Jammers Summary: Chapter 1, Turn 8

----------- = Meanwhile, elsewhere...
*********** = Later...

On the Eelship's bridge: Italapate reclines against the confines of the sphere that contains him. He crosses his arms across his chest. He does not appear to be as happy-go-lucky as he had in the days preceding the battle. "'Pon my soul," he mutters quietly, "This wasn't what I planned at all...."

Radick glances toward his encapsulated companion, nods at the gorilla and quickly moves to the mage's body. As he begins examining the body he calls out, "Leera, see if you can do anything to help him. Talus and Raken, you guys check the room for whatever might have created that bubble." As he continues examining the body he adds, "Grab anything you think might prove valuable, the Captain will be very interested, we need to make sure that there is no pocketing by anyone." He glances about at the others as he finishes his search.

Taking a quick look around the shattered bridge, Raken turns to leave. "Secure this room. I will return shortly, after I report to the Captain," he says as he heads out. He then heads down the hall and back onto the main deck, looking for the captain.

Leera's appearance changes. The armor disappears. The glowing staff now seems to be a small wand. She tucks it in her belt. She glances at the force holding Italapate and replies to Radick, "I'm not very knowledgeable about that type of magic. I'd prefer to wait and see if it dissipates by itself."

"Actually, it was that one that created the spell," the gromman speaks, pointing to the dead man Radick is searching.

Italapate points to the mage. "Hey, maybe you should try those darts strapped across his chest. I'm pretty sure they had something to do with it.."

When Italapate mentions the darts, Leera picks up one of the darts. She examines it and then collects the rest saying, "We shouldn't fool with these until Holland and I have had time to examine them."

"Your concern is noted." responds Radick as he takes back the dart from Leera and continues to examine the mage's person. "If you can't help our friend, perhaps you can search the rest of the room. I will make sure these things are turned over to the Captain." He glances up at the manacled creature, "Perhaps you can bring our new friend above board so that he can be freed from those manacles."

As Leera and Radick bicker they quickly strip the dead man of what he's carrying that seems valuable: a pair of black leather bracers with silver buckles and bandoleer with slots for 8 darts, holding seven darts currently.

The other two bodies each carry only a dagger. Also in the room, leaning against a wall in its scabbard is a longsword. The helm is a large, ornate padded chair, made of a dark, mahogany type wood and carved with thousands of geometric designs.

A chart table is against the far wall. On it sits several large, rolled up charts. Tacked open on it is a chart of Bralspace. It also holds a spelljamming sextant, a few quills, some scrap parchment and a closed ink pot.

The gromman speaks again, "As you do not resemble any of this pirate trash that has tormented me, I must assume that you are with the ship responsible for my rescue. My name is Nilaroo, and I am most profoundly thankful. I must say, if you find a large sword and bow, they do happen to belong to me. May I have the honor of your names, and that of your vessel? I assume by your lack of haste that you have won this vessel?"

Italapate says "Well, my name is Italapate, Nilaroo. And we are from the Flowfish. Once you and I took the Helm, I'm certain the space trash surrendered. Pon my soul, one look at our Captain and they probably surrendered..."

Cudak then enters the Bridge and informs those in that room that the navigation implements should remain, along with the helm. As he examines the charts on the table he glances at the gromman and says "Our Captain wants to see you topside, you can't miss her."

Leera walks over to Nilaroo (taking the bandoleer with her), and introduces herself. "Greetings. I am Leera, a helmsman on the Flowfish. Let me see if I can do anything about those manacles..." Leera uses a cantrip to cause a pin inside the locking mechanism on the manacles to move, opening the cuffs.

"Ah, most excellent. You have my thanks, Leera. Now, I believe I hear your captain calling for me, unless you have other gromman on your crew? No? Well, shall we?" At this Nilaroo motions Leera to lead the way, and the pair proceeds to the deck.

Lt. Sabbagh enters the bridge. Seeing Leera, Sabbagh stops her and says, "Let me have a look at your side." Modestly raising her shirt to show only her side, Sabbagh chuckles as she winces at his fingers probing the dark purple bruises, "That was a very stupid thing, surprising us like that. Lucky for you the Captain is a thinking giff, else she'd have used her cutlass and we'd be mopping you off the Flowfish's deck!" Then he places his hands on the bruises and murmurs, "May fortune heal this mage's wounds." Leera feels the cracked ribs shift, then meld back together as Sabbagh's magic heals her wounds. When he is done only a small bruise remains.

