Polly nodded to Aylar, "Ye be correct. The Locket will take only ye, and only where ye can see and concentrate on yer destination. It nay be takin' ye into the tower, nay places ye cannot see past." She cocked her head. "Disabling one o' the chain wheels should be being enough to get the Ship out ag'in and sure. Aye. The longboat will be ready for ye, and we can leave it there for ye and the boyos to get back to and be picked up. As soon as the Ship is in range of it, then can I bring it back and ye aboard, but I canna' take it all the way into the harbor and out ag'in."

The morning after the embarassing imaginary attack of the imaginary cursed leeches, Cap'n Barfdeck Rummyfangs joined his Brethren at the Great Cabin's long table for Admiral Polly's mission briefing. Being the first mission, he made the extra effort to listen attentively and absorb as much as he could: there is a key to a treasure we want to loot, in a small chest in their Vampirate Captain's Quarters, aboard the Denuvo ship protected by a sinister dark magic. It is crucial that the chest be returned to our ship, unopened, as it may be hiding a trap. Same caution applies for any other loot found aboard that cursed vessel, that they too must be inspected by Queen Origi and Bhrigu before carried back to our ship.

Cap'n Barfdeck Rummyfangs studied the map of the harbour and the blueprints of the Denuvo ship. He also helped himself to 2 sharp wooden stakes and a bottle of water, from a basket that Admiral Polly opened at the long table. He strapped the stakes to his left side, opposite to his Rapier, which was on his right.

"Admiral Polly, last moon ye asked me t' speak if I needed anythin' patched...," Cap'n Barfdeck Rummyfangs blushed when pointing at his clawed breeches, shirt and coat shoulder. "Aye, I reckon I do indeed needs some patchin!" Then, paused before adding, "I be needin' some rope too, please. Be thar a merchant onboard who could provide me some rope?"

The Felinoid pirate's attention turned to his Brethren now, who were all engaged in a lively exchange of strategies on how best to approach this mission. Many great ideas were brought forward, which was not surprising for a crew with solid battle experience. He was about to chime in and offer to take care of the watchtower guards whilst in disguise, when he heard Admiral Polly explain to Grog'tial that cursed items can only be summoned once during this mission.

"Best I save me patchwork disguise fer stealin' that chest in the Vampirate's Pieces o' eight!" Cap'n Barfdeck Rummyfangs muttered to himself.

"I'll be joinin' the boardin' crew 'n save me disguise trickery once it's time t' infiltrate the Vampirates cabin!" He turned to face Gilius in agreement, with his proposed plan of action. " 'til then, I prefer t' use me Rapier if stealth fails me..."

With a puzzled grimace on his face, Cap'n Barfdeck Rummyfangs nudges Admiral Polly for attention and asked, "How do I go about summonin' the leeches, err, I mean, the power o' the three patchwork rags livin' inside me fabrics t' bestow me wit' a clever disguise?"

Polly bobbed her head to the Felinoid, Cap'n Rummyfangs. "Aye. Be bringing yerself an' yer clothes to my Cabin after this meetin' and I'll have 'em patched up and back to ye before the Mission. As said b'fore, there be plenty o' rope in the Ship's stores, help yerself."

"As fer yer other Patches, ye only need be lookin' to where ye be wantin' to blend in or pass and concentratin' on yer needin' a disguise. Yer Patches be doin' the rest. Mind ye, they not be disguising ye as much bigger, nor smaller, nor turning ye all magick like, but they be making themselves over into makin' ye seem 'harmless'."

The Ship ran dark, no lights beyond that of its own dim currents of spectral energies, and those were hidden from mere mortal eyes. Although there was a sliver of a crescent moon, fate had favored them with wisps of cloud now and again, and a bare touch of mist near the shoreline. The darkness of the night didn't bother Felinoid eyes, for felines see by starlight, similar to Elven eyes although Aylar's night sight was reduced by his human half. Pugwash found his glass eye also helped, although not as much as a feline or other creatures of the night.

The ghostly aura faded somewhat and the view of the surrounding sea and shore cleared as the Ship slowly came out of stealth. After asking Pugwash, Aylar and Cap'n Barfdeck Rummyfangs to check if the surrounding area was clear, Polly gestured and the longboat with the tower assault group was lowered silently to the water, just off the little inlet.

