FLUFF: Jammers: Turn 44 Chapter 7

The Adventures of my Jammers PBEM game.

I'm afraid it's been a slow winter for the Jammers, and i got behind
on posting turn summaries.  I've got at least two more after this
before the Spelljammer list is back with the current Jammers turn.
I'll post them day by day this week.

I hope folks are enjoying these, if there is a consensus that they
suck I will be happy to stop posting them. Let me know what you folks
think. (My players should feel free to comment as well:))

Website: http://lost.spelljammer.org/Jammers/

----------- = Meanwhile, elsewhere...
*********** = Later...
{} = Actions and descriptions within these brackets take place within
the psionic mindscape and are OOC knowledge for all accept the
parties directly involved.

IC:

Cloaked by the illusory clouds the ship moves in over the island.  In
the darkness nothing of importance can be seen, but once the ship is
hovering above the remains of the temple Talus flies down invisibly
with ropes to tie to the chests left hidden beneath the water.

Talus finds the chests just as they were left, and he ties them off
with out any interference.  The SILENT STAR takes him back aboard and
takes off into the air.      The chests are hauled aboard with no
trouble, despite the darkness.

As the ship rises up and over the ring of the volcano Holland says,
"Well, that wasn't as bad as I thought.  Let's go get Italapate and
get out of here."

"Agreed," Raken says, "though I fully expect to be ambushed still, be
it at the village, when we leave the sphere, or when we return to
Bralspace. Of course, I'm curious as to where our dragon-friend is
at?  I expected him to be waiting for us."

Raken thinks for a moment.  "We might want to double-check the
chests. Make sure that no spells were cast on it that could lead
Cartan to us, or that they added something to the horde that would
allow them to find us. Its probably nothing, but you can never be too
careful."

Talus says, "I'll look at them," and then checks out the chests to
see if they have been tampered with or trapped, before carefully
opening them to see the contents.

There seem to be no traps, nor obvious tampering.  The first chest is
still filled with gold pieces, silver pieces, and electrum pieces.
The coins belong to at least half a dozen different realms.  The
second chest is filled with gems (rubies, diamonds, emeralds),
jewelry (necklaces, rings, bracelets, crowns), and gold and silver
dishes (goblets, plates, knives, spoons).

Nilaroo maintains his position at the catapult, scanning the skies as they fly.

Ferric too keeps a sharp lookout while the others deal with the treasure.

Allagan stands with his spear at hand watching off the starboard side.

Sekeht takes to the rigging nearby. His brown eyes search the sky
when he's not following orders from the sailmaster.

The sky to the east begins to lighten as dawn approaches, but the sky
remains partially filled with dark, dangerous clouds.

"Perhaps we should contact Italapate, and make sure all is well with
him," says Freneth from his position.

"Kain, were you able to contact Italapate?" Sekeht asks. "Do we know
if he's still in the village?"

"No, I was not. I will try again soon," replies Kain, "I could also
try and contact Argonui again, I doubt I will succeed, but it might
give an indication if he is close by?"

"Hmm," Sekeht says. "Have we fulfilled our obligation to him? Perhaps
we should simply wait for him to contact us, if he wants to. He
surely knows it will be our intention to leave the sphere as soon as
possible."

"We can worry about that after we pick up Italapate."  Ferric says.

Holland unlashes himself and heads over to the voice tube.  Talking
into the tube Holland says, "Gain some more altitude, get above those
dark clouds.  Then plot a course to the village."  Holland looks at
Kain, "Once we get closer to the village, please contact Italapate so
we can coordinate a rendezvous."

"Ok" replies Kain from his place by the sails.

Looking at the two chests Holland says, "Let's secure the treasure
below decks.  It would be heartbreaking if the chests fell overboard."

Dhebun nods, scratching at his beard as he regards the two chests.
"Aye, it would indeed, Holland, considering how dearly they were
bought.  I'll stow them in the hold for now.  Freneth, want to lend
me a hand, lad?"

Freneth looks at the chests dubiously for a moment, then starts
walking toward them.

Ives shakes his head and booms out "I'll help stow them below, they
are after all rather heavy."  Putting words to action Ives starts
stowing the chests in the helm room.

Nodding gratefully to the big giff, Dhebun picks up the other end of
the chest .  As they carry it off , Dhebun looks up towards Ives
clearly impressed and says.  "Thank you, Ives.  I'm glad you're on my
side."

