This will depend on if the Captain turns the Ship and brings the broadside to bear (turns the ship so the cannons have both range and are pointed at the other ship to fire) - as currently the Ship jumped past the others and they are now behind us and only the fiendfyre aft guns (rear cannons) are currently pointed at them. The fiendfyre cannons are solely controlled by the Ship/Captain/Admiral.

Captain Baldbeard uses his whistle to call on his shark pack to help out in the waters around the ship. He continues to use his harmonica in tune with the song so as to break any possible siren effect. Silently counting his blessings for being short enough to make dodging harpoons a bit easier, he makes his way around the ship carefully, helping whoever he can, keeping a lookout for any attack that may come his way.

hmmmm.... in that case scrape my idea for an action till I can think of something better.

Aylar will give the signal to fiendfyre cannons to fire at the sole enemy ship within firing distance, then order the Crew to hold on or/and secure themselves with ropes, and only then be ready to either man the cannons or otherwise attack by any means they have - taking a full-speed Squid straight to the starboard would be bad news so the Ship is going to sharply turn the bow starboard side, and it's likely going to rock aplenty - the hope is that there still be enough time for the course adjustment to complete so that the beastie would overshoot its swim and end up at our port side instead - if this indeed be working out so, Aylar will complete the turning maneuver properly, making sure the port side cannons are well in position for the Crew on deck to shoot at the Squid at, and that the shooters at nests be having a clear line of fire.

A Squid at our bow would be less good, but if it will be evident that we aren't making the full turn, the bow can be a weapon in its own way, and the shield hopefully should be lasting just enough to give it a farewell burn.

Naturally he be looking for opportunities to move forward if the Squid's aim gets thrown off and the path be open, but let's show this overgrown seafood what's for, so it nae hinder us and cause the undead fleet and small fry to catch up!

Disregard last action post


Kyp hearing the order quickly goes to the cannons that would be facing the squid (Assuming the turning is successful).

Once there he secures himself to the ship so that he won't get thrown around by the turning.

Kyp loads up as many cannons as he can and fires them if they seem to be pointed at the squid.

Mighty

Mighty grabs a nearest mast, if there is any rope, he will try to tie one end to the mast and other end in waist. He will be ready to attack with his claw tentacles that will move to the main deck. If there is any crew member in need of help he will try to come to rescue (if Mighty will hear her/him as he is half deaf now due to Cracker squawks).

Gilius goes in the middle of the main deck and concentrates. He begins feeling the energies of nature in the air around him and begins channelling them. In a matter of seconds, a small wind begins to rise and flow gently in the sails, helping to push the ship forward and maneuver more easily.
He stays in this position, concentrating to maintain that wind.

[Will edit for more detail if time permits.]

Bellandra will mentally implore their new allied ships to engage their nearest enemies, but taking care not to waste their newfound freedom in a futile attack. In particular she asks the allied ships if they can fire upon the squid as it approaches, or the enemy ship seeking to board the party's ship. However, she asks the allies to take care not to hit the party's ship if they fire.

If any merrow remain on deck, Bellandra will attack them first with hand crossbow regular bolts and then with her cutlass once she is close enough. She is ready to use stun bolts against any groups of merrow that climb on deck, or explosive bolts against a vulnerable part of the squid such as an eye or an open maw.

Hearing Aylar's warning to secure themselves, Bellandra will then grab on to the nearest mast or railing,

Once the squid is in range, Pugwash will shoot at it using ordinary bolts. Fiery bolts are no good against monsters in water and the 2 remaining stun bomb bolts are too precious to waste. With luck giant squids bleed, so even a non-lethal hit would do harm.

Should any Merrow catch up to the ship, Pugwash will shoot at them, again using ordinary bolts.

Pugwash doesn't believe he can do much against the ships, so will take no direct action against them. However, if he sees anything of interest, he will call down to the rest of the crew.

Mission 4 - Turn 3, Dragon Turtle Island Landing
*Next turn starts 4 AM UTC, 21 November

Aylar gives the signal for the aft fiendfyre cannons to fire at the sole enemy ship within firing distance. (roll dice) Three guns blaze forth, catching the ship unawares just forward of its port flank, setting its gun deck aflame (roll dice) while the Mermaid ship splinters its bow and fore mast bringing her own guns around to bear, and continues raking fire across the port broadside which the enemy had not been prepared for. Aylar then orders the Crew to hold on or/and secure themselves with ropes, and only then be ready to either man the cannons or otherwise attack by any means they have. Knowing that taking a full-speed Squid strike straight to the starboard would be bad news, he shoves the wheel over to sharply turn the bow starboard, even while gauging it's likely going to rock the Ship aplenty. From the first boarding he noted the Ship's lines were made for speed and maneuverability and hopes there still be enough time for the course adjustment to complete so that the beastie would overshoot its swim and end up port side instead.

