Nenelethas was shocked with the blade emerged from Marcino's back. He'd expected Sorina to disarm her brother or disable him, not kill him outright, but the heat of battle can't be tamed.

He saw the chaos all around him and noticed he was the only passenger still above deck and wondered how bad he'd messed up thrusting himself in the middle of this. There was nothing he could do now, except continue to use his magic to protect himself and the captain from any would be mutineers.

OOC: Nenelethas will do his best to protect the captain and himself.

With the chaos in full on the deck of the ship, Pearl saw a chance to take out Bertrand Sardonus as he hung upside down trying to reload his crossbow.  A simple cut of the rope he was using would send him to his death.  She thought about it for a moment and then realized that the man could be the one to take a blade in his chest before her and so decided that she would spare his life.

Instead, Pearl made her way back down the rigging to the rowboat and jumped the remaining few feet down into the little boat.

In reply to Pearl McCalister (msg # 31):

Vander had gotten supplies from the hold, but did not find his bunk mate, Ridella Greenbow. Maybe she had leapt off the ship already, or maybe she was up fighting the crew. Sad as he was, he could not wait. Shaka's welfare met more to him than a friendly stranger.

Even as he slung what supplies he could nab, he and his wolf noticed someone else already in one of the rowboats. Seems like someone had come to the same conclusion he had...however he noticed they had not prepared.

"Oi! You, overtall!" He called down to Pearl, even as he and his wolf headed down to the boat. "We gots lots of food and water to share. Gonna need that wherever we ends up, yes yes?" The goblin pointed out.

Hopefully that would persuade her not to draw a weapon. The three of them would need that boat...
This message was last edited by the player at 15:45, Fri 12 Feb 2021.

Seeing that the captain won her immediate fight, Zug Zug's mind was made up for him. When the chief wins in a power struggle, its always best to be on their good side. So with that in mind, Zug Zug Bob took a quick glance around for whomever looked like they were going to step up and attack next. He made a beeline for that poor individual, running with all the speed he could muster, and came out of nowhere with a flying, roaring spear (like Goldberg) to take them out. "AAAAHHHH SPLAT!"

Oivind sees others going to life boats and shrugs. He was still enjoying watching the brawl though he's standing out of the way with his axe drawn to discourage anyone from bothering him. When he sees Zug tackle a sailor. "Yeah crush him."

It was when he noticed the captain kill the first mate that he finally entered the fray pushing his way through to take a stand near her. "The captain won. Get away from her or perish." the Ulfen has fire in his eyes now and brings his axe down on anyone who gets near him.

Well he was right.  The mutiny had, in fact, killed them all.

And he wasn't going to sit around and wait for death or worse to claim him.

He was going to fight until the bitter end.

...which in this case meant running for his gods-damned life

He sprinted for the guys in the lifeboat and began helping as best he could

"Hope you have room for one more boys."

"Drakar I know you are hurt, but we must protect the Captain!" With that, the dragon moves to protect the Captain, with Kalia pulling her morningstar out to defend herself, Drakar, and the Captain.

"You, Nenelethas, get on the opposite side of Drakar from me." She said, flatly.

"Captain, we have a pirate ship almost on us. We have to consider options now, this mutiny has made going to the eye a none option before they reach us." She said.

In reply to Vander Wargrider (msg # 32):

Even as Pearl had begun to hide in the little rowboat that little goblin and his wolf jumped down inside and began speaking to her.  There goes any hope of hiding, she thought to herself.  "I wasn't thinking much past the part that I didn't want to be on the slaughter boat.  It seems the others are hell-bent on fighting or heading into the eye and I for one ain't doing it, self preservation is my...."

Before Pearl could finish her sentence the rather good-looking Rafe came towards the boat as well.  With a sigh of resentment, Pearl says, "Sure, why not."

Vander frowns and looks into the bag of supplies. "Food and water gonna be thin spilty four ways." He grumbles as he begins to lower the boat. "Better be quick before every smarty on boat figure out they should be on this boat."

Up on deck there is a scramble as the fight finishes. The mutineers throw down their weapons or are foricebly disarmed. Vikos Cullwood rushes the captain with a knife but gets broken in half by Zug's tackle before his throat is cut by Crimson Cog.

