"I will not adopt such coward tactics, Balthazar. In any event, we have already opened fire against them, so I doubt they will tarry with introductions once they close on our ship."

A'kos grimaces in disgust at Balthazar.

"I agree with the chevalier," he nods toward Roderychus.

From her position up in the rigging, Jaleh drew back her bow and sighted her terget, she then let the shaft fly at the opposing ship aiming at the pilot or person stearing the vessel. Unfortunately, she was just a little off and the arrow suck in the wood a few inches off the target.

Both of Sir Jean's arrows strike the same target on the middle ship, droppingt he man almost instantly. Jaleh does not have as much luck as both of her arrows miss their marks (rate of fire is 2 per round so I rolled for a second attack for her but still missed)Miroslav had slightly better luck hitting and wounding one of the men on the middle ship with his bow.

The objects thrown into the air by Armin float in the air for a second then begin to swirl around each other until they become a blur that releases a large greenish cloud. The ship on the right is forced to pass right into the green cloud and slows down immediately as the entire crew begin vomiting over the rails.

The two other Rus ships are now closing and are within 75 feet of the Dragon ship of Thorfinn. There has been no attempt at communication from them yet...they seem hell bent on catching the ship.

The shore is also getting closer and with any luck you might just reach the shore as the Rus ship closes. Luckily the shore looks to be a sandy beach that the ship can easily land on without damaging it.

"Coward tactics?" Balthazar's jaw drops open.  "Ah, I bet what you two lack are simple math skills.  There are 3 ships coming at us.  Never start a fight you can't win.  But since you already have, it is a moot point."
Balthazar takes cover and continues to scan for somebody who might be a leader.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:26, Fri 21 Aug 2009.

While everyone on the three ships looks to be armed and equipped the same there does seem to be one particular man on the middle ship that seems to be giving some sort of silent commands with his hands as the ships draw nearer.

Jean put away his bow.  "I suppose then, that you have never seen a Frank fight?"

The knight went to the back of the ship where the horses had been stationed.  He prepared his mount for combat.  When all of its gear was ready, he mounted his warhorse.

Loukas rowed prepared to grab his sword and shield when ordered to do so. As he worked he couldn't help but note the Frank attempting to mount his horse. To Miroslav, he shouts, "Do you see that? That fool is attempting to fight on horseback! He'll kill more of us than them!"

Sweet. Balthazar waits for an opportunity to put his spell to good use.

Oh, and he also says to Armin, "A powerful spell, that.  However, you've only succeeded in knocking those sailors out for but a short while, and we can't make a getaway yet anyhow.  Next time I suggest you save it for a better opportunity."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:11, Fri 21 Aug 2009.

Armin gives Balthazar a slight bow ands says "I only work to buy us some time so we do not have to face three ships at sea. I agree we will have a better chance to defend on land."

He then looks warily at the Frankish knight atop his steed. He shouts "When we hit the beach, both you and your horse will go flying, wiping out all of us in the way. Please get down and urge your mount to lie on the deck...all of you with mounts must do the same!"

He then rushes over to where his Arabian stands and coaxed the beast to lie on the deck to brace for the impact that must be coming.

A'kos grunts.  Armin's words make sense as he looks fore and notes their swift approach to the shore.  With a frown he thrusts his spear through the straps of his packs, then grabs Storm Wind's harness and gently pulls his head toward him.

"Down Storm," he whispers, "lay down on the deck, there's a mighty stallion."

Jaleh patiently waited on the other boat to close a little, and while it did she drew back and aimed for the pilot again. She fared little better than before. Neither of her shots hit, though her first one came dangerously close.

Jaleh rolled 15 then 12 using 1d20 for arrow shots at pilot.

"Little woman," shouted the Falcon, "You've worse aim than a dwarf!"

His teeth glint white in the sun up at Jaleh where she perches.

"Oh! Shut it! I near put one in his gullet!" Jaleh called back at A'kos, sticking her tongue out at him as she finished.

A'kos roars his laughter as he turns his attention to the oncoming ships.  His turn would come soon enough; he hoped to give a fair showing of himself.  Growing impatient with the wait he sets aside the spear and strings his long bow, loosing 2 arrows in quick succession.  The first he fires too hastily, and it sails into the rigging, but the second finds the mark of some unfortunate on the deck.

You rolled ((4,19)).
This message was last edited by the player at 15:17, Sun 23 Aug 2009.

"You see, Jaleh!  That is how to find a mark!" he calls with delight as he sees one of his arrows fly true.

11:18, Today: A'kos, the Falcon rolled 4 using 1d6. Damage.

The Persian grabs his scimitar from his pack and readies himself for any boarding action that might be happening soon.

Upon being alerted to the situation by Loukas, Miroslav shouts at the Frankish knight..."Take heed of the Persians words, they will save both you and your horse!" He then lets fly two arrows at the middle ship.

The ship hit by the stinking cloud is dead in the water with only the current and what little forward momentum it had propelling it.

The other two ships are both closing in however and are only about 40 feet away right now.

Jalah lets loose two arrows as do A'kos and Miroslav. A'kos manages to wound one sailor on the middle ship and Miroslav finishes the man off with his one good hit.
At first it looked as though Jaleh missed with both arrows but as it turns out she did indeed hit with one of them as one of the Rus rowers stands from his bench with an arrow protruding from his right thigh. (Last round was at med distance so her one shot was able to score...next round no penalties for range.)

The middle ship has been slowed somewhat by injury and loss of crew members, the right ship is almost stopped but the left one is very quickly gaining at 40 feet. The shore is at 50 or 60 feet.

Thorfinn shouts orders tot he crew to get rowing and it seems to work, mostly out of fear most likely. The ship begins to make a little headway towards the shore. As it stands now the ship and Rus ship on the left will reach shore at roughly the same time.

A'kos let's fly at the left ship now, and scores 2 more hits, one critical (nat 20):

12:59, Today: A'kos, the Falcon rolled 6 using 1d6.
12:59, Today: A'kos, the Falcon rolled 1 using 1d6.
12:59, Today: A'kos, the Falcon rolled 22 using 1d20+2.
12:59, Today: A'kos, the Falcon rolled 20 using 1d20+2.

OOC: Do you count Natural 20 as a critical hit?

"HA!" he shouts with joy.  "Another goes down under a withering barrage!"

Yes 20 is a critical hit.

Jean rode his horse to mid-deck.  He then instructed one of the hands, "Lower the gangplank as soon as we reach shore!"

As the meeting with the enemy draws near, Roderychus will pay attention to the strategy Thorfinn will adopt to meet the opponents, and will give any help he can on the positioning of the men.

OOC: How many more arrows can I loose before we're engaged?

[I was sort of waiting for a few more posts before moving on but here we go any way :)]

A'kos kills one of the Rus outright and wounds another on the left ship. Miroslav manages to finish off the Rus the A'kos has wounded.

Sir Jean notices that none of the crewmen seem to have paid any attention to his request for a gangplank and for the most part look to be clearing away from the area in front of the Frankish knight and his mount...as best as they can while still rowing.

Thorfinn yells for all to brace themselves and the crew that were rowing clear the area in front of the mounted knight. and hold onto their benches bracing for impact.

The ship to the left and the middle ship both slow way down to avoid beaching themselves so it looks like after a hard landing the passengers and crew of Thorfinn's ship will be able to better defend them selves on the beach.

There is time for one more missile attack but it is clear that the ship is going to hit hard and bracing yourselves is the only way to avoid injury and or death.