You identify the hammock as a Hospitality Hammock. A single night's rest in this hammock removes any signs of seasickness. Additionally, the hammock is so comfortable that those who sleep in it for a full 8 hours regain hit points as if they had an entire day of bed rest. The hammock is so luxurious that climbing into or out of it requires a full-round action although a successful DC:5 Dexterity check reduces this to a move action.
Wracking your brain for any further information on the Motley only draws a blank.
At dawn of the second day the ship's bell sounds calling all hands on deck. As you assemble on deck the captured crew of the Man's Promise are brought up on deck to stand before the Captain. Harrigan addresses the prisoners, offering any who want it a spot on his crew. Several of the captives step forward at this and, with a nod from the Captain, Scourge cuts their bonds and they, rubbing their wrists, join the Wormwood's crew accompanied by the glares of their former crew.
Satisfied, the Captain turns to his crew "All right, you scurvy tars! 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, unfortunately, I still only have one crew. So here's the plan - The Wormwood and I will sail on to our planned destination with our new shipmates here, while Mister 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" he gestures to the remaining prisoners "Some of them will no doubt be worth a hefty ransom from their families back in Azir. As for the rest, if the pirate’s life is not for them, they can spend the rest of their lives at sea." So saying he grabs the officer you captured and, in one fluid movement, tosses her, still bound and screaming, over the rail to disappear beneath the waves below.
For several heartbeats all is still and then many of the remaining captives drop to their knees swearing fealty to Captain Harrigan while the remaining hostages look on with disdain. After the remaining captives are led below deck the crew disperses to their daily tasks.
As they do Mr. Plugg and Master Scourge begin picking crew for the new ship. Plugg approaches you and tells you "You've got ten minutes to get your gear and get aboard or we're leaving you behind." as he says this you can't help but notice Scourge grinning evilly behind him.
Rushing below deck you hurry to gather up your belongings. As you are doing so Cut-throat Grok comes down into the hold with a sail cloth wrapped bundle which she gives to Randall. Unwrapping it he discovers a masterwork buckler inside. With a tear in her eye she says to him "Keep yourself safe, pretty boy, and I'll see you again when we reach Port Peril. The rest of you now's your last chance to purchase anything from the stores before you leave." With that she wipes the tear away and returns to the Quartermaster's store.
Neela:
You go down tot he galley to find it in an even more disorganized state than usual. Ambrose is chasing one of the goats, which seems to have escaped it's pen again, around the room as startled chickens flutter to and fro. Spotting you Fishguts gives you a pleading look "Give me a hand, will ya'. We need to get these critters aboard the new ship before it leaves. I don't think Mister Plugg will be too happy if we hold up his departure."
Finally caging the loose animals you help Fishguts carry them over to the galley on the Man's promise and getting them settled in there. Back on the Wormwood Kroop takes one last look around the galley and, mopping his brow, sighs "Well looks like the Cap'n is done wit me. Finally got tired of having me around. Harrigan weren't a bad old sod, but this Plugg is a mean prick who wont be as forgiving as the Captain was."
With that you follow Fishguts across the gangplank to get settled in to the galley of the new ship.
Randall looks at the shield in his hands dumbfounded. As Grok heads back upstairs Randall shrugs "Huh, who would have thunk it? Cut-throats an old softie." with that he stuffs the rest of his gear into his sea bag and, throwing it over his shoulder, makes his way over to the awaiting ship.
Rhialla gathers up her gear and makes her way over to the Man's Promise, apprehensive about having to deal with Plugg but overall in a good mood. As it turned out Percy was even more fun than she'd expected.
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He didnt like this, not one bit. His glare said it all. Calmly almost too calmly he gathered his things, not that it amounted to much. Regardless, Port peril was their destination, and perhaps their he could find a better vessal to sail upon.
He did let his mind wander a bit to the night before, he hadnt been 'healed' so thoroughly in his life, he would have to make sure to keep Plugg and and more importantly the coward scourge from harming the girls.
He made his way to the Promise pausing at the edge of it and turning around to look over the wormwood again. Perhaps it wouldnt be so bad on the prize crew after all, they should hit the port first. He hurried over to the crew quarters and staked out a section for his friends, making sure they were all somewhat close together.
He had no doubts that the toadies were going to, and he didnt want to mixed inbetween them at all.
Jaina wordlessly gathers her gear and heads over to the Man's Promise. She keeps close to the rest of her team, eying Scourge and Plugg.
Perfect. Couldn't act on the Wormwood--would end up crossing the captain. Now that they're separated from them, it ought to be easy to learn the ship, the guards' patrols, and butcher the f@$~ers once and for all.
