Asami grunts and nods, and that's all Plugg gets out of her-- unless he's a mind-reader (and one who speaks Minkan, to boot), in which case he receives a stream of threats and promises.
Oduim has a hell of a time figuring out the stitching on these damnable sails, but at least it doesn't tucker him out.
----
The night draws on, and the storm refuses to relent. Winds smash into your bodies with unrelenting force, driving raindrops like tiny bullets against your skin, soaking you to the bone. Were it even a few degrees cooler out, that might be a very dangerous prospect. Thankfully the storm hasn't lowered the temperature enough for hypothermia to be a concern, but you begin to feel aches in your joints from the constant soaking, and your meager meal of a ship's biscuit roils in your stomachs as the Wormwood crashes down yet another twenty-six-footer. As her bow slices into the water at the base, the impact jostles the crew hard. Something snaps with a sound like a pistol shot, and before Plugg can finish screaming "Lash that beam, now!" it spins out like a hill giant with a greatclub and knocks several crewmates on their asses. Before she can react, it swings round and smashes Rosie Cusswell so hard she goes flying through the air--
-- and off the starboard rail into the dark, churning waters.
A concerted bellow can be heard over the din of the storm:
With a snarl and a curse that can't be heard over the roaring storm, Plugg turns to the party. "See to her!" He turns to anyone else within earshot (not that there are many) and yells, "Everyone keep it up or we'll lose the Wormwood!"
A quick glance over the rail shows Rosie is about 10 feet away from the Wormwood and, despite the solid blow she took, is still conscious and struggling to stay afloat.
She flounders as a ten-footer smashes into her and pulls her under.
[color=green]ROUND 1
Characters in BOLD may act.
Rosie (0 dmg, 10 ft away)
Draxxie (10/10 hp)
Asami (13/13 hp)
Oduim (10/10 hp)
Carlosss (9/9 hp)
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Without missing a beat, Oduim vaults over the rail and into the ocean. The saltwater serve to invigorate the undine. With a smile, he swims directly for Rosie, keeping his eyes on her so as not to lose her position. He easily reaches the halfling and wraps an arm around her. He shouts over the storm, "I've got you. Now we just need the others to lower a rope."
Asami bellows a cuss worthy of Rosie herself as the halfling is tossed into the sea like a rum ration too-quickly ingested.
That said, she's in the crow's nest at the moment; she keeps her eyes on Rosie, and scowls; she'd be ready to leap in, but...
Well, Oduim sure does seem to have it in-hand, doesn't he?
Carlosss grabs a rope, one that most likely is specifically for anyone washed over board, and tosses it out to sea in their direction, "Little help here Draxxie, two ropes have a better chance of getting close than one."
"Right with ya, Snake!"
Draxxie is at the ship's side in a flash, rope in hand. "Looks like ya aim was real good, Snake! Let's haul Rosie and Oduim in!"
"Blow the man down, hearties
Blow the man down,
O give me some time
To blow the man down."
Draxxie belts out a stirring hauling shanty, the better to help herself and Carlosss pull and Rosie (and perhaps Oduim too) to swim.
She hooks her arm around Carlosss' waist, placing a hand on his rope.
What could very easily have been a tragedy is deftly averted by the quick-thinking undine and the deft throw by Carlos, who managed to lay the rope across the two swimmers despite his vision blurring slightly from exhaustion.
Rosie feels Draxxie's song invigorate her and she grabs the rope to try and climb up.
Rosie scrambles up the rope like a hasted spider monkey, panic and adrenaline giving her a burst of speed.
[color=green]ROUND 2
Characters in BOLD may act.
Rosie (0 dmg, climbing)
Draxxie (10/10 hp)
Asami (13/13 hp)
Oduim (10/10 hp, swimming)
Carlosss (9/9 hp)
[/color]
Carlosss leans forward to get a better grip, knowing Draxxie is helping counterbalance him, "Good grip there Drax. I feel ssafe in your arms."
But if she was about three inches lower, I might think she was copping a feel!
His brow furrows, "I wonder what all that father stuff is about?"
Draxxie just winks at Carlosss and gives him a squeeze as she keeps up the shanty.
Fox ain't the only one with muscles, Snake.
With shocking speed and efficiency, the party has the overboard Rosie out of the water and onto the deck in a matter of seconds.
Rosie sputters and coughs, spitting out a tirade of obscenities at the ocean that can be heard even over the thunder and the near-horizontal downpour.
