Shisumo's Skull & Shackles (Inactive)

Game Master Shisumo

...You know, that bar of numbers below your name has your HP in it for a reason... :P

Better?

...You know, that bar of numbers below your name has your HP in it for a reason... :P

Went back and re-verified. I am standing, barely, in R-6.

Round Fifteen

AoO on Eleu: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6, damage 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7, miss chance 1d100 ⇒ 93

Evril, Chum and Artevious all try and fail to find some way past the guards of their foes, but none succeed. Eleuterio, however, does manage to knock down the sailor in the boat. He warily tries to rise, his weapon in a defensive posture.

And Eleu gets an AoO. Just like before, the sailor's prone, but has cover and is in full defense.

The "conversation" appears to be a trifle one-sided; the officer's only response to is to make another attempt to stab past Eleu's blade and cut her way to freedom.

Officer's short sword attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16, damage 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3, miss chance 1d100 ⇒ 21

Her efforts are no more effective this time than they were before, though, and her face reveals her frustration.

And you're all up. Map updated shortly.

Concerned for his allies' welfare, Chum tries to get past the woman's sword again so he can aid the wounded.

Attack: 1d20 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 2 + 2 = 19 Including flanking bonus
Damage: 2d6 + 1 ⇒ (5, 2) + 1 = 8
Miss: 1d100 ⇒ 16

The paladin rolls his eyes as he sees the sailor stubbornly rise, and brings the hilt of his scimitar down towards the man's crown. The Rahadoumi nimbly dodges, however.

Eleuterio turns his attention back to the officer, and blocks her sword strike with his shield. "As you leave me no other option, I'll make the best deal I can." He shoves his shield towards her, forcing her off balance as he sets her up for his inevitable strike. "I will bargain for your lives before the Captain, assuming there are those back in Rahadoum who would pay for your ransom." He strikes at her sword, beating it away and creating an opening for himself. "Far better than being fed to sharks, believe me." He feints towards her sword arm but crosses at the last moment, bringing the flat of his blade to her skull. "Yield, and I pledge my life to protecting yours."

Eleuterio seemed intent on offering our foe quarter. I was entirely game for such a turn of events, though our recent spate of simply clashing steel on steel with nary a wound to show for it was probably working against us. Thus, I tried to land a solid blow to help the officer reach a sound decision.

Melee: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22
Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
Miss: 1d100 ⇒ 85

Eleuterio seemed intent on offering our foe quarter. I was entirely game for such a turn of events, though our recent spate of simply clashing steel on steel with nary a wound to show for it was probably working against us. Thus, I tried to land a solid blow to help the officer reach a sound decision.

Melee: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16
Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
Miss: 1d100 ⇒ 38

Alas, my "solid blow" was more like a "light scrape."

Double post - the first was a crit threat and the second would have confirmed it, so it's a decent strike.

Oh, wow! So my dodgy internet connection actually did something right!

Evril, Chum and Artevious all try and fail to find some way past the guards of their foes, but none succeed.

Having had a fleeting vision of my own demise, I decide to take greater care during the remainder of the assault.

I strike with a deepening lack of confidence, and move to a slightly safer position. Move to S-5

Round Sixteen

Artevious cuts the officer across her shoulder, slicing almost to the bone; she spits an unladylike oath as she shifts her blade to the other hand and prepares to square off against him again.

At that moment, though, the fog surrounding you fades away with shocking speed, a reminder of its magical nature, and you look around to discover the rest of the crew of the Man's Promise either dead or captured, and the boarders from the Wormwood surrounding you, weapons still in hand. Captain Harrigan steps through the crowd, his short sword leveled at the woman, and sneers, "Drop that, now, or lose the arm it's attached to." She hesitates for a moment, and the sailor in the jolly jumps for the water, apparently preferring the sharks to the pirates - but Harrigan pulls a handaxe from his belt, hurling it at the sailor in the same motion, and it buries itself in the sailor's skull before pulling free and flying back to Harrigan's hand. The corpse falls into the churning red sea, and the officer lets the short sword drop to the deck. With a grim smile, Harrigan turns to the rest of the crew and raises his weapons, both now covered in blood and gore. "The ship is ours, men!" he bellows, and the pirates of the Wormwood let our a raucous cheer.

