[CLOSED] FORCES: Going Against the Grain

[katabasis]

WHO: Derrica, Darras, Lazar, Colin, Poesia, Edgard & Nell
WHAT: Riftwatch is off to burn, sink, destroy, or otherwise intercept the cargo of two Antivan merchant ships.
WHEN: Early August
WHERE: The Waking Sea
NOTES: Piracy Privateering on the high seas. Action adventure violence ensues. Forces Mission: OOC Info

Riftwatch agents are to immediately depart Kirkwall aboard the Reaper, an agile Tevene-made cutter perfectly suited to the life of a privateer. They are to sail East and intercept two merchant ships, the Leonilda and the Uccello Canoro, which are laden with cargos of grain and bound for Val Chevin.

THEIR ORDERS— They are to sink and destroy both merchant ships without being observed from the shore or by any other nearby shipping. However, should it somehow prove impossible to do so, capturing the ships or destroying them while under observation is preferable to letting either vessel slip past to supply Val Chevin.



As is the way with many merchant vessels, the Leonilda and Uccello are discovered sailing within easy view of the Free Marches coastline. Observing the pair at a distance proves that the Leonilda is the more agile of the two, while her ungainly sister is constantly having to course correct and adjust her sails to keep from slipping toward the coastline under their lee. Both ships are significantly larger than the Reaper (their crews likely outnumber yours), however only the Leonilda is armed with anything resembling ranged weaponry (a single medium-sized ballista fixed to a plate on the ship's deck, the direction of which might be adjusted via being hauled around by the ship's crew).

The mission may be approached one of two ways: the assault may either happen now in broad daylight not far from the coastline or the Reaper can follow at a distance and attempt to snap up both ships under the cover of night.

If Riftwatch chooses to make their assault by DAYLIGHT, they risk being spotted by unseen observers from the coast. Although this particular stretch of land is rocky and unlikely to be inhabited, there's no guarantee that there isn't some goat herd nearby interested in the boxing match. Further, Riftwatch will face a tough fight between the speedy Leonilda's ballista, and the mage (who specializes in winter and ice primal magics) on the ungainly Uccello. Despite the challenging assault, Riftwatch will ultimately be able to successfully burn/sink/destroy/etc both ships, however the Reaper will suffer enough damage that slipping back into Kirkwall without raising undue suspicion may require some creative thinking.

If Riftwatch chooses to make their assault by NIGHT, they will find themselves locked in solo combat with the Leonilda as the Uccello make a break for it. The good news is that once on her own, the Leonilda can be dealt with with (relative) ease. Further, the Uccello is ungainly enough that some good guesswork and a little luck is likely to lead you to her before she can reach Val Chevin. The bad news? The Uccello is ungainly enough that some good guesswork and a little (bad) luck lead to the discovery of her wreck along the rocky coast likely due to poor handling in the dark from the clumsy boat. While her cargo will be destroyed in the shipwreck, at least some of her crew are actively in the process of ferrying themselves to shore and will either need to be dealt with (which risks damage to the Reaper) or allowed to escape into the Marches.

Comments

night boat raid.

[tender]

The Leonilda is going to be harder to deal with than the Uccello, Derrica surmises. She doesn't feel any need to say this aloud, certain that Darras has likely clocked it and everyone else can see the difference for themselves.

What she does say as the distance rapidly closes between the Reaver and the Leonilda in the course of unhooking her her staff from her back, double-checking her boot for her knife, is—

"Ranged attacks first, then we go over?" pitched towards Darras, but general enough that anyone on deck making similar preparations can chime in.

[ one thread, no order just leave some boat for everyone else to crush. ]

Re: night boat raid.

[muckspout]

The ocean doesn’t entirely agree with Edgard. It roils and rolls and he doesn’t quite trust his feet. The darkness doesn’t help his feeling of unease. He has spent most of the journey here willing his insides to cooperate and staying very quiet as plans were made. When Derrica speaks, he forgets all that, snapping to attention. He widens his feet for a steadier stance and unloads his bow from his shoulder, ready to draw.

“Any particular requests for targets? Or shall we just let them have it?”

[staysail]

"You choose," Darras says, with a kind of hard cheer. "And a copper piece for each target you manage to hit, firing off into the dark."

And he means that. To Edgard's benefit, it's not totally dark. The moonlight is muffled by clouds scudding past. The Leonilda had doused most of her torches and lanterns when they'd first started the chase, hoping to confuse and cloak themselves. But her men can't see in the dark either, so there are still lights to be seen here and there, winking in the darkness--and sometimes even a flash of steel, when the moonlight catches. Targets, men moving like shadows across the deck.

