[3.X] Explore the Newland! (Group 1) - Chapter 1st.

[Yael]

Chapter 1st: What lies beyond the sea.
"It is already dusk, and the new blood is coming... The question is... What could there be after this enormous blue..?" Says to himself the captain of the ship, as he sees the new folk that will go through the Great Sail, the event when every captain must set their sails in order to explore in the name of Illyanis.. Alistus Khas is a city of reptile-like beings (lizardfolks, kobolds), and humans, who built a city that hangs and connects two mountains*, with a giant staircase that leads to the docks. "Ye better listen well, yer in the Wodden Princess! Captain Linebeck's own ship!" Shouts one of the men in the big boat. "I am Warca, this ship's maestre! And I am in charge of the place, here! Put yer things whenever ye want and get ready for the sail of yer lifes! Har har!" He laughs. He is such a weird individual, acually, he isn't a human, nor an orc. He is of a race that just surfaced at Illyanis, called Darfellan. A whale-like being that wears a sailor uniform and a cutlass as big as his ego.

"There's no need to be that aggresive, Warca." The captain descends from the helm boat. "My name's Linebeck, and I agree with my maestre in two things: First, to welcome you all to the Wodden Princess, and second, to tell you that this sail will be like no other." The captain descends even further to end up in the deck. He wears the typical sailor's uniform, instead of a cutlass, he has a more unusual weapon for a sailor: a weapon which origin lies in the Sesta province, a Kusari Gama. He isn't also from the human race, he sure looks like a human, but certainly isn't, and he just irradiates an aura of confidence and politeness.

"Before anything happens, High Crown left some crates for you, adventurers. Warca, bring the crates." The maestre obeyed as soon as Linebeck finished his command. After a minute, ten men from the crew brought a lot of crates, and Warca was lifting two, one in each hand. "Open one of them, Warca." Once again, the maestre obeyed in the act, opening the crate with his bare hands, thus revealing its contents.

"Don't forget that you're in my ship now, and this ain't no paradise ride, and this ain't no luxury cruiser, we're going at high seas, so aim for your survival first."

That being said, Captain Linebeck walks on the deck and enters the captain's room. That night you get to sleep in a bed inside the ship, and as sunrise hits, the morning bell rings.

Every player adds the following items to their own inventories:

• 3 weeks of Trail Rations.
• 1d6-1 (minimum 1) Sunrods.
• 1 Waterskin plus 1d4-1 (minimum 1) gallons of drinking water.
• 50 ft. of Hempen rope.

(Each player rolls its own dice)Out of Character Thread for Group 1. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?382040-Explore-the-New-Land!-OoC-Group-1)
Public Dice Rolls (unavailable).
* For a reference on how the city looks, see Cityscape, page 21.

[Marlowe]

[roll0] Sunrods
[roll1] gallons.

Ancona gives the captain and "Maestre" a long look as they perform their good-guy/bad-guy routine. A lot over the next few months is going to depend upon the character of these beings. Serves you right, girl, for not having a ship of your own. Well. Give that some time."Maestre Warca, Sir." She says after the floorshow is over. "Is there some policy against lanterns and oil abroad? I'd be pleased to go and purchase such items for my dunnage before we're out on the blue. "

If there's no problem, I'll add those items to my inventory and stow them below deck--did not buy them yet due to encumbrance.

She will also, given the opportunity, have a look around the "Wodden Princess"--Better than the "Prid of Xantheus", I suppose--to familiarise herself with her rig, condition, and general seaworthiness.

Prof(sailor):[roll2]

[Tyeal]

[roll0]
[roll1]

Gaerwed had been more fascinated with the ship itself, only acknowledging the captain and maestro out of habit than anything. She had never been on a ship before, and was taking this moment to take in all its features, and attempt to dissect the function of each in her mind. And, more discretely, she was observing the one called Warca, never having seen what appeared to be a whale-person.

