IC - Chapter 1 - Shipwrecked

[Black Plauge]

With the ship well and truly out to sea, life on board settles into a kind of routine for the hafta it takes to travel towards the way point. The sailors are up and down the rigging, adjusting the sails to the wind. The captain, his first mate, and the navigator spend most of their time at the wheel, setting and adjusting their course based on markers none of the party can see or understand. The cook makes basically the same meal everyday, three times a day, and the sailors invariable complain about it.

It's on the day that they are scheduled to make landfall that the routine is broken for the first time. Io rise finds the day clear and almost cloudless, but by 3rd saat, clouds have begun to fill in rapidly from starward, heralding a fast moving cold front, and a powerful storm. Soon the sky is almost as dark as the caves of Vilmos' home and the boat's lanterns are the only light to see by.

Worried by the fact that the ship has already entered the relatively shallow water that marks the presence of the nearby island chain, the captain orders the passengers to their quarters for the duration of the storm so that they won't obstruct the crew as he battles to keep the ship on course and off the rocks that he knows are coming.

In their cabins, each of the passengers are cut off from the sight of the storm, but the sounds of the wind whistling through the rigging, the ripping of sails, and the creaking of wood transmit its intensity in a way that none can deny. Add to that the intense rocking and pitching of the ship from time to time, and more than one passenger loses their breakfast, compounding the intensity of the experience with an unpleseant smell.

Isolated as they are, saat pass like gün and it isn't until the sound of a crunch overwhelms all others, and a shudder rip through the hull that the passengers realize just how far the ship has been blown in the storm: right into the rocks just off the island they had been sailing for.

Not really knowing what to do, the passengers look at each other as the crunch becomes a grating, and then a creaking and finally a tremendous cracking before an eiriey silence settles over, broken only by the howl of the wind.

Into this silence the sound of the doors to the passenger compartments being slammed open breaks one by one and each group of passengers is greeted in turn by a crewman with dire news, "Abandon ship! Head for the life boats now!"

[Grognard]

Teliq sticks his head through his men's porthole.
Stand to! Full kit. We head for the lower boats. If there is a panic we kill our way to the nearest. Make sure to grab some of the crew if that happens.

[Linklegacy77]

Vilmos quickly checks to ensure that his money pouch is indeed secured on his person as it always is, and quickly grabs his beloved suit of breastplate before racing to the boats.

[Benicus]

Gel, glad that he always keeps his money in a sock near his bed, grabs the pouch and his double ax and moves near the lifeboats with a mindset to return to the wreck should he ever get the chance. He wasn't one to let his peoples equipment go to waste in the depths of the sea.

[Grognard]

Noting that the lifeboats are already being hoisted on the davits and that his men are responding blankly to his perfectly clear Centaur, Teliq changes to They load, hurry! He then grabs his pack and legs it for the long longboat.

[Black Plauge]

Having grabbed what they had at hand, the passengers head for the ship's deck where they meet the teeth of the storm for the first time. Wind and rain lash at their faces. Salt stings their eyes. The deck shudders beneath there feat. Fighting to see, and to follow the shouted orders of the crew, the passengers are divided up according to the capacity of each lifeboat. Teliq in particular causes some consternation as one of the younger crew members initially points him towards one of the forward lifeboats, those which the captain took are to point out were to small for the centaur, but on of the more experienced crew members corrects the error before Teliq has time to more than stamp his foot in anger.

Suddenly the boat heaves dangerously to one side, accompanied by the sound of boards snapping under the pressure.

"CAST OFF THOSE BOATS NOW!" the captain's voice barely pierces the storm.

As the passengers rush to take their seats, now thoroughly soaked, the sailors cut the lines holding the lifeboat to the ship and immediately they are thrown away from the ship by the waves. Sailors bend their backs to the oars and tiller, trying to control each little boat in the rough sea.

As lightning flashes, everyone sees the main mast, hung with little more than tatters now, rip free of the ship and is flung towards one of the boats. Darkness follows the lightning, leaving the after glow image of the oversized spear seared into every man's memory as only moments later the sounds of boards tearing and screaming men ring out only to be cut of second later by the thunderclap.

If saat were like gün before, now each ikincni feels like a saat as the little boats fight through the storm. Eventually they make shore, scattered and seperated, and the sailors haul them up the beach and everyone makes for what ever cover they can find under the trees.

The storm breaks about midnight, but the clouds hide Pelor's perpetual rise/set for much longer than that and everyone falls asleep, exhausted from their ordeal, in the unnatural darkness.

Io rise brings the welcome sight of the ship still mounted to the rocks it had run aground on, though now it looks like a children's toy that has been treated to a royal temper tanturm: it's main mast gone, the mizzen and fore masts broken in the different places and hanging by their rigging, the whole ship canted off at some obscene angle, and a gapping hole in the bow where the ship first hit the rocks. It's not much, but it is there and that means a chance to recover supplies.

The bad news, however, soon comes home to rest as the passengers of each boat make their way towards the point on shore closest to the ship. The captain, first mate, and navigator were on the boat that was hit by the main mast.

[Linklegacy77]

"Well, I always did say that a captain should go down with his ship."

Vilmos clearly is agitated, not enjoying being in such a small boat with.... others.

"Let's git on wit it!"

[Benicus]

Gel wasn't smiling today, he'd liked the captain though he only knew him a little. He said a quick prayer to Gruumsh for the captains soul in the afterlife before moving toward Vilmos."Should we get our stuff or do you think the wreck is too hazardous?"

[Linklegacy77]

"Of course ya should get ya stuff! I be gettin' mine!"

[Black Plauge]

Agreeing that a trip to the ship is in order, the sailors go about taking stock of the life boats. What they find is okay, but defininately not good news. The large long boat, the only one capable of carrying Teliq, was damaged when it was brought ashore during the night. It can be fixed, but only by stripping one of the two smaller boats for the wood necessary to do so or by salvaging parts of the ship, which requires a trip out to it first. Obviously, a decision is in order as not everyone will be able to go to the ship immediately.

Unless, of course, some people are up for a swim to reach the boat.

[Linklegacy77]

"Bah! So we won' all be goin' then!"

