The Scourge Of The Red Ship (Open)

[Duffy]

The Scourge Of The Red Ship (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95I7t1znYFk&feature=related)

The boat rocked, it’s motions causing the crew to waver as they walked to and fro on the dread ship’s ancient deck. From the shadows of the harbour keen-eyed protégés watched it’s curious standstill with a spurious interest, with eyes and faces scoured to tears by salty sea air. This was the ship whose name was whispered quietly throughout Scara Brae, and no doubt it’s surrounding environs too; renown or infamy, both drew hushed mutterings of ‘The Red Scourge.’ Odd enough, the ship wasn’t very red…it dawned on the onlookers that the ship had garnered it’s name for other reasons…perhaps it was because of the colour of the deck…

How, or indeed why the young buck Duffy Bracken had decided to come to the harbour was a matter of controversy amongst the other members of the Tantalum, who no doubt wanted to end the day on a relative high following a performance and rendition of the classical play Mellion’s Distress. The tragic comedy of a young man’s love lost forlorn where at odds with the rotting sea walks and overcast shadows of the city’s less glamorous district; the presence of the corsair ship was not making the matter any easier on their stomachs. Rain, clouds, ominous gales, a portent for a bad climax if ever there was one. Fortunately for them, all they had to do was take note of the ship’s cargo, it’s crew, and it’s relative trappings, and deliver it piecemeal back into to the hands of the harbour master. The job of dealing with the ship’s captain and it’s pirating career had fallen, fortunately, to other more reckless individuals.

It was late evening by the time the orphans, dancers and tambourine branding vixens faded from their hidey holes, leaving Duffy and his accomplice crouched behind a plethora of crates labelled for shipping to distant shores neither of them had likely been to. From behind his tightly drawn scarf and flight goggles, two treasured finds from the menagerie of costumes and attire found in the basement of the Prima Vista, Duffy relayed the information to the ’pirate’ that had accompanied him from the office where he’d taken on the job, or rather, ‘stolen’ it from under another’s nose. “There’s at least twelve humans, four elves, two drow and, from what Jack said, a large ogre like thing. I’m sure we’ll no doubt encounter it when we get on board, given the circumstances however, a more prudent plan is required.” He seemed a capable sort, and one friendly enough in their Spartan introductions en-route.

The deck of the ship was easily reached, either by the anchor rope, straight onto the gun deck, or by the various moorings and planks which held it firmly docked to the long cobbled marina. It was a relatively small ship, a ‘spooler,’ if Duffy’s limited maritime knowledge hadn’t failed him; it’s size was benign, perhaps, but it gave it more stealth to keel under low slung terrain and of course, to sneak up on unsuspecting trade ships. He scratched his nose and adjusted the goggles, having to continuously wipe the mildew and sea spray from them to maintain vision. “We should be able to take out the lower decks with a relative degree of stealth, speed, and ingeminate luck; I can do that, if you like.” He suggested he wait for him to return, or wait for a signal from one of the cannon slots to assault the bridge directly, “if we take out some of them before they’re aware, then it will be all the better for us in tackling the larger group - I believe the harbour master said others might join in our attempts, but take it that it’s just the two of us, and we’ll be fine!”

Duffy sprinted off with silent feet and a crouch, he rubbed his temples mentally to ease the difficulty he had in maintaining tradespeak without any degree of slang, idiosyncratic speech of colloquialisms the stranger would no doubt have trouble comprehending. His Elvin was too difficult to muster in anything other than extraneous circumstances, so he settled for something the companion would get the gist of regardless. Given half the chance, the pirate might muster some effort and take out one or two of the deck pirates before he could make his way up there, a quick jet of flame later and they’d muster a two directional gambit! Out in the open for a brief moment, the sea spray caught him full whack and sent a shiver down his spine. His odour, a musky, active, indoors smell of sand, fire and clay abandoned him like a vole running from a fire; replaced with nothing but sea salt, a heavy dose of cleanliness to scourge the soul.

Slumping against another crate fifty feet or so from the elf, his damp clothes stuck to the wood and squandered their durability on splinters and idle thoughts. He made passing comment on the ‘damned weather’ as he peeled off his scarf and demi-hood, they would only get heavy and restrict his movement in the coming events. “No chance ‘in ‘ell I’m letting’ ‘em go though!” He chuckled, depositing them in the crate to collect on there hopeful escape. With his arms bare and his weight reduced, Duffy peered around the corner of the crate and followed the portside of the ship to the heavy chain of the anchor. The gap at it’s top was large enough for him to sneak in through, that was for sure, and the chain was heavy and durable enough to not rattle much if he jumped across to it. The thought of diving into the sea in this weather, and at this time of year was not something any amount of gold could urge him to do.

Well… he spurned himself forwards into a run and in a flash found he’d reached the chain. He grasped onto the top of the chain’s nearest loop and for a glimpse in time he thought he’d done it…his feet weren’t so fortunate, and he slipped down noisily before finding a safe grip. Ughhh! He tensed and nearly dislocated his shoulder and toes from the anticipation of being discovered. He waited…and waited…nothing. “Phew!”

Slowly the troupe master pulled himself skilfully up the length of steel and stopped at the top to listen for any noise on the floor beyond. It was dark enough to cover his tracks, so he slid in slowly and disappeared from the view of his ally, and arrived into obscurity, stupidity and a sudden pain on the back of his head, all at the time moment.

Ouch!

[oblueknighto]

Blue had been briefed about his mission beforehand and was even told what to do... it was wasteful really for someone who already knew of the ship's in's and out's, up's and down's then finally the weather made it to much more dramatic. The rain poured into the scene dramatising their whole plan but of course Blue had planned ahead for everything. His silk mask was not all that he wore on this dark night, he had on a full cloak over all his usual work clothes. The rain made no sounds when it splattered onto his cloak as it was made of quite a soft material compared to other combat clothing. His clothing made him almost invisible in his position and if anybody saw him he could see them and thus shoot them down.

Today Blue was going to take down the Red Scourge, he had been brought up in this part of the world and knew the seas like the back of his hand. The sea breeze blew strong on this day and Blue was familiar with the waves, they had their patterns and you could identify them with the sounds of them crashing against the hull of any ship. After all, having lived in the area for 15 years did have it's benefits for somebody of his highly paid profession.

As his circumstantial accomplice sprinted off into the shadows Blue drew his bow firing it off into the opposite direction, he watched it closely and evaluated the winds sadly blow it completely off track. It seemed that having his cursed affliction had some good uses, he never saw an arrow as just an arrow, he saw the tip, the shaft-middle, the raindrop that hit the shaft, the fletching guide the arrow right and the sand that nearly interfered with the arrow even further. He turned around and jumped onto a steel-rimmed crate aiming his bow right at one of the patrol. All he needed now was something to distract him for just a moment so he would lose his initiative. Stupid elven people being so focused on everything they do.

Clunk..... clunk... clunk

*Swoosh*

The arrow flew through the air just as the pirate turned around to look for the sound. The arrow was undisturbed, unhindered and free of the surrounding weather. There was no blood splatter with the range so Blue simply drew another arrow and tried to find another pirate to kill. Lodged into the skull of the elven pirate the arrow dropped out of sight and out of range with the body. Blue then realised that his accomplice was the one to cause the noise, well it was clear what his role was now. Seeing his accomplice disappear from his sight he had done his job and let him get on safely.