The wind was from the East, from the shore, and the Crew could hear the slight sounds of a port town. Queen Origi had rigged a harness for her albatross, and they were moving forward to the bow sprit where the albatross could catch the sea wind head on, the only way an albatross can take off, especially carrying extra weight.

Polly used the energies of the Ship to give a small nudge to the longboat, to start it on its way. The Mission had begun ...

* * * * *

MISSION 1, TURN 1:
I will use the beginning of this turn as a type of tutorial, especially as we do have a couple players who are new to this style of game.

The start has now been set for you. Each of you should post where you are - longboat, crow's nest ...; what you did to prepare; and what you have with you. Be somewhat detailed, not so much as an entire page covering everything, but be aware also of what you can reasonably carry, encumbrances, etc.

You may also post your first actions based on what your character might expect to encounter and your intent, even to using "if/then" statements - if we see/encounter this, then I will ...; if not I will ...

During this first part of the turn I may roll dice and augment info once people post their positions, or I may move the action along somewhat as there seemed to be more consensus of two teams and the boarding team is dependent on the actions of the longboat team to continue their own actions.

I will try to be a bit more present during this first turn to answer questions - although the GM invokes the right not to give away the plot or the store! LOL. I can say, note your fellow Crew's backgrounds, their strengths, weaknesses and experience, but only those which have been publicly stated where you could hear or observed by you. Think creatively and also make note of other Cursed Weapons for they were meant to give you advantages when you work together.

Good Luck! Have fun! :)

Origi carries her rapier and a sack containing a rope and some leather cloths. She takes off with her albatross and tries to land quietly on the watchtower roof, where she looks for a hiding place near the entrance, waiting for the next solo patrol. She send the albatross back down for Argy, (and maybe for Aylar if they're light enough and want to start on the roof). After the albatross has finished ferrying people up, it will circle close to the top of the tower, waiting for Origi's next command.

Bellandra mused upon the strategies she had heard being discussed. She had wavered between helping the tower party, or helping the boarding of the Denuvo.

While the tower guards were likely to be alert and attentive, they might be only human, and might be feeling drowsy at this time of night. She thought the vampirates in the Denuvo might be more formidable - it being nighttime, she surmised the vampirates would not be asleep at all but would be at their most alert, and she suspected they might move fast when they wished. Her sextant might thus prove useful aboard the Denuvo, not only in combat but perhaps to freeze some guards so that the boarding party could sneak past.


So Bellandra resolved to take part in the boarding party going to the Denuvo. She took along her trusty cutlass strapped to her belt on her right side, the sextant hidden in a pocket. She also strapped on the other side of her belt a bottle of water from the provided supplies and two wooden stakes. "Fine wood these are, not unlike meself. And they be sharp enough to make their point to any vampirate." Besides, she thought with a grin, if any vampirates tried to bite her neck, they might find it rather.... wooden... to their taste. As an afterthought, she also took a coil of rope, and a sack.

She marveled at the mighty albatross with its harness, and admired Queen Origi's ingenuity. She thought, if matters went awry and the people in the tower needed more help, the albatross could come to fetch her.

So she nodded good fortune both to Queen Origi and her albatross, and towards people in the longboat, and waited aboard the forecastle deck for their opportunity to board. She was ready for their first adventure.

Queen Origi - tutorial example - "She takes off with her albatross"
- Queen Origi did not state whether she tested the harness in her preparations - (roll dice) - the harness is secure and functions.

Further results from Queen Origi's actions will come after more characters have posted and initiative is rolled.

Thank you, Queen Origi, for posing a good tutorial example.

(edit - spelling)

Durik expected the captain to give orders about what to do, but it seemed that everyone was deciding on his own.
He grabbed a rope, some lockpicks (hid in his shoes), bandages, matches and a knife. And his cudgel, of course.

"Durik can go to tower, but me heavy with Dakka*. Can the bird carry?"
"If not, I be stayin' on ship for later"

(*his cannon weapon)

"Durik, ye half-orc yet? Wanna help yer fellas with rowing that boat? They might need ye."

