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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Wicht" data-source="post: 294620" data-attributes="member: 221">Chapter 8As the sun rose on the 17th of Sowing, the companions stirred and awoke.  The night had passed uneventfully and they had slept well, the freed villagers standing guard.  Alairic laid hands on himself and healed a portion of his wounds.  The pain alleviated, he noticed that his stomach was growling and so arising, he set about making sure there would be a breakfast.  Tilliana, her divine spells renewed, swiftly healed the rest of the party’s wounds.  Then she too joined them at breakfast and as they ate, they talked.  They had already decided the night before to try and take the pirates ship.  The main question was how.  Alairic thought it would be wise to have someone scout out the situation first and nominated Niccolo and Heidon.  Tiolo and several of the other men were listening in with interest.  “Are you going to help us?” Tilliana asked them.“We will do our part to get off this accursed Island,” said Tiolo, “of that you can be sure.”“Good,” said Tilliana. Meanwhile Niccolo was agreeing with Alairic that the situation should be scouted first.“I think we should take five of the men here with us,” said Niccolo“Why not 10?” said Heidon.Niccolo ignored him, “We have no idea what is on the ship and we don’t want to be taken by surprise.”“That’s a good idea,” agreed Tilliana, “but what if you get caught?”“Oh well,” said Alairic with a grin.“Thanks a lot,” put in Niccolo.They had no problem finding five volunteers and soon the seven scouts were heading south towards the beach.  There was a distinct path laid down through the forest and they followed this.  They moved fairly stealthily.  Niccolo and Heidon had their longbows out and ready to fire.  The villagers each had a crossbow taken from the fallen pirates.  They too were loaded and ready to fire.  The forest passed swiftly and soon the small group was exiting the trees. There was a small camp on the beach with two longboats pulled ashore.  There was also five men in the camp.  They were standing in a line, each with a loaded crossbow pointed at the seven men exiting the trees.“Fire!” shouted one of the pirates and as one the five crossbows discharged.  One of the quarrels flew past Niccolo.  Another grazed the scalp of one of the villagers.  Yet another buried itself in the chest of one of the men with Niccolo and Heidon and gasping, he fell to the ground.  The scouting expedition stood as if stunned.  Wild thoughts flashed through the mind of the half-elf, They knew we were coming, we must have a traitor.“Reload and fire,” shouted the same pirate who had barked the earlier order.  Swiftly they reloaded and swiftly another group of bolts flew at the small group.  Another one of the villagers went down, two bolts protruding from him.  Finally the surprise wore off the embattled scouting expedition and they remembered the weapons in their hand.  Niccolo fired wild, but Heidon drew blood and one of the men from the villages, a half-hobgoblin named Kinshag killed one of the pirates outright.  The pirates fired for the third time and another of the men was hit.  Niccolo, calming his nerves, pulled back a second arrow and, taking careful aim, let it fly.  It hit the man who had been shouting the orders in the eye.  He was dead before his body hit the ground.  Kinshag killed a second pirate.  Heidon fired, dropping one of the pirates.  The remaining pirate, firing at Heidon drew blood.  With a snarl the young man took aim and fired his third shot.  Like the first two it struck true and the fight was over.  There were eight bodies: five pirates, three villagers.  The ship, they saw, was about a quarter of a mile offshore, a fifteen minute row in one of the longboats.  As they waited for the rest of the group to arrive from the cliffside camp, the remaining four members of the scouting party searched the camp.  The tents held nothing but bedrolls.  There was some gold on the bodies of the pirates, and their weapons of course, but nothing else of note.  Tilliana and Alairic soon arrived leading the other 25 villagers.  Tilliana took in the scene.  “We need to bury these bodies,” she said, indicating the three villagers.  “It is only right that they have a proper burial.”Alairic looked for shovels but there were none in any of the tents.  As Niccolo led a group of villagers in digging in the sand as best as they could, Tilliana examined Kinshag.  He had been hit by one of the pirate’s crossbows and was bleeding heavily.  