3 - Here There Be Pirates

A raucous hullabaloo drew Joe out of his cabin the next morning. When he emerged on deck, he saw three things. The first was a huge warship crewed by a throng of ruffians and brigands, sailing just off to port of the Tide Dancer. The second was his vessel's captain, the small Jezeld Eaggough, standing, arms crossed, staring down the marauding galleon. The gnome simply pointed upwards once, revealing the third sight to Joe.

A new banner streamed from the main mast. It was made of cloth of gold and bore the symbol of a black top hat with a stylized 'D' in the middle. Joe assumed this was the 'pass' everyone had been talking about.

The pirates aboard the fortified galleon, bearing the name the Rabid Dagger, hooted and jeered, but it was clear they were not attempting to board the smaller green-sailed brig. As the Dagger pulled away, Joe was surprised to realize that something was missing from the pirate vessel. It had no cannons.

He rolled that idea around in his head and came to realize that he had seen no guns of any sort in Illuminaria. In a world where ranged damage spells and magic items existed, there must not have been a need to invent gunpowder weapons. Joe was curious if, like Roger Zelazny's Amber, black powder didn't work on this world, or maybe it just hadn't been discovered yet. A third option was that it had been discovered and found to have too many drawbacks in comparison to magic.

Looking around the deck, Joe noted that the crew of the Tide Dancer were all expressing the same demeanor, a calm readiness. Not challenging or fearful, just prepared. Their attitude made sense when he thought it through. Too much timidity or too much bluster might cause the pirates to ignore the golden banner above and switch to full-raider-mode.

Joe headed for where Hah'roo stood with two other sailors, both women.

Cendendi 'Cendi' Haill: Human: Sailor/Wavewinder 16

Sscae Sjach: Saurian: Lancer/Whaler 18

Cendi was a water-caster and one of the crew Joe knew best. The lizard woman Joe had only seen in passing and had not yet spoken to yet. She was a fierce-looking tribal warrior who carried a feather-adorned spear wherever she went.

After Joe's [Identify] broke twenty-five ranks, he started seeing additional information when he assessed people, things like titles and nicknames., When he looked at the ship's captain, who was still staring down the war galleon, he saw:

Captain Jezeld 'Ego' Eaggough: Gnome: Mariner/Corsair 26

He could also see aliases if they have been offered to him. This is why he saw 'Cendi' for the wavewinder, but if the saurian woman had a nickname, it didn't appear in the window because it hadn't been told to Joe.

"That was a sight," he exclaimed, gesturing at the receding warship.

"One o' the Barnibeck ships," Cendendi responded. "Cap'n Barnibeck heads the Dagger Fleet, and they be no joke. He be third in line for Skull Throne o' Defiance, behind Bonnie Scars and Black Jaqq. I think the Daggers here were doing our benefactor a favor," she stated, pointing up at the fluttering gold pennant. "By looming up on us and then letting us by, they be telling anyone with eyes watchin' that we be protected."

"So we should be all clear?" Joe asked, knocking on the deck railing for good measure.

"I would think so," the scaled woman hissed. "At least until we pass the city. After Defiance, who knows? The pirates that ply the Dragon Sea are more difficult. They are the outcasts. Today, we just wear our war-masks, but tomorrow will likely see blood."

Joe was given most of the day off as he was in the third of the twenty-eight crewmembers with enhanced night vision; not including the captain. When Joe mustered after dinner, he found himself standing alongside Dunny and Lefty, another dwarf who looked a lot like the carpenter. Both were coastal dwarves, which were less blocky than their mountainous cousins. They had more sloped shoulders and longer faces. Lefty was covered in tattoos, most of them were knotwork designs that were focused around Norse-looking runes, though there was a very risque mermaid on one side of his chest and a 'Mom' filled heart on his right shoulder.

Also on the deck was a pair of catfolk. One was a serene orange tabby-like monk named Jade. She was doing her best to ignore the leering, scruffy black tomcat, nicknamed Yawler. Yawler was missing an ear, two fingers, and most of his tail. His pitch-black fur was crisscrossed with dozens of white scars. The scraggly feline was a follower of the goddess, Mune; and the twin cutlasses he bore each had crescent moons etched into their blades.

The other beastfolk was an owl woman with the ship-moniker of Hoodoo. Like most of the avian humanoids, she could fly for short spans of time. She had one of Joe's favorite classes, shaman.

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Inches was the ship's alchemist. The gnome had a small lab across from the cabin Joe was currently in. He was the one member of the crew who was openly unhappy that Joe was being recruited. His potions were the closest thing the ship had to a doctor, and he was not thrilled about the idea of being relegated to working under Dunny, making glues instead of healing tonics.

Lord Francis 'Shade' de Mowbray: Human: Cabalist/Shadowmancer 15

Shade was a weird one. He was clearly a nobleman, but he was the most easy-going member of the crew. He dressed in plain sailor's garb and swabbed and scrubbed like everyone else, but no matter how common his actions were, there was a hint of aristocracy that constantly peeked out from his words and mannerisms. Shade worshipped the god of the darkness, Murq, who, to Joe, was oddly not an inherently evil deity. The Murq was a god of secrets for good and bad, criminals and young lovers alike thanked the Shadowed One for his blessings. He, along with Dreme, was the benefactor of a good night's sleep.

