”Another saga? Aye! Hear tale the tell of Jarl Brognarsnev, a raider true! One of his bondsmen led a coup against him, stole his ship, and left him for dead. The Jarl did not die, rather he earned a new ship and pursued his mutinous men all the way to far south. Hear now of how his vengeance led him even into the halls of the walking dead.
“Hear it told | in witnessed tales
How an Ulfen sailed | to distant land,
One man small | with hidden blade
Did lay him low.
Woeful for this | his vengeance was,
As so they learned | to their sorrow all;
In every land | shall all men hear
How at Jarl’s side | all were slew.
Battle won | foe did flee,
In unhallowed cave | he to spy,
Thither he came | where no living dare come,
His hammer in hand | his might did cleanse.
Great was the clatter | of hammer on bones
When Gorum’s sons | through the gateway strode;
The traitors they hewed | from all memory then,
In vengeance’s red light | in the cave did shine.”
Sandara recoils a bit away from Buhayra, almost as if she were surrounded by an awful odor. Or like a pop star trying to keep away from a rabid fan, "No, I'm not the ship's surgeon. That'd be 'Stitchman.' You probably would have gone to him if I hadn't stepped in, but that wouldn't have saved the others. They were bleeding out, and Stitchman doesn't actually have any healing magic..."
"Stitchman? I'll have to keep an eye out to talk to him. Anyways, you coming to our aid was still the nicest thing I saw on ship all day. I didn't see anything else that would give it competition, granted, but it was still pretty nice.
I see myself in your debt, if you need anything please let me know.
It is quite apparent that while awkward and more than a little off putting, the strange blue girl is earnest.
Walking back above deck Buhayra watches the entertainment and being for the evening while she continues to awkwardly hold her rum at arm's length. After another whiff it is obvious that letting it breathe is not helping. This stuff is foul, definitely something wrong with the batch. Oh! I know with a swirl of the cup she encourages a little eddy of the water inside to wash away the deleterious effects of the alcohol. Then without a second thought she throws back the full shot...
... And goes into a coughing fit as the now overly sweetened fruit juice coats her throat in a thick mucus.
bldg, he, he... Like mother's milk... Delicious
While Madiya all but collapses into her chosen hammock, and Kehlysch follows soon after, the others remain abovedecks. Sven continues to trade stories with Grok, who turns out to be a rather humorous individual. He also learns that she favors the axe in combat, and that she obtained the large scar across her neck when she was a kid in Port Peril. A group of thieves slit her throat and left her for dead.
Tamesis, meanwhile, hangs out with Sandara and Rosie. Rosie Cusswell is tough, muscular, and foul-mouthed little halfing (and gets annoyed if you point out the correlation with her surname), who loves music, food, and stories. Sandara, it is learned, is a cleric of Besmara, who left home for the sea after her father died.
Baolus quickly finds a place in the hog lob competition. His ability to handle objects that otherwise shouldn't be used as weapons means that he immediately outpaces the others competing. Maheem, having had a decent day talking to another new recruit, takes a chance on Baolus, and ends up taking a rather large pot with him at the end of the night. The large Rahadoumi man claps Baolus on the back as he heads back to his bunk, in appreciation.
Buhayra takes a while looking for Stitchman. Eventually, she learns that, being a ship's officer, he will likely be in Captain Harrigan's cabin, or possibly in the Officer's Quarters. Without being able to properly speak with him, Buhayra goes to sleep.
Sven laughs, drinks and swaps stories. For the first time he begins to see his pressganging as being anything but ill-fate.
As the night winds on, and Rosie starts to open up, Tamesis starts flrting with both of them. Nothing serious or overt, just yet, just testing the waters. Inevitably, as more and more people head off to their bunks, Tammy finds one for herself and hops in.
After a short amount of time reacclimating herself to hammock sleeping the rocking of the waves slowly lulled Buhayra off to a light but restful sleep.
