(Should you happen to be the sort who benefits from trigger warnings, here’s one for grief/loss.)

Sareneth 20, Starday

My team stumbled out onto the deck the next morning, still blinking the sleep from their eyes. They’d been roughly dragged out of bed mere minutes before, told to get dressed to fight, and hurried to the deck. The predawn light was dim enough to be comfortable for my naked eyes, painting the world around me in washed out water colors that slowly grew more vibrant as the sun peaked out over the horizon. Riaris Krine, the Wormwood’s gunnery sergeant, paced in front of us, surveying us with an evil eye. She had all the beauty of old shoe leather and all the softness of a broken bottle.

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“Alright ye lubbers.” She rasped, “I’ve been told ye want to learn. Unfortunately for you, the captain decided I need to teach you. Have any of you ever killed a man?”

She surveyed my little team, looking in turn at me, Sandara, Jack, Caulky, and Owlbear. Her eyes held a depth of contempt that made it difficult to meet her gaze for long. She snorted when I looked away. Sandara and Jack both nodded grimly, but Owlbear cringed under the sergeants glare. Caulky, like me, attempted to hold Krine’s gaze and ultimately failed.

“Of course you’re green too.” She spat on the deck. “Well then, I suppose we start with the basics and try to beat the stupid out of you along the way.”

“This is a grappling hook.” She said, proffering the tool in question. “Most ships have railings like the ones we have here. If you use this hook right, you can use it to haul yourself onto a ship from below.”

She explained it’s use, showing how to make it bite into the railing deeply enough to support a human’s weight. After each demonstration, she took a note in a small book of where the damage was. After around an hour, she turned to us and cracked her knuckles.

“Alright. We weigh anchor in two hours, so it’s time to see if a single word made its way into your skulls.” As she spoke, she signaled to a few men from the night shift, including Master Scourge. “Ye have that much time to all climb up onto the ship without any of ye falling into the drink. These fine gentlemen have been promised a piece of silver and an extra rum ration each if they can keep you practicing the whole time. This is training, but we have miss Quinn here, so we can go by rough and tumble rules.”

“Rough and tumble?” I asked nervously.

“Anything goes.” She answered with an evil smile, “pain’s a great teacher, and there ain’t a ship in the sea that’ll let you board it without contest. Just try not to kill anyone, eh? If anyone gets injured, I’m sure our priestess can patch you up for the next round.”

The designated defense team laughed and leered at us, waving their cutlasses at us in an exaggerated fashion. They had a mocking, jovial tone. They weren’t going to make it easy for us, but there was no real malice from any of them, even Scourge. (Sense motive 9+1=10)

We were lowered on the jolly boat into the water next to the ship, where we quickly planned our attack.

“Alright.” I began, “Has anyone done this before?”

“Only as part of a big group.” Jack replied, which Sandara echoed. Caulky and Owlbear shook their heads.

“Okay.” I thought about it critically. “I assume they are going to try to detach the hooks, or cut the ropes. Something like that.”

“Something like that, probably.” Sandara confirmed.

“So a few of us need to get up quickly, preferably at the same time, and stop them.” I spoke confidently. “Sandara, Jack, you’ll probably be the fastest climbers just based on experience. You will go quickly and provide a distraction. Focus on keeping people off the ropes. Owlbear, Caulky, you will do the same if you board first. I have the capacity to create a distraction from the boat, so I will be taking the rear. (Intimidate check 16+9=25) 

Sandara’s eyes sparkled. “Of course, sir.”

It was a rudimentary plan, obvious really, but I felt it was important to set the agenda. It was better to have everyone on the same page, and even if it seemed obvious to me they might have come up with some other equally obvious plan if left to self direct. Nobody objected, so it seemed my team was of one mind. If it didn’t work out, Sandara could patch us up and we could adjust for round two.

“Alright, ye lubbers.” Krine yelled down at us. “Ye having a tea party?”

