As Mel tells him about the up coming plans, and the possibility of Plugg's taking the Promise, he chuckles to himself. "Just let him try anything. We will keep him on a even keel...or under it!"
When Mel speaks about what's to come, Hassan nods. "We will be ready when that mangy jackel finally turns on us. It will be my honor to feed his guts to the fishes."
Smudge enthusiastically echoes, "Fish Guts! Fish Guts!" Quillin nods, but keeps his own counsel.
He shares a tearful round with Kroop and Grok and then readies his meager gear for the transfer.
The late afternoon, two days after the taking of The Man's Promise, is set to distributing the supplies and seeing to the repairs so each ship can go their separate ways. Plugg takes the captaincy of the Promise and promotes Scourge to his first mate (but still sharing bosun duties for this voyage.)
There is a rush of sorts to get trunk space and take quarters and is of little surprise that many of Plugg and Scourge's lackeys are given choice duties and premium accommodations in the front of the crew deck while your group and the likes of Quinn, Rosie, Conchobar and many of the original Wormwood crew who you have come to know as friends are forced to take common berths elsewhere on the deck.
Seeing value in splitting the ships apart before the daylight is exhausted Harrigan orders Plugg to make way to his destination while Harrigan makes his way to finish a task before a planned meet up in a little under two weeks. The details are kept tight lipped between the captain and his mate though you have some notion of the intended plan.
As you pull lines and set sail business on the Promise seems not unlike the Wormwood until dusk when the Wormwood fades on the horizon with the setting sun.
Plugg gathers the crew and speaks with his crisp tone,
Harrigan tolerated buffoonery, laziness and drunkness. Not on my ship. There is no ration and the crew is to be confined below decks after shift. There will be penalties for crew found to be overly loud or disruptive. I have seen fit to grant mate Scourge's request for a new bosun and we have agreed that Mr. Tate shall take over said duties for now. There is a murmur on the deck as the stocky dwarf offers a gap riddled sneer at the rest of you as he takes his place next to Scourge.
Plugg continues. Tomorrow we change course, there is a new plan. One that doesn't involve Harrigan or his foolishness. The Promis is now mine as are all of you. Fall in line, or be punished. Its not lost on any of you that Plugg seems to end his speech with his eyes lingering over the lot of you. A simple ration of biscuit and grog is distributed with a cold cup of beans and you are all shuffled off below decks.
Plugg continues. Tomorrow we change course, there is a new plan. One that doesn't involve Harrigan or his foolishness. The Promise is now mine as are all of you. Fall in line, or be punished.
The impish gray parrot on Quillin's shoulder gives a croak quickly stifled by the gnome, Plugg up-"
"uh, ha, ha." Quillin interjects. "That's right, clever bird. Up with Plugg! uh-huh.
Bart glares back at Plugg as his gaze lingers on their little group. Nothing outright hostile, but enough to impress the fact that he is not frightened by the bald man.
Mel keeps a level gaze fixed on the new Captain of the promise..
Fjori scowls at their new 'captain', barely keeping himself from spitting at the man's feet.
As they rest for the evening, he remembers something and asks, "What was in the packages we got before the captain left??"
16 in your corner for sure(counting you 6, Rosie, Quinn, Conchobar, Owlbear and others)
19 in their corner (including all other Wormwood crew, Scourge, Plugg, Patchsalt (Bosun's mate) and about 8 Rahadoumi)
1 ? --> The Rahadoumi Maheem (part of the original crew) had some oddly positive interactions with Hassan in the days leading up to the taking of the Promise and in general has seemed less aggressive. His "loyalty" is questionable.
It should be noted that Cog spends a LOT of time with the like of Narwhal Tate and Slippery Syl but seems to be quite fond of Mel and Bart.
As for the packages:
One is nothing but "niceties" in the forms of dried fruit, a cheese wedge and a few sad looking pieces of citrus along with some nuts, seeds and generally more "exotic" fare than what was served day in and out. Half a bottle of a fine Chelxian vintage has been included.
The second and third include the following:
A masterwork cutlass
A well worn map of the Shackles and surrounding area
a compass
a cracked but functional spyglass
3 flasks of alchemist fire
an ivory ring featuring carved dolphins
2 masterwork daggers
1 well wrapped package about 2 inches square tightly bound in wax paper and seal skin. The contents are a mixture of dirt and powder. The explosive powder of Alkenstar.
1 piece of black coral finely polished to the point of almost looking like glass.
