Round 4
Halstadt stil threatened by foes again swings his axe in a deadly arc.
Melee Attack -
Greataxe Damage -
Sir Percival sees that perhaps his skills with spells are no longer required, bounds down the stairs between decks with his quarterstaff in hand. He reached the bottom where a sauhuagin is attacking Rasputin, so with his quarterstaff, swings it at the foe.
As the quarterstaff flies at the foe, Sir Percival materializes in view of the party and the crew.
Base Attack with quarterstaff +4 in bonuses, foe considered flat footed.
Damage
ROUND 4
Gerain and Rasputin make quick work of there opponents.
Meanwhile Marcus moves to flank Halstadts foe, but fails to land a blow.
Percival moves down the deck and uses aid another of Halstadt, further aiding him in combat.
Captain Venkalie keeps with her men, whispering words of encouragement.
Haldstadt makes a mighty blow, damaging #5.
Grudge attacks and destroys #4, while Fantast tries and fails to hit #12.
The sahuagin, seeing the battle lost seek to flee, 12 jumps of the dock, avoiding Fantast spear again, while 5 manage's to get past Halstadt's blow, but this leaves him open to Marcus' attack of oppurtunity, which sees a rapier driven through his chest, ending his life.
"Hold still," Gerain quickly tells Rasputin, seeing he had sustained a great deal of damage. He quickly casts a spell on the ape, and some of his injuries closed somewhat.
Cure Light Wounds
Marcus wipes the blood from his sword before putting it back into its sheathe.
"I must of had sea spray in my eyes...could barely see." Marcus says, rubbing his eyes and sheepishly walking to look out to where the creatures retreated to the water.
Sir Percival collects himself after the excitement of the battle, but is suddenly somewhat tired and looks for a place to sit down and rest. As he does this he remembers the wounded crew member on the upper deck, he quickly goes up, but is laboured in his movements and with his handkerchief tries his best to bind his wounds and make him feel a little better. "Umm, anybody able to help this poor soul up here, he's a bit badly injured from the fight." His voice rises just above the noise of the crew and party, pleading for help as he seems not to be able to staunch the flow of blood.
He gets up and looks from the vantage point of the upper deck, having doen the best he could for the man, and looks back along the quay, searching out any crew member he might recognise, doing anything unusual, but his eyes filled with sweat from concentration and the fight, blurring his vision
Heal on the crew member
Perception
"Can the injured be moved closer to me? I will shine Angradd's light upon them".
Channel Energy -
Halstadt wll then apply more direct healing to any others who may need it, including the wounded crewmember on the upper deck.
Cure Moderate Wounds -
"Is this the sort ofthing that usually happens when you put into port here Captain?" Hal asks while tending to the wounded.
Cure Moderate -
After the battle, the town above is seen to have fought off their own invasion.
Captain Venkalie gathers the crew, and all of the crew mates together and all praise and thank you for saving the ship. After thanks are exchanged, the captain suddenly barks aloud 'Now! Ship up, we're damned late getting off this rock!'
The crew suddenly kicks into action and you are soon out to sea. The sails cut for maximum speed, your ship is sailing hard on the tails of Lady Vaneo's other two ships, out into the vast wide expanse of the Arcadian Ocean. On the second day you have lost sight of the mainland, only waves and sky.
After the attack, Marcus takes to keeping his gear within reach. If allowed, he takes a turn at the crows nest now and again. When not helping out with the crew, he splits his time between flirting with the Captain and keeping an eye on the shifty characters aboard the ship.
Hal asks Sir Percival to listen in on the thoughts of the unsavory characters to see if their thoughts drift to the attack. "It is doubtful, but worth checking on", he tells Percival.
In the meantime I will continue to mingle with the crew and perhaps even evangalize a bit, after all the power of Angradd helped save the ship!
Hal will also meet with the others in the group to see if they have learned anything useful during their time at port.
Agreeing to help Halstadt, Sir Percival elicits the help of Marcus. "Marcus..I mean Mouse, you seem to be quite nimble, as your showed in the fight to save the ship. I was wondering if you might be able to help me and Halstadt in a little subterfuge. If I were able to make you rather difficult to pin-point, you know a little invisibility trick, would you be able to get into the first mates cabin and take a look around without him noticing. Finding any 'interesting' documents in his cabin, Halstadt doesn't trust him, in fact thinks he's up to no good. He can't go to the captain, unless we have substantive proof."
