[IC]Adventures on the Inner Sea[PF]

[samduke]

after remembering to pick up a couple of kits Olivia heads back for the dock, where she will take the time to thoroughly inspect the fishing vessel, deck to keel, bow to stern. looking for anything that seems out of place.

[Daishain]

"I am grateful to hear it master launderer, now, let us see what is available, hmm?"

'Cassandra' will look to purchasing a Jollyboat, it would be easy enough to store on board the fishing ship, and would be just the right size for her and her new companions

Spoiler: OOC

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Jolly boat, my share 75 gp, less if others chip in. Picking up some alchemical cartridges, a grappling hook and 50' of silk rope, a 15' hemp rope ladder with boarding hooks at one end, and a catch pole. I'll probably add to this list as I think about it.

[Erloas]

Olivia heads off farther into town to find her supplies while the rest of the group heads down the docks to find a small boat merchant.

A seller is located and a jolly boat is purchased. The merchant gets the slip location of Robel's ship and says she'll have her guys row it down. There are 6 oars included with the boat and a couple ropes so it can be hoisted up into the boat.
After that is squared away the rest of the group heads farther in-land to find the other goods they are looking for.

Olivia reaches the Favored Terrain first and is greeted Lita. Robel is in town preparing for the trip as well. Some of the crew is checking over the equipment, mending traps, checking nets, greasing pulleys, and various other minor maintenance jobs. Lita shows Olivia where they'll be saying, a room at the stern of the ship, probably directly under the captain's chambers. It looks it used to be storage that has recently been repurposed. There are 6 hammocks hanging, as three sets of two, with, it would seem, some spare sail hanging in front of them for a bit of privacy. The galley is just off the crew quarters at the bow of the ship.
There is a grating over a large tub that seems to be where the fish and crab are tossed down from the deck. There are benches and tubs that look to be where the fish and cleaned before being tossed into barrels. There is a wench mechanism at the fore and aft to raise and lower barrels between that deck and the hold. There are a couple permanent light sources in this area. It looks like a well planned out and streamlines setup, like they have had plenty of time and practice to make refinements.

At some point while Olivia is looking over the boat the jolly boat shows up, the delivery people let them know where it came from and head off.

Olivia does a very thorough job looking over the ship and finds nothing unusual. Other than large areas of the deck being covered by crab traps and netting, and lots of empty barrels in the hold that make looking over some areas a bit tricky, there isn't anything that warrants any attention.

Spoiler: OOC

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River, Cassandra, and Daegan have all pitched in on the jollyboat, so 50gp each.

I'm not sure if everyone has finished picking out everything they think they need.

[Daishain]

'Cassandra' greets the fishermen warmly enough, and helps get the jollyboat secured. Then she sets about securing her personal belongings below deck.

[samduke]

After inspecting the ship and helping load and tie down the jolly boat. Looking towards the warf where various fishing supplies and such look to be sold, to those of the group that are present: Hey guys we might want to grab some fish catching gear as well. Olivia walks off the boat over to where it looks like fishing gear is sold and purchases fishing tackle, before returning to the ship and storing it with the rest of her stuff near one of the hammocks. Then returns to the deck waiting for the captain to get underway.

[ChaoticHarmony]

River helps prepare for launch when they return to the fishing vessel with the supplies they gathered. He ishumming a jaunty tune to make the work go by faster when Olivia mentions the fishing gear. "What a wonderful idea my dear! You should buy a kit. They come in very handy I must say. I certainly would've starved a long time ago if it wasn't for mine Yohohohohohoho!"

[Erloas]

After everyone has gathered the supplies they think they needed everyone has made it to the Favored Terrain. With your extra supplies stored in your room and having found nothing of concern on the ship everyone is ready to go. Robel arrived with more crew and the last of the supplies for the trip, some rations and barrels of clean water, and supplies to help preserve the catch.

The day is spent familiarizing everyone with the ship and making preparations. Nothing major occures. The ship leaves harbor in the late afternoon. Robel and Lita decided no need to wait until the next morning since everything was in order, the weather was good, and the moon was going to bright during the night.

