Voyage to The Northern Reaches
"I could get to the like the nautical life" the Halfling said to Dakhir, luxuriously stretching in the makeshift hammock he'd rigged in the bowsprit. "It's nice getting a chance to just lie back and enjoy it for a change without the burden of command weighing me down" Dakhir snorted, then nodded in agreement, sailing certainly had it's moments and this was one of them. The seas were calm, the breeze balmy, the sun warm on his shoulders, the mystery of the purple cliffs of distant Bonny Isle off the port bow hanging like a painting, a pod of Orcas cavorting off the starboard.
"Life spent on waterFilled with adventure and joyThe sea is my home"
Said Tello.
"Indeed" said Dakhir. "And the best part of it, no one has tried to kill or imprison us in days. Marked improvement from Haven Towne if you ask me"
"Sail ho!" the lookout called out.
"Spoke too soon" murmured Whisperleaf mischievously.
"It's the Lady Jezebel" stated Marius. "Ozrealine has found us".
"Wait, who's the turtle?" asked Ozraeline to her newly returned companions, after the enthusiastic greetings had died down a bit." One of Whisperleaf's new pets?"
"I am assure you I am no one's pet, my dear" stated Tello. A moment of contemplation., "At least no one that I am aware of. This is quite an interesting ship. Oh my what is that?" distractedly the Tortle wandered over to examine one of the large brass deck guns."
"He's a Tortle" explained Whisperleaf. "They are amazing creatures. Incredibly old, incredibly wise, this one likes to make gizmos out of garbage and blow things up with cannon. And haikus."
"Well that's still not as weird as Dakhir. Good to see ya all. Howsit Fred?" Ozraeline said with a large grin on her face. Freddy didn't answered, just walked over and wrapped her in a bear hug.
A little while later, as the Lady Jezebel took her appointed station in the rear of the convoy the reunited companions were gathered around The Captain's table in the Great Cabin catching Oz up on the various adventures in Haven Towne.
After a few sharply worded comments to Freddy about his encounters with Maria Cristinia ("The Govenors FOOKING WIFE Freddie, sweet Jesus why can't you keep it in your pants you idiot, I leave you alone for a couple days and look what happens..."), she shared her own update.
"Ali's guys have been fine actually, no trouble at all, been getting to know them and I really like them. Call themselves the 'Masriq Buccaneers'. Advernterous lot, good sailors, GREAT shots with those big old muskets of theirs. They are pretty excited about getting to explore the rest of the Thousand Isles on a ship powerful enough it won't get et by the first sea monster that comes along. We did have a few conversations about their pay though, Probably should do that or else we're likely to lose them at the next port of call."
"We can always just put them right back where we found them" remarked Dakhir. "If they feel so poorly done by."
"No it ain't like that" explained Oz. They aren't bitchin' just brought it up politely like, and quoted a reasonable number".
"One thing I will tell you though." said Ozrealine seriously. “There are ghosts on the ship, I swear it. I’ve seen at least three and Vangeline says there are many more, she’s always talking to people that aren’t there or off playing with imaginary friends.
A young boy stole my favorite comb and we don’t have any young boys aboard, I caught him running out of my cabin with it, and chased him, he went around a corner and just vanished
Twice I’ve heard violin music in the rigging and once I saw a woman through the mist playing violin up in the crows nest
I also bumped into an old man when I was standing watch late at night, I saw him clear as day, turned and he was gone
I always felt like I was seeing weird things onboard, catching a glimpse of movement out of the corner of my eye, hearing things, but ever since we arrived at the Isles it’s gotten much much worse . Ali’s crew have noticed strange things too. Ask them and they will tell.
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"Tell us what happened to you" asked Whisperleaf soothingly to the young sailor.
"Humble greetings Sahib. My tale is a simple one. While up in the rigging during a squall, I lost my footing, slipped and would have fallen to the sea below. However, your servant was saved when a hand reached and grasped mine, pulling me back to the safety of the mast. The person who saved me was a woman, red of hair, and slight of frame, with a violin in her other hand, just balancing on the spar during a storm. I was amazed, as other then Mistress Ozraeline, there are no women aboard. She darted behind the mast without a word, and when I swung around behind, she was gone, without a trace. I am sure they were one of the benevolent bhuta, who was watching over me.”
"Interesting" said Dakhir. "And what about you?" to the second sailor
"“I also have a tale, Effendi. One day whilst working on the deck, I suddenly felt a violent push from behind and was thrown to the floor. An instant later, a loose tackle came crashing down to the deck in the exact spot I was standing. I looked around, and no one was near me, I can not explain how I was saved”
"There are several more such tales" said Ali, the leader of the Masriq Buccaneers. "This ship is clearly haunted. But in most cases the stories are beneficial, which makes my men think the bhuta are friendly."
"Interesting" said Dakhir. "Very interesting."
"A storm approaches" said Marius. "Perhaps our attention should turn to the land of the living."
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The squall was fierce, but short in duration. Still, it kept them on their toes and required turning out the full crew to manage it. Nothing as bad as the great SouthEasterner that had blown them from Mythras, they were much better manned this time, and it only lasted a matter of hours not days. When the clouds cleared and the sun returned, the convoy was well and truly scattered however. From the deck no other ships were even visible.