Count Karnstein moves forward and tells Aeshma to hide in the forecastle. (roll dice) She is about to tell him exactly what she thinks about hiding when someone may need her help, when she reconsiders. Fighting aboard a ship at sea is his forte, not hers after all. Reluctantly she nods acknowledgement and moves to obey the order ... this time. (roll dice) She is near the stairs down when Aylar yells out to the Crew to hold on or secure themselves and then after a moment hauls the wheel over. The bow rises sharply while coming around to starboard.

(roll dice) Instinctively knowing what Aylar must have in mind, Count Karnstein reachs out and grabs Aeshma just as she tumbles. (roll dice) He seizes a secure line nearby and uses his strength and experience to brace them both against the forecastle wall, riding out the sharp rearing roll of the turn. As the Ship comes about and begins to settle, the Count reaches around to open the forecastle door and pushes Aeshma inside. Then he moves to position himself in the middle of the main deck, getting ready to dodge and chop tentacles invading aboard. He orders those with blunt weapons who are not manning cannons to grab the axes and get ready.

"What are you doing! You know where I am from the meat from merrow tail is a delicacy! Mainly because most encounters with them are dangerous" Kyp calls out to the Count as he sees him kick a perfectly good merrow kill off the deck to clear it for action. Then hearing Aylar's order, Kyp quickly goes to the port side cannons and secures himself to the ship so that he won't get thrown around by the turning. (roll dice) He loads the two cannons he can reach and control and rides the roll and plunge through the abrupt course change.

Cap'n Rummyfangs also hears Aylar's order and sees the tactic being employed. In one flowing motion the Felinoid phantom sheathes his rapier and bounds to the main deck, heading for the port side cannons just beyond Kyp's. Not needing a rope to ride the rocking and rolling deck in spectral form, Cap'n Rummyfangs quickly loads and primes two more cannons and awaits the target, baring his fangs in a fearsome grin.

As Aylar hauls the wheel over hard he feels the Ship rear up and roll, fighting inertia and the waves. Aylar sees Clíodhna rising from the rail to lead the course change in flight like a bright spectral beacon as he Wills the Ship to come about into the turn in time. He reaches within to apply strength of mind as well as body, and finds her joining hers to his through the link. There is a boost of wind, and Aylar sees Gilius concentrating on the main deck, calling a wind into the sails. (roll dice) Then there is that other power there again, helping with the wheel, showing him just where to apply that Will, a subtle nudge here, a redirection of spectral energies there. The Ship quickens its response, and Aylar feels again what seems like a good, if strong, pat on the back and a sense of good-humored approval reminding him of the first time he stepped upon the gangplank. (roll dice) Abruptly the power rushes forward and for the first time he hears a phoenix's challenge as once again there is a sense of a great living sea creature and a concussive force reverberates from the bow, (roll dice) knocking the Giant Squid just enough off course and slightly stunning it somehow as Aylar completes the turning maneuver and brings the the port side cannons into position for the Crew on deck to shoot at the Squid, and the shooters at nests be having a clear line of fire.

Some might overlook a Druid on a ship, or think him superfluous, but Gilius had sailed with 'Polly' for three years upon the Weirding Sea and in that time he had picked up several useful tricks. Now Gilius goes in the middle of the main deck and concentrates. (roll dice) He begins feeling the energies of nature in the air around him and begins calling to them, channeling them. In a matter of seconds, a small wind begins to rise, encompassing the Ship and flowing gently in the sails with a steady increasing push, helping to guide the ship into the course change and then forward, helping the Ship maneuver more easily. He stays in this position, concentrating to maintain that wind, boosting the Ship to outrun her foes. (roll dice) Gilius smiles as he feels Clíodhna's delight in his work and hears her challenge to the Giant Squid as she uses his winds to spiral higher, more graceful now in this new (to him) form. He knows what should come next, though he has never seen it. Keeping his concentration steady along with his wind, Gilius waits.

(roll dice) As the Ship comes about and the Giant Squid is lined up, Pugwash takes his shot. The Squid must have hit something, although he doesn't think it was the bow, because it has floated a bit to the surface and seems somewhat stunned, leaving him with an excellent shot at one eye. (roll dice) The bolt hits and the eyes bleeds, leaving the monster partially blinded. Pugwash reloads.

Silently counting his blessings for being short enough to make dodging harpoons a bit easier, Captain Baldbeard uses his whistle to call on his shark pack to help out in the waters around the ship. He continues to use his harmonica in tune with the song so as to break any possible siren effects as the Ship suddenly leaps forward. Hearing Aylar's call to the Crew, he also realizes the maneuver Aylar plans and plants his feet solidly on the deck, leaning into the rise and roll while grasping one of the fore mast lines. As the Ship comes around and begins to spring away under Gilius's wind, he sends the pack to harry the Giant Squid, while keeping a lookout for any attack that may come his way.

