Grand Conjunction: Voyage of the Laika

[folderol]

OOC - This is a continuation of the Grand Conjuntion Plot - Veshengo Demesne thread from Terra Ingognita.

===

The group gathered the necessary provisions, and had everything stowed within two candle marks. The Captain cast off the lines, and poled the boat away from the pier. Soon, the Laika pointed her bow out to sea, and left the tiny harbor behind.

The first afternoon and early evening aboard ship went smoothly. Shipfish danced in front of the bow as she plowed through the coastal waters. Captain Andernescu commented, “Shipfish are a good omen. They say that many a sailor owes his life to them.”

The seas, while not calm, were far from rough, and the wind kept a steady breeze until dusk.

[Saven]

Saven nodded as he heard the news about shipfish at least ONE thing is going well He then procedded to stumble towards the railing to throw up. "i dont think my elvish blood agrees with the sea." Saven said with a bit of chuckle wiping of any excess vomit. His eyes then widened "by Illuminatus" he quickly said before releasing another batch of vomit.

[valsert]

The Salt air seemed a pleasent sent to Val. Altho he had never ventured much in a boat, the gental sweaying of the ship was almost comforting.

"Saven, if you kept away from the food and drink, then maby there would be nothing left to bring up!"

Grining at his jest, Val ventured closer to the captain.

"Sir, being as we are not seasioned boatmen, perhaps you could instruct us some during our journey.. help us understand more and also it will help us to better aid you."

[folderol]

Captain Andrenescu kept his eyes on the horizon as he answered Valsert. “That is a smart idea. I guess we can start with the basics.” He set a lash around the wheel, and pointed to the mast.

“As you are well aware, this is a small sailing ship. This is the main mast, which sports a lateen sail. In order to control the sail, the ship has several ropes, or lines. It might be confusing, because there are two types of lines. This,” and he grabs a line apparently at random, “is a standing line. It does not move. It stands still, and helps brace the mast.”

The captain went to another line tied off at a cleat. “This is a running line. It is called that because it runs along the pulleys and blocks to raise or lower the sail.” The silver haired captain continued his lessons in sailing. Throughout the ship he pointed out things, and questioned his fledgling crew for the proper names and uses of the items.

[valsert]

Val did his best to learn from the Captain. He followed him thru the lesson, looking closely at each piece of equipment as it was pointed out.

"Sir, what keeps the waves from turning the boat over? i meen surely it rocks, but what is it which brings the ship upright instead of it floundering?"


o.o.c.

I am sorry for the last two weeks of silence.. im in the middle of selling my rent house, my residence, and buying another home.. heh

that sounds impressive? well hehe not realy, only geting 1k over what i owe on rent house, and 10k on the other just enuf for a downpayment on a 110k house...... sure hope i can afford the freekin 1k a month payment...

Val the Broke wallet of Taz!

[folderol]

OOC - No problem Val. The summer tends to be slower as far as posting rates goes. Many players leave on vacation, or spend more time doing other hobbies. I can well understand that selling a home and moving can be a real stressful time. Best of luck with it.


=.=.=

The Captain thought a moment then answered Val. “Merely our buoyant and cheerful thoughts – so you better not become glum.” He said with a gleam in his eye and barely containing a chuckle. “But seriously,” he added, “The centerboard helps keep the ship stable, and the ballast brings us upright. However, should a nasty gale hit us, then we might capsize.”

Captain Andrenescu spoke more about ship design, and why he believed some ships are more seaworthy than others. Much of his class could be considered as reasonable speculation, not cold fact and theory. But it took up some time as the ship sailed slowly toward their goal.

As evening drew on, the Captain looked into the distance. “Your eyes are younger, and better than mine own. What do you make of that speck out on the horizon?” He asked of his crew.

[valsert]

Val made his way the the side of the boat, and looked hard across the sea at the speck. He could only think of 3 things it might be.

"Sir, it may be a island far off? or a piece of debrie? it couldent be a ship could it!? I wonder if its heading the same way as us."

Val continued looking, thinking that any moment he would be able to see birds leaving the speck, or even make out some trees or buildings.

[Saven]

After getting through his sea sickness and becoming more acustomed to the swaying of the boat Saven listened to the captain and Valsert. Saven then looked with his own half-elven eyes to see if he could make out what the speck was.

[valsert]

OOC: OK im back from Vacation! 7days,, 2 in new orleans just off of borbon street! and 5 on a cruise to cozumel and carman del playa mexico!

i will say this... the sky was blue, and the ocean was even more blue! um..but my skin is now RED! but what a trip! wow!

ic: Val gave up his looking at the speck, knowing that Savens eyes would see more than he.

