Hellbug's Skull and Shackles IC

[QuidEst]

Lauren gritted her teeth. Dark ones of the depths, that hurt. She was used to taking a beat, and she'd certainly had worse, but never when she was as tired, sickened, and for all intents and purposes, poisoned. It was only sheer determination that kept her on her feet. She would not pass out. That would invite a world of trouble later.

Fortunately, the punishment was left at two strikes. Any more, and she certainly would have fallen. She painfully shuffled away, accepting her beer and shuffling over to the railing to better brace herself. Sandara came over, and Lauren just shook her head. It was almost more than she could do to stand, but her back was a map of agony, fighting with her weariness to keep her from simply leaning back against anything. "Fiends take me for a fool, but I got into a little drinking contest with Maheem and Badger. You saw Maheem today- he couldn't stay on his feet, and I out-drank him. Today I'm hung-over, beaten, breaking out in sweats, and running all over the ship. Richer and better liked by some, but I'm going to need something, or tomorrow I'll be the one Habbly is putting back together."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Lauren is staggered and fatigued. She has not had her drink yet.

[Bhaakon]

"Thank you very much." Geno scoops up the dice and cash, stashing them in the numerous pockets sewn into his outfit--only some of which which are better hidden than others. It's smart to leave some obvious ones for a nosy searcher to find. They tend not to be satisfied with coming up empty.

"And I'll have you know, I've lost dozens of dice between drunken brawls and drunkenly enthusiastic rolls. And that's without thinking of theft or a rolling ship. Never hurts to have some spares. The game must go on, after all." He explains as he sets his hat on his had, frowns, removes it and bends it about, trying to form it back to its familiar shape. "Did you leave it resting on the brim?" He asks, mildly distressed. "Or...Plugg didn't try to jam it down over that five-head of his, did he?" He adds, aghast at the thought.

[ylvathrall]

Lena watches the beatings, then shakes her head and slinks quietly away as the grog is passed out. Vile stuff, and the more she sees of it the less she wants to do with it.

After the grog ration is finished, for better or worse, she goes looking for the halfling who seemed like a halfway decent working partner earlier. When she finds him playing dice with Crimson Cogward, of all people, she grins to herself. Opportunity came knocking, it seems.

"Evening," she says, walking up to the group. "Do you have room for one more? I don't have a lot to wager, but I'm sure we can work something out. I could take a look at those lashes, for one thing. I'm not a surgeon, but I've got some idea what I'm doing."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Stealth to ditch the grog: (1d20+10)[18] + (1d6)[6] Inspiration
Diplomacy: (1d20+2)[15] (If applicable)

[The Hellbug]

Geno

Grok has a good chuckle at Geno's distress over the condition of his hat before going back to her work. The rest of his shift goes uneventfully before the Bloody Hour.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

You are now caught up after the conclusion of the Bloody Hour punishments.

Everyone!

"Mmmm." Sandara considers Morgan's words. "I s'pose it was them comin' after you, though the whippings didn't reflect that. There was no need to be aiming to kill, though," she eventually says.

The pirate priestess then turns to Lauren, saying, "lucky I've got a thing for that, then, but don't go spreading it around." She clutches the silver holy symbol around her neck and a soothing light surrounds her hand as she lays it on Lauren's shoulder. Lauren immediately feels her fatigue lift and some of her strength return. "That should put you back on your feet."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Lesser restoration eliminates Lauren's fatigue and heals her for (1d4)[2] constitution damage!

The deck this evening is again filled with pirate entertainments. Grok seems to have brought a barrel up from the quartermaster store and is taking all comers at armwrestling (Rosie and a tall Mwangi woman can be found here, as well as Conchobar). Lena's halfling and Cog are playing a game of dice. Giffer Tibbs and a younger man are working on something on the foredeck, and are joined by Barefoot Samms and Badger. None of the pirates that attacked you this morning are visible on deck.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I want to see what some of you are interested in here before responding to any of your specific requests.

