The Raiders of the Scarlet Sails (IC)

Jabnil

The Possessed Orc had sliced Amlugeth’s arm using the sword held in his right arm. His left shoulder and arm were still useless but with the elf’s attention drawn off by the bright flash. It had been the perfect time to strike. They both now had only one usable arm and he was much more powerful than her. Victory was his.

He staked forward, “time to die little elf …” He growled menacely. Unfortunately the Demon Orc had placed his foot into the loop of rope that Amlugeth had been trying to get him close too. The rope was tied to the yardarm on the main mast of the Famished Mane.

Jabnil had seen it all happen as she flew to assist Red, Blade, and Wulf. But that battle was definitely over after Blade dagger strike. So she altered her flight path with a flick of her wing and now dove towards Amlugeth. She had planned to engage the Demon Orc with her swords, but the loop of rope trick was so much less risky. She just flew by and stuck out her sword. It cut the rope holding the yardarm. The massive crossbeam of wood came sliding down the mast. The loop of rope on the deck, which the Demon Orc had stepped into grew tight and pulled him off the deck in a second. There was a gross popping sound as the Orc’s leg was dislocated from his hip. The Demon Orc was now upside down hanging from his one leg as Wulf came around the corner, Wulf's hammer held above his head. It was a situation that reminded Jabnil of a child’s game call “smack the piñata”

Amlugeth thought for sure she was a goner after the Orc sliced her arm. Suddenly she saw Wulf and Jabnil, practically at the same time, come at the Orc. Just as Wulf was about to hit the Orc with his hammer, Jabnil cut the ropes and had the Orc hanging upside down. This put the Orc in a different position as Wulf struck with his hammer and removed the Orc's head from his body. Wulf had come with such force and speed that after hitting the head he tumbled onto the deck and hit the mast pole. Amlugeth quickly ran over to him to see if he was okay, she didn't think about how she was bleeding all over the deck, she just had to see that Wulf was okay after he came to help rescue her!

Wulf wondered what had happened. he had been sure that he had aimed for and had hit the Orc's shoulder but right at the last moment something had happened. The shoulder had disappeared and something else had appeared in it's place. He wasn't quite sure what it was, but he was sure he had given it a mighty blow whatever it was.

The only problem was he was expecting a lot more resistance than what he had gotten and he had tumbled a lot further than he had planned. In fact he had ended up flying across the deck and banging solidly into the mast ending upside down.

He lay there for a couple of seconds slightly dazed before he realized that Amlugeth was above him asking if he was okay. He rolled off the mast and sat up grinning sheepishly. " Aye I am all right Miss. Just a slight miscalculation on my part. Sometimes I don't know my own strength. Besides I landed on my head so no damage done," he smiled. Then he saw her arm and he stopped smiling. "Enough about me Lass, we need to get you fixed up before you loose too much more blood."

He looked around and spotted a dead sailor. Ever the practical man he reached over and ripped a clean strip off the mans shirt and tied it neatly around her arm. "That should do until we can get you some proper healing," he told her smiling at her. "Hopefully it won't scar much and spoil those pretty dragons of yours."

Red

“Blade … there are some secrets a lady does not want people to know about” Red joked as she grabbed the magical dagger from the deck and replaced into her hidden place on her belt. She glanced over at the last demon just as Wulf delivered the decapitating blow. She winched as the head tore off.

The head of the possessed Orc flew across to the Scarlet Dragon, bounced off the main mast, ricocheted off the helm just as Nya tried to grab it. The Navigator missed with one of her tentacles and punched the head into the air. It bounced hard against the dragon maiden head looked to be flying over the ship. It tumbled wildly in the air over Luca’s out stretched arms, who was still on the stern, and trying to catch the head. It finally landed, speared on the aft flagstaff of the Scarlet Dragon. The Orc face was in a ghastly grin, a fitting ornament for their pirate ship.

The headless body of the orc wiggled around a bit, until Jabnil lobbed off its arms and legs. Crew members tossed the body parts over the side then Jabnil headed over to Amlugeth and Wulf to cast healing spells.

Red turned her attention to the Vorsfang. The crew had put out all the fires, but the ship was a mess. The Famished Mane on the other hand was in pretty good shape. Red turned to Blade for advice.

“I’m thinking we tell the Vorsfang’s crew, if they pledge allegiance to us, we let them take the Famished Mane. They can use it to tow their vessel back to Rickety’s Squib or Bloodcove for repairs. We gain another ally and we continue on to the Tidewater Rock. What do you think?”

