[Game Thread] Elegy of a Penal Ship (Fair Maiden)

[AlwaysCivilMike]

Boris, with his hands out in a disarming manner, looked at Lydak with a slight grin on his face. “Now now, no need to get testy. I have no idea what your name is so I just called you what you are….a half orc. There is nothing wrong with that is there? Perhaps you should be more concerned about my friend Simon and sensitive about what people call you.” As the two of you stare at each other, it was hard to tell who disliked the other more. At the same time Tate was on the stairs making sure his axe was clear to draw, two of Boris’s ‘friends’ glanced over and then whispered something to each other. One of the men, a tall burly red headed man, glanced over again at Tate and gave him a slight smile that was NOT one of friendship. Perhaps the man just really admired Tate’s axe….then again.

While the standoff between Boris and Lydak was taking place, Olly was busy in his own little world. He began to move off around the room looking for clues to what might have happened. He finally made he way over to the card table at the back of the ship where he glanced at the cards there before moving over to one side of the ship and looking closely at something on the wall. While all this was happening, Reia stood there quietly just watching everyone. She could not help but feel like she was right in the middle of the eye of the hurricane. Being upstairs might be a safer place…but then again…that is where the captain was so perhaps this was much better. How did she manage to get herself into these situations? She looked at Boris who’s eyes were locked on Lydak and then over to one of the men behind him and noticed the greasy haired man looking at her. It of course was one of ‘those’ looks she had seen throughout her life…..the same look the captain had given her just before the lights went out.

Before anything else could be said, shouting was heard upstairs followed by footsteps. Then a “out of my way you half wit” is heard in the special way only the captain could speak. Stepping down the stairs, taking them two at a time, came the captain and Sighlee hot on his trail. Sighlee’s eyes quickly looked over the group gathered together and immediately his hand went to the hilt of his sword. It was obvious he felt the tension in the room. Seeming oblivious to what was really transpiring the captain just bulled his way over to where Lydak and Boris stood and said “What the devil is the meaning of this? What is this I hear…” Just then the non-observant captain spotted the prone form of Simon and the blood. He moved over to look at the man before saying “Is he dead? What happened? Dear spirits the lights go out for a few minutes and people can’t keep themselves out of trouble.” He turned to Lydak and said “Sailor, what happened to this man?”

[Humble Athena]

Reia's eyes widen even further when she catches the look one of the men is giving her. Not again! She frets. With the Captain, his first mate, and several armed men there, she is not concerned about the prisoners enacting violence. But this, this other thing, is clearly a problem she'll have to cut off right now, before she gets cornered in another dark, crowded room.

"We've been trying to figure that out, Sir." Stepping forward more boldly than she feels, she crouches next to the injured man and runs her fingertips through a pool of blood. "Amazing." She states, presumably to herself in a fascinated voice, but certainly loud enough to be overheard. "I haven't seen a bleeder like this since the last time a man tried to force himself where he didn't belong, and I had to cut 'it' off."

[zevonian]

"Found the man on the floor near dead. Tended to the wound. Asked questions of this bunch. Lydak nodded towards Boris and his flunkies now as he address the Captain. "This one in front, decided he could speak for all of them, claims to be concerned about the accident that happened to the one he calls his friend Simon."

He glanced away for only a second, to check the position of everyone in relation to Simon, so that no one could accidentally trip onto him. "Simon needs the service of a healer. Priest, holy man, what ever you call them on here. Boris here, he has a certain look. He looks like he wants to get a fight started, then hide behind his friends. The ones he does not think can speak for themselves."

[Amos]

Being absorbed in his crude detective work, Olly finally notices the arrival of the captain. Pulling his attention away from the trail of blood, he hears both Lydak and Reia mention the 'accident'.

"Um ... Excuse me Captain ... Sir, but I'm not so sure this was an accident."

Taking a deep, calming breath, Olly steadies himself for what needs to be said.

"Like I was saying, I don't think this man simply tripped. If you'll take a look at the shape of the wound on his head, the blood trail on the floor leading from here all the way over to the card table over there and then to the beam above it, which just happens to fit the shape of the wound, you'll notice that that is an awfully long way for a man to walk. Especially after suffering that severe of a hit to the head.

Now, I'm not sure exactly what happened here, but judging by the fact that the man lying in front of us, told us he had something very important to tell us, then just as he had said that ... Boris called him away ... the lights went out mere seconds after that... and now he is found in this condition?"

His mind was working through it all as he spoke, causing him to sound like he was thinking a out loud.

