Piracy or no - RPLOG
Participants
Date
18/11/476
Log
The waves crash, the tides roll. Under the cover of night - or despite it - a small fleet of ships makes its way towards the docks, guided by the brilliant beam of light in the distance that is the Firmament lighthouse, seated on the headland that jutting out into the sea. It's been a somewhat long trip back and forth across the water, even with a steady wind courtesy of a couple of wind magics, but it seems that it's been largely uneventful and easy money for all the hired Freeswords.
Angus shades his head, squinting as he stares at the lighthouse. "Finally, thank the creators we will home soon." The fox mutters. He didn't have a problem with the sea, in fact he enjoys it more then flying, but a long journey like this can definitly be boring for anyone.
Falx looks up from his hood a moment to see the light from the lighthouse, making him nod gently. He never was one for water exploration, though he was okay with doing this for the money he'd be getting. Though he is also uneasy, as to how easy it all was. Probably, hopefully, just paranoia.
Kurzon is not a sailor, nor is he used to travel that is not based on trudging through snow, sand, etc. Insert hardship, suck up suffering, call it life lesson, grow stoic character. This sea travel thing was unstead, dynamic and gave him headaches, nausea and made him feel sleepy and a few other less public things that had him below decks and away from others as he huddled in a corner and tried to block out the world.
Issi wanders the ship, halfway dizzy from the waves. She was not a water snake, that's for sure. In fact she hadn't been on a ship ever, and nither has her host. She manages to stop stumbling to look about a little. Nothing looked out of place, joy. Any magic from her would not go well.
It's nearly over - there's just the home stretch to go, the lighthouse shining brightly despite the winter mist and fog. The merchant vessel slips towards the shore, heading for the docks, the ship's mage doing her best to keep the vessel steady in the darkness. Abovedecks, tired Freeswords in various degrees of seasickness, belowdecks, casks upon casks of Shralestan firewater, cheap wine, and tired Freeswords in various degrees of seasickness.
"Over there! Off to starboard!" The shout from the crow's nest draws the attention of a number of water folk sailors, who peer out over the side - out of habit at first, then with increeasing interest as a dark shape bears out of the fog, about the right size for a medium-sized ship. It's hard to tell what it is in the darkness, though, let alone if it has any markings.
Angus looks up as he hears the call, then hurries over to the side. As soon as he notices the dark shape he frowns and takes a step back. "Think it's time for everyone to get Ready, just in case they aren't friendly." He comments just loud enough for others to hear as he draws his dagger in his left hand, his pistol on his right.
Falx glances up and over to the starboard side, grunting a bit at the dark silhouette. He makes his way to that side, keeping an eye on the ship while also maintaining some semblence of attention on the crew onboard. If something is going to happen, he needs to be ready for it, and starts to go over equations and their effects in his head.
With a snarl of surprise and discomfort, Kurzon reaches up and adjusts the brackets of his soul gems, adjusting them for potential battle. Reaching up to grasp the bulkhead he rises to his feet, claws digging into the wood frame to steady him. WHere discomfort once painted his features, now only grim resolution remained. Hitting the nearest ladderwell he rises to the weather deck to look in the direction of all the commotion, a musket clanking against his shoulder in readiness.
Issi moves over to the starboard side, along with everyone else. Dark shadows, and suspicious shapes? At least she could cast, hopefully having it do something other than...or she could stick to her standard explosive burst. Though that seems dangerous.
Indeed, Angus' worries are not unfounded. After all, who would be sneaking up on another in the dead of the night without hailing another, and more importantly, how did they know this ship would be here in the middle of all this fog? The merchant ship, being what it is and weighed down by its cargo to boot, has little time to react as muzzle flares light up in the distance, followed by a muffled boom. Things sure are escalating quickly - the nearest sailors scramble for safety as a large iron ball sails overhead and tears a gaping hole in one of the sails. Seems like that one was a test shot - the next salvo may not be so inaccurate.
"We need to slow them down, take out their mast or something!" Shouts Angus as he drops to the deck as the iron ball sails by. Standing back up he goes through a few mental calculations, summoning up as much wind he can into a sharp focused blade. "Dammit, can't see a thing." He sends the blade careening off in their direction, the shot way off. His spell a wasted effort.
Falx nearly jumps out of the way as the cannonball soars over, though manages to maintain most of his position. He clenches his hands into fists a bit, noticing Angus' attempt to stop them, to slow them down, and the failure. Not the best choice of actions by him, though Falx has little he can do at the moment: He's going to have to wait for someone to become visible, then he can play with them. He almost grins at this prospect. Nonetheless, he does move to do what he can to assist in preparing what cannons are available for a counterattack while he waits for his own abilities to become useful.
Kurzon doesn't flinch, his focus entirely on the shape in the mist, looking through the holes provided by wind, muzzle velocity and attack wake. "Stand firm! The vessel looks to be a schooner, we can't outrun them with this cargo, if we maintain course they will have to draw in close to broadside or board us! Be ready, if we can identify them we can focus retaliation on their magazine! Be ready to put out fire and scuttle powder kegs that take light!"
