Pirates of the Ever-Changing Islands

[SiegeTower]

OOC Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?394954-OOC-Pirates-of-the-Ever-Changing-Islands)

The Capital port is as abuzz as ever! Ships from all four corners of the earth are gathered together to engage in commerce, political dealing, and a few things that only a privy few know about. For all practical reason, the docks you all linger on now are nothing but an entrance and exit for the ships to use before they begin their real business. It's so much more to so many people though. The stories told by the sailors who have seen the world are filled with unbelievable recalling of people and things which you wish you could see so you could believe even more. Even though the real business takes place inside the city walls, the merchants are always enthused to maybe share a little of the richness of the world with the locals. Swap stories with the right sailor and they may give you a pinch of the spice that usually only the wealthiest nobles have a chance to taste. So much happens at these docks and the sea of people bustling about on them can sometimes seem larger than the oceans themselves. The Capital is the center of the world for more than one reason.

Even in this joyous melting pot of all the world's cultures, there are a few who still seem to want nothing more than to leave this place. A young lad is running for the first boat he sees and he's praying to whichever God will listen that it's going somewhere far away. He doesn't seem to concerned where it's going but the guards who are browbeating the locals to help them find this runaway boy are a good indication anywhere would be better for the young mage then here.

Running to the same boat by chance is a man who has a little bit more direction of where he's going. While no one is visibly chasing after this sailor it's obvious that he's moving out of fear of something else. He keeps his composure as best he can but to a trained eye, this military man is fleeing in fear from just as pressing a predicament.

Meanwhile near the ship proper, a giant tower of a half-orc is loading crates of supplies onto a skid. Tossing a few barrels of pickles and eggs and pickled eggs onto the platform like it was nothing, he would be happy to finish this grunt work quickly and get to making a proper meal for the crew. The half-orc would be done already if it wasn't for a couple of obnoxious halfings who seemed to want nothing more than his attention. They force the cook to turn his back to the crates and listen to whatever insensate ramblings they felt they had no time to waste in telling him.

Of course those halflings didn't have anything important to say. They as well as a few other of their associates simply had something to dump onto the ship without any of the crew noticing. It was their job to distract the half-orc while a few more of them distracted the others. With none of them paying attention, other members of the gang of troublemakers toss their package into the brig of the ship. Not behind bars but still in a place where the crew won't notice the gang's addition to the ship's cargo until it's already out to sea.

Finally there was one cleric who was very tired of the crew's incompetence. He was on contract to assist the crew for the entirety of the voyage and he was not happy that their lollygagging was adding extra hours to this trip. Why couldn't they just ignore folks hollering at them from the docks? He would do his best to get this ship moving as soon as possible.

These five don't know it yet but soon they will be on a grand voyage at sea together! Will they sink or float?


(Six doubloons says they drown.)

[WingedSheep]

Grogory felt pretty annoyed. The purpose of this journey was to get away from people heckling him. Despite that, the city had to rub salt in his wounds one last time, as a parting gift. He had tried asking the halfings nicely to stop bothering him but, it was no longer worth being polite. The large half-orc carefully put down his boxes, and stood up straight. He growled at the halflings as he cracked his knuckles "Get lost."

Grogory tries to intimidate the pesky halfings into leaving. [roll0] + 3

[SiegeTower]

One halfling flees as soon as he hears the bones in Grogory's hand crunch. Imagining his spine making the same noise was far too easy for him. The braver of the halflings stood her ground for a moment. She was shaking in fear of the half-orc but did her best to look past him and at her allies on the ship. They gave her the signal that the deed was done and she couldn't have been more relieved. The halfling without hesitation flips a silver piece towards Grogory.

"Thank you for your time!"

And with that she flees away from the scene hoping the half-orc had been sufficiently appeased.

[Diful Takveh]

Klaus's eyes snap open, not that it did him much good. It wasn't particularly bright here... wherever here was. He does his best to take in the situation around him without giving away the fact that he was, once again, conscious. He tried to anyway. It was hard to concentrate on your surroundings when the back of your head was throbbing and the floor kept moving beneath you. Someone must have really had a grudge, or maybe it was the navy. Yeah, that was probably it, but with any luck, his fellows had managed to elude them and were on their way to get him right now.

Well, now that he knew where he was, there was less reason for him to maintain his facade of unconsciousness. He slowly flexes his fingers and toes, checking for responsiveness, then slowly pats himself down, seeing which of his belongings he had left on his person. Strange. He still had his bag. Normally anything that could potentially conceal a weapon was taken upon arrest, or so he thought, not that it would have done much good. While they had taken his short sword (and a rather large sum of money), they had left him with a pair of daggers and a score of darts. Fools. He figures that even though his head is still swimming, he might as well try to get up. No reason to spend all day on the floor.

He almost falls over in his attempt, but he manages to stay on his feet. Now focusing more on the source of light in the room than its contents, he notes that light seems to be filtering in from outside through horizontal cracks, and when light filtered through wood, it generally meant that it was thin or that it was weak, either providing perfect conditions for his escape. Now all he had to do was wait. He leans against the wall and quietly hums a tune as he calmly inhales the salty air and falls into something of a meditative state.

[SiegeTower]

"It looks like they locked you on the wrong side of these bars."

The voice coming through the darkness was painful to hear. It wasn't only a unpleasant sound but it also seemed that the throat which produced such a voice must have been severely damaged more than once. Klaus peers into the dark back of the room.

The lights make it too faint to see much but Klaus does see the metal bars which the other party certainly was on the other side of. The person speaking was likely male from his voice but could just as easily have had their voice so damaged that their pitch was indistinguishable. Klaus tries again to see who it was that was speaking but his eyes can only adjust to see a vague human form. He was sitting exhausted on the floor, his back resting against the splintered wooden wall of his cell. The rays of light coming from above deck couldn't show much of the man in the cell. One thing a particular ray could show though, was that they did not miss a single spot in scarring his bare feet.

"What do they have you in for?"

[TheEmperor]

Johnathan Hawkins, formerly a Lieutenant, Second Class, of the nation's prestigious Navy, speedily made his way through the docks, with yesterday's bluster and confidence finding themselves entirely useless in his current situation. Abandoned by his family, country, and sovereign, he was now a criminal, a rather quick change from the ever quickly advancing Naval tactical genius.

He looked around, hoping to not find the easily distinguishable uniform of the MPs anywhere near by, since they would spell certain doom for him. Instinctively, he reached up, and rubbed his neck at the thought of being hanged.



[roll0]

[Diful Takveh]

"Hmm?"

After trying and failing to make out anything more than a pair of scarred feet on the other side of the bars, Klaus shrugs, trying to call to mind a list of tattoos that covered one's feet or any sort of punishment that would otherwise cause such scarring. And judging by the voice, it is quite possible that his companion formerly had tattoos on his throat as well, potentially implying that this person had once had tattoos over the entirety of his body. If that were the case, he was potentially talking with someone who was formerly very important.

"Now... that is a very good question you have there, and one I might feel compelled to answer, but, though I might be biased for knowing my own tale, I feel yours must be far more interesting. Who knows? If I find your tale intriguing enough I might convince my mates to get you out as well when they come and spring me." He certainly wasn't about to incriminate himself, so revealing his deeds to a complete stranger was out of the question.[roll0] Knowledge(Local) to identify reasons for foot scarring. (Only +6 if it falls under another knowledge)
[roll1] Diplomacy

[CeaseofMorality]

Charles rolls a gold piece nervously across the fingers of his left hand. They should have left hours ago, but here they were still. If they were not careful, they would miss the tide. He puts the coin back into his pocket, then looks to the nearest crewman. "You! Sailorman! Where might I find the Captain? The beginning of this voyage is long overdue!"




Makes a diplomacy check [roll0]

[SiegeTower]

Charles
"Eh wut?"

A burly looking navy crewman breaks his focus from the now fleeing gang of troublemakers. He wasn't sure what he was doing before but he did still have enough sense to point in the general direction of the ship's captain. The man Charles was directed to did have a bit of a change of uniform from the usual navy lot but not enough to indicate any particularly high standing. The captain in question had just retrieved his telescope from a game of "keep away" being played by some thieves at dock level. The captain straitens himself up and notices he is being pointed at for some reason.


Klaus

The man behind bars chuckles which must have been very painful with the state of his throat. This idea was made true when an even more painful sounding cough followed.

"Oh you are a rather amusing one. Don't count yourself out like that. I worked hard to get folks like you to make your tales even more fascinating. My tale was written all over my body. Before when it was literally written and now that they've scratched it out."

The man in the cell does his best to sit up but the effort ends quickly after he cringes in pain.

"Being sprung sounds pleasant. It will be an easy task for you as you don't have a locked path to deal with. I suppose it will be easy for me too given a few hours. We can both sit and wait if you prefer."


Johnathan

Johnathan didn't have to look hard to find the uniforms he was avoiding. Powerful voices were shouting well above the usual crowds at the docks demanding compliance from the citizens. A small but growing group of local police and a handful of navy personal were hunting for a runaway and harassing anyone in the vicinity who they thought may have seen the criminal. Who they were looking for was clear and constantly repeated. A lanky teenage boy, known caster of electrical magic, brown haired and a little under six feet, murderer.

Johnathan was relieved they at least weren't looking for him. That didn't make it any better if they spotted him though. The former lieutenant turns his gaze away from the police back to where he was going. When doing so, his eyes meet with a boy who seemed very familiar for some reason. The boy looked back and noticed the fact that Jonathan was looking at the police right before he looked at him. They both froze for a moment waiting for the other to make a move.

[Dark Knight Renee]

Nevin Alaki was doing his best to approach the ship casually, angling for some unwatched barrels that had yet to be loaded aboard. If he was lucky, the big half-orc would remain distracted enough not to spot him. He wasn't quite sure yet what he'd do when he reached the barrels; perhaps he'd dump the contents of one into the harbor and climb in? But what if the food floated, giving him away?

Just then Nevin saw Johnathan spot him and locked eyes with him. Nevin froze, desperately trying to think of a way out now that he'd been spotted, with the cops so perilously close and all.

[TheEmperor]

As Johnathan looked back to see if he had any trailing MPs running around, he nearly had a heart attack as he saw a few familiar uniforms amongst the crowds, but he was able to calm himself when he realized they were searching for someone else. Still wasn't a great situation, but he wasn't being actively hunted at the time, so maybe his old man was delaying them for him?

He looked forward once again, with the intention of breaking through what was essentially a blockade onto the boat he wanted to be on, but instead found himself facing the same 'un the gits behind him were looking for.

He frowned, and figured since he was a criminal too, just like the kid, there wasn't anything telling him to give him up. Also, he was a kid! Hardly someone who belonged in the confines of a prison. He figured the fellow was also heading for a boat, so he motioned his head for them, and whispered "Keep. Running.", as he brushed passed the kid, who was acting like a deer caught in the headlights.

[Dark Knight Renee]

"Keep. Running."

Yes, sir! Nevin thought wryly, realizing that the man was also, apparently, on the run. He cast another glance at the barrels and repeated his previous thought about floating foodstuffs, then abandoned that idea and followed Johnathan instead.

[TheEmperor]

John managed to get a few steps ahead, before he quickly glanced over his back, just to find that the kid was coming after him. What a terrible idea on his part, since Hawkins himself had a bad idea of how he'd get on board the boat.

And it was possible that he'd attract attention to Hawkins, which would be a terrible idea. Of course, the only way he could deal with this was to assume his usual attitude knowing whatever the hell he was doing, and let the kid follow him. He was probably terrified, unless he was crazy. Which was also an option, since he was being chased by military police officers.

John decided to give the fellow a chance, and kept walking towards the boat.

[CeaseofMorality]

Charles walks briskly over to the (somewhat irregular) captain. "How much longer must we wait till we depart sir? We are already much too delayed as it is."





Diplomacy again [roll0]

[Diful Takveh]

Given that the floor hadn't stopped moving even after sitting still, that and the fact that its motion was highly repetitive in both form and length, Klaus presumed he was on a ship, and, given the man's comments, it was going to leave some time in the near future. It could hardly be a prison ship, he hadn't even been tried, much less charged with anything, not to mention the navy are generally better about putting the criminals behind the bars than on the floor in front of them. Oh well, better for him then. He stands, now compensating for the roll of the ship and walks over to the bars, trying to find the lock.

As he searches, he addresses the man, "As you say, it would be easy for me to be sprung as there are no impediments in my path. Now, I'm of half a mind to try unlocking this right now, but first I must know, what are the name and function of the ship we are on and will some sort of alarm sound if I try to open the gate. I can't quite see, so you might know something that my eyes cannot see."[roll0] Diplomacy (+4 Int, +3 rank, +3 class, +1 trait)
Take 20 (27) Disable Device on lock (+2 Dex, +2 rank, +3 class)
[roll1] Perception (+1 Wis, +3 Rank, +3 Class)

[WingedSheep]

Grogory doesn't look particularly relived as he watches he halflings run off. He feels a little disappointed in himself for threatening them. Something shiny glitters on the ground in front of him, begging for his attention. He picks it up, briefing examining it before pocketing it.

The only barrels left to load are the empty ones. While Grogory could toss them onto the boat like he did with the heavier barrels, they could break or worse bounce off the boat and into the debris filled water. The idea of swimming in there to retrieve them makes him cringe. Instead, he picks them up and walks across the sturdy plank leading from the pier to the boat. He carefully places a few of them down on the boat. His work is done, and he's almost certain that he isn't the one holding up the boat. Only the stars know what's taking so long, this must be the most incompetent crew he's ever witnessed. No sense in simply sitting around. Grogory picks up three dried fish and walks across the wide sturdy plank back to the pier. The large half-orc finds a spot that isn't crowded begins juggling the fish.


[roll0] to appraise the shiney
[roll1] to perform!

[SiegeTower]

Nevin and Jonathan

The two hurry their way through the crowded dock being ruder than most and pushing aside anyone impeding their progress. The two needed to ensure they stayed far ahead of the guards looking for them. Through conscious choice or by the only path they were able to make through the crowd, the two start to narrow in on a ship that looked near ready to leave. The sails hoisted and the crew seemed to be running back to their stations after having been lollygagging about a moment ago. The two do their best for this ship to hopefully not be a dead end for if it did, they would need to start swimming.


Charles

"Oh well I um..." The captain fumbles with his freshly retrieved telescope and makes multiple failed attempts to find a pocket to stick it into. While doing so he attempts to find an answer to Charle's question."I'm sure we'll leave any time now. Oh wait! Yes, i'm charge of that this time. Er, we'll leave as soon as preparation are ready." The captain stares at Charles for a moment and soon realizes the answer was not satisfactory. "Yes well. I believe that the "cargo" has been loaded."The captain stamps his foot to indicate that the item of importance was directly beneath them. His tone on the word "cargo" indicating it was something out of the ordinary. "So now all that's left to do is...well...um."Absentmindedly the captain didn't know why with the cargo in place they hadn't left yet. "Oh right!" With a snap of his fingers the captain looks over to the port side of the ship and yells loud enough so hopefully the sailor below would hear him. "Gregory! Have you finished loading the supplies? We're leaving as soon as that's done!"


Klaus

His eye's adjusting to the darkness, Klaus can now make out the much more of the man which he couldn't before. He wishes he hadn't. Indeed scarred from the souls of his feet to the top of his head, the man was nothing but a walking wound. For he was stripped of all his clothing, Klaus could tell they didn't miss a spot. The room Klaus was in seemed to serve no function but that of a cargo hold. The cage the man was imprisoned in seemed to be a new addition to the bare room. No one would normally think for a second of locking someone in here for it would be far too easy for any able bodied individual to brake out. The one imprisoned here now though was far from that.

The man in the cell wheezes as he tries to get his throat functional enough to speak. "No, nothing will happen if you unlock this prison for me. Well you will have my thanks for whatever that's still worth." The prisoner chuckles to himself but quickly regrets putting his throat through that strain. "You know you're rather reckless for springing a criminal on a whim. Those fine navy men above us-" A loud thumping of someone's boot interrupts the man in the cell. "As I was saying, those fine, well trained, obedient, knowledgeable sailors upstairs won't be happy if their cargo starts walking around. It's their job right now to ensure safe passage to a far away land."

A click and the locked gate holding the man prisoner is now easy to swing open. Hearing the noise himself, the man makes an attempt to stand and takes a few uneasy steps towards Klaus. "You might want to join me in this prison, I assure you it will be a lot safer in here than it will out there in a few hours." The man's legs grow weak and he slumps to the floor once again. He tries to continue to speak to Klaus but the rogue now sees that the prisoner's mouth is filling with blood needing to be spat out. "I nweed to be mwore succint when I spweak. I dwidn't bwother swpecifing which shwip swo I dwon't knwow tha name. Goal is two get mwe fwar away."