It was the creaking of wood and mention of supplies that brought her out of her stupor, causing her to peer inside on tip-toes, and collect what she felt she would need. Giving a polite thanks to the Captain and Maestro, she stowed the items in her small pack, making it work as best she could, and proceeded to explore the deck of their ship. All while humming a little tune to herself.

[alanek2002]

Sharlas paid little attention to the words spoken by the Maestre as he came aboard, instead purrfurring to look around and examine the top deck for any convenient nooks or cranny's, whether for his humanoid form, or as a cat. Both were excellent for lounging around in, after all.

At the mention of crates of free things, the Maestre suddenly has his full attention. Moving with the others, he takes his far share, but he pauses afterwards, and asks Warca: "Hrrm. Would you mind if I took an empty crate with me to my\our room?"


And now begins my attempts to play IC. You just waved a box Crate in front of a tibbit, what did you expect? :P
And I'm sorry for the pun. I won't make that same pun again!

[Prehysterical]

[roll0] sunrods
[roll1] water gallons

Standing upright on his hind legs is uncomfortable for Steve. Still, he must stand tall or be even more conspicuous among the crowd. The wide-brimmed hat and worn explorer's clothing help him blend in, but the horns on his head are plain for anyone to see. Piercing yellow eyes gaze beneath the hat brim, listening intently to the words of the captain and his maestre. Seeing the strange fishman gives him some hope for the upcoming voyage. Steve looks out toward the sea. Weeks of hell in a cage, in a world of water. But beyond that... freedom.

Steve moves forward to claim his share of the supplies. He is disappointed by the amount of food portioned to him. Only enough for a week for me. I'll have to eat less. Hope I don't starve before we see the new land... Maybe I can trade some of these lightsticks for food. Don't need 'em at all. He is glad to see the other waterskin, which adds to the water he already brought.

The sight of the ship before him is enough to cause him to drop into his usual crouching knuckle-walk stance. He steps warily across the gangplank onto it, every step creaking wood underneath him. He takes a while to scout the deck, observing the parts of the ship and get used to his new prison.

[Yael]

Warca looks at the girl, who isn't attracting up attention that much, and answers her question with a bit of uncaring in his voice. "Go ahead, oil lanterns r' fine, but ye better be careful with dat fire, doe!" The darfellan starts walking in circles around the deck, giving orders to the crew in order to have the ship in a clean-enough state to be praised by High Crown's imperial army, which was stationary in the docks.
When the tibbit asks about the crate, the darfellan just looks at him and... Answers weirdly: "Be sure to bring a shovel with yo'rself for dat! Har har har!" He laughs and goes back to his trip, letting Shalas with his newly adquired toilet. Before going too far, he turns his sight back to Shalas and rises his voice. "Yer suite is exactly located down dose' stairs, it has a star in the entrance... It's big enough for five punks, so get yerself comfortable. Har har har! Also, yer gettin' one food per day, courtesy of High Crown, for you not to get dead before reachin' somethin'... Dinner serves at noon." Finally, he leaves.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The following happens the day after, anything you do before the Great Sail must be posted with a "Before Great Sail" either before or after your posting.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the long wait, Linebeck goes out from his room 10 about minutes after the morning wake-up bell rings. Everyone is gathered at the deck. He steps up on the quarterdeck and looks up at his crew and the adventurers, who are eight in total. Along with the captain, there's a mysterious figure that wasn't there yesterday, it is an elf of an unknown procedence, but with an aura that irradiates pride. The elf is looking at every single one of you, taking a couple of seconds between each of you, like if he was scanning you or something.

"Ladies, gentlemen, humanoids in general. We are here now, as for in a couple of minutes the Great Sail will have its place. Aren't you exited? Well, I am. To explore and to gain wealth, we are the explorers of the new lands that lie beyond the ocean, waiting for us to discover their secrets. We must remember that this is for our kingdom's sake, we need expansion, and we need it now! We are heroes! We are the ones that will carry the destiny of Illyanis in our hands! We are the Exploration Crew!"

