5 Sanna House Guards arrives, following Cirroch.

Cirroch does not look like a sailor. Not one bit. From shoulders to toe in oathlands redsteel he moves along the sand with a soft crunch, looking like a fish out of water and throw to a mountain top. He moves down the beach to where the group is present, looking off to the boats that are anchored. "Huh, I should have suspected we we would be on actual ships."

At midday in early Spring, the winding stretch of beaches are hardly a place to attract noble and common folk alike searching for a brief reprieve from the enclosure of the city. Instead, the day is made to be dreary and a touch melancholic beneath the overcast of heavily clouded skies and gray-blue tides breaking across the sands. A small array of watercraft have been amassed just beyond the shallow coastline with rowboats lined up in the shallow surf, ready to be pushed out and used to travel across at a moment's notice.

Princess Admiral Katarina Valardin sits upon the edge of one, surrounded by crewmates and young, but able volunteers searching for their moment to break into the thankless life of a seaman. She waits in silence amongst her quietly conversing cohorts, watching the pathways for signs of arrival for her impromptu little training venture.

When Ignacio arrives, his gaze just looks to the ships with a faint smile on his face. He glances over to Cirroch, the smile becoming a grin, "Yes, I am not sure if I am much for climbing onto one of those death traps either. I was just out for a stroll and decided to visit."

Ian doesn't do sand. At all. He's on the dock, his weight eased onto his cane. He has a bottle of rum in his other hand. Between that and the beat up, double breasted leather coat, he absolutely looks like a sailor.

Assurng she has a bottle of what is probably rum Armani arrives for the sea faring event. Her hands are clasped at the back of her head and the bottle of alcohol peeks out the top of the pouch at her hip. She shoots a brilliant smile at everyone and moves to find a spot relatively near Katarina.

Katarina rises from her casual slouch, booted feet landing squarely in the sands. "Well I was hoping for a few more people," she confesses, after surveying the meager turnout of two confirmed sailors and two guests. "But I'm happy anyone showed up at all, what with all the war planning and meetings that've been held as of late. All the same, thank you for coming," she graciously gestures, pushing some hair behind an ear. "I don't know you lot very well, nor what your talents or areas you're looking to improve. How about an introduction?"

A finger points randomly upon Armani in gentle invitation. "Starting with you, mi'lady, if you don't mind."

"Lady Admiral Gilden, Admiral of the Gilden fleets." she says with a grin, her fingers unlacing to pull her bottle from her bag for a drink from it. "I pretty much just came to hear about toher methods of captaining ships. Maybe ntake home some lessons upon it." Armani doesn't actually indicate what she is looking to improve upon.

"I am Lord Ignacio Fidante, Knight-Captain of the Rose and Voice of House Fidante. I have called my fleet to war, but I am no naval commander. I am more interested in seeing whom will be sailing with my people in a battle where we will all have to see each other as family if we want to go home again." Ignacio says, resting his off-hand on the hilt of his blade lightly, shifting his gaze between all that are gathered here one at a time.

"A pleasure to meet you, Lady Gilden," Katarina bows her head to Armani, content with the lady's introduction all the while before turning her gaze upon the remaining faces with curiosity. Her lips round as though she were going to speak, only to fall silent once more to lend Ignacio the full of her attention with ease when he deigns to speak. "There's nothing wrong with wishing to see," she opines. "Perhaps you'll still participate? Join the fun?"

"I am Marquis Cirroch Sanna," Cirroch introduces himself when he finds the space to, offering a wide, friendly smile towards the group, his voice deep as it carries it's self over the waves. "If you ever find me in charge of naval forces, something has gone very, very wrong. My lands are in the mountains. But I find myself wishing to better be able to lead others, and I figured what better way to test my skills then to test them in a situtation where I am unfamiliar."

Ian takes a pull from his bottle of rum. "Lord Ian Kennex," he introduces. "I grew up on the sea, and I'm here to teach." To Ignacio, he adds: "You'll get a better idea of how things work on a ship if you're on the deck. You're not going to see much from shore."

