[IC]Adventures on the Inner Sea[PF]

[Erloas]

The fight that was left in some of the crew has drained out, most of them drop their weapons, a few just lower their's. You hear a few of them say "please don't kill us" "at least leave us on the shore" "I always said that idiot would get us killed" and similar mutterings, but no clear action from anyone. A few moments later Olivia feels the captain become a bit less dead weight and he opens his eyes with a moan.

On Robel's boat they've finally got the jollyboat in the water with a few crew in it.

[samduke]

The fight that was left in some of the crew has drained out, most of them drop their weapons, a few just lower their's. You hear a few of them say "please don't kill us" "at least leave us on the shore" "I always said that idiot would get us killed" and similar mutterings, but no clear action from anyone. A few moments later Olivia feels the captain become a bit less dead weight and he opens his eyes with a moan.

On Robel's boat they've finally got the jollyboat in the water with a few crew in it.

Olivia feeling the captain stir, turn her blade skyward and drives the pommel into his head for non-leathal - intent to knock the guy out for a while

[samduke]

All right we agree, we will not kill you, but for the time all of you must place your weapons aft by the wheel. We will then have you back at shore as soon as we can and if you assist in that, we will even pay you an honest wage.

[Daishain]

The fight over, Ariadne lowers herself back into the water and swims over to the pirate ship, she snatches Olivia's knife from where it jams the rudder mechanism, and then once again uses her waning levitation spell to move up the ship's side with minimal effort.

Once there she states, "I quite agree, we can certainly see our way to leaving you on the shore. Don't give us any further trouble, and we'll make sure its a hospitable one. I think we shall keep your captain though, he is responsible for your actions after all. Just a word of advice dearies, in case you ever start thinking about returning to this sort of life again, even the weakest of prey can find protectors stronger than you."

As she speaks, the witch casually starts using magic to repair the tears in her companion's clothing incurred during the fighting. Partly to keep what she can do fresh in the pirate crew's minds.

[optimumsquare]

Bodaku laughs as the pirates leave their weapons behind. "Well fought!" he says jovially to his companions. "I'm glad they surrendered. Some of them look a little stringy and would have made for poor eating. Eh? Eh?" He elbows one of the with sense of camaraderie that is clearly not shared. "I'll go take inventory of our new ship. In the meantime, why don't we drop anchor and see to that rudder?" Once the anchor is dropped, he inspects the ships cargo and facilities.

[Erloas]

Araidne drops into the water and starts to swim towards the ship, but with some sails down isn't making good progress. Luckily the jollyboat quickly gets to her, pulls her in and after her direction takes her back to the pirate ship. A quick check of the dagger in the rudder finds that it has been jammed in tightly and the force of the water and wheel have embedded it into the wood. It looks like it can be removed but it will take a bit of coordination to figure out.
After that Araidne floats up to the deck and makes her statement and starts making the minor repairs.

As the ship turns across the wind and not yet having anyone at control the ship is rocking fairly hard and one of the crew suggests the remaining sails should be raised quickly.

Robel has slowly started to keep relatively close but not too close since the ship isn't under control yet.

Bodaku checks on the scout and mate and find both of them have bleed out. The captain, still in Olivia's grip, is alive but not doing well.

Looking over the crew, you can see that some look like they're doing pretty well, but others look very thin and not in great shape. The officers don't look like they've been missing meals like some of the crew have. Right now the crew seem very unsure of what is going to happen to them or what they should be doing. But they have complied with orders and have piled their weapons on the aft of the ship. Some seem much more willing to help than others but they're all acting cautiously.

[samduke]

Olivia tightly binds the captains arms, if the mate is not dead bind their arms as well then she will prepare the extract cure light wounds (1d8+1)[2] and will give that to the captain. and if the mate is in similar condition one bound extract cure light wounds (1d8+1)[4]
then once the captain is stable, she will drag the captain to the wheel area and take command ordering the crew to get the sails furled for the time. (this will cause the ship to stop moving with the wind) once that is done she can work with Araidne to free the rudder. in the meanwhile we can provide food stuffs to the hungry crew and if there are any other officers olivia will suggest that they also get their hands bound and placed with the others near the wheel as prisoners.