Coming out of the stun the Giant Squid uses its undamaged eye to sight the Ship, twisting to retarget as it raises its tentacles and reachs for them. Like a spectral flame from the sky screaming another challenge, Clíodhna dives to the attack, dodging tentacles to rip the spectral form of a phoenix's diamond hard talons across the good eye, scoring deep wounds before soaring again and turning again for the Ship, feeling the tethering energies snap tight as Gilius's wind speeds the Ship on. She sends back to Aylar through the link a raptor's joy in the speed and the strike, almost as an extension of one of his own strikes with his cutlass.

On the main deck, still maintaining the steady wind, Gilius feels a deep satisfaction. He has now seen a phoenix's strike, her strike, using his wind. It is a thing few Druids, and even fewer Dwarves, have ever done.

(to be continued ...)

(... continued from above)

(roll dice) Kyp watches closely as the Fire Shield expires and as the Ship pulls about and leaps forward again, he takes his shots, (roll dice) striking the Giant Squid just as it is raising a tentacle and hits it in the body.

Cap'n Rummyfangs hacks a rumball to the deck for luck and also fires, (roll dice) severing the closest tentacle off entirely while causing damage to another with his second cannon.

The patch pirate phantoms on the gun deck also open fire as do the fiendfyre cannons at Aylar's command. (roll dice) The regular guns pepper the water around the Squid as well as tearing into parts of its mantle, while the fiendfyre guns, one of the only fires able to burn through a Giant Squid's watery slime from it’s skin, burn down the tentacles it touches and into the base of its body, ignoring the water for as long as it has fuel to burn. Captain Baldbeard's sharks arrive to tear into the beast, taking chunks from body and tentacles with each pass.

Argy also warns Karnstein not to kick the merrow bodies off the deck. Or at least to cut and keep the heads and tails of the creatures, having an idea in mind from something she read, although she isn't sure she'll have the time to carry it out. She is delighted by Durik's good singing, and smiles with joy at the half-orc. She is about to say something to him but hears Pugwash's warning and notices the giant squid emerging. Although squids can be quite a delicacy, she doesn't have the means to cook such monstrosity. The fire shield may hold it for a while, but the crew shouldn't rely on it. She points to Dakka and her own cupcakes: "Arr, mateys migh' need our artillery, don't ye think?" (roll dice) Hearing Aylar's orders to the Crew, Argy climbs to the quarter deck, ties herself to the ratlines, advising Durik to do the same, and heads starboard. If the squid manages to bypass the ship's defenses, she decides, she'll throw a cupcake at its head, aiming as close to the beak or the eyes as she can.

(roll dice) Hearing Aylar's warning, Mighty makes his way quickly to the main mast and ties himself to one of the ropes already secured there. He readies himself to attack with his claw any tentacles that will move to the main deck to threaten the Crew. Mighty gestures for Cracker to stop the racket as he is half deaf now due to Cracker squawks.

Grog'tial continues playing his flute, hoping to also calm the Giant Squid. (roll dice) He is so involved with the music that he almost misses Aylar's shouted order to the Crew. In the next moment the bow of the Ship rears and rolls to starboard in an abrupt turn. Grog'tial hangs on through one of the wildest rides of his life while the Fighting Top twists and comes back to rights. He prepares an explosive bolt to fire at the Giant Squid, but the cannons are already damaging it. He blinks as a bright spectral flame darts by him and he barely catches a wink as the phoenix swiftly brakes in mid-air to gently alight back on the forerail again.

Bellandra mentally implores their new allied ships to engage their nearest enemies, but to take care not to waste their newfound freedom in a futile attack. (roll dice) She knows there is fighting going on beyond the Count's fog, and feels both elation and the shattering of timbers, along with a fierce determination from those two sister ships. Nearby, Bellandra witnesses the Mermaid ship's attack and the ravaging broadside she delivers to the foe as she turns the ship into the enemy head on. (roll dice) Then the Mermaid figurehead wrenchs herself from her ship to leap free just as she crashes her ship bow first into the other, blowing up both ships as the fiendfyre finally hits the powder storage in the enemy vessel. The Mermaid herself swiftly swims to follow Bellandra and the Ship, (roll dice) swatting to death with her tail any merrow that dare come close and interposing herself between the Ship and the now greatly wounded and blinded Giant Squid. (roll dice) Bellandra senses similar moves from the other two ships, as a Sea Horse and a Griffon also wrench themselves free, leaving their ships tangled and sinking out beyond the reef passage. (roll dice) The Sea Horse also swims towards them, seeking to help, while the Griffin takes to the sky in some sort of magickal flight, coming to circle the Ship and guard the skies while calling a joyful greeting of comradeship to Bellandra below.