With the round of introductions completed, Katarina pushes off the lip of a rowboat and makes a gesture to beckon everyone towards it. "The only way I believe to learn quickly and properly is by doing and seeing it done live, rather than discussing theories and what ifs," the princess says, starting to heave the first boat down the wet sands and into the surf. "Everyone pile into a boat. We'll head out to the craft now."

There is no hesitation once it is suggested to come aboard the boat, Ignacio strides over towards rowboat. He climbs over the edge into the small vessel, his emerald gaze shifting towards the ship they are likely headed towards.

Ian piles into a boat with rather less grace than one might normally expect from a sailor. But maybe a little more grace than you'd expect from someone using a cane.

Cirroch removes his armor and begins to hand it over to his guards, telling them, "Hold this for me. Yes, yes, I know, it's not what I hire you for, I'll pay you extra this week." Hey help him remove his armor, and once he is down to his simple clothing underneath, he heads over to a row boat to sit himself down. He looks over to Ignacio and Armani, grinning to the two as he speaks to the later, "Try not to embarrass both of us, my lady."

A wink is given to Cirroch by Armani as she takes a swig from her rum bottle then offers it over to the two noblemen, "I make no promises on that. I wouldn't be an admiral if I didn't know my stuff." She, in genral, follows along to boarding the vessals. "I'm a tough Admiral." she declares, though, around she looks then says, in a mock conspiring tone, to both Cirrocha dn Ignacio, "don't tell my people that, though. THey might stop working hard for me if they knew."

Once everyone is aboard a boat, Katarina gives the order to her men manning the oars to begin the departure out a short ways into the turbulent churn of waves where two small watercraft are anchored. Both are sized to fit four to five people comfortably each. The young admiral cautiously climbs to her feet, legs spread shoulders' width apart to allow her an easier time in balancing as the rowboat creaks with every bob and sway upon the crest of waves.

"We're going to break down into two teams. Each team is going to pick the least experienced naval captain, then work amongst themselves to chart out a course for a destination already marked on a map tucked aboard the vessel. This part is to familiarize yourselves with the crew you're going to be working with and making sure you're okay with navigation by map in less than stellar conditions."

A quick pause is taken here, allowing Katarina to skim over the faces of those gathered. "Once you reach your destination, we'll move on to the combative exercise. Obviously, these boats aren't meant for naval war games so we're going to improvise. I'll tell you more about that part when we get there! Also, the Unsullied will be behind us just in case!"

Because Ian might fall overboard or something. Who knows.

Ignacio runs his fingers through his hair as he glances between Armani and Katarina, but doesn't have much to add, just listen at this point.

Ian doesn't fall overboard, but once deposited on his ship, (well, "ship"), he promptly stows both cane and rum where they'll be out of the way and no one will trip on them. At first glance, he seems like he's incredibly clumsy on a ship rolling in the swells like this. It's like he doesn't know how to adjust to the movement of the deck at all. He's always hanging onto something -- a railing, a line, that sort of thing -- to keep himself from just falling. ...But he has, it becomes clear, an almost preternatural awareness of his surroundings. He never grabs a line that can't be grabbed, and he never lurches into anyone's way. He's not graceful, but he's surprisingly fast and confident on the small deck, more comfortable here, even, than on land.

The large northernman sits upon the rowboat, not daring to stand up like Katarina, because his ass would fall right over into the water. As she mentions teams, he looks around to the rowboat, seeing who is going to be his partner in all this.

Armani gives a vague glance around to see who is about but mostly she thinks about having another drink. Since she can't captain she lets someone else decide who is in charge.

The splitting of teams happens naturally as everyone climbs aboard one of the two ships. Aboard the first graced with the presence of Ian clinging onto any available line or rigid surface he might see fit, Cirroch and Armani join him with two extra rugged sailors to be bossed about and fill in their ranks.

The next ship's team consists of Katarina and Ignacio, with three fresh-faced boys who've barely found their sea legs. It shows in the uncertainty and hesitance that underlines their fleeting glances between each other.