Leera pauses as Lt. Sabbagh heals her, and then leads Nilaroo up to see the Captain. As they walk up to the main deck, Leera asks Nilaroo: "How did you come to be on board this ship? I'm sure the Captain will be very interested in anything you can tell her of the Pirates."

"Ah, that is a very tragic story. Some weeks ago my ship was captured by this neogi-scat crew. Most were killed, although I was captured and enslaved as shipwright for this pirate vessel. As for the rest, I believe you are right that your captain will wish to know and we should not keep her waiting. Later, I will gladly tell you, for where else could I go but to accompany you on your ship?" With this last question, Nilaroo steps faster to meet the captain.

After 10 minutes the sphere surrounding Italapate suddenly vanishes, as if it never existed, dropping the resting gentleman to the deck with a resounding thud. "'Pon my butt!" he mutters to himself rubbing his backside. Then he hops up and joins the search.

Seeing Italapate is free Sabbagh says "Go see the Captain now." in a grim voice.

Italapate concedes to the order, heading above decks but stopping along the way to pick clean a pirate that used a short bow. Strapping the quiver of arrows across his chest, he uses the fallen pirate's shirt to wipe the blood from his face.

Meanwhile, above decks: Once the pirates have dropped their weapons, Grigree helps to tie them up. As the rest of the group searches the ship, he keeps an eye on the humans to make sure they don't try anything stupid.

As the pirates are rounded up, Billy helps Grigree to guard them, pointing his loaded crossbow in their general direction. "Now don't try anything funny, laddies," Billy says with an evil leer. "You wouldn't want my trigger hand to twitch, now, would ye?" Billy cackles evily.

Having no desire to attempt to squeeze his large frame into the cramped innards of the Eelship, Deigatt follows the prisoners as they are led aft on the Flowfish. There he helps Billy and Grigree secure them. Through all this Deigatt remains silent and, other than a brief glance at the staggering Kain to reassure himself that his crewmate will survive his wounds, Deigatt's eyes do not meet any others'.

When Radick passes him on the deck, Grigree turns and says, "Nice shooting with catapult. I bet you could castrate a scavver at four miles with that thing." Dropping the smile from his face, Grigree turns his attention back to the prisoners.

Holland climbs onto the Eel ship and helps with the searching. He heads down the stairs and begins searching through the cargo hold, lighting up a small hand light (cantrip) to help him see. His thorough search of the hold reveals it is pretty empty, holding just 4 unmarked crates. The rear wall has several cast iron rings bolted to it, for securing cargo. It appears two of them have been ripped from the wall.

Holland then continues his search, finding that all of the other rooms below deck appear to be lit by continual light spells cast on small stones, then placed in shuttered lanterns (so the light can be turned "on/off").

The next two rooms he searches appear to be the galley and pantry. The galley holds a table and benches that can seat 10, an unlit coal heated stove (with a box of coal next to it), and a cabinet full of rough wooden dishes and metal cookware. The pantry, reached through the galley, is stocked with flour, vegetables, a barrel of salted pork, a barrel of ale, and other assorted foodstuffs of low value but average quality.

The next room has ten bunks stacked 5 high on either side. It smells of unwashed bodies and has several canvas bags littering the floor. Holland takes the canvas bags and drops them in the hallway, he also takes the continual light shutter.

As he starts to remove the lantern Bosun Cudak walks by, "Not the fixtures, just cargo and crew effects." Cudak says as he heads past towards the bridge.

The next cabin is far cleaner, Holland finds. A comfortable looking bed shares the space with a desk and chair. The desk has a single, locked drawer. A metal box is visible just beneath the bed. Several decent cloaks and other clothing hang neatly from pegs on the walls. Holland takes the cloaks and holding one up, in front of him, he uses a cantrip (cast from as far from the desk as possible at an angle) to open up the desk. Searching through the drawer, he finds a stack of papers and some quills and ink pots which he places in a bag. He then goes on to the next room.