Raken laughs, "Let me lend a hand as well...those chests look bigger
than either you or Freneth!"  He helps carry the heavy,
treasure-filled chests to the helmroom for safekeeping.

"Holland, give me a correction on our bearings as you can."  Ferric
then begins giving orders and working the rudder to head the ship in
the direction of the village.

Holland nods his head and directs his attention southward.

Date/Time: 4:45 am, 12th day of the 11th Month, 5049 OC

-----------

After nearly nine hours of travel through cloudy and overcast skies
the     SILENT STAR again approaches Panitubi.  The trip was
relatively uneventful.  Now however, skimming beneath the clouds to
catch a glimpse of the coastline and make certain they are on course,
the crew of the SILENT STAR catches a surprising site.  Dozens of
large war canoes like those seen at Panitubi are on the sea below.
Their native crews are paddling strongly, and all appear to be
heading for Panitubi...

Holland says, "Would you look at that?  Have the Panitubians upset
some of the other locals?"

Raken looks over the rail at the natives fleet and lets out a low
whistle.  "Not a bad armada.  Though with the way our luck has been
running, its not the Panitubians that they're after, but Italapate
whose angered them.  At best, its a local war and not our place to
interfere.  At the very worst, they have joined our enemies and are
sailing to board his ship, to have an army aboard if and when they
strike.  Somewhat unlikely, but it may also be that they too are
enemies of our enemies, therefore our good friends?  Shall we go down
to find out?"

Holland rubs his chin for a moment and then says, "I don't think this
involves us.  It might be best if we stay clear of it entirely."

"Perhaps," Raken says, "it is also likely that they might take
offense at us interfering with their own disputes.  Dealing with
natives can be tricky in that way."

Allagan says slowly, "Maybe we should watch for a little to see what
is happening.  Does anyone have a spyglass?"

"Not I," says Sekeht. "We should invest in one or two when we return to Bral."

Talus says, "Maybe Masawa can enlighten us a little." Walking over to
the tied up native Talus draws a dagger to hold ready and then
removes Masawa's gag,
"So, tell us, who are all of these warriors and why are they
attacking your village?"

Masawa sits sullenly and refuses to answer, but he cannot disguise a
flash of concern across his face when considering the war canoes
below.

Holland says to the group, "We have what we came here for, I think it
might be wise if we were to pick up Italapate and set sail for Bral.
What say you all?"

"Agreed!" Sekeht says enthusiastically.

Raken says, "it is time to head home.  Let us get our wayward friends
and set sail for home."

"Hoom, as long as our coyote has made no commitments for us, home it
is," Nilaroo answers from the catapult.

Looking over across the deck Holland says, "Kain, could you please
try to contact Italapate?"

"Of course, straight away" replies Kain as he scurries off to a quiet corner.

Kain settles down and after a brief moment of meditation his mind
reaches out to Italapate: {Hello, Its Kain. We have the Ship and can
see the Panitubi. It looks like there's a bit of a scrap brewing. Are
you still OK? Are you nearby? Can you signal so we can pick you up?}

Italapate thinks: {hey, uh, Kain... how are things back on the boat?
hmmm, that's nice.  Hey, there's a lot of zombies down here and you
know, I'm about ready to get back home.}

Kain's thoughts are clear in Italapates mind: {So are we. Tell us
where you are and we'll head over. Flash a light when you see the
ship,  we'll grab you. Then back home to Bral for everyone. Lets
leave the zombies to fight the natives.}

Italapate replies, {There are two of us, actually.  I'll explain
after you pull us aboard.}

Italapate realizes there is no where nearby where the ship can safely
land, especially with the zombies about.  But with the help of the
phanatons he and Lellyn could easily reach the tops of the jungle
trees and grab ropes lowered from the SILENT STAR.

Italapate gives Kain directions to the phanaton village and the
SILENT STAR banks over land and flies over the jungle towards the
village's location.

"What will we do with the Prisoner?" asks Kain, glancing sideways at
Masawa, "It would not be right to just drop him over the side into a
war."

Raken pipes up "I thought we were going to use him for dinosaur trolling..."

Talus shrugs, "Let's just throw him over board here. He might even
survive the fall."

Raken laughs.  "At worst, we could simply dump him off on a remote
island, marooned.  Preferably one far from civilization.  Or we could
simply turn him over to other native tribes that he has warred
against."

