Skull & Shackles: Glittering Riches and Bloody Blades (Inactive)

Game Master DancingShadow

So that´s it? You let him loose to talk? Going into the kitchen where you can oil yourselves? That explains a lot of the alphamale stuff here haha! Well have fun my boyband!

Ayaki looks over the guys with a bride knowing grin, very amused.

Ragnar wheezes for a second- what passes for a chuckle. He holds up his manacled wrists to Fishguts and pantomimes unlocking them, then puts a finger to his lips. No one will know.

I am Noche'Wa, and I believe I can be of use to your crew! Give me a chance to prove it!"

Noche'Wa looks at the man, not sure where his offer will bring. Still, he's decided this morning, as he was making his devotions, to ask for Nature's blessings of freedom. One never knows...

Learned three Liberating Command.

If the cook walks away regardless, he turns to his bilge companions: "I have the grace of commanding the elements. Though my mastery of the Art if limited, I am able to provide help in getting these shackles off. If we wishes so."

Yeah you already tried the knight here and lost your hand. perhaps you should remember we are on a pirate ship and better bring some friends.

At Fishguts' question, Jove gets to his feet. Oh good, are you taking requests for tomorrow's meal? Because as much as I like hardtack and fish eye stew everyday, some variety would be welcome... Jove jokes, but seeing the sober and serious look in Fishguts' face, he falls silent, nods and follows him to the bilges. He scoops up Zephyrus on his way, who had just caught a cockroach and swallowed it just in time before being hoisted up and onto Jove's shoulder.

Day 24 - 25 Sarenith 4712

In the Hold

Fishguts, Gan, and three others emerge from below, each dripping with bilgewater. "A'right. Ya'll heard th' rumors goin' 'round, eh?" His face takes on a serious look, "Well, wit' th' change, I'm pretty sure where Plugg's takin' us. Place called 'Rickety's Squibbs,' a ol' drydock run by ol' Rickety. He'll squibb th' ship afore strikin' out on his own. Th' real question here is, 'Where's we gonna be in all that?' an' I think I know th' answer: In th' drink."

I smile at the others as they join us. "That's good. Welcome aboard mateys." I head to the hold.

----In the hold----

I nod. "Plugg has made it clear he has no love of certain members of this crew. Most of us in fact. He likely has friends where he's going and I know he has a few here. We do have the advantage of numbers. Given the strength of Harrigan, it is likely he is the only real strength in the crew. It is likely that Plugg himself isn't anywhere near as strong as Harrigan. I wouldn't underestimate him but we cannot sit around and wait for him to do us in. So, what makes up our current crew?"

Novhe'Wa's spirit rises as he is relieved of his chains. He bows deeply to the cook then clasps him on the shoulder with a granite hand.

He listens attentively and nods a lot as they talk. The Sea of Men can be more treacherous than the Sea he thinks with a smile.

I´ll not forget the heroic cook who freed us from our chains!
Fishgutt get´s a smile he is not likely to forget.
Well mateys, mother nature blessed me with my own weapon Pointy teeth blink in the flash of a vicious smile. You will probably want some because the others are going to be armed. I also wouldn´t mind having my stuff. After that we could sneak in and send this Harrigan where he really belongs.

Ragnar stretches, rubbing his chafed wrists.
"Uh cuhn kuhll wuhth uhnuhthuhn.", he says, looking around the hold. "Ruhp. Tuhnkuhds. Huhks, nuhls, buhkuhts. Uhn yuh nuhvuh suhn Hull tuhl yuh puhzzd uhf Uhn Uhfuhn."
Translation:

He taps his bare chest.
"Muh uhmuh wuhd huhb."
He spreads his arms wide.
"Uhn muh suhd. Uh kuhd spuht suhm huhdz uhzuh wuh duht."
Translation:

Fishguts shakes his head, "Plugg. Harrigan's long gone over th' horizon." He smiles and jingles the ring of keys he holds, "Yer gear's in th' hold alon' wit' o'her weapons and various supplies th' rahadoumi had left inna secure hold. Plugg only just got inta it, so he's not had th' time ta rifle through it. If'n we're ta' do what I'm thinkin' we are, I'll get it fer ya' tonight. Otherwise, it be best ta' wait till we're ready."

Noche'Wa can only nod his conscent: "Okay!" I must be patient. Best to wait a bit, see what the others wish.

