Beyond the Shore: Session 7

The boy stood on the burning deck 

Whence all but he had fled; 

The flame that lit the battle's wreck 

Shone round him o'er the dead.

Yet beautiful and bright he stood, 

As born to rule the storm; 

A creature of heroic blood, 

A proud, though childlike form.

The flames roll'd on...he would not go 

Without his father's word; 

That father, faint in death below, 

His voice no longer heard.

He call'd aloud..."Say, father, say 

If yet my task is done!" 

He knew not that the chieftain lay 

Unconscious of his son.

"Speak, father!" once again he cried 

"If I may yet be gone!" 

And but the booming shots replied, 

And fast the flames roll'd on.

Upon his brow he felt their breath, 

And in his waving hair, 

And looked from that lone post of death, 

In still yet brave despair;

And shouted but one more aloud, 

"My father, must I stay?" 

While o'er him fast, through sail and shroud 

The wreathing fires made way,

They wrapt the ship in splendour wild, 

They caught the flag on high, 

And stream'd above the gallant child, 

Like banners in the sky.

There came a burst of thunder sound... 

The boy-oh! where was he? 

Ask of the winds that far around 

With fragments strewed the sea.

With mast, and helm, and pennon fair, 

That well had borne their part; 

But the noblest thing which perished there 

Was that young faithful heart.

-- Felicia Dorothea Hemans

________________________________________________________

"FIRE!" Caddis and Thaduk's simultaneous cries echoed across the deck. "Fire in Quarters!"

Within moments their cries were drowned out by the thump of dozens of feet and numerous other cries from the crew running to the foredeck, buckets of sand and sea-water in hand. The already damaged and blood-streaked door of the officer's quarters was kicked open, and soon everyone was working furiously to put out the fire.

Thaduk rushed to assist, cutting loose and swamping one of the jolly-boats, then hauling it up, filled to the brim with water. Shouldering his way through the crowd of sailors, he barged through the door, "accidentally" sloshing a large quantity of the water over the bloody stains on the door and further damaging the frame in his eagerness to deliver the water-filled boat. Once through, he upended the whole boat over the already depleted fire, dousing the last of it.

Walking out, but leaving the boat, Thaduk saw that the entire crew, officers and fuming captain included, were assembled on deck. He immediately walked over to Mr. Plugg, the first mate, and said, in hushed tones, "It looks like someone left a lantern burning in the officer's quarters."

Mr. Plugg's face went white as he realized that he was the last one to exit the quarters before dinner and the Bloody Hour. In a rare moment of brilliance, Thaduk caught upon the officer's clear distress and offered him a way out. "I saw someone wearing a tricorne hat leaving just before dinner..." Mr. Plugg's face lit up at the realization that someone else could take the fall in what was, without question, a death sentence. At Caddi's mental prodding Thaduk added, "He saw them too...", indicating Caddis should talk before the dumb orc slipped up in his lying.

Mr. Plugg pushed the two Moonplummers towards the captain. "Sir! These two claim they saw something..."

"Well! What was it?!" the captain bellowed.

Picking up on Thaduk's earlier implication, Caddis whirled, fixed Peppery Longfarthing with his evil-eye, and leveled a finger strait at her. "She left the lantern burning in the officer's quarters!" Rummy, Adriana, and Leopold all chimed in, adding a chorus of "Aye, we saw her!" At a glare from Mr. Plugg, Master Scourge also agreed that she was the culprit. Despite the fact that they were implicating the ship's Sailing Master, and the possibly ridiculousness of a skilled sorceress needing to use a lamp, the captain believed them.

"Grab her!" the captain yelled. Thaduk charged the sorceress, but she flowed away from his attack like water. Panicked, she began chanting the words to a lightning bolt spell, but was disrupted by Rummy hitting her right between the eyes with a thrown mug.

In the blink of an eye, the captain vanished, reappearing directly behind Ms. Longfarthing. His blade lashed out twice in rapid succession, the first running through Tam Tate, possibly by accident, or more likely just in a murderous fury. He withdrew the blade, now wreathed in red-black flames, and plunged it into the sorceress's back. As he withdrew it again for a final, killing blow, she stumbled forward and sprinted for the far rail. Only to be beaten down by Adriana, Rummy, and Caddis, using whatever they could get their hands on, and finished off by a blow from Leopold's terrifying sword.

