Session Three - Recap

Session Three Recap

The new crew on The Wormwood awoke to a morning of boarding training spent under the constant swearing supervision of Riaris Krine, the ship's gunnery master. Taking the small dinghy, they sailed a distance from the ship and practiced throwing grapples and then climbing from the small vessel to the large one. Unfortunately, other members of the crew were there waiting to throw garbage and pails of bilgewater at the ones climbing. Jax immediately distinguished himself by getting his grapple set and climbing across before anyone else had even begun to proceed. His preternatural ability to climb the lines continued to pay off, as Riaris congratulated him and gave him a bin of rotten cabbages to throw at his friends who were still struggling--which he did with glee (maybe to impress the other swabs, or maybe just for fun). At least Jaundiced Jape, who was tossing rotted fish from a barrel at the remaining climbers got a wheezing laugh from Jax's brutal aim at his friends. Druna and Nika were soon across, and Gilbert eventually made it as well. Galfire and Scolvus spent more time swimming beneath their lines than climbing, and Sadie managed to lose her untied grapple into the ocean prior to struggling with the climbing process. Eventually the floundering members of the crew are recalled to the ship as the sun sets. Amid the general praise for those who did well, the new crew saw various scowls as Mr. Plugg and Master Scourge watched from afar.

Druna, Gilbert, Jax, and Nika at boarding practice

(Illustration by Dan, see more at the link!)

The next day, the payoff of those scowls seemed evident as each one of the new crewmates finds themselves doing either tasks that they hate or are simply not skilled at. It's as if Mr. Plugg and Master Scourge have it out for them. That become evident to Galfire when he was assigned to pumping the bilges with two other mates: Aretta Banison and Fipps Chumlett. Thinking it odd that those two who were normally quite friendly with Master Scourge were assigned that thankless job, Galfire made his way below decks. Things got more strange when Master Scourge stopped Galfire and searched him, taking away his spear saying "you won't need this down there." Work in the bilges was, as usual for Galfire, focused around finding the first chance to slip away and spend the day shirking. That looking for an opportunity to cut out early from his tasks left Galfire unready for what happened subsequently.

Shortly into the work Aretta and Fipps each pulled hidden daggers and moved to attack Galfire, no doubt to try and dispatch him and then toss his body overboard. While they flanked him, they found him to be not such an easy prey. He lashed out with his bare fists, clobbering Aretta square in the face. Her arm slashed wild and the blade tore a length of Fipp's forearm open. With  two more swings, Galfire managed to knock Aretta senseless and then turned to Fipps. While Galfire did get some nasty cuts, his fists quickly subdued his other foe. Galfire took both of their daggers and tucked them in his belt. He paused for the briefest of moments to consider his course of action, then promptly held each of their unconscious heads in the calf-deep bilgewater until both were thoroughly drowned. Then he strolled up above deck as if nothing had happened and reported their deaths--saying that they killed each other.

Voices yelled out for the Captain. Master Scourge quickly accused Galfire, and while Galfire's initial lies about the situation convinced some, Captain Harrigan was not as easily duped... considering the pair's knives that they were supposed to have killed each other with were missing. And Galfire had some bloody knife wounds himself.

Swearing with rage at the death of the two crew members, the Captain immediately ordered Galfire put into the sweatbox--a metal container placed on the aft deck to roast someone alive in the heat of the sun. Murmurs of "he'll be keelhauled for sure" made their way through the crew, but soon gave way to a single shout from the crow's nest: "SHIP AHOY!

For about six hours Galfire baked in the sweatbox while the rest of the crew took up positions and closed on the vessel. It was a Rahadoumi vessel, and while bigger than The Wormwood it had fewer sails and showed some storm damage--exactly what the pirate crew was searching for. The Captain ordered a number of hogs to be slaughtered and the waters to be chummed to draw sharks in the ships wake as the black flag was raised.

Jax was given the assignment of leading his fellow new crew members on a specific mission--while the rest of the ship was to engage broadside, he was to lead a team to capture the enemy wheel and prevent escape on the ship's boats by grappling across the divide between the two ships. He was given the chance to pick one other to join them (as Galfire was indisposed in the sweatbox), and he chose Jaundiced Jape. The crew took their positions on the aft deck and waited as the boats closed thanks to the port ballista of The Wormwood which tore down the final portion of the enemy ship's sails and slowing her fully. Just as they could spy the name on the side of the ship as The Wormwood hooked in (The Man's Promise), the sailing master Peppery Longfarthing began casting spells--coating the main deck of the enemy ship in clouds of fog. Lines were tossed and the battle engaged.

