Fenna finds both encouraging and discouraging things while looking the boat over.
Good stuff for getting us to the ship, but not so good for getting us on it.
She huddles with the others and lays out a plan.
”Looks to me like they’re loading cargo from both sides. My guess would be the kids are being loaded seaside from a boat, with normal cargo being taken on portside. Could be the other way around, but I think they’d want to keep kidnapped kids off the dock where they’re more likely to be discovered.”
”They’re readying to set sail, and can depart with just a few minutes notice. We don’t have long. When the last of the cargo’s on they’ll be off.”
”One sentry is covering this direction that I can see for sure. Most everyone is probably busy on the starboard side right now. No gangplank though. So here’s what we’ll have to do. Two of us, me and someone to can move quick and quiet and can climb, are going to have to go up the rope. More than a couple of us, and they’ll be sure to spot us. Once we’re on board, we’ll get a plank down for the rest of you.”
”The rest of you be ready to move the moment that plank comes down. We won’t be able to protect it on our own for long. While you’re waiting, all bows, and anything else with some range, on the sentry.”
Fenna points him out to be sure there’s no confusion.
”The other crew I can see portside on the ship are using the crane, that should take up their attention. But if that sentry so much as twitches like he’s seen us, put him down. If we’re spotted before we’re up the rope, we’re well screwed. You can’t let that happened. There's no Plan B.”
”Are we in agreement?”
"That is a long shot, even with bows. We need to get closer."
"I'll just walk down the dock openly towards their ship. I can't hide that well, and we can't afford to move slowly."
Nymbleth strings his bow as he nods in agreement with Brannart, Six hundred feet is a lot to ask of any archer. Closer is better.
Adjusting his mask, Yraelzin whispers loudly. "The swordman's rashness may provoke violence. But the devotees of the Living God are not unprepared for such things!" The man's voice gets louder with enthusiasm as he keeps speaking. From a satchel, he clumsily removes a strangely-shaped crossbow and fumbles with a bolt. It takes him a couple of minutes to get the weapon loaded. "It even works underwater!" he says, clearly impressed with the device.
The tiefling called to the startled halfling as he passes narrowly avoiding tripping on his own tail as he does so, ”Excuse us there has been an abduction.”What the..?! Hey everyone, what's the rush?
[dice=Perception]1d20+6
A what?! Vexas quickly follows them and crouches behind the same crates. As the others begin to devise their plan, and visually inspect the situation on the ship they're watching, Vexas notices the masked man and stares blankly at him.
Wait, is he one of the ones who was taking children? He's definitely got the look. Are we capturing more masked men on that boat?
Let's see what this guy's disposition to the little irreverence is...
Wait, is he one of the ones who was taking children? He's definitely got the look. Are we capturing more masked men on that boat?
Nymbleth cocks his head to the side examining the halfling, ”I am almost certain that this masked individual is not involved in the abductions bit I cannot with any accuracy determine the garb of all those on the ship. Although, I agree, the likelihood of these miscreants being masked is high.”
He motions to the others others, ”The plan should work with a few adjustments. He points at Fenna, Sho, and Vexas, you three will sneak aboard the ship. While the noisy guy and the masked guy will create a distraction by pretending to be drucken sailors, not an uncommon occurrence if stories are true, returning to their ship. I will stay here with my bow and take out the sentry if he raises the alarm.
He pauses and adds when those around him do not immediately begin to move, ”time is running short.”
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Yraelzin finishes finagling with his crossbow and listens to the others converse. Behind the mask, he smiles indulgently. Listen to them squabble! Without the Living God to guide them, they are lost like bits of cotton, blown on the wind. It appears that, once again, the burden of leadership falls on my shoulders. Lucky for them, I am not one to shirk responsibility. The figure in the grey robes stands up out of hiding and strides confidently towards the enemy ship. "Ahoy! he calls up loudly to the sentry on deck. I've always wanted to say 'Ahoy'--well, cross that one off the list! "By the powers vested in me by the Church of the Living God, I order you to lower the gangplank and stand by for inspection. Failure to do so immediately will be met with utter wroth."