"Can you make anything out Saven?"

[folderol]

ooc - sorry for the delay.


Saven blinked twice to clear his head. His sharp eyes saw that the distant speck was boxy. It had a dark lower section, and a light colored top. As he watched, he became more convinced that the lighter section were sails. The object was a ship, and it was closing with them.

Captain Andrenescu waited for Saven to confirm that it was a ship, as he suspected. He checked the position of the sun, and adjusted their course a few degrees more away from the ship. “With some luck, we may be able to keep our distance as the sun sets. Then we can lose them in the dark.” He explained.

[valsert]

"Sir, it must be a merchant ship. If so it may be heading directly for our homeland.

what else could it be? It was my understanding that there were no more raiders on the seas. And i have heard little of any armys on the move."

Val thought for a moment of the rumors and stories he had heard about the sea raiders and how the men telling the stories swore that they had destroyed the last of the great outlaw captins.

[folderol]

“While you may not have heard of any pirates captains still afloat, the last I heard was that the cautious captain need always be wary. You could be right, and yonder vessel may be a merchant. But then again you need to remember, it would not take a pirate of legend to cause this small crew grief.” He replied. “My plan is to stay away from any possible brigands; however, you are all men of arms. If you think you could handle an attack then I will heave-to and wait for the ship. How many pirates do you think you could handle, if it were necessary.” Captain Andrenescu asked as he changed the ships heading a few degrees.

[valsert]

"uh. yes sir of course, you are right. storys told at a land locked bar will carry no weight in the real world. As for our ability to fight, we can, yet as you say, how many are there.. flight is our only option...as you well knew.

sorry for the questioning, just ready to be home i guess"

[folderol]

Captain Andrenescu nodded sharply, and altered course again. “We’ll try to lose them in the night.”

-.-.-

As dusk aproached, the distant ship closed the distance between the two vessels. Captain Andrenescu cursed, “No, dammit!” He looked over his shoulder at the noticably closer ship. “The Laika just isn’t fast enough, mates. Looks like they will catch up just as it gets dark. I think they will be too close to lose them.” He told Val and the others. “You had better make whatever preparations you need to ready yourselves for a fight.

-.-.-

The other ship drew closer. As the sun dipped below the horizon, it was only a hundred yards off the starboard quarter. “She’s closing on us.” Commented the Captain. A few arrows began to land in the water near the Laika. “So much for hailing them, they certainly appear hostile.” Captain Andrenescu said with a sigh.

[Galliban]

OOC: Sorry, I've been on vacation.

Galliban stood up immeadiately. Her eyes were sharp and alert as she studied the attacking vessels.

"Pirates, perhaps?" she asked the captain calmly.

[valsert]

Val un sheathed his sword and laid it on the deck beside where he was crouching.

"How many bows do we have? and how many quivers?" He asked, a small but hopfuly life saving plan of defence coming to mind.

"before we come into range of there arrows, we need to get behind cover. Then attempt to pick off any of them with bows, before they can get close enuf to board."

wiping sweat from his brow, before continueing.

"Captain, we can not out run her, but can we out manuver? If we can keep moving around her, maby we can buy some time to help with our ranged attack."

Val then quickly took note of what cover the ship could offer, and what weapons and tools could be used in there defense.

[valsert]

Val stood and quickly went below deck, returning with the weapons they stowed before leaving the port. Once back topside, he put it all on the side of the ship he felt would be furthest from the aproching vessel.

"if we put up a good fight, then they will realize they stand to loose more than they would gain from taking us."

if they dont enjoy the thought of geting a larger cut of the spoils that there fallen wont claim! He thought.

[folderol]

Valsert saw that there was very little cover available onboard ship. The gunwales were only about two feet tall, but the deckhouse was about three and a half feet tall. With their own gear, there were enough bows for everyone as well as plenty of arrows.

The Captain replied to Val, “No the Laika was built for cargo. She isn’t very maneaverable.” The Captain looked back to their pursuers. “At least it is a small pirate ship. Looks like about a fifty-foot schooner. Probably has a crew of ten to twenty, unless they piled on extra for the fight.” He said glumly.

Three arrows thunked into the deck near the tiller. “It appears that their aim is improving.” He added.

The pirate ship was now only fifty yards from the Laika. “You can start shooting back anytime.” Captain Andrenescu added.

[valsert]

Val nodded at Captain Andrenescu, then dropped to one knee. Grabbing up a bow and quiver, he notched an arrow, and drew back his bowstring.

“I don’t have your sight Saven, but lets see how many of this scurvy scum we can take down! Galliban.. are you any good with a bow?"