The captain and crew have just a couple seconds to begin getting the ship back under operation when a strange figure suddenly appears in the middle of the deck. A Varisian looking woman with a crossbow in one hand and a cutlass at her hip. Then another stranger appears. Then another.

Captain (Sorina): "We're being boarded! To arms!"

The crew doesn't even  have enough time to turn around before it feels like the storm is raining pirates. Dozens upon dozens start appearing on deck. Somehow they've strung ropes between the rigging and are climbing over and down. Grappling hooks appear as if by magic all along the deck and as the two ships pull closer pirates by the dozens start leaping over the railing. A few pirates even seem to have been swimming! Dark faced Mwangi with murder in their eyes climbing up the sides. Despite the wind and their water they have no problem keeping their footing.

There is a scream and then battle commences, and the killing starts.

OOC: Oivind, Zug, Nenelethas, Kalia: you can each pick a single NPC to "protect" to ensure they survive the battle and be a potential ally/crew member in the future. Choose wisely (or randomly :D).

---

While combat erupts on the deck above, the others begin lowering their boat. Pearl, Vander, and Rafe start lowering the boat into the water. While doing so three of the other crew try to board as well: Andrea Nichols (the Ship's Steward), "Narwhale" Tate (Rigger), and Sophie Cullen (Crew) all try to enter at various points before the rowboat hits the churning rolling water.

OOC: Vander/Pearl/Rafe: You as a group get to decide if you want more people in your little boat or not. The boats can easily fit more people but at this point you probably have no idea about the intentions of capabilities of these other people. It is fine to put your trust in other PCs, but NPCs can and will break your hearts...among other things.

To Pearl, the boat was too full once the goblin and his pet wolf jumped on.  She could hear the battle go anew as shouts of boarding rang out.  Inside she only shrugged, it wasn't her boat after all.  As Andrea Nichols, the bosun's mate, tried to board, Pearl, shot her daggers and backed those daggers up with one in the hand.  "We are getting full and this be our ship now.  You disagree I can put ya right in the drink where the sharks are certain to kill ya unless ye drown first.  If ye agree then get aboard."  As long as she nods her head or agrees, Pearl will let her on.

When Narwhale tried to come aboard, Pearl played it all out again.  This time though, Pearl, wouldn't let Narwhale on. "Am I right boys?"  Pearl said over her shoulder to Vander and Rafe.

Finally, as Sophie Cullen tried to board, Pearl looked to the others to include Andrea Nichols, and waited for a response before continuing.

Rafe personally would have told each of them to go find their own boat...but since he wasn't here first, he deferred to those who were.

"We don't need to be on this long...just long enough to survive." he says philosophically as their numbers doubled.

In reply to Pearl McCalister (msg # 40):

Vander gives Pearl that overwide toothy smile only a goblin head could produce. The wolf by his side barked once, and the little green man hugs the beast. "Shaka says, aye aye Captain Pearl!" He does get his bow ready in case its needed.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:30, Tue 16 Feb 2021.

Zug Zug takes Vikos's knife on the sly during the chaos. When the strangers start arriving by witchcraft, Zug Zug blurts out in his native Orcish, "There lies but one path before us! Kill them! Kill them all!" Whomever was closest and easiest to defend, be it the Captain (because she might reward him better) or Ratline (because the old man actually liked his jokes), Zug Zug went berzerk next to. He swung his hefty chunk of wood for the fences, literally trying to bust the head clean off of any enemy stupid enough to try!

If neither option worked or a good opportunity presented itself, Zug Zug turned into Zug Zug Bob and instinctively decided Hell with it-- and charged the woman in black with the crossbow who showed up first. Why not squash her with a SPEAR!!! too?

Oivind left Zug to defend the captain.[Language unknown: "Ouwhec ac Entstaund staho tron th resth intdinast lin Iononsest oulterhis ne ta."] He yells as he charges a pirate near the apothecaries mate. He didn't see the apothecary so he figured the mate should at least be able to stitch up wounds when this was all over.

"Stick close to me ma'am. if we survive we'll need your skills." Oivind swings his axe like a mad man with sweeping attacks in front of him to keep pirates away.

ooc: protecting Sandara quin.

