(Ed) Reggie | AC : 21 / Touch 20/ flat: 17 | HP: 130 / 130 | Rage used 3 /18 d20+19=36 ; Saturday August 19th, 2017 10:02:33 PM
With all now in order, reggie makes her way back to the docks. noticing a small keelboat. she boards that boat to check it for seaworthiness.
{ooc: profession sailor = 36}
Zod |&| Kunda (Damarr) HP68||85; AC30||30; T21||17; FF27||23; CMD36||36 d20+19=33 ; d20+19=37 ; Sunday August 20th, 2017 11:38:55 AM
"Our next action, after seeing to these people, should be hunting down this Felaer Deadfall that apparently purchased my old mentor, Tobias. I have a feeling many of these folks' wishes will also lead us to more slavers."
Zod goes on to outline a more long-term plan:
We could establish multiple islands, each with a purpose - a nursery/school for orphaned young, to start. After their rearing and education, the youth are given a choice - train and fight in the privateer fleet, labor in the mines, farm, or one-way passage to Bonetown, for those who would seek their own fortune. All of the Black Lions' funded operations would be paid gigs, of course. The mine could help offset costs, eventually the school could be opened to the public for modest tuition, if we can attract enough scholars to establish an institution.
Seeing Rill and Zeoll have the island's occupants' needs in-hand, Zod follows Reggie to the dock to speak with Tula and inspect the keelboat tied up there. Perception 33. With no knowledge of sailing, the minotaur asks the pirate-woman how many they can safely transport between the two ships?
Terser (Warren G) [AC22/13/19 - CMD 28 - HP 156/156, DR 1/-] (25% no crit, uncanny dodge, rage used 3/28, channel 0/5) Raging HP 163/207 Sunday August 20th, 2017 12:12:49 PM
Terser sees justice in giving the coinage to the freedmen, as well as in setting them up in their own settlement here should they wish it. The island is obviously habitable, and it seems unlikely that the owners would come here anytime soon.
"My only worry is that in a year or so, the owners do come back to check on their investment. Rill, could you scribe a message scroll for them? We can teach someone how to use it, and they can call on us to assist if they need help repelling any invaders. I bet we could find a weaponsmaster in Bonetown to train some of the former miners, and maybe even one of the Brothers' acolytes to help out and call us if needed."
DM Kathy Sunday August 20th, 2017 8:54:42 PM Rill makes sure all the slaves understand that they have been freed. You are able to locate Madra's three children, dirty and frightened, but in reasonably good health.
Zeoll escorts the three back to the Lionfish, where there is a joyful reunion between mother and children. You are able to assure Tula and the crew that all is well.
Reggie tags along to look at the keelboat. You can tell that it is seaworthy, and essentially ready to sail once provisions are laid in. You're pretty sure Mistress Hych can help with that.
Jozhur and Terser suggest distributing the coin to the newly-freed slaves, and all of you begin discussing alternatives.
By dangerously overloading both the Lionfish and the keelboat, you could probably get everybody off the island at once. This starts out as a bad idea, and gets worse when Mistress Hych points out that the cows and chickens really shouldn't be left here to fend for themselves. There's no way to get all the people and the livestock on the two boats.
You could safely get a little more than half the people onto the two boats. Asking around, you discover that some of the former slaves are captured sailors, and would be able to sail the keelboat.
Some of the former slaves remember where they came from, and want to go back there. Still others have definite ideas about where they would like to start over. All of them begin pressing their newly-won coins into your hands, offering to pay for their passage if you'll take them where they need to go.
The trouble with leaving people here permanently is that this island is legally owned by the group from Aisildur. Those who stayed would be squatters, and could legally be evicted--or possibly even re-enslaved--when the owners returned. That's not likely to happen for a few months, but it's something to keep in mind, especially since you can't get everybody off now.
Also, Zod points out that you still have one person to rescue. And back on the Lionfish, Tula reports that the catatonic elf woman you took from Market Island is beginning to show signs of awareness. Perhaps she is ready to talk.