[optimumsquare]

Once Adrienne is aboard, Bodaku pulls his companions aside. "Now what?" he asks. "We seem to be in a bit of luck that the captain mistreated his crew. It may be that we can guarentee their loyalty for the few days we need to get back to port with nothing more than a good meal, and we just so happen to know a fisherman who owes us a favor." Bodaku knows in his soul that all problems can be solved with the correct application of food. "We can lock up the officers and the trouble makers, preferably on Robel's ship where they cant stir things up. As an added punishment, they will only eat these measly tack biscuits. Thoughts?"

[samduke]

Once Adrienne is aboard, Bodaku pulls his companions aside. "Now what?" he asks. "We seem to be in a bit of luck that the captain mistreated his crew. It may be that we can guarentee their loyalty for the few days we need to get back to port with nothing more than a good meal, and we just so happen to know a fisherman who owes us a favor." Bodaku knows in his soul that all problems can be solved with the correct application of food. "We can lock up the officers and the trouble makers, preferably on Robel's ship where they cant stir things up. As an added punishment, they will only eat these measly tack biscuits. Thoughts?"

Robel he does owe us, I can't think of a better way to treat this pirate crew than to give them good food.
as for the pirate scum lower officers, bind them below decks and give them nothing more than what the crew had for rations. This captain however will get no more than mere bread and water, I am tempted to tie him to the mast and let him bake for a few hours, but bound on deck by the wheel he is and shall remain, right where at least one of us will always be able keep an eye on him.

[Erloas]

The few crew that came from Robel's ship on the jollyboat have tied the boat to the ship and are looking over things with you guys. They help get the sails furled and help coordinate someone at the wheel while a couple people on the rudder get the dagger out, it wasn't a hard task, it just took a few people working together.

The mate and scout have died, much of the crew has cuts and wounds, in varying states of healing, but none in dire straights. The captain is conscious and tied up, watching warrily but as of yet hasn't tried to do anything. There are 15 crew on the ship, on the lighter side for a ship of this size but not too few to sail. A few have went back to general ship duties, you get the feeling this isn't the first hostile captain change they've seen, or maybe they're hoping to just blend into the background. The talk of food seems to have caught some interested looks from some. You get a sense from many that they're used to doing what they're told rather than offering up information.

Bodaku waves over Robel and after a little while he works on pulling his ship up to the captured ship and they are tied together enough that they don't drift apart. Broached on the subject of supplying food Robel says "I'm sure we can arrange something, but it's going to take some negotiations. If you'll remember, we're still fairly early into our trip and our holds aren't that full yet. I'm also a bit hesitant to stay without any guards but leaving this early into the trip will not fetch much at the markets. What are you proposing?"

[samduke]

Robel, while I know this may seem an imposition considering all things, but how many days sail is it back to port?
I would be happy to forgo my share of payment for your loss of time at fishing for the days lost going back to port and back to the fishing grounds. as to the food supplies I can offer fair market value for that which these consume until we reach port. then you could return with a different guard with minimal time loss from fishing

[Daishain]

Once the weapons are secured, Ariadne moves amongst the pirate crew, whispering soft words of reassurance as she tends to their hurts. Of course, undoubtedly her method of healing them inspires some fear as she makes use of her familiar's venom to heal injuries, holding firm anyone that tries to squirm away before they get the treatment they need. She asks for their names, about how they got here, and other things, trying to get a sense of who they are.

As the discussion of what to do next occurs, Ariadne raises a hand for attention, "We agreed to guard you for the trip, and while the main threat you hired us for is now dealt with, I would not choose to renege on that bargain. But we need to deal with the captain here. What I propose is this, keep fishing, we'll make for the nearest port with some manner of legal authority, dump off the prisoner, swap this crew for another, and return as quickly as we can. If you can spare enough food for that round trip, that can count against what we have already earned."

She pauses for a moment before continuing, "Of course, there is a simpler means of dealing with the issue. This man has done you harm, as captain, you have the legal and moral right to mete out justice here. We can easily dump him overboard, leave him on some tiny spit of land, or be merciful and just give him a clean execution now. It'd save time before he is hung by whoever we hand him to anyways. Get rid of him now, and we can continue to keep guard over your voyage from this newly appropriated ship."

"Of course, then the question becomes what to do with the crew. We'll need to keep a careful eye on them. But they seem unlikely to cause trouble for the moment, and from the looks of them, decent meals would be enough to make them happy for a while. We can put them to work, even helping with the fishing. This ship may not be ideal for the work, but the two ships working together could increase your yield by a notable degree. The additional food usage can come out of our shares, but I believe we can make up the difference with the extra hands."