The captain stalked forward, pulled the already dead Peppery up by her hair, and swiftly decapitated her. "Strip her and throw her over the side..." he said, in a voice that betrayed as much disappointment as anger. He then stormed away and vanished back into his cabin.

With no more specific orders, the party divided up Ms. Longfarthing's gear and chucked her body and severed head overboard. The startled crew, meanwhile retired to their bunks or settled in on the deck, some muttering angrily about the death of the relatively well-liked Sailing Master. A few minutes later, the master gunner, Riaris Krine came out of the captain's quarters carrying a bundle. "Captain said to return the weapons we confiscated from you..." she said, dropping it at their feet.

Caddis withdrew belowdecks to inspect and identify the items taken from Ms. Longfarthing, as well as a few items they'd brought with them from Moonplum Village, including Thaduk's bugle, Adriana's gunblade, and Caddis' rose.

________________________________________________________

Up on deck, Leopold and Rummy returned to their stations, having volunteered for the night-watch. Leopold sang to pass the time, while hanging out in the rigging, while Rummy stood watch. After another hour, Rummy noticed tiny lights in the distance. He whistled to Leopold, who confirmed that they looked like the lights on another ship.

Rummy ran to the Officer's quarters, where the remaining officers were busy cleaning up and repairing the mess caused to their space by the fire and the efforts to put it out -- not to mention the harpoon going through the door, the (mostly washed-away) blood stains, the tampered-with chests, the discarded jolly-boat, and the burned bedding. He got a few angry and suspicious looks, until he mentioned the lights. The officers rushed on deck and Mr. Plugg confirmed the sighting with a shout of "Ship ahoy!"

Master Scourge whistled for "all hands". Captain Herrera came on deck, ordering the lights doused and a pursuit course set, then looked around with the same look of rage and disappointment at having so recently murdered his Sailing Master and helmsman. Leopold swung down from the rigging and grabbed the wheel, whirling it easily into a pursuit course and earning an appreciated almost-smile from the captain.

Even with Leopold's expertise at the helm, with no sorceress to conjure wind into their sails, the chase was a long one. By morning the distant ship had spotted them and put up full sail. Leopold led the crew in a rousing chorus to keep their spirits up and stave off fatigue.

Finally, nearly thirty hours after Rummy first spotted the ship, they came within firing distance. The Red Sadness's cannon tore into the target ship's sails and splinted its mizzenmast, slowing it to a crawl. "Bring us alongside Mister Burton! Prepare for boarding!" Captain Herrera cried. He then stalked up to Caddis, "Go get Fishguts, tell him I want three hogs slaughtered to chum the waters, we don't want any of them drowning..."

As Caddis ran to deal with the pigs, Riaris Krine came back to where the rest of the party had assembled on the poop deck near the wheel. "Thaduk," she said, calling them over. "The ship’s wheel is on the aft deck, just below the sterncastle. Grapple over, kill the guards on the sterncastle, take the wheel, and guard the ship’s boats. Kill anyone who tries to get away on one of the boats. Don’t move from the wheel until the fighting’s done, or you’ll have to answer to me. Pick any two crewmen to take with you...”

There was some lively debate as to who the party should take with them to take the sterncastle. Sandara Quinn, as a healer they could mostly trust, was the obvious choice. The other was greatly debated, but they finally decided on taking Henrye, figuring that if things went poorly they could 'accidentally' knock him into the shark-infested waters to get rid of the troublesome wanna-be do-gooder.

Leopold held the wheel and ran the Sadness alongside the other ship, close enough that their hauls scraped with the sound of fingernails on a blackboard. Captain Herrera and the rest of the crew were across in moments, laying in to the enemy sailors. When the sterncastles came abreast, Thaduk picked up and hurled the Sadness' second jolly-boat, knocking three of the sailors guarding the sterncastle into the sea.

The remaining defenders returned fire with heavy crossbows, injuring Leopold. Caddis and Rummy fired back with crossbows of their own, then Sandara blanketed the enemy ship's deck with thick fog. Thaduk leaped the rail and impaled one of the sailors with a spear. Then Caddis had an idea...