Eventually, the party on deck dies down, and the crew retires to the hold to sleep. As the sun rises, the crew begins to stir, going about their morning routines before the morning bell rings to summon them all on deck.
Mere seconds after the morning bell rings, though, six pirates block the group's path to the stairs. Fipps Chumlett leads the group, which consists of Aretta Bansion, Jaundiced Jape, Slippery Syl Lonegan, Tam "Narwhal" Tate, and Shivikah. Fipps shoves one of the group members back as he obstructs them, "In a hurry?" he says with a cruel laugh.
It looks like the group will need to fight to make it on deck in time...
Kehlysch stares down Fipps Chumlett and replies "Are you planning to stop us you sorry sack of tallow? Step aside, or you will regret it!"
When Tamesis awakes, she pulls her spellbook from her locker and pores over it, deciding on Color Spray as her primary spell for the day.
No need for the ice today. Don't want to accidentally kill anyone.
Once she is done with her preparations, she uses Prestidigitation to clean herself thoroughly, head to toe, finishing just as the morning bell rings. She jumps out of her hammock, only to see a group of bullies trying to start trouble.
Trying to prevent us getting on deck? But why? Is there a punishment for being late? Wouldn't surprise me. Well, here goes nothing!
Moving into position, Tamesis doesn't wait to give the bullies a chance to act. Calling out in some harsh, vile tongue, the tiefling pulls a pinch of multi-colored sand from her component pouch and mixes it with her magic. She throws out her hand, allowing a vibrant whorl of color to engulf their attackers.
Will Save DC 15
2 HD or less: The creature is unconscious, blinded, and stunned for rounds, then blinded and stunned for rounds, and then stunned for 1 round. (Only living creatures are knocked unconscious.)
3 or 4 HD: The creature is blinded and stunned for rounds, then stunned for 1 round.
5 or more HD: The creature is stunned for 1 round.
Sven walked up to the men confidently. Seeing the tiefling use magic (I knew it!! he thought, he threw a punch at any pirate unfortunate enough to not go down. His fist was encased in a swirling mist of icy air, as frigid as the wintery depths of his homeland. He knew few men who would stay on their feet after being hit with such a blow.
Moving past Madiya, Buhayra lines herself up with one of the closest of the men blocking their path. "It is sad for crew members to fight, but I promise if you start this I will finish it."
With a crackle of energy a beam of bluish light flashes out from Buhayra's open palm.
cold damage
The blue light flies across the lower deck of the ship, smashing into the chest of one of their assailants. Frost forms on his lips and mist escapes his mouth as the air in his lungs suddenly drops to near freezing.
Madiya wakes up early in the morning, with a splitting headache and little memory of the past day. She's a bit startled at her surroundings, but as she prays and meditates as she does every morning, everything - well, almost everything - comes back to her. As the morning bell tolls, she gets up, not quite refreshed, but feeling a bit better.
At the sound of the bell, Madiya tries to leave with the others, but unfortunately their path is blocked. As the others launch into varying countermeasures against the pirate bullies, she grasps her holy symbol.
Differently than the others, Baolus was actually filling well. Most of the officers of the Wormwood where indeed sick bastards, but at least for now he had not received the blunt of it. However, as soon as he sees the group blocking their way, he imagines that his luck is quickly running out.
Great! We are screwed... if they beat us, we are screwed... if we beat them, we are probably screwed too... well, it is better to be beaten only once I guess...
"Avast! Get out o' here... or ye will regret it..."
Before Kehlysch's threat can be properly processed, Tamesis's spell goes off. Four of the pirates fall to the deck immediately, leaving only Jaundiced Jape and Shivikah upright. Even as the shock starts to show on their faces, though, Sven charges in, laying Jaundiced Jape low. The mute half orc hits the deck as Buhayra's blast catches Shivikah in the chest. The Mwangi woman is barely able to shake off Madiya's spell, and is almost able to dodge the thrown brass knuckles, but not quite. The blow from the fist weapon, combined with the chill of Buhayra's frost is enough to cause her to collapse, as well, unconscious.