"And then once the voyage is done, well, we can decide if any of these lads are worth keeping on for our crew on other journeys. Some of them seem rather decent, just down on their luck."

Spoiler: OOC

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Extensive use of the healing hex on the crew, anyone injured there gets 1d8+3 hp. Same goes for any injuries on our end.

[optimumsquare]

Bodaku scratches his chin. "Sounds like a good plan to me." He lowers his voice. "We got that creepy guy with the skull mask. If any of them get out of line, we can just leave them alone with him."

[samduke]

all right then lets split up some of us here, some of us with Robel's crew. and collectivly fishish up this fishing trip turning to robel Robel what say you as to the fate of this pirate captain?

[Erloas]

Araidne gets a few stories from the crew as she looks over them. A few are little more than slaves, having been found or captured, some were willingly recruited to serve on the ship, some claiming they didn't know the captain was a pirate at the time, some say little to nothing. There is a mix of the common races, some a close to "local" as you can be on the ocean, others from far off and others not offering up any information on their background. A few have been on the ship with it's previous captain, some are fresh faced, but rough, kids. You get the feeling there is a lot intentionally left unanswered. [Feel free to go farther into anything if you care to]

Robel says "The closest port is Nuat, though that is more outposts and supplies for the Rahadoumi fleet than open port. It is about a day away. After that Botosani is the next closest, not that much farther and at least half a day closer than Azir.

As for the captain, I would as soon see him dead and feeding the fish as anything. While the navy does pay bounty it's generally not much unless the captain is well known, otherwise someone managed to capture more "pirates captains" than there are ships. Worrying about guards and limited supplies just to have someone else kill him doesn't seem worth the effort.

I would prefer having a few extra skilled hands on guard duty or running two ships to going back to port. If we stayed close we could put the crab pots on your ship and we could run the nets and transfer goods between the ships daily. That ship isn't designed for fishing and processing but with a little work and mixing the crews it could be serviceable.
Seeing that you're not entirely set on what you want to do I'll let you deliberate a bit more about it."

[samduke]

Oliva will walk over and talk with each of the pirate crew and see what their stories are questioning them, investigating things. After she will ask each "if they will assist us with a few days work where they will get an honest days wage and good food, then once back to port they will be free to leave if they wish."

Peception 7 (1d20+7)[22]
Sense Motives 1 (1d20+1)[5]
Knowledge (any) untrained (1d20+2)[7]

After she is done with that she will return to Robel.
Robel we agreed to help you with this fishing trip. let us feed these poor bastards keep this lot over here send some of us to assist you on your ship, I and a few can remain on this ship clear the deck so that it can store crab pots as you suggest, we can run close together this will afford some extra protection for your ship. As to this pirate captain maybe it is best if we keel hull him, tie him to the bow or mast, hang him, or just outright slay him and toss the flesh overboard. In the end Robel you are technically the law out here by right of being an actual captain. If what you say is true about the ports it is probably more hassle than it is worth to turn the captain in for a reward. So I defer to you to pass judgement on his head.

[Erloas]

Having taken everything of worth from the scout and the mate's corpses you toss them overboard. Having also stripped the captain Robel gets his musket from the pile of weapons and takes him to the edge of the ship. He reloads the musket, tosses the captain overboard then shoots him. Then says to the crew "remember that this is how a pirates life often ends" as he returns the musket to the pile. "We can make you legitimate sailors, so work well until we get done and you'll be treated well and you'll make it back to port."

With that Robel, Lita, and his crew start to look over the other crew and make plans for how to split people up.

With a bit of time you get a chance to look over the ship and equipment. Much of the equipment is rather mundane, only the officers had any good equipment.

You've found:
the scout had
a very fine looking composite shortbow, a bit of testing and it seems to be a +1 str weight
very fine looking leather armor and shortsword
the mate had a very nice looking longsword and beastplate
the captain's pistol and musket look of fine quality as well. He had leather lamellar armor that looks to be of an unusual type of leather, as well as a bracer that looks to have magical runes carved into it.

