Seeing the boarder attack Marco, Creswick counter attacks and uses the flat side of the blade, trying to knock out the boarder and hopefully learn something about this attack when they interrogate him later.

OOC
Creswick rolled 16 using 1d20+6. Attack of oppurtunity - Boarder attacking Marco - subdual if possible. Subtract whatever penalties for using a longsword as a subdual weapon (IE Flat side of the blade)

Creswick rolled 2 using 1d8+1. Subdual damage to Boarder, assuming it is possible to use it as such. I guess it is ironic it did minimal damage on a Subdual attack :)

Creswick's attack isn't an attack of opportunity; it's just a regular attack. It's not as accurate an attack as he was hoping for, but he still manages to hit.

Although the 2 points of nonlethal damage by themselves aren't quite enough to take the boarder out, Creswick's sneak attack does another 8 points of subdual.

In addition, Creswick's flanking maneuver also serves to keep the boarder from falling back overboard.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:35, Wed 19 Mar 2014.

Rrger takes a look into the water to see if there's some kind of boat or vessel down there that the boarders might have come from.

Marco leaps back to avoid the falling body as Creswick expertly sapped the fellow in the back of the neck with the flat of his sword.  He gives the other fellow a respectful nod, and says, "Nice touch."

Flinging one of his daggers down to thunk into the deck and stand there quivering, he uses that hand to draw his double-barreled pistol.  Cooly, he draws a bead on the next nearest of these attackers.

OOC:
Free action:  drop right-hand dagger
Move action:  draw pistol
Standard action:  fire pistol at nearest boarder not engaged with an ally.
18:00, Today: Marco Fiero rolled 20 using 1d20+8. Attack roll with pistol (additional +1 if within 30').
18:00, Today: Marco Fiero rolled 6 using 2d4. Damage roll with pistol (+1 if within 30').

Danyka frowned as more and more shadowy forms started to clamber on board over the railing.  "Too many" she growled softly to no one in particular.  She didn't bother to try and reload her pistols at this moment.  Instead she leveled the one in her right hand at a grouping.  She was careful to try and not hit any of her people, but to try and encompass as many of them as possible.

She rolled her shoulders as she took aim.  "Ocrol Yraps!" the Llaelese gun mage intoned sharply, her sing-song lilt resonating within a couple of harmonic registers as Dany pulled the trigger.  Instead of a bullet emanating from the barrel, a cascade of different colors sparkled forth spreading out in the kaleidoscopic cone...

[OOC:  Too few of us, too many of them.  Let's try to even the odds a bit...

  Standard Action:  Color Spray as many of the enemy as possible (and as few allies as possible) (DC 16)
  Move Action:      Held for the moment...

I hope this works...]

In the twilight of the setting sun, already below the mountains behind them, it was hard to tell just where everyone was at first. Dany knows this as the 'fog of war'. The subsequent flash of pistols served as momentary bursts of light that gave glimpses into the scene.

Marco and Creswick had wound up in the center of he fray. Rrger and Nicollo were on the forward port side while Dany and Gorren wound up on the forward starboard side.

There were 12 boarders; three in the center were eliminated by Nicollo, Rrger and Dany, while the fourth has now been dealt with by Marco and Creswick.

That leaves four on the left and four on the right.

Rrger looks over the railing but doesn't see any boat, but he does see a dozen ropes hanging down into the water.

Marco fires at the next nearest boarder on the left, and hits, but it doesn't stop him.

Dany's Color Spray to the right drops two of them (#1 and #3), but the other two are unfazed.

It's about now that Gorren and the crew arrive. There's only five crew plus the captain. The captain and three crewmen are on the port side, while two crewman join Gorren on the starboard.

Gorren didn't have time to put on his armor, but he did grab his rifle. As soon as he has a clear shot, he stops and fires at the nearest boarder (#4).

19:12, Wed 19 Mar 2014: GM StarMaster, on behalf of Gorren Stonefist, rolled 14,14 using 1d20+4,2d8 ((10,8,6)).

He hits, just barely, and does 13 points of damage, which drops that boarder.

Satisfied that there aren't any more boarders waiting in the water, Rrger pivots on the balls of his feet and charges the next opponent. His greatsword flashes through the air and lands a solid blow.

OOC:
15:28, Today: Rrger rolled 16 using 2d6+6. Damage boarder.
15:27, Today: Rrger rolled 21 using 1d20+11. attack boarder.