Grogory

The half-orc looks at the shiny and it certainly wasn't a wooden nickel. Those halflings were good on their word for paying for the Grogory's time. Grogory gives it a once over and it was a typical coin of the capital. If typical to you was the most prestigious currency on the earth. The marking on the coin indicated it was minted as close to The Capital center as any coin could be. The only folks who carried these were either the most important nobles or trader in the land or those who robbed them. It didn't take much thought to figure out which side of that coin the halflings were on.

Grogory was already taking his work slowly knowing the sailors weren't component enough to leave on time but this wait was ridiculous. He had loaded everything except for a few near empty barrles which even the weakest of the crew could carry up onto the boat themselves. It wasn't worth Grogory's time to finish his work until the sailors were ready to embark. The half-orc takes this spare time to practice an old hobby of his and maybe entertain the locals a bit at the same time. He takes a handful of dried fish and start tossing them in the air with more grace than big orc hands are usually known for. He thought he was out of practice but Grogory managed to perform a few flares with his juggling which attracts the attention of a healthy crowd of busy port folk. Grogory wasn't expecting to make a show of it but he guessed it wouldn't hurt. A crowd starts to gather around him and in turn, around the boat he was working on. All eyes were on him though as he start juggling the fish in one hand, bouncing them off his head, and doing a variety of small stunts which were just short of throwing one underneath his leg. The fun did have to end eventually though and Grogory heard the captain shouting to where Grogory was supposed to be standing.

[Diful Takveh]

The thumping of the boot above startles Klaus. Had someone been listening the entire time and only now revealed his presence? He quickly shrugs it off as coincidence and gets back to the lock. With the door open, Klaus enters the cell, turning around to tie the base of the cell door to the adjacent bar with the drawstring from his bag. Even though the door was unlocked, that was no reason to let anyone else know that. "Well, you're hardly in a state to be walking around, now are you?" The rebuttal had come out of his mouth before he had thought it through, "Though by the sound of it, you wouldn't want to be up there anyway, at least not until whatever is coming blows over." With the door secured, he turns around and leans against the bars.

He had wondered why the man had started slurring his words, and now that he faced him once again, he knew. Well, he didn't know what was wrong with the man, just that blood was coming out of his mouth. Upon seeing that, Klaus bolts upright, "H- Hey, can I do anything for you. I mean, this is the cargo hold of a ship, so there's bound to be something here that can help..." He trails off, turning around to look at the rest of the cargo hold while running his fingers through his hair. He didn't want to talk someone to death. He was too young to be killing people. Then he remembers that the man is still there, blood coming out of his mouth, and that the more he speaks or otherwise exerts himself the more pain he is in. He turns back around, and addresses the man, "You don't have to speak. I mean, if you feel comfortable with it, just shake or nod your head." Klaus knew a lot of things, and one of those things he knew was that people are complicated things, and he was not a doctor. There was only so much he could do, and even that ran the risk of causing severe complications.[roll0] Perception (+1 Wis, +3 rank, +3 class)
[roll1] Heal (+1 Wis, +2 feat)

[SiegeTower]

(Holy jeez Diful, you're rolling ridiculously.)

Klaus looked in a panic for anything in this hold that could help. There really was nothing though. It's just an empty hold with a cage. It was a makeshift prison but there should at least be some supplies. Wait, how could there not be. A voyage of any length of time needed supplies. Why wasn't there anything here?

Giving up for the moment, Klaus goes back to assist the dying prisoner. He fumbles with his hands and tries to think of anything that could help right now. While pausing and staring, Klaus sees a smirk on the prisoner's face that shouldn't have been there. Blood was dribbling from the corners of his mouth but the scarred man was looking up at the shadows of the captain seemingly happy with the state of things. Klaus knew this was strange but didn't have time to figure out the psychology of a tortured man.

The man's throat was flooding with blood and Klaus had to do something. There was one idea he had but it was likely lethal. He had to attempt it though as the man was to die anyway if he didn't. Klaus did what worked for his chain smoking friend once before and prepares a dart. Klaus takes the sharp point and jams it into the throat of the scarred man. Normally an action like this would be akin to a murder attempt but instead of more blood going into the victim's throat to kill him, blood started flowing out and air rushing in.

The scarred man inhales deeply through the new hole in his throat not at all seeming to mind the sensation of having his throat stabbed. He was likely used to it from a short while prior. The blood spills onto Klaus's hand which is quickly withdrawn and the rest dribbles onto the man's chest.

"You know, you've been quite a pleasant companion for my last time in The Capital." Klaus could't tell if the man sounded better or worse now that he was talking through the fresh hole in his neck. "I shall return the favor by letting you know right now that you are best to enjoy your stay on this vessel with my company. I do believe that those street-rats who threw you in here would not be happy to see you so soon after parting ways." The man performs a strange cough which didn't involve his mouth. "If you do not wish to return to the capital at this time you can come along on this voyage with me. I can not promise we will be in a place you will find familiar however. If you find that condition agreeable, stay below deck with my beautiful self for the time being. It will not be a long trip but if you prefer, I can make sure my men upstairs will have no harm come to you once we are out at sea. If you wish for voyage back, I can not offer it just yet but I can ensure that the rabble which brought you here will be taken care of. All I need is a name or two."

Talking more than ever, it seemed the hole in the man's throat was quite the success. It must not have been pleasant to talk through but after what the scarred man had obviously been through, he's developed a thick skin for pain.

[TheEmperor]

John frowned as walked towards the ship, realizing that he didn't have much time before it set sail, leaving him here, to deal with the bastards that would chase him down the minute they suspected something. He noticed that there was a bit of a distraction going on in the background, so perhaps they could sneak onboard?

He stopped, making a bold move, and turned around to grab the kid by the shoulder the minute he got within arm's distance, and said "Alrighty, son. We're gonna have to waltz on board, and if anyone says anything, you're my ward. I'm not a nice person, and the only reason why I'm helping you is because if the MPs are looking for you, you're probably gonna get hanged, or stuffed into prison, something I don't like seeing happening to minors like you. So, stay shut until we're safe onboard, alright?"

With his words spoken, he looked about, and pulled up his sleeves in a gambit he hoped would work, revealing the tattoos on his arms, showing his rank in the Navy and stature in society. It was time to put the tattoos to use.

[SiegeTower]

Among the sailors mulling about, Capital citizens scurrying around, and half-orcs putting on a juggling performance, it was very easy for Jonathan and Nevin to slip through the docks without anyone taking notice. Jonathan showed his tattoo to the juggler who he saw before was a crew member of this vessel. The performer seemed a little too distracted to care at the moment. With that being the only security blocking the path onto the ship, Jonathan and his supposed ward simply walk aboard.

A quick survey of the ship didn't seem to show anything out of the ordinary. The crew seemed a little more unkempt and less organised than was normal but that could be attributed to an excess of rum consumed the night before. Jonathan didn't recognize any of the men on board which was a good thing. Him and Nevin start walking as casually as they could on deck and the crew seemed uncaring. One sailor who was engaged in conversation with a cleric however took notice.

"Excuse me! This is a navy ship! You can't just waltz on here like some sort of pirate!" The sailor who was speaking to the cleric rudely breaks away from whatever conversation he was having and stomps towards Jonathan. "Off! Off with you! We're to set sail any moment now!" The crewman performs a shooing gesture with both his hands trying to coax the two away. While doing this he also leans to look over Jonathan's shoulder trying to see the docks below. "Grogory! Are you done yet!?" The man continues to flap his hands and walk forward and eventually bumps into Jonathan's unmoving chest. The sailor is startled due to his lack of attention and berates Jonathan again. "I said off! Who do you think you are!?" Instead of speaking, Jonathan reveals his tattoo.

"Oh..." The sailor backs away from the navy man and tugs at his collar. "I thought we took care of all of you. Everyone should have been accounted for." His eyes gaze downwards while rubbing his tongue inside of his cheek in thought. "Guess it doesn't matter we missed one. You won't be a problem. Just remember that I'm the captain for once and so I outrank you!" The captain was happy with his last statement and turned to leave the two be. One last thought crept into his mind at the last moment however.

"And who's that kid with you? We don't have any use for him on board."

[Dark Knight Renee]

Your ward, huh? Nevin smirked as soon as John's back was turned once more. In his experience, the ones who openly admitted to not being nice people were actually some of the better ones. Case in point, this guy was clearly whole lot more concerned with the wellfare of kids than that self-rightous orphan-beating soldier had been.

The thought of the dead man wiped the smirk off Nevin's face. It was then that he got a good look at Jonathan's naval tatoos. Interesting...

Once onboard the ship and faced with the loud (and remarkably obvlivious) captain, it was all Nevin could do to keep his mouth shut. The former Lieutenant had better know what he was doing... Or, apparently, they might be just fine even if he didn't, because this captain was the dumbest man Nevin though he'd ever seen in charge of anything. Seriously? How could you not realize that a ranking naval officer you didn't recognize wasn't part of your crew?

"I'm his ward," Nevin informed the captain when his existence was finally acknowledged. He gave John a look that was supposed to be "oops" followed by "looking for approval", but probably wasn't terribly convincing.


I suppose I should roll for bluff?
[roll0]
... Really? WORK, you stupid BBCode! :smallfurious:

... Whatever, someone roll 1d20+5 for me. :smallannoyed:

[SiegeTower]

The captain is taken a back for a moment trying to understand the scenario presented before him. A lieutenant he forgot about lugging around a child he was the guardian of. The captain says nothing for a moment then shakes his head.

'The navy has a bring your kid to work day now? You know what, fine. Just make sure you can hold your own when we're not around."

With that, the captain turns around and goes back to his discussion with Charles.

"So what did the navy hire you to do? Give last rights when needed? Keep sailors healthy at a lower cost than training new ones?"

[TheEmperor]

Having become confident in his subtle infiltration, which was actually a first for him (desperate times called for unorthodox methods, he guessed), John addressed the seemingly incompetent captain's questions on his 'ward' after the kid had convincingly stated their affiliation. "That is correct, and I am legally obliged to bring him along, so don't you worry, cap!" he said, before the Captain turned back, and quickly headed away, motioning for the fellow to come with him. He whispered "Well done! You're past your first hurdle... err, I'm not sure I remember your name from the posters... "

[Dark Knight Renee]

"That's because there aren't any posters yet," Nevin replied, "and they wouldn't have my name on them anyway. But you can call me Nevin... sir." He finished with a mock salute and a smirk.

[WingedSheep]

Grogory finally notices the Captain yelling at him. Apparently he was the one holding up the ship after all. Whoops. He catches all three fish and bows to the small audience. "Thank you for your time and attention" he says with mild embarrassment. The fact that there is a crowd at all surprises him, but he'd be lying to himself if he wasn't pleased. Grogory pushes through the crowd as he makes his way onto the ship. All the barrels have been loaded and they finally seem ready to leave.

He picks up the plank and tosses it onto the main deck. Grogory shouts to the captain "Sorry Cap'n! Everything is loaded! We could have been done sooner if someone helped instead of watching." Sure, the jab was a little passive aggressive, but he never had much patience for people who only did the bare minimum and nothing more.

[SiegeTower]

"No worries Grogory! I'm going to be running a tight ship while I can now." With that the captain stuck out his arm wielding his telescope like a sword. "Onward ho!"

A few lazy groans are heard from the crew and they get to work withdrawing the anchors and setting the ship a sail. The process was a lot less exciting than the captain was hoping for. Instead of a quick getaway, the ship had to slowly drift behind others that were leaving the same dock. In addition to this, paperwork needed to be produced at a multitude of checkpoints leading out of the capital. The sail away was less of an exciting beginning to an adventure and more of a lineup at a particularly damp bureaucratic office.

Despite the captain's previous bouts of fumbling, he seemed more than ready to have every document ready at each checkpoint. There were even several points where he asked to show the document not just to the toll-man but to a specific member of the government officials. Despite what the lack of knowledge the captain was showing before, he seemed over zealous in ensuring that the documentation given had fast-laned the ship ahead of many others waiting at the same checkpoints.

After all the paperwork was filled and all letters given their appropriate stamps, the ship could finally sail off in the manner the captain was hoping. He regained his position at the bow of the ship and triumphantly thrust his telescope forward yet again.

"Onward ho!" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdO86G5q-WY)

This time the boat was able to catch some wind in its sails. The unfurling of the mast immediately pushed the ship forward at a much faster pace. The captain himself was thrown back from the speed and landed butt first on the deck. He didn't seem to embarrassed though as he quickly brought himself back to his previous position and deeply breathed in the fresh sea air. The ship blazed forward and quickly darted away from all the other ships leaving the capital. It seemed that this navy ship was in much more of a rush than everyone else and tried to make the land behind them disappear on the horizon as quickly as possible. It didn't take too long for this ship to seem like the only one out in the middle of an empty ocean. It was nothing but the crew and the waters now with no stuffy military police to hunt them down. Even some of the crew loosened their collars and began to questionably still be in uniform. Free at last the ship was free to do what it wished and sail off to...wherever it was going.

Meanwhile, back at the capital, a man stripped down to nothing but his heart patterned undies managed to shoulder his way out of a seaside shack. His hands tied behind his back and his mouth gagged, he ran to the first group of officers he spotted. The trio of guards break away from their talk of runaway mages and give the splinter covered individual the attention he deserved. Two guards start hovering their hands over their weapons while the third pulls down the cloth which stopped the man from speaking. The first words out of the man's mouth were shouted ferociously into the face of the guard.

"Someone's stolen my ship!"

[TheEmperor]

Johnathan grinned in response to Nevin's just about cheeky response, and answered right back with "Well, I'm as far away from 'sir' now, as we're going to be from the center in just a bit! Now, let that discipline go right down the drain! We'd better start fitting in, before anything happens... Say, I like your spirit. How'd you feel about becoming a pirate, eh? It's pretty much the only reason I'm heading for the outer seas, to plunder and pillage, and since you're a criminal too, I'd say you don't have too much of a choice."

[CeaseofMorality]

Back when the captain asked his question:
Charles makes a slight bow as he recites a litany that he has obviously said many times. "All of the above, and more! I am a Comptroller of Commerce, and being of the Religion of Commerce means so much more than those silly daytime clerics with their frivolous rules and silly restraints! We offer everything from weather reading to the indiscriminate slaying of your enemies! (at the appropriate fee of course) and seeing as how the Navy has purchased the full Protection Package, I would say you are quite well prepared for most anything fate would deign to throw in your direction!" Charles then mutters under his breath "Unless it happens to be a pack of incompetent sailors..."

[Dark Knight Renee]

"Pirates, huh? You know, that's not a bad idea," Nevin mused, watching the pier slowly retreat behind them. "Should we be talking about it openly, though? Isn't this a navy ship?"


I presume this conversation is taking place just as we're leaving the dock, and well before we've gotten past the bureaucratic checkpoints. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[TheEmperor]

Johnathan frowned a bit upon hearing Nevin's words, as he considered it, and looked around him in realization. He looked back to Nevin, and said "Yeah, you're right. Let's try and work on board the ship until we're past civilization, and then get our plots and discussions up and working..."

[SiegeTower]

Now that the ship was out at sea, the crew gets to work. Grogory takes his place in the kitchen and begins work on an edible meal. Starting with what was going to go rotten fastest, Grogory plans out todays lunch and dinner. He was going to ensure the crew ate some decent food before everything they ate started having to be dried or pickled.

Feeding his crew wasn't on the captain's mind right now however. Keeping the thirst from setting in was much more important to him. For as we all know, any sailor that goes 24 hours without alcohol will suffer a morale penalty. The captain gives orders for one of the stronger crewman to bring up a barrel of grog from the mess hall so that all could enjoy some alcohol on deck. This was obviously a bad idea for spilling liquor and losing mugs overboard due to being outside was common but the captain insisted.

Begrudgingly, the crewman does bring up the grog and flasks. The crewman form a less than organised line to get the booze and in turn get their ration of liquor for the day. Though most start drinking right away, the captain doesn't take a sip until everyone has a mug in hand. Even the young Nevin was given a drink for he was old enough for it as far as the captain was concerned.

"Give us a toast now would you Charles? Something..." The captain waves his wrist in a circle. "..theological." The captain is impressed with himself for thinking of the correct term. "Oh and before I forget." He gestures towards the same burly crewman who brought up the barrel initially and speaks to him another order. "Bring the rest down to our cargo. Leave it there. He probably needs it all right now. Though we're out here now so he can come up on deck if he prefers."

