Jammers:Chapter 4, Turn 8 Summary

Comments, criticism, and flames always welcome and in fact are requested. I
crave feedback:)

Past turns and further information (such as who's who) can be found at the
Jammer's webpage:
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Jungle/3001/jammers.htm

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Jammers PBEM game) go to the following URL:
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-------------- =storyline break
*************** =time break

IC:
"Captain, hoom, we'd best fly out and away!" Nilaroo shouts, rigging the
sails for best speed.

Billy agrees with a vehement nod as he does his part in assuring that the
ship gets the best possible speed. He looks behind at the receding
asteroid. "Seguld's got the right idea." He says. "My bet is on that they
will try to run after us."

Seguld smiles, "Actually,IDoubtTheyWillBeCatchin'UpToUs,
ButIfTheyDoTheseWillBeReadyForAction."

Ferric runs to take his place by the speakertube while calling out a few
instructions to various company members still on the deck. Speaking through
the tube he coordinates the sails with Holland's plans.

Glancing back, a great deal of acitivity can be seen on the Barre as the
ship pulls away. No vessels have left in pursuit, however, before the
galley leaps to spelljamming speed.

As the galley reaches spelllamming speed, Leera again shimmers, and her
appearance returns to normal.

After it is obvious that no one is following the newly acquired ship, Billy
is visibly relieved. The tension goes out of his features and he takes a
deep breath. "That went off rather well, don't you think," he asks to no
one in particular. Since it appears that most of the crew is exploring the
ship, Billy keeps up his duties assuring that the ship is at its peak
performance.

------------------
Below:

Raken and Deigatt split up, Deigatt heads aft to examine the cabins and
helmroom, while Raken does a quick search of the hold and crew quarters.

Raken finds the crew quarters empty, aside from the sorts of gear one would
expect. The only notable find is a rack mounted on the bulkhead with five
heavy crossbows, and five cases of quarrels. In the hold and storage wings
he finds just normal ship stores and some provisions, nothing
extraordinary. The hold is empty, showing the vessel has sold the take from
any recent prizes.

Deigatt begins opening all the doors in the aft section, save one which is
locked; the starboard-aft cabin. The others all appear to be simple cabins
with bunks in the storage wings and chests and tables in the taller
section. Each has a porthole, and the porthole to one cabin is hanging
open.  The helm room is locked and barred, but at Deigatt's call Talus
opens it.  Talus tells the minotaur of the dwarf in the galley (the side
the minotaur hasn't gotten to yet).

After Raken has completed a cursory search of the hold and the crew's
quarters, he meets up with Deigatt in the passage near the aft-mast. All of
the doors in the passage are ajar, except the ones to the helm and the
galley.

"Holland his hon the helm," Deigatt says. "There har no crew down here, but
there his a dwarf hiding hin the galley. I believe I may startle him if I
went hin there, but Talus has vouched for him. Perhaps you could coax him
hout hof there?"

"Hmm... probably worried that we are pirates as well," Raken mutters. "I
shall try, but right now, he's not my major concern.  We just stole the
ship of a powerful mage; we need to find any device that he might be able
to use to track us down; I've heard stories about thieves who stole from
mages, only to learn that mages had spells that locate their stolen
possessions at will."  He thinks for a while, then adds "Usually the room
closest to the helm is the captain's or spelljammer's quarters.  Want to
start there, and I'll talk to this dwarf fellow," he says, pointing to the
rear room.

"Yes," Deigatt says. "Hit's this room hacross from the galley, but hit is
locked." Deigatt moves to that door, where Talus is busy with the lcok.

Raken raps on the door to the galley. "You may come out. We have left the
Barre and are making for deep space. You are safe now."

Dhebun glances over towards the door.  Blowing out the candle quietly he
picks up his knife and scurries to the door.  "Is it true... you have
killed the pirates?  Mahl is with me after all!!!"

Throwing wide the door Dhebun pokes his beard out looking for his saviour.
Seeing Raken standing before him a look of relief lights up his dirty face
and his eyes shine with tears.   "Praise to you and to your worthy band
sir," he happily replies dropping the knife to the floor.  "I am Dhebun,
son of Ghim, son of Ghurri, and I am very much at your service."