You learn that they have 3 crews of 12, with an officer running each crew. The crew barracks is only large enough for one crew at a time, so at any given point one of the crews is sleeping while one is working and the last is eating, resting, and doing light work. Usually there will be a pair tending to the sails, four cleaning the catch and moving the barrels in the lower deck and hold, and six running the nets or pulling and dropping cages. The officer helps where needed or mans the wheel when Lita or Robel aren't on deck. There are some old hands, as well as a few newer crew, with a pretty good mix of races.
There are many other ships heading in and out of the harbor as you leave. Many smaller fishing boats that probably don't leave the bay, some merchants ships of a similar size to the Favored Terrain, as well as some large merchant and navy ships that dwarf the ship.

A little while after setting out Robel gets on a pallet attached to the arms that normally hold the nets and is lowered down to the edge of the water, where he sits quietly and in thought for a long time. After a while some dolphins that are following the boat pass close to where he is sitting and eventually just one is left. He spends quite a bit of time doing this.

Later in the evening as it is getting dark Robel and Lita give you a brief run down of their plan for the trip. They show you a map of the area and explain their general plan. They can't run the nets unless they drop speed, so that won't happen until they get close to where they want to be. At which point they'll spent maybe one shift worth going for fish with the nets. They'll then use the heads and guts of the fish caught to bait all of the crab cages, which they'll drop for one shift and then collect in the next. Then they'll head back out to fish, so they've got the bait for the crab traps and start the cycle over again. There is danger in running the nets too close to any shores and the crabs tend to be more in the channels between islands and their cage lines aren't long enough for really deep ocean floors, so it switches back and forth between more open ocean and more between the islands. Things can change depending how any given spot is doing, but that is the general plan.

You'll have about 2 days of travel time to get there. If you want to start setting anything up, ask more questions, see what the crew can tell you, and anything similar, now is the time. It will be most of a day before you make it far enough into the bay that a pirate, or monsters, are likely to be of any issue. The Rahadoum navy presence is obvious, but the farther out you get the more space there is for them to cover.

Spoiler: map

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Spoiler: OOC

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Everything people have been looking for so far would not be an issue to find and would be standard prices. If there were any other minor items you would have realized you needed after you got to check out the boat you would have had enough time to go get them. Or if you simply didn't get a chance to post. You'll have about a day real time to add anything you would have picked up prior to leaving.

Let me know your general plan for the travel part of the trip. If you need me to expand on anything, if you want to try to get Robel, Lita, or any of the crew to help set up your plan, etc.

[samduke]

Gathering all of our group to meet with Robel and Lita, I would like to ask if you think it would be at least possible for the next few days for us to work along side your crew to learn the basics of the ship so that when the pirate ship comes, and it might not, then we can act as the normal crew might all knowing what would be normal, and hopfully looking like it from another ship then the pirate might try for us and we can spring the trap. If this is okay by you I will volunteer to work with the first watch crew .. thoughts anyone?

[optimumsquare]

Bodaku slaps his wide belly in approval. "I agree. If for no other reason than I would be ashamed to not work alongside my new companions. I will join you on the watch. First though, there is something I need to do."

When he has a few minutes with just the party, he pulls out his gold pouch. "I have no idea how these shiny trinkets work, but you all seem to be using them for our quest. Take what is my share of the costs."

When he is able, Bodaku walks to the edge of the ship. He mutters a brief prayer the the sea spirits and the animals there in. When finished, he has the crew lower one of the boats into the water so that he is close to dolphins. Once there, he chats them up and asks them where the best fishing spots are. He offers the creatures some of the catch if they lead him there.

Spoiler: Metagame stuff

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If it gets annoying to roleplay that Bodaku is a country bumpkin who doesn't know basic stuff, just tell me and we can ignore that part of his character. He has 1,467 gp which is basically group funds since he comes from a place where money is a weird concept.
I was going to turn into a dolphin and do a really cool swan dive where I transform mid air, but I can't do that until next level. Sad. Cast one level one spell, speak with animals.

