"Well, my magic is limited compared to my compatriots," Enizver said cheerfully. "I can do some healing, I can cast Alarm spells, and the like. I can also detect magical auras and identify magical items without much effort. Most of my skills are more focused on things like smithing. I can make almost anything you'll likely need with metal. Oh, and I can craft alchemical materials, of course - perfumes, soaps, alchemist's fire and a few other things. If you wish I could buy some supplies and trade you the finished product for my passage, if you don't mind me craft it on the journey."
Olivia walks up to an injured man on deck. "I-I could heal him using simply mundane skills, b-but since you said you wanted to see magic..." She closes her eyes briefly and then proceeds to cast Healing Word on him. She then casts a few prestidigitations to quickly clean part of the deck, one 1-ft square at a time. "If we're in the middle of a storm, I can . Or produce some light ". She comes back down from the deck, hesitating slightly before setting an empty can up on a stump and eldritch blasting it. "Or I can do that, if a fight breaks out..."
Was there anything else? I can understand any language, but that's not useful if I can't also speak it. I can stop people from falling to their death, but the crew is probably experienced sailors, unlikely to fall from such a height.
Halgrin approaches the other water cask and easily brings it aboard as well.
"Anything else?"
Wrinil walks onto the ship, pulls out a familiar symbol dangling from a chain from around his neck. He looks up to one of the booms where the sail has been patched, draws a sigil into the air that lingers for a moments and is enveloped in a swirl of silver dust. The dust quickly blows away and oddly wafts to the location on the boom where Wrinil reappears. He then holds onto the sail and begins saying something and drawing a sigil on the patched section. After several moments the sail looks as if it were always whole. Just the same as he got up there, Wrinil appears once more down below in a swirl of silver dust. He then looks hopefully at the grizzled captain.
The captain looks sufficiently satisfied with most of you but he turns to Envizer and looks down at him. "You, little man. You talk a lot but you don't show me anything. Not gonna cut it with Pike." He places a thick hand on his broad chest.
"I believe we have a week before we sail, correct?" Enizver shrugged. "Creating something you can sell will take a little time, but a week should be enough for a down payment at least. What would you like me to make for you?" Enizver considered. "If you're looking for something to sell easily, I'd suggest some vials of perfume. I hear wealthy ladies love them. I wouldn't be able to make them all before you sail. If you want your money's worth up front I would make you two vials of antitoxin. They'd cost a 100gp from any store. Ten vials of perfume with five up front, or two vials of antitoxin before we leave. Which do you prefer? Or, of course, a mix is possible."
The captain raises an eyebrow as Envizer speaks of profitable chemicals of all sorts. He crosses his arms. "Fine. Bring me this before you leave and you'll all have yourselves passage at half-price."
"And 'half-price' will come out to exactly how much?"
"Agreed," Enizver said cheerfully, thrusting his hand out to shake the captain's.
The captain counts on his fingers briefly. "Depends where you want to go. We're stopping several places along the coast. 55 dragons if you want to go all the way to Chult."
"Alright then. You got a deal."
"Agreed, Captain."
Wrinil nods nervously.
Olivia similarly agrees to the price.
"So...Enizver will be busy crafting things. But what should the rest of us do while we wait for the ship to depart?"
"We can find work in the city for the week. Earn coin towards our passage."
"And at the very least, I'll need to report to Alain Turick. I need to warn him about what's happening. Perhaps if I'm lucky I can even convince him to go into hiding for a bit."
"Mostly I'll craft when I have a few moments," Enizver said after a moment. "Although I will need to go and buy some materials. But yes, we should warn the captain. It might not do much, but at least he'll keep it in mind. Hopefully."
"Let us inform him then and ensure that we remain near the docks, so that we can quickly board if necessary."
Horat muses over dock work he can engage in.
You leave the docks as Pike doesn't seem to want you about while his crew is unloading and loading. "Come back when we're about to heave off! I won't have you aboard before then."
