The dwarf's monstrous teeth glow a bright red, like the color of freshly shed blood.
Showing why he is gaining the reputation of a true predator, Diabolito charges the enemy who dares point a weapon at him.
His jaw snaps shut, catching only air, but with enough ferocity that it's obviously a lucky thing that didn't get flesh or the poor man would be maimed.
The dwarf's bite may not have connected anywhere vital, but his sharp teeth grab immense amounts of flesh, showing why shark bites are the worst sort of bites.
Spitting out the bits of flesh, the dwarf holds his axe and laughs at the sailing man.
"Nah, lad! THIS be the easy way!"
Aramis just laughs, reloading her musket in a flash with one of her new creations. She leaps between the ships, taking aim at the fool.
"Aye, Whiskers! This be tha easy way!" she crows, before the sound of gunfire drowns out her laugh.
Come over here and say that! Amos taunts as he lazily skips over the rails. I like your gun though. I think I'll take it.
He levels his own pistol at the captain and fires at close range.
Chanting, Indrana sends another acid arrow at the captain.
Given the state of their opponent's partial undress, Maera doubts he was doing calisthenics in his cabin. "How could we not board it, when we caught you quite literally with your pants down?" she jeers, working a spell into her song. "But if you want to trade the little death for the big one, be it on your head." She pauses, smirking over her pun."Assumin' you've gotten enough blood back to even work one of 'em."
The man easily sidesteps Diabolito's bite, but thus leads himself open for two bullets to hit him in the side, to which he gives a glare. The glare does allow him to catch the acid arrow's movement and thus he easily ducks out of the way of it.
The captain having been caught with his pants down, now drops himself to the floor and begins laughing hideously.
At this point, several of his crew seem to be pouring out of the other door, filling the deck with enemies...or targets.
Amos reloads with practiced ease, levels his gun at a white-hooded woman and pulls the trigger.
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Cassius darts in to slash at the sweaty man with his cutlass in a vicious and brutal swing.
"Surrender now and drop your weapons! You will be spared!" He shouts as his cutlass bites hard into his target's flesh. "This ship isn't worth your life! You will be safely dropped off with all your personal possessions! This ship is ours!"
Critical Threat!
Listening for any instructions to hold her fire...er acid...Indrana begins to cast a different spell this time.
"Rawwwk! Sound the call!" Rotgut squawks, perching in the crow's nest of the Aspis ship and spreading his wings. Aramis takes aim at the bald fella and sends a bullet his way.
Cassius's slash cuts through the captains chest and it seems to sober his laughter
The captain stops laughing and then kips up, only to find Diabolito's brutal assault hitting him hard and dropping him back down, leaving him unconscious and bleeding.
Then a pair of guns goes off again, leaving two crewmen bleeding, and a magic blast slams into a third.
With half their number bleeding and wounded, their captain seemingly dead or at least clearly defeated, the crew look at the blood-sprayed dwarf and swashbuckler and realize they are beaten. Almost in unison, their weapons clatter to the deck and the ship is taken...with minimal bloodshed.
Smoke still curling from her gun barrel, Aramis hollers, "A'right, ye bloody asps, ye'll be deferrin' ta meself an' tha lovely ladies 'ere! Tha ship be ours now!" She gestures to Maera and Sandara , making a show of holding her musket across her shoulders.
Seeing that the worst seems to be over, Indrana crosses to the newest acquisition and checks the captain's cabin to see what...or who...he was doing in there. She takes parchment, ink, and a pen so she can start cataloging what is on board. She seems rather uninterested in the defeated crew unless they seem to threaten her.
The dwarf takes his slow time searching the Captain for what he might have useful (to be cataloged), and then proceeds to clap Cassius on the back, grinning as his teeth return to more normal shapes. He spits one dangerously large tooth out onto the deck as he slips the morningstar back onto its belt loop and his axe on his back.
He walks around for several moments, seeming to be slightly drunk off the intense fight, despite it being short-lived.
