Kehlysch moves down to the bridge, taking a position at the top of the port-side stair leading down to the main deck.
This should give me as good a vantage as any if someone comes and tries to board the lifeboat.
Blast them overboard, like the last one, replies the Bulge. His death screams were invigorating.
Buhayra takes up a position several feet behind Kel on the port side of the boat. Having nothing in particular to do at the moment she readies herself for what is to come next.
Tamesis positions herself with a good, if not great, view of both boats.
Standing in the deeper, thicker part of the fog, Sven is unable to see the incoming sailors. Four of them, in fact, charging out of the fog and collapsing on him. Three plunge their swords at the berserker, while the last one dodges past him and starts working on the portside ship's boat, trying to lower it into the water below.
Sven grunted in pain as another sword cut into him. He stepped forward and head butted the man, forcing him to stumble back. Then, with a mighty swing of his hammer, he crushed the sailor’s head into a mess of broken bones and gore.
Kehlysch unleashes a gout of acid at the nearest sailor .
Almost as soon as the sailors emerge from the mists, the pirates react. Below is the order in which things happen:
Sailors rush out of fog, one of them stabs Sven.
Baolus throws a sword at one of the sailors, scoring a solid hit.
Baolus is stabbed by the same one that stabbed Sven.
Sven annihilates the stabby sailor.
Kehlysch douses the sailor that Baolus hit with acid, killing him outright.
Sven lifted his hammer from the gory mess that was the sailor. He looked down at what was left of the man approvingly. The sailor had been a true warrior! He had met his end bravely, and for that Svdn respected him. Even as he looked to murder the sailor’s comrades, the Ulfen muttered a prayer for the dead, to guide the warrior’s soul towards his just rewards.
His flesh melts, the Bulge thinks approvingly, as Kehlysch watches the twitching body of the sailor slowly dissolve down to the bones beneath.
No time to gloat, there's still other sailors out there trying to kill us! Kehlysch thinks in reply.
He focuses on the remaining sailor he can spot through the mist, and prepares to attack again.
Hearing the disturbance, Tamesis moves around the mast and draws. Muttering the words of a simple spell to herself, she lets two arrows fly, one mundane, and the second charged with a Jolt spell.
"Argh, you piece of s&&&..." Baolus curses as the man stabs him, even if it wasn't a deadly wound. He then moves around the mast, intending to flank with Sven and attacking with the hilt of the sword in his hand.
Both of Tamesis's arrows land true, one in the abdomen, and the other through the throat. The sailor falls dead and twitching.
Baolus moves around behind the last sailor and stabs him. Sputtering, the man drops his weapon and falls to his knees, "Mercy! I surrender!"
”And mercy is yours. Drop your weapon and lie down, hands behind your head. We’ll tell you when to get up.”
Sven said this while holding his hammer menancingly.
Tamesis nods in agreement with Sven's assessment, "Do we have anything to tie him up with? Just for added security?"
”I wish! Used to, but cap’n took it and never gave it back when I was captured.”
"I have this," Kehlysch replies, reaching into his pouch to retrieve a ball of twine.
He moves over to the prone man and begins securing his wrists behind his back.
Madiya is distracted by the ballista, and spends some time trying to pry it off its mount. By the time she determines that it'll take a significant amount of time and energy to move, the fight is over. "Oh. Sorry. Distracted by ballista. I have rope, but still on our ship."
After a flurry of activity, Buhayra is left with no targets. "That was quick. Does anyone need any healing before more show up? I can do a bit more, but I will probably need to start putting some of the cost on to you, I am feeling a bit low."
”No idea what you mean by cost. I’ll take it, and I’ll bear whatever burden you are talking about.”
"Good enough for me. Healing comes with a cost. So far I've been carrying it, but this time I will give it to you. You will feel a tiredness, a seed of exhaustion, until tonight when you rest. "
With a cold hand pressed against his arm, she wills the chill to seal his wounds.
Even as Kehlysch binds the sailor in twine, the sounds of footsteps can be heard at the starboard side boat, as 4 more sailors rush up to start trying to lower it into the water!
One of them spots Madiya at the top of the stairs (the fog is too think for them to see Baolus, Sven, or Kehlysch), and drops into a defensive stance. Behind him, one man begins to start trying to lower the boat, while the other 2 guard his flank.
”Surrender!” Sven roared as he came out of the fog. Frozen blood flew through the air as he obliterated one of the sailors.
Baolus moves north and tries to disarm one of the sailors.
Tamesis steps around the mast and heads to the top of the stairs, where she has the clearest shot on the poor saps. She fires her arrow over the head of the defender, at the last man in line (that she can see).
"Crud. I don't have good visibility on them through this bloody fog!"
Doing her best to take aim, Buhayra fires a blast of cold through the fog.
Kehlysch steps into the mist and feels his way along the edge of the stair until he runs to a wall. Turning around, he waits until he catches a glimpse of one of the enemy sailors through the fog and unleashes another blast of seawater at them.
"Ya uln shugg-or wghah'n uaaah."
Madiya jumps into action late, pulling up to the closest sailor and stabbing at him a bit too gracefully with her rapier.
Sven slaughters another sailor, while Baolus tries to disarm one, and fails. Tamesis's arrow lands in her target's chest. He drops his sword and falls to his knees, surrendering.
Buhayra and Madiya both miss the front defender, but Kehlysch does not, and he sends the poor man flying off the side of the ship, to the sharks.
