((Sorry all!))

Lankus responds to Ben "Yeah... to play darts, at the Miner's Respite! It's a tavern near the mine in the village. That's where they play the darts. Guards at the tavern just love it. Alright. Sounds good. And, thank you again for your patronage. Always nice to get to know the new folk to the town."

Hanna responds to Ben with a whisper "Aye, another time... perhaps."

Korrik, there was no eavesdroppers on your conversation with Kreb. He would respond "Yeh. Korrik. You got it." and he takes the gold with a big grin. "Like I was sayin, there's something about you. Most folk that bust a smuggling ring don't really tend to frequent the Empty Net. And yet here you are. I like it. Yeh. I'll keep my ears and eyes to the ground round here. Like I always do. No worries there. Good luck with the ship although if it's the same bunch of buffoons' who were in that mansion, then you guys'll have no problems. Dumb forks."

Ess would respond to Korrik "Oh dude, are you serious? I should've figured bro... well, I guess I can't get away from the adventure. Screw it, maybe the more we can help this town out the bigger the estate council will give me! Imagine... if we expose this Gellan dick... Bro! We'd be celebrities!"

Ash, captain Eliander would respond "Hmmmm... Well Ash, you'd be our first Tabaxi on the guard roster should you want more work after this is done! Ha! All of you'd be welcome on the town guard after this. We shall discuss at the debrief meeting once the smugglers are defeated!" 

Ash, Krag would tell you that him and the captain Eliander are very close friends. He'd go on to tell you some things about him, like that he'd always put the good of the crown above local rule. He actually possesses a royal writ that allows him to seize authority over the town guard in case of an emergency. He is loath to use it, as the locals might react to his seizure of power with an open revolt. He is an honest man, and once he gives his word, he keeps it to the death. As far as the other council members, although he is kind of a town historian, Krag doesn't really know the other council members personally. So he would just talk highly of all of the 'Loyalists' including Eliander and Manistrad Copperlocks, and maybe not so highly of the 'Traditionalists' including Eda and Gellan. This is typical in Marshswamp politics. He does not know of Gellan's activities (meta). Oh, he'd say to stay away from Anders Solmor. "Kid inherited his position on council and doesn't know what he's doing."  

Ash, let's continue the thieves cant interaction in a PM! We will run that parallel to the game but in the PM to not clutter things. We can retro the game if need be if something happens during that parallel. ((Ha, I just got an image of Back to the Future when the people disappear from the polaroids when the past is changed... that's what it'd be like if Ash dies in that PM thread, she'd just disappear before Korrik and Ben's eyes! LOL. Let's make sure that doesn't happen. lol))

The dwarven mine is a bit south of the mansion (check out that 'Marshswamp Region' tab) it is kind of a mini village with gates surrounding it. So, a few hours of travel by horse. A bit more than the mansion distance. Yeah, Ben's got it.

10:00 PM on DAY 12.

After your meals is when a guard would burst into the inn. The guards have been advised that you're all staying at the Snapping Line, and one of them barrels into the inn and tells you that they've spotted the ship.

The smugglers have returned. 

So, they will perform their light flashes/sequences and of course get no response from the mansion. After an hour, they leave.

The party will then want to be at the mansion tomorrow evening, as the smugglers will be returning to the mansion to try again at that point. 

Is there anything that anyone wants to do from now (10:00 PM on DAY 12) until you get to the mansion and wait for the ship (10:00 PM on DAY 13)? 

((as always, let me know if I missed anything!))

"Let's just calm down on being the holy saviours of this place until after we've dealt with the ship Ess."

Ben is ready to go to the mansion the next day to wrap up that loose end, no particular plans for the next day.

"Fair enough. Slave trade is a convenient way for him to try to get rid of us if he decides we're too much to have around..."

"So what's our play? We running two boats? One they see can see and one I cloak?"

((Where is the moon in its cycle? Recent weather? Wondering if pass without trace would work to get one of the boats to the ship without being seen?))

((Ash is ready to go to the mansion, to await the boat))

Ash agrees, “Yes, two boats, I think. Hmmmm...... Ben and Ess (with two guards rowing) pretend to be the usual bandit crew. While Korrik and I sneak around and try and board from the other direction at the same time in the town’s boat”. She nods and smiles a wicked grin.

(LOL) "Er... ok, Bro. Ok." Ess embarrassingly responds to Ben. 