“Don’t let her rattle you.” I said calmly, masking my nerves. “Everyone get your hooks and be ready to throw on my mark. Three, two, one.”

(Initiative 4+2=6 combat has begun)

Caulky has made an attack roll vs Wormwood Railing. Hit. 

Sandara has made an attack roll vs Wormwood Railing. Hit. 

Owlbear has made an attack roll vs Wormwood Railing. Miss. 

I threw the hook up, but didn’t put quite enough force into the throw. It barely reached the hull, falling into the water near Owlbear’s hook. (Attack roll 2+3-6=-1) The big lug had thrown as hard as he could, instead of tossing it just over the railing; unsurprisingly, it bounced off. I checked on Jack manually; he wasn’t in my party so I didn’t get instant updates. He seemed to have succeeded on his first throw.

Alright. Time to run the numbers. That’s a +3, so it was a Dexterity based attack roll; not my worst. I’ve got a pretty massive -6 penalty to my roll, but two out of three people in my party managed it on their first try. My goal is to get everyone on the deck without falling into the water. I think I can manage it, I just need to keep the guys up there distracted. 

I opened a small rift into the abyss, drawing forth a bird of prey. The red eyed eagle swooped towards Scourge, who was already attempting to sever Jack’s rope with a handaxe. It performed admirably.

Fiendish Eagle attacked Master Scourge. Hit. 2 damage. 

Fuck that guy. 

The rest of the defenders were preparing barrels of grimy bilge water, which they focused on Caulky. The spry girl had critically succeeded in her climb check, so she was nearly twice as far along as the two veterans. She swung to the side, completely avoiding the torrent of disgusting liquid. (Reflex saving throw successful) 

I focused my attention on pulling my grappling hook back, stopping only to let Autopilot summon another eagle. As I did, Caulky pulled herself over the railing and started proving her worth. She moved gracefully, sidestepping several blows; nobody but Scourge could touch her. In return, she swung her sword in wide arcs that left deep gashes in the defenders.

Caulky has successfully attacked Fipps Chumlett, 7 damage +1 bleed

Caulky has been whipped by Master Scourge, recieving 4 nonlethal damage. 

Fiendish Eagle has been struck with an axe by Master Scourge, taking 7 damage. Fiendish Eagle has died. 

Caulky has successfully attacked Badger Medlar, 6 damage +1 bleed

Holy shit, she hits as hard as Owlbear. Note to self, look up what bleed does. 

Fipps and Badger each dipped out after Caulky humbled them, bandaging their injuries and declaring themselves dead for the sake of the combat. Sandara pulsed positive energy when she saw the two of them bleeding, which healed everyone save Scourge.

I looked up when I heard the hiss of pressurized water. Scourge was clinging to the railing of the Wormwood as a torrent of water attempted to toss him into the drink. My updates helpfully identified the source of the firehose for me.

Sandara used Surge to bull rush Master Scourge. 11+5=16. Failure. 

“Come on,” Sandara taunted, “just let go and we can all head to the hold for drinks, eh?”

Rather than trying to throw another hook myself, I took hold of Caulky’s trailing rope with mage hand and began climbing as quickly as I could without autopilot. I focused my eyes above me, ready to curse anyone who leaned out over the railing for any reason. (Action held: Curse) As far as I could tell, curses didn’t require any physical effort on my part, so I could put Autopilot on cursing duty while I handled the athletics. I was a little on the slow side, but climbing a rope isn’t too hard and Autopilot would always have a small chance of doing something stupid.

Sandara has been struck with an axe by Master Scourge. Critical hit. Sandara has taken 24 damage. 

Sandara has sustained a fatal injury. 

I nearly lost my grip, but I still had a challenge to complete. I continued my ascent, shouting up at Jack and Caulky to drop whatever they were doing and help Sandara. I’d invested too much into her to let her die now. (Climb check 17-1=16 success.) I shouldn’t have bothered. When I pulled myself over the railing, with Owlbear close behind me, I could tell that the mock battle was over. Riaris was attempting to apply pressure to the wound, but the sheer amount of blood squirting out told me that a major artery had been severed. 