Any pirates that had delayed themselves to watch the fight start moving again, up the stairs to get on deck for the morning meal and job assignments.
”We better get up on deck, before they use this an excuse to lash us,” Kehlysch says as he heads up to steps to the main deck.
I'll be there in a second. We are pirates now. We should start acting like it.
Buhayra moves towards the group of bullies, and after taking a second to verify that none of them were in danger of bleeding out, began searching their pockets and belt pouches for anything worth value.
"Consider this the fine for making a poor decision this morning. Leave us alone in the future and you won't suffer further fines"
Sven winced as Buhaya made her announcement. It wasn't exactly convincing. But still, he glared at anyone who looked at him nonetheless. He didn't want any of them getting ideas.
Then he dragged Jape's body out of the way. As he did so, he pocketed the man's dagger and hid it in his boot. He didn't want anyone on deck seeing it.
"Leave them. No sense being late because of these idiots."
Tamesis steps over the fallen bodies and makes her way up the stairs to the deck.
"Let us go." Madiya follows the tiefling up on deck, not wanting to delay.
Buhayra sighs loudly, frustrated that her searching of the assailants didn't turn up anything.
Fine. Lets go. With a kick of one of their boots she heads up to the muster.
"Ha, I believe ye got 'em scared, Red... nice trick." Baolus then moves towards his brass knuckles and retrieves it.
"As ye said, lets go."
The group quickly makes their way up to the top deck, well within time for the breakfast of ship's biscuit and job assignments.
Just before the second bell, the four pirates knocked out by Tamesis's spell rush through the doors and fall in line, as well. After a quick breakfast, job assignments are handed out.
Sven is assigned to Lookout
Tamesis is assigned to Upper Rigging Work
Buhayra is assigned to Swab the Decks
Kehlysch is assigned to Hauling Rope and Knot Work
Madiya is assigned to Runner
Balous is assigned to Fishing, Kroop is sober
Sven noticed the look that Scourge gave and his eyes narrowed. It was their second day on the ship, why would anyone have anything against them? It certainly seemed like the man had sent the pirates to rough them up, but why? He put it aside.
Instead, as they were getting ready to go to work, he walked over to Crimson Cog. Sven eyed the man in the blue bandanna. ”You looking at my scars?” Sven said. ”Well, noticed yours as well. You look like you earned them. See you tonight when there’s rum. I want to hear the bloody details.”
And with that he was off, climbing up...
....which luckily he did not fail in. It was getting dicy, this climbing. He told himself that he’d have to take this more seriously. Falling wouldn’t be good. He saw what happened when one fell.
But up there, he saw Scourge and Finn, and his suspicions were confirmed. But why?! He’d have to find out.
Lost in though, he just barely managed to get his job done satisfactorily.
Buhayra was all ready to tell Scourge about the other crew members trying to delay them from getting to the morning call. Noticing his expression though she bites her tongue.
So you were in on it too huh? Alright Scourge. You want to play?
As she sets about her work for the day, she spends her time thinking about what to do about their situation. About halfway through the day she sees Madiya acting as runner. Trying to get her attention she whispers to not attract attention from their overlords.
Madiya. Can you pass along to the others that we should get together at dinner tonight? We need to talk about this morning. We are being set up to fail, we need to figure out what we can do about it.
She redoubles her efforts on the swabbing so she can try to connect with someone else on the crew. Making friends had never been get string suit, but it looks like her life might depend on it.
Once done she tracks down Giffer Tibbs. "Crazy scene down there this morning huh? Any idea what we might have done to make Fipps so angry at us?"
Tamesis notes the looks on Scourge's ugly face as she and the others appear on deck, and her mind makes the connection. She meets his gaze and grins wickedly, attempting to unnerve him.
You rat bastard. You were behind the attack, weren't you?
After eating her morning meal, Tamesis gets to work, trying to cut corners so she can sneak away to head to the quartermaster's shop at some point.