From the nowhere, literally, a big thunder-like sound roars across the ship, it is very loud, which may deaf the weak, you can even see how most crew members put their hands on their ears and others shout because of the loud noise.
[[DC 13 Fortitude Save or be deafened for 1 round (6 seconds).]]

"Get your pants up, everyone! We are setting sail for an awesome adventure!" - Linebeck shouts as he raises the sickle in his weapon, for which half of the crew (the ones that weren't deafened) raise their shortswords and cutlasses, and the other half did as so, shouting and roaring at the captain's lead. The elf walks out of the ship, for which Linebeck salutes. - "Get this beauty moving!"

A DC 15 Knowledge (Nobility & Royalty) or Bardic Knowledge reveals the following information about Captain Iazto Maquiatis Koz.
• His name and title.

A DC 15 Knowledge (Arcana), Knowledge (Local), or Bardic Knowledge reveals the following information about Captain Iazto Maquiatis Koz.
• His race (Forestlord Elf).
• His race's abilities.

A DC 20 Knowledge (History), or Bardic Knowledge check reveal the following information about Iazto's lore.
• Iazto has over two hundred years old, he was already a friend of fallen Emperor Yailus Kaei before his departure.
• His skills with the rapier are to be feared.
• He wields some kind of psychic power.Out of Character Thread for Group 1. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?382040-Explore-the-New-Land!-OoC-Group-1)
Public Dice Rolls (unavailable).Upon inspecting the vessel, it is practically a Caravel with no war additions. The map is the same as Stormwrack's Caravel.http://doomedtoreality.com/gallery/albums/d-d-maps/boats-water/01_stormwrack_300_ppi_dfg19.jpg
Points of Interest.
1. Quarterdeck: The quarterdeck is a raised, open deck at the stern. The ship’s wheel is here, along with a small davit for a ship’s boat.
2. Foc’s’le Deck: This is a raised, open deck atop the forecastle. Unlike a normal caravel, there's no ballista attached. On the starboard side is the hawsepipe and tackle for the ship’s anchor.
3. Captain's Quarters: Linebeck's personal room, no one enters except for him.
4. Wardroom: The captain, officers, and passengers take their meals here. This room also serves as a drawing room or parlor for the officers and passengers.
5. Main Deck: The ship's main deck; unlike a normal caravel, this one features no weapons. The companionways serve as both stairways (ladders, in nautical parlance) and cargo hatches. Chicken coops and pens for goats, lambs, or other small livestock often take up any available space left on the deck.
6. Forecastle: Most of the ship’s crew sleeps here, although in good weather many crewmembers prefer to sleep on the open decks. The forecastle holds a dozen cramped bunks.
7. Galley: The ship’s galley is in the forward part of the lower deck. It has a small stove and shelving for all kinds of foodstuffs.The ship’s cook and his assistant(s) sleep here.
8. Chain Locker: The ship’s anchor chain is stored here. It passes through the hawsepipe in the forecastle up to the foc’s’le deck.
9. Lower Deck: This space serves as the first of the caravel’s cargo holds, as well as the crew’s mess deck. Crewmembers take their meals sitting on whatever cargo is convenient. If the ship is heavily laden, this deck might be covered to within a foot of the overhead, leaving only a single fore-and-aft passage between the crates, casks, and bundles.
10. Adventurer's Quarters: Your room is located here, pick one as you like (and share it with a partner, your call, Linebeck's orders.)
11. Maestro's Quarters and Ship’s Office: All the ship’s paperwork is kept here, including cargo manifests, pay records, and the ship’s paychest (usually in a sturdy, locked chest). Also Warca has its quarters inside.
12. Sail Locker: Spare sails, canvas, and sewing gear is stored here, as well as plenty of lines, hawsers, firewood, and heavy tools.
13. Lower Hold: Most of the ship’s cargo is stowed here, as well as provisions (including as many casks of fresh water as will fit). Beneath this lower hold lies a small crawlspace where heavy ballast stones help to stabilize the ship.

