Session Two - Recap

Session Two Recap

The day after the drinking contest, the crew awoke to more work and darkening stormclouds... and the threat of battling an owlbear for sport. The crew slowly improved in their tasks, with everyone discharging their day's work well--so much so that no one got any punishments in the bloody hour.

For the evening's entertainment, Mr. Plugg dragged a pitiful sight of a man onto the upper deck. Once tarred and feathered, the man capered and growled as if he were a monster. Plugg demanded that one of the heroes fight the poor man, either boxing or wrestling. As the new members of the crew eyed one another, and Galfire calmly stepped forward. Mr. Plugg produced a pouch of 100 gold coins, and bet it against Galfire. Other, smaller bets were exchanged by others.

Hoot Smash!

Galfire and the Owlbear went at it, and fell into wrestling and punching each other. Galfire clearly had the upper hand, fighting smart while wrestling and striking strong once the two pulled separate. Seeing that Owlbear was losing, Mr. Plugg threw a club at Owlbear's feet and told him to use it on Galfire. The simpleton picked up the club, and did just that. Which threw Galfire into a rage--suddenly and dramatically the slender half elf went from calm landlubber to roaring force of destruction. With a huge shove he pushed Owlbear backward, sending him with such force that he crashed back and through the door to the Captain's quarters (where the Captain was having a meeting with his gunnery master Riaris Krine, gunner Kipper, and the sailing master Peppery Longfarthing). In addition to the force of hitting the door, a huge discharge of electricity from a trap on the door to the Captain's quarters addled Owlbear's brain and left him unconscious.

With a roar that was even more impressive than Galfire's, Captain Barnabas Harrigan picked up the now-unconscious Owlbear and carried him out on deck with a single hand. He admonished Mr. Plugg for the breaking of his door, and grabbed the pouch that contained the goal. The Captain growled: "Who did this? You can speak." Galfire, without missing a second, said "Me." With an appraising look, Captain Harrigan pulled a platinum piece from the small bag. "I'm keeping these for the damages to the door," he said, "but you earned this one, boy. Don't do it again." He tossed the piece to Galfire and stormed back into his quarters.

Following that exchange, the thoroughly upset Mr. Plugg began shouting that the match was unfair, that the trap on the door had been what knocked out Owlbear--and demanded the platinum piece back from Galfire. Settling back into a calm state, Galfire shrugged and tossed the coin at his feet with a "whatever", and walked off the deck under the snarling glare of Mr. Plugg.

The night was a turbulent one, and when they rose in the morning the ship was well into a fierce storm. Despite the danger to the crew, the Captain continued with orders to sail through the waves. With gales of wind and huge waves crashing over the decks, it was a harrowing experience that required everyone to do rigger work to keep things sailing. Jax Sandstrom performed his duties as lookout and upper rigger admirably, and managed to distinguish himself in keeping the ship running. The rest of the new crew, however, did not fare as well. Many faced challenges in doing ropework and climbing they were not used to, and every one of the others was given some sort of punishment for their poor work--without the abysmal weather being an excuse.

It was a dark and stormy day... and night.

Despite their poor performance at ship tasks, the new crew also had a moment when they truly shined. The Captain kept the ship pressing on in the evening, rather than battening the hatches and trying to wait out the storm. In the midst of that darkness, the small halfling rigger "Ratline" Rattsberger lost his grip on the upper rigging in a particularly nasty swell that sent the ship rolling nearly sideways, sending him plunging into the foaming darkness of the water below. Jax spotted this and shouted a warning of "Man overboard!" Immediately the new crew went into action. Druna, without a single thought, leaped off the starboard side of the ship after the small halfling. Jax shouted commands to those in the upper sails to trim them starboard to slow the boat's progress. Nika ran to the rail and kept eyes on the now-two adrift, coordinating the rescue. And Gilbert dashed forward and started throwing a rope their way. Thanks to her druidic magic and strong natural swimming, Druna grabbed the small halfling. With the boat slowed by Jax's quick thinking, Gilbert and Nika were able to get the rope to the pair of them before they were left behind and lost in the swirling depths.

As dawn rose, the crew continued their sailing duties under the stern watch of the Captain and Master Scourge. Despite being exhausted, the ship needed to push and work--rumors of having followed the storm to try and surprise ships that slowed or were repairing from storm damage started to circulate. That day featured yet more failings, this time due to sheer exhaustion--certainly the next bloody hour was going to earn its name among the new crew. That night most of the crew dropped off to sleep without any fuss. Only Gilbert and Jax seemed to have any energy remaining. Gilbert used his time to try and make friends with Badger Medlar, who took his foppish attire and aptitude for sewing as maybe an indication he could help her with her hair (which she wears stylized as badger stripes). Unfortunately he proved ham-fisted and shaved the stripes in the wrong direction provoking her considerable ire. Jax, on the other hand, set his sights on Sandara Quinn, who was doing her nightly devotional to the great sea goddess Besmara on the foredeck. After joining her in a thoroughly baffling ceremony of the most simplistic "religious"-seeming expressions and devotions, Jax suggested a midnight rendezvous in the Crow's Nest. Initially, Jax aimed at just some simple amorous foreplay, but found Sandara pushing for more as the bright, middle-curved moon reflected down upon their entwined bodies.

