"Powers"

Nym chuckled. "No, my father didn't have any 'powers.' Nonmagical folk certainly are strange about magic. Always so suspicious." She looked to where Tigrisclawu had bounded away and then back to Beranhond. "Why the sudden interest in me, Beranhond? Why all the questions?"

As he looked into Tigrisclawu's eyes a thought seemed to pass through them.
"Meet me at the spot." Tigrisclawu said before bounding off of his shoulder and up the steps.
Beranhond turned towards Nym, but had no words to say. He simply nodded. He wasn't too sure about their possibility of their resurrection, but at the same time he was not too familiar with fay magic.
"Did you father have any powers, or are all of your abilities from your mother's line?"

Thay

"I need to take them to Silverymoon for resurrection. I need to take them where they'll be safe." She patted the box gently. "For them, it'll be like none of this happened. Perhaps..." She looked down at the floor and closed her eyes. This is all too close to Thay to speak of...

Beranhond followed, slowly calming down, the shadow on Nym's face fading away.

"You said your mother couldn't stay with your father, what do you remember about her? Did he ever say what kind of magic she did?" Beranhond said quietly, trying to sound respectful, but remaining cautious. As he looked at the box the cries in his head reverberated louder.
"What do you intend to do with... your friends in the box?" As he looked at the star on the box his head filled with a multitude of cries that rent his mind, nearly blinding him. He quickly looked to his right and saw Tigrisclawu staring back at him.

Stories

Nym looked concerned, and pushed her door open and walked through. "Nothing happened to my mother." She said softly as she walked through, meaning for Beranhond to follow. She smiled halfheartedly and straightened the odds and ends on the table she'd brought into the room. "...She left when I was a baby. She belonged in the forest and just couldn't stay in one place with my father and me. I only know her through my father's stories." She smiled up at Beranhond who had hesitantly entered Nym's room.

Nym knelt down and pulled up a floor piece that looked no different than the others. She pulled out the small wooden box she'd rehidden when she returned to the ship. There was a small star engraved in the top of the dark wood on the box. She set it down next to her. "What do you want to know about them?"

"It's just sometimes one must be..."
Those words did little to calm Beranhond, or Tigrisclawu. As he looked at her smiling Beranhond couldn't see Nym the gregarious, rather, he saw a dark shadow fall over her face.
"Nym." He said, his voice firm. "your change in manner has left me doubting you and your intentions... such changes are ill becoming, and such secrecy is... oddly threatening. What has happened to you to make you doubt your friends so?" Tigrisclawu climbed across to his other shoulder and hissed again. In the back of his mind he heard the cries of innocents echo. "What happened to the friends in the box? What happened with your mother?"

Replies

Nym returned Beranhond's look with eyes devoid of light. Instead of their normal mirthful green, she stared back at Beranhond with eyes black as night. Her body was tense like some wild thing ready to pounce. Tigrisclawu hissed at her from his pearch on Beranhond's shoulder, and she blinked at the cat and turned back to her door, tracing the words with her finger. "It contains... what is left of fallen friends." she said, sounding tired and old despite her youth. She then spun around and smiled as though nothing had passed between them. The sound from the sailors above again filtered down from above and the ship's creaking seemed pleasant once more. "I am sorry to be so secretive. It's just..." She trailed off thinking how to explain. "It's just sometimes one must be." She frowned, not sure how better to explain what she meant.

Beranhond noticed the change in her voice. He turned, swallowed, and focused on her eyes. "Because I am curious and like to know about my friends, but naturally we all have things we do not share and that we wish to keep private. I meant no offense."

Questions

Nym's face darkened at Beranhond's question about the box she'd left on the ship, and she stiffened. The creaking of the ship suddenly seemed amplified and the voices above unheard. Nym turned slightly toward Beranhond but did not look at him. "Why do you wish to know such things?" she whispered harshly.

"I did see it - I must admit my artistic skills are lacking, so I decided to leave my office... I mean my room door unpainted and unmarked." He nodded thoughtfully. "What kind of powers did your mother have... yours have been quite impressive thus far." He was trying to be cautious here. Not because he distrusted Nym, but more that he wanted to get an idea of her magical background. When she didn't answer immediately he asked.
"What was in the box?"