"We do not know how these tribes treat their prisoners they might be
cannibals, or worse." Explains Kain, "We took him prisoner, we should
either punish him ourselves or return him to his own people."

"He's the one who deceived and betrayed us, Kain," Sekeht says. "He
doesn't deserve more pity than he showed us."

"Of course he does not deserve pity, he deserves punishment." replies
Kain, "but he is our prisoner, and we must be the ones to punish him.
We took on that responsibility, we can not shirk it now. Simply
handing him over to an unknown tribe and hoping they will do as we
would wish is a desertion of our duty."

Holland says, "There are no authorities here for us to deliver him
to.  We will have to impose any punishments.  Walking the plank is a
naval tradition.."

"When do you want to carry out sentence?  We should do so before we
leave planet-side," Raken says.

Holland looks at the scene below them, "I'd rather not get closer to
his village with him aboard.  Too many possibilities of some sort of
treachery or surprise."

"Feh!" Nilaroo spits.  "I would rather leave this rock behind without
the stain of a murder on my soul.  Hoom, call it revenge, or
whatever, I will not honor the memory of my friends this way."

"Execution is not murder."  says Ferric from his place at the rudder.
"Murder is what was perpetrated on our friends and shipmates.  He has
committed mutiny, one of the most grievous crimes across the spheres
and he must be disposed with in accordance with our laws and
traditions."

"I don't think what he did can be considered mutiny since he wasn't a
member of the crew," Sekeht says. "But he did know he was risking his
life by trying to
take our ship. Surely we shouldn't value his life more than he valued
it himself."

"In a word, no." Ferric replies.  "I have lived my entire life on Bral and
the space lanes and I take those laws as my own.  I will see justice done for
our murdered comrades.  I will take no pleasure in it but I will carry out
the sentence myself so that none else need dirty their hands if their
conscious will not bear it."

"My point exactly, it is not mutiny. And I tried to separate his head
from his shoulders when we took back our ship as much as any.  He is
my enemy and I despise him.  However, death in battle armed is
different than death bound and helpless, and this is not justice."
Nilaroo concludes.

"Ferric is right," Sekeht says. "What alternative is there? Slap his
wrists and drop him off near his village with a sound scolding? Will
that heal the wound he has inflicted on our Company?"

"Perhaps he has not mutinied," inputs Freneth.  "This one is not very
clear on the laws of your world.  However, I believe that the theft
of a ship is what is called piracy?  Is this one's interpretation
correct?  What is the punishment for such an act?  I believe I heard
stories of jettisoning 'pirates' into space where they would
suffocate to death.  If such punishment is unfit, then perhaps it
would be more tolerable to jettison him here, where he would not
suffocate.  He may or may not perish from the fall, but he would have
a better chance at survival than his crimes warrant."

"Slap on the wrists?  No, I was thinking more of removing the hands
at the wrists.  Hoom, that way, he cannot raise a weapon in betrayal
again." Nilaroo replies.

Holland muses, "Hands so he cannot raise another weapon and eyes so
the last he sees are the ones he wronged.  That might be adequate."

"I don't see how leaving him helpless to defend himself is more
humane than killing him out right," Sekeht says. "But if that's
acceptable with everyone, by the sands let's do it."

"It sounds just enough punishment to me.  He may not be long to this
plane once justice is administered, but it will be will of his people
and his gods that he lives or dies," Raken says.

Leera shakes her head, smiling. "Your time with the priests of Hoar
has had quite an impact! Remind me never to betray you, my captain!"

Holland's face hardens as he replies softly through clenched teeth,
"There is a special hell for betrayers, may they burn for all
eternity."

Following a short snort Ives adds "We could always flog him, keelhaul
him and then take his hands and eyes.   But for the sake of speed
lets get this over with and return to Bral. In fact I'll lend my
swords arm to take the thiefs hands in one stroke. The other is out
of my expertise."

The conversation comes to a end as the ship reaches the jungle above
the phanaton village.  The deckhands quickly toss a pair of ropes
over board and haul up Italapate and his comrade...

Date/Time: 2:00 pm, 12th day of the 11th Month, 5049 OC

--
"...How shall a man judge what to do in such times?!"
"As he has ever judged," said Aragorn "Good and evil have not changed
since yesteryear..."
J.R.R. Tolkien, _The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers_

Paul Westermeyer,  westermeyer@????????.net