The Vanstermen IC

[MintyNinja]

Jenner stops and nods at Gerðr's advice and helps Lim reach the spear, whispering a quick warning, "Say the word when it's belly up." As the older halfling makes his peaceful offering, you all catch a slight sneer from the gold-buckled stranger. But he accepts the spear handle with one hand, the other held up to his men circled about. He carefully inspects the tip of the spear, then the shaft itself. He finds a small maker's mark at the butt of it and looks up at you four with wide eyes. He calls out to someone in what seems to be rapid-fire gibberish and a tan skinned man comes out with a roll of parchment. To those who look for it, it's easy to see that this man has copper buckles on his boots and pants, but is wearing no other clothing.

The gold-buckled man accepts the scroll with a harsh sounding word and unfurls it towards the four of you.

Spoiler: The Map

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He points at the Trisected Triangle that appears on the islands and points to the spear. Holding the butt out, you can all see the same symbol on the end of the spear. He points to the Moon and Sun symbol, and points to himself. He gestures again at all of you, with some fervor, and waves his hand over the map. Some of the silver-buckled men are starting to murmur between themselves and a few seem to shift the points of their swords between the four of you with fear.

Spoiler: OOC

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I don't think a roll is really needed, but if you, the player, are stumped as to what's being presented, we can roll or discuss in the OOC thread.

[HatMadder]

With the latest exchange, something finally clicks for Lim. Keeping his eyes on the captain, but talking to those behind him, Lim says calmly,

"Uh, folks, I don't think they can understand us."

As the man pulls out a map, Lim's confidence wanes. Should've paid more attention to that stuff...

Trying to keep the momentum though, Lim calls back to Gerðr,

"So, any of this look familiar to you? Want to tell this guy where we're from?"

Lim will try to keep them calm, holding his hands out and noticeably away from his sword, while also trying to speak calmly so not to rile them up any more than they already are.

[SaintRidley]

Gerðr nods. "I don't think they can either." She gestures to the map. "That corresponds to the map we found." She curses the lack of foresight to bring a copy with her. "That sun and moon was from the coastline on the area beyond the teeth. He just told us where he's from, and that the spear is from the islands."

She walks up to the map and looks Goldbuckle square in the eye. She gestures toward him and his people and points to the sun and moon. She gestures to the islands with the trisected triangle and cuts her thumb across her throat while raising her bow. She then gestures past the islands, back away from the exit to the Teeth she can see, and puts her finger down where the map shows nothing. She gestures back to her people at that, never breaking eye contact. "Now he knows where we come from. Not that that matters, since we're never going back. Hopefully our reputation precedes us."

[Woggle]

Kára hangs back a little, unsure of what she can do to help smooth things out. As she notices the sun and moon motif from the map being presented, she carefully sorts through the coins in her belt pouch until she finds one with the same symbol. "I think I've got the same symbol here... Not sure its any help, though." She holds out the coin to Lim and the Gold Buckle Captain.

Spoiler: OoC

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Don't really have much to add here. I'm not sure what else Kára can really offer.

[MintyNinja]

Gerðr remembers the first map precisely and she's 100% correct on what this map is and where Vansterland would have been were it more accurate. The surrounding swordsmen begin muttering even more when she "explains" how you all got through the Islanders. A couple nearly lose their collective nerve when she points to where you're from. All the while, the gold-buckled leader is staring daggers at the halflings and their crude attempts at communication. There's a tense moment of silence after Gerðr's display where no one dares to move, but that's broken by a call from a lookout up the nearest mast. A few hand gestures and some shouted gibberish make the leader's eyes go wide. Looking west, he seems to let out an expletive of some sort and reaches for the pommels hidden away in his jacket. Those that followed his gaze see the unmistakable Vansterland Fleet approaching.

Communications have broken down, reputations have been claimed, and while the attempt was there and honest, it appears your first interactions with the outside world will be akin to your regular interactions with your lifelong neighbors: Roll for Initiative in the OOC and I'll take the averages for both sides and determine it that way.

Current Combat Map:Is updated.

[SaintRidley]

Gerðr is almost too quick, having been expecting a fight to break out. Before the leader can blink, she's stowed her bow and drawn her sword. "Take him out first!" She reaches in between Goldbuckle's legs and starts slashing, cutting as fast and furiously as she can in order to make short work of him.