[Marlowe]

Fort save (using 1 inspiration point just because I can)
[roll0]

"Such a piece of High Drama", mutters Ancona to herself as the thunder crashed across the deck. "And how marvelously motivating; to let us know all we do is all for the kingdom." And then she raises her voice. "Maestre Warca Sir! Our watches and duties?"

[Prehysterical]

[roll0]

Steve already possessed a dislike of the elf, and it had nothing to do with all the horror stories he had heard of them during his time among hobgoblins. The crack of thunder causes him to flinch, but he recovers quickly. Deciding that the deck is becoming too crowded for his liking, he climbs the mast to get to some fresh air.

[Tyeal]

Gaerwed largely kept to herself on her time aboard the Wooden Princess. Making small talk with the crewmen, exploring the ship, and every so often coming on deck to stare out across the ocean and sing to herself. Mainly hymns and melodies she learned from home.

She was here with the rest of her odd little group when an Elf decided to make himself known. She had no real opinion of him, but that quickly grew to dislike when that thunder clap boomed out overhead. She cupped her ears and winced, shooting daggers at this Elf for doing such a thing, intentional or not.

Fortitude: [roll0]
Kn: History: [roll1]

[alanek2002]

[roll0]
*grumble* "Not a Litterbox, thank you very much."
Before The Great Sail
I place the box in the room I am sleeping in and unroll my bedroll into it. I'll be sleeping here, as a cat, inside a box with plenty of blankets.
Not Before the Great Sail

Sharlas's ears twitch at the loud noise, despite his grin.

"Ha! Adventure, and fame!"

He spends his days either lounging around, or working on his shifts, occasionally trying to fish.

[DracoDei]

Before the Great Sail
Timothy collects his stuff. Then does things with waterskins and salt water.

"If anyone is feeling even a bit under the weather, come see me. Disease tends to spread badly on a ship, and I'm almost looking forward to trying my hand against sea sickness... almost.

Also, I'm looking for investors for a very small project of mine. Basically, there are many useful and even life-saving things to be discovered in a new land, and I'm a bit short on paper to accurately record this very valuable knowledge so I may provide it more accurately to others for a fair price. Double your money back before I take a copper of profit, or a free look through any notes made on the paper I leave port with, which I will be filling up before any I somehow acquire later."

After the Great Sail
Fortitude [roll0]
Knowledge[Local] [roll1]

[Marlowe]

Shortly after whatever business ensues with the "Maestre", Ancona approaches Sharlas and taps him lightly on the shoulder. "You. Want to bunk together?" She says with an inquiring raise of eyebrow and no obvious concern. "Good thing we're not crammed under the foc'sle like the last couple of times I was at sea, but we're still going to have to share some space. You look like you'd be quieter than the healer or the gnome and more compact than the goblin-dog-thing."

[alanek2002]

Shortly after whatever business ensues with the "Maestre", Ancona approaches Sharlas and taps him lightly on the shoulder. "You. Want to bunk together?" She says with an inquiring raise of eyebrow and no obvious concern. "Good thing we're not crammed under the foc'sle like the last couple of times I was at sea, but we're still going to have to share some space. You look like you'd be quieter than the healer or the gnome and more compact than the goblin-dog-thing."

Sharlas pauses for a moment examining the human speaking to him, and nods. "You seem to not be the overly loud type yourself." He says. "Nor the most uneducated. It'll be nice to have somebody who knows if things are going very wrong, like if the caterwauling on deck is the sailors trying to sing, or us being under attack by pirates. Now, lets go claim whichever one's best before the rest think to head to the lower decks."

And Thus Acona's fate of being known as the crazy cat lady was sealed.