Let's do it! Best not wait for Plugg to build up his strength not working his arse off like the rest of us. Jove then explains the spells he has prepared today, to help with strategizing.

Jove will also close his eyes and listen to the wind, checking the weather for the next 24 hours and relaying his findings to the group.

Fishguts nods, "Well, we'd better make uh plan." He heads into the lower hold with the keyring, unlocking the door. "I ain't had th' time ta' check ev'rythin' so, have at boys!" The rest of the crew piles in and scoops up weapons of various shape and size.

While the pirates pillage the secure hold Fishguts turns to everyone else, "So, what's th' plan?"

After retrieving my gear I turn to Fishguts. "We need to find this Plugg an subdue him quickly. Taking off the head of the snake is a sure fire way to deal with any possible opposition, especially among pirates. As you saw on the Wormwood, Harrigan has all the strength. If he ever met his match and perished or otherwise lost, his crew is not likely to come to his aid. Same for Plugg. Anyone on board who is loyal to Plugg is only loyal while he stands."

I turn to Jove. "Plugg has no idea what's going on down here yet. I'd like you to send your raven out to find his exact location. Once we know where he is and what is between us and him, we make a push."

I look at the others. "Anyone else have anything they'd like to add that may be an improvement on this tactic?" I await responses.

I'm a thrush! the bird protests.

This from the bird who calls us "two-leg walkers." You heard the man, go find Plugg, would you? Jove laughs.

Zephyrus nips Jove's hair before flying off to find Plugg.

Zephyrus Stealth Check: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (19) + 14 = 33 (+2 Dex, +12 size bonus)

"Huh munuh huh guht? Muhjuhk?", Ragnar says, counting up the mutineers. Then he points above and pantomimes counting on his fingers, then waves his palms in an impression of spellcasting.
Translation:

"Uhthuh uhntruhnzes tuh huhz cuhbuhn?" He pantomimes turning a door.

Noche'Wa retrieves his equipment and clenches his stony jaw: "Your plan sounds good to me Gan."

Ayaki checks her stuff, gets into her armor and puts on her bandolier with her weapons and spcial equipment on it.

I´m ready. Might as well try that plan cuz we got no else.

"Okay, best I can tell as far as numbers go. Our enemies for sure include Plugg, his buddy Scourge, and his pet Bugbear. We must also consider the possibility that anyone not at this meeting is also a potential enemy. Now, it is a skeleton crew. There are not a lot of people on this ship to begin with. I any regard I believe we are the ones with the numbers. This does not mean we take Plugg lightly though. He isn't first mate for nothing. We deal with him quickly and with any resource we have to make sure we get the job done. No slow death or aim to capture, and don't feel the need to hold back. He's the leadership after all. Get him with one swing and we will have at least have the battle won. As soon as Jove's "bird" returns with Plugg's location and who is in the way, we strike and strike quickly. As far as magic goes, I believe that is our advantage. All the mages I know of are down here with us. We have at least two healers and Plugg to my knowledge has none. So, are you all ready to earn your freedom?"

I make sure my pistol is loaded and on my belt. I have my shortsword at the ready also.

Don´t want to spoil anything, but how do you load a pistol with one hand?

Whip in one hand and rapier in the other Ayaki brandishes both.
I think i can conjure something two more times today but not much, some healing, a little grease or making someone more cooperative if needed.

In the other campaign's Discussion thread, we've already come to the conclusion that he could "hold" the pistol in his bad hand and use his good hand to put the powder in, ram it with the ramrod, etc., though with some sort of time penalty at first until he gets good at it. I personally read the "two hands to reload" meaning you can't be wielding a sword or otherwise holding anything other than the gun at the same time as reloading, but you don't necessarily need two dextrous hands to reload. Compare reloading a two-handed firearm, where it explicitly says one hand holds the firearm while the other reloads.

The more pressing issue was I thought Plugg had stolen Gan's gun like the second he got taken prisoner...

That was what DM Faol did. The gun doesn't work for anyone but me and cannot be repaired. Plugg would have no use of it. Once he found that out he would either throw it in with my stuff as it is worth a small sum to be sold later. Up to the DM. If Gan doesn't have it, it will be fine. I'll just use my sword.

Actually, I have a solution for just that, but you don't have your pistol just yet...