Edit: If I missed any of the whereabouts of any crewmembers or anything like that you are interested in, just ask ooc.

[dathom]

Didn't think they would, Morgan thought to himself as he gives a quick cheers and a wink to Sandara before downing his grog. With Sandara lending aid to Lauren, who had been left out of the original meet and greet, Morgan figured the introductions were no longer necessary as he excused himself, pulling himself up to his feet and, moving with the sway of the ship.

Seeing Giffer Tibbs with a group of people, Morgan meanders over with his empty cup and with genuine inquisitiveness asks, "What be happening up here? Ye all feeling like catching a bit of that refreshing sea breeze as it hits the ship?"

Spoiler: OOC and rolls

Show

Fort - (1d20+3)[7] versus grog addiction. Currently have +2 Charisma, -1 con from grog.

Will see what is happening up on the fore deck before deciding what I shall roll.

[Bhaakon]

Geno nods at Morgan's explanation, biting his tongue about his own role in provoking the woman. He wouldn't apologize for it, even if Sandara had known. Morgan was dead on about not being walked on. But the stubborn ache in his back don't let him hold his opinions on the subject for long.

"You all saw how the punishment was doled out. I'd wager my hat that Scourge or Plugg ordered Syl and her mates to start a brawl." He speculates, nursing his grog. He had his dice now, and some coin. Better not to get too drunk too quickly.

Once the conversation has broken up, Geno wanders over to the dice game between Cog and the halfling. After watching for a few tossed to make sure they weren't playing some strange variant game--or cheating--he kneels down, 'accidentally' jostling his coins to cause that unmistakable jingle of small gold discs slapping together. "So, what are the stakes?"

Spoiler

Show

Fort (1d20+3)[7]

And I intend to play dice, obviously

[QuidEst]

Lauren bowed her head appreciatively as the priestess blessed her. She still felt terrible, but it was the sort of terrible one could still get by on, and she could probably sleep the better part of it off. "Many thanks. Just let me know if I can ever return the favor," she said in earnest, keeping her tone hushed so she wouldn't give away the aid.

As for the drink, it was sorely tempting- that in itself worrisome enough considering how much she'd had yesterday. When there wasn't anybody looking, a quick breeze running through the mug splashed the contents overboard without her tipping it.

Still not feeling like doing anything strenuous, she made her way over to see what it was that Badger was involved in. It might be worth a stop by the store to see if her translations had been kept around, but anything more than that would have to wait until tomorrow.

[The Hellbug]

Lauren and Morgan

As Lauren and Morgan climb up to the upper deck, they see a small group of pirates in Giffer Tibbs, Samms, Badger, and a young ponytail-ed man. Giffer sits cross-legged on the ground, scrawling on a piece of parchment with a filed-down hunk of charcoal. She sits with the group seeming to split her attention between whatever she is writing and listening to the conversation of the others. The young man is sitting on a barrel and leaning against he mast and holding a sharp-looking knife and a bleached-white chunk of whittled bone. Badger appears to be in the middle of a story as Morgan and Lauren arrive. "...and, thanks to that, the big lout doesn't see ole' Willy creepin' up behind him with the frying pan. One swipe o' that, and he's out cold. And well, the rest of the story tells itself," the half-elf finishes, and Giffer smiles as the other three laugh.

"What be happening up here? Ye all feeling like catching a bit of that refreshing sea breeze as it hits the ship?"

Badger fields Morgan's question, "just checkin' in on Jack's work here,"--she gestures with her thumb at the piece of bone in the young man's hand, which is adorned a carved scene of sailors attempting to harpoon a massive beast--"even if you've seen scrimshaw before, this lad's work is another story."

Jack blushes slightly at the praise and says, "it's nothin' really. Just somethin' I picked up from me old man." Nevertheless, he holds out the piece for Morgan and Lauren to look over if they please.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Lauren gets to make a DC 5 fort save against her addiction. A success means that she doesn't have to live with the -2 penalty for a day (two in a row cures it). Failure means the -2 sticks around.

