D&D 5E (2014) Spell & Crossbones

[Quickleaf]

Meanwhile, down by the moonlit docks...

Jacques' face contorts in confusion. "Monkey's? A kiss? What strange things boys concern themselves with." he thought. He placed a hand on Kat's shoulder as he turned to head toward the kitchen. He held up his index finger signaling 'one moment please.' Passing through the kitchen he and into the storage area he finds the worst fruit he possibly can, barely edible by human standards and returns to the boys. He nods to Kat as he returns with the fruit. "We should leave lest I have to whisper into children's ears now." he whisperes jokingly into her ear.

Kat laughed in return at Jacques' comment and smirked at him. "Aye, let'sh be off."

"Why don't you boys show us where this ribbon is, and if the fruit doesn't work, I have another idea." She gave Bella a scratch behind her ear as they walked out, more interested in seeing how these boys worked than anything else.

"zzzzrt! *smack-smack* whu?" says Zef as he finally wakes up on the floor. He stands up and staggers after Kat as he sees her heading out the door.

"Oi!" hollers Theo, the tallest and lankiest of the boys who make their living as deckhands, porters, powder monkeys, and whatever needs tending. He and the six boys with him lead Katerina, Jacques, and a hung over Old Zef down the docks. Waving, Theo catches the attention of four more boys who are sitting on a crate studying the side of a large rowboat. One boy nurses a black eye with a bit of seaweed, while another seems to have sprung his ankle and winces trying to stand up. "I'm gone for five minutes and already you lot are off to quarrelin'!"

"No, Theo, it wasn't like that!" objects one of the boys animatedly. "It were the monkeys that did this!"

Folding his arms as if he is skeptical, Theo exchanges a hard look with the younger boy who wide-eyed vigorously nods his head. Speaking quietly over his shoulder to Katerina, Theo says, "These are no ordinary monkeys, you'll see, Cap'n del Corazón." His chest seems to puff up in pride as the other boys begin whispering about Blackheart del Corazón's daughter. "Well? Where'd those monkeys get off to with Darling's ribbon? I'm going to get that kiss even if the Swinertons try to chase me off. Cap'n Corazón and her mates said they'd help us, but in return we've got to sign aboard with their crew. All keen?"

All four of the boys seated on the dock point toward the ramshackle over-sized canoe.

The smallest of the boys, who is struggling to load a slingshot, sucks in his cheek looking up at Jacques and Old Zef, "Aye, but what's your ship called Sirs?"

GM: Your monkey Bella is getting really agitated [MENTION=8058]Queenie[/MENTION]. If you want her to accompany further on the docks, you'll need to make a DC 10 Wisdom (Animal Handling) check.

 

[peterka99]

Etienne tries to remember the most Latin as possible from his youth at the mass and add mixed words from his journeys through the World ports (patois).

He can definitely understand spanish.

OOC: Of course, Etienne drops an ear everywhere in the room. I'm afraid the patois concept means he knows mostly sailors' terminology and speaks a broken language at best. I still don't know if the other prisonner is with or against us, so Etienne will also watch him. I'm afraid Etienne won't recognize any Latin spare for common liturgic stuff.

 

[Matthan]

[sblock=OOC]I’m going to roll an insight check for whether they’re lying about the situation with Wallace (did he flay the slave and that’s why they rebelled). However this impacts the DC, I think Blaise is inclined to believe them. Wallace has a fierce reputation, doesn’t he? And, their story matches up with what Blaise has heard so far. Also, the idea that the men fought over the harm done to a slave puts him more in Blaise’s good graces.
Blaise Insight Check on Nicolas: 1D20 = [18] = 18
That’s not bad.

Also, the girl has a nom de guerre? Holy Scarlet Pimpernel! I’m hooked![/sblock]

Blaise cocks an eyebrow. He never fully grasped Spanish, but the words were similar to his mother tongue. He makes note of the repeated phrase and responds, “Yes, she was much how you describe. You apparently know of her. Who is she?”

 

[Shayuri]

Even though it is the dead of night, there are still a trickle of three deckhands loading supplies onto The Winchelsea. The men move slower, having been worked to the bone by the relentless Captain Wallace, and despite their grumblings about the long hours being asked of them, they roll barrels aboard the privateering ship. Gunpowder. Salt fish. Limes. From the way the ship rests heavy in the water, it is well stocked. A pair of sharp-eyed men dressed in heavy leather coats and armed with sabers, bayoneted muskets, and pistols keep watch of the ramp onto The Winchelsea's deck; by their bearing they seem to be former military officers, perhaps Royal Marines in another life.

A few shadows intermittently flit about aboard the deck, as if a pair of men were making rounds patrolling the deck, and down below where the captain's cabin should be the flame of a candle is briefly interrupted by a silhouette passing in front of it, as if in intent concentration on a book, before the flame becomes visible once more and the silhouette vanishes.