Spoiler: Rolls

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Attack 1: (1d20+6)[15]
Damage: (1d6+3)[8]
If crit (19-20): (1d6)[2]

Attack 2: (1d20+6)[23]
Damage: (1d6+3)[8]
If crit (19-20): (1d6)[3]

Action surge
Attack 3: (1d20+6)[26]
Damage: (1d6+3)[5]
If crit (19-20): (1d6)[4]

Attack 4: (1d20+6)[23]
Damage: (1d6+3)[6]
If crit (19-20): (1d6)[1]

Gerðr feels the blade bite deep, and she grows bolder with her whirl of strikes. She doesn't think about any individual strike, but the adrenaline rush is there. Her eyes are wild with the fire of battle, a big grin on her face as she cuts deep into Goldbuckle with each strike. "Lim! Finish him off!"

[HatMadder]

Only slightly disappointed that negotiations fell through, Lim feels the familiar rush of battle wash over him.
Drawing his sword and watching Gerðr get to work he responds,

"With pleasure."

Spoiler: Rolls

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Sneak attack on Goldbuckles: (1d20+7)[16]
Damage: (4d6+4)[14]
Also, Cunning Action to disengage as a bonus action.
Second Story work to climb without losing movement.
If you need a roll for that, Acrobatics: (1d20+7)[16]

After pushing his attack, Lim remembers why he doesn't fight in close.
Dodging between enemies, spinning, sliding, and avoiding their attacks he jumps and climbs up the main cabin to perch on top away from the coming melee.

[Woggle]

Kára follows Gerðr's lead. She steps forward, simultaneously drawing her sword and striking out with her fist at the gold-buckled captain. As she does so, she yells at the other strangers, "Back or he's dead!" As she grapples with the captain, she strikes at him with her sword.

Spoiler: OoC

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Attack1 - (1d20+8)[28] Damage1 - (1d4+5)[6]

Grapple1 - (1d20+8)[14] (if attack1 lands, this is the bonus grapple check granted by Tavern Brawler)

Attack2 - (1d20+8)[24] Damage2 - (1d8+5)[12] A sword attack toward the captain.

Kára wards off the other sailors with the point of her blade.

[MintyNinja]

Gerðr is first into the fray and her quick blade makes a massacre out of the tall man's legs and nethers. With a quick duck out of his shadow, she makes way for Lim to score a piercing hit as he speeds past the leader, between the legs of another man, and almost straight up the cabin wall. As all eyes followed the rapid halfling, Kára socks the gold buckled stranger across the jaw, grips him round the throat and drives her blade through his heart. He slumps dead to the deck before anyone really realizes what's happening. Jenner's the first of the remainders to react and he lets out a roar throaty enough to rival a full grown bear and you're all confident that your allies know which way the words fell. One of the silver buckled swordsmen is struck by Jenner's long halberd, and his first sword swing goes wild from the blow.

And then there's a storm of blades flashing as all twelve of the swordsmen move in to destroy the fabled destroyers in front of them. Their leader was cut down in full view of all twelve of them and there's no order needed to begin the attack now. The two around the back of your group step in and toss a pair of thrusts and slashes at Jenner, each drawing blood more than once. [SB1 and SB5 each hit Jenner twice]. The pair by the door chased Lim up the wall, albeit slower and with more effort, and each managed stab and slash at the small, dangerous halfling. [Lim takes 34 slashing damage from 3 hits and a crit]. While just below their precarious barrage of strikes and slashes, Gerðr is able to dodge five of the eight attacks aimed at her. Each of the men take a poised, guarded stance to prevent her from repeating her golden display on them. In return, she's taking a trio of sharp hits. [Gerðr takes 24 slashing damage from 3 hits]. However, Kára's display with the stranger's leader seems to have incensed them even more as the other four men strike at her with a fury! They knock her shield away with their glinting blades and stab her repeatedly. It's a gory mess that brings back memories of horrible raids in the past, when the islanders just piled on to a lone raider. It's not pretty, and the blood reddened deck is the last thing Kára sees as she falls unconscious. [Kára takes 50 damage from, I sh*t you not, 3 CRITS and 2 hits. Yes, that's counting your 19 AC.]

Back to Player's Turn for Round 2.

[HatMadder]

Almost as if the thoughts themselves brought on the attack, Lim's memories of why he does not stay in melee come to life.
As he readies an attack, he notices Kara drop to the deck. To Lim, the decision is made before he really thought about it. Stowing his blade, he gives a quick wave to the two men atop the cabin with him and jumps down into the melee, dodging and diving his way to Kara's side.

Spoiler: What's going on behind the scenes?

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I don't think it matters which one is used for which, but action and Cunning Action to Disengage and use my healing kit.
Second story work to avoid slowing down to climb.
Healing Kara: [roll0]

After hastily patching her up, Lim smiles and tries to give some encouraging words.

"You're not done quite yet, go show these people just how wet their shields really are!"