ENCOUNTER OVER!
Scourge hurries over, inspecting the halfling's battered face; she is sporting a large shiner, a bruised cheekbone, and a waggling tooth. "Get downstairs an' lie up 'til ye can see straight. The rest o' ya, back ta yer posts! This storm en't over yet!"
And indeed it is not. The roaring din of the wind and rain, occasionally ripped apart by pealing thunder, carries on relentlessly. You can no longer tell if it's seawater or exhaustion that blurs your vision and makes your hands numb. Every step feels like you're wearing boots of solid lead, your legs clumsier and clumsier as the minutes of hammering rain turn into hours.
It is sometime deep in the night, far past midnight but still well before dawn, when the storm abates enough to drop anchor. The crew slouch wordlessly into the lower deck, peel out of their sopping-wet clothing, and pass out with hardly a word spoken.
It’s a hard shift, and by the time Asami—whipped by winds and rain and the tilt of the ship—makes it back down to the deck, her legs are sore beneath her. She’s with the rest of the crew; anything she has to say doesn’t seem worth the energy to wag her jaw.
She’s snoring hard in her hammock in minutes.
Draxxie checks on Rosie, and finds the bruised halfling already asleep.
She'll be fine.
Pleased with her work, Draxxie tumbles into her bunk and nods off almost immediately.
Carlosss would say or do something witty, probably. If he weren’t already asleep the second he fell into his bunk. Hopefully it was his bunk. Or at least someone who didn’t mind sharing.
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Oduim wakes with a start. "What in the low-tide?!?!" He looks over to see Carlosss already unconscious right next to him. He peers through the darkness, but soon decides there is no threat. His next groggy pondering is which one of them is in the wrong bunk. He quickly concludes that it doesn't really matter. Oduim rolls the sorcerer on to his side so the pair can sleep back to back. At least a knife will have to go all the way through him to stab me in the back. With that thought fresh in his mind, the exhausted undine returns to sleep.
Despite the long, grueling task of keeping the Wormwood afloat through a brutal storm for nearly twenty hours, the party manages to keep from collapsing until their hammocks are in front of them (though not everyone reaches the correct hammock).
It's a few hours past dawn when the bell finally rings for the crew to gather on deck, giving them a little extra sleep after the harrowing day and night before. Despite the additional rest, several crew look bleary-eyed and sluggish.
----
The rain has kept up overnight, but thankfully the worst of the storm is past, steamrolling northward across the Shackles. The crew, despite still getting soaked, look relieved to see the storm in their aft and the ship heading toward the end of the fat, bruised clouds overhead.
----
Plugg looks bleary-eyed as the rest of the crew, but his spite seems to have replenished itself. "Get back up top. Try not to slip and die, that'd just be tragic."
----
The sorcerer's odd awakening next to the druid aside, Carlos feels significantly better after some sleep, despite how utterly exhausted he'd been over the last two days. Scourge seems determined to spoil that mood by making the vishkanya run all over the damn boat. "Yer runnin'. Get to it, snake."
----
Scourge turns his sneering visage to the skald. "Ye get tha bilges, lassie. Try not tae f**& it up again."
----
When Oduim reaches the galley, he finds the slovenly cook looking like absolute rubbish. Even the rooster seems exhausted; it's bunched up on his right shoulder in a pile of softly warbling feathers, clearly asleep. Fishguts is an older man and it appears the extensive physicality of fighting off a storm for almost a full day has left its mark. "Let's take it easy on 'er, eh lad? We got 'nough ta make a simple stew an' I could use tha break. Have a seat, take a load off." He gestures at the empty crate across from his and offers you a jug of rum. The rooster on his shoulder sways slightly from the movement but otherwise doesn't move.
"Get back up top. Try not to slip and die, that'd just be tragic."
"If I think I'm about to fall, don't worry-- I'll aim for you."
She's quick to get to her work, though, crawling up the ropes.
Carlosss wakes up, comfortably spooning… uh. He tries to quietly extricate himself from the Undine’s side and simply walks away saying nothing and hoping he doesn’t get poisoned today.
He splashes some water on his face, does a quick soap scrub of it, his pits and bits then washes his entire outfit. Wringing it out well, he floofs the bathers out and pulls them back on. Heading up into the rain he gets his assignment. Working his way to his post by the captain, he stretches out for a long day of running.
His body is sore and his brain is mush by the time the dinner bell jangles.