"Thaduk! Get back aboard, we're taking the ship..." he messaged, to the orc and both of his (conveniently named) uncles. He signaled to Leopold to steer the Sadness away from the other ship, a not-unreasonable thing to do in the circumstances, now that battle was joined on the other deck. Leopold spun the wheel and struck up a song to inspire his comrades...

Sandara blasted one of the last two sailors in the sterncastle away from where they were attacking Thaduk. Thaduk spotted Captain Herrera engaged with two of the enemy officers through a break in the fog and hit the remaining defender with a powerful uppercut, sending him hurtling into the captain's back, before leaping the rail back onto the Sadness.

As the Sadness pulled away from the other ship, the other two Thaduks, as well as a few other crewmen broke off from combat and made running leaps for the ship. The Sot landed on the Sadness, but the Smith fell into the water. Thaduk looked back to see his uncle treading water and beating off sharks with his hammer. He rushed down to the officer's quarters, grabbed the very last jolly-boat (the one he'd been using to haul water) and hurled it to his uncle.

Rummy ran across the deck and cut a line, releasing the main topsail and using the falling spar as a counterweight to carry him up into the rigging where he quickly and masterfully tied the sail off. Leopold spun the wheel and the ship caught a strong easterly wind, speeding it away from the battle.

Meanwhile, on deck, two shots rang out, accompanied by a string of curses. Riaris Krine, who had been manning the fore-cannon, was stalking across the deck, pistols out and firing at Rummy and the other mutineers. Caddis, locked eyes with her and, with a flourish, somehow one of the bullets that had been hurtling toward Rummy appeared harmlessly in his hand, still burning hot from the flight. Focusing his evil eye, he charmed the master gunner.

Riaris quickly rounded up Thaduk and Thaduk the Sot to haul the long nine from the forecastle to the poop deck. Once set up, one carefully aimed shot put a hole in the other vessel, right at the water line. The other ship began to sink...

In a flash Captain Herrera appeared in the jolly boat with Thaduk Smith. The Smith swung his hammer, taking the captain in the kneecap before he was stabbed through the heart himself. Riaris took aim and hit the jolly boat with a second shot from the cannon, blowing it to flinders.

With the other ship crippled and sinking, Captain Herrera lost in the smoke and debris, and a stiff wind in their sails, our heroes made off with their stolen ship...

________________________________________________________

Crew who made it back aboard the Red Sadness:
Caddis Duncaster
Thaduk
Adrianna Harlowe
Leopold Burton
Rummy
Riaris Krine
Fishguts Kroop
Thaduk the Sot
Sandara Quinn
Henrye Allingham
Jessica Duncaster
Caulky Taroon
Tilly Bracket
Fipps Chumlett
Crimson Cog
Ratline Rattsberger
Badger Medlar

Justification for Your Paranoia

So [again, So seems to be my favorite word for starting posts], it's been a long while since I've posted one of these...life has been complicated, I might get into details in a future unrelated post. Even when not posting these, I am constantly reading and constantly setting aside potential material for these updates. Rather than bog you down with ALL of the security nonsense from the last few months, I've thrown out a pile and jumped to the last couple of weeks section. Here is a pile of recent weird stuff from the world of information security... Enjoy!

1) VTech

Several years ago, my wife and I both worked in the "Edutainment" industry, making supposedly educational computer software. As people who used to get paid to do research into the efficacy of such things, we made a strong commitment to never expose our children to such scams (and really, almost all educational software is a scam). Discussions of efficacy aside, during Thanksgiving week of this year, the world learned another big reason not to put their trust in educational software and gadgets: they have just as little security as everything else out there...

While not on the scale of many previous breaches (not that 6 million users is small, but relative to hundreds of millions, it certainly is), the breach of educational toy maker VTech made headline news for a much different reason: the breached users were children and families. Also, the information obtained was not just usernames and passwords. The hacker who pulled this one got the names, addresses, and photographs of children, along with logs of chats between parents and children, and even audio samples and recordings of the kids voices.  

Analysis of the VTech breach done by various groups has turned up the typical issues: SQL Errors, lack of data retention boundaries, bad or missing encryption, passwords stored as a simple MD5 hash (i.e. not encrypted at all), etc. etc. etc.  Troy Hunt's analysis on Arstechnica goes into a lot of useful detail about how horrendous VTech's security really was. If these problems were isolated, you might be fine, but these are problems industry wide. And I don't mean just edutainment. All tech companies (including the ones I work for) have these problems. Also, kids are not just getting their hands on kid-specific products like VTech (how many of you have handed your kid an iPad to distract them for a bit). 