[Marlowe]

ANcona wastes on time in getting her dunnage squared away in the tiny cabin, laying claim to the aftermost space right under the captain's. "Pirates? Can't wait. Although mum told me nothing about anything plan--I mean doubt we'll be getting too many such scum on a voyage into nowhere. Pirates like enclosed coastal waters, close to small harbours where they can hide and dispose of their loot. At least, I've heard that."

She leans close and continues speaking a little more privately. "Strike you as--unprofessional--for the captain to be making us individually responsible for our water rationing? On a voyage into the unknown? Strange ship this."

[alanek2002]

Sharlas shrugs. "I figure that we're just supposed to save those for later; It's only a few days worth of water after all." He says.

He then sets his crate down in the middle of the room, and starts unrolling his bedroll into it. "Anyways, I think I'll take a catnap till the captain needs us." He then shifts into a fairly large cat, jumps into the crate, and curls into a ball.

Cough cough. :P

[DracoDei]

Before The Great Sail
"Never mind, I have received a very small grant from the more formal clergy."

[Yael]

Sails were set, and in the horizon you also could see other four ships leaving port at the same time. Then, after a couple of hours, silence. There's nothing but sounds of the seagulls that shortly after you left port, just returned to land, also the sounds of Warca's ordergiving and his annoying laugh.

One week has passed since the sail. You have been eating accordingly and have not spot any single glance of land at sight, as expected. At day 8th by noon, Linebeck summons (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=18392890&postcount=1) for Ancona, Luntikk and Timothy to his quarters. When you are all inside, he closes the door and asks you to sit down.

"I... Must apologize for bringing you here, but I have a favor to ask to the three of you." His face is surely showing a sad or concerned expresion, which doesn't need any kind of special skill to notice. "There has been... A less number of my crew-members working... If you understand what I mean... Men are dissapearing from the ship. I don't know what in ba is going on, but I would like you to help me investigating this... I am the captain and I musn't attract too much attention because that would place my men under suspicion and they may break... So, please, I beg your assistance on this task." He removes his hat and places it on the desk, showing a bright-blonde long hair that goes down through his shoulders. "If you want to help me, you may get rewarded. I must add, that the dissapereances are being held by nights, this happened two days ago. And already two men have gone missing... Please, may you assist me here? Don't tell my crew about this, this is... Delicate..."

After you set up, and nightime comes, I'll post a map for you to use.Out of Character Thread for Group 1. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?382040-Explore-the-New-Land!-OoC-Group-1)
Public Dice Rolls Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?383162-3-X-Explore-the-Newland-s-(Group-1)-Public-Dice-Roll-Thread&p=18392890#post18392890).

[Marlowe]

Ancona, who has doffed her helm respectfully, gives a nod. "We're part of your crew too, Captain. No need pretty it up.

"What do we know of the missing crewmen? And who was the last to have seen them? Oh, an; do we have a full listing of cargo aboard? Wouldn't be the first time something nasty wound up in a ship's hold."

[Yael]

Linebeck opens a dresser, and takes out a piece of paper, which he places in the desk, in front of Ancona's seat.

The sheet of paper has two names, one is Frank and the other is Ogguh. "That's all I have about them, their names. One of them was from the half-orc species, I remember. It was Ogguh, Frank's a human, for sure. About missing supplies..? Hmm... I will also ask you to inspect the hold, there's little permission to enter except for an autorization of mine or Warca's to get into the cargo hold. I'll give you this, if Warca asks why just tell him it's my orders for you to inspect the cargo." He gives you a ring with a seal of a four pointed star. "Be sure to give it back, though." Says with a smile. "Is there any other question?"

[Tyeal]

Gaerwed listened to their Captain's plea, concerned for her own safety now if crew members were being taken in the night. It certainly was a problem that could affect this whole expedition.

Standing up and taking the ring from his desk, she slipped it into a pocket inside her armor and said, sounding quite sure of herself, "Don't worry Captain. We'll have this matter sorted. I've done a full sweep of the ship already, just for my own curiosity. So there can't be too many places that I haven't explored yet."

