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[Iituem]

The pirates take everybody's weapons and the captain nods approvingly.  He then gestures to two of the pirates and the two ordinary seamen still on deck - in a flash they have their bows drawn and fired, and both sailors are shot off the deck of the Maiden.

"Well then.  I'm Captain Reach, and I'd like to offer you a life of danger, excitement and relative freedom as fellow pirates.  The alternative has just been demonstrated to you.  The reward for success will be more wealth than you could ever hope to attain working for a merchant like your former captain, and the reward for failure will be death - and not even at my hand, if you're lucky.  Now, there are three berths available on our ship, since you killed two of my men and we had one running spare anyway.  The wizard I'll take because we could use a ship's mage anyway - shame we can't take that wind ring with us, it'd be a valuable asset.  The girl with the flail looks like she can take care of herself, and I want you -" he glances at Varg "- because you've got stones, lad.  Which I'm afraid leaves the smart-arse."

Captain Reach walks up towards Caerill and squats down near him.

"So, why shouldn't I just leave you here with this ship and let you take your chances on running her single-handed, hm?"

[Tawa]

Galan uses Sense Motive on Caerill!

It's super effective!

Galan feels that Caerill doesn't seem like that bad of a guy, and tries to vouch for him using his +1 diplomacy.
"He's a bard, and a right good comedian at that. His skill with a crowd seems nearly magical, an' he looks like he could hold 'is own in a fight."

[Fniff]

"There's that, and I happen to have some very interesting information about one of the admirals of the navy. Of course, you could leave me to die with the amazing blackmail material I have on him, because pirates obviously don't love that sort of thing. And besides, all of these people you're recruiting have very specific skills while I have quite general ones. I ran a skiff off the coast of Moan for a while and the water's been my friend since before I can remember, though I may not have the favor of the storm god as some of us here do. Not that he's shown any favor to any of us lately. Anyway, a few potions and I'll be right as rain."
Caerill uses 'I'm not useless, please don't leave me to die here' diplomacy!

Is it in any way effective? Find out.

[highmax28]

"There's that, and I happen to have some very interesting information about one of the admirals of the navy. Of course, you could leave me to die with the amazing blackmail material I have on him, because pirates obviously don't love that sort of thing. And besides, all of these people you're recruiting have very specific skills while I have quite general ones. I ran a skiff off the coast of Moan for a while and the water's been my friend since before I can remember, though I may not have the favor of the storm god as some of us here do. Not that he's shown any favor to any of us lately. Anyway, a few potions and I'll be right as rain."
Caerill uses 'I'm not useless, please don't leave me to die here' diplomacy!

Is it in any way effective? Find out.

Varg is relieved at being accepted into his crew. As for the navigator bard, Varg had a solution but after seeing the navigator try and steer us against the wind, he's not too keen on the whole thing. He contemplates for a bit and then decides to try and help the bard with a "game".

Captain Reach, if I may speak freely, I have a solution to letting this one on if you still cannot decide.

[Iituem]

"He's a bard, and a right good comedian at that. His skill with a crowd seems nearly magical, an' he looks like he could hold 'is own in a fight."

"There's that, and I happen to have some very interesting information about one of the admirals of the navy. Of course, you could leave me to die with the amazing blackmail material I have on him, because pirates obviously don't love that sort of thing. And besides, all of these people you're recruiting have very specific skills while I have quite general ones. I ran a skiff off the coast of Moan for a while and the water's been my friend since before I can remember, though I may not have the favor of the storm god as some of us here do. Not that he's shown any favor to any of us lately. Anyway, a few potions and I'll be right as rain."
Caerill uses 'I'm not useless, please don't leave me to die here' diplomacy!

[Galan Diplomacy Assist Other: 9+1 = success!] [Caerill Diplomacy: 12+6+2]

Captain Reach stares at Caerill for a moment and then bursts into laughter.

"God above, you're a talker, aren't you?  Alright, you have my interest.  Save your 'blackmail material' for later.  You know the old saying 'a bard must sing for his supper'?  Well then comedian, I'll take you on board and every night you tell us a story.  If it's funny, you eat.  Sadly for you, though, we're all out of potions.  Now, help him onto the ship."

Those of you who can easily walk spend about an hour helping your now-fellow pirates shift goods from the hold of the Maiden onto the hold of your new ship.  The corvette has a smaller hold than the Maiden, so some of the textiles stay aboard the setee.  All of the spices are taken aboard, as they are particularly fungible.

Once everything has been loaded aboard, the gangplanks are withdrawn and Reach asks Varg to conduct a brief last rites for the dead on both sides.  This done, the corvette sets sail.  Once the ship is under  way, the captain calls everyone into the galley below-decks to speak.

