Kat's nerves get the better of him, and he is unable to act before the adversary.

Josh rolled 5 using 1d20.  Initiative (K).

The rank water is a ripe mixture of sea water polluted with the filth of sailors who, for weeks now, have used this area as a latrine.

"How is it possible that this gets worse," Xander gags.  Yolanda merely shrugs, quite unconcerned with such small matters as feotid odours after what she'd just been through.

Only Zobart treads the middle ground of indignation between her indifference and his irritation.  "Typical sailors, too lazy to climb the ladder and use a midden.  No wonder thar beastie is upset, it got pooped on so much it took revenge!"

"Shhh .. shhhh ... shut up ... something's moving ..."


19:17, Today: Ecla rolled 8 using 1d20.  Bilgewater Beauties  XYZ  Init.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:22, Sun 10 May 2020.

This message was deleted by the player at 22:12, Thu 14 May 2020.

The indefatigable tag team of F and O perform the only logical action for these circumstances: Obtenir hoists Fouillis onto his shoulders and then charges through the bilge towards the nearest mucous-covered leathery sack.  Clutching the chisel that its mother warned it about in both hands, Fouillis divebombs the evil egg, feverishly intending to stake it right through the ovum.

They scream together, “BONZAI, BITCH!”
This message was last edited by the player at 22:22, Thu 14 May 2020.

Frozen for spell on the platform, Kat, Obtenir, and Foullis examine the eggs, four in number, from 15 feet away. They look to be leathery ovoids with hissing, sizzling membranes. These seconds also allow for identification of the cause of the churning of the bilge water: eels thrash about in the bilge, feeding on excreta and anything else tasty. One of them sinks its fangs into an amalgam of waste, ripping off a chunk. It could have just as easily been a chunk of islander flesh. As can be imagined, the smell of bilge be heavenly.

All islanders in the bilge area may post.
A complex construction of the hull’s frames and spars reduce movement within the bilge to 5".
O and F, you may revise your post if you like given this new intelligence.
Losing init didn't matter because the I figure the eels won't attack unless disturbed. Sailors must have used the platform with impunity.

As Obtenir and Fouillis prepare for their charge, Kat hurriedly says to them "Mes amis, wait!  Don't risk your own safety attacking those sacs, just get them down into the water for the eels to eat."

Towards the aft, a tube descends from the deck above and into the water.

A sudden understanding dawns somewhere in Xander's mind.  The tube ... they could suck the water out ...

"Yes, yes, wait," Xander says, trying to stop Fou and Obs from wading right into their deaths.  "The eggs are too well guarded!  See that tube?  We can use the pump upstairs to drain the water and the eels will die."

Not waiting to argue with the pair, Xander and his shadow hustle back to the main deck to man the bilge pump.

"Fine, I'll just wait here then," Zobart mutters to himself, watching the water carefully and ready to smack any eels that came probing onto the platform.

"Just tell us if it's working!" calls down a rapidly retreating voice.

Actions
XY: Since the eels aren't attacking, assume it's safe to disengage the scene without drawing OA-type reprisals and head to main deck to work the pump
Z: Remains on platform in defensive stance

Yes, that's a safe assumption.

F and O snap out of the madness that had seized them before they could act on impulse, and return at warp speed to the main deck where they assist with the far more logical Plan Tube.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:49, Fri 15 May 2020.

Endo and Neftas remain at the crow's nest, one pair of eyes gazing expectantly towards the northwest.

The rest expeditiously relocate themselves from the bilge and onto the main deck and take turns working the bilge pump in pairs.

Form an uncertain location, Olfred produces a haunting melody:

It's been a long time,
Since I've seen a su-u-u-u-u-u-unny day.
It's been a long time, Aine,
Since you wore your pillbox hat.

It's been a long time,
Since we've been a-a-a-a-a-a-board this tomb.
It's been a long time, Aine,
Since you wore your e-e-e-e-e-expensive French perfume.

One round per attempt for the bilge pump. 1 in 8 chance of success.

Ooc: Are we rolling once per round for all of us, or once per player, or once per character?  Sorry if this is a dumb question.

It takes two characters one minute to have one chance to pump an eel out of the bilge. So if O + F spend 10 minutes pumping (the bilge), they would roll 10d8, with ones counting as successes.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:49, Sat 16 May 2020.

Understood, the clock is ticking until the Skrag reforms/regenerates/re-livers!  My characters will pump for 5 minutes then take a break

Wordlessly Xander directed his foundling sister to the machine.  She wasn't too physically strong but he hoped to make up for it.  It was hard work and soon they were breathless and glad for a relief shift.

Down below, Zobart kept one foot on the ladder up and another planted firmly on the platform, squinting into the darkness and trying to figure out if anything was happening.

Five attempts for 5 minutes

Looks like one success.  Can Y burn 2 luck to turn a "3" into a "1"?  Jus' wonderin'

17:56, Today: Ecla rolled 8,4,3,1,6 using d8,d8,d8,d8,d8.  XY bilge pump for 5 min.

From down below, Zobart watches the waste water start to slush about as it is sucked through the tube and up towards the deck. Twice, he witnesses a serpentine shape get caught in this same suction and disappear into the tube.

