Part 3
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Part 3 |
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On the way to the harbour we consider whether the guards who chased us out of the cathedral were guarding the cathedral or normal city guards. It seems that they were city guards. We wonder why there arrived. Were we recognised as pirates? Or were we just asking the wrong questions? At the moment, we don't know... Led by Diego Montoya, we make our way to the harbour. The other crew members, who stayed outside the cathedral and who are presumably unknown to the authorities stay behind to make their own way back to the boat. Diego rows us out of the harbour and eastwards along the coast to where the ships boat that brought us here is waiting. We wait for the land party to arrive, which they do, then the two boats make their way back to the Black Mamba. We row back without incident. Once we get back, and the situation is explained to Diego, including his coming with us to Nuevita, he wants more money. We haggle with him (thinking about just doing away with him) and he eventually settles for two and a half times more than we originally agreed. By now the weather is looking rather menacing. However, Captain Raven thinks it will blow over soon, so we wait. Food is consumed while we do so. Sure enough, after a couple of hours the weather is looking much better as it comes along to dusk, so sails are raised and we make our way out to sea. As we slip out, a ship is sailing past out to sea, quite fast. We worry that it is racing on to warn Nuevita of our coming, and make to follow. However, as we sail after it, we have to make a sudden change of course to avoid some rocks underwater, and by the time we are back on course, the other ship is gone... We sail on eastwards towards Nuevita, Bert plotting our course. En route we discuss (mostly violent) plans for what to do when we reach the monastery. We also discuss the curse, and what to do with Diego. In particular, we are worried that people might start jumping ship when they have time to think about what is going on. As we approach where we think Nuevita is, Spike, up in the crows' nest, spots a pillar of smoke on the horizon. As we approach we can't help thinking that it is a bit big for cooking fire. At Captain Raven's order we lower the Black Mamba's topsails, for stealth. We also survey the coast we are passing in case we need a hiding place. There are certainly a number of inlets and so on that might do the trick. We decide to pretend to be a Danish ship, just in case. Our one Danish crewman, Sven, is roped in to do the talking should it become necessary as most of us, and in particular Captain Raven, cannot pass for Danish. As we approach the entrance to Nuevita's large natural harbour, some way ahead of us we see a large black ship emerge and turn to head east-north-east away from us. Some of us suspect that this may be the infamous Black Freighter. We decide to pursue it, and investigate the monastery at the same time. Diego and six of the crew, Pugh, Pugh (no relation), Barley, McGrew, Cuthbert and Dibble are sent of in Diego's boat to investigate what's been happening on shore. The Black Mamba sails on, after the black ship. We seem to be somewhat faster than they are, so Bert plots a catch-up course, keeping us a constant distance from them, but off to the upwind side. As we sail in pursuit, we discuss how we might take the black ship, given that it seems to be larger and more heavily armed than we are. From the crows' nest, Spike gets a look back into Nuevita's bay as we sail off. He can see that there seems to be a monastery there, with a small fishing village by it. Unfortunately, both of them seem to be ruined and burning... The black ship seems to be middling loaded; it is riding neither particularly high nor particularly low. Its hull, sails, deck and rigging are all darkest black. Because of this, Spike (and others who look) cannot tell how many gun-ports it has, although it does seem to have only a single row of them. We continue to plan. If it is the Black Freighter, then it has no reputation as being friendly and trustworthy, even to other pirates, so allying with them is probably out of the question. On the other hand, given how much more powerful than the Black Mamba it appears to be, we do not want to pretend to be a target - we might end up as a real one! That being so, we decide to approach cautiously, as pirates, from the rear (as they will have fewer guns that can fire on us there!). We come closer. Our skull and crossbones flag is run up the mast, and we run out our guns, which are loaded. The black ship has clearly spotted us, and members of its crew are moving about on deck. The black ship begins to turn in a manner clearly intended to bring their broadside to bear on us. We turn so that they cannot do this. Their gun-ports open too, revealing that the black ship has twelve guns in each broadside. They run up a solid black flag. It is at this point that Spike, up in the crows nest, shoots the lookout in their crows nest. Their lookout slumps dead over the edge of the black ship's crows' nest. Oh well, so much for a peaceful approach... From the deck below, Mr Vaughn grabs a musket and prepares to shoot Spike. However, his intimate knowledge of explosives tells him that the musket is broken, and will explode in his face if he fires it. He lets Spike off for now. The Black Mamba manoeuvres to get into the best position, but the crew are having a bad time of it, and the Black Mamba loses way as