Pirates! (IC)

[rb780nm]

Thomas follows jack down into the ship, keeping quiet.

[drakir_nosslin]

Claudia

As Judeau leans closer to Jack, Claudia turns away but does her best to try and hear what he whispers over the sounds of the waves and the people talking around her.

Spoiler

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Perception - (1d20+2)[5]

[Cleavon]

Rorick "Rory" Pendergrass

Coming back from his bunk with a fresh jug of ale the olive skinned man uncorked it and took a long drink. He looked between Jack, Claudia and the smaller fellow before cocking an eyebrow and thrusting the jug at Thomas.

"Pass it around doc, I think you'll all need a drink when you hear this one."

[rb780nm]

Thomas takes a long pull from the jug before handing it on. "This seems a little ominous. What's going on?"

[Gamblerjoe]

Jack whispers something back to Judeau, who turns to Claudia. "APOLOGIES MA'AM. THE WAY THE TIDE BE TURNIN' ITS HARD TO TELL WHO'S ON YOUR SIDE. IF YE BE ON OUR SIDE, YE COULD PROVE QUITE HELPFUL. AS OUR BOOKKEEPER, MAYBE YE KNOW WHY OUR SHARE'S BEEN SEEMIN' A BIT ON THE LOW SIDE."

[drakir_nosslin]

Claudia

Smiling, Claudia nods towards Judeau.
"I don't blame you for your thoughts, when the shares are looking odd it's the bookkeeper who is the easiest to blame. And the most obvious as well."
She holds out the logs over the last plunder for anyone who wants to take a look.
"According to this our share should have been 30 gold and some silver after our latest plunder. We all know that we got a lot less than that."
She pauses for a moment and looks around, still holding the logs high for anyone to see.
"Now, anyone here is welcome to check my work and correct me, because I'd hate to see someone blamed for an error I've made. But as far as I can tell it seems that the captain is stealing from his own crew. What you choose to do with this information is up to you, but I felt that you all had the right to know. If nothing happens I'll leave this ship the next time we hit port. I like you all, but I can't sail with someone who is lying to his own crew."

Spoiler

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Roll diplomacy if necessary.

[Gorthok]

Griffith "Jack" Handrey

Jack takes the book from Claudia, looking over her figures and starts making his own in his head. After counting a bit, he hands the log back to her, a grim look upon his face.

"This is dire. My numbers match up to yours, Claudia. That means we're nothing more than slaves upon a ship to this man. Pawns he can throw into danger to win treasure for himself. I cannot and will not stand for such acts, be it on land or sea. There is only one course of action at this point..." Jack makes sure to catch the eyes of everyone present. "And that course is mutiny. I'm not going to sit by while this is going on, and seeing as we are the only ones that currently know this other than the greedy bastards profitting, I'd like to ask you all to stand with me."

[Gamblerjoe]

"SHIVER ME TIMBERS! YE HAVE THE LOGS? WITH THIS I RECKON WE COULD RALLY MOST OF THE CREW TO OUR SIDE. THE REST THAT STAY LOYAL TO THAT DOG NASH 'LL FIND THEMSELVES IN A HOPELESS SITUATION!"

[Gamblerjoe]

"IF ANY OF YE KNOW ANYONE YER SURE CAN BE TRUSTED, LET 'EM IN ON THE PLAN. THE REST'LL FIND OUT SOON ENOUGH. MOST SHOULD JOIN OUR SIDE WHEN IT HAPPENS. JACK, ILL LET YE MAKE THE CALL. WHEN YER READY, YELL IT LOUD AND THE CREW'LL RALLY BEHIND YE."

[rb780nm]

"I'm with you - just give the signal loudly."

[Cleavon]

Rorick "Rory" Pendergrass

Gripping the jug as it was handed back to him he took a long drink before setting it down at his feet. He pulled his spent pistol from his waistband and crouched down, beginning to reload it as he spoke.

"Try not to damage the ship, and anyone that comes behind us needs to be kept as alive as possible. Be hard to get to another port with just the lot of us here."

[drakir_nosslin]

Claudia

"You know that I'm with you, and should this work I'll stay onboard as well. As I said, I like you lot, I just can't stand a captain that steals."

With that said, Claudia looks around at the group that's gathered.

"I guess that there isn't much more to do then. I'll be ready whenever you want to start, Jack, unless you want to discuss some kind of strategy now?"

[Gorthok]

Griffith "Jack" Handrey

Jack thinks for a bit...

"There will be more wanton confusion and fighting if we just expose the captain for the crook he is without a sizable on our size. I think we should start by talking to every man on deck that you trust to side with us. The more in line with out mutiny at the time, the less people might be killed in the ensuing confusion. Let's meet back her tomorrow after our shifts and we'll go from there. Try to keep this from all the officers for the moment. If Nash is stealing, it wouldn't surprise me if the other officers were in on the scheme as well."

[Gamblerjoe]

"SOUNDS GOOD JACK. I'D FOLLOW YOU INTO THE DEPTHS OF HELL. I THINK I KNOW A FEW OTHERS THAT WILL HAVE OUR BACKS...SO WE TALK TO OUR FELLOW CREW MATES AND MEET BACK HERE TOMORROW."

[Cleavon]

Rorick "Rory" Pendergrass


His pistol freshly loaded, he tucked it back into his waistband. Standing and grabbing his jug back up he nodded and took a long drink.

"Agreed lads. I think I can get the rest of the dogwatch to stand with us. Just be sure we don't be tippin' them off. By Alivs, come tomorrow we'll have our revenge on that bastard Nash."

[rb780nm]

"The surgeon is an old drinking buddy of the captain - he'll be no help, but I think I have the boys' loyalty"

[drakir_nosslin]

Claudia

Good luck then, we better get the crew on our side, or we'll all be keelhauled or worse before this is over.