[SaintRidley]

Gerðr bites down hard, grinding her teeth as she's attacked. "That hurt, you bastards!" she shouts as she dives between the legs of one of the silverbuckles and makes a quick dash out of the ring of steel. Disengage action, move to N9.

She takes a moment once clear to breathe and take stock of her injuries. Bonus Action - Second Wind: (1d10+5)[10]

With an eye on the copperbuckles and silverbuckles, she starts pondering the next move - whether it be to draw her bow or keep her sword ready.

[Woggle]

Bloodied, but not quite beaten yet, Kára makes it to her feat. She grins a little madly at Lim, saying "I'm not dead yet!" She raises her shield and sword, bellowing out a raider war cry in the hopes of rallying her friends, then lashing out at the nearest Silver Buckle with her sword. As she does so, she focuses in on the timing and pacing of the attacks, doing her best to avoid any further strikes from the foreign sailors.

Spoiler: OoC

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Kára will use Second Wind, and Rallying Cry to give that HP to three other allies within 60 feet (Lim, Gerðr, and Jenner, of course).
RallyingCry - (1d10+5)[6]

Attacks against SB7:
Attack1 - (1d20+8)[10] Damage1 - (1d8+5)[7]
CritBonus1 - (1d8)[4] (just in case)

Attack2 - (1d20+8)[12] Damage2 - (1d8+5)[11]
CritBonus2 - (1d8)[4]

Lastly, Kára will Action Surge and take the Dodge Action, imposing disadvantage to any attack rolls against her until her next turn.

Edit: Those... are not good rolls.

[MintyNinja]

The full fury of the fight sounds out over the decks and and waters as the Vanstermen put up a valiant defense to the foreign strangers. Lim's quick feet and decades of experience get him out of a tight melee up on the cabin wall and before he hits the deck he leaps from the wall over the heads of two other silver buckled swordsmen. He gets Kára up out of her own blood and sets his back to Jenner's leg. Kára throws herself up from the deck and throws a pair of weak strikes at the nearest silver buckled swordsman, shouting maddened encouragement to her allies. [Lim, Jenner, and Gerðr all heal 5 hp]. Gerðr, mirroring Lim's move, leaves the packet of Vanstermen and makes a break for the far side of the ship. She comes to a skidding halt and looks back at the fury following her heels. As things look grim, a squelching sound from behind her reveals Beck Eriksget and his fighting men just clamoring up over the rail of the large ship. The squelching sounds again as Beck removes his axe from the copper buckled sailor's skull. He hefts his black iron axe and gives a wordless battlecry to match Jenner's earlier. Two more cries sound out from the back end of the stranger's ship. It seems like the Vanstermen have come to tilt the odds in their favor!

Back in the knot of battle, this is proven as Jenner lands a pair of deft, crushing strikes on the swordsmen that Kára had hit, destroying the man's feeble defense of a raised arm. Behind Jenner a ball of metal and wood rolled onto the deck and up springs Sera, with a wild slash at the man to her right and follow up with her shield, she pushes him back a full five feet! In the space that he stood, Merrick appears, a pair of blades whirling like a mad storm as he follows up his sister's attack with a pair of his own. The silver buckled swordsman is seeping blood, but seems to be holding his feet for the time being. The siblings each back into a practiced lockstep, ready to spin and strike from either side and keeping their backs protected. With Jenner and Lim at their sides, it's a full combat knot, a technique sometimes used by trained soldiers.

One of the men on top of the cabin looks around, surveying the Vanstermen arriving and slaughtering the copper buckles and rallying for a push forward. His own captain slain, the swordsmen does what swordsmen do: he chooses to fight on. He says something in his foreign tongue and leaps down into the fray, seeking the halfling that got away from him. The swordsman in front of him moved after the heavily armored woman, and so he had a clear line of attack for the little one. His first attack is deftly dodged as the older halfling is simply not in the place he had been a split second ago, but the follow up gouges his arm. [Lim takes 9 Damage].

The two swordsmen to this one's left are busy dealing with the newcomer and his two blades. One of them was severely wounded, but working with their famous teamwork, each man scores a deep stab into Merrick's limbs and body. With that, he falls unconscious to the deck, bleeding heavily from several new wounds. His fall is accompanied by a pained scream that has nothing to do with wounds as the blonde woman with the shield and sword sees him fall. This momentary distraction is what her adversary uses to stab her through her armor in two nearly vital places. [Merrick is KO'd after taking 3 hits and a Crit. Sera takes a hit and a crit herself, as well. She's still standing.]

