CH. 7: Voyage of the Bullring

[Nuke]

As the news reaches the marines, Val speaks up, "Now you can put what you learned to work!"

[JadedDM]

"Well, I hope it's important; I felt like we were on the verge of another breakthrough," Thaddeus grumbles.

Meanwhile, the marines Val was training all respond with a hearty, "Yes, ma'am!"

==============

Once everyone is up on deck, the captain address them all from the forecastle. "Alright, listen up! We have a ship approaching us on a direct course. Caravel, from the look of it. That's not what worries me. What worries me are the three black dragons accompanying it."

There's a buzz of soft-spoken words rippling throughout the crew as they take this in.

"Yeah, looks like the Soulbiters, if my guess is right," she continues. "The dragons will be here long before the ship is. Likely, they'll send them over first to soften us up, leaving us weak and helpless against them. That's what I'd do, anyway. So, I want everyone with a bow ready to take the lizards down before they can do any real harm. I want all of the ballista manned, too."

"What about the cannons?" asks Riddlemark.

"No good. They can't fire up, unless we bring them up on the deck. And even then, they're too slow to hit a speeding dragon, I'd wager," Terra answers.

"So everyone at full battle alert, man your stations, and ready all missiles. As soon as the dragons come into range, we'll hit them with everything we've got," Sierra adds.

The crew begins to quickly disperse, ready to follow their orders. The captain notes Val, Areilon, Ouragana and Jocelyn and gestures to them. "Hold up, you four. Come here. I know my crew and what they can do, but you four are new here. If you have anything; ideas or magic or whatever that can help, now's the time to speak up."

[HorizonsDream]

"I'm mostly good for healing," Jocelyn admitted. "But there might be a few prayers that might be useful, at least one that might help the whole ship. It should raise their courage a bit," she explained.

[Breila]

Ouragana looks a bit uncomfortable. "I haven't got any fighting magic" she has to admit. "I tried to learn some from Thaddeus yesterday, but I didn't succeed. I have a wand here that fires magic missiles, but I don't know how many charges it has left."

[JadedDM]

Sierra nods. "Every bit can help. Magic Missiles never miss, correct? And our own cleric can call upon the gods' blessings, as well. But you have healing magic, too, right? That'll come in handy, as I suspect we'll have lots of injuries if those things get close enough to spray the ship with acid.

"And you two?" she asks the elf and half-orc.

[Nuke]

Val taps the bow slung across her shoulder, "I can help with arrows before the fighting gets personal."

[Jenara]

"I have these." Arei suggests, pulling out the pistols from her belt, "But I am not the best shot, my skills are at close range." Shrugging she loads the pistols, "I will do my best."

[JadedDM]

"That's it, huh?" Sierra asks.

"They're just kids, sister. What did you expect, they had a dragon destroying artifact tucked away somewhere?" Terra asks.

"Yeah, good point. Alright then, let's get ready. Val and Areilon with the archers, Ouragana you stick with Thaddeus and Jocelyn can heal when necessary. Let's get a move on."

[Breila]

"Yes Ma'am" Ouragana answers briskly, turns on her heels and joins Thaddeus, drawing her wand when the dragons approach. "Please tell me when they are in range of magic missiles, I've only used them in a closed space before" she asks him.

[Jenara]

"Kids..?" Arei asks with a raised eyebrow, "To my people perhaps I am a child, my skills have yet to grow, but I will do all I can to help." Pistols in her palms she looks to the sky.

"Is there anything you can suggest, weaknesses for example? I have yet to fight dragons... And do you expect the ship to attack?"

[JadedDM]

"It depends on the strength and skill of the person casting the spell," Thaddeus remarks. "But the last wand of Magic Missiles I operated had a range of just under 110 meters, so it's safe to say your wand might have a similar range."

Sierra smirks at Areilon's comment. "I think you hit a sore spot, sister."

Terra just shrugs.

"In any case, I know they're smart, fast and breathe acid. And yeah, if the dragons weaken us enough, the ship will probably come in to mop up; that's my theory anyway. Now go and take your position. They'll be on us soon enough," the captain adds.

[Jenara]

"Of course." Moving towards the archers, Arei prepares as quick as she can.

[Breila]

"Do you have any idea about the range of their weapons?" Ouragana asks Thaddeus, pointing at the rapidly growing shapes of the dragons.

[Nuke]

Val reports to the archers, looking for a spot near the rear, hoping to catch them broadside as they finish their passes. Taking out a dozen arrows, she thumps them into the deck for easy retrieval.

[JadedDM]

"A very good question," Thaddeus answers. "I suppose we'll find out soon enough." He wipes away a bead from sweat from his brow.

The next half hour passes quietly, but tensely, as the crew readies for battle. The catapults are each manned by five sailors each, while the ballistae are manned by four sailors each.

By now, the three dragons are about 3,600 yards away, meaning they can be seen from anywhere on the ship, not just up high in the rigging or the crow's nest.

The captain, who has been pacing back and forth on the aftcastle this whole time, stops and looks out at the horizon again. "Okay, close enough. Fire the catapults. Hold off on the ballistae until they get a little closer; no need to waste ammo."

The three catapults are loaded up and fired in the direction of the dragons. The payloads fly off into the air and everyone watches to see if they hit. Sure enough, one of the dragons does get hit, but the other two easily evade.

"Haha! Well, hey, that's something, right?" Sierra says. "Reload the catapults!"

However, the dragon that was hit suddenly dives into the ocean and vanishes while the other two continue flying toward the ship.

"Well, shit; I forgot they could swim," Sierra says with a frown.

=============

Bullring fires its heavy catapults at Dragon 01 (1d20): 16, hit for (3d10): 14 damage; Dragon 02 (1d20): 2, miss and Dragon 03 (1d20): 9, miss.

(OOC: I seem to have come down with a cold, so my posting rate may decrease a bit the next few days.)