READ WEBNOVEL Chapter 41: Well at Least Nobody Died
Sarenith 30
I looked down at the deck, squinting through the driving rain. The halfling sized creatures clung to the sides of the ship, hauling themselves out of the water. My darkvision could barely make the creatures out through driving rain and pre-dawn light, so the crew didn’t stand a chance. They scurried around, focused entirely on the ship pitching in the storm, completely oblivious to the far more immediate threat rising from the deep.
“Prepare to repel boarders!” I bellowed over the rushing wind, “aquatic foes!”
I had to repeat myself a few times before the crew heard me. Plugg, to his credit, echoed my orders the moment he processed what I was saying. Through a combination of shouting and hand gestures, he directed Caulky to guard the port side of the ship while he took starboard, splitting off teams of fighters that could be spared.
I picked out my friends among the defenders; my party congregated around Caulky as the lesser of two evils, while Plugg’s handpicked veterans assessed the defenses and reinforced the starboard side of the ship. Small groups took up positions to the bow and stern, guarding the flanks; Owlbear joined one of those teams, probably hoping to avoid any real combat. I watched it all from aloft in six second increments, scanning the edges of the ship for trouble.
Enemy unknown. I can barely make them out from this distance. They look like goblins with tentacles for legs. (Knowledge: Local 3+2=5)
The melee inclined members of my party lined the edge of the ship, hacking away at any of the sea creatures who got close. For the first round they did quite well, killing 4 of the small assailants without taking a single blow in return. None of the bastards made it onto the ship, and Sandara was taking the time to bless the whole crew. Next to her, Conchobar began a rousing tune on his flute; he played, the magic woven into the music made my heart race.
You are Blessed, +1 luck bonus to attack
You are Inspired, +1 morale bonus to attack, damage, and saves vs charm and fear
Dierdre, unable to fly safely in the storm, focused on illuminating the deck with dancing balls of light. I approved; the assailants seemed to have superior night vision and I’d seen first hand how much of a disadvantage came from fighting blind against someone who could see.
Plugg retreated a few feet, ceding the railing completely. He shouted orders at the men to assemble some kind of ad-hoc formation. In the confusion, the squid-goblins popped up onto the deck and rushed the men. Before anyone knew what was happening, three of them worked together to knock Aretta down and toss her into the drink. My air elemental, barely visible in the pre-dawn light, dove to assist her.
I have a few spells that might help him out at this range, but I think I’ll keep them in reserve. His supporters dying under his direct command might serve me well. I’ll start casting if it looks like my people might be in danger.
Team Caulky hacked away at the encroaching group of squid-goblins, each handling things on their own initiative. They were individually far superior to the attackers, mostly able to send them running with a single attack, completely breaking the enemy’s momentum. The squid-goblins dropped from the side of the ship, then shifted to a ranged assault by hurling small spears at my party members. My melee inclined friends were easy targets, standing still and visible at the ship’s railing, with only Caulky and Rowe able to return fire with their guns.
“Arcana ready, prepare to strike.” Plugg called out, prompting his men to step back and prepare for whatever the hell he was talking about.
Plugg conjured a huge fiendish man-sized crab in the middle of the squad of squid-goblins on deck, which swung its pincers wildly. It seemed more confused than enraged, utterly failing to hit anything, but it’s size and armored body leant it a menacing profile that the invaders had difficulty ignoring.
The squid-goblins all turned their focus upon the monstrous crab in a panic, and the crew punished them with their pikes, their weapons striking with deadly accuracy thanks to Conchobar and Sandara’s buffs. The crab lasted only a single round, but the squid-goblins’ numbers were cut in half by the time it was banished. Aretta, guarded by my now battered air elemental, crawled over the edge to safety as the squid-goblins routed.
I glanced at the back of the ship to check on Owlbear, and my heart sank. A huge cloud of fog engulfed the stern, reducing the already poor visibility to zero. The round ended, and updates scrolled across my vision. I searched for any information about my big follower.
Owlbear has been struck for 2 damage.
