Yesterday was a whirlwind of activity. You met the old Sil-Karg and barely had time to acknowledge his pitch before you found yourself on his ship. It was like walking into a party, wine, cards and song all about, with little in the way of formality, or, truth be told, specifics. The crew seemed like a fun lot, if not necessarily suited to piracy. Drauz is a slender and erudite yellow-scaled lass, who spent most of the night drunk and singing. It's hard to tell if she's a dragonborn or an unusually urbane lizardfolk. Xial Varatto is a red elf, long-haired, androgynous, bellan and terrible at holding liqueur or a tune. Xial managed to hit on everyone on the ship that night. Kembe is plump, swarthy little albioni who kept the food coming. Dr. Galeb Cinnabar, who introduced himself as the ship's medic, is an older dwarf in a wheelchair, and the only one who wasn't drinking that night, other than the captain.
This morning was a slow, lingering realization that something is amiss. You woke up on the floor of the ship, everyone but the doctor that is, who was in his chair. You feel hung over, weather you drank or not, as does everyone else. The chill air did nothing to clear anyone's head, though the rocking of the ship certainly worsened the nausea.
Xial sat up, peeling a pair of playing cards off their face. "Are we in the air already?"
"In the air? I didn't sign up to go anywhere. I was only hired for the dinner. I'm not supposed to leave with you." Kembe stumbled to his feet, tripping over a rolling pin.
"Oh, we'll have to put back down to let you off." Drauz could just barely be heard from below a table. "... Actually, would you mind doing some eggs while you're here? Could murder some eggs..."
"I don't...This is not a hangover." The doctor seemed to be the first one putting some pieces together. "Where's the captain?"
Theena woke up with a start, mid fall, from the little perch she had called a "bed" last night; or as other folks might call it, the top of a cabinet door. Landing face first with a little 'thump!' she groaned groggily as she tried to find her bearings. First she carefully checked her wings; even though, to her chagrin (and shame), they were barely more than decoration. Coming to the conclusion that they were indeed still attached to her body, and indeed still flightless, she quickly checked the rest of herself and determined that besides a pounding headache, she was otherwise alright.
Pulling her miniaturized pack with her bow & sword from where she had stored it the night before, she walked over to the others and asked a bit hazily, "What... happened last night? I don't remember how the party ended."Which is odd, she thought to herself as she waited for their reply, because I didn't drink last night...
Dr. Cinnabar looks up at Theena. "I don't remember, and I didn't touch anything hard either." He picks up the mug he used last night from table and examines it. "That did taste a bit medicinal for anise-mint."
Druaz darts out of the mess, a slender surefooted figure stepping lightly through the detritus and into the hold. Her tail is still visible through the doorway. "Captain's not in here, and there's not much else besides."
Kembe pivots around and launches himself up the stairs onto the deck, turning red with the effort of getting short legs to heft up each step. A moment later he's calling down the stairs. "We're above the cloud line. I've no idea how far we are from town."
"Y'all need more...hush." Xial groans at the room in general, then adds, in Druaz's direction, "And how are you not hung-over girl?"
"It's more than alcohol you're feeling. I don't have the tools on me to check, but I think we were drugged." Cinnabar puts down the mug.
As she comes back into the room Druaz replies, "Hung-over? How are you not worried we've been kidnapped?"
"That's not something I can do before coffee." Xial's eyes droop as they sit, looking up at Druaz.
Kembe, now halfway down the steps, "There's no coffee. There's no food I didn't bring on the ship."
The drooping eyes are replaced with glaring ones. "And you didn't bring coffee?"
"I said I was hired for dinner."
"People have coffee after dinner."
"I don't think the coffee is our priority." Cinnabar pinched the bridge of his nose.
"You and I are very different people doc."
Strained chatter, and a quick search of the ship, confirms that the captain is not on board, and neither is any food, toiletries, medical supplies, or the basics needed to maintain and repair the ship. And the crew, such as it is, has no idea where they are.
Above the cloud line? Theena thought to herself rather excitedly in spite of the situation she found herself in. After all, she could've travelled by land to get to where she needed to go; but the allure of finally flying in an airship was too much to ignore.