Geno and Lena

The halfling appears slightly irritated by Lena's offer, "well, that wouldn't be partic'larly helpful for me, would it?"

However, Cog gets a glint in his eye as he holds up his hand in front of the halfling, "hold it, Ratline, I'm feelin' lucky tonight, and I'm not in the mood to be turning away players." He reaches into his pocket and places 6 gold pieces into Lena's hand, making eye contact with her as he says, "she can use this. And if she loses it, I'm sure I can find a way for her to pay it back."

When Geno also approaches, Cog greets him, "Six gold coins each, winner take all. That sound fair?"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I understand that this isn't normally how gambling works, but it's way easier this way so unless someone has a better idea, this is the way we'll do it.

[ylvathrall]

Lena smiles at Cog as she takes the money. "I like this plan," she says, sitting at the table. "You scratch my back and I scratch yours, right? Just have to figure out what kind of scratching we have to offer each other." She looks Ratline as she says this last bit.

Then she sits down and sets the money out in front of her. "So I'm in," she says. "Anyone have some spare dice?"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Sense Motive to see if I know what Cog has in mind here: (1d20+3)[9]

[QuidEst]

Lauren looked at the scrimshaw work with interest. "Well, I can't seen I've seen much scrimshaw before. It's very fine work, though. Is the scene from a particular occasion or tale, or is it of your own devising?" she asks curiously. It didn't hurt to be interested. Her own art, such as it was, dealt with word choice rather than any particular deftness of hand, but it was still fascinating to see the work of others.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Just curious- is the beast easily recognizable? Lauren would know common sea-creatures like whales, and recognize larger versions of things like squid or octopuses, but she wouldn't be familiar with anything more exotic than that.

[dathom]

Peering at it intently, Morgan looks over the stylized whale depicted in the scrimshaw. While Morgan didn't have an eye for appraising the value of something, he had seen scrimshaw before and was impressed with the detail in this particular piece. "That be fine work there! If'n a leg or arm leaves me body, I'll be sure to save the bone for ye. Space up here with ye all for two new swabs to sit a spell?"

Diplomacy - (1d20+4)[8] to chat up the group. +2 Charisma from drinking the grog already included in my roll.

[The Hellbug]

Lena and Geno

The corner of Cog's mouth turns up to suggest a grin, but he doesn't follow through. "That's the way of it," he replies as the halfling mumbles something along the lines of 'it's your money' next to him.

The scarf-clad man then turns to Geno, "and will you be joining us?"

Lauren and Morgan

"Of course there is, it's a free ship," Samms replies to Morgan, "at least mostly... Anyway, it came up earlier, and now that you're here, I think you can clear it up for us: where did you guys learn to throw a punch like that? It's not every day that someone can go to toe with that particular group."

Jack meanwhile answers Lauren's question, "oh, it's just somethin' I made up. Really just a way for me to keep my hands busy, and it lasts a lot longer than wood does. Sometimes it's hard to come by the raw materials, though. I managed to trade a few pieces for what I needed back in port but visits like that can be few and far between out here."

[dathom]

Taking a seat next to Samms, Morgan thought for a moment before replying, "Not sure about the others that fought with me, but the streets of Port Peril can tear a lad apart if'n he doesn't learn to defend hisself. That and I never liked people trying to stomp on me or me own. Learned early that it ain't just strength that'll help see ye through, but also the determination to take any lickings that come yer way." Using this opportunity, Morgan tried to get a feel for the group to see where they stood. With a friendly smile, Morgan said, "Every ship, no matter how tough, will face a rogue wave that will be tough to match. Way I see it, that particular group faced such a wave this morning. What about ye all however? Seen many scraps before?"

[The Hellbug]

Lauren and Morgan

Samms shakes her head as she answers, "not before the Wormwood. But everybody's expected to pull their weight when the time comes. My guess is Krine will show you new folks the ropes sometime soon."

