He crosses his arms and with one hand strokes his chin. "Hmm... Perhaps we can make a deal. I need to move this equipment." He looks to the crate "175gp for the shield and the ring?" The Tabaxi looks back to you, his golden yellow eyes studying your reaction.
"I can go up to 135 and help you move the shield out, I just don't see the ring being much use to me it would be too unreliable and better chance to cause damage to my companions than my foes. Now if it were a ring of protection or the sorts it would be different." she replies to the man.
Agamemnon studies Sir Stuffed with a half-smile. "A soft, stuffed replica of a bear with a sword. I like this little fellow." He pays the tabaxi the requested price and heads for the ship.
Lady Susanne, the Tabaxi considers your offer then extends his hand to shake yours. "Deal. The shield is yours for 135gp." He then leads you back out onto the docks and bids you a quick farewell before hurrying to his stall where a flamboyantly dressed Tiefling woman is perusing his wares.
All, you return to the Misty Matron for the night. (Vappa, feel free to purchase one or more of the items the Tabaxi had for sale before you head to the ship) Boarding the ship, you happen to see a few of your new crewmates. A pair of Halflings, boy and girl, climbing and checking the ships rigging. A male Tiefling on the quarterdeck staring out to sea where the sun is setting on the horizon. A Tabaxi man is perched in the crow's nest with a blue pseudodragon on his shoulder. The pseudodragon shrieks and takes flight after a seagull. Below deck, you're surprised to see the Elven woman and her Half-Orc companion from the tavern. They're sitting at one of six tables that hang from chains attached to pulleys in the ceiling. They're playing cards and nod to you after you descend the ladder. An olive-skinned dwarf wearing a flour stained apron with black hair and green eyes, greets you as he carries an armload of sacks to a small kitchen in the next room. Knowing you'll have weeks to get to know the rest of the crew, you all settle into your cramped room and try to sleep. The pending expedition filling each of your minds with excitement, hope, and visions of treasure. Tomorrow at dawn, you set sail for the island.
Strife looks for a corner to slide into and curls up in a ball around his backpack.Resting his scaly had on his pack, he will spend a long while studying his warm red and black ring... Spinning it on his finger and examining its features (attempting to attune?). After a few hours of this the small kobold would eventually drift off to sleep clutching his bag of treasures tightly in his spindly arms.
You awake to the sounds of the crewmen preparing the ship for its voyage. Even below deck, you can hear Cpt. Red Skies shouting orders and the thudding footfalls of those responding to them. You climb the two ladders leading above deck and find a warm summer breeze blowing gently against you. You look to the open water of Waterdeep’s harbor and see a fat red sun squatting lazily on the horizon. The sky is deep red near the rising sun, fading to dark purple in the west. A voice from behind calls out to you.
“They say red skies in the morning come as a warning, but red skies at night are a sailor’s delight. I wonder…” says the tall tattooed elven woman you met the night before, her words trailing off as she stares out to sea.
“Eh, I guess we’ll just have to make our own fortune then. Cheers.” And she saunters off.
After about another hour the Cpt. is finally satisfied with the status of her ship and she calls for the dock lines to be cast off and the anchor hauled up. Heavy clinking sounds resonate from below deck until a crewman shouts, ‘Anchor’s aweigh ma’am!’ and Cpt. Red Skies signals to another ship full of men and oars in the center of the harbor. The men begin rowing in unison and the lines between the tug boat and The Misty Matron draw taught as she is pulled out to sea. On either side of the entrance to the harbor stand two large towers. A huge chain runs between them, suspended roughly 15ft from the surface of the water. As the Misty Matron is slowly tugged toward it, large cogs begin to turn at the tops of the towers and the chain grows slack until it slips below the surface of the water.
Now, about a mile out to sea, crewmen cast off the tug lines and Cpt. Red Skies signals for the sails to be unfurled. With a billow and a snap, the sails fill with a steady summer breeze and your voyage begins.
Cpt. Red Skies approaches you all and says "Alright! I need volunteers! I need one of ye to help keep watch in the Crow's Nest, another to learn the lines and rigging, and the rest of ye will be back up gunners. Who's doing what?"
Cpt. Red skies regards you with a smile "Aye, that's the spirit! Lady Susanne, go below deck and find Naremere and Maruk. They'll teach you everything you need to know about our guns."
Vappa, the Cpt. smiles and says "A man of few words, you and Kelp will get along just fine I think. Head on up." and she tilts her head in the direction of the mainmast.