Ignoring the conversation between the elf & the dragon for the time being, or at least she thought Druaz was a dragon, she moved forward towards the bottom stair and unattached a golden, foot long staff from her pack. As a very small person in world designed for creatures much larger, she quickly realized that she needed a way to get around with her wings being as they were. Her solution, inelegant as it may be, was her staff. Wedging the black-tipped edge of the staff into the nearby corner, she held on firmly to the white-tipped end before whispering a command word and waiting. After the briefest of moments, she felt a familiar "Whoosh!" as she was dragged along with her magically extending staff. Stretching about two-thirds up the stairway before reaching it's maximum length, she plopped onto the closest rung of the stairway and slowly clambered her way up to the remaining steps towards the top deck.
Arriving outdoors, she moved to the railing and took in view. We're actually above the clouds! she thought to herself in excitement as she reached her hands out in a vain attempt to touch a particularly fluffy cloud that was floating nearby.
Turning to Kembe, she said wide-eyed in amazement, "It's pretty amazing up here isn't it."
(ooc: Used the Pole of Climbing (common) Magic item).
The red elf you all know as Riordan slowly rises to sit up from his resting place on the floor, his eyes still shut, and drags his fingers through his coppery hair. He ends up pushing down hard on the top of his head, and shouts: "Shut it you testicles, my head is still pounding from last night!" After pulling himself closer to a corner for a while, to be further from all the noise long enough to be able to actually listen to what is being said, he finally opens his golden eyes. "Wait, frigging seriously? No captain, above clouds, drugged, kidnapped? What in the name of your ancestors did you do after I passed out?" he starts asking frantically.
After having a few more seconds to clear his head, Riordan gives it a good shake and continues: "Whatever, misfortunes are less sharp when shared with others. I assume most of us know at least something about how to drive this thing, we should get to that. And did anyone see where I put my stuff last night?" He starts wobbling around, looking for what belongings he had with him.
"You know," Kembe said, a note of calm entering his voice as he looks out over the fluffy white skyscape. "It really is."
Down below, turning around to look at Riordan, Druaz responds, "I don't know how to drive a ship."
"Pilot a ship... and I don't either." says Dr. Cinnabar.
"Well, you two are useless," Xial adds, "And looking at how Kembe moves I doubt he's been airborne before. I think it might just be you and I who know what we're doing here Riordan."
"What should we do now Kembe? Can we just turn around and drop you back off at [Insert whatever town we started in]?" Theena asked the chef as she scooted to the edge of the ship and dangled her feet off the side. "I know a bunch of us signed up to join the captain." she continued, "But if he's not here, then maybe we should just cancel the whole trip? I can figure out how to get to where I'm going another way. Though... I was rather looking forward to sky travel." she sighed.
"Well... I mean... it's not like I have another job. In fact I was kind of hoping this might lead to more work, but I'm not sure what to think now." Kembe seems to be having trouble resolving the serene scene with his uncertain situation.
Meanwhile, below...
"So the captain's really not here?"
Druaz responds, "Pretty sure now." before dropping herself, despondent, into a chair by the galley table.
"I would say we've been kidnapped, but who leaves the kidnapped alone like this, in an operational vehicle?" Cinnabar muses aloud.
"You guys, I think you're going about this from the wrong angle" Xial starts to brighten up. "You're all worried saying we're in trouble, and I'm thinking, free boat, right?"
"Are you not worried about where the captain went?" Druaz looks annoyed.
Xial, inclined to look on what could arguably be called the bright side, responds, "We were all drunk, maybe he fell overboard!"
The doctor shakes his head, "Then why was there something in our drinks?"
"Ok, then maybe he was up to something shady, and then he fell overboard. That's just providence. The gods work in mysterious ways..."
"Xial, like... I don't know, I don't think we own the ship or something because of that."
"No-no, that's salvage, that''s a thing. We found a derelict ship and we claimed it."
"Derelict? I don't -... we set out with the ship."
"No one is here who owns it right, so it's derelict, right?"
"Uh... doc?"