Nenelethas saw that the captain was protected by Zug Zug and that Sandara was being guarded by Oivind, so he kept an eye out for anyone else he could protect with his magic.

His eyes landed on the young Ship's Steward Yana. He'd had a chance to get to know her and he would hate to see such a promising young woman felled by the blades of a pirate. He shifted to her side and began producing orbs of water and rays of ice to keep the invaders at bay.

OOC: I'll protect Yana Risaid

Well screw this. I'm not getting paid to die for this ship. She thinks to herself. Without a thought for the captain of any of the rest of the crew she hustles up the rigging to  the yard on the mainmast just below the crow's nest. There she wraps a line around her forearm so that she won't fall from anything short of capsizing. There she watches the pirates landing and start taking out the crew. They were pretty systematic about it, it was almost pretty to watch if it wasn't so deadly. She directs her attention to the other ship to see who on that side seems to be in charge and if there is a way over to the other ship.

"Good job Zug, protect the Captain. Make sure she stays alive! Captain, I'm moving on to see where our crew needs help the most!" With the Captain protected by Zug she moved on, and moved to protect the Bosun Rosie Cuswell. She'd talked to the woman many times, and their desires and leaning's leaned to the same place, being a pirate. "Stick with me Rosie, you, me, and Drakar will take them down!"

Then she yelled out. "You are not welcome on this ship! I Kalis Tyrnddare, the dragon mistress of the mistresses of the winds command it!"

[OOC: If you want an Intimidate let me know, because that's whats she's doing with Drakar.

Of course, Drakar has the same skills she does, so he will intimidate them too!]

(Pearl/Vander/Rafe)

The six people in the rowboat lower themselves into the water and immediately realize their mistake. The rolling waves hit the tiny boat and slam it hard into the side of the ship. The force is enough to knock Sophie Cullen right over the side and then another wave slams the rowboat into the side of the ship crushing Sophie in the process. It takes every ounce of strength and concentration to avoid the rowboat capsizing let alone even thinking about reaching for an oar. The boat rises and falls with the waves and slams into the side of the ship a third time. This time above the sound of the wind and the roar of the waves is the sound of wooden planks cracking.

The rowboat finally escapes the side of the ship and drifts out into the waves but the damage has already been done. One side is splintered and the waves are starting to crack the boat apart. There is a mad scramble as some go for oars, some just try to hold on and others consider trying to jump back into the water to swim back to the ship. The damage rowboat drifts parallel to the waves and a giant wave crashes into the boat cracking it apart. The crew on board can only grasp about in desperation as they are dragged into the angry waters and the dark oblivion beneath the waves.

---

(Zug Zug/Kalia/Nenelethas/Oivind)

On board the ship the crew makes a valiant attempt to defend themselves but the battle is over before it even began. The crew of the Sorina's Revenge was out of position from the brief mutiny and the pirates seized the opportunity to blitz onto the ship unchallenged. For every one pirate engaged, two more drop down or climb aboard.

Kalia roars out a challenge only to watch a bolt of lightning shoot out from the other ship and blast her dragon eidolon apart. Looking back she sees a woman with a large hat to keep the rain out of her eyes holding a staff that is crackling with charged electricity.

Zug Zug clobbers a pirate. And another. As he looks around for a third he grows a bit confused as to why everything has gotten so dark and why his hands are so slippery. Probably just the storm. He spies another pirate and swings...and misses. Misses by a mile in fact. That's weird. Zug Zug rarely misses. His brain gets even more confused as he watches all the pirates around him suddenly double in size...no...he's falling over. Why is he falling over? Why is there all this red pouring out of him. Who's blood is all his hands and the deck? He tries to push himself back to his feet but everything is going cold and numb. The last thing Zug Zug sees is the glint of a cutlass swinging towards his face.

Nenelethas puts on a display of magic using water and ice to keep the pirates at bay. This works for a few seconds until the pirates back on the other ship take notice and he is hit with a half dozen crossbow bolts that take him out of the fight. He drops to his knees in time to see a large muscle-bound pirate that stands a head taller than the rest of the crew stride forward. With one giant hand he picks Nenelethas up off the ground and his other hand grabs Yana by the hair. She struggles but a quick slap from the muscle-bound freak causes her to limp and Nenelethas passes out to the sensation of being dragged across the deck.

