#darkgatefortress

The ship whispers "horrid, dark, foul, suffering... monsters preying on innocents"

Shi looks about "Monsters? Rimrunner, tis a yacht. I don't understand."

Inky looks at Piper "Can you sing the monsters to la la land?"

"I don't understand what you mean."

Figures on the yacht turn to see ..some kind of manics in a ship charging them.

"You're a minotaur" Inky explains "With a magic voice, like all minataurs?"

"But that won't stop the ship! Do you want them to just drown in their sleep?" Clearly baffled.

"It would allow us to capture them" Shi listens in "Can you do that? We don't have to destroy, just stop them right?"

"But they're not actively doing anything now. How will putting them to sleep help? And I'm not even sure I can. I can try to inspire sleepiness, but that works, like, in a room of tired kids! Not a cruise ship about to be... rammed or pressganged or something! I don't have a spell or anything for it!"

And if I fail, they're just going to get mad at me again for something I did wrong... Piper reasons worriedly.

As they close, Piper can see a man with some sort of machine gun patroling the outter deck of the yacht.

"Oh," the pooka sighs sadly as she realizes what was said, then she sees the guy with the machine gun "OH!" Alarm

No, they don't deserve this... she thinks, then spies the machine gun. or maybe they do... but...
She had, without really realizing, been holding the amulet again, rubbing her fingers along the swirls in the design. Dare I?

Every second that ticks brings the raging Rimrunner closer to it's quarry. They have GUNS. They're evil - right? Maybe we SHOULD take them down.

Torn, her mind races.

She moves to face the figurehead. The voice seems to come from the entire ship, but at least this way it feels like she's talkimng TO someone.

And talk she does, quickly and urgently, trying to appeal to the ship itself.

"Rimrunner, I get it. They deserve a reckoning, sure—but smashing them won’t fix the seas or heal what they’ve hurt. You’re mighty now; you can be more than just revenge. You can protect what’s yours, not destroy aimlessly!

And think of your crew! Captain Shi loves you, Rimrunner. She’s cared for you all these years, kept you strong. Do you think she’d want this? If you truly value her, show her you can rise above mindless rage.

You’re more than just a weapon. You’re alive, thinking, feeling." I think? ponders Piper. "You don’t need to waste that brilliance on some over-armed toy boat."

(Charisma plus Persuaasion or Empathy)

(Cha + Pers)

/roll 7

Piper's talk of the good things, of the captain and crew that loves her, seems to draw the ship out of it's outrage, and... the weapons lower .

Captain Shi listens to Piper's wordss, blushes and nods then sees the weapons go down "Thank you, PIper. I'm sorry I lost my temper. Pan girl y'know?"

Piper breathes out a shaky laugh, keeping her gaze on the figurehead as the ship's rage seems to ebb. "That’s better, Rimrunner. Look at you - choosing to be the bigger... ship." She lets the words settle "It’s not about letting them off the hook. You can still fight for the seas, just... smarter, not harder."

The Rimrunner whispers _"I don't want to put you all in danger, I just wanted to crush the evil. I don't know any other way to save the children, but ... I understand"

"THat's good... .. children?"

Captain Shi strokes the ship as it slows then her eyes widen "...children?"

She glances quickly toward the crew, then back at the figurehead. "If there’s something more going on here, something we don’t know... tell me. Maybe we can help. Smarter, remember?

"I can feel their crime, in the hold, children.. horror, unspeakable horror" The Rimrunner mutters, a hint of anger and a lot of despair

Piper turns to face Shi - her expression a mixture of horror and anger. "Captain! Permission to assemble a boarding crew!"

"International waters... those bastards" Captain Shi is angry for a new reason "Aye, if you want, Piper... though I plan to come with you. Looks like your spell worked as intended, I was just too hidebound to realize it"

There's a squeek, and a little rat salutes where Inky was

"No, if I'd gotten my druthers, the ship would be torn apart by the sea beast and all the occupants on the bottom of the ocean." She says, horror settling in.

/roll 4

Piper can't help it, she jumps in terror at seeing the rat! "Eeeeeeeee!"

The rat jumps back "eeeeeeee!" (which is rodent for 'screaming satyr!")

Piper catches herself and rolls her eyes. It takes a supreme act of will, (She hates to say so, but rats are ICKY) but she kneels and offers the ra- offers Inky - a hand up. "Coming with?"

"It wouldn't be a hair-brained scheme without you, after all."

The rat leaps onto Piper's toned hooved leg and scrambles, skitters, crawls onto her shoulder. The tiny whispers at her cheek

She shudders and tries not to squeak.

Shi is yelling "I want a boarding party ,Piper and Inky are going with us. We veil as a group, hopscotch over... and we retreive the children."

The crew starts to protest then suddenly "CHILDREN?"

Amazing how much of that is going around

Piper paces the deck, her hooves clattering. "Hup hup hup!"

"We take out the fellow with the Machine gun first" She adds

They veil, or at least, the Captain tries to veil them, gesturing "Ignore me like a one hit wonder five years passed"

"Anyone able to get to him from up here? Illusions, scare him away from the weapon? A net? I don't like the idea of us jumping into danger."

Inky makes like an MGM lion and roars

"SNAKE" The gun man yells and not only does he drop his gun, he kicks it into the water

Inky looks smug, in a rodent like way. Reminds her a bit of Rikki with that smile

She pats her on the head with a light fingertip. "Good rat."

Maybe rats aren't so bad, at least well groomed ones, and Inky is SO well groomed