"Lord Ignacio, it looks as though you are now the rightful captain of this vessel," Katarina solemnly informs Ignacio, eyeing their team with a wry curve of the lips. She scrambles to the side, motioning the Knight-Captain forward to the sails with her fast on his heels.

A look of askance is shot across the water towards the other ship, shouting, "Who will lead on your end?"

On the horizon a boat had appeared. It draws closer ever so gradually until it is close enough for those already breaking into the sea to view.

The boat is of equivalent size that the volunteers have loaded themselves into. However a tiny flag with a green and blue snarling dog can be seen wavering on the boat. It is manned by a small group of grizzled men, who stand under the command of Lord Jaerith Keaton. "Your Highness!" The Commander of the Riverdogs calls out as his longboat nears. "I thought I would be so kind as to ruin your exercise!"

Ignacio grins broadly over to Katarina, "Well, I can do that. You give a Knight the command of a warship, you better like boarding other vessels." He says with a chuckle.

Cirroch climbs aboard the ship with little trouble, climbing is something he is use to, at least! Once aboard the ship he looks around, brown eye studying the vessel, much like you'd expect someone who's been on a ship enough times you can count it on one hand. "Well...I guess I am the Captain? I seem to be the most inexpedienced person here."

"you can call yourself Captain Gem, if you want." says Armani to Cirroch, brightly, "My crews call me that all the time." she says with a laugh. "So, you can borrow the title a while."

"No thank you," Cirroch says with a little laugh given to Armani, shaking his head as he grins wide. "I would do shame to your name if I took it. You keep it, I will take the title of Junior Admiral Cirroch, though even that sounds like it requires too much skill for me."

"There will be plenty of time for that soon enough," Katarina laughs at Ignacio's words, a moment spent gathering her hair into a heavy braid at her nape and tucking it into the back of her tunic so as to not get herself caught. When a new boat appears upon the horizon, the tiny flags with a snarling dog upon a backdrop of greens and blues earns an exasperated look from her.

"It's always a pleasure to have you ruin my exercises, Lord Commander! I'm so glad you could at least join us," she shouts, her voice straining to echo across the waters once Jaerith has neared their longboats enough.

"Captains," she addresses the chosen captains between the three boats. "Your objective is to sail against the winds southeast toward a cove just a few miles up. It's far enough to give you enough of an opportunity to stretch your vessel's sea legs and get a feel for operations. Use your map to help see yourselves there. First one there gets an awesome advantage in the next part of the exercise."

"When you're ready, oars up! Sails unfurled, then go!"

It's a race! (OOC: Captains roll intellect + sailing at 20 to determine how well you can navigate by map, then command + leadership/propaganda/manipulation/however you get your people to work well for you at 20.)

Cirroch checked intellect + sailing at difficulty 20, rolling 2 lower.

Cirroch checked command + leadership at difficulty 20, rolling 27 higher.

Jaerith checked intellect + sailing at difficulty 20, rolling 38 higher.

Ignacio checked intellect + sailing at difficulty 20, rolling 10 lower.

Ignacio checked command + leadership at difficulty 20, rolling 24 higher.

Jaerith checked command + leadership at difficulty 20, rolling 24 higher.

Ian is, as it turns out, a pretty patient teacher when explaining to Cirroch how to puzzle his way through the map and work the tiller. (Which is what he's here to do, after all.) His calm, measured demeanor takes things slow enough to be easy to follow without seeming condescending, and he's got a knack for distilling complex concepts into a few words.

Knowing absolutely no sailing commands or anything about sailing a ship except for being a passenger (not to stare at the horizon when you have sea sickness), the Knight picks a obviously poor sailing direction, Ignacio is no novice at commanding soldiers though. He calls out, giving bad instructions, but the crew apparently understand what he wants them to do.

Once Caspian is done getting instruction from Ian and has the map he takes it, looking it over, smiling as he says, "It should be simple, right? I've read maps before..." But not nautical maps! He unrolls it and looks it over, tilting his head a little, then turns the map rightside up. "Oh, right...so...we are going...that way?" Once the course is decided he turns to the man and begins giving them the command. At least that part he has down!