After the packages are opened, Ajani spends a moment admiring the different gifts that were given to the group before saying,"We should first try to find a good hiding place for the food. We do not want our beloved Captain discovering this bounty and claiming it for his own...or worse, pretending we stole it and punishing us for the 'theft.' The rest we should divide up among ourselves."
"Quillin, are any of these things we have been given magical?"
Ajani casts Detect Magic, focusing on the items they were given. Sensing a magical aura from the ring, he picks it up from the other brickabrack to examine more closely.
"That is a mighty fine cutlass. Would any of you have a problem if I took ownership??", Fjori asks as he hefts the handsome weapon.
"Here Monkey, let a pro look at that. Hmmmm, yep, it's magical alright."
spellcraft
Knw arcane for an aura
faint trasmutation
The effect is lost on Quillin
The effect of the ring is also lost on Ajani. He looks to Hassan as their last hope for an (immediate) identification of the ring's power.
"I am feeling that it is on the tip of my tongue..."
appraise
"I think I saw a similar ring once that helped your swimming. At least that's my guess with the dolphins and all."
"I suppose it will be useful if it does"
"Useful indeed. What of the rest of these things, though? I have no need of a compass, as I have one already, though a spyglass could prove immensely useful. I wish to claim that..and perhaps a flask of alchemist's fire. I have no objection to you taking the cutlass, Fjori. On the contrary, you are the best person for it."
"Does anything else particularly catch the eye of the rest of you?"
Quillin casts an avaricious eye on the ring. "I don't mind giving that ring a try, might be useful indeed."
Hassan flips the ring to Quillin. "With my compliments, Master Gnome. Recall that it is to be worn above the waist, lest you develop any amorous intentions towards our friends depicted upon the band."
"For myself, I would take one of those fine daggers, and a bottle of alchemist's fire as well. The map and compass may prove useful to us all when we have won our freedom. This fine piece of coral might be worth something as well, if we are in need of gold."
"I'll take a dagger..I don't want any of Alchemists fire and you need to keep it away from the bang powder..that stuff is bloody dangerous"
Quillin slips the ring on his finger and removes his boots to check his toes for webbing. Afterwards, he peels a bruised orange for Smudge.
"Anyone want to hold on to said bang powder? I could keep it safe with my spell components in case we happen on one of those new-fangled shooting devices."
Ajani picks up the sheet of black coral, slowly turning it in his hands.
"What application could this possibly have? I sincerely doubt that they'd have given us something with only monetary value and no practical application."
Bart's gaze wanders over the accumulated goods. He snorts to himself at the spell-slingers' attempts at deciphering the ring's magical properties. Magic... Bah! He shrugs his shoulders, clearly uninterested in the gift.
Knowledge (Nature):
Ajani turns the stone over in his hand, and like the ring before, the Vanara knows he is just on the cusp of knowing something...but what? The piece in many ways is unremarkable. Many stones can be smoothed and black coral is not so rare as to be overly exotic.
The stone is roughly an inch long and half an inch wide and half an inch again as thick. The borders are mostly rounded, giving the coral a pleasant feeling in the hand, fitting snugly were one to ball a fist around it. There are no other markings and no magic emanates from it.
Despite this it has a sense of "worth" beyond coin. (Though it is probably worth 50-100 gp). The coral doesn't seem mundane nor does it seem special. A mystery indeed.
Ajani purses his lips as he turns the black stone in his hands, back and forth, eventually deciding that he was going to stow it and give some more thought to the importance of the thing at a later time. He carefully tucks it into his things, just in case it may somehow be dangerous in some way.
"I will give further thought to this coral later. There is something important about it, but I cannot quite place my finger on what. Perhaps further thought will give me understanding at another time. There is nothing else among the supplies that I am in particular desire of."
Mel rises from where she squats amongst the others.."Well then let's get to work..but watch your backs there are a few too many of Pluggs cronies in this crew to make me feel altogether safe"
By morning you have secured your treasures, investigate the ship as best you can, and gotten a sense for the watch rotation (poor as it may be) that is kept at night.
The morning is much like any other save that the food is atrocious, stockpiled pickled fish and moldy bread. After rations are distributed Scourge come to Quillin and points at the wizard.
You. You were cook's mate. You are now cook. Choose a mate and get to work. I'll be having the food sampled so no funny ideas...
Scourge makes it a point of slapping the pommel of his whip to emphasize his point.
Otherwise the rest of you are put on what seems to be the harshest duties.
Though there is little time away from the watchful gaze of Narwhal Tate or Scourge, there are gaps occasionally to be exploited.
Before heading off to bed, Hassan makes sure to grab a couple of smallish chunks of dried fruit, which he deftly hides in one of his many pockets.
