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Post by Sugarphix on Oct 11, 2017 15:05:15 GMT -5
At Toby’s cry of “Call off your rats, the battle is done!” Tsunami orders them to sit, and they do; meek as puppy dogs. She finds herself wishing that she had some cheese to feed them. She settles for telling them that they were “good rats”, but can’t quite bring herself to stoop to pet them in praise. She utters a brief prayer of thanks to Merric and lounges in the doorway, leaning against one side of the door jam.
“Thanks for that, me heart,” Mac says as he turns his head to look at her. He starts as if he’s met the sharp end of someone’s dagger. “Yer face…” His voice trails off with the tones of a lamenting sorrow straight from the heart.
Up to this point, the adrenaline coursing through her system had stymied any gross amounts of pain from her injuries, but now as Mac draws attention to the most visible, it starts to set in. Her skin all along the left side of her neck, jaw, and cheek burn and itch at the same time. The skin there felt tight and dry and stretched too thin. Moving her head caused the skin pull tight across the blisters that had formed up the side of her throat. The pain was like the time she had laid a hand on a recently fired gun and had scalded her fingers. That pain had been searing. This one was white hot like a poker left in a blacksmith’s forge. She raised a hand in reflex to her face, but stopped before she touched the tender area. She could feel the heat radiating from the wound.
“The torch. It’s out now, we’re safe.” She explained.
“Tsunami, if that bastard out there burned ye, I’ll kill ‘im meself. To hell with what I said about not slayin’ the men here.”
Merric, how she loved that man. He would take on the world if necessary to protect her, she was sure of it. In a low voice she tried to reassure him. “Nay, me heart, I’ll be alright.” She let her eyes close, and moments later as the men watched, her hair fluttered as if being blown by an invisible wind, and the skin that made up the wound began to glow. The blisters atop the mess began to shrink and flatten, and the thin crispy looking portion began to heal at an unnatural speed. When the light faded and her hair settled back into place, her burn was gone, however, the skin was the bright pink of tender, newly-healed skin, and she wondered for how long it would leave a scar. “See,” she said uncertainly, “all better.” She gestures with her head toward Catherine and the guard outside. “The man out there be already down, I did take care of that son of a biscuit eater meself.”
(I used my CW spell: 7+3 = 10 points of healing)
1000th POST!
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Post by DM-Delfon on Oct 11, 2017 17:45:48 GMT -5
(If I'm not mistaken you only took 5 damage, so 10 will more than heal you to full leaving no scar. It would have been as if you were never hurt in the first place. Magical healing is awesome. Woot! 1000th post in the 3.5e board!)
Toby and Catherine were both injured during the fighting, Toby still has a bolt sticking out of his thigh. Catherine has a balled up bit of cloth pressed into her seeping gut wound. Mac appears to have no more than a couple bruises and small cuts, the kind that don't require medical attention at all. "Captain, can you tend to Toby and Catherine while I collect the wounded guards?" Minutes later, your crew is either healed or tended to and the guards are all collected inside the guard house. Mac slips out to summon the rest of the crew, and after about a half hour you have a small army of pirates collected around you at the guard house. "Oy, Captain! Now whut?"
Embros and Orellow have not been found yet as the prison is still quiet, no alarm bells ringing in the night. There will still be patrols about the island, and there are the ships at the docks, including the Sea's Song. It is also possible that some of your fathers never made it off of the island on the navy ship, they might still be lurking somewhere in the wilderness.
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Post by Sugarphix on Oct 12, 2017 5:03:04 GMT -5
Tsunami tended to Catherine’s wounds, and did minor surgery on Toby to remove the bolt from his leg. The thing had gone through the muscle, and she knew that if she waited for it to heal the natural way, that he would slow them considerably when they went to make their escape. She called on Merric to finish the job and bring him back to his fully able-bodied state. Toby had skills, and they might be needed before the night was through.
She surveyed the scene. She wanted to make sure that everything appeared as normal. She took the extinguished torch in her hands and held it until it shone even brighter than the moon itself. This she placed in one brazier and partially covered it with other pieces of wood so as to mask just how bright. Standing back, she nodded. It didn’t flicker like a normal fire, but if seen in a quick glance from a distance, that likely wouldn’t register. The two well-worn paths of the guardsmen that had been on patrol stood out well enough in the moonlight. She instructed Toby and Catherine to don the jackets and hats of two of the guards and continue along the paths where a guard should be expected.
When Tsunami had been but a child, her mother had sung to her. Her favourite tune had been about a ship on the sea.
With the waves crashing down, We do be safe and sound In the hull of our sloop strong and true, The salt waves can’t get in, While we’re snuggled within, On course on the briny blue.
With the dark sea all calm, The sun’s rays are a balm, On the decks of our sloop strong and true, We will fish and we’ll drink, Till we can’t even think, On course on the briny blue.
With the wind in our sails, Whippin’ out our coat tails, in the rigging of our sloop strong and true, We’ll make leagues by the day, And to Merric we’ll pray, On course on the briny blue.
The crew had often taken up the song with her mother, singing it with a reverent gusto despite its sombre tune. One of the few times when the Sea’s Song had been pulled into port and Tsunami had been allowed to visit the Merriculan shrine on land, she had found herself lost upon leaving. She knew that her fathers would likely be in some rough establishment, drinking until they couldn’t walk straight. The question had been, which one? It was dangerous for her to be walking alone at night, and though she could have handled herself against one or even a couple of men should they take it into their heads to attack her, she had still been a slight girl, and would have been no match for a group of ruffians. She came to a road lined with buildings on both sides. There were drinking establishments, a barber, a brothel, and more than one place renting rooms. She looked helplessly down the left side of the street where no less than three taverns sported jaunty signs telling of what they were. Drunken men leaned against the buildings, lay unconscious at the base of more than one wall, and often, men would venture down an alleyway between two buildings to take a piss.
