Side One, Ep.1 "Holey Ship!"

[Legendary Sidekick]

Reaver hears a groan. "That you, boss?" There is a muffled thud, followed by quiet cursing and a couple steps. A few light thumps precede the phrase, "The artillery room." Ender goes on, "Yeah, it's dark here, boss but… I don't dare light a candle."

 

[Reaver]

"That's a wise policy, Mr. Ender. I'm glad that you're relatively unharmed. Let's try to find our way topside, shall we? Although we've soundly defeated the boarding party, I seriously doubt that we are out of danger."

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Reaver hears the sound of a squeaky wheel. "Hey boss… the Cap'n keeps cannons down here. Powder kegs, cannon balls. You might wanna head down here. But… take the stairs. And if there's anyone up there who can actually aim a cannon, that will help."

 

[Reaver]

"I'll get as many people to help as I can."

I turn and walk swiftly toward a stout, peg-legged fellow and bow humbly: "Well met, warrior. I am Reaver. Mr. Ender and I require assistance down below on the gunnery deck. Will you help us?"

 

[Ireth]

Vincent

Seeing that the frog is dead, I pull the katana from its corpse and offer it back to Shan Mai by the hilt. "I hope you don't mind me borrowing that for a moment."

I turn then to Diana, looking her over to make sure she's alright.

Diana

I smile as Vincent turns to me, appreciating his concern. He needn't worry right now, though; I'm unscathed. I lower my sword and give him a quick kiss of thanks, then raise the weapon again to clean the blood from it. As I do I look around, seeing Beatrice on the stage next to a gaping hole. A shiver runs through me as I realize how close she was to being destroyed like the man who would have taken her to his bed.

Vincent

Catching Diana's thoughts, I turn toward Beatrice as well. The ship looms even closer now. "Now will you come down from there, Beatrice?"

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

"Okay."

Beatrice leaps from the stage, modestly placing her hands over her dress as she drops down.

 

[Ireth]

Vincent

I smile and beckon her to my side, stepping out to meet her halfway across the deck. I want to be close to her in case something else shows up -- which, judging by the look of the ship, it will at any moment. Voices from below catch my attention, and I pause to listen.

((I refer, naturally, to the conversation between Mr. Ender and Reaver from the floor below. I imagine our GM will clue me in to what exactly Vincent learns from this. Right, LS?))

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

((Vincent knows whatever you can deduce from posts 81-84, unspoken words included. He can tell 'Reaver' and 'Mr. Ender' are on different floors and figure out their relative positions: Reaver is just below, and Ender is two decks below.

If he looks down the hole, he can see the bar. Those in the bar can see Vincent through the hole in the ceiling, if he peers down and calls attention to himself.

The artillery room is dark, so let's stick to Reaver's 'pitch black' description. The map won't be pitch black though… I already have the light source on the new maps.))

 

[SeverinR]

The word 'miracle' is drowned out by a BOOM…

[/COLOR]

I grab the katana, scramble to find the missing cleaver as I yell a warning:
"The cannon fired again!"
Once I get the other cleaver I will dive for cover.

 

[Philip Overby]

I dust myself off, rolling the barrel away and looking around at the others. "You didn't see that. So what is going on now? More of these frogs about?" I decide to tag along with Reaver and Mr. Ender to find out what they're snooping around about. I love a good snoop.

 

[SeverinR]

Looks around,
"Oh, sorry. I must be hearing things."
looks to Vincent:
"Feel free to use my katana anytime it is not on my person. I am fairly good with the cleavers."
He looks around...
"Special dinner tonight, Frog legs all you can eat." I say with a smile.
"The ship approaches! Prepare for boarding. Tell the priest to get more of those hand cannons."

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Father Warbuck replies, "I'm low on ammo, but any more frogs swim aboard I'll fill 'em with holes until I've got nothing left to shoot."

Beatrice says, "I think I better get below deck. Both of those shots landed very close to me."

She tugs on Diana's dress, urging her toward the stairs.

 

[Ireth]

Diana

Beatrice gets my attention and urges me toward the stairs; I look to Vincent as I follow. Better safe than sorry!

Words, or the images of words, flash into my mind. It takes me a moment to realize that they come from Beatrice.

Can you understand me when I speak like this? Have you ever heard a voice before, or were you deaf since birth?

I dig in my satchel for parchment and a pen, writing out a quick reply. I understand you. I've never heard a sound. I was born deaf, as were my parents.

Vincent

"Right. Good plan." I hurry after them, pondering what I heard from the decks below. No doubt some interesting things await us down there -- maybe some that will be of help against the enemy ship.

It suddenly strikes me that, though I had been looking at Beatrice when she spoke of the cannon-fire, not a whisper of her thoughts reached my mind. I look at her again in confusion, and no small amount of wonder. Could she have mental powers that surpass mine? I may be able to learn a thing or two from her!