Languidly steping along the center of his longboat, Jaerith tilts his head back and lets out a howl. "Lord Wash." The man lets out as he walks delicately among his men. "Let's frustrate these new learning Captains shall we?" Jaerith goes to rest at the head of the longboat, languidly and almost lazily giving commands on their bearing as the men begin to take it on with practiced ease. "Lord Wash, care for a drink?"

In Ian's proper deference to the commands of his captain there is absolutely no hint of whether they're going the wrong way or not. On a ship, the way the captain says is the right way is the right way, after all.

Ignacio checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 6 higher.

Cirroch checked luck at difficulty 7, rolling 2 lower.

Wash inclines his head to Jaerith. "As you will Commander." He keeps both hands behind him, passing no judgment and offering no assistance as Jaerith appears quite competent.

Wash inclines his head to Jaerith. "I'll have ice water, if you stock it. I like to pretend I'm at luncheon at these sort of things."

The Keaton Lordling glances up to Wash. Looking around at his men. "The Lord Kennex has asked for ice water on a Riverdog vessel." Jaerith announces loudly with a wry smile. It is answered by howling laughter by the men even as Jaerith goes to pour himself a glass of whiskey. He looks at the water surrounding the boat. "What do you say boys, does it look pretty icy out there?"

Katarina maintains a minimal presence aboard Ignacio's ship, giving basic instruction on reading his map and navigating the rougher patches of surf as the waters continue to churn with promise of a storm upon the horizon. "Fingers crossed for you, my lord," she promises to her Captain-in-training amidst a fit of giggles.

As Cirroch and Ignacio dole out the orders to their crew, it's naught but a few moments before the sails are fully unfurled to allow the wind to guide them forward across the bay. The shores they departed from slowly grow faint in the distance the further they travel. Jaerith and Wash's longboat crest ahead of the fledgling crews, easily heading southeast with Ignacio trailing behind, gaining steadily but surely while his fresh-faced crew get the hang of maneuvering the sails and keeping steady with oars up.

Cirroch on the other hand, somehow, decides that west is really east, and ends up in the opposite direction towards shallow waters where the maneuvering the longboat might prove a little tricky.

Cirroch checked intellect + sailing at difficulty 20, rolling 11 lower.

Ignacio checked intellect + sailing at difficulty 20, rolling 13 lower.

Ignacio checked command + leadership at difficulty 20, rolling 5 higher.

Armani pretty much just keeps drinking her rum. She's not doing anything but drinking. Until she realizes the ship is going shallow and at risk of being hurt, "Poor little ship." she murmurs and gracefully flows to her feet to move and help Cirroch get back on track.

"It's cold, but I'm not about to drink it." Wash says with a wry smile. "But thank you. I've had my bath today already."

Jaerith checked intellect + sailing at difficulty 20, rolling 37 higher.

Jaerith checked command + leadership at difficulty 20, rolling 11 higher.

Armani checked command + sailing at difficulty 20, rolling 27 higher.

Ian seems to be staying out of it, although he does make a mental note to explain to Cirroch about soundings, later.

Cirroch guides his boat the wrong way. Really, he thought he was going the right way, but then he notices the others are going the opposite direction! He notices that the others are slowly getting further and further away from him. "Huh..." He furrows his brows, but when Armani provides him instruction he lets out a quite nod to Armani, and follows her instruction to avoid danger. "Thanks, last thing I want to do is run us aground. But shit, we're behind. We got a lot of ground...err...water to make up."

The dark haired knight holds his arm out pointing at Jaeith's vessel ahead of them as he calls out clearly bad commands, "Faster Starboard, lower the port!" Perhaps hearing those terms at one time, "We need to get past him." But there is no doubt there is an air of authority about the orders issued.

"Don't put ships assure unless you're ready too." says Armani playfully to Cirroch once she has got him back on track to her satisfactory. "Ships are cruel mistresses. Once you ground her when she doesn't want you too, she is unforgiving." The boat is given what can only be called an affectionate pat. Back she steps once more to leave the Captain to Captaining duties, concluding, "I'm going to call you Sailor Ground." she says to the Marquis with a grin. THat all done and said Armrani returns to emptying her bottle of rum, muttering, "Shoulda brought more."