"Perfect! That was jus' perfect!"
Diabolito nods, wiping the blood from his beard, as he takes a look at the captain, making sure he's disarmed before checking the wounds. Taking out the greenery from around his neck, he mumbles quietly and asks for insight.
The dwarf smiles, seeing the captain yet lives. Spitting into his palms, he rubs them together and smirks, touching the man's chest, a white light briefly illuminating his hands. Looking over his work, he wipes his hands off on his own leather pants, Diabolito stands and grins.
"Tha was fun!"
Amos stands a step behind and to the right of his Captain as a silent deterrent to renewed hostilities.
The captain of the other ship actually dies before Diabolito can staunch the flow, as the dwarf sees that the man is at death's door and he then lets out his last gasp as the dwarf leans down to heal him. Sandara grins at that as she steps over the rails onto the Kurstav
What they find in the cabin is pretty tame. A young woman is passed out on the bed, though judging from her breathing it is likely from shock...or exhaustion. Perhaps the captain finished before he came out to join them. Regardless, Conch's eyes do turn away from her as she looks up to Indrana. The young woman is very much bereft of anything covering. A fine dress beside the bed.
Inside the room there is little in the way of loot. Some finery, a magic chain shirt, a small silver bullet that radiates magic and has a unrecognized rune on it.
The now dead captain's body has little on it, since he was so quick to gather his combat gear. He has a leather flask on his belt that has magic liquid in it and both of his weapons are magical.
The crew of the Fury now has decisions to make:
You have 16 captives, with more on the island that have not yet returned...and if they see their ship taken...will they?
You have a rather nice ship with no damage done to it now in your possession. You could hide it, squib it, sell it, or sink it. Or let them go...
You have 2 Points of Plunder (oddly, it's weapons and armor, though some of them look to be of older Mwangi design, so that might be why the Aspis cared).
Congrats, you have successfully taken your first ship
Diabolito shakes his head. "Just missed saving him by a hair. Well, Gozreh gives and Gozreh takes."
Walking over to the Captains not currently inventorying, he gives his report.
"Their Captain is dead; he was dead before I could do really anything to save him. So now, what's the plan? Big ol' ship, weapons, and plenty of crew on the island, I'd imagine. We can take it for our own; I imagine we could even try to get on the good with the Aspis, but I doubt that many would take kindly to their pawn being killed and someone else bringing the boat into dock. Sort a at a loss, really..."
The dwarf wanders off, to find a bucket to fill with water so he can get the blood and gore from his beard.
Hmmm, I like this Conchobar, my first willing servant. Indrana hands over the writing materials and goes to check on the woman on the bed. Indrana is ammused at her assistants reaction and looks the woman's body over for signs of injury.
Looking back at Conchobar, "Why don't you step out and close the door so i can talk to her alone. She might know something of interest and if she was forced into his bed she might be more cooperative with only a woman present." Indrana sits on the bed beside the late captain's play thing and gently shakes her shoulder, "Are you alright miss? What happened to you."
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Cassius looks over the magical cutlass, there was nothing wrong with his, but a magical one... "This is nice. Mind if I take this?" He asks giving it a few experimental swings.
When grouped up with the Captains Cassius speaks "We can give the land crew an ultimatum, an hour or whenever convenient to report back to the ship and be placed under guard. Else we'll set sail without them. I'm all for dropping them off on land. But rooting them out of a jungle? Feh."
"As for the ship. My suggestion is to take it back to Rickety's, offer them a deal. Squib the ship and sell it on our behalf for a kickback. Maybe ten...fifteen percent above the cost of the Squib."
"Problem is. We can't take the prisoners there. Any idea where we can drop them off with no questions asked?"
Cassius idly flips open his compass and takes a peak at the needle.
Amos is immediately attracted to the pistol as Cassius is the rapier. The examines the action and brings it to his captain.
Take a look at this! It's enchanted! I wonder where an Aspis captain got his hands on one of these.
