Caledon is able to inspect the tentacles before all of them fade. Being an advanced student of summoning magic himself, he can tell the the tentacles are some sort of summoned creature—though it is clearly a darker type of magic than summoning celestial eagles. (It's a Lv.3 Summoner Spell - as is Rain of Frogs)
Cal also notices the door to the Prince's quarters is bulging. Cracks are forming, a pool of blood is spreading out from under the door and seeping through the cracks as well—and whatever is behind that door reeks! The stench is almost overwhelming.
Those outside the ship hear the sound of boards creaking and cracking. It's coming from the stern. Crack.. creak... crack...!
Drizzle of Frogs:1d20 ⇒ 17Hit dead Toadie
Henrietta resists the grapple and strikes back. Her father crushes the dying foe, and finds that the bigger the frogman, the slimier the squish.
The last few bits of frog fall from the sky, but the result is just a few froglegs and eyeballs bouncing harmlessly off of our heroes.
The one remaining Toadie stabs downward at Sabrina, taking advantage of her prone position in the grease spot—
Vs. Sabrina:1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10
—but as his spear manages to slip by the tiny target, Sabrina grabs the Toadie's leg and lights him up. He croaks in agony as a burning spear is thrown from his wildly flailing limbs and into the sea. The Toadie dives overboard to quench the flames engulfing him, but ends up diving onto the dock just a few feet below. Fortunately, he does not seem to be conscious after the face plant. His charred body twitches a moment, then all is calm outside.
Those outside hear a gunshot from inside the ship...! And by the time our heroes can get to the door, they see black tentacles blocking the way in. But apparently, the tentacles do not stretch ceiling to floor through out the entire room. There is a sound of women talking, and the voices are rather calm despite the gunfire and creepy writhing tentacles.
A princess-like voice demands to know, "What kind of a prince drools his food, even if it is..." Some of her words are muffled by writhing tentacles.
(Perc DC20 to listen and catch every word.)
Another girl with a confident voice says, "I suppose this makes you our owner, though the Prince may have words..."
Another sounds like she's asking permission for something: "Can you please........... wherever you're taking us? ..........these stupid shackles..."
(Will let you all in the ship soon. Just allowing time for reactions.)
Darn one-hour editing window. The first line of dialogue was supposed to be: Thank you for freeing us. The Prince has not mistreated us, but we are grateful just the same, or something to that effect.
_
And wow... that post has lots of typos. Well, at least Alistair knows the Prince ate the diamonds and the slave girls did not.
Inside the Ship (Hunter):
As the human speaks to the serpentine girls, Hunter smells the strong odor that he associates with death. It is coming from the Prince's door in distinct waves.
First, there was the gaseous stench as soon as he Prince retreated (as any skykin would expect from a frog). The human noticed this stench as well. It was the stench of a stomach's inside when a bird of prey rips open a creature so ill it is best left uneaten.
Second, there was a struggle. Humanoid ears did not notice this, or the people would have looked toward the door and pointed while they were talking so much. There was a sound of a lock being undone, after the gunshot was fired. Immediately following that was the sound of a body pressed against the door, and a muffled whimper. And the smell of death to subtle for a humanoid to perceive. It seems the Prince smothered his own guard to death.
The third smell is from the Prince again. It occurred as the guard was dying. It is like the first smell, only stronger, and accompanied by a worse stench. It reeks of death. For reasons Hunter does not quite understand, the Prince is dead. And yet, the creature senses danger. Something about the Prince's death feels very dangerous to Hunter.
That's why I asked for an idea—a natural 1 doesn't mean you can't try what you're thinking. It just means I won't have a better plan or an ideal version of the current plan pop into Alistair's head. I'll also consider his intelligence of course—you can't read my mind and know a central lock isn't there, but you obviously won't use your gun in a way that endangers those you are rescuing.
_
You certainly have a workable plan, so the natural 1 just means I won't give you amazing luck such as finding a weak point.
Alistair is looking for a central lock, but finds none. Only the shackles themselves are locked, and he most certainly knows that shooting something attached to a woman's wrist or ankle will do more harm than good.
However, there is a central point—chains are run through the iron ring in the center of the girls, and the ring is welded to a square plate that is bolted to the floor boards. It looks like the ring/plate is designed for hanging something heavy, and would normally be bolted to a sturdy ceiling.
Alistair fires the shot into the wood. There is a satisfying CRACK! It's not enough for one bullet to weaken the bolt's hold on the plate—it might be quicker to use an adjustable wrench to simply remove the bolts. However, if Alistair wants to keep damaging the floor close to the ring, the girls can leave the room. They will need to walk as a group, but the chains have plenty of slack.
@Alistair, the floor's HP is down to 19. Hardness is 5, so your roll was 6-5, which is 1 damage. If the dice are kinder, this can be done in under a minute. Getting the floor down to 10 HP will make it 'weak wood,' meaning it will be possible for Alistair to pull it out with a DC13 strength check. Right now, the DC is more than he can handle (23).
