Before the swift sloop reaches the convoy’s guarded waters, the privateer comes to Redmane beside the chart table, Admiralty parchment clenched in one hand. Mateo Vargas stands at the opposite rail, watching the shoals rise ahead.
The Privateer
There. A cut between the Broken Teeth and the western shoal. Narrow, but deep enough for our sloop if I take the lead and read the current.
She spreads the chart flat beneath a compass weight, revealing a crooked passage that avoids the convoy’s outer lookouts. The route ends near the marked waters, where escort sails patrol in overlapping arcs.
The Privateer
My first claim includes the approach. I lead us through the cut, choose the moment to emerge, and put the prize beneath your colors before the escorts understand what they have missed.
Mateo Vargas
And if your signal fails in that channel? The flagship cannot improvise a reply through shoals and contrary tide. Once we enter, we may be beyond her sight and every prearranged mark.
Mateo taps the tide table beside the chart, then the distant position assigned to the flagship. The privateer’s proposed cut offers concealment, but it would sever the reliable line between the swift sloop and its reserve.
The Privateer
Then give me authority to signal by gun or flare when we break the shoals. Delay us with caution, and the convoy will be gone before your larger ship can matter.
“I authorize gun-and-flare signals through the cut though only if we are overwhelmed.”
SUCCESS (Good Diplomacy, rolled -1)
Captain Redmane
You may use gun or flare signals through the cut, but only if we are overwhelmed.
Redmane sets the command ledger beside the chart, turning the conditional order into a clear rule. The wanted poster flashes her likeness across the table, but her Silver Tongue gives the restriction the force of sound seamanship rather than hesitation.
The Privateer
Accepted. No gun, no flare, while the cut keeps us hidden. If escorts close and the sloop is overwhelmed, I will signal for the flagship’s answer.
The privateer places two fingers on the marked passage, then nods. Redmane’s Inspiring Presence steadies the tense silence, and even the dangerous likeness beneath the poster cannot loosen the crew’s resolve.
Mateo Vargas
Then the signal has meaning, not merely urgency. I will have the flagship watching for either report and answering without mistaking concealment for defeat.
Mateo records the signal condition in the ledger. The privateer gathers the chart, now authorized to lead the cut, while the reserve waits beyond sight to act only when the sloop truly needs it.
“I ask the privateer to mark a fallback signal”
SUCCESS (Legendary Intrigue, rolled +0)
Captain Redmane
Mark a fallback signal in the ledger. If we are overwhelmed, use one gunshot followed by a red flare.
Captain Redmane opens the command ledger to the tide table. The wanted poster catches beneath her hand, briefly exposing her likeness, but her Silver Tongue makes the request sound precise and inevitable rather than fearful.
The Privateer
A single gunshot, then a red flare. I will mark it here and repeat it to the helmsman before we enter the cut.
The privateer draws the signal beside the passage, adding a bold mark where the shoals conceal the sloop from the flagship. Redmane’s Inspiring Presence settles the crew into focused readiness.
The Privateer
It is recorded. No signal while concealment holds, but if the escorts overwhelm us, the flagship will know exactly when to answer.
The privateer closes the ledger over the marked fallback and returns it to Redmane. The route now carries a clear emergency signal, and the sloop can enter the cut without uncertainty.
✓ Quest Accepted
Enter the guarded passage under the privateer's lead
“I keep the flagship beyond sight, ready for the fallback signal and order the sloop into the cut under the privateer’s lead.”
SUCCESS (Superb Seamanship, rolled -2)
Redmane keeps the flagship beyond the shoals’ broken horizon, its reserve position aligned with the ledger’s tide marks and fallback signal. The command ledger turns currents and distances into a precise station.
The wanted poster tears loose in the crosswind and catches around the wheel, wrenching her shoulder as she tears it free. The flagship slews toward danger, but her tactical reading finds the correcting current before the shoals can claim her.
With a hard pull and a rasp of rope through her palm, Redmane steadies the flagship beyond sight. Its guns now wait under strict orders, silent unless one shot and a red flare call them forward.
Ahead, the sloop’s bow enters the narrow cut beneath the privateer’s lead. Hidden water lifts its keel between the Broken Teeth and western shoal, carrying the swift vessel into the convoy’s guarded waters.
The Privateer
Hold her wake, Captain. The current bends sharply beneath this shelf, then gives us the deep water.
The privateer guides the sloop through the cut, while Redmane’s flagship remains concealed and ready behind it. Her stinging palm bleeds onto the wheel, but the reserve is positioned and the approach succeeds.
Quest Complete
Enter the guarded passage under the privateer's lead