Fishguts nods and grins as the plan comes to together, "Straight ta' th' point, eh? Not what I'm used ta', but you all are th' one's plannin' it." He turns to Gan and smiles, "Picked a couple a thing's up fer ya'." Kroop produces two objects: the first is Gan's pistol and the second is a hook hand that looks to have been cobbled together. "Plugg wasn't payin' much 'ttention ta' his new prize, so I figured I'd help myself." He gestures to the hook hand, "Somethin' me an' Jack came up wit'. The boy's not half-bad at buildin' things." You all can see Jack beaming from the back.

Sandara looks around, "Well, there's the rest o' us. If you all can take th' two curs, I'm bettin' we can take the rest of his cronies."

Just then, Zephyrus comes flying back into the cabin, whispering into Jove's ear.

@Gan: I'm fine with you reloading at the normal rate, provided you practice a bit with your new appendage. If you don't get any practice, reloading will take a move action. Also, I can't see any mention of ammunition on your character sheet. The cost of bullets is sufficiently large that it should be tracked.

I see. Looks like I haven't updated my gear. I had 20 bullets to start I used some during the ship battle. I have fourteen on my character sheet so I guess I used six in the battle. I'll update my profile.

Alright, good news and bad news. Bad news is, Zeph didn't see Plugg or Scourge or anyone else for that matter anywhere on deck. Good news is that the light's on in the captain's cabin and those Rahadoumi blokes are standing guard outside the door, so I'd wager good coin that our enemies are all plotting our demise in that cabin. Hmm, come to think of it, that's not really good news is it? Jove laughs. At least they're all in one place.

Jove paces the room while his mind whirs into action.

Let's draw his goons out with an illusion--I could make a pretty convincing enemy ship appear in the waters. Knowing Plugg, he'll send his minions out first to investigate, so once most of them have cleared off, we charge into the cabin. I'll zap Plugg with an enfeebling ray. Jove mimes blasting Plugg with his spell. And then I'll hex the hell out of him while you lot hack him to pieces! What do you think about that plan?

I fumble with the new hook trying to get it on. Hopefully Fishguts helps me fit it. After I get it worked out, I then take a few moments to practice reloading my pistol with it. As I do so I raise my eyebrow at Jove's plan. "You can do that? Your a tricky little bastard aintcha. Damn cunning too. Glad I didn't kill you during the raid. I like your plan. While their distracted with the ship, we can follow it up with my rush idea. Do you need to concentrate to maintain an image like that? How far can you project it? And finally, how long will it last?" I ask seriously considering his idea. As I talk I continue to fool with my weapon.

Jove gives a overly dramatic bow at the praise and smiles. It'll last as long as I'm concentrating on it, and not a second longer. I can project it up to not quite 500 feet away. It'll have to be a small ship, maybe a keelboat, but I'll load it with some good cargo up top to make them think we've stumbled upon easy prey.

Noche'Wa smiles in wonder at life's surprises. He reminds himself how the prayers he prepared will not help them much as they were meant to free them of their bonds.

He just nods, a passenger on ship that he feels no one really controls in a sea of emotions.

That´s a good idea Jove! It will lure them out and spread them. In the meanwhile we can take over. Are there any windows or other entrances to the caiptans cabin? Perhaps we can sneak in there and surprise them?

I guess talking time is over. Lets spill some blood.
Besmara hungers. I can feel it in my gut.

Do we have some maps DM Shade? It would make planning the assult easier.

Now that puts us in a bit of a situation here, doesn´t it? We can take the rahadoumi in surprise but that´s about it, the others will know then probably. Except someone has a brilliant how we can do this in silence? There is only one of us small enough to get through the windows properly, but we could try to squeeze in. Only when they are in there it isn´t a good start either.

Ah i got it! The rahadoumi still don´t know all off the crew. I go up there pretend to be of the crew and awfully impressed by rahadoumi men. Just when they let down their pants, you take them by surprise from behind. You come down on them over the bridge. They´re down before they can shout and we are clear to surprise the cabin.

Jove nods at Ayaki but still looks a bit skeptical. I will need a distraction to get up on deck and into a position to cast my illusion. But wouldn't the Rahadoumi recognize you as their own prisoner? I doubt the Wormwood blokes would know you from Jane, but these are some of the sailors, that caught you and threw you in the bilges, right? Or are you going to use an enchantment to make them gloss over that detail?

Ragnar finishes pulling his mail shirt on, strapping a fine greatsword across his back after checking the edge to make sure it remains pristine.

