"Course I was," Morgrim said smiling. "Couldn't let anything happen to you. Mum would kill me again on the other side."

Hengar crosses the deck in Morgrim's direction but appears to be addressing the party as a whole, "Seems foolish to sink this ship."

"We should keep it for ourselves!" Hengar says. "We fought for it. It's rightly ours!"

Thane ambled back from his examination of the prow.  His eyes were filled with wonder!

"I agree!  That prow is so fine, it would be a crime to sink it to the depths.  I don't like pirates or piracy but that black ice could be made into the finest weapons and armor..." he trailed off, dreamy-like.

"Oh, for the love of..." Morgrim turned and hurled a ball of flame at the unattended flasks of alchemical fire that Arnan had left on the deck of the ship in preparation for the boarding parties. Together they exploded into a mess of oily flame that quickly caught and began to creep along the boards and up the rigging.

"Well you'd better lop it off quickly, cause ye don't have long!" Morgrim said, striding towards the boarding vessel they'd tied on.

"When the lot of you are done trying to crew the ship of the damned, I'll be waiting for you in the life boat."

Produce flame targeting unattended object. Assumes no one is standing next to the vials.

Kira had noticed the look in Thane's eyes and in spite of her irritability, she smiled wickedly.  "Only just now noticing are ya?" she replied when he said there was more to her than met the eye.  Yet there were other things going on and as much as she liked being appreciated, for whatever reason, she was easily distracted away from that moment.  "Ooooo, I like the thought of just getting rid of the ram," she said, casting a wary look at the thing that Thane was going to inspect.

Thane and Hengar both spoke of keeping the ship and Kira couldn't deny she felt the attraction but there was also that prickling sensation she didn't quite understand, the feeling that something was wrong and threatening her very existence as well as those around her.  "I don't like the black ice ... it turned Grim and Dal's people against them," she said as she moved to the big guys, her small hands patting at them plaintively.  "What if it does that to us?  You're ... you're the only family I got ... and I don't wanna lose you."

Then Grim took action, setting one of the vials afire and the flames licked quickly along the rigging.  "C'mon!" she called out, tugging at Thane and Hengar then dashing over to Arnan to pull at him too.  She wasn't normally afraid of fire but burning alive didn't set well with her and drowing in the icy depths didn't appeal either.  "Get to the dingy and let's go ... back to warmth and food and ... family," she pleaded then scurried over to the side where they'd tied the dingy.

"What are you doing?!?" Thane thundered at Morgrim when the plucky druid cast down fire and engulfed a portion of the Fiend in flames.  A wave of unreasonable hostility swept over the Luskan fighter but the man stood still.

Flames.

On the boat.

Spreading.

A sudden pain in his head made Thane drop to one knee and press his right hand to his eyes.  "What is happening to me?!?!" he cried out in no small anguish.

Arnan nodded in agreement as Hengar gave voice to his thoughts about keeping The Howling Fiend -- the barbarian's comments were in line with what Arnan himself (and Thane, too) had been saying.

Morgim soon cut the discussion short, however, by setting the bottles of Alchemist's Fire aflame. Arnan watched in horror as the flames began to lick at the wood of and rigging of the boat.

"Godsdammit!" he shouted, flashing an angry look at Morgrim as he glanced around to see if the pirates had some barrels of sand standing by -- or anything else that might be used to put out fires aboard-ship.

The pirate crew of The Howling Fiend would not be worth their salt if they did not keep a ready supply of sand for contingencies such as errant or intentional fire.

Arnan finds several barrels of sand nearby for just this purpose. There is now a small fire burning aboard the deck, but it certainly has not had enough time to expand to uncontainable proportions.

OOC: DC15 Dex check to attempt to contain the fire.

In reply to DM Shard (msg # 146):

A quick glance showed Arnan what he was looking for, and he quickly moved over to a barrel of sand that was on-deck. He cursed under his breath as his hands slipped on the fog-dampened wood of the barrel, but then he managed to get a firm grip and dumped the contents of the barrel on the fire that the foolish Dwarf had started.

Arnan had no idea why Morgrim wanted to sink The Howling Fiend -- the only thing that he could think of was that it would keep the Black Ice out of everyone else's hands, and would give the resourceful Dwarves an opportunity to reach the shipwreck by tunneling under the lake-bed.