Owlbear has been tripped unsuccessfully
Owlbear has been tripped successfully
Owlbear has been struck for 2 damage
Owlbear has been pushed 5 feet
Oh fuck that! I’m coming, buddy.
“Mage to the stern!” I shouted, then I took a deep breath and leapt into the cloud. As I did, I restricted my acceleration with a rudimentary form of levitation, allowing me to land forty feet below with no harm done. The cool mist restricted my vision to only a few feet in any given direction, and I only belatedly considered that I had neither a weapon nor a plan. I couldn’t cast anything without line of sight, and I wasn’t about to toss a fiendish or even celestial animal in here blind, but this wasn’t much smarter. I crouched behind a barrel, hoping to summon a few beasts and perhaps find a weapon before engaging with an unknown spellcaster. (Stealth 3+9=12)
Before I could set up and implement that plan, one of the squid-goblins, slithered past me with a heavy spear. Her sagging breasts pegged her as female, and raised a few questions given that she was half squid. She led four others, squinting her eyes toward the port side defenders. She gestured with her off hand, and I heard a frantic shriek. Moments later, a loud scraping noise came from below.
No update. Whatever that was hit Caulky. I hope she’s ok. Wait. That thing can see out of the fog well enough to cast? Oh, no no no. Owlbear, forgive me, I can’t let this lady unload her full day of spells.
My eyes flashed with energy as I outlined the sea-goblin shaman’s form with lavender flame, marking her for execution. The shaman’s head whipped towards me, but I was already springing up and out of the way. I could hear the wet slapping of tentacles as her honor guard rushed to follow me, but as the next turn began I heard the crack of gunfire and felt a spike of blazing pain in my arm.
Rowe has fired a scatter weapon
Critical hit! 4x damage vs unknown assailant
Critical hit! 4x damage vs unknown assailant shaman
Hit vs unknown assailant
Miss vs Narwhal Tate
Owlbear has been hit for 3 damage; missed due to concealment
Miss Vs Ratline Rattsberger
You have been hit for 8 damage
You are at 0 hp
You have been disabled
The two squid goblins close enough for me to see dropped, one writhing on the ground in pain and the other perfectly still with a hole straight through his head. I, for my part, tried to remember what the hell the disabled status effect did while applying pressure to my new bullet wound.
It’s what happens when you’re at exactly 0 hp, I think? Not unconscious, but on thin ice. Any more damage, any strenuous activity, and you’re down for the count. I have to get out of this cloud. I have to get to Sandara.
I stumbled out of the cloud, pushed out of the way by Scourge as I reached the bottom of the stairs. He and two others were rushing into the rapidly dispersing fog to finish off the shaman. I looked around for Sandara, and saw that she was treating a pale, grimacing Caulky.
Caulky’s sword hand, as well as her sword itself, was encased in a thin sheet of ice. The deadly sharp sword was effectively a poorly balanced club in this state, neutering her combat effectiveness. On top of that, I could only imagine how painful having a hand encased in ice was. Sandara was pouring warm grog onto the frozen limb, allowing her to slowly pry the frostbitten fingers away.
“Nice job with the spellcaster.” Conchobar said grimly as he approached me, “that could have gone even worse. Let me heal you, I think the worst of it is over.”
You have been healed 5 hp
The battle seemed to be over, but none of us were in a celebratory mood. The squid goblins had been quick to flee when injured, and far more inclined to drag people overboard than to kill them directly. We’d lost 7 people overboard during the battle, and my air elemental only managed to drag 3 back before getting cut to ribbons by the squid goblins. Owlbear, Narwhal, and two more I hadn’t memorized the names of were missing in action. Only four of the strange creatures lay dead or dying on the deck; we weren’t sure what the fate of the lost crew members was, but it seemed unlikely to be anything good.
They are still alive, for now. Owlbear isn’t marked as dead and my mission log hasn’t marked the 100% survival rate mission as failed. We can still save them.
