17th, Sandstone, Mid-Autumn, 1059:
"Traders!" Imp's voice rings out down on the deck. Skipper looks up, scurrying over to the deck rail and sees the traders approaching. He's still not exactly sure why they need to trade, their holds are full of booze and food, and their mission no longer revolves around plunder and booty, but Kalen demanded it.
Skipper lowers the plank onto the makeshift dock, welcoming the traders aboard. He glances up to the captains quarters to see Kalen overlooking the operation from the stairs. His orders are clear and the task is simple.
"Just uh, place your goods right there, we'll be bringing out our ... metal toys, and some stone mechanisms for you, eh?" Skipper lies, beckoning them aboard.
The foolish elves do not hesitate though they balk at the monstrous beast of a ship, every plank of wood a mortal offense. "Fools," Skipper muses as he watches them unload their gaudy trinkets and useless carvings.
After they have finished, the Elven emmissary approaches him.
"What then will you heathens be prepared to offer us for our wonderful crafts?" He asks, disdain tainting his voice.
"Let me see ..." Skipper says, looking cowed, before dropping his logbook and picking up a spear, whirling on the disgusting elf and placing it's sharpened point to the pale beardless neck.
"Just this." Skipper says calmly as the rest of the crew approach, armed to the teeth and excited at the prospect of battle.
The elves, no matter how disgusting and slimy and stupid, do know when they are outmatched.
"Ah," The emmissary sighs, his head cocked back away from the tip, "I see. Boys, let's be on our way, leave your things, they've got us." He hisses, his eyes squinting around the ship.
As they depart, Skipper prepares to bring down the plank. "No, not yet," Kalens voice comes from behind him. "Good work, but, this is just step one of my plan. They'll no doubt give our location to the goblins in a day or two and they will be glad to come and try and steal the things we've taken from the elves this day."
"Ohhhh," Skipper responds, impressed. His trust in the captain has been restored over the past weeks, and her cunning continues to impress him.
"Now, if everything goes according to my plans, any minute now we should ..."
"CAP!" Imp yells down from the crows nest.
"Ahh yes," Kalen smiles, "right on time."
"What's that captain?" Skipper asks, distracted and perusing their stolen goods.
"Fresh meat." Kalen responds, moments before Imp makes the call.
The natives poured out towards them, two by two, animals at their heels and rucksacks on their shoulders. This kobold and goblin infested island was a place meant to be left, and Kalen was gambling on their desire to use her for passage.
She locked the door to the plank, but didn't draw it up.
As the natives approached and lined up on the dock, Kalen whispered over to Fishgut, "Wish we had some way to test them and see who is best ... but we're out of monkeys."
"Aye," Fishgut responds, rubbing his chin. "Y'know cap'n, I spotted somethin' 'low'n da surf 'afore we left, but we ne'er had time 'te go after 'et. Avast!" He says, leading her over to the southern ship rail, "See it?"
"No ..." Kalen responds, confused.
"There ... just below the surface!"
Kalen squints hard trying to overcome the reflective glare of the sun. THERE! A swordfish ... no, a skeletal swordfish. "Aharrr, matey!" She says, slapping him on the back, "Ye're a cruel, evil, cunning son of a bitch! Blasted best pirate we've got aboard!" Fishgut grins, but inside, he's hiding his sadness. He'd wanted a shot at the fish, himself. Seem's letting a bunch of lowly villagers have it was quite a waste ... unless the fish won the battle. Then it would be a worthy opponent. His heart rose and he followed Kalen back to the plank.
"DO ANY OF YOU SPEAK DWARVEN!" She yelled out at the assembled mass.
"Aye ...", one of them responded, "Help us get off this island, the goblins and kobolds are killing us daily, we've got to get off 'ere!"
"Aye, you can come aboard!" Kalen says, Fishgut suprised by the false sweetness she manages to slick onto them.
The villager translates and the dock errupts in cheers.
