Skulls & Shackles (Inactive)

Game Master Foxy Quickpaw

"Come aboard." Besmara replies.

Rickety climbs onto the Man's Promise. "I assume ye want a squibbing, ya?" Rickety Hake is a short, stoop-backed old man with a leathery, weatherworn face; watery blue eyes; and a halo of frizzy white hair. Rickety gets right down to business, inspecting the ship to see how much work will be needed to 'squib' it.

After thoroughly looking at everything he claims "This will take a week and cost ye 2000 gold. If ye want I can do other changes and improvements too. If ye have the money. So what will it be?"

"Do ye accept magic items and stuff as payment? If so we have a deal. And I want better sails. This tub is far too slow." Besmara tells. "Also we had a break in the hull. My master carpenter fixed that but had to take planks from the deck."

"Ye show me proof that ye have what ye tell ta pay me and we have a deal." Rickety replies.

"Quartermaster show that man what we have." Besmara orders.

"Follow me." Trytton says indicating to the man with a nod which direction they will be heading, before turning to make his way down to the hold.
Trytton walks, without speaking to the man, down to the store and opens the door for Rickety and follow him inside. He then pulls out a small chest containing goods plunder x 2 and indicates some of the other interesting items in the room.

"Well this here looks like an interestin' place. Not the worst place to be spendin' the week aye." Jarrus says to Captain Besmara.

Appraise: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (19) + 12 = 31
"That is more than enough to pay me. Just lock the door that it doesn't leave the ship before then." Hake tells.

Climbing the stairs back on deck he tells "We have a deal." he says shaking Besmara's hand. "Sail the ship over there to the estuary where cutters will tow it to the dry dock so that work can commence at once. If yer tired of sleeping on the ship ye ca stay at the Commons free of charge. (area A4)"

Hake then leaves to his longboat.

"Ye hear the man. Man the fore staysail and the spanker ta move us over there. Lift the anchor." Besmara commands.

She waits until the ship floats free. "Now set sail and ready yerself to reef them in again."

Profession Sailor take 10: 10 + 10 = 20
My rolls for steering the ship are always that bad...

As the ship is moving in the right direction she orders "Reef the sails in." and lets the Man's Promise glide to the right spot.

"Estelle. You go and talk to Rickety what you have ta do at the ship and how this can happen while we're here without getting into the way of his work."

The workers pull the ship into the dry dock and and tie it in. Then they start immediately with the work. Some start measuring the deck and others start untying the rigging. Within only a few hours everything above deck of the perfectly functioning ship is reduced to parts.

A2. Docks
A pair of docks reaches out into the muddy waters of the estuary. Three small dinghies are moored here beneath canopies made of wooden poles and dried palm fronds.

A3. Boathouse
Two piers extend out into the river from a long building of roughcut wooden planks with large openings to allow passage within. Ropes, pulleys, and other equipment common to a boathouse hang inside.

A4. The Commons
A once-grand building with broad wings extending from its ground floor stands at the end of the docks, its octagonal dome topped by a cupola. It was obviously a fine villa in its day but time and the harsh sun and rains of the Slithering Coast have faded its paint and cracked its boards, leaving it a gray ghost of its former self. A painted board above the veranda names it as “Rickety’s Squibs.” Smaller, less grandiose hovels and sheds clapped together of flotsam and jetsam surround the larger building and merge into the jungle behind it.

A5. Dry Dock
A massive, wedge-shaped wooden ramp rises directly from the river. It is large enough to hold a ship of the line and has huge mooring points to allow such a ship to be stabilized in place. Wooden scaffolding is erected all along its sides to allow workers easy access to all points of a ship and its hull.

Lito asks Besmara
How did you know of this place? And any ideas where we can pick up a crew?

Estelle will grab her papers about what she wants done and what needs to be done. Searching out for Rickety,

"We ran a ground of some reef and put a hole in the port side o' the boat, we had ta use a few o' the deck planks to fix it quick. So we will be needing that fixed proper. The ship has few supplies to fix it en journey so I be needing some Tar and extra boards. Also be needin' tools, the ones here are shite for working with."

Estelle will then go and inspect the ship as they are fixing it and trying not to be in the way.

Stretching out her arms as if presenting herself to an audience Besmara replies "You didn't? That's why I'm Captain. These are the things ye have ta know. I was born fer that and finally I live my destiny!" She lets herself fall backwards on the bed.

"Well, that and a mark on Plugg's sea-map with some notes that didn't try too hard to obscure his intentions. I've heard of the practice of squibbing a ship so it was easy to decipher."

"Picking up a crew might be harder to do. Even Harrigan couldn't walk into a bar and ask for applicants to join his cause. You can always ask around if someone is tired of living the life of a landlubber. But before you do so here make sure we don't cross Rickety with that."

"Figure I'm gonna get the lay of the land aye. Anyone wanna join me?" Jarrus says as the hustle starts and people starts coming aboard.

"I'd come along." Sandara offers.

Trytton makes sure that the store is locked and then finds Besmara. "We should stock the galley while we are here, and the armory."

"If you can get rid of that stuff for a decent price here sell everything. Then make sure to keep enough to pay Rickety. For the rest buy what is needed. Talk with Estelle about what to buy for the armory. And take Lito with you if you need to haggle the prices." Besmara replies.