Diana's thoughts are crystal-clear, however. It seems Beatrice is speaking to her mentally. I can understand why she didn't try that in the first place; we mentalists don't reveal our secrets easily or often. I think it's safer that way.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Beatrice says to Diana:

You don't need to write your messages to me. Just project your thoughts to me and I'll understand. Do you not communicate this way with your husband? I think he can handle two-way communication with you. He's quite talented.

I suppose I'll need to explain myself to you later… right now, I'm hungry!


Beatrice runs down to the Mess Hall. It's messy, but not littered with corpseslike the upper deck. There are several meals left nearly untouched. Beatrice helps herself to a kiddie cone.


She allows Diana to read her thoughts.

A family sat here. The child who ordered it is younger than me. Smaller than me. Eat something. You want to be strong for what you're about to face.


She grabs a health roll, but not for herself. She opens a door to a dark room and enters.

	Beatrice ♥ (immune to heat)
	Mr. Ender ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

 

[Ireth]

Diana

I nod in response to Beatrice's thoughts, and browse the tables covered with uneaten food, wondering what to sample. After a moment I pick up a bit of extra dark chocolate for Vincent, then start on a plate of tough meat for myself. If I'm going to act as a shield, this certainly won't hinder my ability.

Vincent

I smile and accept the chocolate Diana hands me, letting it linger on my tongue for a while before I swallow. It energizes me and settles my nerves at the same time. I glance over at a nearby mug of strong coffee, and wish it were tea instead. But no matter; the chocolate will help on its own.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Overheard Conversation:

"Why thank you, little girl."

"You're welcome, Mr. Ender. …I heard you talking through the hole in the ground. I'm Beatrice. I was almost hit myself."

"Then… shouldn't you be somewhere safe?"

"There is no safe place as long as the pirate ship keeps shooting at us."

Spoiler: what to do

You can grab an abandoned meal at the Hero Sandwich Shop—anything under $50.

If you enter the next room, you'll see Beatrice and Mr. Ender talking. Anyone who's not deaf heard the conversation, as long as you post that you're heading down to the main deck.

 

[Reaver]

While walking through the mess deck, I remind myself that in order to continue fighting off the enemy, I need sustenance. I grab a plate of still warm frog legs and mug of steaming coffee and wolf them both down. The frog legs are surprisingly good but the coffee very strong and it has the consistency of kelpie dung.

After setting the empty plate and mug on a nearby table, I continue on to the darkened gunnery deck.

"Mr. Ender? Are you there? Why in the name of The Warrior's Shimmering Naginata is it still dark in here? How are we to use these cannons if we're unable to see?"

 

[Sparkie]

After hearing Mr. Ender speak of cannons, Cookie almost frowns in surprise. Almost.

"Blow me down the hatch! I 'as gonna man the battery! Come, me hearty's, let's punch a few holes in the enemy's hull! Harr harr!"

Heading down to where Mr. Ender and the girl are, Cookie looks around and asks "Uh, where be the Cap'n? Hey, where be my gunnery crew?"

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Everyone enters the dark room. Mr. Ender directs Cookie across the room, to a door that leads to the stern. There the Cap'n waits for him.

"I s'pose you left yer flint and steel in the kitchen with the rest o' the tools of yer trade. Well, don't feel bad. I don't have a means to light the fuse meself. Sheriff's got a pipe, and always the means to light it, so when he comes back we can start the fireworks."

A frog falls past the main deck. The corpse can be seen through one of the portals in the dark room, and from the main deck.

The Cap'n sighs, "Him and Lou are gonna be busy having their fun. Anyone with you got a light?"

Vincent can hear this conversation. But before he can respond, Ender clears his throat. "Cap'n needs two powder kegs, and as much ammo as we can carry."

What to do…

Cookie needs to roll a d20 to aim the cannon. He can either go back to get a cannon ball (the round trip can be done in one turn), or load the cannon with powder.

Everyone but Vincent needs to roll an 8 to move a keg in one turn. Like Ender, Vincent only needs a 5 due to his powerful telekinesis. No roll is needed to move a cannon ball.

Ender has a good grip on his keg, so only ONE more keg is needed. If the person who tries to move the keg rolls too low, assume that you take the time to grip it right and can move it next turn without rolling. The roll is to see if you can move the object easily, and therefore, quickly. (I won't explain the whole system just yet, unless someone asks.)

Spoiler: update of Telekinesis

@Ireth, I made Telekinesis easier to use and consistent with how feats of strength work. Not only is there no fail/charge (or roll for something light), but note the ruling on movement. It should be possible to take an object with you, so you could do that my moving both Vincent and the objet 3 squares per turn.

• Telekinesis: roll a feat-of-strength check as if you are "powerful," or simply move an object that can be carried effortlessly, such as a weapon. You and the object can each move a total of 6 squares per turn.

 

[Reaver]

Now that my eyes have adjusted to the darkness, I grab a powder keg and attempt to move it over to the cannon.

The barrel is ungainly and heavier than I expected, but I'm able to get it to where it needs to go. After that I begin moving cannon balls and stack them in a neat pile.