Raiders of the Lost Arks - Part Four

[rubyrubyruby]

Ruby's ship continues to shadow that crippled Ark. While Ailith's vessel is being a good samaritan and not letting anything drown if her Captain can help it...the Beast holds at station with an almost callous regard for the plight of the drowning creatures.
Once there's been a conference between Ailith, Maggie, Merrisol and Ruby on who intends to do what, Captain Incarnate psyches herself up to go diving into choppy waters that Merri is already at work in. Ruby confers via Trump with her Bosun with some instructions should everything go pear shaped, with primo standing orders of 'Do not leave me behind'. With Maggie's heating of some metalwork, Ruby works at bare-handing crooked links and new lengths as she can, with a rather large fishhook broken link to serve at the prow, just below the water line. Engaging the tattooed gills at her neck means at least she doesn't have to worry about oxygen. Outswimming the Middle Ark while it bobs is an effort, though helpfully with a straighter course possible via Maggie making sure the damaged Ark behind it has a straight rudder, and Ailith reducing its drag by eliminating it taking on more water...the plan is made more possible. Ruby has to crawl through the water much harder, dragging the not insubstantial length of chain, though she lacks any sort of clear vision within the water, sticking near the surface to try and use the Lead Arkship in sight. Lots of thrashing motions. Hopefully Ruby's aura of unfriendly-to-animals keeps the worst undersea denizens at bay.

Merrisol stays with the runaway Ark, gathering up the three trailing lengths of chain so that they all join together, more or less, with him as the axis. He feeds his harpoon chain through the intact links for a quickly jury-rigged bond, the brass hook used to cinch it tight. It would be beyond futile to try towing the barge backwards with swimming power alone, and nothing within reach to anchor onto. The ship keeps a-paddling ponderously away, but after having examined the underwater portion of the mechanism, he determines that trying to jam it would likely damage the works. He looks for Ruby's approach with the long lead of chain, and swims out to the remaining length of his harpoon to be ready to retrieve whatever line she casts out.

While the wounds she gave herself stopped bleeding fairly quickly, Maggie did not have time to do much more than make sure that there were no splinters remaining in them. Taking the remaining lengths to the deck to help Ruby work, it soon became clear that the two would not have time to talk. Once Ruby gathered the chains and activated her tattoo, Maggie tried again to send a warning with her into the sea. She was not fast enough. Then again, Ruby can sense the Pattern magic in action as easily as she can so perhaps the warning is not required. She can hope. While the others are gathering animals and trying to tie the three ships together, Maggie contacts Mr. Anderson via trump. Speaking quietly, she instructs him to bring her back to the Dancer. With the damaged ship patched with ice and the other ships about to be brought together into a good shifting triangle, she takes to the forecastle of the Dancer to keep an eye on things. Can't have fire and ice too close together. "Keep a weather eye out, Mr. Anderson. I do not like this Shadow."

He salutes her, "Aye aye, Captain." With cool efficiency, Mr. Anderson sets those with good vision or good spyglasses to watch all around.
One can't rush ice. Or really, one CAN, but only so much. Ailith layers it on, going from one gaping hole to the next in a triage sort of way. The last on the most damaged boat, she mends from outside the ship, so that she can swim beneath the waves to the next.

There's still no sign of that perilous reef that Ruby was so worried about. The charts that she had laid out before shifting into shadow distinctly had a splotchy crescent shape before it turned into a tangle of even more treacherous submerged valleys. Or so she scribbled on the chart. There's no land in sight yet. Leagues of open ocean. Not a speck on the horiz..
Something does break the unending horizon though. They start out as just hints of discolouration against the troubled sky. A keen eyed lookout and those rocking some spyglasses would be able to detect the shapes as something worth keeping an eye on. Sails reveal themselves. They're directly ahead of this lumbering and lurching convoy and coming head on.
Ruby doesn't have to worry about sputtering with the tatts, and just focuses on winning a race against the hull behind her. She's coming up on the end of the length she's unwinding from her person, trying to keep it from swinging deep and bowed to garotte anything lurking beneath. She makes large disturbance of kicked up water with her legs, and then plays out the light tattoo on her palm to signal wherever Merri is. She tries a brief contact via Trump to let him know she's going to cast out what's left if he's ready.

Merri takes the hint and lifts his own left arm high before the cuff tattoo grows and glows. Whatever comes through by trump, he shakes his head and grins. "Use your words, Storm-born," he teases, for surely there is no better time to be shouting at him, while keeping her hands free for paddling with chains. Gazing at the hulks that only seem to be slowly bearing down at her, he notes the last in line doesn't seem to be listing anymore and has fallen in line. Most of the castaway animals have been pulled off the ice floes. Then the Wave Dancer is glimpsed sailing alongside the convoy, but he doesn't get a chance to look for a telltale banner of red hair in the breeze. The loops of chains burst into the air and snake out between himself and Ruby. He swipes at the end as it falls back into the water, and tries to bring the harpoon in close enough to snag the last link.