When you enter your room back at the Yawning Portal, you say a cloaked man sitting in a chair. He quickly pulls back his hood to show that it is Alain Turick. "What news have you, Sword? I dislike this secrecy in my own city."
Halgrin quickly and quietly shuts the door. He then bows respectfully to Alain.
"Aye, Sir. I apologize for the secrecy. But I felt it was necessary. First of all, I need to relay the injury of Captain Luthar and Katra Ironfist. Some magic was cast on them that knocked them into a coma. I've never seen anything like it, but admittedly my experience in the arcane is limited. We left them in the care of a priest of the township of Helm, along with some money to see that their needs are met."
"Horat and I, as well as some prisoners we freed, were able to stop the Cult Yeenoghu. We tried to take prisoners, but they resisted, and--well, I had to make a call. Us or them."
"But it was my fault. I underestimated their numbers and abilities. And if not for those strangers I mentioned, I would be dead. No doubt in my mind. And even with their help it was far too close."
"And now I have a confession to make. I don't know if Captain Luthar told you the whole truth about the raid of Baphomet, but I chose to leave it out because it sounded insane, and I wanted to leep my job. But it's still the truth. The four of us were drawn there by a shared vision, a dream. We met each other and then discovered the entrance to the cult's lair."
"And after we were successful against the cult of Yeenoghu. We had a similar vision. Only this one warned us to protect you. It called you a lodestone-- whatever the hell that is. And it said that there was an amulet in Chult that we needed to find. And that this amuletwould protect you somehow."
"Now, I'm not say this was the work of a god. Frankly, I'm more willing to believe that some powerful wizard is manipulating us with magic."
"But what I do now is that someone or something powerful hurt Katra and Captain Gram. They were my partners. And that is not something I can let lie. I need answers, and hopefully I can find them in Chult."
Olivia spends her time volunteering at a temple . Helping out with her medicinal skills when she can and distributing food and simple provisions like blankets to the poor and homeless. Each night she prays, hoping each good deed will bring her closer to redemption. Or at least make her soul a little less dark.
Wrinil spends the time back at his family's library.
The champion conaiders your words carefully. "This is grave news indeed, sword. Thank you for alerting me. I will redouble my training and vigilance. If you must go to Chult, I appreciate that thw problem will be in good hands."
Hunting down the supplies didn't take too long, and once Enizver got back to the inn he wrangled some time out doors with his supplies to allow him to make the Antitoxin without leaving the strange alchemical smells that could sometimes crop up from a botched batch all over the inn.
Thankfully, he need not be concerned, and the work went very smoothly.
Horat offers his services on the docks as a clearly powerful guard.
He is aware that even a touch of magic, combined with his physical appearance, will be sufficient to deter the cowardly.
And he presents himself as such to dockmasters.
Horat makes a poor first impression but his strength is soon put to work and he's able to barely keep up with his living expenses.
You load up your belongings onto the Lion's Mane, handing over your passage to the captain. He sniffs and tastes Envizer's antitoxins, evaluating very carefully whether or not they seem worth as much as the gnome claims. Finally, he lets the gnome come aboard. The Mane is far from a luxury vessel and you are assigned hammocks with the rest of the crew down in the hold. A few hours after you come aboard and situate your belongings, the boat pushes off. You sail out of the deep blue harbor of Waterdeep, heading to a land very far away. But your reverie is soon interrupted by a bellowing captain "You're not taking a luxury cruise to Chult! You're working the whole way there! So hop to it!"
Horat does take some time to gaze over the view of the harbour. But does nod when the captain bellows.
It was arranged as such.
Horat asks:
"What needs attending to first, Captain?"
Enizver looked for something to do. Something that didn't involve heavy lifting. Sails involved ropes, right? Maybe he could tie a knot.
Olivia meekly asks the captain if he has a preference for what she work on. And if not, she'll go about methodically prestidigiating the entire ship clean.