Strife would have raised his claw and and then lowered it as Vappa took the crows nest. "I uhh... I will do whatever you need Captain" The kobold would say taking a step forward. "I am not very strong though... I am not sure what you think I would be best suited for... I have experience digging tunnels.. I have some magical abilities... but am not sure how useful they might be..." The kobold will say looking at his spindly arms.
Lady Susanne, you head below deck and find the Elven woman and Half-Orc from last night. The woman shakes your hand and says "Well hello again, I'm Naremere, but you can call me Narry." She then tilts her head toward the Half-Orc "This is Maruk." The Half-Orc stares blankly at you, seeming to register your presence, but not saying anything. "Don't take offense, he hasn't talked since he took a blow to the head in a bar fight a few years back. Still eats, sleeps, shits, and follows orders. Just doesn't talk. Anyway, you're our backup eh? Well you'd better take some of that armor off and roll up your sleeves 'cause it's a job, for sure. These bad boys here are our 24-pounders. They'll knock a hole in a ship you could drive a cart through, but they kick like a pissed off cart mule. These are our 12-pounders..."
You spend the rest of the day with Narry and Maruk while they run you through the steps of clearing, priming, loading, and firing the cannons again and again.
"First you swab the barrel. Don't matter if the gun ain't been fired in months, you swab the damn barrel." and Narry hands you a steel rod with a large rag on the end of it. "This'll clean out any powder residue from prior shots and keep the bore nice and smooth. Saw a man load powder into an unswabbed cannon once. There was still a bit of burnin' powder in the bore. Blew his damn arm off. Like I said, swab the damn barrel."
"Next, you load the powder. You mighta seen our powder monkeys climbing the rigging up on deck, they're in charge of lugging the powder up from the magazine. They'll bring ya a parchment cartridge full o' powder. Slide it in the bore." Maruk hands you a heavy package of black powder sealed in thick parchment paper.
"Then you load the wad and ram the wad." Narry hands you a piece of canvas and a steel ramrod, watching as you stuff the heavy cloth into the barrel and tamp it down with the ramrod.
"Now we load the shot. In this case, as you may have guessed, we're using 24-pound shot. These might seem heavy, but some o' the ships I've served on before had 68-pounders. Load the shot, load another wad, ram the wad." Maruk hands you a solid iron 24-pound cannon ball with one hand. After you've loaded it, Narry hands you another wad and the ramrod.
"Now we run the gun out. Gotta really put your back into it!" Narry says with a grunt as she and Maruk push the heavy gun up against the ship's bulwark.
"Finally, we prick the powder cartridge..." and she hands you a short, very thin peice of steel and motions for you to ram it down the touch hole of the gun "...and grab the linstock..." Maruk hands you a long steel rod that has a sputtering fuse on one end "FIRE IN THE HOLE!" yells Narry as she touches the fuse to the touch hole. The cannon boom is deafening in the confined space below deck and the cannon slams backward against a thick piece of rope that keeps it from crushing you against the opposite side of deck. Through the smoke and ringing in your ears you can just barely hear Narry say "Any questions?"
"I will watch for danger from the deep." Agamemnon grunts, diving over the side of the vessel and into the sea. If possible, he will communicate with the aquatic animals he encounters using his Emissary of the Sea feature, asking them if there has been any unnatural commotion in the area, and if so to lead him to the source.
Strife, the Cpt. gives you a Stern look. "There will be absolutely NO unauthorized fires aboard my ship. Fire is the single most dangerous element aboard a ship at sea. You so much as light a lantern without my permission and you're shark bait." Cpt. Red Skies stares intensely into your eyes "Do I make myself clear?" as the wind whips her red hair into her face.
Vappa, you find a long rope ladder that hangs the length of the main mast. You begin your climb and find the rope difficult to manage. The climb is arduous and the ladder sways in the wind, secured to the mast in only a few places. By the time you reach the Crow's Nest your arm muscles are burning and sore and you're out of breath. You stand on wobbly legs next to a tall Tabaxi man. His arms are crossed as he watches you catch your breath.
"Going down is worse." Says Kelp as he spits onto the floor of the Crow's Nest. "Why you here?"
He crosses his arms and with one hand strokes his chin. "Hmm... Perhaps we can make a deal. I need to move this equipment." He looks to the crate "175gp for the shield and the ring?" The Tabaxi looks back to you, his golden yellow eyes studying your reaction.
"I can go up to 135 and help you move the shield out, I just don't see the ring being much use to me it would be too unreliable and better chance to cause damage to my companions than my foes. Now if it were a ring of protection or the sorts it would be different." she replies to the man.