[Erloas]

"That sounds like an excellent plan. If two of you want to go with each crew then we'll be covered all day. We can ring up a bell and string in your room to ring to wake up whomever is sleeping if you want.

Would you like to learn how to run the sails, run the fishing gear, or manage the crew?" Robel asks. Once you figure out who is going to work together they'll introduce each of you to the officer leading the crew and they'll start teaching you the jobs you've wanted to learn. If you simply want to stand watch that is ok, they aren't going to force you to work.

We are still traveling, a good way out of the bay but not really into open ocean yet. There will be at least another day before you get to the point where they start fishing. Now would be the time to coordinate any plans for what you want the crew to do when you encounter an enemy. While everyone has knifes, really only the officers have any skill at combat. At this point Lita and Robel don't have any insight as to your specific plans, so if you want them to do or not do something they need to know that.

Spoiler: the ship

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Same ship as in the OOC, but I've included more of the equipment. The crab traps are stacks of them in these locations, several feet high. They'll be there or not depending on the cycle of the trip. The flags, for lack of a better image, are the long arms and pulleys used to hold the nets while fishing. They're about 10ft long and 6ft high and they can rotate, with locking mechanisms to hold them straight out or back. Both boats are on the stern, with the smaller jolly boat you've bought lowered into the ship's boat they already had.

Spoiler: OOC

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Bodaku if you want one person to take care of your gold you can work that out. If you just want everyone to know you'll pitch in to anything then I'll make that assumption every time going forward from now. As it is, the jolly boat would be split 4 ways instead, so 37.5 each. River, Cassandra, and Daegan would each get 12.5gp back

Spoiler: dolphin to Bodaku

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"You're not the same one that was talking with me earlier. He was offering me adventure" [And of course since you're still traveling rather than fishing it is a bit earlier to ask that. Though I guess I didn't make that really clear.]

[samduke]

speaking for myself Robel, I wish to learn all your crew can offer, from leadership of running the crew & runing the sails, to operation of fishing gear if this means I pull 2 watches then so be it.

[optimumsquare]

Would you like to learn how to run the sails, run the fishing gear, or manage the crew?" Robel asks. Once you figure out who is going to work together they'll introduce each of you to the officer leading the crew and they'll start teaching you the jobs you've wanted to learn. If you simply want to stand watch that is ok, they aren't going to force you to work.

"I would like to learn the sails if that is alright. The ships I sailed on when I was living on my island were... different."

Spoiler: OOC

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Bodaku if you want one person to take care of your gold you can work that out. If you just want everyone to know you'll pitch in to anything then I'll make that assumption every time going forward from now. As it is, the jolly boat would be split 4 ways instead, so 37.5 each. River, Cassandra, and Daegan would each get 12.5gp back

Spoiler: OOC Money

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That was an in character way of saying that Bodaku's money is group funds. I've never cared about money in rpg games.

Spoiler: dolphin to Bodaku

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"You're not the same one that was talking with me earlier. He was offering me adventure" [And of course since you're still traveling rather than fishing it is a bit earlier to ask that. Though I guess I didn't make that really clear.]

"Well of course I'm not the same as the one talking to you earlier. I'm Bodaku. Tell me, who is this one from earlier, and what was he offering you?"

[Erloas]

speaking for myself Robel, I wish to learn all your crew can offer, from leadership of running the crew & runing the sails, to operation of fishing gear if this means I pull 2 watches then so be it.

"I would like to learn the sails if that is alright. The ships I sailed on when I was living on my island were... different."

"We can do that. Olivia we'll have you run with crew one for the main jobs and can help with minor things on crew two, so you're not working too hard all day. Sounds good Bodaku, I guess we'll have you work with crew three. You can both start with the sailing side while we're still traveling, once we get to fishing we drop most of the sails and just use a few for more controlled and slower paced movement."

Spoiler: OOC Money

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That was an in character way of saying that Bodaku's money is group funds. I've never cared about money in rpg games.