"Raken, Servant of Celestian, at yours," Raken responds, removing his holy
symbol from inside his shirt and returning it to its proper place,
prominantly displayed on his chest.  He bows at the dwarf.  "It was a quick
fight.  We attacked so rapidly that the pirates knew not what hit them and
they surrendured without whetting a blade.  I think Ferric tossed the motly
lot overboard.  Your tormentors are gone."  He motions the locked room and
says "A couple of our fellow mates are searching the rooms.  We are
attempting to discover if the captain has anything magical or special he
might use to track us.  Do yo know if there's anything special he kept
aboard?  It would be of help to us."

Dhebun frowns as he gazes at the door to the Captain's room.  "I honestly do
not know if he kept anything magical within his chambers, I spent most of
my time here in this accursed galley!  Still, I would like to see what is
in his room as well.  The portal is shut fast however, I tried to force it
earlier.  Shall we try again, Raken?"

Moving to the locked door, they find Talus already working on the lock.

Deigatt, Raken, and Dhebun watch as Talus easily picks the lock to the
large cabin. Inside, there is a bunk, a chest, and a table. The bunk has a
fine down mattress and some thick blankets (better than those in the other
cabins). A book rests on the desk, along with a hooded lantern and an
hourglass. A shortsword hangs next to the bunk.

Deigatt takes the book off the desk, then he opens it, looking through it.
As his eyes scan the first page, a rune suddenly begins to glow, then
explodes in the next instant, filling the room with fire. Deigatt and the
others are thrown to the deck, and several small fires start in the cabin,
especially the captains bunk, which starts to burn brightly.  The book is
nothing but a pile of ashes.

With his large hand, Deigatt stifles a bit of coughing; then he stands. He
strides quickly from the room and returns shortly with a bucket of water
from the galley. He tosses the water onto the captain's bunk, then heads
back to the galley for more water.

-------------------

Upon deck everyone is startled by the loud explosion from below decks.
Kain rushes below, telling the others he let them know what happened.

Kain pokes his head into the recently unlocked room. "Oh my, what
happened?" he asks quickly as he steps in.  "Do any of you need what
healing I can provide?" Kain continues, before he stops and laughs.

Raken, standing there with a somewhat defeated look, opens his eyes and
looks down on his soot-blackened clothes and coughs a small cloud of black
smoke.  "And I just had this outfit cleaned," he says with a sigh.  "Deig,
please don't touch anything else.  I'd like to have at least one good set
of clothes.  I'm down to one good set, with all your blood I've had spilled
on them while I try to patch everyone up."

Returning with a second bucket of water, Deigatt ignores Raken's comment
and says to Kain: "I ham not hin need hof healing." After tossing the water
on the
burning bed, Deigatt smothers the few remaining flames with his hands.

Raken merely shrugs.  "If the burns become too uncomfortable, don't
hesitate to ask for healing.  Untreated burns can lead to a horrible
variety of illinesses."

Looking at Raken Kain adds, "Well, I guess if it were needed, you could
take care of things. Hey, Raken.  It was amazing, offensive action without
you having to spend the whole fight patching me back together," Kain smiles
again.

"Yes, nice, isn't it?" Raken responds.  "Mind fetching me a bucket of water
and a wet rag?  I need to clean up a bit.  And, I suppose, curing the burns
would be in order."

"Sure thing Raken," Kain nods.  "Be right back."  Making stops at the
galley and one of the empty bedchambers, Kain returns with a bucket of
water, a bit of soap, and a handful of rags that were once a pirate's
shirt.  "There you go guys," Kain grins.

Deigatt looks to Kain and says, "I hexpect Holland will need to be
hinformed hof what has happened here." Abruptly, Deigatt leaves the room
and climbs to the deck where he begins inspecting the ballistae.

"Find anything interesting?" Kain asks as he holds a slip of paper in his
hand, a lead pencil in the other.  "I'll record everything we find," he
explains.

"I'd suggest we clean up and heal before we mess with anything in here
again," Raken quickly adds as he dusts the black soot off his clothes,
frustated that the tunic is stained.  Giving up, he begins to use his
prayers to heal the worst of the burns.