The burly sailor nods and brings the now much lighter barrel downstairs not back to the mess hall but down to the lowest level of the ship. He kicks at the door announcing his presence and letting the one person he believes is inside know he's coming in with a gift.

The captain continues. "Oh Charles, that toast if you please."

[CeaseofMorality]

Charles inclines his head and raises his mug. "May the great spirit of Commerce watch over us, and though the sea will be treacherous, let us all return with gold in our pockets and an abundance of discounts on retail items!"




I guess roll diplomacy? [roll0]

[Diful Takveh]

Ah, so that's how he got here. Well, he's not about to get sprung from this ship, now is he? With a sigh, he slumps down against the grate, thinking about the irony of the situation. He had been trying to obtain enough money to hire a ship, and now here he was, robbed by his fellow ne'er-do-wells on a ship to god knows where.

Well, even if they weren't going where he wanted to go, it would be an adventure, not to mention, he had no love for the capital, "Sounds like just the change of scenery I was looking for. But for now, you wanted to hear why I was thrown in here..." And with that, he tells the tale of the heist that led to him being thrown on the boat, from the planning stages to the actual event, giving names where names as they came up while specifying that he would much rather have them taken care of a little ways down the road, after they forget.

And then there's the knocking at the door, and Klaus scrambles to the back of the cage and hides as best as he can. It doesn't even cross his mind that most guards don't announce their presence to prisoners."][roll1] Stealth
[roll2] Diplomacy

[SiegeTower]

The bumbling captain hesitates before he takes his drink. A quick shrug and he decides to down it soon after.

"Aaaaahhh, you have good taste in Gods my friend! Hey are you two going to drink that?" A gesture is made towards both Nevin and Jonathan. "It taste like piss and it burns like mad but it'll get ya drunk. Don't tell me you're too good for it Mr. Navy Lieute-"

"Captain!" An interruption came from the crow's nest. "Ship off the port bow! Pirate colors!"

"Wow! Didn't expect anyone so soon!" Carelessly, the captain throws his half drunk mug off the side of the ship and turns around to face the bow. He takes his usual place with telescope in hand but this time actually uses the device rather than brandishing it as a faux sword. "Yup, that's them. Alright! Hoist the flag boys! Let them know who they're dealing with!."

Back on the lower levels of the ship, the scarred man entertained Klaus' retelling of his story. The man in the cage even filled in gaps that Klaus himself was unaware such as who the superiors were of those who he had worked for. It was obvious that the man's claims of being able to take care of a problem for Klaus weren't just talk. The man seemed enthused to assist Klaus in whatever he needed and seemed to enjoy giving him the help in much more of a way than simple gratitude for all the life saving that was going on earlier. The man continued to speak through his new neck hole with the rogue but both were interrupted by a hammering at the prison door. Klaus ducks into the shadows of the cell and after that act, the scarred man lets out a pained groan to allow the man entrance.

The burly sailor comes in with a mostly empty barrel of grog hoisted over his shoulder. He had trouble maneuvering through the dark space but since there was nothing for him to bump into, he simply shuffles around uncomfortably for a bit. Eventually the sailor drops the barrel and a mug in front of the seemingly still locked cage and fishes for the key to open the gate. The scarred man interrupts the sailor before he discovers the unlocked prison.

"Don't worry about that. I unlocked it from the inside when I wished to exit and stretch my legs. The navy isn't quite competent enough to make a functional lock. Leave the drink where it rests. I shall retrieve it when I feel the strength to walk again." The sailor doesn't spend any time questioning the explanation and begins to wander back out of the holding cell. "One last thing. If you or any of the crew spot a unwelcome guest while out in the open water, please do not make any rash decision on how to deal with them without consulting me first." The sailor salutes in an "aye aye" manner and then leaves.

The scarred man doesn't go for the drink as most thirsty men would and instead talks to the rogue hiding in the shadows. "You may reveal yourself again. There's even liquor to celebrate your return. Drink your fill. I won't be partaking in any as I worry I will swallow it and then it will fall back out of my throat on the way down."

[Dark Knight Renee]

Nevin looked skeptically at the mug of booze in his and. It smelled highly objectionable and probably tasted as bad as it smelled, and to top it off he really prefered to keep his wits about him (unlike this fool of a captain). And, on that note, there seemed to be something decidedly fishy going on. This talk of their cargo was all very strange, and Nevin had a growing sense that something wasn't right about this ship.

"Captain!" An interruption came from the crow's nest. "Ship off the port bow! Pirate colors!"

"Pirates, so close to port?" Nevin exclaimed, startled. He looked about quickly for somewhere to get rid of his mug, while the captain pulled out his spyglass for a better look.

"Yup, that's them. Alright! Hoist the flag boys! Let them know who they're dealing with!" Another bizarre utterance from the captain. Nevin frowned, then peered up at the flag that was being raised.

[SiegeTower]

Nevin was nervous about the current events. Before he thought it was just unease regarding an incompetent captain but now something was really off. Nevin loses focus on the swill in his cup and instead directs his attention to the changing of the flag. Nevin couldn't see what new flag was planned to be hoisted but he did see the Navy colours being taken down.

Trying again to figure out what was causing his sense of unease, the young sorcerer looks again to the buffoonish captain. He must have been even more idiotic than Nevin thought. Any Navy personal in their right mind would be setting out some sort of signal to indicate the presence of pirates. This close to the capital, the Navy would have the criminal ship commandeered or sunk without issue. A pirate having the gal to even come this close to the capital was either planning something drastic or simply had a death wish. Nevin looked to the captain again. Given his tone of voice on seeing this ship, Nevin could figure out the former were what these pirates were thinking of. If they had an in with the Navy, they could survive these waters for a short while. It would take more than one crew's palms to be greased for pirates to survive here however. Either these pirates had friends all over these waters or they were planning to high tail it back out very quickly.

[TheEmperor]

Johnathan grinned as the Captain came out with an offer of rum, or whatever alcoholic substance it was, and happily accepted the mug. As the captain questioned his want for the nectar of the gods, he was about give a long lecture on how he loved liquor, except both the captain and he were interrupted by the cries of a lookout from above.

Pirates were raiding them, huh? He'd gone up against plenty of pirates over his career, and he'd discovered that lots of them were simply incredibly easy to kill, while some, the more experienced, he guessed, were incredibly difficult to go toe to toe with.

He downed his drink, set the mug aside, and his arms immediately went to his cutlass and axe. He then approached the Captain, and said "Well, my captain, are you planning to parlay with them? I'd rather you didn't, but that's hardly my decision!"

[Dark Knight Renee]

Taking down the navy colors? Nevin had a sneaking suspicion that he wasn't on a navy ship at all, but rather had stumbled into some sort of dastardly plot. Not knowing what might happen next, the boy moved away from Johnathan and the captain, careful to keep his distance from other crew members as well; if the crew turned treacherous, he didn't want any to be within arms' reach when he started casting his spells.

[SiegeTower]

The captain was busy staring through his telescope when Joanthan came to speak with him. The captain was rather caught off guard by this and yelps in surprise at the sound of someone immediately behind him. He takes his telescope in both hands and swings it like a club at Jonathan's head but misses by a mile. He holds himself in the pose after taking his swing and a miss just realizing who was talking to him. The captain looks at Jonathan, then his weapons, then back to Jonathan, then at the fragile little telescope in his hands. The captain suddenly breaks his mid-swing pose and hide the telescope behind his back.

"Anyone ever tell ya it's rude to sneak up on people?" He chuckles trying to hide his embarrassment. "Sorry you were asking about a parloo, parlee, parley! Yes, that, that is the thing which we will..." The captain gestures at one of the men on crew to discuss something quickly. The sailor obviously knew what he wanted to hear so he and whispers it into the captain's ear. "Oh yes! We shall parlame with them as soooon as they approach. Or rather we're headed that way anyway soooo I guess we could catch up with them to do it."

The captain stands awkwardly in front of Jonathan finding it hard to meet his gaze. He clicks his tongue a few times not able to think of any better way to stall while thinking of something to say. A few times he looks over his shoulder to see how close the pirate ship had made it. It was coming into view now. The ship dwarfed the vessel they were on by a fair amount."Sooo, yeah. You can keep your hands off your weapons. No harm shall come to the uh, parties while parlaining. It's the Navy code, right? You should know Mr. Lieutenant."

The other members of the crew notice the captain was starting to worry and they begin to do their part in diffusing the situation. Nevin was keeping a safe distance from the sailors but that didn't stop one particularly zealous crew member from trying to speak to the lad. "You barely touched your drink there boyo. Come on, have a swig. What was it ye were on this ship for again? Your daddy over there is supposed to be doing some Navy business while ya tag along? That don't make you Navy do it? Come on, have a swig and just be a good lad. Ain't nothing to worry about. Just let the grown ups talk it out."

At the same time as this, another crewman starts talking to Charles. "You're a mercenary for hire right? That mean you ally with whoever pays you most? So you don't have to worry if it's Navy or maybe someone else, right?"

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Grogory's stew is almost ready! He gives it a taste from a teaspoon and it's neeeaaar perfect. Just a tiny bit more leek and it will be the perfect balance of leek and potato. The crew is in for quite a surprise when they get a taste of a great meal while out at sea.

[Dark Knight Renee]

Nevin scowled at the pushy sailor. "If you want this swill, you can have it... later. But right now, I'm going to have to insist that you back off."


Nevin is sufficiently paranoid that he has readied an action to cast Shocking Grasp if the sailor tries to grab him.

[CeaseofMorality]

Charles begins to think of this entire situation as quite odd, and with this latest strange question from the crewman, along with the highly irregular captain, and the long departure time, he begins to put the pieces together.




roll for sense motive: [roll0]

[Diful Takveh]

Well, it hardly seemed that this man was unwelcome on this ship, at least not by every member on this ship. As he contemplates the number of people who would have to be allied with his companion in the hold, he pours himself a mug of the brew. Mug filled, he turns back to the man. Under normal circumstances, it would be rude to drink in the presence of someone you had recently met without sharing, but circumstances being what they were, he raises his mug, "To the day that the two of us may raise our mugs together." With the toast made, he drinks quickly, more inhaling the alcohol than drinking it.

He had hoped that the drink would serve to quench his thirst brought upon by a rather long story, which it did, but he could do without the burn of alcohol which he was less than familiar with. He does his best to maintain his composure as he asks, "Now, I'm assuming those" he does his best to remember what his cellmate had said earlier, "well trained, obedient sailors aren't all navy, or at least most of them aren't. So..." He has so many questions that he wants to ask but doesn't quite know where to start, "Is there anything I can do for you, outside of being a conversation companion and adequate throat stabber?" He tries to read the man's expression and body language as he does so. He senses that it would be an awful idea to get on this man's bad side by asking the wrong questions.[roll0] Diplomacy
[roll1] Sense Motive

[SiegeTower]

Nevin

The sailor moving towards Nevin starts to slow his pace as to not excite the boy too much. "Wait a mo' thar boy. You're starting to sound a little scared now ain'tchye? No need to be worryin' 'bout nuthin'. Just don't be trifling in your daddy's business, ya hear? I ain't trying to take your drink either. Just take a sip. It'll calm ya down."


Charles

It doesn't take much effort for Charles to figure out what's going on. He is still awaiting his payment for taking on this contract with the Navy but now it seems he'll be having to ask for hazard pay if he follows through with it. If he doesn't though, he'll be breaking a rather important contract for the military which will not be putting him in their best books. He will be getting payment one way or another though. The crewman talking to him now is fiddling with a coin much like Charles was earlier. It's an asking price for switching sides he's looking for.


Klaus

The scarred man smiles as best he can when Klaus gives his toast. It was hard to see the smile given the man's lips were just as evenly scarred as the rest of him but Klaus got the message. "Well they may not all be the best trained but they are obedient. It would be difficult for them to fail to perform the task I had assigned for them. The first part they were able to enjoy as all brutish men do. Robbery is sometimes fine for them but I think they were less subtle about it. Steal a ship and take the clothes off the captain's back. Simple enough work for their kind."

"Then nothing could stop this prison ship from leaving the harbor. Only the most official stamps and important signatures adorned their papers. It was as if the king himself, or the next best thing, gave direct orders for these lowly navy personal to transport this prisoner as quickly as possible. I think everything went according to plan giving we are out at sea now." The man smiles again hoping to have satisfied Klaus curiosity. He speaks again to answer Klaus' other question.

"Well a straw would be nice I suppose. If I have the capacity to breath and at least partially speak through this hole, I suppose I could put it to use as my new tasting spout. I believe we shall soon be tasting finer drink than we have now. We will be switching transports soon."

[TheEmperor]

Johnathan calmly moved his head away in a reactionary move to the captain's scared attack, but realized that there really hadn't been a reason to, since the Captain had missed where his head had been by a few oceans distance. He let his arms down in reaction, and made a grumpy noise from his throat, before continuing conversation for just a moment.

"Right, Navy code... Pirates don't have too much of a code, or at least an inclination to stick to it, so do be careful..." were his words, before he turned his back on the jumpy captain, and headed towards the edge of the boat, to improve his view on the oncoming ship.


Perception roll

[roll0]

[SiegeTower]

The captain holds his swinging position for as long as Jonathan stays in front of him. A meager "...okay" is spoken by him as Jonathan leaves.

As he was done dealing with the buffoon for now, the former lieutenant works on getting a better vantage point to see the oncoming ship. He can't make out everything given the distance but what he can see is that the ship was moving surprisingly fast. With wind, man power, and even the tide on its side, this ship must have been built and crewed to sail as quickly as possible. The ship would be within boarding distance any time now and the captain obviously wasn't making any effort to avoid this scenario.

[CeaseofMorality]

Charles grins at the pirate. "That may be so, but betraying the Navy is going to require quite a large asking price. It would have to be quite large, at least double what the Navy commissioned for it to be worth my order's while."



roll for diplomacy [roll0]

[SiegeTower]

The sailor winces when he hears Charle's asking price. "Ouch. Okay that's pretty fair but we don't got that on us right now. How 'bout when my superior gets here she'll cover that amount? In the meantime you just sit tight and remember who's side your on, eh?"

[Dark Knight Renee]

The look Nevin gave the sailor was one of disdain. "Are you deaf, or just stupid? Turn around and walk way."

[CeaseofMorality]

Charles looks sideways at the sailor. "Just as long as we are understood to have an agreement. Any double crossing and my order will leave a giant whirlpool where your ships previously existed, and that is if they are feeling merciful."

[WingedSheep]

Grogory takes a swig of the "cooking" wine as he watches the soup cool. Most ships would be too cheap for wine but luckily for him the man who hired him fancied himself a gourmet. All he had to do was mention a few dishes and the fella was hastily scribbled it into the list of supplies.

He grabs a fistful of fresh parsley he chopped earlier and gently drops it in the pot. Normally this soup wouldn't call for nearly that much, but judging by the crew they could use a bit of breath freshening. Hmmm, maybe the next meal should have some mint. Grogory picks up a bucket of mugs and hangs it over his forearm. Then, he drops his ladle into the stew and goes to the main deck. "Food's ready!" he shouts gruffly as he makes his way to the crude table nailed to to the deck.

[roll0]
I don't think posting from my phone was a success.

[TheEmperor]

Hawkins lifted his foot, and rested it on the parapet of the ship, leaving his hands to lie on his knees. As he gazed at the ship, he noted that the ship was built for speed, giving him a few worries as to their intentions. Would they actually wait for the idiot-captain to yell parley before they chopped him to pieces?

What were they even doing here? They were far too close to the ports for comfort, and it was unnerving at best... They likely had a purpose, and it didn't seem like it was to go and help old ladies cross the street. He shook his head, and disregarded the Captain's pleas for him to leave his weapons in their holsters, as he kept his hands on the shafts, ready to draw.


OOC Meaning: Ready action to draw both weapons

[WingedSheep]

The pot makes contact with the table with a dull tud. Surprisingly little soup spills out because the pot is half full. The mugs clank together as Groggory puts down the bucket. Since he's put down his items, he takes this opportunity to straighten out his apron. It's a faded blue, mostly clean and has small fish embroidered on it. He places two mugs on the table and fills them with warm stew. He purposefully strides over, mugs in hands, to Nevin and the sailor he seems to be having a disagreement with. Holding out the mugs he asks "Stew gentlemen?"

Out of the corner of his eye he sees a large boat.

[roll0]

[SiegeTower]

The sailor speaking with Charles runs his hand through his greasy hair not too happy about the arrangement. "Alright fine, none of us are gonna be screwin' with ya. Uh, just make sure you're the one who talks with her about how much we owe ya. If I'm the one tellin' her that amount she's gonna dock it from my share of loot."

