Salaam lowers himself to the wheel and tries to get it back under control.
Emm is stunned and more than a little shaken by this encounter. After a minute, however, he realizes that one danger has passed and another is upon him. He sees that the ship is heading towards potential disaster. Emm heads towards the nearest lifeboat, looking for crewmen to help him.
There do not appear to be any crewmen left on the ship.
Darian says, "They vanished when the ship went through us!"
Emm begins to struggle with the lifeboat, doing his best to get into position for lowering into the sea.
"Anyone who cannot fly might want to help me prepare our escape here," shouts Emm.
Op Code rushes over to help Emm with the lifeboat.
Niko yells, "Emm! Stop playing around with that lifeboat and check if any of the crew below are still aboard!"
Darian runs over to Jesse to see to her wellbeing. "Jesse, are you okay?"
Jesse stands there, in shock and horror at what has just happened. She is, literally white as a sheet.
Darian holds her until she comes out of it.
"Does anyone know how to steer this thing?" Op Code calls out, "because I sure don't."
Looking about, Gilstrock says, "Where to? What happened to the crew? What's this other plane stuff?"
He looks over at Pharian. "What's going on?"
He restrains from making comments about Darian's old lady.
Occa says, "Chill, things are fine...except when we hit the shore."
Heeding what Occa says, Gilstrock rushes to the wildly spinning wheel and grabs it, trying to use his considerable musculature to turn the ship back in a safe direction. "Niko!" He calls. "Quick! Teach me how to steer this thing!"
Niko, who had been cursing something furious as he watched the ghost ship disappear, hurries to the till with Gilstrock "Lad, the first thing we have to do is stop the wheel from spinning!"
Niko grabs the wheel and with Salaam and Gilstrock's help, tries to right their course back out to sea.
Salaam says, as he, Niko and Gilstrock wrestle the wheel back under control, "The ghost ship is leaving this plane, the Triton seems to be empty but sailable."
Jesse shakes her head, and squeezes Darian before turning to Niko.
"Darian we better get ready to help Niko," she says. "Captain, what are your orders?"
Niko replies, "First thing is to get the Triton back on course, while some of you find out if we have any of the crew left!"
Pharian says, "I have a feeling we aren't going to find them."
Niko sighs. "Aye, perhaps so...but we have to try. Otherwise, you landlubbers are going to have to help sail us to port...and I don't forsee an enjoyable time for anyone if that happens."
"Darian, you take fore, I will take aft," calls Jesse as she starts to sprint to see if there is any crew around.
Gilstrock looks up in shock, realizes that Jesse is talking about the ship, and then returns his attentions to the wheel.
"Keep your mind on getting the ship in control Gilstron," calls Jesse, regaining her sense of humor.
"Aye, aye, Jesse." Darian rushes to the front of the ship. "Who's going down below?"
"When you finish up front, head down below. As will I," she calls
The ship slowly comes around onto its old course - south by southwest - and the sails fill again. Gaining headway, she slowly begins to pull away from the shore, now only 3/4 of a mile away. The sound of the surf is loud in your ears.
Searching the ship, you find that only three crewmen remain...and they slept through it all below.
"Well, Niko, at least you have a few hands that know what to do. Guess we'll have to learn quickly, then."
Darian moves over to Ramage. "Lord Ramage, are you okay?"
Ramage shakes his head, and returns to the present.
"No, I am not. I have just lost two dozen men who have been my loyal followers through thick and thin. I must rescue them from whatever damnation lies in store for them," he pauses. "But first the ship. Captain,we are in dire straights. Five knowledgeable men may be able to sail the Triton...until the first hint of bad weather. We must either return to Sincity or put into Cal Corinva, and press a new crew."
"I'm sorry for your loss, Lord Ramage. We did what we could to try and save everyone."
"I am not blaming anyone," replies Ramage.
"Except yourself, Lord Ramage. And while I understand your self-recrimination, there was nothing you could do that we hadn't already tried."
Jesse walks over to Ramage as well. "I understand. We will do what we can to help. Occa, can we possibly trace them through the planes, or do we need to borrow the crystal ball of that Kadlian's group."
"I just wonder if that ship was not a coincidence, and perhaps we have been set up again," Jesse muses out loud
Occa looks to Salaam and says, "Maybe a divination of some sort would reveal the location of the men?"