"I am sure the dragons will be fine, but they aren't tattoos. I was born with them. I don't know what they mean because my mother died before she told me. See, I come from a village that use to be all dragon fighters, but one night the village was attacked by pirates and they kill the dragon fighters and the dragons. I don't know how or who as I was just a little one and my mother and I were away visiting family at the time. We found out about the attack when we were on our way home. When we realized we didn't have a home to go back to or any family, we went back to the family we were visiting and lived with them."

As Amlugeth was telling Wulf her story, Jabnil came over to see about any healing that needed done. She checked Wulf over and when she removed the cloth from Amlugeth's arm she saw that it was mostly healed already.

"Wait, wasn't this a pretty bad wound you had? How did it heal so quickly? Did one of you do something?" Jabnil asked?

"No, I have always been a quick healer, I don't know why or how, but when my wounds get covered they seem to heal at a very fast rate." replied Amlugeth. "And see, the dragon marks haven't even been effected by the wound or the healing process."

Blade

And just like that it was over. Blade stood next to Red as she retrieved her dagger and started to survey the ship. "Well perhaps then the lady should not carry her secrets where any hot-blooded man would look." He liked her idea, but he also knew pirates, in fact, he knew pirates very well.

"Allegiances pledged gets forgotten very conveniently Cap'n, you will have to bind them, put the fear of Davey Jones into them. Make them understand that they will die if they do not bring back this ship with a crew loyal to you." Blade grinned and leaned his elbows on top of the railing, "Have Jura give one or two of them an object lesson, that alone should scare any treacherous thoughts out of them."

Blade was right. Pirates were pirates. Red turned back towards the Scarlet Dragon.

“Jura … your services are needed … please join us on the Vorsfang.” Red yelled over to her ship. Jura could be seen leaving his ballista station and heading over to the boarding plank. Red and Blade headed over to the Vorsfang. There was no boarding plank, but the ropes hanging from the rigging would work.

Red grabbed one and swung over, Blade soon followed.

“Where is Captain Nina 'Four -Teeth' Ashton?” Red asked the nearest sailor of the Vorsfang.

“She is in Davy Jones locker.” The man said with a sad look on his face.

“What about “Squealer”? Her second.” Red asked.

“He is dead too … all the officers were killed.” The man said.

“Pox and Double Pox!” Red cursed. She looked over to Blade “They were honorable pirates … may their spirits have fair winds and following seas”

She turned back to the crew member of the Vorsfang “Is there anyone that can navigate a ship?” She asked.

The man shook his head no. Red turned back towards the Famished Mane just as Jura was getting ready to swing over.

“Jura … stay there … you are not needed right now.” Red yelled over. Navigating a ship was not easy. Most pirates were poorly educated, could not read or write, and did not know any math. Navigation of a ship required the use of celestial measuring tools, charts, and dead reckoning calculations. All of this was beyond a normal crew member. As Red thought of the solution to this problem her eyes landed on Captain Luca still on the stern of the Scarlet Dragon.

“Captain Luca … please come over here?” She yelled. Captain Luca waved and was soon abroad the Famished Mane looking down at Captain Red.

“Captain Luca, The Vorsfang is disabled and its crew cannot navigate back to shore. I’m pretty sure I cannot trust the crew of the Famished Mane to navigate these two ships to a safe port. What say you, about being the Captain of both vessels and taking them back to safe port for repairs? It would be a big promotion over the size of your current vessel.” Red suggested.

A small wry smile appeared on Luca’s lips. “For you Captain … anything!” He said “I shall make preparation to assume command immediately”

Red turned to Blade “I think Captain Luca has solved our little problem.” She said quite proud of herself.

Blade

"Good idea cap'n, just one thing." Blade lowered his voice even further, "One man will not prevent mutiny, you still need that object lesson. Take the largest man and have Jura rough him up, if he's not needed, kill him."

He gave her a grim little smile, "It is either that or risk losing Luca and two ships who could potentially have helped us. You could ask if one of the orcs can navigate, that way you will have only to kill those orcs you don't need. We can take aboard a few orcs, have them work under supervision, allow some to work on the Vorsfang and Famished Mane. Those who can not be trusted we throw into the brine."

Red

Red thought about Blade’s words. It was unpleasant, but she knew he was right. It was the normal way pirate ships worked and she knew it needed to be done. With her own crew she had been lucky so far and there had been no need for punishment. She had wanted her command to be based upon wisdom. But the Vorsfang’s crew did not know her and there was no time to impress them with her wisdom. If she did not put fear in them … they would think she was weak. They would take advantage of her.