[Grognard]

Tell them that Bob (shieldbearer) will go in my stead.Everything should be in my stall Bob.
Teliq pulls flint and tinder out of his pack and sets to making a fire and brewing Caf.

[Benicus]

Gel volunteers to go first to get supplies and salvage from the ship.

[Black Plauge]

"We won't be able to carry much supplies back on the first run," one of the sailors says as people climb into the smaller boats, "These little cockshells aren't meant to handle much cargo and we'll need room for the materials to repair the long boat. Once the long boat is repaired, however..."

Once the small boats are out on the water, the sailors put their backs into rowing out to the ship, a process which is surprisingly quick and easy given the difficulty of getting to shore the previous night. Once on board, the sailors start by gathering tools and looking for good wood to salvage while Bill heads straight for his employer's quarters to start gathering up the goods located there. Gel, and Vilmos, however, are left to their own devices.

* * *

Back on shore Teliq and the others who remain behind start the process of making camp, gathering wood from nearby forest and then getting a fire going. Once that's done, Teliq is able to spend some time trying to figure out how to make caf without any grounds. In the end the conclusion is that he can't, but he did find some leaves in the forest that would probably make a good tea if he didn't want to wait for the sailors to retrieve the foodstuffs from the ship.

[Linklegacy77]

Vilmos, in an even worse mood than usual, stays away from everyone.

[Grognard]

Teliq hands out hot tea,asking those still on the beach about survival and navigational skills. He politely asks Gel if he is actualy competent with his net, if not then make it avaliable to one of the sailors who is, else lead others in fishing.He then moves along the beach gleaning crabs,clams and mussels, then back along the forest-line gathering wild roots,truffles and mushrooms.

[Benicus]

Gel tries to find his own supplies and salvage any valuables that might have been forgotten by the crew.

[Black Plauge]

On board the ship, most (7, for those counting) of the sailors manage to find the various wood working tools that are necessary on any wooden vessel and start taking apart various parts of the super structure. While there is no real coordination to what they are doing, they appear used to working with each other to accomplish a task and rarely get in each others way and soon a pile of lumber begins to grow on the deck.

Bill makes several appearences on deck as he carefully brings up his employer's equipement, as well as the remaining equipment of his fellow hierlings one load at a time.

Gel and Vilmos both find their stuff in their cabins, though strewn about a bit from the tossing the ship took in the storm. It isn't very difficult for them to gather it all up.

Two of the sailors disappear into the hold fairly quickly, and from time to time the sounds of cargo being shifted around and of splashing water can be heard emminating from below.

Indeed, were it not for the fact that this was the first time any of these people had been shipwrecked, one could say that their activities were routine.

Until the scream echoed from the hold, that is.

* * *
The three sailors who remained on shore respond easily to Teliq's questions. One is still, in many respects, a landlubber to his compatriots, this being just his first voyage. He grew up on a farm until he ran away to see and so knows something of plants and such, but really isn't all that knowledgable about survival in the wilderness. As for navigation, his only experience is in following roads, not currents and winds.

The other two are more experienced sea hands, having already been on several voyages. They know the basics of sea navigation, enough to sail or row a straight line, but don't have any of the broader knowledge necessary to know the direction to a particular place nor how to chart a course when a straight line is impossible. As for their other skills, they've only ever used them in relation to the sea and don't see how they might be of use in their current situation: one is fairly good at sail repair while the other is more used to working with rope.

The other men on shore are Teliq's own hierlings, whose skills he is already familiar with.

Since Gel is on board the boat, he'll have to wait to make his suggestion to him, but he finds it fairly easy to start gleaning food from the land around him. By himself there won't be enough to feed everyone, but maybe if he can get some help later on he'll be able to do so.

*snort* *grunt* *sniff*

As he kneels to check some mushrooms to see if they are edible, Teliq hears the sounds of rustling in the bushes near him and quickly realizes that there is probably a large animal in there.

[Linklegacy77]

Vilmos hears the scream, has no idea what it could mean, and so does what any rational dwarf would do: grab his stuff, get off the ship, and get dressed and ready to defend himself and his belongings.

[Grognard]

Teliq backs slowly away, watching for a charge.
Bill sticks his head over the cargo hatch "you have an accident down there?"

[Benicus]

Gel holds off from going into the direction of the scream but he does want to garner something for his troubles of coming out here. He checks the captain's quarters, crew quarters, passenger quarters, and then finishes by going into the cargo hold cautiously. He also draws his sword while looting, and avoids other people.

[Black Plauge]

On board the ship, most of the sailors drop what they are doing and head for the hatch to the cargo hold like Bill. In response to his question, a voice calls up "Something bit Abaza!" Ikinci later, they see one of the sailors dragging the other behind him and quickly lend a hand drawing the unconcious Abaza onto the deck, where one starts to treat his wound: a missing foot.

Vilmos, meanwhile, hastily dons his armor and then heads for the cockshells. As he passes the clutch of sailors on the deck, one of them calls out to him, "Slow down, metal man. Since you're so anxious to get back to shore do you think you could give us a hand with Abaza?"

Below deck, Gel heads for the captain's quarters where he finds clay dishes and mugs, as well as a set of steel untensils (the same used as the dinner several nights ago). They aren't fine china, but they're better than the wooden plates most of the sailors eat off of. He also finds a compass, spyglass, and a few navigational tools that he could use to set a course by. If he knew anything about navigation, that is. Finally, there's the captains sea chest, which presumably holds his remaining belongings and valuables, but which is also locked, and the various furnishings and drapery.

* * *

On shore, Teliq slowly backs away from the source of the sounds and is rewarded when whatever it is fails to notice his presence. After a few more moments of backing carefully, Teliq hears the sounds of the animal moving away through the bushes, and is able to resume his gleaning.

[Linklegacy77]

"Help the durn one who was dumb 'nuff to get his foot bitten off?"

Vilmos starts to grumble, clearly not liking it, but not having much of a choice.