Charles managed to end up a better position after talking to a crewman, Nevin however was slowly being inched towards the edge of the boat by a slightly intimidating sailor. The man harassing Nevin didn't have any clue the young sorcerer was capable of anything and was all but ready to wrestle the stowaway to the ground and due away with him for now. Before he got his chance though he was interrupted by the ship's cook forcefully pushing a mug of stew into his chest. "Stew gentlemen?"

The sailor looks up at the much larger man and even though all the half-orc had on him was some hot soup and an apron, he did not want to get into a scuffle with him at the moment. The sailor begrudgingly take the mug of soup and gives it an aggressive gulp as he walks away from Groggory and Nevin.

The captain noticed that dinner was on as well and didn't wait for his share to be brought to him. He snags one of the mugs left on the table and dunks it into the pot. The captain puts his off hand holding his telescope on his hip and happily downs his dinner. A happy "aaahhh" leaves the captain's lips as he enjoys his meal and ignores what most would consider to be a more pressing manner.

That more pressing manner was payed attention to by Groggory. Even though he had only left the comfort of the kitchen for a moment, it didn't take much effort to notice a pirate ship was speedily sailing towards them. Groggory keeps the mug of soup raised towards Nevin but looks over his shoulder to view the oncoming ship. Groggory doesn't notice much that wasn't already apparent to those looking but does see a strange sight on the bow of the ship. Hanging from a rope well fastened to the ship's bow, a fur covered humanoid was dangling. It didn't look to be against their will however as they were casually holding onto a large stick in their off hand and facing forward in the the direction their ship was moving. It was a strange sight but Groggory figured they'd figure out what was up with it soon enough.

[Dark Knight Renee]

"Thank you," Nevin says to Grogory. To the sailor, he says, "You just narrowly missed getting the biggest shock of your life. Now take your food and **** off."

With that, Nevin takes the food offered by Grogory and quickly locates a spot to put down the drink he wasn't planning on ever drinking. "Got any idea why nobody seems the least bit alarmed by that approaching pirate ship?" he asks Grogory casually, before rapidly consuming his stew.

[WingedSheep]

Groggory shrugs. "We're out at sea. Pirates are pretty common out here. They're all about stealing and don't got much on here to steal. " he answers without any concern. He isn't frighted of pirates even if the ship is apparently heading for them. Something certainly seems odd about it, but so what? It's not like he can do anything about it even if he was worried. There is still lots of stew left that should be handed out before it gets cold. No sense in fightin' on a empty stomach, if that's what it's going to come down to.

He walks back to acquire some more mugs. Some of the crew have helped themselves. This annoys him a little, but at least they're enthusiastic about eating. He picks up another pair of mugs and approaches Charles. "Have some stew." he says as he extends a mug towards the cleric.


Lets see if he knows anythin' about pirates.
[roll0] (knowledge local)

[SiegeTower]

The sailor who was bothering Nevin doesn't bother returning any insults. The kid was still young and he would inevitably have an attitude when told to do anything. He wasn't going to act anything like a proper sailor until he matured but in the meantime, he could at least swear like one.

Groggory lets Nevin cool off for a bit but stays close enough to him that Groggory could intervene if any trouble started brewing again. He goes back to his pot of stew and gives a mugful to the nearest hungry sailor relative to Nevin. This ended up being Charles, the man of unquestioning loyalty to the all mighty dollar. Groggory waits for Charles to accept the liquid meal and thinks of who else was looking hungry right now. It seemed the only one who didn't grab anything to eat was Jonathan. Of everyone else on this ship, he was the only one that showed even the slightest concern for the oncoming pirate vessel. He was more than concerned. He had his weapons at the ready expecting something terrible.

Groggory was going to offer the man some food as well but was sure Jonathan would refuse it as he would need both hands free. No one else had this problem though so Groggory thinks of what could possibly be eating Jonathan's goat that didn't bother any else. Those were pirates approaching and this was a Navy ship, so the crew should in theory be getting ready for battle. Since none of them were, the only thing that could be happening now was that this was a planned encounter. The Navy does need to make arrangements to simply speak with criminals sometimes. Why this ship had any business with what looked like a get-away vehicle was beyond Groggory though.

Next post is gonna have the pirates within boarding distance. Make any arrangements for that now if you wish.

[CeaseofMorality]

Charles takes the stew gratefully and starts gulping it down. "Ah, food, the first great commodity. One of the most prominent rules of our order is that, even with all of its power, gold is not edible."

[SiegeTower]

With no one but Jonathan seeming to care, the oncoming pirate ship continues onward until it can position itself parallel to the navy boat. The two ships would seemingly drift apart as they were facing opposite directions but the tides themselves kept the two boats together. What was causing this was immediately obvious as more than a couple merfolk mages could be seen on-board the pirate ship concentrating on keeping the waters moving in a way to keep the boats still.

It wasn't only the mages on board that kept the pirate ship moving quickly through the waters but every part of it was designed for speed. From the aerodynamic design of the ship's body to the multiple layers of sails down to the man powered oars which seemed redundant at the least. There wasn't anything to the pirate ship in terms of defenses or cargo space but those were likely removed as they would slow the ship down. Still, even though this ship served one very particular function, it still dwarfed the dinky navy boat that the navy was using right now.

The one non-aerodynamic part of the pirate ship dangled over the side of it in a very obvious manner. Hanging on by a rope was a dark furred catfolk whose demeanor suggested she was in that position for her own amusement. She hung on by one arm while swinging a staff around in her free hand and cheering. The cat lady was soaked from the water splashing against her on the ride over but it didn't phase her at all. She had even worn goggles to keep the water from getting in her eyes even if it soaked the rest of her face.

Now that she was within shouting distance of the other ship, she looks over to the crew on the navy ship and speaks to the nearest person to her. This just so happened to be Jonathan who was the only one ready to take action against the pirates.

"Don't worry loves, cavalry's 'ere! Hey!?" The woman points her stick at Jonathan. "You don't look too familiar. You one of those mercenaries they hired? Hurry along now! We need to get the cargo on board and get to it! Where's the captain?"

Meanwhile in the navy ship's basement, the shadow of the other ship had darkened the cargo hold even further. The scarred man makes a token attempt to pick himself up when he notices.

"I believe that indicates it's time I took my leave. Would you be so kind as to assist me getting up those stairs?"

[TheEmperor]

Johnathan kept an eye on the pirate ship, as it quickly bridged the gap between the naval ship he was on and the pirate ship. As it did come within a stone's throw worth of a distance, he noticed a catfolk lad- woman hanging off the ship, on one of the myriad of ropes that adorned the ship, and it's complicated topside propulsion system.

As she called to him, he hailed back, and replied, cupping around his mouth to accentuate his voice, "The capn's currently making his way about, he's got some words about parlay or some such! I'll head below decks to help with the cargo!", making up lies to make up for his lack of clues as to what she was talking about.

He headed back toward the stairs that went below deck, letting his hands drop from his weapons' hilts, with a question on his mind. Cargo? Something was off. A Naval ship going to meet a fast pirate ship which didn't have armaments to deliver cargo? Definitely off.

[Dark Knight Renee]

Nevin skipped over to Johnathan's side as the former Navy officer turned to head for the lower decks. "Well, this is certainly interesting!" He said, quietly but excitedly. "I knew this wasn't a proper Navy ship. We gonna go see who the 'cargo' is?"

[SiegeTower]

"Parley? Sure, why not. You go get the cargo and I'll "parley" with the dearest captain." The pirate woman doesn't hang around waiting for a plank to be fastened between the two ships and instead take the most direct route she can. She takes a few test bounces off the side of her ship and then spring herself off of it to jump straight onto the naval vessel. This was an easy enough feat for her to perform and makes a show of it while she can by doing at least one flip in the air and sticking the landing. Her boarding done, she casually and quickly prances about the deck trying to find the captain. Didn't take much effort as he was just milling about slurping up stew.

"They really made you the captain love? Lemme give it a guess. You were the only only one who fit in the uniform?" The cat lady pokes at the captain's wimpish frame with her stick causing him to cough up quite a bit of stew. "Wot? You getting seasick now? Eh? Eh? You know you're gonna have to be giving up that hat soon. Can't have an embarrassment like yourself representing us." The woman continues to poke at the captain despite his obvious discomfort. He doesn't fight back even though even his small self is at least a foot taller than the cat pirate. Eventually she does tire of bothering the captain though and instead helps herself to a mugful of the stew.

"How'd you manage to get yourself real food on dingy like this?" The cat lady takes a gulp. "Freshly made too? If it wasn't for all the salt there was in this I might even be eatin' this on land. You got an actual chef on board?" The question was likely meant for the captain but wasn't actually addressed to anyone. It seemed the cat pirate just liked to talk a lot. "So we leaving soon or wot? Where's the cargo? Hey is that a kid over there? The cat lady tosses her mug of food aside only half drunk and starts pointing her staff at Nevin. "We babysittin' now? Doesn't look like the type we'd be paying to be 'ere."

As the cat lady continues to parade around and bother whoever was in poking distance, the greasy haired sailor leans over to Charles and lets him know the bad news.

"That be the superior you want to talk to about the pay raise."

[CeaseofMorality]

Charles puts his hand firmly on the sailor's shoulder. "Why, then why don't we both go up and explain what the situation is? You fellows are about to get a highly valuable asset to your band of brothers, as it were. I would hate to be misunderstood, especially at this juncture." Charles finishes with a glint in his eye.

[TheEmperor]

Johnathan noticed the presence of Nevin almost immediately after he appeared next to him, and turned his head to look at him as he walked towards the stair that went below decks. He nodded, and opined, while looking back at his destination, "That's correct, and while it'd seem like it'd be in our best interests to wait it out, I have no plan of letting these fellows do whatever they're about to do unless I know what's going down here."


He gave a grin, and said "It seems like it has the shimmering of opportunity in the situation, you know?"

[Diful Takveh]

Klaus turns to look at the man. He had spent so much time trying to remember exactly how the throat worked and how well a straw would function that he had completely neglected him. And now it was time for them to part ways. Well, maybe not yet; they still had to make it up the stairs, and after that, who knows? He nods, "Of course." He extends his hand to the man, stooping if it would make things easier.

Come to think of it, they were going to be on deck soon and the man wore nothing but the extensive scarring. "I have an extra set of clothes on me. They're not the best: truly a costume made to be removed quickly and easily. Though, I suppose they could be put on with much the same ease and won't exasperate your condition."[roll0] Diplomacy

[WingedSheep]

Confused would be a understatement. Groggory signed up to be the cook and muscle for a ship that was supposed to make a uneventful journey from the capitol to do some business. Clearly, that wasn't going to happen anymore. For goodness sake, there was a pirate lady prancing around on the deck in the shadow of her massive boat. Groggory looked into the mug that he contemplated offering to Johnathan moments ago. There is a time for keeping one's head down, but this didn't seem to be it. He approached the cat lady slowly and cautiously, trying not to provoke her. She seemed a little.... tightly wound. He cleared his throat and in the politest tone he could muster he asked "Pardon me, but who would you be?"


[roll0] (Diplomacy)
[roll1] (Sense Motive)
[roll2] (And some Percerption, although this might be redundant)

[SiegeTower]

The greasy haired pirate mulls about Charles' proposition for a moment. "Eeeeeee, aaaahh, eeeerrr. Nnnooooooo." He then awkwardly inches away from the cleric before full on avoiding him. Charles has a moment to think of a new course of action on how to approach his meal ticket but ended up thinking for too long as someone else talk to her first. "Pardon me, but who would you be?"

The cat lady stamps her staff down as she is approached by a towering half-orc. In the presence of most humans she looked short but compared to Groggory, she was just puny.

"I am Florence Bolt of course! Captain of the fastest ship there is! You must've heard of me!" Another authoritative stamp of her staff. "I can get you from one end of the earth to the other in half the time anyone else 'll claim!" Florence crosses her arms and raises her chin proudly. "It ain't just cause of the magnificent captaining I do or just the amazing ship I have. I have the most skilled navigators, the most accurate charts, the largest collection of Island Tied compasses there is, and even luck on my side. Name any island, ANY, and I can get you there." The cat woman raises her eyebrow while giving Groggory a once over.

"Hold on a tick. You should be on the up and up on this. I'm here to pick something up from you ain't I?" Florence uncrosses her arms and gives Groggory a poke in in the midsection with her stick. "You be another one of those mercenaries types this crew got stuck with? This much bribery I wasn't supposed to be coming across. Cost me a fortune just to get my ship into this part of the sea. Well I know the fella who employed me is good for it so I'll add it to the bill. What did the Navy hire you for anyway?" The cat pirate rudely keeps poking at Groggory with her staff and eventually gives the bottom of the half-orc's apron a flick.

"Blimey! You be the one who made the food?! If I had room in my ship I'd be hiring you on ta cook for us. Don't worry love, you won't have to salt all our cookin' like you did this one. We get to land fast enough the food don't need to be salted to avoid rotting." Florence seems quick to be distracted and takes a few steps away from Groggory to yell at the captain of this ship again. "Hey are we loading him onto the boat now or not!? I don't like staying in one place for so long!" The captain shrivels from being yelled at again and starts to run to the stairs to go get the cargo himself.

Below deck the cargo was starting to come up as Florence wanted. The scarred man leaned heavily on Klaus and did his best to walk towards the exit of his prison. He rejected the earlier offer of pants and stayed wearing nothing but his freshly made rough skinned body suit. The two make their way to the door leading out of the holding room but hear two sets of footprints waiting right outside. The scarred man speaks to them in his horribly pained voice.

"No need to worry. I'm on my way. There is a friend with me so please do not be alarmed by his presence." Above the two pairs separated by a closed door is someone else frantically making their way down to the lowest level of the deck. He seemed to be rushing faster than his feet could carry him and an audible tumble is heard. The man picks him self up and says something about finding a telescope he just dropped but was assuredly going to be making his way the rest of the way down once he found it.

[Dark Knight Renee]

"No need to worry. I'm on my way. There is a friend with me so please do not be alarmed by his presence," said a pained voice from the other side of the door. Above, there was a loud clatter that soon reveals itself to be the 'captain', causing Nevin to sigh audibly in disgust. However, his attention remains mostly on the mystery 'cargo'. "Here, I'll just get the door for you!"

Upon opening the door, Nevin gasps in horror at the sight before him. The moment passes quickly, the boy's expression turning to one of outrage. "That incompetent fool never sent the priest down to heal you?!"

[SiegeTower]

"Oh." The scarred man looks at the two who had come to get him. "I don't believe we've met before. I think my men have been doing a less than ideal job of ensuring this ship was staffed only by us. I shouldn't be one to complain given present company." The man gives a light squeeze to Klaus who was helping him walk. "Priests have already done on a number on me. New wounds always make an appearance however." And as if brilliantly directed by a playwright, the scarred man's new throat hole begins to drip blood showing what he meant. "I really should make my way to the surface. You would all be so kind as to escort me?"

[CeaseofMorality]

Charles sighs and starts playing with his coin again. He hates to get physical, but he needs an ally on this one, even if it is an unwilling bungler of a sailor. He catches the eye of the sailor attempting to inch away, and looms over him. "Unless you want your situation to get a little, shall we say, difficult, I would recommend you assist me."



Intimidate Check: [roll0]

[WingedSheep]

"I am Florence Bolt of course! Captain of the fastest ship there is! You must've heard of me!" she said with a disturbing amount of authority. Groggory wasn't sure what kind of face he was making, but internally screaming might have been accurate. She kept babbling poking him with her staff, which didn't bother him. What was bothering him was her presence on this boat and talk of cargo. Groggory wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but he knew enough to know he didn't like this situation. He took a very deep breath to calm himself down."That's nice, but what are you doing here? What cargo?" he asked.

A horrifying thought crossed his mind just then. "I'm not going to be getting my return payment!" he exclaimed accusingly.This comment wasn't directed at anyone in particular. Well... maybe at Florence as things currently seemed to be her fault.


BOTCHED MY ROLLS
1d20+1 (diplomacy)
1d20+3(intimidate)

[TheEmperor]

Johnathan leaned back in retaliation as the supposed cargo's form and shape became apparent, and he realized exactly what it... or he, as would be appropriate, was suffering through. With a small "Ouch..." from under his breath, he approached him ahead of Nevin, and attempted to assist him in getting right back to where he was supposed to be going. "I suppose you're this 'cargo' being talked about? How in the name of the seas did you ma- never mind." he said, as he offered a hand.

[SiegeTower]

"That's nice, but what are you doing here? What cargo?" Florence stamps her staff down as Groggory asks for more information

"Didn't you hear me?! I don't want to be standing here blabbing all day. I have a job to do. Now what's taking that dimwit?" The cat woman turns her back to Groggory having quickly lost interest in him. She was a second away from yelling at her crew for not lowering a bridge between the two boats fast enough before she flinched at Groggory's voice.