She was walking by one such alley, meaning to go inside the next place to scout for one of her dads, she was set upon. She had made it not so far as the door when Tsunami was grabbed from behind. She had been taken by surprise, and had lost her footing, to be dragged back toward the alley. Then the door burst outward and a man was thrown out bodily into the street. One of the men doing the ushering was one of her crew, but it was too late, as the man dragging her pulled her round the corner and out of sight. Tsunami’s blows seemed to be useless and she couldn’t get to her cutlass or boot dagger. She knew that screaming wouldn’t help. With the windows of the brothels thrown open from the heat, her cries would be lost in the cries of the rutting women making a buck. She did the only other thing she could think of; she whistled. The singular sound pierced the air with the tune that her mother had sung to her for years. Her dad had heard, and had come for her. After this, the whistle had been used as a signal in many a situation to both alert or find one another. It was unique to their crew, and was unmistakable.
As Toby and Catherine got dressed, Tsunami taught them the notes to whistle. “Do this as ye walk, and any of me former crew that hears it will come to ye, knowin’ ye fer an ally.” Then she asked Mac to secure the men that they had bested, and laid down to catch some shut eye before they might be called to action again.
[Cure wounds for Toby: 5+3=8 and 8+3=11 for a total of 19 healing] [Heal check for Catherine's wound: 2+12=14 healing]
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Post by DM-Delfon on Oct 12, 2017 9:35:45 GMT -5
Catherine and Toby make a full circuit of the guard's normal route, returning with their report after about an hour. Some sort of axe beaked bird the size of a wagon lay dead in the path, and a smaller version of it was gorging itself on the corpse. Signs of combat in the area lead to two naked guardsmen, which Mac added to the rest before waking you. A majority of your new crew are now on filling in for the prison guards, walking the routes and standing their posts. When you step outside the building to observe for yourself, you see guardsman where they were when you arrived here, but now they're your crew. The signal fire braziers are lit again, and everything looks in order. You smile, knowing that this beachhead is secured. Your thoughts are interrupted by a distinct whistle, followed by words on the wind,
"With a lass in our laps, and ale pouring from our taps, in the mess of our sloop strong and true, So we’ll get to necking, Right here on the decking, On course on the briny blue."
The verse finishes with a harsh boorish laugh, and your heart fills with joy at the sound of it. You look to the shrubs knowing who will step out before he does. When he does you see the older man looks thinner than when you last saw him, but his teeth are no less crooked, nor stained with the tobacco he enjoys so much. His clothing is in tatters like he's been living rough, but he seems uninjured. The crew move to intercept him, and he calls out to you, "Me heart swells at the sight of you lass, and with such stout lads..." He trails off squinting at Catherine, "...and lasses at your back." He leers at Catherine, whistling through his crooked teeth.
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Post by Sugarphix on Oct 13, 2017 5:54:12 GMT -5
Tsunami’s first instinct is to squeal “Daddy!” and run to the man’s arms the second he comes into view. Overtaken with releif, tears of joy spring to her eyes, not spilling, but welling there, making the sight for sore eyes a blurry one. Her heart aches from missing him much more fiercely than she had allowed the emotion to touch her to this point. She almost sobs and runs to him, taking one deep hitching breath and half a step toward her father. Then it strikes her that she has gotten wed without consent, without a single one of her family having even met Mac. True, she has fulfilled every part of what her fathers and mother had instilled in her; Mac had met her bride price of a ship—an even better one than she had bargained for—and he had made her captain. Yet a thread of fear coiled around her heart. It was never wise to anger a buccaneer, especially one so deadly as one of her dads. She wasn’t afraid for herself; her fathers doted on her, and perhaps the captain most of all. It was Mac she feared for. The men of her former crew had taken a sword to more than one man who had tried to lay a finger on her before she was wed. Now she just had to make sure that she explained the situation to her dad before Mac touched her with any kind of intimacy in front of the other man. If she cried now, Mac would go to her to comfort her. She swallowed back the lump of gratitude in her throat and tried desperately to blink back the tears that she could not allow to fall. But it was not only Mac that Tsunami felt the need to protect just now. For the moment, there was a more imminent danger. Tsunami saw the oily grin on her father’s face as he sized up the noble woman, and recognized it as one akin to Mac’s when he was in a mood to take her. The realization of what that had meant every time any one of the crew members had looked that way at her mother jolted Tsunami as if she had been goosed. Tsunami looked from her father’s predatory demeanor to Catherine, whose nose had risen in the air. That was a move that would either enrage her father for her pertness, or would egg him on as a challenge. Like Tsunami, her fathers were used to getting what they wanted simply by taking it by sheer force. If he wanted Catherine, he would try to take her. If he tried, all of them would fight, and one or more of them would die. Her father was a most formidable swordsman, but they outnumbered him three to one. She couldn’t lose him again, she had just found him. And if he injured Mac in the battle…she felt tears pricking at her eyes again, and she huffed in disgust. She must be getting soft. Tsunami tried to diffuse the situation with cordiality, perhaps to play on her father’s belief in her innocence. “Father, this do be Catherine Legrand. Miss Legrand, this do be one o’ me fathers, Captain Abraham Claybrook of the Sea’s Song. “Well now lass,” Claybrook began, “We do be well met.” He dragged out the word well, somehow making it sound indecent. “Ye can’t know how long it’s been since I’ve laid eyes on such a bonnie lass such as yerself.” He was trying to be charming! However, his voice was dripping with intent. Tsunami put herself between her father and Catherine as she spoke to him. “It has been eighteen days.” Two voices pointed out at once; Tsunami’s incredulous one and a second more sarcastic one. “Mother!” Tsunami exclaimed as she turned in the direction of the guard’s hut. There, coming up the path were Toby and a wmoan who would have been beautiful in her prime. Her ringlets were like Tsunami's but tighter and of a darker hue. She looked well weathered, having spent a life at sea, and she looked like she could take on the best of them. “Ara,” Claybrook breathed her name in relief. Then he seemed to pull himself up by his bootstraps. “Fear not, I’ll see to ye right after I finish with this fair lassie over here.” He took a step toward Catherine and Tsunami, his