Bilges again? Bastard Scourge. At least if I'm on my own and not getting flooded a little magic c'n help.
Draxxie scowls, but gets to work below.
Not willing to risk being thought a failure a second time, Draxxie puts her back into it. It's exhausting work though, and she's in no mood for chatter when break time comes.
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The undine spends the bulk of the morning with chef. He does take time to check in on the waterlogged halfling. "Hope yer doing alright. You took a nasty blow to the head. Some people ain't right after that, so be sure 'n tell the healer if you ain't feeling right." Heads back to the galley, careful to avoid any officers along the way.
Asami makes easy work of the task. She did this crap during a freaking storm. A little rain isn't going to stop her!
----
Carlos isn't entirely sure, but he thinks he might have caught a glimpse of someone watching him bathe, perhaps a handsome young one-handed lad. It's hard to be certain, since they ducked out of sight as soon as he started turning around.
On deck, Carlosss makes running look easy -- and sexy -- but looking that good is just so damned exhausting. His legs feel like jelly by the time the bell rings for the Bloody Hour.
----
The bilges are a cakewalk compared to yesterday, and a few castings of prestidigitation keeps the pump handle dry and easy to manage (not to mention cleaning off some of the s!$+ stink when she gets out of the bilges). Casting magic gets Draxxie a few dirty looks from her fellow bilge-mates Aretta and Shivikah, but neither say anything about it and the shift goes smoothly.
Despite the hard labor, Draxxie feels more rejuvenated than tired when the bell tolls.
----
Gods, this job. It's just, like. So hard. Lifting this rum jug is backbreaking work, dammit!
At Oduim's words, Rosie, who's busy tuning her fiddle, waves dismissively. "Ah, for cryin' out loud! First Sandara fusses over me, now you. I'm fine! I had a boyfriend who hit harder than that beam when we--" She stops, blinks, then looks back down at her fiddle and clears her throat. "You know what? You probably don't wanna hear about that." Despite her embarrassment, she looks... nostalgic?
To each their own.
----
Bloody Hour passes with no one on the whipping post, and everyone heads belowdeck to dry off and enjoy some fun after the grueling twenty-hour storm the day before. Rosie, her head still bandaged but otherwise in good spirits, strikes up a song with Conchobar, eagerly waving Draxxie over to join them.
Jack walks up to Carlos holding two rum rations in one hand with a shy, hopeful smile. "You really have no right to look that good when you're tired," he quips.
Asami finds Sandara just kind of happens to be standing nearby, like, really close nearby and sort of not-nearly-as-casually-as-she-thinks sitting next to the brawler while trying and failing to look nonchalant about the whole thing. After a moment of silence she says, without looking at Asami, in a voice that would almost be casual if it didn't crack about three quarters of the way through, "Hell of a storm, huh?"
----
Carlosss puts on a serious face and steps into an exaggerated muscle pose, accentuating his toned frame. He adds a faux deep baritone to his voice and replies, ”Oh this body lookss good? I didn’t know.”
He holds the pose for another second and then releases it with a grimace, ”Oww, that was dumb. I really overplayed my hand there.” He gives a wry smile, ”Thanks for the drink, I could use it, my back is killing me.”
Asami is halfway through her rum ration, elbows on the railing as she watches the sea around them, when Sandara speaks up from very close beside her.
Of course, it's not like Sandara's particularly stealthy.
"Mm," she agrees. She turns, leaning hard but still towering over the faithful woman as her hand rises up to find her chin.
She has strong hands, nicked and callused from a lifetime of sailing and questionable deeds and reinforced by a few days of ropework, but that's no surprise. She turns Sandara's head this way and that with her thumb, her lips pursing as she appraises her.
"Of course you follow Besmara," she snorts, begging the question.
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Oduim listens to the performance for a while. However, he soon catches himself nodding his head to the music. "What am I doing? These are not my friends! Most would slit my throat as soon as look at me. I may need them to gain the revenge I seek, but this is a boat full of murderers. Some of the worst examples of their kind. Forming alliances is one thing, but I cannot allow myself to get caught up in anything else. It is an illusion, nothing more. Dismayed at himself, Oduim stalks off to his bunk.
Draxxie takes up a tune...