Marco, nonplussed that his bullet didn't stop his most recent target, empties the other barrel at the same fellow, then drops the pistol and yanks his knife free of the deck.

Noting the pair that Danyka put down with her spell, he says casually over his shoulder to Creswick, "Might want to make sure those fine fellows don't wake up again.  One prisoner for questioning is fine.  A surplus can get messy."

He starts forward with knives in his hands, whistling a jaunty tune.

OOC:
Standard Action:  fire pistol
19:01, Today: Marco Fiero rolled 22 using 1d20+8. Attack roll with pistol (+1 if within 30').
19:02, Today: Marco Fiero rolled 7 using 2d4. Damage roll with pistol (+1 if within 30').
Free Action:  drop pistol
Move Action:  retrieve dagger
5' step towards nearest standing opponent...the guy he shot, if that guy is still on his feet.

This message was last edited by the player at 03:02, Sat 22 Mar 2014.

"In the onset of Darkness..." intones Dany solemnly, "Comes the Blessing of the True Lord of Light!"  She lets the power of Morrow fill her, causing her eyes to flare with the inner light.  She shifts her position; so, that she is more towards the center of her group of allies.  And with one pistol held high above her head, the Rhynnish gun mage pulls the trigger on the spent weapon.

The runes along length of barrel of the upraised magelocked military pistol glow with a soft whitish tinge and a burst of positive energy emanates from Danyka and her sidearm.  The pulse saturates the Llaelese brunette and her companions (and the Resolute's crew as well) around her, filling them with the warmth of Morrow - letting the Prophet's Will steady their aim and harden their resolve.

[OOC:  Blessed are the cheesemakers ... er ... nevermind...

  Move Action:      Step back to make sure that Dany is not engaged
  Standard Action:  Cast Bless

That should be a +1 to hit and +1 vs fear for all of Dany's allies - which should include the Captain and Crew!  Yay!]

OOC: It seems like I've missed one turn of action, and by all chances, Nicollo would spent it recharging his gun. May I post as if he was doing it last round and then proceed to engage someone else this round? I'll write like that, but if anyone feels like that's not appropriate, I'll edit it and just recharge the gun.

After giving his warning with both the power of his lungs and the power of his powder, Nicollo was silent. A quad-iron was a complex mechanism, and he opened it and started the process of filling it with a respect that bordered being ritualistic. It was a precision procedure, but there was more than just care in his doings.

OOC: And it come to pass that I've just rolled another natural 20... pity we're not on a fight again. One standard action later, and the quad-iron pistol is charged again.
17:50, Sat 22 Mar 2014: Nicollo Baldino rolled 20 using 1d20+15 ((5)).
17:51, Sat 22 Mar 2014: Nicollo Baldino rolled 31 using 1d20+11 ((20)).

Hadn't he hear Danyka's prayer just before felting the overwhelming feeling of purpose that came with the blessing, Nicollo would have believed that he had really performed a ritual. As the pistol come close, shooter and gun became as one and another bullet gained its freedom.

OOC:
Nicollo shoots the nearest foe to him.
17:57, Sat 22 Mar 2014: Nicollo Baldino rolled 8 using 1d20+7 ((1)).
Well, too much confidence, I guess.

And fly free it did. An uncredulous thurian could just look at his surroundings and gasp "what?"

In reply to Marco, Creswick states "While normally I would agree with you on that, I see no reason to kill them while they are unconscious."

Creswick moves over to the unconscious men, ready to stop any possible attack the other attackers may make on him.

"And while you are right about the questioning of one, a smart attacker only gives minor information to any individual. At this stage I would rather they had breath, if only to lose it later."

Creswick takes up a defensive stance around the unconscious ones, ready to knock them out again should it be required.

((Apologies for the delay again. Had some disrupted days compounded by Internet connectivity problems on Thursday and Friday.))


Toward the port side, Rrger attacks the next boarder and takes him down.

Right behind him, Nicollo gets his pistol reloaded and shoots the next boarder... and completely misses.

The Captain and crew engage the remaining three boarders on the port side.


Toward the starboard side, Gorren's rifle takes down one of the remaining boarders there.

Marco fires a second shot at the last standing boarder, the one that he already shot. It hits, and the second bullet is enough to take him down.

Even Dany's blessing isn't enough to help Nicollo's shot, though.


The battle isn't quite over, as the crew on the port side are struggling with the three remaining boarders, but once the starboard crew join them, the boarders are all taken down.