hands going to his belt buckle to loosen it. “Ye can’t have her, Father.” Tsunami said with determination. She pulled her cutlass and took a fighting stance. Her father drew his own sword. “Oh,” he said, mildly amused, “It’s goin’ to be like that, is it?” He blew out his mustaches, perterbed. “Both of you stop it, right now!” Ara commanded, but all of them could hear the fear forming the words. “Father, put yer sword down, I’d not want to hurt ye.” Tsunami told him earnestly. “I’ll not take orders from ye. Ye seem to think that ye be in charge here, but I assure ye that I can still tan yer hide, young lady. I think the time away from me ship has made ye go a sight daft, love. Now get out o’ me way.” And with that, he advanced, not swinging with his sword, but mearly using his arm to manhandle Tsunami roughly out of the way with a backhand. He was forceful about it and she fell sprawling to the ground, her cheek red. Suddenly, Mac was there, holding her, helping her up, and brushing lightly at the mark with a thumb as he examined her swelling face. He kissed the spot gingerly and was roughly pulled away and flung from her by one of Claybrook’s meaty fists. “No!” Tsunami shrieked, but she was helpless to stop what was about to happen. Now swords were in all of their hands and black rage filled the two men that she loved the most as they squared off against each other. “What are your orders, Captain?” Toby called in a distressed voice. He knew where this was about to lead. They had followed her to find this man that was about to attempt to murder them, and might actually succeed. “Stand down!” the two captains ordered together, but Tsunami’s solemn voice was lost in the words that Claybrook bellowed. Immediately, Mac, Toby, and Catherine stowed their weapons, though their bodies were still poised as if ready for a fight. "That's more like it," The pompous Claybrook boomed with a satisfied nod of his head. “Oh, Abraham,” Ara said in the tired voice one reserves for a normally petulant child. She was following Toby’s line of sight as he stared intently at Tsunami. “He was talking to her.” Captain Abraham ClaybrookAra
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Post by DM-Delfon on Oct 13, 2017 20:10:33 GMT -5
Mac may have slammed his sword blade loudly home in it's scabbard, but you know he has other blades close at hand. Judging by the look in his eye, the man before him might yet feel the sting of those hidden blades. For his part Captain Claybrook smiles smugly, "Aye, that they do lass. You forget though, that Tsunami is me crew and so that makes them my crew too." Mac's knuckles crack audibly, his knuckles white on the hilt of his sword and a fist down at his side. You're not sure if he has a fist because he wants to punch something, or so he doesn't disobey your command by driving a blade into your father's eye. If looks could kill, your father would be dead already.
Catherine moves around behind Ara. The position is good for ending Ara if she is a threat to you, while simultaneously defending her from your father. Your father seems to have lost interest in Catherine for the moment, still locking eyes with Mac. "This man dared to touch you lass, for that I think I will take his hands." Toby has also adjusted his position, ready to put something sharp into something squishy if it comes to that. From what you've seen of the man's skill, he knows where to put a blade to end a fight quickly.
For your father's part, he stands surrounded by armed pirates and seems completely at his ease. As if the men and women staring him down were actually under his command. Your thoughts race, and you know that if you don't do something right now this will end in bloodshed. By Merric, what does he mean by 'his crew too?'
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Post by Sugarphix on Oct 13, 2017 20:46:55 GMT -5
The grin that now spread across Tsunami’s face was every bit as smug as her father’s. She crossed her arms under her breasts and shifted her weight to one hip. “Ye did groom me me whole life to have me own crew, and make no mistake, they are my crew, Father. They take orders only from me. If ye want to try to pull rank and have a pissin' contest like with one o' yer other booze-swillin' captain palls, think on it like this. I will always defer to ye as captain aboard the Sea's Song. Upon her decks ye have always been captain since before I had me first drink, and Merric willing, ye will be captain until the day ye die. But, my Sapphire Rover is bigger than the Sea’s Song and could outgun her. If anything, ye can call me commodore. Why, along with the other ship that the others made off with, I might just have meself me own fleet. Admiral has a nice ring to it. Ye did always tell me to set me sights high. I’d say that ye’ve taught me well." Her smile dissappeared and her hands dropped to rest on her hips. In a serious tone, she said, "I’ll be keepin’ me crew. And by the by, I rather like Mac’s hands. He’s very good with them, so we’ll be keepin’ those too. Now, if ye’d like a ride off this flea infested island, ye’d be welcome aboard me decks, as guests. Either that, or we can try to return ye safely to the Sea's Song, where ye can continue bein' captain, of her and her alone. If yer not amenable to this, then ye can walk!"
These were tough words coming from Tsunami. She knew better than to threaten her old captain with bodily harm, and every word that she had spoken was true. But her mouth had gone dry, as she spoke the words, and she really wished that she had some booze to swill of her own. Her father continued to stare at her, the smug grin frozen on his face. She doubted that he was feeling it anymore. The dangerous part was not knowing what was going through his head. His nostrils flared as he took in a breath, perhaps to say something. Tsunami prepared for another blow, but stood her ground in her petulant pose.
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Post by DM-Delfon on Oct 14, 2017 7:23:59 GMT -5
Abraham raises an eyebrow when you claim the crew, but he doesn't break eye contact with Mac, and both men still look ready to pounce. When you talk about the size of his vessel, he responds, "It's all about size with you isn't it. Well it doesn't matter the size of the vessel, nor the motion of the ocean. The only thing of importance is whether you can stay afloat long enough to pull it into port." Then he winks suggestively past Ara at Catherine, while thrusting suggestively with his hips. Turning his attention to you he says, "You can call yerself whatever you wish lass, Commodore, Admiral, Empress of the Moon for all I care. Facts are facts lass, and the Sea's Song do be me ship, and you have no claim to it. My crew do be on that Navy ship, so if anyone is Commodore it do be me." The man turns and approaches, Mac tenses, but a glare from you holds him in place. "I do be glad you've set your sights high lass, and to know you have a ship warms me heart." He smiles warmly, the proud father from head to toe, but then he speaks and as his words spill out his demeanor changes to that of judge, jury and executioner. He points at Mac as he speaks, "If that man do be good with his hands, he can keep them attached to his arms if he helps me collect my ship from those Navy bastards."
