Bjorkus feels a great deal better as the ragged gash in his arm seals up under Kal's spell.
With renewed vigor and under Luthor's guidance he brings his horns to bear again.
And Bjorkus' horns impale the rat creature and it stops moving, slumping into the brackish water.
"So I guess we can add rat-slayer to your list of titles, Tri-tip."
Kal chuckles. "Very flattering title... I'm sure he's thrilled."
Opal walks over to the big rat and picks it up by its tail.
"Hmph, maybe this should be a special dinner for Plugg."
"Well, he is also the guy that took down Owlbear. Poor Owlbear, he's had such a rough life.. I feel a little sorry for him."
"Do you think Owlbear would turn on Plugg if given the chance?"
"Probably not to aid our cause." He looks
to Luthor for confirmation.
And Bjorkus' horns impale the rat creature and it stops moving, slumping into the brackish water.
Bjorkus the slayer!!
Bjorkus laughs at the praise and then kicks at the dead rat-thing with a hoof before Opal picks it up.
"That thing was dangerous alright. It might have got me if not for all your help", he said to the party.
"That was good advice", he offers Luthor. "...the part about hitting it."
"We should head back up there, I suppose... shall we take the thing and show Plugg this 'fearsome and terrific beast'?" he asks with a mischievous grin.
"What? You mean before it hits the stewpot?'
Opal grins as she says this and you just aren't too sure if she is actually serious or not.
Kal shudders. "I wouldn't even eat this... creature... in its natural state, let alone cooked. I've no idea what it is, and if it lives down here..." He trails off, letting his listeners finish the sentence for themselves.
"Do you think Owlbear would turn on Plugg if given the chance?"
"Maybe. He's kind of the joke of the ship. I mean they tarred and feathered him for fun. That's why he's called Owlbear. I mean even for pirates, they abuse him. He's actually just sits in a hold and eats live crabs they give him. Maybe if you all tried to be his friend, it'd make him like you."
"Thanks, guess I got a knack for stating the obvious."
"Poor guy. Now I do feel sorry for him."
Opal carries the rat back up the stairs as the make their way above deck and back to Plugg to tell him that the job is done.
Luthor just nods in agreement as he followers her back up to the deck.
The party makes their way back up to the deck and they show Plugg the monster they defeated. "Just throw it overboard and get back to work."
Bjorkus, Luthor and Kal have to swab the deck.
Chubb's still has to clean the bilges. In fact the task is made harder by the fact that there is rat-blood all over.
Opal as the interim cook's mate has to help Kroop prepare the meal. However since he is insensibly drunk, she has to do the majority of it.
Luthor swabs the deck sufficiently to not be punished.
Bjorkus snorts in anger and grabs a mop.
Kal stows his bow and goes to work silently.
Opal sighs as she sees the state that Kroop is in.
Well, he won't be of any help today. Can't even get a decent conversation out of him. Is this what Kal was worried I become just from a few shot of rum?
Opal tries to do her best without any assistance from the drunk cook.
Bjorkus, Kal, and Luthor all put in a good days work of swabbing the deck. Opal makes a meal fit for a pirate king, mainly from that giant rat slain earlier that day. She makes sure to have the roasted head on a platter for the esteemed Mr. Plugg.
Chubwart works himself to the bone, but being the cook's mate has made him soft and unused to the rigors of hard physical labor and he tires himself out. There are no lashings for the Bloody Hour and dinner passes by uneventfully. Everyone is given one ration of rum except for Opal who is given two.
Kal pulls Opal and Chubwart aside, keeping a particularly close eye on Opal. "Let's go up to the deck and watch the sunset. Here, Opal, let me carry those for you." He chivalrously scoops up her rum rations and leads the way to the railing, positioning himself between Chubwart and anyone else in sight, and making sure he holds the mugs low enough that the goblin can easily take them.
As soon as he has a free hand, he reaches over and puts it on Opal's shoulder. "This will to be difficult, but you are capable of overcoming it... and you must. Remember what I told you yesterday. Nasburthus. Ocrinit."
"I'm going to talk to the Owlbear", Bjorkus tells the group as dinner finishes.
"Try to stay away from Plugg's goons."
Bjorkus finds out from asking around that Owlbear is usually kept below deck in the middle hold. No one seems to notice Kal handing off rum rations to the goblin.
As the minotaur approaches the locked cage where he is kept, he notices him playing a game of tic tac toe by himself. When he eventually fails to win, he starts yelling due to frustration. He also sees a few half-eaten crabs nearby.
As she is serving the dinner, Opal save a bowl of food and makes her way to where Owlbear is kept.
"Hi there. My name's Opal. I thought you might like to try some of the stew I cooked up for dinner. It's my first time cooking for the crew and I thought I'd make sure everyone got to try some."
Opal will set the bowl down beside Owlbear if he doesn't hold his hands out to take it.
Later on, after dinner is over with and the crew is all receiving their rum rations, Opal is taken a bit off-guard as Kal intercepts hers and escorts her over towards Chubwart and the railing.
"Thank you Kal, but I'm not so worn out from cooking that I can't carry a couple of mugs."
She begins to protest when he passes her mugs over to Chubwart instead of to her, but she recalls spending all day in the galley with a very drunken and obviously alchohol-addicted cook. Giving a little shudder as she imagines that as a future her, Opal stops herself from grabbing them back and tries to ignore the urge she feels to drink.
"I know you're trying to help Kal, but don't expect me to like for a little bit."
Kal just chuckles. "Ah, Opal... if everyone in the world liked me who ought to do so, I would not be here to assist you now... even if you are only partially willing to receive my assistance."
"Hey there Owlbear", Bjorkus opens. "I hope I didn't hit you too hard last night."
Opal makes her way down to the middle hold with a bowl of food in hand. She sees him snacking on some still moving red crabs. At first he slinks to the back of his cage, crabs in hand. She sets the bowls down and tries to calm the beastial man. Curiously, he puts a crab down and inches towards the bowl. He picks it up and looks at Opal one last time before taking a sip. Followed by a long gulp as the soup is gobbled. He wipes his mouth with a dirty slightly tarred/feathered hand and smiles. "Why?" He asks.
Opal looks thoughtful for a moment and then smiles as him as she replies: "Well, it's my job to cook to for the crew of this ship and that includes you. So I'm bringing you the same thing that everyone else is eating.
"Oh." Owlbear struggles to think for a moment. "Thank...you?"
"You're welcome."
Opal will collect the bowl back and head back to galley to finish up serving the rest of the crew and helping to pass out the mugs for the rum.
Owlbear gives Opal a simple grin before she walks back up to finish serving dinner.
When you get close to his cage you notice a now empty bowl of stew along with the half-eaten crabs. "What you want?"
"I just wanted to make sure you were feelin' better. I didn't hit you too hard with my horns did I?"
Bjorkus takes note of the empty bowl.
"Did you like Opal's stew?"
"Me okay now. Horns hurt." He rubs the scarred spot where he was gored. "Opal? Oh, pretty lady! Her food real good!"
"Do you like to scrap or do you only do it because Plugg makes you?"
"What do you think of Mr. Plugg?"
"Me good at fighting, so Plugg tell me to fight. Plugg my friend, give me food." He holds up a half eaten crab as proof.
"I don't think Plugg's really your friend. He made you fight me. Friends shouldn't make you get hurt before they give ya food."
"What would you say to more of Opal's stew?"
"Plugg my friend, he let me out of cage. I like stew! You have more?!"
"Not with me, but I think I can get more. A boy your size needs all the food he can get."
"You get more for me? You no hate me? I want stew, please!"