I had indeed forgotten about it, but Pepe is so good and Garcin so bad that I doubt it would make a difference either way.
Fredric and Pepe both land their hits, Pepe's inflicting a major wound, and the creature retreats swiftly.
"Let's us leavbe this cave and head back to the Pisces.There is nothing left for us here."
"You don't have to tell me that twice," Matheus says, eagerly following everyone out.
You dash through the cave, occasionally hearing the hiss of the serpent trying to flank you, but with the map in hand and light prepared it fails to confuse you and get you lost in the caverns. You rapidly get down to the shore and load everyone on the ship.
“Let´s hurry up and see if the Pirate queen was able to collect the ransom.
If we are lucky she is angry enough to attack us.”
Garcin looks torn. "Normally I'd agree with you, Frederic, I'd love to wipe this pirate off this sea. If we invite a battle, however, people will get hurt and one of them might be our rescued prisoner. Our first priority should be to get him clear."
"We were able to get everyone out of the caves alive and well, including Mattheus, thank God. Should we decide to try to get the coffer we filled with gold and gems back, then some could get injured or even perish."
Antonius looks at Garcin, Frederic, Vincente, and Mattheus in turn:
"I would like to teach that faerie a lesson and wipe her smile off her face as we strip her essence and send her into oblivion. But, the choice of should be in the hands of those who would be more at risk. If you agree, Frederic, I would let Vincente, Mattheus, Garcin and the crew decide. Perhaps we could reward them with a share of the ransom if they decide to go for it."
To Antonius: “I could not agree more! Of course we should ask the troupe.”
To the crew: “Folks! We got our first victory on this quest. We rescued Matheus. The Pirate Queen might have planned to feed us to the serpent. But she has no clue with whom she is messing. I´m pretty sure, right now she is trying to get her greedy hands on the silver we placed on the other Island. And I´m also sure the spell of my friend Antonius will give her a hard time before she can reach the treasure. If we want to stop her, we will have to fight her! This might cost some blood! And maybe also some of us will die. Those who help us to get back our ransom will get their share. Half of the treasure will be paid in equal shares to those who helped to fight the pirate queen.
Those who want to fight may raise their hands.”
With a dramatic gesture he raises sword!
Frederics Priority is to get an Idea how motivated and how big the crew that likes to fight the pirate queen.
Perhaps a group Bravery roll? I don't think they've seen anything blatantly supernatural yet and a share of the treasure is more than any of them will make in their lives!
in case a roll is needed: roll.coyotecode.net/lookup.php?rollid=102333 = 8 + ?
Antonius will raise his hand.
Bavol, Pepe and Oderisi will likewise instantly raise their hands. Garcin will not be part of the vote. He'd like nothing better than to take on the pirates but knows he has other responsibilities.
Garcin will step over to Antonius and whisper to him, "If this decision leads to blood, you MUST let us do our job. If your protections prevent us from fighting we will surely lose this battle."
The crew votes to go, lured by treasure and inspired by the speech. When you arrive at the island however you find that the treasure has indeed been dug up already, and the human crew of Matheus' ship is lying around with the shovels tired from having been driven so hard by the pirate queen to dig up her treasure.
Matheus will join in with the sailors. He has no desire to see the pirate queen again. But these are his rescuers and he will go along with whatever they wish.
Vincente looks at the extra sailors and the lost silver and shakes his head. "No silver and more mouths to feed. Not exactly the result we were hoping for."
Antonius will signal towards the aft of the ship to Garcin, signaling him he wishes to speak with him where others will not overhear:
"I appreciate your concern Garcin, and know that I would never prevent you from fighting... when the situation calls for it. That beast back in the cave, probably had a poisonous bite and probably, much much worse things it could have afflicted us all with. I trust your fighting abilities, but what use are they when a just a scratch can send you to your death ?"
He points towards the crew:
"You've been around the caravan for some time Garcin. These sailors, the people of Domus Aureus, like you, I have a responsability to protect. I try to act in the best interest of all us... but if I put us in danger, I expect you to raise your concern to me, like you did today. I agree with you, I will not interfere when the fighting with the Pirate's Queen crew, shall it comes to this."
Antonius smiles:
"I wouldn't be so dissapointed Vincente: many lives were saved today.That's something, isn't. Let us head back to Malta, and get a well deserved rest. Please try to recruit to the crewmen; if they wish to go on their way don't insist, but they could make fine recruits."
He will then say jokingly:
"Jesus once said that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. I guess that loosing all that silver was a step in the right direction! Come on, don't worry about it."
Later that day, Antonius will appraoch Mattheus:
"We did not have the chance to make a proper introduction back in that cave. My name is Antonius Ex Bonisagus, and I am part of an group of learned men and women that heard a lot of very positive things about you. We would be honored if you would agree to meet with us and listen to the offer we have when were are back in Malta. In the meantime, if you or your former crew need anything, just let me know."
"I'd be happy to talk to you or any of your people," Matheus replies. "I owe you a great deal for saving me." He smiles and looks at the crew. "I wouldn't say they're 'my' crew. I had merchandise on their ship. But I regret to say that I wasn't wealthy enough to own the ship."
Some of the recently hired crew decides there is far to much supernatural activity on this ship, on the other hand a signifigant amount of the newly rescued crew is perfectly happy with the idea of joining, so you will wind up fully crewed.
I assume we head home from here. Does anyone else have anything they want to do first, or can we close this?