"Well... I, uh..." Cinnabar found himself without a precedent to come to mind, "...kind of a grey area as far as I know..."
"Riordan, back me up on this." Xial walks over to shout up the steps. "Halfling, pixie-girl, get down here. Let's put it to a vote. Who says we keep the ship and do what we want with it? Raise your hand."
"Yeah, I say if the captain ain't even good enough to be on the ship when it sets out, he don't deserve it," Riordan gives his quick reply to Xial's call for a vote. He's found his breastplate under a pile of other items, and is currently donning it. Surprisingly, it still looks as clean as a freshly smithed one.
(Chose Armor of Gleaming as my common item, it never gets dirty)
Theena gave the open sky a wistful look before slowly making her way back down the steps, taking little leaps from step to step. When she was caught up on the discussion, she commented, "I think we should return the ship to the captain at some point. But, since we have zero idea where he might be, we should take care of it in his stead until then." While she was neutral on whether the ship was ever returned to its "rightful owner", she thought her point would be a good compromise that would get either side of argument to work together for the time being. Plus keeping the ship for the moment had its benefits: it'd allow her to stay in the air a while longer and hopefully get her to her desired destination before her latest lead went cold.
"Are we going to get in trouble for taking the ship?" Kembe
Xial groans, "With who?"
"The salvage issue might actually be valid. But we don't actually have a charter for any kind of business." Doctor Cinnabar
The ship lists to one side for a moment, sliding errant cutlery across the floor. Several cupboards swing open, and a small wooden box falls into the Doctor's lap. Looking at it for a moment, he opens it and removes a few papers. A moment later, his brow furrowed in suspicion, he declares, "This is a Letter of Mark for privateering... made out to 'The Crew of The Hungry Sky', as opposed to who owns it or commands it... Which is not how a Letter of Mark is typically written."
Xial steps over to the Doctor, looking at the paper. "Legal though?"
Still looking suspicious he replies, "I suppose."
Kembe gives a quick glance to the rest of the group. "Wait, does no one think that was really weird timing? Like really specific timing? W-who moved the ship?"
"Oh don't get freaked." Xial shakes their head. "Wind currents. That happens all the time."
Kembe responded, "OK, but the Doc asked the question and then got, like, exactly the answer..."
"No he didn't," putting their hand over their face, Xial says, "He asked about salvage. Ya'll letting ya'selves get panicked."
Getting annoyed, Druaz says "All he did was point out it was weird, no one's panicking. And it is weird. You should think it's weird."
Xial rolls their eyes, "Ok since we couldn't even manage a proper vote, I say it's up to the only two people who actually know how to fly this ship."
Xial, Riordan, Theena and Druaz were approached to be privateers. Kembe was hired to cook for one night. Cinnabar was hired to identify, appraise and sell salvage and artifacts from 'cultural sites', but he says he suspected this was actually going to be a privateer's plunder. Of the NPCs, only Xial has actually been a privateer, though the Doctor says he was a soldier years back, and Druaz says she has martial training.
"What would you want to do with the ship if we kept it?" Theena asked Xial. "I've never flown a ship or been a pirate before. But if you're all willing to drop me off at the place I need to get to, I'm willing to do what I can to help out until then!" Standing a bit taller, which for her wasn't saying much, "I'm not very big, and I can't fly, but I pick things up really quick so I'm sure I'd be useful!" she adds rather cheerily.
"See this one's got the right attitude!" Xial beams, "It's a good time to be a privateer. We got options."
"Due North if we just want hunting. There's caribou, whale and owlbear."
"North by Northeast, they pay for goblin scalps along the coast."
"Northeast, we could go into the plains. We can raid the raiders. They're orcs, and they won't have a ship. We'd be welcomed by the folk of the Glens for that."
"East by Northeast, toward the Iron Empire, with the outlying hobgoblin settlements. Tougher than the orcs I'd reckon, but more to loot."
"Due East, to the Obsidian Mountains, where I'm from, we could raid the Chasm Dwarves of High Shale, living just beyond the boarders of Can Tinodeus. High Shale dwarves 're known to traffic in some arcane stuff. It's like them to fence stolen kit." [Theena's lead suggests the artifacts are on their way to High Shale]
"East by Southeast, North of Gallows Glen, there been some reports of strange things in the woods. Giant spiders and the like. Not sure o'the value there, bit of a shot'en the dark, but hey, who knows?"