Offering up a prayer, Tilliana closed the krangi’s wounds.  He was not much to look at, but his heart seemed to be in the right place.  Finally they had three shallow graves dug in the sand.  They placed the bodies of their fallen comrades in the holes and Tilliana held a brief service on the beach.  The villagers were all touched and more determined than ever to win their freedom from the island.  They just needed the ship.The Longboats looked to hold about twenty each, so there was more than enough room for all of them to fit in.  Shoving the boats into the water they set out towards the ship.  Alairic took the helm of the boat he was in, with Niccolo sitting just behind him.  Tilliana took charge of the other.  “Row!,” shouted Alairic at the men holding the oars.  “If you want off this island then row!”  They complied and soon Alairic’s boat was pulling ahead of Tilliana’s.  There were definitely men on the deck of the ship.  About three quarters of the way to the ship, a little over three hundred feet out, they could start to see clearly what the men on the ship were doing.  They were getting ready to fire a ballista.  The first bolt was off the mark, flying a couple of feet over Alairic’s head.  It hit the water behind the boat and skipped off the water twice before going under.  The second bold was also off mark, skimming across the water to the left of the lead boat.  But the third bolt found a target, it flew just past Alairic and into the woman sitting behind Niccolo.  She died almost instantly.  Niccolo judged the distance to the boat and decided to risk a shot with his bow.  Firing in a high arc, he watched the arrow sail through the air, landing in one of the men on the ship.  With a loud cry the man stumbled backwards and then collapsed.  “Shall we fire?” asked one of the men sitting near Niccolo.“Sure!” said the half-elf and then watching the men load their crossbows, he instructed them to aim and then yelled “fire”.  A volley of bolts sailed onto the ship.  A couple of the pirates were struck. Some of the men in the other boat, followed Niccolo’s lead and a second volley of bolts sailed over the water.  The pirates answered in turn.  A couple bolts bounced harmlessly off of Alairic’s armor, but two of the villagers weren’t so lucky.  One was wounded and another was killed.  The two boats sent off a second volley and then the ballista fired again.  Again the bolt just missed Alairic, instead hitting the man just behind him and to the side of Niccolo.  They were close enough now to see some of the faces of the men.  There appeared to be only four left alive.  Six at least had fallen to fire from the two long boats.  Two of the men one the ship were operating the ballista.  But it was the man to their left that most interested Niccolo.  The keen eyes of the half-elf could make out his features clearly.  He had red hair and looked to be the same man that Niccolo had killed in the woods the day before, the man who had shot at and injured the half-elf.  Niccolo aimed his bow and fired an arrow at this red headed man.  The arrow struck.  Meanwhile the bolts from the villager’s crossbows killed two more of the other pirates.  As the two long boats drew closer, they watched as the red headed man pulled the arrow out and then, removing something from his side, he took a drink.  Niccolo, guessing it was a healing potion of some sort, growled in frustration.  Having taken his drink, the red headed pirate slipped backwards, off the prow, and out of sight.  A final volley of bolts killed the last of the pirates on the prow of the ship.  They pulled close to the ship.  As they looked for a way up, they saw the red-headed pirate climbing the center mast.  He was deliberately climbing on the side away from them, giving them little to target.“He looks like the pirate from the woods yesterday,” observed Alairic, “a twin.”“Might be,” said Tilliana as the other boat pulled up alongside.  There was no way up the side of the ship.“I can climb it,” said Heidon.“It’s too slick,” said Niccolo.“There’s the anchor chain,” said Alairic.  “I’ll take it,’ said Heidon.  He directed the rowers to bring their boat around the side of the ship, looking for the anchor.  As the boat holding Tilliana and Heidon pulled around, an arrow flew from high above, striking Alairic.“Ouch,” said the Paladin.  He looked up.  The redhead had reached the crow’s nest at the top of the center mast.  Niccolo returned fire, but his arrow struck the crow’s nest itself, sinking into the wood.  The men behind Niccolo fared no better.  The pirate had too much cover.  