Chapter 58: Darkest before dawn. Part 1.5.
Hello one and all, and welcome back to the gates of Enverdolmal!
I hope -as always- that this newest Chapter part finds you all well.
The world has been in a strange and violent phase as of late...I can only hope that wherever you are reading this, you and your people are safe.
I hope that the wars and protests all come to an end sooner than later you know?
I am not for or against anyone.
I will take no sides.
I just want everyone to be able to sleep soundly, eat well, and live their lives in peace.
I wish that I could do more to help those who cannot help themselves...
So I will do what I can: Write these stories and hope that they at least help someone escape as they have helped me escape.
I won't keep you much longer, I know what you've come for.
I love you all...
Dearly.
I will see you all back here soon enough.
I present to you: "Darkest before dawn. Part 1.5."
Enjoy.
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*At times characters may refer to the Oceanic Sea Scouts as the O.S.S*
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*The start of shipping season. Port Cove, Southern Lustria.
Just over seven days prior to current day.*
Captain Gideon Karath walked briskly along the waterlogged wooden planks of the bustling dock. Dockhands and Deckhands scurried about, all seeking to complete some task or another before their respective ships were due to set sail.
He was on time, but hardly so.
The past several nights had been filled with innumerous tasks, all in preparation for their departure on their nest voyage North and East to Port Nixa.
Gideon was a tried and true veteran of the high seas. His official completed quest count was numbered just over 1000 at this point.
A feat that not many, if any in his field of work could boast.
His title of Captain with the Coastal Trade Federation or C.T.F was well earned, and at just 41 human years old -quite young by Dwarven standards- he had built up quite the reputation around the Ports and Harbors of Enverdolmal as a feared and respected Pirate Hunter.
With that in mind, even the best in class tended to need a bit of assistance now and then, and this month's task and trip would require an extra skilled sword arm aboard the legendary Karath's Haste.
Gideon was no stranger to the myriad of dangers that came with his lifestyle and trade.
The shipping side had its pros and cons just as much as the Pirate Hunting end did, and both would constantly replace the other as his favorite and least favorite things to do at any given time. But more often than not, He would rather the Karath's Haste's holds be filled with dead and dying Pirate bounties in place of several tons of cargo.
The first was far more exciting than the latter.
Glancing about, he found a pole shadow with which he could judge the time.
He put a bit more haste in his step. His ship was due for departure in just under an hour's time, and he had one more very important "package" to retrieve before then.
It was one that he refused to be off without.
One that could very well save the lives of not only himself but every human and humanoid aboard his ship.
He pulled his hat brim a bit lower, further blocking the relentless sun from his eyes, and pressed on.
He had a meeting to keep.
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Off to the side of all the hustle and bustle stood three figures.
All draped in dark blue robe-like shawls.
Their faces were obscured by the shade of the tall and bending palms that they stood beneath combined with the shadows cast by their raised hoods.
At the center stood Oceanic Scout Captain Himora Amir, the highest-ranking member of the group and thus its de facto leader.
To his left stood his First Officer Rim, her sleek and lethal figure hidden beneath the waves of her shawl.
To his right stood Keeyin, his trusted friend and Second Officer. His arms crossed and a hand resting on the hilt of each of the twin Khopesh swords that hung at his hips.
Rim was just as much his friend as was Keeyin, as the trio had all grown up together as part of the same caste upon the gargantuan, steel and Dark stone-crafted mega-structure known as Silvaira Roam that many of the Shell-kin called home while on missions that required them to stay extensively on the surface.
They were one and all members of the elite Oceanic Scout Corp which comprised nearly a third of their people's military force.
They were of the Legendary and rather seclusive Shell-kin.
Their current mission was a unique one.
One that was meant to be carried out in several complex phases, throughout nearly a months time.
The first phase of their journey had seen the trio travel from the "docked" Silvaira Roam which was located just off the Northern coast of the C.C.C via Fin-mount for just over a weeks time.
The dolphin-like sea beasts were trained as both mounts and companions to their assigned riders. The mount and rider were bound at birth to each other by the King himself, and are a strictly monogamous pairing. Should one or the other pass away, neither would ever paired again.
Their mounts had loyally carried them as far southeast as the seasonally changing weather would allow, as mighty storms had begun to make reckless the span of the sea that ran the length of the Beirklou Mountains.
