Age of Ice and Blood: A Pathfinder System Heroic Fantasy Quest
- Thread starter DragonParadox
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- Original Fantasy
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[X] Sneak by under cover of night
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Arc 12 Post 8: Under the Horns
Under the Horns
The Sixteenth Day of Elnu-eza (Elnu Ascendant), 1349 A. L. (After Landfall)
As the Marcella rows forward through the near windless night into the Mouth of the World you find that it was not one tower but many, half a dozen fires like red eyes opening on the hillside. From the heights the horns go out, one after another, echoing each other in a hunting call. One doesn't need to be listening to Antonio's cursing to know things are going ill. The men rush to their posts, spear raised and bow strung as Tom none too gentle admonitions have at least the comfort of familiarity. Looking around for the sailors, high and low, you see that few of them are ready for battle, prepared as they are to either row the ship to open water or tease what speed one may out of the fickle wind.
Alas, tis not enough.
According to the otter-kin, whose eyes see further by star and moon, there are men moving on the south shore, the wooded slopes alive with the tread of many soldiers, and the worst news is yet to be had as Inge's gulls swoop down with news. Two galleys bar your path, and they can only be more of the fleet of the Tin League trying to keep Orinilu from getting supplied up the wide Sunset Sea by the Anwa.
"We are not flying the banner of their foes, perhaps they won't know us," Zaia says from beside you, but there isn't much hope to it. He knows as well as you that trying to run the straights at night is a sign of guilt if ever there was one and these are not raider ships that have to clamber over the high gunwales of another ship, but proper galleys... proper galleys meant for war you soon find out. Bronze prows glint in the moonlight and the front of the ships are all adorned in the guise of shark's teeth, ships of proud and bloody history from Ibanora itself.
The horns rind out again, from ship to shore an answer of quarry being found, and then from the lead ship a call in the Egur tongue: "Ye who trespass upon the might of the City of Smiths quail! Lay down your arms and set still your oars and you shall be treated well, resist and you will be broken!" At first you think the sheer loudness of the call when the ships were yet more than five hundred feet distant was some sorcery, but then you see a man with a grey feathered helm holding a bronze funnel to his mouth. Clever, some small part of you notes, but you are more worried about the soldiers you see at his back, all armed and armored in bronze breastplates, greaves and arm-guards. Not for nothing had you bought one of them for Tom and these look as though the complement of a single ships would outnumber all of the Fellowship, eighteen on each enemy galley counting the captain at their head. At least they do not seem to have any archers, if you can just keep them off the Marcella...
"They are using boarding ramps that will spill out more men at once than rope and hook, but they are also easier to break or burn," Antonio says with a glance towards Zaia. "At least they don't seem to have any archers..."
"There are big bows behind the ship," Runs in Rain cuts in, sounding worried.
"Balistas," Zaia calls them. "The bolt is heavy but there is only one of them and it aught to be slow firing... unless they set it alight, which they might."
"Do you think it's worth trying to talk to the bastards?" Antonio asks. "It'll give them time to get close without being shot at, but it's only two against one and between the strange make of the ship and the men in steel we might be able to talk our way through."
"How much of that magic fire do you have?" Inge asks suddenly.
"Enough," Zaia replies, eyes still on the ships ahead. "Why?"
"Well I have like six gulls listening to me right now and they are all close at hand. I could have all of them take a vial and drop them on the guard ships from on high. They won't know to shoot the gulls and then they'll be too busy putting out fires t' try to shoot us or try to steer t'wards us, won't they? We'll outrun them on the open sea easy."
What do you do?
[] Talk, perhaps you can persuade the Ibanorans that they do not want to fight the like of you and yours
-[] Write in
[] Prepare to fight
-[] Write in battle plan
[] Fire from the sky, use Inge's plan, it's not likely to work more than once... but for right now once is enough
[] Write in
OOC: Antonio rolled well on his profession sailing roll to get through, but the Ibanora also rolled well to notice you. The element of chance favored them.
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- Location
- Germany
We propably don't want these people as enemies.
Why did we even try to sneak through again?
Too late now, let's hope we can talk our way out of this.
[X] Talk, perhaps you can persuade the Ibanorans that they do not want to fight the like of you and yours
-[X] Go on the offence, ask them why they are blocking the Straights for a ship that is no foe of theirs.
-[X] If they ask why we tried to go by night, admit that you have something of a conflict with the local tribes and got your ship cursed here once, since then you always sneak through the area by night.
