Master Scourge screamed orders as two of the captives tried to resist, flecks of spit hurtling from his mouth. "Knock'em out and be right quick about it!" He commanded and the pirates hurried to obey. Three of them fell upon Jarod even as he was reciting his rhyme and beat him senseless with their saps, their blows raining down upon his head and upper body, apparently having no qualms about picking on someone smaller than they were. The other three stepped up to Athoros. One of them raised his sap only for his arm to be frozen in mid-air as the cleric's spell took effect. Unfortunately, the other two pirates were unhindered. One struck out with his leather-wrapped club, a low blow for which the leather wrapping meant little as it caught Athoros on the crotch. The other pirate took the opportunity to give him a knock on the back of his head with his sap while he was doubled over with pain.<br/><br/>"Smart lasses," Master Scourge grunted at Kali and Asra, who had wisely refrained from attempting to resist. "Now get moving, ye useless landlubbers." While two of the pirates slung the unconscious forms of Jarod and Athoros over their shoulders, Kali and Asra were herded up the stairs. Their route took them up one deck to another hold. This one was apparently above water level as there were a few portholes open allowing in some much needed fresh air and a few rays of sunlight. Some of the space was taken up by barrels and crates of food, among which were roughly a dozen cages, give or take, of pigs and chickens, each. In the middle of the deck and chained up to the mainmast that went from floor to ceiling was a hulk of a man, who looked unparalleled in both physical strength and mental stupidity. He looked up at the newcomers and then lowered his head disinterestedly.<br/><br/>"That'd be Owlbear, and ye best not tangle with him unless ye looking to trade up for a hook hand or peg leg," Master Scourge casually observed as he shooed them upwards. The deck above was a cramped space filled with more hammocks and sleeping mats. A door led outside from here, and they all went through. Under a hot sun mitigated somewhat by a fresh breeze, the entire crew along with all the officers had gathered. For the first time the ship's surroundings could be seen. The<em>Wormwood</em>was at sea under a cloudless sky, with the only land visible a faint speck on the horizon. Most of the crew and officers were gathered on the main deck and some on the rigging. There were about thirty of them and they were a mixed lot, mostly humans but with a smattering of other races, including half-elfs, half-orcs, halflings, gnomes, and even a dwarf. Their attention was focused on the stern deck, which was higher than the main deck, and the two figures standing on it. One of them stood in the dead center of the deck with crossed arms, his position, pose and attitude clearly marking him as captain: a broad, muscular, dark-skinned man with a shaven head, a long beard bound with gold rings, and an eye patch. The other man standing behind and to his left was younger and had a balding scalp that was bald in front and sporting a long black ponytail in the back, wearing a long coat and carrying a well-used cat-o'-nine-tails - the first mate, by the look of things. Jarod and Athoros were thrown unceremonially down onto the deck. A bucket of cold seawater was produced and their contents emptied over their heads, jolting back to consciousness. Now that his audience was fully awake, the captain spoke at last.<br/><br/>“Glad you could join us at last! Welcome to the Wormwood! My thanks for ‘volunteering’ to join my crew. I’m Barnabas Harrigan. That’s Captain Barnabas Harrigan to you, not that you’ll ever need to address me. I have only one rule—don’t speak to me. I like talk, but I don’t like your talk. Follow that rule and we’ll all get along fine. First Mate Mr. Plugg here will take care of the other rules for enlisted crew, so chat him up if you're the lawyerin' type and he'll set you right up. Oh, and one more thing. Even with you new recruits, we’re still short-handed, and I aim to keep what crew I have. There’ll be a keelhaulin’ for anyone caught killin’ anyone. Mr. Plugg! If you’d be so kind as to make pirates out of these landlubbers, it’ll save me having to put them in the sweatbox for a year and a day before I make pies out of ’em."<br/><br/>With that said, Captain Barnabas took a step back and leaned against the mizzen-mast on the stern deck, while the afore-mentioned Mr. Plugg stepped up with a unpleasant smile on his face. The first mate slapped the cat-o'-nine-tails against his hand absentmindedly as he surveyed the newly impressed crew below him. As though an unspoken order was given the sailors who had already been with the ship stepped back, leaving a small group huddled by themselves in the middle of the maindeck. Besides Kali, Asra, Jarod and Athoros there were four others: a redheaded woman, a muscular female halfling, an angry-looking man, and a foppish gnome. "I find myself in need of one more rigger," Mr. Plugg went straight to business without any preamble. He pointed to the mainmast and the rigging that stretched from either side of the hull all the way up to the crow's nest, sixty feet above the deck. "First one up top gets the position. Last one gets the lash. What're you waiting for? Go!"<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Climbing instructions</div><div class="spoiler_body">Climbing the rigging requires a DC 10 Climb check. Remember that climbing is at one-quarter normal speed, so 8 successful checks are needed for a character with 30 feet base speed and 12 successful checks are needed for a character with 20 feet base speed. Failing by a 5 or greater difference from the DC at any time results in a fall. You can choose to double your climbing speed to one-half your base speed but at a -5 penalty to the climb checks taken while climbing fast. Taking 10 is possible for climbing at one-quarter speed but not for accelerated climbing at one-half speed.<br/><br/>Make checks until you have climbed the 60 feet up to the crow's nest, you have made 8 checks (successful or not), or you fall, whichever is earliest. For details check the description of the Climb skill in the PFSRD.<br/></div></div>