Salazar hears the whispering in his mind, insisting that he chain the wounded one.  "Bring him down... Alright.  I can do that."  The increasingly familiar scratching makes its way down his arm as the chain tattoos wriggle around his wrists before lashing out at the wounded guard.  "Wear your chains"

Attack: 13 Damage: 6

Salazar, who is still stationed on the forecastle, targets the wounded guard that Claire had sliced earlier.   A terrible, eldritch chain, which seems almost insubstantial flashes out across the main deck, until it whips into the guard and rips his head off.  The body slumps to the deck, life forcing oozing out.

The remaining two guards drop their cutlasses and surrender.

End of Combat
Congratulations!   Another fight completed successfully.  You've definitely stepped up a level after hitting 2nd level!

Tally
You have killed Captain Karim and Bayo the drum master.  Scraggs is unconscious by Claire on the main deck.
You killed three guards who were up to originally and one more in the last fight.   There are two conscious guards who have surrendered.   You never saw more than six guards so that might account for them all; or there might be one or two left.

The ship has fallen silent.  The wind creaks in the rigging and the silver clouds are highlighted by the moon.  Nearby an owl some recognise settles on the mast and preens itself haughtily.

What do you do now?

Nos Heliwr slides down one of the foremast stays and, lading lightly on deck, says, "We should check everything on this ship;" going to the late Captain's corpse he will search it, looking mainly for keys, but anything else of interest, like nasty, pointy sharp things (poniards, daggers, etc.; he'll ignore the scimitar, it is not really his sort of weapon), papers that might be of interest (confidential instructions, secrets he would have kept close), and so forth.

"There be his cabin that might hold things of interest, and I am wishin' t' see what's in that chest I could nae open below."

Investigation  12

As the guard exhales his dying breath, Salazar feels a jolt of energy and vigor the likes of which he has not felt in years, let alone during his captivity.  With this burst of confidence and strength, he looks over at the scene, somehow feeling an external sense of pride.  While Nos is rummaging through the Captain's stuff, Salazar looks at the two remaining guards, ethereal chain pooling at the floor then dragging behind him as he walks towards them.  "Alright you two.  Here's how this is going to work.  You're going to tell me if there are any other guards that we need to worry about.  If you lie to me, they may get a lucky strike or something on one of us, but I guarantee you that you two will not survive.  I will set you ablaze at the first sign of trouble.  Now.  Once we clear this ship, and ensure that nothing else nasty will surprise us, you work for me as long as my feet are on the ship.  After all, (at this point, he uses Disguise Self to make himself look like the newly dead Captain and grins), I am the Captain."

Intimidation: 17

Persuasion: 8

(Both rolls in case you need them)

(Salazar - roll both rolls again and pick best ; you definitely deserve Advantage for that!)

(Here's roll two of each!)  (Edit: Yeah, I'll take that first Intimidation, haha)

Intimidation: 16

Persuasion: 12

Vaclav sends Chernobog back up into the sky to see if there's anything on the land or any other ships around. 

Claire puts her glaive away with a frown.  "There's no need for even more violence," she says.  "But there's no call for robbing good people of their freedom to work as your slaves, either.  Now.  Where are the keys to free the prisoners?"  She directs this question to the two surviving guards.  "They need food, water, and most of all, their freedom, and you are going to help me provide it... right now."  

Escape

You have successfully escaped from your lives as slaves.  You've killed the captain and the drum master and captured the first mate.  There are just two guards left who are suitably intimidated to be considered to be working for you.  The rest of the crew, don't really care who they work for, as long as they get paid.  There are 19 other slaves, most of which are in a bad state of health and malnutrition.

The Ship

The ship you have commandeered is called the Orca out of Dun Laren.  It is a two-masted carrack and one of the common ships to sail the Inner Sea.  It is registered to one Captain James Karim of Selkie.

Booty

Combing the ship from top to bottom reveals the following of value:

• Scragg's dagger which is clearly of superb quality and radiates magic.
• The captain's lantern which radiates magic.
• Personal treasure of the vanquished guards and captain which equates to 23 platinum and 102 gold pieces.
• A hold full of goods, some of which are illegal, that deeper inspection reveals will be worth about 5,000 pieces of gold if sold in the right places, but would need work to sell.
• A chest with a complex lock on it.  The chest is cedar, lacquered to a rich gloss finish.  This gives it a bright and valuable look.  A detailed inspection reveals a small inscription under the side of the lid which reads, "To James.  With all my love, Anne."   It is about six feet long, two feet high and three feet deep.   The captain had keys on him which fitted this lock and enabled it to be opened.  Inside you found:
  • A broken Glaive.

Information

• In the captain's cabin [areas 16, 17, 18] you found the ship's records and cargo manifest.  Apparently the dodgy cargo is supposed to be being delivered to Baron Gilbert of the town of Grunal in Northern Ibini.
• You also found a document that showed Captain Karim had been paid handsomely for the kidnapping and permanent detaining of Vaclav.  It was not signed but when doing a Detect Magic you noted that the paper had a tiny mark on it which was only visible when viewed with this spell.  The mark looks like a small dragon.
• Those of you with knowledge of the Guild will realize that you can't just up and sail off with a Guild ship without there being some repercussions.  So, although you might be in command of this ship currently, you'll need to decide what you want to do with it.  There are many options open to you here.
• The crew tell you that you are currently anchored about a day's sail out of the fishing port of Zaneth, which is the nearest port to Grunal where the cargo was supposed to be delivered.