"I will find them" said Marius, swinging herself into the rigging of the main mast and climbing confidently and quickly up toward the crow's nest. The rest of the party waited while she climbed not just up to the crows nest, but hand over hand up the flagpole above it. Once she reached the top of that pole, the tall elf stood upright upon the very tip, arms outstretched, keen eyes scanning the horizon, body swaying with each swell of the sea, yet somehow not falling.
"Ug" said Freddy. "That makes me queasy just looking at it. How does she do that?"
"Such a showoff" laughed Ricmo.
"She's one of the Royal MarchWardens" said Whisperleaf. "She's been climbing trees higher and more precarious than that since she was a child. For more then two hundred years" After a few moments, Marius returned to the deck by the simple expedient of run/sliding down one of the lines that ran from the top of the mast to the deck a hundred and fifty feet below. Freddy was positively green as she slid the last few feet.
"The convoy is scattered across many miles of ocean, but all the ships are still afloat. All of the rest of the ships are converging on the "Queen of the Sea", save one, a small Bark. It is being attacked by a giant squid,
Marius hestiated. "It's difficult to be sure, but I believe so".
"How far away?" asked Ricmo. "Will anyone be able to help them?"
"Many leagues away, north by northwest. We are the closest, though I saw the Sea Paladin's ship, Mithra’s Blessings also sailing toward them. It will take us hours to reach them. They will not endure, they were already nearly defeated and offering little resistance."
"We have to try" said Ricmo, "Change course, North by Northwest." Ricmo commanded the crew and they obeyed without question.
"We have to do more then try" said Dakhir grimly. Infernal syllables fell from his lips and in a blast of hot wind and brimstone, the Warlock took to the skies.
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The Warlock cut through the air, as fast as an arrow, far above the whitecaps, far faster then any ship could sail, leaving a faint fiery trail in his wake. Behind him the Lady Jezebel quickly fell away into the distance. Before him the sea unrolled like a parchment. "This is stupid, Dakhir" he said to himself. "Sure you can get there fast, but what are you going to do once you arrive? That thing is the size of a house and it took the whole frigate and all her crew and cannons to drive it off last time. One hit from it and even if you survive the blow you're likely to loose your hold on the spell and go for a swim, And then you will be well and truly fucked, You should just go back to the ship and leave these poor fools to their fate. What would mom say?" But for some reason that he absolutely could not articulate, he didn't go back he went onward. And soon enough the battlefield came into view.
It wasn't much of a battle anymore. More of a feeding. The Bark was quiet, rocking on the waves, sail loose and flapping in the wind, while the squid hovered over it, tentacles moving over the deck and the bodies. Nothing else moved save the sharks swarming the waters nearby, feasting on the leftovers.
"Well at least I can interrupt the feast" Dakhir thought. Taking care to stay high above the waves and out of reach of the squid, more dark magic fell off his lips and a murderous ball of hellfire streaked toward his foe.
The massive explosion hid the huge creature from sight for a moment, behind smoke and steam, as Dakhir readied another strike, trying to find his target through the vapor.
The squid finally emerged from the clearing fumes, rolled to bring one baleful eye to focus on Dakhir, and then quietly slipped below the waves.
"Huh." thought Dakhir, He circled around the quiet ship. No sign of the squid. He considered for a moment landing to search for survivors, then his natural paranoia took hold.
"Gone eh? Or are you?" He rocketed straight up over the boat and then hovered, eyes striving to pierce the veil of the water below him. Fortunately the sun was high and the sea was clear. There! For a moment he saw it. A huge shadow lying quietly directly below the Bark. Too big to be the shadow of the Bark. Much too big.
"Damnation, you are a clever beast" he thought, a little frightened. "Laying a trap for me, one that I almost walked into. Not today, though. Not today."
Dakhir lazily circled the wreck, high above the water, well out of tentacle range. If there was one thing his family had taught him, it was patience. Better to wait, bide your time, pick the right moment to strike. And he had a frigate and a sloop of war sailing ever closer. Time was on his side. Let your allies fight for you. Another family motto.
As the Lady Jezebel grew nearer, the giant squid seemed to sense her approach and come to the same conclusion. A sudden rush of movement as something impossibly large moved impossibly fast, darting away into the depths.
But it wasn't until the two warships heaved to directly abeam of the unfortunate Bark that Dakhir finally landed on the deck to look for survivors.
There were no survivors. Just a row of neatly arranged bodies, each with it's arms and legs deftly plucked off.
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"It's clearly very intelligent, as cephalopods tend to be" said Whisperleaf as the party conferred around the Captain's Table while the reassembled convoy (minus one ship) got back under way. "It holds grudges. It's tracking us. It's waiting for an opportune moment to strike, when it has the advantage, and it's refusing to fight when it doesn't. Instead it's sending us a message, trying to demoralize and terrify us by removing the limbs of those poor souls the same way we shot off it's tentacles with our cannon. And it tried to use those poor souls to bait Dakhir."
The rest of the heroes sat there somberly, digesting Whisperleaf's words.
"Hello" said Freddy. "What in the world is that horrible noise?"
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