Morning breaks like an egg with a double yolk.  You all wake up to wash the disappointment and beer off your teeth and sprinkle yourselves with cologne.  Need to smell your best for tackling a pirate base.

Orus has pulled together a crew for your pirate ship.  The one that's still floating.  They aren't fighters.  So the crew won't be of much help when you get there.  But they can at least get you there, defend the ship, and bring you back home.

You know.  Assuming any of you are still alive.

If you have any last minute preparations or plans you wish to make, now is the time to do so.  Let me know, as when I'm back online Thursday, we are off to raid the Pirate Base.

Thanks.

Jack replaces all of his spent crossbow bolts.  Other than that, he just plans to be himself.  If he'd watched Pirates of the Caribbean things might have been different but sadly, Johnny Depp is yet to be invented.

"Yeah I hate to be a leech, but... I literally came out of a slave smuggling operation like ten minutes ago.  As did several other people.  I appreciate the new armor that isn't my gladiator suit.  But some basic crossbows, field kits, stuff like that would be good."

"Probably a load of that stuff dropped by the pirates." Skeeter points out.

"But it'll smell like pirates."  Breya riposted.

"Care to take a guess at how the ship we're sailing on smells?" Skeeter says with a laugh.

"It will smell like Success."  Bellinha walked up to Breya and Skeeter, favouring each of them with a smile.  She hoped that it was a confident smile.  "Good morning.  I hope that you slept well."

Bellinha had taken time this morning to prepare herself.  She was going into a big fight against a foe that had preyed upon her familys ships, so she was going to look her fighting best.  Her armor and clothing were clean, her long silvery hair had been put into several small braids that were pinned closely around her head, and she had applied a light amount of makeup.  It was not just her appearance either.  Several weapons were visible on her person, including a pair of daggers and a light crossbow.

Bellinhas smile faded.  It was time for business.  "We have some crossbows that were recovered from our previous adventures.  I would suggest that you each take one, if you have nothing else.  There are some cutlasses too.  We know some of what we are getting ourselves into but you never know what else is on that island, especially since one of their number likes to make monsters."

The half-orc archer sharpened all of his arrow heads with a (whetstone (+1 damage) and included some specialized arrows. (cold iron, alchemical silver) as well. He also doubled the amount of rope he carried, as well as leaving a few choice items behind.

Kamatar asked to go over the map and the plan one last time before they left as well as accepting a cutlass.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:46, Fri 01 Sept 2023.

Karina had slept well, at least in comparison to the previous night. Anything was better than being drugged and sleeping on a ship's deck tied up. At least without being bought dinner first. She had gotten drinks, but no dinner that she knew of. Though it was a pretty hazy night...

Though, she was not as much of a morning person. She walks over to the others "Anything smells better than that sticky chest yesterday. Ugh."

She patted her own equipment, checking it was all there. "I have my own, though you probably don't want me using it too much. Unless you don't have the allergy to arrows that most living things do." She grins, winking at an empty seat across the table.

 Cassandre smiled to Karina, and said with a grin:
  “Not sure whence you came, or when or why, but I think I like you.”

All this talk about smell made her self conscious. She checked her armpits and other usual suspects, but found the reasonable and expected bouquet of must with a sparkle of tart, barely covered by scents of incense and patchouli. She shrugged.

“Can someone walk me through the plan again? I can adapt somewhat to the situation, if I know what we’re getting into beforehand.”
This message was last edited by the player at 21:11, Thu 31 Aug 2023.

"Well, I don't think we ever really decided, actually. Our options are to sail in to the bay like we belong there in the pirate ship that came from there, and 'tie'" He exaggerates air quotes "Bellinha to the mast as our 'prisoner'" Air quotes again "That the captain of the pirates wants dead; OR we give the lookouts a wide berth, sail to the back side of the island and sneak in by climbing a lot of cliffs and dealing with unfavorable landing areas for our boat." He sits next to Karina and  gently taps her arm, _{"I'm here"} he whispers, assuming the wink at the vacant chair was intended for himself.

"I'm still for sailing in like we belong there and catching 'em with their pants down, rather than a bunch of hikin and climbin and smashing ourselves on an unforgiving coastline, wasting all our energy just getting there. But what do I know?"

"We're not going to actually know what's there until we get there."  Breya pointed out, laconic, but hopefully making her point well enough.

In reply to Breya (msg # 12):

You may assume you have access to any normal weapon of non-masterwork quality.  Make sure it is noted on your character sheet though.  If it ain't there, you ain't got it.