~Clever bastard!~ the Outlander thought to himself as he set about attempting to un-do what Morgrim had set in motion.

---

OOC:

18:58, Today: Arnan Aldwynne rolled 9 using 2d20+3, keeping the highest dice only with rolls of 3,6. Puttin' Out the Fire (Dex Check; DC 15).

Notes: I checked the wrong box on the Dice-Roller -- the result should be a 6. Either result is  a Failure, obviously.

18:59, Today: Arnan Aldwynne rolled 15 using 2d20+3, dropping the highest dice only with rolls of 12,14. Luck Die Re-Roll. Success!

Notes: Arnan has 1 of 3 Luck Dice remaining. Shane, I am assuming that Arnan is still acting under the influence of the Black Ice. :)

They were so close to getting off the ship, the fire supposed to get them moving but then Arnan had to be stubborn and found some sand to start throwing on it and Kira's temper snapped.  Her family was being threatened!  First it was the pirates and now it was the blasted ship.  Yes the black ice was purportedly a great treasure but for someone like Kira who only truly desired family, her jealousy and anger focused on a different level.

"NO!  YOU'D RATHER KEEP THIS STINKING SHIP THAN ME ... THAN ALL OF US?" she cried out and flung herself in front of Arnan, trying to stop him from putting out the fire.  Tears welled in her eyes as she tried to punch at his chest and arms, her frustration and hurt from over her lifetime finally rushing out of her.  It was a display she would never have shown to anyone, showing just how vulnerable she truly felt inside.

That was when something inside of her snapped and her face turned blood red.  Whatever hold it was the black ice had on her was gone and she suddenly backed away from Arnan.  "It's the black ice!  You have to fight this ... all of you!" she cried out to all of them.  "It's making us act in ways we normally wouldn't.  Greed and hate and everything we all stand against.  Let it go ... let the damn thing sink," she pleaded.

"What? What're you talking about? There's nothing wrong with the Black Ice," Arnan replied, giving an irritated shake of his head, when Kira made her impassioned plea.

"And there's no way I'm lettin' that stinkin' Dwarf sink the boat out from under us. He just wants all of the Black Ice for them -- him and his sister!" the Outlander muttered under his breath as he turned back to the task of getting the fire put out.

---

OOC:

11:21, Today: Arnan Aldwynne rolled 12 using 2d20-1, dropping the lowest dice only with rolls of 13,9. Charisma Save w/ Advantage (DC 15). Failure.

11:23, Today: Arnan Aldwynne rolled 11 using 2d20-1, dropping the lowest dice only with rolls of 12,5. Luck Die Re-Roll.

Arnan did not make his Save, but on the bright side of things, he has no more Luck Die to apply towards frustrating the efforts of his companions. :)

Dal stepped back when she saw the fire start and all the people arguing.

"Sure!  Sure!  Didn't ya know that Dwarves just LOOOOOVE water?  That is is our secret?  Don't be daft!  We came to stop the boat from taking over others and that's what he did but if you want to fight, you'll have to fight me too!"

She knew that it was the black ice but she wasn't sure how to stop it's affect.  THEN the idea that her brother might get injured, and this time not because of his own clumsiness, cleared her head.

"You're right Kira.  It's the black ice.  It makes people distrust each other.  We have fought side by side.  Don't give in to it now!"

Ooc:  Dal made her save at a 16.

"Kira is...right," Hengar says while grabbing his temple with a free hand. "It's the black ice. It seeks to turn us against one another..." he says with newfound certainty.

"What's this craziness?" Thane blurted out, the pain in his mind passing by quickly.  Conflicting emotions and thoughts warred with the visible chaos on the deck.  The warrior stumbled to his feet and made his way towards Arnan, apparently in an attempt to help the archer put out the fires on the deck.  But the sandy boards messed up his footing and Thane went down in a heap near the now-empty sand barrel!

"Ungggh!" he grunted and scrambled to get up again.  "That Black Ice is valuable!  We have to get it back to port so's we can profit by it!" he objected strongly, blatantly going against everyone else's opinion but Arnan's.

---

14:49, Today: Thane Harkensen rolled 6 using 2d20, keeping the highest dice only with rolls of 5,6.  CHA Save DC15 w/advantage.
16:10, Today: Thane Harkensen rolled 1 using 2d20, dropping the highest dice only with rolls of 6,1.  DC15 DEX Check (assist Arnan) w/disadv.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:24, Wed 14 Feb 2018.