Agamemnon studies Sir Stuffed with a half-smile. "A soft, stuffed replica of a bear with a sword. I like this little fellow." He pays the tabaxi the requested price and heads for the ship.
Flayr Flameseeker | Genasi/Fire | Wizard/School of Evocation | Level 2 | Custom Campaign: Cold Cash
Lady Susanne, the Tabaxi considers your offer then extends his hand to shake yours. "Deal. The shield is yours for 135gp." He then leads you back out onto the docks and bids you a quick farewell before hurrying to his stall where a flamboyantly dressed Tiefling woman is perusing his wares.
All, you return to the Misty Matron for the night. (Vappa, feel free to purchase one or more of the items the Tabaxi had for sale before you head to the ship) Boarding the ship, you happen to see a few of your new crewmates. A pair of Halflings, boy and girl, climbing and checking the ships rigging. A male Tiefling on the quarterdeck staring out to sea where the sun is setting on the horizon. A Tabaxi man is perched in the crow's nest with a blue pseudodragon on his shoulder. The pseudodragon shrieks and takes flight after a seagull. Below deck, you're surprised to see the Elven woman and her Half-Orc companion from the tavern. They're sitting at one of six tables that hang from chains attached to pulleys in the ceiling. They're playing cards and nod to you after you descend the ladder. An olive-skinned dwarf wearing a flour stained apron with black hair and green eyes, greets you as he carries an armload of sacks to a small kitchen in the next room. Knowing you'll have weeks to get to know the rest of the crew, you all settle into your cramped room and try to sleep. The pending expedition filling each of your minds with excitement, hope, and visions of treasure. Tomorrow at dawn, you set sail for the island.
End Act I.
I'll be back on tomorrow afternoon folks, cheers!
Strife looks for a corner to slide into and curls up in a ball around his backpack.Resting his scaly had on his pack, he will spend a long while studying his warm red and black ring... Spinning it on his finger and examining its features (attempting to attune?). After a few hours of this the small kobold would eventually drift off to sleep clutching his bag of treasures tightly in his spindly arms.
You awake to the sounds of the crewmen preparing the ship for its voyage. Even below deck, you can hear Cpt. Red Skies shouting orders and the thudding footfalls of those responding to them. You climb the two ladders leading above deck and find a warm summer breeze blowing gently against you. You look to the open water of Waterdeep’s harbor and see a fat red sun squatting lazily on the horizon. The sky is deep red near the rising sun, fading to dark purple in the west. A voice from behind calls out to you.
“They say red skies in the morning come as a warning, but red skies at night are a sailor’s delight. I wonder…” says the tall tattooed elven woman you met the night before, her words trailing off as she stares out to sea.
“Eh, I guess we’ll just have to make our own fortune then. Cheers.” And she saunters off.
After about another hour the Cpt. is finally satisfied with the status of her ship and she calls for the dock lines to be cast off and the anchor hauled up. Heavy clinking sounds resonate from below deck until a crewman shouts, ‘Anchor’s aweigh ma’am!’ and Cpt. Red Skies signals to another ship full of men and oars in the center of the harbor. The men begin rowing in unison and the lines between the tug boat and The Misty Matron draw taught as she is pulled out to sea. On either side of the entrance to the harbor stand two large towers. A huge chain runs between them, suspended roughly 15ft from the surface of the water. As the Misty Matron is slowly tugged toward it, large cogs begin to turn at the tops of the towers and the chain grows slack until it slips below the surface of the water.
Now, about a mile out to sea, crewmen cast off the tug lines and Cpt. Red Skies signals for the sails to be unfurled. With a billow and a snap, the sails fill with a steady summer breeze and your voyage begins.
Cpt. Red Skies approaches you all and says "Alright! I need volunteers! I need one of ye to help keep watch in the Crow's Nest, another to learn the lines and rigging, and the rest of ye will be back up gunners. Who's doing what?"
“I would love to be a back up gunner” Lady Susanne says.
Cpt. Red skies regards you with a smile "Aye, that's the spirit! Lady Susanne, go below deck and find Naremere and Maruk. They'll teach you everything you need to know about our guns."
"Vappa will...take nest." He hisses, though, not too familiar with what a crows nest means in this context.
Vappa, the Cpt. smiles and says "A man of few words, you and Kelp will get along just fine I think. Head on up." and she tilts her head in the direction of the mainmast.
Susanne goes below, sees a few sailors as says, “the captain sent me down to help with the cannons.”
Vappa will head up that direction, asking around for the one named Kelp.