To the woman's right is the large hairy man with the spinning halberd that nearly crushed one of the men already. Two swordsmen take advantage of his reckless attacking and slip their bright blades into his body. However, he stays standing and roaring even louder with every hit. Maybe it has something to do with the reinforcements, or maybe it's just some sick form of madness. [Jenner takes 3 hits and a crit as well. He's still standing].

Speaking of madness, there's the woman that killed their leader. Two of the swordsmen leave her behind to hold off the newcomers and she might have cut one as he ran. Two others hedge her in and try to bring her back down to the deck, but she's moving like a snake in the sea and one of the swordsmen almost cuts his ally open. For one attack, she actually steps backwards into the swing, having it rebound off her ready shield and pushing off the swordsman's instep. [Kára dodges everything, thanks to her shield].

The two men that ran to hold off the reinforcements have some luck, but the male halfling they're fighting seems only to grin wider with each hit he takes. His allies are gaining their feet soon and the swordsmen aren't sure how long they'll hold out. [Beck takes 3 hits. Still standing.]Barbarians are pretty great!

And two others peeled off to keep the other halfling busy. She did a hell of a number on their leader and they may be picking her off out of anger rather than tactics. One drops down from the cabin rooftop and the other follows her retreat. While they know they don't have long, they aren't able to drop her so easily. They land a trio of strikes, but she seems able to weather their particular storm. [Gerðr takes 19 Damage from 3 hits].

[SaintRidley]

Gerðr reels a bit from the blows. Another volley of strikes like that and she'd be down. She glances around. Too high to jump and get to the roof - being small has its drawbacks. Too many behind her. She could run toward Beck's shortship and dive in for a moment, possibly drawing her pursuers to their deaths. Probably be mocked roundly for that if I did, though, she thinks.

She could stand and fight. The sword's good, though not as trusty as the bow - but there's no good way to get distance. Unless she ducked around that corner where the copperbuckle's standing. Sounds like more raiders arrived at the stern of the ship. If Gerðr could just get some cover and a second to breathe and pull out her bow... Starting this with a sword. What a stupid idea. Should have backed off and plugged him full of arrows. Too late now.

She weighs her options, looking up at her attackers. "Follow me, you daft bastards!" she shouts, as she slips out of their reach and dives around the corner through the copperbuckle's legs. She keeps running, looking up to the Vansterman raiders ahead of her. "Ey! You lot! If you've got bows, make yourselves useful and shoot over my head at the idiots who are coming round the corner! I'm drawing them in!"

Disengage and move to P14

The shouted warning to the Vanstermen raiders is an attempt to get them to position and ready actions to shoot/charge forward if someone comes pursuing Gerðr if they have the initiative advantage.

[Woggle]

Kára blinks through blood and sweat, giving a slight chuckle as she sees the other Vanstermen clamber aboard. She does her best to ignore her wounds, calling out to those beside her "Just have to hold out a moment longer; watch yourselves!"

Kára manages to make a passing slash at a retreating sailor despite her defensive posture, then again turns all of her focus on staying alive. She stands her ground, warding off attacks with sword and shield as best she can.

Spoiler: Rolls, Etc.

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I'm not sure, but if Kára had the chance for an opportunity attack I'll roll it here (during the sailors' turn):
OppAttack - (1d20+8)[17] Damage - (1d8+5)[6]

On Kára's turn, she will again take the Dodge action.

Here is an opportunity attack roll in case it comes up during the sailors' next turn:
OppAttack - (1d20+8)[16] Damage - (1d8+5)[7]

Also, I'll hopefully remember to use Inspiring Leader next time.

[HatMadder]

Doing his best to duck and weave away from the incoming blades, Lim waits for an opening then strikes back with full force, trying to drive the blade home. Preferably somewhere important.

Pulling his blade free, he hears the scream from Sera and notices Merrick on the ground behind him. Dropping to a knee, Lim readies his kit and wraps up the fresh wounds.

Spoiler: Rolls

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Uncanny dodge to reduce damage by half. Rounded up, so I ended up taking 5 damage total. Let me know if I should change that.
Sneak attack: (1d20+7)[27]
Damage: (4d6+4)[16]

Healing Kit on Merrick: (1d6+4)[5]
He would also get more health depending on his max hit dice, but I don't know what level he is. (i.e. level 2 = +2 extra hp)

Helping Merrick back to his feet, Lim gives Sera a nod.

"Haven't seen teamwork like that in years! Get back in there and show 'em what you can do!"

[MintyNinja]

Gerðr's orders to the other Vanstermen are heard loud and clear and a they start pulling out bows and getting into position. Kára's darting strike takes a stranger in the back of his leg as he leaves her unattended, but he doesn't turn back towards her. Lim pulls a fast one and is able to get his blade through the throat of one of the swordsmen on Kára's flank. He falls to the deck, dying noisily as Lim is quickly tying off a spurting wound in Merrick's leg. A whiff of some poultice and the blond man's eyes open again and he scrambles to his feet.