Blue found his target and raised his bow once again, the target was slowly approaching the body of the elven pirate so he took two arrows and nocked one. When his target turned the corner Blue let loose his arrow and a moment later his second arrow. It seemed that the pirate swore at the body of his companion but in the end he met a fate too similar to his friend's. Looking over his arrows flying at the pirate the first one struck true and hit straight into his chest so Blue looked away but the second one would have killed him too as it cut his neck blood gushing out from his now exposed aorta.

[Duffy]

It was a great relief to Duffy to find that his mystery assailant was none other than a curious lamp, whose heavy oil container connected with his skull as he rose. Forgiving himself a few swear words and a revenge slap with a flinted glove, the innards of the Scourge swiftly loomed on him, like a darkening cave or a burning forest - he was suddenly aware of every little detail.

The gun deck it seemed stretched the entire length of the ship, a great expanse of death cut into the bowels. The columns that kept it upright and ship shape must be, he presumed, the buried halves of the masts on the deck above, and at either end there were stairs going both up and down, deeper and higher. So many bloody guns! was the instantaneous comment, on each side there were eight hefty cannons, surrounded by gunpowder, cannonballs and swabbing equipment. Along each side there was a long line of manacles and chains…no doubt the slaves hidden below would be dragged up at the end of a cat o nine to broadside and kill at their captor’s command.

No pirates were down below, which only served to ratify Duffy’s suspicions. Everyone was up on deck preparing for cast off, and by the sounds of the shouting which grew louder and louder, the elf had succeeded in causing some sort of ruckus. That gave him a short time to consider his options, and to enjoy the wonderful aroma that permeated the deck; something akin to sweat, blood, mouldy oranges and unwashed men. As he wandered over to the nearest set of stairs, something malicious dawn, no, sparked in his little mind. He’d always wanted to see fireworks, perhaps he’d been given the perfect opportunity right here, and an easy solution to having to fight through swathes of burly, scurvy, ferocious looking examples of ‘common scum…’ He flexed his fingers and wryly shot a cannon a glance.

“Finally, I can use this for more than sparks and cheap thrills!” With a forward punching motion he let loose a spray of the liquid from the Tinder Gear and dragged himself back over to the gunpowder resting next to the cannon. It wasn’t an ideal plan, or one particularly well thought out, but it gave him an insurance policy if ever the opportunity to parlay with the captain arose. In fact, Duffy would insist on it; it was a more practical solution than getting a dagger through his gullet. The liquid clung to the ancient wood with ease, despite it’s dampness, and soon there was a line from the foot of the stairs to the base of the barrel and he made two passes up it’s height to give the flame a good chance of climbing upwards.

He started to whistle a sea ditty with a very hushed but chirpy tone. The Tantalum was so glad to be back in Scara Brae, even if he was mopping up the city’s dirt, that it was worth being detected for a good round of Old Man's Sailor Song. After his perilous adventures in Corone, that were worthy of their own play, he really didn’t give two hoots about the odour, the danger, and the pain he’d no doubt soon endure for the sake of a few dabloons of gold. Happiness began to consume him like adrenaline pumping through his veins and heart, and like his heart, his head pounded with the thrill of the possibilities that lay before him.

[oblueknighto]

Blue ran from his position, his sniping had got more attention than he had thought, they were already on the lookout for an assailant. Of course he was too far away for any of the humans to see but the remaining elves and drow had as good vision as he had. He ran across the docks making sure that he blends in with the shadows making darkness seems absolute. The rain and the winds cover him and makes him seem invisible to the naked eye. Blue stays low to avoid making the raindrops splattering on his coat a giveaway for his enemies.

His accomplice was probably in there messing up the pirates already, well at least that was what Blue hoped while he approached the closest ship to the Red Scourge. He jumps up the plank and flips into the rigging readying his bow. Picking an arrow from his quiver he aims from his high vantage point and lets loose a shot into one of the shadows, he rains arrows down upon his enemies to cause more interference with their crew.

Having killed another pirate by total freak coincidence he looks around for his accomplice but doesn't find him anywhere. Blue thinks of why he wouldn't have already joined the battle and comes to a conclusion that his accomplice is still experiencing troubles reaching the deck. Kneeling down on the rigging he grabs his knife and readies it to cut the rope. Now simply waiting for his accomplice's signal he hops down onto the bottom layer of the rigging and cuts a few of the strings off so he can swing off at will.

[Duffy]

With the insurance policy in place, and an extra trail to another barrel added just for good measure, the young scamp trotted over to the foot of the stairs and peered upwards. The stormy croft stared back down at him, and no resistance in him passing onto the deck could be seen from his disadvantaged position. A true thief and adventurer of an experienced nature should know, that just because you can’t see danger, that doesn’t mean it isn’t there; Duffy, being none of these things, amply waltzed up the stairs with silent but clumsy footsteps.

Out in the open, with no crates or walls to shelter you, the wind was a torrent of spiritual magnitude, knocking hair and clothing and sometimes, from the occasional bumping noises which cropped up in the blanket of shouting, it knocked down even men. The sails were slung open and their movement added to the noise wall to the point where Duffy could walk without being careful where he might be treading; it was almost too good to be true, for once he didn’t have to be silent - tempted as he might have been though, he chose not to continue singing. He turned his attention to the numbers and demeanour of the crew.

The Scourge had obviously once been a very proud and profitable merchant ship, one could tell from the vestiges of wealth that peered from beyond the rotting, damaged carpentry, and the ornamental decoration which was long faded from the great red sails. The number of cannons became an important factor in Duffy’s confidence, it was clear the ship was armed only with enough weaponry and cargo space for short runs, which meant the crew had to restock and dock often enough for people to have known she would be here, and that meant they would be tired, hungry…angry… He walked over to a stack of crates which were cast open, fortunate enough to at least look piratey, if only at a corner of the eye level. Inside were various foodstuffs, fruit, flour, even potatoes; evidently the bedraggled demeanour of the crew wasn’t a factor in their lifestyles - all the childhood nightmares and fantasy tales, right through to the current similes about pirate jiggery and high seas popery were failing miserably; there were no clichés here.

“Am I doing the right thing?” Duffy asked himself, to which a voice, battle-worn and tired replied ‘probably not,’ a voice from behind which made Duffy spin nervously about defensively. “Oh, hello - ar’ you ma replacement?” It was a stupid thing to say, but it’d worked in the opening act of Lysander’s Flock, and now that he came to think about it, I Want To Be Your Canary as well.

The stern looking man, with a beard you could hide bees in and a bandana as red as the ship’s deck gruffly nodded. “I be Jack, the cap’n wants all able bodied men to help load the cannon on the port side off - you look able enough lad, get on with you.” Duffy bade his farewell and skipped off very hastily in the direction the deckhand pointed, whatever fool had written that into the play was owed a very large sum of gold for saving his hide once more. He wondered as he ran, the wind and rain whipping his hair away and saddening his drawn face, what else would work if he acted it sincerely enough…

The captain it seemed was as ferocious and fearful as the legend told. He wore a red doublet and several belts laden with gunpowder satchels and trousers of dark brown leather and boots to match. His hat was tri-cornered, the emblem of the Merchant Navy long since worn away; if Duffy hadn’t known better, he might’ve known It once belonged to the previous owner of the ship…the small crew were busy hoisting the ropes that hung over the side of the ship and from the strain on their faces the cannon was already out and overhanging. He made for a loose end and pulled as hard as he could, trying to fit in.

“HEAVE!” The Captan’s voice boomed over the deck, like thunder with added kick. The whip crack that followed made everyone flinch even more. The crew pulled all at once with a great uproar of muscle flexing and sweat. The wind roared in unison. “HEAVE!” Everyone pulled once more, a hive of shirtless torsos, exquisite Elvin silk and rattling brassards. “HEAVE!” Down came the whip, and down went the crew’s spirits. Duffy almost felt sorry for them…almost…

“HEAVE!”

