"Well, they are a trading post and we do have booty. Let's approach under flag of parley and see how they react."
You see a human male and female walk out onto the battlements, and the female calls out to you.
"What is your intentions. This is a private port."
"Trade and pleasant conversation." she calls out affably. "We come in peace."
The woman calls back,"I am Lady Smythee. You look to be interesting company, and I would like to invite you to dine with me. But I am not so foolish as to fully trust you ententes on our 1st meeting."
"I only ask that you offer up one of your own as as a hostage; to ensure good conduct. No more then five plus the hostage many come. This person with be unarmed and unarmored. The non-hostages may keep their arms and armor. The hostage will be well treated, and fed. But locked in a room some ways from where you will be dinning.
Once we are finished, you and the hostage will be returned outside the door."
"We will go, we need no weapons and we can grow armor of our own. We're not sure if they're fooling enough to take a druid as an "unarmed hostage" though, so we'll have to pretend to be something else, any idea's? As the first mate, they'll see us as a good valuable hostage. Don't forget about me though!
Despite all his bravado, Grauchi does look visible uncomfortable being left alone.
"Don't worry, we'll find you." she says with a pat on the back.
She calls up,
After coming on the island, a man (with a handlebar mustache) has the rest of the party stand back before taking Grauchi inside and closing the door.
Grauchi finds himself being lead up a ladder, thru a few doors, up some stairs, and into a Store room. He is searched; anything other then clothing and jewelry is taking. a meal and water is giving to Grauchi before they lock the door.
After Grauchi is locked away the guards come back and allow the rest of the party inside. The party also is taking up the ladder, but keep going up the stairs to a fourth floor. The party finds it self in a room with a large dinning table filled with food. The lady from before, along with the mustache guard, sit at the table and have you set as well.
The meal looks to be boiled crab, butter-simmered sturgeon, goat cheese, and hard bread, ale, and rum.
"As I said before; I am Lady Smythee. This here," the lady says waving to the mustache guard, "is Mccleagh."
Mccleagh nods before returning to his food.
Grauchi checks the room for anything out of the ordinary, and possibly some alcohol to go with the food.
Grauchi does not see any windows.
After looking around he finds that most of the barrels (26 gallon) hold water. He does find a few larger hogsheads (52 gallon) holding ale and rum.
"Well met." she says as she introduces the group. "and such fine hospitality." She will hoist a glass, "Fine winds for new friends and fierce waves for old fiends!"
Grauchi fills his cup with some rum, not too much, but to spice up the food a bit.
Lady Smythee smiles and says,"While I have heard of kobolds working on ship, and even ship ran by kobolds; I have never seen a ship commanded by kobolds with many other races. kobolds are not known for their openness with other races[b]".
She pauses for a moment in eating before speaking up again. [b]How did you end up with such a crew?"
"Well, one old fiend in particular. One that deserves to be thrown into the Eye in a leaky dinghy. We were shanghaied, and I expect he thought that us smaller folk would be easier to push around. It's not uncommon for people to forget our ties to dragonkind. Still, we don't hold the crimes of Barnabas Harrigan against other humans."
Smythee looks at Sassarra closely while Sassarra answered.
She waves her hand to Mccleagh. Who in return looks to one of the guards. The guard leaves the room, and Mccleagh returns to eating.
"I am no friend of Harrigan. The last I saw of him was when he tried to take my island right after he took my, now late, husband."
Smythee finishes off her ale.
"If you were more well known, then I would be more open to an alliance. But unless you make a name for yourselves, it would likely be a wasted effort. Free captains come and go like grains of sand."
One of the guards comes forward and refills her cup before she returns to speaking.
"But there is something I can do without any loss. About two weeks ago a large storm can thru. Likely you know that one as a few ships were lost to it.
Along with some floating cargo we found some near drowned, and some drowned, people. Of over forty bodies, from at lest 8 different ships, almost half survive. most joined together they had another gold to offer. So I sold them a few of our older fishing boats. They hoped to make it to the town of Goathead.
But most of the survivors did not trust a few members of the near drowned. So I have been stuck with three of the survivors. They have been working for their keep. But it is clear they don't care for being here, and I don't need them."
As she says that the guard that left the room returns with three kobolds.
"I expect that our reputation will be increasing." she says with a smile. "But let's see these survivors. If they are skilled, I'm sure we can find some place in our crew. If not, then we can at least get them to another port."
Huek enters the room, nervously fiddling with a red and gold band on his finger. He stops and gapes openly at the others. "Well. I'm not going to lie, I wasn't expecting to see so many other kobolds here...what's going on? Are you here to take us off this rock? No offense intended, Lady Smythee."
Huek's eyes widen briefly. "Captain? Warriors? Are you...are you guys mercenaries or something? I'd be willing to help out-I'm not the strongest, but I'm pretty decent with explosions. I could definitely see myself being a mercenary. I mean, it's no sea raiding, but..."
He trails off as he realizes what he just said and looks around nervously. "That was all out loud, wasn't it?"
"I mean...that's a bit of a worst case scenario, isn't it? Usually my bombs don't automatically sink a ship. I mean, there was that one time. But it was on another ship, and we were going to sink it anyways once we were done killing everyone else...you should've seen the look Lees gave me. She was so mad..."