“Jura … please come over here” Red ordered the big black dragon minotaur. The massive creature swung over and landed on the deck of the Vorsfang with a thud. Jura walked over to Red. Before he could talk however, Captain Luca swung over and landed next to the big minotaur.

“Sailor, what is your name … and who is the senior person in charge of the Vorsfang right now” Red asked the man she had been talking too.

“My name is Rigger … I’m one of the four riggers on the Vorsfang. I guess 3rd Mate “Salty” Jones is the most senior crew member left. He was the apprentice to the boatswain.” Rigger stated and then yelled “Salty … Captain Red wants to talk to you.”

Salty was cleaning up after the fire on the forecastle, when he heard the yell. “Aye” he answered and headed over to where everyone was standing.

“Salty … Captain Luca is now the Captain of the Vorsfang and the Famished Mane. He is a skilled navigator and will pilot both ships to a safe port for repairs. I want you to assemble the crew and have everyone pledge their loyalty to him. If they do not pledge their loyalty … this is what will happen to them.” Red explained, and then she turned to Jura.

“Jura … beat that man down to the deck but don't break any bones.” Red said to Jura and pointed to the largest man she could see topside on the Vorsfang burnt deck.

“Captain?” Jura asked not sure he had heard Captain Red correctly.

“You heard me … I need this crew to fear me and make sure they do not disobey Captain Luca orders. Now hit that man a few times.” Red ordered.

Jura looked down to the deck “Jura … wants to be a good creature … not an evil one. You told me not to kill and eat humans unless they are evil. That man has done nothing wrong. Why is it ok for me to hit him?” Jura asked.

“Look it is complicated … Pirate ships work off fear. It is how it has always been done.” Red explained but Jura was not buying it.

Jura looked up and into Red’s eyes “Captain … I will do my duty … but please don’t order me to do this … I heard Reaver tell you “instead of ruling with fear … rule wisely” Jura asked quoting Reaver comments. There was silence as they both looked at each other. Red finally looked away from Jura. She knew Jura was right. Jura wanted to be a good creature and she had promised to help guide him in that direction. She took a deep breath and sighed.

“Belay my last order Jura. I stand corrected.” Red said with some difficulty.

She turned to 3rd mate Salty. “Salty … please assemble the crew of the Vorsfang. You can elect your next Captain as is pirate tradition. I will also be giving you the Famished Mane and I offer Captain Luca as candidate to be the Captain of both ships. He is a skilled navigator, and a fair Captain. Lastly the crew of the Famished Mane is not to be unduly harmed. They surrender and are entitled to fair treatment. Do we have an understanding?” Red asked.

3rd mate Salty stood his head yes and proceeded to assemble the crew. Red, Luca, Jura and Blade stood off to the side and waited for the results.

While the Captain was dealing with the politics of the two ships Wulf got down to the business of the unpleasant side of things. Gathering a few crew members they began the grim task of sorting the dead. Crew members were laid out carefully, the others once stripped of their goods were tossed over the side.

Once again Amlugeth followed in his wake taking care of the goods and he was able to sneak glances at her. having seen her up close and observing her Dragons more closely, he had noticed they had not been tattoo's as he had thought but had been a part of her. They had snaked down her arms and had appeared to disappear down her body. He wondered just how far down they went and then shook the thought from his mind. Enough of those thoughts, he had work to do.

Once all of the bodies on both ships were either disposed of or laid out he moved towards Amlugeth. "How's the total looking. We will have to give the captain the figure and she will decide how to divvy up the spoils. Leave the crew members for the new Captain of these vessels to worry about. It is best if their mates take care of them. Gives them a way to farewell them," he told her grimly."

Amlugeth started sorting the weapons as Wulf and the others started taking them off the dead. When Amlugeth saw one of the men start to undress one of the dead she stopped him. "We can leave the clothes on, we have more than enough clothes in our stores. Let's leave them with some dignity." While they were sorting and disposing of the Orc bodies, she felt eyes on her and noticed that when she would look up Wulf would turn his head away, so she knew he had been watching her from time to time.

When all the bodies had been stripped of weapons, gold or anything usable, Wulf came over and asked about the totals. "Well, we have more weapons than we could ever use, so if we get to a port soon we can definitely sell most of this stuff and get some more food stores or ammunition or whatever it is we may need. I suggest we just take whatever ammunition they had and keep that separate from the weapons. I will go down and see what food stores they have and make sure they have enough to get them to another port. Want to come help me or your have other things to do up here?" Amlugeth smiled as she asked Wulf to help her.