Above, Maggie hears a brave soul in the crow's nest call ouit the appearance of the ships. Although she does wait for her crewe to let her know about them, she is already surveying them when Mr. Anderson approaches her with the news. Nodding, lowers her own spyglass, "They are too far away to tell if they are hostile, but man the weaponry. Get the ballista primed. Man the cannon but tell everyone to wait for my signal before taking any hostile action. Bring her about enough to swing ahead of the lead arc. Maybe we can parlay while Captains Merrisol and Ailith and ForgeMistress Ruby finish up below." Another look is claimed and she nods, "Signal the Honestas and alert them to the newcomers. Ask that they get in touch with Captain Ailith and let her know." Taking her trumps out again, she fingers the one on tomp and a frown begins. Closing the spyglass she draws it out, "I will try to reach Captain Merrisol again." At that moment, a splashing gleam of chain arches up out of the water, then falls down again. "Maybe in a minute or two."

The Honestas signals acknowledgment via semaphore, and gunports open as the ship adjusts position. Broadside facing the approaching ships, twelve cannon. Since they haven't been tested in these waters though, archery platforms are quickly in the process of being erected and it looks like the elves favor longbows of some white material that might be wood, or might be bone.

Six sets of sails becomes more clearly defined, with what looks like a muddle of others in the distance behind. As they're observed, still on a direct course to intercept, they're not running up any signal flags or using lanterns to try and communicate. They also are not lessening their sail configurations, as all visible canvas is bowed to take advantage of the wind. They spread out into a wider picket of sorts, with smaller caravel-sized ships taking the forefront.

RPG: Ruby challenges a difficulty of 10. Ruby chooses Force and the gift BLD-OB. Ruby almost succeeds.
RPG: Merrisol challenges a difficulty of 10. Merrisol chooses Force and the gift PHY-ST. Merrisol fails.

Merrisol goes under while working those two ends towards each other like the craziest gym equipment idea for pec development ever. Instead of coming gradually together, however, he finds them pulling ever further apart, until the whole setup looks more like the craziest punishment via draw-and-quartering ever. "Carp... CARP! Incarnate!" Voice carrying better through the water than he could hope for over the waves, he yells for Ruby to get her butt over to add more physical tension between them and get the first and second Arks connected by this first impossible tether, whilst the sharky critters begin to circle inquisitively.

Ailith meanwhile finishes her last patch. Breaking surface to say so - or more likely whisper so - she sees the Honestas readying for combat. Lips thinning, she starts swimming for her ship.

Ruby manages to make her way to Merrisol. The next time she breaks the surface she curses loudly, using her big girl words. Working alongside Merri's initial efforts, there's some hefting of chain links to thread through while bracing herself against those that the Rebman had arranged. Sure, it's like they're both trolling for sharks right now. That nice swim has cooled some of the heating that Maggie helpfully provided earlier to make the metal have more give. There's still an inner heat deep in the metal that resists it all seeping away in the chilly waters. There's a near disasterous amount of fumbling on her part while her own attempts to help are hindered by her initial bad judgement of the physics involved. After getting herself braced, she shares the load and groans out loudly and frothily. She's positive she's started to tear something but is unwilling to let go.

Mr. Anderson does not intentionally sneak up on Maggie while she has the spyglass trained down into the water in the hope of catching a glimpse of Merrisol but... Well, her look when he shows up is only a little guilty. And a little whistful. Still, when her first mate reports that the Honesta has prepared her guns and is getting her archers ready. Maggie nods. "And are our ballista and archers set?" He reports that they will be in short order. Nodding, Maggie turns her spyglass to the six or so ships heading their way. After a moment, she has a bit of a word with the wind to whistle it away srom the oncoming ships' sails. If possible. Although she does not add the wind to the Honesta's sails or her own yet, she watches to see if her gambit is successful. "Run up the parlay flag, Mr. Anderson. Let's see if we can buy some time." That is when she sends some of the wind into her own sails in order to pull ahead of the others. "Please tell the Honestas that we are going to try to find out what they want." A swimmer is spotted of that a way and Maggie adds, "That may give Captain Ailith time to board her vessel."

RPG: Merrisol challenges a difficulty of 12. Merrisol chooses Resolve and the gifts BLD-RE, PAS-DE, PHY-ST, and STY-CC. Merrisol succeeds.