Gets me out of your way, Scourge. Good fer both of us.
Draxxie gets to the bilges, using her magic to help out again whilst she's unobserved. She uses the simple spell to keep her wounds clean as well as the ship.
She's surprised to see Snake visit - even more so when he slips a few words of elvish into his greeting.
"Tietysti Käärme. Sekä äitini että isäni ovat puolitonttuja kuin minä. Vaikka se on totta, mitä he sanoivat Pa: sta."
When she breaks for biscuits, Draxxie notices Barefoot Samms. A thought occurs to her.
"Hey, Barefoot! That help ya swimmin'?" She grins and pulls off her own boots, showing the partial webbing of her feet. "Makes sense, right? Fish don't wear boots!"
Carlosss responds as he stabs the rat with his spear, "Erinomainen. Olen iloinen, että saan harjoitella tätä kieltä täällä. Puhuin sitä vain temppelissä."
His diction is very 'clinical'. He definitely wasn't taught it by a native speaker.
As Asami scrambles up the ropes, she hears Plugg call, "One more word and I'll have you against the mast again tonight, beastie!"
The threat does nothing to sour Asami's spirits, apparently, because she succeeds spectacularly at her job, as she does in all things.
---
Carlosss apparently lives up to the stereotype because he winds up with a pile of dead rats, as well as about two dozen cockroaches, all ranging in size from the size of a big toe up to a large fist. There's no way he got them all on a ship this size, but he did put a huge dent in the pest population.
---
Oduim, unfortunately, does not have as much luck. He manages to catch one turtle, and it's a fair-sized one, but it's barely enough for a meal for the captain. "Ah, well," Ambrose sighs, "guess it's ship's biscuits fer tha rest of us."
---
Samms glances up irritably from the rigging, but their face brightens at the webbed toes. "Ha! Beat me at m'own game, aye? It's true! Plus the boots jes' get in the way in the ropes up 'ere! I like ta use m'toes fer climbin!"
Asami, on one of her breaks to grab a bucket of water, sidles up to the fellow she arm-wrestled with just a couple of days ago.
Never been one to seek out friends, but Sandara made a good point. If that moment comes and we can toss a few folks overboard... well, better to have friends aboard so nobody stabs me in the back while my front's pushing Plugg over the railing.
She clears her throat, and offers her best attempt at a friendly smile as she stands beside the water barrel. "Hey... Moondays, am I right?"
The Mwangi man looks her over, grunts, and takes some water. He does not offer his hand, but he does nod at Asami. "Shivikah. And you are Asami, yes?"
He has the air of someone being polite but isn't entirely comfortable with the conversation.
---
Evening sets in, and a somewhat disgruntled-looking Harrigan heads to his cabin almost immediately, followed by the cabin girl, Caulky, with his food.
Oduim and Ambrose hand out ship's biscuits and a small bowl of porridge to each crew member, most of whom look disappointed after the feast from night 1. Plugg and Scourge make the rounds with rum rations.
Poisoning the captain or his officers is tricky business; one of the main tasks of the cabin boy or cabin girl is to taste the officers' food for poison, usually in front of them.
The common punishment for poisoned food is to triple-keelhaul the ship's cook and the cook's mate. On "civilized" ships there might be an investigation first, but it's doubtful that Harrigan is the type to care about due process.
I'm not even embellishing, that's straight from the book. :O
"The one and only," she says. An awkward silence falls between the two before Asami shrugs.
"Back at it, then."
---
When the rum rations come, she downs hers without complaint nor spectacle.
---
With a hard day's careful socialization behind her, she finds herself more in the mood to slam someone's hand into some tacks and rusty nails. She settles herself into a barrel in front of... well, whoever. She's not picky.
Carlosss accepts his ration and nurses it through his meal. It seems to have worked for him so far, granting a nice buzz for a short bit but not making him puke his guts out.
_______________________
He considers his marks carefully, but the one individual he is most interested in is the quartermaster. Rumor has it he is buddies with the cook, and the cook is a cool dude. So he figures it can't hurt to strike up a conversation with the guy, maybe offer his aid.
Moving up to Grok he says with his usual rum-thick tongue, "Excusse me Misss Cut-Throat? I don't know if you know much about me, but I do have some magical sskillss. Now, I've promissed to not usse them on crew, but they could come in handy on a sship like thiss. Perhapss if you had any itemss you thought might be curssssed or magical, I could take a look? With the Captain'ss permisssion of coursse. I jusst want to help out."