The two vessels tangled as the decks of the enemy were covered in magical fog

In the commotion of the fresh fight, Jax took a chance and tried to pick the lock on the sweatbox to free his friend. Given some time, and more strength than finesse, the lock was eventually broken. A quick healing spell later and Galfire groggily opened his eyes to Jax handing him a boarding axe with a "hey, get to fighting." The group tossed their grapples and began streaming onto the enemy ship. Jax led the way, crossing faster on the ropes than the enemy were ready for. Soon Druna, Galfire, and Gilbert were all across as well--while Sadie, Scolvus, and Nika attacked with ranged weapons. Jax swung about the rigging, striking from flanks. Druna and her adopted parrot Pluck lay about on all sides, smashing foes with club and tearing at their faces with claws. Gilbert and Galfire managed to scramble aboard after them and started engaging the Rahadoumi sailors as well, while Nika stood back striking again and again with her harpoon across the gap in the boats.

After the others were across, Scolvus attempted to jump over to the other boat himself, but misjudged the distance. For a moment he hung onto the ship's railing, but then slipped and plummeted into the water. As he started to fall behind the ships the ominous fin of a large shark emerged from the water and moved right toward him, attracted by the blood in the water and Scolvus' thrashing movements. Sadie took a moment and spoke an incantation, directing her magical energies toward the approaching creature and calming its aggression. Meanwhile, Nika quickly tossed a rope to the floundering Scolvus. She gave a tug to try and pull him in, and shouted for Jaundiced Jape to help her out. The two of them managed to haul Scolvus back up to the aft deck of The Wormwood soaked but no worse for wear. 

This came very close to being Scolvus' final resting place

While the group finished off the last of the enemy crew that had held the aft deck from the start of the battle, a shape emerged from the fog: Captain Barnabas Harrigan striding across the decks with some of the officers, headed below. Suddenly, from behind the unaware Captain emerged a Rahadoumi sailor with a nasty spear readied to strike the Captain from behind. With a roar, Druna dashed across the deck and clobbered the sailor with her ensorcelled club, preventing him from striking the Captain. Harrigan turned, appraised the situation, and with a series of smooth swings cleft the man into four separate pieces that tumbled onto the deck in a spray of blood. He gave an appraising look at Druna and the rest of her group, including Galfire. Galfire smiled back somewhat sheepishly. The Captain then turned and rushed below decks to continue the assault.

The crew had their hands full at once, as it was clear the battle was turning against the Rahadoumi. The enemy crew started making for the ship's boats in droves, joined shortly by the Captain of the Rahadoumi vessel--a savage woman warrior with a deadly longspear. Jax and Gilbert laid into the sailors attempting to free the boats, eventually slashing one of the lines and leaving Jax perched precariously on the upended dinghy. Scolvus and Nika crossed onto The Man's Promise to help engage the enemy Captain, as the woman had laid Gilbert low with a brutal spear thrust as she tried to help free the boats. Nika moved in quickly, striking first with her harpoon at range as she moved into position. Scolvus cast a grease spell onto the area to try and cause the enemy Captain to slip, but the woman kept her feet and drew closer to Nika while she dodged blows from Galfire and others. Finally Nika closed in, drawing her two short swords with the patience of a practiced hunter and struck. Both slashes hit critically, and in a fantastic set of blade swings the Rahadoumi Captain went from deadly foe to fallen foe thanks to Nika's brutal precision.

Nika's bloodied twin blades

(another illustration by Dan)

An enormous explosion sounded from below decks, a barrel of alchemist's fire set off by Kipper, and that marked the end of the battle as the remaining Rahadoumi crew surrendered to the pirates. They were bound and brought onto the main deck as the rest of The Man's Promise was looted. Drinking and celebration began, as shares of loot and plunder were counted and distributed. The Captain included a personal thanks to Druna for attacking the Rahadoumi that was going to assault him, giving her an enchanted necklace as a share of her loot. He also admonished Galfire briefly, saying that it was a good thing that they had some potential new recruits captured from the enemy vessel. Which he followed with a stern warning that any more killing of crew would result in Galfire's being keelhauled, this time immediately. The slight joviality masked the underlying nasty threat, but it was better than being stuck in the sweatbox.

