The Lornius Riots (A Corone War Thread)

[Zack Blaze]

Zack looked up as the seagulls cawed overhead, awaiting their next meal. It was odd; Zack had been taught that the birds of this type only actually traveled this far out to sea to die. It gave the youth hope that he was close to his new home, though the company he was with could have been slightly better. Shifting his eyes on the deck of the S.S. Paladin, the youth took notice of all of his fellow prisoners.

A few of the more gruff looking criminals were doing various exercises. There was a bald man with black tattoos nearly covering at least half of his body (Zack knew this because said man was shirtless) doing pushups on the deck with a fully armored guard right behind him. The sun caught the shiny steel of the soldier just right, and reflected some of the light into Zack's eyes, causing the youth to carry on his analysis of the ships 'passengers'.

There was a small dwarf with muscles bulging out of every limb that would allow lift barrels of fishes over his head and dead-lifting them. Though Zack was somewhat well trained in the art of street fighting, the teen knew he would never possess such power as to handle a barrel full of Yanbo Bass with such ease. The warrior made note of the dwarfs surprisingly clean cut red beard. He would have to be one to watch out for.

Finally, Zack's eyes settled upon what appeared to be a child. The girl was surrounded on each side by a heavily armored guard. Had the vessel not been compromised of prisoners and soldiers, Zack would have assumed that this girl was a princess. While Zack could not make out much more details aside from her short stature, he did catch a blue blindfold around the child's eyes. Was she destined for execution as soon as they arrived on Lornius?

"Well," Zack spoke to his own guard, attempting to lighten the mood, "I suppose that in comparison, being the assistant to the Gisela Reaper is not so bad when you look at the company I have to keep." The boy spoke slowly so he could let the salty air not only blow through his hair, but tickle his tongue with its slightly bitter taste.

"Quiet, you," The guard said while reaching for the hilt of his blade, "We're under strict orders to not allow you to have anything that may be able to kill a man. If you are Cassandra Remi's right-hand man, we have a duty to protect the citizens."

"How noble," Zack sighed, reaching up and scratching his chest. It was now that the street fighter once again became aware of the chaffing that the steel shackles around both his wrists and ankles was causing. It was bad enough that the metal was cold when they slapped the things on him, but now the tightness of the accessories was starting to bug him as well. "I turned myself in, shouldn't that count for something?"

"No," Said the guard as the ship let out a loud moan and seemed to stop. Zack looked to the front of the boat, his eyes growing wide at the sheer size of the island prison. A single wooden dock lead into a cave of sorts that Zack could only assume was connected to the large building situated about half a mile above the rocks. They had arrived at the most inescapable prison known to anyone on Althanas. The one place that the most dangerous criminals were being held. The place where Zack planned to start building his empire.

"Terrinore..." Zack started to trail off, but then looked at his guard 'friend' once more, "Come for the cells, stay for the fear of death."

[Godric]

“I assure you, Mr. Lengen, your prisoners will arrive on the island safe and secure as promised.” Godric expressed with a smile that most would call half assed.

Mr. Lengen scratched at his untamed beard, his dark eyes looking over the tall pale man before him, his hand finally coming to a promising gesture. Holding out his hands, he shook with the death knight, a smile crossing his lips as well. “You’ll be paid in full as promised. Give this letter to the Warden upon arrival.”


Damn fool.

“ I warn you now, those men aboard those ships are criminals, killers, some of the worse in Corone. Be warned.”

Godric waved his hand aside, passively nodding his head at the burly man before him. “There is no need to worry about me, Mr. Lengen, you can say I have a way with criminals…”

***

The ship creaked and swayed with the ocean’s rhythm, moving the ship from side to side as it slowly but surely made its way to the island. An unlucky and time consuming ride for those with a sensitive stomach.

Godric’s heavy iron boots thundered along the dusty wooden surface as he passed by, his grey eyes taking a quick gander at some of the prisoners on board. The smell of sweat and sickness filled the air with their odor, likely to churn ones stomach but his own. He was immune to such fowl, for he was used to the smell of death, the lifeless putrid delight. Dragon’s Blood scented oils flowed from his hair and skin, making himself more approachable as a living man.