"Come all you outlaws and restless riders
And gather round here all you outsiders
Come fill your glasses and raise them high
And let us drink and not be dry
No more, no never again, no never again
No more, no never again, no never again
The dark is rising and the day keeps falling
Our fire is burning and the wind keeps calling
So fill your glasses and prepare to fight
Let's all drink up and ride tonight
No more, no never again, no never again
No more, no never again, no never again"
Out of the storm, Draxxie is in high spirits and it shows in her singing. She puts her arms around Rosie and Conchobar, and belts out shanties and drinking songs.
Not as many of the crew seem familiar with this tune, but the chorus is easy enough and they join in with gusto every time, while jigging during the verses. It's hard to strike up a proper dance party in the midst of a bunch of hammocks, but they manage as best they can. Hopefully tomorrow will be clearer skies and they can dance to their hearts' content on the main deck.
Rosie, already tipsy from the rum, leans hard into Draxxie as she plays, while Conchobar backs up with a surprisingly solid falsetto baritone chant. There is the briefest pause in the fiddling when Rosie swats Conchobar in the face with her fiddle bow for leaning around the back of Draxxie to pinch the halfling's behind. She didn't quite strike him hard enough to break the bow, but she does leave an angry red line across his forehead and the bridge of his nose.
----
Oduim throws a pillow over his head and tries his damnedest to ignore the raucous music, but it's basically impossible. Maybe if he stuffs his ears with something and counts sheep...
----
Asami feels Sandara's jaw clench a little under her fingers as she moves her head back slightly, just out of reach. "And what's that supposed to mean? I owe her a debt. I'm repaying it. That's all."
You definitely seem to have touched a nerve. It seems odd that a cleric would be touchy about how she got her divine gifts, but that certainly seems to be the case here. Perhaps if you smoothed things over, she might be willing to open up about it?
----
Jack just barely flinches at the "hand" comment, but doesn't drop his smile. "I'd offer you a backrub, but it might be a little lop-sided," he says with a nervous laugh.
Asami snorts, looking down at Sandara, letting her hand return to her side. "That might be true," she says, her voice so low it might be a growl, "but I'd wager you don't mind the way the waves toss you around... even if saltwater dribbling down your chin is your only reward."
She grins, her black tongue slipping over her lips. "I don't mind the taste of saltwater myself."
Carlosss exhales hard, "A f&&#, my bad." He seems a bit smaller after the faux paux but powers ahead anyway with a question, "How about we slam these rums and have a dance. Maybe I won't say anything stupid then. I can lead or follow, whatever you want."
Sandara looks beyond flustered, her cheeks flushed, panic in her eyes. "I. Um. Y-yes?" She looses a shuddering breath and closes her eyes. Hormones and anger wrestle across her face. "Stop trying to... to..." She falters, apparently unsure what exactly it was the brawler did to upset her. "Just... Oh, for gods' sakes!" She grasps Asami by the shoulders and hauls herself up to kiss her, hard, lips smashed against each other, and holds it as long as her tip-toes will keep her up.
She finally pulls away, breathing heavily, looking a bit like a deer who just smelled the hunter but knows the arrow has already been loosed. "Holy s##&. I can't believe I did that."
----
Jack glances at his bandaged stump and frowns slightly before looking back up into the vishkanya's luminous eyes. "I think maybe you should lead." He still looks trepid, a slight tremble in his remaining hand as he places it in the sorcerer's.
His hesitation melts away, however, as Carlos pulls him into a sweeping jig. Rosie and Conchobar pick up the pace of their tune, and soon the swab is laughing and capering in perfect rhythm with his partner. Where the song calls for a clapping chorus, he slaps his thigh hard.
After a few minutes, Conchobar, sensing what's happening, motions to Rosie and Draxxie. Rosie nods and draws down the tempo into a slow waltz, and Conchobar croons softly to the new tune.
"I don't wanna close my eyes
I don't wanna fa-all asleep
Coz I'd miss you baby,
And I don't wanna miss a thi-iiing"
Jack strides in slow tandem with Carlos, his handsome, boyish features radiating a joy that hasn't been seen since before he lost his hand. He leans his head against the sorcerer's shoulder as they sway together.
"Truth be told," Jack murmurs quietly, "I hate this song. But I'll take it if it means dancing with you."
----
Well, at least the music quieted down. Here's hoping it doesn't lead to any other "noisy" activities. Gods, how many sheep does he have to count before the blissful oblivion of sleep??
Carlosss breaths a sigh of relief at the joy shown by Jack and smiles down at the craftsman, "Maybe we can make a good memory to it, no matter how overplayed the song is." He leans in for a gentle kiss.
