[OL-FB2] Deception at the Terrabanks

[Franco Clarke]

The convoy continued on its journey, now with the addition of one recently liberated pirate ship. They docked at Amicable Point, and off-loaded the pathetic pirates. Indeed sailing into the harbour with a skull and crossbones sail had caused quite a stir. Now the group was on the final leg of the voyage through the Terrabank region.

Erwin grimaced as he held the Vif on a steady course. The quicker they made it through this area, the better, the Terrabank brought up unpleasant memories.

A call from the lookout brought him back to the present, as a larger vessel was approaching the convoy head on.  The Terrabank was a popular area with pirates, since the areas of shallow water prevented the entry of larger warships. Therefore this lone vessel was unlikely to be a merchant ship.

If the ship was indeed a pirate, and it was at least slightly more competently crewed than the last, they were in for a hard fight. It likely outgunned their convoy and also had a comparable number of crew. If only Stingray wasn't in for repairs, this would be a simple task. Erwin caught Private Collins' newly captured ship out of the corner of his eye. It still hadn't been repainted in Oleon colours, so might pass as a pirate ship. The approaching vessel still hadn't changed course, so Erwin decided it was better safe than sorry.

First he signalled Collins to bring his vessel up beside the Vif. The Colombe was ordered to drop back and escort the merchant ships in case the plan went wrong.

Private Collins called across 'Are you worried by that ship advancing from the East?'

Erwin walked up to the rail, picking up the hat of the pirate captain they had left at Amicable Point.

'Indeed, and I think you are the key to defeating it,' Erwin replied, 'I want you to lower the Oleon Flag, and raise the old Jolly Roger. You will pretend to attack the Vif, hopefully fooling the new arrivals. Once we can get close enough we should be able to deal with the new vessel.'

'Sounds good sir, should we fire a few cannon shots in your general direction? That might help with the illusion' Collins shouted back.

'That would be perfect, just make sure you don't hit us! Also you might want this' said Erwin chucking the pirate hat across to Collins.

The two vessels parted ways, and Erwin got the crew to start shooting at Collins' boat. Collins removed his shako, stowing safely on the deck, then placed the grimy bicorn upon his head. At his signal the cannon roared, spitting a shot which bounced off the waves at the Vif's stern.

Inspecting the approaching ship, Erwin recognised that his fears had been correct; this ship was flying the Jolly Roger too. Hopefully it would try and use the Vif's apparent distraction to bypass the escort and attack the merchant ships directly. Turning the tiller slightly, Erwin redirected the Vif slightly so that it would appear easy to sail straight past it. They took the bait and continued on toward the merchants.

When the pirate ship was only 100 metres from the Vif, Erwin shouted 'Now' and turned the Vif so that it would come up on the starboard side of the pirate's cutter. Collins directed his boat to the port side of the pirate ship, pulling down the jolly roger and raising the battle flag of Oleon.

'Load the grape shot!' Erwin hollered, hoping that Collins would follow suit. If they were lucky they might be able to cut down a significant number of the pirates, levelling the playing field. The Vif drew level with the pirate ship, as Collins moved up on the opposite side.

'Fire!'

The grape shot achieved its goal and almost all the pirates who had been amassed on the deck of their ship in the hopes of raiding some defenceless merchants were immediately taken out of the fight. Those that survived unscathed grabbed onto the cannon which was mounted on the centre of the deck swinging it to point at Collins' apparently turncoat pirate ship. It kicked back, sending a heavy shot straight through the middle of the main deck. Water gushed out from the hole as the boat began to sink. A crewmember shouted up to Collins 'The ship is lost'.

Cheerfully, Collins shouted back 'Then it is time to get a new one!'

Seeing Collins' crew clambering up onto the deck of the pirate ship, Erwin signalled for his crew to follow suit.

'For Oleon!' he shouted grabbing onto the side of the pirate ship and beginning to climb up to the deck.