The prisoners worked, lifted, and fought like untamed animals, making their bodies the mass of a bear. One in particular grabbed his attention, a dwarf in the far corner, accompanied by two guards instead of one. He clapped as his arms pushed off the floor with a leap, sweat rolling from his broad shoulders, a loud grunt escaping his lips like a frustrated bull as he continued. A monster of a man. These men, oh these men, they were fit for combat

The guards noticed Godric and nodded, waving a hand for him to approach. “Godric, that is your name correct?” The guard asked with a notion of respect written on his tone.

“That would be me, kind sir. How may I assist the two of you on this fine afternoon?”

The guard looked over at the other guards before looking back to Godric, handing him a nicely rolled scroll. “Nice to see some extra help around here. Most of our guys on deck are new recruits. Heard you were hired as a mercenary for some tighter security. We need it. Anyways. Do me and favor and give this document to the Captain, he asked for it earlier and it crossed my mind to return it to him. I’d do it myself, but I already got written up for leaving my post once. I took my eyes off the guy for a second and he was collecting rope for the attempts of an escape. The thing they will do…”

Godric let out a small chuckle, nodding his head. “Indeed, the things they’ll do…. I was just about to return to the deck after receiving Inmate Mudnin here. He is to swap the upper deck today.”

Questioning, the guard curled his eyebrow. “I thought Patterson, our cabin boy is to do his usual duties?”

“Your friend Patterson is a little under the weather from your little celebration last night. Don’t you worry, your secret is safe with me.”


“You’re a good man, Godric. We’ll have him unshackled and chained up on the upper deck for you.”

***

“Now remember what we spoke of, Mudnin. You’ll know when it is time. Follow my river and you will be enlightened, finding what you have been seeking for so long.”

“I will not fail you Godric, by the God of the Hammer, I will not fail you.”

***

They were growing close to the island, a little closer than Godric had hoped. Time was short.

The Captain’s quarters were finely decorated with a large crimson red carpet, finely sewn drapes dangling from his back windows to grant shade from the burdensome sun. Many documents were scattered about the room, the smell of rum and other various liquors in the air. The Captain himself remained in his chair, listening to Godric’s words as his eyes scanned over the scroll.

“I don’t know what has gotten into that Cabin Boy.” The captain complained as he sat the scroll down, tossing it aside with the others. “Kid seemed to become ill out of nowhere. When they found him, the little bastard couldn’t remember a damn thing of what happened to him. I know a hangover when I see one…”

“The boy is young,” Godric explained softly as he glanced out the window, grabbing eye contact from the prisoner dwarf outside as he continued to swab the deck. “Your deck will be cleaned better then it has in ages. Mudnin is always trying to find ways to wear himself to the bone, but I should be on my way, Captain Fleming, I wish not to be a distraction of your work…”


The dead man’s hand extended for a shake, a hopeful smile written all over him.Upon receiving the Captain’s firm handshake, the life was nearly drained out of him as the Death Knight worked his black magic, draining him to the point of unconsciousness. Taking his hand from the man’s lips that he had done to prevent him from calling for help, drug his body, tossing it to the floor.


“Quickly!” Godric yelled, swinging the door open to the two guards that stood at the doors edge, “The Captain has fallen ill on his floor. He seemed fine! H- he just collapsed out of nowhere!” The cry of worry sounded from the man’s voice as the two guards stormed in, quickly at the captain’s aid.


Discretely, small spear like bone matter escaped from his palms as he approached the two guards who had their backs turned toward him. So unexpectedly, so quickly, the bone extended, slamming into the side of the guards throat, killing him instantly. The other panicked, falling back to wield his sword, but wasn’t fast enough before the bone shank shot from Godric hands, penetrating the guard right in his eye, causing the guard to flail back over the Captain’s desk from the sudden impact.


“Sorry for the bad news, gentlemen” Godric spoke coldly, “But you’ve been relieved of all duty…” Leaning down at the Captain, he placed his hands around the Captain’s throat, tightening his grip until he felt the bone matter give in and crumble.


As the Knight walked from the Captain’s quarters, the lone guard looked up at Godric, seeming concerned. “Is everything alright in there?”

“Oh, everything is going to be just fine, Officer.” Bringing out his sword with masterful speed, Godric’s blade came down on Mudnin’s chain, cutting him free. Like a barbarian, Mudnin went wild, gripping his chain and smacked the guard overboard with it. Without hesitation, the dwarf released the anchor to cease all ship movement.


