Chapter 2b - A Sloop in the Sea

[Marullus]

Characters:

• AleBelly: Onnekas
• Samwell Turleton: Olga Snorri
• ybn1197: Hinrick
• AleBelly: Odlo
• Alethan: Thorhall
• Faanku: "Laughing" Pegg
• Samwell Turleton: Hannu Survage
• greyarea: Reuter (Formerly Sailor #1)
• greyarea: Casper (Retired/NPC)
• NPC: Sailor #2

It is the dim hours before your first dawn at sea.

The sloop pulls up alongside the oared barge, taking the fellow refugees aboard. The sloop has an old elf with bone-white hair at the helm on the aft deck, a thick fog blanketing the planking around her. A stiff-looking elf and a plump, mold-smelling halfling still cradling a small basket of groceries are also on the deck. From the barge comes two dwarves, a halfling, a massive human woman with a struggling gong-sack in one hand, and three human men - two skillful sailors who help others aboard and a farmer with a pitchfork and dead chicken.

The ocean laps around you -- clear and blue in all directions, the forested, rocky coastline visible on the horizon to your left. Kaerhavn recedes behind you. The barge is not particularly seaworthy outside the calm waters of the harbor, the sloop large enough to accommodate you all comfortably enough for now.

You all need to meet and greet each other and role-play initial reactions. I will post what you know of sea lanes and ports on Saturday; after that you can discuss your next destination.

[Marullus]

Known information about the sea lanes is posted, to help you choose your path forward, once you've merged together on the sloop and roleplayed initial dynamics. You have a skilled elven navagator and a servicable sailing ship, so can travel accordingly.

viewtopic.php?p=498426#p498426

The Near Beyond: By Sea

Kaerhavn marks the northernmost safewater port on the coast, where the mountains touch the sea. Beyond that east-west mountain range lie the frozen wastes, the withered heath of the dragons and the lands of giants. The waters are tretcherous with ice for those who attempt the waterborne way, even in the summers.

The rocky coastline provides the eastern boundary of the sea, winding north-south with pockets of coves, the mouths of streams and rivers, and wide fresh- and saltwater marshes. To the west lie the Isles of the DreadLords, pirates of both infamy and power and the domains they claim and rule as their own scattered across islands in the ocean. Beyond this string of islands lies the Far Sea, wide beyond imagining, and beyond that lies the legendary homeland of the elves. The elves, with a strong seafaring tradition, guard their seaways from other races, ensuring what is described as lands of legendary immortal tranquility. It is with surprise that Olga examines the map which slipped from Fungo's dying fingers into her own, an ancient vellum scroll written in elvish which shows the waymarkers for the elven journey to the home of the Elfking.

The safest ways, known to all navigators of the Western Sea, are those sea ways north and southward within view of the coast. It is over 200 miles south from Kaerhaven, past innumerable miles of marshlands, before reaching the port of Gnupfell a fishing port nestled behind a sheltering peninsula at the mouth of the Silver River. Another 100 miles beyond that on the Jut of Brill, at the mouth of the Dreadwood River, lies the town of Holmr. Protected now by erected sea walls and home of the recently-growing royal navy of Gutland, the next kingdom to the south, this vessels of this port try to contain the Dreadlord pirates that lie to their northwest, protecting the ships that try to navigate the lanes between. The navy is successful, at least, at keeping the southward sea lanes safer than the northward ones.

Beyond Holmr, the coastline curves southeast, until the Sea of Aegir spreading east/west and meeting the western ocean, separating the Northlands from the arid lands of Enkherun which lie on its southern shore.

sloop-7.jpg (66.94 KiB) Viewed 1534 times

You are aboard a single-masted sloop, simple but effective, manageable by the smallest crew. It has a long main deck, a flat platform surrounded by gunwales from the mid- to foredeck; fishing nets, sails, coiled ropes organized and tied down throughout. A rear aft-deck is raised 10 feet above and accessable by a pair of ladders both port and starboard, the navigator's wheel and rudder mechanisms there.