[Black Plauge]

With Vilmos' help, it only takes a pair of sailors to load Abaza into one of the cockshells. Meanwhile, the others load the same cockshell with wood and tools until there is only room in it for Vilmos, Abaza, and the two men who are needed to man the oars. They then settle in to arguing over who gets to go back to shore, and who should stay to continue salvaging supplies. In the end, two men are chosen, and the cockshell begins the journey back to shore, clearly slowed by being full of so much cargo and only having two oarsmen instead of four.

[Linklegacy77]

Volmos gets back, and prepares himself for a fight, spoiling for one. He is clearly agitated, and grumpy, and as everyone knows, dwarves are surly enough when they aren't having a terrible day.

[Benicus]

Gel takes everything he can find and wraps the breakables in curtains from the ship. As for the chest, he attempts to discern whats inside by shaking the box gently. After that (if he discerns whats in it isn't breakable) he smashes the chest open. If it is breakable he just wraps the chest up and takes it with him for later lock picking. After he sets about looking for things that could assist with living on the isle for a time such as harpoons, nets, and tents or anything else of use for that. After that he checks up with the rest of the crew and finds out what happened to the man that screamed.

[Grognard]

Teliq moved happily along the shoreline,humming under his breath.A bit of solid work was just what he needed to take his mind off being stuck on this Mare-forsaken island with no ship and no navigator.A few minutes with some driftwood gave him a nice digging stick,and a thrown rock provided him with a hare, and its tendons. The tide line made for a lovely canter back to the campsite from time to time and once his harness arrived he rigged up and put the halberd to use knocking down coconuts for their rich milk. A lovely summers day, good food, and a good run. What more could a Centaur ask for?
Sal - who had been worried even if she wouldn't admit it - grew steadily more content as the food arrived in a constant supply. She broke out the big pot and settled to a nice stirrabout with coconut and truffles for dessert.

[Black Plauge]

Once the cockshell with the injured sailor and the grumpy Vilmos are off, the rest of the sailors get back to work salvaging tools and wood to make repairs to the long boat and the sounds of their work easily cover for Gel's attempts to open the chest.

A gentle shake of the captain's chest create a couple of small thuds, but they sound well padded and so Gel estimates that what ever is inside isn't breakable. Taking his hand axe, he hacks at the chest once, twice, doing very little damage. Regripping the axe, he hacks harder, putting all his strength into the blow and is rewarded with a much better hit. The next hit skitters off the chest, the angle not quite right, but a fifth and sixth hit connect solidly and make a good dent in the chest's surface. The next two hits both thunk uselessly into loose chips of wood, but after clearing them away, Gel is able to break the chest open with a few more solid hits. Indeed, his last hit goes trough the lid and makes contact with something hard inside. Fortunately, however, the force of the blow was attenuated at that point so that the object wasn't damaged. Forcing open the now shattered lid, Gel sees nothing but clothes at first glance, but knowing he felt something solid, he rumages through and finds that some of the clothes are wrapped around bottles of liquor, presumably to keep them from breaking in rough seas. He also finds a leather purse with a variety of coins in it, about 11 gp worth all told.

Wrapping all of his loot up, Gel heads back towards the deck with his makeshift sack. Up here it's impossible to escape the notice of the sailors who look at the captain's curtains quizzically for a moment, and then seem to come to a realization.

"While one never knows what personal effects might come in useful, don't you think you'd be better served by helping us get the materials together to repair the longboat now? Until it's fixed we aren't going to be carrying much cargo back and forth between the ship and the shore." one comments.

* * *

Seeing the dwarf's obviously sour mood, the sailors who brought him ashore don't ask for Vilmos' help in unloading Abaza. Instead they call to their two comrades who had stayed ashore and soon have Abaza resting near the fire that Teliq has made. Once Abaza is taken care of, they unload the wood and tools and then have a brief discussion about who should head back to the ship. After a bit, they settle on the two who had previously stayed on shore while the two of the others set to work beginning repairs on the long boat and the remaining goes to tend Abaza's injury, asking to borrow a pot from Sal to heat some water to properly clean it.

[Linklegacy77]

Damn inferior beings always demanding help from the dwarves. I help myself, and other dwarves, but not one who doesn't deserve it! We're better than that!

Vilmos just stays away from the rest of them, to the point of being obnoxious about ignoring them.

[Grognard]

Sal contributes a saucepan as being more useful for this kind of work.
It's name is 'comes back clean hear'.

[Benicus]

"Hey this stuff may be more useful than you think! And besides, I'm gonna help don't worry!"

Gel smiles to the sailor and then proceeds to assist with the lifeboats.

[Black Plauge]

"It may be useful, but it won't be until we can get it to shore," the sailor replies as he directs Gel as to how to load the boat.

Without any injured sailor to take up room, Gel and the sailor are able to load the remaining cockshell with considerably more wood than had been in previous one. Once it's full, they look towards the shore, and see the other cockshell returning, so they organize another boat load of wood and are ready to start loading as soon as the cockshell ties up along side. The two sailors in the returning cockshell have a quick conversation with the sailor working with Gel, and then switch boats and head back to shore with their full load.

Gel and the sailor then start loading up the empty cockshell, but soon run out of wood and so head out to scavenge more. About the time the second cockshell returns, the sailors are all gathering together to decide what to do about lunch. When they hear about the pot of soup that Sal has going on shore, a decision to head back to shore is quickly made. A brief argument then ensues over what to load the cockshells with, as Gel and Bill want to take the gear they came out here to get (and Gel wants to take his loot) while the sailors would prefer to load up with enough wood to finish fixing the long boat. In the end they reach a comprimise and Gel and Bill are able to bring back some of their stuff, but must leave the bulk of it behind for retrieval after lunch or tomorrow.