Jenner brings his whirling halberd blade down quickly on the same man as before, this time spitting his head wide open. With that swordsman dead, the big man thrusts the blunt end of his long weapon over Merrick's shoulder and bashes in the heavily wounded swordsman on that side. Taking the turn in battle in stride, Merrick sinks his blades deeply into the other man that had just thrashed him. The swordsman's hit hard, but manages to keep his feet. Sera, on the other hand, is so focused on her brother's well being that her attack goes wide and looked closer to a feint than an actual strike. [Jenner kills SB7 and SB1. Merrick wounds the hell out of SB2. Sera missed wildly.]

Beck, across the deck with his own knot of people makes quick work of one of the silver buckled swordsmen. First one knee, then the other, and instead of going for the killing blow he ducked down and let one of his men take the silver buckle's head off with an axe. Two of the other raiders piled up on the man Kára struck and worked away at his defenses. On of the men charged and killed the copper buckle along the rail, and another stepped over to interfere with Gerðr's chasers. [Beck and a raider killed SB9. SB8 and SB11 were each wounded.]

As the silver buckles retaliate, it's apparent that their spirits are finally flagging. The two next to him attack Jenner, and while he dodges a couple, one is blocked by Sera's shield and another finds flesh through armor. Next to him Kára is able to keep her own attacker at bay completely, dodging one attack and deflecting another with her shield. Lim's not so lucky in this regard, probably because he's not carrying a shield of his own, but as the two men next to him start raining down blows, he's able to dodge about half of them. The one that's followed him from the cabin's roof to the deck is able to get in two quick strikes, though. [Jenner dodges two, Sera Blocks one, and he gets hit by the fourth. Kára dodges all attacks thrown at her. Lim gets hit twice for 7 damage each time.]

Beck takes a pair of hard hits in return for his recklessness but he's still standing and his crew is surrounding the silver buckled swordsman. The ones following Gerðr have their own problems. While one drops back to face off with the raider, the other follows the halfling around the corner and is immediately struck by three of the four arrows sent in his direction. He's hit so hard by one that he trips over the body of the copper-buckled sailor at his feet and strikes out at the raider instead of chasing Gerðr. [Beck gets hit. VR4 and VR5 get hit. SB12 gets hit a lot.]

[SaintRidley]

Gerðr draws her bow and fires once at the silverbuckle who was dumb enough to give chase. As she fires, she starts running toward him. When she gets close, Gerðr jumps toward the cabin wall and pushes herself off to deliver a headbutt to the silverbuckle, trying to push him overboard.

Spoiler: Attack

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Bow attack to SB12: (1d20+8)[16]
damage: (1d6+3)[4]
if crit [27-28]: (1d6)[6]

Shove: Athletics check: (1d20+1)[2] Lucky reroll.
Contested by the silverbuckle's athletics or acrobatics check.

If my arrow kills SB12 before she gets there, Gerðr just jumps off the corpse and fires a second arrow at SB4.

Rolls for that, just in case: (1d20+8)[20]
damage: (1d6+3)[4]
if crit [27-28]: (1d6)[6]

In either case, Gerðr winds up in O10.

[Woggle]

With two Silver Buckles at her sides falling, Kára focuses on the lone sailor in front of her. Turning to the offensive now that the rest of the raiders are here, Kára strikes out at her foe with a low kick while distracting him with her blade.

Spoiler: Attacks

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Kára will make an unarmed strike against SB10. If it hits, she will drop her sword and use a bonus action to attempt to grapple, and then her second attack to attempt to shove them prone. If she doesn't hit with her first attack, she will simply make a second attack with her sword.

UnarmedStrike - (1d20+8)[21] Damage1 - (1d4+5)[7]

BonusGrapple - (1d20+8)[21] (if the first attack hits)

ShoveProne - (1d20+8)[12] (if the first attack hits)

SwordAttack - (1d20+8)[26] Damage2 - (1d8+5)[11] (If the first attack misses)

[HatMadder]

Barely finishing up with Merrick, Lim turns on the man who attacked him from behind and almost slides out of the way of his second swing.
Feeling a wave of pain and exhaustion wash over him, Lim takes a look over at his healing kit and notices that he's got a bit of time while his attacker is distracted.
Quickly wrapping up the worst of his wounds, Lim straps on the bandages, grits his teeth and jumps back into the melee.

Seeing that Merrick has just about finished the man that took him down, Lim leaves that one to him and instead whistles to give Kara a heads up before jumping in to skewer the man she's facing off with.

