Rel is taken aback as the aquatic half-elf kisses her hand but allows it as graciously as she can, giving the sense of someone who has been around nobility and is accustomed to genteel manners between others, but never directed at herself.  She addresses Thren in strangely-accented Elvish:

Once down in the cargo hold, she gives the kobold an appraising look.  "I like your idea of the alarm, Tex, though I wonder if one or two of us should be down here at all times anyway.  It does seem strange to have so many of us guarding this crate, as if expecting an attack or betrayal."  She recalls with distaste her mother's scheming and subterfuge with her rivals in Menzoberranzan.  Her voice grows quieter.  "Should we set up a decoy?"

Tentatively, she waves her ringers and an illusory copy of the crate appears on the other side of the cargo hold:  casting  Minor Illusion.  "I only wish I could make this permanent, but perhaps there is another way we have not thought of."

As you all mingle a bit and discuss strategy, you hear from the upper deck "Standby, prepare to make sail!" As the captain begins to quickly walk over to the wheel house, you hear a rhythmic sound of metal on wood, (rink, rink, rink) The captains metal leg no doubt. "Haul anchor and man the topsail... Full and by! Let the wind take her!"

As the ship sets off, you feel the gentle rock of the boat now becoming more steady as Dragonfly gains speed and sets off towards Port Damali. 

Bellamy: Roll a survival check as your drop line in water to see if you can catch anything

Bellamy survival check

17

Dex Check

3

About 30 seconds go by before you feel a tug at your line, you instinctually act and pull back to set the hook, as you begin to reel in the line you use your momentum and agility to your advantage to bring the fish close to the boat. You watch as it begins to surface, you see under the water the fish you have hooked as well as two other fish surrounding it. As you give one final pull as you time the movement of the fish to give you the best chance to get it up and over the side of the boat in one pull. You see the fish attached to the hook as well as two other fish seemingly phasing in and out of existence. You hear from the captain "Ah, displacer fish. Not a bad catch." Slowly as the fish settles, the two spectral fish nearby cease to appear. "Defense against predators of the sea. A sight to see up close."

"Magical fish. I wonder if its delicious to eat. Thanks again captain for sharing your knowledge of sea creatures" says Bellamy.

Bellamy sings a jaunty tune as he descales the fish with his dagger. Once done he impales the fish with his dagger and flash cook the fish with a firebolt.

It tastes nice. Could use a little salt or citrus but not bad.

Tex keeps his eyes cast down while Rel addresses him, then he  stammers, „Th… Thank you.“ He pauses and weighs whether to keep his response short as a long life as slave had taught him, 'But wasn't that over?'   He ventures to offer an opinion but avoids eye contact, "We could look for old crates here, say five, pack ours in one of them and fill the others similarly. That might confuse, or at least hold up a thief a little."

Rel Insight on the cause of Tex's stammering and downcast eyes:  16

Tex doesn’t try to hide his display of respect and servitude to what he perceives as his betters. Rel can sense however that there is also a portion of fear in his mannerism towards her. She notes that her appearance might be the cause of that fear as they haven’t had any  contact before.

Quote from Tybard >>

Rel is taken aback as the aquatic half-elf kisses her hand but allows it as graciously as she can, giving the sense of someone who has been around nobility and is accustomed to genteel manners between others, but never directed at herself.  She addresses Thren in strangely-accented Elvish:

"Distant cousin.  I am Rel Serafin.  I am far from home and humbled that you look past the trouble between our peoples.  I, for one, am never going back to my homeland while I remain free.   The dark hammer, it... found... me during my escape, as did my earrings.  I can no more be rid of them than cut off my own arm.  Perhaps in time I will tell you more, and you can tell me of your own weapon, and of the elves that live beneath the waves."

Once down in the cargo hold, she gives the kobold an appraising look.  "I like your idea of the alarm, Tex, though I wonder if one or two of us should be down here at all times anyway.  It does seem strange to have so many of us guarding this crate, as if expecting an attack or betrayal."  She recalls with distaste her mother's scheming and subterfuge with her rivals in Menzoberranzan.  Her voice grows quieter.  "Should we set up a decoy?"

Tentatively, she waves her ringers and an illusory copy of the crate appears on the other side of the cargo hold:  casting  Minor Illusion.  "I only wish I could make this permanent, but perhaps there is another way we have not thought of."

 Replying in elvish “wish I could my mother died when I was young and my dads the human side he remarried soon after then a ran away didn’t like me new mother so I’ve not spent much times with others of my ancestors just mostly been me” he pause for a moment then points to his war hammer “that’s the last thing my real mother gave me” 

Zane sets up crosslegged at the very front and takes a quiet ten minutes to ritually cast comprehend languages.

Quote from cyreon >>

Tex doesn’t try to hide his display of respect and servitude to what he perceives as his betters. Rel can sense however that there is also a portion of fear in his mannerism towards her. She notes that her appearance might be the cause of that fear as they haven’t had any  contact before.

Rel becomes very still for a moment and then kneels down to be on the same level as the kobold.  She speaks quietly, as if simply sharing information rather than trying to convince Tex not to be afraid or servile around her (though in fact the latter is also her goal).