It finally registers to Marco and Nicollo what was wrong with the picture that alerted them. All the extra ropes tied around the forward railing seemed reasonably normal to them, but once the ship was under steam, they should have been laying flat against the ship. Instead, they were hanging straight down because of the weight of a body on them. It just didn't look 'normal'.

As the battle ends, Nicollo found himself staring increduly at Shouter. He couldn't accept his own thoughts, but the message was all too clear. He recalled Danyka prayer, but it was in his father voice that he heard them... and suddenly, he felt as if his other pistol, Heirloom, turned unconfortably in his holster.

Yet, he would have time enough to deal with his own demons later... right now, the questioning of the survivor remains to be done, and there's too much questions he would want answered, that concern more than his own self. So he walked next to where Marco and Creswick had tied the remaining attacker. His face was the image of disgust.

"Is everyone allright?"

"I believe so, although the three that still draw breath may have some regret towards that." Creswick says as he keeps an eye on his "charges"

"Any assistance in getting this lot secured would be appreciated. While having captives is nice and all, them not being captive, is kind of a problem."

Creswick looks at his blade and shrugs. For whatever reason he is getting out of practice with his Longsword. "After we get this sorted out, I think I may need to put in a few more hours of practice"

"Alright." Rrger grunts and nods. His somewhat gutteral response doesn't quite sound like him. He starts a pile with the gear from one of the corpses, staying close enough to hear what's going on and to be seen by the surviving boarders.

Marco tucks his smoking pistol back into his belt, and sheathes his blades after wiping them clean with a handkerchief.

Shouting for some rope, Marco helps strip off the invader's bulky diving gear and searches them roughly for any weapons, tossing any that he finds to the side.

Once all of the surviving boarders are bound hand and foot, Marco will shove one up against a bulkhead and throw a bucket of seawater in his face to awaken him.

"Rise and shine, my friend.  I believe you have a story to tell us, about why you decided to climb aboard our fine vessel."  His smile does not match his eyes, which are hard and cold...but one could not say there was no humor in it.  "Make it fast, make it good, and make it the truth."

Besides the strange diving armor-and-helm they were wearing, each had a dagger in a boot and a short sword at the waist. Most of them never got a chance to draw their weapons as it took two hands for them to climb up the ropes.


Two of them will wake up from the bucket of water; the other one will take a little longer.

The one Marco is questioning doesn't reply; he just sits there looking sullen.

Marco flips out one of his knives and presses the point into the man's cheek directly under his left eye.

"Nothing to say?  You might want to review some basic arithmetic here, my friend.  For instance, if I have three prisoners, I only need one who's willing to talk.  And while a prisoner has two eyes, he really doesn't need any to answer questions."

"Now then, let's try again.  Why were you boarding us?"  And then he starts to count down from ten.  "Ten...nine...eight..."

OOC:  For everyone's benefit...Marco is not bluffing.  If anybody doesn't want this to happen (I'm thinking Nicollo and Dany in particular), they can--and should--stop him before he finishes counting down.
07:48, Today: Marco Fiero rolled 18 using 1d20+11. Intimidate check (plus whatever bonus threatening to blind a dude is worth).

Creswick watches the interrogation quietly, but when Marco threatens to blind both of them, he taps Marco on the shoulder. "One moment Marco"

 Creswick mutters to Marco, before approaching our three woken brigands.

"Listen up, you lot are on tender hooks. And while I am quite happy to just toss you overboard after finding out what you have to say. My friend Marco here has apparently taken personal affront to your being here on board this fine vessel. If you speak quickly, you may yet leave with your life. Assuming you are able to swim well enough. If you offer us something of worth, we may even leave you on solid ground. Your choice."

As Creswick walks back over to Dany and Nicollo, he says loud enough for all to hear

"Marco, if they don't talk, they are in your hands, but if any of them give us anything, you pass them on to myself or one of the others. No offense intended for you, but I would rather make good on our offer to the prisoners, than have you get a little carried away."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:11, Thu 27 Mar 2014.

Rrger doesn't say anything but starts pulling the gear off the corpses and throwing the bodies overboard.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:09, Tue 25 Mar 2014.

Danyka frowned at Marco's threats against their captives, taking a hard swallow - as though she were fighting down the words that she wanted to say.  However, Creswick appeared to have things in hand.  At least, she hoped so - and she didn't feel as though potentially piling on would help the situation.  That frown of disapproval at the methods currently being used was all that she conceded for the moment.