The surviving members of the Man's Promise's crew are stripped of weapons and armor, brought before Harrigan and then brought aboard the Wormwood. Aboard the Wormwood, a party begins as the pirates celebrate their victory with fine food and drink from the Man’s Promise’s hold. Captain Harrigan holds a meeting with his top officers and divvies up the plunder from the Man’s Promise among the crew in the early evening. Bolstered by gold and good drink, the party lasts for 36 hours, well into the next night. Naturally, no work takes place during the party.

During this time, each of you can take up to 5 ship actions of your choice, or do nothing but drink and revel like most of the pirate crew does. You each gain 550 XP for the whole battle, plus 175 gp each for Evril, Chum and Artevious. Evril also gets an amulet of natural armor +1 from Harrigan himself. Eleuterio, on the other hand, gets 12 lashes before the mast for cowardice.

"Go ahead and give me your lashes," the holy warrior says, already removing his shirt. "But I am no coward, and let no man bear such false witness against me. My blade might be unbloodied at the end of the fight, but it is because Providence granted me the mercy it chose to withhold from the rest of you lot."

Leery of the rum, Chum avoids the drink, but spends some time among the partiers. He does slip belowdecks when it seems that Grok might be sober enough to do business with, to see if she's gained anything interesting he might purchase.

But he finds himself up in the crows' nest enjoying the feeling of flying above the ocean more than once, spelling the assigned lookout, if one be present.

Grok is more than happy to give Chum the "grand tour" of her stores - although she didn't pick up much from the Man's Promise beyond her own share of the booty, she already had several items that she'd never gotten round to showing Chum or the rest of the group. These include: a starknife, 3 flasks of acid, 6 flasks of alchemist’s fire, four sets of thieves tools, a battered iron box containing six candles, a potion of barkskin, a potion of cure light wounds, a potion of haste, a masterwork climber’s kit, a disguise kit, 4 flasks of holy water, a magnifying glass, a set of manacles, two tanglefoot bags, 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, 200 crossbow bolts, a suit of banded mail, a breastplate, two chain shirts, masterwork leather armor, three suits of studded leather armor, 12 bucklers, two masterwork bucklers, a +1 dagger, a +1 short sword, a masterwork warhammer, scrolls of cure moderate wounds, mage armor, magic missile, scorching ray, and summon swarm, and a wand of bless weapon (16 charges). All are available for purchase at the usual prices, and Chum can freely examine any of them more closely if he wishes to do so.

Chum is unable to conceal his surprise at the wide variety of items that Grok pulls from the many places in her store, some much larger than he realized and others simply not obvious to the casual eye.

He asks to look at the finely-wrought bucklers. From past experience, he knows that some such feel 'wrong' when he tries to use them and they interfere with his connection with the Wind and the Waves, but he really has to hold it and feel for his connection to know for sure. Curious whether his druidic prohibition against metal armor would make the masterwork bucklers unusable for him. Likewise, he examines the fine leather armor and admires the strength of the seams and the well-crafted joints. "Why, it's like a nightshirt, it's so easy to move! Marvelous!"

Shaking his head, he says, "A wonderful collection! But I don't have the coin. If I come into some money, though, I know who to talk to, eh?"

You did just come into 175 gp - which would be enough to afford the masterwork leather if you wanted it. Unfortunately, wooden bucklers are quite rare, and usually involve ironwood in some fashion or other.

Doh! I thought that was additional xp, not gp!

OK, that's been corrected, so I looked at the masterwork leather closer. It appears that from a crunch standpoint, a person gains nothing from the masterwork characteristic (since leather already has ACP 0) except it makes the armor eligible for enchantment. Is that your take on it?

That is how I read it as well.

Chum eyes the armor for a long time, admiring it's craftsmanship, but he finally puts it back in its chest with some regrets. "Perhaps another day. I want to enjoy having more than two coppers a little longer, heh?"

He will slowly make his way to the crow's nest and do some thinking. About crazy paladins. About the beauty of a violent storm. About doing what you're told even when you know it's wrong. About how you can see forever on the sea.

