Sundered Isles 6 - Recovering from folly
Defeating the French pirates came at a high cost, and Domingo's leadership is openly questioned. Lessons learned and new vows taken.
Find all entries in my Sundered Isles solo RPG campaign playthrough here
I played the next part with just a pencil, the sheets and a notebook. It is not such a memorable or dramatic sequence so I will simply summarize below and move on with the main action next time. I do think that this approach (playing with pen and paper without the computer at hand for “real-time journaling” might be a better way to continue my Sundered Isles playthrough. It will provide a journal of lesser quality perhaps, but it will lower the barrier for Starting a Session, which is essential if I am not to abandon this story altogether due to little time or fatigue.
The Alecto’s surgeon did all he could to stop the bleeding from my multiple gunshot wounds, but [due to a Miss on my Heal roll] my condition steadily worsened and I was confined to my cabin for the remainder of the voyage. My orders were executed by the ever-loyal Mr. O’Rourke.
The enemy vessel was called La Toison d’Or. Its captain had a personal vendetta against me for having killed his brother as a heretic prior to the Sundering. However, this was merely relayed to me as the captain had expired from his injuries. [Potential side quest in the future].
La Toison d’Or held a shipment of weapons and crates of sugar in her hold. [An oracle roll revealed that] She was no longer sea-worthy due to the damage sustained – especially when I blew up the keg of gunpowder. We transferred the cargo to the Alecto and salvaged as much of the golden ornaments as possible [All useful additions to my Treasury ledger which will let me pay Upkeep for the disgruntled men and the damaged Alecto without difficulties in the short term].
[With a weak hit] I manage to improve the low morale amongst our men due the losses suffered. I could tell that my actions to engage and the manner of engaging were questioned by quite a few of the men – especially the wounded. So I allowed them to take the best of the weapons from the shipment of the captured vessel. [This brought back my command to +2 at the cost of an Upkeep from the Treasury Ledger].
I tried to compel the survivors of the defeated ship to join our crew. This was categorically declined [a Miss] and so I let them take a minimum of provisions and a longboat from the Toison d’Or with which to save themselves before that fine ship sunk completely.
We then set course for Puerto de la Rocca. [With a Weak Hit] we got there without trouble, but bad wind (and our burgeoning cargo hold) did delay us somewhat. My wounds were stabilized but still painful and the thought of gangrene or some other calamity added psychological strain to my physical torment [-1 Spirit].
In Puerto de la Rocca, I tried to lift the spirits of the men by paying out their share of the recent booty and bidding them a good time at the port’s various taverns and brothels. However [my Soujourn roll was a miss with match – indicating something particularly bad], before the men left the ship, they made their displeasure with our latest encounter very clear to me: Fighting it out with La Toison d’Or had been unnecessary: We could have attempted to escape the pursuit, she was armed to the teeth but unlikely to hold much of value (since she chose to attack us in the first place) and we had no other motive for escalating this chance encounter. The men know of my cause to bring about a revolution of sorts – and they do want to get paid as well as possible. They do not want to risk their lives and those of their comrades on thin grounds or without proper cause.
I found it hard to disagree with their arguments and admitted as much. Such impulsiveness would no longer be allowed to pursue risk without proportional reward, I said. Furthermore, I intended to alleviate the suffering from this latest escapade through a simple but effective means: I swore an Iron Vow [Strong Hit; +2 momentum] that I would Find and capture a profitable, fat and easy-to-take merchant ship [I give this Vow a rank of Dangerous] as soon as possible.
The men knew me as a captain who would keep his word and it seemed that the mere fact of my admitting my mistakes made them respect me once again. Of course, I took a mental note that repeating such mistakes could prove fatal and final. So I would indeed make sure to choose my battles carefully.
With their wages paid, the men enjoyed the town [-1 Upkeep]. The Alecto was fully repaired over the next couple of days [-1 Upkeep]. I was taken well care of by the Spanish Army surgeon at Puerto de la Rocca, and recovered almost fully from my wounds within days [+3 health to a new status of 4]. In that time, I also managed to read an old tome of mine that gave me new ideas for my pursuit of necromancy for a greater good [Scholar – Hearten through occult sudies: Weak Hit = +1 Spirit but -1 momentum]. This filled me with renewed vigour and inspiration, but I realized that I had also wasted valuable time in which I could gather news and rumours – particularly as pertaining to some fat merchant ship we could pursue and seize. It was time to leave the medical bed and get to work!
Stats at the time of finishing this session:
Health = 4/5, Spirit = 5/5, Momentum = 4, Command = 2/4, Alecto integrity = 3/3, Ledger = [don’t have the sheet on me]
Vows:
Create a utopia free from imperialism through necromancy (0/40)
Find and capture a profitable, easy merchant ship (0/5)