Here is a map of the prevailing winds of Faerun.

A Training We Will Go

With the crew assembled on deck in front of him, Darvin dove into his first captainly duties.

"First of all, I would like to welcome all of you to the Lady Narath. I am the Captain of this vessel, Darvin Amblecrown. I was appointed by Admiral Nym, who is currently off doing Admiraly things. While we are under sail I will be in command of the ship and any sailing decisions. Are we clear on that?" Darvin asked this last part and was greeted a resounding chorus of "Yes, Captain!" Darvin was very pleased with that response and his adrenaline started to pump. I was made for this, he thought to himself and then continued with his introduction.

"Quartermaster Beranhond has informed me that some of you are not the most veteran of seafarers, so we will be spending the next three days learning the ins and outs of sailing. Let's start with the basics. Everyone please face the bow." The sound of 20 pairs of boots on the deck as the crew turned filled the air. Pointing to his left Darvin said, "This is called port. The other side is starboard. The front is called fore and the back is called aft." 

The first day of training continued along this path, with Darvin leading a tour of the ship and explaining what everything was called and what it was used for. He made a point to explain that the captain was awarded the largest cabin on the ship for two reasons. One, being that he is the captain and two, that the captain's cabin has a tendency to get blown to shit during battle. Some of the women looked slightly concerned. After explaining to the crew that the ropes to hoist the sails were called sheets and not ropes, they also on occasion could be called lines. He then explained what the bowsprit was and that the jib, which was a small sail, would be attached to allow the ship to go faster. While looking at the front of the vessel Darvin stopped and said, "Hey! Who painted a cat on the front of our ship?" The question was rhetorical because everyone knew it was Nym.

As the first day came to a close Darvin ventured out into the city and found Carla, the weapon master who had taught him how to use pistols. She was with her friend Meathook, who was a master of swords. Darvin invited them to come onboard the next day and teach the crew some things about combat. Meathook even volunteered to supply the crew with some serviceable swords that he was thinking of throwing out. "There's nothing wrong with 'em. They're just a tad old, but it'd me heart good for 'em to be out at sea wit your crew." Meathook said matter of factly.

The next day Darvin had the crew spend the morning repairing the various ailments that the ship was afflicted with. With 20 people the work went swiftly and was finished just as Meathook and Carla arrived. Meathook took one look around at the crew on deck and shouted, "The lot of you fight like dairy farmers!" And with that he commenced his training session on sword fighting. Carla showed Thjodolf and the 3 other crew members who had been selected as the gun crew, how to use the swivel guns with great efficiency. Darvin watched with pleasure as he witnessed the crew coming together nicely.

On the third day, Darvin assembled the crew on deck and started shouting orders, "Unfurl the mainsail! Prepare to come around!" The crew took off running in all directions but had no idea what to do. Darvin had a good long laugh and then slowly and carefully explained to each one of them what they were supposed to do when orders were shouted. They learned how to raise and lower the sails, raise the anchor, prepare the ship for a tack and how to scale the rigging in case they needed to fix a tangled line. At the end of the day, Darvin dismissed the crew and told them to get some rest because they would be shoving off soon. As the crew walked off, the half-elf captain shouted, "Raise the mainsail!" And everyone ran exactly to where they needed to be. Darvin was quite pleased. They were ready for the open water.  

"Learn magic?" begain Nym as she, Beranhond, and Tigrisclawu admired Nesme's pen. Nym hopped up to sit on the side of the pen. She smiled wryly at Beranhond. "I didn't learn magic. I just know it, like my mother before me and her mother before her. We're descended of the fey, and so possess some... unique abilities." Nym plucked a seed from Tigrisclawu's fur, and it burst to life, winding around Nym's arm slowly. (Entagle) Nym placed the growing seed onto one of the pen's posts and the plant continued to wind itself around the wooden frame. "I went to school in Silverymoon for a time, though, but it was booooring so I left!" She shrugged and smiled at Beranhond. "Did you see the sign I painted on my door?" She asked, hopping down from her perch to run to her door now labeled "Admiral Nym."