The captain quickly sets Horat and Halgrin to hauling on some ropes. He allows Olivia to keep cleaning the deck and orders Envizer to climb to the crow's nest and keep an eye out for danger. He sets Wrinil to mending some sails. The first mate also barks his share of orders, keeping you all busy throughout your first day of sailing. The pattern continues for many days as you all work yourselves into exhaustion before falling in your bunk every night.
In your second week of sailing, the crew spots a small merchant cog off the coast of Amn. The captain turns to you all with a steely look in his eyes. "We're gonna make our fortune, lads and lassie. But are you gonna be part of it or you gonna cause trouble?" The captain stands on deck with his signature pike while a dozen men come up from the deck carrying shortbows and cutlasses.
Enizver raised an eyebrow. "Well, Captain, that will depend. We're on something of a schedule. Our task needs to be completed as fast as we can manage. What do you have in mind for making a fortune?" He really hoped it wasn't slaving, with them as the slaves. Not that Enizver wanted to be a slaver, but it would buy a little time to think things through.
Wireline looks around with a very confused expression. "I do not believe that vessel to be a danger to us...But, I suppose privateers can be sneaky like that."
Horat attends to the work uncomplainingly, with discipline borne of relentless military training. And of course, with same said discipline, he is not to be parted from his weapons and armour. The heat does not bother him.
But then, the cog appears.
Horat stands in front of Pike and his men, with halberd on his back. And not far from his companions.
"Captain, I would like you to explain what you mean by 'earn our fortune'. I am a foreigner and unused to the ways of these western lands."
The captain roars with laughter at his thick new crew members. "What do I mean? I mean we go see if they need to be lightened of any valuable cargo!"
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Wrinil looks at the captain still confused, "But captain, it's nice and all to offer to carry their heavy things, but I don't think we're going to the same destination. I mean, judging by their bearing and sail positioning. I could be wrong but the book says..."
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What shocked Halgrin the most was that, at first, he had actually considered going along with the piracy. If only to make sure that this team of theirs survived long enough to get to Chult.
After all, this--party--was his first responsibility.
But he wasn't going to sit around and let innocents die either. So instead of murder, he'd just commit betrayal.
No wonder Helm didn't want anything to do with him.
"Ay, Cap'n. We'll do what need's doing. Just give me a moment to make sure my partners are all properly convinced. Don't want any misunderstandings."
He motioned to his party.
"Horat, Wrinil, Olivia, Enizver. Come with me. We'll talk at the rear of the ship."
Once they have a moment to speak with each other, Halgrin says, "We're not killing innocents. And we're not going to become pirates. But for now, we need these people to get to where we're going. And we can always jump off at the next port of call, if needs be."
"So here's what I'm thinking. Sabotage. We make sure this ship doesn't hurt anyone. And we do it as quietly as possible. I'm not dumb enough to think this will work completely. So if things go pear-shaped, only kill or wound as many as you need to protect yourself. We'll need a skeleton crew at the very least to keep sailing."
"I have a rough idea of what you all can do. But I'm not the sharpest dagger out there. So if you have a better idea, I'm all for it. But in lieu of that--"
"Horat, you're the best fighter here. Stick close to the Captain, in case we need to take him out. And if you think you can discretely slow this ship down any with some of your tricks, do what you can. Avoid burning down the sails, though. I don't fancy the idea of slowly dying of thirst in the middle of the water. The irony would piss me off."
"Enizver, go down below. If you see ballista, or Gods save us, smoke powder cannons, do what you can to take them out. I'm not sure how exactly. Not exactly my area of expertise. But you're smart. I have faith you'll figure something out. And if you see an opportunity that will help in another way, take it. If a fight breaks out, find an area to snipe from, or get to one of the others."
"Wrinil, I'm not gonna sugar coat it. You'll have the hardest job. But you're the perfect one for it. I need you to set up next to the helm. Because as long as we have that, we have control of the ship. Focus on staying alive, rather than dishing out the pain. If the Captain is there, you'll have Horat to back you up. If not, someone else will get to you."