Being a shadowmancer, it was no surprise that Shade could see equally well in utter darkness as he could in the daylight.

The last member of the night watch was the goblin, Izzy.

Sea Nocken: Level 12: Goblin, Skirmisher, Strength

Izzy was at least a half of a foot taller than the Bosket Goblins Joe had fought back outside Crowfield. Also, he was more aquatic with blue instead of green skin, webbed fingers and toes, and small fins on his ankles. What was interesting was he was a true monster but also a full member of the crew. Joe found it heartening that not all monsters would necessarily be enemies.

The little blue goblin hopped up onto a barrel next to Shade. It was such a strange sight to watch a classic rpg monster and a blue-blooded noble chatting like old friends.

"Alright, maties," Lefty, the ship's third-mate, announced. "I'm gonna pair us up for the next few nights. Jade and Hoodoo. Izzy and Shade. Inches, you're with Dunny and me. Yawl, you get Doc."

Ship crews seemed to have a thing for nicknames. 'Doc' was tacked onto Joe within the first hour he was back aboard the boat. So far, nothing had stuck to Hah'roo, but he was pretty sure someone would eventually find the perfect moniker for her.

"I gotta babysit the lubber?" the black catman teased with heavily exaggerated exasperation.

"Don't be an ass, Yawl," Lefty declared. "You should be grateful I'm looking out for ya. I thought maybe he could keep ya from losing any more body parts."

"Hey, wouldn't that be nice," the tomcat voiced. "Even though I been told that chicks dig scars. Ain't that right, Ladies?" he added with a leer at the female members of the night crew.

"Knock it off, Yawler," the dwarf barked. "I want you and Doc to spend a couple off-watches sparring. You've been practicing every day anyway, Doc, so I figured you wouldn't mind. I want the two-a-you a well-oiled team by the time we hit the open water beyond Defiance."

"Fine by me," Joe shrugged, turning to see the Yalwer's reaction, which was identical to his own: a smirk, a shrug, and a look to his new partner.

For the next few hours, Yawler took Joe through a deckhand's responsibilities and the common commands. He and the catman had the starboard side working across from Izzy and Shade. Jade and Hoodoo worked above as riggers and lookouts. Dunny and Inches manned the aft deck and ship's wheel, while Lefty was everywhere. The runed dwarf seemed tireless. Joe looked with his woundsight and saw energy constantly pouring out of some of the symbols inked into his skin.

Ognerlum 'Lefty' Flatback: Dwarf: Mariner/Graven 19

"He's a good un," Yawl pronounced, noticing Joe peering at the third-mate. "I mean, I got's ta give em guff, 'cause he's an officer, but if Lefty barks an order, ya follow it. He knows his shit."

"Got it," Joe replied. He had planned to anyway, but it was good to know that even the vexing sailor he was teamed up with was not actually as divisive as he put on.

For once, Joe was exceptionally pleased with the beastly hands [Savage Claws] had given him. Without the enhanced resistance, he would have been healing his palms all night. They were constantly tightening lines. Without a sailor's set of calluses, the abrasive ropes would have ripped his hands to shreds.

They were even more fun the next day, during the second shift practice session. Yawler worked Joe for a while with weapons, but then he and Jade spent some time teaching Joe unarmed clawed combat.

Joe was envious of how the two catfolk could retract their claws into their hands. His talons had no such ability. He had tried to use [Morphic Form], but that had not only been a fail, it had been a painful one. [Vanguard's Diadem] had taken a big bite out of the sharp sting radiating from his immobile claws, but the attempt to adjust them still hurt like hell.

On the flipside, Jade and Yawler were both jealous of the physical resistance Joe had in his hands. She informed him that one of the most difficult aspects of fighting with natural weapons was how to keep from losing fingers. When they saw him healing the knicks that had gotten through his physical damage resistance, they were even more envious.

"If I had your gifts, Doc," Jade intoned, "I would never touch a weapon again."

"Yeah, but you are doing just fine without healing," Joe panted back to her. "You are even faster than Hah'roo. You probably never get hit in the first place."

"All that speed has a cost though, Joe," Yawler stated from the sidelines, where he was watching them spar. "Jade loses lots o' power in order to be that slippery. Her fights go long. That means more stamina. There be a balance everyone tries to find between their attributes while typically favoring one or two."

"Your Spirit and Vigor build is interesting," the monk noted, catching a towel tossed to her from the scarred fighter and using it to wipe her brow. "You are one of the few I have faced who would be able to outlast me in a fight. Like me, you lack high damage, but a lucky hit will not remove you from battle for long, which is a worry I must be careful of." The orange catwoman gave herself a full-body shake before adding. "That was fun, Doc. If we are still alive tomorrow, let's do it again."

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