"Nice song Argy. We shud do it again." :Durik said to the tiny cook, but then they were interrupted by a giant squid approaching the ship. "Dakka already ate and burped for now, so Durik can only smash tentacles with cudgel. He follows Argy's advice about the rope and prepares to fight, grabbing several harpoons nearby, just in case the Giant Squid hasn't gotten the message and does continue to come for them.

Riding the sea with its sails full of Gilius' wind, the Ship swiftly approaches the Dragon Turtle Island. Aylar skillfully brings the Ship to rest in a deep lagoon, having left the merrows tangled in the other ship's mess far behind and the Giant Squid perhaps mortally wounded as well. Once they understand her purpose, the Mermaid and Sea Horse inform Bellandra they will stay to help Clíodhna guard the Ship and their backs and the Griffon offers to guard the skies or even to fly several of them at a time past the shoreline to the upper island area. It can carry the equivalent of a half-orc, dwarf, and two humanoids or two dwarves, two humanoids and the halfling in one flight. It will leave the decision up to them, but it should be able to take them all in three flights total.

Now at the island, Argy prepares to serve her promised tea. ;)

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GM Note - It will be up to you and Captain Aylar to decide if you fly or take the longboat and fight your way up from the pier. You need to choose an open space for the landing zone, not within the Grove itself.
*It is time to take your teas and Resistance potions for the Island part of this mission (poison, not the disease or mental). Kyp, this is the time to take your Clairvoyance Potion. You will not be going with the Crew, but instead will be going near the Dragon Turtle's head to try to influence her while also keeping her asleep if you can. Perhaps some music will help?

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Your current inventory can be found in Post 2 (loaner books are read and returned)
Argy =
Aylar =
Bellandra =
Captain Baldbeard =
Count Karnstein =
Durik =
Gilius =
Grog'tial =
Kyp =
Mighty =
Pugwash =
Aeshma =

Much though he was 'looking forward' to fighting his way past many Chuul over a treacherous path, Grog'tial realizes that securing the grove and purifying the spring is really all that matters at this point, so suggests to his fellow crew that they should take the griffon up on its offer, sending strongest fighters first to secure a perimeter (including at least one crossbow user with their hardened bolts to punch through Chuul armor), and making certain that no magic users are in the initial batch (given the Chuul's attraction to them). If the math works out, maybe also send the most people with poison resistance in the initial team.

If the ship can take up position to the southwest or northwest of the island, ferrying the crew over to the open space on the south or north of the grove (make that south-southeast or north-northeast, to reduce the steepness of the terrain) would go more swiftly, and might have a chance of not alerting most of the enemies (plus assuming that most of them are holed up in the structures on the island, they'd have the longest possible trek to get to us).

He'll drink his Earl Grey tea.

If the Griffon approach is used, and any enemies spot them during his flight to the island, Grog'tial will attempt to shoot them from the air (grateful for his target practice in the fighting top), using an explosive bolt if it's a group of tightly clustered enemies, a hardened bolt if it's a Chuul, and a regular bolt otherwise.

"We should also decide who goes along as protection for Gilius, and who for Aeshma, so we'll have two well-balanced teams."

"Argy, Durik: Small explosions are okay, but best not to use cupcakes or Dakka so as to not risk waking up the turtle!"

After serving tea and biscuits, along with sharing what she knows about Chuuls, Argy (if she has the time to do so) will put all the Merrow brains she can collect in a big pot, smashing and mixing them with grog, honey and fat until she gets a slimy and stinky goo. "Gross, but 'tis migh' protect ye crew from Chuul's tentacles and maws... Not against pincers ima'fraid. Or maybe ye can cover yer weapons with it to poison them..."
*The effectiveness of this mixture, if any, and how many uses are available is up to the GM to decide*

Count drinks his tea with the rest of the crew. If he didn't kicked all the merrow carcasses out, he will cut a nice slice of the apparently famed tail, put it between some bread or cabbage leaves, and wrap it in magic cloth before hiding in a pocket.

He waits for the right moment, making sure Aeshma will hear everything, then loudly declares readiness to fly in the first strike group to secure the grove.

Before leaving ship, he will put fresh sun ointment on.

What Argy is referring to above is that Chuuls do not eat brains because brains are poisonous to them.
- From Argy's book of fairy tales

If you had not mixed it to make a slimy and sticky stinky goo, it might have worked on the weapons. However it will probably only foul up blades and I'm not sure the Griffon will take anyone coating themselves in it. Just having mashed up the brain alone would have been more effective. ;)