[DracoDei]

"I'm actually surprised that the disappearances aren't well known by now. Not a lot of places for them to go. Did they have assigned bunks? Perhaps we might find a clue among their personal effects, or information from the neighbors... although that might be a tricky thing to ask. Do you think they were on duty when they disappeared, and, if so, what were those duties?" says Timothy.

[Marlowe]

"Not really thinking of things going missing." remarks Ancona has she skims through the manifest. "Thinking of something down there that should not be. Are you absolutely positive they did not simply jump ship before sailing? And if so, on what evidence?"

[Yael]

Linebeck listens to all of you, with his eyes closed and standing idly. He opens his eyes and answers in the very same way the questions were asked. First he turns his sight to Luntikk, the gnome, and responds. "Yes, they all had in common that they share the nigtwatch, for either boats, creatures or land. About where they sleep, most of the crew sleep in bags when their turn to rest is up, just outside your own rooms." Then he turns his eyes to Ancona's direction and, after trading eyesights, he closes his eyes and continues. "They sailed with us, I am completely certain because every week the nightshift rotates, Warca has a list of everyone aboard, by the way. I have a copy of that list, just for security measures; we may be at high seas, but doesn't mean we must act like pirates or something. Here, have a sheet. For the record, I'm always in charge of changing the rotation. I call on them to come here and assign them their duties. Warca's in charge of most things, but he isn't that good at warfare, I am, so I assign combat strategies. We may be at high seas, again, but cannons aren't that trustful, trust me." He gives to Ancona, from the very same drawer. " I must ask you to leave, if Warca notices about this, he may suspect as the nightshift roation isn't up until in four more days, so I'll trust this matter to you. Please, find my men." He says as he escort you all to his room's exit. "I am sure that you can handle this."

Finally, he closes his door, leaving you outside his room, where you can feel the sea breeze through your face, and the noise of the crew working returns to your ears.

[DracoDei]

"Let us check the hold first. It seems the most socially advisable thing to do."

[Marlowe]

"Damned strange this." Ancona fumes a little outside the cabin. "Wants it kept quiet. Doesn't want the Maestre to know. As if the ship's big enough to keep such secrets. And "Please find my men". Like he knows they're still around somewhere. Well, the hold it is." She checks down the manifest.

"Too much to hope for that we might find a item on this list reading. "One Ghoul. Boxed. Housetrained. Honest" or somesuch, but something might jump out at us. OK, let's focus on containers that have plainly been opened lately, and at or above a certain size. Say, medium-sized, specifically"

[Marlowe]

Checking. [roll0]

[Tyeal]

"It makes sense he doesn't want word getting around." Gaerwed chips in. "Wouldn't exactly keep chaos from breakin' out if the crew knew, y'know? With just us, we can at least try to move about inconspicuously and try and figure out what's goin' on. Also, never hurts to have the captain of your ship as an ally." She falls in step along side the clearly upset Ancona, just hoping to keep the peace for a little while longer while they search the hold.

Search: [roll0]

[Marlowe]

"It's a ship, Funny Man. A closed little wooden world. Wherein people have their places and posts and will be missed very quickly if they aren't there to hold them. Keeping it quiet is next to impossible and'll just give rumour a bone in the teeth. And keeping the Maestre out of it is damned sus." She gives the bulkhead next to her a solid rap. "Hear that? That's wood. That's the limit of all our worlds for the next while. A little bouncing cage of wood with salty death rattling the bars. Not much place to hide, or hide what's missing. The crew mostly sleep in one twenty by twenty cabin. You think they're not going to notice that two of them are gone?"

Seriously, Caravels are tiny.

[DracoDei]

"I concur. It doesn't add up. I suggest we find some other trustworthy souls who aren't part of the crew before we begin. Strength in numbers and all that."