Niko looks hopefully toward Salaam.
Niko asks, "Salaam, how long can you control the weather? Also, Salaam, keep a Holy Word on hand...use that first we if we ever run into those ghosties again."
Turning back to Ramage, he says, "I'd rather not head back to Sincity, nor risk another crew until we determine if this was a planned ambush. I think it best to continue onward for now."
"We'll need to train some of these landlubbers quickly in the art of seamanship, though. They'll be able to help out."
"I'll take care of that..." says Ramage, regarding the lot of you.
"I guess I better learn another skill," says Jesse. "What do you want me to do, Ramage?" she asks, an eagerness in her voice.
"You wanted to learn the helm," he says. "And we'll teach you the ropes, too."
"I did indeed, but I was not sure if there were other tasks that needed to be dealt with first," Jesse says. "Nevertheless, I am in your hands and will do the best I can. Especially since it is my life at stake here as well... quite a motivating factor."
Occa says, "Is there anything that magic can do for this type of work, Ramage?"
"I'm not sure. I'm only a sailor."
"Unseen Servant might come in handy. Spells that will give us good wind and weather will be useful, too."
Occa says, "Smooth seas never made a good sailor." He shrugs and says, "I am going to my room to read on some magical divinations and wishes."
The Triton resumes her way, with Ramage and Niko taking turns at the wheel. They get no sleep that night. Close-hauled into the wind and fighting a south current, she makes only slow progress. Dawn finds you about two miles off of a tall headland. Beyond, the land curves away to the southeast.
The wind drops away to nothing as sunrise approaches, and the Triton is becalmed. In fact, the current starts to push her slowly north-northwestward. This does not last long, though, for an hour after sunrise a brisk breeze springs up out of the north. Ramage and the three remaining sailors scramble up the ratlines and spend a tense hour adjusting sails while Niko steers, before matters settle down. The sky is completely overcast by now, though rain does not seem to be iminent.
All goes well for the next three hours. Niko starts to show Jesse how to handle the wheel and read the compass, while Ramage takes Robert, Darian, Gilstrock and anyone else who is interested in hand and sends them running up and down the masts and ratlines: raising and lowering sails and trimming them to catch the wind to the best advantage. Then, Gonzo gives a loud karumba, and, pointing off the port bow, motions to a small settlement just coming into view on the coast. It is Cal Corinva.
On cue, it seems, there is a tearing sound from the bows of the ship, and the old jib sail suddenly splits down the middle, and ends up flapping in the breeze.
"Is it supposed to do that?" Gilstrock asks.
Darian sighs. "Guess we're definitely going to have put in. Hope they got sails and a dry dock. The way things are going, we're going to need to get the hull scraped..."
Niko curses something fierce as the sail tears. "I could mend it with a spell, but it would probably just rip all the same. I wonder if this is some sorta omen from da gods. Ramage, prepare to dock in Cal Corinva."
"Salaam...any chance we're cursed? I mean, I've had my string of bad luck, but never dis bad! Could whoever interupted your Speak With Dead spell have cursed us as well?"
"Good. I'll get a chance to stand on solid ground again. If this is what sailing is like, I wouldn't want to make a living out of it," Op Code shrugs. "I imagine that we'll be here for a while. Maybe we can find some more men to help us out."
"Bah! A few more weeks laddie and ya would have gotten your sealegs under ya. Then we would have made a fine sailor out of ya."
Ramage starts yelling, and sends the men up the ropes and the mast again, as he directs Jesse to bring the ship onto its new course. Only slight adjustments are needed, and soon the ship is heading straight for Cal Corinva.
"Excuse me Op Code, but could you tell me what is going on around here. I don't really understand who you are, nor why you all think someone is out to get you," Emm adds "I am beginning to think someone on this ship must have some very powerful enemies. And since I am with you, I guess they are now my enemies. So maybe I should know who or what I am up against."
Robert replies.
"We're going after a bunch of pirates who are somehow linked with an evil arch-mage who was associated with dragons...I think," he says. "The pirates and the dragons had been making life difficult for the elves of Dorian, north of here. The party destroyed the dragon halls, and then we went after the pirates. We wrecked their lair...but it turns out that their main base is on an island many hundreds of miles south of here. So, that is where we are going. Niko thought it would be better to sail there rather than try to walk...hence the ship."