From that point on, the trio had shifted their travels between riding the deep sea currents by day and camping out along the numerous beaches that ran from East to West along the Southern edge of Suidelain by night.
The desert nights were long, cold, and grueling at times.
The Scouts dug in and gritted their way through as they always did, as they were trained to do.
Via that same training, each aspiring Oceanic Scout was required to acclimate their bodies to extensive stays on the surface. Sleeping under the stars was one of the most common ways that they would do so.
It wasn't so much the temperature that was their main problem with being on land, it was having to constantly regulate their osmotic balance manually. The Shell-kin were humanoid, yes. But they were first and foremost of the sea.
While they could breathe both below and above the waves (having both lungs and gills) their bodies required a lot more water than the average human or nearly any other surface-dwelling humanoid.
While near water they were always just fine. Their bodies worked better the closer they were in proximity to salted water.
They could breathe and act undeterred -once acclimated- for up to twenty miles from the nearest ocean shore. At and between that range, their bodies could siphon water from the sea breeze.
Beyond that twenty-mile range they had little option but to carry and utilize stores of ocean water in "doses" in order to maintain their hydration and internal balance.
Outside of this, it could take anywhere from days to weeks for their lungs to fully "open" depending on how recent their last trip to the surface was. This period would often leave them weakened and thus more vulnerable until the acclimation was complete.
Himora crossed his arms over his muscled and thinly-garbed chest, sucking in a deep and long pull of the salted air around him.
His scalp tingled as his body absorbed the moister around him, replenishing some of his internal stores.
Rim and Keeyin were in moods just as fine as his, having slept for the first time on actual beds that night passed.
Although the flat and fluffy beds in Port Cove were quite the departure from the hammock-like beds that they were used to sleeping in back on Silvaira Roam, they were better still than sleeping on the ground or the course, grainy sand of the Suidelain shores.
Rim stepped forward, her right hand moving to further block the beaming light of the sun as she left the safety of the palm shade.
She squinted, scanning the packed docks for the man that they were due to rendezvous with. The eccentric Captain of the great ship that would herald them North and East to Port Nixa. Her light, airy voice seemed to float on the warm, moist breeze.
"So...Pirate hunting huh? Gotta say, didn't see that one coming. I honestly thought we were just escorting you to Port Nixa so that you could hit up that freaky school that you've been so eager to hang around at."
Himora kept hidden the wave of curiosity and excitement that flooded his system at the mention of the School.
Garth Verlore.
He had been so busy, so caught up in the preparation and execution of their current mission, that he had simply pushed the second part of his journey to the back of his mind.
Until this leg of the journey was done, he would do his best to keep it that way.
Along with the fact that he was still set to meet with an old friend as well...one that he hadn't seen in far too long. One that his travels and work had kept him from visiting.
It wasn't that he didn't care to speak on it, or think about that part of what was to come, it was more so that he didn't care to taint the thought of that peaceful place with what they had to accomplish within the next tenday or so.
He also didn't want these things to become the distractions that they would inevitably become if he let his mind start in that direction...
He shrugged off the inquiry, answering with only indifference showing on his face. He danced around the parts that he didn't care to speak on, as Rim knew he would.
"A small price to pay for the room and board...And a bit of tactical exercise would do well to keep us in top form no?
Outside of that, this is a personal request from a "friend" of our King. That enough is good enough reason is it not?"
Keeyin's hands moved from the hilts of his swords to the small of his back where he balled them into fists and pressed them firmly into the sore and tense muscles as he chimed in.
"Oh, but those beaches yeah?
I don't need no exercise, I need a new spine! This "friend of our King" best have some decent lodging on that "Legendary" ship of his or I ain't keeping a single Pirate at bay"
Himora puckered his lips, blowing air out to avoid the laugh that he wanted to let slip. He had to maintain a straight face, at least while out in public. This didn't make the statement any less humorous.
Suidelain's beaches were in fact notoriously rocky, and even if one were to attempt to sleep in the shallows, even these spaces were littered with stones and large rocks making that all but impossible.
Remnants of great and massive boulders from both inland and the depths of the sea itself they were, one and all.
Much land and water had been shifted in the days when the ever-moving, Greater and Lesser Elemental Dragons ruled the land.
Back when the Forest weren't stationary, and the Sea were still yet young.
Before Himore could respond or agree, Rim cut him off.
"The Captain approaches, sir."
