"He's referring to the Orc's penis, miss."
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"We've got plenty, belowdecks."
"Rosie was bleedin' out afore you got here. Was touch and go there fer a bit." "Knuckles went crazy right after ye left. Knocked Riza right into the ocean, but didn't hurt 'er, and dashed off like he was about to jump in the water. Rosie got in 'is way and shot him right in the chest and 'e went completely berserk on 'er after that." "Look in 'is eyes said we was all next, when Gorty charged up the stairs and butchered the poor bastard like a hog"
"About bloody time ye came back. Heard the commotion, did ye?" "If it weren't fer this Hobbo 'ere we'd be lookin' at a lot more'n just an injured creman." "Though Rosie shot Knuckles there up but good." he chuckles. "Prob'ly why he beat the ever-lovin' out of er, come to think of it."
"WAIT!" Fishguts cries as Cyrdic gives the order to set sail. "Bad idea Cap'n. We could maybe slip past 'er in the dark without being seen, but she'd spot us fer sure the minute we leave the cove and unfurl sails. She's got more sails than we do, and a helluva lot more firepower. We'd be dead in seconds after that happened." "We've got to find some way to cripple 'er or delay 'er"
You sail around for almost a week, but find no ships to plunder. Kroop comes up to you on day 8. "We're runnin' low on water lads. It's not really a crisis yet, but we should be seein' to it soon, especially since we've nabbed no prizes in a while. There's a few islands around here with good fresh water, I suggest we find one."
"Ye lads having a battle plan is good thinking, but mayber ye're goin' about this the wrong way, eh? Lady Smythee isn't known fer bein' inhospitable. Ye could meet with her, peaceful-like, and see if ye can come to an arrangement? At the least ye can get a good look at the defenses o' the place before stormin' in. An' she's no friend o' Cap'n Harrigan so mentionin' ye're on the outs with him might win ye some brownie points with the lady."
"Lads, I'll tell ye this, there's no honor among thieves and that adage holds true fer pirates as well. They'll come after us if we get too close or look like we're coming in to attack. But, if we were so inclined," his eyes twinkle mischievously "We could just sail on by and turn back quick after they've committed to boarding that ship there."
"Aye! This is our perfect chance! We get the setting son behind us and we can take the bastards before they even know what hit them!"
"Aye. We could definitely get some plunder from here." Fishguts says. "I suggest we sail on and come back tonight though. Catch these people by surprise, make it harder for 'em to mount a resistance." "But, your choice. I doubt they could mount any real defense here, but easy prey's the best kind, eh?"
Kroop pipes up at this point. "Yeah, there is, sorry. Was just thinkin' about makin' sausage fer dinner fer some reason." he guffaws. "Bloodcove and Senghor are the two closest cities large enough to have what you need, not matter what it is. Bloodcove is pirate friendly and Senghor doesn't give a damn so long as you've got cash. There's also Crown's End way down the Sargavan coast, but it's a lot smaller than those two."
Some of the more pressing matters settled for now, the crew loads the food and water onto the ship. Kroop gathers the crew on deck before they set out. "Aye, we've got just a couple of things left to handle. First, I'll be honest wit' ye, I'm not cut out fer captainin' meself. I'm content just to cook the food, and if I had my druthers one of ye would take over. Me own preference woulda been that Cyrdic feller but, eh, he appears to have departed to the Boneyard. You guys pick, anyhow. I want no part of it." "I will give one piece o' advice to whoever takes over, though. Cap'n Harrigan likely sees this ship as his, and won't take too kindly to someone stealin' his rightfully seized property. He's a skilled sailor, and a fearsome man, and could recognize this ship's lines from a mile away in the dark if 'e spotted us. We need to change 'er up to prevent 'im from just descending on us like the wrath of Hell and slaughterin' us all." "So I do strongly suggest we go through with Plugg's plan to taker 'er to Rickety's Squibs and have 'er refitted and overhauled so she looks good as new, for all our sakes."
The group heads back to the boat, and it appears the repairs on the ship are done.
"There you are! We were just about to send someone looking for you!" Kroop yells.
Kroop examines the hole. "Well, we got good news, and we got bad news. Good news is, the ship's not gonna sink. Yet. Bad news is, it WILL sink eventually if we try to keep goin', even if we run the bilges all day and night. We gotta sit here and patch the ship, and it'll take a couple of days. Worse news is, that cracked barrel over there was the last of our water, and a bunch of our food has been soaked in seawater." "We're also missing two of our crew members, and we're undermanned as it is. I'm not sure we can keep this ship running in tip-top with what we've got." "So...I need volunteers. Some of us have to stay and patch up that hole, but we need someone to take the other jolly boat and head to the island to get some water. If you find any sign of Colin and Sandara, all's the better." "Any volunteers?"
"Aye, I've no objections. I guess the little booger did pull his weight around here. And not like we're in any real hurry, y'know?" "Any o' the rest o' ye got a problem with that?" Kroop yells over his shoulder. He gets a chorus of nays in response. "All right then, let's be gettin' to work before we lose 'im!"
The crew works frantically to get the boat slowed down, but it's almost 15 minutes before they're able to get organized to their stations, get the jobs done, and the boat slowed down.
Ambrose leans forward, suddenly more interested. "You've got Owlbear on your side? That's...very good. He's the only thing guarding Plugg's cabin right now. If you can get him to step aside, or even help out..." He leans back and strokes his scraggly beard.
Kroop speaks up again. "Loyal to us? Yer lookin' at 'em. Everybody else on this ship I've seen cozyin' up to Plug at one point or another." He counts them on his fingers. Rosie, Conchobar, Sandra, Kroop, Riza, James, and Colin, along with the four of you. "There's 11 of us, includin' meself, and I'm no good in a fight. So 10 a' you what's can handle yourselves, and 10 a' them, including Plugg and Scourge who might be able to handle a couple of us on their own. At best, we got a fair fight on our hands." "We need a plan, but I'm no good at that sorta thing. Something we can do to sweep in and take 'em by surprise."
The rest of the day passes by, and the grumbling grows more pointed. The prevailing opinion seems to be that Plugg is deciding to claim the Man's Promise for his own, an opinion bolstered by the fact that Cyrdic isn't the only one who notices the ship has changed course. That evening, a bunch of the pirates meet up in their quarters, as Kroop, in a remakably sober mood, explains what he thinks is up. "A lotta ye have noticed by now that we're not headed for Port Peril, for sure. I know a good deal less of ye know where we ARE headed, which is why I wanted to speak wit' ye. I've been there afore, many a time, I recognize these waters now. We're headed fer Bloodcove, a dry dock off the Slithering Coast. There's only two reasons someone would willingly visit Bloodcove: Their ship needs repairin', and it's the only dock within distance...or they're visiting Rickety's Squibs to get a ship refitted and made unrecognizable. It's pretty clear what Plugg's up to. He's gonna take this ship for hisself, and it don't bode well for any o' us he's got a bone ta pick with fer whatever reason." With that, he leans back in his chair and lets the muttering take over. |