Notching his arrow and pulling back the line, he took aim, hoping the kneeling position would help to steady his shot against the motion of the ship. Finding a target, he let loose of his missile, the twang of the bowstring reminding him of his first bow practice in the Purple Guard.

“Captain! I hate to give orders here on your ship, but I must insist that since we cannot forgo this fight, you need to take what cover you can find. You are a good teacher of boat skill, but I fear we still have much to learn from you before you become a pincushion!”

As his first shot whistled in the air, he had already notched another arrow, and chosen a new target.

(ooc: heh being as this is my first true combat situation, I am unsure as to the extent of action allowed. I can assume only from what I have read in other posts, which hand to hand combat needs a large amount of MOD interaction. In this case, with the ranged fighting, I have gone ahead and fired more than once, due the fact that hit or miss, I would be firing again. I don’t want to over step myself though, so I limited it to two shots, incase I am wrong. If I am not wrong, then I am assuming that Valsert would continue the ranged attack until something new takes place. Is this ok?

[Galliban]

"Captain, might ye have a piece of flint and steel on board? If we set fire to those arrows, chances are that we can get a few flames roaring on that pirate ship. That is if Valsert's aim is true." Galliban said, still remarkably calm.

[valsert]

"That is a grand idea Galliban, altho i hope we can put out the fires also, for i fear they will use our flames to return the favor. But yes i agree that some fire could be of help."

Val continued to aim and fire as he spoke.

"In my pack you will find a whetstone, you can use it on the blade of my sword to spark..."

[Galliban]

Galliban nodded and went to Valsert's pack. She opened it and searched, soon finding the whetstone. She then walked back over to Valsert.

"Give me an arrow. I will see what I can do." Galliban said, hoping that her idea would work. At that point, she didn't see many other options. She pulled her dagger from its sheath, knowing that it would be less awkward to handle than a sword.

[valsert]

Val tryed to stay as low as he could behind the deckhouse and took a quiver of arrows and tossing it beside Galliban.

"Do we have any spirits or tar onboard? it will help keep the missile aflame during flight, and make puting the fire out more difficult."

after delivering the arrows, he notched another arrow and let fly. The task seemed much more liberating now, with only the prospect of death if his work was less than needed... instead of extream amounts of verbal abuse and physical punishment from his instructors.

"If we can find a liquid which will burn... (pausing only for the release of his shot)... then we can douse the arrows, and also fling the liquid to break against the ship. in the hopes of spreading our fires."

O.O.C. i cant seem to find any archives from the time spent in Guard training. I had hoped to look at the fight tween the flame beasts and the guard. lol i cant remember whos sword i ended up with and its driving me crazy.

[folderol]

Valsert fired one arrow after another. He watched his first shot go high as the ship pitched slightly. His second shot hit the pirate vessel just to the right of a buccaneer. By his third shot he was getting better at guaging the motion of the ship, and that arrow flew true hitting one of the pirates.

From what he could see, there were six pirates shooting at the Laika. Any others that might have been aboard the pirate ship were either under cover or working the rigging to guide the vessel. The pirate ship closed slowly, the wind dropping off slightly.

Captain Andrenescu ducked below into the galley, and returned shortly thereafter with a lit lanter, small pail, and a bundle of rags. Kneeling down beside Galliban, he began to tear the rags into small strips. He dunked the strips into a thick greasy substance and tied them onto an arrow shaft. “Here, ready it, and let me know when to light it.” He told Galliban handing her the prepared arrow.

Valsert struck another of the pirates with an arrow, then had to drop behind some cover as the pirates zeroed in on his position. Captain Andernescu glanced over to the bowman, and shouted some advice. “After each shot, duck down, then move left or right. Pop back up to shoot, then duck down again. Never shoot more than one or two arrows from the same position Val!”

The small team could hear arrows hitting the boathouse, gunwales, and deck. It started to sound like a hailstorm. “Sounds like the pirates found more archers.” The captian said glumly.

OOC – Valsert, no problem. Shooting a few volleys is no problem at all. Fire fast and furiously. So far it looks like it is going well. I think the sword you had was a short bladed weapon, but in truth I don’t recall. (It has been a while). I think the fight with the flame wings has been archived. I will try to check and review the old thread.

[valsert]

"Yes sir, smart idea!"

Val begain doing as the captain instructed, fireing only one or two shots before moving. He did his best to readjust his aim to counteract his movements.

"how are those fire arows coming? the more of them we can force to work puting out the fires, the less we will have to fight."

Altho he kept fireing his arrows, he also looked for any key targets, anyone giving orders..... or steering the enemy ship.