They came aboard, all blades and screams. We didn't have any fight in us, and they took our provisions, our extra sails, all of our tools, and our fat sot of a captain's gold. Then they asked who the chief carpenter was. When everyone looked my way, they clapped hands on me and dragged me across to their ship. That was one year, ten battles, and twice as many ports ago. Had I known that I'd be better off on a pirate's ship than on a merchant's vessel...
“Well, it reminds me of part of a song the sailors sang when I used to cut planks for the Shipwrights' Guild: ‘There's a ship that's a leavin' Quent, and on you'll quickly sign. The captain's a tyrant, the bosun's worse, but she'll a-suit ya fine.'â€
—Mathis Trevain, Master Carpenter aboard the Emerald Wake
Its been 36 hours since The Wormwood boarded the Man's Promise and you were there for it. A small group of would be pirates were ordered to attack the aft deck and sterncastle and to secure and hold it during the boarding action. This team, your team, did its job and it it well. You took prisoners, stopped anyone from escaping in the ship's boats, and held the wheel for the entire fight. Captain Barnabas Harrigan was mightily impressed, and pleased when a warning shout from Maggie saved him from being ambushed by a Rahadoumi sailor's blade.
You has time to party and celebrate, and to mourn the death of Jack Scrimshaw , Barefoot Samms Toppin and Tilly Brackett, all three of them friends to the group. You now find yourself at dawn, a day plus after the celebration started, and it has finally wound down. The ship's bell sounds, calling all hands on deck.
When the crew is assembled, a long line of captured officers and sailors from the Man's Promise is brought on deck and paraded before the crew. Captain Harrigan addresses the captives first, offering a place on the Wormwood's crew for any who want to throw their lot in with pirates. Serveral of the Rahadoumi sailors step forward; Master Scourge cuts their bonds, and the sailors take their places among the Woodwood's crew.
Harrigan than turns to address the crew, “All right, you scurvy tars! You've done a right good job by me—we've got a second ship now, and she's quite a prize from the looks of her. But I still have only one crew. So here's the plan—the Wormwood will sail on to our planned destination with our new shipmates here, while Mr. Plugg will pick a skeleton crew to sail the Man's Promise to Port Peril, where she'll be worth a pretty penny as salvage."
"As for these fine fellows hereâ€â€”Harrigan gestures at the remainder of the captured ship's crew—“some of them will no doubt be worth a hefty ransom from their families back in Azir. And for the rest, if the life of a pirate's not for them, they can spend the rest of their lives at sea!â€
To make his point, Harrigan grabs one of the Rahadoumi sailors and throws her overboard to the accompaniment of cheers and laughter from the Wormwood's crew. As the unfortunate woman sinks beneath the waves, many of the remaining sailors scramble to swear their loyalty to Harrigan. The officers are led belowdecks and the crew begins to disperse to their daily tasks.
As they do, Mr. Plugg and Master Scourge start to pick out several of the Wormwood's original crew, telling them to be aboard the Man's Promise within 10 minutes to set sail for Port Peril.... they are working their way up the line.