This day, Sir Percival memorizes two clairaudience/clairvoyance, he uses the first to listen in on Skald's normal dining table, the second he uses on the dining table used by Erio and Otuma. Doing his best to report anything useful to Halstadt.
Gerain, to keep his senses sharp, practices shifting into animal form, alternating days between a shark and an eagle, swimming iwth and flying above the vessel. In between, he made sure Ras was returned to full health and was entertained on the vessel as well.
Marcus listens to Percy's idea, and once he realizes that he is not being sarcastic about the nimble comment, agrees to search the room.
Sir Percival excuses himself at lunch and leaves the dining room, such that he places himself in a quiet and secluded spot (hopefully his own cabin space), then spends time to cast his two clairaudience (listen in) spells on the tables where Skald and the other where the other two sit. Sir Percival listens and 30 minutes later, or when the second of the spells wear out, returns to the dinning table to continue.
Halstadt:
Two of the crewmen are considering conversion to the worship of Angradd, please make a Diplomacy check, with a +2 bonus if you have 3 ranks or more in Knowledge (religion).
Gerain:
You notice that a young whale has begun to follow the ship from a distance from your time in the sea.
Listening to Skald sitting next to te captain you learn three things:
-The next rendezvous with the other Vaneo ships takes place in the open ocean in a few days.
-Skald looks furtively around every now and then, as if nervous.
-Both are expecting a storm before the rendezvous.
Listening to the crewmates:
-Erio has been visiting the chaplain alot lately, which the other sailors mock him for a bit.
-Otuma says little or nothing, keeping his eyes down and mouth shut.
-Erio claims not to have been sick at port, but rather needed an excuse to get something, which he does not explain further.
You find little among Skald's spartan supplies, except a holy symbol of Besmara, the Pirate Queen, and a copper badge, which you can recognise with a Knowledge (local) check.
Sir Percival, not really sure that he has discovered much goes to Halstadt in the quiet of his private area and reports what was overheard. "You may get divine guidance as to the meaning of this information, but for me it doesn't mean much at all, nothing appears to secretive."
Sir Percival then returns to work with his friend Urol. "Urol, may I can you friend? Where are we plotting to go this next few days?, anywhere special or anything we should be aware of to make the journey safe and fast?" Sir Percival continues to plot with Urol the course of the ship
Diplomacy check -
"Thank you Percival, I must consider the meaning of what you have learned".
Halstadt will go to his cabin to cast some auguries based on the information learned (after I pray for new spells).
After sometime, Sir Percival will seek out Mouse and ask what, if anything, he discovered in Skald's room.
1d20+6
You don't recognise it, though you'll remember it well enough to sketch for the others. They may make their own checks if you do so.
Marcus quickly finds the others and goes over what he found, sketching out a picture of the badge. "Anyone have any idea what this is?
After praying for guidance, Halstadt comes back to find his companions. He realizes that he came on far too strong in seeking converts on the ship. Evangilizing is new to him, next time he will have to remember to reel the fish in more slowly.
Sir Percival studies the drawing for a while.
Knowledge (Local)
Gerain was very intrigued by the whale trailing the ship. Could it be something simple, like thinking the ship was its momma, or was it something more sinister, he wondered. Over the next several days, he jumped into the water, turning himself into a small version of a whale, and attempted to interact and become somewhat trusted by the animal.
Wild Empathy
Sir Percival studies the drawing for a while.
Knowledge (Local) 1d20+9
Gerain was very intrigued by the whale trailing the ship. Could it be something simple, like thinking the ship was its momma, or was it something more sinister, he wondered. Over the next several days, he jumped into the water, turning himself into a small version of a whale, and attempted to interact and become somewhat trusted by the animal.
Wild Empathy 1d20
The creature remains wary of you, and while you have not scared it off, it has not befriended you. You may try again after day.
Sir Percival let's Mouse and the rest of the group know of the 1st mate's connections.