A bit of looking over the ship and you see it below. Although not in nearly as good of shape as the picture, and much of the bottom two levels are much more open, it looks like the ship used to be a merchant vessel, with plenty of room for goods in the hold rather than rooms. (although exactly what is to be found in them you'll find as you get there. Just saying it isn't exactly like the picture)

Spoiler: ship

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[I'll get more on the crew later]

[Daishain]

Ariadne spends much of her time over the following days getting to know the new crewmen. She does what she can to encourage and inspire them to settle into the new life being offered, heading off conflicts before they begin when she can. Most of all, she watches for crewmen who show talent and dedication, making sure those people are rewarded in some way. And if someone seems likely to cause significant trouble, she'll make sure to inspire a bit of terror in their hearts, often by a scene starting with them wake to the sight of her sea krait familiar looming over them.

When certain of the relative loyalties of enough of those crewmen, she'll recommend that the ones she trusts be given back their weapons and asked to help ensure order.

[optimumsquare]

Bodaku assists in the best way he knows how, preparing food. Using whatever catch is available from the materials transfered to the new ship, without taking too much from Robel (although Robel and Bodaku may have a different definition of what equals "too much"), he ensures that there is a warm meal at the end of every work shift. He is always present at these events, laughing and joking with the crew, attempting to learn their names, even though he's terrible with names. Although his manner is light, he is wary. These are former pirates afterall. He keeps a close eye on them. (Sense motive [roll0]) During one of these meals, he calls over Cassandra and Olivia. "My friends, I just realized we have committed a grave oversight. We have not yet named our new vessel. We cannot let it keep the name it bore while committing foul deeds. We must rechristen her, for surely it would be bad luck to sail under a nameless ship." He rubs his bald head. "I confess, I've not given it thought until just now. Perhaps, the 'Jaws of the Sea'? Hmmm..." He thinks on the name for a bit. "What do you think?"

[Erloas]

After further examination you figure out that the bracers are +1 Bracers of Armor and that the lamellar armor is made of darkleaf and +1.
The rest of the items are all masterwork quality but non-magical.

As you search the officer's room you find each has a small chest and they're all locked but the keys are found around the rooms. You also found a number of empty potion bottles but do find a few that haven't been used, two of monkeyfish, one endure elements, and one jump. You also find that there are some masterwork tools around, one for making poisons, one for crafting arrows, and one for bullets, as well as three kegs of black powder (5lbs). You also find a fine feather with a picture of an anchor painted on it.
Between the three you find 271gold and 17 minor gems. There is also a cask of wine. There is also a map of the area with a few points along the shores marked but no clear indication what is being marked. There is also all of the mundane sorts of things you would expect, beds, clothing, furniture, etc, nothing fancy.

At this point you haven't went though the crews goods.
As you go through you find there is maybe a week's worth of provisions in the hold, but it is pretty basic fare. The hold has some lumber and some crates and baskets of various trade goods, some is ruined but some might still have some value.

The crew, brief
Older female half-orc and middle aged female dwarf that where on the ship when it was a trading vessel and only ones remaining from when it was taken over. They're pretty indifferent to the apparent changes.
A middle aged human male and younger male gnome that were bought as slaves, they say they weren't the only slaves but the only ones still around, a few having escaped but most having died. The human is helpful but the halfling is very quiet and meek.
Middle aged half-elf male that was picked up after being ship-wrecked, in a bit of despair.
Two were captured from another ship, an older female human that is frightened, and a middle ages male dwarf that is rather angry at everything.
The rest have all claim they're just there for the pay and didn't know it was a pirate ship when they signed on, though you get the feeling some did know and others were just looking for an adventure and didn't care. They have all generally been rather helpful now that they see which was things are going. They are middle aged human male, middle aged half-elf female, a younger female elf, younger male halfling, younger male human, younger female halfling, and a pair of younger half-orcs, male and female, that seem to be a pair.

[Erloas]

[If you would like to talk to and try to learn more about any of the crew talk to them and I'll expand on them, wasn't really sure how to really cover a lot of people at once]

Robel and Lita and their crew get a good meal prepared and get everyone feed. As the afternoon sets in Robel points out a few good places to try for crab and set up a meeting point to meet at the next day if the ships get out of visual range. "Before you head out, it looks like you'll be a little short handed, I'll have one of my crew leads join you with a few people to help get everyone some basic training. If you want to swap some more so you've got a few more people you can trust then let me know who you'll send over.

You really only have enough for two shifts, but you should make sure you've got at least one or two people you can trust watching at all times."