“This is your moment of truth!” Godric hissed, walking from chain to chain, bringing his sword down on it as Mudnin received the weapons from the Captain’s quarters, tossing them to random prisoners after being released by Godric’s blade. “This is your judgment day. Stand as a coward to be locked up for eternity, or create your own destiny! Fate is in your hands now!”


Chaos came over the deck in a matter of seconds as a horn was sounded from above the sail to alarm the guards from below, but they didn’t make it far as escaped prisoner workers kicked them back down the steps, impaling them with no remorse, over powering them by numbers. Mudnin their leader.


With distaste, Godric glared up at the man above the sale in his little bird nest. If he was smart, the little prick would quit blowing that horn… Which he did, hiding under the bird nest walls in fear. Casually pacing to the ships edge, firmly placed his hands on the railing, looking over at the large island. A single prisoner approached him, bowing his head to him. “T-thank you, sir.. I don’t know how much I thank you for this.. I-”


“I wouldn’t get too comfortable just yet, boy. We have a much bigger goal at hand. Collect the guard’s things, I want them stripped. Tip their bodies overboard…That is a command, I am your captain now…”

[Zack Blaze]

Of course, Zack was aware of the sabotage earlier upon the Paladin, the guards that were actual guards were much nicer than their convict replacements. The man who had replaced the Captain of the ship did not seem like much, probably some fool with illusions of grandeur. Still, he could be used for Zack's gain if he stayed alive long enough at the prison. From what the teen heard, survival was not common for most of the residents of Terrinore prison. It had to be isolated from the rest of Althanas for a reason, after all.

The ship seemed to dock with ease, a fact that Zack found amazing considering that none of the men here had any watercraft experience. Almost as soon as the boat was mounted at its pier, several of the faux soldiers began to try their descent off. Their captain ordered them to hold their place, probably for some villainous scheme involving murdering the real people later. Then again, if overthrowing a professional prison transport was this easy, how hard could overthrowing the entire damn jail be?

Zack crossed his arms, his ears ringing with the sound of heavy armor clanking against greaves. A boarding plank was soon raised onto the large ship, and a dozen fully armored warriors made their way onto the ship. Behind them was a man of average size, a shiny blue plate mail with the official mark of Lornius over his right breast. Though the blue helmet hid his eyes, the youth was sure he was scowling. A voice that sounded too self-sure of itself pointed towards the heavily guarded blind girl. "She is first priority," the leader said, "And for the love of the Thaynes do not remove that blindfold."

Zack watched as the whole regiment surrounded the girl, and began to take her down the ship. Several more guards quickly made their way upon the vessel, each prisoner seemingly only deserving one guard a piece. As the captain of the ship came down from his quarters, he was greeted by the blue armored noble. "Ah, Reginald, it’s good to see you again."

"That's not Reginald," Zack said, causing the blue helmet to turn towards his form, "If you'll notice, he's blanketed up his face something fierce. Reginald is dead, probably the rest of the guards on the ship too. Prisoners pulled a mutiny, nasty little thing, it was." The guard quickly ripped the scarf surrounding Godric's faces from the man to reveal that his friend was no longer behind him.

Zack's revelation caused quite a stir, the prisoners deciding that now was a good time to attack, and attack they did. The guards responded by blowing a whistle, summoning even more soldiers to the field. Zack winced a bit, closing his eyes and ears to the rather grotesque sound of swords running through victims, and the screams of warriors as they were slaughtered by other warriors. When it was all said and done, Godric had seemingly disappeared, the guards had prevailed, and only Zack, the dwarf, and the bald man were remaining. They were all surrounded by Terrinore officers at this point, causing Zack to raise his hands in the air and speak to the others.

"Take a cue from me guys," Zack spoke with a nonchalant attitude, "If you want to live, I'd suggest you'd surrender." The two prisoners looked to one another, as if they were making a pact, and nodded. They raised their arms in defeat as the guards began to chain their victims up once more.

"That was....admirable of you," Blue Armor spoke to Zack, "You just made your sentence here a little easier for you. My name is Captain Azure, and after we make sure that none of you are holding anything dangerous, we will get down to your introductions."

"Your name," Zack spoke with a sigh, "Is Azure? Of course it is....why can't people be less on-the-nose about their character traits nowdays?"