[AlwaysCivilMike]

First to reply was the up to this point quiet Reia. ALL eyes turned to her as he spoke that they were trying to get to the bottom of the situation right then. However, when she said :

"I haven't seen a bleeder like this since the last time a man tried to force himself where he didn't belong, and I had to cut 'it' off."

A few people took a step back at her comment. Some of the goons behind Boris glanced at each other with a “Don’t look at me, she is not my type” look. For whatever reason, both the captain and Boris seemed to find the comment amusing. The captain took one step forward and was going to say something when Lydak chimed in saying :

"Found the man on the floor near dead. Tended to the wound. Asked questions of this bunch. Lydak nodded towards Boris and his flunkies now as he address the Captain. "This one in front, decided he could speak for all of them, claims to be concerned about the accident that happened to the one he calls his friend Simon."

"Simon needs the service of a healer. Priest, holy man, whatever you call them on here. Boris here, he has a certain look. He looks like he wants to get a fight started, then hide behind his friends. The ones he does not think can speak for themselves."

Not to be outdone Olly speaks from the back of the room saying:

"Um ... Excuse me Captain ... Sir, but I'm not so sure this was an accident."

Taking a deep, calming breath, Olly steadies himself for what needs to be said.

"Like I was saying, I don't think this man simply tripped. If you'll take a look at the shape of the wound on his head, the blood trail on the floor leading from here all the way over to the card table over there and then to the beam above it, which just happens to fit the shape of the wound, you'll notice that that is an awfully long way for a man to walk. Especially after suffering that severe of a hit to the head. Now, I'm not sure exactly what happened here, but judging by the fact that the man lying in front of us, told us he had something very important to tell us, then just as he had said that ... Boris called him away ... the lights went out mere seconds after that... and now he is found in this condition?"

The captain eyed the holy man and then Simon. He pointed at Simon and then said “You are a holy man right? Why have you not looked at him? Surely you talents could be used to help the man.” As he spoke Sighlee moved around the group and over to where Olly stood. Bending down he examined the blood that was on the beam and then his head turned as if tracing a path over to where Simon laid. He stood up looking a bit confused though he did say “I see the cleric’s point. This blood mark is very low to the ground. It is perhaps 3 feet above the floor. Something like that….falling and hitting your head I mean…could happen in a total blackout. However, going from something that would possibly knock you out to moving 20 feet away and laying down….that is pretty incredible.”

At this point Boris decided to speak up. While everyone was facing Sighlee and the priest he grinned but it quickly left his face and was replaced by one of concern as he said “Captain, this is simply a tragic accident. Why your half orc sailing mate….why…all of them for that matter…would want to accuse me of trying to kill a fellow prisoner.*A look of shock came to his face* is just beyond me. Simon is our friend….we are all *glanced at his goons* friends right?” His goons all nodded eagerly at their boss’s comment. “See, so to accuse us of this horrible accident makes me wonder what our friends here have against us? Why…this is an INJUSTICE I tell you. *Slams his fist into his palm* Want proof? He said with his own mouth that we wanted to start a fight. *Waves a hand back at his friends* we….four UNAMRED men…against him and his friends? PPPPLLLEEAAAASSSEEE! Why he *Points at Tate* actually unstrapped his deadly looking battle axe to intimidate us. Even this beautiful woman *Nods to Reia* makes comments about chopping off our male members all the while storing a short sword at her hip! I will admit that it is strange how my friend Simon made it to this spot…..but the actions of some of your crew and passengers seems more of an issue than how this accident happened. He is not even dead so when he awakes, he can simply tell us all what happened.”

The captain looked at Boris with a frown. Sighlee gave no reaction what so ever as he stood next to Olly. Finally he said “Well, for now we are going to leave the matter open. I don’t know what happened here and we may never find out. At least we have Simon here as Boris said. When he wakes we can get some answers from him. Until then, we can move him to the forward cabin *points to the front of the ship on the lower deck* until he is conscious. For now, I have enough problems to deal with. Unless someone has hard evidence*glances at everyone*”

 

In NO WAY am I saying the conversation is over. The captain is not convinced about anything and wants to move on. You can bring any kind of argument you want. I was just leaving it so you could end it quickly or continue on with the conversation.

[Rekal]

Tate grimaces at the young woman's none too subtle comment but his face returns to impassive as the others go on.

First Lydak, then Olly, Sighlee and the Captain said a piece. When Boris began his dramatic entreaty Tate actually rolled his eyes at the whining tone. His eyes narrow noticeably when the finger is jabbed at him, but then one eyebrow raises as a bemused expression takes over while Boris moves on.

Tate continues his fly on the wall approach leaving the others to make their case. Perhaps when Simon wakes...If he wakes. We will know for sure.