Yo, ho, yo, ho, a quartermasters life for me!

After the crew had assembled and started going through the drills Beranhond left the ship and headed towards the market areas of town. He knew from experience that he would never be a good sailor, and that he was much better at arranging and planning.

Once there Beranhond spent an hour trying to make arrangements regarding the shipments of hard tack, salted meats, as well as trying to obtain some chickens and cows for the voyage. He also wanted to get some tar, rope, extra cloth and canvas, and perhaps if at all possible, some extra swords and weapons, and several large barrels for fresh water. This would have been much more difficult had he done it all on his own; however he managed to obtain the assistance of a merchant who was sympathetic to their cause as his wife had witnessed his miracle at the temple. After much thanks and gratitude he promised to get the supplies delivered for a generous price the next morning.

As he left he was glad Beranhond sighed and smiled in knowing that fresh water would not be a problem. His ability to create pure water would mean that the crew would not have to rely on alcohol for beverages. Second, this also meant that they would not have to worry about the numerous ailments that accompanied vessels at sea.

He also sought out an instructor to work on his new composite bow. It took an hour, but eventually he found someone who was willing to spend the midday and afternoon instructing him. After several hours of training Beranhond felt generally comfortable with the new bow, and was quite glad he had spent the money on the training.

When he returned to the ship he saw that "Lady Narath" and a picture of a cat had been painted onto the bow of the ship. Ahhh, Nym must have been at work, he thought.

A sharp, sudden, pain flared in the front of his skull. He put his hands to his head and pulled on his hair, wanting to scream. As he dropped to the ground the ship faded from view and was replaced by green grass and a large valley. As he looked over he saw a small figure riding a horse towards a village. It was clad in black, and had a large staff in the air. His stomach heaved as he saw the figure raise the staff and the sky turn black. He willed his legs to run, to try to save the town, but he couldn't move. The sky turned and rolled and suddenly large black rocks fell from the sky, hitting the town. Fires broke out on the thatched roofs and scream filled the air.
He stomach swirled and he threw up, snapping the vision. He rolled onto his side and lay there.
What was that? He thought, his stomach slowly calming. Where did that come from?
Eventually he was able to stand, drink some water and continue onto the ship.

As soon as he boarded the ship he saw Nym run up to him and wanting to show him the pen she had made for her horse. As he went down belowdecks to admire it Tigrisclawu jumped onto his shoulder.
"What happened to you?"
"I had a vision."
"Oh... you get those a lot."
"Yes." He paused, thinking that visions were the least of his concern. "I should have that looked at. But, I am worried that I am missing something important... but lets talk about it tonight when we are in private."
"But of course." Tigrisclawu said as he spied a rat and bounded off after it.

As he rounded the corner he saw Nisme in a well constructed pen.
"Very well done." He said to Nym. "Your own craftsmanship?" She nodded.
As he looked at the horse a thought came to his mind.
"Nym, where did you learn magic? I must confess that I don't know nearly as much about you as I would like."

Arise, Arise!

Darvin woke to the hustle and bustle on the deck above him. He was still a little annoyed that Beranhond had given away the Captain's cabin without consulting him but he would live. Darvin had slept great the night before, he always slept well on the water. The rocking of the ship would gently sent him to his peaceful slumber. He walked out on to the deck and saw Beranhond leading the more pious individuals in pray. Darvin shook his head and smiled. He also noticed Talathel and Lailsan approaching him, Talathel looked different this morning. His eyes weren't glazed over in the constant state of hangover that was normally associated with the elf and mornings. 

Talathel then explained that he and Lailsan were trying to figure out what she could do on the ship. It was revealed that she was a pretty decent cook and since the Lady Narath didn't have one of those Darvin quickly promoted her to the position. About this time Beranhond was finishing up with his prayer session.

"Beranhond, could you please get all hands on deck? It's time for some training." Darvin said.

MORE Painting

Having quite a bit more paint and time on her hands, Nym runs to the lower deck and writes "Admiral Nym" on the door to her room and "Nesme's Pen" on the wall dividing her room from the pen. Having nothing else to do with the paint, she cleans the brushes and puts the paint away.