As the pirate fired again at Alairic, missing this time, Niccolo tried again.  Again the half-elf struck the wood, not the man.  Again the crossbowmen failed to find their mark.  The pirate fired at Niccolo now.  The arrow hit, a slight wound.  Niccolo again missed.  Another arrow scratched the half-elf and then a third grazed him.  Each time Niccolo failed to find his mark as he tried to return fire.  Tilliana’s boat had reached the anchor line and Heidon swiftly scaled up to the ship.  Behind him, Tilliana, wary of falling started slowly up.  Heidon soon reached the prow and pulled himself over.  The bodies of pirates lay everywhere both on the prow and on the deck below.  Each had been pierced with an arrow or a bolt.  Overhead Heidon saw the red headed pirate observing him and briefly Heidon considered trying to reason with the man.  Then his eyes drifted to the deck below and his breath stopped.  Wandering the deck, looking very upset, was a spined lizard.  It snorted angrily, it’s tail swishing, its spines fully erect.  At the far end of the deck, near the door to the crew’s quarter’s, Heidon spotted a large iron cage.  The cage was both open and empty.  Heidon’s keen eyes spotted a rope ladder near where Alairic’s boat was.  Not stopping to plan, Heidon raced across the prow and jumped the short distance to the deck.  He narrowly avoided tripping over a body.  Stumbling only momentarily, he managed to make it to where the rope ladder was.  An arrow flew past Heidon’s head.  It buried itself with some force in the deck.  Heidon looked up at the pirate who had fired at hime and then over to where the spine lizard was.  It was charging him.  It barreled at him and the agile young man barely had enough time to roll out of the way.  The long lizard skidded to a stop and Heidon changed his plan.  He ran to the center mast, away from the dangerous beast.  He started to climb.Alairic, below, Not seeing the lizard but seeing Heidon run up to the edge and then run away, shouted up, “What about a rope?”“I have a rope,” said Niccolo, remembering the silk line stored in his pack.As Heidon climbed the mast, the pirate above fired down.  The arrow grazed the young man, drawing a thin line of blood.   Another arrow flew down, but this time, Heidon managed to twist aside and it flew harmlessly past him, ricocheting off the deck.  Niccolo was tying a quick lasso and as soon as it was done the half-elf threw it up.  Miraculously it caught a hold of something and Alairic, testing it, found it secure.  The paladin started climbing, followed closely by Niccolo.  Another arrow narrowly missed Heidon and the young thief, looking up, realized he was almost to the crow’s nest.  Meanwhile Alairic had almost reached the edge of the deck.  As he pulled himself up and his face cleared the deck, he found himself staring eye to eye with a very large and very angry lizard.  Niccolo, forced to stop behind the paladin, felt his hands slip on the thin rope.  With a cry he fell down.  Fortunately there were several arms waiting to catch him.  Frustrated, he started up again.Heidon pulled himself up to the crow’s nest and as he tried to enter the small wooden nest, the red-headed pirate stabbed him with a rapier.  The blade bit deep but Heidon ignored the pain and heaved himself aboard, reaching for his dagger as he did so.  Alairic watched the lizard closely and then as it turned to strike at him with its tail he pulled himself over and rolled over the attack.  Tilliana, having taken her time, had just pulled herself up to the prow.  She took a moment to take in the scene before her.  “There’s a lizard,” she called to the men climbing behind her and then drawing her sword she started to charge forward.  She tripped over a body and fell ungracefully on her face.  Snarling she pushed herself up and started forward again.  Overhead, Heidon stabbed the pirate with his dagger and then as the pirate tried to push him off of the crow’s nest, Heidon stabbed him again.  The paladin was stabbing at the lizard but getting no results as he at the same time tried to avoid both the club-like tail and the many dangerous spines.  Niccolo, almost at the top of the rope, felt the ship move and once more his fingers slipped and he fell down.  Again he was caught, but this time there was a crack as his boot slammed into someone below him.  The boat rocked and two of the people in the boat were thrown out.  “Do you want me to try it for you,” snapped one of the men holding Niccolo.  The half-elf angrily grabbed the rope and pulled himself up one more time.  On the other side of the boat, two of the men, one of them being Kinshag the krangi, were climbing up the anchor line.  