"First up, a warm welcome to our new ship-mates aboard the Shallow Hope.  They'll introduce themselves, I'm sure.  I'm Reach, this is Greene the quartermaster -" he nods to the huge bare-chested man next to him, who is presently pouring out bowls of broth for everbody "- and going round the table we have Charles, Carter, Walker, Michael, Vidik and Cragg.  A good haul today, lads, and we'll likely make port at Polca to shift it.  Sadly, Tips and Fingers didn't make it today, so let's all pray they're feasting in the Almighty's halls, because the fish are certainly feasting on them.

"Now, we're short on medicine first and foremost.  We exhausted all our potions in that skirmish with the grain ship last week, and we need curing potions if nothing else.  Now we could go out and buy them, but Church or Thousand we'd pay through the arse for 'em.  So the way I look at it, we've got to steal it and I reckon there's two options there.  Option the first, we hit one of the smaller fleet ships of a navy, probably Galam, Groan, Dallanor or Ligoria.  They'll only be carrying a small stock for their own use, but we know we can take them.  Option the second, we find a Suulian cargo ship en-route to one of their enclaves and hit that.  There's almost guaranteed to be a lot of potions aboard, but those cogs tend to travel with escorts.  We'd need to find one lightly escorted if we wanted to take it down.

"We'd also need to decide on the attack - try and use guile to sneak up on them, or just hit them with force as soon as we have a target.  Now, we're all free men here, so anyone make their arguments for the choices here and everyone vote on it - Fleet or Church, Subtle or Bold.  I'll abide by the decision.

"Next, we've suffered some damage.  The near port ballista is out of commission after it snapped and killed Tips.  We can get it fixed, but not 'til we make port, unless one of our new friends is a mechanic.  We also took some hull damage.  Vidik's boarded it up, but Fingers was our carpenter.  If any of the new lads can get that fixed, it's worth an extra half-share in the next take.

"Otherwise that's it.  Thoughts and voting, lads."

Spoiler: The Shallow Hope (click to show/hide)

Light Corvette
Somewhat damaged, one hull leak.
Speed 6, Manoeuverability 4.
General Crew Experience: 5
Navigator Experience: 4
Gunner Experience: 4
Crew: 12

Supplies
480 man-days' rations, grog & water
8 shortbows; 120 arrows
8 scimitars
20 javelins

Cargo
Capacity: 15
12 crates of textiles
3 crates of common spices

Everybody gains 100xp for surviving the attack on the Fair Maiden.

[highmax28]

Varg volunteers to take a look at the ballista. After all, he probably worked on a few with his metalworking anyway. He kind of regrets not taking the ballista he used and attaching it on instead.

((What do I roll for? Craft skill alone or another?))

Edit:
Varg votes fleet and subtle.

[Iituem]

Varg volunteers to take a look at the ballista. After all, he probably worked on a few with his metalworking anyway. He kind of regrets not taking the ballista he used and attaching it on instead.

((What do I roll for? Craft skill alone or another?))

Edit:
Varg votes fleet and subtle.

Yes, Craft (metalworking) should do, actually.

[Tawa]

Accept the broth.

"Aye, I be Galan. Galan Morgawyn."

"Deeply sorry fer the Magic Missile, Cap'n. Are ye alright? I be afraid I have no healing magic at my disposal."

"With a touch of training, however, I may be able ta' learn wind-conjuring, aye."

A bit later, Galan offers his woodworking skills.

"I be handy with some wood, Cap'n. I can assist ye with carpentry."

[highmax28]

Varg volunteers to take a look at the ballista. After all, he probably worked on a few with his metalworking anyway. He kind of regrets not taking the ballista he used and attaching it on instead.

((What do I roll for? Craft skill alone or another?))

Edit:
Varg votes fleet and subtle.

Yes, Craft (metalworking) should do, actually.

Varg tries to fix the broken ballista. (15+1) ((Bollocks, I realiesd because of my low Int, craft just went kaput)

[Iituem]

Varg tries to fix the broken ballista. (15+1) ((Bollocks, I realiesd because of my low Int, craft just went kaput)

After dinner, you spend a couple of hours sorting out the ballista.  The spring that snapped needed replacing, but fortunately there was a spare in the stores.  You also make a few adjustments to the ballista to prevent the over-stretching that caused it to snap in the first place.  Captain Reach is very impressed and promises you an extra half-share from the sale of the current take.

Galan, you attempt to fix the damaged hull [Natural 1!].

You are absolutely confident you have the leak completely sealed up.  The Captain pats you on the back and congratulates you on a job well done.  You, too, are due an extra half-share.

[highmax28]

((This won't end well))

[Tawa]

((Oh snap.))

[Fniff]

Caerill attempts to rest and recuperate, voting for a subtle attack on the church. He also tries to craft a wooden crutch and tells a joke to some of the crew.
"Owing to my new circumstances, I have prepared some themed jokes...