Zeoll makes a list in his field manual of all the people on the island, and how many want passage elsewhere, and how many might want to stay. He offers the minors the chance to own the mine collectively, and to share in its profits equally and fairly. He asks who would stay if the Lionfishers went to bring their families here.
If Comeri is very close to Aisildur, then maybe this can't happen, if it is too close to the nation of Aisildur to claim. But if it is not near the coast, then Zeoll is inclined to claim the island, in the name of Bonetown and the Lionfish, as partial repayment to the slaves who labored here.
He asks who in the party can cast spells to send messages, in dreams, maybe.
Then he agrees that it is time to go search for Zod's master and find a way to freedom for him. Where is it the fellow is at?
And what is that poor woman's story? Maybe she can be coaxed to speak of it, or at least to let us know if she has kin or friends elsewhere.
Diplomacy as needed: 34, 37, 39 Perception as needed: 28, 34, 36 Know Geography to help people figure out where their people are: 30, 23, 20. Sense Motive as needed: 29, 15, 27
(Brock) Jozhur AC24 / Touch 17/Flat 17--CMD 26--HP99/99 d20+23=34 ; Monday August 21st, 2017 7:03:10 PM
Jozhur helps Reggie and Terser with talking to the elf woman. He suggests starting with introductions and easier questions, then moving on to harder things, like how she wound up a captive and where he family may be when she seems ready.
Diplomacy: 29 (looked at wrong line on character sheet)
(MikeK)Bralin (AC35 / T17 / FF32)CMD 29 - HP 138/141) Monday August 21st, 2017 7:20:15 PM
This is all getting a bit above Bralin's head. The dwarf lives happily in a tactical world, and the Black Lions are working on some serious strategic decisions.
As for the boats, "mayhap Rill teleports to Bonetown and hires more ships, while we wait for his return?" he offers. "Thus all may leave, and we do not risk endangering anyone while we are away."
The biggest problem, as he sees it, is how to defend any ground gained. "We are but eight, best suited to attack. To defend multiple islands requires our own standing guard, led, fed, and trained by others we may pick out, but cannot be us. The captains at Bonetown would be an asset, should they agree. What do we offer to get that agreement?"
Zod |&| Kunda (Damarr) HP68||85; AC30||30; T21||17; FF27||23; CMD36||36 Monday August 21st, 2017 7:47:46 PM
"All we know is that a man named Felar Deadfall purchased the old soldier, Tobias." Zod reminds Zeoll "Perhaps we can ask around at our next port(s) to find out who this Faelar Deadfall is?"
As the magnitude of the party's grand endeavor sinks in, with two questions for every solution, Zod finds himself agreeing with Bralin. The minotaur ultimately has little else to impart from his time in the wilds or his stint with the Fist.
"Regarding the Captains of Bonetown, or other potential partners, the office here must have a rough value of the island listed somewhere. Less the slaves, that's the start of one bargaining chip. Sending Rill for support to offload everyone isn't a bad idea either, if the Priest agrees?"
As he idly caresses the 14ft snake wrapped about his shoulders, Zod ponders a way to connect the dots in their budding, disparate sovereignty. "I will take stock with my next meditation, and let you know what messages I can send and how. Perhaps consorting with a higher power will yield a yet-unseen answer."
Zeoll (Cayzle) (AC28/30; HP55of67) Monday August 21st, 2017 7:49:31 PM
Zeoll grins and shares a thought he has been having with Bralin and the rest of the Lionfishers. Imagine that we can scry anytime we want on a range of locations. Imagine that we can take a minute and look at Merchant Island, Comeri, Bonetown, and a few other spots. Imagine that our people in these locations know to fly flags or light signal fires if they need help, or are under attack.
Now imagine that if we get a signal of a place that needs defense, and then we teleport to that location. No need for an army. No need for standing defense forces. We just travel instantly as needed to get where we need to be.
Zeoll has an idea of a way to accomplish all that.
As regards the missing mentor and his buyer, Zeoll makes them the focus of his dream-divination, hoping for answers between dusk and dawn.
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