As the sun begins to rise, a full thirty-six hours after the ship was spotted, the crew is being gathered on the deck and people are being provided weapons by Riaris and Kipper, the gunner's mate. Malak is brought up to the deck and Doc is given a moment to retrieve anything from his trunk that he might need.
"Ye lot will be leadin' tha charge. Ol' Harrigan 'as somethin' planned ta cover yer approach. Ye are ta secure the aft deck, an' then help any o' our crew." Riaris turns to Malak, "Ye bloody well know that they don' care if'n ye come back, but if ye find a way ta properly prove yerself, ye'd be a f#*(ing dumb@ss not ta take it. Prove yerself, save yer life."
Almost on cue, a heavy fog begins to cover the other ship as The Wormwood makes it's approach.
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Malak looks towards the ship they are approaching and then to Riaris. "They might wanna care, 'cuz if'n I come back it ent gonna be pretty for 'em. When I get on thar ship I will make the deck slippery wit' blood of my enemies." Malak starts to build his resolve and lets his rage that has been building for the bast three days start to come to the surface. "Aye, Doc, me mate. I gonna be needin' some of my things. If Riaris will let me 'ave 'em for this. In the trunk should be my leather armor, and my falchion and boarding pike should be there as well."
Malak turns back to Riaris, "Oy, are we gonna get any help wit' this? Maybe some of the crew can join us? Can't expec' the small group o' us to take a whole ship, can ye?"
"Ereone 'as their jobs, ye bloodthirsty b@stard. Ye worry about tha aft deck. Others will worry about their jobs. Ye finish yers, ye help them."
It will not be the first time Vundrani have fought Vundrani. But, I must be vigilant to make sure for opportunities for my friends and I to escape. Betraying our slavers is no sin.
Nissa will wait until the very last moments before they board to cast Shield.
The dwarf pulls the battleaxe off his back and hefts it with a smile. "Oh yes! Today is the day we harvest! Let the storm arrive, and Gozreh's blessing be on us all!
It's the first true smile from the salty dwarf in many a day.
Has Diabolito finally broken his addiction yet?
A grin spreads across Aramis' face as the crew prepares for boarding. "Well well well, looks like me itchy trigger finger ain't gonna be itchin' much longer!" she crows in excitement as she pulls her musket from its hiding place belowdecks. "Oh, how I've missed ye," she whispers to the gun, stroking the stock as she would a small animal. She buckles on her rapier, checks her boots are secure, then bounds up the stairs, loading the gun as Riaris speaks. "Well, ain't this gonna be fun!" she laughs, eyes glittering with excitement as the fog begins to spread.
Doc comes out wearing his armor for the first time in the voyage, dagger at his side.
"Today'd be a good time to test out that little bottle Malak, have some fun with it." Doc says to him with a wink.
Doc pulls out two flasks and downs them one after another.
As they group up, he whispers to the group "We'll need to talk afterwards, there's no way Scourge and Plugg will let us alone even if we're successful in this endeavour."
"In the meantime, however, lets enjoy the exercise and have some fun!" he says, finishing with a slightly fiendish grin.
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The half-orc looks at Doc dumbly, then after he rummages through his pockets there is a flask that he didn't remember acquiring. The barbarian holds it up to the sun to examine it and then pops the cork and begins to sniff it. "Yargh! Fun follows the flow of blood, ammiright?!" Wavecrasher has a wild grin on his face, his eyes are full of energy, and his body seems tensed, almost ready to charge like a rampant bull.
Map is ready and is in my tagline.
As the ships begin to get close together, it is clear that The Wormwood is outgunned by two huge ballista that started firing as soon as the other ship was close enough. Once the initial shots were fired, the red-haired woman is clearly casting a spell, which leaves the other ship coated in a blanket of fog that is nearly impossible to see through at any real distance.
The end result is that The Wormwood closes on the Vudrani ship and ropes and planks are thrown into place.
The group now has free access to a ship they can barely see.
Diabolito will, when they encounter an enemy, go for the senses option in .