He points to himself, Ayaki, Gan and Noche'Wa.
"Or uhz fuh cuhn uhct luhk wuh're snuhkuhn uhn duhck- luhck wuh juhzt guht fruh..."

Translation:

"... wuh guht uhm ruhlled uhp, thuhn fuhll buhk tuh th' huhld.", he says, pointing to the floor. Then, with a gesture encompassing the rest of the gathered crew he says,"Wuh cuhnzuhl uh nuhmmuhz uhntuhll wuh guht uhm truhbd uhn huh."

Translation:

Then he draws a finger across his throat, eyes gleaming.

But what if they sound alarm? I could enchant two of`em, but then i´m running out of spells. Also that needs time. I can totally enchant or fascinate one though.

Noche'Wa stands fascinated. The world of men is still full of wonders he thinks as he listens to the intricacies of turning slaves into free men.

He laughs a bit from time to time when one puts up a good point, loving the excitement.

I take a moment to consider the ideas. I am constantly fighting with my new hook trying to get a feel for it. "I agree with Jove concerning Hu's tactic. However, would it be easier to disguise yourself in a way they wouldn't recognize you? Otherwise we could have someone like Sandara employ that tactic instead. The less resistance we face the better. Judging by Skull's crew count, we may be outnumbered. With Plugg taken down, the rest should fall in line. Getting to Plugg will be the hard part. What do you all think of having Sandara or someone else try Hu's ploy. I am completely in favor of ambushing Rahadoumi, we just need to find a way to make it work."

Aye let´s do it like this: we climb on the empty bridge and then fall onto them from above as a sneaky surprise. I hope you guys can sneak. The important thing then is to take them out before one gets away or can shout.

Problem is, we'd have to pass the sailors on our way up the bridge; the stairs up to the main deck lead straight in front of the door to the captain's cabin, where Tweedledee and Tweedledum are standing guard. Is there any way out of the ship from this deck? A wide cannon-hole or something? Then we could just climb out to the side of the ship and up onto the bridge like you suggested, Ayaki. Oy. We need a distraction just to launch a distraction. It's never this hard in the stories they tell of sneaks and saboteurs, is it?

"Ah! Ah! Ah! Freedom is complicated!"

Ragnar cracks his knuckles.
Pointing to Jove he says,"Huhz ruht. Wuhztuhn tuhm. Luhzz juhz kuhll th' wuhnz uhn duhk uhn guht duhz uhvuh wuhth."

Translation:

Aye of course we climb there on the shiphull, not just pass those we want to surprise.

Climbing is for monkeys and kellids. I can climb almost as bad as I swim, which I am terrible at.

I am not sure how much an enchantres Sandara is. After a couple of seconds the shoanti looks at Fox. If your problem is being recognized I can make you look like someone else easily with a couple of minutes work. But can you "fascinate" both sailors so we sneak on them?

As much as i would love that, magically i can only fascinate one i concentrate on. Perhaps i can fascinate the other by normal means. Or Sandara can take over the other one! Of course it would help if they don´t recognize me right away.

"In addition to the problem of getting to the outside of the boat, climbin' the hull is difficult. The water makes it slippery at best."

She pauses to listen to Ayaki, "I've held off Scourge's advances by tellin' him where to stick it. Made him more pissed than anythin' else." She ponders for a moment, "I might be able to distract one for a short bit, provided his interest is in women, but I'm not seductress. I've got the looks, but not the wherewithal to do it."

"I can try and captivate them with a spell, but that'd require waitin' until I pray for different magics, which I don't think we have the time for. I could also use a spell of silence, but there's the same problem."

She does have the look... Noche'Wa thinks to himself, hoping she survives the mutiny, while he hopes he survives the discussion...

No waiting. We need to strike soon or risk being discovered.
We can do it like this. Sandara and me go up there after putting on some make-up so they don´t recognize me right away. We give them a distraction and you sneak up and surprise them.

Ragnar nods.
"Guhd uhz uhnuhtuhn. Luhz guh, uh wuhnuh bruhk suhn skuhz."

Translation:

Take some run bottles from the kitchen and unbutton you blouses a bit more. You dont want they looking at your faces. You gals can be some lonely drunk pirates... hiding his smile.

Four Skulls fishes around the crew's belongings for a hat to hide the bardess red hair and some different clothing. He blackens her eyebrows and skin using grease and dust. Keep the hat's brim low so they dont see your funny eyes.
Disguise: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22