((You had a long rest the first night - this is the next day now approaching late afternoon - everyone has had a long rest))

((Even better. I got a bit scrambled with when K got recalled, how long it's been since, etc. I was thinking we were only an hour or two underway.))

((At some point in the last day or so her pissy mood would have led to her cornering Marrin.))

"What the fork happened back there? At the Lintoll I was expecting you all to be on hand to deal with the guard that Ethel baited, instead it's just the two of us left out to dry against four guards."

Martin, probably caught off guard, is initially surprised and then confused.

"You mean at the show? That was the plan, us to jump the guards?  I was distracted and honestly missed that. I sent Ava after you, invisibly, so you were three against four. Plus I'd put my money on Ava up against any two of them in a heartbeat."

Marrin shakes her head,

"You were in the middle of the Lintoll, it's guards would have helped you. Why would you go back to the mayor's place if you thought you were alone? And either way, Ula and I found you, brought Mard. You weren't alone."

She is a bit guilty and the last bit is trying to cover for that. Also, the first bit was about deflecting...

Avaria keeps up the watch.  
Perception: 12

To pass some of the time she tries to learn a bit about sailing.  Listening to Bigge and the other sailors, trying to pick up what she can while she keeps watch.

"Distracted. I see."

"You should know by now that all anyone has to do to lure Ethel away is offer her answers to questions she has. She didn't give me the word to jump in, and I didn't know Ava was there until we were all in the manor. Between you getting distracted and Ethel being a bit more devoted to finding answers than is good for her, she very nearly ended up the Mayor's prisoner. Ava maybe equal to two guards, but it wasn't just two guards, was it? It was the Mayor and whatever powers he serves, and a whole contingent of guards. And yes, you and Ula, and the boys, and Mard all showed up just in the nick of time to be the big heroes... but if they'd caught on to me or Ava earlier? Or the Mayor had just a couple more guards behind us in his dungeon? Would you be working on breaking us out of his prison right now or would you be toasting your victory over a child and living it up as the queen of the Lintoll for the night?"

"I have worked alone for a long, long time. I thought after what we went through with the Hargroves, that this was a team I could count on, that would have my back in turn, but I'm less certain whether pursuing ANY of this is worth the trouble if you're so easily distracted."

Jan has moved up close to Marrin, and pokes her in the chest with her gloved hand for emphasis. The index and middle finger have no give to them, hard jab to punctuate her intensely bitten off words.

Below in their makeshift workspace / quarters, Ethel and Gefrroi pour over Godrick Hargroves writings and notations. Ethel finds Geffroi’s knowledge of rare runes and codices remarkable.

With his help she’s quite confident that her initial inclination about there not being any traps is correct.

What does Ethel want to get started on first?

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Hammerdasher turns from the rails in time to see Jan poking Marrin in the chest.

“What’s going on here, lassies,” Hammerdasher says. “You can’t be fighting with each other after all we’ve been through.”

Before he can say more, Jan hears something smack against the side of the ship.

"Shush. What was that?", Jan will peer over the edge of the rail.

Ethel's immediate goal is to attempt to transcribe the necromancy spell wither and bloom from the scroll she stole from Godrick into her spellbook.

Ethel and Geffroi set about transcribing the spell into Ethel's spellbook. The steadiness of the ship in the calm seas helps immeasurably as they don't have to time pen strokes with the period of the waves.

(Arcana check with advantage from Geffroi's help and expertise - given Ethel's skill in Arcana she'll essentially need two Nat 1's to fail, anything else is a success).

---------------------------------------------------

Both Jan and Hammerdasher look over the side of the ship to investigate the sound Jan heard.

Down at the waterline they see the source of the thud; a body bangs into the hull again. Water darkened clothing and bedraggled hair make it difficult to see anything distinguishing about the body. The fact the head is face down in the water suggests life has long since left this person.

As they watch the body bob up and down with the gentle waves, another thud draws their attention towards the bow. Another body bangs against the hull towards the bow.

Arcana:  18

"Careful..." Ethel says through gritted teeth as she and Geffroi trigger the magic captured in the scroll.  Working together, they map out the relevant verbal, somantic and material components necessary to cast the spell in real time.  It isn't the most seamless of processes, and she and Geffroi will need to work on their coordination... but when it is over she believes she has successfully copied the spell into her book.

She sits back, a mixture of relief and pride welling up in her.  "Well done."  She rises from the table, rubbing her brow.  "Let's grab something from the kitchens.  I think that might be all I have in me for today."

Marrin looks initially startled by Jan's accusations and declarations but that disappears with the first jab. Her eyes narrow and jaw sets but is interrupted by Ithleviur and then Jan before she can respond.

She waves to Ithleviur without taking her eyes of the bodies,

"Tell Bigge, bodies. Tell everyone."

Then more quietly to Jan,

"We've got more to discuss after this."

She'll head to the other side of Xanthe's Wish to see if there are more bodies or signs of debris.

"Sure. Fine."

Jan will look for a grappling line or the like that could be used to snag a body for closer inspection.

Marrin doesn't see anything on the other side of the ship.

Ethel hears a lot of commotion up on deck.

Jan spots the long boat hooks the crew use when coming into and leaving docks. They're anchored just under the railing on both sides of the ship.

(Agility or Athletics to snag a body, Athletics to get it up to the deck)

Jan grabs a boat hook and swings it down to try to snag a body, calling out, "Give me a hand getting it up!"

She'll look around for Ava or whoever else is around with muscles and make eye contact after calling for help.

Agility/DEX: 10

She takes her eye off to proverbial ball however...

With the movement of the ship and the bodies, at most there’s time for one more try of the first body or two of the second body.

Marrin moves back to the other side and moves to the forward, trying to spot whatever these bodies came from.

Perception: 18

9

Jan tries again, not wanting someone to come over to help with nothing...

Hearing some hullabaloo up on the top deck, Ethel sends Geffroi on to the kitchens to secure some food while she ascends the stairs and steps out into the fog.  "Have we run into trouble?" she asks to no one in particular, hoping one of her allies or one of the crew can clue her in to whatever is going on. 

"Two bodies in the water, having trouble hooking them to have a closer look.", Jan calls from her position as she whiffs again.