"Should we take this information to the Captain? She may not like the way we acquired our information." Marcus says as he stares at the sketch.
"It is our job to protect the ship from danger, whether danger from without of danger from within. We should go to her with our findings. If she confronts him and he has nothing to hide then there will be no harm done".
Marcus smiles. "I doubt the mate will see it that way."
"What about the rest of you? Do you think we should go to the Captain. I think we have a duty to do so".
Sir Percival leans forward earnestly, "If we go to the captain with this information, we can only say that we have a hunch about his activities, we have no solid proof of any misdemeanor. Skald could just say he found it on another or bought it or something. We can tell her we don't trust Skald, but let us not play all the cards in our hands. We might do better to see if here is a connection with those other two crewmates. We should however make efforts to keep Skald under surveillance, follow his moves and find evidence to convince the captain of his ill designs on this ship. We should also find out what we can about the captain's relationship with Skald, how much does she trust him?"
"I'll take the Captain." Marcus winks at Percy, before heading off to locate the lady.
"I'll take the Captain." Marcus winks at Percy, before heading off to locate the lady.
Percy puts his hand on Mouse's shoulder before he goes off, "Here, take the drawing you did and show it to the captain, see if she recognizes it, gauge her reaction. Just say it was a nice design your happened to see on your way around the ship, so did a drawing. If she asks where, you may say you saw it in Skald's cabin as you passed, or something similar, but do not accuse Skald, just let it be known it was in his possession."
"Good idea Percival. This subterfuge is not my strong suit I am glad I have all of you here at my back!" Hal slams down a mug of ale looking hungrily at his meal.
Marcus walks around the ship until he finds the Captain. When he does, he approaches the woman and begins to chat her up. After he gives her ample time to swoon under his charm, he shows her the sketch.
"Every seen this before?" Marcus watches her closely to see her reaction.
Captain Amella Venakalie has been warming to Marcus over the days at sea, she is however still queit stoic, and certainly not the swooning type. That said, every now and then he does charm a quick chuckle out of her, quickly stifled. The half-hidden smile on her lips dissappears on her lips.
'That's the insignia of the waveraker pirates, and their eponymous ship? Where did you see Abelle's mark?'
Marcus scratches at his chin, pausing a moment before answering. "A badge with these markings lies in your first mate's quarters. I noticed it the other day as I walked about. His cabin door was open and it was within view." He smiles his sly little smile. "Sounds like a bad thing, no?"
'It does. Especially given that Lutheron Abelle and his vicious crew crashed their vessel in the Shackles only two years ago, there weren't suposed to have been any survivors.'
She pauses for a moment to think.
'We'll be arriving at the rendezvous soon. Don't alert him to your suspicions, I'll warn Priest Fezhumba and ask for Gozreh's blessing, if it comes down to it there may be trouble, and its an ill omen if we lose the first mate on what will already be a long and tense voyage.'
Marcus bows deeply, takes the sketch, and leaves to find the others.
"Mum's the word, dear Captain."
Wild Empathy
Wild Empathy 1d20
The whale grows a deep liking for Gerain despite his initial wariness.
He now swims up close with Gerain while in whale form, and seems to even recognise him in other forms. The crewmates begin to start spotting the whale as he crests nearby waves.
Most see it as a good omen, some seem to have an idea to catch it if it gets close enough.
Gerain was for the most part, ruthless when it came to hunting. Animals were there to provide sport for the humans. But much, like his relationship with Ras, Gerain felt a bit of a connection to the whale. He made a point to loudly agree with any of the crew he heard talking about the animal being a good omen, and use that to voice disagreement with the crew who discussed trying to kill the whale.
Besides, once the whale got close enough to the ship, Gerain planned to attempt to use his speak with animal spell to find out about the strange behavior.
Sir Percival listens to Mouse on his return, "You know, if he's that good as a first mate, he may have designs on this ship to replace the one they lost. Or he could just be taking us into a trap. We need to know if the other two are also associated with Skald and carry the mark as well. If he has allies on board, then insurrection and mutiny is more likely." Sir Percival thinks a while on how to manipulate events, such that they could search the men's belongings.