Let's assume the current moon phase in-game is the same as the one where I am located. So:

((Hmmm... less than ideal. Is there a place nearby that we could have scouted in advance to be able to launch the second boat from? It might be hard for them to miss it coming from the same opening with the 'real' one, but if we were a bit up the shore to where we could still see the ship on its approach, and or/ the house, Ash and Korrik (and one guard, for muscle?) could launch from there and arc around.))

((Oh yes I had assumed we could launch a second boat from a little way along the shore. Not too far since it’ll be dark anyway. Is that possible? We could always scout the shore during the day tomorrow? Yes maybe one guard in each boat for muscles?))

((I'm hoping, but don't think we'd confirmed a second launch site with Klein.))

Oh totally guys. The second launch site would've been planned out and that is totally fine.

Who will be in the boat from the house that essentially does the signalling back (which will all be revisited in my next post), and who will be the ones who launch from the second site a bit down the shoreline? There can be one guard in each boat. 

The council also provides the services of two members of the guard to sail the boat for them when needed. They are not willing to board the Sea Ghost with the characters, though they defend themselves and the fishing boat if it is attacked.

Ran out of time today - will kick this sucker off tomorrow. Let me know who is in each boat!

Ben, Ess and one guard are coming from the house. Kay, Ash and the other guard from launch point 2.

Ben would handle the signalling back with the lamp and the note they found in the window with the marks on it from the second floor.

I think we said that the city would provide some fake loot to load, a few barrels filled with water rather than brandy and assorted other valuable looking non-valuables? Some of this will be loaded in the boat as they head out to meet the Sea Ghost and he will put on Billard as soon as they get within sight range of the vessel saying to Ess and the guard,

"I will do the talking, you two are new help that the boss found somewhere. Ess, you and I will get aboard if we can as we load things. Guardio, you stay on this boat and help us load as you can. If things get rough back off if you need to but don't just take off."

((Korrik will also plan out some uses of darkvision and rests to have himself and Ess covered for the time of night the ship signaled the day before, and to be waffle able to pass without the second boats approach. Also make sure the boat is not bright white, rusty, etc. Oil the oarlocks, pad the oars with cloth, etc. Guards armed with crossbows/etc to pick off folks as they can?))

The guards will have shortbows and shortswords (not the spear shown on the stat block), although the council expects the characters to perform the actual task of boarding the Sea Ghost.  The guards will defend the boats if necessary and themselves, but they will not be part of an offensive.

I mean, in the moment, who knows what will happen. Hell, they might even get scared and take off! All depends on how this all goes down. 

Sorry for delay - got my COVID jab in the arm yesterday and feeling the side effects.

I'm also getting the maps together for what I hope will be an interesting epic battle on a ship! Stay tuned. 

10:00 PM on DAY 13

Ben, Ess responds "New recruits. Got it, bro." The guard is also on board with the plan and he says he won't leave. 

Ok, let's get this rolling. I've added our new battlemap to the google sheet to give an idea of the approach.

Alright... the ship comes back. Like clockwork. Almost at the exact same time as the night before. Ben, Ess and the guard1 are at the mansion, and Ben successfully uses the lantern signaling system that was figured out prior. Korrik, Ash and the other guard2 are a bit south down the shoreline near the mansion.

Ship: Long–short–short–short: “Is it safe?” 

Ben: Short–long–short–long: “Everything safe.” 

Ship: Long–long–long: “Ready to unload; come to the ship.” 

The Sea Ghost drops anchor and waits for the arrival of the boat from shore. Billard, Ess and the guard1 approach the ship in a rowboat. They have the fake loot from the city loaded in the rowboat. When it arrives, the ship sends a boat in the other direction. These two vessels alternate in transferring contraband between the ship and the shore, with one of them remaining in the shore cave at the end of the operation. This particular night, the ship does not send out a boat to return back to the mansion cave. It simply awaits the rowboat coming from the mansion at the shore.

It takes approximately 20 minutes to row to the ship. The ship is lying broadside to the coastline, the starboard side facing landward.

If Korrik and Ash approach it from this side, they are automatically seen when within 20 feet, even if they approach silently and without light.

Alternatively, if Korrik and Ash approach silently from the port side, without using light sources, they will be totally unobserved. 

Crow’s Nest
This area is not shown on the map but is — predictably — atop the mast, 40 feet above the main deck. Access to it is provided by a rope ladder whose lower end drops near the hatch on the main deck. The crow’s nest is an open, wooden platform, 10 feet square with 3-foot-high wooden walls. Opening a 2-foot-square hatch in the floor lets out the rope ladder that descends to the main deck. A single crew member occupies the crow's nest and his gaze is fixed towards the shoreline. (the guy in the middle of the map.)