"HOLD YET!" Kalen shouts, holding up her hand, her eye intent on the translator. "Ye've got to prove you'll be worth your salt aboard. We've a task for you. Once you complete it, we'll let all 20 of you come on. There's plenty of food and booze and free passage to the mountainhomes if ye can solve this one minor problem for us, mates," Kalen lied, Fishgut trying to stifle a laugh.
"Go south and kill the swordfish for us so we can leave port safely and we'll let ye aboard!" Kalen yells out before dissappearing over the edge of the deck.
"Think they'll do it?"
Fishgut hopes they won't, but assures her they will.
Imp shouts down from above, "They're on the move, cap!"
Kalen scampers up the mast to stand with Imp. He smiles at her, all animosity drained at her dedicating of their mission to revenge for the fallen mate. She smiles at him and grabs the spyglass, watching as the 20 odd villagers stride through the surf towards the shallows where the swordfish resides.
Unarmed, the mass of natives surround the fish, one of them grabbing its tail and pulling it on land before they suddenly all pounce on it.
Kalen chuckles, watching the unholy zombie fish, it's pestilent body writhing under the mass of natives. Like a large ball of flesh, they roll around in the surf, none wavering.
Ten minutes later, Kalen drops the spyglass. "Bloody hell ... they're still going ...", she sighs. "Aye cap!" Imp chuckles, "they'll be fine wrestlers by the time this is over!"
"If it's EVER over!" Kalen snorts, heading below. She passes another glance along the beach, sighing as the tumbling ball of flesh continues to roil under the breaking waves.
She heads to her bunk to grab some sleep, certain the number of natives will be greatly reduced by the time she wakes up.
18th, Sandstone, Mid-Autumn, 1059:
Kalen pounds down an entire barrel of booze, wiping her face and yawning. She dons her eyepatch and hat, heading up the mast, where Imp is waiting. Not waiting, she notices, sleeping. Kalen gives him a gentle nudge, startling him.
"Whoa, hey, i'm awake ... resting my eyes cap ..."
"Aye?" Kalen asks, confused, "How many are dead now?"
Imp, unable to see over the rail in his prone position, has no idea. Judging by the ferocity of the swordfish, he can only imagine a handful had survived.
"Five?", he responds.
Kalen lifts the eyeglass.
"Bloody fuck. Well, you were half right. The ones that survived have become quite good wrestlers. But your count is off by a bit." Kalen hands him the eyeglass as he stands. Imp's jaw drops as his eyes see the exact some sized ball of flesh rolling around in the surf.
"By Armok himself, none of them are dead!" "Aye," Kalen responds, squinting. She can see fresh trails of blood, at least something has been accomplished.
"Well, the fish seems to have gotten quite skilled himself ..." Imp pronounces, witness the battle.
Kalen looks up at the rising sun, her mind ticking off the hours in preparation for the coming goblin attack.
"I haven't got time for this shit," she spits, swinging down the ladder and sliding to the deck.
"FISHGUT!" She yells out, her eyes on the battle. Fishgut comes above deck and puts his arm around her waist. "Yes, love?" he whispers sweetly into her ear.
Kalen spins on him and shoves him back, "STOWE IT, save it for the bunks, I need you to go and finish this, those worthless oafs can't even handle that bloody fish."
Fishguts initial dejection melts away as he looks out to see the zombie fish still alive, his heart racing.
"AYE AYE CAP!" he responds briskly, grabbing his sabre. Kalen's anger fades at his eagerness to do her bidding.
Kalen smiles as she watches Fishgut stream towards the ball of natives, wading through the surf eagerly. 'Magnificent piratry,' she thinks to herself, fondly.
Fishgut, a smile on his face, clears the last of the waves into the shallows of the bay.
"ARR, out of my way you bloody landlubbers!" He rings out, peeling off exhausted natives to get to the fish.
Imp stares down with his eyeglass, anticipation mounting.
((movie))
http://mkv25.net/dfma/movie-419-fishgutdoeswhathedoesbest
In a flash, it's over. Fishgut wipes zombie guts off his blade, laughing into the surf.
"GRAB THE BEST TWO!" Kalen shouts down from the crow's nest. Fishgut nods and waves from the bay. He sheathes his sword and looks for the two least wounded natives and grabs their exhausted bodies by the scruff of the beard. "Yerr comin' with me mates," he grunts, dragging them through the sand.