The night continued with a great deal of revelry, and things started to get a bit out of hand on all fronts. Nika attempted to thank Jaundiced Jape for his help of saving Scolvus, but ended up talking to the mute as if he were a child which seemed to upset him a slight bit. However Scolvus smoothed things over with a thanks of his own. Meanwhile, Sadie talked to Crimson Cogward and while getting him to warm to her slightly realized that he is a somewhat unorthodox follower of the Goddess Pharasma who believes that his killing of sentient beings (such as the crew of the enemy vessel) is helping her mission of shepherding souls on their final journey--a rather chilling statement. Sadie followed that awkward conversation with two others, one with Slippery Syl where she dropped the hint that Tam "Narwhal" Tate had been lurking around his locker (counting on the fact that earlier Jax had broken into Syl's locker, removed an item--an eyeball made into a fetish--and snuck it into Tam's locker). The second was with the cabin girl, Caulky Tarroon, who as always was rude and unkind. Most unsettling, Druna attempted to get Cut Throat Grok riled up and excited as a way of ingratiating herself with her. That quickly ended when Grok got so excited she ran over and embedded her axe square into the skull of one of the Rahadoumi captives, killing him instantly. A thunderous bellow came from the upper reaches of the aft deck where Captain Harrigan sat, saying that the next person to kill anyone on the ship without his order would walk the plank immediately.

Meanwhile, Jax had started talking with the ship's sailing master, Peppery Longfarthing. He thanked her for overlooking them freeing Galfire at first, as she had been at the wheel and likely clearly saw what he had done. Their talk soon turned into Jax making a suggestion that they go below decks for some fun, which soon led to he and her having sex--this time with the light of Besmara's middle-curved moon shining through the portholes down on the pile of blankets in the officers quarters where they had their tryst.

Gilbert and Nika, meanwhile, worked with Maheem to talk to the captured crew. Gilbert found the Rahadoumi sailors to be a rough bunch, and inclined to join with Captain Harrigan's outfit. While Gilbert used his magical spells to understand the strange dialect, Nika simply talked to those she could communicate with. She found a young, scared sailor named Farik who related a pitiful tale--he had left for sea to care for his family, who were awaiting for his return from this voyage which he hoped could finally leave him with enough to leave the sea life behind him forever. Nika assured him that he would be okay, and to just be careful in the meantime.

As night grew near morning, most of the crew were sound asleep. Jax left Peppery Longfarthing asleep in the pile of blankets and crept out onto the deck. He found Riaris Krine there, completely inebriated but still putting the ship's armaments back in order after the attack. As is his nature, he flirted with her heavily. This time it did not yield sex, but rather a heap of praises for his ability in leading the attack as well as training in how a ship's ballista works. Meanwhile, Nika was creeping out and about as well--though she turned her attention to the captured enemy ship. While it was fairly well plundered, she did manage to find some maps in the ship's chart room. One was a large nicely drawn map of the Shackles region of islands, which she rolled up and took with her just in case.

In the morning, the full crew was summoned to deck by Captain Harrigan, who addressed the Rahadoumi captives. "As for these fine fellows, we'll keep the ones who will make good ransom back in Azir. As for the rest, if the life of a pirate's not for them, they can spend the rest of their lives at sea!" With a sudden motion he grabbed the young sailor Farik who Nika had befriended. With a single hand, the massive Captain Harrigan lifted the sailor and threw him overboard. As the ship sailed on, the new members of the crew could only watch in horror as the young man was left screaming and sputtering behind in the wake, certain to drown. The Captain turned to the rest of the crew, which was being joined by all the remaining Rahadoumi seeking to save their own skins. He explained the plan to all assembled. Mr. Plugg would take command of The Man's Promise and sail it to Port Peril to be sold for salvage. The Wormwood would continue to its current destination then rejoin them at Port Peril later. Druna, Galfire, Gilbert, Jax, Nika, Sadie, and Scolvus were to join Mr. Plugg's crew, along with Master Scourge, Owlbear Hartshorn, and all of the swabs and riggers who had served on The Wormwood and a fair number of the more salty looking new Rahadoumi sailors. The rest of the officers would sail The Wormwood with the remaining Rahadoumi crew. The Rahadoumi cook survived the battle, and Captain Harrigan was quick to replace the drunk Ambrose Kroop, who will go to Plugg's ship as well.