[Grognard]

The Guildsmen settled around the fire, enjoying a rare moment of privacy with the sailors all busy on other tasks.
Sal gestured awkwardly with the plate in her hand, the gesture taking in the pot of soup and the other Guilders
plates. "Thank you for this Sir. I didn't think we would eat until they got some of the food back from the ship ".
Teliq grunted, then replied - "Don't be foolish, you have taken my Silver. I will ward you until the end of the
hire. Thats how it works"
The others settled as Teliq put into words what they had hoped - they still had the unit,and the unit would take
care of each other.
"So what do you think of all this Sir?"
"Well, a shipwreck wasn't in the battle plan, but if You can't take a joke you shouldn't have joined. We are alive,
relatively healthy and we have our hands and our skills. If we can't find some advantage in this sit I will be very
surprised. The ship is worth a shitpot, and under the laws of salvage, if we can get her to port she's ours. Even
without that we can probably sell rights to the locals. Still one can't eat a promisory note -we should look at
survival first. The sailor are doing well for a unit with no command, but I notice they are acting only in their
field of competence. We should probably steer them onto the other things. The insect has vanished. I suppose it may
have been killed in the storm but more likely it decided it is better off on its own.The Ent, gestures toward Gel,
is proving useful, and I saw it with a net before. If it knows how to use that it could be very useful."
"Um,sorry Sir but that is not an Ent."
"Why do you say that Athos, its a two-leg with green skin. I.E. Ent."
"Trust me Sir, that's an Orc."
"well thats why I pay you the big bucks - fine, the orc may be useful."
"The dwarf..." he paused, looking to Athos, "the dwarf I don't know. He's obviously a warrior but Bill tells me he
ran from battle instead of to it. Indeed he nearly plished off the side of the ship into deep water in full armor.
Battle Fatigue maybe.So, reserve judgement on him.
Tasks.
Sal,carry on.
Hap,Vos- shelter. Exposure will kill you as sure if slower than blade or bolt.
Athos, look at that wound, see what you can do.
Bill- the rest of our kit.
Celine- overwatch. Special attention to the shelter-builders, I heard something big in there earlier, and to the
sea, the Captains sea people have yet to show themselves.
Janse you're with me.
Enough, civs coming."
The group fell silent as sailors began coming up with plates or boards and hopeful expressions.
As Sal served up to them Teliq began questioning them.
"So who is ranked amongst you lot?"
"Can we have your names?"
"Who is ships Carpenter,or Mate. If we warp the ship off the rocks,frap that hole,and beach her,how long for
repairs."
"Purser. What store of foods is on the ship?"
"Bosun. Is beaching the ship do-able with the men we have here?"
"Once the longboat is repaired we should probably sway a cask of water, one of salt beef and one of biscuit out of
the hold and to shore for the time being. You want an escort for the men in the hold for that?

[Black Plauge]

"So who is ranked amongst you lot?"

"Ranked? This wasn't no military vessel," one of the sailors replies, "The captain was in charge, and if he wasn't around then either the mate or the navigator was. Beyond that everyone was in for an equal cut of a voyage's profits. Well, except for the landlubbers. They only got a half-cut on their first voyage. Usually left them in debt to the captain after expenses were calculated in. Call it a bit of incentive to stay on for a second voyage."

Most of the rest of the crew laughs at the last statement as if a joke had been made while two of them men look red faced into their bowls (one of them is the man who had been identified to Teliq earlier as a landlubber)

"Can we have your names?"

"Ismet"

"Kafkas"

"Nizami"

"Sinan"

"Savcî"

"Ekrem"

"Ðlker"

"Atanur"

"Baybars"

"Ça¤Atay and my brother Yavuz"

"Ünyay"

"Tunç"

"Reþit and the injured fellow's Abaza," the sailors reply in turn.

"Who is ships Carpenter,or Mate. If we warp the ship off the rocks,frap that hole,and beach her,how long for repairs."
"The mate went down with the captain," Atanur replies.

"Yeah, but there really wasn't a 'ship's carpenter,'" Ðlker adds, "Most of us have some skill with making ship board repairs. Yavuz is probably the best though.

"No I'm not!"

"Oh, come on now," Ça¤Atay says to his brother, "No one here's trying to force you to follow in father's footsteps as a furniture maker. The centaur is just trying to figure out how to keep us alive and get us home.

"Okay," Yavuz replies gloomily, "I'm still no expert on ship building though. I haven't a clue as to whether or not the ship can be made sea worthy again, let alone whether we can do it ourselves with just basic tools."

"What store of foods is on the ship?"
"Captain kept the records on the ship's stores," Ekrem, replies, "I did most of the cooking though, so I know a bit about the stores. We've probably got two barrels of salt fish..."

"One," Tunç interupts, "One of the barrels was broken open and spilled into the bilge water. That's what attracted the sharks that bit Abaza."

"I was taking that into account," Ekrem continues, "So as I was saying, we've probably got two barrels of salt fish, 6 or 7 barrels of biscuit, 5 barrels of couscous, and maybe 10 barrels of fresh water. If, of course, those barrels are all intact and the salt water hasn't leaked into them yet. We were out of fresh ingredients as the captain was planning on stocking up again when we reached the island. Guess we'll have to provide those for ourselves now."

Is beaching the ship do-able with the men we have here?
Looking around at each other, no single sailor seems to want to take responsibility for answering this question. Finally, Savcî speaks up in a very tenative voice, "I don't think any of us have ever tried something like that before. It might be doable, but none of us know how." Trailing off, Savcî looks to the others for confirmation.

"Once the longboat is repaired we should probably sway a cask of water, one of salt beef and one of biscuit out of
the hold and to shore for the time being. You want an escort for the men in the hold for that?"
"The long boat won't be repaired before the end of today," Ismet replies, "We might be able to get to the ship before Io sets, but we'd have to come back by the light of Pelor-set only. One mistake in that kind of light could wreck the long boat all over again and force us to start from scratch tomorrow."

"Still," Ünyay adds, "Some one to watch out for those sharks while we pull what stores we can salvage from the hold would be appreciated. I certainly don't want to end up like Abaza."

[Benicus]

"I'd be willing to watch for sharks," Gel pipes up, "Gives me something to do more than just fish."

Gels' face lights up, like he'd just remembered something. "Oh yah! I can fish for you guys once the sharks clear up, or if we find a pool or some inland water."

"Speaking of which," He continues, "After we get the ship on land or whatever, do you think we should gather a scouting party to go inland?"

[Black Plauge]

"Shark meat is good eating," Ekrem responds, "No need to wait for them to go away before fishing."

"Don't mind Ekrem," Ünyay, adds, "He's always thinking with his stomach."