Seeming to notice Dhebun for the first time, Kain starts.  "Oh, good day to
you sir," he smiles as he bows to the dwarf.  Kain glances at his
unconcerned companions and smiles again. "I guess you're not a pirate then.
My name is Kain."

Dhebun replies. "I am Dhebun, son of Ghim, son of Ghurri, and I am very
much at your service."

**********************
Above Decks:

After the ship attains spelljamming speed Ferric says, "Lets strip this
corpse and prepare them to be thrown overboard."

Leera nods and bends to wipe her dagger in the dwarf's clothing.

Ferric himself goes to the corpse of the dwarf and removes his daggers from
the chest of the lifeless body.  Wiping them clean he loads them back into
his wrist sheathes before stripping the body and piling the bloody clothes
and all possesions beside it.

The dwarf had a hand-axe in a baldric sheath, and a pouch filled with about
ten gold coins, his clothing was pretty normal.

Leera helps Ferric search the body, noting as she does so that "This was
_not_ a nice dwarf. Let's get his stench as far off of this ship as
possible."

Ferric and Leera toss the dwarf off the stern.

Since the rest of the party seems to be busy searching the ship, Elmarelena
will go aft to Seguld. "Are you set here or do you need anything, Seguld?"
she asks, looking over the ballista with a glance.

"WellThankYouMiss,ButIDoBelieveIHaveTheseBalllistaWellUnderControl,
OfCourseOurAssaultWasABitMoreEasilyCompletedThanExpectedWhichMeansSomethingI
sGoingToBlowUpInOurFaces.
IfYouCanKeepAnEyeOnMyBackWhileIDoThisI'dAppreciateIt."

Seguld then continues with his loading of all of the balllista's while
examining them for any modifications or booby traps. He finds they are
standard medium ballistae, with standard ammunition.

Elmarelena begins working her way forward, inventorying and appraising the
equipment on deck, all of which seems to be normal for a ship of this type.

A burned Deigatt comes on deck and begins inspecting the ballsitae.

Seguld looks up from the foremost ballista.
"HeyBigGuy,They'reStandardIssueLoaded AndReadyShould AnyoneBeFoolishEnough
ToPursueUs.However,BeforeWeCanSayTheirReadyForUsWe'llBeNeedingToAddAnotherBe
nchSeatForMe,
I'llManTheAftBallista,ButWe'llNeedToSetCrewAssignmentsForTheOthers.
IRecommendThatWeConsiderATriumvirateCommitteeOrganizationWithSeparate
StaffingForTheHelm, TheSailsAndTheWeaponry.AreThereAnyQuartersBelowNear
TheAftHatch? IfSo,ThenIShouldBeAssignedThereinToAllowMeToManMyWeaponQuickly
InCaseOfCombat. YouKnowMyMovementHasn'tBeenTooGoodSinceMyInjury,
IDoubtIt'llEverGetBackToNormal. SpeakingOfInjuries,How'dYouGetSoBurned?"

Deigatt shakes his head in confusion, then says, "There was han haccident
below deck. I hacted hin haste hand managed to destroy what could have been
very himportant to hus."

Seguld smiles, "SoThenOtherThanSize,TheRacesOfMinotaursAndGnomesAreNotAs
DifferentAsManyWouldBelieve.
WouldYouBelieveThatManyPeopleOfDifferentRacesHave
MadeNumerousCommentsSuggestingThatGnomesOftenActInHasteAndDestroyWhatCouldHa
veBeenVeryImportantToThem." Seguld pauses a moment and then
adds,"IGuessSinceWeAre
SoSimilarThenOneCouldArgueThatInASenseWeAreRelated,InSpiritIfNothingElse,Whi
chMeansThatThereIsARelationshipBetweenUsWhichICanOnlyDescribeAsBrothers.
SoDoesThatMeanICanCallYouBrother?"

Deigatt frowns. "I would prefer 'comrade,' Seguld. I had a brother once,
but he his lost to me now. I do not wish to be reminded hof him."

With the ship away, Grigree heads below to search.

---------------------
Back below decks:

"Hope they've.. uh.. got something to eat," Kain laughs as heads aft and
joins Grigree in the search.