Ben, you see the guy in the crow's next wave to you as you approach. One of the two guys on the ship then say "Evening gents. Woah, seems like you got a good load boys! Say... you guys don't look familiar... you guys new or what? Captain didn't tell us about any new recruits?"

(they aren't super curious that they don't recognize you since you got the signaling lantern signal correct, but you'll still have to likely make a roll depending on the response. Also, Willard has never been on the ship before - he is a relatively new recruit, and while he knows a lot of the gang, he has never been part of the boarding crew. He looks like the smugglers though so that helps.)

Ok, please let me know if the map is setup correctly based on how you wanted to approach the ship. Korrik and Ash, please give me details on exactly how you're approaching, what spells you're casting, if you have any light, etc. Remember the guards can't see in the dark. Light is dim at best. 

Ben, please let me know what you're saying when you approach and as per usual let me know if I've missed anything or any questions you might have as we get into the approach. 

Battlemap is updated!

I forgot to add this piece:

Though the light is dim at best, you can see details of the ship’s main deck. In the center, forward of the mast, a jolly boat is lashed to the deck with ropes.

Aft of the mast is a hatch to the below decks area and a rope ladder climbing to a crow’s nest above.

Two human figures lean against the rail mid-deck, staring toward the coast (the guys who talked to Ben). Between them at deck level is a roll of canvas or rope.

To fore and aft, below the upper decks, stand vague outlines of doors. You can also see ladders that lead to the upper decks, the aft one on the port side, the forward one on the starboard.

Before we launch:

"Yes, I'd been thinking we'd loop around and approach from the ocean side of the ship, under a shadowy shroud. Sorry, which one were you again, apologies, we just got introduced to you both at the same time, so I keep getting your names swapped..."

"Ah, that's right. You might not be able to see well, but you won't need to just to row, I'll tap your boot on the side you needs to turn more towards as we get close. Tapping both boots back and forth to stop?"

 ((Ben has dark vision so he can probably make out more in the dim light.))

He'll wave back to the man in the crow's nest.

When the two address him and the rest in the boat he'll say,

"Evening to ya too. Yep, mostly brandy and silks."

When he comments that they don't look familiar,

"I'm Willard, been on for a while. Neither of you been over to load up? Ya would have seen me there. Unless ya were hoping they'd send one of the hobbies out? Or maybe Ruth?"

He waggles his eyebrows at the pair,

"Anyhow these two are new, Jay and Kur. Boss brought'm on week an a few ago. Boss didn't have time to tell the captain, I guess? I don't really know, ain't my problem. Give us a hand with this stuff."

Deception (min of 17): 8

He starts unloading some of the stuff and gets onboard. Once up he comments,

"Never been out here before, kinda thought the captain and whoever'd be up here making sure spork ran smooth like the boss does."

((As Boat #2 approaches, are there any ladders up the side, port holes Korrik can shimmy through, etc? Probably not an issue for Ash, but depending on how high above the rowboat it is...))

I will get to this later today, but in the meantime:

- Ben the 17 is more than enough given the lantern communication has already passed. Sorry, I forgot about the minimum. There was really no need to roll

- Korrik (and everyone else), the name of the vessel, Sea Ghost, is painted on both sides of the prow. It has a length of nearly 90 feet, a beam of 26 feet, a draft of 8 feet, and stands 9 feet above the waterline to the top of its main deck rails and 17 feet above the waterline to the top of both its forecastle and poop deck. The hull of the ship provides many handholds for climbing but is also very slippery. Climbing the hull requires a successful STR (or DEX) check.

On a failed check, the climber falls into the water.

Boat #1 peeps require no check as there are ropes etc. 

I will leave you with that to ponder for now, and will get the actual next post out later!

((How do they get the barrels and stuff up? They use a cargo net or something?))

Ben will board and encourage Ess to follow him up then start hauling things up for now.

((OOC: sorry! D&D Beyond stopped alerting me for this game so I didn’t see it had progressed somewhat! Sorry! Happy with everything that has happened and so excited for the boat scenes!!))

((Would Ash be okay with climbing up the side of the boat, or need a roll? Let me know. She has a natural climbing speed with her claws, and also Second Storey Work trait as a Thief))

((edit... Also, if it’s only nine feet from the water to the middle of the boat, could the guard and Ash lift Korrik up most or all of the way with Ash’s rope and grapple to hook on? Or have I misunderstood the distances?))

((And could Ash almost reach from standing anyway? To pull herself up? Or maybe she only needs one good foothold and up? Or a standing jump and grab?))