[Marlowe]

Ancona looks thoughful. "There's my bunkmate, the funny little cat-changeling. Might be useful if we have to look somewhere small. And there's that strange wolf-goblin thing that turned up for embark. He might be useful. If he isn't the cause of the missing himself."

[Prehysterical]

Steve lounges on the crossbeam of the mast, feeling generally miserable. It has been a week since they set out from port, and already he is starving. Since it was unknown when they were going to find land, the varag was forced to ration out his food severely. He has developed shakes and tremors whenever he moves. It is difficult for him to concentrate. There has been a moment or two where he considered eating one of the other crew members. Such an act, however, would earn him a quick trip over the side, and damned if he was going to drown in the middle of all this freaking water!

Well, after all this time and hunger, Steve has had enough. Climbing down from his perch, where he kept from being underfoot of the crew, he knuckle-walks his way over to the box that stores the boarding harpoons and seizes one. Wandering over to the side, Steve keep his eyes open for any potential prey. If he sees something, he lets fly with the harpoon and hauls on the rope to reel in his catch.

[roll0]
Unless he takes a penalty, Steve acquires enough food to feed four people.

[Marlowe]

Yes. Let's move this along.

Ancona catches a look at the Gobbypuppythingy straining on the deck, and takes a moment to admire the sight of his rippling thews in the sunlight.

Then she shakes her head with a brief little smile and approaches. "You. When you're done with that, we're checking out the hold. Need backup. Someone saw a rat."

[DracoDei]

"But never mind us... you are shaking. You should have come to me. Can you tell me what ails you?"

[Prehysterical]

Spitting over the side, Steve concentrates on his efforts to catch a worthwhile meal. His voice is growly and thickened by a rural accent.

"The only thing ailing me is food. I didn't get enough when we set out. My supplies would only have lasted a week. So, I've had to ration it out, and now my body is punishing me for it."

Taking a quick moment to glance at the woman, he asks, "If we catch the rat, can I eat it? I'll take anything I can get."

[Marlowe]

"Yes. Just what I was thinking." says Ancona, instantly. "You haven't seen my bunkmate around? Small, quiet, coughs up fur occasionally?"

[Prehysterical]

Steve slowly shakes his horned head. "No, ain't seen that one in a while. Try to keep away from that one. Something about him makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up." His lip curls back slightly, revealing sharp fangs and elongated canines.

[Marlowe]

"If he makes you feel uncomfortable, just throw him some string." Ancona turns to the others. "Everyone ready to go on this exciting adventurer to the stygian depths of twelve feet away?"

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Caravel_Boa_Esperanca_Portugal.jpg
Seriously. Tiny. It's like having an adventure in your garden shed.:smalleek:.

Ours is a little bigger than this, since it has a foc'sle and so is verging on carrack status, but not by much.

[alanek2002]

"If he makes you feel uncomfortable, just throw him some string." Ancona turns to the others. "Everyone ready to go on this exciting adventurer to the stygian depths of twelve feet away?"

By cosmic coincidence, Sharlas happens to walk up to them just as Acona speaks. "What's this about Adventure? You weren't planning to have one without me, were you?"

*Kitten Eyes*

[Marlowe]

"Why, an adventure? Who ever said such a thing. We're just off to check that what is absolutely not missing is most utterly and completely not down in the hold somewhere; and that things that should not be in the hold are absolutely not in the hold. And it absolutely might not be dangerous. Care to follow, or not?"

[alanek2002]

Sharlas grins. "Well, I guess I'll just so happen to be walking to the same place you are..." He says as he joins the party.

[DracoDei]

"You know, as a doctor, I frequently give out certain directives in order to improve the quality of life of my patients. While not a strictly medical matter, I none-the-less feel that I must prescribe a course of treatment consisting of a lack of speech lasting until we are in the hold with the door closed behind us, followed by a second stage of speech without raised voices." says Timothy, raising his eyebrows and twisting his head to one side to look at Ancona.