[zevonian]

"With permission Captain, I will carry Simon wherever you want him to rest, and then I will stand guard over him. When he wakes up, he can give a statement."
Lydak says nothing to the hooligans.

-----
ooc: Yeah, Lydak will carry Simon wherever, unless he's secretly 500 pounds or the cleric says two people should carry him, in that case Lydak will accept assistance.

[Humble Athena]

Reia stands, straight, and stares at Boris. "You sure talk a lot for someone not tryin' to hide anything. And all these threats and accusations you talk about. I never threatened anyone, merely made an observation." She is about to offer her own aid with the guarding, but thinks better of it. She would be better off, all-around, if her whereabouts were unknown.

[Amos]

Barely containing his disgust with Boris and his lame attempts at covering his actions, Olly moves over to Lydak's side.

"Captain, our large friend here had the situation under control with regards to treating Simon's wounds, I was merely trying to get to the bottom of a fishy situation. I will follow Lydak to the forward cabin and further see to the mans wounds. Reia, would you mind accompanying us, perhaps we could watch over him in shifts, one person should always be awake and alert by his side until he regains consciousness."

[Humble Athena]

Reia nods. "Of course." Oh well, looks like I won't be a hidden card after all. I hope we're dealt a strong hand. She rests one hand on the hilt of her sword as a reminder to the men with less than honorable intentions, then prepares to follow the men who seem a cut above.

[AlwaysCivilMike]

The captain waves a hand dismissively “Yes yes…put him back in the holding room. Let’s get this place cleaned up.” He turns and nods to Sighlee who nods back. Without another word the captain moves past Tate and up onto the deck. Over to the side Boris looked at Simon and said “We can move him if you want.” He took one look at the remaining people before smiling “Ok then, we will leave it to you all. Come men.” He turned and stared to walk up the stairs. The room was quite tense for the few moments until the four men were on deck. As if everyone was holding their collect breath and finally let it out people started talking. Sighlee started to walk to the front of the ship and as he did so he said calmly “Lydak, bring Simon this way.” With that the half orc with the help of Tate carefully lifted Simon and moved him to the front of the ship where there were two rooms. The first mate unlocked the left room and opened the door to reveal a SMALL little bedroom. He lit a lamp and then stepped out giving the others more room to carry Simon in. As they carried the man Olly whipped off the blood from his shirt and head as best he could before he was laid down.

They all stepped outside of the room and Sighlee said “I don’t like this…not one bit. That Boris was some sort of crime boss from what I was told. I think he was ‘freed’ to the Savage Coast to get rid of his presence. I am afraid we are in for a long trip. You all keep on your toes because I think you made a few enemies tonight.” He glanced in again at Simon before continuing “Standing guard might be the only way to keep this man alive long enough to find out what happened. I will have the other guards take shifts with you every few hours. That way everyone will remain refreshed and away for anything else that might happen.”

 

You can say anything to the captain…Boris or Sighlee. I can then move things on.

[zevonian]

Lydak makes sure the door is open so that at least one set of the group's eyes is keeping tabs on SImon. He then looked around to make sure Boris and his cronies were not hanging around. With the way clear, he quietly spoke to Sighlee. "Crime boss? If you the Captain wants that man tossed overboard for his crimes, I will do so for you. Otherwise, I will stand guard over Simon until I must rest." He says nothing further, and then goes about doing as he said he would, namely watching over Simon.

[AlwaysCivilMike]

In a unusual show of emotion the first mate chuckled a little at the half orc's comment about throwing Boris overboard. "Ah, that would be justice now wouldn't it? Unfortunately we can't because the evidence is just not there. I am sure Simon will be able to shed light on the situation. If Boris is worried about what he might say, you can bet he will make a play for him. With that in mind, expect it."

[zevonian]

for the ears of Olly, Tate, and Reia If any of you are going to be on guard duty with or in place of Lydak, he will quietly explain to you that he is going to place a small box or bag just where you would walk into the room. This is for us to step over, and for any potential assassins to trip over. It is a poor alarm but sometimes effective.

[Amos]

Olly had remained silent as they carried Simon's body to the more private quarters. Once he was made comfortable, he made his way up to Lydak and Sighlee, catching the end bit about Boris being some type of crime boss. This newest revelation had the cleric on his toes, and he silently swore an oath, promising to keep this Simon safe until he could inform them of what really happened.

Ooc: While Lydak takes watch, Olly will go back in and cast cure light wounds on Simon.   Cure Light Wounds: Dice Roll: (as this is an older post, these rolls are interpreted by the older (more basic) dice roller code) d8: 5