
Edwin J. Whiskers, Esq. |

Edwin got up and put on his coat. "Yes, it sounds like we should pay Farmer Mcree a visit."

Dr Xavier Munroe |

"Hope you had more luck than I did. My little expedition was a bust, well mostly. Managed to get us a half consignment of fresh produce, fruit, vegetables, and grain but not enough to avoid Carina... Ah well I guess we'll just have to delve into that wretched hive of villainy holding our noses. Anyway shipment should arrive in an hour, so I think we should get a move on."
I'm going to assume you're fine with moving forwards a bit.
Dr Munroe talks with Professor Dexter on the way in hushed tones. You get the impression she's quite cross with him although the good doctor seems to be in an impossibly good mood for finally it seems the show is about to get on the road.
With the Judge's warrant in hand you sail straight through the port authority building. Some ares of the building seem in disarray and you notice a large detail of the watch present, presumably arrests have been made.
Within fifteen minutes you're alongside the Dawntreader and waiting for the shipment of food stuffs to arrive. The atmosphere is jovial as everyone seems keen to set off.

Edwin J. Whiskers, Esq. |

Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (5) + 10 = 15
Edwin quickly gathered his equipment. Luckily he had kept everything together, so he was ready to go in a couple of minutes. Finally they were about to get underway! I hope I haven't forgotten anything.

Zendara |

Zendara rechecks everything from when they made repairs, making sure that no further damage was done in the interim.

Ferian Drim |

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15
Ferian considers trying to privately scold Dr. Munroe for his recklessness in going off on his own, but it seems as though Professor Dexter may be doing that for him.
The sylph looks up to see his heron flying nearby. If there was one thing Ferian couldn't forget, it was Zephyr.

Xindyra Brenna |
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[Inspired perception: 1d20 + 9 + 1d6 ⇒ (13) + 9 + (4) = 26
Hmm? What is going on over there?
Take 10 for minimum 20 on kn. Engineering.
It then dawns to Xindyra that she had seen such partial contraption in a naval engineering manual...
!!!
"People, those sailors over there are assembling a ballista...", she carefully points towards it.
"That size could fire off large tree trunks."

Zendara |

Zendara pauses her inspection at Xindyra's words, and peers in the direction indicated.
Are they assembling or disassembling? Does it look like any authority figures are over there, or is it bad guys?
Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (13) + 9 = 22
Knowledge Engineering: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24
Can we tell?

Xindyra Brenna |

Xindyra carefully looks at assemble/disassamble, and if there is any indication of the sailors looking at the team or the ship specifically.
Perception/sense motive are both same mods, roll for whichever applies.
Perception, assemble/disassemble?: 1d20 + 9 + 1d6 ⇒ (19) + 9 + (1) = 29
Sense motive, are we being targeted?: 1d20 + 9 + 1d6 ⇒ (19) + 9 + (3) = 31

DM Fang Dragon |
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Xindrya can tell the giant Ballista is being assembled, there's perhaps another ten minutes before it's ready to fire. The sailors themselves are in uniforms that look a lot like the Merchant League's Navy uniform but the colors and the cut are not quite right. None of the sailors are looking towards the Dawntreader, most are intent on their tasks but the few who are looking around have eyes only for the imperial Kez cutter Dragon.
Also to clarify there's no easy land route between you and either Dragon or the impounded ships. The docks are long promontories on the edge of the island and there is a precipitous drop below leading down into the churning interior. The impounded ships are about 200 yards away, dragon is 500 yards away.

Zendara |

Does our ship have weapons? If we can stop this, we probably should... but if we can't, we might want to flee, and soon.

Yukarii |

Yukarii was greatly relieved when they were all together again and reached the ship. It was a shame she hadn't managed to have any company in her bed last night but Yukarii figured that was for the best. The only down side was that there were ballistae being assembled. Yukarii didn't want to be here when the fighting started, and she was sure there would be fighting, so she said, "I think we need to leave, as soon and fast as we can."

Edwin J. Whiskers, Esq. |

Edwin asked the professors, "Should we try to warn someone? Or leave quickly before the trouble starts?" He felt he didn't understand the politics here enough to know what was best.