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Post by Sugarphix on Oct 14, 2017 7:53:41 GMT -5
“Aye, that do be the plan. I’m glad that ye’ve come up to speed. Of course I don’t want to see the Sea’s Song in the hands o’ those landlubbers any more than ye do. We came fer ye and to reunite ye with the ship. Let’s be off then. We have much to discuss, like how many more of ye remain on the island. The more we have, the easier it will be to sail out of here. Me crew do be needed to pilot me ship, and we’ll need enough hands to set the Sea’s Song to sail. We have friends that are tryin’ to free Blue-eyed Pete as we speak. That’s only three. Be there any more?” Tsunami turned and started to walk back to the guard house. She froze after a few steps as her father’s voice followed her. “Where do ye think yer going, Lass? This do be a job fer the men.” Toby let out a small gasp. Mac looked down, and smiling shook his head. Catherine let out a “Pft.” Ara actually laughed. Tsunami said, “If ye want Mac’s hands, this’ll be a group effort. Where’re he goes, I go too. If it makes ye feel better though, by all means, ye can lead the way.” She loved her father dearly, and she knew he loved her too. She wasn’t born with the testosterone that seemed to be fueling the man, but she had the nerve of her mother, and could give it as well as she could get it. She was going to have to use some finesse before this was over. It was always better to let a big man think think that all of the good ideas were his. “Perhaps ye can help me decide how best to collect the rest of the crew.” Blue-Eyed Pete
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Post by DM-Delfon on Oct 14, 2017 13:27:30 GMT -5
(Your picture links to a pinterest search for duelist swashbuckler, but not a specific image.)
It's clear to you that he still regards you as one of his crew, as well as his daughter when he says, "I see that nobody has managed to tame that tongue of yours. Best you mind it, else you'll be facing our quartermaster for your insolence." He regards the small army of pirates collected around the beach and guard house, "What about them? There do be a lot more than three over there." The crew form up as the line of you approach, and what a line you all make. Captain Tsunami Cutter in the middle, flanked by Captain Abraham Claybrook on her left, Ara to his left. Quartermaster Mac Cutter walks with murder in his eyes on her right, with Catherine and Toby beside him.
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Post by Sugarphix on Oct 14, 2017 15:03:39 GMT -5
As we walk toward the guardhouse, a formidable group indeed, Tsunami says tiredly to her father out the side of her mouth in a low, but conversational tone: “I got married, Daddy. Mac do be the only quarter master that’ll be tanning me hide from here on out.” She looked up at the hard-faced man and smiled at him. “I do love him, Daddy, and I did choose a new path with ‘im. I’ll be no more a part of yer crew, those men and women do be me crew now. I wish ye had been around to give us yer blessing, but I think ye shall see that he’s done very well by me.”
Ara’s voice rises in an excited, yet quiet squeal. “Married, Tsunami, are ye really?”
“Aye, Mother, that did be how I became captain of the beautiful ship Mac did provide me with as me bride price.” She looked sideways at Mac but continued to talk to Ara, “We’re still tryin’ to work out who do be takin’ the other’s name.”
Without looking, Tsunami’s fingers found Mac’s sleeve, and she tried to slide them into his hand to hold it. She was rewarded by the hard presence of a concealed dagger though, and nearly sliced her finger open. She looked at him with one eyebrow raised.
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Post by DM-Delfon on Oct 14, 2017 17:03:39 GMT -5
You watch the myriad of emotions play out on your father's features, he's always been easy to read unless he has a blade in his hand. First surprise, quickly replaced by shock at you getting married in the short time you've been away from him. Anger boils up on his features next, first because he thinks Mac took advantage of you, then because you smiled when you were talking about him tanning your hide. The anger is set to simmer though when you mention your love for the man, finally extinguished by sadness when he realized you're not part of his crew anymore. Annoyance peeks out for a moment at the missed blessing, followed by either greed or indigestion. Those two look very similar. He seems to settle down to acceptance when you mention that your bride price has been met, and bigger than his at that.
At the same moment, your father says, "Of course you will keep your own name." Ara says, "Oh dear, you'll be wanting to take his." said together it's hard to understand either one. The hilt in Mac's hand vanishes like smoke, and you didn't even feel the usual flick of the wrist, it's honestly like it simply vanished into the ethereal plane. (Nat 20 Slight of Hand) From the guardhouse Mac points out to the ocean, some 300ft off shore the Sapphire Rover awaits. Gregor's massive form is clearly viable even from this distance. "Do that thar be Master Mountainhammer, or have ye an ogre on board?" your father asks, a touch of pride and envy in his tone. "Ya do have a beautiful vessel lass, mayhap I have misjudged the lad." He looks to Mac, "What say you lad, bury the hatchet so to speak." Mac smiles, and instantly alarm bells go off in your mind, that isn't his happy smile! That is his I'm planning something dangerous smile, DANGER! He lets go of your hand, and extends his hand to shake your father's hand. Your father extends his hand, a smile just creeping onto his face... KA-POW! Mac smashes your father in the face with his balled fist, and the bigger man staggers back and stumbles to the ground. Mac steps forward, and points down at the man, "That was for hitting my wife. If it weren't for her feelings for you, you would be dead now."