Anybody else?

Chum also looks up the Besmaran cleric and asks her about 'the storm' - he's not seen it yet on his travels, but he has heard old salts talk about it and he wonders if she knows more.

Anybody else?

I cautiously approach Eleuterio, once he regains consciousness (assuming he loses it from the lashings). Speaking in a hushed whisper, I try to explain what happened on the Man's Promise.

Eleuterio does indeed lose consciousness during his time at the mast, and one would think that he would start developing some slight resistance to the familiar flogging. He half-listens to Master Cooper as he consoles him on the failure of his plan.

"Had to take the chance," he said. "I forgot about the Rahadoumi's fanatical atheism. I believe it was a sign from Iomedae. She clearly wants me here upon this boat for one reason or another, or she wouldn't have sent the Man's Promise to prevent my liberation. No, there's some reason she wants me aboard the Wormwood, I'm sure of it now. I just don't know the why yet."

The battle ended quite abruptly, with Captain Harrigan showing up and taking all the fight out of the officer. Soon, the entire Wormwood's crew were cheering a hard fought battle and a worthy prize.

I smiled and glanced about at the faces of my comrades. Most didn't share in the jubilation, and some looked positively sickened. I myself must confess to a somewhat dubious amount of cheer at the victory, cognizant as I was of Harrigan's villainy.

I shared in an amount of the rum and revelry, even as I received a hefty sum of gold for my efforts in the boarding action. I clapped the shoulder of Chum, who fought bravely with that stout cudgel of his, and I never once doubted the skill of Evril. Mr. Reis, unfortunately, received a rough go of it at the mast, because his mutinous actions did not go unnoticed.

I was anxious to see how my other allies had fared during the battle. I quickly sought out to see the fates of Sandara, Samms, Rosie, Crimson and Conchobar and the rest. While I suspected they could handle themselves, I desperately sought word that they remained whole. And I had some new tales of bloody combat to tell!

Chum also looks up the Besmaran cleric and asks her about 'the storm' - he's not seen it yet on his travels, but he has heard old salts talk about it and he wonders if she knows more.

"Just what any sailor of the Steaming Sea could tell you," Sandara replies with a shrug. "The worst hurricane you could imagine, only it never moves or goes away. Some say there's a portal to the Abyss at its heart, like up in the Worldwound but deep in the sea, but that's ridiculous - I doubt we'd've missed a demonic horde swimming all around us over the last century or so. Truly, Chum, I've no idea what's in there, and unless there's treasure involved, I'm perfectly happy in my ignorance. There's prizes enough out here where it's dry." She laughs, tilting back her flagon of rum and deliberately letting a few rivulets run down her chin. "Relatively speaking, anyway."

I smiled and glanced about at the faces of my comrades. Most didn't share in the jubilation, and some looked positively sickened. I myself must confess to a somewhat dubious amount of cheer at the victory, cognizant as I was of Harrigan's villainy.

Indeed, Artevious can't help noticing that the most vibrant revelry seems confined to the toadies and cronies of Mr Plugg and Mr Scourge. While his friends appreciate the share of the plunder and the time off from duty, and are as willing to celebrate still being alive as any who just survived a harrowing and deadly battle, they too cannot forget the brutality of Harrigan or some of his men, particularly the bosun and first mate. The memories seem to dampen much of their exuberance.

I was anxious to see how my other allies had fared during the battle. I quickly sought out to see the fates of Sandara, Samms, Rosie, Crimson and Conchobar and the rest. While I suspected they could handle themselves, I desperately sought word that they remained whole. And I had some new tales of bloody combat to tell!

Artevious finds that all he seeks are still alive, although several took wounds of varying severity during the battle. Sandara has made liberal use of her spells and channeled energy to soothe the worst hurts, however, and they greet the cavalier quite cheerfull when he encounters them. Conchobar has already begun spinning his tale of derring-do - seemingly aimed to impress Rosie more than anything else - while young Jack Scrimshaw keeps touching his forehead, where a new (and, it must be said, rather dashing) scar now marks his brow and right cheek.

