Episode 2

Another volley of flaming arrows slam down onto the deck. At least a dozen of them again. The flames are picking up over the entire boat. The oil barrel at the stern is burning steadily now.

Thorn steals a glance from over the rail. At this distance, he can finally see who it is standing at the bow of the incoming longship.

"Valates," Thorn calls out Kray, who is taking cover further forward towards the bow, behind a pile of bodies.

Breaking a burning arrow from the front of his shield, Kray nods to Thorn. It makes sense. The Iron Legions would love to kill a Mercon abroad. Ironic that Valetes probably has no idea Kray has separated from his House. It would not matter anyway though. The Korvaran would still love to claim the trophy of Kray’s head and Thorn’s hands either way. Kray raises his shield to block another late arrow diving in.

Maeriks throws the burning spare sail overboard. That should clear things up to move around a little. Won’t trip on that again. Plus, less fire on the boat, so that’s good.

Three arrows miss Maeriks by mere inches as the big man lumbers across the small deck with the burning sail in his arms. After sliding the sail into the river, Maeriks bends down to pick up his backpack and move it behind a strongbox. Another arrow sails harmlessly over the big Dannein’s head.

Bryn counts his blades while crouched behind the crates of grain. All set. Bow is in his hands. He’s in long range now, but the incoming troops are behind railing and shields raised. He should be able steal through the cover soon though, when it all breaks loose.

Sitting with his back to the main mast, Ivor spits to the side. It splats right in the open eye of the dead Heshbaan bleeding onto the deck at the starboard beam. Ivor tilts his head back and rests it against the mast. Relaxed.

After the next volley hits the deck, Ivor leans out from behind cover to gauge distance. The big longship is twice the size of their boat. It is gliding in fast, with a full slide from the rowers. There must be twenty of them.

Less than 100 meters now. Impact in 8 seconds.

The Keshet. A small boat on which the party was being ferried down the Hodel River, from Jabez to the inland village of Osher. The crew was a set of turncoats, supporting the incoming ambush. The traitors were detected, slain, their bodies now littering the deck of the ship. The Keshet is burning (though not yet damaged beyond salvaging) and adrift (oars are unmanned, main sail was recently pulled up and tied).


A Korvaran longship driving in towards The Keshet at full ramming speed. It is twice the size of the smaller vessel. It is captained by the Korvaran Valates of the Iron Legions and manned with a crew of Heshbaan mercenaries, armed and preparing for impact and boarding.

Maeriks will prepare to break the charge of borders once the boats crash and the enemy jumps across.

The longship slams into the stern of The Keshet, at an angle coming in slightly from the port quarter. Everyone braces for the shock, but the entire boat heaves forwards with such force it is difficult to maintain stability.

REQUIRED ACTION: DEX (Acrobatics) check. DC 11. Fail means knocked Prone.

Unrestrained equipment, provisions, crates, and boxes appear to be thrown backwards initially, though it is their inertia holding them in place as the ship lurches forward suddenly beneath them. The slow-burning oil barrel at the stern is hit by the railing as the boat is thrown. The impact knocks the lid of the barrel completely off and it's side rim boards crack. Oil splatters over the back of the railing of The Keshet and up along the bow hull of the assaulting longship!

The barrel fire that was a contained smolder from the leaks of the barrel burst into a flash of heat and light as the flames leap outward and upward. A coating of fire rises up the port bow hull to railing of the Korvaran longship.

The longships side rails are about 6 feet higher than those of The Keshet. The Heshbaan warriors that were staged to hook and board from the port bow of the longship falter because of the flames that erupt in the initial flash. Several of them back away from the side rail. Several jeers and shouts sound out in Heshbaan.

The Heshbaans on the starboard bow hurl grappling hooks with ropes. Others reach out with long poles to hook the rails. As the ropes and poles seek to secure the capture of The Keshet. Several spearman jump over the side of the longship to board. Others take position to throw javelins from their higher deck.





REQUIRED ACTION: Roll for Initiative individually. At Disadvantage if above DEX (Acro) check was failed.

With a gleeful laugh, Maeriks braces and leans into the oncoming collision.

Maeriks Initiative Tie vs. Heshbaan Raiders.
1st Level Tie-Breaker for Initiative Ties: Highest Modifier

Maeriks has +2 Mod. Raiders have +1 Mod.

Maeriks Attacks before all opponents.

Maeriks
R1

Vs. Heshbaan Raider 1 (HR1)
Attack 1 Miss
Attack 2 Hit

The lead raider who jumped in the boat raises his shield just in time to knock Maeriks' first javelin off course, but the second one hits him low at the hip, causing a severe wound. He falters and stops his advance, wincing from the injury.

Opponent Review: Heshbaan Raiders and Valates

The raiders will be identified as HR.

HRs' AC is 13.

Four of them have leaped onto the boat deck. (HR1 - HR4)

At the moment, three of them are on higher level of their own boat throwing javelins down (HR5 - HR7). This are behind Partial Cover.

There are more HRs stacked up in the longship above. Unknown number. Estimate 22 - 32.

Valates is high on the longship deck, and further back surrounded by raiders and shields. He can be heard, general location could be deduced likely, but for ranged attack he is considered behind Complete Cover.

Battle Space Review

The front (bow) of the longship hit the back (stern) of your boat The Keshet, slightly from a left (port quarter) angle.

An oil fire is burning at the back left (port quarter) of your boat and the front left (port bow) of their boat.

There are small fires here and there on The Keshet, from oil soak wrapped arrows. Maeriks recently rid the boat of the other main fire (besides the oil barrel), which was a spare sail now thrown overboard.

There are five dead bodies on The Keshet now, the traitorous crew killed moments before the longship burst out from the morning fog. Four others who were killed were already thrown overboard.

The Keshet sail is raised high on the mast and roll tied. This was one of the signs that gave suspicion of the turncoat crew. Oars were pulled in onto deck too.

Keshet Dimensions: 35' L , 12' W

Korvaran Longship Dimensions: 75' L, 18' W

The deck of the longship is 6' higher than the deck of The Keshet.

You can spread yourselves out positionally on your boat as starting positions, but this makes most visible targets in a range from 5' - 40', whether they are on your boat or on the front rail of their boat.

When the longship hit, The Keshet was damaged and gave a loud crack, but it was not splintered apart.

When the oil fire flashed up, the front left (port bow) boarders and grapplers withdrew and have so far not been successful getting good holds latched. The front right (starboard bow) boarders and grapplers did not do a great job either. There are some poles and hook-end ropes that have latched on, but others missed. The link between the 2 boats is not extremely secure yet. There is a small amount of space shifting between them as both boats drift forward, the longship pushing the smaller vessel.

No, there will not be a grid map.

How close are we to shore and our destination?

Distance to western shoreline: approx 150 meters
Distance to eastern shoreline: approx 300 meters

Distance to village of Osher: not exactly known, but could work through some estimates. Were told that you would likely arrive tomorrow midday, which would match the estimate of a 5.5 day ride. Speed estimates were 35-40 miles per 24 hours. Day and a half, somewhere around 50-60 miles away maybe.

Time constraints: to meet the land caravan at Goelmorel to enter the Jara Hili forest in the sanctioned convoy, need to reach Osher within the next 5 days. Word is you could get to Goelmorel in 1 more day from there.