"Thank you Robert," Op Code nods.
Gilstrock looks over at Emm. "You asked about us and our enemies. See, we have lots of enemies, and lots of them are powerful. We wiped out a vast quantity of dragons, so you can be sure that there are powerful dragon types who are pretty teed off at us. Then there was this whole little group of pirates we slaughtered. Behind it all, though, seems to be this mage named Rats Ass or something like that, who's hated this party since long before most of us joined it. There as also a pwoerful demon or another that some of the founders of this party, like Stiff and Orlon, killed, but I dunno if anybody is still worked up about that. Anyway, there seems to be some new evil god who sent some dire warnings once when Salaam was trying to commune or something."
Gilstrock shrugs. "So, yeah, pretty much anything bad that happens to us, it could have been one of our powerful enemies behind it."
Pharian chimes in. "When I got to this world, I was hoping to leave old grudges behind--and then I found out I had inherited a whole bunch of worse ones. The trouble with powerful friends is that they come with powerful enemies."
Gilstrock says, "Oh, yeah! That reminds me, speaking of grudges. Another one for the list. Pharian's pissed at the Sandas thieves' guild because its guildmaster took Pharian's invisibility ring and didn't give it back. So, even if they don't think we're enemies, every now and then we talk about going back and levelling the place."
Pharian spits. "We should level it."
Gonzo jumps in and learns the ropes... since he's probably the most dexterious of the lot at climbing and that sort of thing....since he now has his sea-legs.
Salaam closes his eyes after steadying himself on the deck and intones the words of the Commune spell.
A look of peace crosses the cleric's face as the party can see that he is the midst of talking to his god.
He asks, "Is Razamatz behind the ghost ship?"
"NO."
"Are any of the present group cursed?"
"NO."
"Was the ghost ship sent after us specifically? "
"NO."
"Are the missing crew members of the Triton still on this plane?"
"NO."
"Would the Holy Word spell helped defeat the ship?"
"YES."
"Would Protection From Evil helped defeat the ship?"
"YES."
"Should we stop to press more men in Cal Corinva before heading to our destination?"
"YES."
"So much for our conspiracy theory," mutters Robert.
"8 more questions folks.. time is of the essence..." Salaam warns as he readies himself to continue with Thoth.
Occa says, "Ask if a wish will retrieve the men."
"YES," comes the reply, after Salaam has relayed the question.
Niko adds, "Find out if the thieves guild in Sincity is plotting revenge. I'd rather not have a rude awakening next time we visit that port."
"NO."
In just over an hour, you are dropping anchor in the harbour of Cal Corinva. It is late morning on a hot, overcast day. Looking across the water at the hamlet a half a mile away, you can see that there is not much here. The bay that the hamlet is located on is very shallow, and would provide no protection to speak of in a storm. There is no dock or wharf; instead, you see a number of small boats pulled up on a stony beach. However, you do see a number of small buildings and houses, and atop a nearby hill overlooking it all is a large shell keep.
"We can get canvas for new sails, here," says Ramage. "Best to sew them ourselves, unless you want to wait forever. If you want to scrape the hull here, we'd have to run her up on the hard at low tide...risky business with a green crew. We'd have to post guards around her at all times, too...I don't trust the locals. Now, about the crew...are you going to attempt some magic to get my men back? If not, then I'll put together a press gang. We can go ashore tonight and fetch some healthy lads...then put to sea before their wives and mothers know they're gone."
Concerning the commune, Niko sighs a breath of relief. "Well, that's the two best pieces of news I've heard t'day!"
Niko replies to Ramage, "Whether or not we get the crew back is up to Occa. As for the canvas, why don't ya take a few of dese landlubbers with ya to find some and station the remaining crew members as guards. We'll not be staying here long. Just long enough to get dem pieces of canvas fit fer sailin...then we're off to Casablanca for real repairs."
"I'll go with you, Lord Ramage."
"I too would like to set foot on shore," adds Emm.
Shortly thereafter, Ramage sets out for shore with Darian, Emm and several others. The rest of you watch as they row across the water and beach the gig on the stony beach. Several locals come over to watch, as they splash ashore and pull the boat up beyond the high tide mark.