Wulf looked around. It seemed as if the Captain had everything well in hand and everyone aboard their own vessel was going about their jobs with routine proficiency. It looked like he was not needed for the time being.

"It seems I am at your service My lady," He said bowing to her and when he straightened up he had a big smile upon his face. "Lead on lass and we will go see exactly what stores these orcs had. I for one would like to know what exactly they ate. I am hoping it is palatable for humans or we are going to have to give over a fair bit of our stores to get this lot home. Still who knows, maybe we will find a treasure trove as well."

Amlugeth heads below deck to find where the Orcs kept their stores.

"Oh my, they definitely didn't take care of their food, it smells terrible down here!" she stated.

"I don't think that is just the food we are smelling my dear," Wulf said.

"What else...... ohhhh, that is disgusting! I am not sure we will find much food that will be fit for consumption!" Amlugeth said as they walked into the store room.

Inside there were shelves of food, some of it Amlugeth recognized and some she did not. Not much of it was fit to eat, which was sad since there was so much of it.

"Wait, did we let any of the Orcs live? If so maybe one of them could tell us what this food is and if it is spoiled or not?" Amlugeth suggested.

As she turned around Wulf was directly behind her, so she took a step back and as she did her foot slipped and she started to fall. She grabbed onto Wulf to keep her balance and he put his hands on her waist to help steady her. As she regained her balance they were even closer than before, she could hear her heart beating wildly in her chest and she wasn't sure if it was because of the slip or because of Wulf touching her. Her breath was coming quickly and their eyes were locked. Their faces were moving slowly towards each other.

Just then Jabnil came into the room. "Hey, what are you guys... oh, nevermind, carry on." she said as she left the room.

Amlugeth pulled back and dropped her eyes. "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me. We should go see if there is an Orc still alive and finish up with this stuff."

Huzti, soul reaper

Huzti, soul reaper, the ogre-sized sea devil stomped through the destroyed village. The devastation of the small pirate village of Rickety’s Squib was complete. The place was lifeless, and without the movement of a single living thing. The sea devils had shown the futility of fighting against them, they had killed everyone. Among the dead were Chandra Bristlewick, the village’s steward and druid. Her body was half eaten, but you could still recognize her and her long hair. Abbo Woodshaper, the bookish man with round glasses and head carpenter of the shipyard. Only a few days earlier, the man had made love to an angel, Jabnil. Now he was dead, never to repair or reshape ships again. Even Artus Shemwick, had not escaped. The thief, who had stolen coins from the old injured pirate’s fund, as now a smashed hunk of flesh, caught by the sea devils as he tried to sneak away. Huzti’s walk ended at the dead body of Rickety Hakes.

“This one put up quite a fight. Acted like a hero, tried to save as many organics as possible. ” Huzti’s new chief assistant, Basram, stated dryly. Basram appeared similar to other sea devils but had an overly large maw filled with rows of shark like teeth. In addition, there were hundreds of needlelike spines on its skin.

Huzti laughed and then looked at Basram. “They think we are evil. But we are the heroes of this planet. This is chaos …” Huzti said as he pointed to the burning huts of the Rickety Squib and all the dead villagers lay all over the ground.

“Change … always change. Soon the dead will disappear … they will be eaten or rot away. The jungle will grow in and everything will change again. Change is everywhere. There is nothing constant on this world. Change must be stopped. The demon lords have a plan. Once all the organics have been removed … change will be slowed. Once the sun that warms this planet is shut off … there will be even less change. Once all motion in this solar system is stopped, all change will stop. Things will be steady and predictable. We, the demon lord servants, are the real heroes, fighting to stop change. It is too bad the organics do not understand that. They would stop resisting us and we could stop change faster.”

Basram simply nodded his bug liked head in agreement. “What of the threat as foretold to us by the ancient mariner?” Basram asked.

“The threat is in for a small surprise!” Huzti stated as it ended with mirthless laughter. Huzti was still laughing as the demon stepped on Rickety’s head and squished it with a popping sound.

the ships part ...

In a somewhat surprising result the Vorsfang crew elected Salty as their captain. Luca was elected Quartermaster and Navigator. Red had a worried expression on her face as Luca walked over to her.

“Stop worrying so much Red … I’ll get the two ships back to Rickety’s squib. They’ll be repaired in no time.” Luca said with a coy smile.

“But I thought they’d pick you as Captain.” Red stated.

“Perhaps they will in time. Until then, I don’t mind being a quartermaster and Navigator.” Luca said with a smile.

Blade just shook his head “Watch yourself …” he warned Luca.