"I believe it was a sign from Iomedae. She clearly wants me here upon this boat for one reason or another, or she wouldn't have sent the Man's Promise to prevent my liberation. No, there's some reason she wants me aboard the Wormwood, I'm sure of it now. I just don't know the why yet."

And the GM laughs. Oh, how he laughs...

At dawn, a few hours after the celebration finally winds down, the ship’s bell sounds, calling all hands on deck. 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 addresses the captives first, offering a place on the Wormwood’s crew for any who want to throw their lot in with pirates. Several of the Rahadoumi sailors step forward; Master Scourge cuts their bonds, and the sailors take their places among the Wormwood’s crew. Harrigan then turns to address the Wormwood’s crew.

"All right, you scurvy tars!" the captain bellows. "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.

"As for these fine fellows here" — Harrigan gestures at the remainder of the captured ship’s crew — "some of them will no doubt be worth a hefty ransom from their families back in Azir. And for the rest, if the life of a pirate’s not for them, they can spend the rest of their lives at sea!"

To make his point, Harrigan grabs one of the Rahadoumi sailors and throws her overboard to the accompaniment of cheers and laughter from the Wormwood’s crew. As the unfortunate woman sinks beneath the waves, many of the remaining sailors scramble to swear their loyalty to Harrigan. The officers are led belowdecks and the crew begins to disperse to their daily tasks.

As they do, 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 sailors chosen include "Fishguts" Kroop, Sandara Quinn, Rosie Cusswell, Conchobhar Turlach Shortstone, "Crimson" Cogward, Owlbear Hartshorn, "Barefoot" Samms Toppins, "Ratline" Rattsberger, Giffer Tibbs, Jack Scrimshaw, Tilly Brackett, "Badger" Medlar, Shivikah, Jaundiced Jape, Slippery Syl Lonegan, Aretta Bansion, Fipps Chumlett, Maheem, and Tam "Narwhal" Tate. Plugg also selects all four of you, and Scourge smiles evilly as he tells you to grab your gear from your duffles and report to the Man's Promise.

This is all moving a bit too quickly for Chum. He gives a wince and a little start as the woman is thrown overboard, but he consoles himself that her suffering will be brief. Then she will be one with the sea.

He's unable to hide his surprise to find that he's among the 'skeleton crew' selected. He didn't think Plugg and Scourge thought enough of him as a sailor to want him when they were going to be short-handed...

He asks Master Cooper quietly as they head for their gear, "Odd they would pick me - I have not shown my skills particularly well. The rest of you seem to fare better at your tasks..."

My head whirled at this new turn of events. The revelry lasted long into the next day, and I found swapping stories to be a most engaging past time. People could scarcely believe my tale of swinging across to the helm alone amidst a storm of bolts and defenders, and emerging unscathed before my mates joined the foray. For a time, all was well.

Suddenly, I was chosen go help guide our captured ship back to Port Peril, exactly where I started! My disappointment went unheeded by Mr. Plugg, though I caught Master Scourge's sneer. I couldn't help but wonder if they planned to drop me off and leave me to restart my pirate's adventure.

The paladin levels his glare at the bastard Harrigan, unbridled loathing evident in his eyes. In another time, in another place, he would have charged the bloodthirsty pirate and either cut him down as his ilk deserved, or fallen under the many blades of those who sail under his flag. His fists clench, and his knuckles whiten as they visibly tremble. One more death on your head, Harrigan. And I didn't even know her name. Whoever you were, you will be avenged.

"You misunderstand their intention, Master Seaborn," he says as he packs away his gear in preparation to board the Man's Promise. "Plugg's selected us for the same reason we've been selected for damned near anything on this accursed ship. Harrigan no doubt expects the Promise to put into Port Peril with four less men than it set out with. I aim to deny him that prize."

"What? Oh..."

He looks around nervously, then his eyes harden as he makes some connections thinking back. "Let me know what you need me to do."

My spirits lifted as I realized those friends I have made since coming aboard were also selected to join us on the Man's Promise. I greeted those as we gathered our belongings and moved them to our berths on the captured vessel.

"Of course, Master Chum," the paladin said, laying a hand upon the man's shoulder. "Keep aware of your surroundings. The captain's made a crucial error - he's given us allies to work with. That will be his ultimate undoing."