It's no surprise that Jaerith and Wash are cruising right ahead with little worry in sight. Up ahead upon the horizon, the coast breaks away into an inlet where another Eventide Fleet vessel sits anchored. Two more longboats half-manned with a few seamen float near its bow, watching their horizon for signs of the encroaching ships with patience.

The young men aboard Ignacio's ship respond with fervent energy to the air of authority to his issues ordered, even if they don't quite make sense. And in a moment, it becomes glaringly obvious that maybe lowering the port in the direction they travel isn't the best idea. The sails slacken as he loses the winds, the ship slowing down steadily until it becomes becalmed in a patch of placcid waters.

As for Cirroch's crew, the guy's fortunes have run him afoul. His crew - following only his orders, and not their common sense - just get themselves turned around and have to have a drink. Or three. Maybe four. They're not only just behind, but way behind.

"It's not easy to kedge a ship this size out of the shallows without a capstan, but it can be done," Ian remarks to Armani. "It's a trick we used to use from time to time to come at someone from an unexpected direction."

Cirroch checked intellect + sailing at difficulty 20, rolling 6 lower.

"What a mess." Jaerith folds his arms over his chest as he walks to the back of his longboat. Glancing over his shoulder at Wash before looking over the longboats behind them. "Come on boys! Push!" The Riverdog Commander is yelling to the ships behind him, and not his own ship. He pauses to knock back a tankard of whisky. Swallowing. "Come on! You've got to catch us!"

Ignacio checked intellect + sailing at difficulty 20, rolling 8 lower.

Ignacio checked command + leadership at difficulty 20, rolling 10 higher.

Jaerith checked intellect + sailing at difficulty 20, rolling 17 higher.

Cirroch checked command + leadership at difficulty 20, rolling 24 higher.

Jaerith checked command + leadership at difficulty 20, rolling 27 higher.

"And this is why you don't put a northerner on a boat," Cirroch says with a laugh, trying now to catch up with the ships as they grow further and further appart. But every time he tries to adjust course he overcorrects and has to recorrect, only to fail that as well. But once the men are done refreshing he calls out, "Alright! Back to rowing!"

Ignacio checked composure at difficulty 15, rolling 7 higher.

Wash leans forward on the rail. "How much experience do your riverdogs have on the open ocean?" He asks quietly of their captain.

Ignacio clenches his fist and takes a deep breath as his smokey emerald gaze watches Jaerith's ship pull even further ahead. He turns to his crew as he clenches his jaw, "Fix that sail, we need to get some ground." He says, this time trying to abandon any sailing lingo he thought he might know, but it is becoming apparently to himself that he doesn't know any, "If this were war, we would be letting them get away!" He calls out to the crew.

Katarina checked charm + empathy at difficulty 20, rolling 9 lower.

Cirroch turns his gaze over to Ian and Armani, smirking thier way as he ask, "So, how am I doing? On a scale of one to ten? Feel free to lie to make me feel better, because I'm getting no where fast."

"Enough." Comes the simple answer from Jaerith to Wash. There's another howl from the men aboard the longboat as Jaerith sets down his glass and starts to drink straight from the bottle, apparently giving up on the boast behind them that they are pulling far ahead of.

"It's not nothing to with where you're from. Everything to do with lack of experience." At Cirroch's question Armani says with a laugh, "You've gotten further than I did when I first started sailing." she was probably really young, mind. "you're doign well enough." A grin is given to Ian, "I only take risks my whole crew is on board with."

Ian raises his eyebrows to Cirroch. "For someone who's been given command of a ship without a few years of sailing under his belt? Pretty good. Ordinarily, you'd learn this stuff under a captain before being expected to do it on your own. But desperate times."

Ian also admits to Armani: "You do have to be pretty sure you're not going to be caught in the middle of a sand bar by the smuggler you're supposed to be chasing down."