[I figured as much, just wanted to make sure]

"Well of course I'm not the same as the one talking to you earlier. I'm Bodaku. Tell me, who is this one from earlier, and what was he offering you?"

Spoiler: dolphin

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"He was on this ship. Offered food and protection if I would learn some tricks from him. He said he worked with another of my kind before but he was killed."
[yeah, not sure how to portray talking to an int 2 animal. Consider this paraphrasing of intent]

[Daishain]

'Cassandra' spends a good deal of time getting to know the crew, having offered to assist in managing them. She is quick to arrive on the scene for any trouble. No doubt she causes some consternation when she first heals someone's hurts with venom from her familiar, but she holds them down and heals them anyways. Afterwards she promises that the snake doesn't bite anyone she doesn't want him to.

[optimumsquare]

"Hmmm. Perhaps another day, I can make you the same offer as he did, but for now, I would settle to know where there is some good fishing. Should you want adventure, simply stay by this boat for a while. You said the man from before came from this boat? Was he like me? A half elf who could speak to you as though he was a dolphin?"

[Erloas]

Cassanda is set to working with crew two along with Morley. Daegan joins Olivia on crew one and River joins Bodaku on crew three.
The crew teaches those that are interesting in the various parts of the sails, the names for each one and what they are used for. The tricks to raising and lowering sails while they're full, and how they need to be changed as the ship turns and winds shift. You get some practice climbing the Jacob's ladders and running the ratlines.
Warning calls for when the boom is being swung. There is also work to be done greasing pulleys, tarring ropes, repairing ropes, mending nets and the crab cages. This ship doesn't have a crow's nest but does have a small platform on the mainmast, referred to simple as the Top.

You've been at sea for about a day and a half now, leaving the bay and passing south of Nuat island. A few ships can occasionally be seen but none have approached yet. Robel estimates that they'll be dropping speed and getting the nets out in about 12 hours.
As you get farther out to sea the crew start talking more about the creatures of the deep. Rumors of sirens, mermaids, and harpies. Whales with giant suction marks on their sides, parts of whales caught in nets that look like they had been bitten in half. Stories of the storm giants and boggards that worship the Eye of Abendego. Of the lizardfolk and cannibals that make their home in the Sodden Lands. There are even stories of new ships that can travel by magic, not with sails or oars. As well as the pirate scourge, but at least the local pirates only tend to take your stuff, unlike the slavers that frequent the Inner Sea that take everyone. [You're currently in the Arcadian Ocean, the Inner Sea is the part between Garund and Avistan continents]

How soon do you want to start worrying about any ships you see? From the deck you can see about 5 miles, and from the Top about 10 miles. The Favored Terrain does about 2.5mph at top speed, many larger ships are faster, but unlikely over maybe 6mph.

Spoiler: dolphin to bodaku

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He could speak as such too, yes. I do not know, he seemed as whole as all the other land creatures I see

[TheStillWind]

Daegan chooses to spend his time learning the sails. As he is not bad with climbing and he sees that as an opportunity to gain a bit more distance for spotting things, he will try to volunteer to do work that involved being up top.

Additionally, Deagan has some knowledge of the fishing profession, so he will help where he can.

[ChaoticHarmony]

"Come now friends! Do not worry of such tales. One needs not fear the magic of the water if you have proper respect! And what better respect than a good days work and a hearty tune to give the seas!" River plays upbeat music as everyone works, helping however he can between verses.

Spoiler: OOC

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River spends 2 rounds of Bardic Performance every hour for 5 hours as he plays his song
Song of Competence: Profession: Sailor (1d20+13)[33]
Helping out the crew; Profession Sailor (1d20+3)[23]
Perform: String (1d20+13)[26]

[samduke]

Tending to her tasks as hey come around learning what is different from her other sailing experiences, picking up the few skills needed, she takes her second shift to observe how running this crew is different while enjoying a meal.