A pirate looks to the heavens on his knees, then begins to pray. He has lost his crew from the plague, his ship to a fire, and his plunder to thieves. He has not shaved, bathed, or brushed his teeth in ages, thus smelling worse then a plaguepit. He begs the gods for a favor, his breath staining the air before it. Just then, there is a holy light, and the chief of the gods speaks to him... 'Please, we shall give you gems and women beyond your imagining, just please stop praying to us with your awful breath!'

A foolish pirate captain is sailing on a ship filled with slaves. The boat has a missing bottom and it's sinking without rescue. The captain says, 'Don't worry, in my will I have set you all free!'

A pirate is at a Katapeshi slave market, and is asking his fool of a first mate to fetch him two 20 year old lady slaves. A few hours later, the first mate is back with a 40 year old woman in chains. 'Sir, two twenty year olds were too expensive,' he says. 'But this one is cheaper and is two twenty year olds for the price of one!'

Hope you enjoyed my tales of a humorous nature. Remember: don't be a fool or my next joke will be about you!"
(Fun fact: all of those are real Ancient Greek jokes. I actually had to make them like real jokes: a surprising amount of old jokes are just "Hey, you know that idiot? He did something idiotic!".)

[highmax28]

Varg facepalms.

Remind me to throw you overboard if you ever become captain of ANYTHING...

Varg tries to tune up the ballistae so they don't backlash again ((I'll throw a roll in a sec. Mostly inspect the ballistae for defects and anything on them that should be reported (rust, tearing strings, dislodged parts, etc.))(

[Iituem]

Caerill attempts to rest and recuperate, voting for a subtle attack on the church. He also tries to craft a wooden crutch and tells a joke to some of the crew.

[Comedy: 13+4+2+3] Fortunately, you seem to have picked exactly the right sort of humour for your target audience and you have the pirates in stitches.  You have several more of the same lined up, and you doubt you'll need to worry about rations for a good week yet.  Everyone laughs, save the burly quartermaster, who glowers at you and mutters something about "wasted rations".

[Woodworking: 1!] After the meal you try and whittle a crutch together, slip, and accidentally cut open your hand (on the undamaged arm).  You manage to staunch the bleeding with a cloth, but pass out from blood loss, waking up with a terrible ache in your arm which persists for days afterwards.  However, over several days you recover to more or less full health, with one of the sailors roughly treating your wounds.

Varg tries to tune up the ballistae so they don't backlash again ((I'll throw a roll in a sec. Mostly inspect the ballistae for defects and anything on them that should be reported (rust, tearing strings, dislodged parts, etc.))(

[Metalworking: 10+1] Everything seems to be more or less in order.  You make a couple of adjustments to the bearings, but the ballistae are intact and in working order now.  You take a little bit of time to examine how they work as well; they appear to be steel frames (religiously oiled each day) mounted on gimballed wooden stocks, allowing the operator to fire in a 200 degree lateral arc and about a 120 degree vertical arc.  You can't really shoot behind yourself with one, but you wouldn't want to either.  The heavy steel bolts (of which the ship appears to have 24 left in stock) are loaded onto springs made of thick animal sinew, and then wound back into with a steel crank.  There are several types of artillery, mostly spring powered, that you have heard of, but collectively they are referred to as "guns".  There are also 50 wooden practice bolts in stock for gunners to train with.

Voting

Since nobody decided to try and influence the voting through argument, voting is largely random amongst the crew.  Varg votes for a fleet attack, and a subtle approach.  Caerill votes a church attack, and a subtle approach.  Galan and Mira leave off voting for the moment.  Quartermaster Greene gives Caerill an evil look and votes for a bold attack on the fleet.  4 crewmen vote to hit the fleet, 2 the church, 5 favour a bold attack and 1 subtle.  The Captain deliberately abstains.

With six to three on both counts, the decision is made to boldly attack a member of the Galamite fleet.  Galam is only a few days' travel away, but there is about enough time that while wounds do not heal fully, they cease to interfere with movement at least.  Heal all hitpoints to full.


Several days later...

Rain cascades down in sheets from above, at a definite slant from the light winds pushing the Shallow Hope on.  Galan, you spot the sails on the horizon first.  A two-masted brigantine, flying the pink of Galam.  She looks like a light patrol ship.  You'd judge she can match speed with you and she appears to have maybe four ballistae a side, but her larger size and one square-rigged mast might make her less manoeuverable.  You can't make out the number of sailors clearly, but you can make a distinction between ordinary sailors and perhaps four uniformed officers in light leather armour.  The name painted on her bow marks her as the "Exacting Retribution".

The captain thus far has shown a willingness to listen to the advice of his crew.  If you were to make arguments as to whether to attack and how, he may well abide by them.