Orus comes to get you before the sun's completely risen.  Hearing you all hash things out, he laughs.  "It's never easy storming a pirate's base, is it?  Well.  You have a day to figure it out.  Just make sure you figure it out before you get there.  But for now...tide's gonna roll out soon.  So best to get now."

He stops you Bellinha.  "I wrote to the Family.  Told Lady Liza that I'd given you leave to purse this as far as you think it needs to be taken.  She'll back me on this much at least.  Go where ya think ya need to."

---

The crew is rather capable.  None of you have much to do as the ship sets out for Smythers.

You will catch sight of the island when I post tomorrow.  So let me/the crew know what you wanna do.

Questions?  Thanks.

"I am quite capable of climbing almost any natural feature or humanoid made building as I have proven in the past.
I have brought along extra rope so that I can suspend a line from either of the towers that have shown on the map
should we decide to enter that way." Kamatar noted with a confidence that bordered on pride.

The half-orc archer looked at Karina with a calm smile, "Allergic to arrows, young lady? No, I find them worthy allies in battle
and excellent aids in my pursuit of the Way of the Bow."

He looked over the group and added, "We are considering sailing into their harbor on a boat by sailors, not pirates or warriors.
Their harbor will be filled with aggressive pirates and their weapons all seeking our lives. May I suggest we scout the situation
there before sailing into the unknown. What we don't know, is likely to kill all of us."

lol does that include composite longbows

Sure.  Why not?  Take a composite longbow if you like.

I'm all for you guys walking to your doom loaded to the teeth.

Nah. It's not that bad.  Probably.

The look out hallos about an hour before dawn.

Looking through the spyglass, you can see a flat top table of an island.  The captain circles it wide, giving you a chance to look it over, at least from a distance.  The whole island is maybe two leagues in circumference.  Maybe.

The pirates were right:  outside of the bay in the northeast of the island, the whole thing is  steep cliffs.  Ranging from 75' to 150' high.

You can see the manor and the guard tower watching the bay.  The only other structure you can observe is what looks like a shack perched on the cliffs on the other side of the island.  Maybe another look out post?

You can definitely approach from the southeast or the west by dinghy to get to the base of the cliffs.  Climbing up them...hard to say from here.

Skeeter sits on top of the capstan, head propped on one fist, wearing the smuggest expression anyone here has ever seen (which is a high bar, to be sure). "Huh. Cliffs. Anyone know where we can find a Greenland Giant with a harness to haul a few of us up? I mean, I can handle myself if we're still set on going up that way, but I can't say that for everyone..." From his sack he pulls a black mask designed to cover the upper part of his head and obscure his face from the eyes up. It compliments the rest of his black attire nicely.

Halfman in Black?
Never thought having a Burglar's Outfit in my inventory would give me the chance to act out the Princess Bride.

"Look, out of the" ticking off the members of the "away team", "Nine of our fellowship, I figure three, maybe four of us can tackle the cliffs easily. About the same number are going to need to be hauled up by a strong back, which we have only a couple of. And the rest are an even gamble of either making it up or shattering themselves on the rocks below. Now, I'll admit, if we sail into the bay under a ruse, we put the village sailors in peril, even if they never leave the ship. Those scallywags are as likely to scuttle the ship to prevent our escape and kill our crew as anything, unless we can take 'em all. So I admit, I'm coming around to the climbing plan to protect the folks who've gotten us here. Not looking forward to it though, on account of the rough go it's going to be getting everyone up there."

In reply to Skeeter (msg # 18):

So?  Heading up the cliffs?

If that's the route you wish to go, I need two 15- Climb Checks please.  Per person heading up.

You would have enough rope to let down the line (assuming you pillage the pirate ship).  But someone will need to get up that cliff first to set it.

If you are climbing the rope, I'll want a 10- Climb Check.  Just one

If you want to try sailing into the Bay, let me know that as well.

Questions?

If Natural 1s are not auto fails on skill checks, then I cannot fail that climb check. +15. I could Accelerate the climb while taking 10 and still succeed.

Skeeter fastens the mask on his face and holds his hands out to Kamatar for his numerous coils of rope. "FINE. I'll go up and secure the rope at the top. Breya and Kamatar, you should come next, either on the rope, or utilizing your Mighty Thews™. You'll be needed to haul up those who aren't great at climbing."

Once Kamatar gives him the rope, it goes in his bag, not changing its apparent weight or fullness.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:13, Mon 04 Sept 2023.

  "I'm not climbing anything, but you are very welcome to haul me up."
 Even with her gear, the little wizard was shy of fifty pounds, an potentially an easy job for the tall muscular ones among them.

 Cassandre was only half listening, busying over a length of fabric that she was fashioning into a cape of some sort.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:08, Mon 04 Sept 2023.