Should've thought about moral gray area before making a deal with the devil. This is the best time we have to go out for drinks with him without making it seem suspicious, and it gives us a few days buffer in case the first couple days don't work out.

If it makes you feel better we can take D'artignan out for drinks on a slippery dock later.

Except the "favor" may result in you being blackmailed by d'Artagnan, or even exposed by him as the killer. We could literally die because we didn't take the time to find out what we're getting into.

I've seen less reason to kill Peavey than I have to kill d'Artagnan, and without some sort of reasoning, I'm not comfortable carrying out his orders. If he's willing to have someone kill Peavey, then he might be willing to have someone kill you. Not to mention, he just said he's going to kill you in a week if you don't commit murder for him. Seems pretty sketchy to me.

We have no idea why he wants it done, or how he plans to benefit from it. His plan might be to eliminate Peavey in order to get himself or someone close to him into the position, so he can take over the ship. He might be working with the malcontents and they're having you do it so they don't have to risk getting caught, and you'll be easier to eliminate after you're done. For all we know, it could be a test constructed by d'Artagnan, Peavey, and the captain to gauge your loyalty.

It doesn't make sense to not collect information first, it can only be beneficial. If this is a trap of some kind, we need to find out ahead of time so we can find a way to avoid it, and make the situation advantageous for us.


In which case, why not just kill him first?

If you want to make a plan to kill someone without any additional information, then it should be d'Artagnan. That's the best choice based on what we currently know.

I'd much rather take some time to find out the circumstances before acting so we can ensure we're acting in our own favor.

How is arousing everyone's suspicions by asking them guided questions going to save us? d'Artagnan will have us killed. And we're too weak to stand up to him.

No one will become suspicious, because we won't phrase the questions suspiciously. Thank god for charisma.

Anyways, we'd be too weak to fight him no matter what, since he's apparently the strongest pirate ever, and has a lifetime of combat experience.

The same is probably true of Peavey, he must be a pretty strong fighter to live so long and earn the rank he has.

Luckily, those things are completely irrelevant. You might notice our job isn't to engage someone in open combat, it's to assassinate them quietly.

Alcohol is quiet. Challenge him to a drinking competition and have the alcohol kill him.

Drink up me heartys. Yo Ho!

the more he drinks the looser his lips - if he has something to say about D'artsy he'll say it as he's getting liquored up.

Lol

Technically, even if we find out that d'Artagnan is setting us up, we don't necessarily need to assassinate him; it might be better at that point to just go explain everything to Peavey, including how d'Artagnan forced you to agree to a favor months ago to receive training, how you've now found out the favor is to kill Peavey, and how he's said he will kill you if you don't kill Peavey within a week.

Peavey is not only a capable person, but he has the entire crew and all the ship's resources at his disposal to help you, along with the cooperation of the captain, and he'll be more motivated than anyone to ensure you're not forced to kill him.

Something to consider, depending on what we find out.

We aren't assassinating anyone. We are taking our newly esteemed colleague out for a drink. If he decides to drink me out of money I'm the generous kind. It isn't my fault he prefers to walk so close to the edge. You can ask anyone - they saw me try to pull him back as he slipped off the deck. These things happen. If I continue to blame myself for the accident I will never let go of the sadness I am experiencing from losing a friend. Or are you saying Peavey isn't a real friend?

I'm with Az here. Not because I'm afraid of what might happen to us but because of the moral implications. Yes, even pirates have morals. And I'd say killing a shipmate is more than just a favor. Kill some random townsman, np, but on ship we gotta trust each other.

And if we don't find out why peavey deserves to die, go to D'Artagnan and tell him favor or not you're not going to kill shipmates for no reason.

Taking him out of for a drink sounds reasonable enough for now.

I agree, except for telling d'Artagnan we refuse; he might try to kill us right there on the spot

Hmm, there's a lot of mention of going out and walking on the docks, although I don't see any indication that we're not out at sea lol.

