Base Camp (Chit Chat)

[pinewood]

That's not a problem, I was fairly certain all of his stuff was going to be taken away. I just wanted to list everything that he would have taken with him on the boat.

I did make a quick edit and made Elias younger, after re-reading my background it didn't make sense for him to be that old already.

[Woe]

Have gun will travel reads the card of a man
A knight without armor in a savage land
His fast gun for hire heeds the calling wind
A soldier of fortune is a man called Paladin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgvxu8QY01s

[MevlyTM]

Basically, I can see one of two approaches:

1. Defensive. We prepare defensive positions at the ruins. We then make known to Jab-Afri that we have Saracen and would like to have a prisoner exchange for a couple of the captured crew (if we ask for just one, he'll know it's a trap). Then when he comes, we simply ambush him from a superior position.

2. Offensive (but sneaky). We lure Jab-Afri away from the ship in a prisoner exchange as above. However, this time it's at night, and we make it seem like an obvious trap. If he takes the bait, hopefully he'll bring a sizable contingent of his pirate crew as a bodyguard. While he's away from the ship, the thief, monk, and ranger sneak aboard, dispatch what pirate guards are left, free the crew, and cast off to meet the rest of the party at a pre-determined location (I would suggest on the coast near Teruk's village). At the same time, the group for the prisoner exchange simply runs away from Jab-Afri and his guard. This will leave him stranded on the island (fitting). This one would require good timing, since the ship would need to be at least minimally seaworthy, yet have not left yet.

Option 1 has the benefit of simplicity. However, we may still be overpowered. Furthermore, depending on how badly he wants Saracen back, he might just retreat to the ship and sail away.

Any thoughts?

[Rhialto]

Not sure whether the captain would come himself for a prisoner exchange.
But that does not have to be a bad thing if we can divide the pirates and defeat them in smaller groups.

Depending on how many guards there are and where the prisoners are kept, we could also attack their camp from different directions.
One group threatening to damage the ship and the other trying to free the prisoners.

[Woe]

I had a sneaky idea, a variant of #2: the prisoner exchange is at the chimera's lair. I doubt the captain would come, but whatever he sends can get chewed up by the chimera. The "non-sneaky" people can dispatch any survivors. Meanwhile, MevlyTM's plan to have the sneaky types save the passengers from the pirates is foolhardy but would be fun to play out.

We know the captain has a powerful djinn serving him, as it moved the ship from the shore into the desert. Sonja (and a few others) know that Maju also has a bottle with an efreeti, so those two may cancel each other out. I don't know how many pirates are left on the ship, nor what the escape plan is. If it's in the desert we won't be casting off into the ocean. It'd be more "sneak aboard, kill what you can, and arm the passengers hoping for a mass revolt." Or in game terms, kill the pirate captain to win the game.

[Longman]

Maju - You are already at the ruins. I fast-forwarded the game and said you had all returned there. The problem is that the Skull Cult scout saw the villagers here, Kanya and Apinya know you are here, and Saracen sent his familiar with a note to the pirates to say you were here. So you probably can't stay here in safety. If you were planning an ambush, that's a different story. They might already be on the way.

YC and Jaali - The healing well is easy to use with rope and a few villagers to hold it, so anyone injured can be on full hit points in about ten minutes. While down there, you notice (again) that there is a passageway leading off a ledge on one side of the pool.

Everyone - good role-play and planning at the start to the chapter. It seems pretty clear you want to go up against the pirates. As Woe has pointed out, the ship was taken off the beach near the jungle, and is now in a desert hex marked B on the current map (just near the hex marked 1).

download/file.php?id=2005

That means, to attack the ship directly, you would have to walk through a hex of desert no matter what you did. But if you did that at night, in darkness, you could probably hit them at dawn pretty unawares.

I will give a rundown of the pirate camp and layout probably tomorrow.

I'll also say - I was amused at Mevly's suggestion that you let the Djinn's famed dragon (not the chimera, but an actual red dragon) fight the efreet for you.

It's a fun idea, but you would have to go and wake him up first and then lure him in the direction of the pirates. Also, I'm not sure whether using a red dragon in a situation involving a large wooden boat is entirely without risk, but it would be a cool story development.

[MevlyTM]

I need Longman to provide the information for Rostam here, sorry.

OOC: That's okay. I figured he would have to - I didn't expect you to provide the response. Sorry if it seemed that way.

[quozl]

How many people does it take to sail the ship?

[Longman]

That's a good question. The ship was deigned for about 30 crew plus passengers, for an ocean crossing. The bare minimum would be about 12, but you'd get very fatigued after a few days doing that. Plus, most of you don't know much about sailing. Getting the ship underway could be tough.

This could be one reason why Jab-Afri is coming after you - to get some more potential crew. Or maybe he just wants to kill you? Who knows.

[mTeasdale]

Crazy last few days, I'll try to catch up in the game soon. If you need any decison on my part, you can nake Jaali act Longman.