[Erloas]

Thanks to some superb sailing the time to finish the trip was much less than they had anticipated. Though not totally without issue, a few times during the trip Olivia has had some pains and irritations on her back and side. They would come and go.
At this point crew three is on shift, so River and Bodaku are working with the crew. Cassandra and the rest of crew two are doing minor work, prepping food, and other light duty work while crew three is doing the heavy work and crew one, including Olivia and Daegan, is sleeping.
You've gotten into the range that Robel wants to start fishing so the speed has been dropped and the nets are out. It is early evening and the next crew will come on late at night, or very early in the morning, depending how you want to look at it.

Robel has explained that he is in the process of befriending and training one of the dolphins following the ship. That Otho, mentioned earlier, was his previous companion and they had been working together for many years before the pirate killed him. He was still morning that loss and had just decided it was time to move on. The first thing he is working on is training the dolphin to be aware of the nets and will be working on training it to help them locate their fish, crabs, and lobster, though it takes some time because they don't have the same preferences in fish and they don't really see lobster and crab as food and naturally don't really bother paying attention to them. It also takes some time to work out signals and getting the dolphin to give signals they can use to navigate the boat by.

So far the fishing has been very good, will full nets and nice sized fish with every load. It is keeping all of the crew very busy. Robel thinks at the rate it is going they'll be able to switch to the crabs and lobsters in 6 hours or so, a bit before crew one comes back on. The fishing is a back and forth between some calm and some frantic activity. The nets are let out and pulled for a while before bring brought back in, which is hard work because it is done entirely by human power. Once the nets drop their catch on the deck any animals they don't want are released and the others are passed through to the lower deck to be cleaned and stuck in barrels and the cages start to be baited.

You have seen just a couple ships since last time, heading west and farther out into the ocean. The main coast is to the east but it can really only be seen on occasion, a few cliffs or trees, otherwise it can't really be seen. You've got a few islands in front of the ship that are getting closer but still a ways out. Robel says you'll turn farther west before getting to them, until enough fish have been caught to head in and start with the cages.

Currently there is a moderate wind from the east, running about perpendicular to the direction you're currently traveling.

Do you have any specific plans you want to tell the crew about? What do you want them to do or not do if anyone shows up?

Spoiler: OOC

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fishing: (1d20+12)[24] Robel skill +assist/circumstance bonuses

As mentioned in the OOC thread, I got the tactical speeds wrong, the ship will do about 9mph, some of the bigger ships will do maybe 25mph. So depending on wind and size, you might have an hour or more between when you see a ship and when they could possible reach you, to maybe just 15-20 minutes.

[optimumsquare]

Bodaku will facilitate the dolphin training with handle animal and the speak with beast spell when he is not learning knots, rigging and sailing a boat that isn't one of the large sail driven rafts he grew up with. He sends Shaddup on regular scouting missions to find nearby ships and report back on any ships that seem hostile. To be fair, Shaddup is an obnoxious bird, so Bodaku takes the information the parrot provides with a grain of salt.

Spoiler: Handle Animal Roll

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(1d20+8)[11]
Do I get a bonus for being able to talk to animals? My understanding is that we are one day out. Bodaku will use speak with animals once per day to faciltate training, meaning that he is down one level one spell each day.

[Daishain]

'Cassandra' consults with the fishermen and the others about general strategy. "We need to end the threat this bunch pose to you, if we just chase them off, they'll simply return later and with a vengeance. With that in mind, I suggest that we act as if cowed and ready to hand over everything we have. We strike when they are beginning to board us."

She points to herself and the rest of the group. "We will be above decks when they approach, and we will do the brunt of the work, charging across to their ship to do what must be done. I suggest that the rest of you be below decks for the first exchange, but the odds of success will be greater if those of you willing to fight came up to act as support."

"Does this seem agreeable to all?"

[Erloas]

Robel and Lita let you know they have to talk it over with the crew and they'll give everyone free choice in if they want to put themselves as risk. That night fishing switches to crabs and the ship has moved between the islands just off the main shore and north of the bigger island. So far the crab fishing hasn't been great. They're still coming in, but the cages aren't that full. Not finding the good spots, they can be very hit or miss at times and it seems more of a miss so far today.
It is early morning on day 3 of the trip, and the first full day of fishing. The weather has still been pretty good. Breakfast was, unsurprisingly, fish. The cook seems to have had a lot of practice with fish.