With a History Check modifier of 2 or better, or if you are from the Gallows Glades, your character knows this about option 3:
It's rumored they have a new warchief, who's particularly keen on taking slaves, and may be amassing for a war with the Gallow Glades to the South. They might be better armed then Xial thinks, for that reason.
With a History Check modifier of 2 or better, or the Soldier background, your character knows this about option 4:
"Orc's are going to attack the Gallow Glens! That's where I'm from!" Theena exclaimed as Xial began to list off their options. Not hearing any of the other options mentioned, she continues, "If an attack is going to happen, we have to go there and help! The elves may be alright but the Pixies & Sprites wouldn't be nearly as lucky! Especially if they're surprised! We have to go there!" her tone, a mix of pleading and demanding.
"Ah. wait a second," Druaz says, "Not too be too mercenary or anything, but what's our angle on that? Like how do we stand to gain?"
"I was thinking we raid the orcs for anything salable, but I wasn't aware there was a war starting. I don't really want to mess with an armed war party." pausing think, Xial continues, "Though if they're heading south to the Glens and we raid from the north, we shouldn't have to worry about that."
Doctor Cinnabar, looking weary, "Hmm, that seems a bit opportunistic, but I suppose we'd be helping the war effort."
Being the only other PC to know how to orient a skyship, Riordan notices:
It might be a coincidence of drift, but the ship is traveling to the northeast already.
Yesterday was a whirlwind of activity. You met the old Sil-Karg and barely had time to acknowledge his pitch before you found yourself on his ship. It was like walking into a party, wine, cards and song all about, with little in the way of formality, or, truth be told, specifics. The crew seemed like a fun lot, if not necessarily suited to piracy. Drauz is a slender and erudite yellow-scaled lass, who spent most of the night drunk and singing. It's hard to tell if she's a dragonborn or an unusually urbane lizardfolk. Xial Varatto is a red elf, long-haired, androgynous, bellan and terrible at holding liqueur or a tune. Xial managed to hit on everyone on the ship that night. Kembe is plump, swarthy little albioni who kept the food coming. Dr. Galeb Cinnabar, who introduced himself as the ship's medic, is an older dwarf in a wheelchair, and the only one who wasn't drinking that night, other than the captain.
This morning was a slow, lingering realization that something is amiss. You woke up on the floor of the ship, everyone but the doctor that is, who was in his chair. You feel hung over, weather you drank or not, as does everyone else. The chill air did nothing to clear anyone's head, though the rocking of the ship certainly worsened the nausea.
Xial sat up, peeling a pair of playing cards off their face. "Are we in the air already?"
"In the air? I didn't sign up to go anywhere. I was only hired for the dinner. I'm not supposed to leave with you." Kembe stumbled to his feet, tripping over a rolling pin.
"Oh, we'll have to put back down to let you off." Drauz could just barely be heard from below a table. "... Actually, would you mind doing some eggs while you're here? Could murder some eggs..."
"I don't...This is not a hangover." The doctor seemed to be the first one putting some pieces together. "Where's the captain?"
As you wake up, how do you react?
Theena woke up with a start, mid fall, from the little perch she had called a "bed" last night; or as other folks might call it, the top of a cabinet door. Landing face first with a little 'thump!' she groaned groggily as she tried to find her bearings. First she carefully checked her wings; even though, to her chagrin (and shame), they were barely more than decoration. Coming to the conclusion that they were indeed still attached to her body, and indeed still flightless, she quickly checked the rest of herself and determined that besides a pounding headache, she was otherwise alright.
Pulling her miniaturized pack with her bow & sword from where she had stored it the night before, she walked over to the others and asked a bit hazily, "What... happened last night? I don't remember how the party ended." Which is odd, she thought to herself as she waited for their reply, because I didn't drink last night...