Oivind starts swinging like mad but Sandara gently puts a hand on his shoulder, lowering his axe arm. "The fight is over. The only thing you can do now is piss them off." To make her point she pulls the cutlass off her belt and tosses it down at the nearest pirate's feet. She gestures for Oivind to do the same.

Kalia is still reeling from seeing her dragon exploded when a pirate tries to run a blade through her gut. Rosie suddenly appears, axe in hand knocking away the lethal strike. She raises her axe up to strike back but she glances around and with a sigh she tosses her axe down and puts her hands up. "We surrender. You've got us." She looks back at Kalia and gives a slow nod, indicating that it was an order to put her weapons down and surrender.

---

Up in the crow's nest Xao is able to keep out of sight. Crossing over to the other ship seems insane given the way the waves are rocking the ships back and forth. Even if she could make the jump in the wind and rain the violent waves would shake her loose and drop her either to the deck or the ocean and either one seemed a death sentence. All she could do was wait and watch as the pirates quickly surround and subdue the crew below.

The ship is still heaving up and down from the waves. The waters are so violent that the pirates weren't able to even keep their ship attached for very long for fear of the two ships slamming against one another. Many of the pirates headed back to the other ship and steered it away while the Freecaptain assessed his prisoners.

The survivors of the fight were brought up to deck and lined up as best as they were able although half of them looked to either be already dead or soon to be dead given the blood mixing with the rainwater. From the side of the railing a trio of Mwangi pirates threw a rope over which other pirates used to haul the rowboat wreckage and its survivors up out of the water.

Sandara Quinn (Apothecary): "Please! I beg you! Let me heal the dying!"

Sandara Quinn is kneeling alongside the other survivors and is frantically looking around for the man in charge but nobody seems to pay her any notice as they're too busy trying to take control of the ship and keep it from being tipped over in the storm. Finally she stands up and holds aloft a carved wooden symbol of Besmara and a pulse of healing energy bursts out of her. A groan of relief passes through both the pirates and the captured crew. The nearly dead have their wounds scabbed over and their eyes flicker over. The nearly drowned start coughing up lungs full of water. She looks around with relief but her celebration is cut short as a pirate clips her with his cutlass hilt hard from behind, knocking her to the ground.

"AND WHO GAVE YOU PERMISSION TO DO THAT?"

A bald pirate holding a cutlass with an ornate skull hilt basket strides over her and kicks her again.



"You do anything like that again and I'll run you through. Now get back in line."

He kicks her again and again as she crawls back into position among the other captives. The pirate crew gets the ship under control and both ships start sailing away from Eye of Abendego. Even with their ships pointed away from it, it seems as if the Eye is trying to suck the pair back in as the storm just seems to be getting bigger and closer despite sailing away at full wind.

The captured crew are lined up with a dozen pirates with loaded crossbows standing over them. The pirates look mean and seem to be just itching for someone to do something stupid so they can pepper them with bolts.

OOC: Pausing here while I prepare a list of the living and the dead. All the PCs are alive in one way or another. Everyone (except for Xao) is kneeling or lying down in the middle of the deck. The captain did survive. Everyone else has a 50% chance of surviving so I'll be doing that for a little bit. Feel free to sneak a post in but we're still in "cutscene" territory.

About 30 survivors are corralled while the pirates dump the dead overboard. A quick glance would estimate maybe a half dozen pirates lay dead while a good half of the ship's crew was killed. Except for the captain the only other officer to survive was the Bosun (Rosie Cusswell) and a couple of ship's mates and stewards. The bulk of the survivors were made up of the crew and a few passengers that were able to offer up enough gold quickly enough to avoid being killed or tossed overboard.

The pirates would normally be cheering and celebrating their prize but panic is spreading. The Eye of Abendego is getting closer and closer.

One of the pirates guarding the prisoners lowers her crossbow in horror. "The Eye...it's chasing us!"