"Alright, lads and lasses. Let's show them why we have the right to be called pirates." He seems much more eager than he has in previous days, and the axe almost quivers in his hands as he feels the desire to go for blood.
The stocky, bearded sailor just grins and nudges Malak, seeing this as a time to compete with the big man, now that his addiction is kicked.
I am no pirate. I am a caste noble; what I take is my right.
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Malak looks at his small friend and allows a smile to cross his face. He pulls his falchion off his back, leaving the boarding pike strapped on and his light cross bow attached at his hip. He pulls Doc's flask to his mouth, "Let's show 'em somethin' to be 'fraid of!" The barbarian shoots the potion down his throat. Immediately he starts to change, his muscles start growing larger, Malak groans as his body begins looking grotesquely huge. Once it finishes everyone now sees that the sea reaver is more than twice as big as he was before. He looks down at his companions and they can see a wild frenzy in his red-orange eyes. "I will go first, ye'll all follow."
Immediately Malak goes bounding across unto the other ship, howling and making a huge thump with every step. With his honed eyes the half-orc pirate is capable of seeing where all the enemies are stationed on the ship and makes his way to the closest one, thirsty for blood. The half-orc looks around at the men on the deck he will soon kill, letting them all see his ferociousness and overwhelming size. Then Wavecrasher looks down at the pair of men and brings his large falchion around in a sweeping arc.
Enemies up first, Pirate boarding team up last!
Malak sees movement through the fog before he steps over the boarding plank. Rushing up through the fog, the poor Vudrani that he comes upon shivered with fear as the blade seem to materialize out of the fog. As the blade strikes the poor man's flesh, he drives through collarbone and sternum, severing his spine and leaving him in nearly two pieces on the deck of the ship. As the strike lands Malak feels a wave of elation and epiphany rush through him.
His yelp followed by the sickening crunch of bones is enough to alert the others to Malak's direction.
Two of the sailors find Malak and make quick swings at him...
...And both blades find ways into the raging half-orcs defenses, no doubt due to his bloodthirst at destroying their shipmate.
Round 1: 'Heroes' up
Shielded by her magic, Nissa Alami dances her way across the boarding plank. Once into the mists she doesn't see Malak, but she does see a salior. She lashes at him in quick succession while chanting a quick spell with her urumi as she searches for the untouchable half-orc.
Diabolito growls low, as his teeth sharpen, like a piranha or a great shark. He laughs and crosses over to the enemy vessel.
"Ooh! Nice weapon there, lass! How about these, though?"
The dwarf brings a hard arc of his heavy axe to bear on the sailor ahead.
The enemy seems more prepared this time for the onslaught, as both his blade and his oh-so-sharp teeth do not find flesh.
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After feeling the sting of the blades, the sea reaver watches the blood run out from his body. Then looks through the fog to his enemies, his eyes burning with fury through the weather. "Bah! Slice all you want ye fools! Look! I cut 'im in half! Think what'll 'appen to all of ye! This 'ere ship be ours now!" With his increased size, Malak's voice bellows through the air sounding almost like it comes from a deep dark place. Then he laughs and brings his giant weapon around in wide swing at the man next to him.
As each of the group begins to move onto the ship to help take it, they see Ambrose on deck, which is odd enough, but then it is noticed that he is pouring what looks to be innards into the water, blood streaking from where the contents of his bucket hits.
If not for the fog, the Vudrani would likely be avoiding the half-orc who has swung twice and downed two of them. Though, the second blow is not nearly as foul as the first one, it is enough for the man to fall.
Maera seemed remote during the calm before the storm of battle, as she'd much rather be fighting some of those that are on the Wormwood instead of these poor sods that haven't wronged her. She'll fight, of course, because she has to - but she'll not take pleasure in this.
With the initial wave of resistance seemingly well handled between the three more melee comfortable folks, Maera boards the ship close behind, but scowls, finding the fog of war to be more of a hindrance than help. "What's ta keep Scourge and Plugg from knifin' one of us in this mess...?" She mutters, before beginning a bardic song, wary against treachery.