Robel says to Bodaku "Thank you for helping me train the dolphin, you are making things go much faster and easier than I could have hoped to do on my own. Once we start getting some crabs and lobster it will be much easier for him to learn what we want. I'm still picking out a name for her if you've got any suggestions."

When crew one is coming on and before crew two heads to bed they bring everyone together to go over your plan and see who wants to help. All three officers agree to help, as do 6 crew members from crew one, 3 from crew two, and 3 from crew three. Between Lita and Robel's personal weapons, a few crews' personal weapons, and some spears and gaffs used to protect the ship, some dangerous things end up in the nets, you've got the following items to work with: Robel has a long bow, longsword, and pistol, Lita has a light crossbow, there are 4 short swords, 4 spears, 3 long spears, 2 gaffs, and one more light crossbow.

Robel says "We understand the need to fight and we will help you however we can. While Lita and I are past our adventuring days, we aren't done. Do you have a specific signal for us to act and a clear plan for us to follow? I've got one spell if you've got anything you want me to prepare."
Lita adds "While my book is pretty limited, I've mostly got spells to help around the ship, if there is something I've got that will help let me know"

Robel says "Do you have any specific plans for your jolly boat? Right now we can't get it into the water very quickly but we can change things around if you want."

Shaddup has indicated he has seen a few ships in the distance but can't really tell much more than that. Seems that they are moving around at very least.

Spoiler: OOC

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fishing (crab):
(1d20+8)[11] (doesn't have as much help and assistance on the crabs yet)

[samduke]

taking stock of the weapons on board bluntly asking the officers who amongst them is most skilled with that light crossbow then follow suit with each of the other weapons (4 short swords, 4 spears, 3 long spears, 2 gaffs) have them stored out of sight but within easy access if we end up in combat.

[Daishain]

'Cassandra' says in response to the question about the Jollyboat, "If they come at night, we might try to slip people around their stern with it, but as is, I don't think so. What do you need from us to be ready?"

[Erloas]

"So if we see another ship you want us to wake the sleeping members of your group, get our weapons, and hide out of site, right? What is the signal for us to come out? And do you want those without ranged weapons to just defend our ship or to attack? Should we just keep their crew at bay or try for their officers?" Robel and Lita want to make sure everyone is on the same page and know what to do before it needs to happen.

With some training of the crew you see they can handle their weapons, but they're not going to very skilled with them. One of the officers is a bit better with the crossbow, which weapons do you want the other officers to take?

[samduke]

well if there is a definite way to identify the pirate before they got in close, example a pirate flag, then I would say yes wake the sleeping members and have the current watch prep for defending the ship more than anything, as for that officer who is better with the cross bow he can assist with the counter boarding action shooting at the other ship crew or officers.

Robel and Lita do either of you have a spy glass or the like? we could send an observer up to the top of the tall mast with it to look out and that could gain valuable time to wake us and change the crew out if a pirate was spotted.

[Erloas]

Another shift goes by, the crew is still fishing for crab as the previous gathering didn't use all of the bait. Today has been much better though, the crab pots are full, Robel has found a great spot and the crabs are just pouring in, each cage has been almost packed. As crabs do, they are more worried about eating than being in the cage and even once on deck they're still eating what is left of the bait.

Just as the second shift is ending and they're retrieving one of the crab cages it seems one is stuck. But after a bit of pulling it seems that it is instead just very heavy but is actually moving. The crew could use some help if anyone wants to help pull. The rope is through a pulley on one of the front arms so many people can get on the rope. It is moving in but much heavier than it should be.

Spoiler: OOC

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Make strength checks if you would like to help pull the cage up

Fishing (crab)
(1d20+8)[28]

[samduke]

helping out where she can pulling at the rope
(1d20)[14] :edit +1 str = 15 (see ooc)

[optimumsquare]

Bodaku "helping"

(1d20-1)[6]