Sandara Quinn has died. 

Eject from party? Y/N

I wheeled on Scourge. “You killed her.” I stated coldly. “The axe is still in your hand. You might as well jump into the sea; perhaps Besmara will give you a quick death if you’re a man about it.” (Intimidate 16+9=25) 

I wasn’t lucky enough to prompt a suicidal leap, but my words did what they were intended to. Everyone present knew who was responsible, and as I recall the official punishment for killing a member of the crew was Keelhauling. This smug cretin had harmed what was mine, and I would see to it that he paid dearly. 

••••••••••

I let the text updates scroll past me, unable to focus on anything. I couldn’t bring myself to care about what my body did. All I could see was the spreading red pool on the deck of the Wormwood. Sandara couldn’t be dead. Not like that. Not in a stupid accident.

I heard my voice lash out at the man who took her, and agreed, but only in a remote sense. I wanted vengeance, but only as a substitute for my friend’s presence. I was frozen behind my eyes, unable to come up with anything better to do, except maybe throttle him myself.

My other self instead watched coldly as the rest of the defense team dragged Scourge to the hot box, who got as much sympathy for his excuses as he deserved. My body then turned and attended to the few injuries Jack and Caulky had sustained, all in a clinically detached manner that I greatly preferred to my own head space at the time.

The rest of the day passed in a haze. I’d never seen someone die, not so suddenly. When my Gran died, it had been an inevitability for weeks. Sandara, a new friend, one I’d seen survive functional incineration? Two hours earlier she’d been cheating me at dice, and now she was dead. Gone.

Was this my fault? Did I put her in danger, acting as a distraction? She died from a critical hit, but can that even happen to someone who doesn’t have a character sheet? Would she have just healed it off if she wasn’t in my party? 

Shit. Is this what I put my friends through? If I really am dead, that means they saw me playing beer pong and then… Nothing. 

The fresh dose of guilt distracted me for a time, but it didn’t exactly brighten my mood, nor did it help when I was informed that Sandara’s body would be kept in our freezer. The magically cold room was the best place to keep her preserved for a time, but it was an unpleasant shock for me to see her carried through the galley as I mechanically chopped an onion.

“The snake agreed to pay the wergild.” Kroop explained, “Plugg argued that it was an honest mistake, so his sentence is suspended until we make port.”

“Wergild?” I asked hollowly, “am I supposed to know what that is?”

“Eh… I won’t get into the history of the term, but he’s in the hole to pay for her resurrection. Effectively a slave to the captain until he pays for it in full.” Kroop answered delicately. “I’d be ready for disappointment if I were you, though. We’ve only got one town in range that might have someone who can manage it, and Goatshead isn’t a good place to go looking for miracles.”

“It’s possible, though?” Hope creeped into my voice despite his warning.

“Anything is possible.” Kroop sighed. “But it’s more likely that he’s just put off his execution for a few days and drawn everything out. If we were near Port Peril, or around Besmara’s Throne, her chances would be much better. As things stand, we are hoping that someone with one of the most marketable kinds of magic happens to be hiding out in the darkest and most lawless hole in the Shackles. Resurrection doesn’t work if the soul is gone, you know?”

I’m not booting her from the party. Do you hear me? You promised me that fate would conspire to keep my party together. I don’t care who or how, but someone in Goatshead had better be standing by with jumper cables. 

I returned to food prep, trying incredibly hard to think of anything but the still body in the freezer behind me. She had been so full of life, and she would be again. I kept telling myself that; anything else would drive me to tears or murder.

••••••••••

This is an honest rolls campaign.

Spoiler, if you want to know how this arc in Goatshead goes: https://www.patreon.com/posts/95541885

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