sights and colors of the festivities, having been to ill to properly enjoy it previously. He moves along the streets at a slow pace, spending some coin sampling various foods he is not familiar with and also looking for a place to sell the unwanted treasures.
Tania, taking in the view of Niswan's fair walls and the colors dancing on them, smiles and grabs Ashaka by the neck: "See how beautiful this place is? The omens are good and I feel our endeavours will meet with success." She looks at the others: "So the spoils are ours yes? Why not the ship though? We could sell it to the city."
Later, she'll accept Nesipho's offer: "That sounds good. I'll be there. Let's meet to eat as well if you would like. It was a pleasure working with you and I would enjoy a real meal on solid ground in your company."
Once they reach the port, she'll argue about the ship now being theirs and to be sold to the city. If that doesn't work, she'll argue then for commercial favours...
Much to Tania's disappointment, the Burning Scourge is impounded as part of the legal proceedings against its previous owners; as the dour-faced dockmaster puts it, "Only pirates or licensed privateers would board another vessel, assault its crew and claim the ship for their own. I am already aware that you hold no privateer's license from the Thakur; do you then wish us to consider you pirates?" If she argues that some other awards are deserved, the dockmaster points to the spoils you have already claimed from Danava, but adds, "I will report your claims to my superiors. If they see fit to offer additional rewards, you will be contacted. Please, leave the name of your inn or other accommodation with my clerk." In that regard, Captain Harwood suggests an inn she frequents called the Three Doves, near the bridge over the Grand Canal that divides the Harbor District from the Commerce District.
Prashant smiles to the rest of the group. "I should like to visit some of the temples, I think. Any of you who wish to walk the same path as me for a time would be more than welcome." The slender priest makes no other effort to encourage others to come with him, and sets out to find what temples are in the city, and pay homage to those gods he finds pleasing.
Temples! I'm very interested! Are you by any chance headed to those that can help persons who hope to learn discipline and control?