“HEAVE!”

“HEAVE!”

On the last command the Captain went silent. Hesitantly the crew pulled once more but their combined strength petered out quickly, unsure of what to do without their overlord’s barking pushing them on. Duffy naively continued to pull, unaware of ship procedure and pirate etiquette, if that was quite the right word. The Captain stared at him, and everyone else followed as they spread out and encircled the stranger.

“Who…in all the god’s names…are you?” The last word carried a certain resonance the troupe master associated with only one thing…immanent danger. He replied with his name, in his best common slang, to which the Captain replied with a pistol shot. Lightning jolted through Duffy’s veins, but no jolt of pain mimicked his reflexes. For that he was glad, as it meant he could at least live long enough to see if the rumour about pirate reload times were true. “I will ask you again…who…are…you?” With this reiteration came the drawing of the Captain’s cutlass, a particularly curved and no doubt razor sharp specimen of maritime battle.

“I good sir, am the humblest of citizens, come to join the crew of the Scourge.” Plan one wasn’t particularly successful, so plan two, gullible idiot, went into full swing. It was helped somewhat by the ominous clap of a growing storm’s thunder, and the atmosphere in the circle of pirates being so…curious. The Captain stepped a step closer, the sound of his heavy metal tipped boots suggesting further clarification. “I sir…am but a poor sailor?” No…that wasn’t going to work.

“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t cut you down where you stand…” It wasn’t going to work at all, Duffy corrected himself. To confirm the lack of understanding the Captain stepped closer still, until the tip of his sword was a good step thrust away from Duffy’s torso. With no-one stepping into to avoid the Captain’s wrath, or to confirm that they’d found him at the last port, one could only draw the natural conclusion that a fight was inevitable. Looking around nervously, and quickly, the surroundings were favourable but the odds weren’t. The Captain himself looked a formidable opponent, and the nine pirates, two elves, and the large trollish creature Duffy identified as some form of orc only aided his futility.

Time for that signal, he thought. “I, good Captain of this merry vessel, am no mere pauper or prince amongst men, I am the most humble, most renowned, most feared, Lysander Brandybuck, Spellsinger, Bard, Warrior and Gentlemen, the slayer of Corone’s Guardant, and the Bender of Women,” that part was Ruby’s idea, it had to be, most people laughed, when had Duffy ever had any luck with women? “I have come to silence this ship’s sonata on the stormy seas!”

The second pistol shot might have been the Captain’s last, Duffy hoped, but it was startling all the same. With the heavy rain and no easy route to the sides of the ship to send a signal to the waiting elf, Duffy span and leapt upwards in a convex display of acrobatics. He grabbed onto the lower tail end of the rigging that was keeping the cannon from tumbling downwards into the eternal abyss and curved up and around to right himself on it’s length. He began to swung and pendulum his weight; a moment later and a good push of strength spent he landed outside the circle and rolled upright with a clatter and a grunt. In the movements, he brought out his daggers and held them both in a reverse grip - “ELF!”

“ELF!” With a punch he sprayed the liquid upwards and sent a second punch into it, the technique required to create a jet of spray that went vertically. The crash of the flint gloves together set the mist alight, and a rush of ochre and amber fire flew into the sky like a dragon’s snore. The pirates, who had up until then been approaching him from behind in a wall of weary swords and untrained daggers all leaned backwards with startled surprise.

“Stop dawdling and get him!” The red figure of the captain came bulldozing through, kicking and shoving bodies aside to bring up a pistol and fire once more. The shot whizzed past Duffy’s ear and sent him into a crouch, the sound of wood splintering behind him relieved his ever developing nerves.

The pirates charged. “ELF!” For the love of god, Duffy cried, let the fire and the noise be warning and notice enough for aid, he began to run forwards and spun with both blades held back, the clash of steel awakened the theatrical ambition in him, and in two deft parries the first pirate loses his composure before taking a silver streak across the chest and a heavy kick to the groin. Duffy bounded and flipped backwards, satisfied that his reckless charge had caught his opponent unawares. As he weighed up his opponents, he danced from foot to foot and shaked his hip, keeping his movements changing ever so slightly like a jack-in-a-box. This was knife-fighting, the way the cutthroats and street urchins perfected it - random, quick...messy...it was the only thing below the belt Duffy had, so to speak.

After his count, there were still nine human pirates left of their first count, but the sight of the arrow riddled bodies by the port side brought a gladdened reprieve. He ran forwards again and the daggers leapt once more, as if they were controlling Duffy, not he they. In the distant sounds through the stormy atmosphere, for the briefest of moments, he was almost certain he heard a choir singing of Damnation, Death and Valkyries…

I am Lysander…and I shall sing you an aria that the gods shall weep over.

9 Human Pirates Remaining, the Captain not included, 1 elf, 2 drow, and some badass rocky troll type creatures.

[oblueknighto]

At this signal's call Blue flicked his wrist and sliced straight through the last ropes connecting the rigging. The sails dropped with the wind and with it Blue went flying, he swung onto the end of the rope that was now swingingly straight towards the Red Scourge. As he flew through the air he curled himself up into a ball but with his right hand free to follow through with his manoeuvre. Dropping his bow before his landing he ensures his own safety without the hindering of his bow and his quiver on his back.

On touch landing he acrobatically makes a roll over his shoulder on top of the captain's room then flips his body into a prone position. He checks his memento and his dagger to make sure they are both intact and they are so he crawls along the top of the captain's room to get the rest of his equipment. At reaching his bow he draws three arrows from his quiver and quickly prepares them for the pirates in awe of companion's theatrical bardic display.

Nocking the first arrow Blue aims for the flinching pirate that jumped out of the way from the fire then shoots the other two in the pirate's general direction. As he glances a look towards his accomplice he makes high pitched calling whistle to signal his position towards his bardic friend. Then counting the casualties Blue finds four human bodies and another two heavily mutilated elven bodies. He raises his bow and shoots an arrow at the human who was fooled by Blue's calling whistle. The distracting whistle would leave a distinct alerting sound in most human's head. They would be agitated so their reflexes would slow down but their thinking process would remain the same. For any concealed attacker it would make their actions a lot easier to make but for any aggressive enemy who don't use their reflexes for defence anyway it would make no difference.

Hoping that his accomplice had yet to fall in combat he stood up and shot an arrow into the flames but it flew all the way out into the sea.

Remaining enmies:
Captain | 1 Rocky Troll creature | 2 Drow | 2 Elves | 7 Humans

[Duffy]

The arrow whistled past Duffy’s ear, it’s centrifugal calamity knocking him forwards in a reflex action to duck the flack out of the way. What the! The thud of the bolt hitting the pirate he was about to skewer was satisfying, but losing out on the thrill of bounding around him in a death dance wasn’t exciting. He glanced over his shoulder, laid eyes on the one called Blue and beamed him a smile, his back was most unheedingly covered.

You couldn’t fault the pirate’s approach to fighting, the long sword, an odd weapon to have, drifted in and out of butterfly stitches and general stabs. It was undirected, clumsy, and it made Duffy pleased, very pleased. The dagger in his left hand scooped up the blade as it came at him once more, deflecting it with a sweep from the left and pushing it to the right. With continuation of his motion he spun and brought the right dagger into the dislodged stab and flicked it clean from the man’s hand. It rattled away a few feet yonder, it’s noise all but drowned out by the storm on high and the combined melee and ranged assault they’d somehow plucked from the tales of old.

