Vemuz & Bimzoole,
"Two reefs, Mr. Thriceborn," he calls over the wind. "We can't heave to; our pilot has his hands full just steering a straight course, and if we don't reef now we'll start losing rigging."
Heaving on the reef line (technically called the clew line, but I'll try to put as little nautical-babble in as possible) feels like trying to lift the ship out of the water. You can feel the weight of the wind in the swollen sail. But that is the easy part.
You and the other sailors swarm aloft up ratlines and shrouds. although the ship was pitching badly at deck level, out on the topsail yard, the motion is ten times worse.
One hand for yourself and one for the ship...
(OOC: Balance checks, please [the NPCs have to make them too, don't worry])
Battered by the wind and half drowned with the driving rain, you and the men drape yourselves over the yard and begin to gather up the rest of the sail (the clew/reef line reefed the corners of the sail, but the only way to reef the middle of the sail is to go aloft and tie it off to the yard, if you can visualize what I mean).
The drenched canvas fights like a cornered bilge rat as you furl it up to the second reef and begin tying it off. It has to be all but beaten into submission in order to finish the job of reefing it. The rough lines soon open up bleeding wounds in the your hands. One man, at the other end of the yard, slips off the footrope, but catches himself before he slides into the roiling sea far below, pulls himself back up, and continues reefing.
(OOC Bimzoole: It's a Profession Sailor thing, don't worry.)
(OOC Bimzoole & Vemuz: Profession Sailor checks, please.)
Malthas,
Eventually, the ship seems to settle down to her course, but she is still making some leeway in the strong winds that are coming at her from the side.
Malachi is still below, figuring the safest course through the gale.
(OOC: Leeway, btw, is when a ship is moving sideways with the wind, in other words, sideslipping as she moves forwards.)
Bimzoole (and all who can't understand what I'm talking about when I say reef),
Reefing is when part of the sail, usually the part closest to the boom or yard that supports it, is gathered up against the boom/yard and tied off, thus shortening the sail by that much. Typically, one reef shortens the sail by one third, and the second shortens the sail by one half.