The Orc crew of the Famished Mane was divided up among the ships that needed them. Orc were brutes and not too smart, but they were hard workers and could be trusted when watched. Only two came aboard the Scarlet Dragon, the rest were placed on the Vorsfang and Famished Mane. Wulf and Amlugeth had found the orc food mostly inedible, but there was some nice blood rum. Two barrels were brought over to the Scarlet Dragon.

After a few hours the Scarlet Dragon parted ways and continued to sail towards the western parts of the shackles and Tidewater Rock. The next few days the sailing were wonderful as there was a good breeze and the weather remained delightful. Wulf continued to drill the crew mostly in the morning hours. After the noon meal, the ship stayed on a steady course towards Tidewater.

Red noticed the crew bonding over these few days. It was nice to see them work so well together. She also noticed Wulf and Amlugeth spending more time together. They made an odd couple but not nearly as odd as Jabnil and Jura. The fallen Angel had been with Luca, but he was no longer available. So she switched to Jura. Jura still had a big crush on Red, but minotaurs were accustomed to having multiple lovers or wives. So Jura continued to love Red, while having fun with Jabnil.

On the third day in the afternoon, Blade called out from the crow’s nest. “A fishing trawler riding low in the water, heeling over, 30 degrees off the port bow”

Red turned to Nya “Let’s take a closer look, come left, 5 degrees rudder, steady on course 305” Red ordered. Nya gave her a smart “Aye, Aye, Captain” as she turned the helm. “5 degrees rudder, steady on course 305” she repeated back.

As they got closer, it was obvious the fishing vessel was taking on water. The sails were flapping loosely from her yardarms and a fishing net dragged in the water behind the boat.

“Bring us alongside” Red ordered to Nya. Then she looked over to Wulf “Select a boarding party. I want to find out what happen to that fishing boat” Red said.

"Aye, Aye Captain," Wulf called back ass he turned and examined the boat. It was not an overly large vessel and he couldn't see any crew on deck, but he was not going to take any chances. A favorite tactic of raiders was to half sink a vessel and then hide and attack any who came to help. In fact thinking back to the attack at Rickety's he had another awful thought.

"Five man boarding party with me. Balista's loaded and ready to go. Jura you are to keep watch amidships. Gun one the bow and gun two the stern. I don't want you to just watch the hatches but scan the water as well. Catapult crews, we are too close for you to be of any use. Pick up your hand weapons and stand ready. Archers hit the main spar and scan both the deck and the water. I am taking no chances."

As the Dragon glided up expertly beside the fishing vessel, grappling hooks were thrown and they were soon fixed together. Wulf and his team jumped across and spread out examining the deck. No one was present and no traces of them could be found. No blood, not a scrap of clothing, nothing. The net was bulging and Wulf could see it was teaming with sea life.

"No one on Deck captain, but the nets full and halfway in. We can check below but I would recommend sending a few men to haul in this load. No need to waste it. Plenty here for us and a good amount we can sell to. We are not far from port now and they should keep."

Blade

His attention was fully on the ship, more on the preparations on deck and of course Red. When he looked at the Fishing boat again, he frowned, there was a rip just below the water-line, if the boat had not taken on as much water the hole would have been on the water-line, just then the grappling hooks caught and pulled the boat a bit closer. Then Blade's sharp eyes saw the chaos on the boat was not from a struggle, it looked staged. He will also notice the davits on the stern of the boat are empty. A sign the crew abandoned ship. Then a stain caught his attention, one that was not water, nor oil, but a stain that he knew all too well.

"BEWARE!"

He shouted as hard as he could, felt the strain it had on his vocal chords just from shouting that loudly, "Ambush! It is a trick! To Arms! To Arms!" And he immediately put his own words to action, by drawing two of his throwing daggers.

Magic or experience? Numerous studies have been performed at the high wizard school of the elemental fire on the so called “sixth sense”. The sixth sense is the ability some people claim to have ... to gain information not through their regular senses or by means of magic. These Non-magic users claim to have abilities such as telepathy, clairaudience, clairvoyance, and precognition or retrocognition. The wizard school conducted a three year study on humans and non-humans, under rigorous conditions. The school's conclusion "there was no evidence that these beings had a sixth sense … they were most likely very experienced at reading people’s gestures and non-verbal communication."

However Wulf and Blade had done it ... they had somehow “sensed” a trap, be it experience or a sixth sense. Once their minds had been trigger, closer examination confirmed what their mind had warned them about ... this fishing ship was a trap!

