Aye, I don't see much use fer yer crossbow in close-quarter. Not to mention ye look nothin' but shady if askin' me. They could sniff our deception in a jiffy.
Remember there might be guards on upper deck, and ye and Pugwash are our best shot t' dispose them gracefully before boardin' the ship, as well as provide necessary support in case we'd need to leave in a hurry.

Mission 1, Turn 1: Updated Actions so far- New Updated Actions

While Origi is getting ready with her Albatross on the bow sprit, and Grog'tial is waiting to see who all joins him on the longboat, he suddenly realizes something which has been nagging at the back of his mind. He swiftly rushes over to the bow. "Your majesty! A moment of your time, please! It occurred to me that the Admir'l mentioned how the small chest which is our main goal on the Denuvo is "well hidden", and how your eyepatch lets you see hidden things - but of course that ability only works once per mission! So do remember to keep that ability in reserve, and be certain to join the boarding party on the Denuvo in time to make use of it for where we might most need it! And if there's any doubt in your mind as to the abilities of your magnificent Prince with ferrying you back and forth at a rapid pace, I do think we have enough others heading for the guard tower that it might not need your personal touch there?"

If you need another half-ork with half sociopath parrot, Mighty will gladly join the oars

After servicing the Queen, Foggy decided to stay on the ship for the Denuvo boarding party under the following reasons:
1. 6 -1 mates are too many to take 2-3 tower guards out of control
2. If the plan is to edge up close to the Denuvo is because the max firepower of our ship could be needed. To keep all the cannons singing loud and clear, muscle is needed. Unless, this cursed ship handles the gun deck itself without any crew member. Polly could give clues of it
3. In case no crew is needed on our gun deck, the pessimistic scenario: Denuvo discovers our actions. The hardcore battle would happen on their main deck. "Soup time! Do vampires die beheading them or me needs to stab their hearts? Can I reuse the same stake until it wears out and breaks? Can vampires fly?" Foggy wondered while testing his perfectly sharped cutlass and trident. Then, he strapped two self-made stakes on each side of his belt that would be huge size for human hands and arms. "Time for killing!" He grunted. From now on, he would check over and over again the status of the cannon balls, gunpowder, nudes, chains, ropes and any other ship part or piece needed during the battle to distract his anxiety.

Bhrigu felt a deep sense of contentment that tinged his anticipation as he realised he was going to take part in a mission as a part of a pirate crew – not just any pirate crew but a cursed pirate crew. He rushed back into in his cabin and started packin' for the quest at hand. He took out his sabre out of the sheath and marvelled at its sharp shining edge. He suddenly felt he needed to carry that mysterious magnifying glass he had bought some time ago from a shady looking man by the side of a well in a village where a few imperial archeologists had unearthed the ruins of an ancient civilizations. "I found it lying around the tents of the science guys, it looked shiny" the shady man had said, "but it has been giving me dreams full of people talking in strange languages; you look like a man of letters, maybe you will have a better use for it". Did Bhrigu have a use for it now? He sure felt so, and stuffed it into an inner hidden pocket of his long coat. He took his satchel and put a few sheets of paper, filled two pens with magenta and invisible inks, and put it on his back. He took the new black tricorne, lined with deep brown velveteen cloth from the wardrobe and adjusted it with a visible sense of satisfaction. He closed the porthole of his cabin and patted the lantern gently which caused the light to dim as if it went to take a little nap.

As he walked back onto the deck he saw Queen Origi was being fliwn to the roof of the tower by her albatross. "Arr, this is an experience me ain't much eager to partake in" he expressed his clear uncomfort at being hauled through the air. Grog'tial had taken a lot of stakes and also attached some to his crosbow bolts, which seemed a quite intelligent thing to do. "Silent and deadly – sillent – annd – deadlyy" Bhrigu rolled his tongue placing emphasis on the need for stealth in this mission. He himself took a couple of stakes and secured them to his cummerbund. His Cat was sleeping as a bracer on his arm snoring a little, so he petted them a little waking them up ready for the upcoming mission.

"Ahoy, me plan to stay on the ship for now and join the boarding squadron to the evil ship and take out those scallywag vampirates, and help the rest of me mateies in looking for the chest and other possible treasure".

Very good observations and questions! Who says Half-Orcs can't think. Pssh-tush. ;)

1. 2-3 tower guards at night have been reported, we don't know for sure how many are there. it will depend on the dice as someone approaches.

2. Good thinking to ask Polly. Polly has stated for Bellandra to avoid the Fiendfyre cannons, which the Ship controls. There are also more normalish guns on the Gun Deck where the half-orcs berth that take cannon balls and thus have to be reloaded manually. (Which Foggy would have noticed as he slept there last night. We wouldn't want them sleeping by the Fiendfyre guns.)