Zoldier’s Curse of the Crimson Throne: DM/ Redii || Zoldier's Strange Aeon's: DM
Dr. Cinnabar looks up at Theena. "I don't remember, and I didn't touch anything hard either." He picks up the mug he used last night from table and examines it. "That did taste a bit medicinal for anise-mint."
Druaz darts out of the mess, a slender surefooted figure stepping lightly through the detritus and into the hold. Her tail is still visible through the doorway. "Captain's not in here, and there's not much else besides."
Kembe pivots around and launches himself up the stairs onto the deck, turning red with the effort of getting short legs to heft up each step. A moment later he's calling down the stairs. "We're above the cloud line. I've no idea how far we are from town."
"Y'all need more...hush." Xial groans at the room in general, then adds, in Druaz's direction, "And how are you not hung-over girl?"
"It's more than alcohol you're feeling. I don't have the tools on me to check, but I think we were drugged." Cinnabar puts down the mug.
As she comes back into the room Druaz replies, "Hung-over? How are you not worried we've been kidnapped?"
"That's not something I can do before coffee." Xial's eyes droop as they sit, looking up at Druaz.
Kembe, now halfway down the steps, "There's no coffee. There's no food I didn't bring on the ship."
The drooping eyes are replaced with glaring ones. "And you didn't bring coffee?"
"I said I was hired for dinner."
"People have coffee after dinner."
"I don't think the coffee is our priority." Cinnabar pinched the bridge of his nose.
"You and I are very different people doc."
Strained chatter, and a quick search of the ship, confirms that the captain is not on board, and neither is any food, toiletries, medical supplies, or the basics needed to maintain and repair the ship. And the crew, such as it is, has no idea where they are.
Above the cloud line? Theena thought to herself rather excitedly in spite of the situation she found herself in. After all, she could've travelled by land to get to where she needed to go; but the allure of finally flying in an airship was too much to ignore.
Ignoring the conversation between the elf & the dragon for the time being, or at least she thought Druaz was a dragon, she moved forward towards the bottom stair and unattached a golden, foot long staff from her pack. As a very small person in world designed for creatures much larger, she quickly realized that she needed a way to get around with her wings being as they were. Her solution, inelegant as it may be, was her staff. Wedging the black-tipped edge of the staff into the nearby corner, she held on firmly to the white-tipped end before whispering a command word and waiting. After the briefest of moments, she felt a familiar "Whoosh!" as she was dragged along with her magically extending staff. Stretching about two-thirds up the stairway before reaching it's maximum length, she plopped onto the closest rung of the stairway and slowly clambered her way up to the remaining steps towards the top deck.
Arriving outdoors, she moved to the railing and took in view. We're actually above the clouds! she thought to herself in excitement as she reached her hands out in a vain attempt to touch a particularly fluffy cloud that was floating nearby.
Turning to Kembe, she said wide-eyed in amazement, "It's pretty amazing up here isn't it."
(ooc: Used the Pole of Climbing (common) Magic item).
Zoldier’s Curse of the Crimson Throne: DM/ Redii || Zoldier's Strange Aeon's: DM
Couldn't actually find stats for a Pole of Climbing. Does it simply extend and retract? If so that's fine.
(Sorry meant Pole of Collapsing)
Zoldier’s Curse of the Crimson Throne: DM/ Redii || Zoldier's Strange Aeon's: DM
The red elf you all know as Riordan slowly rises to sit up from his resting place on the floor, his eyes still shut, and drags his fingers through his coppery hair. He ends up pushing down hard on the top of his head, and shouts: "Shut it you testicles, my head is still pounding from last night!" After pulling himself closer to a corner for a while, to be further from all the noise long enough to be able to actually listen to what is being said, he finally opens his golden eyes. "Wait, frigging seriously? No captain, above clouds, drugged, kidnapped? What in the name of your ancestors did you do after I passed out?" he starts asking frantically.
After having a few more seconds to clear his head, Riordan gives it a good shake and continues: "Whatever, misfortunes are less sharp when shared with others. I assume most of us know at least something about how to drive this thing, we should get to that. And did anyone see where I put my stuff last night?" He starts wobbling around, looking for what belongings he had with him.
