Boris looked over at the Marcher with a smile. “With most of their lives at sea, any new story can be a good one when all the others have already been told. With what I’ve seen of the Captain, the crew knows better than to get too distracted when performing their duties. Passengers like myself on the other hand are free to listen at our leisure. Ready to make it to shore though. It’s not that I dislike the sea, but rather there are no further business opportunities here. As the saying goes, time is money. So what brings you to this little corner of the world?”

It was then that the dark clad Vodacce noblewoman walked aboard deck and inquired of the recent news. Boris nodded in her direction. “The Captain indeed said dusk was the estimated time of arrival. It’s still a few hours away before land is sighted though. Your welcome to join us in conversation unless the storytelling is more your fancy.”He had taken note of both women on the trip and wondered why they were traveling to their next destination. They seemed nice enough.

Eberhard wasn't fond of ships, but alas they were the quickest way to travel.  Well, short of ripping a hole in reality at any rate.  And that wasn't a method of transport that he'd ever care to experience again in five lifetimes.  So boats it was.

At least this trip wasn't going to be a total waste, as Lukesa's father had contracted him to serve as an 'extra pair of eyes'.  That is to say, he was to make sure Lukesa remained safe and arguably more important, virtuous on this voyage to her cousin's.

Speaking of Lukesa, it didn't take Eberhard long to locate her, given that she was just a few steps away conversing with a man who by all appearances seemed to be Ussuran.  Giving the pair a nod of acknowledgement, and what might generously be called a smile, he stood on the deck taking in the salt of the ocean spray, the sights of the sailors hard at work, and the conversations buzzing all around him.

Vincent stuck out, even amongst the odd group of people on board this particular ship. For one, he was the only Avalonian amongst the group, and second, he had a certain bravado about him that was out of place amongst the more jaded passengers and crew. He almost always had a bright smile on his face and was eager to volunteer for all manner of physical labor, despite a complexion that suggested a sheltered upbringing. The only signs that he was anything other than some aristocratic blowhard were the iron gauntlet on his hand and the sword at his hip, the tools of his true trade.

"Unless my ears deceive me, dusk is indeed our estimated time of arrival," Vincent said to Lukesa. "And not a moment too soon, by my reckoning. I've been granted many gifts in my life, but sea legs were not among them."

He glanced at Beileag, a bit nervous to take up conversation with a Marcher. While many would group him up with her as a fellow resident of the Glamour Isles, anyone familiar with the tenuous connection between Avalon and the rest of its "empire" would know how foolish that would be. Still, they were journeying together, so it made sense to at least be polite.

"I know a shanty or two, if you'd prefer something a bit more acceptable to common sensibilities," he offered.

As she read, Els paced the deck of the ship. One hand keeping her book up, the other gesturing freely and dramatically. All motion and energy as her voice played the rising tension of the scene. She was glad to have an audience. Her eyes went out across the small crowd of passengers on the ship. Catching once, then running back.

"Numa had always been a city of alleys. The streets crowded with bodies of those working classes at all times. Even late into the night, merchants and tradespeople would be at work. Ox-drawn carts loaded with goods using the slightest reprieve to make their journeys. The mobs would have their pick of laborers to draw to their cause in a city that never knew rest.

"Excuse me-" Els' voice dropped, leaving the dramatic tone in which she read. "For the next section to follow it truly is best if some knowledge of the geography of the city itself is to hand. Failing a map of the ancient capital?" Els fingers rolled, showing that there would be no map forthcoming, "Perhaps... Lady Falisci! Would you come an enlighten us about the position of the old Senate chamber?"

Tulliun clambered down the mast to the deck, now that the rigging was repaired.

He had seen the clusters of people. Both around the woman reading, and apparently around a woman who was watching the scene.

From up amongst the sails, he'd also spotted a priest of some flavor. He looked a little peaked. Tulliun decided to check on him. Doing alright, father? If you don't mind me saying, you look a little... distressed. I find that a good drink, either ale or tea usually helps me.

Answers! And so Lukesa joins Boris and Beileag, the quiet flash of a (half-hidden, those veils) smile for the latter. Not a moment behind, Vincent and Eberhard. The men who answered her receive a grateful, graceful little nod, and it seems to Lukesa that Vincent's remark on sealegs is punctuated by the mischief of the sea, which chooses just that moment to rock.

Both Boris and Vincent are included in: “Thank you." And then, "You're generous. I like both very much,” Lukeas tells Boris, meaning storytelling and conversation. The Vodacce is soft-spoken but deliberate. An undercurrent of warmth: “Please acquaint me with your topic of conversation—and your name, if it isn't too dear, for I don't think I know it.”