They've loaded a few days worth of empty barrels into the hold and made some suggestions on how to lay things out for cleaning and moving the crabs around, though it is much more make-shift than the troughs, tables, and slides on Robel's ship.

Once you figure out who's going to be on each ship you'll depart and head towards the islands channels.

[samduke]

thank you Robel for your offer maybe we can send you with say 4 or 6 of this lot and you could send over say 6 trusted with 1 or 2 of them as supervisor / trainer for this lot. and thank you for the information on where and how, we can probably make due and meet with you if needed at the area mentioned.
turning to the others well then lets get things squared away and prepare for crab, I think it best if we split the officer wheel watch between the three of us.

[Erloas]

As you're getting to know the crew you inform them that the ones who were captured or slaves are now free and once back to port, if no one causes problems before then, will be free to leave.
When it is announced that some of the crew will be swapped between ships there are several that request going to Robel's ship. You notice that it is the former slaves and others that were captured and that when they go below deck to get their things, their things really isn't much at all, a little clothes and little else. With the other members of your group staying with Robel to help guard his ship he feels comfortable sending you some of his more seasoned crew. You end up with 10 of the existing crew, and 8 of Robel's crew, one of which had been leading a shift and you had worked with, and other that has been training to lead a crew but hadn't actually started yet.

You start with two crews of 9, with 6 of the more experienced split into 2 groups of three that either stay up late or get up early to help run the ship at night.
You're first two shifts of crabbing go ok, people are still getting used to things, you've found piloting a ship this size is a little trickier than Robel made it seem and sometimes have to circle around to get the pots hooked, but it isn't going too bad considering. The night goes by uneventful.
Although you do find in the morning, when it is time for breakfast, that apparently all of the food prep was done by the crew that left for Robel's ship. They were clearly not considered real members of the crew by much of the rest of the crew. Bodaku did get food made, and got help from the crew to do it, but there was a lot of complaining and "not my job" comments being made. Between Bodaku and Ariadne's unusual and mysterious ways and the watchful eyes of their animals the crew seems to be on their best behavior. "Best" being relative, but a sharp glance or wry smile at this point is quelling any open fighting between the crew and complaining mostly hushed.


One of old hands, the female half-orc does come to you with some long standing maintenance issues that she said she has wanted to get fixed next time the ship is in port. Hoping you take it more serious, making it clear that the previous captain didn't. Olivia can see some of what the sailor said, that some of the main sails have been broken and then modified at sea, and while functional is limiting what the ship is capable of.

Around mid-day you meet up with Robel again and swap out barrels of crab for empty barrels and more chum for the cages.

Spoiler: OOC

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While you are taking 8 hour shifts of piloting the ship, you can split it up so you've always got 2 people awake, or arrange it so you've got all three available in the morning or evening but only one awake during the night. Not sure who is going to cover morning, afternoon, and night.

knowledge (engineering)
(1d20+5)[16]

crabbing
(1d20-4)[1]
(1d20-4)[7]

At this point I'm assuming you haven't told the crew what your ultimate plan is. So they're under the impression this is going to be a fishing vessel from now on.

You've got a chance right now to make any more changes between the crews or check with Robel for anything you might need. Decide who is going to be up when and similar. Also if you want to christen the new name for the ship. I'll speed up the time a bit once the general running of the ship and crew is agreed upon.

[samduke]

Olivia will take the time to talk with the crew about the state of repairs that are needed to the ship, and inventory all supplies, tools, material on board. Then see what can be used to effect a quality repair (OOC masterwork quality) to damaged portion of ship. Anything that can not be done at sea will need to wait for port.

Swapping around crew with Robel:
Robel let us take back two of this ships original lot send you over two from what is here now, we have a few repairs that might need immeadiate attention and then we can finish up this fishing trip and get back to port.

[Daishain]

Ariadne works with Olivia and the half orc to go over the maintenance issues. "All right dearie, lets see what we can do. We might even be able to manage some repairs now."

Spoiler: OOC

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Willing to make liberal use of the Mending cantrip to help affect repairs to whatever degree you're willing to let me get away with, not to mention levitation to help with anything high up on the mast. Mending wouldn't be able to help much with a cracked keel or anything like that, but canvas/rope should be simple enough, especially in concert with conventional repair work. Should be able to improve the situation with the sails at the least.