The race ends quite amusingly with Jaerith and Wash's crew basking in the half hour of downtime whilst waiting for the remaining vessels to catch up with them. It's a grueling period for Cirroch and Ignacio, but they do eventually manage to find themselves moving along to bring up the rear.

When they finally are all amassed near the looming shadow of the galley watching vigilantly over them, the crewmen deploy the oars - if they haven't already - to form a semi-circle where the respective teams are facing each other.

The longboat half-manned with Katarina's crew glides forward through the waters to hand out all manner of wooden sparring weapons and naval siege equipment to each vessel respectively, along with a small cache of rum and assorted goodies housed inside a cheesily painted treasure chest. Except Jaerith. He gets nothing but an empty treasure chest.

"I hope everyone is getting too frustrated. And if they are, this is the time to vent that frustration when you try to capture the treasures from each other's ships. Use whatever tactics you like to claim your glorious booty, even capsizing."

"You spend a lot of time patrolling rivers in the Oathlands, I'm sure." Wash says. "Hence the name. Do you ever get out to Westrock Reach? Lovely place from what I've heard. Never been." He is disappointed that his crew has no sparring weapons in their chest. "We can't fight off boarders without weapons."

"I honestly can't tell if you two are being honest or you took me seriously and are lieing to make me feel better," Cirroch says over to the two, but then he looks as the wood weapons are delivered. "Capsizing? Well, that's pretty serious," he says with a smirk. He looks over to Ignacio and Jaerith's ships, letting out a soft hum of thought. "This isn't going to be easy."

Jaerith has joined the Northern Dunes.

Katarina has joined the Quiet Strand.

Ignacio has joined the Quiet Strand.

Ian has joined the Wooden Picnic Table.

Wash has joined the Northern Dunes.

Armani has joined the Wooden Picnic Table.

Octavian, a silken spaniel arrives, delivering a message to Ian before departing.

Miella, a dark-haired shop apprentice arrives, delivering a message to Ignacio before departing.

Cirroch has joined the Wooden Picnic Table.

THe Gilden Admiral looks aghast, "No capsizing." she insists to her companions. THat is the only thing that seems to concern her. THe capsizing of ships. THat is just a sin against boats.

Jaerith checked wits + sailing at difficulty 20, rolling 36 higher.

Once the treasure chest is received, Jaerith's boat begins moving. Getting a good distance away from the other two. There is a brief pause. As his ship comes to a pause, the men rowing to tread water. "Oy!" The shout cries out over the water. "Northman!" He walks down the length of his ship, cupping his hands around his mouth as he shouts. "Is it your mind or your northmen that are so slow?"

Ian seems to have decided that the threat of capsizing requires a lifeguard more than it requires a boarding party, at least as far as he's concerned. He's taking off his boots and coat.

Ignacio checked wits + sailing at difficulty 20, rolling 3 lower.

Cirroch approaches the edge of his deck, cupping his hands as he shouts over to Jaerith, "No! We are just paralyzed by the foul stench of you and your men! I can smell it from here! I've smelled bear carcases that smell better then you!" He grins at that, reaching to pinch his nose.

Armani lifts her voice to respond to Jaerith, voice just as cheery (and perhaps a little less than sober sounding), "Nah. We're just better planners than you are, you know. Don't you know what they say about quick men?" THe Gilden Amiral has no reason to hold back her tongue when she is on a ship. Even if it is for training.

Cirroch checked intellect + sailing at difficulty 15, rolling 12 lower.

Ian checked perception + survival at difficulty 20, rolling 18 higher.

Ignacio checked intellect + sailing at difficulty 15, rolling 6 lower.

Katarina checked dexterity + small wpn at difficulty 25, rolling 32 higher.

Ian is, indeed, it would seem, going to be a life guard instead of defender. Boots, coat, and shirt are off (woo woo!) and he's about to slip into the water.

"Stop trying to drive now. We already decided who is doing what. Go get ready." That said the Gilden noblewoman pushes Cirroach out of the way to take over the sailing. She acks with perfect confidence.