The abandoned trawler was actually a carefully prepared ambush by the sea devils. Earlier in the day the devils had boarded the ship and overpowered the crew. When the sea devils spotted the Scarlet Dragon’s sails, they quickly cleaned up the mess, breached the hull of the ship, and launched the dingy. Now a group of sea devils hid in the hold below decks, along with the remains of the massacred crew. A larger group of sea devils riding massive great white sharks was also waiting in the depths near the trawler. When Blade yelled “"Ambush! It is a trick! To Arms! To Arms!" the devils knew their surprised had been lost and it was time to attack. Their trick had partially worked. They had caused the Scarlet Dragon to slow down to investigate the trawler. But total surprise and a quick victory would not be happening because of Wulf and Blade.

The hatches to the below deck sections of the trawler, crashed open and out came a hoard of Sea Devils! With the Devils came the strong smell of rotten fish. The smell hitting Wulf’s boarding party at the same time as the Sea Devil tridents clashed with his men’s cutlasses. Wulf team was out numbered 5 to 1!

At the same time, Jura and Nya had been shocked by the sudden appearance of Sea Devils on the fishing ship. But they also had continued to watch the water as well. Unfortunately there was relatively low visibility at this location in the Fever Sea. The sunlight penetrated into the depths only so far. So they mainly saw nothing but the beautiful blue-green waves. But then they both saw it out of the corner of their eyes. Fins occasionally breaking the surface! Fast moving fins. Then they saw the fins again more clearly. Large Shark Fins but behind the large fins rode sea devils! The group was darting towards the Scarlet Dragon at high speed. Sea Devils riding Great White Sharks attacked the two ships only seconds later! The Sea Devils jumped right onto the deck of the Scarlet Dragon. Roared at the crew and attacked as more jumped aboard.

Finally, and most disturbing, some the Great Whites smashed into the underwater hull of the Scarlet Dragon. It was an obvious attempt to breech the hull and sink the ship! The copper sided hull of the Scarlet Dragon made this task difficult, but not impossible. Someone had to stop the massive sharks and soon!

Wulf had been right. He knew something had been wrong about the way the boat had looked, but he had not been able to put his finger on it. It was just a gut feeling and he could not have disobeyed the Captains orders on a gut feeling. However he had planned for the worst and he was mighty glad he had done so.

As he heard Blade's cry he immediately moved his men to the mast and had them circle it. This enabled them to have something solid at their backs and not have to worry about someone sneaking up and stabbing them in the back. He watched as a veritable horde of sea devils spilled out of the hatches and boiled up onto the deck. It only took them a minute to find his group and then they rushed towards them yelling out their guttural cries as they did.

"Okay men protect each other and strike true. Help will be coming shortly."

Wulf put a brave face on it but with the numbers they faced he wasn't sure if help would be coming soon. He had seen the reinforcements leaping out of the water and assumed the Dragon was under attack as well. Still all they could do was attack and try not to be killed. He gripped his large warhammer and as the first of the devils got close he yelled his war cry and swung hard in an arc crushing three of them.

Jura and Jabnil

What Wulf did not know was another 25 sea devils were climbing up the aft part of the fishing boat. He would be over run in seconds. “Wulf don’t worry help is coming” Jura thought as he got ready to fire the massive ballista. From the shot line he selected the weapon would take out the first 4 sea devils coming over the stern of the ship. He squeezed the trigger just as a Sea Devil leapt off a shark and landed on Jura’s ballista weapon. The new weight disrupted Jura's aim and the arrow flew over the heads of the sea devils on the fishing trawler, a complete miss!

“AGHHHHHHHHH” Jura yelled in frustration as he pulled his war axe off his back and swung at the sea devil’s trident. There was a mighty clash as the two weapons met. The sea devil’s trident was horrible bent after the collision. Jura’s weapon was undamaged and he brought his axe back around and took the monster head clean off. A quick glance around showed the Scarlet Dragon’s crew was very busy fighting Sea Devils. Too busy to offer much help to Wulf and the small boarding party. Then Jura eyes fell on Jabnil.

“Don’t worry Jura … I’ll save Wulf!” Jabnil yelled as she plunged her golden sword into the sea devil attacking her. She had enough room to take off and help Wulf. Her wings out she was about to jump in the air, when a massive 4 armed sea devil came flying in from above and landed on her. Jura yelled “NOOOO” and stood up to rescue Jabnil. But in those few seconds, he saw Jabnil push the Sea Devil off her and get back on her feet. Both her swords out, she and the huge creature they exchanged sword blows.