Strife would have raised his claw and and then lowered it as Vappa took the crows nest. "I uhh... I will do whatever you need Captain" The kobold would say taking a step forward. "I am not very strong though... I am not sure what you think I would be best suited for... I have experience digging tunnels.. I have some magical abilities... but am not sure how useful they might be..." The kobold will say looking at his spindly arms.
Seldor will follow Susanne and accept a position as a gunner.
Xenophon: Topaz Dragonborn Fighter (ixi's Dragon of Icespire Peak)
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Lady Susanne, you head below deck and find the Elven woman and Half-Orc from last night. The woman shakes your hand and says "Well hello again, I'm Naremere, but you can call me Narry." She then tilts her head toward the Half-Orc "This is Maruk." The Half-Orc stares blankly at you, seeming to register your presence, but not saying anything. "Don't take offense, he hasn't talked since he took a blow to the head in a bar fight a few years back. Still eats, sleeps, shits, and follows orders. Just doesn't talk. Anyway, you're our backup eh? Well you'd better take some of that armor off and roll up your sleeves 'cause it's a job, for sure. These bad boys here are our 24-pounders. They'll knock a hole in a ship you could drive a cart through, but they kick like a pissed off cart mule. These are our 12-pounders..."
You spend the rest of the day with Narry and Maruk while they run you through the steps of clearing, priming, loading, and firing the cannons again and again.
"First you swab the barrel. Don't matter if the gun ain't been fired in months, you swab the damn barrel." and Narry hands you a steel rod with a large rag on the end of it. "This'll clean out any powder residue from prior shots and keep the bore nice and smooth. Saw a man load powder into an unswabbed cannon once. There was still a bit of burnin' powder in the bore. Blew his damn arm off. Like I said, swab the damn barrel."
"Next, you load the powder. You mighta seen our powder monkeys climbing the rigging up on deck, they're in charge of lugging the powder up from the magazine. They'll bring ya a parchment cartridge full o' powder. Slide it in the bore." Maruk hands you a heavy package of black powder sealed in thick parchment paper.
"Then you load the wad and ram the wad." Narry hands you a piece of canvas and a steel ramrod, watching as you stuff the heavy cloth into the barrel and tamp it down with the ramrod.
"Now we load the shot. In this case, as you may have guessed, we're using 24-pound shot. These might seem heavy, but some o' the ships I've served on before had 68-pounders. Load the shot, load another wad, ram the wad." Maruk hands you a solid iron 24-pound cannon ball with one hand. After you've loaded it, Narry hands you another wad and the ramrod.
"Now we run the gun out. Gotta really put your back into it!" Narry says with a grunt as she and Maruk push the heavy gun up against the ship's bulwark.
"Finally, we prick the powder cartridge..." and she hands you a short, very thin peice of steel and motions for you to ram it down the touch hole of the gun "...and grab the linstock..." Maruk hands you a long steel rod that has a sputtering fuse on one end "FIRE IN THE HOLE!" yells Narry as she touches the fuse to the touch hole. The cannon boom is deafening in the confined space below deck and the cannon slams backward against a thick piece of rope that keeps it from crushing you against the opposite side of deck. Through the smoke and ringing in your ears you can just barely hear Narry say "Any questions?"
"I will watch for danger from the deep." Agamemnon grunts, diving over the side of the vessel and into the sea. If possible, he will communicate with the aquatic animals he encounters using his Emissary of the Sea feature, asking them if there has been any unnatural commotion in the area, and if so to lead him to the source.
Flayr Flameseeker | Genasi/Fire | Wizard/School of Evocation | Level 2 | Custom Campaign: Cold Cash
"I mean.. i guess I am kind of my own gun... I can launch flames at anyone that tries to attack our ship" The kobold would say with a smile.
"I think I got it." Lady Susanne says as she starts swabbing out the barrel for left over residue on the cannon they just fired.
Strife, the Cpt. gives you a Stern look. "There will be absolutely NO unauthorized fires aboard my ship. Fire is the single most dangerous element aboard a ship at sea. You so much as light a lantern without my permission and you're shark bait." Cpt. Red Skies stares intensely into your eyes "Do I make myself clear?" as the wind whips her red hair into her face.
Vappa, you find a long rope ladder that hangs the length of the main mast. You begin your climb and find the rope difficult to manage. The climb is arduous and the ladder sways in the wind, secured to the mast in only a few places. By the time you reach the Crow's Nest your arm muscles are burning and sore and you're out of breath. You stand on wobbly legs next to a tall Tabaxi man. His arms are crossed as he watches you catch your breath.
"Going down is worse." Says Kelp as he spits onto the floor of the Crow's Nest. "Why you here?"