Ignacio checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 25, rolling 28 higher.

Armani has rolled a critical success!
Armani checked command + sailing at difficulty 15, rolling 99 higher.

Cirroch checked strength + huge wpn at difficulty 15, rolling 44 higher.

Katarina checked command + sailing at difficulty 15, rolling 36 higher.

Ignacio checked command + sailing at difficulty 15, rolling 6 higher.

Jaerith checked command + sailing at difficulty 15, rolling 34 higher.

Ignacio continues to sail towards the other ships, but lets Katarina take over as he grumbles to her, "This is what I learn about this whole thing. You keep naval commanders on ships and knights on land."

Once Cirroch is removed from command he instead stands at the bow of the ship, readying himself, weapon at the ready as he awaits for ther ship to get closer to their target, Jaerith, wielding a two handed wooden sword.

As the ships come together, Ian slips into the water.

THe skill Armani shows in handling the ship absolutely explains why she is an admiral. THe Gilden skillfully guides the ship to line up along side Jaerith's, leaving /barely/ enough space to avoid crashhing into each other but enough space for people to board. "Regret rushing your decisions yet?" wonders Armani of Jaerith as she keeps the ship steady. She seems to having no trouble.

Ian checked strength + athletics at difficulty 25, rolling 35 higher.

Wash checked perception at difficulty 20, rolling 8 lower.

Jaerith checked perception at difficulty 20, rolling 6 lower.

Wash checked dexterity + athletics at difficulty 25, rolling 16 higher.

Ignacio checked dexterity + athletics at difficulty 25, rolling 20 higher.

Katarina doesn't immediately engage Jaerith and Armani's longships, instead maneuvering herself and Ignacio to the opposite side of Jaerith in a threaten to pinch him in between ships if he isn't vigilant enough. Once they drift in range, the princess takes aim with stuffed sacks of rice to begin attempting to try and pelt Jaerith from behind. "This'll teach you to ruin our games!" she shouts, leaving just enough gap that Ignacio can try to board if he needs to.

Finally the knight sees the opening he was looking for as his ship comes up, taking advantage of Jaerith's vessel engaging Cirroch's. He easily leaps between the two vessels and charges the nearest man with his wooden blade he gets the chance too, charging up their flanks.

Ignacio checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 25, rolling 47 higher.

Cirroch checked strength + huge wpn at difficulty 15, rolling 46 higher.

Ignacio checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 25, rolling 51 higher.

Katarina checked dexterity + sailing at difficulty 25, rolling 22 higher.

Ian checked strength + athletics at difficulty 25, rolling 18 higher.

Jaerith checked command + sailing at difficulty 20, rolling 43 higher.

Armani checked command + sailing at difficulty 25, rolling 45 higher.

Armani just keeps on keeping the ship steady, undoubtedly with one of the miniony sailors. THe sailor with her is charged with assuring to keep an eye on possible invasions while still guiding the ship to keep up with Jaerith.

Wash checked dexterity + war at difficulty 20, rolling 31 higher.

Ian is... somewhere. Lifeguarding? He's not immediately visible, not that anyone has a reason to stop fighting and look for him. Hopefully, he didn't drown.

As the battle for treasure commences, it's quite an interesting turn to see Wash and Ian respectively jumping ship to splash into the waters while shouts from the crews ring out across the open waters. Jaerith's longship begins to readjust in an attempt to escape the steady encroach of Armani closing in from the starboard while Katarina holds steady in an attempt to close in him from the port.

Down below, it's a mission of speed and subterfuge while Ian and Wash are hidden from the eyes of those above. Cirroch and Ignacio have an opportunity to board Jaerith's ship to overwhelm him, or defend their own.

Cirroch is not one to play it safe. He leaps upon Jaerith's ship and goes right for the treasure chest, shouting out to Ignacio and Jaerith, "I'm sorry my lords, but your treasure now belongs to me!"

Ignacio looks around for someone to fight upon his freshly boarded ship. The dark haired knight just barrels towards Cirroch, looking to secure the chest before the man can escape with it.