Jack audibly gulps when Samms mentions the training, causing Badger to grab him around the shoulders with one arm and explain, "you see, Jack here is just as green as ye folks when it comes to fightin' ship to ship. Lucky it's no big problem, and if ye screw up, well, there's not a lot of worryin' ye can do when yer dead. Haha."

This does nothing to improve Jack's look, and he mumbles under his breath, "and I can't even swim..."

Any more ribbing is cut of however, by Giffer Tibbs jumping to her feet yelling, "that's it!" and starting to furiously scrawl at her parchment before slowing to a stop when she realizes that the other pirates are staring at her.

[QuidEst]

Lauren nodded, keeping note of the fact that making port to trade was rare. Still, people who had been here long enough could go ashore. Doubtful she'd be allowed to go herself, of course. "I agree, it's good to have a hobby. Mine is just as selective in material, I suppose- translating works from Elvish to Taldan. Maybe you can show me your other work some time?"

[Bhaakon]

Geno's gold coin plunks down on the deck one after another until there's a messy pile of six. "Yes, that will do nicely." He answers, grinning at the prospect of being back in the saddle. Even if it was just a cheap game of dice.

"So...one of you going to pass the bones, or should I just roll my own?" He adds, hoping--but not hopeful--that someone will say the latter.

[dathom]

"Don't worry kid. I been swimming almost me whole life. Happy to show ye how its don..." Before his thought was finished however, Giffer's exclamation drew Morgan's attention. Turning his head to Giffer, he waits until Giffer turned her head to meet the group's gaze before asking, "What's it?"

[The Hellbug]

Geno and Lena

Cog fishes in his pocket for a moment, and his hand comes out with two sets of dice. He holds one set out to Lena and assures her, "don't worry, I always carry a spare." He then turns to Geno, "you can use your own, my spares are already taken. We all ready then?"

Ratline finally adds his money to the growing pile of coins and mumbles, "it's yer money; ain't my business how you spend it."

"Ladies first."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Alright, I was assuming the game y'all were gonna play is something like craps, but I think we're just gonna officiate it by having you each roll 3d20 (+2 per roll on those weighted dice) and add em up. Good luck.

Morgan and Lauren

Giffer only notices that she has drawn the group's attention when Morgan addresses her. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. It's just that the talk of cats to take care of the rats on the ship got me thinking, 'what else could we do about the vermin on this ship?'" she begins to explain. Jack makes eye contact with Lauren and nods as the gnome continues, "and I got to thinking, 'what if we whipped up some poison to kill off the critters?' It'd cut down on our work by a ton!" She then begins to read off of her scribbles, "all it would take is something the rats like to eat, some grease from the kitchen to bind the poison and..." her face turns to a frown "...a poison weak enough to kill them but not hurt the pigs. I think a dose of arsenic would do to whip up a whole bunch of it, but the officers aren't too keen on us swabs having access to poison." She then sighs, "I guess cats it is."

[QuidEst]

Lauren stopped, listening. She considered for a moment before speaking up again. "Hmm. Well, there's already some poison available, isn't there? Most of the new recruits were drugged and brought on board. Drug the rats and then take care of them. Wouldn't leave the swab doing the job with more than enough for one person I would think, and it's both non-fatal and easily spotted if they do misuse it. The hogs will just sleep it off. Not as good as arsenic, but maybe better than having them scurrying around. Cats might still be better, though," she added, shrugging. If there were arsenic on board, that could be very useful.

[ylvathrall]

Lena takes the offered dice with a smile. "I'm not much of a lady," she says. "But I don't think you lot are either, so I guess I'll still start us off." She casually flicks the dice down to the table, making sure that they actually roll. It wouldn't do to be accused of cheating, after all. Especially when she actually isn't.