He pauses for a moment as a look of sadness crosses his face. "What was I saying? Oh-don't worry, usually pretty good about not blowing myself up."
"Oh, we're not mercenaries. We're our own masters, out for our own glory and profit. We can use more skilled people, but if things don't work out, we're willing to take you to someplace with different opportunities."
She listens to Skrelznit's warning, and then turns back to Huek, "a point has been raised about explosives." she looks to see how he defends himself verbally.
Emerging from the shadows is a larger kobold, adorned with a strange, archaic armor and tribal markings similar to those seen on the humans of the Mwangi Expanse. "Glory and profit, you say? So... there be gold in it for us, if'n we join. I can offer my blade... and my fury... if the cut is fair. Don't like none who are gonna cut me short, whether they be kinsmen or not. Taalik no stand for such betrayal. But you cut me in even, and I'm your dragon!"
While eating his food he sees a small rat run between some of the casks.
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Gringe pokes her head out into the open, the assortment of bones hanging off of her feathered headdress clink and clack as she looks around the room at the other kobolds. Gold is good, shiny and sweet! ...and bones are too! you all have nice bones, I keep them inside you and you keep my bones inside me, but if you fall I have bone make you whole again!! the bones hanging off of her rattle, and click... and you notice most of them are the bones of other kobolds...
Right Sligi? she says to the salamander on her shoulder. .. Oh i agree completely! she smiles and nods as if there had been some great insight to agree with...
She will nod, "Everybody that pulls their weight gets a full share. Payable in gold or bones." She looks over at Skrelznit and Pew-Pew to see if they have any further comments.
Going around to where the rat should be it. Grauchi finds a knothole in the floor the rat may have used.
But Grauchi notices that most of the floor is very thick; a knothole should not go all the way thru.
Looking into the hole Grauchi's darkvision lets him see a thin metal rod with a loop at the top. The loop is within reach with a finger.
Smythee continues to eat and watch the kobolds eat.
"Okay then, huzzah! Don't think I introduced myself, by the way-I'm Huek. Don't really know these other guys that well, I was travelling alone when I got shipwrecked."
"Well, now that everybody's become acquainted, is there anything of particular concern in the area? Dangers, annoyances, or other problems?" she asks as they continue their meal.
Taalik turns to his host, "Lady Smythee, I thank you for your hospitality. May Besmara's blessing be upon you, and may your sails be ever filled with Fair winds." Turning to his newly-found Kinsman, he asks, "now, shall we be off to our ship? I cannot wait to hear the waves crashing against a hull. Or did you need something else from Lady Smythee?"
Lady Smythee answers Sassarra by telling her about some of the changes to the shipping lanes and about a few towns to the wast that put up with pirates making port.
After everyone is finished eating, and walk outside; Lady Smythee has the hostage escorted out to the party.
As they begin walking outside, Huek turns to Lady Smythee. "Thank you for taking care of us. Most people would see a kobold and just let him drown. We're lucky you were the one who found us."
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Gringe fiddles with her headdress and is humming a tune to some song... you are unfamiliar with but seems oddly familiar
"Ah, This is Grauchi, my first mate. Grauchi, we have Huek, Gringe and Taalik. We're testing them out as new crew members."
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Gringe turns to Grauchi and Smiles. "AH! hello, I am Gringe,- she holds up some bones and begins to introduce them as well...- this is Dimple, he was a fungus farmer. This is Muich, he was a skilled architect and trap designer..." she goes on to herself more than to anyone else.
the salamander on her shoulder looks at Sassarra... the look on it's face is pleading. almost as if it is saying "help me."
Well, with nothing particularly pressing, let's head for Ngozu and from then up to Port Peril. It looks like a nice rich sea-lane with lots of opportunities.
"So, uh...Captain, ma'am. What exactly would you want me to do around here? I've never actually done any work on a ship this size, I mostly just have experience rowing up to ships on a small boat and then raiding the crap out of them. Feels weird being on the other end, I guess."
Huek snorts as he hears Skrelznit and murmurs under his breath. "You ask for work now, and then you leave the crappy work for the idiots who didn't think to ask. Duh..."
"Well, then, what can you do?" she asks, intrigued by his initiative.
Taalik takes a few minutes to walk the ship and get his bearings, all the while noting the condition of the hull, deck, and masts.
Speaking to the others as he evaluates the vessel, "I used to assist wit' maintainin' the Rampant Drake, repairin' the 'ull an' such after a storm or battle. I can take to the same 'ere..."
Taalik does not see anything amiss. In fact it looks like it had been repaired recently.
At the end of the 2nd day out, right as the sun is going down, Smoke can be seen rising in the air a little ways off.
When you get closer you can see two ships. One of them is on fire, but the other ship crew looks to be locking the 1st's crew in their own hold while their ship burns.
The winner of the battle is a Chelish naval ship, and the other is a pirate ship.
Fishgut tells you that we all can slip away if we want, or use their distraction to get a jump on them.
You can get a good placement of the ship for combat, or use the setting sun to board them before their notice.