Nesme's Pen and Art Class with Nym

Nym awoke to the sound of some sort of prayer on the main deck and hopped up, excited to start the day. She pulled her fingers through her hair as she ran up the the main deck. She stopped briefly to wave enthusiastically at Beranhond leading a prayer circle and then ran over to Nesme, who was impatient to eat and exercise. Nym fed the horse and saddled up to take her for a quick ride. She stopped in town to ask if anyone knew where she could buy supplies for a mini stable and borrow a cart for these supplies. A portly middle aged man stopped her and offered her spare wood and the use of his cart for the day. "Little Lady, your deeds in the sewers have saved many lives. The least I can do is offer you the supplies you request." Nym smiled and thanked him. They hooked Nesme to the cart and loaded it with wood.

When she returned to the ship, she cleared a space on the lower deck under the stairs and sharing a wall with her room, for Nesme. Carlinya saw Nym hard at work on some mystery project, and after a brief explanation of what Nym was doing, Carlinya offered to help. They set about building a pen for Nesme in the cleared area. Eventually Lailsan too joined their work, since she had become rather fond of both Carlinya and Nym.

Craft:Carpentry checks (1d20) Nym 16 - 2 HP/hr Lailsan 12 - 1 HP/hr Carlinya 19 - 2 HP/hr

The three women spend the morning building the pen, and though it isn't the most magnificent horse pen ever seen, it was sturdy and would contain Nesme well. Nym thanked Lailsan and Carlinya for their help and then took Nesme and the cart back to the abandoned stable in the destroyed part of town where she'd spent the 10 days prior to the party. She loaded the cart with hay for Nesme to stand on, water and food troughs, extra food, and a shovel and bucket for removing Nesme's mess. She had trouble loading the items herself, but was able to push the larger things into the cart without lifting them.

When Nym returned, she asked several of the sailors to help her bring the supplies down to her pen. Within an hour she had the pen set up how she liked it. Nym returned the cart with Nesme, and when the came back to the ship, she carefully led Nesme down the stairs to her new pen. Nesme seemed content enough in the pen and began to eat.

Satisfied with her horse pen success, Nym ran off to the market again to buy a bucket of white paint. When she returned, she collected the painting supplies from the ship and set about scraping "Sea Star" from both sides and painting "Lady Narath" with her own flair on the ship. Admiring her work, she was pleased with how both the text and her mascot picture for Narath had turned out. She ran off to show Beranhond how the ship's name had turned out.

Strange sensation

Talathel came out of his meditation, still in the crow's nest. He had not intended to spend the night up there, but with clear skies and relative solitude, he ended up doing so. Out of habit, the elf grabbed his head, only to realize that this morning it did not hurt.

"When was the last time this happened?" Talathel could not remember. He knew he had wanted rum the night before, but in the excitement of exploring the ship, he did not drink any. He was as sober as most of the crew, which Beranhond had gathered around for a service. He skimmed the small congregation, and was somewhat happy that Lailsan was not among them. "I shall teach her the ways of the Old Order, but not right away, there is much to be done."

Talathel saw Lailsan appear on deck. She seemed a bit confused. Wasting no time, Talathel swung himself down the rigging (Acrobatics: Roll(1d20)+9: 14, +9 Total: 23) to see her.

"How are you this fine morning?" he asked. "Not being hungover gives me a lot of energy, apparently."

She gave a smile. "Well, I kept waiting up for you last night, but eventually drifted off to sleep." Talathel sheepishly looked down at the ground.

"You want to stay on board?"

"Aren't there rules about swearing and drinking?"

Talathel looked at the prayer circle. "For you, no. For everyone else, I give that two weeks tops. Eventually those guys will want to swear and have some rum to unwind after a day of sea. If we don't let them have fun, they'll jump at the first port." Lailsan giggled a bit.

"I would love to stay on board."

"Alright, lets go find the Mighty Pirate and see where you might fit in..." The two elves linked arms and wandered about the deck.

Just a heads up, this is my last post for awhile. I'm moving to Montana, probably headed out on Monday. Hopefully I won't be without Internet for too long and will return to the game as soon as I can.

Waking up in Vegas... I mean on a ship.