Other

• You're in possession of a very nasty, mean tempered sociopath called Scraggs.  No one in the crew, ex-guards or slaves likes him one little bit.
• In the captain's cabins was a cage, in which is a very underfed, unhappy but alive Longshanks.

Any questions?

"Mind if I use tha' dagger 'til we get finished wi' our li'le jaunt?" Nos Heliwr asks pointing to Scragg's dagger.  "It be the sortta thin' I truly appreciates."

Does he recall anything about the small dragon marking?   History   14

"Never seen nothing like that dragon before, lestways I don't recall anythin' at the moment."

Vaclav holds up the dagger, examining it. "Give me a minute or ten. I'm going to get us a little more information." He lays it on the deck of the ship and begins a ritual. detect magic

Vaclav is able to determine that the dagger, plus the lantern that the captain was holding for a brief time, and the small, invisible dragon sigil are all magical.

• The dagger does not radiate a school of magic.
• The lantern radiates Evocation.
• The small dragon mark radiates Illusion.

Vaclav holds up the dagger to Nos. "All I can tell is that it's magic. Strange that there's not a specific type. I'd be careful with it, just in case." 

(Any chance Vaclav knows the dragon symbol? History: 24)

Claire spends some time with the prisoners, trying to nurse the worst of them back to health.  Her lackluster skill in this department soon becomes apparent; for all of her good intentions, it's quite evident that her talent lies in causing wounds, rather than healing them.  After some time, she gives up and rejoins the others.  While the treasure holds little interest to her, its destination is much more intriguing.

"Ibini," she says with slight sigh.  She knew vaguely enough about the people there to know that the practice of magic was almost as strongly censured by most people there as in her own family.  "I can't believe we're this far away from home already."  Thinking more carefully about the ship's route, she frowns.  "As much as I hate to say this, I don't want to make enemies of the Guild.  Docking at Zaneth sounds like a fine idea; we should get back to shore and leave this ship and its more questionable wares to the crew, to do with as they will.  So long as they free these prisoners, I'd rather wash my hands of it all... besides whatever personal effects we might want to keep from these slavers."

She also looks at Scraggs.  "I also say we let the prisoners themselves decide that man's ultimate fate.  He is neither our burden nor our responsibility to deal with.  For the prisoners that wish to be freed at port rather than continue on with the crew as equals rather than slaves, however... they should receive a share of the cargo they were forced to carry.  I'd call it payment for their services rendered.  But other than that... I have no wish to commandeer this ship or pretend to be Captain Karim and his lackeys.  I just want to reach solid land again."

"I would say we take the dagger, the lantern, the Captain's money and chest when we leave. I'm taking the note." He looks around to the others. "I much prefer to get off here rather than in port. I don't know about you but I don't trust that there won't be someone there to meet us and keep us quite once they figure out what's happened here. Oh, and we should just kill Scraggs. No one will miss him anyways."

After ensuring that the guards would not pull any sneaky business and that the ship was clear of any further hostiles, Salazar says "Right, boys.  Glad we understand one another.  Now.  You don't cause me any trouble, and I won't cause you any trouble.  Fair?  Good."  He allows the chains to disappear, and he scratches at his arm as the tattoo wriggles further up his arm.  "Now.  I'm going to go poke around.  I'll be back to check on you, but honestly, you may just want to go sleep it off.  You've had a big day."  Salazar then pats the bald forehead of one of the guards, his hand coming away covered in sweat.  "Ech," Salazar says as he wipes his hand on the same guard's clothes.  

Heading down into the hold, he looks around for any items of value that can be easily carried, then hocked.  Being in the business, he has an eye for such things, especially jewels.  

Meeting up with the others, he listens to Claire and Vaclav.  "Blast, I can't believe we've gotten this far either.  I hardly know anything of these waters other than trade routes.  Though, I believe that Zaneth is a small port.  It would be easy to slip away.  Unfortunately, it is also an area of increasing Guild attention.  I am also not a fan of hopping off in the same port that they were expecting us.  My vote is that we sail away in the direction of the nearest major port, drop anchor on the coast a few miles away from it, then walk into town.  We can get a fresh start, and hopefully charter a private craft to get us somewhere more safe, outside the surveillance of the Guild.  I don't want to be caught with their ship."

At the mention of Scraggs, he says, "Look.  That man caused me much personal harm.  I'm probably going to get my pound of flesh from him, and then maybe the other newly freed slaves can decide his fate.  Besides, I have some questions for him."

"I'd like t' test this dagger on ol' Scraggs 'ere, anybody mind?" Nos Heliwr asks in a cheerful manner as he grins at Scraggs.

Intimidation   18

He thumbs the dagger, "I don' wanna be one fer lettin' this piece o' charmin' dung-gas go a' keep doin' the things he's bound t' do to any in his power."  He walks over to Scraggs and rests the blade against his throat.  "Any last words scumbag?" He growls.

Vaclav nods. "No objections from me. Though if you want him to suffer more I could light him on fire."