Vaclav aims and draws another bolt of fire from the air, throwing it at the figure. 

Attack: 11 Damage: 6

Salazar says, "Well, I suppose we can risk landing in Ibini. It sounds like the guild presence is minimal. Perhaps I can pose as captain, we can off load some goods, and we can get outta dodge?" 

Looking out at the drenched rat that is Scraggs, Salazar offhandedly gives him a Command to "Drown," with the intention of him breathing as much water as possible in a few seconds. 

Vaclav's fire bolt strikes the struggling Scraggs (who's only recently been brought round from unconsciousness) right across the shoulders, exploding into a small ball and engulfing his head, quickly consuming his hair and beard.  You hear a terrible scream, then the doomed man lapses into unconsciousness again.  He floats for a moment, still on fire, until a large roller comes in and puts the flame out as it washes over him.   Slowly as you watch him, he slips down into the inky darkness and the only thing you see are a few bubbles coming up from the depths and a few wisps of smoke drifting in the night breeze...

"Nice shot there, magician.  You may have to teach me that one some time.  So.  Where were we?" 

(Did Salazar find any gems that could be easily carried and then sold later?)

Quote from Arcturos >>

(Did Salazar find any gems that could be easily carried and then sold later?)

 

Yes, as part of the huge 5,000 gp cargo you can find 400 gp worth of easily transportable gems, jewellery and the like.

Note that I also posted about some platinum and gold that the command crew possessed.  I'm leaving it up to you to distribute as you see fit.

 

Claire returns to the deck of the boat, having made her peace with the last of the guards there.  She looks around the deck, but doesn't see Scraggs anywhere; what does catch her eye is Ralfi, nearly hanging off of the railing as he looks out over the dark sea.  Quashing down her nervousness, she approaches him; on her lips is a question about what she'd seen, what he'd become.  Courage fails her at the last second, and what comes out is something completely different:

"What happened to Scraggs?  What is everyone doing over there?  And why are you here?"

(Meta:  Claire would most definitely have taken that glaive, unless someone else wanted it.  She'd also use Second Wind and take a short rest to recover from her injuries at some point.  9 HP.)

Claire scans the dark ocean for signs of Scragg, but the man is obviously lost to the sea.  Frowning, she looks over her shoulder at the others -- who don't seem too disturbed by the disappearance of their captive.  Looking back at the sea, her brow furrows. 

"It isn't right," she says lowly.  "It isn't right to repay the offenses you've been dealt in kind.  That's what I was always taught.  It lowers you to the level of your opponent.  There can be no moral high ground when everyone is wrestling in the same mud."  Her words seem more to convince herself than anything else, though; as much as she didn't want to kill Scraggs, there's surprisingly little sorrow at his disappearance.  It was clear that the man was incorrigible in his ways, but something about declaring their motley group as both the judge and the executioner sits heavy in the pit of her stomach.

Shaking off the feeling, she returns Ralfi's smile with a strained one of her own.  "If you were raised here, then we may have to rely on you to navigate for us once we're on the shore.  I can't speak for the others, but I hail from Manabras.  ... and I'm afraid I never was one much for the geography lessons of my tutors," she adds with a bit of embarrassment.  "I honestly have no clue about how I'm going to get back home."

Vaclav just sort of appears beside Claire. "I'm afraid my upbringing taught me some different lessons than yours knight. If the other man is trying to kill you and fails, make sure he never has a second chance. That's what I just did. If he reached shore he would have caused problems. Now he won't." 

OCC Scraggs was bound nice and tight when Nos Heliwr pitched him over the side.

"Suffering does have merit also, time spent in reflection t'is time well spent," Nos Heliwr says, adding with a sly sideways glance, "even if it be brief."

"I was never much for physical violence before, but what I was taught by running a business was more along the lines of what the magician here was taught.  When dealing with rivals, the second it becomes unfriendly you go for the kill.  Scraggs got unfriendly real fast."

One of the crew comes up to you and introduces himself.   "Hail and well met, ma'am and gents.  My name is Birgen and I'm the boatswain on the Orca.  I guess I'm now the senior member of what's left of the crew.  You had some questions of Scraggs and I'm not sure he was fully forthcoming, and I don't know that he rightly knew all there is to know about the operations on the ship.  Captain Karim disclosed more to me than I think Scraggs realized," he finishes, looking up at you.