Ferian Drim |

Ferian shakes his head at the thought of simply fleeing. "We have to at least warn someone if we can't stop them ourselves. If that starts a war, we'll be forced to return nearly as quickly as we left."
DM, is there any way Zephyr could get over there and disrupt their operations while we get help? Preferably without greatly endangering his life?

Zendara |

Good idea. And... archery from here, let's see... 200 yards is 600 feet, so with range penalties trying to shoot them from here is at a -10, but is possible ("A projectile weapon can shoot to 10 range increments.").
If I cast true strike I can hit them a couple of times (till that spell runs out, and I can also do a bullseye shot for a +4 with inspire courage for another +2 (as long as it lasts), so I might hit something, but that means every other round is a spell at first, and then it's all luck, so it might help with disruption, but is unlikely to actually stop them, unless I get super lucky, and we do have about 10 minutes, which is 60 rounds, so might get some lucky shots before they are ready to fire. Are we definitely in? If so, I can start shooting. ... but then, are we essentially inviting them to shoot a tree trunk at us?
I can probably shoot them from here, but ... not quickly, and will need a lot of luck.
Zendara waited for the decision from the professors, who knew both the political situation and this town better than they did.
She starts lining up her shot while waiting for them to answer Edwin though, just in case. Always better to be prepared.

DM Fang Dragon |
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@Zendara The dawn-trader has two heavy-balista, one forward, one aft.
Critical: 19-20x2
Type: P
Range increment: 180 feet
Crew: 3
Aim: 2
Load: 2
@Ferian yes he could fly there, no it would not be safe.

Dr Xavier Munroe |

Dr Munroe hears the conversation and takes a look at the 'impounded' airship before exclaiming "Woah! That's the biggest ballista I've ever seen. Er Braenor how long will it take us get underway if we wanted to uh engage or evade what appears to be the enemy..."

Edwin J. Whiskers, Esq. |

Edwin asked, "How are we going to stop them? If we start shooting, won't we be the ones responsible?"

Zendara |

Braenar, we have to take off whether or not we fight, so get those mooring lines undone. Never wise to question the captain in the middle of a crisis, or nothing will ever get done. Let him think while we get this ship moving.
Zendara takes the professors' words as approval of engaging and stopping the war, but she listens to see what their response to Edwin is as she goes forward to man the balista, getting a spyglass on the way so she can see the situation more clearly.
Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29 (plus whatever the spyglass gives if anything)
Does crew 3 mean we need 3 people to shoot the balista? If so, we won't be able to crew both of them. Does the 2 on aim and load mean 2 rounds to do each?

Braenar Cloudchaser |

Took a bit of hunting but the numbers for aim and loading are the number of full round actions needed to perform that action. If you have enough people you can aim and reload in the same round. NB siege weapons are exotic weapons. The usual crew size is 3.
Braenar nods and hurries off to deal with the mooring lines.
I forgot to mention the rest of the crew from the university have arrived. They are not combatants but they can help one of you load and aim. I'll get a list of them sorted out soon.

DM Fang Dragon |

Zendara fetches a spyglass from the bridge and inspects the sailors.

Xindyra Brenna |

Xindyra listens to everyone's comments, but nods at Edwin's concern.
"I agree with Edwin. Publicly known as an instigator of war is not exactly high on my bucket list."
"Don't get me wrong, i am not willing to sit around while being targeted."
.. there must be something we can do.
Suppose Xindyra would try to quickly write a letter and attach it to an arrow, to be shot towards the other vessel.
Said letter would be a fake [abort current action for a later time, we have been compromised/something important has come up] message.
What checks would it require to fabricate something like that?

DM Fang Dragon |

Just to clarify they're not targeting you currently. Instead you suspect they are preparing to attack the Kez ship Dragon which is supposedly here on a diplomatic mission.
@Xindyra linguistics checks are usually needed to forge documents. You're not sure exactly who this lot are, but pirates in disguise seems like a solid guess. You'd then need to deliver it. I dunno an DC 15 Kn:Engineering check to find a way of attaching the note to the arrow, followed by a difficult long distance shot to plant it on their ship (range increment will be reduced 20% due to the drag from the letter) and then if it hits they need to notice there's a letter.