And in the crow’s nest both men struggled in the confined area to strike the other.  The pirate got lucky and his rapier slashed into Heidon, drawing blood.  Alairic dodged another attack of the lizard’s powerful tail but as he swung his sword, two of the spines ripped into him and he missed.  Tilliana charged into the front of the lizard, but it dodged aside, her blow missed and she too was pierced by the long spines on the back of the lizard.  The lizard swung its tail again and finally managed to land a blow on Alairic.  The powerful tail caught the paladin up alongside the head and knocked him senseless.  He fell to the ground just as Niccolo finally reached the deck of the ship.  Pulling himself aboard, the half-elf immediately pushed the ladder over the edge to the men waiting below.  “No one else should have to go through all that,” growled the half-elf.Above, Heidon lunged at the pirate.  The blow missed and the pirate, sensing an opening, moved closer and plunged his blade into Heidon’s chest.  Heidon stared down in disbelief as everything started to go black.  With a satisfied smile the pirate wrenched his blade back out.  The spine lizard, spinning around, struck at Tilliana with its tail, catching the priestess a glancing blow.  Backing away from the beast for a moment and catching her breath, Tilliana prayed for strength.  Niccolo meanwhile, had pulled out his greatax and with a heave he brought it down on the creatures back, nimbly avoiding the threatening spines.  At that moment Heidon’s body hit the deck.  The pirate had tossed him the fifty feet from the crow’s nest to the deck below.  Heidon landed with a sickening crack of both wood and bone and as he lay there, his neck twisted, it was clear he was dead.  Tilliana, determined to focus on the immediate problem, charged once more at the Lizard, divine energy filling her in answer to her prayer.  Her sword struck home as she ignored the spines that pierced into her.  Niccolo also swung once more at the beast, gaining only a scratch as his axe head once more drew blood.  As the two companions moved quickly back from the threatening spines, there was a shout from the other side of the boat and the twang of strings.  Three bolts buried themselves deep in the lizard and it heaved one final roar and then collapsed on the deck.  Kinshag and two of the other villagers had lined up their shots carefully.  An arrow buried itself in the deck besides Niccolo.  The spine lizard was dead but there was yet another threat.  Ignoring the threat, Niccolo chose to instead tend to the paladin who lay unconscious on the deck.  Another arrow narrowly missed the half-elf as he worked to bind the paladin’s wound.  Tilliana considered the pirate for a moment and then holding aloft her divine focus and murmuring a prayer, she conjured up a glowing greatsword.  It flew from her, through the air, and up to the crow’s nest.  The pirate dodged the blade and fired once more.  This time, his arrow found its mark, striking Niccolo.  Tilliana motioned and the glowing sword slashed through the air, this time striking the pirate and cutting him just as a real sword would have.  He screamed and clutched his side.  Niccolo, having seen to the paladin, reached for an arrow and drawing his bow, he nocked it and let fly.  At last his aim was true and it pierced the chest of the pirate.  He fell and landed on the deck besides Heidon.Satisfied that the paladin would live to fight another day, Niccolo went and examined the pirate’s body.  The armor he had worn was identical to the armor Heidon had been wearing, armor taken from the body of the identical pirate the day before.  The rapier at the pirate’s side was also identical to the rapier Niccolo now carried.  And as Niccolo was hoping, there was a second flask at the pirates side.  It contained a golden liquid.  By some quirk of fate, it had not broken from the fall.  Niccolo took the potion to the paladin and forced him to drink it.  It was, as the half-elf had hoped, a potion of healing and the tremendous wound on the side of the paladin’s head partially healed.  It was enough so that Alairic could walk and talk again.  They stripped the bodies and piled the pirates in the middle of the deck next to the spine-lizard.  Tilliana offered up a prayer over the body of Heidon, who though he had joined them unwillingly, had proven himself a great asset and almost a friend.  Then as she rose and considered the deck she reasoned, “We only lost one.  Not too bad actually.”</blockquote>

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