“Tough cookie,” Duffy chimed, but felt his words falling on deaf ears with the sudden appearance of a second pirate, who had a second sword, and wanted very much to give the unarmed and very scruffy man his second chance. “Oh…well, in that case!” He kicked down, hard, his boots bouncing off the barnacle and blood smothered planks of the deck. In his ascent he clapped, brought sparks to bare then flicked out two small jets of the liquid over the heads of the pirates. Somehow he managed to bounce high enough to be on the other side of the pirates, upright, and not sprawled flat; it made a nice change.

The small flicker and sparks and clap was just enough to startle them to allow Duffy to not be forced into close quarters against the port side railing. In front of him where the rest of the pirates, dodging arrows and making their advances towards the elf, and behind, the two swordsmen had turned, regained their composure, and were making the same thrusting patterns at their prey. Deft little reflexes saw them off with reverse held daggers chiming against the sides of blades and knocking them aside. Left right left right, right left right left, up, down, ching!

He was beginning to tire, although he could keep up with two of them, a third side lined the duo and two silver streaks became three. Duffy took two seconds to decide on a course of action and acted on it. He leapt back, skipped, leapt back some more and then sheathed both daggers back into their boots. The captain’s roar boomed over the hubbub, “Get that sneaky little rat, get him, NOW!” The sound of pistol fire followed, but for once the pellet was not aimed at either of the soon to be castaways - the crew were getting it, mutiny or not.

I am Lysander, you are Celia, in that simplest melody and rhyme I find myself defenceless. But out in the world, where our hearts are lost in the storm of the seas and the rising tides and the scourge of legacy, love, light…I am the swordsmen who sings of a thousand lives, romances over a thousand years…dies over five hundred days of summer… Reciting the most poignant speech he’d ever written or that matter, ever would write, Duffy brought his right hand up to the hilt of the katarhna that was tucked under his scarf. All the sounds of many a battle filled his ears as he gripped the cold steel brand tightly. It chimed as he drew it. He did not know how it was done or how it would be used, but he did so, as he had done in Radasanth, before the Ghoul, and as he had done before Lucian. He drew it as he would likely do again and again…each time as fresh as the first.

He drew it as Lysander would do.

He drew it as he thought he should.

He sprang forwards, the silver streak white with new shine and unblemished perfection. Left, right, left right flashed the blade, cutting into the pirate’s guard and returning the outnumbered Duffy to the fray with a strike to the first‘s chest, and disarming the second. A follow up upward thrust ended both. Through him, the creations of Duffy’s artistry once more flowed. He was not Duffy, he was something else…and something else did not like pirates.

The songs of Valkyries and gods at war died and the sounds of the rain and thunder and lightning above returned to him. Another arrow whistled past, and another, bringing the realisation of reality back to Duffy. The magic of his heart song was faded, and with it his compelling need to wield the sword; he returned it’s once steel prominence to it’s sheath, the metal as crimson and stained as the ship itself. The come down, the exodus of magic from his veins hit him like neuralgia and fire. Ruby had warned him…but he did not listen.

Out came the daggers again, “Blue! Get the captain!” He mustered one last shout before bringing the steel up to defend himself from the longsword of an elf, an altogether quicker and deadlier opponent.



5 Humans remaining, 2 drow, 2 elves, captain, one troll.

[oblueknighto]

Blue confirmed the presence of his accomplice by seeing a fresh bloodstained sword fly out slashing across the body of a pirate, Blue could still use him for now and so he let his ally fight off the few remaining members of the crew still alive and healthy enough to fight. He glanced back over to his ally and saw him in a stalemate against one of Blue's kin. The elven pirate was weaving his swords in and out, across and forward and as many of elven kin like to have the pirate showed the gentle flowing natural of steel. Watching high elves fight was once an honour but the fight was noting classy as the pirate fenced back and forth with his longsword just to injure an enemy.

Heeding his ally's Blue peered around looking over the ship for the captain, glancing back into his ally's direction he sees the captain past him and further on the other end of the deck so he picks up three arrows and then places them between his fingers before nocking one of them. Now aiming his bow straight at the captain's head he fires the three arrows consecutively. Flying through the sky the arrows make contact one by one.

Firstly the arrow made contact with a shadowy figure slamming into his foot and keeping his foot stuck to the ground while the victim shouts curses across the ship. Next the second arrow cuts the captain's ear drawing blood but not affecting his health in any major ways but what it hit was the shadowy figure, right in the forehead. The blood was oozing out and the drop of blood fell onto the deck just to be washed away with the rain. The third arrow punctured the captain's lung going straight through the right of his chest, his minimal armour was a mistake that he would never even get to regret. The captain would soon die from blood flowing through his lungs then suffocation on a liquid in his lungs and thus the lack of oxygen and circulation. Without the blood pumping through his body his face would slowly turn blue starting with his lips.

With the captain out of the way one of their goals were achieved so all that was left to do now was to capture the ship intact and undamaged.

[Duffy]

With the captain's life ended, the elf wavered in it's stride like a crayfish dawning on the idea that life wasn't all about shells, eating, and running from cages. Although tired and weary, Duffy saw the opening brought about by the sump thud of Blue's arrow and tore into the defence as it failed. The splatter of red of the sideways dagger make him wretch a little inside, and the stab to the chest didn't help his already sea sick constitution much. The lifeless body fell to the floor with a satisfying frump.

The temperament of the crew went from bad, to mutely bad. A state of being beyond pirate that was only describable as 'rabid dog.' They all encroached on the bandy legged thief's bouncy little stance, each one of them wet, sodden, and all but given up. This would have been a fortunate turn of events for the remnants of the Scourge, immanently about to acquire a new chain of command - if it were not for the elf's position, and the sudden eruption from below deck of what could only be described, in the same slow and intrepid fashion applied to the unwashed swordsmen, as 'a walking rock.'

The boat that stole became the boat that rocked, each trident smash of a foot step from the troll made the planks beneath them all shudder and creak, going from sagging to inverted and dangerously close to caving in. Even though he'd set up a small surprise if the plan, what plan? had gone awry, he didn't think much of the ship would be left anyway. It roared, the heat of it's maw rippling the air like fire lance ether. Duffy managed a gulp, a point, and a hop skip and a jump with clamber to the railing. He stood alongside the elf and mumbled something about 'what the fuck'.

The troll ran at them, or tried to. It was moving too slow to run and too awkwardly to skip. Seeing their sleeping kin awaken and advance the crew stepped to one side calmly, hoping the troll would do their work for them, and much messier at that. It's skin, or...it's rock was a deep crimson, etched with runic symbols that glowed with inner fire and temptemptious malice. "Good lord..." Duffy muttered, adding to his question of 'what to do next.' "THIS is the Red Scourge, not the ship!" As he said it the rain that came down so heavily and annoyingly on humans simply turned to steam before ever reaching the ancient beast's arcane presence. It dawned that is Tinder Gear would do no good here...

Things went from bad to worse, and alot hotter. The wave of the troll's breath hit his nostrils and reminded him of a scorching sauna, which wasn't the type of smell you wished to investigate further. "Want a pop at it, with those pointy sticks of yours? Or shall I help us out with a small ball of raging fire of my own?" Whatever he decided it was already halfway over the deck, and Duffy dropped his knees to be ready to jump into the sea if he had to.

[oblueknighto]

Capturing the ship intact and undamaged...... what a joke that was.