The last man standing turns on Baolus and takes a stab at him!
"Watch my back," Kehylsch says to Sven as he moves over to the cowering sailor, and begins securing his wrists with twine.
"I won't hesitate to throw you over the side with your shipmate if you try to shank me," he says to the man in a warning tone. "Being eaten by a shark will not be a quick and painless death."
Yesssss, purrs the Bulge into the depths of his brain. More screams, more blood. Do it!
Sven walked over to the man who tried to stab Baolus and swung his hammer, right into the man’s back. It was the fifth man he had killed thus far. He then pointed at the sailor Keh was tying up. Wisps of frost rose from his outstretched hand as he growled ”Listen to him. Don’t move!”
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The surrendering sailor doesn't resist as Kehlysch binds him up. Sven, meanwhile, knocks a half-frozen corpse off the side of the ship, providing the sharks with a sailorsicle. They appreciate it; the weather has been hot recently.
In the following several seconds, the group catches glimpses of the greater battle through the fog. Rahadoumi sailors on the whole are scattering or surrendering, a few are jumping overboard to take their chances with the sharks, rather than face the pirates.
Captain Harrigan briefly appears, moving from belowdecks into the fog again. And....was that a human heart he was carrying in his hand?
Tamesis moves down the stairs and looks over the carnage with a smile of cruel satisfaction. She inclines her head at the captives, "We should get them off the main deck. Don't need their friends coming to cut them loose. How about we move them up here by the mast, behind the wheel? That way we can keep an easy eye on them until this is over."
Kehlysch uses the man's bound arms as a lever, and pulls him up to his feet.
"Move," he says to the prisoner. "You too. Up the stairs and behind the wheel," he says to the other one, yanking on his bound wrists until he stands.
Kehlysch marches them up the steps and back into the space behind the ship's wheel.
"Kneel, facing the wall, and don't move."
He takes his place guarding them on the port-side of the wheel.
Baolus throws the sword in his hands overboard, thinking that the sailor fighting the sharks should get at least a chance. Hearing Tamesis's idea, he moved one of the prisoners to the indicated place before returning to guard the boat. "Aye Red, good idea... just make sure they don't try to turn on ye."
Back to the boat, Baolus positions himself in front of Buhayra, grabbing an oar from the boats. "I got ye'r back, Blue..."
The two prisoners are compliant, if terrified. They both acquiesce to Kehlysch's demand, facing the wall.
Madiya stays in place near the far boat, peering through the fog for any other approaching sailors.
"I appreciate the cover Bal, but tell you what, why don't I have yours instead."
Buhayra pats Baolus on the shoulder, releasing a wave of cold energy into him to seal up some of the minor wounds he has suffered, and then retreats back to the top of the staircase where she has a view of the entire area that they have set about guarding.
As the sounds of battle wane, there once more comes movement from the fog. This time, a woman emerges next to the starboard boat. Her dress indicates that she is no mere sailor. Behind her, barely visible, is another one of the average crew members, though she appears to be carrying something large in her arms.
As the two step up, the crew member notices Sven in the fog with them, and in a fright, tosses her payload at the Ulfen.
The payload, which in fact turns out to be a rather large snake, surprised by the suddenness of being thrown, lashes out at the nearest and largest target.
The officer moves to the boat, seemingly intent on escaping in it, until she sees Madiya. She raises her boarding pike and thrusts it at Madiya!
A snake?! Now that was something Sven didn’t see coming. It lunged at him, and by luck or fate he caught it before it could bite him. His hand radiated cold as he based it’s head against the side of the ship again, and again, and again...
Kehlysch moves across the bridge to gain clear line of sight on the officer.
He unleashes a gout of acid at her.
Seeing an officer, Tamesis' eyes widen. She moves swiftly down the stairs to line up a better shot, calling out as she goes, "Take this one alive! She'll fetch a higher price!"
Once she reaches her destination, she extends a hand towards the officer and the snake, unleashing a blast of swirling colors.
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.
The snake takes Sven's beating, but stays squirming. Kehlysch's acidic spittle lands on the officer and elicits a small grimace. As Tamesis starts casting, she swings her pike in an attempt to disrupt the spell.
The officer's weapon drops to the ground as Tamesis's spell goes off, and she shakes her head as if suddenly disoriented. The snake, similarly, moves as if trying to stay stable.
Sven stopped, utterly stunned. Then grinning he said "Good job spellslinger! Let's tie that officer up." And with that...he tossed the snake over the side of the ship, to the sharks.
Editing
This seems to be going well so far.
"Thanks Blue!" Baolus replies as Buhayra heals him.
When the new enemies arrive, Baolus takes a bit longer to react, since they were obscured by the fog. He hears Sven though, already moving to help. "... or knock her out!"
Madiya stabs at the giant stunned snake while the others are busy with the officer.
Buhayra's blast disappears into the mist. Baolus, though, is able to land a strong hit against the officer, who still stands despite the punishment. Madiya moves up and stabs the snake, ending it's life.
The remaining crewmember grabs the officer's fallen weapon and retreats into the fog. A moment later, the boarding pike appears again, this time being thrust at Sven!
Kehlysch moves back across the bridge to the other side of the ship.
He tries to focus on the pike-carrying sailor in the mist. Once he believes he has his position in his mind, he unleashes another gout of acid.
Ugh, step back from the fog, let him come to us or the boat if he wants, but no point trying to hit him in that soup.
Turning her attention to the officer that is stunned, Buhayra sends another blast of frost.