As lunch breaks up, Bill, Gel, and most of the sailors head back for the cockshells and then the ship to continue the salvage operation. Yavuz, Ça¤Atay, and Ismet head back to continue work on repairing the long boat.

Hap and Vos start looking for a way to make a shelter. The find the broad leaves of some of the local trees to be decently waterproof and tough, and so set about starting to construct frames that they can attach the leaves to. Neither is totally proficient in this task, but the frames that start to take shape look reasonably sturdy nonetheless.

Athos offers his aid to Reþit in tending to Abaza's wound and between the two of them, they manage to get the wound cleaned up and bound. Abaza is still unconcious from the blood loss, however, so they spend the next couple of saat, trying to force him to swallow some of the stew from lunch, watered down to a more soup like consistency, so that he can start replacing that lost blood.

"Orders?" Janse asks as he and Teliq leave the lunch fire behind.

[Grognard]

Cover and assist.Looks like the ship rations won't arrive until late tomorrow so it is up to us.

[Linklegacy77]

Vilmos doesn't seem to do much, he just avoids everybody intently, being a typical dwarf.

[Benicus]

Gel helps out in whatever he can, intent on getting moving again.

[Black Plauge]

Inspired by Gel and Bill's collection of personal equipment, the sailors who are on board the ship immediately set about collecting their own personal possessions and loading them into the cockshells. As such, before long both little boats are headed for shore with full loads and minimal crews. Not all the equipment fits on the fist trip, but most of it does so that the remaining should fit when the crew abandons the wreck for the night.

After that the set to the task of getting food and stores out of the cargo hold. With Gel watching for sharks, everyone manages to avoid Abaza's fate, though there are a few close calls as sailors scramble onto crates and barrels to avoid an oncoming shark. The extra care required, however, greatly slows the operation of extracting any usable goods from the hold and in the end the afternoon of work nets only a pair of barrels and a couple of crates. One of the barrels is marked fish, while the other is marked water, which Ekrem recommends leaving sealed until they can get it to shore to avoid contamination. The other sailors, however, are not enamoured of the idea of leaving the water barrel sealed and an argument breaks out over the correct course of action. The crates, part of the cargo, are opened to reveal bolts of cloth in one and ingots of bronze in the other.

* * *
Back on shore, Vilmos spends a lonely afternoon blatently ignoring everyone and making no new friends, just the way a dwarf likes it.

Janse proves to be of little assitance in helping Teliq find more food with which to sustain the company, but Teliq does get lucky and finds a fruiting tree that it seems has just come into it's fruit and hasn't been raided by the local wildlife yet. With Janse to help transport that fruit, Teliq is able to gather enough for a dinner that will be more filling than lunch was, but which will still be spread awfully thin amongst the numbers they have. The larger benefit of fresh fruit, however, is the fluids that it will provide the crew. Sal had been forced to use seawater to stretch the soup at lunch, as so every one was naturally thirsty. The fruit would alleviate much of that problem, so long as water was one of the first things to be retrieved from the ship's stores on the morrow.

[OOC: Janse untrained Survival to assist. 1 vs. DC 10. Fails. Teliq Survival to gather food 24 vs. DC 10. Success. Teliq is able to find a day's worth of food for 8 people. Combined with the results of the morning, that leads to enough food for 13 people. Since there are 24 survivors (15 sailors, the 3 PCs, and Teliq's 6 hierlings) that means everyone will have the equivalent of 1/2 day's food today. Everyone will be hungry tomorrow, but will not yet suffer any ill effects from hunger.]

[Benicus]

Gel tries to settle the dispute rationally siding with the sailors who wish to keep the barrel sealed. "It shouldn't be opened lest sea water contaminate it and none of us can drink it!" Is his main arguement.

[Black Plauge]

Even with Gel's assistance, Ekrem cannot convince his fellow sailors to hold off opening the water barrel until it reaches shore. Their thirst gets the better of them and soon they have it open and cups of fresh water are being passed around. Sighing, Ekrem accepts one, and after drinking about half, offers what remains to Gel with a resigned look.

Their thirst slaked, the sailors don't put up much of an argument about leaving the cask of fish sealed. Lunch hadn't been very filling, but salted fish was pretty much all they ate at sea and no one was really looking forward to more of it. Besides, that centaur fellow seemed pretty good at finding food, so maybe he'd find something better for dinner.

* * *

About a saat before Io sets, a breeze begins to pick up and blow onshore. Memories of the storm fresh in their minds, everyone looks up and towards the sea when they first feel the breeze, various states of nerves showing on their faces. The breeze feels different, however, from the cold wind that heralded the storm, and those with some knowledge of seaside weather, soon conclude, and pass on to their fellows, that the breeze is nothing more than that, a breeze.

The breeze does, however, prove difficult for Hap and Vos to handle however. The shelters that they had been building were simple lean-to structures, open towards the sea in order to maintain line of site towards a possible rescue. Now the onshore breeze turns these shelters into sails and the leaves they had attached to the frames twist and flap in the wind. Indeed, a few that weren't tied tightly enough even come off. As a result, their efforts as the sailors from the boat return to shore and the long boat repairs finish up, are directed more towards saving the work they have already done instead of completing the structures.

[OOC: Gel Cha check 14 vs. DC 10 to assist Ekrem. Success. Ekrem get's a +2 bonus on his check to convince the crew to leave the barrel sealed. Ekrem's Cha check 6 vs. remaining crew 20 (for simplicity sake I simply assumed a net +4 modifier here). Fails. Crew prevails and cask is opened.]

[Black Plauge]

Almost as if providence had guided their hands, the expedition to the ship returns just as those working on repairing the long boat finish up and Sal starts banging on a pot to signal that dinner is ready. With Io set creating a brilliant display of colors on the northern horizon and the perpetual twilight of this region taking hold, everyone gathers around the fire for warmth, food, and companionship. Well, except for Vilmos, he only seems interested in the warmth and the food. Conversations run around the campfire as people try to decide on what their next course of action should be and how they might get off the island.