She is about to add something to Beileag and Vincent vis-a-vis music when Els calls her by name. Lukesa demurs, shaking her head. Who? Me? Educated about Old Republic History? Nope. Courtesy is the greatest shield of all. "Mistress de Klarx, thank you, but I will not—for I don't think I can do better than your book. It was high on a hill so all people could see where great men discussed great matters, or it was low, if that better serves the story. My knowledge is strictly imagined. If you're seeking a break, I heard somebody" (Lukesa doesn't throw the Avalonian Lord directly under the carriage) "mention they know a shanty. Otherwise, do continue."

In reply to Tulliun (msg # 15):

Father Carlos smiled... "no lad not peaky but you could say I found my faith in the dark waters we sail on.... One day I might tell you about it."

He turned to look at the man before him "so how long have you been on this ship? I hear the captain is a good person..... I like good people..... So lad are you a good person?"

In reply to Father Carlos Eldersan (msg # 17):

Tulliun had never really thought about that before. Well...I'm not a bad man. I know that.

He pondered for a long moment, I've only been on for a couple of weeks before we started our trip out this way.  The captain does seem to be a good one.

He stared at the priest for a nother long spell, then realized, he was talking to him because they've met. You're a long way from where we met Father, what brings you this far west?

Boris waves over the Vodacce noblewoman to join him and the Marcher. He looks at both ladies and gives a proper bow. “Of course. Where are my manners? I am Boris Korobkov from Ussura. We were just talking about reasons for coming to our next destination an what we might do once we hit shore. I would be curious about the same of you as well.”

Father Carlos looked back out to sea before replying to Tulliun.

" the city was becoming a bit overbearing and to be honest I'm a priest who doesn't do well in the confines of the religious order but don't tell anyone that will you I might get into trouble with my superiors."

"anyway I thought I might take my believes abroad for a while see if there were new places that would like the caring hand that god gives without having the church demand their obedience....I hope that makes sense and I don't sound like a religious crank"

In reply to Father Carlos Eldersan (msg # 20):

Tulliun smiled a little, No, Father, that makes sense to me. As someone who loves the freedom of the great salt mistress we call the open ocean, I can relate to your desire for as little dominion by man as possible.

He looked about at the other groups milling about on deck, Do you know any of these people?  I think I've met that Marcher woman and the man near that veiled woman before, separately. Although, both in taverns, of course, fair fighters, the both of them. he grinned as if remembering a passing childhood outing with daylong friends.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:52, Fri 26 Nov 2021.

Being in the fresh air was better for her stomach. She no longer felt that her last meal was fighting to return along the route it had travelled.

She looked round when Els called out Lady Falisci. And, in the group near that mysterious woman, she spotted the only other passenger she knew, Eberhard Ravenkamp, and gave him a smile.

Enzo walks aboard the deck as if called by the ship captain and begins tugging doing his daily routine. You've probably seen the young man aboard he says little but is very formal in his speak and manner. He appears to be quite pleasant to talk to and bows to all the ladies on board in spite of some super situations about women being bad luck on a ship.

The young man continues to work while listening to all the people's conversations. It's apparent he is eves dropping but it is hard to fault him on a ship of this size. A smile crosses his face as he listen to the conversations and people moving about. Never stopping once to chit chat but more working hard to finish his tasks completely.

"Oh, I'll be looking for my next ship. I'm wanting a particular sort of vessel and sometimes that has to wait until someone comes into port again." Beileag answered the Ussuran easily. She flashed a smile at the Vodacce woman as she came up and more dubious look at the Avalonian- but if he was playing nice, so could she.

Really.

Boris scratched his chin in curiosity. “I won’t ask what sort of ship you’re looking for, but I am curious as to what you plan on doing in the meantime until such a ship makes port. It could be days or even weeks.”He made note of the cabin boy going about his business. The lad had been courteous and very good at fading into the background, someone to watch indeed.

As the crew goes about their duties on the ship a group of passengers towards the back of the ship can be heard. Two gruff men are having a spat between them. Their argument seems to only grow in sound so much so that people stop and turn to look.

Enzo even stops what he is doing to watch the two men who can still be seen from the front of the ship. In the back a crowd is gathering but you can hear the basics of the conflict.

"YOU STOLE THAT ROUND! NEVER TRUST A SIDHE LOVIN' BASTARD!" says a man with a clear Castille accent.

"SIR, How dare you claim I cheat. In the name of Elaine..." says the other man.

"NO ONE TRUST YOUR QUEEN. You Avalon scum."

OOC: This is going to be a dramatic scene. While we are doing this we can establish a few things. First you all start with 1 hero point. Mark this under your name somewhere. You can abbreviate it, HP.

Tell me your approach and how you plan to deal with the two men. It's clear they are starting a fight.

The consequences are that a fight could break out aboard the ship which would turn into a more physical conflict rather than a social conflict.