Why did we even try to sneak through again?
Too late now, let's hope we can talk our way out of this.
[X] Talk, perhaps you can persuade the Ibanorans that they do not want to fight the like of you and yours
-[X] Go on the offence, ask them why they are blocking the Straights for a ship that is no foe of theirs.
-[X] If they ask why we tried to go by night, admit that you have something of a conflict with the local tribes and got your ship cursed here once, since then you always sneak through the area by night.
- Location
- Germany
Why though?
They won't hold these straights forever, it's not like they are decisivly winning against Orinilu and becoming the local superpower who can waste men and ships on this indefinitly.
- Location
- Argentina
So you hope that if we evade the conflict now then it all gets solved off screen?
- Location
- Germany
Basically yes?
We don't know much about the war between the Tin League and Orinilu, but since neither seems to be loosing decisivly it seems likely the war will end sometime soon without a clear victor (or better said, with both sides claiming some victory).
It's expensive to keep a war running.
- Location
- Argentina
By that logic we could also use the seagulls abd drop fire on them. Bonus points if we also take a ship from them.
- Location
- Germany
But then any survivors or witnesses would mean we are permanently enemies of Ibanora and the Tin League, likely even after they eventually make peace with Orinilu.
Doesn't seem desirable.
- Location
- Argentina
But if they make peace with Orinilu then they would be making peace with us too?
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
Fuck.
I don't think we should try to talk. Talking also means coming to a stop and being boarded. That not only cedes the initiative, it's basically amounts to placing ourselves at the mercy of the Ibanorans. Marcella is a valuable ship and it's not only got a full cargo, but most of our liquid assets, potione, our arms and armor, etc.
Even if they let us go, the chances that they do so without confiscating most if not all of our stuff are very slim, IMO.
It was the best chance of avoiding conflict or a time delay. Unfortunately, it didn't work out.
I don't think we should try to talk. Talking also means coming to a stop and being boarded. That not only cedes the initiative, it's basically amounts to placing ourselves at the mercy of the Ibanorans. Marcella is a valuable ship and it's not only got a full cargo, but most of our liquid assets, potione, our arms and armor, etc.
Even if they let us go, the chances that they do so without confiscating most if not all of our stuff are very slim, IMO.
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Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
@DragonParadox, what's the positioning of the enemy ships relative to our own?
Well like it says in the update five hundred feet in front of you and coming dead on, presumably they are planning to encircle you and board you at once, though if they manage that depends on how well you maneuver relative to them. Still with them being in front of you there is no way you can slip entirely past without some kind of distraction like the fire by gull.
- Location
- Germany
We are in a kinda bad situation right now.
We are not part of Orinilu's fleet, but we have been selling them tin and bought land there and all that.
So they have enough reason to act against us now under the pretext of us aiding their enemies, but they can also later still seek vengance for burned ships because we wouldn't directly be part of any peace between cities.
Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
This might come back to bite us in the ass, but stopping to talk seems like a really, really bad idea. Marcella has too much valuable cargo, including our men and horses and all of our arms and armor, potions, Alchemical tools and supplies, etc. If we are boarded, there is no way we'll be able to pass as a simple merchant ship. Best case, they might assume we're an heavily armed blockade runner specifically intended to keep shipping lanes open between Orinilu and the lands beyond the Mediterranean.
[X] Fire from the sky, use Inge's plan, it's not likely to work more than once... but for right now once is enough
-[X] If either ship approaches closely enough, Inge will target their crews with Web spells and Esha will use her staff to target officers or helmsmen with Magic Missiles. Beyond the issues of Alchemist's Fire burning on their ships, the Ibanorans might think twice about pursuing a ship carrying mages.
[X] Fire from the sky, use Inge's plan, it's not likely to work more than once... but for right now once is enough
-[X] If either ship approaches closely enough, Inge will target their crews with Web spells and Esha will use her staff to target officers or helmsmen with Magic Missiles. Beyond the issues of Alchemist's Fire burning on their ships, the Ibanorans might think twice about pursuing a ship carrying mages.
Usually I am totally for diplomacy.
Unfortunally, I can not see diplomatic solution in this situation
[X] Goldfish
I mean you do have really good social rolls and you might be able to sell them on the fact that you want to fight daemons. They might have heard of the campaign and some of the cited reasons behind it. There are options for diplomacy as far as Roland knows that is why it is an option. It is up to you guys to decide what risks you want to take as always.
Not an island Ibanora is a mainland Iberian state, and major producer of in in the region