When she sees her opportunity, she makes her way belowdecks to Grok's shop, meandering her way up to the window, "Hey there. You're Grok, right? Sven's said good things. I've also heard you're the one who has the stuff that was taken off of us when we got picked up in Port Peril. Is that right?"
Kehlysch hurries up on deck and lines up with the other crew. Avoiding eye contact with the officers, he waits for the day's work to be assigned.
Being sent to haul rope, Kehlysch puts his back into the process. It was was dull work on the small fishing boat, but on a large sailing ship such as the Wormwood it proves to be dull and physically exhausting.
As he works, he tries to pass the time by making conversation with the other swabs working with him.
"Ahh, a pirate's life indeed, hauling rope in the full heat of the day. Can you imagine being anywhere else?" he asks the young man known as Jack Scrimshaw. As he does so, he fixes the young man with his disturbing, alien gaze.
Madiya is happy enough to be up on deck, and doesn't pay too much attention to what's going on around as she eats and waits for instructions for the day.
Thankfully, Madiya has recovered enough from the exhaustion of the previous day that she's able to complete her tasks running all over the ship. She tries to pass along Buhayra's message as well as she passes by the others during her duties. She's not quite sure what the undine is talking about, but the morning's events have her a bit uneasy as well.
Madiya is too focused on her work while she's busy to notice anything else going on, but during breaks in the running action, she takes some time to snoop around the middle hold , looking for any small, loose weapons that she can hold on to in case there's a need to defend herself.
As soon as Baolus steps on the deck he notices how Master Scourge is surprised to see them. So, ye are the one behind those idiots... shit... things got even more complicated...
Knowing that fishing was equal parts skill and luck, Baolus lost little time to start and he intended to give escuses for Master Scourge and Mr. Plugg to exact vengeance or punishment on him.
Luckily, or skillfully, Baolus was able to catch enough fishes, giving him a bit of time to roam around the ship. He payed close attention to where Maheem was, knowing that he would be more open to his words since he earned quite a bit o gold last night. When he found him, he lost little time into talking to him. "Ahoy Maheem! So how do ye intend on spend all that coins ye won last night?"
Sven tries to impress Cog, but the Varisian man seems more than a little uncomfortable with the invitation. After giving Sven a disturbed look, he heads off to his work assignment.
Giffer Tibbs is much more accepting of the small talk, and opens up a little bit to Buhayra. She doesn't seem to have any idea about what set Fipps off, but notes that he really is just a jerk, so who knows?
When she sees her opportunity, she makes her way belowdecks to Grok's shop, meandering her way up to the window, "Hey there. You're Grok, right? Sven's said good things. I've also heard you're the one who has the stuff that was taken off of us when we got picked up in Port Peril. Is that right?"
The half-orc smirks up at Tamesis as she stands to speak, "You're friends with Sven, eh? He seems like a good guy, though if he's sending you lot down here to try to get your stuff back, I might have to change my mind about that. So, how can I help you, little demon?"
Jack Scrimshaw seems a little too unnerved to speak with Kehlysch, but thankfully doesn't seem to be angered by the attempt.
Madiya doesn't find any lost or hidden weapons, but she does find a large human man chained to the foremast. He looks at her suspiciously as she gets close, but doesn't say anything.
Maheem gives Baolus a rare smirk (that doesn't actually look any better on him than the usual scowl), "Don't know, yet. Probably gamble more. Maybe spend on ale and wenches in next port."
"It's Daemon, actually." Tamesis corrects gently, "But you can call me Tamesis. Tamesis Kieran. And I did come to talk about the things I had on me when I was poisoned and dragged aboard. In particular, a choker, and my bow."
Grok rolls her eyes, "Ok, daemon. Look, I've had to have this conversation too many times. I can't just go handing out the Captain's stuff. If you want it back, you're gonna have to trade for it."