Boris was waiting for the young woman’s response when practically the whole ship turned to see what what going on between the two men. While he halfway hoped it would cause a brawl to provide him with some entertainment and opportunity to flex his muscles, depending on how much it could get out of hand innocent people might get killed. The Ussuran tapped Enzo on the shoulder. “Don’t just stand there gawking. Get the Captain.”

Boris made his way over to the two men with a big smile on his face and a slight bounce to his steps like a fighter advancing forward into a ring. He stood in between the two men with his hands stretched to keep distance between the two. The brawler gives a big belly laugh. “Haha! I see you two have come to an impasse. While I do enjoy a good fight and would love to start placing bets as to who would win, there is one small problem. I’ve been on enough ships to know that any violence conducted on the ship is severely frowned upon unless sanctioned by the Captain especially amongst passengers.”

He brings his hands to his collar that he flips up revealing his Dueling Guild pin marking him a sanctioned duelist. A knowing wink is given to both men. “Before you go on saying ‘stay outta this!’ and ‘this doesn’t concern you’ hear me out for just a moment. It seems that one will continue to accuse one of cheating while the other will continue to deny it. I really don’t care whose telling the truth, and trying to settle this with insults will only escalate and cause tempers to rise to an unprofessional level which could cause people outside of this situation to become involved. I would like to propose that you settle this dispute properly as gentlemen…in a proper time and place. What I mean is that the two separate and cease hostilities until dusk when we reach land and can disembark. From there if at least one of you is an officially recognized duelist it can be settled like men. What say you?”Boris kept his wits about him and made note of any other passengers that were part of a posse for either man involved.

OOC: 20:53, Today: Boris Korobkov rolled 25 using 5d10, rerolling max with rolls of 8,9,4,3,1.  Convince plus Panache.
Putting both Raises toward convincing the two men to sideline the hostilities until they get off the ship while also implying there could be repercussions from the Captain for fighting on his ship.

As far as the introductions go: “Boris Korobkov?” the softspoken strega echoes, trying to pronounce the unfamiliar syllables properly. “Ussuran... yes? How would I say ‘Good to meet you’ in Ussuran? I’m Lukesa Falisci de Falisci." And as for Beileag, ship-searching: "But Beileag, can it really be so? I wish I were a ship.” Easy humor. "You've been such good company it would be nice to be assured of more in the future. Eberhard," because her Eisen companion is still nearby, isn't he? Lukesa always stands ready to grease some social wheels. Give her time and she'll try to have everybody chatting with one another. "Will you come meet..."

But the rest of whatever Lukesa was going to say is lost to the sudden violence of raised, unhappy voices toward the back of the ship. Behind her dark veils, she glances sidelong at Beileag and Vincent, for, after all, the insult comes closer to them. Alert.

-

How A Vodacce Strega, who secretly has a most heroic view of her place in the world, Approaches A Sudden Argument Aboard Her Ship, Hours From Port:

Because insults were lobbed at Elaine, her instinct is to let Beileag or Vincent take first crack at handling the potential trouble.

What's Beileag want to do? Who is closer to the argument than she is? Does the gathering crowd seem to be trying to encourage a brawl, or merely watching? Answers to these questions would influence Lukesa's approach.

Ultimately Lukesa wishes courtesy to rule aboard the ship, no fists, no violence. Diplomacy is a brightness. To this end, (unless Beileag's initial approach makes her think to do otherwise because the Vodacce will take her cues from the Marcher here) Lukesa means to wield diplomacy. How? By turning the crowd against a fight—she will insinuate herself right into the heart of it. A word here to this watcher, another word there to that watcher, appealing to better natures all around, hopefully until they're all ready to pile on should anybody make a wrong move.

Hrm. Do we wait for you to tell us Skills/Traits to roll after describing our approach or no? 7th Sea 2e is newer to me. Also PbP etiquette is unknown!nDo feel free to correct me in PMs and I'll edit how I wrote the Approach bit here. And like I posted, I think Lukesa would kinda take her cues from Beileag or even Vincent (though more Beileag :P) here.

And ha, sorry. I had the first half of this post written, but then hit 'preview' and noticed the GM + Boris's new post, so I just added on rather than deleting.

OCC: So the way it works is you can decide your tactic. I don’t tell you, you pick. As long as it makes sense you are good in some cases players might pick the wrong trait more than a wrong skill.

So Brawn is obviously doing things with brute strength and force
Resolve is your physical body so more your mental toughness and physical toughness
Wits is obviously more of your intelligences and quick wit
Finesse is your deftness and ability to move quickly and silently
Panache is none of the above, it’s your charm and flair.

Hopefully that makes it really easy to pick.