Beranhond, after finding a hammock in the storage hold mounted it on the hooks in the office. He climbed into it and tried to sleep, but the rocking off the boat and the stuff air did not help. So, he instead climbed to the quarterdeck and tied off his hammock. It was marginally better, but instead of stuffy air he got to enjoy the sounds of Nym's horse neighing throughout the night. However, he finally fell asleep, for a couple of hours, before waking up at dawn.

fort check:
Roll(1d20)+6:
5,+6
Total:11
(I was calling the dc for this one 10 as it is still in port)

He felt queasy, but after a cup of water he felt better. He saw that most of the ships company had spent the night on deck as well - which was wise given that the weather was still fair and that the bunks were quite narrow. He woke up the more religious and led a prayer service before getting started on the watch rotations.

Rules for Ship Repair

In order to make headway on repairs, a craft check must be made. Some of the checks you may want to make:

• Deck and Rails - Craft: Carpentry. 
• Sails - Craft: Sewing. 

Based on your roll, different amounts of damage will be repaired.

Roll Result:	Repaired HP/Hour:
1	-1 hp
2-10	0 hp
11-15	1 hp
16-20	2 hp
21-	3 hp

The Ship!

Here's a map of the different decks of the ship! I will update shortly with what she's holding and where the damage is, but here's a picture to give you a better picture.

Key:

This caravel is a typical example of the type, although the internal arrangement can vary greatly from ship to ship. Its notable features include:

1. Quarterdeck: The quarterdeck is a raised, open deck at the stern. The ship’s wheel is here, along with a small davit for a ship’s boat.
2. Foc’s’le Deck: This is a raised, open deck atop the fore-castle. The caravel mounts a ballista here; the weapon can’t fire straight ahead because of the foremast. On the starboard side is the hawsepipe and tackle for the ship’s anchor.
3. Master’s Cabin: The largest and most comfortable cabin on the ship is still quite cramped by most standards.
4. Wardroom: The captain, officers, and passengers take their meals here. This room also serves as a drawing room or parlor for the officers and passengers.
5. Main Deck: This open deck features a catapult and two large companionways that descend to the lower deck. The catapult can only be fired to the broadside; it can’t train forward or aft (a typical problem with large weapons mounted on small, cluttered ships). The companionways serve as both stairways (ladders, in nautical parlance) and cargo hatches. Chicken coops and pens for goats, lambs, or other small livestock often take up any available space left on the deck.
6. Forecastle: Most of the ship’s crew sleeps here, although in good weather many crewmembers prefer to sleep on the open decks. The forecastle holds a dozen cramped bunks.
7. Galley: The ship’s galley is in the forward part of the lower deck. It has a small stove and shelving for all kinds of foodstuffs. The ship’s cook and his assistant(s) sleep here.
8. Chain Locker: The ship’s anchor chain is stored here. It passes through the hawsepipe in the forecastle up to the foc’s’le deck.
9. Lower Deck: This space serves as the first of the caravel’s cargo holds, as well as the crew’s mess deck. Crewmembers take their meals sitting on whatever cargo is convenient. If the ship is heavily laden, this deck might be covered to within a foot of the overhead, leaving only a single fore-and-aft passage between the crates, casks, and bundles.
10. Officer’s Cabins: These tiny cabins are the private rooms of the ship’s officers. Paying passengers usually bump an officer from his or her cabin to the forecastle.
11. Ship’s Office: All the ship’s paperwork is kept here, including cargo manifests, pay records, and the ship’s paychest (usually in a sturdy, locked chest).
12. Sail Locker: Spare sails, canvas, and sewing gear is stored here, as well as plenty of lines, hawsers, firewood, and heavy tools.
13. Lower Hold: Most of the ship’s cargo is stowed here, as well as provisions (including as many casks of fresh water as will fit). Beneath this lower hold lies a small crawlspace where heavy ballast stones help to stabilize the ship.
    

Off to catch some injuns

Still thinking that he wasn't incriminated by any of the trial proceedings, Gurkirat nevertheless began to make preparations for the trip out to sea. Leaving the courtroom and heading to the inn to gather his things, he mused about who else he could invite on the trip. His two Guards were rather boring fellows, although perhaps that had less to do with their personality and more to do with Gurkirat's inattention to them.