The next day Hassan takes to his labor as best as he is able (curse the black heart of that cur Plugg), barely managing to keep up. Nonetheless, he takes an chance when the opportunity affords itself to approach Maheem.
Hassan sidles up to the Rahadoumi slyly. "By the look of you I think you and I are brothers in thought. I did not think I would miss that fat Fishgut's cooking, or wish myself back upon the Wormwood so soon. Here, I pilfered this from the cook's kitchen before we switched vessels."
Hassan pushes a sliver of dried fruit into the man's hand. "If "Captain" Plugg is wise, perhaps we will have better fare soon. And if not, perhaps we will have a better captain." He winks conspiratorially, with a grin that suggests he is making a funny joke... or perhaps not.
:
Bart does his work best he can, though the change in diet might have affected his performance. He thinks this as his stomach turns. Other than that, he does his best to keep close to Cog, joking with his friend about the general conditions aboard their new 'home'.
Ajani does his work just as he did on the Wormwood, with no complaint or indication of weariness (if he can help it), wanting to just get done with it as quickly as he can and in such a way as to avoid drawing attention to himself in his new post; calling himself out by being exceptional would be no better than by being dismal, at least in his view.
This first day on the ship, Ajani is primarily concerned with closely observing the present crew, wanting to figure out for himself if any of the crew who were formerly on Plugg's side are re-evaluating their like of him or Scourge now that the sadistic pair are in a more significant position of authority over the crew.
If possible, Ajani would also like to find Quinn and show her the piece of polished coral that was given to them and see if she knows what the significance of it may be.
Qullin shakes his head and sighs once Plugg is gone. "Me as cook again, heavens help us all. Believe me, the poisoning would be totally inadvertent. Any of you want to help out in the galley? What about you, kid?" he asks Mel.
spellcraft
Con Check
Mel manages to make it through the day without too much trouble.
As Hassan goes on his business the ever silent Maheem offers no words. However as Hassan makes his way to his next task, the soft tune of a Qadiran ship song, one of many brought to the Wormwood by Hassan echoes over the decks.
For the rest of the day the pace is brutal and harsher than anything Harrigan required. While Quillin and Mel are spared the brunt of the pace by their work with the cooking supplies, the rest of you are set about at a pace that is alost barbaric.
Ajani and Fjori end the day tired but not exhausted. Fjori's luck holds as Owlbear found the strength that the Nord did not have to pump the bilges in the oppressive heat of the Promises' lowest deck.
Bart and Hassan crack at the pace and though they complete their given tasks they feel run dry and ragged. Most of the other crewmates that you call friends looks the same while those whom have aligned with Scourge and Plugg were given the lightest tasks and seem in decent spirits at the days end.
As the crew gathers for the evening meal Plugg looms over the lot of the crew, The winds are light but I mean to hit port in 3 days. You will keep this pace if it breaks you. I see a squall may come but we are on the wind side so I mean to stay ahead. Get us where I mean and you can stay as my crew...or we can find other arrangements for you. There is a laugh from the lackeys and though Plugg's words suggest you can go, his tone hints at something less than forthright.
Mel looks at Quillan and grins.."Now what on earth prompted him to make you cook..hmm some of those Rahadoumi spices are rumoured to be hotter than hell..but I have no idea what is what perhaps we should speak to one off them?"
Ajani seems grateful to have weathered the harshness of the day, finding the work just shy of back-breaking. Still...he came out of it better than either Bart or Hassan did. He is surprised that he did so well in comparison to the muscular pugilist...maybe he was just having a bad day.
It's obvious that Plugg is trying to exhaust everyone who is even maybe against him, perhaps to take the fight out of the bunch to circumvent any further mutiny. He inwardly scoffs at the idea. After evening meal, Ajani doesn't respond a word to their "Captain", instead staring silently into the distance. He knows better than to try and get up until he has been formally dismissed; Plugg's demeanor is obviously one looking to find some fault in those who are opposed to his authority over them, thin though it may be.
cook
"Oooh, careful with that spice. Don't want to hurt anyone. Hmm, actually this is pretty mediocre. Maybe if we kick it up no one will notice."
sense motive
Quillin arcs a feathery blue eyebrow at his help. "I'm not sure what you're getting at, but it's best not to antagonize Plugg and his bunch. Keep a low profile until the time's right, I say. If you want to speak with the Rahadoumi, go ahead and take a break. You're certainly not helping me much."
Quillin mutters to himself, "Almost took that monkey man, but imagine Plugg finding a monkey hair in his soup."