Xindyra Brenna |

Ugh, i don't have linguistics trained. I'll have to invest in the future.
Do these air ships still use sails? Perhaps we could set those on fire with burning arrows?

DM Fang Dragon |

Varies. Older ships often have sails but newer ones use eletric fans (powered by captured elementals). The Dawntreader has backup sails (not deployed), the impounded ship doesn't have sails.

Braenar Cloudchaser |

A couple of minutes later you realise The Dawntreader has started slowly drifting away from land and shortly after Braenar comes back on deck asking, "So what do you want to do? Sneak out or are we going to intervene? I can pilot us close enough to bring our ballista to bear or even try and drop you off..."

Edwin J. Whiskers, Esq. |

Edwin thought about the situation; maybe a commando raid would be the most effective solution? Finally he suggested, "Perhaps we could try a raid to disable the enemy barista. Where's a spyglass? I'd like to see how many enemies we'd be dealing with."

Zendara |

DM said there were two spyglasses, but feel free to grab the one I was using if needed.
It's a bunch of badly-dressed pirates. They don't have bows that I can see, so get us closer and we can at least shoot at them and try to stop them from being able to shoot back; we can make the decision about whether to drop people off when we know the situation better.
In the absence of any further decision from either Doctor Munroe or Professor Dexter, Zendara moves forward with what she considers to be her current orders.
Zendara realizes that the ballista is a more exotic version than the ones that she has trained on in her profession as an Airship Sailor, so she is unsure if she will be able to use it. Instead she takes the time to aim and shoot with her bow. Two rounds to cast and then shoot.
She casts True Strike, steadies her shot, and then shoots at the guy that looks like the leader if that is impossible to tell, then random pirate #1
Attack: 1d20 + 7 + 4 + 20 - 10 ⇒ (7) + 7 + 4 + 20 - 10 = 28 (bullseye shot, true strike, range penalty)
Damage: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
Damage sucks, but if I cast gravity bow for more damage that reduces the amount of true strikes I can make... hopefully that got their attention. Having them fight us doesn't start a war. ... Be nice if the Kez realized what was going on and helped us take them out. Good for diplomacy, if that is what they are really here for.
Also, when we get closer, I'll do Inspire Courage and Freebooter's bane, just don't want to spend the rounds until everyone is able to use the bonuses.
By the way, I was wrong earlier... 10 minutes would be 100 rounds, not 60. (6 seconds a round/60 seconds per minute). However, with the "couple of minutes" that it took to unmoor, I am guessing we are down to 8 minutes/80 rounds at most before that ballista is operational (unless us intervening slows them down).

DM Fang Dragon |

OK any other actions? Dr Munroe and Prof Dexter will step in for decision making if needed but it's the weekend and I want to give folks the chance to post.

Yukarii |

Yukarii considered what she could do to help since it seemed they were set on attacking and stopping the vessel with the ballista. She had little that would help in this situation so she said, "The most that I could do is to pelt them with magical bolts or create an illusion of some kind. Possibly something to conceal u from them but I can't think of anything that would work."

Edwin J. Whiskers, Esq. |

Edwin muttered and incantation, surrounding himself with a barrier of magical force. "I need to get aboard their ship to do much," he advised his comrades.
Casting Mage Armor. If we pan on getting close enough to board the enemy ship, he will cast Shield when we're close.
Edwin's combat abilities are in melee. Otherwise, I suppose he could help load the ballista.

Dr Xavier Munroe |

"Braenar you have hidden depths! How do they operate?" interjected Dr Munroe as Braenar was about to say something.

Braenar Cloudchaser |

Coloring with embarrassment the Dwarf gave the pair a helpless look before admitting, "Well erm you try to fire em at something solid near the top of the target ship's side, hopefully the barbs sink in a foot or so. The grapple's rope itself is magical and with the right command word it'll suddenly shorten pulling us together, or maybe it'll rip out depending on what ya hit."

Edwin J. Whiskers, Esq. |

Edwin asked Braenar, "How close will we be when you fire the ballista? I want to be prepared."
He told everyone else, "I've got five alchemist's fire, if anyone needs one."