Use Charisma to subtly inquire about why d'Artagnan has a problem with Peavey, I'd try asking Ron since he's our bro. We need information before we act, and we've been given some time anyway. It'd be foolish not to figure out just what pile of shit we're stepping into here. :c

The next day, you keep your ears open for information about Peavey and d'Artagnan. You overhear a few rumors that Peavey may have been taking more than his share of plunder, but nothing about a quarrel between Peavey and d'Artagnan. However, in the evening, you see Robert in the galley. Seeing the opportunity to talk to one of the more experienced seamen, you bring him some rum and he begins to talk.

"Red, I dunno everythin' about them two," he slurs. "But, I did hear somethin' between them once. Something... something about Peavey stealin' d'Artagnan's fiancée. Or killin' 'er. I'm sure it's nothing important, 'cause it must be so long ago. Savvy?"

Later, while talking with Ron, he mentions that he always thought d'Artagnan might be secretly ambitious.

"After all, he be the best swordfighter on the Trident," admits Ron. "He's been on account fer years, but has never been promoted to an officer. And then here comes ye, in just a few months, already the boatswain!"

Six days remain to repay your favor to d'Artagnan.

Strength: 6
Intelligence: 5
Charisma: 7

Traits: Creative

Good enough for me, lets kill that bitch

It sounds like d'Artagnan has an ulterior motive after all, which doesn't have our best interests in mind. Everyone seemed to think there was no history between Peavey and d'Artagnan, except one crewman; Robert might be working with d'Artagnan, especially if their plan is to capitalize on Peavey's death to advance in rank.

Even if everything Robert said is true, what Ron said makes it look like d'Artagnan plans to use the death to advance beyond you somehow. That might mean making himself higher in rank, or making you lower in rank. It wouldn't be difficult for him to accomplish the latter; all he has to do is expose you as the killer and you'll be executed by the crew.

---

First, subtly ask about the ship's hierarchy from someone. Find out who takes over a position in the event someone retires from the crew, and specifically, find out who is next in line to take over Peavey's position.

Afterwards, go talk to d'Artagnan, telling him you're prepared to do it but you want to know his reasoning; otherwise, he's expecting a lot from a person if he can't even tell them that much. Use your charisma to effectively invalidate any excuses he makes for not telling you. If he's completely unwilling to tell you, use conversational tactics to manipulate him into divulging as much information as possible.

Examine his manner of speaking and body language to determine how he feels about you, and if he might be willing to betray you. Thinking of all the time you've spent with him in the past, reflect to yourself about whether or not he seems like the type that would ever go back on his word.

Then talk to Peavey, have some drinks with him (not enough for him to become drunk or disoriented), then use your charisma to subtly ask what his thoughts are on various crew members, nonchalantly gossiping about them, and then bring up d'Artagnan to see what relation they have. Watch his facial expression for his initial expression, and try to determine if he's lying about anything he says afterwards. If he indicates there is something he hasn't or doesn't want to tell you, apply your charisma to assure him it's okay to talk about, and tactfully expose the information he is reluctant to reveal.

---

I don't know if there's enough time for all these interactions, but it's better to queue too much than too little.

Not good enough for people who don't have a death wish.

We were given a week for a reason. There are six days remaining to untangle the web of lies and secrecy, to find the truth before acting.

Either Peavey is a woman stealing maniac or d'artsy wants a promotion. Either way this is not a reason to freak out now. I sincerely doubt he's trying to set us up. And if he is we'll use your wonderful charisma to throw him under the bus.

There's no reason to think d'Artagnan isn't trying to set us up, especially when Ron just got done explaining that d'Artagnan resents our success.

I don't think the charisma score is high enough yet to overturn conclusive evidence. If d'Artagnan is going to expose you, he'll have any of his accomplices backing him up, and possibly physical evidence (fabricated to frame you, or otherwise) to go along with it.

There's six days remaining. There's zero benefit in killing someone now, and there's infinitely more risk.

I think the benefit would be we progress throught the story 6 days faster.