Spoiler: Actions

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Uncanny dodge to reduce the damage on one of those attacks from 7 to 4.
Fast hands to use Healing kit on myself: (1d6+9)[14]

Moving to J9 to attack SB10 with sneak attack: (1d20+7)[13]
Damage: (4d6+4)[19]

For the first time in a long time, Lim feels the pull of his muscles, the strain in his joints, the weight and urgency of the fight.
And it feels good.

[MintyNinja]

With a cadre of raiders at her back, Gerðr turns the table on her pursuer and shoves him over the rail of the ship! In a last chance grab, he manages to snag the railing with his free hand before plummeting to the waters below. Kára slides out from around her bobbing shield and lands a kick at the man in front of her and gets a grip on his throat by dropping her blade. She's got him in the perfect position for Lim who steps onto a dead swordsman to stab the grappled man in the stomach, after wrapping up his own wounds first. Jenner brings his blade down through the space Lim just vacates to cut deeply into the swordsman against the cabin wall and with a lightning quick strike he brings the blunt end of his weapon around, crushing the head of the man in Kára's hand. Sera slashes at the man behind Jenner and follows through with a solid shield rush, pushing him back from the fray. Merrick slips into Lim's old spot and thrusts his blades at the man against the wall that Jenner had hit. While the first one is parried the second pierces the man's heart, killing him instantly. Beck is much less graceful as he sends his foe's head sailing with a pair of slashes obscured by the mass of bodies in the fray. [Jenner killed SB10, Merrick killed SB2, and Beck killed SB8].

Two of those men run around the mast to help Sera with her target and each man opens the swordsman up a little bit as they surround him. The man that was pushed over the railing was finished off by the raider standing nearby and his body fell into the sea. Another raider helped surround Gerðr's other pursuer, but the swordsman was dodging each attack thrown his way, going so far to hop over a low slash. And finally, the reinforcements made their way up the sides of the ship and tried to join in what combats they could along each side. Behind Gerðr the men have swords drawn and ready, expecting a lot more than one surrounded foe. By Jenner's knot a trio of raiders help keep up the pressure on the swordsmen.

The silver buckled swordsmen try to hold off the newcomers, seemingly overwhelmed. Of the four remaining men, only one is able to draw fresh blood this round as Gerðr's pursuer adds to the wounds he inflicted before. [Only VR4 takes damage.]

[SaintRidley]

Seeing the remaining silverbuckles begin to be surrounded, Gerðr ducks around one of the raiders [move to O8] to get a better view of the front of the ship, spotting a copperbuckle near the railing. She pulls up her bow and fires two arrows at him. "Time to clean up this mess I made," she mutters.

Spoiler: Attacks

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Attack 1 (1d20+8)[12]
damage (1d6+3)[9]
crit [27-28] (1d6)[5]

Attack 2 (1d20+8)[21]
damage (1d6+3)[5]
crit [27-28] (1d6)[6]

[HatMadder]

With his blade still covered in the blood of the last man, Lim turns and slashes at another silver buckled sailor.

Spoiler: Actions

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Sneak attack on SB4: (1d20+7)[19]
Damage: (4d6+4)[17]

If SB4 is dead then:
Cunning Action to Hide from SB11 using the Stealthy ability (can hide behind bigger creatures, hiding behind VR3)
Stealth check: (1d20+10)[20]

Marking another target, Lim stalks towards another sailor, making sure to keep the line of sight obscured.
Dodging left and right, he keeps in the shadow of the larger man, readying his sword for another strike.

[Woggle]

Kára nods to Lim as he finishes off the silver buckle before her. Turning to her left, she reaches down to retrieve her sword and then moves purposefully to help the other raiders finish off the nearest silver buckle, keeping her shield up and slashing when an opening presents itself.

Spoiler: Attack

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Kára moves to J7 and attempts to finish off SB6 with her sword.

Attack1 - (1d20+8)[22]
Damage1 - (1d8+5)[11]
[roll=crit(28)]1d8[/roll]

Attack2 - (1d20+8)[9]
Damage2 - (1d8+5)[9]
[roll=crit(28)]1d8[/roll]

---

* post roll count doesn't match database

[MintyNinja]

Gerðr's pair of arrows fly quickly and true, sinking deep into the bare chest of the man at the bow railing. He topples over the side limply with the second hit, disappearing from sight. Lim strikes his foe quickly but holds for a moment and side steps to the left, nearly back to back with another raider fighting a different fight. Kára steps up beside Sera and strikes the surrounded swordsman, but he dodges her second attack. Jenner and Sera focus their efforts on the swordsman against the railing, trusting their allies to handle the one surrounded. Though their combined efforts are formidable, the swordsman keeps his feet despite new wounds. Merrick is able to sink his blades into the remaining silver buckled swordsman by the cabin entrance and finish him off. This lets Lim focus on approaching the other swordsman without an enemy at his back. Beck puts in a pair of hard slashes as well, nearly dropping the man who's dodged almost every other attack. [Merrick killed SB4.]