If there's a situation where it would help for repairs (such as shifting any portion of the mast rigging), given advance warning to prep the spells, Ariadne can also turn up to five crewmen large sized at once for a few minutes. Obviously the primary subjects of this would not be problematic crewmen.

Arranging it so that two of us are up at any given point in time makes the most sense to me. Spreads coverage around a good bit with no weak points for would be troublemakers to take advantage of.

We'll likely share the longer term plans eventually, but for the moment, how are they reacting to the thought that this will be a fishing vessel?

Concerning renaming the ship, I seem to recall there being multiple superstitions concerning such things, and that it being considered especially bad luck to change a ship's name at sea. Waiting for the moment may be best.

[Erloas]

For those not able to fly, and wanting to check the ship, three sets of climb and acrobatic checks. And any other preparations for climbing around the top of the ship.

For checking the ship, a few perception, or appropriate profession or craft skills to assess the condition of things.

And once you have a list of jobs, are you going to pull some people away from fishing to work on that, and if so how many. If you're going to have them work extra beyond their fishing shift are you going to offer to pay, increased rations, intimidation, or whatever else to get the extra work.

[samduke]

After talking with the crew, then getting crew swapped around, Olivia starts inspecting the shipbow to stern then top to bottom

Spoiler: Rolls

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Bow to stern
Perception: (1d20+7)[23] : (1d20+7)[18] : (1d20+7)[18]
Profession sailor: (1d20+7)[21] : (1d20+7)[18] : (1d20+7)[13]

top to bottom
Climb: (1d20+1)[20] : (1d20+1)[17] : (1d20+1)[6]
Acrobatic: (1d20+8)[9] : (1d20+8)[11] : (1d20+8)[26]
Perception: (1d20+7)[25] : (1d20+7)[25] : (1d20+7)[25]
Profession sailor: (1d20+7)[8] : (1d20+7)[23] : (1d20+7)[18]

take the minimum amount of crew estimated, to do the "joib" task then Offer to pay & increased rations

[optimumsquare]

As you're getting to know the crew you inform them that the ones who were captured or slaves are now free and once back to port, if no one causes problems before then, will be free to leave.
When it is announced that some of the crew will be swapped between ships there are several that request going to Robel's ship. You notice that it is the former slaves and others that were captured and that when they go below deck to get their things, their things really isn't much at all, a little clothes and little else.

Seeing that these poor souls have nothing left from their captivity, Bodaku gives each of them a handful of gold. "Be well. I'm sorry you suffered a cruel fate. I hope this helps in your new lives." (Donates 100 gold, split between those who appeared to be captives or slaves)

You're first two shifts of crabbing go ok, people are still getting used to things, you've found piloting a ship this size is a little trickier than Robel made it seem and sometimes have to circle around to get the pots hooked, but it isn't going too bad considering. The night goes by uneventful.
Although you do find in the morning, when it is time for breakfast, that apparently all of the food prep was done by the crew that left for Robel's ship. They were clearly not considered real members of the crew by much of the rest of the crew. Bodaku did get food made, and got help from the crew to do it, but there was a lot of complaining and "not my job" comments being made. Between Bodaku and Ariadne's unusual and mysterious ways and the watchful eyes of their animals the crew seems to be on their best behavior. "Best" being relative, but a sharp glance or wry smile at this point is quelling any open fighting between the crew and complaining mostly hushed.

Bodaku knows little of operating boats of these sizes. Before leaving his IIawah, he had never been on a craft longer than 25 feet. Repairs, operation, and maintenance are not things he is well suited to help with. He does know about food. He respects it. He LOVES it. The tiny islands he grew up on barely provided enough food to support the population. Jut about everyone was a hunter or a gatherer. Part of his job was to make sure that everyone went to bed with a full tummy. His wide belly is a sign of his success, which is why it is always on full display.

Bodaku does not take complaints about food prep lightly.

"Not your job? Not your job! I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was your job to starve. Those are the two jobs we have here; help with feeding EVERYONE or starve. So it must be your job to starve." Shaddup is if anything, even more distressed than Bodaku, flying throughout the galley screaming "Is there dinner?! Is there dinner?!" "Are you some how better than eating? Will you miraculously continue with an empty belly? Well?" Bodaku does not give the whiners, who really did not understand the full consequences of their words, a chance to answer. "I think not. It is going in your belly after after all. Or should it? You can leave. I'll make sure that you recieve no rations. Or you can be as silent as your stomach, WHICH IS QUIET BECAUSE IT IS FULL, and help. Now if I hear a single one of you complain about having to chop vegetables again, I swear to the spirits of the sea, the islands, the air and all the animals who inhabit them that I will bash your head in and serve you in a stew!"