This final room (except for the bridge) is a pigsty, dirty dishes litter the floor, and unwashed clothing lies draped across any unused area. The bed is unmade, but ornate. It obviously is a matching set with the wardrobe and desk beside it, possibly made of Chultean teak from Realmspace. The desk has two drawers, both closed, and a plethora of papers lying across its top. The wardrobe is open, and empty. A huge two handed sword, a longbow, and a quiver of arrows lean in one corner. Holland takes the sword, bow and arrows and puts them in the hallway, he then carefully opens the wardrobe and the desk checking for valuables. The desk drawers easily unlock with a cantrip. Each contains several sheets of parchment as well as assorted quills and dried up ink pots. One also holds a gold letter opener, with a griffin head forming the handle, and a small book , maybe 8" by 12", 30 or so pages, tan leather covers, with an elven "B" rune etched out in black ink on the front.

Holland takes the parchments and quills and adds them to the other parchments and quills that he took from the other room. Holland then takes the letter opener and starts to reach for the book but pauses. Looking around the room, Holland picks up an article of clothing of thick leather and uses it to pick up the book. Holland wraps the book in the leather and then collects all of the sheets of paper on top of the desk.

As everyone goes about tying up the surrendered pirates (a total of 8 prisoners) Lt. Sabbagh starts patching up those wounded during the battle, first he finds Deigatt. Ordering the minotaur to stand still Sabbagh places his hands on the cut in the minotaurs thigh and murmurs "May Fortune heal this warriors wound.", Deigatt's thigh wound closes, leaving no scar. Sabbagh then repeats the process on Grigree's leg wound. Seeing that Raken has Kain well in hand Sabbagh heads below decks.

As the captives are bound and led across to the Flowfish the Captain calls "'PON MY SOUL, I WANT MORE SPEED HERE LADDIES! OTHERS MAY ARRIVE SHORTLY! RAKEN, YOU GET THAT MISBEGOTTEN DIRTKICKING SON OF A SMOKEPOWDER THIEF ITALAPATE UP HERE AS SOON AS THAT DAMNED MAGIC'S RELEASED HIM! AND SEND THAT GROMMAN UP HERE! SABBAGH, I WANT EVERYTHING EXCEPT BASIC SUPPLIES TAKEN OFF THAT EELSHIP AND LOADED ON BOARD THE FLOWFISH YESTERDAY!"

Raken walks up to the captain. "The bridge is secure but mostly ruined," Raken says when he gets her attention. "The helm appears salvageable, Captain. We encountered no resistance, and there are no more pirates down below unless they are protected by invisibility magics. Italapate is trapped in some type of Forcecage; I think the magics holding him should fail soon, but I'm no wizard. We did find what appears to be an enslaved gromman; it was him that slew the pirate on the bridge. There is nothing else to report at this time, so if you don't need me, I'll use my last cure spell on Kain to get him back his feet, then return to search the ship."

"Aye, get the lad back on his feet, he fought well." the captain replies.

Watching from the forecastle railing of the Flowfish with a sullen expression, Kain notices the exchange between Raken and the captain. Clearing his throat he calls out, trying to catch Post-Captain Wilhemina before she goes below decks. "Begging your pardon Captain, Raken!" he cries. Leaning over the railing slightly so he might be heard better, he grimaces and continues. "Permission to stand down for a day, Captain" Kain asks, managing a weak smile. Wiping sweat from his brow with the back of a hand, he coughs once. "Raken," Kain adds, "I'll be fine with a bit of rest, others might need that magic." Though he is swaying slightly on his feet, Kain's words are spoken confidently, if not with great volume.

"Heal him now, Raken. I can't give Kain the day off, this might not be over yet." the Captain orders "Lt. Sabbagh will heal the others, though few of us were wounded and thankfully we lost no one."

"Aye, Captain," Kain sighs. Making himself available to Raken, Kain waits patiently, slipping out of his vest.

Raken gives a small smile and walks over to the limping warrior. "Sit still; Druid's orders. Great Celestrian, grant me the power to heal the wounds of this fallen warrior so that we may continue to fight in your honor," he says, his hands glowing blue with healing magics. The scaring on Kain's damaged abdomen disappears without a trace, but some bruises remain.

Once Raken's spell is cast, Kain feels tired, but able to work. "Thanks," he says slowly, with a somber expression. "Sorry to be so much trouble," he mumbles as he stands.

After Grigree helps put the prisoners in the brig, he goes to help people, like Holland, carry cargo up to the Flowfish. Since Deigatt doesn't want to go into the cramped hallways of the Eelship, Grigree brings up boxes for the minotaur to carry.