Spoiler: Dice

Show

Here goes everything:
(3d20)[11]

[Bhaakon]

Geno fishes his 'special' dice out of his pocket and spins them around in his palm for a moment, relishing the old excitement of a game of chance. All the more exciting because he'd taken some of the chance out of it. There was no point denying it, the grog and hat helped as well. For the time being, at least, it was almost like he wasn't trapped on some wormy wreck of a pirate ship sailing for gods knew where.

"Oh, too bad there." He consoles Lena with all the sincerity of a contract devil buttering up a prospective mark. "Maybe you'll get enough to pay back your debt on the next throw." He finishes by tossing his own bones, giving similar care to make sure they bounced around convincingly before settling.

Spoiler

Show

(3d20+2)[39] or is it +6? +2 per dice, or +2 per throw?

[dathom]

"I've got to be agreeing with me friend here. Cats be less risky than getting caught with any kind of poison, even if it is to help in keeping this ship in top form." Though Morgan gave this advice and wasn't normally the type to resort to poison, he stored this information away as it could be useful later on. "That being said, we don't have any cats aboard and need to use what we have available for the benefit of the ship and its crew, eh?" He had been meaning to pay a visit to the Quartermaster anyway to see if his hat was among the ship's inventory, what could it hurt to ask after that as well? "But never mind that for now. Have ye all heard the story of a diabolical lord of Westcrown?

[The Hellbug]

Lauren and Morgan

Giffer shakes her head in response to Lauren's suggestion, "you'd need a lot more taggit oil to make the number of traps we'd probably want. You're right, though, it has to be around here somewhere. Scourge probably keeps a close eye on it though, press-ganging's mostly his game."

Sams puts her hand on the gnome's shoulder and consoles her, "well, it was a good plan anyway. I know at least some of us would appreciate if there weren't vermin running around in Fishguts' galley."

When Morgan mentions his story, he gets nothing but shaking heads from the others. "Where's Westcrown?" Jack asks.

Geno and Lena

Ratline rolls next, cupping his hands around his dice and blowing on them before his toss. The game goes on for a few minutes before Lena loses a crucial roll and the remainder of her bet. Cog grins, "looks like we'll be gettin' to know each other a bit better then, pretty." He then laughs as he sweeps the last of her bet into his growing pile of coins.

Soon however, Ratline swears as he, too, is eliminated. Cog looks up at Geno and taunts, "I know it's a long shot, but I could have sworn I've seen you in Magnimar before. Then again, my memory gets a little foggy sometimes: all the sods I've left penniless just sort of run together sometimes."

The game comes down to one last roll with everything on the table. Cog's dice still sit where he rolled them, very close to perfect roll. His grin fades quickly, however, when Geno's roll barely edges him out, and he grits his teeth, not looking like he believes the result.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I'll let you guys begin the post-game banter here.

[dathom]

"Exactly where? Not sure meself Jack. I think it be somewhere to the north of here. Heard this particular diddy from a passing sailor who was holed up in Port Peril for a time." Clearing his throat briefly, Morgan continued with,

"There once was a high lord from Westcrown,
who didn't know when to be lown.
So one day as he talked, several roughs wanted him balked,
So he walked away from that instance, wearing black, blue, and a frown."

Irregardless of if the others thought it funny, Morgan erupts into laughter after he finishes his limerick.

OOC: Limericks are harder to make than I thought.

[QuidEst]

Lauren winced at the lopsided limerick. "Vrocks take you for a kindred soul, you don't half-butcher the meter, do you?" She stopped, silently counting off syllables for a moment. "There once was a high lord from Westcrown
Who when going out always dressed down
For his money was dear
And a mugging he feared
It isn't, you'll gather, the best town," she recited with some satisfaction.

[Bhaakon]

Geno smirks as he sweeps up the pot into a neat pile in front of him. "Magnimar...you mean that ratty little burg under the bridge up in Varisia? Can't say I've ever been." Varisian 'cities' are little more than backwater upstarts compared to proper Chelish ports, after all.

