Korrik, the captain has enough scouts for the crows nest as well as cooks. "I'm afraid not. You be best just staying in the cabin. Thanks for the offer though. I don't get much in the way of offered help from folks we aren't employing." he grunts and continues his work on the deck.

Regarding the roll for Ash to be able to fish off the boat, I will need the persuasion check from Ash, with advantage due to Ben's help. Ben can't ask on her behalf. (no min 20's here!)

Korrik, during one of Ess's not puking moments, he'd wipe his face and say "Yeah dude.. I mean... I had an idea given how we met and all, but that is just some messed up shite my homie. Seeing your bro get wasted right in front of ya? Dude..." he kind of starts to try and give you a hug out of instinct, not remembering that he might have some puke on him as he tries to embrace you. "It'll be ok, my dude. Perhaps this will bring some type of closu... some close... some... OH GOD BRO, it's happening again!" *BAAARRFFFFFFF* 

Ben, Ess does hear your initial plans for when you arrive at the Widow. He wipes his face and says "Yeh bro. You got it. Eyes and ears will be open." he still looks bad but you get the feeling that he understands. 

Ok... Here. We. Go.

Prisoners returned + 9  /  01:30AM  /   The Wave Widow

(did you actually think you'd arrive in the daytime? haha)

If you are all sleeping at one in the morning, then you are all awoken by a dwarves yelling "THERE SHE IS!" and "SHIP AHOY, MATEY!". The dwarves start running around the deck, and while it is a touch chaotic, they seem to really know what they are doing. 

As you come up to the deck, you come in sight of the looming, shattered hulk of the Wave Widow.

Wolgar brings Soul of Winter within 500 feet of the Widow along its starboard side, close enough to make out its major external features. Its masts have been shorn off, but the upper deck appears clear of debris, as if whatever hit the ship was strong enough to carry off the masts, sails, and rigging. Its figurehead, once a majestic angel in flight, has been hacked and disfigured.

Captain Wolgar and the sailors aboard Soul of Winter express amazement that the Wave Widow is still afloat.

Wolgar also points out some important things to you all as he looks at the Widow:

- the ship has suffered heavy damage across its upper decks, consistent with the effect of a typhoon or tidal wave.

- the vessel lists noticeably to port, evidence that the Widow's ballast has shifted, though the incline doesn’t appear severe enough to make moving around on deck hazardous.

- the ship rides low in the water, implying that the bilge and possibly even the lowest deck are flooded.

- lastly, and most important, the captain makes it very clear that he suspects the ship is likely to sink during the 10 ten days it would take to tow it back to port. (would take much longer if the ship was towed, which isn't the plan anyhow)

Everyone, please also make a Nature check. (not Bimz)

The captain orders two sailors to ferry you all to the Widow in a rowboat. (will Bimz be coming?) The sailors bring ropes and grappling hooks to give you easy access to the main deck.

There are no portholes or large openings in the hull of the ship, making the main deck or quarterdeck the only way inside. 

After taking you up to the ship, the sailors in the rowboat move 200 feet away from the Widow and hold their position, waiting for you to reappear and give the word for them to come get you.

It is dark, so Ess will need a way to see. The dwarves operating the rowboat have lanterns, but he will need to be able to see once he's on the Wave Widow. The moonlight is quite bright tonight, but inside the Wave Widow will likely be dark. 

I have added the map of the Wave Widow's quarter deck and main deck to our spreadsheet, the new tab 'Wave Widow'. I'm not going to add the icon of the rowboat, and I will add all of your icons once you let me know how you will be proceeding here.

Over to you!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_VITglI4O3GnqFoCvR_pbZh-ZW11Vh1e8NAK1o9jvXA/edit#gid=1695498511

As he rolls off the top bunk and lands on the floor of the cabin, Korrik fits his helmet on his head and passes some vision granting shadows to Ess as far shakes him awake.

Nature: 19

"Ahhh. Thank you, bro." Ess says to Kay when he applies the vision granting shadows. "I feel better now, too. Man, that was rough." *BURP* 

Korrik, you have enough experience on the water to know that not all of the Wave Widow's visible damage is due to time and weather.

There is impact damage to the ship’s hull that indicates it recently came under attack from a creature. Likely a seagoing one.

Ben rubs his eyes and sits up in his bunk with a sigh.

"We can accomplish this. Stay sharp, get that box, and anything easy to grab, and get back."

Nature: 3

"It seems to have seen far better days."

((He would ritually cast detect magic on the ride over and request the rowing boat do that round of the ship as described in my prior post before moving to board.))

"She's taken a beating from something other than the weather. Look lively in case it's still in the area.", he'll say to the others, but within the Captain's  hearing.

"Oh, that is promising. I wonder what about the derelict attracted any attention?"

---

((Oh and Bimz would be along as well.))

<Bimz, can you please to a fly over of the deck to make sure nothing is hiding up top?>

((A very thorough scoping out before we climb a board. Ben will grab some of the extra rope we got from Aubreck as well.))

((Sorry for the delay! Just catching up now!))

Ash’s Persuasion for fishing (adv/help): 19 

Nature check (on seeing the boat): 11 

Ash wakes in an instant. Her eyes flash in the dark and she has a dagger in her hand before she can really process what’s going on.

She stands, and dresses, and gathers her things ready for the mission.

On seeing the boat, she agrees with Ben’s plan: circle at least once, scanning for magic; Bimz scouting above the deck; and if we’re happy with that, we board (quietly)…

((I’m guessing we board up to the centre of the side of the boat on the lower deck on the side we approached from? Unless anyone has a better idea)).