"Shall we leave the ship too. It's quite noisy with all of these people refitting the ship." she asks Lito.

Jarrus smiles at Sandara "Better company a bilge rat like me could not ask for." Then helps Sandara off the ship before stepping off himself.

Noonan walks of ship with Pluck flapping ahead of him. Gunna get bath. Stink after all the time on ship.

Who tells that? Pluck or Noonan?

"Ye should get some self esteem pretty fast. For I'm not interested in spending my time with a bilge rat. Let's see what is that large building." Sandara tells.

Whenever there is a Sqwak beforehand, that is Pluck

Trytton collects the 13 crewmen together and gives them each 10 gold, "The first 4 volunteers for some extra work get extra gold." Trytton says to the arrayed crew

"How much and what work?" Sly asks.

"I need help carrying things. Half as much again."

Good point we don't want to burn any bridges this early in our career.
He holds open the door for Besmara when she is ready to go.
After you mine Captain. Let's go find out what we just sailed into.

Seeing Lito come onto deck again, "Lito, I need your help selling some things."

Of course I will help.

As soon as it's clear that it is a lot of money for easy work Sly volunteers immediately. And 12 others too. A brawl accrues.

"And that is the end of our mutual exploring. Have fun." Besmara comments.

"If all of you are that willing, all of you can help. Follow me." He says making his way down to the store where he loads the goods into crates to be carried.
He then gives each person a crate and heads off the boat. "Lito, please find us somewhere to sell this all."

"Haha! I've got plenty confidence lass. I'm a cussin', drinkin, straight shooter of a sea reaver at be sure. Pretty proud of it too. Don't make me less of a men ya can't take home to yer ma and pa o'course. But we're getting sidetracked. Onward and let's meet these fine river folk."

Jarrus is just about to start waking with everyone when he hears Besmara shout that she's got Captain business. "Aye Cap'n not to worry, Sandara 'n I won't cause no ruckus. We'll let ya know what we find."

Rickety’s Squibs are put up in the somewhat shabby accommodations of the main house, which does at least have a taproom, a small market, and a functioning chow hall that serves the entire settlement. The shade of the jungle canopy here is welcome, as the heat is merciless and many of the trees are wilted with browning leaves that show the effects of an extended drought.

Rickety Hake and a few of his menial hirelings reside in the Commons as well, but most of the residents of Rickety’s Squibs live in the smaller huts. Most of these men and women are humans

"Let's get something to eat. My treat." Sandara suggests and leads to the chow hall.

Lito explores the marketplace looking for a series of good places to sell the loot we have.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (17) + 14 = 31
He takes his time, trying to find good deals for each of the items and talking with the shop keepers.
While doing so he keeps his ears open for local gossip and rumors.

Note he isn't spending money, rather he's trying to get his captain the best deals he can without leaving the residents of the Squibs feeling that he's cheating them. He's open to grouping the items together or selling the items individually as needed.

Lito manages to sell some of the small stuff like the belt buckle and such off to locals. But only Rickety Hake has the money to buy the big pieces.

For Lito's hard work as door to door salesman everything that counts as goods - like the clothes and jewelery and such - are sold for full price. Armor, weapons and magic items go to Rickety Hake who buys at half price as usual.

Jarrus nods to Sandara. "Sounds good to me." Then with Sandara they head to the chow hall. Jarrus takes in the sights as he walks thinking it's a rather interesting looking setup.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18

Sandara selects a table and orders two times the menu of the day. "Third day as pirates on our own and we're sitting on land with our ship being disassembled." Sandara starts the talk.

The chow hall is just the dining hall of this former villa. It would be a really nice place if it wasn't as run down. There is no service - the food is served at the counter where you order it. It's no improvement over ship food. At least not since Fishguts stays sober over the day.

Sqwak! Time to hire more minions! Sqwak!

Noonan nods. Lito is good talker, and we are shorthanded

Once they have sold what they can, Trytton suggests to Lito that they find Estelle to see what she wants for the armory.

"Aye, could be worse. At least we haven't sunk 'er yet."
Jarrus takes a bite of the food enjoying the company.

"But ye can't accuse our Captain of not trying." Sandara jokes.

"Aye!" he laughs. After food he says. "Wonder if they have any good rum for sale here. I need to stock up for the rest of the trip an' I want the good stuff. Let us scour this place for the rum!". And by scour he means ask around.

The weather is nice if a bit too sweltry for some but the proximity to the sea makes the jungle bearable. The sun is shining, but not much longer as it is close to hitting the horizon.

Of course something is going to happen eventually. But not before everyone has done what counts as work and found something to fill their free time with. And no need to stick together. Next scene: whole party in hedgehog formation :P.

Sandara gets up. "That's good. If ye plan on inviting me more often to a drink it could as well be a good one." She approaches the counter of the chow hall and asks "Where do I buy a good rum?"

The guy behind the counter points to a small display window on the opposite side of the inner courtyard of the villa.

"O'course." he says to Sandara on the way to the counter.

Jarrus looks at the display. "Not that's what I'm talking about. How much? If it's reasonable I would like two bottles."

Sandara leaves the chow hall and walks over the courtyard with Jarrus and enters the small Liquor Shop. There she looks at the labels where all these bottles are from.

"For reasonable we have that." The dude behind the counter says and fetches two unlabelled bottles from the wooden crates below the counter. "It's eight silver."