[Mission 1] Capture Lissa!

[Elrick]

Sunday 29th November 1807.
Grand Harbour, Valetta, Malta.

It is a chilly Sunday morning in Grand Harbour. There is a winter storm blowing outside, but the wind hardly ruffles the water here in the sheltered anchorage. Lt McElliam looks across the harbour as he has done on so many morning watches, past the anchored vessels coming to life, to the shattered walls of Fort St Elmo breached so long ago when the Turk failed to take the island from the Knights of St John. The captain went ashore early this morning for orders from the Admiral and Lt Arkwright will be taking the church service this morning in his place.

Mission: Capture Lissa!
Challenges: 4
Deadline: Before the French counter-attack (4 failed challenges)
Reward: +1 to Reputation (ship or admiral); +1 to buy a trait
Failure: Ship Morale Maimed

Orders: Proceed to the island of Lissa off the Illyran coast in company with HMS Caledonia and HMS Swanage (troop transports). Support landing operations with a view to taking and holding the island. Drive off or destroy French forces in the area. Do not enter into hostilities against Ottoman or other neutral forces in the area.

[Feel free to comment on or suggest changes to any part of this mission]

[Neil Gow]

Arkwright looks around the deck as the men make their final preparations for the coming voyage and he smiles a contented smile. He may have only been on this ship for scant few weeks but in that short time he has learned a few important things. The first, and the most important, is that these men are some of the best he has sailed with. Some veterans of Trafalgar and Copenhagen, some simply weathered hands whose tough tanned skin shows a goodly few years in the Mediterranean station and all proficient in their allocated tasks. It is a good ship.

The second revelation was that the Captain - an American of all sorts - was not a man who would take the actions of a man in the past to be proof of his actions in the future. A good business that as well, as Arkwright's references were hardly glowing. His service has been exemplary, his relationship with his Captains less so.

The third, however, was totally unexpected on a King's ship. Sometime in the past, a Captain had upon this ship a real hellfire and brimstone preacher. A man who would scream and bully, threaten and chastise. A firebrand who would condemn a man to Hell for the slightest transgression as he sailed to lay down his life for his countrymen. That voyage was 'cursed' - if such a nonsense could be believed - and since then, the men of the ship have made their dislike of the clergy very plain, and thats the way Arkwright likes it.

Of course, that doesn't mean that the men must not have the fairytales of the Bible read to them, in the ridiculous ceremony eld on every ship, every Sunday and that means that Arkwright has the onerous responsibility of spreading the madness a little further. He considers his tactics - how he can make the service as short and as meaningless as possible, sighs, and then calls out.

" Perry? Gather the men on deck and lets get this .... underway."

[Elrick]

Lieutenant Arkwright is rescued at almost the last instant. As Midshipman Perrivale turns to give the orders the lookout calls out that the captain's boat is putting out from the fort.

[Halfbat]

Aboard the gig, Perrivale nervously barks commands to the oarsmen, ignoring the occasional exasperated look. The sea is a little choppy... he snatches a look sideways at the Captain, trying to determine the mood of his commanding officer.

[Is it worth making this a challenge - getting the Captain to the Spartan in one piece, alive and unmaimed? I guess there may be other characters on board. ]

[kremmen]

The day is bust, timbers are tapped, checked and stored. Tools are stowed and catalogue, be damned to the thief who would steal tools from the "Spartan". They'd find their hand chopped off and the bloody stump rammed down their throat.

Inventory done, Elijah clapped his Assistant, Thurrock Oldfather, on the shoulder.

"Right den Master Thurrock, you go deckwards and see what's what. I close up the locker and we will see what use de ship make of us."

It takes a few minutes to double check that all is secure, before Elijah tours the gun deck, ensuring the bulkheads as are he would want them. He saw some of the gunners double checking the gun ropes and securing their storage as he made his way to the deck.

[Peanut]

Up in the rigging Bill made a show of checking everything was in order. He'd already established that it was but knowing that Church Service was due to start any time he'd rather be up here out of sight and, hopefully, earshot. Scanning the harbour he spots the Captain's boat heading back towards the Spartan. "Wonder what delights he's got for us now" he mutters to himself.