"I... I am not like some other drow.  In fact, I am not fully drow, only part.  My mother was the matriarch of a slaver family.  But my father was a slave and I took his name, and renounced hers."  She pauses and looks at Tex, as if this choice of her father's name bears great significance.

"That was just after I ran away with my best friend in the entire world, also a slave, who I now may have lost.  I do not know who mistreated you to elicit your reaction when I am near.  Nor do I expect you to trust me.  But I promise you, I bear you no ill will and consider you an equal."

Everything in her face indicates sincerity.  Though there is a brief moment, when she mentions her mother, that the grey irises of Rel's eyes flash to jet black to match both her pupils and her earrings (and warhammer).  She appears unaware of it.

(She doesn't return to the subject of decoys until after she receives a response from Tex).

You all feel the boat take a large dip and almost lose your feet as you hear Captain Flame once more shout from the wheel house "Haul taut!  Let go the topsail sheets, topbowlines, clew up!  Down jib!"

The ship steadies as you all continue on with your conversations and strategizing. 

Tex shivers and breaks out in a sweat when Rel lowers herself to his eye level, being addressed directly in this way had never been a good omen. 'Was this whole job perhaps just a trap to get me enslaved again? But that doesn't make any sense, that's too much of a stretch, surely.'  He had never seen such elaborate tricks to hunt just one slave, 'Unless they were - for some odd reason - after me, specifically me.' 

Meanwhile, Rel had said something of her mother being a slaver queen and her father a slave. Confused, Tex glances at her noting how dead serious she looks and gives an audible gulp unconsciously - 'I must listen better,'  he chastises himself and tries to follow Rel's ensuing explanation but has a hard time relating to it. He'd never tried to run away, never even considered it, it just had never seemed a realistic option for him, they had killed each one that tried. 

Then he perks up, his body stiff but his mind running fast, 'Do not know - she wants me to tell ..., nor expect you to trust me - she wants to feel trusted ..., promise no ill will - a hidden threat? ..., consider you equal - to be her hand, her eyes and ears, maybe?...'  He feels her stare on him and knows he must say something, but what is it that she would like to hear? They sense lies, don't they? "I... er... your kind, they've brought me, er, I mean our village to Urzin to... er... work there. Hard work, many died ... er... because we're weak, I think," his eyes move quickly, his mind racing to find the right words. "But I have been released. I'm my own now." Suddenly, his view stills as if something had occurred to him, "I'm looking for a lost friend, too. My last master. I hope to find him here at the coast somewhere, in some port city perhaps. That's why I took this job. I will be helping you guard this crate, yes, I will help you. Then, we find our friends." His head had started to nod to his words as if to give his words more meaning.

Tex holds onto his turtle to steady himself when the ship dips down, "I didn't know that ships move that much. I always imagined it'd be more like riding on top of a walking tortoise, like back in Urzin."

Rel remains gazing at Tex for a long moment, still down on one knee, sadness softening her face.  She then swallows and nods resignedly to herself.

"All right.  I... all right.  Yes, let's use your plan with the five similar-looking crates.  That may buy us a few seconds if-"

She steadies herself as the ship lurches downward and looks worried.  That seemed abnormal.  Perhaps the open seas have their drawbacks as well.  And I had wanted to watch us depart, with the horizons opening up, and the blue-green waters appearing to stretch to the horizon.  Next time.

If Tex is ready, she helps him set up the simple diversion of 5 similarly-sized larger crates, with only one of them to contain Lord Agustin's cargo.  Mixing up the locations of the larger crates to reduce the odds that a would-be thief would pick the right one immediately.

"We must tell the other three quietly so they know and are not surprised."  With that, Rel heads back above decks for a glimpse of the horizon.

Rel: You walk back up the wooden stairwell to the top deck and wander to the stern of the boat to take in the view as the boat sails further from the coastline. You can see Port Zoon is now a small spec against the landscape. The blue ocean waters give way to lush vegetation backed by rust red peaks of the Cyrios Mountains. The sun beginning to fall beyond the peaks bringing vibrant orange, purple and pink to the slightly clouded sky. 

A crew member, a halfing man with a scruffy beard and long blonde hair pouring from the blue knit cap he wears, notices you. As he is tying off a sail he says "Beautiful ain't it? I could see this view a thousand times over and never get sick of it."

Rel is still thinking about her father (the slave) after her interaction with Tex below decks, feeling oddly ashamed, though she does not know why.  She senses father's divine magic now, reaching for the grace he had, even in servitude.  Casting and concentrating on Guidance on herself by instinct.

She has just started to turn and look for Thren to finish their conversation and let the aquatic half-elf know of the ruse with the crates when the halfling sailor addresses her.  She stills her face.  "Indeed it is.  Have you?  Seen it a thousand times, I mean.  Is this your usual run?"

She grips the rail and breathes in the clean air of the ocean.

Thren will look around then head to the top of the ship and pray for a safe travels on this ship 

After having set up the decoys and leaving Lizzy alone wth her task to trigger the alarm should anyone enter the hold, Tex feels that they've done what they could. He leaves for the mess hall to sort out what he could have for dinner and best not to go too far away from the crate. Did they say they only wouldn't cook for them or that they also don't share their raw food? He reasons that he can ask the ship's cook. 

(How heavy and big was the crate when we handled it? Were there any noises from inside? Did something shift when it was tilted or does it seem tightly packed?)