Meanwhile Darras gives Derrica a nod to reaffirm her assumption as he kicks open a squat chest there on the deck, exposing a nest of ropes knotted to nasty iron grappling hooks. "The more chaos you can sow for us, the better. And then we're up and over."

[extortionate]

Lazar stoops to collect a pair of hooks, passes one to the nearest sword waiting to board. Poesia, or — hell, rest are all mages, aren't they? There gonna be enough ship left to float at the end of this?

"That sling on the deck," Ballista, a word he’s seen in books not near enough to quote. For all he’s frowning down at steel, it’s not unhappy; just what a face will do, given gravity and a thought or two. "How big a target do they think it is?"

Hard to say he'll know any way to rush once they're on, battle and direction don't always go so hand-in-hand. Still better to know where people want to run: Mostly, if it's at him.

[muckspout]

Edgard grins at Darras. "I'll take that bet." He grabs a lantern lighting the arrow.

"Topsail near helm." He lets fly and hits it. He lights another arrow. "The other one." He lets fly and again, hits it. He turns to Darras again, cocky now. He sees a bird fly just past the ship.

"Seagull." He lets loose an unlit arrow. It flies just past the gull. Edgard huffs, determined to ignore it. He slings the bow back over his arm, holding out a hand to Darras. "Two coppers."

[staysail]

Darras flashes him two fingers, confirmation, and taps his temple. "I'll start you a tab, I'm not fishing out a coin purse in the middle of a battle. Good thing we're not fighting seagulls."

He focuses on the sling on the deck next. Been in enough battles to know what it will be used for, and what sort of danger it might spell for them. The Leonilda's crew swarms all over her deck, but there's a concerning knot of them amassing around the ballista. Currently it's facing away from them, but that won't last long.

He points at it. "Big target, but valuable if we get it out of service. Two sovereigns for that one. Take it out so we don't get fucked. Those of us who can't help--" Poesia, Lazar, himself-- "we'll have to earn our money later."

[muckspout]

Edgard looks to where Darras is pointing. He raises the bow without an arrow to measure the distance with his eyes.

"So long as the wind doesn't blow, I'll take care of it."

He lights the arrow and then draws it. Don't fuck this up. He breathes deep, his eyes lock onto the target, and he releases. He is rewarded by a sudden brightness spreading from the deck.

He turns and beams at Darras.

[tender]

There's a little fire in Derrica's aresenal. It's a gift from Matthias, one that came so much more easily to him than to her even after months of practice. The flames gutter in her hands, uncertain of themselves each time. She's reluctant to volunteer them now, and looks to Nell as they draw up along the rail.

"How close do we need to be for you to throw some of their men off the side?"

Assuming Nell could do that. Derrica's pain-blurred recollection of Nell blasting a guard through the doorway might be overstated.

[galvanising]

It's not, but Nell is squinting at the gap of sea between them and the ship opposite, its crew now lit by the fires they're scrambling to put out.

"About half this distance, I think," she says to Derrica without turning away to her, "I need to be within thirty feet or so to hit with enough force to do any real damage. We could try lightning from here, even if it just hits the water alongside it might soften 'em up a bit. You've got some of that too, yeah?"

[tender]

"I do."

Enough to make some of those sailor's lives very miserable.

"Getting closer can only help them," a brief gesture at Poesia, Lazar. Edgard seems to be doing well-enough with his crossbow.

"Can either of you swim?" she asks suddenly, turning slightly from where she's been leaning on the rail. Darras clearly can, but it occurs to her that maybe not everyone here will do well in the water even if they get close enough for that.

[extortionate]

Lights flare.

Lazar watches them pass — one, another — three — and doesn't grunt for an answer; if Darras can't tell he's paid attention (it's dark, it's dark, and there's a ship on fucking fire) there's no point in miming.

"Just fine." He can swim. Been a while since they jumped off that cliff together, but the intervening days haven't inspired trust: "If you ain’t frying the water."

Jumping off a cliff, that's one thing. Jumping into an electric lake of saltwater? Pay's not that great.

murder???

[tender]

"They're going to make it to shore," Derrica says urgently, grabbing the arm of whoever is nearest to her. "There's a few of them in that boat and they're going to escape if we don't do something."

Something is just a placeholder for what Derrica feels is obvious. What do they do, cart a handful of sailors all the way back to Kirkwall and hold them for ages? She looks around at her companions, trying to assess whether her opinion is mirrored in any of their faces.