"You know," Kembe said, a note of calm entering his voice as he looks out over the fluffy white skyscape. "It really is."
Down below, turning around to look at Riordan, Druaz responds, "I don't know how to drive a ship."
"Pilot a ship... and I don't either." says Dr. Cinnabar.
"Well, you two are useless," Xial adds, "And looking at how Kembe moves I doubt he's been airborne before. I think it might just be you and I who know what we're doing here Riordan."
"What should we do now Kembe? Can we just turn around and drop you back off at [Insert whatever town we started in]?" Theena asked the chef as she scooted to the edge of the ship and dangled her feet off the side. "I know a bunch of us signed up to join the captain." she continued, "But if he's not here, then maybe we should just cancel the whole trip? I can figure out how to get to where I'm going another way. Though... I was rather looking forward to sky travel." she sighed.
Zoldier’s Curse of the Crimson Throne: DM/ Redii || Zoldier's Strange Aeon's: DM
"Well... I mean... it's not like I have another job. In fact I was kind of hoping this might lead to more work, but I'm not sure what to think now." Kembe seems to be having trouble resolving the serene scene with his uncertain situation.
Meanwhile, below...
"So the captain's really not here?"
Druaz responds, "Pretty sure now." before dropping herself, despondent, into a chair by the galley table.
"I would say we've been kidnapped, but who leaves the kidnapped alone like this, in an operational vehicle?" Cinnabar muses aloud.
"You guys, I think you're going about this from the wrong angle" Xial starts to brighten up. "You're all worried saying we're in trouble, and I'm thinking, free boat, right?"
"Are you not worried about where the captain went?" Druaz looks annoyed.
Xial, inclined to look on what could arguably be called the bright side, responds, "We were all drunk, maybe he fell overboard!"
The doctor shakes his head, "Then why was there something in our drinks?"
"Ok, then maybe he was up to something shady, and then he fell overboard. That's just providence. The gods work in mysterious ways..."
"Xial, like... I don't know, I don't think we own the ship or something because of that."
"No-no, that's salvage, that''s a thing. We found a derelict ship and we claimed it."
"Derelict? I don't -... we set out with the ship."
"No one is here who owns it right, so it's derelict, right?"
"Uh... doc?"
"Well... I, uh..." Cinnabar found himself without a precedent to come to mind, "...kind of a grey area as far as I know..."
"Riordan, back me up on this." Xial walks over to shout up the steps. "Halfling, pixie-girl, get down here. Let's put it to a vote. Who says we keep the ship and do what we want with it? Raise your hand."
"Yeah, I say if the captain ain't even good enough to be on the ship when it sets out, he don't deserve it," Riordan gives his quick reply to Xial's call for a vote. He's found his breastplate under a pile of other items, and is currently donning it. Surprisingly, it still looks as clean as a freshly smithed one.
(Chose Armor of Gleaming as my common item, it never gets dirty)
Theena gave the open sky a wistful look before slowly making her way back down the steps, taking little leaps from step to step. When she was caught up on the discussion, she commented, "I think we should return the ship to the captain at some point. But, since we have zero idea where he might be, we should take care of it in his stead until then." While she was neutral on whether the ship was ever returned to its "rightful owner", she thought her point would be a good compromise that would get either side of argument to work together for the time being. Plus keeping the ship for the moment had its benefits: it'd allow her to stay in the air a while longer and hopefully get her to her desired destination before her latest lead went cold.
Zoldier’s Curse of the Crimson Throne: DM/ Redii || Zoldier's Strange Aeon's: DM
"I'm with Theena" Druaz replies.
"Are we going to get in trouble for taking the ship?" Kembe
Xial groans, "With who?"
"The salvage issue might actually be valid. But we don't actually have a charter for any kind of business." Doctor Cinnabar
The ship lists to one side for a moment, sliding errant cutlery across the floor. Several cupboards swing open, and a small wooden box falls into the Doctor's lap. Looking at it for a moment, he opens it and removes a few papers. A moment later, his brow furrowed in suspicion, he declares, "This is a Letter of Mark for privateering... made out to 'The Crew of The Hungry Sky', as opposed to who owns it or commands it... Which is not how a Letter of Mark is typically written."