Ignacio checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 25, rolling 43 higher.

Jaerith checked command + sailing at difficulty 20, rolling 32 higher.

Cirroch checked dexterity + huge wpn at difficulty 68, rolling 6 lower.

Cirroch checked dexterity + huge wpn at difficulty 25, rolling 35 higher.

Ignacio checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 60, rolling 2 lower.

Cirroch tries to move his wooden sword to block at Ignacio's swing, but he isn't fast enough, and the man is struck by his blow. He winces, looking quite determined now, all playfullness fading away as he swings his sword towards Ignacio's arm to strike it in a counter.

A broad grin on is on Ignacio's face as the wooden swords thunk about, but the grin doesn't fade as he is struck by Cirroch, but just seems more determined and for the first time of this whole Naval exercise the knight seems to be enjoying himself.

Armani checked command + sailing at difficulty 25, rolling 56 higher.

In the chaos of battle, with Jaerith's men desperately trying to maneuver and Armani's ship trying to catch him, nobody has any reason to look at the far side of his ship, the side pointing away from the action. A single man holding on doesn't make very much drag, certainly not enough to be noticed in conditions like these, with the water churning rough enough for small whitecaps to top the choppy seas. And as fighters storm from deck to deck, who would look in the direction AWAY from the action, where Ian, displaying some pretty impressive upper body strength, hauls himself out of the water and onto the deck of the river rats' ship.

Katarina checked command + sailing at difficulty 25, rolling 30 higher.

Wash does, eventually, drenched, climb onto Katarina's longboat. He pulls himself aboard, wooden knife clenched in his teeth like a pirate his family is famed to hunt.

Sailors scramble out of the way of Cirroch and Ignacio as the two come to blows with their wooden weapons. The Knight-Captain holds fast against the defending captain's onslaught. Jaerith's attempt to wrest himself free of the pincered position between two longships prove increasingly difficult as Armani continues to push forward to meet his every maneuver.

All the while, Ian comes aboard Jaerith's ship with little resistance while everyone else is engaged in their own tactics to sieze hold of treasures or free themselves from unfavorable naval positions. Wash manages the same, given Katarina's back is turned and her attention on trying to bring her own ship pinning into Armani's. The treasure chest sits within eyesight, but can they claim it and make off with it undetected?

Armani is still busily keeping the ship she is driving on track. She calls to Cirroch and Ian, "Let me know when you go to the next ship. I'll move over there." Armani, is even ignorign her boozde to handle her ship.

Ignacio checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 60, rolling 3 lower.

Cirroch checked dexterity + huge wpn at difficulty 57, rolling 7 lower.

Cirroch checked dexterity + huge wpn at difficulty 20, rolling 36 higher.

Ignacio checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 56, rolling 23 lower.

Cirroch checked stamina + survival at difficulty 15, rolling 14 higher.

Wash isn't expecting to sneak past a bunch of men on the ship. That's why he brought a partner. He moves to take Katarina hostage instead, claiming the treasure in exchange for her 'life'.

Again Cirroch tries to block Ignacio, and again he gets struck, letting out a small cry as he takes the painful blow. But that doesn't stop him from swinging his sword in turn to strike Ignacio right back, hitting him with his big, hard, stiff wood. Oh lala

The ships rock as the continue to bump into each other. Lunging forward, Ignacio makes contact with Cirroch, but the large black haired man strikes back against Ignacio. In combination of the ships movements and the wooden greatsword, Ignacio hits the railing and overboard he goes with a splursh!

Armani checked command + sailing at difficulty 25, rolling 35 higher.

Jaerith checked perception at difficulty 20, rolling 4 lower.

Cirroch has left the Wooden Picnic Table.

Ignacio is overheard praising Katarina for: She has provided insightful Naval training to forces of the Compact. Hopefully this will bare fruit in the battles to come.

Ian has left the Wooden Picnic Table.

Ignacio has left the Quiet Strand.

Jaerith has left the Northern Dunes.

Wash has left the Northern Dunes.