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[Weirdsound]

"You are well-learnt, and quite perceptive. I'm indeed a soldier from Eidanel, although I don't know much about the songs from there... I didn't have much time for songs."

"Huh... I was under the impression that ya army folks were nearly as musical as us seafolk. With all the drums and horns and whatnot. Learn sometin new everyday I guess. Darn. And I was hopping I could pick up some of your side's battle hymns off ya too."

Duncan falls into a bit of a sulk at Five's critical comment.
"Dunno. Know a coupla folk songs. Not sure where they're all from. Back home, they say having a skill improves yer marriageability, so I learned a few pop'lar melodies.

...

Didn't get that one from any tutor, though. Thatun's from the gypsy traders."

"Marriageability? Ohohooho! Lookout! We gots yourself a high flouting noble-type here!"

Landon smirks, and strums a few cheeky bars of a traditional song played at noble feasts and weddings.

"Least yer upbringing didn't thwart your tastes. Ya learn better music from the people you meet on the road or sea than ya do from whatever fuckwad yer rich father hires to teach ya. I know that much from experience at least."

[Maximum Spin]

Duncan blushes, quite extensively, which is a sight to see. It goes all the way to his ears. In a small voice, he says,
"I dunno about 'rich' exactly. Richer than some, I guess."

[Supernerd]

Aku takes a moment to take stock of the items that he has on his person, and if he still has enough money to gamble or purchase something from the merchants.

[VermilionSkies]

Eich downs the last of his drink, before hobbling off to claim a nearby seat as his.
"'Dunno about the army, but the Mantle Guard had very little for music. The pair of you are probably the best musicians I've seen, as low as that bar is."

[Stirk]

Aku takes a moment to take stock of the items that he has on his person, and if he still has enough money to gamble or purchase something from the merchants.

You have your gloves, your cloths, and your armor immediately on your person (or close enough that you could reasonably reach them at a moment's notice). Deep in the ship's actual cargo you have gear necessary to survive as a hunter including portable shelter, basic medical equipment, fire kit, mess kit, bags, kill processing equipment, torches...and other such useful things that certainly have value but may not be wise to trade away.

As far as money goes you have a scant few coins left after paying for all your new gear and the trip itself. Most of the New World doesn't have an official government as of yet and those living there often rely on a barter system, if what you're told is true. Still this ship is going back to the Old World so the money will have value to the sailors if no one else. You estimate you have enough for a large bag of rootflower, a keg of grog, a fine meal from the captain's stock, or some similarly priced mundane item. Enough to gamble to pass the time with, so long as you don't hit a loosing streak.

[Supernerd]

Aku elects to just patiently wait things out. (Don't want to slow things down for everyone else)

[Stirk]

For some time the casual atmosphere of music, conversation, and brooding continues. It is rudely brought to a stop by a sudden shudder in the ship - the Zephyr tilting heavily toward port as if struck by a great force. Civilians all around are tossed from their feet and slide across the floor alongside their tools of amusement and loose gear. More sure footed, the Hunters on the ship are not only able to retain their footing but equip themselves for battle by the time their grog hits the floor...for the most part, at least.

One of the refugees remains standing, a young preacher from the Creator's Reformed Church. Reformists believe that knowledge and the magic it allows are meant for all mankind, and are known to educate anyone regardless of their social standing while distributing high-fertility food to their flock to ensure widespread magic use. This is in contrast to the Creator's Church (often called "Traditionalist" by Reformists) who believe mana is provided to those who have the Divine Right by the Creator to protect the rest of humanity, and that those without the burden have a duty to make those with it as strong as possible just as the those with the Divine Right have a duty to be righteous protectors. Traditionalists have persecuted Reformists since the Reformists founding near a century back, believing that the Reformist's heresy will weaken the nation and cause the peasants to stray off the holy path. This has kicked up after a Reformist faction attempted a revolution in a powerful country, forcibly "redistributing" mana from the wealthy to the poor when they managed victories, going so far as to use Alchemy to leach the mana from many ancient artifacts. Fearing similar chaos in their own countries and wishing to weaken the revolution, many nations began a crack down on Reformists forcing them to come to the New World as a result.

Tangent aside the preacher moves to protect the civilians. He begins throwing down hammocks, which seem to harden forming a shield to protect the refugees from falling debris and splinters. After they where sufficiently protected, he began walking among them assisting the wounded.

Another man on his feet was one of the prominent merchants. At the snap of his fingers a four-armed monkey moved to protect his merchandise, tactfully moving them out of the way of customers who would have smashed a barrel of sweetflour or spilled over a cask of fine wine. He looks over to the sailor accusingly, as if this was your fault somehow.

Of the remaining Hunters, the most common response was to run up the stairs with weapons drawn in the assumption that you're in the middle of a monster attack. A female Chef brandishing a cooking knife, a bearded man with a windrifle, and a man in Eastern armor with a normal rifle move to engage the threat before it manages to put a hole in the think keeping the lot of you from a watery grave.

[Weirdsound]

Landon calmly puts his Mandolin away. He reaches for a furry object on his bed, which turns out to be a snoozing otter, and places it on his shoulder. "Bout that time then... Soldier Boy, Yer Noble Highness, ya two with me?"

He calmly strolls toward the stairs, and spots the merchant giving him the stink eye on the way. "Oi, doncha fucking look at me mate. Damn Zealots probably got us into this mess by praying fer a bountiful mana harvest or sometin. But don'tcha worry, Chubs an' I are ready ta fucking reap!"

At the mention of his name, the Otter hisses aggressively at the merchant's Monkey. Landon gives his little friend a pat on the head to calm it down. "Nah. Not that one Chubs. Upstairs."

[Eschar]

PTW.

