[tshiggins]

(...continued)

As a merchanter, the large barque needed a sailing crew of 25, and wouldn’t be nearly as maneuverable as the brig, but much faster (nine knots, instead of six) on a straight course with fair winds. It only had room for eight medium cannon on either side, plus four small deck cannons, for a total complement of 137 crewmen, plus officers.

Again, Fergus said, they could make do with about half that, if they wanted to go with a minimal combat complement, although many barques in his home world chose to go with no guns, at all. They just tried to outrun any pirates who happened across them.

Given the unknown risks they faced, Fergus said, he couldn’t recommend that, in this situation.

By comparison, the airship normally needed a crew of 25, but A.J. said if he, Steve, Beatrice and Claudia used the decanic batteries from the looted vehicles to create automated controls, the group might be able to man it with no extra help. However, should things get exciting, A.J. said, they might wind up as exhausted as they’d been during the storms and such they’d encountered in their old airship.

The discussion of the crew needs immediately sparked a lengthy argument. Aurelia, who had trust issues at the best of times, opposed the idea of hiring on a crew of complete strangers from a world about which they knew little, with whom they’d spend months at sea on what sounded like a perilous trip.

Claudia also declared that, if they managed to find a trustworthy crew, it was almost certain that the group would wind up leading many to their deaths, since that’s what had happened every time, thus far. The physicist put her foot down and said that, if the group decided to take such an action, she would refuse to accompany them on a voyage that would almost certainly cost the lives of innocents who trusted them.

Complicating matters was the reality of sailing a tall ship on the open seas. The group had met Fergus because they’d needed to travel across the Irish Sea to the London of 1712 Britain, and they had no idea how to sail a ship, themselves. Moreover, no formal “sailing schools” existed in that time, and they’d seen no evidence that any such thing existed in this world, either.

Sailors learned their trade by working on a ship, on the open seas, next to experienced crewmen who would, quite literally, “show them the ropes.”

Moreover, it wasn’t a single, simple skill they needed, A.J. and Beatrice said. The knowledge needed to crew a tall ship properly took literally months to learn, and acting as crew on a voyage offered the only way to acquire it.

The argument got pretty heated, for a bit, until the group managed to reach a tentative compromise. They’d purchase the small brig and hire a crew from whom they could learn, and then restrict themselves to short expeditions in the vicinity of the Elder Isles.

Once they’d acquired the basic skills, they’d pay off the crew and take the brig, themselves, on the long voyage to the Sea of Fate. They might mount a few cannon, but when it came to fighting (which it almost certainly would) they’d rely on their own combat expertise and magical skills to board any attacker as marines, and either win or die.

The compromise didn’t really satisfy anyone, but by then they’d worn themselves out from arguing, and the session ended.

##

Funny Quotes

(The group cases the building owned by Yuliana Thorn.)
A.J.: So, we only have, at most, a 10-yard shot.
Beatrice: We’re not going in there to shoot them!
A.J.: But it’s only a 10-yard shot!
Beatrice: I don’t think they’re going to shoot at us, either. This is a business deal, right?

(Hops About and Twirls Thrice make their presence known.)
Henrietta: Yes, they’re with us.
Aurelia: I would consider, “with us” as kind of a loose definition.

Aurelia: We don’t like to do things in the typical way. Typically.

(The group visits the Goblin Market.)
Beatrice: What can you do with cat sidhe dander?
Steve: Steal souls, apparently.

(The group sells their goods, a mixed cargo of loot acquired from three different worlds.)
Henrietta: I want more zeroes!

(Millie scores. And also finds out about the airship.}
Beatrice: Oh, girlfriend! We gonna lay you down on the floor and kiss you on the mouth!

Beatrice: His son wants to marry Millie!
Steve: You can have a husband in every realm you visit.

##