Doc moves up alongside Diabolito, drawing his dagger as he approaches. As he closes on the sailor who has the dwarf's attention, he gives a grin and says "Sorry to have to kill you, please don't take it personally!" He quickly follows up with a haphazard swing with his dagger at the sailor.
"Tha's right, ye bastards, we're takin' tha ship!" Aramis yells as she strides across the planks, boots thudding. She brings the stock of her musket to her shoulder, squinting through the fog and muttering darkly. She takes aim at the only sailor she can see, and fires, immediately elated at the familiar sounds of blackpowder igniting and a bullet screaming through the air.
The bullet finds it's mark despite the fog obscuring the sailor slightly from Aramis's sight. The poor sailor appears quite worse for the wear, but he is still standing.
The din of combat fills the ship, small skirmishes masked by the fog. Screams are heard as people are thrown off the ship...at which point a louder scream of "SHARK!!!" only to be muffled by a splash and then thrashing of water that certainly signifies a feeding frenzy.
The sailors move to swarm the boarding party and take several swings at the group. As they do, a steady rhythm begins on a drum, coming from the aft of the ship.
A bald sailor runs up to Doc and thinks he will be easy pickings due to his apparent weight.
Only to fail miserable, his excitement having thrown him off balance.
Seeing the Vudrani among the pirates, the sailor with a bullet in his side growls, in
The Vudrani sailor certainly has all intents of ending her, his blade slamming into the magical shield she created, skipping away as his eyes grow wide. "Dāyana!"
One blade comes swinging at Malak again.
And his fear overcoming him as he does so.
The fourth combatant sees this swing and decides to try his luck with a different assailant and goes after the singer.
And manages to tear into her stomach with his shortsword, barely not deeply penetrating her flesh.
Round 2: 'Heroes' Up
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Malak watches the man shake in fear when he tries to attack and fail miserably. There is a deep rumble of a chuckle that comes from the barbarian as he brings his falchion above his head and attempts to drive it into the man.
The sea reaver howls as he brings the tip of his falchion down upon the sailor. "Yer all better tryin' to outswim the sharks then fightin' us!"
"अपने वरिष्ठ अधिकारियों को नहीं बोलें."
Her urumi sings like a ribbon of steel in wind as Nissa dances.
If he could have been any more frightened by the blade coming down on him, it probably wasn't possible. The poor sailor felt the bite of Malak's blade for only an instant as the downward swing turned and lobbed his head off, sending it off into the fog.
Nissa's dance allows her to spin free of the skipping blade and then her whip-sword lands a quick strike, but it is more than enough to drop the poor fellow who had already taken a bullet in the gut. He might still be breathing, but if he is, it's faint.
Nissa takes a 5' step to be next to the doctor.
Turning to the bald man who missed him, Doc laughs and taunts him "Whatsamatter boy? Can't even manage to hit an old, fat man? I'd say your mates would never let you live it down, but truth is you'll ne'er have a chance to reminisce about it."
Reaching back to his pounch, he pulls out a pinch of sand. "Here's mud in your eye, mate!" he says with a chuckle.
[dice=Dirty Tricks(Blind)] 1d20+4+1 [/dice]
Giving a sideways glance to Nissa, he gestures curteously at the now blinded sailor and says "After you Nissa," with a grin.
The sailor sees the pouch and slashes out at Doc's hand.
It hardly matters though, Doc's hands are nimble and as such, the sand goes right into the eyes.
"Ahhhh."
The little dwarf seems almost giddy as he smells so much blood in the air. His spirit elated, he heads deeper into the fog, hoping to find the next victim (and maybe the drummer). nce he finds himself a victim, he heads in, full force with axe and teeth coming to bear. For just the briefest of moments, his teeth glow bright red (as though formed from pure, fresh blood).
Thankfully, the chosen target had just been blinded by Doc and the bite lands, giving Diabolito a taste of blood as he tears the poor blinded fellow's flesh.