Asami grins into Sandara's kiss, her appreciative murmur almost low enough to rumble.
Wait, she's a Tiefling; it does rumble.
She grins, licking the taste of cleric off her lips. "How fast do you wanna take this?"
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Sandara chews her lip, her exhilaration momentarily dampened by whatever is on her mind, but she finally hooks her fingers in Asami's belt and pulls her toward the stairs, up to the middle deck and away from prying eyes. "I don't want to wait. I want you."
----
Jack utters a surprised yelp, muffled by the vishkanya's lips, but almost immediately melts into it, gently tugging Carlos toward a dark corner out of the way of prying eyes.
----
Just before you finally drift off to sleep, you could swear you hear two seals fighting over a grape.
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----
The last lantern is finally snuffed and the crew gets their first full night's rest in a few days. When dawn comes calling and the work bell rings, the crew find themselves on deck for cloudy skies and a cool breeze, but no more rain. The angry black clouds of the storm can still be seen far to the north, heading toward the Eye of Abendego. It appears the Wormwood has exited the storm in the open waters of the Fever Sea; the rocky jungle isles of the Shackles lie behind you, and open water as far as the eye can see greets you to fore and starboard.
As the crew are doled out jobs, each sent this way and that, Scourge and Plugg seem to be deliberately ignoring the party. At their feet lie several clay pots.
When Oduim reaches the kitchen, Fishguts shakes his head. "Not just yet, lad. Plugg's got summat special fer ya ta do. On deck now, don't keep 'im waitin'."
Finally, everyone has their tasks except Asami, Carlosss, Draxxie, Oduim, and Barefoot Samms. Once the party is all on deck, Plugg jerks a thumb at the port bow. The Slithering Coast is incredibly close, no more than a quarter mile from the ship. The water here is almost transparently blue. Following the First Mate's finger, you see a brightly-colored coral reef about 200 feet off the port side. "Captain wants crab for dinner tonight, and the Captain gets what he wants. Go swim to the reef and fill these pots, then get back here on the double." There are five crab pots, one for each of you. Samms scowls, but they seem to think better of mouthing off and instead they pluck up one of the pots. They give the party a wink before moving to the port side and diving gracefully in.
Asami shrugs, grabs a pot, and hopping overboard. They'd do just as well sending Oduim on his lonesome, but... well, that's narrative convenience for you, I guess.
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While tempted to roll his eyes, Oduim keeps his cool at the little brute. He does nod silently before picking up a pot. The undine eyes one of the skiffs. "Permission to use one of the rowboats sir. S'gonna be the best way to bring 'em back." He looks at the other crew. "I mean, no offense, but if these guys hafta swim back with a full pot, it's more likely the crabs'll be eating them tonight...at the sandy bottom where we can all watch."
Speak fer yerself Fish Draxxie thinks, but she waits for Plug's answer whilst she gathers her pike and checks her wooden armour is secure. I swim pretty good an the water's calm. Be good t' get off the tub fer a bit. Still, yer right about the return trip bein' easier with a jolly boat.
Carlosss has a wonderful evening and sleeps very well, snuggled in with someone he is definitely falling for. His shower in the morning is also more enjoyable, finally having someone to wash his back.
He inspects the crab pot, trying to figure out if it is a bait and wait fishing tool or just a place to store crabs.
Plugg sneers, "Then they'll be right where they belong for being too stupid to figure out how to swim with a crab pot." He pinches the bridge of his nose. "Gods, I'm surrounded by useless idiots. Fine, take the jolly if swimming is too f@%$ing hard for pirates." He turns on his heel and storms off, cuffing Crimson Cogward as he goes, the latter man having paused to watch the exchange. "Back to work!" Plugg snaps. Cog flinches at the rope bashing him in the bicep, which he rubs as he gives a murderous glare at the back of Plugg's head before returning to his work.
Regardless of whether or not the others have crabbed before, Oduim likely has, or at the very least knows how it works. While some fishers use bait to lure crabs into the pots, the quickest way (and apparently the way Plugg expects them to do it, since he gave them no bait) is to swim down, snag a crab, and shove it in the pot before it can pinch any fingers. It's a relatively straightforward process.
----
The wake-up was surprisingly vigorous, and now he gets to sit in a rowboat instead of working! For a little bit, at least. I mean, how hard can this be? There doesn't seem to be any food or anything in the pot, so he supposes it must be just for putting the crab in. Hopefully it doesn't pinch anything important before he can stuff it in.