On one of his trips down the stairs, Grigree passes Leera and a gromman, whom he assumes to be the prisoner some of the crew has mentioned. Grigree smiles and nods a greeting as they walk past him towards the deck. The gromman nods politely in return as he follows Leera towards the deck.

Holland sees Grigree as he carries a metal box out into the hallway and says, "There is a lot of stuff here that needs to be hauled over," indicating the crew bags, metal box, sword, bow and arrows.

Grigree growls, the adrenaline from fighting still in his blood.

Holland gets ready to reenter the room when he says to Grigree, "There are also four crates in the main hold. You might want to pry the lids off of them to see what is inside."

With a raised eyebrow, Grigree looks over at Holland. He lets out a low, slow growl as a smile creeps across his face. Grigree picks up a long, straight piece of bulkhead broken during the battle. With a turn and a nod he heads for the hold, still smiling.

Once in the hold, the hadozee uses the broken piece of metal as a crowbar to pry the boxes open. Grigree finds each of the crates holds 2 dozen or so shortswords, each wrapped in oil soaked rags to protect them from rust. Hammering the lids back on he then moves them two by two to the Flowfish.

Leera walks up onto the main deck with Nilaroo and heads over to the Captain. "Captain. This is the prisoner we found in the ship's helm. Also, before you interrogate him, I'd like to apologize for my... theatrics during the battle. I meant no harm to our crew. My training teaches me that confusion and intimidation is indeed a good weapon. With your permission, I would like to speak to you soon about what tactics you would permit me to use in future battles. Finally, I believe that these darts are dangerous magic. Shall I give them to Lt. Sabbagh, or should Holland and I examine them?"

Overhearing Leera's comment about battle tactics, he turns toward Captain Wilhemina and bellows, "I hagree, but for the whole crew. This boarding was a total disaster! Hin the future, we need to have a coordinated plan. Not hall ships we hencounter will be has easily taken has this one was."

The captain glances at both "Keep them for now. And we will discuss everything else shortly."

Italapate sees the Captain bellowing to her crew, ordering them to hurry the process of taking prisoners aboard the Flowfish. "Italapate reporting as ordered, sir," he says smartly, saluting and snapping to attention.

The captain stares at Italapate for along second, as the crew stops what they are doing to watch the confrontation. She reaches down, grabs Italapate by his trousers (he doesn't wear a shirt) and lifts him off the deck until his face is even with hers. She murmurs something no one but Italapate can hear, then heaves him off the ship, Italapate screams "YEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAA!!!!!" and twists around performing a swan dive through the gravity plane. He bobs for a while, moving arms and feet as if swimming. before finally settling there and beginning his drift towards the edge of the ship's air envelope. "Deigatt," the Captain says casually as she heads to speak with the gromman, "Throw that fool a rope and drag him on board."

Deigatt hurls a rope and begins reeling Italapate in.

The Captain glances about, and sees that most of the goods from the Eelship have been recovered. "Lt. Sabbagh, have all the new hands move their gear to the Eelship at once." To the gromman she says "Who are you and why are you here?"

"Greetings, Captain. I am Nilaroo of the Braal Shipwrights Guild. I was formerly on board the Lycaeum, supervising a trade mission to Minial's Arch for wood. Three weeks ago, the Lycaeum was captured by these pirates. Those of her crew not killed were sold into slavery, with the exception of myself. One of the crew, in hopes of procuring a better fate for himself, alerted the pirate captain to my skills as a shipwright, and I was kept to provide repair services. Having no other alternative, I complied until your timely arrival gave me a chance to begin my escape."

"You have done me a great favor, Captain, intentional or not. I would humbly ask to join your vessel until you either reach Braal, if that is one of your destinations, or until we reach a port where I could obtain passage to Braal. I would gladly continue my services as a shipwright in return for my passage. I will also serve in any position you wish, as I owe my life and my freedom to you. As for revenge, I have killed the helmsman and you have captured Captain Kleobis there. The crewman of the Lycaeum who wished to procure his future has gained it there," he points at one of the pirate corpses on the deck. "How may I be of service?" Nilaroo concludes in his bass hollow voice.

The Captain glances at Lt. Sabbagh, who nods yes once. "Glad to have been of service. My vessel doesn't need you, but if you wouldn't mind supervising repairs to the Eelship's bridge, I'll see you're properly rewarded back at Bral. Find your gear, if its left on board there, and find a more comfortable bunk on the Eelship then you had previously." With that she turns and continues supervising the crew moving gear back and forth.