Since the hack, every site and news source from ABCNews, to NPR, to Sophos (the antivirus vendor) have made recommendations about how parents should respond or 'how to keep your kids safe' or the like. Let me make it very simple for you as someone with expertise in both educational gadgets and security, who is also a parent...

Just Don't.

Don't buy them. Don't use them.

Give your kids a book. You can't hack a book. And they'll learn so much more...

The one redeeming grace in this story is that the hacker was a relatively ethical one. In an interview with Motherboard (who originally broke the story), said hacker revealed the existence of forums broadly dedicated to hacking the VTech Innotab tablet ("for the lulz"). So far as is known, the hacker has not sold or otherwise profited from the data dumps and claims that,"I just want issues made aware of and fixed."

2) Fun Android Games...

No, not the kind where you click and launch birds, the kind where you easily spoof your email name and address and Google doesn't do anything about it. Thanks to the very slow turnaround and release cycle of fixing Android bugs (and the nature response to the researchers bug report), this is something you can try from home very easily and probably will be able to do for a fairly long time.

If you are using GMail and want to mess with your friends who have Android devices, just click on the gear icon in the top right of gmail. Select "Settings" then "Accounts and Import". Scroll down to "Send Mail As" and click "edit info" on the far right. Input the name you want displayed followed by a quotation mark, then the email address you want to display in quotes (Security Guy ""security@security.com"). Note the double quotes between the name and the address, that's the part that triggers the bug.

The next time you send an email to an Android users, they will see only the Name and email address you entered and your actual information will be completely obscured (even if the user clicks 'show details').

Have fun phishing!

Note: If they open the email on anything other than an Android device, they will be able to see your actual sender information. Until this is fixed, you probably want to check your gmail using a browser rather than your phone. 

3) Keep your phone in the other room when watching TV...

High-frequency sounds are being used to track people's behavior across multiple devices (TVs, tablets, phones, and computers). The ultrasonic pitches are embedded into TV commercials or internet ads. While the sound can't be heard by the human ear, nearby tablets and smartphones can detect it. When they do, browser cookies can now pair a single user to multiple devices and keep track of what TV commercials the person sees, how long the person watches the ads, and whether the person acts on the ads by doing a Web search or buying a product. 

A letter to the FTC from the Center for Democracy and Technology detailed that this ultrasonic cross-device tracking is already being used by more than a dozen marketing companies. The use of ultrasonics also has some similarity to "badBIOS", a piece of theoretical malware that uses ultrasonic transmissions to jump between airgapped (non-networked) computers.

On the plus side, it looks like the FTC is working on the issue. On Nev 16th, they hosted a Cross-Device Tracking Workshop to discuss both the benefits and the privacy and security concerns associated with this technology. Of course, it could be years before any regulations or software or hardware mitigations are made to curb this activity.

For now, just remember to stash your phone in a sound-proof drawer when you want to watch something in private...

4) Yahoo! wants its money...

...and will hold your emails ransom to get it.

If you are like me (which I never really presume, but you're reading this so we must have something in common) you probably have several free email addresses (for whatever reason). Between the various big-name options (Google, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc.), Yahoo mail has long been popular with many privacy-minded folks who don't want all of their info being shared with Google (who are pretty open about using the content of your emails to drive targeted advertisements). Of course, Yahoo! also gets its money from adds (if slightly less targeted). Well, now Yahoo! is trying to make sure they recoup that revenue one way or another, and they'll stop you from reading your mail to get it.

Yahoo has acknowledged that it is testing a "product experience" that prevents some users from viewing their email messages. The problem can be fixed if those users turn off their ad blockers. Some users reported receiving pop-up messages asking them to disable their ad blockers before being permitted to view the contents of their inbox. If you are using Yahoo e-mail and you didn't pay for it, you are the product... if you want privacy, or if you don't like ads, you need to pay for it (or so say the folks at Yahoo). 

Of course, in many cases ad blockers are being used to prevent malicious adverts infecting the user's computer. In 2014, Yahoo admitted that adverts on its homepage had been infected with and serving malware for several days before they addressed the issue.