Starting with the crew chambers and working their way towards the aft
section, they tumble the beds in the former crew's chamber, shaking the
bedding and checking any unlocked containers. They finds mostly what Raken
had spotted before, but this more thorough search does produce 57 silver
and 58 copper coins from various mints. After searching as thoroughly as
they can, Kain and Grigree leave the room and places a small 'X' in chalk
on the door.

In the hold and two wing storage chambers they find little more then some
provisions, they estimate it at about 750 man/days for food and water. It
appears reasonably palatable.

In the first of the cabins they search seems to have been a double, there
are two bunks. Of worth, they find 160 gold, a perfume vial, two vials of
ink, 2 fine fur cloaks, a hooded lantern, a handcrossbow, and twenty
quarrels.

In the room with the open porthole they discover some clothing for a female
gnome or halfling and little else. However, the chest is open, and seems to
have been recently rummaged through.

Kain nudges the chest with his foot, a frown creeping at the corners of his
mouth.  After the uneventful search, Kain reaches up and closes the
porthole before leaving the room.

The next cabin, is also a double, and appears to have been inhabited by a
human male and female. Inside a large chest (no lock) they find a healer's
bag, two thin books, and several pieces of parchment and papyrus scattered
about. As well as a few quills and ink.

The final cabin seems almost untouched. the bed is made, but there seem to
be no personal effects stored in the room.

"That looks to.. ah.. be it Grigree," Kain shrugs.  "I'm a bit concerned
about that open porthole, perhaps we should maybe keep an eye out for
anything.. well.. unusual for a while."  Kain runs his fingers over his
leather headband.
"I think I'll go see Holland Grigree," he says.  "Maybe he's noticed
something with that helm enchanced vision Talus was telling me about."

------------------

Leera  makes her way to the helm room. There she greets Holland and fills
him in on the the results of the battle. She wonders aloud whether it would
be better to remark the ship before reaching Bral.

Holland nods, "We worked well together in taking this ship, perhaps it is a
new beginning."

******************

A little while after the search is completed, Kain goes to the helm
chamber.  Passing the list of loot to Leera, Kain says, "We found a few
things scattered about the ship" as he points to the parchment.
"Of..ah..particular interest
I thought, one of the rooms had an open porthole, and the chest in that
room looked to be hurriedly rummaged through.  I.. well.. don't think we
have a stowaway, but we might.

Holland, still invisible, says, "Hmm, ask the dwarf.  He might know who was
staying in that cabin.  Also, please check with Raken to see if he has
access to any spells that reveal invisible persons.  Hopefully it is
nothing."

Leera looks over the list and sighs. "Nothing else in the captain's room?
No wands or staves?" She looks disappointed.

"Can you see anything unusual with your helm sight Holland?"  Kain asks.
"I'd mislike having an armed enemy aboard, whether it were a gnome or
halfling woman or a Scro captain."

Holland replies, "No, I didn't see anything of note after I took control of
the helm."

"Oh.. and.. uh..," Kain mumbles.  "There was a.. uhh.. book of some sort in
the well furnished captain's chamber, and it was trapped.  Burned to ash,"
he finishes lowly.

Holland's voice transforms into a howl of rage and there is a slight
'hiccup' in the passage of the PROWLER, "WHAT?!?  Damned Fools!  Dred's
spellbook!" After a few seconds the PROWLER's course continues as normal
though a low muttering continues from the helm,
"...fireball...incompetent...traps..."

Leera looks at the helm before sighing. "So much for his spellbook then,
eh? Well, unless he's got a backup somewhere it should annoy him at any
rate."

------------------------

Raken, Talus, and Dhebun complete the process of caring for their wounds
and cleaning themselves up outside the big cabin.  They hear Holland's
outburst clearly, being just outside the door.

Brushing his clothes, Raken looks around the room.  "That's odd.  I
wonder," he mutters, "would a mage leave his only spellbook out in the open
yet trap it so that it would be destroyed by any casual observer?  I would
think a mage's spellbook is his most precious posession and if he were take
such measures, would he not keep backups, perhaps hidden in a secret
compartment?"

Date/time: 10:20 am 22nd day of the 6th Month, 5049 OC

Paul Westermeyer,  westermeyer.3@???.edu
Phd Candidate, OSU Dept of History
Adjunct Professor, Columbus State Humanities Dept