He then turns and starts hurrying in the direction of the hold.

[Yael]

When you reach the cargo hold's stair, Warca himself is guarding the place, along with another crewmember, an elf of some kind, apparently. Warca notices you and glares with a grim look, asking you with a sarcastic voice.

"What could ye be doin' down 'ere? What yer business?" He asks. The elf that was at the side of Warca just walks out when you all get into Warca's interest range. Taking the stairs to the Main Deck.

[Marlowe]

Ancona just gives the Orca-thing a totally uninterested look. "Inspecting the hold, Maestre. Ship's business. Captain's orders. And don't you feel the slightest bit silly asking these sorts of questions when on a vessel barely 50 feet long?"

[Yael]

Warca gives ancona the mean look, he scans with his sight every one of you, and steps appart from the stairs.

"Hmmp!" Warca grumbles and leaves the scene, entering his own quarters, it seems, but never stopping to check on your actions until you go down the stairs. You all walk down the stairs and the cargo hold is just too dark, there is no light source, for obvious reasons. There are lots of barrels and crates, all locked, you realize that you've seen open containers only when in use, which is a good sign of higiene from the host ship's crew. The space is very tight, and the unstable ground makes it difficult to stand up sometimes, being at the bottom of the ship.

Map. (http://pyromancers.com/media/view/main.swf?round_id=92759)

[Marlowe]

"I'm going to fetch my lantern" says Ancona quietly. "Given that it's all of ten seconds walk away. Watch the stairs and don't let things in or out." She slings her shield on her back, and does exactly that.

[DracoDei]

Timothy readies his spear and moves forward a little, peering into the darkness.
Hope moving forward 5' is OK. Spot and Listen I forgot for a minute when writing this message, so I had to put it in the OOC thread.

[alanek2002]

As Acona goes to her room for her lantern, Sharlas goes with her to retrieve his bow.

"So, whats happening?"

[Yael]

While you can see that Linebeck's attitude is somewhat weird, there is no a logical conclusion that you could get to with your current information.You can listen only what you can heard outside of the hold, apparently the pirates are singing something but you can't even understand it very well, it goes something like... "-ate is free?"
The moisture is evident down there, you can smell pretty ugly scents that could come from a personal toilet, down there, from rats. Actually, you can see some rats down there, pretty small and just a few, eating something on the ground, you cannot discern what it is, especially because the rats flee just when you light them up.
When in the Lower Deck, you notice that Warca's staring at you, and when he notices that you discovered him, he quickly enters his room.
Ancona and Sharla return right away, but they didn't spectated the rats.

Everyone: Please roll a Search check.

[Marlowe]

Ancona returns and lights up the lantern. "Of course, I had to get a Bullseye model". she remarks pettishly. "Mother always said you were better off with a bright moon and a revealing outfit. Wish she wasn't generally right."

Search[roll0]

[alanek2002]

After watching acona fumble about while searching, Sharlas shrugs and tries his hand at it, paying special attention to what the rats were eating.

[roll0]

[Tyeal]

Gaerwed had been poking around in the hold before the others had shown up in one big group. Poking around in the tighter spaces the others would have a harder time getting to.

[roll0]

EDIT: Woo! Critical Spot check!

[Yael]

Ancona, while a bit distracted with her speech, doesn't notice what Sharla does. There are scales behind a barrel, greenish-blue scales of a considerable size. Very few are located within the barrels, and they seem very thick, one of which is covered with a red substance, which you assume to be blood.

While Gaerweed explores tigher spaces, the gnome spots out a bunch of coral tools, they are dry and looks like they have been there for a while. The coral tools are just like pieces of coral with sharp shapes, blunt shapes and multi-heads, which could be used for some okay lockpicking.

[Marlowe]

"All I can find is bilgewater and mildew" mutters Ancona. "Anyone else got anything?"

[DracoDei]

"Nothing of importance." says Timothy.