Help figure out who on this ship is worth keeping around at least...
Draxxie settles down with her rum. It's been an uneventful day, and that's good. Her back still has some healing to do.
She's still not in the mood to make herself centre of attention by leading a shanty. But her ear for music draws her to the sweary halfling fiddler, Rosie.
"I c'n accompany ya some, if ya like?" Draxxie offers.
----
Ambrose waves a hand dismissively, belching as he responds. "Ah, don't worry yerself, lad. Truth be told it's prob'ly fer tha best only tha cap'n got it. Don't want these rumsuckers thinkin' they'll be gettin' tha fancy feast e'rry night, eh?" He slaps the undine on the back amicably, though there's a surprising amount of force behind it. Kroop is not a dainty man. "As to tha ship's biscuits, they're easy enough ta make. I keep a store of 'em in the larder for breakfast an' all. Rub a lil' water on 'em an' they soften right up." He taps his nose conspiratorially.
----
Rosie shrugs and says, "Sure." However, it's quickly clear that despite not wanting to be the center of attention, that's exactly what Draxxie becomes. Several of the crew gather around for a jig, clapping their hands to her belting voice. Rosie's subpar playing is quickly outshined, and by the end, she stops playing altogether and lets Draxxie finish a capella. Whether it was intentionally malicious or just a loss of confidence is hard to say, but the halfling wanders off after playing to polish off a second rum ration by herself.
----
Carlosss heads over to Grok, who eyes him warily. Her eyes widen at the mention of looking for cursed items and nods her head vigorously. "Oh, gods, please! I don't wanna incur the Pirate Queen's wrath by lugging around cursed stuff! Or anything sacred to her, really." She glances around conspiratorially before leaning in. "Look, you folks seem alright by me. And Fishguts has taken a shining to at least one of you, so that's points in your favor too. Tell you what? Come by the stores tomorrow after dinner with your fellow recruits and I'll get you your stuff back. Not your money--the cap'n keeps tight books--but your gear for sure. If the cap'n asks, you bought it back using some winnings from gambling. Okay?"
----
Asami finds herself across from one of the swabs, a handsome young man in his early twenties. Jack Scrimshaw, if she remembers right. He got the surname for his hobby of carving driftwood. Whether he's actually good at it is a topic of some debate among the crew.
What he definitely does not seem to be good at is arm wrestling. The rat-nosed halfling, Ratline, barely calls "go" before Asami slams the lad's hand down on some nails and tacks . He flinches, holding his bleeding forearm out as he pulls out a relatively clean bandana and wraps the wound with it. He seems oddly cheerful about losing though. "Helluvan arm!" he laughs, offering his hand.
----
Asami grins wide, and for a moment something about the look on her face makes her look decidedly vulpine, but it fades quickly enough.
"Looks like I'm getting my strength back," she grins, eyeing the wound.
Not bad. I know some folks who'd be on the ground with that. Suppose he can take a hit.
Carlosss gives a good nod, "Thank you ma'am. I'll by by tomorrow and will let the others know." He has to work pretty hard to hide is exultation at the offer.
Perhaps there are a few good people here. I've learned a lot since taking those first beatings.
_____________________
The barely clothed Vishkanya wanders the ship a bit until he has passed on the quartermaster's offer to the violent one, the singing crazy one and the quiet fishy one.
He retires for the night to sleep off the rum. He rubs his sore limbs and scales from another hard day of work AND A VERY RECENT SHOULDER SLAP until nodding off. His dreams flash repeatedly to pulling his crossbow trigger with a certain set of pirate bullies in the sights.
The barely clothed Vishkanya wanders the ship a bit until he has passed on the quartermaster's offer to the violent one, the singing crazy one and the quiet fishy one.
Asami is just tucking her coins into her boot when Carlosss arrives.
"Old equipment, huh?" she asks; as she curls her toes, there's a distinctive jingling noise, and she grins. "Good to know. All I've been keeping on me has been some cash and some armor, and I doubt they're giving the cash back," she admits, "but it's good to have something on if it comes down to more than a scrap on the deck."
She slaps a hand down on Carlosss's shoulder; it, like the rest of her, is strong.
"I appreciate it."