"I'm not going to be getting my return payment!" Florence reflexively spins around and near jabs the half-orc's throat with her staff for talking at her in such a way. She grits her teeth at the insolent cook but doesn't manage to focus on Groggory for too long as she is again distracted by someone else.

"Sppeeeeaaaakinngg of paying mercenaries." The greasy haired sailor was sufficiently motivated by Charles to talk to Florence and gestured towards his motivation nervously. The sailor kept a false toothy grin hoping to not offend his superior but his attempts failed. Florence moves her staff away from Goggory's throat and smacked it right into the sailor's mouth.

"How many mercs did that prat let on this bloody ship!? UGH! I am adding whatever I pay these two to the bill and a bonus for putting up with this!" Florence shoots a dirty look towards both Groggory and Charles before walking away and harassing yet another sailor on board. "Where's the real captain!?"

Back below deck, the scarred man was happy to have more than a few helping hands assist him up the stairs. It was still painful to hold onto anyone who was helping him walk but there wasn't anything he could do that wasn't going to cause him discomfort. "I didn't expect there would be this many unplanned guests aboard this prison ship. I should count my blessing however as I see I am in good company. I made it safely out of the capital either way." The scarred man makes what one would guess was a smile as the four work their way up the first flight of stairs. At the top of the stairwell they come across the captain who had managed to find his telescope again.

"Never fear! I am on my way agai-OH MY GOD!" The captain quickly faints in front of the group not falling in a particularly flattering position.

"You know." The scarred man began. "He did that the first time he saw me too."

The four for now walk around the captain and come up the final flight of stairs leading to the surface. Both Klaus and the scarred man have trouble adjusting to the bright light of the sun and for a few moments can't see much at all. "Where's the real captain!?" is shouted by someone who sounded rather impatient.

"I'm here Florence. Sorry, I understand you are not one who should be kept waiting." The scarred man spoke to the woman having recognized her voice and not needing to see her.

"Finally! This piss poor crew ain't good for-Blimey!" Florence stops moving around for once and gives more than a second glance at the scarred man. "You're looking like chewed gum and we're wasting this much time getting you on board?! That's it, get him on the ship and we're leaving now. We're talking about my bill later."

Florence waves her staff to hurry everyone along and on cue, there is a sturdy bridge made between the two boats. She gestures for some of the crew of this ship to go onto hers and has one last thing to say to the scarred man before getting some more able bodied sailors to take the burden of carrying him to her ship.

"This crew's a lot bigger than you were carrying on about love. I don't have room for all of them. Which are the mercenaries we should be paying off now and who's coming along with us?"

The scarred man begins to speak but is immediately cut off by some shaky voice crawling up the stairs behind him.

"That one's navy!" The now conscious captain had made his way back to the deck and was pointing a very prominent finger at Jonathan. All eyes turn to him.

[TheEmperor]

Johnathan had begun to let down his guard, as the whole situation continued to progress as it was, since there didn't seem to be any immediate threat of him dying, and began to figure out how he would get selected to be part of the fellows the catfolk woman would take along.

Of course, in a standard 'Murphy's Law' type move, the now awake captain managed to blurt out that he was Navy. Technically false, but that didn't matter any more. He grinned, and said "No, I'm not. At least, not anymore."

He mentally prepared himself for the running and swimming he was going to have to do.

[Dark Knight Renee]

"That's funny, you didn't have any problem letting an apparent Navy man aboard when we were back at port!" Nevin snaps at the 'captain' in response to his accusation of Johnathan. Turning back to Florance and the pirates and taking a firm (but not fearful) grip on Johnathan's arm, he said in a much more reasonable tone, "And we aren't paid mercs, either - as fortune has it, we just happened to pick this ship to stow aboard. Whether our fortune is good or bad is up to you."

[roll0]

Ouch. A 2, really?!

[SiegeTower]

"Well of course I let you aboard!" The captain began. "We needed to get out eventually and we outnumber you so we could just throw you overboard later and wait!" The captain attempts to stand dominantly in front of everyone but just looks like he's stretching his back. "I'm the captain! I don't need to explain myself to you!"

The scarred man shakes his head. "No you're not Melvin. You just stole the uniform." Not being refered to by the title he wanted, Melvin lets out an annoyed whine.

"But we stole the ship and so I get to be the new captain of it. I got the hat, see?" Melvin points to the tricorne on his head before he takes his place next to Florence and tries again to stand with authority. All he does is manage to make himself look smaller than the short cat lady next to him.

The scarred man again shakes his head and directs Kluas and the others to let go of him. There was a tension between Jonathan and the scarred man for a moment but he waves his hand letting Jonathan know it's to be dealt with shortly. The scarred man for the first time stand straight up under his own power and walks with a heavy step towards Florence and Melvin. Unlike the two others, the scarred man maintains perfect posture and his greater than average height is now made apparent by it. He leans down to get eye to eye with the ex-captain. The scarred man knows he's rather horrifying looking right now and uses that knowledge to spit an order at Melvin.

"Now that we know there's a supposed ex-Navy on board. Is there anyone else I should be made aware of?"

Melvin shrinks down, shaking in his boots, but manages to shriek out a little more information. "T-that one's navy. He said so! T-that's his ward. He's like, Navy by association so he should be thrown overboard too." Melvin points towards Groggory and Charles. "Those two are mercenaries. We we we we can pay them and everything is fine."

"Which is being added to my bill!" Florence interrupts.

"Y-yeah so that's okay. We can afford it. You can take it out of my pay." Melvin laughs nervously hoping that will make the scarred man off a little easier. The scarred man doesn't change his expression. "And that one is! ...wait, um." Melvin points at Klaus having just noticed him for the first time. "That one's new."

The scarred man nudges his head towards Klaus. "That one's Klaus. He is gentleman and shall be treated as such."

"Yes!" Melvin bellows. "The fine gentleman we let on board because, well um, because he's just great." It was the best excuse Melvin could think of and he was sticking to it. The scarred man seems satisfied enough with this and stands up straight to look at the five unexpected passengers on this ship.

"Well. I think that about covers all of Melvin's mistakes. Now what do we do with you. Florence! Pay those two whatever they ask. I'm sure Melvin can work it off if it exceeds his wage. Klaus. I believe we've spoken on how I shall reward you for your efforts prior to this. You may stand aside for now. As for you two." The scarred man takes a few heavy steps towards the two possible Navy stopping just short of arms reach. He gives them a scoff.

"Only former Navy? Stowaways? Why should I care not to throw you to the sea either way? It seems you are willing to help a poor tortured soul like myself when I'm injured but what view do you hold on us pirates? If you really did leave the Navy, was it perhaps because you were being bribed by us? Just a greedy lout? And what of the ward you have dragged in with you? What does he think of his ex-Navy father? So shamed by his actions that you had to stowaway on the nearest vessel just to flee? Well? What is it?!"

While the true captain demands answers from Jonathan and Nevin, Florence does her part and speaks again with Groggory and Charles. "Righto, you heard the captain. Name your price."

[Dark Knight Renee]

Nevin confidently stood his ground, looking the scarred man straight in the eye. "I'm not actually his ward. We only met moments before boarding the ship, in fact. And we want to be pirates. Both of us."

[roll0]

[SiegeTower]

"Oh really?" The scarred man looks back at Melvin who had given him the false information. "You wish to be a pirate young lad? I suppose there is something in the capital you're fleeing from. No matter, you are free to do as you will." The scarred man looks again to Jonathan.

"And what of you ex-navy? You wish to live the free life of a pirate suddenly? What reason do we have to believe you're not here to do some espionage for your Navy friends?"

[TheEmperor]

Johnathan went along with the whole interrogation ploy that the scarred man was using, and did not answer his questions for a moment, before saying "Well, if you went back and checked, you'd find my face on a poster for convicts. But you really can't, can you? So, I'll say that you cannot trust me, and tell you this: If I were to go back, the only thing waiting for me would not be Naval Intelligence, but a noose. Take me along, don't let me out of your sights, all that jazz. Really, what in the name of the sea would I be spying on you for? The Navy's just as proactive as a rock, something I've learned from plenty of excursions."

[SiegeTower]

The scarred man chuckles at Jonathan. "Well we are in agreement on the Navy's competence. I however do not have the need to keep watching you." The scarred man walks away from the group and stands near the bridge linking the two ships. Much of the pirate crew has made their way off the Navy vessel and onto Florence's. "We will be parting ways soon. Do with this ship as you wish as we have no need for it."

The scarred man gestures for Klaus to come towards him. When Klaus does he gives him one instruction privately. "I'm afraid I can not bring you aboard with us either. Much as I am indebted to you, there is business I must attend which does not allow company. You can keep an eye on these common folk for me as a last gesture of good will? We shall meet again I'm sure and if you need to find me just ask for...hm." The scarred man looks away to think for a second. "I am in need of a new name. What do you suggest I call myself now that I am out at sea? I am thinking something along the lines of "Scarface" but that seems a little too..." The scarred man has trouble finding the words. "If you have a suggestion I'd be happy to hear it." He takes a moment to say something at the cat lady.

"Florence, are those mercenaries paid yet?"

[Diful Takveh]

Well, the sun certainly is sunny. Well, most of it had to do with Klaus's being in the dark hold of a ship for a few hours. Still, it wasn't a pleasant sensation in the least, but the weight of the man he is helping pushes these negative thoughts from his mind. He was in no position to be complaining, even mentally about the relatively slight discomfort of the blinding light.

Shortly after his eyes readjust, he watches the fumbling of the "captain" for the first time, and needless to say, he isn't very impressed. Hard to imagine he got the ship out of the harbor, much less kept a crew in line at all.

Leaning in close to the scarred man, Klaus listens to his proposition. So, did keeping an eye on the common folk mean that he was to be captain or was he only to make certain that they didn't fall into disarray, not that the two were entirely different entities. Whatever the case, it meant that he was going to stay aboard this ship. He smiles. With all the trouble he had had earlier that day, his fortunes had changed almost instantly.

His thoughts are brought back into the present when the man mentions his name, or, to be more specific, his lack of one. When they had first met, Klaus had been curious, and to a certain extent, he still was, but there was a sort of intrigue in the man's lack of a name. That quality seemed to fit the man better than any name he could conceive. "Well," Klaus begins, "You could always name yourself after kings of old, or gods, or monsters, but there's just something so inherently..." Klaus tries to think of the perfect word to complete the thought, something intelligent, but alas, the only word he can think of is "...unoriginal. The instant you do that, you force others and, to some extent, yourself to compare your namesake to you and you stop existing as yourself but as a comparison. I mean, that's fine for most people, but," he pauses for dramatic emphasis, gesturing to the man's scarred body, "You don't seem to be most people. Let people give you what titles and names they will; let them try to define you and watch them fail. Besides, if the only reason I am be unable to find you is that you had no name, I would be rather disappointed."

Klaus shrugs, "But I mean, if you really want a name, Bob isn't half bad."[roll0] Diplomacy

[TheEmperor]

Johnathan nodded in reply to the scarred man's words, noting how he'd told him that he could do anything with the ship they were on, implying something he was liking. He watched as the man walked off onto the boat, and turned around to talk to Nevin, and said "I didn't find out what the hell's going on, but I think we've got free reign with this boat. Wanna go inform 'Melvin' about this with me?"

What kind of name is Melvin anyways?

[WingedSheep]

Groggory didn’t flinch when Florence threated to jab him in the throat but he did eventually move his head away finding the position of the staff discomforting. He was right in thinking that Florence wasn't someone who should be provoked.

"Righto, you heard the captain. Name your price."

It took him a little too long to realize that was directed at him." Money's no good now. We're outside of the Ring Islands and us mercs are gonna be the ones getting in trouble if this boat returns early. We were supposed to be gone for weeks!" he hastily blurts out. Groggory is a little embarrassed that he yelled again.

"I don't know how long we have supplies for but we are going to need to find non-Capital land eventually. I don't think we have a proper navigator on board. I’d settle for an island-tied compass for somewhere in the outer sea with a marketplace we can stock up at. " The half-orc raises an eyebrow at Florence curious to see if she’d be willing to agree to this proposal.

“That’s just me though.” Groggory points with his thumb at Charles. “You’re gonna have to work something else out with him.”


[roll0] (Diplomacy!)

[CeaseofMorality]

Charles starts calculating. "This will strike a great blow to the validity of my Firm. I will need some way to make up for this vast loss. Charles starts mumbling to himself about fees and services. He finally points at the faux captain and says "He will have to do, since there seems to be no large amount of treasure readily available."



roll for diplomacy! [roll0]

[SiegeTower]

The scarred man listens to Klaus explanations of names around gods and history and all those interesting things. When Klaus makes his final suggestion, whether it was in jest or not, the scarred man says "Done." Without a hint of irony the scarred men professes his new name to the pirates all around him. "You hear that mates? From this point on, I shall be known as Bob the Pirate!"

While Bob was busy declaring his name, Florence was preoccupied with the two mercenaries which still needed to be paid off. When Groggory makes his request, Florence thinks about it for a brief moment then nods. "That sounds right by me. The price of one of those is about what I was thinking of paying you. I happen to have a spare of a good one on board my ship too so this works out well for us." Instead of a handshake, Florence stamps her staff as declaration of her agreement. She then looks over at Charles. "And what is it you're after big fella?"

Charles gives his short speech regarding his payment. Upon speaking his last line, Florence has to instantly throw a hand over her own mouth to stifle laughter. She was doing a terrible job of it as well as her other hand couldn't stop stamping her staff down in amusement. Her eyes begin to tear up from the restrained joy and although she moved her hand from her mouth, she still could not bring herself to speak and gestured for Charles to hold on one moment.

The cat woman takes one deep breath to calm herself but it stills peters out into laughter near the end. Without saying anything to Charles, Florence turns around and tries to walk up to Bob as nonchalantly as she can. She continues not to speak and gestures for Klaus to give her and Bob a moment alone. When she has this brief moment, she inhales deeply again and whispers something into the true captain's ear.

Immediately, Bob the Pirate bursts out into laughter which is certainly the loudest sound his damaged voice has made this entire trip. The laughter turns into violent coughing but even that doesn't seem to be able to calm the captain down from his bout of joy. He starts falling over onto Florence who had joined him in his laughter. Once the two of them manage to stop scaring the rest of the ship with their apparent sudden loss of sanity, Bob wipes the tears from his eyes then, like Florence, tries to nonchalantly walk over to Melvin.

The captain takes several deep breaths while the red flushes away from his face. "Well Melvin, it seems those mercenaries who you so carelessly left on board this ship have named their price. We seem to have gotten off lucky as they did not name a very high one." Melvin listens to the captain but gives confused looks as he has no idea how to feel about what is being said right now given the previous bouts of laughter. "So Melvin, as their payment is coming out of your wage, they have asked for you to be under indentured servitude to Charles until your debt is deemed paid in full."

There is a long pause between the two and eventually Melvin thinks he gets the joke. Oh I get it! How ridiculous! That's not even a real-"

"We agreed." Bob the Pirate interrupted.

Melvin lets out a pained "huh" and stares at the captain for reassurance. Bob has said everything he had wanted to say however and quickly turns to walk back to the other ship.

As soon as Florence sees that Bob had delivered the delightful news, she quickly boards her ship to fetch the other half of the mercenary payment. She skips the whole "walking across a bridge" bit and uses her staff to pole vault from the ship they were on onto hers. She ducks into one of the ship's rooms and quickly emerges again with a compass in her hand. Another pole vault back and she lands near Groggory.

"There it is mate, as promised." Florence hands over Groggory's payment without hesitation. "I forget what the island likes to call itself but I engraved "Pit Stop" on the bottom of the compass there. It's quite the fitting description I would think. Just outside the ring island but just before the actual free outer sea. It's small and all it is a place to stop to refuel for your journey. Stop by it sometime, you'll see what I mean." Florence doesn't give Groggory a chance to respond and instead hurries back to Bob's side.

The rest of the crew of the ship seemed to have boarded Florence's and it appears the unexpected five, Bob, Florence and, Melvin are all that remain. Bob takes a moment to give a last speech to the five.

"Thank you all for your company at this most interesting crossroads of my life. I am afraid I cannot entertain you further nor can I have you continuing to board with me and my crew. I shall be leaving you all now but I offer this vessel which we reside on now as my parting gift." Bob turns his attention to Jonathan specifically but continues to address everyone as a whole. "If you feel any continued loyalty to those at the Capital, I suggest you return this stolen vessel for a just reward." The captain again doesn't focus on anyone in particular. "Though as I believe it more likely, if you wish to leave any history with the Capital behind, sail off wherever you wish and treat this vessel as your new home." Bob the Pirate, the naked horribley scarred man who has escaped the Capital for his own reasons using a stolen prison ship, bows to his audience. "I bid you adieu."

