"Perhaps I can help." Vasily says, as he looks up into the sky. Spotting a sea bird, he calls it down by cawing at it.

OOC: Using Speak with birds to call the bird down and have it look for the ship that we're looking for; basically give it the info we have and let it fly around looking for the ship.

Alicia smiled, "I will take first watch."

She climbed to the crows nest and began her watch with a telescope.

Alicia de Larrocha rolled 5 using 1d10 with rolls of 5.  Reroll the "1 (2)" .
Alicia de Larrocha rolled 40 using 7d10 with rolls of 9,9,1,2,9,2,8.  Wits+Notice+Flair (w/university/reroll+1).

They become 10, 10, 6, 3, 10, 3, 9, or 4 raises.

Not being far from land, birds are reasonably common in the skies, though most of them would be classed as seabirds. The one that answers Vasily's call is, naturally, an albatross. After he gives it his instructions, it flies off. How much of those instructions it understood, or will remember, is problematical. Some birds are noted for how smart they are, of course, but the term 'birdbrain' was coined for a reason.

Time at sea sometimes can seemingly drag on forever, and so it goes now. Alicia's 4-hour watch is nearing the end when the albatross returns. Even as he's reporting to Vasily, Alicia spots a sail on the horizon. Even with a spyglass, not much detail can be made out at this distance, but it appears to be flying the silver-dragon-on-black flag of Eisen. It's not the ship you are looking for, but it is heading in your direction.


The albatross says it could not find the ship Vasily described, but found a pirate ship.

Vasily reports the bird's findings to the captain, given its relevance; "Apparently the bird found a pirate ship, but not the ship we're looking for; despite the flag the vessel miss de Larrocha just spotted is flying, I suspect they are, in fact engaging in piracy; most likely the albatross wouldn't recognize a pirate ship by its flag, but rather how it acts; where it goes, the gut feeling it gets from the people aboard, etc. I would suggest cation in dealing with this ship."

"A bird told you it's a pirate ship?" the captain asks with a cockeyed eyebrow.

"Whatever. Captain Trufeau had a dog that could smell a pirate ship miles away. It's possible that it reeks of blood that the pirates don't bother washing off, or at least not well enough."

"Not surprising, really. The ship we are pursuing has several days head start. We won't catch it in just one day. Since the sailor we are after won't be controlling the ship, it'll go where the captain says, which is probably to the next trade port."

"They'll only put in somewhere else if they need supplies."

"Unless you have some overwhelming desire to confront these pirates, I suggest we steer clear of them."

Today: Alicia de Larrocha rolled 31 using 8d10 ((2,5,2,5,2,1,5,9)). 3 Raises

Alicia did not fancy fighting pirates, but would if necessary. She stayed aloft for now.

As the two ships draw closer to each other, with the pirate ship staying closer to shore and the group's ship heading farther out to sea, Alicia can get a better view of the other ship.

It definitely has more sail, and will be faster if it has a full crew to man the sails.

It probably outguns the Southern Wind, perhaps significantly, but again, it depends on how well it is crewed.

She also spots a bit of damage to the ship. She can't really tell if the damage is recent or not, but if it is, it could explain why the pirate ship isn't changing course to come after them--too few crew left and probably heading to a safe port to spend their loot and get the ship repaired and re-crewed.

"I wonder if, perhaps, our quarry encountered this same ship?"

"That's possible," the Captain replied. "I don't think a polite request will get us an answer. We'd have to board the other ship and question the captain and crew... thoroughly. It might have got the worst of the encounter as well, or else sunk the other ship. Then where would we be?"

"I think we need to trust in Fate that our path still lies ahead of us."

Trusting in the captains definitely superior knowledge of the sea and the ships that ply it, Vasily  nods, then heads off to socialize with the sailors on the ship. Since he has little left to contribute, he figures it is time to spread the good word a little.

"Unlike us, the ship that we pursue had a destination," the captain states. "It is possible that it had cargo to trade."

"Any of you know of a good port that might have welcomed that ship? We can stop in there and make enquiries. As you can probably tell by the name of the ship, it has been up this way before."

Jarrun is quiet a while as he stares at the larger pirate ship in the distance.  His knuckles are white as he grips the bannister.  To nobody in particular, or whomever happens to be nearby, he speaks quietly.  "Death rides the waters with every passing of the great chariot above, announced by the black sail and the stench of spilled blood."

He'll keep his eye on the ship, looking as if seeking something important.  "I once served on a ship who had a commission to eliminate any pirate vessel it came upon.  Damned fine ship, and some fine sailors too.  They had to be, to do what they did so well.  But the captain was a man of absolutes.  His entire world was made of black and white.  You either served order or chaos, in his mind.  I wonder what happened to him?"

Jarrun will look for the captain eventually.  "Captain Marino.  Since we've seen one, do we have any intelligence on other pirate bands operating recently in this area?"

"As I said, we haven't been in these parts before, but I have heard of a few 'pirates' operating in these waters," Marcelo replies.

"There's the Black Rose captained by Esteban deZuniga. And the Sea Witch captained by Erik the Dark. I don't believe that ship was either of them, however."

Vasily, wandering around the ship, encounters an able seaman who's swabbing the deck. So he asks him about it; "Didn't I just see someone cleaning this deck not two hours ago? Why is it that you're cleaning it now?"