It's only after Rosie is long gone that Draxxie notices she's been orchestrating the shanty sing-along on her own. Huh. What got into Cusswell? Mebbe I'll talk t' her again tomorrow. See what's eatin' her.
Draxxie heads off to her hammock, with a promise of more music on another night. She finds Carloss looking for her.
"Hey, I was gonna have a word with Cutthroat. Ya beat me to it, Snake. Nicely done though. Nicely done."
The quartet of merry mayhem makers heads to bed, a third day solidly in the can aboard the Wormwood.
In the morning, the party makes their morning preparations, finishing just in time for the bell to gather on deck for crew assignments.
Plugg snaps at Asami, "Mainsail. Get on it."
----
Scourge sneers at Carlosss, "Ya did so good yesterday, go ahead'n do it again. An I better see a nice big pile o' vermin or I'll lash ya fer laziness!" Carlos caught so damn many rats and bugs yesterday, he's not sure there are any left on the ship but he's going to have to look anyway.
----
For the first time (surprisingly) Scourge hands Draxxie a mop, bucket, and holystone. "Get ta swabbin!"
----
Ambrose claps Oduim on the shoulder when he shows up in the galley, shoving a pole in his hands along with block and tackle. "Hhhhey buddy," he slurs, and the stink of rum on his breath is almost unbearable. "You... catch us some... uh.. f... f... the things with the swimmy?" The big man's brow furrows in concentration. "Fffffish!" he bellows triumphantly, spraying the druid in the face in the process. "Go fishy fish off the raily rail," Fishguts says, and giggles before plopping down on a barrel. "Gimme 'minit," he groans. "Gotta... gotta sit."
It's clear the cook is not going to be much help today.
The crew has barely been at their tasks an hour when there's a commotion from the bow stairwell.
Jack Scrimshaw stumbles up the steps, holding the bloody stump of his right arm near the elbow, covered in bleeding wounds, and wailing to wake the dead. Immediately the young man collapses on deck, and several crew rush to his aid. First among them is Sandara, who quickly pushes a wave of positive energy into him to stabilize him. The bloody meat around the gory, broken bone stitches closed into a ragged but sealed nub of skin about halfway up his forearm.
Harrigan storms up, shouldering several crewmates out of the way to reach the swab. "What in tha Nine Hells happened??" he bellows.
"R-rats," Jack gasps, face soaked with a thick sheen of sweat. "Huge rats! In the bilges! They must have smelled the blood from my arm cut yesterday, b-because they all came after my arm at once! I... I tried to fight 'em off best I could, but they were... were... damn big! S-size of Labradors. They... th-they chewed it off! I c-couldn't stop them..." He starts wheezing erratically, clearly hyperventilating.
Harrigan scowls at Habbly Quarne, the creepy ship's carpenter. "Take care of him, make sure he's stable." He turns to Scourge. "Get those rats off my ship, bosun!" He then stomps off, back to the wheel.
Scourge points at Asami, Carlosss, Draxxie, and Oduim. "You four! Get down there an' take care o' them rats. Ye got three hours. If'n yer not done by then, I'll have the lot o' ya on the mast fer lashes at tha Bloody Hour fer laziness! Now git!"
Nearby, Grok gives the group a meaningful nod toward the ship's stores before they head belowdecks. It appears she wants to speak to the group before they head down.
Asami's eyebrow crawls up at a glacial pace.
"How did those get there?" she asks, more to herself than to anyone in particular.
She rolls out her shoulders and cracks her knuckles. "Grok! Just the woman I was hoping to see. Don't suppose you lot remembered to steal my armor when you kidnapped and enslaved me? Because that'd be convenient, right about now."
Carlosss seems to be in a good mood. There were plenty of vermin yesterday, today should be fine to find more. He starts setting his baits in the usual spots and settles in to wait.
The interruption confirms his theories though, but he keeps his mouth shut until he has been assigned to the group dealing with the bigger rats. As Asami comments he quickly suggests an answer (his first snake-splaining!), "It's obvious now. This ship has had such poor sanitation and management of food stores, the vermin are out of control. I'd guess most who are put on the job catch a rat or two and then f@#~ off for the day. I took my job seriously and caught up enough of the smaller critters that the bigger ones probably ran out of anything to eat... and Jack's arm must have looked tasty."
He shrugs, "Either way, this is our chance to take out those on the top of the Critter food chain."