[Grognard]

Teliq regarded Vilmos with flat black eyes as he moved up to the fire. "Welcome to Teliq's Inn. Tariff
is one and two or the dishes." He grunted as Vilmos reached into his scrip and waved him on, tucking the
coin away.
Sal rounded on Teliq as soon as Vilmos moved away. "Sir, why did you do that. Coin is useless here. Let
the lazy bastard starve."
"I let him eat because I am not yet ready to make an enemy of him. Two days without food won't kill him
and he is entitled to his share of the ships stores. So tomorrow we have an enemy and no greater store of food. I
took coin because I have to. I am paying you in coin. If his is useless then so is mine, and there goes our unit.
Also it serves as a gentle reminder that if he continues to be a useless mouth he will wake one night with my sword
reclaiming my food from his belly. Are you answered Trooper?"
"Yes,sorry Sir"
"Don't apologise, you are entitled under the Code to question anything short of a battlefield order.
Just, next time, give me credit for having thought the matter through."
"Yes Sir"
Having only taken a small portion as he had eaten whilst gathering Teliq finished quickly and moved over to
Gel'thark. I propose to hunt during dusk/twilight. If I remember my lore correctly your kind are not
handicapped at night like Humans so I invite you to join me. My plan is to head along the beach until I find the
mouth of a stream then move up it looking for animals watering themselves. Finish your meal then let me know if you are in.
He then moved over to Vilmos and repeated his offer.
Then to Yavuz "I have a plan to salvage the ship, but it is useless if you can't repair the hole in the side. Please
take a look tomorrow and determine, if we beach the ship, if you can repair it. If you can, I propose that we form a
Coster to do so. The runes for disaster and opportunity are only one stroke apart. I would like to make that
stroke."
To the other sailors "It may be premature, but I would like two of you to sound the reef with one of the cockles
tomorrow and see if there is a gap large enough to bring the ship in under lines."
He settled back, waiting for answers.

[Linklegacy77]

"Bah! Can't a dwarf get sum food witout being robbed o' his hard won gold? Buncha burglers, that's what ye are."

Nevertheless, Vilmos still takes out the stated money and hands it over. It really comes as no surprise when he eats far more than his share.

As for the hunting? Vilmos doesn't even bother dignifying it with an answer.

[Benicus]

Gel states to the men after they talk about beaching the ship, "Hey, I can fish for some food while they're all doing that. I'm pretty good at it too!"

He smiles, his tusks pointing through his smile, a reminder of his heritage.

[Black Plauge]

Teliq's idea about bringing the ship in under lines soon takes on a life of its own around the campfire as the sailors discuss it. Some suggest unloading all the cargo to make the ship float higher in the water, while others point out that at least some ballast will be necessary to keep the ship stable. Some want to use the salvage equipment to make the job easier, while others point out that said equipment is meant for salvaging cargo off a sunken wreck. The talk goes back and forth with out any real progress being made until exhaustion begins to set in and the sailors move off to turn in one by one.

* * *
His offer of a night hunt having been turned down by both of the other two survivors who wouldn't be hindered by the flat light of the perpetual twilight, Teliq finds himself hunting alone. Moving off down the beach, Teliq trots for half a saat without finding any sign of a stream. Yawning, Teliq realizes that if he is going to get a full night's sleep, he will have to turn back now, but that if he really wanted to, he could keep going for another saat or two.

[Grognard]

Teliq pushes on, the ache in his muscles, as always, lost in the burning in his head.

OOC- Endurance feat kicks in.

[Black Plauge]

Pushing on, Teliq travels for another saat before finding any sign of fresh water, and the sign that he finds is really far to small to be called a stream. Nevertheless, he follows it off the beach and into the jungle, hoping for a pool where larger game animals might stop to drink. As luck would have it, he does find just such a pool after maybe another half a saat and there are even signs of a cloven hoofed animal having been there recently on the ground around it. Said tracks, however, indicate that the animal left in a hurry, probably having smelled Teliq's approach due to the on shore wind.

Chancing that the animal might return, Teliq finds a spot to wait where his scent will be carried away from the pool by the wind, but it would seem that his luck has run out for the night. Nothing else pays a visit to the pool for a saat, and it is time for Teliq to head back to camp and get some sleep.

Nevertheless, Teliq's trip is not in vain. Before he heads back for camp, he makes note of the land surrounding the pool so that he can not only find it again, but also approach it from a direction other than the shore so that an on shore breeze will not give away his presense.

* * *

Coming back into camp, Teliq is hailed by Hap as he approaches. Despite the loneliness of their surroundings, Teliq's men have set a watch for the night, a comfortable routine that makes the unknown just a little more bearable. Bill had the first watch, Hap has the second, and Vos and Celine will have the third and fourth watches respectively. Nodding his approval, and with sleepiness, Teliq finds some comfortably hard ground to stand on and is soon drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Io dawn find the camp awoken suddenly to the sound of Celine shouting for help. Springing to action, Teliq and his fellow mercenaries react to the alarm with their customary promptness, grabbing weapons and looking around for the reason for it. The sailors, however, are a bit slower to react. Or rather, they aren't used to this kind of alarm, for while they wake up promptly, they then mill about a bit as they try to figure out what is going on.

Pointing down the beach to the boats, Celine directs everyone's attention to a roughly humanoid-like outline that is standing behind the newly repaired long boat. The creature is dark in color, and it's surface ripples as if furred, though whether that is fur clothing or actual fur is not entirely clear at this distance. There is something else odd about the outline too, but no one can quite put there finger on what.

[OOC: 4 saat of forced march: 18 vs. DC 10, 12 vs. DC 12, 16 vs. DC 14, & 27 vs. DC 16. All pass, Teliq suffers no ill effects from the extended effort.]

[Grognard]

Teliq tossed the blanket off him with one arm,scooping up his weapon harness with the other.Looking around he saw Celine pointing to the longboat.
"This is a fire control order.Three hundred.Target is seal-thingy by longboat.Wait for it..."
Breaking into a canter he closed with the target to see if it was actualy hostile.

ooc-edit range as appropriate.

[Linklegacy77]

Vilmos leaps up, grabs his weapon, and stares at the creature, attempting to figure out just what it is.

[Benicus]

Gel watches and waits.