A great number of glances at the horizon were exchanged

The crew were given an hour to transfer their lockers and say goodbyes, and get The Man's Promise ready to sail. As the final supplies were transferred the new crew looked at the deck of their new vessel, with Mr. Plugg and Master Scourge standing atop the aft deck at the wheel glowering at them, and felt a whole new set of nervousness set in about their continued voyage.

NPC Matrix

The characters have a basic idea of attitudes of the other crewmembers to them, which will be represented on this matrix and updated after each session. The (current) indicates where the attitude is, while the names in boxes show who influenced whom. (Permanent) indicates that the character is now permanently that status relative to the PCs. While they can still directly benefit from interaction with that NPC, the attitude is fixed unless something extreme happens to push the NPC the other way (cruel or insulting treatment of a helpful ally, for instance). Where movement goes back and forth, the names will be numbered to show the order of influence. I make this information public because living in close proximity on a ship really cannot hide their interactions!

Name	Face	Hostile	Unfriendly	Indifferent	Friendly	Helpful	Description
Ambrose “Fishguts” Kroop				Start	(current) Gilbert 1		Ship’s cook, perpetually drunk, smells of rum Voice: Long John Silver
Aretta Banison							Swab, Bad tempered ex-harlot who escaped a pimp named Pepper Jack. Big ears. Drowned by Galfire.
“Badger” Medlar		(current) Master Scourge 7	(current) Start Gilbert 4 Mr. Plugg 6	Scolvus 1 Master Scourge 3 Sadie 5	Scolvus 2		Swab, Older woman who has shaved white stripes like a badger on her head. Voice: Woman’s Low rumble
Conchobar Shortstone		(current) Sadie’s Spider 1 Mr. Plugg 3	Start Gilbert 2				Rigger, overly dressy and fussy gnome Voice: Olaf Peterson (“Hello beautiful ladies!!!”)
Crimson Cogward			Start Mr. Plugg 2	(current) Nika 1 Sadie 3			Swab, Easily angered loner, impressed only by stories of bloodshed. Voice: dark and brooding
Owlbear Heartshorn		Start	(current) Sadie 1				Tarred-and-feathered simpleton lackey of Mr. Plugg. Voice: pathetic
Dovan from Nisroch				(current) Start Mr. Plugg 4	Gilbert 1 Master Scourge 3	Gilbert 2	Swab, Colorful rogue mercenary captain, tells stories from Fitzburgh. Voice: Sexy guy voice
Fipps Chumlett							Swab, Fat, Pushy bully. Drowned by Galfire.
Jack Scrimshaw				Start Master Scourge 2	Sadie 1 Scolvus 3 Master Scourge 5	Gilbert 4	Swab, Talented young man always doing scrimshaw Voice: meek and mild
Jaundiced Jape		Start	Jax 1 Nika 3	(current) Jax 2 Scolvus 4			Swab, Humorless, greedy mute Voice: Mute
Maheem		Mr. Plugg 1 Master Scourge 3	(current) Start Jax 2 Gilbert 4				Rigger, Rahaddoumi half-elf with a permanent scowl Voice: Arabian Nights
"Ratline" Rattsberger				Start	Druna 1 Mr. Plugg 3	(permanent) Scolvus 2 Druna (saved life) Gilbert/Nika/Jax (helped)	Rigger, Rat faced Halfling missing fingers Voice: Chuckles constantly (think heh heh heh)
Rosie Cusswell				Start	Scolvus	(permanent) Gilbert / Fiddle	Swab, Swears constantly. Voice: stream of expletives
Samms Toppin			Jax 1 Master Scourge 3	Start Jax 2 Jax 4 Jax 6 Mr. Plugg 8	(current) Jax 5 Scolvus 7 Scolvus 9		Rigger, Former fisherwoman, never wears shoes Voice: Sweet melody
Sandara Quinn						Start (current) Nika Jax	Swab, Believer in Besmara’s guidance Voice: Moonbat
Shivikah			Start Master Scourge 2	Nika 1 Jax 3	Druna 4	(current) Scolvus 5	Swab, Mwangi ex-slaver Voice: Deep African voice, says “My friend” to everyone
Slippery Syl Lonergan    (or Greasy Pete)		Master Scourge 1	(current) Start Mistrust of Tam 2				Swab, Unhinged murderer who escaped to sea Voice: Dirty Harry (You feelin’ lucky punk?)
Tam "Narwhal" Tate		Start (current)					Swab, old friend of Master Scourge, Huge Nose Voice: Sniveling Toady