On his way back to the deck Radick notes that the bow, arrows, and sword which most likely belong to their new gorilla buddy, are now laying in the hall. He picks these up as well.

Radick strides confidently to the deck in search of the captain. "Captain, these weapons I believe belong to Nilaroo. Shall I turn them over to him, or will we be holding them for now? Also, I have found these daggers, sword, and a fine pair of bracers." Radick holds up the bundle so she can see the bracers on him. "Mind you, I only wear them to make the carrying easier. Your orders, Captain?"

"Keep the bracers for the moment, give the gromman back his gear," the captain responds, "Then get your gear aboard the Eelship like your shipmates."

Holland turns the papers and book he found over to Lt. Sabbagh, who glances through it, hands it to Lt. Sands to examine. Lt. Sands gives it to Holland again, "Hold onto this for now, and load your gear aboard the Eelship as the captain ordered." he says. Holland goes off to do just that.

Raken turns to watch the captain do a heave-ho with Italapate. "Oooh, been there done that," he winches with sympathy. After he hears her order the new crewmen to the Eelship, he quietly walks up to her. "Prize crew, I take it? I assume our new orders are to follow the Flowfish back to the Rock so that our employer may best decide what to do with it."

"Just follow your orders, Raken, I speak with you all momentarily." the captain then joins Lts. Sabbagh and Sands where they start going over the papers Holland has brought up from the hold.

When Nilaroo is finished with the Captain, Italapate offers his hand grasping Nilaroo's forearm. "Welcome aboard," He says somberly. "No one should have to suffer what you did. I pledge my life to that."

As Leera returns to the Eelship carrying her belongings and a crate containing Holland's gear, she pauses and looks up at the Neogi flag flying above the ship. She works a minor bit of magic (Cantrip), and the knots holding the pennant to the rope come untied. It drifts down toward her; she catches it and presents it to the captain: "Captain Wilhemina, I thought you might appreciate this souvenir."

She then carries the gear down to the crew quarters, putting her gear on a top bunk. She tosses the gear of the pirates out into the hall.

It takes about 15 minutes all told for the crew to empty the Eelship of its meager cargo, and for the new hirees to transfer their gear. When its all complete the Captain joins the new hirees (and Nilaroo the rescued gromman) on the deck, carrying her arquebus and a large backpack. She gives a signal to Sabbagh on the Flowfish and the lines tying the two craft together are released. On the helm of the Flowfish, Lt. Sands slowly eases off, until the air envelopes and gravity planes of the two vessels are no longer in contact. He eases off another hundred yards or so and then the Flowfish sits there, obviously waiting for the Eelship to get underway.

The Captain turns, and sees everyone starting to move to get the ship underway. "Hold a moment," she says in a surprisingly quiet voice "There's a few things to get straight first. I hadn't planned to mention this until the next voyage, which was planned as a pirate hunting expedition, but fate has taken a hand and I'll not gainsay her." She sweeps the assembled group with her gaze, "You were not hired to act as common sailors or helmsmen, as you might have guessed. Indeed, several of you are not really qualified for those jobs, though you've worked hard enough these past few days. In point of fact, you were hired as a test, a screening process of sorts. Lady Moune has decided to sponsor an adventuring company, a small band of enterprising individuals with various skills. A group who might be used in a variety of situations, yet an independent group who would be a source of income rather then a drain on the Houses resources when not actively employed on House Moune's behalf. You were hired as potential members of that group. I was to evaluate your skills, and you ability to function as a group. I've seen you in battle now sooner then I expected and you did well." She looks a bit embarrassed at handing out a compliment, "but I'm not convinced you can work together yet. And I have this prize to deal with. So, I've transferred all the important cargo to the Flowfish. This vessel now holds only me and the expendables. I am here no longer as your captain but rather as an observer. As we continue on to Finagle (the second and last farming asteroid on the trip) we will follow and escort the Flowfish. You will run the ship as you see fit and I will observe. When we get back to the Rock I'll tell Lady Moune what I think, and she will decide whether or not to offer to you her sponsorship. I'll say this, I don't care how or if you organize as long as you work as a team. And, you are not obligated to accept this proposal when we return in anyway. Fidalie," everyone notices for the first time that Fidalie is still aboard the Flowfish, "has already informed me he desires to return to Realmspace and had decided not to stay on after this trip. Some of you I may recommend not be accepted. Any questions?"