In the real world the cost of a retailer to attract customers to their store is to ensure the customers will be safe in that store and not robbed or molested by criminals. Likewise website owners and advertising network companies need to review how they can guarantee the privacy and security of their customers to their websites. It's high time that sites that depend on ad revenue realize that ad-blocking isn't just an "experience" issue for consumers - it's a security issue.

Beyond the Shore: Session 6

This is not my home. How did I get so far from water? 

It must be over that way somewhere. 

I am the color of wine, of tinta. The inside of my powerful 

right claw is saffron-yellow. See, I see it now; I wave it like a 

flag. I am dapper and elegant; I move with great precision, 

cleverly managing all my smaller yellow claws. I believe in the 

oblique, the indirect approach, and I keep my feelings to myself. 

But on this strange, smooth surface I am making too much 

noise. I wasn't meant for this. If I maneuver a bit and keep a 

sharp lookout, I shall find my pool again. Watch out for my right 

claw, all passersby! This place is too hard. The rain has stopped, 

and it is damp, but still not wet enough to please me. 

My eyes are good, though small; my shell is tough and tight. 

In my own pool are many small gray fish. I see right through 

them. Only their large eyes are opaque, and twitch at me. They 

are hard to catch but I, I catch them quickly in my arms and 

eat them up. 

What is that big soft monster, like a yellow cloud, stifling 

and warm? What is it doing? It pats my back. Out, claw. There, 

I have frightened it away. It's sitting down, pretending nothing's 

happened. I'll skirt it. It's still pretending not to see me. Out of 

my way, O monster. I own a pool, all the little fish that swim in it, 

and all the skittering waterbugs that smell like rotten apples. 

Cheer up, O grievous snail. I tap your shell, encouragingly, 

not that you will ever know about it. 

And I want nothing to do with you, either, sulking toad. 

Imagine, at least four times my size and yet so vulnerable... I 

could open your belly with my claw. You glare and bulge, a 

watchdog near my pool; you make a loud and hollow noise. I 

do not care for such stupidity. I admire compression, lightness, 

and agility, all rare in this loose world. 

-- Elizabeth Bishop

________________________________________________________
The Red Sadness sails through the relatively calm waters of the Coral Sea. While the storm of the past two days had left the ship well off Captain Herrera's originally intended course, back to the busier shipping lanes near the Solomans and some potential bounty. In the meantime, all of the new recruits from Moonplum had been excused from their regular work.

Before dawn they were awakened by a stream of foul-mouthed invectives from the ship's master-gunner, Riaris Krine, pulled out of their hammocks, and marched up topside. As the sun began glimmering on the horizon, they found themselves floating in a pair of jolly boats, taking turns rowing to keep up with the big ship (though luckily with a trio of Thaduk's around, most of them were spared the workout).

Riaris stood balanced in the prow of the one boat, her mate Kipper in the other. By their command the two small boats rowed up to flank the Sadness, one on either side. Several ropes with grappling hooks attached are piled near them. "Alright you mong-loving dipstick assjackers! You and you!" she said, pointing to Caddis and Leopold as Rummy and Thaduk took turns with the oars. "Grab the ropes you pribbling pottle-deep tars, be quick!"

She took one of the grapples and demonstrates throwing it to latch onto the rail of the ship, then tied it off to a peg on the side of the jolly-boat. "Catch! Tie! Climb! Simple enough even you filthy motherloving landlubbers should be able to do it! If you fall off, you try again or your big friend will beat you senseless before supper!"

Caddis quickly grabbed a grapnel and easily tossed it up to catch on the ship's rail, then tied it off. "Now climb motherfucker!" came the cry from Riaris. Caddis scampered up the rope. About halfway up he was beaned by an empty rum-bottle, just part of a rain of garbage tossed at him by a couple of sailors in the aftcastle. Caddis held on despite the barrage and was soon back aboard the Sadness.

Leopold did not fair so well. It took him three tries, and much jeering from Master Krine, to catch the rail. Then, when he began to climb, a well-placed coconut from the deck knocked him clean off the rope and into the drink. Eventually, though, he managed to scramble back into the jolly-boat and up the rope to the deck.

Rummy went next, with little trouble, easily dodging the barrage of trash. Leaving only Riaris and Thaduk in the boat.