[Daishain]

Ariadne listens with amusement to Bodaku's tirade. It would be interesting to see which of them learned the right lesson from it.

Spoiler: OOC

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Checks for checking the ship
Perception (1d20+3)[13]
Profession Sailor (1d20+11)[12]
Knowledge Engineering (1d20+4)[24]
rolled a nat 1 and a nat twenty in the same post. Okay then.

[Erloas]

Olivia and Ariadne scour the ship with a couple of the crew making a list of all the work that needs to be done. While climbing across the riggings on the main sail Olivia slips but catches herself before falling. The biggest issue that was found was the main crossbeam appears to have been broken, and it seems that the other side was cut to balance. While you think you could probably fix it, it seems like too big and dangerous of a job to do while at sea and probably require more carpentry skills than you think you know. There are however many small jobs that need to be done, worn ropes, loose knots, splintered pegs, damaged pulley blocks, and many things that need either grease or tar to seal. Going through the hold you find some basic tools, and some, but not a lot of grease and tar.
With the time and focus required for mending Ariadne focuses on the more complex items like pulleys, or the largest ropes, or wood beams that are splintered but still mostly in-tact. It takes several people working together to tighten the knots around the masts, crosses, and pulley blocks, and not really being "broken" but really just loose, mending magic doesn't seem to help. Smaller, simple items, such as pegs seem like just replacing them with some of the wood from the hold would be easier. The greasing and tarring has to be done by hand too, but Olivia uses a bit of her experience with alchemy to restore some of the old stock onboard and thinks with something big and greasy like a whale or seals, she could make some more, but for the time being there is enough for the work at hand. It is going to take days to get a good chunk of the work done, but you'll be making progress every day. It seems like it has been quite a while since much of this type of maintenance was done, so if you keep up on it then it shouldn't be such a big deal in the future.

The offer of pay does get the interest in about half a dozen of the crew. Though they're wondering how much they'll be paid.

Bodaku's gift to the former slaves was much appreciated, though also somewhat nervously taken. You get the feeling they're worried about now having something worth taking. Once you've got a few of them back from Robel's ship, you think you can see why. Quite a few of the other crew start treating them like second-class members of the crew and expecting them to do all of the things they think are beneath them.

Although many seem to think Bodaku is bluffing, no one is quite willing to call that bluff. Although it is the same few that volunteer to help in the meal preparations. No one complains about the food itself though, everyone seems to be happy with the upgrade in food quality and quantity.

Of the 12 from the original crew, the two former captives have been very helpful, how much from routine and how much is a honest is a bit hard to tell. The old hands seem to have warmed up to your leadership since you've started putting effort into taking care of the ship. The eight remaining (not counting the ones from Robel's ship) are about evenly split, half seeming to not put much effort in and not seeming to care much for what's going on, the other four seem pretty good with things and seem to be adjusting pretty well and seem to be treating this as another adventure.

While all this is going on you've still been crabbing. Two days have passed and you've met up with Robel each day to transfer barrels and chum. You're getting the hang of the ship and the process. The first shift isn't great, you get some full pots but a lot of empty ones. The second half of the day goes a lot better and you find a lot more and feel like you're getting the hang of things. But the second morning you just can't seem to find any, moving around a lot trying to find where they're at but keep coming up empty. After lunch you decide to move quite a ways and try a new area, which seemed to be the right choice as you're once again pulling in pretty good catches.

Robel informs you that they've been doing well with the fishing too and with the two ships it probably won't take as long as originally thought to get the hull full. Before heading out again the second day he warns you that it kind of looks like a storm might be on the horizon and to be ready.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

crabbing
(1d20-2)[2]
(1d20-2)[13]
(1d20-2)[0]
(1d20-2)[9]

You've got a chance to talk with Robel if you want, otherwise you'll be back out in the channels between the islands and back to crabbing. Who is piloting for each shift? I'm assuming each of you gets up 4 hours before your shift, then stays up 4 hours afterwards, with some time to run the crew, work on repairs, and cook, but mostly keeping the ship on course. Day, evening, and night.