[Ovid]

Chambers stood to one side as the service was about to begin, already bored. He understood the necessity of this sort of thing for the morale of the ship. Sailors died often and if they were to maintain the kind of discipline needed to make sure at least some of them came back, then a good, traditional religious service was a help. But for Chambers it was all a bit much. It's not that he didn't believe in God. He wasn't some damned atheist! But Chambers' God wasn't terribly interested in ceremony and when it came to a little slackness, He was very... forgiving.

So when it became apparent that the Captain was coming back aboard, Chambers' feelings were mixed. On the one hand, it distracted from the service. But on the other, this probably meant they were leaving Valetta. Chambers sighed. He rather liked Malta. It was Catholic, and the great thing about Catholicism was that it forgave its adherents everything: a theological point Chambers enjoyed elucidating with numerous Maltese ladies.

[kremmen]

Up on deck the talk was of a service, making no obvious show about it Elijah returned under the decks to his locker, un locked it and took a piece of scrap bone he had, and started carving shapes, memories of his whaling days

[Neil Gow]

"Boatswain, your side party at the ready, if you would be so kind. I'll not have the Captain coming onboard to the silence of the depths. You men, lively now, get that tackle stowed and smartly!"

Arkwright rings his hands a little. He had to remember the names of these damned middies! Fairbright is the effette whelp who needs some time with the tailor. Perrivale is the mealy mouthed one who could probably buy the ship from loose change. To be fair, both of them needed a lot of work and probably a good thrashing to teach them a lesson.

Arkwright raises his glass to his eyes as the captain's boat comes towards the ship. Good approach, steady strokes, the Captain looks serene.

What will Perry do to mess this one up?

[Elrick]

[Is it worth making this a challenge - getting the Captain to the Spartan in one piece, alive and unmaimed? I guess there may be other characters on board. ]

I'd rather not make it a challenge for the mission just to get the captain back on board ship, but I'll go with the majority view.

Besides, I gave you the best small boat man in the Navy in seaman Glass. Chances are he's really controlling the boat & just letting the middie think it's him in charge...

[Peanut]

Bill allowed himself a little chuckle as he watched the new Lieutenant clearly fretting in his attempts to make his mark. Moving through the rigging he worked his way to a point that he hoped would allow him to eavesdrop when the Captain boarded and started looking busy.

[Neil Gow]

I'd rather not make it a challenge for the mission just to get the captain back on board ship, but I'll go with the majority view.

[There's quite a lot of potential action in the mission and we only have four challenges to clear it off, so reading between the lines a challenge for boarding our own boat might be a little weak. However, just doing a test might well help everyone see how you want to run tests/challenges in the future? A little settling moment.]

[Halfbat]

Besides, I gave you the best small boat man in the Navy in seaman Glass. Chances are he's really controlling the boat & just letting the middie think it's him in charge...

I think that's always the case! This middie is pretty incompetent, anyway...

[Ovid]

Chambers was in full, smart uniform anyway for the service, but he quickly brushed himself down and moved to where he could, as part of the ship's officer corps, formally welcome the Captain on board.

[Sorry to do this so early in the game, but I'm going away for a week. I'll be able to post tomorrow and then again from Friday 25th. Feel free to run Chambers as you see fit.]

[Elrick]

Besides, I gave you the best small boat man in the Navy in seaman Glass. Chances are he's really controlling the boat & just letting the middie think it's him in charge...

I think that's always the case! This middie is pretty incompetent, anyway...

Which gives us the basis of an example challenge to show everyone how this works. We can either:

test Perrivale's command or seamanship (your choice) vs Conrad Glass' seamanship (6) to see who really controls the boat,

or we can assume that Glass isn't aboard the boat and we can test Perrivale's command or seamanship against a static target (coming alongside should be routine, so that would be a pool of 3).

The win should be getting the Captain aboard smoothly. What would you like the lose to be?