"Olivia, you're the most mobile out of all of us. So I want you to head to the crow's nest. Keep an eye on everyone, but most importantly Wrinil and Horat. And if you think you can somehow warn the other ship, do it. If things go sideways, unleash hell from above."
"As for me, I'll go where the most idiots are, and do what I can to provide a distraction, if you catch my meaning." At this, Halgrin patted his sword.
"And don't anybody get any ideas about being heroic. If it gets real bad, surrender. Blame everything on me. I am the only expendable one here, you got it? If any of you dare to die before me, I swear by almighty Helm, I will drag your carcass from whatever afterlife you find yourself in, and bring you back kicking and screaming so I can beat the living snot out of you. Is that clear?"
Olivia blinked. Wait, surely the captain wasn't saying what she thought he was saying. Was he? Surely she must be mistaken. But as he continued, her stomach clenched and sank. Is this why he let me on? Was she honor bound to help him now? If this is why he had accepted her, surely it would be wrong to refuse. She would have gotten on under false pretenses.
As she started to spiral, a completely different part of her mind was rattling around in her cage. Fk yeah! A pirate raid? Finally some g*ddamn action on this boring trip! And loot galore? Yes please!
Then Halgrin pulled them aside. "I-I could fly over there on my broom. But wouldn't that be obvious? I thought we were trying to be subtle? Maybe if I were invisible? But I don't know how to do that..."
Olivia was scared. She was trapped on a boat full of would-be pirates with no good options for where to run. Her adrenaline was rising, and she could already see black forming at the edges of her vision, threatening to overtake her. She tried to take deep breaths to calm herself and push it back. But she wasn't sure how long she'd be able to keep it up.
"Wait what? Pirates?...," Wrinil exclaims and then goes silent when they have the group huddle. After a few moments he whispers, "Ohhh...now I see it.."
He snaps back to Halgrin when he hears his name. "Bu-wha-I don't know how to steer a ship! I've only read about it!"
"I'm not sure if I could take out a ballistae without being noticed, although I'm certain I can take them out." Enizver murmured to the others. For some reason, he hadn't picked up that knack. "My thinking is that, perhaps, we could allow the attack to begin and then destroy there weapons. If we can hold for a while the Merchantman can assist us. We'll need to time it so it's better for them to help us than run, though." The Gnome shrugged uncomfortably. "I'm not sure I'm comfortable with putting them at risk."
"I-I could fly over there on my broom. But wouldn't that be obvious? I thought we were trying to be subtle? Maybe if I were invisible? But I don't know how to do that..."
"We're not trying to hide your powers. Everyone had to display what they could do to the Captain already. As for signalling them, you could try glinting the light of the Sun off a dagger, or a mirror if you got it."
"Remember we're hoping a fight doesn't happen."
"Bu-wha-I don't know how to steer a ship! I've only read about it!"
"Reading about it is more than anyone else here has done. But that's not the idea. I don't necessarily need you to control the helm, so much as guarantee that they can't."
"I'm not sure if I could take out a ballistae without being noticed, although I'm certain I can take them out. My thinking is that, perhaps, we could allow the attack to begin and then destroy their weapons. If we can hold for a while the Merchantman can assist us. We'll need to time it so it's better for them to help us than run, though. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with putting them at risk."
"I'd rather not risk the other sailors, unless we need to either. And I would argue that we can't be sure they wouldn't see us as being any different from the pirates. People can act real stupid when they're scared. My hope is that we can just bluff our way through this, without the Captain being any the wiser. After all, surely, pirates can't always catch their prey."
"Yeah, I think I can do that," Wrinil mumbles as he grabs his young chin and begins stroking it awkwardly.
"Bring us closer!" Pike roars to the helm. His brigantine begins sailing up to the cog, which doesn't seem to yet suspect the intentions of the other vessel.
Enizver nodded, finding somewhere to hide his short frame before trying to sneak towards the nearest ballista.
Moving quietly, and trying to avoid notice, Enizver pulled out some small tools to...loosen...a few bolts, a few screws. The kind of parts that would take the strain when the weapon was under pressure.