_
That said, given you have craft: gunsmithing, I can tell you that a modern-day gunsmithing kit would include a ratchet set. Alistair is more-or-less modern day and beyond, so he has the means to remove the bolts, which will free the girls faster than the Black Tentacle spell ends—meaning, despite your natural 1, you get the girls out as fast as possible!
_
Just make sure to include a gunsmithing kit once you finalize your gear, if you haven't already done so.
Meanwhile, Hunter swoops inside the ship's cabin. The brave falcon swoops over the chained slaves—some in mediative prayer, others squirming and shifting uncomfortably as their "prince" is hastily escorted to his cabin.
If Hunter wishes, he may strike the guard with his talons.
@Hunter, you may opt to attack the Bully!
The Frog Prince casts a spell to stop the falcon—
Black Tentacles:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 18 Damage:1d6 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6 Roll a 20 Grapple Check to escape!
—and the tentacles crush the poor bird!
The Bully looks ready to finish Hunter off, but the Prince urges his escort onward. The prince is rushed into his quarters. Sounds of vomiting are heard through the door as it is slammed shut and locked. And the girls faces wrinkle in disgust as the room REEKS from the stench seeping under the Prince's door!
Caledon knows that ships generally have low ceilings and this one, despite being captained by a "Prince," is no exception. With Hunter swooping in after two bulky frogmen in a room with eight chained ladies, there's little room for anything else.
He also knows that there is very likely a second room within: a captain's quarters. The portholes are not covered with glass. The holes would be an uncomfortably tight squeeze for Hunter. A smaller bird or swarm of insects could fly in.
..
Also, this isn't part of the check, but I'll tell you now that Cal will have a better understanding of the girls' predicament through Hunter.
Ness agrees to the precaution of tying the john to Bunny's bed. The half-elf pulls a rope from his hat—or rather, several colorful hankies tied together, which should function just as well.
Maude insists on tying the man. "I specialize in bondage. My ropes hold, but do not harm." Turning to Henrietta, she adds, "The experience can be quite pleasurable when the captive feels safe. Barge in my door anytime if you wish to experience this first-hand. As payment, I might wish to experience this hand first." The drow winks at Hank as she says this. Then, in a more serious tone, she goes on, "Whether you take me up on my offer or not, I wish you well, Miss Howard, and pray for your safe return. Happy Hunting."
...
The ship smashes through the dock—sending splinters and boards flying—before the bow penetrates the dock completely and embeds itself in the stone ledge beyond the boardwalk.
As Anabel drags the first body aside, it seems there isn't enough time for five people to save a dozen prone men—
—but Captain Andoran takes a chance and uses brute force to move one of the lamps, as if moving the flames can change the course of the speeding ship—
—and it turns out Andoran may be right! As he rams the post, it tips to one side and the lamp shakes. The distant ship shimmies as it adjusts to its slightly different destination. It'll take the good Captain a little longer to tip the post, which would change the ship's course just enough that Anabel alone can move three men out of the way in time instead of just one or two!
...
Posted this since, given that Cap'n A announced his reason for moving the lantern, you would likely think to look for a sign that his idea is actually working.
Anabel is busy moving 3 KO'd men (9 still in danger) and Cap'n A needs to use all three rounds to move the lantern enough to make a difference. Everyone else who has not yet posted can still post 3 rounds of actions.
Alistair is the first to see that the ship is heading directly toward the dock lit by the green flames. The flames are clearly magical, as the fire is now extending beyond the glass (through spaces between panes for ventilation). The flames reach toward the ship, stretching outward—inches, a foot, nearly a yard. The green lantern on the ship itself glows brighter and brighter, presumably reaching back to the dockside flames.
And the ship itself—
It's approach is insanely fast, spraying a misty geysers in port and starboard directions as if carving the sea itself. The ship will likely hit the dock in about fifteen seconds—
—and that's hit as in collide!
Unless there is a magical means of stopping, the crash will likely breach the ship's hull and definitely smash the dock into splinters. There are a dozen dock-workers sleeping there, drooling a purple substance that glows under the light of the green flames.
At first it appears no different than a glimmer of phosphorous, but when the dot on the horizon is more than a faint glow, there's no mistaking it—it's a greenish flame, likely hung on the bow of a distant ship. It's approaching.
Fast.
Unusually fast.
It wouldn't take an experienced sailor to figure out that the ship's speed is magically enhanced. If any of our heroes has ever boarded a ship with enchanted sails, the approaching ship appears to be moving two-to-three times faster...
(The ship is an ever-expanding greenish spark—still too far to see in detail, but it is definitely moving toward you. Those with low-light vision can barely notice a silhouette, just enough to make out the vague shape of a sail above the green glowing dot.)
