Funny, Tap.
So, *if* Harrigan knows his ship is missing yet, then *maybe* someone will be on the lookout for us. But could be they're expecting Scourge and company. Or could be they're not looking out for anyone at all. Unless they're sending birds, or psychic messages, news is bound to travel slow.
Maybe make sense to sneak one or two of us into the port, while the rest of us wait at sea? We might that way learn how things stand, or, folks who might be willing to do business outside the port proper...
Fishguts nods, then shrugs. Or we find a smaller port...either way, good to be safe. If Harrigan tracks us down, well...we better hope this tub is quicker.
Well, what do you say Tap? Rush? Maybe is best to find some smaller place neat.
Port Peril is our destination. Our eventual destination. But perhaps it should be later rather than sooner. Let us gaze upon our wee map. Spreading the map on the table, Tap points two three settlement markings.
Quent
Ngozu
Little Oppara
Settlements is all I know.
Quent, Ngozu, Little Oppara...
I think I've heard a little something about Quent, ruled by a pirate lord I think. Tessa Fairbreeze, ... or something like that.
Aye, as the Captain wishes. If you and yours are worried about being noticed, however, I think that myself and the Lady Vampire are the obvious solutions. No one knows to look for us, or would know of any connection between us and Harrigan. I should be able to get any supplies we need.
Rush looks pleased to be back at sea, and keeps turning slightly into the wind.
Excellent idea Rush...although I am not too keen on the idea of never leaving my ship.
From what you're able to piece together between your knowledge and that of your fellow officers....
Quent is the second largest port in the Shackles, and is known to be lively and welcoming. The prostitutes there are often the best information brokers, and Fishguts says he knows the owner of the Lusty Mermaid inn - worked for them at some point in his past.
Ngozu is home to Mwangi pirates who follow an old religion; they are not a fan of outsiders
Little Oppara is upscale and rich, modeled after the more opulent parent city in Taldor.
Fishguts and Sandara both seem to be behind Quent as a good option.
I am also in favor of Quent
I quent argue, its to the quent harbor of Quent we go.
Before we sail to Quent, get the keel hauling ropes ready...the 1st mate needs some bad pun-ishment
You head out the next day with a direct northerly course, tracking between Motaku Isle and the mainland. Clouds roam ominously overhead, threatening an afternoon storm. Luckily, you knew about it from Rush well ahead of time, and are prepared to shore up the sails.
The storm does, indeed, come, and the swells grow proportionately to the strong winds, but its nothing that the toughened sailors haven't dealt with before. The day passes without incident, but as night nears, you come upon a pair of small islands through which you have to pass to get to the north side of Motaku. You see the lights of small settlements on each.
You surprisingly move through the next 2 days of travel without any mishap. The seas are quiet and the weather is calm. You break through the rings of islands on your trip northeast, then turn to the west to come into Quent's harbor on the top side.
Towards the middle of the third day, the clouds darken a bit overhead with an early afternoon storm, and you see the sails of a smaller ship ahead. After a bit of tracking it, you see that it's a fishing hooker that has tracked out to deep waters.
Rush makes sure to remind the captain about the impending weather, which will be (GM FILL IN THE BLANK HERE).
And then, A fishing boat. Kind of far out for a fishing boat. What do you think Captain? Lost boat and easy pickings? Or a decoy for a trap?
Rush gauges the weather with his abilities; though a storm is bound to hit this afternoon, it won't be a bad one. Some storms overnight as well, but nothing cataclysmic. Tomorrow morning is clear.
I don't wish to fill my hull with cod, or some wayward fisherman.
well, another boat might not hurt.
Tap leans to Jack and Rush. You wanna take this one? Do we have enough crew for two ships? Also, what to do with the crew of that ship? Enslave them? Run them through? Put 'em on a rowboat? How merciless are we gonna play this? Once we cross this line, there is never going back.
Back home, the Black Jacks, they got rich running the racket on the shops and harbors, and the whore and card houses. And where there was no other law, they were the best and only law there was.
It seems to me that these are dangerous seas, and these ships need protecting. Protecting from us anyway. I say... if we go in, we get our due for not doing worse to 'em.
The same for the small villages round. I say we tithe them, no different than those fat lords and ladies who take their tenth every year to live high and mighty in their castles and manors.
So only the insensible get run through. I see. An interesting proposal. We will be pirate that will only take 10% of yer booty, unless they make us mad...and what is the advantage of this racket? Less fighting?
Do you cut down your apple tree to make an apple pie?
If you raid a village, take all it has, and burn it to the ground, the next time you come around, there won't be any thing there to take.
The horse-riding peoples of the steppe extracted great wealth from mighty empires, because it was cheaper for the emperor to pay them to go away than to try to defend against them, or to chase them out into wilderness.
Less fighting aint a bad thing, not if we can get what we want by intimidation and persuasion instead.
On the other hand, nothing will re-assure the crew on this new enterprise than a quick and easy campaign with high upside. Let's put gold in their pockets!
So we are to be villains, Jack? Through and through? Make the case for me. I am a greedy son of a mum, but taking a poor fisherman's livelihood? Now, I ain't against taking a rich merchant's ship, they grind the poor beneath their heals, or from a galleon transporting slave-dug gold. Are we to be mean thugs, or a plague on those who use our seas for their monopolies? For we have got to choose. If we are to be mean, based thugs, then let us do so with all alacrity, and steal fish, smell like fish, and eventually, die like fish.
Rush seems surprised by the thought, but responds after a moment of silence. A forced trade, then. If they are fishermen, then they are far away from home and could use an escort to a safe harbor. And we can enforce that payment. If they're not fishermen, then we take what we please (Jack's 10 percent) and move along. A fair compromise?