Count was looking at the assault squad's preparations, wonderin' what vampirates ship be like. Prolly some cheap amateurs. Still the felling was quite uneasy.

I be takin' just my trusty saber and pipe, which I keep in pocket anyway. Certainly don't wanna be nowhere near that stinky liquid the parrot brought.

"Listen up, about the cannons on the lower deck... I believe, considerin' the circumstances, I'm... presentable enough t' fool any scallywags dwelling there into doin' somethin' silly. How that sounds? I may need someone inconspicuous fer backup too, just in case."

Grog'tial sighs a bit as the crew starts running back and forth without any sign of being organized about it, let alone agreeing to any type of plan. "Ah well, they're nothing to me anyway, despite it feeling somewhat ...nice to be chatting with some of them last night. Must remember my own priorities: Find out about the tunnels, and to be able to do that, make a good impression on the admir'l."
After a moment of consideration, "...and let's add surviving to the top of that list."

Grog'tial has gathered some twine from the ship's stores, and a dozen of the wooden stakes. He has tied half a dozen of his stakes to his crossbow bolts, and experimentally fired one far out over the water, making careful note of the way the added weight influences the trajectory so he can compensate for that later on.

Not trusting his escape route to a single large bird whose priority would not be to get a half-dwarf out of trouble, Grog'tial goes see if there are actually sufficient crew to man the longboat (ooc: I asked how many are necessary - if it's one, he intends to go on shore as long as there's at least one other person also taking the boat; if it's two, he wants a crew of at least 3, counting himself).
If there are sufficient people headed for the longboat, he joins them for the assault on the tower.

Grog'tial intends to carefully observe the situation at the tower, with priority on ascertaining the location of all guards, and reacting to that in a tactically sound manner. If possible, he'll just use regular bolts on his crossbow to help take out the guards and preferably stay behind a melee fighter for any fighting, but if he sees any sign of the guards being about to raise the alarm, or getting the better of the crew, he'll blow his seashell to stop them.

After the guards have been neutralized, if at all possible given the actions of the other crew, Grog'tial takes the longboat back to the ship (probably being the messenger that the ship is safe to proceed into the harbor). If there's not sufficient crew for the longboats, Grog'tial stays on board the ship to see how the plan with the bird shakes out. In both cases, he intends to then assist with the boarding of the Denuvo (intending to make for the Fighting Top, assuming that'll give him a good view of the deck of the Denuvo and that Pugwash will be in the Crow's Nest).

If Grog'tial assaulted the tower but afterward can't use the longboat to get back to the ship, he'll make for Smuggler's Dock over land, and will hide out in the bushes to observe what's happening with the Denuvo.

Inventory:
- 6 wooden stakes
- extra twine
- 5 wooden stakes tied to crossbow bolts
- (many) regular crossbow bolts
- crossbow with a regular bolt loaded
- conch seashell

"Ok, me can go in boat.
Grog'tial there then?
And Foggy and Mighty?"

Grog'tial nods approvingly upon overhearing some planning for what to do about the cannons. "I don't think I'm the right person for backup there, but lemme know if no one signs up for it at all, and I'll tag along anyway."

If Aylar -is- light enough to be carried by an albatross, he'll go for it just for the opportunity alone (not every raid you get a ride from a giant bird) and to even out the roof team with the ground assault team numbers wise. If he's not light enough for the bird, he'll join the rowboat group.

He'll go light, only taking his blade, his locket, some rope, and a small (belt-size) axe from the ship's stores if he's able to procure one there.

Argy joins the tower assault group, with the equipment posted in #62 tightly ensured in a small backpack and the pan in her hands. She will try to stay hidden and explore the surroundings of the tower looking for a side door or any alternate means to enter the tower. She will try to avoid any confrontation but, if combat arises, she'll try to knock out the nearest enemy from behind (in the case she remains hidden). If caught stalking by the guard, she'll pretend to be an innocent lost halfling (and she's got cupcakes to bribe the guards...)

Edit: I just noticed I had a free albatross ride :) sorry for my lazy reading...
If that's the case, she will join Origi and explore the watchtower. She'll try to stay hidden and avoid confrontation anyway, similar to above.