Bob walks onto the other ship with Florence following behind him. Florence wiggles her fingers at Melvin in a "toodles" fashion and laughs as the bridge between the two ships is removed by the crew. Melvin can do nothing but babble incoherently in response and weakly raises an arm at the other ship praying it would wait for him. The ship of course doesn't and begins to move away. Florence takes her place hanging on the side of the ship and points triumphantly forward in the way Melvin was seen doing before. She manages to pull it off much better. She tell her ship, the Bolt's Lightning, to move "Onward Ho!" and the ship takes off much faster than anyone would have expected.

Melvin is left alone with five strangers and can't even bring himself to give up hope and stop staring at the Bolt's Lightning as it sails away. Eventually even the foolish must admit defeat though and Melvin squats down with his head hanging low. As a final gesture of defeat, Melvin takes off his tricorne and tosses it behind him. He was no captain.

The hat lands in the middle of five strangers who all seem to have gained ownership of the same ship. They were left to their own wits now and had no strange prisoner smuggling operation to be entwined in any longer. They were free to do as they wished and for some of them, that was a bit of a scary thought.


Welcome to the Outer Sea; Land of the Ever-Changing Islands.

[Dark Knight Renee]

"Really? We've got our very own ship?! YES!" Nevin pumped his fist in the air and jumped up and down in excitement.

Other events transpired. When it became apparent that Melvin the Incompetent was being dumped on them, Nevin groaned and abruptly stopped cheering. He'd missed how this unfortunate arrangement had come about, but it was obvious that the high-ranking pirates thought it was simply hilarious. Nevin, however, did not find it amusing at all. "Really?" he grumbled.

When Melvin tossed away the tricorne, Nevin swiftly snatched it up, beating Johnathan to it by inches. He put it on his head but did not let go of it, lest one of the adults attempt to retrieve it. "Melvin, lower that pirate flag we're flying. And try not to break anything."

[CeaseofMorality]

Charles turns and bows at Nevin. "I apologize, but I do not unfortunately allow the commanding of any of my assets excepting myself. You are free to take down the pirate flag if you wish. You might want to remove that hat first though, I must be frank and say that it looks a bit ridiculous. "

[Dark Knight Renee]

Nevin scowled at the priest. "In case you weren't paying attention, Melvin is an 'asset' only in the very loosest sense of the word."

[CeaseofMorality]

Charles nods "Be as that may be, he is still my asset to command." Here Charles cackles and rubs his hands together. "Besides, I will have a great many uses for Melvin in the future, oh yes...."

[SiegeTower]

Melvin has been ignoring whatever conversation was being had with the crew behind him and instead focuses on staring out into the water while sighing heavily and repeatedly. He was to let the the new crew of this ship do as they wished and hoped he could just blend into the woodwork while they did.

[TheEmperor]

Johnathan folded his arms, and looked upon the rest of the ship with a smug grin on his face. He watched as Nevin jumped around in excitement, and then argued with one of the mercenaries on board.

He turned around to look at the wide open seas, and took a long, deep breath of the salt drenched air. It occurred to him that he was now truly free of the restrictions, and he could do as his heart desired, no longer bound by "regulations", and the restrictions of the Navy.

He pulled up his sleeves, and turned back to look at the ship, and said "We'll need a better hat, and some money. What say we head to an island, sell whatever's not needed on here, and go gold-hunting?"

[Dark Knight Renee]

"Aye!" Nevin yelled in agreement and grinned, finally letting go of the hat now that it appeared that no-one was interesting in taking it.

[WingedSheep]

He watched the farce that played out when Charles gave his request wordlessly. Melvin seemed too stupid to light a match to burn the ship down, so he wasn't too concerned. Ocean's knew he'd delt with worse people when he worked in pubs.

Groggory wasn't really expecting a compass but he was glad that Florance dropped one in his hands after all. He looked it over making sure she didn't drop a pocket watch into his hands or something. By the time he finished giving it a look over, Bob was giving his parting speech. "I shall be leaving you all now but I offer this vessel which we reside on now as my parting gift."

He looked at his new found companions, who seemed to be rather excited about this prospect. The "navy" fellow especially, We'll need a better hat, and some money. What say we head to an island, sell whatever's not needed on here, and go gold-hunting?" Of course the kid agreed with him. Well, he was young and obviously didn't know any better.

The half-orc sighed as he placed the compass into his pocket. "Maybe we should settle down for a moment. I'm not about to go on a insane treasure hunt with people whose names I don't even know."

[roll0] (perception)

[SiegeTower]

Looking down at the compass, it was exactly as Florence promised. It was a simple design for it was a mass manufactured tying compass. The compass certainly wasn't made for the island it pointed to in particular so it couldn't have been an important place. On the bottom of the compass, "Pit Stop" was in fact engraved. It wasn't a formally done engraving though and looked more like Florence just went at the compass with a dagger one night while she was bored. The lettering was clear enough so it did serve it's purpose.

When Groggory looked at where the arrow was pointing, it showed that the "Pit Stop" island was directly west of their current location. This Island-Tied compass wasn't expensive enough to show distance as well as direction but it couldn't be too far away from where this ship already was, could it? Groggory also saw one odd thing about the arrow as it was being inspected. For a moment, the arrow blipped and pointed the slightest degree away from its original point. This island must have been moving.

[Dark Knight Renee]

"Maybe we should settle down for a moment. I'm not about to go on a insane treasure hunt with people whose names I don't even know."

"Oh, sorry! I'm Nevin Alaki," the tricorne-wearing teenager said, bounding over to Groggery and offering his hand for a shake. "Pleased to meet you!"

[TheEmperor]

John gave a short laugh, and said "Treasure hunting as in engaging in piracy, my newly met friend! I am Johnathan Hawkins, and quite frankly, if you don't agree with us two, you may as well start a vote for what everyone wants. It's being the terror of the high seas, or me getting off this ship first stop, and getting a new one."

[SiegeTower]

Groggory offers his very large hand to Nevin's average sized one. He takes care to be gentle in his grip for even a human, Nevin seemed a little lanky.

"I am Groggory Tiller. I see you are one still full of young energy. Don't be too hasty with it." Groggory's pleasantries with Nevin are soon interrupted by the surprisingly equally energetic and surprisingly equally lacking in wisdom Jonathan.

"I think you are imagining a scenario which isn't concurrent with reality friend. Being a terror of the seas isn't something that one usually does outside of children's stories. While the young one here may seem endearing wearing a faux captain's hat, someone such as yourself speaking the same way makes you seem a little like..." Groggory doesn't finish his statement and instead gestures his head towards Melvin. "Thinking of a plan once we get to dry land is the best course of action for all of us. Some of us here are currently out of work and need to find new employment at the nearest opportunity. Others, I'm not so sure what the plan is. Terror of the high seas may sound attractive but I believe those that are to use this vessel for more steady employment will have first rights to it. Though I do not agree with what you wish to do with the ship if you were to stay, I also would like to point out that acquiring an entirely new vessel will not be as easy as it was to acquire this one. Obtaining this ship with such little effort is a stroke of fortune most uncommon." Groggory pauses wondering if he had lost Jonathan's interest long ago with his speech and tries to summarize it quickly for him.

"Let us come up with a plan for what to do with this vessel as well for us individually or as a group once we happen upon land. Our main goal right now is just to find that land."

[CeaseofMorality]

Charles walks up and bows again. "I, unfortunately have a contract with the navy to uphold, and as much as I would like to plunder the high seas for all sorts of valuables, I have a stolen ship to return. Of course, I realize that this is hardly in the best interests of many of us on-board this ship, so perhaps we can come to some arrangement once we reach this.... 'Pit Stop.'"

[TheEmperor]

John frowned in response to rather lengthy response he got from Groggory, and leaned his head towards Charles, as he spoke. He unfolded his hands, and said "Then, I suppose our decisions will have to wait until we reach Pit Stop. Hardly much to be done in the middle of the ocean, in that case."

[CeaseofMorality]

Charles initiates the beginnings of a spell. "I can, at least, make sure that our trip does not meet with any unfortunate surprises as far as the weather is concerned."







Charles casts Read Weather

[SiegeTower]

Melvin had grown rather bored with waiting for his former crew to come back for him. Even he thought they weren't funny enough to do it a long time after they abandoned him. The depressed sailor starts to fumble with his telescope and peer around. By some stroke of luck he happens to notice a couple of Navy ships coming from the east towards them. Melvin ponders what this means for a moment then remembers he's still wearing a stolen captain's uniform on his stolen ship. It didn't even take Melvin much thought before he decided to do something against the Navy vessels catching up to this ship.

"Um...Escuse me...er..." Melvin speaks over his shoulder to Charles but can't think of in what manner he should address his new employer. He settles on just skipping that part. "There are a buncha Navy ships comin' at us. I don't think they wanna parlees."

The ships Melvin spoke of could in fact be confirmed by anyone looking east of the ship. They were again much bigger ships than the dinky boat that this crew was on and taking them toe to toe would be a bad idea. Out-sailing them could be an option but the only advantage the crew had right now was a head start. West was where the Pit Stop compass was pointing and the way they were facing but Charle's could sense the weather would not aid them fleeing that way. They would have to go with the currents and against the wind to go west. The Navy ships could be faster though in which case they would soon close the gap between them. The crew had to think of some way to make this ship move faster than normal with the wind going against them.

[Dark Knight Renee]

Hearing Melvin's warning, Nevin spins around in alarm and looks to confirm. "Damnit!" The youth then turns abruptly to Charles with a glare. "If you even think of turning us in, you're a dead man. John, tell me which way we need the wind blowing." With that, Nevin began casting a spell, no longer concerned with hiding his nature from the others. It wouldn't matter if they were caught.


Casting Breeze (http://www.dxcontent.com/SDB_SpellBlock.asp?SDBID=1186) on the sail. Doesn't do much, but it does move with the ship.

[SiegeTower]

Nevin's new found skill of being able to shoot wind from his hands comes as a surprise to most, "most" meaning "all". No one was in a position to question it however as the added wind from Nevin was just the advantage the crew needed. Nevin's unnatural breeze helped fight against the wind blowing against them and was a lucky advantage this ship had that those coming towards them did not.

Klaus was also on the lookout on how to speed the ship up. He didn't have a chance to give his name like the rest of his new crewmates did but he figured that if he was useful enough to them now, he could be forgiven for his late introduction. Klaus looked at the sails of the ship to see if Nevin's efforts could be put to better use. Lucky enough, there was a jib that if Nevin aimed his air-current towards, it would help the ship move a bit more efficiently than aiming at the main sail.

If the crew was to flee these Navy vessels, they would need a destination to flee towards. If they were all in agreement now, it would seem most likely they would head towards the Pit Stop, regardless of how far it was. Suppose it's up to whoever is captain to make that call or maybe a democratic and unanimous "aye aye" from the crew would work just as well.

[CeaseofMorality]

Charles spoke up. He was a little baffled that the boy turned out to be a spellcaster, but he decided to not let it faze him. "It seems like the wind isn't going to be in our favor, so what young Nevin did was probably wise. Now, if you excuse me, I would rather not be caught as an accomplice, so I am going to go downstairs and lock myself in the brig. Charles then gestures to Melvin. "Come along, servant."

[SiegeTower]

Melvin lets out a pained long sigh and slumps his shoulders at the title he was given. He didn't like it but he wasn't going to bother fighting against it. Melvin slowly marches towards the stairwell while mumbling rude things beneath his breath.

[TheEmperor]

Johnathan was incredibly surprised by the sudden capability that Nevin had acquired to control the air. He walked up to him, and patted him on the back, and said "A spellsthingy? Well, you've certainly caught me off guard for the second time today. Well done. But I'm not sure if it'll be enough." He looked back at the crew, noting Charles's lack of cooperation, and said "Votes for making a break for this "Pit Stop"?"

[Dark Knight Renee]

Having finished casting his spell, Nevin grabbed Melvin by the collar to prevent him from following the priest down into the hold. "Melvin, make yourself useful, unless you want to get caught by the Navy. I vote for anything that gets us away from those ships," he told Johnathan. "That spell I cast isn't very strong, and there's not much else I can do unless enemies are right on top of us."

[CeaseofMorality]

Charles stopped walking towards the inside of the ship and turned around slowly. "Melvin, my manservant, who has obviously never been a pirate, does not have anything to fear from the approaching Navy ships." Charles then turns to Nevin. "I do believe I warned you boy, not to order around my subordinates. I generally only give individuals one warning. I will be gracious this time and offer two. The third time I will not be so courteous. Do not test me."

[Diful Takveh]

They were on a stolen navy ship, and ships belonging to the aforementioned navy were coming after them. The young lad had proven himself useful in filling the sails with wind, something that would be of use in escaping the navy ships. This... other man, rather well-armed, certainly more than Klaus was, was causing a problem. The crew numbered six, and with Melvin's bumbling and Charles's leaving, that reduced them to four. Now four well-trained and organized ship-hands could very well keep a ship going in the right direction, but from what Klaus saw, he was certain that they were neither. This was a critical juncture, and somebody had to stand up and lead this ragtag band of sailors. The boy had come forward and displayed his powers, but didn't know where to use them. Klaus steps between Nevin and Charles, holding out his hands for them to stop, and addresses Nevin first, "I thank you for your taking the initiative and filling our sails with wind, but those talents would be more effective on the jib, the large sail at the front of the boat." If the jib is not yet raised (which it likely wouldn't be as they are facing into the wind), he gives directions on how to do that to John and Nevin.

With them gone, he turns to Charles, "You don't seem to be the kind of person who would passively accept going to the brig during a mutiny, and even if you were, I'm not certain the captains of those ships back there are going to believe you. Besides, mutineers aren't going to let someone loyal to the original owners of the ship stay fully-armed. Not to mention, you are the boss of the man who captained this stolen ship out of harbor, and no matter how good you may think you are with words, I've seen better, and," he tilts his head in Melvin's direction, "I'm almost certain your subordinate has as much loyalty to you as he did to the former owners of this ship."[roll0] Diplomacy

[Dark Knight Renee]

Nevin glared rather murderously at Charles, but allowed Klaus to redirect his attention to the jib. Silently, other than the necessary magical incantations, the boy set about raising the jib and then re-cast his Breeze spell, replacing the one previously cast with the new, better-placed one.

[TheEmperor]

Johnathan did not intervene in the confrontation, although he was a tad bit worried about it taking a terrible turn, but since Klaus managed to deflect such an outcome, he let his guard down, and then said "I'll take that as a yes. Pit Stop it is, and by the gods of the sea, we'd better be quick. Those ships look a thousand knots too close to us to be comfortable."

[SiegeTower]

Melvin decides the best course of action is to simply slink away as the rest of the crew gets things settled. He didn't want to disobey his new boss but at the same time, he didn't want to get potential lightning bolt to the face from the newly revealed wind mage. Instead of trying to appease anyone, Melvin tries to annoy no one and stands somewhere inconspicuous but out of the line of sight of most of the crew.

With Klaus and Jonathan setting up the jib and Nevin supplying it with an air current, the ship starts to noticeably move at a brisk pace. Unfortunately, the movement isn't forward. The ship's wheel has been unattended for some time now and the rudder has drifted into a position that made it so the ship was strongly turning to the right. Any inspection of the wheel would show that it is stuck in position unless the ship is either stopped and the wheel turned or it is brute forced forward. Something would need to position the boat back on track or else it would just make a wide circle directly towards the navy the crew was trying to avoid.

[Diful Takveh]

Well, that certainly wasn't good. The wind in the sail was of no use to the group if the ship wasn't even moving in the direction they wanted it to go. Klaus quickly ties the jib line and shouts to Nevin, "Just keep the wind blowing straight into the sail. I'll see what I can do to remedy our heading." That done, he turns around and runs to Groggory, the last person he had seen with the compass, "Okay, we need to get this ship heading in the right direction." Assuming he follows me and we notice the wheel is stuck, "Well then, we need to get this moving." He then proceeds to tell the chef of the rudder chains in the quarters, how it would generally take a larger crew to use them effectively, but they might be able to make do with just one on the chain and one on the wheel. As Groggory appears significantly stronger than Klaus, he suggests that Groggory take the chain while he takes the helm.