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What the .... Nymbleth thinks frozen with amazement at Yraelzin’s actions. He sheepishly looks to the halfling, ”I admit, I could be wrong, he may be on their side.”
Fenna is too stunned to say anything. The only thing to do now is just go for it and hope for the best.
She gives the halfling a sleeve tug and says to him "C'mon, don't you want to see what happens?" They don't know who the halfling is, but at this point who cares?
Fenna slips down to the rope mooring after Sho and goes up.
May as well make use of this...
Brannart walks down the dock openly next to Yraelzin. He does not have his sword out, but neither is he pretending to be drunk.
Sho slinks down the docks melding with the shadows. Balancing on the dockline, she moves up the mooring rope. Half-way up she almost slips but reaches forward, grabs the rope in both hands and steps hard for some traction. After a moment, the Ranger finds herself on the ship, hidden in shadow about 50 feet from the sentry.
The sentry, crossbow in hand, looks down at Yraelzin, ”On who’s authority? Get out of here ya masked nut!”
Fenna follows Sho, but slips off of the rope. She reaches out with both hands and is able to catch herself while her feet dangle over the edge. For a moment, she thinks she has a good grasp, but then she feels her fingers slipping.. Looking up toward the sentry, she believes that she has not been spotted since he seems engaged with the masked cultist. She attempts to keep her hold, but then she’s falling. The cold Andoshen envelopes her body.
Brannart claps a hand on Yraelzin's back.
"Come on now friend, you've had a few too many. What is this 'Living God' silliness anyway?
Leave these fine sailors alone, they are just trying to do their jobs.
Sorry! We don't mean to be a bother!"
Brannart will try to keep their attention on him until the gangplank is down.
"Eeep! <gasp!> Whew! F#+@!
The water is bracing to put it very kindly.
After Fenna bobs back up to the surface, she takes stock of her situation. It doesn't seem likely she'll be getting onboard the ship in the way she had planned...
Flexibility, adapt... But! If there's a scene on the port side, maybe it will draw attention from starboard.
Fenna slips through the water around to the other side of the ship to see if she can find a new opportunity.
Fenna catches her breath and swims toward the other side of the ship..
"Get this drunkard off the docks before he takes a bad step." the sentry shouts at Brannart. He is less than subtle about what 'takes a bad step' means as he shows off his crossbow.
Fenna largely ignores the rowboats. She figures They're ferrying captives and shouldn't be messed with. Much better all the captives are loaded onto the ship than the men in the rowboats get spooked and leave to who knows where with some of the kids.
Instead she concentrates on finding a way to climb onto the ship.
Malakar / Merrek:
Fenna you feel your body starting to shiver and teeth chatter as you make your way portside. She has trouble finding any clear way on the boat. She thinks that she could attempt locating handholds on the hull or sneaking a ride on a crate as it is being lifted in the air. Either option seems difficult, at best. With how cold she is getting, she thinks getting out of the water is a very good idea. She could swim to a smaller berth that has a ladder or attempt climbing a dock beam jutting out of the water. Climbing on a small boat may not be too difficult a task either.
"Hey, no call for that! It's a free country. You don't own these docks and you don't have the right to shoot him for being drunk."
Come on, come on, where are you?
Brannart grabs Yraelzin by the shoulders and leans his head in close.
"Start walking away so they don't shoot. But stumble and wobble. That draws attention and will keep eyes on us."
Vexas shrugs and tries to glide silently after the woman egging him on.
Well, this is more interesting then that stuffy Inn tavern, loaded with fat cats who aren't making me any fatter.
The sentry stares at Brannart but makes no other moves.
Seeing a human woman swimming and struggling Merrek quickly makes his way over. Once near but still at a respectable distance in an attempt not to spook her her surfaces.
"What are you doing in here? You should get out, these waters aren't suitable for swimming by one of your kind." Then, as if suddenly realises they are a decent bit out from the docks, "Do you perhaps need help to get out?"
Yraelzin shrugs off Brannart's attempt to get him to walk away. Instead, he shouts back at the sentry. "On whose authority, you ask? Are your ears as defective as your mind? On the very authority that supersedes all others, of course--Razmir, the Living God! And I'll have you know, sir, that your display of a weapon shall not sway me from my self-appointed task. Indeed, I have brought my own weapon, with which I will wreak holy vengeance upon all who resist my commands!" Yraelzin shows his own crossbow. "And it even fires underwater!" he adds smugly.