I like how Rush is thinking. Besides... it may be a fishing ship, but if I know anything about ships, and I do, there are at least fifteen sailors aboard that hooker. That's no poor fisherman, there.
All right, it is settled. Rush, you still have that eye piece? Scan the horizon for another ship, as this may be a trap, one never knows. Second, be on the lookout for signs of plague. I'll announce the order, but one of you take the help during combat maneuvers.
Do we extract payment for safe passage before or after? Might be harder to do that sort of thing in a controlled port of harbor...
First.
Course seemingly decided, you press on in pursuit of the smaller ship. This hooker uses oars and sails, and both are out as it tries to outpace the Oncoming Storm.
Captain, don't want to argue, but I've never been the best with these. Rush says as he holds out the spy glass. I am, however, an experienced helmsman.
You spend one day in pursuit and, though you're gaining, you don't gain quite what you had hoped. For most of the day, the cagey pirate outmaneuvers you, no doubt knowing the currents here better than you do. My the evening though, Rush seems to have the hang of it and makes up some distance.
You know that tomorrow you should come within sight of Quent.
Sunyata doesn't speak much to anyone. She is always there, she's always watching and seems to be drinking when not on duty. She helps with everything assigned without complaint or objection, from scrubbing decks, to cleaning latrines, to washing dishes, trying to pass the time while the others plot and plan whatever it is most pirates obsess over.
As a trained acrobat posessing an unusual flexibility and control, she helps with all the rigging when needed, and is fearless of heights so she spends time listening to the crew's plans and learning as many jobs as possible along the way from the seasoned sailors.
Now she patiently waited for the opportunity to arise... She needed information. She listens to the charger of the crew as they close in on the pirates ahead.
Rush will look to the captain and say If you'd like, I can speed up the winds behind us for a bit. It'll give us a small burst of speed as we fill our sails. But it won't last for to long, but it also shouldn't reach their sails.
Rush calls upon winds to aid their travel, and the winds hit just behind the sails, pushing the Oncoming Storm forward even faster. With a few minor course corrections, you come nearly within firing range of the hooker by early evening.
Finding themselves caught, the hooker slows, and the men on board move from the oars to man crossbows, awaiting your approach. You only see about a dozen men here.
Jack, give them the terms, we'll give them a chance to surrender.
[b]OK Jack, make your threats. Then I'll play nice. But they might need some armed convincing.[b]
Rush will either whisper to Belliot, or send a runner to him with a short message.
You're a very large man, maybe you should stand near Jack to lend some more weight to his words.
Belliot complies, stopping only to grab his mighty axe. He stands by Jack, his glower menacing.
Ahoy! We are the crew of the Oncoming Storm. I am Jack. We will escort you safely to harbor for two parts in five of your cargo and gold. Of we can kill you, and take all of it. The choice is yours. These are dangerous seas.
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Jack you are a knave. I am Captain Taptap. Here it is simple. These are dangerous seas. Why, I've seen the sails of at least two pirate vessels since we sighted your tub. Now, we appreciate commerce, and honest wages for honest work, so we've set out to run off those pirates in these seas that we claim, so all can work and live on these seas. But this protection we have afforded you is labor, both honest and hard, and so we must collect payment from those we protect, when we sight their ships. Never mind Jack's threat, what ye owe us is Tap pauses, taking account of their ship, 10 tons of your cargo. That be a fifth of your cargo hold, I'd estimate. If you'd rather pay in coin, I'd estimate that would be about 1,000 gold. Tis a low price compared to losing it to some ruthless pirate, eh? And you might even start spending less on you those crossbowman, think of the savings! But if you refuse to pay, well then that would make you thieves, and as we are the law out here in these seas, we will have to meet out justice by boarding your ship and keel hauling the lot of you. So, Captain, may I suggest you have your grunts run down to your hold and start loading up that row boat for transport.
The men onboard seem to shy back in face of the pirate force, and some even lower their crossbows, looking to their own captain for direction. The captain, a sturdy dwarf, stomps to the fore, his own crossbow in hand. Now, hear this, pirates! Yeah, ye' could kill us and yeah, ye' could take all our fish...but some a' you er' gonna' git stuck in the doin'. Way I see it, we got a good shot on yer officers, and we're ready ta' fire. So, whatcha' gonna' die for - fish? I don' carry any more coin on board than wages fer' this crew when we get back ta' port.
Seeming to gain some bluster even while his men widen their eyes at potential battle, he continues. But 'ere's the deal...the Elten Blade is in waters protected by Quent an' its pirate lord, Tessa Fairwind. The Elten Blade 'ere is outta' Sargava, an' if yer ta' attack us in Quent's waters, then ye' can bet our Sargavan patrons'll hear of it.
The dwarf seems to be put a bit aback, but convinced that he's in the right.
This play captures Tap's attention, and he pauses to consider.
Tap does indeed know that there would be some back and forth about territory and posession, but it would ultimately come down to this: the Sargavan fishing vessel is in Quent waters, and Tessa Fairwind is only beholden to the Pirate Council.
Of course, would you want to draw such attention to yourselves?
You sense that this Captain is being honest, but doesn't have the full understanding of the situation at hand
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Tap considers for a moment, and it was as if his future hinged on this moment, a pin upon which souls and fortunes turned. A breath. A gull cries. Tacktack wiry hand grips his neck and squeezes. Tap's heart turns cold.
Fish eh. Who guards fish with crossbows. Thieves. Who fails to pay their dues for protection honestly provided? Thieves. Pay your due and beg for mercy, or prepare to die for fish. And if yer Captain be a fool, mutiny to save your own lives. You have moments to decide.
Sargava