Birgen is short and wide set with bandy legs.  He wears typical ragged black cotton trousers, with plenty of rips and tears and has nothing on his feet.  His shirt was probably once white but is now stained and torn in places.  It's half open at the front to reveal a well muscled and swarthy body beneath.  His grey hair is long and pulled into a pony tail, and you'd guess he is in his forties.  He stands comfortably on the deck, feet shoulder width apart, totally in harmony with the ship as it rocks gently in the night swell.  At his side is a typical cutlass favoured by the sailors of the Inner Sea.

You suspect he could be a critical figure in winning over the crew, if that was your plan.

(Any more questions I've not answered?   And what is your plan next?)

"What do you want to know Master Ralfi?  About how the trading worked?  About how to command a ship?  About our routes?  About who we report to?  Anything else?" Birgen looks up, apparently keen to help who he considers his new command crew - you lot.

"Well met, Birgen.  My name is Claire Beram, and while I am happy to greet you now that this unpleasantness is over, I'm a bit disappointed that you and the rest of the crew weren't interested in learning our names before we freed ourselves," she says with polite reservation.  "I'm sure that many other people, besides ourselves, also have proper names, perhaps even titles, families waiting for them, and homes which were stripped from them by their unwilling incarceration in this ship's hold.  It might be in your best interest to see if those people are interested in joining your crew, or if you can release those who of us who aren't at the next port you dock at."

She looks to the others.  "I'm sure the others have more questions than I do, but the welfare of my fellow prisoners is my chief concern," she says plainly.

Birgen has the good grace to look embarrassed.  "Understood Miss Claire.  I don't want to appear to be making excuses but when you work on a Guild ship you does what the captain orders without question.  In fact when you work on any ship that's how it should go.  I know the Orca's been involved in some dodgy dealings and maybe I ain't proud of that, but I am hard working and will make sure the crew obey whatever orders you," with this he looks around at the five of you, "have for us. Perhaps we can make amends, if that is your wish.  Can't change what the tide has already brought in, milady, but we can choose where we sail from here."

He changes his attention to Ralfi. "Well, sir.  You're now in charge.  Although it would probably help the command structure if there was one of you we could call captain," he prompts.   "But any which way, it's pretty simple from here on.  You tell us what to do and we do it.  You don't need to know how to sail a ship - that is our job.  You just instruct me where you want the Orca to go and I'll get it there."

He then goes on to talk a little about the ship's operations.  "We have about five thousand gold imperials worth of cargo in the hold.  Much of that is normal, legal cargo.  We'd sell some of it in Zaneth or Grunal and purchase what the locals have to offer.  The crew gets a share of the profits, the command crew gets most of course.  Now this is a bit of a special outting.  We have some cargo which is small, valuable and..."  he looks sideways at Claire, "... a bit questionable.  This stuff we have a particular contact in Zaneth to deliver to; a man named Varnell."

Finally he offers something about commanding the ship.  "The locals here have never met us.  They won't recognise Captain Karim, and anyway,"  he mentions with a shudder and a look at Salazar, "one of you appears to be able to use magic to make himself look like our old captain.  So you can masquerade around here as Captain Karim and the Orca all you like.  But, get back into more mainstream Guild territory and you'll soon be found out.  Captain Karim was a well known figure in the Inner Sea.  However there are options if you wanted to keep the ship but change it's name."

"Finally," says Birgen with a big in take of air and pulling himself up to his full height, "if all you wish is to divest yourselves of the troubles of being associated with a Guild ship, I can take over captaincy of the Orca.  I'll need the profits from the cargo to pay for a refit and name change, or I'll just get strung up, but I'm happy to offer you free passage to anywhere in the Empire.   Oh, sorry, the Republic - still can't get used to that.  We take you there, drop you off and we never see each other again.  That is another option open to you."

Salazar has been watching the exchange, recognizing he wasn't in the best mental state at the moment.  Thinking it best to let cooler heads dominate right now, he takes a look over the bow of the ship, enjoying the view.  There is something peaceful in the water, though also ominous.  Returning his mind back to the conversation at hand, he looks at Birgen and says, "We will need your expertise to get us somewhere safe, though we haven't quite decided where yet."  To the rest of the group,  "I am of a mind to see the goods that we are carrying sold in Zaneth, at which point we can decide where we need to go next.  Unfortunately, I think he's right, we will need to entirely replace the Orca with a new name and look.  That gives us the option to stay on the ship as well, with one of us as Captain.  We could hire crew.  Birgen, how much does a sailing crew usually get paid?"