Deep Water and Shoals - A Swashbuckling Campaign

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Bimzoole,

As you finish tying off your reef points (the lines used to tie off the reefed portion of the sail), the ship gives a sudden lurch. Or ordinarily agile feet slip of the drenched footrope, and you feel yourself begin to fall.

(OOC: Reflex save, please...)

Vemuz,

You tie off the last reef point, and prepare to head down the ratlines, when the ship gives a sudden lurch.

You hang on with ease, but out of the corner of your eye, you see the gunner, Bimzoole, who was on the yardarm next to you, slip as he begins climbing down, and start to fall.

(OOC: You can make a DEX check to grab the off-balance gnome before he falls.)

Malthas,

You and Malachi begin twisting the wheel as hard as you can, arms aching. The wheel barely budges - it feels immovable. But eventually, ever so slightly, it begins to turn.

With a creak and a groan, the ship begins to turn. Faintly and far away, you can hear Mr. Lang on the foredeck shouting,

"Wear ship, boys! Sweat down the braces!"

With the wind at her stern, CALYPSO'S GRACE stops trying to actively fight you and seems to grudgingly acquiesce to your attempts to guide her through the towering seas.

Malachi,

The captain nods approvingly at your chosen course. He says nothing, gripping the taffrail and staring out across the ocean, giving commands when necessary but otherwise seeming unusually quiet.

(OOC Nicodemus: the Balance check was addressed to Bimzoole and Vemuz, so don't worry about it. However, if you decide to cast Mending on a sail, you will have to go aloft to get the sail into the spell's range, at which point you will have to make a Balance check.)

All,

Swarming with shouting men, rolling and pitching like a drunk, the CALYPSO'S GRACE batters onward through the gale, sometimes seeming dwarfed by seas almost taller than her mastheads. It becomes obvious why seafarers are known as "the iron men in wooden ships;" with seemingly suicidal disregard for their own safety, they - and you - struggle to shepard the ship through the storm, putting another old sailor's saw to use;

Work for the ship while there's still life in your body!
 
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"Ke'p dhe wind astern" Malachi says to the halfling pilot beside him "Nort' tilit chanje dhen West wit' it - Calypso will ke'p us..."

He stops short as he sees the gnome fall his mind racing to see what can be done

(ooc any chance of Malachi catching the gnome before he splats on the deck or otherwise saving the day?

Actually would the Albatross (Summon Monster) be large enough to 'catch' the gnome? - if yes then cast Summon Monster: Albatross:))
 

(OOC: Not dead yet, garyh; Nicodemus's Animate Rope has more than enough range to get to you and stop your fall...

It's all in Nicodemus's hands...)
 

Bimzoole,

As you fall, you reach out and try to grab the yardarm, but your fingers miss by inches. The spar that could have saved you might as well have been a hundred miles away.

Vemuz,

You try to reach out and grab your plummeting shipmate, but your hand misses him by inches.

You hurry down to the deck, and when you get there, you are accosted by Mr. Lang.

"Mr. Thriceborn! You have experience in whaleboats and other such small craft, do you not? I need you to man the jolly boat, over there. If Mr. Marper falls into the water, we might still be able to retrieve him, possibly even retrieve him alive."

He points to a long, sleek whaleboat that CALYPSO'S GRACE carries for just such a time as the present. It lies lashed to davits, and seemingly ready to be launched, but for a crew.

Nicodemus,

You look up at the rigging to see a sailor - you can't make out who he is in the driving rain - drop like a stone from the rigging.

He is well within range of an Animate Rope spell, though, and there is plenty of rope in the vicinity.

(OOC: You could animate some of the rigging and try to grab Bimzoole before he falls to his death...)

Malachi,

You, too, see the drama being played out in the rigging above.

You prepare to call on Calypso, Protectress of Sailors, to save the gunner.

(OOC: The Albatross might not be big enough to fly with Bimzoole in its claws - not unless you have access to a spell to summon an Albatross the size of a Giant Eagle or something [probably Summon Monster 7 or 8, I don't have my books with me right now].

However, it could slow Bimzoole's fall and drop him, as gently as possible, into the water, where a boat could be launched to retrieve him.)

All,

You can all now see the falling gunner. Mr. Lang runs over to the jolly boat and starts hooking the davits on to it.

Captain McCrenshaw cups his hands around his mouth and lets out a bellow that can be heard the length of the ship, even above the howling wind:

"MAN THE BOATS! IF HE FALLS INTO THE WATER WE MAY YET SAVE HIM!"

Sailors scurry to the boats. If things were serious before, they are becoming more so by the minute.
 

"Aye, Mr. Lang."

Vemuz wastes no time with words, and quickly grabs the sailors nearest him. "You! Come with me and take up oars." He says as he tugs them along in tow, headed toward the jolly boat.

*Curse you Calypso, bitch of seas! If dropping into these waters in such a small raft isn't the end of me and mine, I'll be a blessed man! ...but, I'll not leave the little fellow while hope remains.*

"Quickly now! Unlash her and prepare to drop her down."

Despite his misgivings, Vemuz shows nothing but a calm, collected, confidence as he drags his shipmates to the boat and prepares to lower her into the roiling waters beside the ship.

OOC: How many to man the boat? Does someone handle the rudder or is it steered only by oars? If there is a rudder I can pilot the boat.
 


Malachi closes his hand about his holy symbol and calls for Calypso to send her sacred bird once more - perhaps it will be enough to slow the gnomes descent and nudge him into the water

"Lady Calypso halp youl man from fallin' naw. Sen' oue youl sacrid won"

(ooc I'm glad Malachi never heard what Vermuz called the Lady!:P)
 

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