As you cross from the Wormwood you are greeted by friends and foes alike. Sandara smiles at Randall when she sees him and Crimson turns an even brighter shade of red at seeing Jaina. Choncobar and Rosie are standing together a little off to the side of the group. Tilly Brackett and Jack Scrimshaw watch with a little smile on their faces.
On the other hand Fipps Chumlett and Maheem watch you and your friends warily while Syl Lonegan flashes you her unhinged smile. Over by the rail Tam Tate talks in low tones with a group of five Rahadoumi sailors who Plugg picked to join the crew. Every now and then the dwarf and the others around him look over in your direction.
A crack of the whip draws your attention to the aft deck where Plugg and Scourge stand with the former holding the chain around Owlbear Hartshorn's neck like an owner with his dog on a leash. Get your gear and get it stowed below and get your arses back up here on the double." Scourge shouts as Plugg watches with a jaundiced eye. As you begin to go below decks Scourge stops both Sandara and Crimson "Not so fast, you two. you'll be bunking with myself and the other officers. The rest of you lot go below."
After stowing your gear you return to the main deck and cast off from the Wormwood. Scourge begins to assign the day's tasks and true to form you receive the same scut work you had aboard the Wormood. An hour into the voyage Plugg calls all hands on deck, standing at the rail of the aft deck he addresses the crew "This is my ship now and these are my rules. Since we are shorthanded everyone will have to work harder to sail this ship. Anyone caught not pulling their weight will catch six lashes from the Cat. We are not aboard the Wormwood anymore with it's lax rules anymore. Everyone of you are to remain below decks after dark. Anyone caught on deck after dusk, without leave, will receive six lashes from the Cat. Also I don't believe in a crew so drunk that they can't respond with a moments notice should it be necessary, so we can dispense with the nightly rum ration. Keep your nightly distractions to a minimum so as not to affect your daily work and we should get along just fine." with that he turns his back on you as Scourge barks
Safely in the confines of the galley Kroop smiles as he pulls a tarp off a small cask of rum "I snuck this aboard when the little popinjay wasn't looking. He said that he wouldn't be handing out the rum, he never said anything about not drinking it though." He holds a finger up to his lips "Shhh, let's just keep this our little secret, eh."
Jaina says nothing as usual, glaring at Scourge & Plugg as he starts barking his orders.
No rum, lashing with the cat for being on deck after dark, and the slightest lapse in discipline will be rewarded with six lashes. That settles it--I'm going to enjoy killing the two of you.
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He had to bite his tongue to not say anything and it was hard...very hard. Instead he crossed his arms and glanced to new sailors. No doubt poisoning them against their lot. He scowled and crossed his arms glancing at the sailors for a long moment.
His frown deepened when Jaina and Crimson were told to bunk with the officers. Now that he didnt like at all. The lack of rum... wasnt necessarily a bad thing, that stuff tasted horrible as it were, but all in all he had a bad feeling about this.
"Well you heard 'em" He said turning to the others, "Back to work lets get this 'prize' of Captain Harrigan's moving already.
He said loudly mostly to annoy plugg and scourge and to remind them where this ship had come from. In fact, now that he thought about it, he wasnt so sure he liked the way Plugg took 'ownership' of the vessel. . . But that was thoughts for another day.
"Son of a bithch is a piss poor excuse for a pirate." Rhialla says quietly, shaking her head after the edicts are handed down. "He'll have a mutiny on his hands sooner rather than later." she mutters glancing around at the crew.
Working the ship shorthanded makes for a long grueling day of work. After several hours of sailing the Wormwood disappears over the horizon and everyone breathes a collective sigh of relief. Despite the extra effort and hard work, your work never seems quite good enough for Scourge and Plugg who constantly berate you through your tasks.
As the sun begins to set you retire for the evening below decks, utterly exhausted. As Kroop serves the evening meal you notice several of the crew are missing. After several hours the missing four crew members rejoin you and immediately begin talking with the former Man's Promise sailors in hushed tones.
That evening you serve dinner in the Captain's quarters. After knocking and entering you see Scourge and Plugg there along with Fipps Chumlett, Syl Lonegan, Maheem, and Tam Tate. Owlbear Hartshorn is chained to the mast in the room contently eating a soft shelled crab, shell and all, that he seems to have gotten from somewhere.
After setting the tray down on the table you are quickly escorted from the room by Scourge, who gives you a pat on the bottom as you leave to much guffaws from those assembled, but not before you notice the charts on the table with two marks made upon it. One of which is the town of Bloodcove, the other, further up the Slithering Coast, is unknown to you.