Alicia returned to the deck. She watched the conversation between Marino and the new crewmember, then went over to the rail to stare out to sea.

The ship sails on into the dusk as Captain Marino consults with the group.


"Unless we have any reason to stop in at a village along the way," he tells them, "I was expecting to stop at Dechaine, or possibly push on to Gottkitchen."

"The ship we are pursuing is heading for Rurik, but might stop at Posen. Dechaine is the better port for trade rather than Gottkitchen, but Gottkitchen is about half way to Rurik. So, it's a toss up, as we don't really know what the captain of the Iphigenia was doing."

The blonde man sits back and places his scarred hands behind his head as he looks up toeard nothing.  "If you are taking suggestions, my own are to go ahead and stop at Dechaine.  More trade means more rumors, and possibly more up-to-date information on what's really on the waters here."

He'll look around.

"I know our mission is to track down the Black Pearl.  But we cannot allow our vision to narrow too much.  I believe it's called tunnel vision... if we focus too much, we'll miss potential dangers until it's too late."

He'll focus on Captain Marino.  "And to be honest, I'm still thinking about that wounded black flag we passed on the way here.  If they fought someone, there's a chance whoever they fought are at the port."

"Well, it's not much of a detour or delay, if we stop at Dechaine," the captain replied to Jarrun. "Good point about the black flag's damage."

"If it had engaged the Iphigenia and they both limped away with damage, it would make sense for the Iphigenia to make for Dechaine."

"HELM! Change course... seven degrees to starboard!"

"We should get there well before sunset."

As the captain had said, you reach Dechaine about two hours before sunset due to a strong following wind.

As with most ports, there are always two or three ships docked at any given time. Sometimes, a half dozen to a dozen might be docked. At Dechaine, there are two ships. None of them look like the Iphigenia, though. Doesn't mean it wasn't there, and sailed again already.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:12, Tue 24 Oct 2017.

"Perhaps you should go ashore and make a few enquiries," the Captain said to Alicia and Jarrun. "Together, you should be less suspicious than should either of you do so individually."

"I doubt if the Iphigenia would have sustained any hull damage, nor is a mast likely. Both would have taken too much time to repair. A bit of deck or sail damage, on the other hand, could have easily been dealt with."

"There hasn't been enough time for the ship to have dealt with the harbormaster, so maybe inquire at the chandler." He points to the building that has nautical paraphernalia on display on the outside... a ship's wheel, signal flags, etc.

"Some of the crew might also have managed to go ashore to do some drinking. Too much drink might have loosened their tongues. So check out one or two of the dockside pubs. I'd skip the Beckoning Mermaid... or whatever it's called--looks a bit too upscale... meant for officers, would be my guess."

"There. That one. What's that? The Harpooned Whale? Or that one--the Black Sail."

He indicates the taverns/pubs, one at either end of the long wharf.

Alicia was eavesdropping over by the ship's rail. She and Jarrun had worked well before, so Signor Marino's idea did made some sense.

She walked over to Jarrun. "So, Signor Marino believes that the two of us together might be less suspicious together than either of us individually!? What say you that we test his theory?"  She grinned as if she didn't believe this, but was willing to try anyway.

The big blond man knocked on the ship's railing as if to ward off bad luck, and he turned to his smaller companion.  "Sailors love to talk, that much is true.  I wonder, though, if anyone did run into that pirate ship if their people would visit a pub called the Black Sail.  Unless they were the boasting sort."

He shrugs.  "And on the off chance that nobody knows anything, it would be a good chance to stretch our legs.  So shall we?"  The blond bows slightly, offering his arm to escort the Castillian doctor.

Alicia chuckled. "I doubt that we will discover anyone that knows anything, it is true. But, I like the idea of getting off this ship and walking normally for a change."

She exaggerated a walk that lurched one way and then another. "I would like to take my bag of supplies along, however. There's no telling if they may be needed, after all." And, the bag would make for a good excuse in many possible situations.

The laughter could probably be heard deep in the bowels of the ship at Alicia's exaggerated walk.  "What? You don't have your sea legs?  I seem to remember a certain someone climbing the rigging like she was born to it not too long ago."

He paused and looked at her.  "Although, that staggered walk reminded me of a drinking friend of mine from a couple years ago.  I remember having to hold him up a few times after he got too drunk to walk straight... He walked that way when he was sober too, so I guess it's just some people."

He shrugged.  "Perhaps a quick stop by the chandler would be best before we hit the pub.  Business before pleasure, right?"

Alicia grinned. "I do have my sea legs! But, haven't you noticed that as soon as a person gets his/her sea legs, they go on land and show off their sea legs in quite another fashion."

She frowned. "If you should see me staggering, as opposed to lurching, you have my permission to pick me up and set me upon my feet again... each time.

And, I allow that we can offer information to our captain that we are leaving to further our mission. It still rankles that some of our fool crew still insist that the captain has any authority other than safely operating his ship." She still was steamed about that fool among the Seekers who seemed to enjoy being subservient.

Gaspard? One of those snooty Montaignes, wasn't he?
This message was last edited by the player at 06:50, Sun 29 Oct 2017.