No one seems to pay much attention to the roaming black cat... save for Kid, who is sitting on the edge of the deck's railing, swinging his feet and smoking a banana leaf. He whistles softly toward Nia the cat as if he has something in his hands, making a clicking sound with his tongue.

Nia approaches the Kid with feline wariness...a few steps and a pause, then another few steps. Eyes unblinking, tail twitching. If he reaches out, she quickly fades back. A dance she knew well in more than one guise. Perhaps though, this was a means to get on the ship. She'd thought to sneak on, but to be taken on would be even better.

So cat does let herself be coaxed in closer...cautiously sniffing at the air, then at his fingers when he offers them up.

Let us see what he means to do.

 

[Queenie]

Meanwhile, down by the moonlit docks...

"Oi!" hollers Theo, the tallest and lankiest of the boys who make their living as deckhands, porters, powder monkeys, and whatever needs tending. He and the six boys with him lead Katerina, Jacques, and a hung over Old Zef down the docks. Waving, Theo catches the attention of four more boys who are sitting on a crate studying the side of a large rowboat. One boy nurses a black eye with a bit of seaweed, while another seems to have sprung his ankle and winces trying to stand up. "I'm gone for five minutes and already you lot are off to quarrelin'!"

"No, Theo, it wasn't like that!" objects one of the boys animatedly. "It were the monkeys that did this!"

Folding his arms as if he is skeptical, Theo exchanges a hard look with the younger boy who wide-eyed vigorously nods his head. Speaking quietly over his shoulder to Katerina, Theo says, "These are no ordinary monkeys, you'll see, Cap'n del Corazón." His chest seems to puff up in pride as the other boys begin whispering about Blackheart del Corazón's daughter. "Well? Where'd those monkeys get off to with Darling's ribbon? I'm going to get that kiss even if the Swinertons try to chase me off. Cap'n Corazón and her mates said they'd help us, but in return we've got to sign aboard with their crew. All keen?"

All four of the boys seated on the dock point toward the ramshackle over-sized canoe.

The smallest of the boys, who is struggling to load a slingshot, sucks in his cheek looking up at Jacques and Old Zef, "Aye, but what's your ship called Sirs?"

GM: Your monkey Bella is getting really agitated [MENTION=8058]Queenie[/MENTION]. If you want her to accompany further on the docks, you'll need to make a DC 10 Wisdom (Animal Handling) check.

Not wanting to stress out Bella, Katerina shrugs the monkey off her shoulder and lets her scurry into a nearby hiding position.

"Doesh it make a difference what our ship is named?" Kat said sternly, trying to cover her own intoxication, and give off an air of Captaincy.

"You said you'd sign if we helped. Now where are these monkeys you speak of? We don't have all night to play with little boys."

She glanced around the area and tried to look and listen over the din of water and drunken pirates to anything out of the ordinary.

Perception: 1D20+1 = [19]+1 = 20

 

[Quickleaf]

Etienne tries to remember the most Latin as possible from his youth at the mass and add mixed words from his journeys through the World ports (patois).

He can definitely understand spanish.

OOC: Of course, Etienne drops an ear everywhere in the room. I'm afraid the patois concept means he knows mostly sailors' terminology and speaks a broken language at best. I still don't know if the other prisonner is with or against us, so Etienne will also watch him. I'm afraid Etienne won't recognize any Latin spare for common liturgic stuff.

GM: OK, since you're speaking prayers loudly to cover up the sound of the conversation, and you don't speak Latin, I may have you make a Charisma (Deception) check to fool the gaoler downstairs if the conversation lasts much longer.

[sblock=OOC]I’m going to roll an insight check for whether they’re lying about the situation with Wallace (did he flay the slave and that’s why they rebelled). However this impacts the DC, I think Blaise is inclined to believe them. Wallace has a fierce reputation, doesn’t he? And, their story matches up with what Blaise has heard so far. Also, the idea that the men fought over the harm done to a slave puts him more in Blaise’s good graces.
Blaise Insight Check on Nicolas: 1D20 = [18] = 18
That’s not bad.

Also, the girl has a nom de guerre? Holy Scarlet Pimpernel! I’m hooked![/sblock]

Blaise cocks an eyebrow. He never fully grasped Spanish, but the words were similar to his mother tongue. He makes note of the repeated phrase and responds, “Yes, she was much how you describe. You apparently know of her. Who is she?”

Blaise has an instinctual recognition of an honest face, and while Nicolas de Atrejo seems an honest man, it's hard to imagine Spanish navy men endangering themselves, let alone a captain endangering his crew, on account of a mistreated slave. Perhaps the incident with the slave was the final straw that led to the surrendered Spaniards turning against Read Wallace, but there seem to be layers to the story.

