Upon hearing the (pitiful, unwarriorlike) cries of Motsognir, Delic turns about, wraps his hands around the rope several more times and gets a running start.

"Have at thee, yea salty dogs!"

Leaping with as much strength as he can muster, Delic swings forward, letting go of the rope at the last second and bringing both his full weight and his blade down on the scum who dare attempt to steal the Sea-Tree.

Swing to U25, letting go of rope
Brash Strike against Pirate Dude With Sarah Connor headband

The ships were edging inexorably closer and I saw gangs of pirates hanging off the rigging of their ship, waiting to jump aboard ours. Clearly the ropes needed breaking but even with my magic running away spell I was too far from the front rope to reach it in time. I saw the ugly dwarf throw either a hammer or an axe (He seemed unsure himself) at the front rope and following his lead, dropped my staff and readied my bow, pulling an arrow from my quiver and notching it in one smooth movement. Waiting a second to see if the dwarf's throw was true before sending an arrow streaking through the air.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw the strange newcomer swinging around like a fool and wondered why he didn't just hurry up and climb the rope to get the mage who apart from the boatload of pirates just out of reach, was clearly the only real threat here.

The arrow flew true and snapped the rope with a satisfying twang. Whilst I had never really been a fan of archery practice and as such had never learned any of the really cool tricks some of the other kids at school had been capable of, my innate elven skills coupled with a naturally keen eye were more than a match for any innanimate object at relatively close range.
Drop staff, draw bow, shoot rope. If Deni hit, I'll shoot the back one, if he missed, the front one.

Motsognir fires off another cannonade into the enemy ship. He just needs to keep the pirates from throwing any more ropes until such a time as the Rosy Dawn is disentangled — which shouldn't be much longer, right?

Right?

Idiots.

27 damage to pirate ship

His head pounding, Gabe does the only thing that makes sense at the time — he confuses his throwing hammer with an axe and hurls it at the rope hooked onto the Rosy Dawn's bow. By some small miracle the blunt object rips through a frayed spot in the rope and it snaps free — and Gabriel's hammer flies into the drink.

The scallywags continue jabbing at Soggy with their pointy sticks, but he craftily ducks behind the cannon just in time to avoid another skewering.

Bob pulls out his seldom-used bow and takes aim at the last of the intruding ropes. It's only a small matter to magically imbue the arrow with an impressive whooshing sound as he sends it wobbling lackadaisically through the air. The rope is cut apart, and the thoroughly-ventilated pirate ship begins to drift away into the deeper sea. Now it's just a matter of dealing with the intruders already aboard.

Delic swings from the rigging, hurling himself through the air at the interlopers.

He's a bit rusty at the whole self-hurling thing. Misjudging the distance, Delic falls painfully to the deck a few feet short of his intended destination.

4 falling damage, knocked prone. Well, I guess it's technically landing damage.

:savepoint: Garrmondo, Pirate Mage, Motsognir, Gabriel, Pirate Scallywags, Bob, Delic

Charging across the deck, Garrmondo jabs his shortsword into the enemy's ribs. The scallywag coughs up blood all over Garrmondo's expensive shirt, which he just got back from the tailors after that crazy broad punched a bunch of holes in it with a crossbow.

This is why we can't have nice things. Well, that was the upside to fighting pirates; despite their predilection for mayhem you could depend on them to have a wardrobe worth looting after you killed them. Sartorial fellows, one and all.

16 damage to U26 Scallywag, how do you figure 20? 6+6+4.

The mage, all her useful and worthwhile spells depleted, is reduced to once again flinging magic missiles through the rigging at the prone and somewhat rattled Delic. The missile sears a black spot onto the deck next to Delic's head, and he regards it with an arched eyebrow.

:savepoint: Motsognir, Gabriel, Pirate Scallywags, Bob, Delic, Garrmondo, Pirate Mage

Having driven off the enemy ship single-handedly, Motsognir ducks out of reach of the halberds and runs off to single-handedly deal with the mage.

Shift to U29
Sprint to Y22

The dwarf gulped air and took a moment to steel his resolve.

Second Wind. Save vs Dazed. Huge savings.

Stranded on board with no hope of reinforcement, the scallywags fall back to protect the mage. Rushing past the slashing blades of the fighters, they catch up with Motsognir in an attempt to stop him scaling the mast. Sadly, the wounds they took in the pursuit leave them too winded to effectively strike at the wily dwarf.

9 damage to Scallywag 1, bloodied
12 damage to Scallywag 2, bloodied
fffff


:savepoint: Bob, Delic, Garrmondo, Pirate Mage, Motsognir, Gabriel, Pirate Scallywags

Emboldened by my successful arrow shot at the rope, I notched another arrow to my bow, this time taking aim at the pirate mage far above us. Rolling my head to ease the tension in my shoulders, I released the bow string, sending the arrow whistling through the air towards my target. As the arrow flew, my gaze was drawn to the sight of my wonderful dwarf, sprinting towards the mast, ready to climb up and confront the mage hand to hand. My eyes welled up at the sight of such bravery and martial prowess and I mouthed a silent encouragement to him, lost in my thoughts for a moment. "Everything I do, I do it for you".