The longest heartbeat in the history of time itself drags out before you. Your father sitting, one hand going for his sword hilt the other bracing to help him get to his feet. Mac flicking both wrists, and you watch transfixed as you see the blades inch their way into his hands. Ara's hands go to her mouth in surprise, while the rest of your crew drop hands to hilts or begin to draw steel if they already had hilts in hand. The moment drags out forever, until your father starts to laugh. At first just a chuckle, then a full fledged belly laugh. "You do be either brave or crazy, and I do be thinking you need a bit of both in a marriage. Are we square now, or should I finish drawing this sword?"
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Post by Sugarphix on Oct 14, 2017 18:46:19 GMT -5
“Stow it,” Tsunami says as both an answer to her father and an order to her crew members gathered on the beach. The multiple shinks and clacks of blades sliding back into scabbards come almost simultaneously following her words. She puts a hand on Mac’s arm and looks up into his stormy blue eyes. “I say thank you now, though the simple words can’t do me feelings justice. Perhaps I can find a way to convey how thankful fer ye I be later…”
She watched her father’s eyebrows shoot up. She knew that Mac had understood her meaning, but she carried on anyway for her father’s benefit, or perhaps to torture him a little. One of his eyebrows had come down, and that eye was caught in a squint, like he was trying to work something out.
“…in me quarters…”
Her father’s other brow came down, now his brow was furrowed. No one likes to think of their parents having sex. Tsunami figured that that would go double for parents envisioning the hijinks that their sons or daughters got up to.
“…naked.” she finished.
Her father swiped at the air in front of his face as he jerked his head sideways in helpless disgust. “Oh, Tsunami that do be enough. Ye did already break mine and yer mother’s hearts by gettin’ married without me consent, must ye undo me wits as well?” Her mother winked at her.
Tsunami knew he was bluffing. Besides, despite the gratification she had gotten from Mac standing up for her, her cheek still throbbed as if she’d been stung by a dozen hornets.
“Yer right, Father, I do be sorry.” She assured him, although she let him stand by himself. She gave him her best beaming smile. She wasn’t sorry at all.
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Post by DM-Delfon on Oct 14, 2017 19:29:08 GMT -5
You and your small army make your way toward the prison, Toby and Catherine lead the party around the strange axe-beaked creature. Before long the prison looms before you, a massive rectangular building three-stories high. Ahead you see the ground slope toward the docks, and can see the masts and top sails of the ships docked there. By your mast count you see at least three vessels docked down there. The main gate itself has two guards stationed at ground level, and another two visible on the wall above. There are arrow slits cut in the walls which could hide further adversaries. The path itself passes no further than 30ft from the guards at the main entrance.
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Post by Sugarphix on Oct 15, 2017 7:20:20 GMT -5
“We should be able to handle those four with no problem,” Tsunami told the others, “It be the ones inside that we can’t see that do worry me.”
She looked to her parents, the mother who had given birth to her as a roughly used prisoner, and the captain, who had assumed like the rest of the Sea’s Song’s crew after using her, that the baby had been his. They were both such strong people for different reasons. She knew that they would have both used their time here to try to figure a way out. How they had gotten stranded when most of the others had escaped on a ship she didn’t know. But they could regale her with that story once they were both back on the open seas. “Ye have both been on the island this past fortnight and a bit, do ye have knowledge of how many guards might be behind those arrow slits? How many come and go with the change o’ their shifts?”
She listened to their information, all the while doing calculations and planning in her head. She could out-sail most seasoned seadogs, but on land, she found planning an assault to be a challenge. “I do think that the only way we’ll get close enough for an attack of any kind will be to walk right up to them. She pointed to Toby and Catherine who were still wearing the soldier’s hats and coats over their own clothes. Ye both walk with Captain Claybrook as if he’s yer prisoner. Ye can tell ‘em that yer takin’ him to the ship so he can retrieve the ship’s manifests for ye, and perhaps log some of the booty kept in her stores. We can create a diversion to draw the ranged weapon fire on us so their attention is off of ye. They may even try to usher ye inside fer yer protection. Either way, the three of ye can whistle when ye’ve taken out the two guards on the ground. Then we’ll take the rest together. If anyone has a more solid plan, I do be willin’ to listen.” She said as she surveyed her friends and family, knowing full well that she might be sending them all to die.
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Post by DM-Delfon on Oct 15, 2017 14:10:38 GMT -5
Mac shakes his head when you mention taking the guards by the door, "Embros said that the attacking the front door is a bad idea. The barracks runs along that wall." He points to the wall facing the docks, "If there is trouble, they can call up an entire shift worth of guards in short order. I really want to know how that man got his information, he had enough details that you would think he ran the place." Your father speaks up without needing to think about the answer, "Each shift do be between forty and fifty guards. That means that this island do have one hundred and fifty guards or so. The morning shift will 'ave closer to fifty. The ships 'ave about a dozen men between the three of em." He looks at the sky to get a feel for how long until dawn, "At dawn, a new squad of six men will head down to the beach. Three sets of two men will wait just over there for the patrols to come in, then switch out with them so there are always three patrols circling this side of the island. Another six does the same on the other side of the building. There do be guards on the top of the building too. They patrol in both directions, and 'ave stationary men stationed at each of the corners, and there near the middle." He then points down to the docks, "The dozen men down there will also change at dawn. As long as we're done 'ere say an hour before dawn we will avoid the random walkings of people getting to their posts."