I picked out one of the surviving sea-goblins and kicked it over onto its back. I demanded to know where they were taking the prisoners, then kicked it again in the face when it began to speak so it knew I was serious. The next words out of its mouth were not the information I demanded, but pleas for its pitiful life in a language I didn’t understand. Naturally, I placed my heel on its gut and leaned forward as a punishment for such disobedience. It let out a gutteral cry and expired at that point. (Intimidate 1+10=critical failure)
Autopilot! Chill! Damn it, I should have kept the cat. I can’t talk to these things.
“Can anyone speak these things’ language?” I called. “I don’t think that our men are dead yet!”
“Everyone to your posts!” Plugg roared over the wind, “we are taking on water. Mister M’Dair neglected to note the presence of a reef. Get to your post, Mister M’Dair; I am afraid that interrogation will be quite impossible in these conditions.”
••••••••••
The small island was ringed by high, rocky cliffs that might damage the hull beyond all repair, so the Man’s Promise was forced to circle around until we could find a safe spot to beach the ship. Several men were assigned to work the pump, dumping water from the bilges out into the open sea as quickly as could be managed while everyone else ran around at Plugg’s direction.
The rudder had been damaged by the squid-goblins, though whether it was out of spite or an intention to return wasn't clear. Plugg took that information calmly and set anyone that could be spared, including me and Salyar, to row the boat with long oars. That was enough to maneuver the ship clumsily. Strangely enough, I was much better at rowing than Autopilot; I’d been working out this body for weeks now, but Autopilot still moved as if I hadn’t. His stat block hadn’t changed, just the body it was intended to represent.
Body Control: Escape Artist to Endure Fatigue 8+5=13 failed
Fortitude to resist Fatigue (no bonus) 15+1=16 success
You are not Fatigued
Finally we found a relatively soft beach with gravelly sand and a smooth slope to land upon, at which point we lined the ship up and the whole crew hauled it out of the water with long ropes until the great gash in the hull was above the water line. I’d faced three more saves vs fatigue as the day passed, and only succeeded on one of them. Needless to say, I wasn’t the only one just about ready to collapse from exhaustion once the ship was in no further danger.
“None of that.” Scourge grumbled with an upraised whip, too tired to put any real heat into his words. “We need to get back on the ship before we rest. There’s no telling what might be on this isle.”
By the time we all dragged ourselves back to the ship it was nearly dusk; a few men needed to be shrunk down by Dame Dierdre so their heartier friends could haul them on, but within the hour we were mostly scattered around the deck of the ship. When she’d first revealed herself during the storm, the men had been too pressed to ask questions; by this point they were too exhausted to do anything but accept her presence without comment.
Some members of the crew were holding up better than others, and thanks to Sandara’s ability to heal in a large area of effect nobody was injured anymore. Rather than help haul me up, upon seeing my sorry condition she’d pressed her Jolly Roger against my forearm and healed my Exhaustion with a spell. I was still fatigued of course, and my mind wandered as I crawled up the side of the ship on a rope.
Lesser restoration. Right. I told her to start preparing that so we could bang. Dammit. We still haven’t done that, and it looks like things are getting busy again. Am I ever going to get to fuck this chick?
“Mister M’Dair. You and Miss Rowe will take the night watch due to your superior night vision.” Plugg informed me quietly, stepping up and clasping his hands behind his back. “I hope you will do me the honor of not arguing or doing anything overly clever in the night.”
“Of course, sir, but there was something I think we should discuss.” I said, hoping to capitalize on his exhaustion.
“What is it, Mister M’Dair?” He asked, a note of irritation creeping into his voice.
“The men we lost during the battle aren’t dead.” I revealed. “I have a minor spell that I place on my friends that lets me know their status in broad strokes. Owlbear is injured, but for whatever reason they are keeping him alive. Narwhal and Rattsberger are probably still alive too, unless he just managed to escape and swim to shore alone.”