Jura knew the battle would take too much time. Wulf would be dead before it was over. He had to act now! He leapt off his ballista weapon and landed on one the catapults. His axe punched the trigger handle and suddenly the massive black dragon minotaur was flying. It was one of the most ungraceful awkward things you will ever see. However Jura landed on the deck of the Trawler with a thud … the whole boat rocked up and down. One of his bull hooves had broken through the deck of the fishing boat. But he was in place to stop the demons. He ROARED a challenge at them.

That got their attention and the monsters rushed at him … he breathed a jet of acid across the back half of the sinking fishing boat. There were screams of pain. The acid was deadly and caused the Sea Devil’s skin to bubble and blister horribly. It also started to eat through the deck of the ship!

Red and Nya

“WE'LL SEND YE ALL TO DAVY JONES' LOCKER, YE SCALAWAG SEA DEVILS!!” Red yelled in her pirate accent. As she was busy fighting with Nya on the quarterdeck. The ship shook again as another great white shark slammed into it.

“We need to stop those damned sharks!” Red yelled as her cutlass plunged into the mouth of the Sea Devil she was fighting and came out of the back of its head.

Nya was fighting 4 devils at the same time … while still having one tentacle on the helm. “Kind of busy right now!” She yelled back as she fought off the multiple attacks with her arms and tentacles.

“Busy?? You are not busy. Watch me … not only am I going to fight these sea devils … I’m also going to sing a beautiful song!” Red declared, as a trident flew over her head.

“No … please DON’T” Nya gasped as her mace broke off the arm of one of the Sea Devils. Red began to sing (OOC: think Brady Bunch theme song).


“THAT DOES IT … I’M OUT OF HERE!” Nya screamed and the octopus person jumped into the shark filled waters to get away from Red's awful song!!

Wulf felt the deck heave underneath him and had just enough time to look around as screams filled the air. He saw a large group of sea devils who had climbed over the aft rail now melting from what he presumed was Jura's breath weapon as the big guy was standing further down the deck brandishing his axe chopping at the deck for some reason.

That was all the time he had as he had to turn back and fight the Devils in front of him again. He was sure though that Jura had just saved their lives. There would have been no way they could have stood up to that many reinforcements attacking from one part of the ship at once. As it was they were hard pressed fighting off the ones they were facing now. He was only glad they seemed to want the Dragon more than this ship.

Again and again his hammer rose and fell, each blow sending another foe down to Davey Jones's locker, but there always seemed to be another to take it's place. He lost count of the numerous small cuts he received from the tridents and small scimitars they carried and of the times the men on both sides saved his life and he returned the favor.

He heard one of the men go down but could not spare the time to see if he was injured or dead. The circle expanded to cover the gap but it was now harder to cover the man beside you. However the amount of enemies seemed to be thinning and Wulf began to believe they could actually survive this.

ON BOARD THE SCARLET DRAGON

The men in the rigging Wulf had placed earlier with bows were in a dilemma. They had been ordered to back him up if anything went wrong, but they saw the danger of the shark riders in the water and knew they were the only ones who could actually attack them easily. Deciding to err on the side of caution they loosed one volley across at the other ship, thinning the ranks of the devils there, then turned their attention to the sharks surrounding the boat.

Each picked a target and began to loose at it as it approached the surface. There was no point shooting at it while it was too deep. Their bows did not have the draw to force the arrow to penetrate the water with any great force. Soon however the water had several dead sharks in it and the rest were starting to get harder to control as the scent of blood in the water became strong.

Nya and her nosy tentacles!

Funny thing about battles … if you can’t see the enemy you can’t attack them. Nya put out her black ink cloud and swam into the middle of it. The great white sharks stopped attacking the Scarlet Dragon’s hull and swam into the black ink cloud. What the sharks did not know is just like octopuses, Cecaelia have rather sophisticated chemoreceptors on the end of each of their tentacles. These receptors help them interpret their surroundings and avoid danger. This chemosensory system is like they are equipped with eight noses on the end of their tentacles. The sharks could not “see” Nya, but she could smell them!

Nya remained completely motionless, a killer waiting in the shadows of the inky water as an unsuspecting shark swam nearer. Nya heart began to pound in her chest, as she remained as still as possible. The shark swam right to where Nya had anticipated. The trap was sprung and Nya sword welding tentacle attacked the shark. It was a swift thrust right through the shark’s head. It had been so quick the killed shark did not know it was in danger, when it died. The blood of the dead shark in the water caused the other sharks to become more excited. More swam into the black cloud. This was followed by more dead sharks, more blood and more excitement. The sea devils could no longer control their great white shark mounts. The sharks went into a feeding frenzy. They bucked off their riders and many entered the black cloud. None came back out alive. There were so many dead sharks that the dead corpses started to float away from the inky darkness. The few remaining sharks began to feast on their dead comrades. The water filled with more shark blood and chewed up shark parts. The end result was the attack on the Scarlet Dragon’s hull was over and the sea devil no longer had shark mounts.