He follows the four over to the Quartermaster and collects any gear she gives out. As they head down to the bilges the Vishkanya asks his allies if they mind if he uses magic to help kill the rats or if that would freak them out.
His speedo shimmers with powerful magical energy.
Draxxie deliberates using her magic to swab the decks, but not for long. Damn fools on this tub would probly run screamin' if they saw a scrubber movin' on its own.
It's rough work. Not as rough as the bilges, but down there out of sight her magic could help.
"Hey, we got a fight on?" Draxxie perks up. F~+! though, Scrimshaw. Yer gonna hafta learn yer craft all over again with a hook fer a hand.
"Three hours to kill us some rats? We can put our feet up when we're done. An' are ya askin' me if I'm afraid o' magic, Snake? C'mon! Mebbe I'll show ya somethin'."
Draxxie heads for the stores to see what Grok wants to say (and to pick up her gear).
"Are you afraid of magic/
in a young girl's heart?"
Asami shrugs. "Went up against mages a time or two with all my fingers and toes intact," she says. "You should be asking me if I'm afraid of tanto."
If asked, she shrugs again rather than provide an actual answer.
|
The undine's head hangs low as the realization of working alone washes over him. By the tide! Feed and entire crew? Alone? There's going to be some unhappy sailors on this ship. With nothing else for it, Oduim gets to work.
When asked about his thoughts on magic, he just nods at Carlosss. "It is as natural as the ocean. Do as you will."
At the orders to clean out the infestation, Oduim visits the quartermaster. "I was hoping to ...uh borrow my gear for a while. I'll bring it back. I just worry about ending up like Scrimshaw. Hard ta cook with only one arm. You can either hold the bowl or stir, but not both."
He looks at the others gathered. "This may not be an accident, us being schooled up like this. They think we are unimportant. Or they think to weaken us. I don't like that...not one bit."
"Relax, Fish" Draxxie tells the undine. "It'll be fun! Just imagine Plugg an' Scourge's faces on them plump ratty bodies."
Draxxie laughs at the undine - but it's a good natured chuckle, not a cruel cackle. "S~*#, I am a half-breed! There're thousands of 'shore-born' like me around the Shackles. Humans seem ta got a thing fer elves - even sea elves. And o' course we breed true wi' ourselves.
But if ye find 'Fish' offensive, tell me yer name an' I'll use it!"
"...Wait. I thought you were Fish," Asami says, pointing at Draxxie with a mildly confused expression.
Grok doesn't seem particularly ruffled at the brawler's accusations of kidnapping, instead focusing on Asami's request. "Didn't Carlos tell you? You're getting your gear back. He's offered me an important service, I figured this was a solid reward. Can't give you your gold back, unfortunately--Harrigan checks the books regularly; that's how he caught Jakes. But gear's easy enough. Anybody asks, you bought it back with gambling winnings. Not that I expect anybody will ask, even Harrigan."
She unlocks one of the bigger footlockers and starts doling out items, checking ledgers to make sure each piece of equipment gets to the right person.
After handing out the equipment, she claps Carlosss amicably on the shoulder. "Don't die to a bunch o' giant rats, okay? I still need you."
You find 4 gp jingling at the bottom of your pack. Harrigan must have missed it when robbing you. His loss!
You find 8 gp jingling at the bottom of your pack. Harrigan must have missed it when robbing you. His loss!
You find 8 gp jingling at the bottom of your pack. Harrigan must have missed it when robbing you. His loss!
You find 8 gp jingling at the bottom of your pack. Harrigan must have missed it when robbing you. His loss!
Carlosss looks up at the Quartermaster, "Uh yeah, if we live, which we will obviously, I'll see what I can learn about those items."
He checks over his scroll box and weapon, making sure they appear to be functioning correctly. Then slings everything into its proper spot and heads out with the group.
__________________
Right before they go into the bilge area, he will pull out and load his crossbow. Then he will cast light on it and hold it ready. Carlosss also tries to keep quiet, just like when hunting vermin earlier.
Asami pops open the straps of her armor-- pretty much the extent of her material possessions, all-in-all-- and slips it on. It doesn't take her too long to get the straps on, and with a quick crack of her neck, she's ready to go.
It's the most-dressed she's been since she boarded the ship.
As she gets dressed, she considers.
"I think I'm in front," she says, "unless one of you wants to scout or sneak first."