[Black Plauge]

Cantering towards the long boat, Teliq is the first to be able to tell what was so odd about the outline: the lower back is arched as if the creature were lying down and had reared up from the waist up to look into the longboat.

As he continues to close, the creature looks up at his approach and Teliq can see a salted fish in one hand and the tail of another dangling from its mouth. Its gorilla mouth, though even that description doesn't seem quite right.

Then the creature rears up, revealing a second set of arms and beats its breast as it roars at Teliq in a display that is clearly supposed to be frightening, but which only serves to let Teliq identify the creature definitively: the creature is a girallon and it's been eating the salvaged fish stores.

[OOC: Intimidate 16 vs. Level check 17. Fails.]

[Grognard]

Teliq swerved sharply sideways, shouting "Girralon, Loose, Loose at will." Counting the flight time in his head, he curved back, tossing a javelin at it to try and draw it out to where he could get a decent charge.
"Bonecrack", he cursed as his timing proved too clever and an arrow impact caused the beast to be no-where near his javelin.

[Linklegacy77]

"Bah, that be no way ta fight!"


Vilmos begins to run as fast as he can at the beast, and charges as soon as he is able to, swinging his axe down hard.

[Benicus]

Gel charges the beast and swings his double axe to rend the creature in twine.

[Black Plauge]

Reacting to Teliq's shout of what the animal is, Gel and Vilmos start running towards the girallon, with Gel just a bit faster on the mark than Vilmos.

The girallon, seeing Teliq run away (to it's mind) goes back to what it was doing in the longboat until the rain of projectiles falls down on it. The combined firepower, however, serves more to startle the creature than hurt it.

Now close enough to mount a charge, Gel has at the girallon, his axe swinging. The sand, however, is not quite as firm as he estimated and his axe catches the longboat gunwale rather than the girallon.

Beaten to the punch by the orc, Vilmos finds himself unable to charge and must content himself with moving around the girallon to flank it.

Startled and angered by the attack, the girallon roars and lashes out with claw and teeth. Two claws find Gel's chest and tear out a hunk of flesh, causing the orc to faint from the pain. The other two and the creature's teeth are directed at Vilmos, but the dwarf's armor protects him from most of the pain and the girallon's fur is singed by his flaming mantle.

[OOC: Initiative: Gel, Vilmos, girallon, Teliq, archers

Girallon hp: 53/58

Gel runs.

Vilmos runs.

Girallon goes back to whatever it was doing.

Teliq delays while archers fire.

Archers fire, only one hits.

Teliq throws his javelin and misses.

Gel charges the girallon. 13 vs. AC 16. Misses.

Vilmos moves into a flanking position.

Girallon attacks Gel (2 claws). 31 & nat 20 (crit confirm 29) vs. AC 15. Hits and crits. Deals 10 and 18 damage and rends for 15. Gel is at 0 hp (19 excess). Fort 14 vs. DC 19. Fails. Gel takes 5 Con damage and is in Critical condition.

Girallon attacks Vilmos (2 claws and bite). 15, 19, & 15 vs. AC 18. Miss, hit, and miss. Deals 9 damage. Girallon takes 5 fire damage from Vilmos' mantle.

Archer's delay for further orders from Teliq.]

[Grognard]

Teliq concentrated on the pain in his head, throwing a shield between him and the animal. Then, wincing internaly, he scooped up Gel'thark, dodging the Girralon's response and continuing his move in a great circle to the rear of the line.

"See to it he snapped at Athos, depositing Gelthark at his feet. "Wait for a clear shot foals, steady".

Moving on to the sailors he demonstrated his command of Human "Shout.Make noise.Throw things.No close".

Circling on, he looked to rejoin the fight.

<<Ooc- two AoO for the Girralon on Teliq.(Ac 25 with defensive). Think thats two rounds worth of actions>>

[Linklegacy77]

Vilmos growls at the wound, and swings his axe at the Girallon hard.

<OOC: [roll0] deals [roll1] on hit. (Note: the girallon should have taken 1d6 points of fire damage from hitting Vilmos from his mantle of flame soulmeld)>

[Black Plauge]

Seeing Gel goes down, Teliq fortifies his defenses and moves in to retrieve the orc. At the same time, he orders his archers to be ready to shoot once they have a clear shot again.

Swinging his axe, Vilmos nicks the girallon once more.

With one new and one old target, the girallon lashes out around it, causing both of its targets to wince with the pain of new injuries. Vilmos especially realizes that he can't take any more punishment like that.

Grabbing the orc, Teliq makes a hasty retreat, deftly avoiding the claws of the girallon that snake in to try and take advantage of that opening.

[OOC: Initiative: Gel, Vilmos, girallon, Teliq, archers

Girallon hp: 31/58

Teliq manifests force screen and moves up next to Gel.

Archers ready action to shoot when girallon is not engaged in melee.

Gel Fort 24 (nat 20) vs. DC 10. Auto success and Gel beats the DC by more than 5. Gel is now in Serious Condition.

Vilmos attacks girallon. Hits. Deals 5 damage.

Girallon attacks Vilmos (2 claws and bite). 26, 25, & 19 vs. AC 18. All hit. Deals 8, 7, & 4 damage and rends for 14. That's 5 more damage than necessary to bring Vilmos to 0 hp. Fort 23 vs. DC 12. Success. Vilmos is disabled. Girallon takes 5, 2, & 1 fire damage from Vilmos' mantle.

Girallon attacks Teliq (2 claws). nat 20 & 24 vs. AC 22. Both hit, one threatens. 13 vs. AC 22. Fails to confirm critical hit. Deals 8 & 9 damage and rends for 14.

Teliq picks up Gel, provoking an AoO. Girallon attacks Teliq. 20 vs. AC 22. Misses. Teliq retreats with Gel in tow. This also provokes, but girallon can only make one AoO per round.

Archers (except Athos) still don't have a clear shot (since Vilmos is still engaging the girallon) and so ready their action again.
Athos looks after Gel, but finds him already stable and not in need of further immediate care.]