Jaina folds her arms. "I'm guessing they're planning to stop at Bloodcove."
She then smirks. "It's a shame they'll never make it there."
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Well that certainly wasnt the captains plan, it looks like our 'captain' Plugg is planning on absconding off with Captain Harrigan's prize. Watch your backs everyone, we might be seen as a liability. That goes double for you miss Neela, your often out of sight from the rest of us.
He added with a frown his hand absently moving down to one of the daggers at his belt.
I suggest we keep our heads down and our eyes open for now, until we can figure out exactly what is going on.
He added smiling grimly at Jaina's words. He hoped it didnt have to go in that direction, sailing this ship was hard enough now, further shorthanding things would be difficult at best. They would no doubt have to kill Plugg, Scourge, their original cronies, and possibly the new Rahadoumi fellows as well. He sighed. The long term plan of amassing a lot of wealth quickly by means of piracy didnt look to on track at the moment.
There is a dry dock along the Slithering Coast infamous for re-configuring the hull lines of stolen ships to make them unrecognizable, even to their former owners.
"I've heard of a place northwest of Bloodcove where they can change a ships lines so much that no one can recognize her. I'd agree with Pericval, once we make Bloodcove and Plugg can recruit new crew there would be no need for us and I don't think he's the type to just let us disembark and go our merry way."
"Which means we need to have a plan ready to go before we get there." Rhialla continues.
"I don't know for sure. Maybe a week at most."
At this point Conchobar steps forward and says "I've been speaking with Rosie and she agrees that whatever you should decide to do you can count on us. We seem to be guilty by association and I'm sure whatever fate befalls you will also be visited upon us sooner rather than later. I cannot speak for Ms. Quinn or Master Cogward since they are not here but, given their ..."relationship" with you lot, I'm sure they would be in agreement."
Tilly Brackett shrugs her shoulders a bit as she bites her lip as if on the horns of a dilemma. She finally looks up at Percival as if she's made up her mind "I've been thinking a lot about what Randall said after you lot pulled me from the sea. "We need to watch out for each other because no one else will" is what he said and I know I'd sleep safer at night having you lot watch my back than ever I would with them. So you can count me in"
Jack Scrimshaw says nothing, just sits there carving a small piece of wood, until he nods over to the others across the hold and makes a motion of drawing his knife across his throat and smiles.
Jaina gets a dangerous gleam in her eye. "Good. I'm starting to make a plan."
"I'm planning on giving them a day, maybe two. Just to learn the patrol routes of any guards they have on deck, and to learn the quickest way of sneaking into the officers' quarters. Then..." She trails off, letting others fill in the blanks.
The next morning finds you all on deck where Scourge assigns you the hardest, most disgusting jobs he can think of. No matter how hard you work though it never good enough and eventually you catch the lash. Sandara is there to heal your wounds and agrees with your plans but cautions against moving too soon as Scourge and Plugg are still in control.
During the midday meal Kroop looks skyward while ladling out the fish stew and comments "Hmmm, that's odd. We seem to be headed northeast. If we were headed to Port Peril we would need to be headed to the northwest."
After the evening meal Fishguts once again approaches you "I think I know where we're going." he tells you "There's a place along the coast known as Rickety's Squibs. The owner, Rickety Hake, will for a price change the lines and configuration of any ship so that even the ship's owner, or former owner, wouldn't even recognize it. He'll even provide new paperwork and deeds of ownership to legitimize the "new" ship."
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The day prior.
There will only be one shot at this Jaina, just rushing them may or may not work. They will be watching us surely. If we get a chance though I do say we take it. With any luck we can strike hard and fast, and those new Rahodoumi fellows will be wise and stay out of it.
He paused and frowned slightly for a moment.
A shame about the rum.. not becuase i like the vile stuff but we could have maybe spiked it, or got them drunker than a chelish marine on shore leave and made out move. Thats probably why they did it though, smug bastards.
Could they poison their meal? he had no skill with such things, nor did he have any. Tainting the food might work to get the officers all sick, but if they didnt move fast enough that would put ol' Fishguts and Neela at risk. He lay back on his hammock shooting a wink at the pretty Rhialla thinking hard about how they might sway the odds in their favor.
Sounds like their plan indeed is to steal the ship from ol' Captain Harrigan. Perhaps we wait, till after things are switched over. Captain any of us sounds much better to me than any other. Always wanted my own ship.
He chuckled for a moment and rolled his shoulders back a few times to work out the kinks. He was going to have a nice series of scars after this voyage from those bastards... he couldnt wait to give them their own medicine.
