In the Dark of the Night
Day Two, Year Unknown
Would that you could lie, you think looking down the long row of men, some standing, some having sat back down on their hammocks after greeting you, for a simple lack of room in the corner of the hold they had been set into. Fifeen in all returning from war of the thirty four who has set out. It should have been over, but for the dangers of the sea and now you have to tell them. "I fear that we are lost, the storm did more than turn day to night. But we are not cursed..."
Or at least they are not, a unwelcome voice hisses in the back of your mind. "If the Almighty should have some trial in mind for us than we shall meet it boldly and we shall endure."
Though the words feel hollow on your lips they are clearly not so in the ears of your men. Shock gives way to looks of determination which you had seen before on the eve of battle, if not for themselves than for the sight of their fellows.
"But... but we will find land right, the captain is looking?" Luc asks, voice quivering in spite of his best efforts.
"The captain is a skilled sailor and he will see us through this as well as any man on God's Green earth could," you reply firmly. It is not as if you have much choice but to believe it. You would not know a tiller from a pig's troth and given how the sailors had reacted at the storm you are glad the captain is here to keep them in check
"Right, you heard Ser Verley, we will see land when we see it," Tom said, a dark look in his eye. "And in the meantime it would do you lot good not to listen to fools shoot their mouths..."
"But he was right wasn't he? This Marco I mean?" sandy haired James Tanner asked, always the bolder among the younger men at arms.
"He guessed right about what his captain was doing and then he spread that guess like Sunday gossip, save this isn't a church it's a bloody boat in the middle of the sea," Tom growled. You do not think all of the men had caught his meaning, but you understand why he does not make it clearer. Some things are best not spoken of openly lest one ends up giving bad ideas instead of quashing them.
You spend the rest of the day speaking to the men and talking about home.. well it is mostly them talking and you listening. It is not a lord's place to unburden himself to his sworn men. By evening you learn more than you ever hand before about their kin, their sweethearts and their hopes for home then after dinner you say the Lord's Prayer, not knowing any prayers fit for such an hour as this, if such had ever been made. You can but hope it gave them more comfort than it did you.
By the time you come up on deck again you find the sea cat still sleeping, though it must have woken at least once to judge by the fact that the good doctor is cradling a bandaged hand. Far from fear his gaze is still fixed upon the cat bright with curiosity. As she notices you approach he shakes his head and manages manages in broken Sicilian. "Easier to study the dead ones eh?" Noticing your less than pleased reaction he smiles and adds. "Less to learn though, No worry for beast."
That night you decide to sleep on deck as you had done a few times before when the weather was good so you can be closer to the beast should it decide to have a taste of more than fish. Alas he was not the beast you had to worry over.
***
Day Three, Year Unknown
You wake to the sound of growls, curses and a man screaming in pain, you reach for your sword just as something flashes and clinks beside your head. Though it takes a moment for your eyes to adapt to the starlit night, your mind is swifter in understanding what had just been about to happen... murder and the cat has saved you from the wound if not from death.
You hear raised voices. "The pig of a Norman is up, go, go, now or we are all damned."
This was not just murder, it was mutiny., you realize with a sinking stomach as you draw your sword. The man who had tried to stab you is clutching the ruin of his face rolling on the deck, but his fellows are abroad and loose. Just then a crossbow bolt comes screaming down from somewhere in the rigging, thankfully missing you by a foot.
Tactical situation:
- There are about five sailors trying to break down the door of Antonio's cabin at the back of the ship
- There is at least one armed with a crossbow in the rigging
- You cannot see the hatch leading to the area of the hold where your men sleep from here, but there does not seem to be any commotion there yet.
What do you do?
[] Try get to your men so you can lead them as a group to try to quell the mutiny
[] Try to get to Antonio, without him no one knows how to sail the ship
[] Write in
OOC: And we are off to our first combat. The tactical situation bullet point is my poor attempt to make up for the fact that I am really bad with maps. If you have questions do not hesitate to ask. Not yet edited. 