There were a few ladies from his performances around the area that might be convinced, but that sounded like work and upkeep, which were two words he hated.

So he ventured to the docks and boarded the sea star .. *ahem* The Lady Narath. There was a bustle of work on the deck and he heard his mates claiming their rooms aboard the ship. Gurkirat was thinking it would be nice to be outdoors, so he climbed up to the crows nest and placed his things neatly, leaving room for a small bed. (I hope this vessel has a crow's nest ...)

As he clambered down he heard mention of a supposed ban on booze and profanity. 'F-That,' he thought, so he left to gather a few more things from the town.

Making his way to the ship.

After a brief conversation with Darvin Beranhond was quite tired and made his to gather his things from the Inn and then his way to the ship. He doesn't remember much of the journey, but when he arrived he saw Nym bouncing around.
"Hey Nym, have you made yourself comfortable in the Admiral's quarters? There are some more women coming on board with the crew, I hope you don't mind."

A ship, a crew, and a place to sleep.

"They will be an excellent crew... but will be in need of some training, fortunately we have an excellent Captain who will be able to manage that without too much of a problem." He took out a large sheet. "Here is the crew manifest." (feel free to change these names if they aren't up to your tastes dan)

Crew:
1. Helga Dali F
2. Sutrath Agricola M
3. Willdaron Batoni M
4. Aver IV M
5. Hvrako Botticelli M
6. Kailina Chatham F
7. Phulapoaulous (Phul) Baoshi M
8. Greg F (biologically; however treat her like a man).
9. Janusa Shukla F
10. Raoul A'Liufs M

"Now, they might not be what you expected as I sought out people who didn't drink or swear much. Now, I expect that swearing will probably happen given the nature of the work, but I figured we would rather have trustworthy, dependable, and hard working people rather than those that fit a stereotype of sailor." He paused. "I also hired both men and women as I think we are far beyond the sexism that has so often infiltrated sailing activities." Inwardly, Beranhond smirked.
"As for the sergeant-at-arms, I am quite glad to give that up; however I think I will take the lead on organizing the watches, sleeping arrangements, and other assorted duties seeing as my training is in managing humans rather than ships. What facilities does the ship have for sleeping? Have we made arrangements for hammocks?" (note, Dan hammocks were not really introduced in the naval forces of the European powers until the 16th century when European sailors adopted them from the native groups they were killing, do they exist in this world, or at least in this section of the world, at this point?).

Maybe This Was A Bad Idea...

As soon as Beranhond went into the other room Darvin started having second thoughts. Should I really have put a cleric in charge of hiring the crew? The man doesn't even drink, well, he says he doesn't but we all witnessed that. But really, they'll probably all be pious, boring people. They probably don't even fornicate... Darvin sighed as he realized what he had just gotten himself into. He was waiting for Beranhond to finish interviewing the crew when he spotted Thjodolf hanging around the courtroom. 

Darvin excitedly walked over to him, "Hello friend! I am happy to see you are well." 

Thjodolf extended his hand to Darvin and almost crushed it with his grip. "It very good you no rot in dungeons of city." 

"Yes, that is indeed true." Darvin and Thjodolf talked for quite some time about the adventures they had had together and each other's past. It was during this time that Thjodolf revealed that before he came to Baldur's Gate he had extensive experience with cannons. 

"How fortunate! Beranhond seems to not relish his Sergeant at Arms duties and would prefer to be the surgeon. So, we could use a man of your experience and expertise. Are you interested in being the Lady Narath's Sergeant at Arms?" 

Thjodolf thought about this for a minute and then gave Darvin a huge  bear hug that forced the breath out of him, "I accept! Me go get stuff and see you at ship." And with that the half-orc happily bounded off to collect his belongings.

At about this time Beranhond emerged from the room. 

"It appears you no longer have to be Sergeant at Arms. Thjodolf is quite proficient in the art of cannons." Darvin announced to the Cleric, who looked quite revealed upon hearing this. "How does our crew look?" Darvin asked, but he was dreading the answer.