we attempt to turn to fire a raking shot from our bow-chasers into the rear of the black ship. Not a good time for that to happen! With 'encouragement' from Bert and Mr Vaughn, they sort themselves out and we get under way again. They seem to be a bit more co-ordinated now. However, when fire our raking shot, the angle is all wrong, and we miss. One of the bow-chaser cannon gets lose as it fires, and slams back, killing a crewman. This does not help us dodge when the black ship fires back. They fire only half a broadside (six of their twelve guns), but to some effect. Chain shot tears away quite a lot of our starboard rigging and a couple of spars. Some musket fire is exchanged between the two ships too, but to little effect. Now our crew seem to have figured out what is going on, and are working together in a highly effective manner. Under Bert's direction, with Mr Vaughn and Finbar controlling the cannon fire, we manage to fire two raking volleys in through the big windows under the poop deck of the black ship. This is quite deliberate, as the ship is less well protected there, and a good shot will go the length of the ship and cause lots of damage along the gun deck too. And it seems to work as we hoped. The poop deck, most of its supports now broken, tilts and falls. The black ship also seems to lose the ability to steer. Not a good position for them to be in. We sail around them exchanging broadsides. However, the fact that we can steer gives us a major advantage. As we do this, Spike is berated for starting all of this violence. After softening up the black ship with repeated broadsides, so that they all retreat below decks, we come alongside and board them. They seem well dug in below decks, and the Black Mamba takes some damage from point-black cannon fire, which we return. As time passes they also seem to be very well led. Not good. One thing we do find in the wreckage of their poop deck is their ships' bell. This is of black iron with an inverted pentagram design and the name 'Black Freighter', as we suspected. With the crew of the Black Freighter held below decks, Captain Raven has some of our crew search the remains of the cabins under the poop deck. Unfortunately all of their charts seem to have been destroyed. However, the searchers do find some small chests that, when broken open, prove to be full of gems. That will do nicely! At about this point, something resembling a white flag is pushed out from below decks, where the surviving crew of the Black Freighter are still lurking, and a voice asks for a parley. We agree to talk. They ask why we attacked, so Captain Raven tells them what we are looking for - the Cross of St Benedict. "We're looking for it too," says the voice from below. They go on to say that they encountered the Flying Dutchman too, and were put onto the same mission. Apparently the Cross is not at the monastery too - they've 'checked'. We consider this. Captain Raven is of the opinion that we cannot let them live. We discuss whether we could recruit some of them to replace our own losses. Finbar and Spike think we should let them carry on with their search, as two goes are better than one. Despite this, Captain Raven decides that we should sink them. And as she is the Captain, that is what we set about doing. First we loot what we can from the Black Freighter, including its bell. While some of the crew do this, others, under Finbar's direction, barricade the remaining crew of the Black Freighter below decks and a third group directed by Mr Vaughn sets charges of gunpowder about the ship. When everything is looted that can be, Mr Vaughn lights to fuse for his charges, and we all withdraw carefully. The charges go off, but unfortunately do not appear to do very much. Damn. That being so, we douse the ship in oil and set fire to it, then disentangle the Black Mamba from the Black Freighter and sail around them, firing broadside after broadside into them. Then we let them burn, which the Black Freighter seems to do quite merrily. The fire spreads and spreads. The rigging burns, and the masts fall. There are no explosions. Despite being barricaded below decks, the surviving crew of the Black Freighter seem motivated enough to break out, as we see various people diving off the deck of the ship and swim away, many of them clinging to various bits of floating wreckage. They all swim towards the Black Mamba. That being so, Captain Raven and the others decide to recruit some to replace the twenty crew we've lost. The first twenty who make it to the Black Mamba are thrown ropes and hauled on board, but we leave the rest - some fifty or sixty men - to drown. Even so, we are not intending to trust the new 'recruits' for quite some time... And the burning remnants of the Black Freighter slip below the water with a massive hissing of steam and cracking of timbers. We sail away, back towards Nuevitas, leaving the sailors in the water to their fate. Or the sharks. On the way, Finbar suggests that we could pretend to be hunting the Black Freighter as cover for what we are really doing. Might be a plan. Entering Nuevitas bay, we see the shore party waiting for us. When they see us they get back into their boat and row out to us. They report. Apparently the monastery and village were attacked and devastated by the Black Freighter. The survivors seem to have been tortured for information. They did find a monk who was just about alive when they reached him. Before he died he told them that the Cross of Benedict had not arrived at the monastery yet, and in fact was late... |