Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Desdichado" data-source="post: 4057431" data-attributes="member: 2205">"What's that?"  Fairlight pointed over the railing towards a small white dot bobbing in the choppy seas.  The rest of the crew was too busy shortening the sails, tying down anything free, or in Captain Brogan's case, simply white-knuckling the wheel.  The wind was whistling through the masts, the ship was heaving up and down like a panting whale and the sky was a hard iron gray.  Lightning flashed not far away and the rumble of thunder made everyone pause and look up for a second.  The Gilded Albatross bounced in the waves, barely able to keep a steady course."Just another ship," Jek said, unconcerned.  "No big deal.  We're nearing Jekara now; of course there's going to be more traffic.""No, I think it's actually coming towards us."  Fairlight straightened her red fez and walked up to the rail.  Hanging in a pouch bolted to the side was a spyglass.  She lifted it out and looked some more at the ship.  "Anyone ever heard of a black flag with the skull of a rat on it?"The crew heard that and spat over the side.  The captain swore.  "Aye, lass, I know it.  'tis the pirate captain Ghask, and he's a mean one.  We're making hard for Jekara, but even odds are 'eel catch us before we can make port."While the crew seemed near panicked by this news (they almost threw overboard their cargo of rare and expensive wine casks to lighten the load---greedier heads prevailed) the passengers took it in stride.  Teren'Kol sharpened the blade of his gyrspike and stretched, Sven laughed off the threat.  Caden went below decks to roust the other passenger from his cabin.  He knocked on the door.An older gentleman with the look of a butler or valet about him answered, and he caught a quick glimpse of a finely apportioned cabin with rich furnishings and a thick haze of perfume in the air.  A thin, pale man with long oiled curls sat on a divan in the center of the room fanning himself slowly.  "May I help you?" asked the butler."Aye, there's a spot of trouble.  Captain Ghask and his pirates seem to be bearing down on us.  There's poor odds that we'll make port before they catch us."The door slammed in his face and he could hear the sound of multiple locks and latches being fastened, as well as a near panicked and hysterical cry from the butler!  "Pirates, me lord!"No help from that quarter.  He loosed his sickle on his belt and went up above decks.The ship was drawing up very near now.  It had started to rain fat, cold drops, and waves were crashing up over the railings, occasionally nearly causing someone to be washed overboard.  They could just make out vague shapes on the other ship, and a few dark forms were diving over the near railing as if to swim towards them."What the bloody 'ell…" Jek started.  Then with a motion and mumble of words a taller figure on the deck cast a spell.  A bolt of sickly greenish magical energy launched from his hands to impact Jek's chest, sizzling and burning him.  He cursed and shot his crossbow at the man---a tall figure with a golden mask and white hair.  He could just hear him curse.  A hit.  Sailors on the other ship leapt from the railing; they had tossed ropes with grappling hooks on them into the Albatross' rigging and now swung easily over the gap.  At the same time, coarse furry shapes climbed up out of the sea… the furry shapes they had seen were large, dog-sized rats.  One creature was nearly ten feet tall; a ragged, anthropomorphic rat with arms the size of tree trunks and nasty yellowed claws and teeth.  Scraps of clothing and armor still clung to his bedraggled fur.  He roared a skittering cry and turned to the hobgoblin, slashing him viciously with one paw swipe.Caden crawled up under an upside down lifeboat, seeking shelter.  Captain Brogan was there first.  "Find yer own hidin' spot, boy!"  Caden shrugged and rolled out, attempting to stab one of the pirates, but missing.  Fairlight shot off two bolts from her heavy repeating crossbow, sticking one of the pirates where the sun don't shine and causing him to yelp in pain.  He turned around with murder in his eye and crossed over to her.  Another pirate charged across the poopdeck into her as well.  With a clatter, she fell down the stairs to the main deck, but got off two more shots, dropping one of the pirates completely.Teren'Kol howled in goblinish rage himself and attacked the monstrous rat-thing with his gyrspike, slashing ineffectively with the blade, but crushing the thing's head nice and hard with the flail.  It spat blood, and slashed and bit at him some more.  He felt momentarily dizzy as the huge dirty teeth clamped down on his shoulder, causing blood, filth and rainwater to drip from the wound as if poured.The sorcerous pirate captain cast another spell and the poopdeck became ensnared in a sticky spider-like web.  Jek and Caden found themselves unable to move and attacked by giant rats.  Caden took a nasty, filthy bite (and failed his Fort save, so he'll catch a nice case of Filth Fever next session!) while Fairlight stepped back and finished another pirate with her repeating crossbow.  Teren'Kol attacked the hideous rat-giant creature again; combined with Jek's missile fire, he managed to bring it down.  He yelled a triumphant battle-cry to the sky, but then turned and completely failed to hit any of the pirates or rats that were now mobbing him.  They poked, prodded, bit and scratched him and he yelled again, this time in pain and frustration.  He soon found himself sizzling with acidic magic and unable to keep his balance when a nasty Grease spell caused the deck to become slippery.  A cresting wave knocked most of the combatants prone; they were now stuck in waves, soaking wet and prone and unable to stand due to the slippery surface.  The sorcerer smirked and laughed… until Jek and Fairlight's combined missile fire as well as Sven's own flaming magic managed to put him down.  Between that and a flask of alchemists fire, the pirate ship was now burning pretty heavily.  Sven, Teren'Kol and Caden all struggled to fight the slippery rodents of unusual size, but finally the last of them was dispatched and tossed into the stormy deep."Are you all alright?" Fairlight asked, brushing her wet hair out of her eyes and wringing rain and sea water from her fez.  A few healing spells later, and they more or less were.  Caden coughed slightly, but his filth fever still had yet to manifest.  Jek pondered briefly the pirate captain's strange fascinating with rodents.  The captain and crew of the Gilded Albatross came out and thanked the passengers for saving their lives and their cargo.  A quick search of the pirate ship, before the smoke and fire made it impossible to stay below decks, found a fair little stash of gold and a few magic items on Captain Ghask's corpse; his mask, and a few potions (of Cure Moderate Wounds, they determined.)Sven congratulated the group for fighting fairly well, for peasants (he especially sneered at Caden's sickle as a peasant implement).  Teren'Kol chopped off the rat-things head so he could later make a trophy of it… when asked why he wanted to turn it's head into a helmet, he said, "Wouldn't you?"Uh, no.Jek and Caden deflated Sven a bit by lifting some healing potions off of his belt without him noticing just as the butler from below invited them all to come below decks and accept the congratulations and thanks of… none other than the King of Jekara's own brother, Prince Darlanian who had been traveling incognito.</blockquote>

Verification