The pirate crew is racing around frantically trying to coax as much speed out of the ship was possible. Out across the waters the two farther pirate ships appear to be gone, either swallowed by the storm or having long since fled. The main pirate ship, the one that had just cut ties, was a few hundred yards behind the Sorina's Revenge but it was already being ravaged by the storm. Sails were ripping loose and flapping, riggers were being plucked from the ropes by the winds and sent sailing out of sight. Some of the crew looked to be trying to dump anything heavy overboard to get more speed but it was all for naught. The Eye had it in its grasp. The rear half of the ship started to lift up and out of the water and there was a brief flash of magical light on the ship before it was ripped apart by the storm. As the ship is torn apart a crack of lightning briefly illuminates what looks to be the figure of a person flying in the winds, motionless and unaffected by the storm but then lightning fades and the figure is lost in the darkness.

A flash of light appeared on the deck of the Sorina's Revenge as five pirates materialize out of thin air. One of them, the woman with the large brimmed hat, was holding what appeared to be a crumbling piece of parchment. Immediately the largest of the five, a tall, heavily scarred and heavily muscled man with an eyepatch began bellowing orders.



"Peppery, magic the sails. Plugg, take the wheel. Grok, secure the prisoners down below. Riaris, start dumping the cannons if they have them. The bloody storm will do us in like it did the Wormwood!"

Pirates leap to attention and a large half-orc woman takes charge of the guards and the prisoners are all herded below deck. The captured crew can only wait in darkness below deck, listening to the howling winds and the roaring waves. The ship continues to rock up and down which forms the only real measure of tracking time in the gloom. Hours passed by but slowly the ship started to rock up and down less, slowly the howling winds die down from a roar to just a fierce wind. The hatch is thrown open and sunlight, actual sunlight, pours down. It is still windy and in any other sense of the word the ship was still in rough waters, but it seemed finally the danger of the Eye of Abendego had passed.

"Alright Grok, bring them up. Time to deal with prisoners."

The large one-eyed pirate, presumably the Freecaptain in charge, is leaning heavily against the railing. As the prisoners are brought up they see the destruction the close encounter with the Eye had wrought upon the ship. The rigging is in tatters. Half the sails are missing and the other half are ripped apart. There are a lot fewer pirates than were originally on board the ship and the ones still here are battered, bruised, and bloody.

"Which one of them is the healer?"

The bald pirate with the fancy cutlass shoves Sandara out of line and the Freecaptain limps on over to her.

"Alright lassie. Do your thing." For a large man his voice is surprisingly soft and gentle as he coaxes clerical healing from the former Apothecary's mate.

The pirates all crowd around as Sandara lets loose another healing blast. Once again there is a sigh of relief all around and the pirate captain stands up a little straighter as he gives her a nod and motions for her to rejoin the line. The pirate captain stretches and his shoulder gives a loud pop. He rotates it a few times before turning back to address the captured prisoners.

"Do you know what just happened?"

Unlike before where his voice was soft and tired now it was hard and full of barely contained anger. He had played the part to get what he wanted but now his real emotions were coming forth.

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT JUST HAPPENED?" It seemed a rhetorical question but when nobody answered he grabbed Ratline, the halfling rigger by the collar, lifted him up off the deck in one clean motion and then punched him so hard in the chest the little crewman went flying a few feet back, landing hard on the deck and rolling.

Silently the captured crew began shaking their heads, trying to answer but not daring to speak up.

"Three ships. Five hundred men. I just lost everything. EVERYTHING! Everything over this blasted piece of shit. Who's the captain? WHERE IS THE CAPTAIN THAT DECIDED TO TURN INTO THE BLOODY EYE OF ABENDEGO?"

Most of the crew were frozen in fear but Scourge, the former Second Mate and one of the mutineers quickly piped up. "Right here, captain. To the right o' me."

The pirate captain growled and strode forward, crossing the gap in two large strides. He grabbed Sorina by her hair and dragged her across the deck in front of the other captured crew. He stood over her, putting a boot on her chest and crushing her slighting against the decking as he eyed the other captives.

"Each of you have a crossbow bolt aimed at the back of your heads. If you try to stop me. If you try and so much as move. If you look away, by the hells if you even blink you will be shot dead. If you survive this, remember what happened here and now. Tell everyone you meet what happens when you try to run and fight a Freecaptain of the Shackles."