If he happens to see Melvin the potentially mildly useful, he barks at him, "And you better stay in plain sight so that if Charles has a task for you, he doesn't have to search for you."[roll0] Profession (Sailor) to tie rope
[roll1] Knowledge (Mechanics) for rudder chains
[roll2] Profession (Sailor) for rudder chains
[roll3] Perception to see Melvin
[roll4] Intimidate Melvin

[Dark Knight Renee]

Having finished re-casting his spell, and seeing the difficulties with steering, Nevin heads over to Klaus. "Anything I can do you help?"

[WingedSheep]

Groggory listens to Kalus intently and nods. He isn't much of a sailor, but he understands pushing and pulling things. The well-dressed man seems to know what he's doing. Before he forgets he pulls the compass out of his pocket and passes it to Klaus "It seems like we need to go west. At least right now, the island seemed to shift when I looked at the compass earlier. I want it back once we get to land."

"I just need to pull on the chain right?"



[roll0] (profession sailor) (If it should be a knowlegde check then it's +0 vs +1)

[CeaseofMorality]

Charles stood there for a second and then bowed his head. "It seems I have had a lack of oversight" he muttered to himself. He then walked over to Klaus. "Well, as it seems like there no easy way out of this predicament, how can I assist to keep us away from those ships?"

[SiegeTower]

Melvin freezes when someone notices him trying to blend into the woodwork. Instead of saying anything, he waves at Klaus when addressed then proceeds to stand somewhat close-ish to Charles, trying to look innocent.

With everyone save one crew member now asking Klaus what to do, it seemed that he should be the one wearing the hat Nevin has claimed. Ironically, Klaus was the only one to yet even give his name to the crew but seemed the one everyone trusted most. Being the one with the quickest wit on how to get the boat moving was a valuable asset it seemed even if Klaus wasn't as experienced a sailor as some of the crew.

It was hard to think of a job for everyone on the fly but it looked like it had to be done for the impromptu captain. Groggory simply needed to know which chain to pull and how but for the rest, it wasn't as obvious. Nevin could keep casting a wind on different sails of the ship as needed but Klaus wasn't familiar enough with Magic to know how long that could be kept up for. Charles, Jonathan and, unfortunately, Melvin, all needed work.

Jonathan was a former navy lieutenant so he could likely find his own work on the ship but Charles and unfortunately, Melvin, still needed something to do. Charles could maybe help Groggory or if his eyes were up for it, spend time in the crow's nest to help navigate or keep an eye on the Navy behind them. That or he could help Groggory pull the rudder chains if it was too heavy a task even for the half-orc. Melvin on the other hand, it was unlikely he would be good for anything.

[Diful Takveh]

He takes the compass from Groggory and nods his head, "That you shall."

Well, it seemed everyone was looking to him for direction. Normally Klaus would shrug, even if only mentally, but there was no time for wasted thought. He immediately calls out orders, trying to address as many people as he could. "You two," he looks at Groggory and Charles, "The rudder is stuck, and we can only do so much above decks. I need the two of you to go down to the quarters and pull the port side rudder chain toward the bow." He gestures as he talks, pointing out which side was port and where the bow was. "Nevin, if you can keep the wind in the sails from the crow's nest, I need you up there to keep an eye on both the seas ahead and the ships behind us. Take Melvin's telescope and have Johnathon tie a lifeline for you before you go up. You might be the only way we can outrun the navy, and I'd rather not lose you to the seas. After John's done helping you, send him here so we can get this ship straightened out. As for you," he turns to Melvin, "If those ships catch us, you're a dead man. That being said, when it is time, I need you to run a message down to your new boss to tell them to stop pulling the chain. We don't want this ship stuck turning the other way or else we will be caught." With that, he slides the compass into his pocket and braces himself on the wheel, ready for any action that may come.

[TheEmperor]

Johnathan heard Klaus's suggestions, or at least, he interpreted them as suggestions, and figured that he was pretty much astute in his plans. He yelled to Nevin "Come on, let's get right to it! Try not to fall while you're doing this, would you?"

He immediately grabbed some spare rope from nearby, and headed for the main mast, underneath the crow's nest, hurrying there before Nevin.

[SiegeTower]

When Melvin hears of the plan to have his telescope taken away, he lets out a shrilled cry and hugs his prized possession close to him.

"No way! You can see plenty good without it!" He sticks his tongue out at Nevin to prove who was obviously more mature and deserving of the telescope between the two of them. While doing this, Melvin ends up squeezing his arms together a little to awkwardly and the telescope slips out from between them. It bounces on the ground and rolls unevenly which makes Melvin's attempts to chase after the device look slightly embarrassing. Him being hunched over with arms outstretched made him look like he was chasing after a duck which couldn't be bothered to simply fly away and have his futile attempts to catch it come to an end.

[Dark Knight Renee]

"I'll be surprised if that thing still works," Nevin grumbled, watching Melvin scramble for a moment before stepping in front of him and snatching up the telescope. "Sorry, I need this!" he said, not sounding sorry in the slightest, bolting off towards the main mast and crow's nest before the clumsy Melvin could retaliate. He gave John a minute to tie the rope, testing out the battered telescope in the meantime.

[SiegeTower]

Melvin whimpers as his telescope is taken away from him but doesn't bother fighting back for it. He knew he would just get wind blasted in his face if he fought back and that wasn't a very fun prospect. With it now in Nevin's possession, the boy is able to attempt to use the device for its intended purpose for once. He peers through the lens and by some amazing stroke of luck, the telescope was still functioning perfectly. More than that, the much wear and tear it should have gotten from it's many drops to the floor didn't seem to damage the outside of it in the slightest either. It was really surprising for the telescope to remain in such pristine condition.

Nevin shrugged off the durability of the telescope and after getting the life harness tied to him, proceeded to work his way to the crow's nest. When he first started climbing, Nevin had to pocket the device and did as such. Unfortunately, Neving fumbled it a little clumsily and it slipped out of its resting place. That was a little embarrassing. No one saw luckily and Nevin tried again. This time in a more pirate manner, Nevin put the telescope between his teeth as he climbed upwards. Again, Nevin accidentally dropped the telescope when it rolled out of his mouth. People saw that one. Nevin at this point felt like he was performing Melvin levels of foolery and was determined to make a valiant effort to climb to the crow's nest. Nevin Hold the telescope firmly in one hand, and climbs the ladder leading upward with gusto.

Amazingly, Nevin fired himself upwards with every pull he did up the pegs of the mast. Nevin leaped up five pegs at a time due to an incredible combination of his dexterous prowess and the magical wind from his heels thrusting him upward. In a mere three pulls, Nevin had propelled himself up to the crow's nest and even had the extra upwards momentum to do a flip before landing inside of it. There was no way this amazing feat wouldn't make up for those two fumbles earlier. It was almost superhuman! In fact, it was super human. Nevin had no idea how to do that. He drops the telescope by accident again.

[Dark Knight Renee]

Once safely in the crow's nest, Nevin eyes the slippery telescope with a mixture of annoyance and curiosity. That entire episode had been completely bizarre, and the youth strongly suspected the telescope was not only magical, but fully responsible for both his sudden extreme climbing prowess and his equally sudden and extreme clumsiness with regards to the telescope. Damnit, I'm going to have to apologize to Melvin.

Very carefully, lest he drop the telescope in such a way as for it to drop from the crow's nest entirely, Nevin looks through it at the pursuing navy ships.

[roll0] plus any mystery modifier might be associated with the darned telescope.

[SiegeTower]

Jonathan watched the intrepid Nevin both turn into a fool then become a paragon of an acrobat all in under a minute. It was certainly a strange thing to behold. Luckily Jonathan's previous experience as a sailor taught him to tie a lifeline to Nevin in case the foolery didn't end before the climb began. The lad didn't need it when he started to move upwards but Jonathan was none the less grateful it was there.

Now that Nevin was safely in place, Jonathan could do his duty of running near every station on the ship. He couldn't trust Melvin with anything and only kept him on hand as someone to send messages back and forth between Jonathan and anyone else he needed to speak to. Even a small vessel such as this needed at least a half dozen hands to keep everything in shape even doing the most banal things. If this ship was in unfriendly waters or was doing anything aside from sailing forward, it would take more than just former Navy lieutenant to keep it in once piece. Only one was needed right now though and the crew was lucky to have it.

Groggory and Charles headed below deck to perform the task needed of them as well. As the two most muscular he-men of the crew, some heavy lifting was needed of them. The two worked together to try and force the rudder back into place and after some manly grunting, pulling and, sweating, they managed to snap the rudder into a straight forward position. A manly high five was called for at this time but there was still a problem. The rudder was now pointing forward but it was stuck again. Groggory sighed at yet another thing on this ship that he was would need to ensure would be taken care of. Charles on the other hand sighed wondering if the damage to the rudder could possibly fall on him to help pay for.

Back above deck, Klaus was having a heck of a time steering the ship. With the rudder stuck in place, all he could do was make futile attempts to turn the wheel of the vessel. Most of his time was spent pointing out other problems the ship was having and directing the more than busy Jonathan to take care of them when he had the chance. His other job at this time was to ensure Melvin didn't accidentally fall overboard while the ship ran in circles. It wasn't a glamorous job but there would be more than a couple problems if Charles lost his payment or the Navy retrieved him from the ocean for questioning. Klaus's job became most important in once instance when the two below deck managed to fix the rudder. There was turbulence on deck and Klaus had to grab Melvin to stop him from doing exactly what Klaus was keeping an eye out for.

When the rudder was put into its rightful place, Klaus again went to the wheel of the vessel to steer them in the right direction. West was the aim of the voyage and luckily they were pointing that way now. Any attempts to micromanage the direction were futile however. The rudder was stuck yet again but this time at least, it was stuck where they needed to go.

Klaus shouted upwards at Nevin to know the status of the ships trailing behind them. A peer through Melvin's telescope and it became clear. The telescope didn't give Nevin laser vision or anything as interesting as he was hoping but it did work as a pretty darn good vision enhancer. No more than any other telescope but the lens was clear of any smudges or scratches and that was a huge plus. Nevin looked to gather as much information of the approaching ships as he could and made out quite a few things. First they were still a rather far distance away, probably from them taking quite some time to even rally to come after this ship. Second, they were not moving very quickly. The wind was not on their side. Lastly, one of the people on board one of the Navy ships was not wearing pants. Instead all that adorned his lower half were some boots and heart patterned boxers. That sailor in particular seemed to be bickering with everyone on board his vessel.

Nevin reported what he saw to Klaus and may or may not have left the detail of the under dressed Navy personal in his description. With that out of the way, Nevin took a moment to fiddle with the telescope. He took care not to drop it when he did but even his most careful of handling still had to device practically leap out of his fingers. Nevin was lucky enough to catch the telescope midair before plummeting to the deck but it was still a chore keeping the thing still. Maybe Melvin really was more competent than any of them had given him credit for. Nevin was having a hard enough time not looking like a fool when wielding the device. Could all the idiocy Melvin was seen doing have been the fault of this telescope? Nevin peered over the side of the crow's nest to see what Melvin was doing now. He was in the processes of tripping over his untied boot laces. Nope, wasn't the telescope.

All hands were on deck after the initial setting up of the ship. They were steadily headed west and moving faster than their followers. It was only a matter of time before they were out of site of the Navy. Congratulation were deserved all around. They were deserved to the exhausted Jonathan for being six sailors in one. Deserved by Groggory and Charles for being the machismos of chain pulling. Of course deserved by Nevin for giving them the speed boost needed to make their getaway. And finally, deserved by Klaus for being the temporary captain coordinating all this. Melvin didn't deserve any praise.

With things settled and sailing smooth, there was some time for the crew to get their bearings. They had no idea how long it would take to find land but they knew they were at least heading towards something. It was only a matter of time.


Three days later

Blow me down! The sea is so boring! There was nothing to do on this ship! The previous crew had taken near anything worth a damn from the ship and left the remaining crew with nothing. The only joy the crew could obtain was Groggory's three freshly made meals a day. If he wasn't there, the morale of the crew would have dropped to nothing by the second day. It was a good thing Groggory was an intimidating giant as well as a chef otherwise the pirates would have probably raided the kitchen as well. The previous crew has also taken any drink left on the boat. The pirate's thirst had settled in for the entire crew. Without at least one ration of alcohol a day, the crew grew weak and were less than capable of performing even the simplest tasks.

There was good food thanks to Groggory's cooking and fresh water thanks to Charles' magic but sailors cannot live off bread alone. Nevin remembered seeing Groggory juggle once before and asked him more than a few times to do that again. Groggory for some reason or another was hesitant to do so. The crew tried to entertain each other with stories of their pasts but a few of them had some details they were yet comfortable to share. Jonathan and Nevin simply had to axe the most recent aspects of their lives while Klaus had much to omit. Charles was under contract to not say much of what he’s been up to and no amount of prying could get him to speak of his contractual secrets. Then there was Groggory. He mentioned life on a farm and his passion for cooking but there was a bit of omitting when it came to his previous occupation before being a sailor. It must have been something involving his juggling abilities though as there was no indication he would have picked up that still anywhere else in his story. Groggory had something strange about him.

The crew mucked about in their boredom and thirst and were really starting to dread the day when the fresh food would spoil and they would have to start eating rations. Drinking the sea water sounded more appealing at that point. It was in the midst of contemplating this when it was Melvin of all people to shout “land ho!”

The crew all jumped out of their thirsty sluggishness and all at once ran to the bow of the ship to peer at the land incoming. It was quite the sight. Something to break up the endless monotony of ocean and some new people to talk to as well. They could even finally have something to drink which would put them out of their weakened state.

Klaus and Groggory both checked the compass and it was pointing at the oncoming island. Either this was where they were looking for or the pit stop was further along. Either way, they were stopping at the island they were at now. As it came closer into view, the crew could see the island was inhabited and they were approaching a port. It wasn’t a particularly busy port but there were other ships and people visibly occupying it. Full of new found excitement, it was time for the crew to prepare to dock.

[Dark Knight Renee]

Day 1 Continued, Scene 1:
A little while after the he finally lost sight of the navy ships, Nevin renewed his breeze spell on the jib sail yet again (it expired every hour like clockwork) and then cautiously made his way back down. This time he had the telescope stuffed down the back of his shirt, which was in turn tucked firmly into his trousers. He was somewhat curious to see whether it would manage to escape regardless, but for once it stayed put (more or less).

When he reached the deck, Nevin dug the telescope out of his shirt, and promptly dropped it again. With a sigh, he gingerly picked it up again and, with great care, walked over to Melvin. "You can have it back now, but we'll likely need to borrow it again later. Where did you get it? It's very... durable."


Day 1 Continued, Scene 2:
Nevin checks his pack to make sure nothing is missing, and then pulls out a small pouch containing a set of elaborately-engraved chicken bones, with which he proceeds to spend the next minute casting Read Weather (even though he'd seen the priest cast it earlier). After carefully putting the foci set away again, he shares his findings with Johnathan and Klaus.

Following any additional interactions and a meal, Nevin spends most of the evening and night resting between hourly castings of Breeze.

[TheEmperor]

By the end of the first day, Johnathan had run around the ship more times than years he'd lived upon the earth. When he finally dropped into the bed, he'd felt more at ease aboard the ship than ever before, that he could remember, at least.

Of course, there had been a few off-comings, such as Nevin's apparent discovery of the telescope's weird nature, and while he dismissed it, the sudden incompetency of Nevin after acquiring it gave him a bit to think about.

The next two days were a little easier than the first, since they didn't have a fleet right on their tail, even if the threat was still around, and by the time the words "LAND HO!" left Melvin's mouth, any rustiness John had was dead by the bluffs.

[WingedSheep]

Groggory remembers why he never liked sailing, it was often very very boring. He had often seen sailors whittling spoons and decided to give it a go, he did have a knife after all. He didn't want to touch any of the wood on the ship, Ocean's knew it didn't need more problems. Instead the orc experimented on various vegetables, trying to make potatoes into crude turtles or carrots into flowers.

He didn't think anyone notice his efforts, but he didn't care as long as the food wasn't going to waste. After the first day of no alcohol, Groggory notices everyone getting figgity. He staved off the thirst by sampling cooking wine while preparing meals. The sanity of everyone else was important too so he started serving watered down wine with the meals. Plus, it was good for morale. There was not telling how long they'd need it to last so conserving it early seemed like a good idea.

Groggory couldn't just stay in the kitchens for three days without going stir crazy. He would walk around the ship and make sure nothing was leaking. The large chef would also join in when he noticed people were telling stories. Groggory mostly shares stories he's heard from random pub patrons he's chatted with.

At the site of land, he’s happy that he won't be needing his sea legs anymore. Granted he still wasn't sure what was going to happen to him once he got to land... Was he a fugitive by proxy now? He really didn't need that.