Issi ducks down at the shot, not seeing where it went but knowing that there was very much going to be more... They can't do much but they at least try SOMETHING. They pull out a few scrolls from their cloak.
Who would go after a merchant vessel with the intent to destroy, and why? After all, isn't the point of piracy to rob, not sink? More and more questions as the sailors on the merchant ship return fire as best as they can, all available armaments wheeled up from belowdecks to help buy time. As the seconds stretch by, it's clear that not only is the merchant ship outgunned by its adversary, but the latter also know what they're doing, deliberately staying out of range for any truly effective mathemagics to be employed against it, yet within firing range. The lack of precision doesn't seem to bother them, not with the sheer number of shots that're being loosed their way.
At least Kurzon's attempt to take charge provides some semblance of order, his imposing voice and figure doing the rest of the required work - the captain being more than happy to leave a portion of the guns to him and let him earn his pay. Several more shots thunder past, most of them landing in the water, but one or two find their mark with the sound of splintering wood. Safe port - and the Royal Navy - aren't too far away, now. It's just a matter of holding out, even if one fails to repel the enemy vessel.
Angus takes cover once more as the cannon balls rain, turning to stare at the shores. "We need to move faster." He mutters to himself. Standing he once more starts to go through mental calculations, this time trying to create a strong gust to propell them forward as he goes to man one of the cannons.
Angus cheers as his shot manages to cause some Damage, glancing off the bow and causing at least some damage. "Take that!"
Falx looks out at the opposing vessel, taking note of its distance. Too far to attack, but... defending should be viable. Though he isn't completely sure of what equation would best work, he pieces a couple together, trying to find a useful possibility. His goal is simple: Enshroud the ship in darkness, give it some level of defense against the oncoming barrage. He comes up with something, a sort of combination of the equations for a defensive hex as well as those to debilitate his enemies while keeping the defensive as direct, and with as high priority, as possible in this equation. Now that he is as satisfied as he can be, he finally unleashes the energy onto the merchant ship with the hope that it would offer at least some semblance of protection.
Kurzon growls, his musket was useless at this range so he strides amidst those responding to his voice. His rifle slung so that he can help load cannons and move ammo, a strong back and steady pair of hands always valued. "Use your senses! Measure the distance by ear if nothing else! MAGES, if any of you can call to the winds then by the Creator's sacred math speed us up or slow them down! Join lord Solacious! Power our escape, any other create cross winds to disrupt their pursuit, even fire can help in that respect! Put a wall of heat between us and them! You there, FIRE!" Then the cannon he was loading is aimed and fired, going by senses other than sight alone and adjusting for imagined speed.
Issi can only whip up a few gusts of wind here and there, directing them into the sails as much as possible while she stumbles about the deck. She steadies her self long enough to push a magority of her magics into the sails, hopefully helping get away from their mystery attackers.
Thanks to everyone's combined efforts, with Angus and Kurzon leading and firing, and Falx and Issi supporting, the merchant vessel limps its way into Firmament's port, along with the welcome sight of two destroyers sailing out to meet them. It's hard to tell if the mysterious assailant had been seriously damaged by the returning fire, but it appears to have given up the chase. Just in time, too - sailors hurry to patch leaks as the broken merchant vessel is already taking on water, even while stopped and questioned by the port authorities.
Angus sighs a little in relief as they manage to outpace their attacks, more then happy to deal with the questions of the port authorites. "Well, that was a lot more entertaining then the ride there." He mutters jokingly, wondering what that was about. And why it seemed that they were trying to sink them.
Falx takes a few moments to collect himself after exerting that much energy in a single sustained spell. He glances to Angus as he gives that joking jab, and simply shakes his head. Though such joking would probably elevate moral, he wasn't one for jokes. He simply takes a seat on the deck, resting his eyes a bit after the overall situation.
Kurzon stood there for a few moments when they got out of cannon range, watching, wondering about the origin of the ship and how the pursuit would go. Then it was back to work. "Alright, let's heave to and stow these cannons, celebrating can wait until there is drink in the inns!" If only he had winda and water maths...he would rush across the sea itself to board a pursuit vessel if not to challenge the attackers initially.
Issi sits on the deck, letting the boat stop swaying. All she can do is groan, and curl up, sea sickness does not interact well with magics. She just puts out a note saying (Tell me when we get to port please.)
Being a port city, the piracy - or is it even that? - attempt is certainly taken seriously by the port authorities, and everyone is questioned in turn. Yet few answers can be given, although the broken timbers and smell of discharged power leave no doubt that the entire event was real. The officials can merely shake their heads and promise to keep an eye out for future such incidents and step up patrols - it would appear that several corroborating incidents have also occurred earlier in the week. Misery loves company, as the old saying goes, for what it's worth.