Nymbleth slowly draws his bow, muscles tense, ready to fire at the sentry should he level his crossbow at the madman boasting of his living god.
The sentry stands firm but does not further engage.
Vexas runs up the dock line and somersaults silently on to the deck next to Sho.
The halfling whispers to Sho, So... how am I to help? I must admit, I'm still surprised to find myself embroiled in.. whatever all of this is. An abduction, and what else?
Yraelzin looks over at the man standing next to him. What was this fellow's name? Well, no matter. "Swordsman, are you seeing this? That sentry is ignoring me! Sheer, unmitigated gall! Such an affront cannot stand! Witness the fury of an insulted Razmiran!"
Aiming carefully, Yraelzin fires at the sentry!
The masked man calls up to the sentry. "That was a mere warning shot! Now, will you lower the gangplank or incur the consequences of further disobedience?"
The bolt punches into the ship’s railing stopping the missile from hitting the sentry. The man, clearly stunned, raises his crossbow and opens his mouth ready to shout something.
I’m dealing with a crazy person.... or worse a fanatic, Nymbleth thought as Yraelzin let a bolt fly. He almost recovers to late but let’s his arrow fly before the sentry can react.
Being approached by something in the water is troubling to Fenna until it begins speaking to her, especially since it seems inclined toward helpfulness.
Fenna knows she needs to get out of the water soon. But with no means of doing so except swimming back around and trying to climb up onto the dock. Taking so much time would probably make her useless for helping with the emergency at hand though.
She decides instead to keep trying and relying on the kindness of strangers to make it work. She paddles toward the speaker.
"Help.. Please help. The crates on those boats have kidnapped children in them. We have to stop them. We have to get control of the boats and save the kids."
Malakar seeing that Merrek(making an assumption that he is an ally since he hit the water from behind just a moment after himself) went after the woman makes a call to stick with the row boats so that none of the perpetrators can get away. If it looks like the boats are going to move away he plans to board and attack the occupants with deadly force and once dealt with use stabilize so that they can be dealt with by the law. If any men try to escape by swimming Malakar orders Razor to attack them.
Merrek is visibly confused at the mention of children in boxes. Who would do that and for what purpose? He had heard stories of surfacers that ate their own kind but those all came from far away places.
Turning back to the issue at hand, Merrek just nodded. "You can hold on to me so you can keep from drowning. Have you seen a place where we could get aboard?"
Before the sentry can react, Sho puts an arrow through the side of his throat as Nymbleth sticks an arrow in his head. The sentry falls backward with barely a sound.
Malakar, you see six rowboats that have emptied their cargo and are being rowed away from the ship and disappearing into the night. The other four rowboats are in the process of having their cargo unloaded and lifted onto the ship.
If needed
Malakar swims down several feet only to turn back and propel himself to the surface at speed. The Undine launches himself out of the water and lands on a rowboat where two men are tying a crate with rope while another crate sits amidships. Two rowers are also sitting with oars in hand. All four men look confused an astonished as their boat is boarded.
Malaker almost loses his footing as he lands, but steadies himself. His scimitar disembowels the nearest man and his body falls into the water spraying blood everywhere
The other standing man easily keeps his balance and pulls out a knife.
Malakar, Merrek, and Fenna:
Sho and Vexas:
Oh... what have I gotten myself into.
The tiefling grimaced as his arrow struck true he hopes those on the ship lower the gangplank quickly.
Yraelzin watches as the sentry falls dead from multiple wounds. I did warn him. "Those who fall to their knees in supplication rarely lose their heads." What verse was that?
Sho finds no more targets in the immediate area. It seems all of the action is now taking place portside.
What Sho and Vexas do see is open access to the gangplank.
Hurry, Nymbleth thought as the seconds slip by.
"Those who sell lives forfeit their own! Malakar lets out in a growl.
Given the ammount of resistance appearing Malakar will fight defensively until some of the attention is off him. Currently with his shield his ac is 19 but once he takes the defense stance it will bump to 21.