Leaving two men behind as guards, the rest head for the town square, and are lost to your sight for a good hour. Finally, they return, carrying a large bundle, which they load into the gig. They leave again, then return soon after with another large bundle.
With the gig loaded, all of them shove it back into the water, and row back to the Triton. The gig rides very low in the water.
Tying up against the brig, everyone takes a turn at helping to bring the cargo aboard.
"More coming," says Ramage to Niko and the rest of you, "Several thousand square feet of canvas, plus thead, needles, rope, pins, pulleys and such in all. I have also arranged for a water tender to visit us. The water will make excellent ballast, so the ship will ride better. Plus, if something were to happen to your priests, the rest of us would have something to drink."
Later that afternoon, you see one of the largest boats on the hard being loaded with many barrels, plus more large bundles of canvas. It sails out to the Triton and ties up. The cargo is transferred - after you have checked it - and the boat sails back to Cal Corinva again. Two more trips and the Triton is filled with thousands of gallons of water ballast, and is riding a lot more comfortably in the water. The deck is covered with bundles of canvas, waiting to be turned into sails. All in all, Ramage went and spent 760 of your gold pieces.
"Can anyone here sew?" asks Ramage. "We have a big job, here."
One of the surviving sailors steps up.
It is approaching evening
"I can sew,, although I just usually mend my clothes. I have never tried to sew a sail before."
Occa tries to wish the sailors back.
He says, "I wish that our crew that was lost to the ghost ship would be returned here alive and well."
Poof! They all appear.
They all look somewhat older.
Ramage is very happy. So are they, for that matter.
Occa smiles and says, "Welcome back from the dead. What did you experience?"
The men look uneasy.
"It was like a dream," says Southwick.
"Or a nightmare," says another.
"Sailing a grey sea for all eternity." says a third.
Niko shudders and throws a few gold pieces over the side with a prayer to Poseidon.
Occa frowns and says, "Very bad indeed...even in death, you would have been unable to go to the place of your gods. What a curse."
"Well, Niko, you've got your crew back and lots of hands who know how to sew sails, I hope. So, let's get started."
Niko smiles. "Ramage, when your men have recovered their wits, have the ones who can sew working on the new sails."
Niko looks to Occa. "Thank you. That was a princely gift you gave those men."
Occa looks surprised and says, "You didn't think I was going to sew up some sails and such."
He smiles and heads back to his cabin with a wink to whoever.
"M'lord, how long will it take to sew the sails?" inquires Emm of Lord Ramage. "Is there time to go ashore and look around the town, maybe get a drink?"
Niko grins. "Now mate, is that how ya got inta trouble with da thieves guild in Sincity?"
Emm looks up quickly at Niko, then down at his feet. "I'm not sure exactly who I offended or how I offended them. Perhaps I was in the wrong place at the wrong time." Then looking Niko straight in the eye, Emm adds "But rest assured, one day I will find out."
"Ha!" says Pharian disbelievingly. "You know perfectly well what you did. You might as well just tell us. Darian here ran around for months with this silly hood pulled over his head so we couldn't see the white stripe in his hair, and then when we finally did see it, nobody cared a hoot. So out with it!"
Robert looks at Darian.
"You mean...he's a skunk??"
Darian chuckles. "It doesn't go all the way through. And it's only a streak, not a stripe."
Ramage smiles.
"It will take days to make new sails...perhaps weeks," says Ramage. "I was going to advise our captain to set sail again south, and we can work on the sails while underway. If he wants to delay our departure, that is his decision."
Niko nods in agreement. "Excellent decision, Lord Ramage. Best to get the men occupied and sailing after such an ordeal. Might help to get their mind off what occurred. Make it so, Number One."
Occa says, "In the morning, I can cast mending on many things on this ship. It should repair things to as good as new."
The decisions made, Niko orders the men into action. Soon, the sails are hoisted and the anchored weighed. As the sun sinks into the west, the Triton departs Cal Corinva, bearing south. Once the ship has settled down and you are safely underway, Ramage sets his men to work on the new sails. There are about six of them who can sew, and, with Darian's help, it looks like you will be able to complete about one sail per day.
At midevening, once Cal Corinva has been left behind and you are a safe distance from the shoreline, you alter course to the southeast, so you can parallel the coast.
The rest of the evening passes uneventfully.