Edwin J. Whiskers, Esq. |

Edwin nodded. He looked though one of the spyglasses while the the Dawntreader closed with the enemy ship, for a closer look at the crew.
Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (11) + 10 = 21
When the distance closed to about a hundred feet, he cast a spell to create a magical shield of force, and prepared to board.
Casting Shield (Magus spell memorized). Putting the spyglass down first.

Ferian Drim |
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Sorry for my absence, but I approve of our current course of action, for what it's worth.
"When we get close enough, I can try to warp the wood of the ballista so it can't be fired. That should prevent them from starting a war, at least for a bit."
Ferian can also block smaller projectiles with Wind Wall, but he won't do that if Zendara's trying to fire at them.

Braenar Cloudchaser |

Braenar shouts, "Alrighty, battle stations folks! I'm gonna pilot us down and then up real fast, they won't know what hit em!"
With that he heads for the bridge and the Dawntreader which had already drifted several yards away started to rapidly sink until it was a couple of hundred feet below. It gently levelled out and moved forwards as the electric fans whirred. Suddenly they reversed and with a rush the Dawntreader shot upwards like a cork!
OK then. Anyone going to operate the ballistas and launch the grapple bolts? Assume Braenar told you the command word for the ropes to make em skrink. I'm gonna try and get you a map tomorrow btw.

Zendara |

Using any of the ballistas means we have to do it at -4 because you said they are exotic weapons, right? I won't be operating any of them for my attacks, but if we need help using one for grappling, I can help. What do I need to roll? Is the grappling ballista the same thing/same stats as the heavy ballista you mentioned before, or something else?

Ferian Drim |

I think Zendara has the right idea about not using the ballistae expect to board the other ship. Unless we're actually trying to down the other vessel, we'll probably be more useful being able to cast spells and make our own attacks rather than relying on the ballistae. I suppose some of the NPCs could try firing them for us.

Xindyra Brenna |

Xindyra takes a flask from her belt and drinks it, at which her agility increases, and skin hardens.
Mutagen, lasts 20 minutes. AC to 21, init to +8.

DM Fang Dragon |

@Zendara yes it's an exotic weapon and the ammo functions as normal heavy balista bolts except it has a range increment of 80', so unless you have proficiency there's a -4 modifier. However at 60' yards the shot is quite easy: AC 15 so with dex bonuses most of you will have a good chance.
@All here's a quick battle map

Zendara |

So that's -4 for non-proficient and -4 for range increment (from here? How far away are we (are the squares equal to feet or yards or just background? Also, how many rounds do we have left?)... I'm a little confused with the feet vs yards thing. When you say that the range increment is 80' for grappling, I assume you mean 80 feet, but then you say at "60' yards" the shot is easy, and with 3 feet to a yard, that is 180 feet. Making my best guess below.
Zendara, with the help of two of her fellows, loads and aims the ballista for grappling, and fires a shot.
Attack +2 (includes -4 for non-proficient) | Damage 4d8+3 | 19-20x2 Critical | P | Range 180 feet (80 feet for grappling) | Crew: 3 possible | Aim: 2 rounds | Load: 2 rounds
Heavy Ballista Grapple Attempt: 1d20 + 2 - 4 ⇒ (1) + 2 - 4 = -1 (range penalty)
Total time for that attempt 3 rounds I believe.
If they are able to reel the cabling (is that what we are shooting in order to grapple?) back in, she tries again. This time she focuses on her task more closely, realizing just how bad she is at this. She thought she had studied everything there was to study about airships, but left an obvious blind spot when it came to large weaponry. She begins to sing to inspire everyone's courage, including her own, and takes the time to steady the shot.
Heavy Ballista Grapple Attempt: 1d20 + 2 - 4 + 2 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 2 - 4 + 2 + 4 = 22 (range penalty, inspire courage, bullseye shot)
Total time for this attempt was 3 rounds if the assistants can load and aim without her, so she can begin singing on the first round, but 4 if she has to be engaged the whole time.

Ferian Drim |

Ferian's plan is to cast Warp Wood as soon as we get close enough (w/n 30 ft). He's probably not the best suited to helping Zendara with the ballista, if that needs to be other PCs. DC 16 Will Save on Warp Wood if/when relevant.