OOC: Everyone make a perception check...

The party hears the sound of splashing oars and shouting in the not too far distance. The pirates have not given up on chasing down the adventurers!

"O'er there!" one man calls out. "I see fire! They're burnin' 'er! Quickly! Don' let 'em burn 'er!!!"

The fog is still quite dense, but the voices sound quite near.

"Idjits," Morgrim muttered, rushing to the rail of the ship to peer into the mists. "Bloody, foolish idjits."

"Had to squelch the fire. Well now we've got a fight on our hands and we can't abandon ship else they'll take it right back."

DM is the fire out or merely contained?

The fire is merely contained, still smoldering at a few points, but certainly not a raging inferno.

Thane roughly pushed himself up to his feet, his nostrils flaring in and out like those of a winded horse.

"They'nt gettin' this boat back!" he growled.  Forgetting for the moment the matter of the smoldering embers on the deck, and the misgivings of his fellows over the Black Ice, Thane sprang into action regarding the sails and the rigging.

"Someone get back on the rudder and steer this boat while I trim the sails and get us movin' at speed!"

---

OOC: Thane, if you need a skill check for Thane to trim out the sails, please let me know what sort that would be.

Thane sets the sail and moments later the Howling Fiend begins swiftly gliding away from the panicked shouts. Soon, those cries are no longer heard over the flapping of the wind-filled sails.

Hearing the pirates didn't make Kira's mood any better, but at least she wasn't enthralled anymore and she wiped the wetness from her cheeks as she considered options but Thane moved quickly and managed to get them gliding quickly away.  "Good job, Thane!" Kira called out, even if his motivations were not quite what they should be and she glared at the black ice.  Moving over to where the ram was, she looked it over a bit like Arnan had but with a different thought process.

---

OOC:  If it can't be hacked off easily, will one of the flasks of alchemist fire do the trick?  Burn off just that part?

"They damn sure ain't!" Arnan muttered in agreement with Thane's statement about the pirates not getting The Howling Fiend back under their control. As the Luskan jumped to deploy the sails, Arnan responded to Thane's call for someone to man the rudder. "I'm on it!" he replied. It helped that this time, the landsman actually knew what the rudder was and how it worked.

Once Thane had set the sails, The Howling Fiend shot forward, easily leaving the pirates behind, howling their frustation. "Ha, ha! Kiss my ass, losers!" Arnan chortled, shouting back in the direction where the rowboats had disappeared into the fog.

Dal stopped herself from  saying "why are you trimming sails."  To her, trimming something meant cutting something...trim beards, trim hair, trim cloth, but she thought it must be a nautical term so she just shut up.

Dal looked around and then at the others.  "Shouldn't we search the ship?  To make sure that there isn't anybody else on board and to see if they burned their food?"  Dal was sure that she remembered the smell of food cooking when they climbed on board.  Maybe that was why everybody was so edgy.  While she knew that REALLY wasn't the answer, she knew that being hungry didn't help either.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:31, Fri 16 Feb 2018.

"That's more like it!" Thane exulted as the pursuing pirates were left in the "spray", so to speak.  Satisfied that the sails were trimmed properly, he turned his attention to the others, especially Morgrim.

"Whad'ye mean, tryin' to burn the boat with us on it?" He jerked a thumb back towards the Black Ice ram.  "The speaker wants the boat intact, if possible, you fool," he spat.  The black ice was clearly still affecting his mood (not that Thane knew it).

He spied Kira examining the ram up close.  "You're wasting your time, Kira.  That's mounted about as well as any ram I've ever seen.  Built to not come off when ships collide, ya know, sturdy as a prize ox!"

Then his expression brightened and a cunning look surfaced.  "And what's this bunk about the ice getting in our heads?  Can't you see how valuable it is, what wonders can be made of it?  Now that I've seen it myself, I think we'd be idiots to just sink it into the deep.  That stuff could make us rich if we just run somewheres else with it..."

While others are discussing the ship's disposition, Kira slips away toward the prow to get a closer look at how it is affixed to the ship. Burning the strange battering ram off the ship, without compromising the ship's integrity, looks like it will be extremely difficult. However, it does look like it would be possible to use some finesse to accomplish the same feat, without destroying the ship in the process.

Kira determines it's really no different than disarming a trap...and she has just the tools to do it!