She said, stepping back into the shade and resting her hand on the hilt of the sword on her right hip. She didn't know this man to be a threat. But alas, she didn't know this man.
Himora picked up her tension and placed his right hand on her shoulder.
"Be at ease my friend, this man is one of the good ones. Our King would have us deal with none the lesser."
The ever-vigilant Officer visibly relaxed. Rim's trust in Himora was beyond words.
He crossed his arms once more. She followed suit.
Captain Gideon Karath was a fair bit taller than Himora had thought he would be. At 6'2 himself, the Scout Captain had thought that he would top the man by a foot if not more, having never met a Sea Dwarfym before this point.
His studies had taught him that while humans and Dwarfs did tend to cross breed at times, their offspring were quite the rarity. In his travels and line of work as an Oceanic Scout, Himora and his team had met, encountered, and befriended nearly everyone and everything from humans to Nymphs.
All sorts and shapes of Sea-bound Goblinoids were a thing as well.
But a Sea-Dwarfym?
Himora's eyebrow raised at the idea that the man before him could very well be just as much of a rarity as he and his Shell-kin were deemed to be.
A rather amusing thought indeed.
Gideon was a man of great repute, yet he was humbly soft-spoken.
He was slim yet muscular in build.
His height was closer to 6 feet then it was 5'11, his mother's human genes being more dominant than those of his Sea-Dwarf father.
His fine, Caramel-colored Kraken leather hat was bound with a finner, spider silk scarf that trailed behind him as he approached.
He wore black mostly.
His shirt, pants, boots, and even his gloves were thus.
His long coat was just as crimson in hue as the scarf that decorated his cap.
His hair was as black as his garments, if not more so. It made his pale skin seem that much more thus.
His eyes were a hard, steely grey. This was in stark contrast to the soft, feather-like goatee that lined his gently rounded chin.
He was a handsome man by all accounts, and just as lethal as he was esthetic.
Across his chest lay a golden gun-sling, his hip held a similar belt.
His hand cannon tucked away somewhere within the inner pockets of his coat.
At his waist -one at the right hip and two at the left- hung three long, hollowed, spike-like swords.
If they could be called thus.
The weapons were something like the prongs of a tuning fork.
Steel in composition, yet far from heavy as one might imagine at a glance.
Akin to a woodpecker's beak, Gideon could and would wield them to devastating effect when paired with his ability to absorb and redirect kinetic energy.
Something that he would come to demonstrate in due time.
Himora cleared his throat as the man approached with his head down, seemingly a bit distracted.
Gideon looked up with a start.
His silvery-grey eyes shimmering in the midday sun.
"Oi! Well met then!"
He said with a wide and genuine smile that caught even the ever-vigilant Himora off guard.
The eccentric Captain bowed and took his hat from his head, sweeping it low and whipping his hair about as he bent at the waist.
"Captain Gideon Karath of the Karath's Haste at your service."
Gideon began his voice not nearly as deep or bass-filled as Himora had thought it would be.
"I...eer...hadn't expected such numbers."
He continued, drawing forth from his left-hand pocket the scroll that had been brought to his ship via carrier just under a weeks time ago, very nearly just as he had pulled into the Lustrian Port. As the man presented the scroll that contained the Shell-kin King's response to his plea for assistance, Himora simultaneously presented him in turn with a new and updated scroll of his own.
Gideon took the parchment and snapping the intricate, navy blue wax seal and drew the scroll to its full length.
Himora and his crew gave the man all the time he needed to both read and digest the contents of the message.
After several minutes, the Captain looked up and into the eyes of the Scout Captain before him, he smiled anew and let loose an amused chuckle.
"Well ain't the Universe bending to glance in my direction."
He said. An old Sea-Dwarf term that essentially meant "How lucky am I?"
"I knew that Windrom was a problem...but man-oh-man. And here now before me, the three of you are to accompany and assist little ol' me and mine?"
Himora could tell that the man was genuinely surprised.
Not only by the three of them being there in place of one, but at the sheer weight of the task at hand being fully realized.
Captain Karath had indeed requested the assistance of the Shell-kin and more specifically, an Oceanic Sea Scout as he knew that attempting to lure out and trap or kill the Legendary and notorious Pirate Captain Windrom would be no easy task, but one might imagine his level of surprise at not only the Shell-kin King's goodwill, but the level of support that the man and his people had shown towards his mission.