There is only a single low-ceilinged cabin, located under the aft deck. The beams of the ceiling are only about seven feet. Within are a half-dozen empty chests tied-down to prevent them sliding when the ship is in motion, ready to hold sailor's possessions. Several are empty, but three have human-sized clothing and personal items for sailors who intended to return to their berths. Six hammocks hang here, three on each side of the room. A small table and two benches are here in the middle of the room, sufficient for a handful of men weathering a storm. Along the backside of the room is a cast iron pot-belly stove, sufficient for cooking small meals and stocked with some cordwood and a bucket of coal for keeping it lit to warm the cabin as well.

There is a storage hold along the entire keel of the ship, accessable through a pair of trapdoor hatches in the mid-deck. A coal bin is at the fore of the hold, filled with crushed dark stone. Otherwise, racks along the curved walls allow crates and sacks to be stacked there for transport. The hold is fairly empty, as the ship was in port and not yet fully reloaded when it was stolen. A dozen crates in the aft portion of the hold have bits of remaining foodstuffs within, about 30 man-days of dried hardbread, beef jerky, tropical oranges and limes, and berry preserves. There are also two casks of ale, both half-full (i.e. 25 gallons remaining in each), a hogshead full of potable water.

[Samwell Turleton]

Olga Snorri

After Olga sees Hannu and hurls the rope at him she helps secure the barge for debarking it’s passengers. One by one they come on board. Hannu gleefully leads.

“Haaannnuuu...” Olga says, but it comes out in a rasp as her voice returns. “I didn’t think I would be seeing you again. You took something important from me yesterday. It didn’t work for you like you thought it would, did it?” The mist at Olga’s feet swirls against her boots.

Hannu climbs aboard saying, “Oh delightful, good to see you Olga! Look at you dressed in our enemies' clothes - not the first time and never a last time, eh?”

Some of the others overhear the exchange and sense these two have some history.

Hannu passes by and gives a little wave as he goes, “I like what you have done with your hair - any food on this ship?”

As the other passengers come aboard Olga greets them. “Welcome aboard! It looks like a few of you lot have some sailing experience”, she says as she works around the edges of the sloop. “That’s very good, very good!”

Olga sees Pegg and her wriggling bag and greets her warmly, “welcome aboard - what do you plan to do with that?”

The mist creeps greedily up Olga’s calves towards her knees.

She greets the rest of the passengers in turn.

[greyarea]

Reuter the sailor looks at Casper pityingly, but wishes the dwarf would stop sobbing and sucking his thumb.

He boards the sloop and asks, Permission to board? Wait, who's running this ship? How can I help out?

[Samwell Turleton]

Hannu Survage

Hannu explores the cabin in search of food, discovering hammocks and chests instead. “Well, well...what delicacies might you hold?” Hannu opens a chest and finds it empty. “And what about you?” He opens another empty chest. “Ah, curse our luck”, he says as he settles into a hammock, perhaps the nicest spot in the cabin if any could be considered better.

[AleBelly]

Odlo, halfling wanderer

Odlo stands from his station and stretches his arms. "Hurrah! A sailing vessel!" he cries, knowing his rowing chore is at an end. He grabs his bundle of possessions and with some effort makes it from the barge to the ship.

He's immediately unnerved by the waist-high fog, but greets the elves. He thanks Olga for allowing them to board, and takes a look at the cultist robe she's wearing. "That's how we escaped too" he says, nodding towards his bundle (wrapped in the cultist robe he wore earlier in the day).

He then makes his way over to the other halfling on the ship. "Well, met, friend" he says solemnly, extending a hand of friendship to Hinrick. "I am Odlo. You've been through a lot today too, by the looks of it" he continues, nodding towards the bodies lying on the deck. "I'm sure you're hungry. I am too" he smiles, for the first time today. "Let's get out of this fog and have something to eat."