With that, Claudia leaves the group and returns the logs to her chest.

[Cleavon]

Rorick "Rory" Pendergrass

Nodding to their little cabal, he took his still half full jug up to the main deck and made sure the crew all had a little drink at the least to celebrate their victory. Once the jug was dry he went about his duties, securing the things brought aboard and getting ready to spend his night as part of the dog watch.

Once the time comes, he waits until he can be alone with some the more friendly of the men on the watch before trying to persuade them to their side.

[Gamblerjoe]

Night falls and the dog watch is on the deck. The morning crew are asleep on the berth deck, and the rest are having their down time. The captain and officers have all retired to their quarters.

[Cleavon]

Rorick "Rory" Pendergrass

Making sure to stick to the men that he knows the best, and that he is the most friendly with as well, Rory begins the task of getting the dogwatch on the side of Jack and his companions for the coming confrontation in the morning.

"Nash is keepin' the riches for himself. I swear to it. That lass Claudia showed Jack and I the books. We need yah boys. We can do better than bein' swindled."

[Gamblerjoe]

The men serving as the dog watch have worked under you for as long as you've been on the ship. They trust you and easily take your word.

"NASH BE DOCKING OUR PLUNDER?"

"THAT SCURVY DOG!"

"I KNEW IT ALL ALONG!"

"ILL CUT OUT HIS LIVER!"

"ARRRRRRGH!"

"WE'RE WITH YE RORY!"

"DEATH TO THAT TWO-TIMIN' SCALLYWAG NASH!"

"KEEP YER VOICES DOWN MATEYS!"

[drakir_nosslin]

Claudia

The young merchant spends the next few minutes writing up a quick and easy summary of the logs to show to the crew. The paper only shows the most rudimentary numbers, and much of it is rounded so that it's easy to add up.

Armed with this paper and her charms she spends the next hour carefully explaining the situation to any sailors still awake and off duty. She makes it clear that she's only giving the crew the basics of the numbers, but that the point is that Nash has betrayed them as their captain.

[Gamblerjoe]

In response to Claudia's information, crewmen begin to start a chain of "NASH IS STEALING OUR BOOTY, PASS THE WORD ON." Sailors begin waking their sleeping friends and whispering the news in their ears.

[Gamblerjoe]

As the sun begins to rise, the surgeon conducts sick call at the main mast, and the dog watch is relieved. The sky is clear and the waters are calm.

Judeau is ordered to take the helm, and the Chief Bosun has the deck. Captain Nash makes his rounds eyeing the crew menacingly.

[Gorthok]

Griffith "Jack" Handrey

A dull ringing pulls Jack from his restless sleep. With the coming mutiny on his mind, sleep didn't come easy. Dressing quickly, he rushes to the galley to grab some grub before his grim task. This could either end in freedom from the thieving bastard captain, or a short walk into a dark deep swim.

Walking to the helm, he catches eyes with Judeau, who nods in the direction of Rory, Claudia, and Thomas. Jack slowly walks near his co-conspirators, locking eyes with them all in succession. He nods down to the deck and then starts to walk to the door down to the bunks.

[Cleavon]

Rorick "Rory" Pendergrass

The first thing that should have tipped them off was that Rory was not drunk. He had his pistol tucked in his waistband in customary fashion and he was busy about the crew helping with any small tasks needed on the deck.

At Jacks nod he straightened up and made his way behind Jack, making sure to keep his distance from Nash.

[rb780nm]

Thomas stands beside the surgeon, dealing with all the actual work of the sick call. An astute observer might notice that he has more (and different) vials strung about his person than he usually does in such a role.

[Gorthok]

Griffith "Jack" Handrey

Climbing down the ladder to the crew bunks, Jack sees Rory following him. Once they get together, Jack fills him in on the plan.

"Once we're back top side, I'm going to gather the attention of the crew and just announce the theft by Nash and demand that he hand over control of the ship to me. If he does so, he will be locked up in the brig and dropped off at the next port. If not, he won't be leaving this ship alive."

"How many of the dog watch are with us Rory? Any and all that are I want to surround the helm before I annouce anything so we'll have a handle on the situation from the start."

Finishing the conversation, Jack follows Rory back up to the main deck. Watching as the dog watch musters in and around the helm talking and such, He pulls all his courage and climbs to the helm.

"All ye scurvy seadogs, I have something important to say! A close friend of mine, our ship's bookkeeper has brought to my attention that we, the crew, haven't been getting our fair share of the plunder! I looked at the numbers and we should of gotten thirty gold pieces each from that last haul, but instead received a measly five!! The only culprit could be the Captain and his officers! And I don't know about you, but I'm not going to risk my hide for someone just to steal my share from me! So Captain! Jack turns and looks at Nash in the face at this point. "Will you hand over control of the ship to me peaceably, be locked in the brig and disembark at the next port, or will you die here today on the deck?"

[Gamblerjoe]

Captain Nash steps forward.

"What is this bilge water! I show you all the glorious life a pirate and in return I get wild accusations? Griffith Handrey, put your nose on the deck, and the rest of you get back to your duties! At the first sign of dissension Ill have all trouble makers fed to the sharks, and this rabble-rouser here will be keel hauled!"

The ships officers draw their weapons and prepare to enforce Captain Nash's orders.

[Cleavon]

Rorick "Rory" Pendergrass

Affirming to Jack that the Dog watch is on their side, he made his way up towards the helm with those boys, talking to them and giving a whisper that the fun is about to start. Turning as he heard Jack begin his speech he listened intently, and when Nash spit out his retort Rory drew his pistol from his waistband and shrugged his shoulders.


"He said no boys! Stand with us against this mangy jackal of a captain and we'll see you get your fair share of the loot from now on!"