Over the next hour is the most brutal act of violence anyone of the crew had ever witnessed. With his bare hands the Freecaptain broke bone after bone in Captain Sorina's body. When she would pass out he would drag Sandara from the line and throw her next to Sorina's mangled body, ordering her to be healed so he could inflict more pain and suffering. When he tired of breaking bones he pulled out a knife and began flaying her alive.

By the time Sandara ran out of healing magic Sorina had nearly died half a dozen times over. Her clothes were so saturated with blood that it was almost impossible to tell where her clothing stopped and the flesh she still had on her body began.

Finally when his thirst for vengance had been satisfied and Sorina was barely recognizable as a human being anymore he lifted up her dying frame to show off his handiwork to both his pirates and the captured crew.

"She risked everything, cost me everything to try and escape from me. What kind of man would I be if I didn't grant her that wish."

With a cruel laugh he carried her broken form over to the side railing and tossed her overboard. Her form was immediately lost in a cloud of blood and the pirates near the railings edge quickly began pointing towards the shark fins that started popping up. The Freecaptain watched the water for a few minutes before walking slowly back to the line of captured crew leaving bloody footprints in his wake.

"Now then. time for proper introductions. I'm Captain Harrigan. That's right, the Captain Harrigan. Whatever this ship used to be called doesn't matter anymore. It is now mine and it is now called the Wormwood. You are now trespassers onboard my ship but consider it your lucky day because it just so happens I'm in need of rebuilding my crew. As I understand it, some of you were bright enough to try and stop the former captain of this ship from killing everyone so today is your lucky day. Right here, right now, as a one time only offer, you can pledge yourselves in service to me and join my crew. Turns out we've got a few job openings available. If you're ready to serve a real captain on a real ship, just stand up and pledge yourself."

Almost immediately nine mutineers that survived stand up and pledge themselves to Captain Harrigan, going so far as to cheer him for what he did to Sorina and cast curses at her memory. Captain Harrigan gives an approving nod and motions for them to step to the side so he can focus on the dozen or so remaining captured crew.

As they were escorted below deck, Zug Zug glared at the half-orc wench ushering them around. [Language unknown: "Ortesswhi e whi siatne wi onho Nce Toncfo, ngnodietpo? Is tio bleantant m erais ll anyca le mautal wilsomdin k ti essblende ilekpe? I es ith ofonin at whic m yintedven peliwe all rutwi?"] Zug Zug snickered in a shunning, dismisive fashion.

Zug Zug wasn't suicidal. He took every opportunity to test the limits of what those with crossbows would let him get away with looking at. What he did do was take note of every mutineer, and satisfied his slowly burning rage with how he was going to feed them all to Onovono's favorite fish...
This message was last edited by the player at 23:04, Wed 17 Feb 2021.

Though his injuries from the boarding had been healed he was still scarred from the memory of being pierced over and over again with bolt after bolt from the crossbows of the pirates. He watched silently as the Captain was tortured afraid of a repeat of his earlier injuries but nearly equally afraid of the image of her torn body lingering for the remainder of his days.

He looked about for the others he'd met but his vision was blurry and the only faces he could truly make out was Sandara's and Harrigan.

He'd been a passenger, on his way to a new life. Now that was over. He had skills he hoped would be useful enough to keep him alive, but for now, he knew he was lucky to be clinging to survival, much less the hope of a prosperous life.

He considered the offer of joining the crew while the mutineers professed their loyalty. He was loathe to be lumped in with that group, but he had to survive. He waited until their speech had quieted and then he stepped forward. "I pledge to serve Captain Harrigan on the Wormwood," he spoke, but he heard a voice that he knew was his own but sounded eerily different than it had a few hours earlier.

He hoped this offer was real, and wished for a way out all in the same exhale of relief of having spoken.

Oivind watched the display and shook his head he was mainly angry about the bald pirate's treatment of Sandara for it was uncalled for the captain had lost this battle. Torture was for cowards, though, if he wanted to seem powerful he should have fought her like a warrior. This was his goal however non stop raiding and it seemed this was the quickest way to achieve that goal.

"I pledge..." he says stepping forward his eyes on the captain. "If you'll return my axe I'll use it in your name." Oivind nods his head to the captain and crosses his arms waiting to hear from everyone else.