With the final three silver buckled swordsmen looking worn out and nearly soaking and slipping in blood on the deck of the rocking ship, it's little surprise at all that the encircling Vanstermen Raiders finish them off. When the last falls a wild cheer tears itself from the throats of those not yet out of breath. All at once, the rush of battle leaves you and once the quick, split-second decisions and actions are no longer required a wave of exhaustion and pain seems to come over each of you. It's followed by the after-battle euphoria that most fighting men and women know. Once he slumps against the wet railing, looking out over the carnage and the fighting men, Jenner calls out, "Raise a red flag! Let the Captain know we painted her new ship red." Most of the raiders laugh while a pair hop down into the short ship to retrieve the flag.

As they're getting to that, six men burst from the cabin doors covered mostly in blood and good Vanstermen chain. "We've gutted those inside, ain't no more fight in em," one says to Beck. Jenner steps over and calls out, "We did it, men! These damn foreigners are no match for good, true Vanstermen!" He gets a round of cheers, but a lot of men are eyeing the injured raiders: the group of you. It's pretty clear that your victory was because of increased numbers on your own side, not so much inner nature.

While some men are laughing and pointing, some others are looking at their weapons and armors. Every place where Vansterman iron met foreign blade it seems the foreigners won out. Shields are cracked, rims chopped right through in some places. Swords, hammers, and axes all have large gashes here and there, but seem to still be functional. Anyone in armor can attest, though, once in a while those foreign blades would pierce right through. It's a sobering thought, that armor doesn't protect as well out here.

[I'll pause here to let you all react. Most of the raiders are unhurt and will respect you enough to follow reasonable orders. All your weapons and armor are damaged, but it's cosmetic as of now. If it goes without care against more of these blades, I might start Break Rolls on Critical Hits. ]

[HatMadder]

While Lim felt the rush and excitement during the fight, after taking inventory of his various cuts, bruises, sprains, aches, and pains, he shakes his head and smiles.
And here I thought I was too old for this. Good to know I've still got some fight left in me.

Holding out his inherited short sword, Lim frowns at the new dents and scratches. Stowing it, he makes a note to fix it up when he next has a free moment.

Lim then makes the rounds and helps patch up the major wounds on the surviving Vanstermen.
While going around the deck, if he sees a discarded sword that looks to be around the same size as his own, he'll pick it up and bring it with him. He'll grab a second if it's found and nobody else takes it.

After fixing people up, and assuming people have checked, Lim asks around,

"So, what else is on this ship? We're all raiders now, lets see what we're bringing in."

[MintyNinja]

Lim notices that each of the swordsmen had an identical blade of bright metal about the same size as his own short sword. He's able to take one before others start picking the corpses dry. Jenner joins Lim and a handful of others intent on scouring the inside of the ship for loot while Beck heads a detail checking the bodies left by the strangers on the deck. Those on deck find that each of the silver buckled men had a shining short sword of some sharp metal, while the gold buckled man had a long blade to accompany his short one. Each man is wearing fine woolen coats and clothes, all dyed black despite what heat they may experience. Indeed, many of the men have pasty, white skin underneath, none whiter than the gold buckled leader. While they're checking the copper buckles, the raiders start realizing that none of them were armed. Their skin was much more tanned and not one of them wore anything above the belt line. Furthermore, many of them have dozens of long, shallow scars across their bodies.

Inside is a similar story. There are a dozen berths with inscribed names in their foreign alphabet, and each has signs of being well used. Some have scraps of paper and feathered pens, much akin to Gerðr's own supplies. One or two have dice sets, with strangely shaped dice. Each has eight sides and the best carved of which look akin to a small, perched bird. The cabin is the property of one man and his name is etched in a golden plate above the door. Inside there's a large feather bed, a sea chest, a desk, and small library of writings and books and scrolls. Several maps of the stars are pinned to walls, and a drawer seems full of well articulated drawings, each denoting some beautiful view or subject. One of the women makes to take a drawing of a young woman in a pool but Jenner says, "Hold on. The Rule of Quarters ain't gonna cut it any more. We gotta bring it all up to Bloodmane and let her decide. I ain't risking her wrath for losing some treasure to one of you dogs." The woman looks angered at first, but she relents the drawing nonetheless. "That goes for everything," Jenner tells the others. "Nothing here is ours, consider it all the express property of your Captain. And when we look after her property, she'll reward us in turn, ain't it right?" His eyes skim over Lim, but he says nothing about the halflings new blade if it's well sheathed.