The rest of the natives, too weak to move, cry out and reach their arms towards his back, disappearing into the distance.
Fishgut shrugs them off. They've enough problems, no need to fill their holds with worthless dwarven flesh. The two in his grip cry out and struggle, their minds dazed from the day long battle with the swordfish.
As Fishgut rounds the plank, natives in hand, Kalen unlocks the door, allowing them on board. Just as Fishgut steps onto the deck with his screaming natives, Kalen is completely unsurprised to hear Imp shout down, "GOBLIIINS!"
She looks up at the cliff wall to see a force of goblins heading for the bay, spears waving above their heads. The trail of elven goods she's had the crew scatter across the cliffs have brought many new targets, and she calls the crew up to battle.
"This is the revenge we've been seeking, lads!" Kalen shouts as the crew scurries to pick up their battle gear. "We do this for BOB!" The crew cheers out, chanting Bob's name.
As the men assemble on the deck, Kalen hears a thunk behind her. She spins on her heel, expecting to see an advanced goblin party sneaking up to them. Instead, she see's a wee dwarven lass, just a baby, has snuck on deck after she left the door unlocked.
"Bloody hell, throw it overboard!" Kalen shouts out, pointing at the crying child. Boucher steps up, mace in hand, and stops her. "Cap, she's just a lass, let's wait until the battle's over and set her off somewhere, eh? She surely won't eat much. T'wont be a trouble, I'm sure."
Kalen meets eye's her up and down, nodding. She feels a debt to Boucher for being so strong having lost her lover in battle. "Aye then," Kalen nods, "get her below decks. Her parent's are likely about to be slaughtered," Kalen says, even as she can hear the tortured cries from the natives on the beach, weakened and vulnerable.
"Should we try and save them, cap?" Jaina asks, concerned.
"We'll try and give them a fighting chance, lass. Grab your blades, crew, we've got REVENGE TO FULFILL!"
Boucher disappears below decks holding the young dwarven lassies hand, speaking to her softly, fully aware that Kalen has no intention of saving the girls parents.
Imp, ordered to stay on the crow's nest, watches down below as Kalen leads the pirates into the battle, reveling in every drop of goblin blood spread into the bay.
((movie))
http://mkv25.net/dfma/movie-420-revengebattle
Imp grins and sighs in relief. All through out the short battle, his heart rises as Bob's name comes up from the roar, only ever accompanied by anguished goblin screams as they are sliced in half and tossed into the unforgiving waters. The crew are fiesty pirates now and suffer not even a stubbed toe.
Kalen, down on the shores, halt's their advance after the victory. A massive party of goblins is forming around the exhausted natives collapsed on the surf, and saving them would certainly mean losses of her own crew. She thinks of the child on board only a moment before ordering her men back onboard the ship.
"More goblins 'acomin, we've got to get on the ship if we're to fight them on our terms!"
The crew rounds about and leaves the shores, the sounds of dying villagers licking at their heels.
Back on board the ship, Kalen joins Imp to watch the bloody carnage. She's missed the brunt of the massacre, and Imp looks slightly ill. She doesn't even glance at the bodies rolling in the surf, caring only for the mass of goblins heading for the ship. Many, many goblins, she notes, formulating a plan.
'This day may be a bloody affair after all', she thinks, before dropping the spyglass, her plan solidifying in her cunning mind.
"Imp, come with me, I need ye to prepare an ambush." The two scurry down the deck, Imp following her orders and carefully taking up a position in the shadow of the captains quarters. Kalen leaves him, confident in his abilities and unwavering loyalty, heading below decks to deliver orders to her crew.
'Which one of ye,' she thinks, looking at her salty dogs, imagining the coming waves of the goblin army, 'will need an alder box before the day is out?'
Kalen barks orders at the men below decks, the only other sound being the whimpering of the poor dwarven child, curled up on Boucher's bed, crying.
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Topic: Pirates of the Fondled Waters (Community Pirate Ship) (Read 72367 times)