As the troll stampeded across the ship Blue shot an arrow right at his eye but it missed and hit his cheek instead. The arrow only partially dug into the troll's tough skin making it fall off when he stepped once again onto the now rocking ship. As the troll approached Blue was surprisingly glad that he actually had an ally because there would be somebody in the way when the troll came stampeding towards the other side of the ship. The situation was dangerous and the pirate crew had completely let their guard down with the emergence of their much larger crew member so Blue took the initiative.

Spotting one of the 'drow' that they were of he quickly fired an arrow straight to the back of it's neck hopefully killing it and with that he took down another member of the crew, there weren't many threats left as Duffy had killed the last elf or the last thing that looked like an elf. There was still one drow wherever it was supposed to be but Blue needed to act on his own with such a great opportunity so he took aim at one of the unsuspecting pirates who wore a leather trench coat but as Blue fired his arrow it went completely trough the coat. The arrow stuck to the ground pinning the coat with it giving Blue a message, whoever was wearing the coat had somehow slipped it off and got away without him seeing.

Turning his attention back to the troll it was now approaching at a steadier rate considering how it started off, it was still slowed down with the bodies and arrows littered over the deck. As the troll moved towards Blue he trod on a tip of an arrow and slightly moved to the side swinging his arm and hit a member of the crew. Blue didn't see who or what but he knew that at least one of them got smashed off the ship by the troll.

Blue then heard muttering close to him and turned to find his accomplice right there beside him, his attention was really focused towards the troll and he guessed that was the reason of his easy shots at the crew. His ally kept trying to talk over the storm but Blue only heard bits of it. The bits that he did hear were quite stupid to ask in the scenario but everybody could ask for a speck of hope. Blue didn't mean to answer his query but in all the action he replied, "What is it now? If you have a trick up your sleeve then hurry with it but don't destroy the ship, we still haven't collected our reward yet. Especially nothing that you can see from the outside, we won't get paid otherwise."

1 Rocky Troll creature | 1 Drow | 4 Humans

[Duffy]

Duffy wondered why any Captain would keep such creatures on board. There had been another when he arrived, he was sure, Pete had spotted them together, quite calm, out on deck. Perhaps it was below deck, asleep like it's brethren, tied and bound in servitude. Little time was to be had now, the rocking grew steadily worse, and the arrows flung at it fell feebly short of mosquitoes, pricking the skin of an irate mammal. The storm front drowned out most of the shouting from the pirates, and dampened the advance of the troll but he could still feel the deep pounding vibrations come from the troll’s molten heart.

Where had the ship been, to find such creatures? The shackles on the creature’s wrists were blackened and warped, it’s chains shattered with incredible strength. They’d exported it somewhere, or were taking it someplace else, maybe the ruckus and the captain’s death had awoken it from some sort of sleep?

“Don’t damage?” Duffy replied to Blue’s question, he had tricks up his sleeves to the point where he could open a circus, sure he did…but don’t damage? His limited knowledge of gunpowder hinted that the ensuing explosion would only take out a large kraken bite from the port side, and maybe pepper the docks with splinters and timber, he didn’t think it’d blow the whole god dam thing out of the water. Irrespective of which, they had to stop their new found friend, before it did most of the work for them. The remaining drow and the humans advanced slowly behind the troll, darting and leering looks of eager bloodshed at their two assailants.

He cut at a guide rope, as Blue had done to arrive on the Scourge, and pulled on it deftly to test the tension on it. “Lure the troll over to us, ya hear? Then as it swings for is, swung out or past it on these!” He prodded at Blue’s swing, making vain gestures in crude sign language over the howling winds, which grew louder and louder, or perhaps it was the roaring heat of the furnace troll, he wasn’t in any calm state of mind to tell.

The idea was simple, lure the troll directly above the fourth cannon hole, and then set the trail of fuel alight that was at the centre of the deck; short seconds afterwards, the barrels would explode, take out the troll, damage the ship to that it would half sink in the thankfully, hopefully, delightfully shallow marina, and then watch as the pirates ran off in fear and abandonment…it was a classical theatrical trick, the 'swinging away during explosion with world coming down around' heroic stunt...he'd never actually done it for real.

Secretly, Duffy knew that that wasn’t how life went…but you had to try, right? The troll ambled closer, the troupe master hoped the elf had understood.

[oblueknighto]

Now actually listening to his accomplice talk it was a lot easier to make out what he said but what he actually said didn't make much sense to Blue. His ally was now officially an idiot in his books. You don't even need to swing out of the troll's way, you would just make it mad and it will try to kill you even more. Anybody could simply run from the trolls on a ship like the Red Scourge, it was quite a stupid idea to be honest. Then something hit him on the head....

Yes, it was a raindrop, but that single raindrop had let his creative side take over and he thought up a plan to defeat the troll, save the ship and prevent whatever the hell his partner was trying to do from actually happening. He had his plan ran through his head three times just to visualise what should happen if everything goes well and what will happen if everything goes wrong. Kneeling down on the rigging he drew his knife and put his bow onto his back and started ripping at the ropes. He had no time to explain his own plan so as the troll approached him he quickly snapped the rope and swung right over the troll's large frame. As he approached the high mast he cut a rope down from there and grabbed onto it then shifted all his weight down so he could lower himself.

Upon touching the ground once again the troll was stumped for directions so he dipped down and quickly slid between the troll's legs and around his right leg. Then as the troll turned to face him he ran around him and ducked as the troll swung for him so now a rope was in between his legs and then around him, the troll then tried to punch Blue but completely missed so he ran around the troll once again as the troll tried to find an opportunity to attack.

The rest of the crew became restless after Blue made a show of their troll in a mere 40 seconds so Blue wanted to quickly end all his troubles to he got out his bow, tied the rope to a chain of two arrows then fired it at another rope. Now theoretically the arrow should zoom past the troll's face cutting the ropes on the other side of the rigging and let loose the sails thus pulling the troll up with the ropes. If the troll was hanging right next the mast he thought that his sponsors wouldn't mind a gift with their ship at all.

Blue wasn't sure if he would follow through with the last phase of his plan and he kept thinking about how it could go wrong. What if the troll somebody untied himself then the ship would be ruined by his fall? What if I died by the hands of the other crew members? What if that bardic obsessed thief did something weird and destroyed the ship after the plan? What if the mast couldn't hold the weight of the troll? What if there is some third party interference? What if.... what if.....

Oh shit, I'm getting paranoid again.

I made the last bit 'theoretical' so if you wanted to you could still blow up the barrels while he is partially tied up or just wait until the next post where I make him hang next to the mast. I liked your idea, but since you didn't explain it to Blue ICly he wouldn't have knew about it. Then taking into account what Blue would have done to you if you even considered blowing up the ship he probably would have shot you in the back with an arrow while you were swinging on your rope. Blue's only objective is money.

[Duffy]

As the troll went from meteoric advance to upright squander, Duffy sort of did a double take, arriving at the logical namesake of double dealings… Of course, he hadn’t seen it coming because it’s exactly what he would’ve done, and all good thieves and double crossers never expected something to steal or double cross them in return. From the looks of it, Blue had heard of the corsair captain’s bargain, the one that went against Duffy’s good nature, to capture, not destroy, the Red Scourge.

The troll’s brutish movements brought the rope to a tense and dangerously close to breaking point in it’s soon to be short life. Struggling to think for himself for a while, Duffy leant forwards on his own rope, and then stepped back, and then leant forwards; should he side with Blue’s efforts to leave the ship undamaged or tear it out from under their feet and do a good deed for the city he loved?

He swung.