Mac also glances at the sky, "three hours or so until dawn. That somehow feels like a lot of time for something to go wrong, and not enough time to get everything we need to do done." Then he smiles his wolfish grin, "I've always liked a challenge." Everyone falls silent for a full minute, working out ways to get down to the ships without raising the alarm. Mac breaks the silence first, "I have a plan." Once everyone is listening, he spells it out in broad strokes. Captain Cutter will lead the crew that assaulted the beach to the cliffs, where they will leap into the water and swim to the ships. Captain Claybrook leads the rest to the cliffs that overlook the ships themselves, prepare lines to repel down to the ships or grapnels to hook the rigging and swing on board when the time comes. Anyone with ranged weapons should stay above to prevent any guards from running. "Embros seemed pretty insistent about not killing any of the Navy men, so try to avoid it if you can." Abraham scoffs, "Screw those Navy Bastards." He spits to the side, "Good men 'o mine died in the escape, and who knows what they 'ave done to Blue Eyed Pete. I say kill 'em all." Mac and the crew look to you to settle that dispute, while Claybrook seems oblivious, staring toward his ship. He's looking right at where the helm would be if he could somehow see through the ground down to the docks.
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Post by Sugarphix on Oct 15, 2017 14:49:10 GMT -5
Tsunami begins to slip out of her scale mail, when she's stopped by Mac, who grabs the garb and tries to yank it down back into place. "What do ye think yer doin', Tsunami?" I'll not have ye enter an area where we might encounter a fight without protection." She glares at him and tries to pull the scale mail over her head again. Mac tries to hold it in place, and the way he says her name takes the same tone as her father used to use when she wasn't listening to him either. "Tsunami!" Mac looks to Abraham for help, but the man just puts his hands up and chuckles. "She's yer problem now, son. She's made that quite evident. Good luck, I'm sure ye'll see that it's like trying to tame a fearless and willful Kraken." “Abraham!” her mother admonished, “Ye know full well that Tsunami has always been a good girl…when she’s not on the rum…which is most of the time.” “Mother!” Tsunami cried, appalled. Then she spoke to Mac as she tried to pull off the armour a third time. “Ye want me to swim to the ship, Mr. Monsoon. But ye never once stopped to ask if I can swim.” A look of alarm crossed Mac’s face, but she went on to assuage his fears. “Aye, I can swim. Well enough to get to the ship, but not with the weight of this on me shoulders. If I tried to venture out into the water like this, it would pull me to the bottom as surely as if I did be made of stone.” Mac finally acquiesced, with the condition that he would bring the thing to the ship for her and she would be able to re-don it once they were onboard. She shimmied out of the mail with a succession of soft clinks and let him take it. “Time for us to part for now,” she told her father and mother. Ara gave her a fierce hug. “We’ll meet again on board. Daddy, please try to keep the murder to a minimum. Me new ship hasn’t yet found a reputation as one belongin’ to pirates, and many of me crew, like Miss Legrand here are good people that don’t deserve to die on the gallows until they’ve earned the title of buccaneer.” Captain Claybrook looked at her as if sizing her up. Perhaps he was seeing her as her own woman for the first time. It could be that he was finally seeing what a good captain she made. Or maybe he was just trying hard not to backhand her a second time for trying to suggest a course of action for him. She squeezed his arm and rose. “Right, Toby, Catherine, Mac, ye be with me.”
They made good time to the top of the cliffs, and that’s where Mac’s plan went awry for Tsunami. She stood at the edge, looking down at the peaks that would appear each time a swelling wave would smash into the rock wall below and ebb away to reveal the series of pointy shoals. This was high and daunting. Tsunami had stood on a plank before, just to see what it would have been like if she had been caught by an opposing ship. This was higher. She loved the crow’s nest, and never felt like she would fall though any little rocking of the ship would make the mainsail sway to and fro in sweeping arcs across the sky. This was higher than that too. She swallowed hard. Her mouth had gone dry. She was oblivious to the conversation going on around her. She had tuned everything out except for the rhythmic crashing of those waves below, each glimpse of the death she knew she was going to meet. This was going to take luck, and of that she had none. Skill, yes, but never luck. Mac was telling her to jump, saying that it was time. She took a deep breath, she watched as the wave came in, it seemed to be moving in slow motion. She could see the spray splashing off the wall. It was now or never! She froze. She just couldn’t bring herself to jump. “I…I can’t.” she said simply to Mac. He swept her up into his arms and she felt whole. “It’s ok, ye don’t have to.” He carried her away from the edge and kissed her deeply enough to make her forget that she had let him down. She was embarrassed and a single tear slipped down her cheek right before his boots pounded the dirt below them at a run. His body lurched. Then, they were airborne.
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Post by DM-Delfon on Oct 15, 2017 21:18:31 GMT -5
You close your eyes as the feeling of weightlessness takes you at the top of Mac's leap, and you kind of feel like your actually flying for a moment. You're reminded of standing on the topsail near the mast, watching the Cape Gannets glide on the gentle breeze. Then gravity takes over, and you're reminded of Cape Gannets again. This time for their diving prowess. You hear the waves crash against the cliff face below you as you fall, so very loud in your ears, and fear rises in your chest that the wave is too early. That your broken bodies will be washed up upon the docks where the ship you were trying to save is tied off. Impact, and silence. Not the sharp, painful impact of stone shattering bone, but a pounding turbulent fist of freezing water. The force of the impact drives all the air from your lungs, and the icy fingers of it dig straight into your bones. It makes you want to scream, but when you open your mouth water rushes in to swallow your scream whole. You realize that Mac is no longer holding you, and want to scream again. You open your eyes to the familiar sting of salt water and scour the silent depths for him. Your eye catches movement, and you see Catherine's outline kicking like mad toward the surface. With what Toby was wearing, you would stand a better chance of seeing a ghost that finding him in this murky blackness. You realize that you've been slowly sinking, not moving a muscle to get to the surface and it's life giving air, but the thought is slow, and drifting. Your lungs burn like fire, and blackness is beginning to creep into the edges of your vision when something takes hold of your lapels. Then Mac's face fills your vision, his eyes like the very sea that surrounds you on a sunny day. He looks scared, which is odd on his features, his lips move and somehow you hear his voice clearly in your head, "Swim! Damn you woman! Swim!" (OOC Video about Cape Gannet)
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Post by Sugarphix on Oct 16, 2017 4:27:48 GMT -5
Tsunami tries to swim, she really does. But the cold from the water lancing into her is somehow making it hard for her muscles to respond. She knows she must rise. Mac is pulling her, but her arms barely move. She knows that if she doesn't help they'll both drown; she knows he'll either save her or die trying. She tried to push harder, mentally screaming at her dumb arms to do their job. It wasn't that she felt weak or tired, she just couldn't feel much of them at all. The water was sapping the heat from her body, and both she and Mac needed to breathe. She tried with her legs and at least they responded better than her arms. She kicked with all her might, and got only a quarter of the power she should have. With Mac's help, it was just enough. They slowly started to rise, not fast enough. Her vision sarted to darken and blur around the edges. Mac looked down at her, desperation marring his features. His own kicks were becoming weaker. She tried to pull fiercely with her arms, which flapped weakly in the water. She tried to redouble her efforts with her numbing legs. She didn't know how her limbs were moving now, she could ony barely feel them at all. The darkness took more of her vision. She blinked and was afraid that her eyelids wouldn't open again. After a few seconds, they did, just in time to see the meniscus of the sea only feet above her. One last effort of her legs and arms and one more kick from Mac, and they broke into the air. Now if only her frozen core would allow her lungs to expand to take a breath.