In the morning, the winds were favorable so the Captain agreed to slowing the ship briefly to prepare a special meal: crabs plucked from a nearby reef (likely because an inevitably extra-bloody bloody hour catching up for all the punishments in the storm was going to be performed at sunset of this day). The new arrivals seemed to always catch the worst duties on this ship, and this day was no exception. They were given crab pots and told to swim out to a reef near where the ship was anchored and catch crabs. The broad Mwangi Shivikah, who also did not perform his tasks well during the storm, was also assigned to go with them. Swimming out was relatively easy, and it seemed to be an easy enough task to grab the tiny crabs that scurried about the reef structure. Druna used her druidic ability to call animals, hoping to ease and speed up the gathering. Unfortunately, her calls reached some crabs that were more interested in gathering the crew! Four nasty reefclaws crawled up onto the reef and began attacking. Jax managed to stop one from harming Shivikah. Sadie the Goat focused on improving her allies' attacks with magical aid, while Scolvus coated Galfire in a sheathe of magical grease to keep the cruel pincers of the crabs from grabbing him. Druna's powerful mop-handle cudgel plus Nika's harpooning skills proved to be the end of the crabs. The group swam back with their crab pots full of the massive reefclaws, and dinner that night proved to be quite the success. While the bloody hour was still bloody, much of the punishment seemed lessened due to the general happiness of Captain Harrigan with their work--which caused all the more ire in Mr. Plugg and Master Scourge.

Snap Snap Pinch Pinch

Through it all, the new crew continued to make what friends and allies they could on the voyage. For every setback, there was another chance to draw someone closer to their side. For instance, Sadie and Gilbert managed to cover each others' mistakes, with Sadie smoothing over Gilbert's brutal haircut of Badger Medlar and Gilbert making up for Sadie's spider scaring Conchobar Shortstone with some well-placed compliments. Others on the ship remained more distant from the new crew, but may have warmed even a little bit. Nika got Crimson Cogward to at least discard his perpetual scowl for a second, though his peculiar reference to putting folks in their graves coupled with the obvious touch of his skull earring remained a mystery to her. And despite Jaundiced Jape's external hostility, Jax cleverly and kindly managed to at least get a few affirming nods out of the silent half orc.

Meanwhile, Scolvus tried a different path, attempting to put some tension among the various pirates loyal to Mr. Plugg and Master Scourge. He attempted to convince Slippery Syl that Tam "Narwhal" Tate has been talking about evidence of certain crimes. While not bringing Syl any closer to Scolvus (who is still a threat because he knows about crimes), Scolvus could tell that Syl and Narwhal would start to mistrust each other. Sadie worked on another source of Mr. Plugg's power, sneaking below decks and relieving Owlbear Hartshorn's wounds. The pitiful creature seemed to at least be thankful, and expressed a primitive version of sadness about his plight and fear about his master. 

A concerted effort also started over the few days between some members of the new group to see if they could get Jack Scrimshaw and Sadie the Goat talking together more often. While both proved to be shy around the other, it didn't stop Gilbert and others from trying hard. Beyond matters of the heart, however, Jack also informed them that Mr. Plugg and Master Scourge had been intimidating members of the crew to keep them from being too friendly with the new arrivals. This bore out with what the heroes witnessed, for every time they seemed to make someone nicer, they spied Mr. Plugg and Master Scourge using intimidation or bold-faced favoritism and perks to lure sailors' allegiances away from the new arrivals.

The evening ended with a short speech from the Captain before everyone headed to entertainments or bed. He confirmed that The Wormwood had been using the storm to close ground in hunting prey vessels, in particular a Rahadoumi ship that they had been tailing. The new crew was ordered to work with Riaris Krine in the morning training for boarding actions, as the hope was that the sails of the latest prey would be in sight soon. As the new crew slept, each of them had the same dream: the smell of battle, the shouts of war, and the singular image of bloody barefoot footprints splattered all over a ship's deck.

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)			Ship’s cook, perpetually drunk, smells of rum Voice: Long John Silver
Aretta Banison		(current) Master Scourge	Start				Swab, Bad tempered ex-harlot who escaped a pimp named Pepper Jack. Big ears. Voice: Bitch voice
“Badger” Medlar			(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		Sadie’s Spider 1	Start (current) Gilbert 2				Rigger, overly dressy and fussy gnome Voice: Olaf Peterson (“Hello beautiful ladies!!!”)
Crimson Cogward			Start	(current) Nika 1			Swab, Easily angered loner, impressed only by stories of bloodshed. Voice: hasn’t spoken yet
Cut-Throat Grok				Start (current)			Quartermaster, superstitious. Voice: Raspy woman (because of scar) who gasps when she laughs
Dovan from Nisroch				Start	(current) Gilbert 1 Master Scourge 3	Gilbert 2	Swab, Colorful rogue mercenary captain, tells stories from Fitzburgh. Voice: Sexy guy voice
Fipps Chumlett		(permanent) Master Scourge / Druna	Start				Swab, Fat, Pushy bully. Voice: Bro bully voice
Jack Scrimshaw				Start Master Scourge 2	Sadie 1 Scolvus 3	(current) Gilbert 4	Swab, Talented young man always doing scrimshaw Voice: meek and mild
Jaundiced Jape		Start	(Current) Jax 1				Swab, Humorless, greedy mute Voice: Mute
Maheem		(current) Mr. Plugg	Start				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	(current) Start Jax 2 Jax 4 Jax 6 Mr. Plugg 8	Jax 5 Scolvus 7		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	(current) Druna 4		Swab, Mwangi ex-slaver Voice: Deep African voice, says “My friend” to everyone
Slippery Syl Lonergan    (or Greasy Pete)		(current) Master Scourge	Start				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