----
The trip is quick and easy with the jolly. Samms sheepishly pulls themself into the boat when it's lowered, sopping wet and looking embarrassed at not having thought of asking for the jolly, but is otherwise in good spirits. "Done a bit o' crabbin' myself in my youth! Little on the creaky side, these days, but it's nice ta be on such beauteous waters, eh? Lookit that reef! Pure art, I say. Gozreh might be a right finicky bastard, but she do make nature gorgeous while it's eatin' you alive!" They chuckle and grab an oar to help row.
The trip is exceedingly brief and the party quickly finds themselves at the coral reef, a rippling vision of shockingly bright colors: pink, orange, yellow, and purple mesh into a long, thin strip of bright wildlife as clownfish dart in and out of the reef.
Asami laughs at the idea of pirates swimming when there are perfectly good boats-- right in Plugg's face, even. She doesn't bother to explain herself if pressed, though.
It's nice to be off the ship, even if her breath smells of Sandara, and she happily takes the other oar.
"Well, do we all want to go crabbing," she asks, "or just let Oduim do it? Or half-half, we point 'em out and he grabs 'em?"
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As they row out, "I have no doubt that all of ya could swim with the pot. I just figured no one wanted ta work that hard fer Plugg. I can't see no upside being exhausted while any lackeys of his sit pretty as you please resting up to try who knows what when we get back. I'd rather you all save yer strength. You point out whatever crabs you can and all go get 'em. That work fer everyone?
Draxxie stretches herself out in the boat. "This was a good idea, F- Oduim. Mighty relaxin'! But I can't let ya do all the work. B'sides, I like a swim now and again. Especially somewhere as beautiful as this..."
Draxxie's distracted by the gorgeous coral, but when someone does point out a crab she's graceful and swift in the water.
”Think one’s over there,” she says, pointing down into the blue.
”The scrawnier the better for dear ol’ Cap’n,” she snorts.
Carlosss stretches out as they row to the reef, ”I ain’t against you doing the retrieval, but I am definitely going for a nice swim. It has been too f*&$ing long since I was in the drink. My scales could use a salt bath too.”
…the fish are pretty at least.
Carlosss, Draxxie, and Oduim make easy work of filling their pots while Asami helps them spot.
Samms snorts, running a hand through their shaggy silver hair. "Aw now, Asami! Where's yer sense o' pride in a job well-done! Get yerself a nice big ol' pincher, toughest ya can get! And then piss in the crab pot. Make a nice salty brine fer it ta stew in b'fore it goes on tha cap'n's plate!" They laugh raucously at the unsavory image, then stop suddenly. "Ah! Gotcha, ya lil' bastard..." They dive effortlessly into the water and snatch up a decent-sized crab, deftly shoving it in the pot.
However, while they're down there, those on the surface see two large shapes dart out from the coral and bear down on the pirate. The creatures' long, segmented red bodies, antennae, and massive pincers mark them as reefclaws. Samms is so intent on what they're doing they don't appear to notice their danger!
[color=green]ROUND 1
Characters in BOLD may act.
Draxxie (10/10 hp)
Reefclaw 2 (0 dmg)
Carlos (9/9 hp)
Reefclaw 1 (0 dmg)
Oduim (10/10 hp)
Barefoot Samms (0 dmg, oblivious)
Asami (13/13 hp)
[/color]
Reefclaws are semi-sapient aberrations derived from the common lobster, mutated through unknown means into dangerous coastal hunters. Reefclaw wounds are common among fishers in villages and small coastal towns. While less common in bigger port cities, they do sometimes congregate in wharfs and near sewer drainages for easy food. Some cities have even reported finding them in their sewers.
Reefclaw pincers aren't just painful, they can be exceedingly deadly. Anyone caught in the reefclaw's pincers must content not only with being grappled, but with the venomous stinger hidden in their pincers' shells, a painful paralytic agent that lets them incapacitate their food and devour it alive.
Reefclaws are aggressive, territorial creatures, and their aggression doesn't stop at death. Upon death, reefclaws reflexively thrash violently, grievously injuring any who dare to attack them.
"Samms! Lookout, them crabs is reefclaws! Venomous pincers, an' they frenzy when ya kill 'em! Time fer a frenzy of our own!"
Draxxie gets up a fighting song, and moves up to Samms to defend them with her pike.