(6+3 = 9 swim check +2 from Mac = 11)
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Post by DM-Delfon on Oct 16, 2017 5:16:54 GMT -5
Four heads bob in the waves, three coughing and sputtering. Only Catherine is at her ease, casually treading water as if leaping off a hundred foot cliff into icy water was a common occurrence. She passes a rope to the lot of you, and says, "Hold on, and kick." Once you've all got a good hold, she turns and starts to swim. Nothing about her movements seems out of the ordinary, but each of her kicks seems to tug at the line, and every time she pulls her arms back the line lurches in your hands. You have to kick like mad just to not have the rope ripped from your grasp. Rounding the edge of the cove, your father's ship comes into view, and then the two Navy vessels. You swim across the cove to a small beach where everyone gets back into their equipment, and dries off as best they can.
Looking up the beach about a hundred feet you can see the wooden planing of the pier extending the beach into the water by about ten feet. There are enough berths for four large vessels, the closest is the Sea's Song, with a Navy ship behind. Opposite the Navy ship is an empty berth, with another Navy ship opposite the Sea's Song. Covered lanterns light all three decks, and more hang from stands along the pier. Once this begins, there will be little in the way of shadow to hide behind. There are lots of stacks of boxes and crates, coiled ropes for keeping the ships tied, equipment for loading and unloading ships, and for making repairs. Each ship has a guard pacing back and forth on the top deck, and another walks the length of the pier.
(The guards are taking 10 on their perception checks, so the DC to sneak from cover to cover is only 12. Feel free to describe accordingly. You can move 15ft with no penalty or 30ft with a -5. Currently you have surprise on your side, try to keep it.)
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Post by Sugarphix on Oct 16, 2017 14:25:13 GMT -5
“We should split up to take care o’ the guards on each o’ the ships first,” Tsunami tells them. “That way we have three possible exit strategies, and the guards with the better view will be out of the picture. If we keep low, the guards on the dock shouldn’t be able to see us until we start unfurling the sails and begin to weighing anchor. It also gives us an advantage because if one of us gets caught, the others will be in other locations. Once the guards on board are dealt with, we can coalesce on the Sea’s Song, and try to set her out to sea.”
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Post by DM-Delfon on Oct 16, 2017 14:33:46 GMT -5
Mac nods, "Aye, aye Captain. Toby you take the far Navy ship, I'll take the other one. You ladies make the Sea's Song clear and ready. Toby, do you remember what we did to the Caroline?" Mac smirks his wolfish, troublemaker grin when Toby nods. "Then let's get to work." He and Toby dart from cover to cover like shadows, Toby is moving at full speed, while Mac seems a bit more cautious.
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Post by Sugarphix on Oct 16, 2017 15:52:59 GMT -5
Tsunami waits as Toby and Mac head out and make it to their first pieces of cover. As they continue on to the next, Tsunami crouches low and begins her route to the docks. She waits there, listening to the hollow clump clump of the guard’s boot heels on the wooden boards of the dock as he walks the length of the wharf and makes his return. Mac and Toby have gone on and are now a good way along. The guard turns his back to her and begins another circuit of the dock. It’s time. She bolts from her hiding place of an overturned bateau with netting strung over it on the shore, toward a pile of crates. She makes it one step before she falls hard to the ground, eating a mouthful of sand. She looks behind her for what caused the fall to find that the buckle on the side of her boot has gotten caught in the net. She yanks with her foot, but she will need her fingers to untangle the mess, as pulling only seems to tighten the mess. Tsunami scurries back behind the boat and tries to free the buckle. She hears a pause in the guard’s gait and she freezes, hoping that the sound of her hitting the ground hasn’t gotten his attention. If it has, she hopes that she has made it back behind cover in time.
(8+1=9 stealth check)
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Post by DM-Delfon on Oct 16, 2017 16:03:09 GMT -5
"Oy! What the bloody hell was that?" The guard pivots, looking at the stuff you're hiding behind. You watch him through a tiny gap in your cover, he doesn't seem to have noticed you yet, but you have nowhere to go. You look back, but Catherine is out of position to help. You see her sigh and slowly draw her sword, resigned. If this comes to combat the alarm will surely be raised. Mac and Toby are far to far away to get back in time, it's all up to you.
Rolls: You're entangled, Dex save DC 10 to free yourself. Add another stealth to do so quietly.