"Ha ha, ME Fish? No, I'm Draxxie, you're Fox, he's Snake, and until the cook's mate over there tells us his name - if he's got one - he's Fish." Draxxie grins as she straps on her armour and weapons.
"We set for a frenzy? Bit o' magic from Snake, bit o' choppin' from Fox an' me, an' Fish puts 'em in the pot right? Yeah, you go first Fox. I got me pike, right behind ya."
The Vishkanya hisses, "The name, as I have given multiple times, is "Carlosss". However, seeing as nicknames are common on this ship, I have no complaints about 'Snake'. A mighty elf warrior of Irori with the name Pliss'Ken was given that honorific and it would not be an insult to follow in their footsteps."
He replies to Asami, "The one who enjoys being injured should lead the way, yes."
"How about 'Hot Pants' then? Can we call ya 'Hot Pants'?" Draxxie struggles to hold back giggles as she eyes Carlosss's trunks of eldritch might.
"I have heard tales of this Pliss'Ken. ...Not to be curt, but I'm sure there are other heroes who would rustle up better legends."
She puts a hand on the door and, if there are no objections, shoves her way in.
From outside the ship's stores, on deck, over a dozen faces are palmed in unison at Asami's statement.
The path into the bilges is not a stairwell like the other floors, but a rickety wooden hatch between a row of hammocks in the lower deck. With no one down here during the busy daytime hours, the lower deck is cloaked in darkness. However, the darkness is not all-encompassing, because you can clearly see the faint outline of light pouring from the seam of the bilge's trapdoor. Apparently Jack left his lantern down there when he ran; indeed, the fact that he climbed a ladder with only one functioning arm is rather impressive.
Carlosss hisses, "Illuminate" and his crossbow glows. He loads it and stows it strapped to his back, "I'll go last. MDK will be pointing up and of course the safety is on, but I still don't want to shoot anyone while climbing down the ladder."
"Wanna bit more light?" Draxxie casts, conjuring four glowing globes that float in the air.
"After you." She gestures to Asami, and readies her boarding pike. "As soon as ya open the hatch I'll send the lights in. Find us some ratties!"
"Feel like a song?"
"Sing me down, Shark," she says, lowering herself into the hole and taking a look around. If there's room, she'll keep just out of reach of any big ol' ratties while she looks around, and if she doesn't see any, she'll let herself drop.
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"Shark, yeah, I like that Fox."
"People swimming, doo doo d-doo doo d-doo doo
Saw a shark, doo doo d-doo doo d-doo doo
Shark attack, doo doo d-doo doo d-doo doo..."
Asami drops down into the bilgewater. The murky, unpleasantly thick fluids are about two feet deep and stink of refuse and brackish water. There are various waterlogged crates and buckets floating in the hideous dark muck, and a bilge pump stands near the stern end . A few shapes can be seen hiding in slimy muck piles, and webs are thick along the edges where the hull meets the ceiling. Five sets of rusty manacles hang from the walls; like many ships, the bilges can serve as a secondary brig, in case more than the iron cage hanging from the mainmast is needed.
The grayscale contours of the bilges are clear to Asami, which almost immediately illuminate in the wavering soft light of Draxxie's spell, but Asami sees no immediate giant rats, just a few garden variety ones swimming away from her entrance or skittering into the darkest recesses of the bilges--of which there are many. It becomes immediately apparent that any giant rats even halfway decent at hiding will be difficult to spot in this morass, even within these modest confines.
The brawler does not get immediately assaulted upon entering the room.
Asami wrinkles her nose and looks about; if it's not an obviously-stupid choice, she'll hoist herself up onto a crate and use any nearby crates to walk around. Less wet than stankwater, at least.
"If you hear me bellowing, the rest of you probably oughta follow quick," she says, wading out into the water. "Four of them, right?" One for each of us."
Carlosss gags, "That smell. It's worse than the swab bucket I drank from first day here."
He glances down the hole, "Rats must be hiding, tis what they are good at. Probably not as hungry either. Let's all get down and then flush them out."
Once down, he looks around to see if he can spy any of them.
"Besmara's Holy T&@$, I spent two days cleaning up in here! How can it be so filthy so quickly?"
Draxxie goes down behind Asami . She directs her dancing lights into the corners of the bilges and under the water, and readies her pike to stab the rats when they appear.
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"Yeah. You missed a spot."
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Carlosss waves his hand in an all encompassing motion, "Just about right over... everywhere."