MURDER!!

[bloodandsand]

Poesia is near at hand, her head turning sharply to follow Derrica's gesture.

"I believe I can reach them," she says, cheerful. She doesn't bother saying what she'll do once she does.

Re: MURDER!!

[muckspout]

Edgard's stomach shifts and he holds his arm out blocking them.

"Wait. You're killing them? People who are running away? People who we have already stopped?"

[extortionate]

Yep — is written on Lazar's face, torchlight-dim. Only, Edgard's got a point. Maybe not the one he thinks he does, but a point, all nonetheless.

"Might fuck up the boat." He grunts, "And you row in, they got enough time for ambush."

He shifts his weight, casual, toward the Orlesian. On account of the agreement, and not at all because he's preparing for a chokehold.

(Poesia or the mage could take him easy. Easy and messy, and the ship's not that big.)

[keenly]

"We have our orders." Colin isn't happy about it, but those people free will cause a greater loss of life to come. He turns to Derrica. "We could snap the mainmast, or at least the yard. You any good with fire?"

[muckspout]

Edgard face darkens at that.

"Oh, orders, of course." Edgard lips curl at that. "If orders say it, then its not to be questioned ever." He spits on the ground.

He sees he's not going to win this one though and has noted Lazar eyeing him. Edgard sighs. "I agree that fire is the best option."

[staysail]

Darras has been standing quiet, watching the little boat cut its way across the dark water. Now he looks around.

"We don't do it 'cos of orders, we do it 'cos it's what is best, right now. For us, and for Riftwatch, too."

Orders don't sit right by him either. But there is hardly any other choice. He looks back out over the water again, measuring the distance between them and the desperate boat, cleaving there against the waves--and the rocks that wear the wreck of the Uccello, teeth that could take them, too.

"We can't get too close or we risk wreck ourselves. Best to do it mostly ranged. And maybe we can throw you?" --to Poesia, kind of a grim joke.

[bloodandsand]

Poesia, who had not been attending to the conversation about whether or not the men would die (because what is the point of a reaver if not to cause death?), gifts Darras a beautiful smile.

"That would be a treat! Nell has that clever little spell that can hurl a man hard enough to smash his skull, do you suppose that would work?" She is entierly earnest in her suggestion.

[extortionate]

You any good with fire?

Burning’s a shit way to die — can’t stop the way he eyes Derrica at its mention. It’s a shit way to die, but it’s not him dying; they smoke that little lifeboat to ash, and there’s one less knife to find him on shore. Lazar shrugs assent.

"Come on," To Edgard. It's a mutual suggestion (Poesia can do as she likes). "Best we get clear."

See if they can spot anyone doesn't scream or drown.

[keenly]

Colin's eyes dart over to Nell at Poesia's suggestion. That would be more merciful, albeit less efficient, than setting the boat on fire. Actually, come to think of it, fire probably isn't that efficient either.

"Only thing about fire is the ones who can swim will jump down and swim to shore. We'll need to pick them off individually."

[tender]

Edgard is right. Derrica's brow pinches in quiet misery, but there isn't an alternative. They are risking more than just themselves. Their mission is to remain unseen, unidentified. A ship out of Kirkwall crewed with mages and reavers is going to be too easily identified.

She almost reaches for him, to grip his elbow in some silent offering, but instead—

"I have lightening," Derrica says, hands curling around the cloth-wrapped grip of her stave. "If you get them into the water, I can finish them."

She has done this before. Her voice is steady, certain in that knowledge.

"Any that make it to shore would be easily dealt with, if we can get you three to them."

Who here can swim? It seems like something they should have discussed earlier.

[muckspout]

Edgard's eyebrows raise at Derrica's offer. Lightening? He looks at her bewildered, horrified, and maybe a flicker impressed. But if they have to go, at least that might be quick.

He stands back with Lazar with his arms folded over his chest. "Fire, lightening, flying women, whatever it is, better do it fast." He watches the boat making progress unsure of what outcome he's hoping for here.

[galvanising]

"It'll work if you want your skull smashed," is Nell's dry retort to Poesia's suggestion, clearly not a fan of any part of this. "I guess I can fling you into the water in that direction to make the swim a bit shorter but it's all or nothing, I can't do gentle or precise."

She scratches her nose, leaving a streak of soot, and looks to Derrica and then to Darras: "Lightning seems best, but we risk somebody on land noticing. It's not like it'll look natural. And we can't just go search the whole coast and murder anybody who might've turned this way at the wrong moment."