Shipwrecked in Saltmarsh

Katernin comes above deck, her amulet in one hand. She holds it up in the direction Molo is casting spells and after a moment day seems to break in that place.

Casting Daylight

Molo's darkvision spies nothing but angry black sea out 60 feet, although the periphery is cloaked in ribbons of sleet. He fires off a shatter at the edge of his vision (and at the edge of his spell's range), nonetheless. A deafening peel of thunder emanates from the center of his detonation, and torrents of seawater are launched into the air, just at the limits of his darkvision. A shudder runs through the ship as the shockwave strikes the vessel through the water.

With a gesture and an arcane word, Katernin lights up the sky. Squinting at the abrupt change in lighting, suddenly everyone can see nearly 120 feet out into the white sleet-filled air. But there is nothing to see - just more green-black ocean.

The captain comes racing out onto the deck.
"What is it?? What are ye' fighting? Harpies again?"
He looks around wildly in all directions, wincing at the bright light.

Kelnan makes his way to the deck, applying Mage Armor along the way. He looks into the darkness behind the ship and patrols forward.

     "Molo?" Fianna would call out to her friend as the daylight filled the night sky.  "Where are the rocks you saw?  Are you sure you saw them??"

“I’m telling you, I can hear it! The booming of the wind and waves on the rocks!” Molo keeps holding his head still to catch his eyes up to what his ears know

"Get in the bilges and PUMP!" shouts the red-faced captain, flailing his arms with outrage. "Ye' get my crew killed an' wreck my ship! You're a cursed lot - all o' ye! If I didn't owe that favor t' Aubreck I'd of left ye' all with that tentacled beast! PUMP THE HOLD an' stop lighting us up like a damned welcome beacon! You'll get us all killed yet! PUMP! BELOW! NOW! Before I shackle th' lot o' you!"

Dain will, reluctantly, head below and add his considerable strength to the bilge pumping.  He's ready to rush back on deck at a moment's notice however.

     “You and your whole crew would be dead several times over if not for us,” Fianna retorts, getting up into the face of the captain.  “You took on a job, don’t be blaming us if you weren’t up to it!  Focus on keeping the ship afloat and moving and let us focus on the unseen dangers out there since you and yours are obviously useless outside of a becalmed sea!”

intimidation 14

     Fianna’s familiar, meanwhile, would have been changed back from octopus form and back into an imp at some point during the travels…. And thus Fi’Finella would change shape from imp to raven to have the best fly speed they could, and would be launching out to try to scout as best they could…

(Nat 20!) The captain averts his eyes, grumbles a streak of inaudible curses, and retreats below, slamming the hatch behind him.

Fi'Finella launches into the bright sky, and then into the darkness outside Katernin's sphere of light. Even in raven form, they retain their keen impish darkvision. It doesn't take long to spot – land. Dead ahead. Hundreds of feet of sandy dunes and tall dead grass, with glimpses of higher ground beyond.

And breakers - probably shoals or rocks - even closer, maybe 200 hundred feet ahead and stretching north, east, and probably west as well. (Not that you have a sense of compass direction.) The wind is driving the ship rapidly right toward them.

Is that land?  As in Saltmarsh?  Or are we about to hit some sort of island?

     "Land HO!" Fianna booms out, her voice three times louder than normal thanks to Thaumaturgy - She repeats it several times until she's sure everyone has heard.

     Fianna then looks around at the others around and looks panicked.  "She we trim the sails?  Batten the hatches?  Fly our freak flag??  I don't even know!!"  Even when she's helped out about ship she never really knew what or why she was doing stuff, just repeating actions she was shown how to do.

     Fi'Finella squawks and spins and continues flying about, trying to get a sense of the surroundings, mostly heading towards land.  The imp can't help stop the boat but they can get some scouting done so, whether the tiny ship is lost or not, we'll at least know what we're getting into after that problem is solved?

A crewman goes scrambling up the rigging to get a better look. (Dangerous in these conditions, but she is clearly good at it. This ship has no crow's nest.)

While the shore and rocks are still invisible from the ship, the booming - the crashing of waves - is now louder than the roar of the wind and audible by all. You are fast approaching peril. 

The captain reappears and screams orders to the crew. The ship begins to rapidly come about, the ship lurching sickeningly to port. Dain, belowdecks, sees the floodwaters in the lower hold suddenly shift dangerously, sweeping over many of the pumpers in the chaotic tumultuous waters. Dain struggles as well - Athletics: 21 - and only barely hangs on himself.

But the heavy ship does not maneuver well; the winds continue to drive the ship northward toward land.

Fi'Finella, whose vision is limited by the storm as well as their darkvision, sees no signs of life or civilization in the immediate area.

You begin to brace yourselves for impact.

Molo screams for dear life at what would be an embarrassing pitch for anyone else

     Fianna does everything she can to hang on for dear life.  One shipwreck in her life is one too many, and she's already suffered through that!  She keeps [Misty Step[/spell] at the front of her mind - not prepared, just ready to cast at a moment's notice if need be...  To save herself or try to get to anyone else who may need saving.

     Fi'Finella heads for shore...  They wouldn't be much help rescuing anyone or such but perhaps can get ashore and scout for any further potential dangers... or help... there.

Kelnan quickly gathers his things, taking care to close the Bag of Holding tightly in case it should end up in the water, keeps his Mage Hand at the ready, and looks for anything he can do to help.

(Fianna writes:

Can the ship take the dodge action?)

No, but it can try to make a DC15 Dex saving throw (this ship has a DEX of 7):  3

The ship lurches to starboard, but it is not enough to stop it from hitting the shoals.

The collision begins with a sickening vibration, and then unfolds in slow motion.

Bludgeoning Damage (crash damage to ship:) 95 

Wood splinters, nails pop, and planks scream as it grinds into the vast, shallow, jumbled field of jagged rocks. The vessel is at nearly a 45° angle, once again wedged on slimy, barnacle-covered boulders. New holes are rent through the hull. The captain orders the sail dropped as he swears a blue streak.

The storm continues; the ship, however, is still. It is firmly wedged on unforgiving boulders in the black of night beyond Katernin's spell. There is nothing visible but waves and rocks.

There are no serious injuries to the party nor the crew, but the ship itself is in very bad shape.

Do we know how far to shore?

     Fianna would give the captain some room so as to allow him to calm down and do what need doing...  And she's probably not his happiest person right now, either.  But she'd suggest to the others that perhaps once calmed down, someone should ask the captain if we're best weathering the storm aboard ship or trying to get to shore?  Perhaps there are goods ashore that would help repair the boat?

Molo has been awake for two days now… he’s whooped. But he’ll try to get dwarves to shore. 

According to Fi'Finella's scouting, the ship is stuck perhaps five hundred feet from shore. But it is a dangerous stretch in the darkness, filled with rocks and icy surf.

The captain intends on waiting until first light to get their bearings. Then, depending on circumstances, he will likely begin to attempt ferrying the crew to shore on the skiff.

It is currently late evening. The ship's hull is in very bad condition, and tilted at an extreme angle on the rocks, but it seems to be relatively stable here. It's clear you won't be sailing anywhere anytime soon.