Tammy shrugs, "Eh, I don't have anything to trade. I can wait to get my stuff back, really, I was just going to ask if anything weird has been going on with them. See, the choker is magical, and it was bathed in my blood as part of the enchantment. The bow is bound to me, as well. Another blood ritual. They've never been away from me, so I'm curious how they'll act. Just keep me informed of anything....weird, ok?"
Grok doesn't respond for a few seconds, as the blood drains out of her face. You can almost see her imagination coming up with the worst possible scenarios and playing them at mach speed through her brain. She clears her throat and turns back to her lockers, "A choker, you said? And a bow? Was that it?"
She digs through the lockers pulling out a few things before drawing Tamesis's bow and choker and gingerly setting them down in front of Tamesis.
Tammy suppresses a smile, "I had some arrows, too, but those aren't special. And a small box with some scrolls. Those would be nice to have back, but not critically important."
Grok hands over a quiver of 20 arrows, making a point to extend her arm fully while handing the gear off. She obviously doesn't want to get too close to the window anymore...
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
As the sun begins to dip close to the horizon, the ship's bell rings again, signalling the end of the work day. The crew quickly finishes off their tasks and assemble on deck for Bloody Hour. Today, Jaundiced Jape and Shivikah are called out for "laziness," and sentenced to three lashes each, for being late to the morning work assignments.
Scourge actually manages to miss Jape's back, though, on two of his lashes. While Scourge is obviously frustrated by this, several of the crew can't help but laugh at his ineptitude. Shivikah, though, takes the full brunt of the whip, and has to be carried, unconscious, back to her bunk.
Next, Scourge marches straight up to Tamesis and grabs her by the arm, dragging her out of the line. Two of the other pirates step up to manhandle her into place on the mast and tie her up, "And for slacking off at her task today, this one is sentenced to three lashes, as well."
There are murmurs among the riggers, since Tamesis did actually complete her work satisfactorily today. Even Plugg steps forward before the punishment commences, and the two have a brief whispered discussion. When finished, though, Plugg shrugs and steps away, obviously not willing to step in and stop this false punishment.
Scourge only misses on a natural 1, but I do have to roll, because he CAN miss.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Once Bloody Hour concludes, the crew is released for their evening meal and entertainment.
Sven watched with a blank look on his face as the tiefling was clogged. Inside a cold anger brewed. The man was out to get them by any means necessary, it seemed. He had been the lookout and had not seen her fail at her job. This meant that Scourge was going to have to be disposed of when the opportunity arose.
———-
That night Sven drank with Grok, and asked her to get Cog to listen to him. The man seemed put off by Sven’s remark, and the last thing he needed was another enemy.
Walking over to Cog, Sven said ”I’m glad you will listen. See this scar?” He pointed at his face.
Was great glory granted to I,
When Herthióf paid for his hateful deed:
Some he wounded, and slew others;
not far was I when he boarded.——
“On the battle went with fighting then,
east was the wind at early morn,
On the sea when we fought with raider fel
were those doughty men sent to doom.——-
With his sword did he sorely wound me—
sharp-edged was it— through my helm cleaving.
My helm he hewed from off my head,
my chin near cleft my life near end.——
And on one side with his shield he hit me—
mightier than I— the midriff above;
but through the other he thrust his sword,
the cold iron, my life near end.——
With my hammer, Herthióf side I hit then
with bitter words, his chest broke athwart.
So wrathfully I raised my heirloom
that all my strength I bestowed on it.——
Much prize gold gave me Víkar
the red-gold ring which on wrist I wore,
of three marks’ weight for victory gave me
Until we found port I drank it all!
Tammy takes the gear with a smirk and a wink. She thanks Grok and makes a quick detour to the crew berth to store her bow and arrows before returning to her work. As she makes her way back upstairs, she clasps the choker back around her neck, smiling at the familiar pressure.
The tiefling grind as their attackers are punished for not making it to the deck in time, Serves you right that you get the punishment you intended for us.