[Grognard]

Cursing himself for a brain-sick fool, Teliq planted all four hooves in the ground at the end of the line. "should be old enough to know better" he muttered. Pulling another javelin from his harness, he waited with the others.

ooc- will spend my move action to move three points from reserve to hp

[Linklegacy77]

Vilmos reels from the blows, but is too stubborn for his own good. He looks over at the beast, and takes another swing, refusing to lose. After all, it's a monkey beast thing, how can it be tougher than a dwarf?

<OOC: Attack with axe, [roll0] deals [roll1] on a hit.>

[Black Plauge]

Gritting his teeth, Vilmos' axe opens another bite in one of the girallon's arms, but he pays for it several fold when the girallon returns the favor and drops the unsteady dwarf.

Having defeated his challenger, the girallon roars in triumph and settles down to enjoy it's rewards.

Or at least it starts to. More arrows and a javelin soon rain down on the creature again and it roars in frustration when one or two rip along it's flesh. Turning to the only creature in it's vicinity, the animal roars at Vilmos' prone form. When the dwarf fails to react, the girallon snuffs at him once or twice to satisfy himself that his adversary is truly defeated and then turns back to the long boat again.

[OOC: Initiative: Gel, Vilmos, girallon, Teliq, archers

Girallon hp: 7/58

Vilmos attacks girallon. Hits and deals damage. This forces him to make another Fort save to remain conscious. Fort 20 vs. DC 12. Success. Vilmos is still conscious and disabled.

Girallon attacks Vilmos. 26, 30, 20, 29, & 16 vs. AC 18. Claws hit, bite misses. Deals 7, 10, 8, & 8 damage and rends for 17 damage. Vilmos must make a new Fort save after each hit. Fort 17 vs. DC 15. Success. Fort 24 vs. DC 20. Success. Fort 19 vs. DC 24. Fails. Vilmos takes 5 Con damage and is in Critical Condition. Girallon won't continue to attack after Vilmos goes down so remaining hit and rend are no longer needed. Girallon takes 6, 2, & 3 fire damage from mantle.

Vilmos's going down triggers the archer's readied action (girallon is no longer in melee). All arrows fly wide.

Teliq draws a javelin and takes a breather.

Vilmos must save against dying. Fort 15 vs. DC 10. Success. Vilmos is in Serious Condition.

With no remaining melee combatants, girallon goes back to what it was doing.

Archers fire again. One hit, one crit. Deals 8 damage total.

Teliq throws a javelin and misses.

Girallon sniffs at Vilmos' unconcious form and then goes back to what it was doing.]

[Grognard]

Teliq tossed another javelin,panting.
Salist and Vos crowed as they got into the groove, the first arrow marking the way for the second,bringing the creature down.
Well done troops, meat tonight. Teliq trotted forward to finish it, bringing Vilmos back to Athos tender mercies on his way back.

[Black Plauge]

Raining more arrows down on the girallon, one of the archers manages to find their mark perfectly this time and the girallon collapses into the sand.

Trotting over to finish it off, Teliq recovers Vilmos's body and takes it back to Athos, who begins to look after the dwarf and the orc.

"Do you think there are more creatures like that on the island?"

One of the sailors asks Teliq as they begin to rematerialize from where ever it was they had gone during the brief fight.

[Grognard]

"Is island. Where one is two. May more. Keep watch. Not worry it dumb beast. Shout beat chest go arrgh. We professional. Kill range. Check ship more?" he replied.
"Athos when you are done with them see to these will you" he said looking at the wounds in his flank.

[Grognard]

Teliq turned to Sal."Well done Salist Sharpeyes. Well spotted indeed!"
Tasks of the Day.
Janse,Sal turn that thing into food.
Mel when you are done with the javelins and arrows I want that things hide for a rug.General task for you when you are not busy with other things, Slings for the sailors.I'm not having them useless in a fight again. If you know something faster do it.
Athos you got the wounded.Come with me first though.
Bill you're with me. We are going to backtrack that thing, see what we are dealing with.
Hap see what you can do for greens. There is nearly a ton of meat on that thing, but without greens we are in trouble.
Cel,Vos you got the Guard. You will rotate out with Bill and I when we return.
Dismissed to posts.
He moved over to the sailors, Athos trailing him to translate.
"Right I have been patient,it ends here. It is entirely unacceptable that if another of those things turns up you are scattered individualy through the forest to be picked off. You will pick a Captain and you will do so quickly. Call it unreasonable Guild prejudice if you will but this leaderless milling will stop. If you can't or won't settle on someone then I will set one of my own over you.
I want four things from you today. You have heard the first.
Second,Yavuz. I want an answer from you or your captain on the chance of repair.
Third I want that reef sounded.
Fourth I want supplies brought from the ship. Make an inventory and discuss priorities with Sal.
Hate me if you want to people but I will keep you alive if I have to kick every last one of you to Mare-Lost.
Bill let us go.
Not stopping for arguement he headed off for the Girralon's footprints.

[Black Plauge]

Nodding in acknowledgement of their orders, Teliq's mercenaries quickly get to work at their assigned tasks while Athos translates for the sailors.

Needless to say, the sailors are not exactly thrilled with Teliq's laying down the law, but after a bit of grumbling, they agree to his demands and trudge towards the longboat and the cockshells to head out to the ship. Apparently they'll settle the issue of captaincy out there amongst themselves.

With that, Teliq and Bill head off to follow the girallon's footprints.

About an hour after Teliq and Bill leave, Gel and Vilmos begin to stir. Both are in extreme pain still, but they're functional. Given a few days they'll be right as rain again.

* * *

Following the girallon's tracks, Teliq finds that the wander around the edge of the forest near the camp ground, almost in a pacing back and forth motion. Clearly the girallon came across the ship wreck site early yesterday but the day's activity kept it from coming out of the woods to investigate. It wasn't until activity died down after Io set that it got up the courage to venture out of the woods.

Because of the criss-crossing nature of the girallon's tracks, an hour of following them finds Teliq nearly back at the campsite. Indeed, he finds himself almost exactly in the spot where he encountered the rustling in the bushes yesterday.

[Linklegacy77]

Vilmos grunts, and attempts to stand. After trudging to his feet, he slowly walks away from everyone else a fair amount, and sits down by a tree to rest, on the edge of the area.