Before you leave, Grok gives you her potion of cure light wounds and one of the +1 arrows she had stashed away as parting gifts.

You also have one last chance to buy some stuff from her before you go - see this post for the whole list.

To Eleuterio: "I looked at Grok's stores - she has a lot more stuff than I realized, but I'm not really interested in most of it that I can afford. I don't mind pooling our money if there's something you think we should get."

Eleuterio listens to Master Chum describe the ship's store. "I wouldn't mind the banded mail you describe, Master Chum," he says. "It'd be a bit lighter than this. Might even keep me out of the drink," he says with a mirthless chortle. "We might want to check and see if any of the other items are magic - she might not know what she has on some of it. And while that wand sounds very good, it's probably more expensive than we can afford right now."

"Oh, I can see magic auras if I prepare. I looked and there were several items, but from what little I know about the cost of such items, she already knows what she has. Prices weren't crazy high, but I don't think you're going to get a steal, either."

"Let's have a look, I will show you."

If Chum has detect magic prepared and wishes to cast it in Grok's storeroom, he may make two Spellcraft rolls.

;-)

After looking over the items, Chum decides to purchase the battered box of candles. Is that 6 cp total, then?

He whispers to Eleuterio, careful to not let Grok hear, as he points at one of the cutlasses with a bit more decoration.

"Well, my friend, I have my candles for studying charts by. Is there anything that catches your fancy?"

Before you leave, Grok gives you her potion of cure light wounds and one of the +1 arrows she had stashed away as parting gifts.

As I pack up my kit, I find the three maces I found during my first trip to the bilges. Rather than carrying the unwieldy bundle with me onto the Man's Promise, I decide it would be best see if Grok would be interested in adding them to her stores.

I see my two comrades nearby, and bid them greeting as I set the maces on Grok's counter. "What can you offer me for these, dear lady?"

Turning my attention to Chum and Eleuterio, I offer a sardonic smile.
"Preparing for our upcoming pleasure cruise as well, I gather?"

Chum nods, then casts a spell Detect Magic and concentrates on the maces.

The maces appear mundane, even to Chum's magically-enhanced sight. Grok offers you 8 gp for the whole set.

Eleuterio confers with Master Chum, nodding appreciatively at the cutlasses he displays.

Brow furrowed, Chum nods and mutters, "You are right - it would not be the right thing to do."

He turns to the half-orc, "Grok, I would like to purchase that dagger, but I lack the coin. What option have I?"

Grok scratches her chin, then glances over at Evril. "Tell ya what. I saw that amulet the cap'n gave ya, sweetness," she tells the Andoren. "Yer friend wants my dagger? Let's swap, one fer one. Whatcha think?"

Surprised at the turn of events, Chum looks at Evril, trying to decide what to say. "You can have every copper I own today and I will pay you back double. Somehow. If we leave it on the Wormwood, it won't do us much good on the Man's Promise, right?"

"Yer friend wants my dagger? Let's swap, one fer one. Whatcha think?"

Unrolling my left sleeve, I pull out the amulet that Harrigan had given me. and gave it a quick inspection. "To be honest, I wasn't trying to save the bastard, so I don't feel like I deserve his boon. If it can help get us equipped to keep our heads aboard the Man's Promise, then I'd rather use it for that. I'll need that scroll of Cure Moderate Wounds as well, if you don't mind."

Grok smiles, looking satisfied as she hands over the dagger and accepts the amulet in exchange. She also collects Evril's 150 gp and gives him the scroll as well, and throws in a quick kiss on the cheek as a bonus. "It really is a shame you are all leaving," she says, shaking her head. "I never got a chance to know any of you as well as I would have liked..." Her expression is pure lewdness for a moment, but it softens into something more genuine, and you see the sparkle of tears glitter in the corner of her eye before she looks down.

True to his word, Chum offers Evril his coin pouch. "It's hard to say why it caught my eye, but it's a beauty, don't you think?"

If Evril prefers to keep the dagger on his person, that's cool. Or if he just traded to have it himself, Chum can live with that, too.