When she is pulled from the line, though, her eyes blaze with rage. She puts up minimal resistance, but decides it better not to cause too much of a ruckus. Instead, once the pirates take their hands off of her, she shouts back a vile set of slurs in daemonic, slipping in the command word for her choker. Invisible force surrounds her, and she settles in for the ride.
She listens to the whip's crack, though there is no pain. She can almost imagine Scourge's face when no marks appear on her back from his strikes. She grins at the thought.
She keeps the grin on her face once she is released, and turns to face Scourge, and walks back to the line.
While she eats, she drinks her rum ration, then heads off to ply her hand at making some friends.
She approaches Badger Medlar and starts up a conversation, "Weird morning, huh? Didn't expect Chumlett to try to attack us. Still, he got shown, I'm a better person to make an ally of, then to be an enemy of.
Scourge is absolutely livid that the lashes have no effect. His knuckles are white as he grips his whip tight. For a brief moment, it almost looks like he's going to raise the whip to try again, but he glances at the ship's officers, and decides against it, instead storming off for the meal.
Kehlysch was about to move to help the demon woman, certain she would be near unconsciousness after her lashing. Instead, she shrugged it off as if Mister Scourge had struck her with a down cushion.
She's much tougher than she looks, he thinks. Defiant, too. If there's going to be a mutiny, she's going to be part of it.
They fear strength, replies the Bulge.
He moves over to the rum ration queue, and takes the cup. I don't think I can drink this again. It's too much. I can't stay awake and can't think. That's probably why they make the crew drink it.
Then don't, replies the Bulge.
Kehlysch looks around for a moment, then decides to sit on the gunwale, with his back to the water. He looks around to make sure no one is watching him, then feigns drinking as he tosses the rum out of the cup behind his back and overboard.
Kehlysch decides to see if any other crew might have a mind to support a change of leadership. He approaches the foppishly dressed gnome he saw working in the rigs.
"She's strong, isn't she?" Kehlysch says as he approaches the one called Shortstone. "She took those lashes like the whip was made of smoke. Imagine what it would be like sailing for someone whose strength you respected, instead of feared."
Madiya recognizes the first two punished as among those who had tried to stop them in the morning - though the third is clearly surprising. Tiefling did not slack off, though...oh no, did they hear me pass message to her? No, they not punish me too... Anyways, the lashes seem to have little effect on her, which is good. She eats and drinks with the rest, with the rum leaving her a bit woozy but not completely out this time, then looks around for the undine.
Baolus needs to hide his anger when Tamesis is locked, even if his anger quickly turns into amusement as she leaves the 'punishment' without a mark. Aye... the red girl is tricky!
During the night, despite being good at that hog game, Baolus sees the urgent need of making more friends. Noticing Sandara talking to Barefoot Samms, Baolus joins in. "San'ara, Samms, can I join ye?" With their permission, he sits with them, sharing stories and making jokes. "Ha, ye are complaining about stuff we need to do he'e, but ye ne'er knew Kargal... I was his slave when I was a kid... a half-orc thrice the size o' Fipps, and my job was to clean his ass..."
Buhayra watches dispassionately as Tamesis is pulled up for punishment during the bloody hour and is pleasantly surprised when the lashes leave no stripes. Definetely going to need friends if I am going to survive this. I think she will be a good one to be friends with, but I need to ingratiate myself with other members of the crew as well.
During dinner, Buhayra sees an opportunity to sit with a few of the other riggers for a moment. I told Madiya that I would meet up with the group tonight, but let's see about making a friend first. Sitting down with the grinning girl at the far end of one table she makes conversation and eats the meager fish stew. I don't want to risk this rum, but it is probably for the best.
"Here's to another day's drudgery gone and a better day on the horizon!"
Having offered the toast Buhayra throws back the rum ration in comradery with Tilly.
After a little more small talk with Tilly and her group Buhayra excuses herself, stumbling a little from the hard liquor, and finds her way to where Madiya and the others are sitting.