Two days pass without any further floggings although you and your friends are constantly berated by Plugg and Scourge for your "lackadaisical" work ethics. Emboldened by their example the other sailors also begin to heap scorn and derision on you and your group. Things are about to come to a head when on the morning of the fourth day large, dark, ominous clouds can be seen brewing on the horizon.
Unable to outrun the oncoming storm, Scourge begins ringing the ship's bell summoning all hands on deck. Plugg begins barking orders, ordering everyone into the rigging to furl the sails and prepare the ship.
Less than an hour later a full force gale strikes the Man's Promise head on. Wind and rain make your tasks almost impossible to perform and you are unable to see more than your hand in front of your face. Despite all that, you work diligently and admirably.
During the height of the storm six figures lurch out of the chaos in front of you. Hideous creatures resembling a goblin from the waist up and an octopus below.
These creatures are Grindylow, sadistic aquatic abberations that will eat anything it can catch.
Seeing you the creatures scuttle to the attack.
Initiative:
Jaina:
Neela:
Precival:
Randall:
Rhialla:
Beasties:
Accustomed to the wild chaos of rain and wind, Rhialla sends a freezing dagger of ice flying at the creature to Percy's right before drawing her rapier.
Neela steps back away from the fray and begins chanting in an arcane language as Rhialla summons up an icicle and with a flick of her wrist sends it toward one of the creatures facing Percival. The frozen dagger finds it's mark, piercing the creatures chest and it's heart as it's tentacles slump out from underneath it and it falls to the deck.
Enraged at the death of it's comrade one of the creatures rushes to attack Rhialla, passing Percival in it's haste who is too shocked by their sudden appearance to react in time.
The creatures tentacle legs writhe out and wrap around the Cleric's legs and pulls her to the deck.
Smiling a shark toothed smile it then stabs it's spear at the prone Rhialla, piercing her side.
Another one of the creatures steps up in front of Jaina and also tries to trip her with it's tentacles.
Failing that it attempts to sink it's teeth into her neck while thrusting with it's spear.
Although it's bite fails to tear her exposed flesh it grins in satisfaction as it's spear finds it's mark, drawing blood.
The remaining three creatures swarm over Percival attempting to draw him to the deck and tear at his flesh.
With Percival flat on his back the three begin gnawing and stabbing at the big Chelaxian.
With Percival all but defenseless one of the creatures sinks his spear deep into the Fighter's abdomen while it's teeth sink into his shoulder ripping out a bloody chunk of flesh, just missing his carotid artery. Fortunately for Percival his armor manages to deflect the rest of the attacks from his other two foes.
Jaina starts punching rapidly at the octopus-goblin before her.
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"Hey stay away from my gir....girls"
He began half spinning when the assault of the goblin squid began. He didnt know how he managed to stay on his feet, the sudden plain flairing both in his side and his shoulder held his immediate attention, especially the way that the intense pain turned to sudden numbness... that wasnt good. Half stumbling as if almost drunk he drew out one of the throwing axes at his belt and swung hard at the one immediately in front of him.
Randall begins singing a song, shouting one actually, to be heard over the howling wind. Although the words are hard to hear the melody strangely inspires all his friends who hear it, buoying their spirits and honing their attacks.
Jaina swings her fists at the "Octoblin" in front of her but the creature bobs and weaves on it's pliable legs and her punches both end up missing it.
Percival chops the creature in front of him with his axe, which bites deep but fails to drop it.
Rolling on the deck between Jaina and Neela, Rhialla takes in the situation and begins to cast a spell, instilling the remaining monstrosity facing Percy with an overwhelming need to kill the now sleeping creature next to it.
Neela finishes her incantation and three of the creatures succumb to her magic as their tentacles slump out from underneath them as they fall asleep, their tranquil breathing sounding something very much like waves gently lapping a distant shore. Gathering her magic around her once more she hurls a hex at the creature fighting Jaina. The creature shakes it's head in confusion as a look of doubt and indecision crosses it's face.
Rhialla crabwalks backwards away from the sleeping creatures, looking very much like one of them in the process. Once clear she pauses and casts a spell on the awake creature near Percival. As her magic takes hold it's black soulless eyes become tinged with red and it inexplicably stabs it's spear into one of the sleeping creatures eyes, killing it instantly.
The remaining, bedeviled, creature seeing that the tide has turned decides to return back to the sea from whence it came and begins to climb back over the railing to make it's escape only to be simultaneously pummeled by Jaina and hacked by Percival before it can even take more than just one step towards it's perceived safety.
Randall continues his rousing song although the tempo does change a bit as he steps up to Percival and casts a spell on him.