Markus had shimmied his way up the mainmast, hanging off the left side, clinging to the web of ropes and surveying the battle they would engage in within mere minutes. There was an ease about how he took the situation that both unnerved and encouraged the men scrambling below. He wore a grin that by all accounts shouldn't be there, but Calliope would be able to see his eyes. He looked almost lustful, though unlike the base desire of sex that often supersede the mind, he was was sharp as a razor's edge. "Sketti! Load the payload!" Markus ordered. Sketti repeated him and drove on Sron and Halvar to lift the miniature barrel into the Seige Ballista, hauling it on as gently as they could and cranking the coiled ropes back to realign and set ready the weapon once more. Sketti's smile was almost as mad as Markus', and when the payload was loaded he whipped the two burly crew members to head to the middeck. "Off with ye, ye dogs!" Halvar looked at the canine-like Sron, and then at himself. The Norgardian not used to such terms. "I'm not a dog." The two hustled over to the main rope on the stern as Markus directed from above with his sword, ordering them to stay there and await his call. The crew was beyond nervous. It was in the air of the ship, palpable as the sea around them. They were miles from shore and about to engage in six to one odds, and their Captain seemed to pay it little mind. "Hold!" he cried to them, keeping everyone at their stations. Calliope gazed up at Markus, looking at him like he was mad. Recalling he was some vagabond she had met in the dungeons! On the crow's nest, Jax the Elf, normally jovial and carefree, looked a few paces below him at the Captain. "Orders, Captain?" he asked shakily. He wielded a longbow made of Caelic yew, laminated with various bits of the blessed trees that twirled around in overlapping colors of brown and tan. "The second ship at the portbow." Markus said to him, quiet enough to where only he and whoever bothered to listen could hear. "You find the Captain and kill him." "Aye sir!" "Captain!?" Phil called from below. Sketti and Markus were of a like mind here, both holding for the opportune moment. Likewise the enemy ships would be curious as to their next move, perhaps even contemplating the Weathered Witch was surrendering. Only the crashing waves and the distant shouts on the other ships were audible as Markus and Sketti held the crew for a few more paces... "Fire!" Markus ordered, Sketti following suit and releasing the payload on the Ballista. The Dwarves were famous for their nightvision, even more than Elves, but even if he couldn't see any particular person, all he needed to do was hit the leading ship. The powerful cables of the weapon snapped forward and the projectile was launched, sailing through the air and impacing on the aft of the front ship. Markus, without the aid of a railing to block the wind, could feel the heat on his face when the payload exploded into flames and engulfed the ship. It was as if Satan himself had turned the sea on fire. "Starboard!" Markus ordered. "Pull!" Sron and Halvar pulled on the rope with all of their might, and the Weathered Witch began to turn to the right, bypassing the ship that now was encumbered with flames and bodies. The payload was not designed to defeat a crew or destroy a ship, but leave it so badly charred they would be put out of a fight. Now their aft side was covered by a burning vessel, and their starboard had an enemy only a dozen paces away. "Fire the guns!" "Give them hell!" The broadside from both were defeaning, tearing chunks into the ships as the powder smoke billowed and overran the top of the deck as certainly as the fire did on the flame-occupied Galley. Markus' crew might not be well trained, but the guns from the keep had bolstered their arsenal enough to make the difference. They tore through the enemy's hull and shattered their resolve in two volleys. Even the aft mast was broken by a well aimed cannon ball, and whoever occupied the decks above the gun deck would have been hard pressed to survive. The Weathered Witch slowly passed them, until a Thunderbolt from another ship ripped into the ship, blasting Sketti and sending the Dwarf flying back into the mast, unconscious. If any other of the crew had been hit, they would be dead. But Dwarves are resilient to magic, Perhaps Calliope could cripple the wizard, and then maybe they could make for open water...but Markus doubted it. [@Penny]