Xial steps over to the Doctor, looking at the paper. "Legal though?"
Still looking suspicious he replies, "I suppose."
Kembe gives a quick glance to the rest of the group. "Wait, does no one think that was really weird timing? Like really specific timing? W-who moved the ship?"
"Oh don't get freaked." Xial shakes their head. "Wind currents. That happens all the time."
Kembe responded, "OK, but the Doc asked the question and then got, like, exactly the answer..."
"No he didn't," putting their hand over their face, Xial says, "He asked about salvage. Ya'll letting ya'selves get panicked."
Getting annoyed, Druaz says "All he did was point out it was weird, no one's panicking. And it is weird. You should think it's weird."
Xial rolls their eyes, "Ok since we couldn't even manage a proper vote, I say it's up to the only two people who actually know how to fly this ship."
Xial once again looks to Riordan for support.
(OOC: Do we remember what the captain's pitch to the crew was as well or is that something else that we're unclear of?)
Zoldier’s Curse of the Crimson Throne: DM/ Redii || Zoldier's Strange Aeon's: DM
For expedience, let's say you asked around;
Xial, Riordan, Theena and Druaz were approached to be privateers. Kembe was hired to cook for one night. Cinnabar was hired to identify, appraise and sell salvage and artifacts from 'cultural sites', but he says he suspected this was actually going to be a privateer's plunder. Of the NPCs, only Xial has actually been a privateer, though the Doctor says he was a soldier years back, and Druaz says she has martial training.
"What would you want to do with the ship if we kept it?" Theena asked Xial. "I've never flown a ship or been a pirate before. But if you're all willing to drop me off at the place I need to get to, I'm willing to do what I can to help out until then!" Standing a bit taller, which for her wasn't saying much, "I'm not very big, and I can't fly, but I pick things up really quick so I'm sure I'd be useful!" she adds rather cheerily.
Zoldier’s Curse of the Crimson Throne: DM/ Redii || Zoldier's Strange Aeon's: DM
"See this one's got the right attitude!" Xial beams, "It's a good time to be a privateer. We got options."
With a History Check modifier of 2 or better, or if you are from the Gallows Glades, your character knows this about option 3:
It's rumored they have a new warchief, who's particularly keen on taking slaves, and may be amassing for a war with the Gallow Glades to the South. They might be better armed then Xial thinks, for that reason.
With a History Check modifier of 2 or better, or the Soldier background, your character knows this about option 4:
Their defenses are probably undergoing post-war de-armament.
With the Pirate, Criminal or Spy background, or if you are looking for information on artifacts, your character knows this about option 5:
The dwarves are known to traffic in some far-flung items, often acting as a fence for stolen property.
"Orc's are going to attack the Gallow Glens! That's where I'm from!" Theena exclaimed as Xial began to list off their options. Not hearing any of the other options mentioned, she continues, "If an attack is going to happen, we have to go there and help! The elves may be alright but the Pixies & Sprites wouldn't be nearly as lucky! Especially if they're surprised! We have to go there!" her tone, a mix of pleading and demanding.
Zoldier’s Curse of the Crimson Throne: DM/ Redii || Zoldier's Strange Aeon's: DM
"Ah. wait a second," Druaz says, "Not too be too mercenary or anything, but what's our angle on that? Like how do we stand to gain?"
"I was thinking we raid the orcs for anything salable, but I wasn't aware there was a war starting. I don't really want to mess with an armed war party." pausing think, Xial continues, "Though if they're heading south to the Glens and we raid from the north, we shouldn't have to worry about that."
Doctor Cinnabar, looking weary, "Hmm, that seems a bit opportunistic, but I suppose we'd be helping the war effort."
Being the only other PC to know how to orient a skyship, Riordan notices:
It might be a coincidence of drift, but the ship is traveling to the northeast already.
After a moment of consideration Cinnabar says, "I'm willing to go."
Druaz follows suit, nods, and Xial smiles. Seeing them, Kembe adds, "Alright, If everyone else is going along with it I guess I will."