In the end he supposed it didn’t matter all that much. He understood the principle of shifting and dividing power, something he’d talked to Lysander about in great length on the road through Concordia. Communist sensibilities were a fallacy, that he knew, but it was part of moral compass now - to divide. Another captain would gain the ship they stood on now, and the tyranny of it’s crew would end. New masters always rose from the ashes of their former, it was part of life’s cycle. His feet landed heavily on the pile of crates where he’d set up the last of his trail, it’s heavy musk reached his nostrils even through the dense dampness of the late afternoon storm. It smelt of rotton cotton and degenerating bowels, wonderful.

“It’s not going to hold-” he shouted across, pointing frantically at the trapped behemoth, “It’s not going toooo holllllld!” He about managed to swung over to the troll and leant; tensing the muscles in his legs to push himself upwards. With one quick excretion of strength Duffy’s heel caught the troll’s upturned chin, and he bounded with a cleverly and quickly thought up wall run to the rope which held the beast on high. His heart raced frantically as he was prodded and jabbed at enroute, he held the small nick and tattered clothing nervously to prove how much of a narrow escape it had been.

He slung the end of his rope around the troll’s leg, balancing carefully as it’s death throes occurred. Something that had a heart of molten lava and veins that ran red with fire couldn’t be enjoying a sudden rush of blood to the head…tightening the knot, Duffy kicked off and rolled to a stand still on the floor with a deft display of acrobatics even he didn't know he could muster when tired. The adrenaline continued to pump, in the same way as the fire in the troll's veins. Looking up at his handiwork, he admired it for roughly four seconds before the telltale signs of danger appeared.

He rolled back, quickly.

The troll roared.

The fire flared, a corona of rage rushed over the troll's body.

The rope singed away, ashes drifted into the sky.

Time seemed to slow as Ickbar, the Fire King of a distant island realm tumbled downwards. Well, Duffy thought tumbled, but it was more of a deadpan fall. His head connected with the faintly red deck which was slowly becoming more crimson as the storm began to cease and then the rest of the body ploughed through the wood with ease. As the troll fell, the pirates beneath it, who’d been vainly trying to catch the knots to set him free scattered like pine cones beneath the feet of trampling horses, clipped and tossed aside like spring reeds.

The planks on the edge of the impact sprung up, forming a brief ring of deadly spikes, then all of the debris gave way and followed the troll’s path in a tumult of dust, splinters and expensive collateral.

Duffy got that familiar feeling of accidental dread, and glanced up innocently at Blue - at least he’d tried to help! He approached the hole, which was a good twelve feet wide at the dead centre of the deck and peered downwards into the dark. It was a good dose of fortune for all present that the heavy rock hadn’t penetrated straight down into the seas, but there was a symmetrical hole right down through the gun deck, ship’s cabins and stores to contend with. “At least it’ll still float!” He offered as bitter reprieve.

Shrugging and drawing his daggers from his boots again, Duffy twirled them and stepped back. Across his shoulders he sent the elf a brief look of apology, and then ran towards the dumbfounded drow who had joined him in peering into the depths.

Two silver streaks flashed, and the battle lines were drawn. Duffy began to hear the distant aria once more, and sung along loudly to the unheard words.

4 humans and a drow remaining, nearly there!

[oblueknighto]

After deciding to go through with his plan Blue fired the arrow chain into the air. All while he was doing this his accomplice had went and made a fool of himself. He had enraged the troll and not just that but the troll's rage somehow made it become engulfed in flames. Blue didn't know that much about trolls so he was actually surprised by the turn of events, all he hoped was that it didn't wreck too much of the ship because Blue had ulterior motives and needed the ship to stay in decent condition for him to follow them through.

As it flamed up Blue quickly jumped back then watched as the troll slowly singed the soaked ropes. A mass of steam rose from the troll's body and the rain still continued to pound out the fire that was slowly ripping the ropes. When the ropes finally gave in to the fire the troll quickly slammed into the deck and crushed a hole one layer deep into the ship. Blue gave a cold stare at his accomplice then quickly moved back towards the hole and readied three arrows. He shot two of them into his eyes and one straight at his neck.

The blood slowly came out but Blue already knew that the troll wouldn't wake up. He'd been waiting for a long time to kill a troll of some kind and when he finally did it was even more satisfying than he would have thought. The blood thirst had yet to overcome him so he nocked another arrow but this time turned and took out one of the remaining pirates. There were only a few of them left and Blue was simply too annoyed at his bardic ally to do any of the work himself. It wasn't his fault but he still felt that his accomplice was guilty for some reason or another.

Seeing one of the pirates charge towards him from the side Blue turns away from the hole and kneels down returning his bow onto his back. Slowly drawing his knife he holds it with both hands blocks a swing of an axe in a completely smooth manner. Then pushes the axe away from his body from his kneeling position and smashes his palm into the pirate's leg. As the pirate moves back away from Blue he a pounces acrobatically and slash at the pirate's chest then continues to slash at his body while the pirate moves back towards the starboard while Blue pesters him with his slashing knife then when the pirate reaches the edge he looks around. After looking around the pirate has a keen look in his eyes and makes a wide swing with his axe but Blue simply lowers himself into a position for an elbow strike and follows through. The pirate flys off the ship and Blue lazes down onto the edge of the ship.

Remaining Enemies:
1 Drow | 2 Humans
You can take care of the rest of the enemies in your next post or you can leave a human pirate for my character to laze around and kill. Did you know that I completely hate trolls, they ruin forums, chats, games and they try to make our lives as miserable as theirs. They are stupid and keep coming back to try and ruin your life even though they need to get their own. They are sad little creatures that try to make retarded jokes that aren't funny then reply with, "It was a joke.", for everything they do.

[Duffy]

The dark skin of the drow stood out like midnight mass against the slowly lightening backdrop of the marina, intermittent flashes of lightning lit up the sky as the storm reached it’s conclusion and patches of sun broke through the blanket of cloud. Duffy smiled at the irony in between punches and attempts to deflect the druchii’s blade - he’d struggled for years to master the use of pathetic fallacy in his performances, and here the weather was working perfectly in unison with the net of steel and combat they’d woven together.

He brought the dagger in his left hand up to connect with the longsword and it held, both their strengths pushing into the physical touch; the wraith like elf’s attempts gave way, and Duffy spun around to bring his right blade, held reverse and down as ever clashing into the sword. Once more the elf found himself without a weapon, watching it helplessly clatter to the ground off to the right. It was about the only real ‘move’ Duffy had learnt that had any impact, asides using his bounciness and banter to confuse and distract, before slipping up and stabbing when they least expected it. “So…” he muttered, loud enough to be heard but not to startle.

The drow edged back slowly, hands up, vicious red eyes staring coolly at his young and unexpected executioner. Duffy advanced, seeing his opportunity to despatch another of the pirates without having to resort to bloody minded violence and killing those unarmed - it wasn’t how Lysander would do it, not even King Herod. He edged forewords, and the Drow back.

With a slight vent of air and gasp the elf dropped from view, a descent followed only by a sudden eruption of screams cut short by intense flame. In unison with the slippy footwork two arrows whistled down and saw off two of the humans. They’d somehow pulled through and his bleeding upper arm and tattered, wet and desperately dirty clothes told tales to the world of his discomfort. At least there were only two humans left, both standing on the opposite side of the impact site with scared looks in their eyes. They shot comments to one another, urging their companion at sea to leave…very quickly…

Duffy supposed he’d have to do it…when did he not? He was used to heart and soul reckless activity. Skipping into a run he came full circle about the gaping hole in the ship's deck; catching a scent of the sulphur and flesh aroma that drifted up like a volcano’s heat. The first human made a bitter attempt at a defensive stance but in his rolling motion, Duffy leapt and spun mid-air. He caught the blade with a downward blow and brought the other into the man’s chest as his feet made contact with the damp wood with a plib.