3. Vampirates die from beheading or crushing the skull completely, from a stake through the heart (it must be left in so no you cannot reuse the same stake), or by burning (fire is dangerous on a ship though). In this instance, Vampirates cannot turn into bats and do not fly.

* * * * *
Polly glances at Count Karnstein, then answers Foggy's questions, speaking just barely loud enough for the others on deck to hear. "Ye needs to behead them, crush their skulls in, or be stabbing them in their heart wit' a wood stake. Ye has to leave the stake in their black hearts, so ye be needin' more than one stake. Vampirates can't fly, not that I be seein' anyhow."

She then turns to the longboat team. "Durik, Mighty, ye be helpin' Aylar the Red Mane, Aye? Ye be listenin' to Aylar, he been a Cap'n before, and ye be helpin' him with the big pulley wheels and the heavy chains so the Ship not be trapped. Yarr."

(Edit - clarification and spelling)

Bellandra smirked at Karnstein's words. "I be no dear, Count, but yer suggestion has merit, and I be no stranger to strange concoctions. I'll get ye the garlic."

While walking towards the kitchen on her task, she passed near the cannon deck and shuddered at the thought of cannonfire and splintering and burning wood. If all went well they would avoid any ship to ship combat. She also pondered Polly's observations regarding stakes and vampirates, and decided to grab a couple more stakes, just in case things went sour. She thought she might accomplish a few beheadings with her cutlass even if she ran out of stakes, but better to keep the options open.

What's that horrible threatening face expression? Foggy showing his teeth to Polly? A smile? "Me no need tooth sticks, me will crush skulls with knife and fork alone" throwing his stakes away to keep going his status monitoring duty.

#bjgamer: More questions. Can I make action changes? How do I proceed? New posts or should I go back and edit my post? Should I scratch the initial comment documenting the changes made, or not worry and change anything making difficult to you to detect and control changes? I'm sorry for the extra work this would add to your magnificent hosting. I wouldn't mind if you forbid changes to keep things simple.

Yes you can update/change your actions until that Turn's end or until GM has posted results of that particular action, in which case it is set as other players' results may be based off of it. Usually it is better to update in new posts for both the GM and for other players to see what updates might have been made that they may want to change their own actions or react to, especially if the action starts getting faster. Edits would be fine if spelling errors or done quickly after original post before any others may have based their actions on yours. Scratching the original comment to document a change would be nice, thus giving both players and GM the clue to look for a new post - or you can also link or note the new post number into the old to indicate a change.

Thanks for another good question. :)

Edit - Currently I am more available and keeping more of a running post Q&A and tutorial style for this first turn. Later I may not be quite so closely monitoring the action so any edits may have to be called to my attention (PM or new post).

NOTE TO CREW: Post 3 in this thread will have links to Most Current Action Results noted by the GM and links to Briefing, plans or maps, and current Mission Turn.

"Can Grog'tial gibe me 1 stake pls, I forgot."

"Durik can come back from tower to ship if ye want"

Polly swept her wing toward the longboat and the two Half-Orc sized stakes Foggy had dropped on the deck floated over to Durik. She bobbed her head at Durik. "If there be only one wheel and Aylar nay be needin' ye, then ye can come back with Grog'tial in the longboat."

Then she cocked her head to Aylar, "Or is yer plan bein' ye all comin' back with Grog'tial in the longboat before we sail for the Denuvo?"

(Edit - Polly gives the big stakes Foggy dropped to the deck to Durik.)

Aylar hummed. "I reckon we be playing it a bit by ear. If guards and the wheel prove no trouble, it would make sense fer most of us to return to the Ship. Lads can man them cannons, I would help out on Denuvo's deck, and we'll need Queen's magick patch fer loot checking. I'm nae sure I would risk leaving tower fully unattended after we be done with it, so perhaps Argy will be more comfortable keeping an eye on the cleaned up guardpost in meantime, until we be done with the mission and the bird be sent to fetch her."

He cocks his head a bit also, almost unconsciously, "Be there more reasons fer concern? Would we need more manpower or a hastier retreat? I could keep an eye on the tower meself, but by me estimation me blade and tricks would be more use on deck."

Hearing the faint call from below, Pugwash descends from the crows nest to visit the hold where the livestock is kept.

Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately for the rest of the voyage), the hold was not equipped with a public convenience for the use of the animals, so the hold was already well stocked with dung.

Holding his nose, Pugwash carefully collects the dung to bring to Count Karnstein.

Pugwash is gratified to have been of assistance in the preparation of the assault, but regrets the cost. He now has the same foul smell of Rummyfang's basket of laundry, but without any of the benefits.