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Post by Sugarphix on Oct 17, 2017 4:38:07 GMT -5
Tsunami tries again hastily to yank the net off her boot, but the buckle has gone right through one of the holes in the net’s pattern and seems too big to go back through. When the guard yells “Oy! What the bloody hell was that?” Tsunami’s heart sinks, and her blood rises. She loves a good fight, but this could blow the whole mission. She needed to rescue her mother and Father, and free the Sea’s Song! She heard Catherine’s sigh and unsheathing of her sword. turning back toward the woman, Tsunami shakes her head to ward her off, and deftly lifts the net and rolls into the cavity between the beach’s sand and the inside of the boat. Now she will be hidden even if the guard comes close enough to see the spot she just occupied. His footsteps still hadn’t begun to resume their course. She had to get free. She was a sitting duck here. She tried to feed the buckle of her boot back through the net’s diamond-shaped hole, but it was no good. She kept listening for the guard, who still hadn’t moved unless he was walking on the balls of his feet to try to sneak up on her. No matter, she was out of sight, but still caught like a fish in the net. She finally pulled her boot dagger and sliced through one of the thin chords that had trapped her. Then she carefully repaired the net with a deft knot, and waited with her heart pounding and her adrenaline rising.
(5+1=6 to untangle the net. 18+1=19 to roll under the boat silently. 12+1=13 to cut one of the threads of the net to free the buckle. 19+0=19 to retie the net to repair it.)
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Post by DM-Delfon on Oct 17, 2017 5:39:36 GMT -5
(Ever the sailor, taking the time to fix the net in your situation +1 Inspiration Point)
You loose sight of the guard when you roll into your hiding spot, but do manage to get yourself free from that blasted contraption. No, it's not the nets fault that you were so focused on the guardsman that you didn't watch your footing. You remember when you were hiding in some netting as a child, and you got hopelessly tangled. To free yourself you had used the dagger in your boot, and never told anyone what happened. You also clearly remember the strapping you received when an entire haul of fish escaped the net, wasting half a days work for the entire crew. You finish mending the fishing gear as the guardsman steps back into your view. If he had stepped two inches to his left, he would be on your right foot right now. The man has his blade in hand, and is looking back and forth, peering into the shadows. He stares right at you, making eye contact through the netting. After another long tense minute he sheaths his blade and shrugs, "Bloody Randell, and his bloody ghost stories. The bastard has me jumping at shadows." He turns and resumes his patrol.
(This guard is on edge now, and the DC to avoid his gaze is now 14, the rest remain at 12.)
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Post by Sugarphix on Oct 17, 2017 15:41:00 GMT -5
Tsunami glances around, looking for a fair sized rock to throw into the water to draw the guard’s attention away from the course she must run. Her search remains fruitless. The beach is made of a beautifully fine sand, which truth be told, was getting right into the crevices of her clothing. Emotionally she was shot. It seemed that there was going to be a hurdle for every endeavour she was taking here. Why couldn’t thievery and rescue ever be easy? She shimmied out of her hiding spot, making sure to lift the net clear of her boots and any other articles of clothing it might get caught on. She tried to peak around the edge of the boat to see where the guard was on his route, but because she didn’t want to get tangled again, there was no safe place to peer around without being out in the open herself. She quietly cursed. She was going to have to try to do this without knowing. She edged forward to the front of the boat, and made a run for the stack of crates.
(9+0=9 search to look for a rock to throw. 19+1=20 to get out of her hiding spot silently. 2+4=6 to spot where the guard is to see if the coast is clear.
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Post by DM-Delfon on Oct 17, 2017 22:34:09 GMT -5
The beach is fine sand, tan in colour. You get the feeling you will be brushing this sand out of your clothing for a week to come. You peek through every tiny view port in the cover in front of you, but to no avail. You can’t seem to find the guard. You can hear his footsteps trailing away, but can’t actually see him. You make. Break for the next cover and find yourself Behind a stack of crates. From here you watch as Catherine moves to where you just were, however she avoids becoming tangled in the fishing gear. Toby may as well be invisible, and Mac is hidden from view as well currently. The guard on the Sea’s Spray is leaning in the rail casually talking to the guard that almost found you, they’re not talking about anything serious. Something about Jason in prisoner intake, having too much to drink the night before. After a few minutes of banter the guards go back to patrolling, leaving you with only one target...
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Post by Sugarphix on Oct 18, 2017 4:53:32 GMT -5
Tsunami hunkers behind the crates and listens for the rising and falling intonations of their conversation to end. She uses the noise coming from them to cover the quiet sound of her drawing her cutlass. Their conversation ends, perhaps the men reluctantly realizing that they needed to get back to work. As the footsteps of the guard draw closer, Tsunami readies herself to move. She takes a deep breath as the <scarlet frock coat edged with gold> comes into view while the guard passes unwittingly past her hiding spot. She stays as still as a figurehead on the bow of a ship as he passes. When he is but a foot farther, She springs, covering his mouth and slitting his throat as she pulls him back behind the stack of crates. Realizing what she’s done, and that if she doesn’t act fast, the life force running from the wound might kill him outright. She just wanted to bleed him a little. Just into unconsciousness. She bandages the wound, making quick work of it, and makes sure that all of his sprawling limbs are tucked away where the other guard won’t see them. She rubs a fist-full of the fine sand from the beach over her hands to clean the blood from them.
(20+3+2=25 att roll, 10+3+2=15 to confirm crit, 19+3=22 to grapple him (pull him behind the stack of crates), 9+1=10 to do it silently. 4+3=7 dam and 5+3+8 dam. 13+12=25 heal check.)
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Post by DM-Delfon on Oct 18, 2017 21:39:06 GMT -5
You leap out from behind your cover, and quickly close the distance. The guard begins to turn at the sound of your approach, but you're so hopped up on adrenaline that you close the distance quickly. You manage to get your hand over his mouth, but not before he gets out the start of a shout, "I knew I heard-" You slam your blade home, and yank the guard off his feet behind your cover. As you tend to the fellow, keeping his life blood from pouring out into the sand. The guard on the ship calls out, "Did you say something Thomas?" The area around your hiding spot is lit up by a hooded lantern's light. Catherine ducks back behind her cover to keep the light from illuminating her. Now what?
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