Examples of things you might get wrong: knocking out guards one by one from shadows (player might say brawn + hide, but it’s more like Finesse + hide), brow beating the villain into submission (player may think wits + intimidate but it’s more like resolve + intimidate), etc

After you rolled you make sets of 10. Each set is a raise. Each raise gives you a prompt to say what happens during the fight. Keep in mind even if the social conflict is social you can still use things like brawn and finesse. Example in this scene I could say.

I want to flash my sword at both men with a dazzling display of skill to make them think twice. Panache + weaponry.

Hopefully this better explains how it works.
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:10, Mon 29 Nov 2021.

Tulliun, having had his conversation with his religious acquaintance interrupted, Pardon me, Father. walks over to the gathering crowd. He pushes his way through, scolding sailors as he moves, Don't you have a deck to swab? I know the Captain told YOU to go down and fix that broken board on the hull. Why don't YOU go make sure the cargo is secure in the hold.

The sandy-haired boy moved through the crowd with more confidence and sureness than suited his age. His clothes, look and swagger belied his age. Anyone, other than the priest, who saw him would likely swear him a much more seasoned sailor in his 30s, not a boy of 19, who'd lived on a ship just like this since he was 10. He carried himself in a similar way to the tough Ussuran, sure of his capabilities in a fight, but reserved enough to know when to hold his fists.

He hears the Ussuran's speech, and sees him flash his duelist's pin. He leans in to the accusers ear, If you don't put this aside, right now, I'll see that you're labeled as unfit to sail by every Quartermaster from Klorhulg to Iskandar, for being unruly on the deck.




11:36, Today: Tulliun rolled 13 using 4d10 with rolls of 2,7,1,3.  Panache, Convince One raise to Convince the accuser to shut up, because Tulliun's clearly not kidding about his own punishment for the instigator.


This message was last edited by the player at 16:15, Wed 01 Dec 2021.

Vincent decided it would perhaps be best to try de-escalating the situation. Much as he hated someone insulting his fair Queen, the key here was to avoid unnecessary bloodshed.

"Come, now, gentlemen, let's not come to blows over some cards, hmm?" he said, physically interposing himself between the two fighting men. "Let's settle down, and we can work things out peaceably, like civilized people."

Though he wasn't pushing hard, he was stronger than he looked, and the other men would seem to struggle against the aristocratic duelist.

Basically, pushing them apart to keep them from fighting. Could this be Brawn + Convince? Or perhaps Empathy?

Brawn and Convince is fine. Empathy is more understanding people's emotions. Less physical. Brawn and convince is more like your putting your hands on the person trying to show them you mean business.

Since others seemed to be intervening between the arguers, Beileag didn't see the need to stick her oar in there. But she did follow Boris and Vincent over to investigate the situation (with an apologetic glance at Lukesa), letting the brawny Avalonian break through the crowd for her. She needed to know what was going on and help ensure a stupid fight didn't turn fatal like it had for her betrothed.

However, this was also not her ship and not her crew- the kid had done well sending for the Captain. She pursed her lips tensely and looked over gamblers and crowd alike with the weathered eye of a seasoned Quartermaster, seeking more information while they waited to see how the miscreants responded to Boris and Vincent.

Beileag is looking for:

A) evidence of cheating from either man- cards up a sleeve, cards marked, etc.

B) signs the bystanders are thinking about getting involved.

Forgot to record each die, but here's the roll for Wits + Notice:


08:48, Today: Beileag NicTavish rolled 17 using 5d10 ((4,1,6,1,5)).

Not great- 1 success

Eberhard watched the scene unfolding with detached indifference.  Fights among sailors were hardly noteworthy.  And besides, this wasn't his problem, let the captain deal with it.  Or one of the many do-gooder passengers who seemed to be quickly interjecting themselves into the middle of the situation for some reason.

Glancing over at Gabrielle, he returned the woman's smile and flashed the young lady a look of amusement as he rolled his eyes and jerked his head slightly in the direction of the argument, making his feelings on the situation abundently clear.

OOC: Taking no action, simply watching this mess.

OOC: I like the fact that Tulliun went after the crew more than the passengers. I mean technically they are staring at the fight about to break out. In this case we can roll with it.

Beileag the Castillian has a mighty heavy coat on with some long sleeves. The Avalon has a sleeveless vest on which leads you to believe there might be something under the coat. It appears a game of cards was taking place.

IC: The two men separate as both Tulliun and Boris enter the scene to break them up. Both of the men back away at the conflict with the two swordsman.

The Castille man looks at Boris. "You sir are a swordsman? Would you care to average me? This swine of an Avalon has is cheating at this game. He probably uses some kind of magic to manipulate the cards. How much for your services? Money is no issue."

The Avalon man looks taken back. "Are you challenging me to a dual? I am not swordsman sir. The Avalon man looks at Tulliun. Sir would you defend me from this? I have no plans in dying from this cheater."

OOC: Boris you still have 1 success left.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:05, Wed 01 Dec 2021.