[SiegeTower]

Thanks to the efforts of Groggory, the crew had managed to stave of both hunger and the thirst. the half-orc was the hero of the voyage but he would no longer be able to maintain that title after this. All but one day's rations of pickled foods were left in the kitchen now. Groggory could no longer waste his precious cooking wine to keep the thirst away either as it had all been drunk by some sea dogs these past three days. For now though, the crew was in good health aside from some boredom and being in possession of a sleep deprived teenager.

The crew approached the port straight on and were excited to be docking soon. Going straight was the only option the crew had given their busted rudder but luckily they would manage to go parallel to a dock without having to maneuver. Once at the harbor, Nevin who was spending time in the crow's nest, could see just how tiny this island was. From up high, he could see the other end of it. Nevin could see everything. There didn't seem to be anything on this island except for the many small buildings all put into a neat little grid for your convenience. There was some forestry and a bit of unmolested soil but for all intense and purposes, this island was just one small town.

After seeing what the island had to offer, Nevin made is way down to the docks to meet up with the rest of the crew. They were currently being spoken to by a stuffy looking gnome and her younger but just as stuffy looking assistant. She seemed to be discussing trivial matters of business.

"It is three silver to dock at this port. Which among you is the captain? I must have your name and the name of the ship documented." The gnome taps on her clipboard with inpatients. "I also must advise you that the...colours decorating your vessel are best withdrawn during your stay. We welcome all at our port including some that you may have....disagreements with." The gnome clears her throat after giving her words of warning.

"Now again, it is three silver to dock here. Please tell me the who is captain and the name of the vessel."

[Diful Takveh]

In the days before the ship approached port, Klaus spent his time divided between inspecting the rudder mechanisms from the inside of the ship to see if there was anything that could be done from within and killing time with various forms of solitaire, making certain to keep his cards dry. Normally, he would have initiated a form of competitive card play to get more acquainted with his crew mates, but he had nothing to ante, and such games without some sort of stakes were akin to... well... sailing without decent drink.

Days later, through some stroke of luck, they managed to dock without incident despite a broken rudder system, not that he was complaining. When asked who was the captain and implied that the navy were not entirely welcome at this port, Klaus waits a second before stepping forward, "I am the captain of this vessel, the fine Lady Beatrice." He purposefully gives a name dissimilar to those given to navy ships. "And I will gladly lower the colours; I had not thought about it before entering port." He instinctively reaches for his coin purse, but has to remind himself that it was no longer there. "As for the fee, I am certain one of these gentlemen can cover that, so if I am no longer needed here..." He turns his head back to look at Nevin and barks, "Get those colours down, boy." He gives a small wink so that the dock attendant can't see to let Nevin know that he doesn't mean it in an awful horrible way and is only trying to keep up an act. With that, he starts to make his way off the dock.[roll0] Diplomacy
[roll1] Bluff

[SiegeTower]

Klaus makes his way off the dock past the gnome woman but she authoritatively extends her arm to the side, using her quill as a stopping point for the would be captain.

"The Lady Beatrice is it? Now should I be calling you that or the ship?" The gnome woman moves her arm away from Klaus and dips her quill in an ink bottle being held by her assistant.

"No one is to enter the port until the toll is paid and the documents filled."

[CeaseofMorality]

Charles speaks up. "Why Melvin, this looks to be a perfect opportunity to begin paying off your debt! Give the fine woman her silver and we can be on our way."






Diplomacy in case I need it: [roll0]
lol I rolled a 2

[Diful Takveh]

"In that case..." Klaus starts to pat himself down, checking his plethora of pockets for anything that might pass as serviceable currency, introducing himself as he does so, "That would be the name of the ship. Mine happens to be Klaus.". Not finding anything, he shrugs, "And it seems I have left my money on the ship, a good thing that you stopped me actually. Think of how embarrassing it would be to go into town and order a nice juicy steak and be unable to pay for it." He nods to Charles as he has his manservant pay the fine, but he still has to "get his money off the ship", so he heads that way.

[SiegeTower]

Melvin hadn't bothered leaving the ship yet and when yelled at from the docks by Charles, he waves away the comment. "I ain't working for ya and paying for it to boot. Pick one."

Following Melvin's comments, the gnome woman was growing rather annoyed with the crew. Her quill was already dipped in ink so she couldn't tap her clipboard to make her point of showing her feelings though. She instead settles for the angry repeated motion of dipping her quill in ink.

"Maybe you would all prefer to dock somewhere else. This port seems to be out of your price range."

[CeaseofMorality]

Charles laughs dangerously. "Why, who said you were working for me? I was under the impression that you were to be my servant until the debt is to be paid off. Looks as I will have to remedy these.... erroneous notions." He then speaks a couple of strange words, which makes his hand glow with a deeply unearthly light, and begins walking towards Melvin with an almost maniacal grin on his face.



roll to intimidate: [roll0]
Spell prepped in hand is aboleth's lung, but I guess people will have to roll spellcraft to confirm it in-character

[SiegeTower]

Melvin recoils at seeing his new master look more sadistic than he was used to. Something is heard dropping in Melvin's pants and soon after the tinkle of two silver coins dropping on the deck. The two coins rest where Melvin was a moment ago and the servant who used to occupy that space had fled somewhere on the poop deck to make some distance between him and the would-be assaulter.

The gnome continues to aggressively dip her quill over and over while watching the scene play out on the deck. She was far less than pleased with what she was seeing and was ready to simply bar entry for the crew. When she hears Klaus's name though, she pauses her ink whisking.

"Klaus you say? And what would be your last name?"

[Diful Takveh]

Already partway to the ship, Klaus turns around and walks back to the nice gnomish lady to give his surname which he totally had and didn't have to make up on the spot. Well, he didn't have a real one, but there was one that he had given whenever he was asked before. "Agren, it's Klaus Agren," he spells the name, both first and last so as to prevent any spelling errors that might be common with made up names.

"Would you, by chance, know where we could find a mechanic in town? The man who just ran away somehow managed to get it stuck, and it is only through some combination of luck and fate that we were able to dock here. I had hoped we were beyond such aggression to the poor man, but alas, it seems we are not."[roll0] Bluff (+1 if this counts as trying to fool her) for tale about Melvin
[roll1] Bluff for name (if necessary)

[SiegeTower]

The gnome woman throws her hand back suddenly upon getting Klaus' totally not made up last name. Unfortunately it was her writing hand which made this motion and thus it knocked over the ink her assistant was so carefully holding. The gnome didn't seem to care for drowning her assistant in black goop however and proceeded to write Klaus' name down with gusto.

"Yes yes! Sir Agren of course! Right this way, right this way!" The no longer stuffy woman gestures for Klaus to come along with her of the dock into the island town. "A mechanic you need? Need not worry, need not worry. I will escort you to the finest one in town! Right this way, right this way. Anything you need." With the woman's frantic attempts to tend to Klau's wishes, she tosses her clipboard at her assistant. This smacks the young helper right in her ink soaked face making any writing that once was on the clipboard, now just a face shaped smear.

"Yes yes! Anything you need. And your shipmates? What would they like? I can escort them to anything they need. Government offices, the inns, blacksmiths, jewelers, grocers, bounty listings, entertainers, anything! You just say the word sir Agren!"

This sudden bout of enthusiasm was strange to say the least. Either Klaus once saved this island from a natural disaster once and forgot about it or he just made a very lucky guess at a name. That or maybe he was once here before and made a very good impression. This was his fallback name for when the occasion called for it. He couldn't possibly remember everything he's done while using it.

[SiegeTower]

The enthusiastic gnome begins to lead the crew through the town pointing out various places of interest as she does so. Her tour seemed rather unnecessary however as each building had a more than obvious sign hanging from a horizontal bar near its front entrance. The whole place was oddly organised in this way.

"Here we have the finest mechanic in the land. Very good with repairs. Not very good with speaking though. If you need upgrades or a new ship, it will be farther along. To right you'll see our local smiths who recently-" The tour guide is cut off by the smith's door bursting open. Two soot covered individuals are thrown onto the curb soon after.

"Out out! You two aren't fit to be anywhere near an anvil!" An angry voice roared from inside. The couple who were on the receiving end of this roaring didn't seem to even notice it however. They soon began bickering with each other on who's fault it was they were thrown away. Something about ruining the other's improved designs.

The gnome leading the crew told them to ignore what they had just witnessed and tried to hurry everyone along. "Yes yes! Here we have one of our finest taverns, the Octopus's Garden. We have a few guests with us today but there is plenty of room for more. Further along you we will see some of our government buildings. It is a bit out of the way to keep certain patrons of this port with different loyalties apart. There you will find the Navy bounties but if you are more interested in the.." The gnome woman clears her throat. "Privately issued arrest contracts...you will find them closer to the less formal inns." The woman wrings her hands together while throwing Klaus a big smile. "So is there anywhere you would like to be escorted specifically?"

As the crew ponders on what they would like to do, a man walks out of the tavern behind them. He seemed innocuous enough but soon throws an expression of wild bewilderment towards a particular person standing outside. "Well blow me down! Charles? Charles is that you?"

[Dark Knight Renee]

Seeing Charles gleefully threatening to assault Melvin with a spell, Nevin paused with the flag half-way lowered. "Leave him alone!" the youth shouted at the priest, glaring at him venomously.

Readied action to cast Ray of Frost at an unocupied space in front of Charles as a warning shot if the cleric ignores him and continues after Melvin. Lets try to resolve this scene before tackling the later one. Once again: please somebody help keep this from turning into PvP combat, because Nevin doesn't share my reluctance! :smalleek:

[CeaseofMorality]

Charles was feeling a bit sheepish since his latest outburst at his new servant. "You fool! It seems the sea air has addled your mind to an even greater degree than usual. No matter how how servants usually behave at the firm, you must keep your emotions in check. What would your brothers think!" He was in the middle of berating himself when he heard a voice call his name. "Well blow me down! Charles? Charles is that you?" Maybe it was just him, but he was fairly certain he had never seen this man before. He opened his mouth. "Pardon me sir, correct me if I am wrong, but I do believe we have never met?"



roll for diplomacy: [roll0]

[SiegeTower]

Charles is pulled away from the rest of the crew by the man who had just exited the tavern. The man seemed excited to speak to Charles but keeps his voice down just so the others couldn't hear.

"No no, we haven't met. I do however know YOU! I was just given the job to find you now you see." This sounded awfully suspicious and the man knew it. He quickly realized this and rolled up his sleeve to reveal the tattoo of the Merchant Priests. The tattoo showed the man to be several ranks lower than Charles. "Now you WON'T believe this! I was just inside that tavern talking to one of our superiors. She had JUST given me the job to find you!" The man laughs loudly. Despite his efforts before, Charles's crew mates would easily be able to hear the man bellowing. "And you won't BELIEVE what I have to tell you. Now it's not good news, sorry to say, but I am glad I caught you in a public place. Especially glad I also have one of our superiors RIGHT inside there to tell you this if you don't believe me. Don't know why you wouldn't though, I mean, come on, we're part of the same guild right?" The man starts to annoyingly nudge Charles with his elbow to accentuate his last word. "Right right?"

Charles wasn't sharing the man's enthusiasm, especially since the news was supposedly bad. The man continued with his lack of tact though and threw Charles a toothy grin. The several gold teeth adorning the man's gums shined light into Charles's eye. "Well I guess not EXACTLY the same guild. You're sorta fired."

[CeaseofMorality]

Charles stared at the man. "Excuse me?"

[SiegeTower]

"Oh right!" The man fiddles with a scroll tube attached to his back to get out the documents he needed. "Ya see? Totally official." Charles is handed parchment with a lengthy letter written on it. Some might think it's written in code but really it's just written with loophole free wording. The kind of wording Charles was very familiar with given his many contract negotiations.

"Had to be me to deliver it. I was just gonna get an air mage courier to deliver the letter but then it wouldn't be official since a member of the guild wasn't there during the moment of delivery. Then I was gonna find myself a star mage to track you down. You know how much those folks charge for just a LITTLE bit of clairvoyance though. They probably woulda charged me even more since they woulda known it was official guild business. Can't blame them for raising prices when they know how much people are willing to pay. We do the same after all. Just wish didn't happen the other way around." The man waves both his hands at Charles.

"None of that matter now though. Didn't cost me anything to find you since you're RIGHT here! The deal is, the guild was looking over the books. Saw ya were off by one silver piece during your initial guild registration. They calculated the interest for five years of an outstanding guild payment and it worked out to be QUUIIITTEEE a bit. The man leans in to whisper the exact amount to Charles. Charles thought he must have misheard. The sum was ludicrous.

"Soooo until you can pay that back, you can't be doing any work under the guild anymore. Also, sorta another bummer note. ALL of your assets are frozen until the payment is made to the guild. You TECHINCALLY weren't employed by the guild while you were behind on your payments so any money your earned with guild contracts isn't legally yours. Don't worry though, you can keep whatever is on your person though. Just don't be trying to trek back to your house any time soon." The man starts avoiding eye contact as he was pretty sure this was the point Charles would grow furious with the news of his sudden poverty.

"Yeeeaaahh, so now that I've got all that out of the way. Just sign the bottom of that there contract and I can go report back. I think signing it's a better deal than not. Otherwise you'll kinda be a wanted fugitive for fraud. Also signing it will make the interest on your debt stop compounding. So if ya raise the money for it, you can have all your stuff back."

[CeaseofMorality]

Charles' eyes were like ice."You said a superior was in there? Why don't we go in to clear things up. I'm sure this is some sort of misunderstanding. I am quite certain I paid the correct fee when I joined the guild." Charles muttered to himself. "This smells like a setup"






Diplomacy: [roll0]

[SiegeTower]

"Huh? Yeah sure. She's right inside." The man leans to look over Charles's shoulder at the people he was pulled away from. "I guess if your current crew doesn't mind you leaving suddenly. Doesn't matter if you're not ACTUALLY employed by them though, right?! The man nudges Charles with his elbow again.

[Diful Takveh]

Klaus shakes his head, "No, he's a free man as far as I'm concerned. Should he be willing and able to rejoin his previous employer, he may do so, but if he isn't, he knows he has options elsewhere." He turns to the gnomish woman, "Now, you were saying about a mechanic?"

[SiegeTower]

The gnome woman gleefully smiles as she hears Klaus is interested in something. She was to take note of it and remember for next time but all of her ink was alreadyt wasted coating her assistance face. "Yes yes! We have a many great mechanics on this island. If you need the job done before sunset, I can show you the way to one of our faster mechanics. If you are planning to spend some time here, I know the best mechanics who take their time."

[CeaseofMorality]

Charles gestures to the man to lead on impatiently. He didn't really see any reason to stay on with the group anyway, at least for the moment. Besides, with all the fuss that gnomish woman seemed to be making about that name, it seems like it wouldn't be too difficult to find them again if he needed them.

[TheEmperor]

Noticing that Klaus as apparently being treated like near royalty, Johnathan cheerfully decided to let the fellow take care of his business. Of course, cheerfully as in he took charge of the situation with the words of "Well, as you can see, Mr. Klaus is now somewhat occupied, so we'll have to take care of the repairs without him. We're probably gonna stay here for a bit, so a good mechanic is probably what we'd like to have working on the ship. On a side note, and entirely unrelated, do you have a mage who could magically treat some of our ship working around here?"



So I looked at the Skulls and Shackles thing, and found all the stuff you talked about. I didn't think that we'd really get weapons until AFTER we got the thing repaired...

Also, no color, sorry. Firefox won't allow me to stick color in.

[SiegeTower]

Charles

Charles is lead inside the tavern by the golden toothed man. The tavern wasn't remarkable in any way but it did have its fair share of patrons. One group of obviously pirates were harassing one of the waiters and there were other small groups going about their business. The man leading Charle's pointed towards who Charles needed to speak to but he would have easily found her on his own if he had tried.

The woman he was to speak to in question looked as she was about ready to leave. She had recently tidied up the papers around her and was in mid-motion of getting out of her chair. When she saw both the gold toothed man and Charles had entered the tavern, she froze and kept looking back between the two. She was awe struck. It took her a moment but she addressed the gold toothed man.

"Wow! I expected it to take a couple of weeks to have that message delivered to him not a couple of minutes! You are getting a raise!"



Johnathan

The gnome woman was preoccupied trying to keep Klaus happy and didn't bother trying to answer Jonathan's questions. She instead signaled for her assistant to take care of the matter. The assistant performed a silent sigh then walked over to Johnathan. Instead of speaking to him, the assistant took a quill and a piece of parchment out from a satchel. She dipped the quill against the ink on her face. A note was passed to Johnathan soon after.

"What type of enchantments were you interested in? Weather protection? Improved sturdiness? Faster Sails? Something else?"