Maera clucks her tongue softly, after Diabolito pronounces their Captain dead. "A pity. He should have just surrendered." But at least he died laughing. Drawing herself up, she addresses the remaining crew, "Any wounded who wish treatment may seek out Doc, here. If you wish your dead buried, either on land or at sea, I will allow it."
Trusting in Cog and Malak to secure both the prisoners and ship, she rejoins her sister-Captains. "Agreed, Cassius. Have the ultimatum delivered with one of theirs to vouch... Let them hear from their own that we treat them fairly until we can put them ashore - otherwise, they can take their chances with the jungle."
Concerning the ship, she chuckles slightly Diabolito's idea of trying to get in good with the Aspis. "Aye... I think if we try to lie down with vipers we'll likely wake up one day sorely bitten." Remembering that Cassius had ties to a former Pathfinder she adds, "We already made an enemy of them. May as well sell to their competitors, if the price is right. The Pathfinders would love to get their hands on these relics, I imagine."
She continues, "I do not know if we are ready to outfit a fleet yet. Perhaps when our core crew is more battle sure, and can be transferred to other ships. But as we took this without a shot, selling it would be best. Whether to Rickety, as Cassius suggested, or elsewhere."
"I do not think any would question your claim on that blade, Cassius," she smiles slightly. "Not after that fight. Nor you, with that pistol, Amos." At the odd magic bullet, she furrows her brow. "And I swear I've seen that rune before..."
Amos mentions that ships can usually be sold in both Bloodcove and Senghor.
Maera thinks that Bloodcove...an city known to be ruled by the Aspis...is likely a really, really horrific place to try and dump an Aspis ship.
Doc does interject concerning the plan, "While I don't doubt that it would work out, and we would be able to acquire some funds from that plan...I think selling it would probably be more financially viable. In fact, we sail this ship into the port and sell it...then leave by land to return to this ship. Or rather, the salesperson could, I don't much feel like leaving this ship until I have everything set the way I want it."
Malak nods and points to the two siege weapons. "For now, I am more worried about getting those weapons moved over," he says as he points to the catapult and the ballista.
Sandara grins as she lets loose a burst of Besmara's energy to heal those injured, still.
Looking to her co-captains, she nods, "Quarter given to those who submit. If you wish to join the better ship, then you may. If you wish to stay here. Then you may. If you wish to be set free at our next port of call...then you may. If you ever stumble upon us again or cause us grief...I swear by The Pirate Queen that I will end you. Painfully...and perhaps repeatedly...as some of you just felt the healing I can provide."
"Doubt any one a' us could swing that thing half as well 's you, so by all means, keep it," Aramis agrees, grinning as she watches Cassius swing his new cutlass. She raises her eyebrows a Amos' new prize, giving an appreciative nod. "Aye, now tha's an interestin' trophy, eh? I'm too fond a' me ol' man's gun tamale much use a' such a thing, so ye hold onta it an' show us what it can do?" She grins, clapping the older man on the back.
"Now this..." She takes the silver bullet, rolling it between her thumb and fingers. "This is most curious. Look." She unbuckles the ammo pouch from her gun belt, showing the others the rune. "Only 'olds one bullet, too. Been a bit 'fraid ta use it, if I'm bein' totally honest." She shrugs, trying to put the new bullet in the pouch, just to see if it fits. "Tell ye what, though, me curiosity won't allow me ta 'old onta it much longer.
"So," she continues, raising her voice. "We 'ave an agreement. We move over tha weapons, then sell this off. We take on any who wish ta join Fury, give tha others a chance."
Amos rounds up his siege crews and sets them to work on the weapons. He retrieves the dead captain's holster and straps his new gun in place. He had to admit, it felt good.
The naked woman shrugs, "I suppose he hired me to be here, but he chose to invite me to stay...so there might have been some romance...on his part, at least. I...I just wanted to sail the seas and see more of the world...and he was pretty damn good at what he did, so it was a win-win for me." She reaches up and takes her clothes, all her words seem to be honest.