Up above, the siblings spend an exhausting five minutes working the bilge pump. At first, only sewage spews from the end of the pump and onto the deck before properly flowing down the scupper and into the sea. Then (is it luck?) an oversized eel is launched from the mouth of the pump. It flops alarmingly, snapping its fangs and making the noises that angry eels make. But like the sewage it gives into gravity and flows into the sea. It is soon joined by a second of its kind.

Yes, you can burn luck for this check.

F and O will pump for ten minutes.  It’s a nice break from pumping each other.

17:29, Today: Quadrakill rolled 36 using 10d8 with rolls of 7,8,1,2,2,3,2,1,3,7.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:29, Tue 19 May 2020.

While the duo pumped mercilessly, Xander sent Yolanda back downstairs to see if it was working.  "Try to count how many there are," he asked her.

Zobart cringed at her approach, worried that something was wrong.  Then, they counted together and Yolanda returned so Xander could decide if there was time for another round of eel-vacuation, or if they were almost out of time and needed to wade in and tackle the eggs before it was too late.

Looks like 4 eels total gone, how many left?  15 minutes time elapsed means 15 minutes left to liver-geddon?

It is confirmed that the bilge waters lie silent save for the roiling caused by the occasional cresting of an ocean current.

Feel free to suggest the amount of time consumed traversing the ship and add that to the 15 minutes of non-stop pump action.

I would say between post#198 and now we've spent 5 to 10 minutes moving around between decks, including a mad dash back to the platform:

"That's all of the !@#$ers! Come back down!" Zobart called, initiating a mad dash back to the platform.  Smaller than the rest, Yolanda moved the fastest and she was splish-splashing in the foulness first, eager to destroy the egg-things and help end the horrors.

Xander found Zobart hesistating, and grabbed the man by the collar.  "After you," he growled and together they pushed through the interstices towards what Xander severely hoped was the end of this particular part of this living nightmare.

Actions
Y then Z then X are moving into the nest, weapons ready

Kat had stayed down in the bilge to monitor the results of the pumping (seriously, that's what he was doing, honest!).  Now that the path to the egg sacs is clear he joins the others preparing to lay waste to them.

The heartiest of the hearties descend to the depths of the Star of Nostro, now a depopulated domdaniel save for four leathery eggs. Those most eager for retribution wade through the waters of Archeron and fall upon one of the four.

With sword and crutches, you chop and whale away at the leathery membrane, heedless of the acid spray such chopping and whaling creates. What is a momentary burning of the skin when the reward is sweet retribution?

Once shredded, the egg divulges its secret: a squirming, lizard-like, larval embryo. One of you ends it, and it ceases its squirming and flexes its inchoate claws no more. Three remain.

From below the hull, the creature, for what else could it be, wails its distress and scratches at the underbelly of the Star.

Meanwhile, Endo has had quite a harrowing time in the crow's nest. While trying to stretch his hearing for any sound that he should summon the Klabautermann, he has been tormented by the sound of ethereal singing in the voice of his now long-dead companion Olfred. "I wasn't even that fond of him in life, but now he's just annoying," he mutters to himself. Finally, in desperation he descends from his perch at the sight of increased activity on the deck. Some of his companions seem to have descended into the depths with violent looks on their faces. "What should I be doing?" he inquires uncertainly. "Do we anticipate another attack soon?"

With a wave, Xander entreats the crow's nesters to join them before disappearing below decks.

Choppy-choppy goes the axe, each wailing cry from the skrag a fantastic feeling of revenge for all the eviscerations they'd suffered so far.

Realizing that the time is short, F and O rush back down to the bilge.  They hack without mercy at the remaining eggs, but only after taking the time to relieve themselves on the wretched ovums.

It takes a brave man to wiggle his willy amidst a flurry of whaling crutches and chopping axes.

It takes an even braver band of men to exterminate a clutch of eggs whilst the brood mother scratches and wails at the hull of ship -- directly beneath those same men. Such was the frenzy of extermination, that the islanders did not pay heed to the increased frenzy of that same scratching and wailing.

Wood splinters and waste water intermixes with salt. With its monstrous arms, the demon hoists itself through an opening and into the bilge itself, sundering the hull.

Meet or beat 14 to act first.
The ship is foundering. It will sink.
It's 15 feet to the ladder.
Movement is reduced to 5" in the bilge.
Endo, Neftas, and Porcelina remain on the main deck.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:52, Sun 24 May 2020.

Satisfied, Xander wipes goo from his axe with a dirty rag.

Terrified, Yolanda points at the breaking wood and begins to bolt, but sticks with her brother.

Horrified, Zobart can only stare at the skrag.  "Nice doggy," is all he can manage.

Y burns 2 luck, down to 4 ...

The girl raised by wolves can not stand it anymore, and she breaks for the platform.  Xander follows right behind, with the goggling gambler sloshing on his heels.


Init 12+2 luck = 14, whew does not beat 14.  Mommy.

Questions three:
1) Did we see lifeboats anywhere in our previous explorations?
2) Can individuals burn luck to improve INIT?
3) Diving into the water and then swimming under the ship and popping up around is at least possible, yes?
This message was last edited by the player at 22:25, Sun 24 May 2020.