Shoot at the mage, miss, use Elven Accuracy

With his jaw set and splinters in the palms of his hands, Delic gives an angry look back at the mage who shot at him, far up the Sea-Tree.

"I'll send you neatly folded skin back to your master, you damn dirty ape!"

And with a slow but impressive start, Delic charges at the closest opponent, sword drawn and half expecting to stumble forward into the enemy.

Running to X24 as best as injury allows
Brash Strike against target

Longbow: 10 damage to mage

Standing up requires a move action on Delic's part; let's just use his AP and try to polish off the battle
Brash Strike: 9 damage to Scallywag 2

Crushing Surge: 10 damage to Scallywag 2, killed

The mage climbs down out of the crow's nest, ascending halfway down the mast to a wider platform.

Magic Missile: 8 damage to Soggy (bloodied)

:savepoint: Motsognir, Gabriel, Pirate Scallywags, Bob, Delic, Garrmondo, Pirate Mage

Sorry for terse mode, packin'

Motsognir climbs up the pole to meet the mage at the lower platform. Winded, he manages to take a swing with his axe nonetheless.

Climb up pole
Spend Action Point
Viper's Strike
Miss pathetically

I'm guessing Pang's not going to be a dick and run the last pirate over to Bob just to get the AoO attack in when I use a ranged attack

The battle was going well, which was a refreshing change after the savage beatings we had been on the receiving end of lately. I was also rather enjoying a spot of bowmanship, something that had rather fallen by the wayside in my constant striving to become a master magus.

I took a moment to pick up and stow my staff, for fear of it rolling off the boat. Then, with the sea breeze blowing in my hair (What bits of hair were loose under my hat and mask at any rate), I calmly drew and notched another arrow, tracking the enemy wizard's progress down the rigging and waiting for him to stand still, to improve my chances of scoring a hit. The wizard paused on the next level down and I took a deep breath, holding it in to steady my aim before releasing the string in a smooth motion, sending another arrow speeding towards my adversary.

The arrow flew true but I was dismayed to see the wind catch it, blowing it off course, behind my target. Just as I thought I'd missed for certain, my plucky dwarven chum reached the wizard's position and took a mighty swing with his axe causing the wizard to duck back to avoid certain decapitation, straight into the path of my arrow.

I knew that in years to come, people would stare when they saw us walking the streets hand in hand but I cared not, me and my dwarf made one hell of a team.

Pickup and holster staff (Those are both minors right?), shoot bow at wizard

7 damage to Pirate Mage

The scallywag quickly smashes Garrmondo to the deck, then steps back from the prone fighter's reach.

15 damage to Garrmondo; knocked prone

:savepoint: Delic, Garrmondo, Pirate Mage, Motsognir, Gabriel, Pirate Scallywags

Despite both knees being bruised, Delic attempts a quick kill by running past his foe's blindspot and swinging in his general direction.

Run To Z22
Brash Strike Against Foe

Brash Strike: 10 damage to Scallywag

Cursing her useless wand of missiles, the pirate mage digs in her heels and smashes Motsognir away with a vicious shoulder check. The dwarf loses his footing on the spray-drenched platform, and falls 30 feet to the deck before slumping into an unconscious heap.

18 falling damage to Motsognir; knocked unconscious and dying

:savepoint: Gabriel, Pirate Scallywags, Bob, Delic, Garrmondo, Pirate Mage, Motsognir

Gabe, with no regard for his own safety, walks over to Motsognir and does his healing trick.

There was some regard for his own safety, but largely what the other dwarf said was true. Seeing his friend's peril, the Paladin unfailingly moved to his side, laying his hands on the tiny man's chest and feeling the heat of Kord's radiant love flow through him. A moment later he stood next to him, his shield readied. His beard bristling.

Move to Y23. Lay on Hands on that little homo. Full defense.

Lay On Hands: Soggy wakes up with 11 HP

Scallywag shifts south, stabs himself a paladin:

Halberd: 5 damage and marked

:savepoint: Bob, Delic, Garrmondo, Pirate Mage, Motsognir, Gabriel, Pirate Scallywags

Fun though the archery had been, I felt that this battle needed some more decisive action to wrap things up and in my case, that meant magic. With the pirate ship now drifting away from us, the threat of reinforcements was rather diminished so I could use the more powerful spells I had been keeping in reserve with greater confidence.

Dropping my bow and drawing my staff, I advanced to what I hoped was close enough range and summoned forth the more powerful of my ice ray spells, sending a super-chilled beam shimmering through the air towards both our remaining assailants.

Drop bow, draw staff, move as close to the mast as I need to get in range for the Icy Rays spell, then cast it at both enemies.

Fearing that the last Scallywag will hear his attack, Delic cartoonishly creeps up behind him, mimicing the sound of xylophones as he tip-toes. Brandishing his sword, he lifts it over his head and brings it down with his full weight behind it.