To the left are the sandy dunes and beaches of the land they explored just recently to find the Lances.  To the right, the gray swells of the ocean in late October.  Somewhere out there, a pod of porpoises play.  Rising and falling as the waves pass beneath, the two boats sail southwards.

One thing about the ocean: it can be very difficult to hide.  Towards the south, in the afternoon, there are three other sails, and they are getting closer.  After a little while they are close enough to see by general shape that they are Scanian craft, from the north- about the same size as Vincentas's boat.  From what everyone has heard, a number of these have come to serve the Emperor's fleet, with promises of easy loot.   If they are Scanian, then they would be on their voyage home, hugging the coast as far north as possible before cutting across the Mare Germanicum to their homeland.

The people of the far north are tough, often warlike, but aside from their known seafaring skills, fairly primitive.  Although they outnumber the boats 3 to 2, they seem to maneuvering to avoid a confrontation, heading further out to sea.

 The sail so far had been a nice easy pace more for the sake of the other craft then for his crew and boat. As the lookout shouted down to the deck of other sailboats in the horizon he hurried to the railing and could see the bare tops of mainsails in the distance.

 Three sails..northern sailors he guessed headed home. If they were sailing home had they been with the emperiors fleet?, did they have prisoners from the south?. More importantly did they know where the main invasion fleet was at anchor?.

 He didnt like the idea of placing the merchant and those who would sail with him in danger but he just didnt like these scum thinking they could raid without cost.

 Moving to the other railing he signaled the other ship and yelled to them. Put on all the canvas you can, iam going to slow them down if possible, we need to know what they have been up to.

 Taking the tiller he shifted slightly to starboard to catch more wind, Run out the battle sails and arm the crew. We are going hunting.

Ongriss stays out of the way as the sailors put more canvas on the masts. As they start to close the distance, she gets ready for combat putting on her armor and getting the crossbow ready. She looks at Vincentas "Will we want to stop all of them, or do we only want to question one of them?"

 Peering thru the spray already starting to build up as the sharp prow of their boat cuts thru the waves and begins to close on the fleeing targets in the distance.

 Well, that will depend on what we find on them when we are close to see. If they dont heave to and lower their sails then we will take them if possible. Still they have a good head start and lets hope they arent running back to the main fleet.

The Scandian boats are small, and cutting into the sea, they can out race the larger of the two Breton vessels.

Vincentas's boat, on the other hand, can catch them.

There are several tactics he knows.  If he goes for a direct chase, the Scanians might scatter, allowing him to catch only one.  Or, they could huddle together, and might even turn back into him, thinking that they can take on the one faster Breton vessel, and then run from the slower.

Or Vincentas could try cutting them off.  It's harder, and it will take patience and some seamanship to get out ahead of them, but it offers a better chance that when battle is joined both Breton ships could participate.

Of course, Ongriss knows different tricks.

Ongriss peers at the fleeing ships. As a seal she can swim much faster than they can sail. There are things she can do to the ships that will affect what they can do without doing too much damage to their ships.

"Vincentas, do you want me to go cut their tillers? I could also look for the porpoises and see if I can get them to help us." She looks to Vincentas before taking any action.

 While not liking the idea of Ongriss placing herself in danger he nods to her but doesnt trust his voice to be solid. Shifting the tillar slightly he sets the ship on a chase cross course that would put them ahead of the three smaller ships but not till morning at least.

 Turning to Ongriss, If we lose contact or miss each other swim back to the halfling main port where we were married, i will get there as soon as i can.

Ongriss gives Vincentas a kiss and a smile before she gets ready to go after the ships. Taking a moment to put the magic saw on a lanyard, she gets ready for her swim. Before she jumps into the water she looks seriously at Vincentas. "If we get separated I'll be there waiting for you."

She dives into the water, changing to seal form before she impacts the cold water. Once in the water she speeds off towards the fleeing ships. As she swims along, she keeps an eye out for any orcas or other predators.

When it comes to fighting against boats, the creatures of the sea are typically divided into two categories.  First, there are those that might be extremely dangerous in their elements, but cannot do anything about a large wooden boat.  Into this category fall dolphins, sharks, eels, jellyfish, seals- even the big and ferocious leopard seals- and almost everything else.  The second category includes creatures that can actually threaten a ship, and those are terrifying, legendary monsters.  Neither category includes the subheading “Selkie with magic saw”.

The tiller on the Scanian boats is a simple wooden paddle.  It is not the only way to steer- the boat can be maneuvered with oars.  But this is slow and clumsy, and after Ongriss sabotages them, she greatly reduces their maneuverability.  This allows Vincentas's boat to get out ahead and cut them off.

The Scanians realize they are under attack, and now have one critical tactical question to answer- huddle together or take flight in different directions.  They can't turn as well, but they can still maintain full speed.  As Vincentas's boat cuts across several hundred yards in front of them, they make their fateful decision.  They scatter.  Three boats, three directions, with all the speed they can muster.  Vincentas can only get one.

 With the shouts which he could hear even from this distance and the small crowd at the stern of each ship he guess Ongriss had managed to do her disable trick, now he wished she could do the same to the oars but that would be much harder.

 Stepping back to where he could see the other Fox tail ship he signaled for him to go after the southern ship as he was going after the northern ship as they split up and oared in different directions.

 Shifting the tiller slightly he pointed the bow of his ship just off the other ships course. He knew oars were ok but only for a short time span before they were exhausted and would have to rest.

 Shouting to his crew, Prepare for action, bowmen stand ready, boarders ready the planks. Shift the sail down a turn. He didnt need all his speed now, at this time it would be manuvers of the most nimble ship.

 As he closed within hailing range he bellowed out to the other ship. Heave to and ship your oars before i shear the oars off.

Ongriss is very satisfied with the work that she did on the boats. That will certainly make it harder for them to run without really damaging the ships in case they're not such bad folk.

Her satisfaction lasts until the boats split up. She'd hoped that the humans would decide to turtle together. She goes in search of the porpoises with a purpose.

The porpoises have absolutely no interest in attacking a boat.  Even if that just means getting close and harassing.  Boats are wood, and porpoises are not, and when the two bump, it hurts much less to be the boat.  Also, Humans are known to carry the dreaded Pointy Sticks With Ropes.  Not only can they skewer you, but they can pull you in and cut you apart, or even drag you onto their boat!  They have even done this with whales.  Cetaceans of all sorts have learned to be respectfully cautious of boats.

While Ongriss is off negotiating with the ancestors of future Seaworld performers, Vincentas cuts off one boat.  One advantage to the enemy splitting up- it greatly evened up the odds.  Also, the boat he caught was the slowest, and from the looks of things, the most heavily laden.

The leader of the boat stands up, and shouts back to Vincentas: “It’s my booty, rightfully taken, but I will give you a share as a gesture of friendship before the gods!”

Vincentas knows something of the culture of the Scanians.  To them, there's not much difference between "seaman" and "pirate".  They see nothing wrong with raiding someone else's riches.  After all, what right did other people have to be so wealthy?  This offer is their way of avoiding a fight.  But it may not be because the Scanians are afraid of losing.  Ships with valuable goods on board do not attack, they run home, so clearly Vincentas is the one to gain, here.  With nothing to gain themselves by fighting, the Scanians have no reason, even if they think they could win.