One of the Spaniards, the lithe one with faint whiskers of a mustache, speaks in a low voice, "La Mosca Española. We've all heard stories of her, a spy reporting directly to the Viceroyalty of New Spain. Some say she was born to high-bred elves. Others that she steals the faces of those she seduces. She is a ghost who walks through walls, a temptress who could turn a bishop's heart toward debauchery." There are murmurs of agreement from his fellow imprisoned crewmen. "Sí, I thought she was a myth, but I have heard too many stories like yours in every port: a charming woman offering a kerchief as a token of affection, a whispered word, a bottle of wine...all looking for the moment to slid a dagger in your back."

Nicolas de Atrejo frowns, clearly not putting any credence in such sailor's tales.

 

[Quickleaf]

Nia approaches the Kid with feline wariness...a few steps and a pause, then another few steps. Eyes unblinking, tail twitching. If he reaches out, she quickly fades back. A dance she knew well in more than one guise. Perhaps though, this was a means to get on the ship. She'd thought to sneak on, but to be taken on would be even better.

So cat does let herself be coaxed in closer...cautiously sniffing at the air, then at his fingers when he offers them up.

Let us see what he means to do.

Kid leans forward, one hand on the lanyards hanging from the side of the Winchelsea with a bottle of rum, the other offering a bit of dried fish flakes to Nia-the-cat. Whistling softly, he seems to take pride in coaxing the feline closer. "Why a mambo once told me black cats were bad luck, but I've 'eard a ship's cat is a lucky charm...or at least it eats up the poor luck of damned fools...so in that way it's lucky. Are you looking to come aboard? Oh, I'm afraid you'll find the larders locked tighter than a chastity belt, my black cat friend..." He glances over his shoulder at the two beefy marines guarding the ramp onto the deck.

"Well, the Cap'n here has taken a liking to me – says 'Kid, you've a sharp eye and small fingers, just the sort of man I need in the crow's nest and rigging.'" Thumbing his nose as if he's not convinced of Read Wallace's intentions, Kid glances from left to right conspiratorially, "Within a two-day, I'll be back on the open sea, with as much rum as I can beat the chef out of over cards. Stick with me cat!" he winks, continuing to try to lure Nia-the-cat closer toward the ramp.

When the two marines give Kid a skeptical look, he toussles his hair and gives a broad smile, "Surely, sirs as well traveled as yourselves know the virtues of havin' a ship's cat aboard. Hunting mice and rats, and the disease what comes with them, o' course. Not to mention imitable companionship for sailors far from their wives and children." While it's clear the two marines are suspicious of Kid, they seem tired enough that they exasperatedly wave him aboard without a fight. Kid makes a tck-tck-tck sound, motioning for Nia-the-cat to follow him aboard the Winchelsea.

 

[Quickleaf]

Not wanting to stress out Bella, Katerina shrugs the monkey off her shoulder and lets her scurry into a nearby hiding position.

"Doesh it make a difference what our ship is named?" Kat said sternly, trying to cover her own intoxication, and give off an air of Captaincy.

"You said you'd sign if we helped. Now where are these monkeys you speak of? We don't have all night to play with little boys."

She glanced around the area and tried to look and listen over the din of water and drunken pirates to anything out of the ordinary.

Perception: 1D20+1 = [19]+1 = 20

Bella scampers off to watch from a palm tree a safe distance away. One of the smaller boys points toward a large canoe where there are scratching sounds coming from the well of shadows obscuring the interior.

However, Katerina's intuition draws her eyes to the edge of the dock behind the boys where the jungle spills over to meet the coast. There, camouflaged on top of several stone pylons are three distinctive monkeys with white-swept brows and whiskers and disheveled hair. Clutched in the feet of the middle one is a pink and lace ribbon.

 

[Matthan]

Blaise listens carefully and smirks as he answers, “I cannot speak to her supernatural abilities, but,” he runs a finger along the priestly collar he’s wearing, “I fully believe that she could tempt an abbot from his vows.”

His smile broadens, “And this is good, because now you know to whom your letter will go to. A woman with such an incredible reputation will assuredly deliver your final words successfully to your admiralty. And I do want you to write that letter, but I must insist on hearing about this developing ministry. I mean no harm to your crown, but it is vital that I know which way the winds are blowing upon the sea so that I can navigate a safe course.”

 

[peterka99]

Etienne tries to remember the most Latin as possible from his youth at the mass and add mixed words from his journeys through the World ports (patois).[/ooc]

Etienne is on fire! He never realized how much he was traumatized as a child by all this liturgic nonsense. He almost convince himself he is a real priest!

[sblock]http://roll.coyotecode.net/lookup.php?rollid=186792
To link on forums supporting bbcodes use:
Deception at th jail: 1D20+3 = [16]+3 = 19 [/sblock]