Pointing towards Hannu with his thumb, he says "Gochelwch yr un braster. Mae'n ddyn diog iawn." loud enough for everyone to hear.
For halfling speakers:

Watch out for the fat one, he's a right loitersack.

He climbs to the upper deck and eats from his enormous hunk of beef. If Hinrick joins him, he feeds him too. -2 days' rations

Eventually Odlo will try to exchange some of his beef for the other foodstuffs. A varied diet is very important to keep spirits up! And if there's time, he will work to cook and dry his beef to preserve it longer.

[AleBelly]

Onnekas, elven wanderer

Onnekas moves stiffly about the deck, greeting the boarders in an offhand manner. "Yes, hello. Welcome, yes" all while facing the forest.

After the halfling speaks of Hannu, he turns to Olga and speaks in Elven. "Naytha silta, ettalo tiesith, ethrasva oli hyvath halle?"

Elven:

It appears you already know the fat one is good for nothing?

[greyarea]

Reuter looks at the halfling and the elf with an odd expression, not understanding a syllable.

[ybn1197]

Hinrick climbs up and sits next to Odlo. He pulls out a block of smelly cheese and breaks off a piece offering it to Odlo in return for the beef. "If that one is so concerned with food, maybe he will be kind enough to cook something up for everyone?" he says in common so Odlo, Onnekas, and Olga all have the benefit of understanding. Hinrick may understand both races' language but he doesn't know what the other three are capable of understanding.

[Samwell Turleton]

Olga Snorri

Olga is pensive and takes her time to respond. “There are many things about Hannu that are hard to explain. Underneath the strange behaviors Hannu is loyal. I didn’t always live in Kaerhavn as you may already know, Hannu and I go back to those days. He has sacrificed much.”

Olga’s tone shifts more to the positive as she addresses the halflings, “He does love food and a comfortable place to sleep - perhaps he will help in the cooking. You’ll warm up to him.”

“What kind of cheese is that?”

[ybn1197]

Olga Snorri

“What kind of cheese is that?”

Breaking off a piece and offering it to Olga, Hinrick says cheerfully "Camembert. The 'barnyard' smell is a little off-putting but I prefer garlic flavor that lies behind it."

[AleBelly]

Olga Snorri

“What kind of cheese is that?”

Breaking off a piece and offering it to Olga, Hinrick says cheerfully "Camembert. The 'barnyard' smell is a little off-putting but I prefer garlic flavor that lies behind it."

Odlo happily chews on a piece of cheese. "Oh excellent work, Hinrick. I know my cheese, and this is top notch." The others hear him laugh for the first time. "Who knew that something that smells like unwashed feet could taste so good!"

"And garlic, oh my! Why, my Greta makes the best lamb roast..." he trails off, and his voice grows fainter, cracking more and more as he continues to speak. "She made the best lamb roast. Which I'll never taste again. And...I'll never hold her hand again...oh, it's all too much. Excuse me."

Odlo gets up quietly and retreats to a vacant corner of a ship to be alone with his thoughts.

[Marullus]

We just need posts from Thorhall and Pegg. You can continue your awesome interpersonal roleplay as you establish new interrelationships.

Someone needs to start a conversation and decide where you all are going. Olga is an experienced navigator and so can sail the boat, and knows the info on this post. It is up to her to share it IC.
Thread moves forward when that decision is made.

[Faanku]

Pegg, the Enduring

Pegg makes her greetings to any that don't know her, then nods to Olga's query. "Well, I ended up nabbing one of these little buggers. I don't speak their tongue, but maybe one of you do? Perhaps we can get some information from it before we send it to the gods." She upends the shit-sack and spills its contents onto the deck; some small amount of manure, and one dazed kobold.

[Samwell Turleton]

Olga Snorri

The kobold spills to the deck from the sack - rolling a full revolution - landing nose down to the deck. The mist around Olga’s feet drifts hungrily forward as the kobold raises its head. “I see...”, Olga says kneeling a spitting distance away from it. “Do you speak?” Olga says in dwarf and common and waits...