The crew entirely surrenders, coming onto the ship and turning in any weapons they have. They are willing to work to get the ship to harbor, provided their freedom remains assured. A couple speak to a few of the existing crew about joining the ship's permanent crew.
The new bullet matches one of the runes that is within the pouch, though oddly, this bullet does radiate magic, unlike the first one, though no one can identify exactly what the magic does.
The bullet actually gets passed the barrier, and fits perfectly into the slot.
If asked, any of the casters on the ship, can tell you that the bullet identifies as a +1 bullet, though, it is silver not mithril, so it doesn't do extra damage.
"Best we take this one to Senghor. Takin' a former Aspis ship back to the viper's nest to sell is askin' for a fang in the back."
With a set plan in place, Maera finally allows herself a moment to revel in their victory. It was an easy battle, more luck than skill, in taking this ship for their own. But a win is a win, and they needed a win to help soothe aggressions and pick up morale after that bad business in the night.
"If that is all concernin' this vessel, I believe we have a Sahuagin to question this evening," she adds blithely. "Or fish filets might be on the menu."
The woman is now fully dressed, a dress that is tight around her bust and cinched around her waist, but slit just below her hips to give her free movement. "Cassie," she says with flourish of her skirt. "I'm not sure what use I'll be on a ship unless it is pleasuring the captain...but I'll see what it is like to be among your crew..."
Malak comes up and speaks to the captains, "Cog, Rosie, Rati and I are setting up watches. We will use our longer term crew to ensure we hold things down, as you desire, but," he reaches down and grips the handle of his cat. "If they get out of line, I will be sure to put them back in..."
Leaving the captains cabin and joining with the others, "Apparently the captain was having a bit of sport with a woman from the village who thought of joining his crew. She might join ours instead. I told here to choose quickly." Being reminded of the fishy captive, Iolana seems intrigued, "I forgot about that, I will help with the process, I have a few ideas on whatto try."
Later That Evening
After a day in the hot box, with the two ships floating in tandem, the captains and crew get the sahuagin out to 'speak' with him.
Malak starts the questioning.
With a growl and a slap of the creatures maw, Malak lets out his first demand. "Tell us why you came!"
As Malak begins questioning the sahuagin, Indrana is casually going around setting out a chopping block and fileting utensils muttering under her breath about sahuagin steaks and different places to cut them from so she can feed their prisoner.
Maera is expecting for this to go on for quite some time. She's patient.
She'll try for intimidation, even though she knows she's not terribly intimidating visually as a person. "Again," she commands for the prisoner to be hit. "I like my fish well tenderized."
When this show of command doesn't seem to impress him, she'll try a different tactic.
Nothing. Nada. Well, when all else fails... put on a show. Maera draws her shoulders back, and, with a look a great concentration and murmuring, manages pull her camouflage back, although she tries to pass it off as if dismissing a spell to revel her blue skin for this conversation. She knows that sometimes there's mutations of Sahuagin that look like sea elves - Malenti, they're called. Perhaps with her skin like this, she could pass as one.
"You shall have freedom, brother-of-the-sea, but my crew will not be satisfied without an answer."
Even though the Undine had told him a nearly unbelievable lie, her tongue was sweet and sharp enough to give him the idea that she might not be full of it, but her shimmering form helps him believe her ruse.
The dwarf decided to join in, smirking and exposing the sharp teeth as he toys with the shaft of his axe.
"Best be telling us what we want. See, the Captain is nicer than me or the big guy. I got no problems with taking off some limbs and then chasing you down for target practice. I don't think you want to see what's more terrifying in the water than even your kind."
Gesturing to Maera to step away for a moment while the others continue their interrogation, "I can try and reads it's mind when you ask it a question but I can only do it twice today so make the questions count."
Maera scowls, finding that the Sahuagin fear this Matron more than anything she or the others might do to him. Still, she likes Indrana's plan, and when the Sailing Mistress is ready, she will ask her question.