Three average Shell-kin were the equivalent to nearly 10 average humans in a combat scenario, so to have three fully sanctioned Oceanic Sea Scouts to add to his already considerable rank and file?
This trip was bound to be a good one.
Himora spoke as he unfolded his arms and clasped his hands behind his back.
The Shell-kin's sign of trust and alliance.
"Our King openly acknowledges the power and influence that this mad Pirate Captain has had over the the shipping lanes of Enverdolmal's Western coast as of the past near decade...It is a level of such things that should not be in the hands of the man who currently wields them...
He has managed to not only invade but securely maintain hold of the Island chain that is known to you as Strengilande, and our Land-Bounders (Saboteurs and Spies who act on the surface for extended periods incognito) have brought word to us that his men have recently taken control of a small sea town at the boarders of Noordania and Lustria North called More'naless."
Gideon bristled openly.
While he prided himself on being "in the know" when it came to world events, he had to admit to himself that he hadn't known that fact at all. That bothered him immensely.
Not so much the not knowing, very much so the fact that the world around him seemed to not be reacting to this -to him- sudden event.
He began to understand why the good King of the Deep Stone had sent more than just the one as he had requested. This mission could and was turning out to be much bigger and far more dangerous than even he had anticipated.
Officer Rim continued were Himora had left off:
"Pirate Captain Windrom has to be stopped at all costs before his piracy and buccaneering ways are the catalyst to war. We have been sent to aid in his capture or killing, once and for all.
With that being said, and as we can assume you've just read, our King thought it appropriate to send the "proper" amount of count force in order to ensure the success of your...no, OUR combined efforts."
She offered a bow of her own, one that both Himora and Keeyin partook in and in unison at that. Keeyin spoke last, offering the formal introductions.
"O.S.S. Captain Himora Amir,
O.S.S. First Officer Rim Manta,
And myself: O.S.S. Second Officer Keeyin Loc at your service via the decree of the King of the Shell-kin and the Deep Stone Kingdom."
The trio rose from their respective bows as one, lowering their hoods as they did. Their stark and shimmering yellow eyes setting Captain Karath on his heels just a bit.
Their almond-hued skin seemingly glistening with a fin moisture in the unforgiving light of the sun.
They were truly a beautiful and lethal people.
Gideon was more than just glad to have them accompany him this time around.
While he didn't fancy the fact that they apparently knew a lot more about his current target than he did, he was sure that he would be briefed in time.
After all, they were all -thank the Universe he thought- on the same side.
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Windrom sat on his cushioned throne in the Captain's cabin just below the Quarterdeck.
The night was late into its life, and the moon beamed between thick cloud formations.
Thick, pungent cigar smoke filled the better part of the room, making the space stuffy and hot.
Windrom liked it that way, it reminded him of the smoke that his burning barrels gave off.
It reminded him of what was to come soon enough...
He rarely if ever left his capital ship these days.
He hadn't for quite some time.
He had no reason to be inland. He had runners for that.
Nothing interested him...
Nothing beckoned to him...
Nothing piqued his curiosity...
He had nearly anything and everything that the Pirate's life could afford him.
And many, many things that it could not.
He wanted for nothing...
He needed more.
More chaos.
Less of this stale and stifling calm...
He needed a reason to be.
A purpose.
A direction.
He had pillaged and plundered and partied and procreated.
He had done nearly everything that he had ever dreamed of, and even a few of the things that had been in his nightmares, just for the fack of it.
He needed more.
No, he WANTED more.
He wanted...
He wanted...
There was a knock at his door.
The grizzled Pirate Captain hoped that this was the news that he had been awaiting.
The something that he so desperately wanted.
That he needed.
"Enter if need be!"
He barked, not irritated per se, but not exactly happy with being torn from his musings.
The heavy door swung open slowly. It was never locked. It never needed to be.
There was not a human or humanoid alive foolish enough to pass that threshold without an invitation.
There were few humans or humanoids who cared to pass the threshold even when invited, so horrid was the Pirate Captain's reputation for random acts of violence and outburst of destructive rage.
The lone Pirate poked his head around the edge of the half-open door and began to speak:
"My Lord, Captain Windrom! The mightiest of mighty men! The bane of all that is Sea-bound! The harbinger of hateful, horrible, heinous acts! The-"
Windrom's Aether surged for a split second as he willed himself into a hyper-hastened motion.
The message bearer never got the chance to finish what he was saying.