With a hard flop on the bench, she leans in and whispers to the group. "Okay, so, I am not too fond of the accommodation that we have found ourselves in. I think I have started managing to make some inroads with some of the other swabs, but I want to know if anyone has any ideas on how we can improve our lot on this ship? After two days I am worried that if it keeps up like it is going we might be dead by the end of the week."
"One question I had is if we should keep drinking this rum or not. It is strong stuff, and looking at some of the crew I think there might be something wrong with it. It almost seems like some of them need it. You know? I have something I can do about that. If you are within arm's reach or so of me I can make your rum not be alcohol anymore. It will taste vile, and you definitely won't want to drink it anymore, but on the plus side you won't want to drink it anymore and I don't think it will burn as much going down.
Cog clenches his fist as Sven approaches, as if ready to start a fistfight, but he does listen, and by the end his anger seems to have dissipated.
Badger Medlar is slow to converse with Tamesis, especially after the display of invulnerability, but eventually loosens up slightly. She is obviously cowed by the tiefling.
Conchobar shrugs at Kehlysch and sneers, "She doesn't scare me any more than Scourge does, and a hell of a lot less than Harrigan does. I would like to see more of her, though, if you know what I mean." He gives a sly wink before walking off to try to flirt with Rosie. Rosie, in turn puts him in a sleeper hold.
Samms does seem to respond well to Baolus's tales and jokes, and warms up to the Bonuwat man quickly.
Tilly isn't much of a talker, but she does like having a drinking buddy!
So, he's a lecher, and he's got an eye for the demon woman. Well, if I can't convince him, I'm sure she could...
Rutting and mating, mutters the Bulge.
Kehlysch makes his way back over to where the rest of the new recruits are sitting.
As he sits he turns and speaks quietly to the demon woman. "Impressive fortitude you have. Your indifference to the lashing certainly got under Scourge's skin. I thought you should know that the gnome rigger called 'Shortstone', the one that dresses like a dandy, finds you arousing. If it is within your ethical bounds to play on his carnal desires, you may be able to win his support."
He turns to look at the others. "If there is a plan to retire the current officers, I will happily contribute my abilities to that end."
Tammy gives Kehlysch a cocky smile, "It's a neat trick, right? It's a good thing Scourge can't see magic."
She snickers softly at the news about Shortstone, "Good to know. I'll keep it in mind next time I speak with him."
At the talk of mutiny, though, her face hardens, "Lock that kind of talk down." she hisses, "We don't need anyone hearing that. Look, Scourge seems to be out to get us, sure. And Plugg's a snake, but keep it locked down. I think we're on the right track. Get in good with the crew, first and foremost. If we take his toadies away, Scourge won't have any choice but to come after us himself. And the more people we have watching our backs, the harder it will be for his toadies to get to us, at all. Be patient.
"I don't mind the rum, personally, but I appreciate the offer."
"Maybe best avoid confronting whip man and friends for now", Madiya says just as quietly, glancing towards the group around Scourge and Plugg. "Keep our head down and make ally with other crew. If we blend in, maybe not see us as much of threat." She shrugs, knowing that some of them - Tamesis in particular - might have a bit more trouble on that front.
"Rum - I can change too, maybe. But I think no need so far", she says, shrugging a bit more.
Leaving the group's table, Madiya spots Ratline. Intrigued, she ambles over, addressing him in her rusty halfling: "Good evening!" Continuing in her not-quite-as-rusty Common, she asks "Your hand missing fingers, must be interesting story, no? Father missing fingers too, saw cut off while making mount for ballista on old ship. Taught me use crossbow with only three fingers on right hand! What happened with yours?"
”The rum is good. Don’t talk to me of changing it. It is too strong. Maybe if it gets weaker come to me with that talk.”
Tammy stares at Sven for a long moment, then points at him and looks at the others, "Did that make sense to anyone?"
"Simple, he like strong rum. Or do I miss something?" Madiya keeps on shrugging.