So, she watched and waited.

And while, she waited, Dany reloaded her pistols.  And then she holstered her pistols with a flourish, gritted her teeth, then took a deep breath and turned to look out over the water for a moment.  Her motions were a bit stiff and her expression tightly controlled.  Only her whitening knuckles on the railing betrayed the tension or conflict that she might be feeling.

At this point, Danyka only intended to intervene when Marco's countdown got to 'one'.  She wasn't sure what she would do (especially to get them to actually talk ), but the young Llaelese woman wasn't going to let the charming, dagger-brandishing rogue carve up their captives.  At least not yet.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:14, Wed 26 Mar 2014.

Nicollo was clearly annoyed, and he did no effort to hide his anger. He wanted, as well as any of the others, to know who the attacker were, and why did they had tried to board them. But there were others, more essential things he wanted to know more.

He also knew something about threats: one should never profess something one is not intending to do... and now he found himself cornered. On one hand, he didn't want to be part of torture - killing someone who has attacked you is something, but subjecting another living being to suffering is barbaric -, and even if the Good Twin' favor has been held from him, Nicollo would not stray from his path.

On the other hand, the rogue has already called his card, and who does the gunslinger thinks he is to decide what's to be done in the matter?

He hoped Creswick's words had the desired effect, 'cause he wouldn't like to have to act. But the tension in his arm was building in anticipation, anyway.

As Marco's countdown neared its completion, Danyka turned.  She held up a hand, to have the charming rogue halt.  "I believe," the tall Rhynnish brunette spoke haltingly, "that we are perhaps going about this the wrong way!"  She gestured towards where Rrger was 'cleaning up', "We only need one of them.  The other two are just taking up space.  We can't take them with us or let them use up our precious supplies."  Dany shrugged slightly, "Perhaps they themselves should decide who is best suited to remain with us.  And who will be leaving."  Her last statement was punctuated by a splash as her large Trollkin companion tossed yet another corpse over the railing; making the choice implicitly one of life and death.

The Llaelese initiate of Morrow made a dismissive wave and noted off-hand in a volume loud enough for the captives to clearly hear, "Morrow willing, we will have a Zone of Truth for our questioning available tomorrow at sunrise..."  Hopefully, that would help to motivate the three men to come to some sort of understanding with their captors and themselves.  It pretty much was a matter of resolve and priorities.  A Zone of Truth could take much of the guesswork out of the interrogation.

It wasn't necessary to tell anyone else that she had never actually requested or prepared such a divine prayer before...

[OOC: Nor, it should it be noted, is Zone of Truth actually in any of her spell lists (Gun Mage or Adept)...

  22:44, Today: Danyka Ydrasyl rolled 26 using 1d20+12. Bluff/Cha Check:  Vs Boarders.

Here's to hoping she can get something out of them!  And, of course, once separated, it is not necessary to actually kill any of them.]

Initially, two of them were determined and stubborn, but no one had asked the one who wasn't. After all, they were 'soldiers' going into battle; death was almost expected. When it came down to it, though, the fact that their plan had gone completely awry from the beginning began to prey on their minds and slowly undermined whatever loyalty they might have had... at least for one of them.

"We was hired to stop the ship from sailing," one of them mutters.

"Shut up, Grigor! Or I'll rip your heart out myself!" the other conscious one threatens.

"No! You shut up, Drago! You don't get it! We ain't gotta worry bout no rep if wees dead!"

"This guy hired us," Grigor continues, turning back to Marco, "Wouldn't give us his name... said we could just call him Mr. Gold. Seemed to think that was a big joke. But I heard one of his... pals... call him Nefario. I think he was a Menite. We trained in them suits for a week... for all the good that did us."

Both of them appear to have a Cryxian accent, though.

"Interesting...but not nearly enough." Nicollo let go of his tension, and started playing bad cop as well. "Grigor here got it right, you shouldn't worry with more than the continuity of your lifes right now... So, either you helphim remember the facts, Drago, or you stay out of the way. If you don't, Marco here may do it for you, but you'll find it more pleasant if done willingly."

The pistoleer then began the act of reloading Shouter. "Anyway, it seems to me that if you spent so much time training with their gear, you got a little more from them than a possible name. Would you mind making a better effort in remembering them?" The tone let little doubt that it was not a polite question, but an urgent order.