The fighting was short, and the pirates were quickly overcome. Trapped between two separate boarding parties, they stood little chance. The survivors quickly surrendered and the ship was taken.  Collins looked back to see that the deck of his ship was awash and the mast had collapsed.

'Sorry sir but the boat you entrusted to me is becoming a submersible' Collins said to Erwin, as the pirates were tied up on the deck of their ship.

'That is a pitty, but it would be far more awkward to try to stretch the Vif's crew over 3 ships' replied Erwin, 'Let's hope that the rest of the voyage is more peaceful' 

Here are a few clearer shots of the pirate ship, Wyvern. Surprisingly, this ship actually gets a set of sails and a little bit of rigging, although I kept the amount of string down since this is not intended to be a permanent build.

She was originally going to have a low stern, more similar to the Colombe, but once I found that dragon arch, I had to use it, hence the high stern. The dragon theme spread through the rest of the ship as well. I've just noticed that I put the flag back on upside down, oh well.

The deck is quite cramped, especially around the stern. Holes in the main deck should serve as access underneath.

In the style of a classic ship, I made the stern deck pivot up too access the stern cabin, not that there is anything inside.

 

[Capt Wolf]

More good storytelling! And I really like the Wyvern. You're right about the dragon arch -- that piece was perfect for the high stern. The flag also fits nicely with the theme. You should license the Wyvern as a 2A; it's worth keeping!

[blackdeathgr]

Yay for this ship design and triple yay for that dragon arch!!! It looks so good on the stern! My only remark would be that those two shields are a bit off as they spoil the curving a bit

[TitusV]

Very nice ships, as always! I'm a conformist!!

[Franco Clarke]

On 04/10/2016 at 3:19 PM, Capt Wolf said:

More good storytelling! And I really like the Wyvern. You're right about the dragon arch -- that piece was perfect for the high stern. The flag also fits nicely with the theme. You should license the Wyvern as a 2A; it's worth keeping!

Thank you, The high stern was mostly as a result of trying to fit the arch into the ship. I think I will keep it around, until I get enough parts to make something else out of it.

On 05/10/2016 at 8:04 PM, blackdeathgr said:

Yay for this ship design and triple yay for that dragon arch!!! It looks so good on the stern! My only remark would be that those two shields are a bit off as they spoil the curving a bit

I am glad that you like the arch. I see what you mean about the shields, and I have now replaced them with dragon plumes which looks better I think.

[Elostirion]

The amount of effort you keep putting in your storytelling, but also your photography acommpanying the story, is amazing as always! Small criticism: In the third pic your flags wave in different directions unfortunately.

The ship, though maybe slightly too short, looks really cool, the dragon on the sail is such a nice detail. Also I like the use of static rifles!

[Garmadon]

Great story and very nice ship, Franco Clarke, the use of that dragon arch is perfect, and the rest of the ship is very nice as well, although the rounded front gives it a little bit of a chibi look!   Not that that's a bad thing!  Keep it up! 

[Franco Clarke]

On 07/10/2016 at 4:40 PM, Elostirion said:

The amount of effort you keep putting in your storytelling, but also your photography acommpanying the story, is amazing as always! Small criticism: In the third pic your flags wave in different directions unfortunately.

The ship, though maybe slightly too short, looks really cool, the dragon on the sail is such a nice detail. Also I like the use of static rifles!

Thanks for the heads up, its so easy to forget about things like flags! I'm glad someone noticed the dragon sail, it came out very faint in the photos. 

On 08/10/2016 at 3:45 PM, Garmadon said:

Great story and very nice ship, Franco Clarke, the use of that dragon arch is perfect, and the rest of the ship is very nice as well, although the rounded front gives it a little bit of a chibi look!   Not that that's a bad thing!  Keep it up! 

Thank you, once I had decided upon the dragon arch, It all came together very short and fat, and I kinda like it that way!