The other turned tail and jumped down the gangplank in a hurry. Duffy half smiled, half wretched. Great… “Blue! Don’t let him get away,” he fell to his knees gasping and sputtering, finally able to catch his breath. “Even if it does mean shooting him in the back!” Because good lord, I want a cuppa! His throat burned as he spoke, his heart pounding through the exertion of his run.

What was the elf truly up to...

[oblueknighto]

Blue heard his accomplice cry out for his help so he got up slowly and ran after this truly magnificent example of a cowardly pirate. He made a flip off the ship then raised his knife to slash at the pirate's neck but say that it was somebody he knew very well, a childhood friend, accomplice, thief, bully or just another person who Blue could now kill who he only wished to kill when he was little. This was a treat for Blue as he hadn't met somebody who had seen his face in a long time so he gave him special treatment. Shouting at him, "Hey Johno, want to be first-mate on the ship? I'm Jack you know, from that long time ago. We used to rob that Sam's asshole little boy together, remember? Now follow me. Your in for a surprise"

Blue took the guise of the only person forceful enough and crazy enough to try a scheme like this and it seems like Johno accepted his fate as either dead or with a friend from a long time ago. Blue took him down without his 'accomplice' seeing him and locked Johno into a room somewhere lower in the ship and then returned to the upper deck walking calmly towards his ally. He didn't need to say anything because he had nothing that needed to be said. He signalled that he would be next to the dead captain of this ship and walked over to his target. He got the cutlass which the captain was holding and held his body up and sliced the captain's head clean off the rest of his body.

Now walking back to his accomplice Blue threw the cutlass onto his right and it landed on a random corpse. He tightly held onto the captain's hair and then spoke to his partner, "We've got our proof of death so let's go collect our reward."

[Duffy]

Panting turned to gentle breathing and slowly into standard consumption of air. The young Scara Brae thief mopped his forehead with the edge of his sleeve and looked about the ship. It dawned on him that Blue was no longer there, the faint memory of footsteps flying past him struck the back of his mind and reminded him why; why hadn’t the elf just shot the pirate in the back? From his earlier actions and splendid aim he’d assumed he'd have no qualm with striking down the last of the pirates from afar...unseen and unheard…

He pushed himself upright and let his legs wobble into a secure lock, his knees clicking as he did so. He would need to rest, and soon, his youthful exuberance was well past it’s bedtime. “Where in the blazes, what’s that elf gon’n’done now?” He couldn’t even see him in the alleyway or along the marina, even with the brightening day, there was no movement except for the crows circling overheard, eager to partake in the spoils of battle.

All that had come to pass in the last few months ultimately foretold of this day, this trial. From the battle in Corone, through the caves beneath it, the discovery in Radasanth and the revelations found in the Orb of Attainment, he’d come so far but developed so little. Slowly he’d developed his own persona, creating a place for himself in the world like the most complex and outstanding of the characters he’d put down on the pages he wrote on. “But nobody will hear my story…” He frowned, growing increasingly frustrated. “Blue!”

His voice echoed and was responded to by the jeeringly timed appearance of the elf, not from the bow of the ship or up the gangplank, but from below deck… He watched him walk over to the sword on the floor and cocked his head, “where in the high hells have you been?” Blue replied with a desire to return to the harbour master, a comment cut in two as easily as the head was severed from the captain. The sword or medallion would’ve done… Duffy shuddered and finally threw up - it’d been a long time coming.

The capital is in ruins, all that is left are the hills and rivers
In spring its streets lie deep in grass and trees;
In sorrow for the times the very flowers are weeping
And the birds flutter in grief at the sad farewell.

He wiped away the remnants with his now overused sleeve and cleared his throat. “There really weren’t no need for that guv’nor, no need at all,” taught and dry, his accent returned and at last he felt like he was himself. There was no echo of distant aria, no creations acting through him, no adrenaline taking his lines and moulding them anew. He came back to earth crashing as loudly and destructively as the troll had done through the heart of the Scourge.

“But, since you’re so eager to go gain some gold,” he strolled over and scooped up the cutlass for himself, weighing it deftly and letting it’s swing speak for itself. It’d fetch a fine price and make a very good addition to the Tantalum’s Menagerie, it’d appear all over Scara Brae as a token of the troupe’s triumph, and become the new weapon of pirate captains in plays as old as the city itself. "Let's get going."

“It’s a short walk,” he plonked his feet on the gangplank with a limp and languorous amble. Duffy waddled down to the marina and felt very very very glad to be back on dry land. The troupe master still didn’t know what the elf was up to, he felt like he would find out one day, and be surprised in doing so - but he was beyond tired and too concerned with paying for tonight’s meal to push the matter further - he was going home, that’s all that mattered.

The smoke of the beacons has burnt for three months on end.
Letters from home are worth ten thousand pieces of gold.
I scratch the scanty hairs on my white head;
Vaguely I struggle and without success to secure them with a pin.

[oblueknighto]

Watching Duffy pick up the captain's cutlass made him remember that he still had Johno locked in the bottom of the ship so he reached into his pocket and drew out the key. Staring at the key for a moment Blue wondered what he would do with the old acquaintance of his. Then he realised he was already in front of the Harbour Master so he was ready to give him a piece of his mind. Blue had planned the dialogue carefully not to give any sign of surprise or emotion into this conversation.

"We've killed the captain, here is the proof.", Blue said raising the captain's head,

"The bardic thief has his cutlass for some reason... probably obsessed with keeping a relic for every battle."

"So, what of the Scourge?", inquired the Harbour Master.

"The ship has been sunk.", Blue replied.

"Huu-aghhh aghhh", Duffy spoke but was interrupted with Blue patting him on the back in a very strong matter.

"He's not used to this killing business, he even vomited when I sliced off the captain's head.", Blue interrupted.

"Uhh, yeah", spoke Duffy rambling about competency or something alike.

"Yes, it's fine. I can sympathise with that but you should try to be more professional, note you are being hired as killers.", ended the Harbour Master handing over the reward to the pair.

Upon receiving the reward Blue runs off in the direction of the ports to check the status of the Red Scourge. He needs to meet somebody quick before they get aboard the Red Scourge. He needed the money and he needed it quick.

[Duffy]

I don’t know why I bother sometimes… Duffy thought to himself as the elf took the scene back, in just the same way that Duffy had brazenly walked in on Blue and took over as head of the mission a few hours ago.

Ironic…

Still…the gold was In front of him. He stepped forwards and picked up the nearest of the pouches. “It’s been a pleasure being of service to the city, Harbour Master-” he looked over his shoulder, and wasn’t altogether surprised to see a flash of blue and black disappear out of the office door, jingling as it did so. There he goes… “I will of course be willing to help in such matters again if the time of the hour is right and you wish something to be done - you can find me in the same manner, at The Old Harbour Inn,” he nods politely and steps back. As he left, he started to whistle a little tune to the brightening skies.

I look across the oceans,
In a vain and faultless hope,
That you’ll come home across the tides,
Or down from the mountain slope.

I hope you’ll find your roots again,
Out there in the endless rains,
I hope I’ll see you once again,
To satisfy these pains.

I look out across the midnight skies,
For the beacon of your heart,
I hate the fact that we have failed,
Yet I hate that we’re apart.