Windrom's booted foot kicked the partially ajar door with such force that it slammed shut in an instant.
The head, hands, partially severed arm and shoulder, and hat of the unfortunate Pirate tumbled across the carpeted floor in a heap of bloody human portions.
So protected against water intrusion was Windrom's door frame that the blood from the newly decapitated corps could not breach the now sealed room.
His patients had already been on edge.
He turned from the door and took but a pair of steps before the toe of his armored boot tapped the navy blue wax-sealed scroll that had been in the no-dead Pirates left hand. Calling on a bit more of his massive store of Aether, Windrom summoned forth a magical waft of wind that lifted the item from the floor and into his outstretched left hand.
He squeezed the scroll in its center, crushin the seal as he did so. Bits of wax fell away to either side of his hand.
He snapped the thick paper like a wet rag, forcing it to unroll without the use of his other hand.
His eyes cut through all of the irrelevant words before landing on the handful that he had been hoping made a appearance that night.
His network of Buccaneers had collected just the information that he had needed.
The list of crew and inventory that would be aboard the legendary Captain Karath's ship during his soon-to-depart trip to Port Nixa.
The words that he sought were there.
The key words that would verify his suspicions that this latest trip would be more than just some ordinary transportation of goods.
This was the mission that he had been waiting for.
The one he wanted.
He needed.
The Kingdom of Lustria and its whimsical King were finally making its move against him.
They had not only retained the services of Captain Karath, an avid and skilled hunter of his kind but the assistance and support of the meddlesome and rather worrisome Shell-kin.
This would allow them to technically act against him and his established Pirate Island Kingdom without it being an all-out act of war between his men and the cowardly Elves...
Windrom's smile was so large that it hurt.
He loved nothing and no one.
But he did so fancy a good fight.
He returned to his throne and rapt his knuckles against the treated arcadian wood three times.
From behind the looming throne stepped Windrom's backup plan.
He had figured that Lustria would hire Sell-swords.
He had even figured that they would send Gideon Karath...
He had gambled on if they would muster the aid of the Shell-kin.
He had guessed correctly.
The man was a Mercenary.
A skilled and calculated killer-for-coin known only as Tylin Two-blade.
The man smirked as he leaned coyly against the right side of the hand-carved throne,
his arms crossed, his body weigh on one leg. Two long, black-sheathed blades at each of his hips.
Windrom's smile grew even wider, yellowed and rotting teeth showing with glee at the idea of a bloody and chaotic battle.
This one was no ordinary Mercenary.
He specialized in Counter-Scout tactics.
He was a Blood Tracker.
He was in essence capable of many of the things that the skilled and secretive Shell-kin were, as his trade was to be what they were, but for the hiring Kingdoms and established rulers of the surface world, as Windrom now was.
Tylin was Windrom's trump card.
He would take on the stupid Shell-kin, keeping it busy while the Pirate Captain battled the Pirate-hunting Captain Karath one-on-one when the time and opportunity offered itself.
All was set to go very well.
Himself, his three ships, and this mysterious swordsman were going to do what so many other Pirates had tried and failed.
They would kill Captain Gideon Karath.
Windrom had no way of knowing that the scroll that he now possessed had been planted for his spy to find by the Shell-kin King's Land-Bounders...
He had been feeding the numbers that Captain Karath had wanted him to know...
He had been led to believe that there was but a single Shell-kin to deal with among the combatants that would be aboard Karath's Haste.
Oh, how Windrom would learn the error of his ways.
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Hey, welcome back to the gates!
I almost forgot to mention that this series has just hit
20.55K English Views and 15.5 Spanish Views!
Thank you all so much!
The past two years (yes two whole years) have been wild and weird and wondrous, and I am blessed to have had you all along for the ride with me.
I love you all beyond these pages you know.
I have few friends and my family is pretty...distant to say the least.
You all have been my rock through some tough times...
And you al have no idea.
I hope this holds you al over until the next Character dive and/or World lore part drops soon!
I will also be re-recording the Podcasts just as soon as I can, I seen as of late that the recorded volume is far to low for people to enjoy properly, and for that I am so sorry.
I will try to get that fixed as soon as possible.
In the space between parts, feel free to maybe read some of my poetry if you are into that sort of thing. I will see you all back here soon enough yeah?
Safe travels folks.
And as always:
Stay safe.
Stay healthy.
Stay Vigilant.
-Redd.
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