“Luckily, I was already planning on asking you to lead a small expedition onto the island to scout for potential threats.” He said, perking up and raising his voice for the rest of the crew to hear, “we mustn’t leave the ship undefended, but I’ll need you to gather a team of around five volunteers. If you find the grindylows’ lair, you must make a rescue or retrieval attempt” and hopefully die. (Sense motive 17+2=19)
Ah. So they are called grindylows. Good to know. Great work environment, incidentally. Boss lets me work overtime in the hope that I will literally die. Not to mention that he wants me to pull an all nighter ahead of time. If I didn’t have Keep Watch I’d be going into this little expedition totally empty.
“Of course, sir.” I agreed, “I already have a few in mind.”
“Miss Taroon will be overseeing the defenses while I manage the repairs.” He said in parting. “Speak with her and make sure to leave a few competent individuals behind.”
Of course he’s preemptively keeping me from bringing Caulky.
I intended to bring my full party, of course. I had absolutely no intention of going into this with anything less than my full power. To that end, I also gathered my magic items from Syl. I felt much more comfortable with my necklace and boots, even if they weren’t particularly powerful combat items.
Speaking of poor combat options, the reward for nobody on the crew dying during the storm was an experience point and a +1 to strength. At first I was excited, before I remembered a rule in D&D that apparently still applied to whatever system I was using now: odd numbered stats don’t do anything. I had a 9 in strength now, which was more in line with my recent gains but probably still a bit low, and all it improved was my carrying capacity. I could carry 90 pounds, evenly distributed around my body, before Autopilot would literally lose the capacity to function. That was 10 pounds more than before, sure, but how often did I need to haul 81 pounds of random crap? I still couldn’t have Autopilot fireman carry anyone in my party except Rosie.
I settled on the bow of the ship with Rowe, blessing both of us with Keep Watch as the sun went down. It was a damn good thing that I didn’t need to sleep, because I sincerely doubted I could have if I wanted to. My team was mostly asleep already, but I’d have information to share in the morning. The fruits of my divination, or some other vague explanation.
The good news was that we weren’t going in blind, and we might be able to find two potential allies on the island. The bad news was that I had it on good authority that the island was infested with ghouls.
Save Lady Sosima Aulamaxa from Bonewrack isle
Reward: 2 exp, Royal Pardon
Save Arron Ivey from Bonewrack Isle
Reward: 1 exp. Spell Focus: Conjuration
Rescue Owlbear Hartshorn/all allies kidnapped by the Brinebrood Grindylows of Bonewrack Isle
Rewards: 1 exp, 1 Manual of Retraining/ 1 exp, 1 feat
I appreciate the rewards, but I’d have done it for free. The confirmation of where I am is worth much more. Now I just have to figure out how to get those poor bastards back alive, and hope that Plugg doesn’t maroon us or have some kind of ambush planned. Oh well. That’s tomorrow’s problem.
“Rowe,” I said quietly, “do you know anything about what we’re up against?”
I’d already tried and failed a knowledge check about grindylows, but Rowe had a very nice Knowledge: Local score. That covered humanoids, legends, and local customs; it was possible she could fill me in.
“Eh, they like sea goblins. Like gillmen are sea humans.” She answered with a shrug. “Sea is dumber than air, so most grindylows still act like feral goblins. Big chip on shoulder, superstitious, poor life choices, bad at making friends, bad at judging fights. They eat almost anything, especially smart things, and hate squid. They like octopi though, for dumb reason I forget.”
“So just a bunch of crazies?” I asked.
“That what I said.” She said with an exasperated tone. “Not real goblins, I think. No worship hero gods or make tech. If they goblins they shitty dumb water goblins.”
“Any clue why they would keep Owlbear and the others alive?” I leaned forward against the railing, looking into the woods, “Do they keep slaves or something?”
“No.” The little goblin said, hoisting herself and her massive shotgun onto the railing next to me. “Probably live feed. Even shitty water goblins good at raising monsters, and need them. Only have pointy sticks; probably raising big demon octopus or angry shark. It probably try to kill us. I hope it eats Owlbear last. He big and dumb, but nice dumb. Good for longshanks.”