"Ship oars!" the gunner yelled. Thaduk took up the last grapnel and easily hooked the rail. Before he could start climbing, Riaris tied off the other ropes to his belt, "Haul us up!", she cried. And, sure enough, arm over arm, Thaduk hauled himself up to the deck of the Sadness, pulling the entire weight of the jolly boat up with him, with Riaris perched, balanced on the small boat as well.

The Moonplummers in the other little boat did not fair nearly so well. Henrye, Mace, and the other two Thaduks splashed about, often in the water, with many a missed throw of the grapples and many a face-full of trash. Helpful as ever, Leopold stepped up to the rail and sang out some encouragement for his fellow villagers.

________________________________________________________
As the party stood shouting encouragement to their compatriots, Fishguts made a rare appearance on deck, looking unusually sober, and tapped Caddis on the shoulder. "Cad, Cap'n wants crabs for his dinner tonight."

"Do we have any crab?"

"Course not, that'd be too easy!" FIshguts pointed to a shadow in the crystal-clear water, some hundred yards north of the ship. "You already got the boats out. Take your friends and row out to the reef over there, should be plenty of crabs to catch..."

"It's not that hard to catch crabs," Leopold pointed out, though it was clear he meant the other kind.

Rummy and Thaduk immediately lowered the jolly boat back into the water, and the four friends climbed down. Fishguts tossed them four large baskets and asked them to fill them up. Suddenly, Caddis thought to call back up, whining that they needed spears or harpoons in case the crabs were turtle-sized or otherwise put up a fight. Riaris, smiling, disappeared from the rail, returning moments later to toss three cutlasses down to them. At some additional prodding from Thaduk, Fishguts retrieved the collection of makeshift spears that Thaduk had made.

They began rowing out. Or, rather, Thaduk rowed, Rummy and Caddis stared over the side of the boat into the deep, clear water, pointing out sunken ships and other interesting features, and Leopold stood perched in the prow doing his best George Washington impression. A swift kick from Rummy sent Leopold toppling over the side into the water again. With Thaduk rowing, the jolly boat was well past before he came up, treading water and screaming the orcish word for whipped cream (the most vile-sounding curse word he knew).

The others picked him up and were soon floating over a beautiful coral reef, no more than five feet below the surface in some places. Through the clear water, they could easily spot several crabs skittering over the coral. "Let's make it a game and see who can get crabs the fastest," Caddis suggested.

"I already won that one," relied Leopold. Caddis, Thaduk, and Rummy dove in and started collecting crabs, with Rummy taking a quick lead in the competition. Leopold lounged in the boat, taking off his shirt to let it dry out, and keeping watch for anything bigger than a crab. Sure enough, he soon spotted a pair of creatures, looking like five-foot-long lobsters with their tails of eels, swimming towards them from deeper water. He quickly grabbed one of Thaduk's wooden spears and tossed it at the lobstrosities. While the spears buoyancy kept it from reaching the creatures, it did get their attention and they veered towards the boat.

Thaduk breached the water with a shirt full of crabs just as the two lobstrosities reached the boat. One of the creatures leaped into the boat, grabbing Leopold with both claws. The other latched onto Thaduk's leg. Paddling with his arms and kicking with his one free leg, Thaduk dragged the lobstrosity over to where he could grab the floating spear and dispatched the monster with a single blow. Even in death though, the creature remained fixed to his leg, its death throws only serving to dig the claw in deeper.

Rummy came up and pulled himself into the boat, grabbing a cutlass and swinging wildly at the one on Leopold. Much deeper than the others, Caddis looked up and, seeing the struggle in the boat, fixed the remaining lobstrosity with his evil eye, putting it to sleep. The creature slumped to the side, releasing its grip on Leopold. Caddis pulled himself into the boat and dispatched the beast with his claws, but, in its dying spasms, it again tore into Leopold, knocking him unconscious.

Rummy, ignore the shirt draped on the side of the boat to dry, pulled off Leopold's pants and tried to tie a tourniquet to stop the bleeding with them, but only managed to hurt his friend more. Thaduk swam over and grabbed one of the swords and used it to pry the other creature off of his leg, then dumped its body in the boat with Leopold, giving the bleeding bard even more scratches. Finally Rummy was able to stop the bleeding.