"Maybe you spotted me on a trip through Ostenso, but even if you have, I've never been left with an empty purse at the end of a game." Geno counts his winnings just to be sure of the total, making a show of dexterity as the coins dance across his fingers into four neat stacks of six.

[The Hellbug]

Lena and Geno

Cog continues to stare at Geno's dice, the nape of his neck getting redder and redder. When Geno taunts him, he finally snaps, grabbing up is dice and standing while pointing at Lena, "I'll see you tomorrow after the bloody hour, and don't you test my patience." He then storms off down into the belly of the ship. "Heh," Ratline snickers, 'there's sore losers... and then there's that."

Morgan and Lauren

No one else laughs at Morgan's ditty, though he thinks he might see a hint of a smile from Jack and Samms.

After Lauren finishes hers, Jack pipes up, "Oh, it wasn't actually too bad, but I do wonder what 'lown' means."

"You know," Samms says, "have you two talked to that gnome with the funny hat? He seemed to have an interest in songs and poems."

[dathom]

After Samms' comment, Morgan commented with a smile, "Well, never said I was any good at retelling tales." Though part of him was happy that he got smiles from two of the crew, even if it was only perceived.

"On that note, it be time for me to visit Desna's realm." With that, he headed below deck to get to sleep.

[The Hellbug]

Within a few minutes, most of the pirates make their way down to the lower deck to sleep...

__________________________________

...but it seems like a mercilessly short amount of time before the the ships clock rings its bell again to signal the start of another day of work.

Geno

When Geno makes his way to the galley, he is greeted by a new sight in Kroop arranging a net and rod next to the door. When the cook notices Geno, he explains "Plugg just came by, says the Cap'n thinks we're going through the victuals too quick." He hands the fishing pole and net to Geno, "if we're gonna keep eatin', you're gonna need to catch us somethin'."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Geno gets to try his hand at fishing to keep the food stores up. He must make a DC 10 profession (fisherman) or survival check to catch an amount that Plugg will consider adequate.

Lena

Lena doesn't even get to Plugg before her she is confronted by Syl Lonegan. She sneers at the sylph, "Nowhere to run now, pretty, Plugg says we're on lookout together today."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

You've sen this before--DC 10 climb followed by a DC 10 perception.

Lauren and Morgan

It looks like Scourge is trying to hide the fact that he has a bit of a hangover from the night before. He doesn't even make an effort to badmouth Morgan and Lauren before giving them their tasks and slipping away to the officers' quarters.

Morgan is assigned as message runner and is immediately given a note to take down to Grok before Scourge leaves.

Lauren is, meanwhile, assigned to rope repair with Cog and a tall Mwangi woman (who she's pretty sure she's heard is called Shivikah). She gets them impression that neither of them is in a particularly talkative mood (in fact, she gets the impression that Shivikah may never be, from what she's heard).

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Morgan: DC 10 acrobatics to succeed and DC 10 constitution to not be fatigued.
Lauren: DC 10 profession (sailor) or dexterity to succeed.

[dathom]

His wounds from the lashings made if difficult to sleep, forcing Morgan to wake feeling groggy. None-the-less, he slipped out of his hammock, checking his boots for any surprises before slipping them on to begin his day. After hitting the deck and getting his orders from an uncharacteristically docile Scourge, Morgan took the message in hand and began his work, darting off to see the Quartermaster with a smile on his face. Just hope me hat is among the items available. He wasn't sure if he would be able to convince the half-orc to give it to him if she did have it, but he could at least find out.

Once he arrives at Grok's shop, he raps the knuckles of his left hand against the door frame, saying with a smile, "Oy there Grok! A message from Master Scourge. Take a quick look and see if'n I can help ye in sending a response."

Spoiler

Show

Acrobatics - (1d20+5)[15]
Constitution - (1d20-1)[19] both rolls vs DC 10. Will likely attempt to influence the Quartermaster and see if she happens to have held on to his tricorne hat -2 to ship task rolls already included in the Acrobatics and Con rolls.