((Checks depending, ya I think that makes the most sense.

Did we have any sort of single to get them over or is it just a wave and yell deal?))

Ash, you see the captain almost agree to let you fish off the boat, but as he's about to say something, his first mate says "Arrrrrr yeeeeeee serious, capt'n??" And then the captain thinks some more and shakes his head. "No. No fishing off the boat. Not the time, Ms. Ash. Please, just relax in the cabin."

Ash and Ben don't have any other inklings as to the damage on the Widow as Korrik fills them in on the potential sea creature causing some recent damage.

Ben, the dwarf piloting the rowboat has no issues making the round of the Widow so you can use your magic to detect... magic. The ship's hull isn't think enough to block the spell, so it works nicely.

The quarter deck and main deck return nothing.

The lower deck returns a plethora of magical pings back to you. On both ends of the ship. Abjuration, conjuration evocation, oh my! You don't get the exact shapes, but the auras seem to be small which indicates to you that the objects that are omitting these pings are small. There's one that seems a bit bigger than the others.

Ben, you order Bimz to fly over the deck, and he would return to you and land on your shoulder. He telepathically says to you  quiet     clear

Ben, yes you'd just signal via yelling or waving or something like that when you're all ready for the rowboat to come get you.

So - is this the boarding plan then?   ->

'I’m guessing we board up to the centre of the side of the boat on the lower deck on the side we approached from?'

((As long as it isn't listing far enough to that side that it seems in danger of rolling over, that would make for a shorter climb.))

"Ash and I can go first, then you guys follow?"

((If he can reasonably acrobatics himself up there, if it's straight Athletics to climb, he'll let Ash go first and set a line for the others.))

((there are grappling hooks as well as ropes, so there will be no rolls needed to even set the line or to climb to the deck.))

If you WANT to climb not using the rope, it'll be an athletics check.

[grappling hook toss]

Korrik scrambles up on deck and looks around to get his bearings. This had been the last ship he'd been on before they boarded the Ghost, but it was three years and a bit of trauma ago. As the others climb aboard, he'll go stand on a particular spot and look out over the water. Clenching his staff, he turns and gives the others a wry smile. "We ready?"

((One door to the fore, one to the aft, plus the grated hatch into the hold?))

He'll head for the entrance that gives them the best path, let me know if you need a roll from me?

((Korrik knows the boat right? Well? And it was traumatic?))

Ash climbs aboard and pulls a dagger out of habit. ((All clear?))

Then she says to Korrik with genuine compassion, “You okay?…”. And assuming he is, she nods to Ben and Ess and she’s good to go.

((Where's the bigger one? What type of magic is it?))

Ben would point out areas that he spots the magic and let Kay know,

"Do you know what these areas would be?"

((Any chance of getting them marked on the map :D?))

Ben climbs abroad and looks around before waving to Bimz to land on his shoulder. He walks as lightly as possible over to Kay,

"We might need to check the entire ship, but first the box. Lead on."

((Ben, the big one is emanating from the lower middle section of the ship. All of these pings are coming from the first level down on the ship. I won't add them on the map, but I would be more than happy to explain more details about the magic pings as you get to each section, and may even add them to the map as you get closer to them, like before you open the doors as applicable... if that works? Just remind me if I don't add the magical pings to each of the descriptions I give you about each part as you get there.))

((Korrik doesn't know the ship from front to back, and the interior could've changed as it's been a long time since he's been on it, so he won't be able to provide any real help with telling you what the areas might be other than general areas of a ship, ie. galleys, various cabins, storage rooms, cargo hold, etc.))

Korrik, the grappling hook flies around a broken piece of the hull and allows all of you to climb aboard quite easily. The dwarves say good luck and row away the 200 feet and will be waiting for your signal.

You all climb the rope and board the Wave Widow on the main deck.

The Widow's upper decks slope gently down toward the ship’s port side. The forecastle and quarterdeck are empty, and short wooden stumps are all that remain of the ship’s masts. The closed double doors leading to cabins fore and aft appear intact, as does the metal grate in the deck. Through the grate set into the deck can be seen a ladder extending down to a massive amount of spider webs.

Aside from the rhythmic creak of the ship’s badly weathered timbers, all seems quiet.

Ok, before you decide what is next, everyone please roll:

- 1 intelligence check

- 1 active perception check

- 1 medicine check

I may or may not need all of these, just trying to save time. 

Ess will only roll if needed. 

Bimz can roll the perception check only. 

The map has been updated. 

** the bigger magic is Abjuration.

((Him and his brother getting stabbed before being tossed overboard? Bit of trauma, yeah.))

Korrik nods at Ash and Ben. He'd been trying to recall as much as he could about the layout of the ship on the trip down here, but with the actual boards under his feet, it's a lot more real now.

*** Correction, there are magical pings coming from what would be the bottom section of the ship. That is where the larger sized aura is coming from. Korrik would know this as the cargo hold. ***

He'd describe the general layout as much as he could, but seems it's fairly generic 'ship', to where our time aboard the Ghost is probably a pretty good indication of layout? 

"Not sure I like the look of those webs, and as rough as she is, I don't think we risk fire just yet. Unless you want to stand at the bars and yell about some spider's mothers, let's start at the fore and work our way down?"

He'll move to the fore set of doors and give them a jiggle, stepping back for Ash if they're locked. "Suppose I should pick up a kit at some point."