They quickly filled the remaining crab baskets and started to row back with their load of crabs and lobstrisities, which Caddis assured them were a delicacy. On their way back to the ship, Caddis spotted the wreck of an old ship, just past the drop-off of the reef, maybe a hundred feet deep. Curiosity getting the better of him, he left the others behind and swam down to check it out.

The deck was littered with bones and rusted weapons, the remains of the poor sots who died on deck before the ship could sink. There was one cannon that might have been salvageable, if he could find a way to haul it up, but little else of value, so he headed into what he assumed to be the Captain's cabin. Inside he found an old, rotting sea chest. The lock was rusted enough that he could easily break it open. Within were three fine bottles of very old French wine, a pair of finely carved chopsticks, apparently made from animal horn, and three wax-sealed ceramic ewers.

Caddis gathered up the loot and started swimming back to the boat, messaging Rummy and Thaduk with what he had found. Rummy immediately messaged back that he could see another lobstrisity swimming up behind Caddis from beyond the ship. Caddis swam as fast as he could, but the beast easily closed the distance. Caddis turned and gave it the evil eye, but it shrugged this off and swam on, catching Caddis in both its claws and tearing into his flesh.

Caddis desperately held on to his loot, glaring at the thing again, again with no result. Thaduk dove in, swimming down as fast as he could, ignoring the building pressure in his ears, and hurled one of his spears at the thing, putting all the power he could behind the throw to drive the weapon through the water. The spear struck home with tremendous force, splitting the lobstrosity from its mouth to its tail. They hauled the loot and the remains of the third lobstrosity up to the boat, then returned to the ship.

________________________________________________________
Seeing them return with a pile of succulent claws, most of the crew temporarily abandoned their work to rush to the rail and help the party haul their catch aboard. Somewhere in the chaos, Sandara Quinn managed to heal their wounds and Leopold disappeared, presumably absconded to his bunk with Tilly Bracket (willingly or no).

Caddis slipped down to the galley, carrying the things he took from the sunken ship before they could be confiscated by the ship's officers. He immediately opened one of the wine bottles, pouring a mug for himself and Fishguts. Fishguts used up the rest of the bottle cooking the lobstrosities. He secreted the chopsticks in a pocket, then started examining the ewers. Each showed signs of bas-relief markings, mostly worn away. He grabbed a cooled coal from the stove and some parchment paper from the baking supplied and took rubbings, revealing three names: "Captain Thomas Masterman Hardy", "Captain Sir Frederick Lewis Maitland", and "Commander Frederick Marryat". Presuming them to thus be funerary in nature (and thus not something he wanted to mess with further at the moment), Caddis stashed the urns in his locker.

Thaduk, meanwhile cornered Mr. Plugg, the First Mate, inquiring about his life on the ship, his plans, and other things. Caught in an unusually good mood thanks to the promise of lobster for dinner, Mr. Plugg explained about the battle with an imperial warship in which they lost much of the crew prior to the raid on Moonplum--a battle the pirates won, killing all of the sailors and sending the ship down to Davy Jone's Locker. He talked about life as a pirate and the fact that there really was no such thing as retirement--he couldn't go back to polite society for fear of being hanged, he might one day retire to "The Republic", but the only way he'd save enough money for that would be to become captain of his own ship (a thing he often dreamed of). He hoped that in one of their raids the Sadness might take a nice prize and that Captain Herrera might decide he'd like to be "Admiral Herrera" and let Mr. Plugg captain the new ship. When asked about "The Republic", Mr. Plugg told Thaduk about the Republic of the Bahamas, Though Thaduk had heard about the Empires unofficial war with the pirates of the Republic, he seemed surprised that it was so far away. "Aye, a five month voyage at the least...some of us have not seen a home other than this ship in a long time..."

After the chat, Thaduk and Rummy wandered down below decks where Caddis opened the second bottle of wine. Thaduk pointed out that the crew looked especially lax today, and that he'd probably have to punish quite a few people. So, they began plotting how they might use the unusual dinner as a distraction to help Thaduk once again give the appearance of doing his duty without having to actually beat anyone.

When the bell for Bloody Hour rang, they stopped by the galley to pick up the food. Fishguts passed them a giant platter of crabs, explaining that the logstrosities were destined for the officers, "but I can let you have a taste before the girls come to haul it off". They took the crabs and the evening's rum ration topside where the crew had gathered. Mr. Plugg and Master Scourge pulled nearly a dozen people out of the crowd to stand against the mast for a whipped, including all the four Moonplummers who had been less-than-successful in the morning's boarding exercise.