[VermilionSkies]

"Ah, shite. Well, it's about time I get-hic- in ta practice bashing open monster skulls instead." Eich slurs before slinging his Zweihander over his shoulder and stumbling upstairs with all the grace of a poorly oiled carriage.

[Supernerd]

Aku heads topside to see what is going on.

[Maximum Spin]

Landon calmly puts his Mandolin away. He reaches for a furry object on his bed, which turns out to be a snoozing otter, and places it on his shoulder. "Bout that time then... Soldier Boy, Yer Noble Highness, ya two with me?"

While collecting his weapons, Duncan hears this statement, stops short for a moment, staring as if trying to remember something, then mumbles "Duncan." before following.

[Weirdsound]

While collecting his weapons, Duncan hears this statement, stops short for a moment, staring as if trying to remember something, then mumbles "Duncan." before following.

The sailor grins. "Duncan? Now that's a goddamn fancy high flouting name if I've ever heard one, but I think I gots ya beat in that department. I'm Landon."

[Stirk]

Landon calmly puts his Mandolin away. He reaches for a furry object on his bed, which turns out to be a snoozing otter, and places it on his shoulder. "Bout that time then... Soldier Boy, Yer Noble Highness, ya two with me?"

He calmly strolls toward the stairs, and spots the merchant giving him the stink eye on the way. "Oi, doncha fucking look at me mate. Damn Zealots probably got us into this mess by praying fer a bountiful mana harvest or sometin. But don'tcha worry, Chubs an' I are ready ta fucking reap!"

At the mention of his name, the Otter hisses aggressively at the merchant's Monkey. Landon gives his little friend a pat on the head to calm it down. "Nah. Not that one Chubs. Upstairs."

The monkey hisses back - briefly before it goes back to keeping the goods safe.

All hunters - barring Five who seemed to stay behind to prepare some kind of weapon - make it to the top deck. The Zephyr is a three mast carrack, with several cannons lining the main deck and a pair of swivel guns on the aftcastle. More noticeable at the moment is the swarm of Wolf Sharks leaping across its deck in an attempt to devour the crew.

Wolf Sharks are named for their pack tactics, rather than being particularly wolf like in any other respect barring perhaps their size. They have the appearance similar to a typical shark with an odd jaw design. In short despite being the size of a wolf they're considered "micro-predators" of giant seamonsters. Sea monsters of great size are even more common than their land-bound cousins. When two of such creatures meet it often results in a battle for dominance as one attempts to devour the other. Wolf Sharks take advantage of these situations to take a bite out of these sea creatures when they're distracted fighting each other, running off with a mouthful of mana-rich meat before the fight ends. Unfortunately said creatures see human ships as something close to a wounded beast and will take bites out of humans just as readily as its typical prey. A swarm is unlikely to do any real damage to a massive sea monster - but a human bit by one is lucky if they just lose an arm.

Said sharks are not particularly adapted to fighting out of the water - they simply are using their amazing strength to jump on to or over the ship looking for food simply because that is where the blood is coming from. Most bites are taking a chunk out of the woodwork, and a few flop off empty-mouthed. Sailors are attempting to fight off the creatures with whatever is on hand to some effect, with the hunters that arrived earlier fighting to protect them either intentionally or incidentally as it is difficult to move around with this many sharks attacking. While numerous they are not particularly strong individually - shots that land home result in the shark flopping briefly before sliding off the deck into the drink where they remain floating on their side.

Perhaps more concerning however is the tentacle grasping the center of the Zephyr, no doubt the thing that caused and is still causing the ship to tilt heavily to one side. This creature could certainly sink the ship in seconds. It would likely have if not for swift action from the Captain - standing next to the tentacle a head taller than him with his long knife berried deep in its side. A potent poison seems to have kept the creature from making the trivial movement that would doom everyone aboard to a watery grave. Unfortunately four more tentacles are shooting out of the water with no signs of paralysis. While novice seagoers may assume this creature is a famous Kraken those with more knowledge may identify it as a Star Sinker by the spikes on the its arms. They are particularly dreaded for their technique of grappling enemies, something that works particularly well against seagoing vessels filled with things that can't breath. Ships that manage to survive the initial ambush must then deal with their regenerative capabilities. Each of its arms are capable of acting independently and recovering from most forms of damage in moments, depending on the mana consumption of the creature in question. Fishermen tell tails of a great hero who cut five of its arms off only to find he was now facing six sinkers, which he only managed to defeat by making them fight each other.

As the above story demonstrates their weakness is that they arn't too bright. Their tentacles are about as smart as you can expect an appendage to be. If a seaman is able to dislodge it from their ship, it will likely forget about them immediately if they make it out of its detection range.

*****

FIRST BATTLE!
Wolf Sharks - Minor Monsters
Sea Sinker - Major Monster

INIT ROLLS
Landon Init 5
Eich Init 4
Five Init 4, if he shows up at some point.
Aku Init 3
Duncan Init 5

Wolf Sharks Init 3
Star Sinker Init 4

As a reminder turn order is players -> enemies, so you can make your action at any time during your Init without having to wait for any other players.

It is Init 5. Landon and Duncan have the first moves. There are 12 Wolf Sharks for the party to fight, unless Five shows up in which case there will be 15.

[Weirdsound]

"That big monster be dumb boys. But very dangerous. We need ta escape it. I'll try 'n distract the grabbers that haven't got us yet with the guns. Some of ya should work on dislodgeing the one day already got us. We can worry 'boit the sharks once that ship ain't in danger of sinking."

Landon will try and man one of the ships guns to put a cannonball between all the tentacles, in hopes they respond to the splash and fight each other, or at least investigate something other than the ship.

(Sorry I'm traveling, and don't know how to highlight text to bold/color it on my phone.)