In between each line he did a little hop, allowing the euphoria of a job well done and the chords he heard as invisible compliment to forgo the pain. In a few short moments he’d be back in the warm embrace of the Prima Vista, a little richer, a little older, a little more scarred, but alive and well, and one step closer to being able to stand up to Lucian, and stand up to the whim and rages of the Gods themselves.

Spoils:

The Crimson Cutlass: A red handled and ornate iron cutlass, still stained red with dry blood. Taken as a trophy and to use in future threads as a reference and to add to the Tantalum Menagerie, should anyone else wish to make use of it.

The Reward: Gold in accordance with the mission parameter, please deduct 10% of the total gold earned to refill the Tinder Gear.

The Spell Singing/Channeler: this is an ability not yet earned but due to the time frame, set after all other threads and Duffy meeting Lysander and Lorenor, he would have started to learn it. When I upgrade to Level 1 or 2 I’ll add it as a formed ability to channel his characters and spell sing, but only after it’s reference points are finished - A Cut and the Chord is where it starts, and it is practised greatly in the coming events in Paradox.

Combat: I’d like to use this when I do upgrade to increase his combat ability/parkour, so this will be a part of evidence for any coming bio update.

[oblueknighto]

Blue rushed off towards the port to meet the merchant willing to buy the ship. He was alone as they agreed and since most merchants knew Blue was trustworthy with illegal business he came alone and with a ton of gold so the first thing Blue did was raise his bow and shoot him in the face. The unsuspecting merchant died and Blue ran past him taking the large sack of gold with him. Blue opened up his bag and threw the sack of gold into it then pulled the bag closed again.

As he sprinted onto the ship which was once the Red Scourge he untied it from the port, raised the anchors then finally let down the sails. There were bodies scattered all along the deck but Blue had no time to clean it up, the sun would rise soon and people will soon start waking up. He needed to escape Scara Brae with the ship and never bring it back. Blue turned the steering wheel right and kept it turned and aimed for the direction of Corone, he would escape with the ship and make it his own.

Once he could no longer see the port he shouted out, "This is now my ship, soon it will be suitable for Blue Knight to be riding on it!" He jammed his bow to keep the steering wheel straight and went down to release his old buddy Johno, let him be his first mate and even though Johno didn't know who Blue really was he accepted and together they set said for Corone where Blue could repair his ship and find more people for the role of a first-mate.

As Johno helped him dispose of the corpses from the deck Blue gave him a very small portion of the gold he stole from the merchant, the gold completely satisfied him and he even stopped complaining. They heaved off the troll together then Blue continued manning the steering wheel. Staring his journey off Scara Brae with stealing a ship was something that Blue liked the sound of and he hoped he could do more treacherous deeds once he arrived at Corone.

Spoils:

Topsail Schooner: A schooner littered with dead bodies weighing 99 Tonnes. The beam being 20' 6" and the draught being 10' 6". The ship is 111' in sparred length and 81' on deck. This two-masted schooner was once called the Red Scourge of Scara Brae but it will soon be a ship suitable of riding for Blue Knight.

I wish for this ship and am willing to do a Bazaar quest to get it repaired and fully acquire it. I will not man it alone but with the 'captured' pirate that my character will force into complying. I mean it's either listen or death. I was thinking of not spending any gold repairing the ship because I stole some from the 'buyer of the ship'. Hopefully it all works out. If I need to repair or crew up this ship I would prefer to do everything in Corone. Hopefully I can get the quest finished up by the time I'm level 1.

Thanks to the Judge, the pair of us finished this in one week. We really appreciate you judging this thread. We both hope that this will spark some new activity in Althanas. I appreciate how the Judges have stuck to their jobs despite how the activity on Althanas has dropped dramatically.

[Taskmienster]

Hey there matey!

*clears throat* Sorry about that, was just trying to get into the spirit of things. :p I, Le Taskmienster, shall be occupying the position of judging this thread. I have claimed it today, Sept. 16th, and will have it done… now?! Wow. Yeah, bored and already finished work for the day so your thread is the lucky one that will take till this afternoon to finish! Hopefully my comments help, and if you have any questions or concerns just PM me, or catch me on AIM and I’ll help you out with everything.


Continuity 4

I really have no clue why either of you were there, on the ship, who you got the contract from, or what you were planning on doing. Plus, why was the infamous ship so easily conquered? Why did nobody notice that you were getting on, much less killing people? And who are either of you? Background is important to develop the character, and plot lines and explanations of them are important to develop the story.

Setting 5

Oblue: You seem to have either decided that Duffy was doing well enough with the setting that you didn’t need to join in with the description, or you just forgot to. There are five senses that you can work with when describing anything, use them and help the reader feel what they are reading and make them able to picture the world around you. Most people use only sight, and ignore the others, you rarely if ever even gave me that.

Pacing 4

As far as pacing goes, it started off rather quick, the fighting was quick, and it was not hard to follow. It didn’t set me on the edge of my seat, so to say, but it was well done. I’d suggest taking the time to develop the story more, because no matter how well you do pacing, it will always fall flat if half the time the reader is going over the thread they’re confused as to what exactly is going on.


Persona 4

Dialogue 4

Action 4

Action, unfortunately, is going to take after pacing for this, since it is at the forefront of what set the pace. It wasn’t terribly done, but it wasn’t magnificently done either. The tense issue, coupled with the general mechanical faults made the action hard to follow, and muddled the read. That didn’t do much for the pacing either.


Mechanics 3

Oblue; You have a lot of sentences that need comma’s, otherwise the clauses that you are writing are just going to run into each other and continue on and on. Just read it out loud, find out where to put the pause, and place a comma there. You also switch from past tense to present tense a few times in a post, and at one point and entire post. Me no gusta tense changes. :p

Technique 5

Duffy: Just from the very opening of your first post, I can see the immense effort that was being put into this. However, it seems borderline purple prose at times, as if you are trying too hard with a synonym check on Word instead of just writing what flows. Sometimes bigger words that are meant to set a certain tone for the entire thing are appropriate, and flow well, but sometimes too many of them sets the reader back. It’s like reading a narrative version of a vocabulary book written by a professor with a Ph.D. for other professors with Ph.D.’s. Not bad, juts be careful to not take it too far.

Clarity 5

Oblue: You need to work on refining the writing. The comma’s made it confusing, the lack of synonyms even more so. Sometimes you were probably talking about multiple people, but it seemed that you gave them each nothing more than “elven” for their personality, appearance, and whatnot. That made everyone seem the same, which in turn made everything confusing to try and figure out who it was you were shooting your bow at and why, as well as what happened.

Also, if it’s windy and rainy, there’s little to no chance that you should be able to have pinpoint accuracy. It is unreaslistic.


Wild Card 5

Eww green text. :p Didn’t take points off or anything, just don’t like colored text unless it’s absolutely necessary… and in this it was a distraction that made it harder to read for me. No clue why.

Score :: 43

Rewards

Duffy: 390 exp | 50 gold
((Crimson Cutlass is rewarded. Gold is reduced. Spell singing/channeler; not sure if this is even an ability for approval, or just something you said you were going to get later… Combat; again, like the last thing, it has nothing to approve, just says that you would “like to use this”, but I’m unsure of what “this” is. You can update your profile when you level up anyway and you didn’t ask for any specific skill.))

Oblue: 350 exp | 0 gold
((You can have the ship, but without a crew, or guns, nor is it really worthy of sailing (unless you have a lot of buckets to get all the water out of it while you go) and is in need of general repairs. You cannot sell the ship either.))

[Taskmienster]

exp and gp added!