Unable to fake so many, Thaduk went ahead and whipped all the experienced pirates. Even holding back he shredded their clothes and left large welts over their already scarred backs. When he came to the Moonplummers, Caddis conjured up the sound of one of the crewmen saying "There aren't enough crabs for all of us, I'm eating now!" starting a minor riot near the food.

The distraction lasted only long enough for Thaduk to fake-beat his two uncles, before the officers delivered some ad-hoc beatings and pulled three more sailors up to the mast. Thaduk delivered some (light) lashes to these three, then returned to Mace and Henrye. Caddis this time tried a repeat performance of his Saint Elmo's Fire trick from the other day, which was enough to spare Mace any real discomfort, but not lasting.

Finally, with the officers paying a bit too much attention, Thaduk snapped the whip near Henrye and shouted some orcish curses (something about the proper way to eat crab claws), but did not hit him. At the snap, Henrye instinctively turned his head to glare at Thaduk. Caddis stepped in, "No, hit him right here..." he said, touching Henrye on the back and laying an illusion over him. Caddis stepped back, silently messaging Henrye that he should scream when the whip snapped. Henrye refused to play along, glaring defiantly at the two boys, until Thaduk was finally forced to whip him for real.

After the beatings, the officers, mouths watering, quickly retreated to the captain's quarters for dinner, the crew attacked the pile of crabs, and Caddis, Thaduk, and Rummy slipped off to cause some mayhem. Figuring the unusual meal would be a good and lasting distraction, the three of them headed for the officer's quarters. Caddis and Thaduk took up positions standing watch over the stairs leading up and down, respectively, while Rummy went to work on the lock using an old nail as a pick. Surprisingly it worked...

Pushing the door open a crack, he heard a loud sound, like a spring uncoiling, and suddenly found his arm pinned to the door by a harpoon which had piercing clean through his forearm. He gritted his teeth and stifled a scream. The door was now wide open and he was well and thoroughly stuck, and bleeding profusely. Caddis rushed down to check, the  messaged for Thaduk, who came and broke off the shaft of the harpoon forcing it the rest of the way out of Rummy's arm (to more barely suppressed screaming).

They wrapped up Rummy's arm to staunch the bleeding and discussed how they could cover up the evidence of the forced entry. Of course, there was the bloody harpoon head embedded in the door and the massive pool of blood to deal with. They debated for a bit, then Rummy convinced them to let him look around before they tried to destroy the evidence, since the door was open anyways. Thaduk and Caddis went back to watch as Rummy cased the room.

The officer's quarters were cramped. There were a couple of windows in the rear, a couple of unlit lanterns hanging from the rafters, and two narrow doors, one leading off to either side. Six hammocks were strung up, each with a foot-locker, the same issued to the crewmen, though with better locks. Insufficient locks it seemed.

Rummy easily opened the first chest, easily identifiable as Mr. Pluggs by the presence of the old naval captain's uniform that he had worn during the raid on Moonplum. Inside were heavy-duty manacles, a crossbow, several bolts with heads carved into the shape of screaming human faces rather than typical points, other sundry items, and...a bag...that jingled...a lot. Rummy pocketed the bag of coins and closed the lid.

He then made his way around to the other footlockers. The second took slightly more time to pick, but included a very nice set of lockpicks which made the rest mindlessly easy for him to open. He was surprisingly reserved in his looting, passing over Riaris Krine's fine weapons, the carpenter's excellent tools, various flasks of potions, poisons, and alchemical items that the officers had collected, and even other coinage. In the end all he took was the lockpicks, Mr. Plugg's cash, some bandages from the ship's surgeon's stores, and one very large ruby from the gunner's mate's chest.

While poking around in the carpenter's chest, he found a secret compartment in the lid. Prying this open he found only a plain-looking brown woolen blanket, albeit a very tick, well-woven, and extra-warm looking one. Thinking gods-know-what, he took the blanket and spread it out overtop of the chests and bunks. Then, he lit one of the lanterns and smashed it down onto the blanket, dousing the heavy woolen thing with oil and lighting the whole on fire.

Then Rummy ran out the door and up the stairs...