A little while later and a full exploration of the hold comes up with the following: seven weeks of rations and supplies for 30 men, enough tools to make any kind of repair granted a dry dock, and 15 chests bound in heavy iron. At this last, Jenner's eyes go wide and he seems almost to regret his previous message about the Captain's ownership of all items. A set of keys are retrieved from a drawer in the cabin and when the chests are brought up to the deck, Jenner opens one. Inside he finds a familiar sight: stacks of clean, freshly minted coins divided by thin sheets of wood. A lot of the raider's eyes go wide at this, but Jenner is quick to shut the lid. "As I said, this all belongs to Captain Bloodmane. Might be she'll split it with us for snagging the ship for her, but that's her choice."

"A grand suggestion, as always, Jenner Longclaw," Captain Bloodmane says from the railing behind the raiders. She's smiling widely and with her red coat matching the growing redness of the deck, it's a very disconcerting look. "Seems negotiations broke down, hmm? Well, that is why I sent you lot. Old Hansul Dorinsget's on his way over, as is my counting man, Harv Salisget. Any man that wants his cut of plunder will be leaving their name with the counting man and damn well waiting for their portion, understood?" She's met with a round of nodding heads and the occasional 'Aye' for good measure. Once that's settled, she gathers the three of you and Jenner's half crew together. "Something came up while you lot were working and I'm a might concerned. That pisspot 'captain' of Moll's Whisper has called for a Captain's Council pertaining to matters of grave importance. I won't pretend to know what he's planning but I'm pretty sure I'm not gonna like it. I need you six to be up to snuff tomorrow for the Council. I'm gonna get Dorinsget to insist on having it here so that we can split loot and information right afterwards. How does that sound?"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I'll pause here to let you all catch up. As far as your aware, your wounds will have closed enough in the ensuing day and night to constitute some semblance of healthy, hale, and whole.

[Woggle]

With the fighting done Kára takes a moment to catch her breath. She glances up and down the length of her sword, a little dismayed at the numerous notches now showing along its edges. Before all the spoils are gathered up, she takes a quick look at the Gold-Buckles' blades; the bright metal is nothing she's familiar with. She hands them over to Jenner's care when he brings up Captain Bloodmane. Kára nods, as the circumstances here are certainly out of the ordinary.

Kára doesn't take much notice in the rest of the loot. Instead, she checks over her armour carefully, and does her best to bandage up the cuts she's received. In a spare moment, she asks Lim and Gerðr "Have either of you seen metal like that before? I'm sure I haven't. It seems to hold quite the edge."

When Bloodmane arrives, Kára adds that the foreign captain seemed particularly interested in the red-tipped spears recovered from the islander village. She nods in acknowledgement to Captain Bloodmane's orders, then heads over to the counting man, Salisget, when he arrives aboard. She gives him her name and then looks for a comfortable place to rest and recuperate, thoughts of the Gold-Buckle's bright blade a-twinkle in her head.

[HatMadder]

Snapping up one of the shiny sword, Lim replaces his old one in the sheathe, but without another place to put his family sword, it rests in his belt.
As Jenner looks him over, Lim smiles and shrugs, hoping the larger man wont make a fuss about Lim carrying a second sword.
If his eyes linger, and note the additional weapon, Lim will offer it up when the treasure is being piled, making sure to give Jenner a nod when he does so.

"Can't say I have, but I'd sure be happy to get my hands on one of them."
Lim will pull out his old sword to compare with Kára's, noting the large dents and general dullness of the blade.
"Looks like years of wear in one day. We won the battle, but we can't last long with these.
He motions to their weapons and armor, hoping Bloodmane will give them an upgrade with the amount of new metal this ship has.

With the announcement of the council tomorrow, Lim starts to ready himself; stretching, sharpening his sword, finding a place to rest, and puts his name down with the counting man when there's time.

[SaintRidley]

Gerðr quietly ponders her wounds while being bandaged up. Those blades were like nothing she'd ever seen or felt before. She says as much to Kára, and nods along with Lim's hinting that they receive weapon and armor upgrades. She's not able to talk much, being lost entirely in her thoughts.

When Captain Bloodmane explains the situation with the treasure, Gerðr puts her name down with the counting man. Upon hearing the news that the captain of the Moll's Whisper wants to convene a council, she audibly groans. "Captain, I'm afraid I may not be able to hold my tongue at that council. Permission to speak to the experience of this capture should the opportunity present itself?"