The mist is thinning around Olga’s ankles as it begins to kiss against the edges of the kobold’s face.

“Any of you able to communicate with it?”, Olga shouts out to the crew?

“We need to hear what it knows and then we decide where we go.”

Olga provides a summary of the ports and sea routes she knows to the crew. “These are our options from here” She doesn’t share her knowledge of Fungo’s map and its elven waymarkers but she does speak to Onnekas
in their shared tongue thinking the kobold and crew wouldn’t know it, “what of the empire...eh? first Kaerhavn...what then?”

The mist envelops the kobold’s head and whispers against its skin.

[ybn1197]

Hinrick scoots down and slowly approaches Olga. "I can speak to it," he says while keeping an eye on the fog.

[Samwell Turleton]

Olga Snorri

“Make sure it doesn’t escape”, Olga looks to Pegg.

“ and see what you can find out”, Olga says to Hinrick.

[Marullus]

Have Hinrick make a check with either Personality or Strength depending on approach, DC 15. Take a raise on the die chain for the use of creepy fog and another if you give a convincing hope that he will live. If you can argue you are skilled at your approach based on his cheesemonger occupation, start at d20, otherwise d10. Roleplay and specify what questions you are asking.

[AleBelly]

Onnekas, elven wanderer

Olga Snorri

Olga provides a summary of the ports and sea routes she knows to the crew. “These are our options from here” She doesn’t share her knowledge of Fungo’s map and its elven waymarkers but she does speak to Onnekas
in their shared tongue thinking the kobold and crew wouldn’t know it, “what of the empire...eh? first Kaerhavn...what then?”

Onnekas replies to Olga in their native tongue. "Imperi ei pysathd Kaerhavn. Olemme nithnit thal aikaisemmin. Heti tavothnan on vain ku yeith tuho. Meide on sathva heti vasthan."

Elven:

The cultists will not stop at Kaerhavn. We've seen this before. Cults like this, their goal is only death and destruction. We must stand against them.But I think we should stay far away from the Dreadlords. We'd be at their mercy in no time.

Onnekas addresses the crew in a weak, wispy voice, shouting over the waves: "These cultists will spread their destruction far and wide. However reluctant we are, we must oppose them or be caught up in their jaws. Yes, we have little in the way of armor or weapons. But we do have this ship. I propose we sail to Gnupfell or Holmr, wherever we could get a better price for this ship. Then we split the proceeds and do what we can to thwart the cult's expansion."

I'll throw in an INT check to see if Onnekas can determine which town is a better bet for selling the sloop if others agree.

Onnekas knowledge check [1d20-1] = 1-1 = 0

[ybn1197]

Have Hinrick make a check with either Personality or Strength depending on approach, DC 15. Take a raise on the die chain for the use of creepy fog and another if you give a convincing hope that he will live. If you can argue you are skilled at your approach based on his cheesemonger occupation, start at d20, otherwise d10. Roleplay and specify what questions you are asking.

Hinrick approaches the kobold, one hand empty, the other with some of the remaining cheese. Stealing himself like he is going for the hardest sale in his life, he approaches the kobold like a it's a taciturn customer. "I'm sorry about how they treated you. Here, have some cheese. I would offer you more but this is all I could grab and carry with me." He hands the piece of cheese to the kobold. If it doesn't take it, he will take a bite to show there is nothing wrong with it and then place it in front of the kobold. "I hold no ill will with you. I am sure you were only doing what you were ordered to do. I'm sure you feared retribution if you didn't do as you were told. I don't blame you. It must have been horrible being forced to do things you didn't want to do. How's the cheese? Good?" Hinrick pauses a moment for the kobold to answer. "What was the point of the invasion? Did they tell you what they wanted? Where they were heading afterwards?"

Assuming use of d20 from treating him like a customer, rolling d24 for the raise in dice chain.
Questioning the Kobold: [1d24] = 4