Music to listen to "Fight Song" song by RACHEL PLATTEN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UqfrH74wc0

Jabnil

A small bird landed on the yardarm. Strangely Blade noticed this during the battle on the Scarlet Dragon. It was a completely ordinary bird in appearance, but Blade sensed something celestial about the small thing. The bird said nothing. It made no sound at all. But it did look at him directly and gave him a naughty little wink of acknowledgement. Then the bird flew down to a deck railing. It was near Amlugeth, who was fighting for her live against a sea devil. The elf more attuned to such things could feel the holy and divine nature of the bird. The bird smiled at the elf. It was a smile that said “Just here to watch. Please continue to defend yourself from the sea devil attacking you”. Then the bird turned its head to Jabnil.

The fallen angel had been lucky to get out from the massive 4 armed sea devil attacking her. She had drawn her swords and exchanged a series of sword attacks and counter attacks with the monster. Unlike the other Sea Devils, this one used swords (two of them) not tridents to fight. Everything she had tried so far the monster had parried with skill. She needed to keep the thing busy with the attacks because as soon as the monster started to use its other two arms she was in trouble.

She charged in with another series of sword blows all of which were blocks and in the exchange the monster third arm gave her a punch to her ribs. There was a series of cracking noises as Jabnil was flung backwards to smash into the deck housing. It was like she had been struck by an elephant! Everyone around her knew some of her ribs were broken.

“AHHHH SHITTTT that hurt.” Jabnil groaned as she got back on her feet in tremendous pain. She was having trouble breathing.

The Healer and Beacon had some sympathy for her. “Ouch Honey I even heard that!” The Healer exclaimed. Followed by The Beacon’s comment “I have admiration for your forbearance of the incommodious”

“A little help would be nice” Jabnil wheezed at her swords still having trouble breathing.

The massive sea devil plodded directly toward Jabnil. A sailor named Rigger Walthrone jumped in front of the demon and trying to defend Jabnil. The sea devil smashed the young man out of the way, sending him over the side of the ship.

“Time for you to die!” The Sea Devil grunted.

Jabnil’s swords again clashed with the sea devil’s and again one of the devil’s free arms gave her blow to her face that sent her sailing backward. She smashed through the closed hatch on the main deck and tumbled into the ship’s stores area. Her nose broken and blood poured out of her mouth.

She managed to get back on her feet, barely able to stand. She could not even hold her swords correctly. The sea devil entered the stores area; the monster filled the door frame.

“You are done for” The monster scuffed.

Jabnil was not a quitter. She had stood against her god because she believed she was right. Telling her “it was over … and that she should quit” was just the spark she needed to pull herself together. She straighten up and got ready to fight some more.

“I don’t think so … Cause I've still got a lot of fight left in me!” Jabnil barked back at the monster. She was suddenly feeling less pain. It was like someone had turned her power on. That someone was the Healer sword which had cast a healing spell to repair the damage the two punches had caused.

Jabnil knew she needed to change tactic and did so immediately. As the monster attacked she gave ground and leap to the side of any punches. She started to dance around the store room as the demon smash crates and barrels full of food and supplies.

“Are you getting tried yet?” She asked the devil … taunting it.

“ARGGHHHH” the monster roared having difficulty catching Jabnil in the small space. Jabnil spirits had been restored. She still believed her cause was just and she still had the fire burning in her bones to fight for it. As she thought of this her eyes fell on the damaged crates and barrels around her. This gave her an idea.

“Over here … I’m here” Jabnil yelled as the sea devil swung its swords at her. She flew out of the way as the demon smashed open the ship’s oil lantern barrels and flour sacks. The flammable oil splashed over the demon and onto the deck as the flour filled the air.

“I might only have one match … but I can make an explosion!!” Jabnil yelled. Flames sprang out of her Beacon sword and she simply lite the oil on the deck on fire. She ducked behind the water stores. The flame lite the oil …and then caused the cloud of flour in the air to explode! The major part of the explosive shock wave landed on the 4 armed demon. Tearing the monster into pieces and blowing out all the porthole windows in the room except for one. The one porthole window saved had a small bird peached on the outside of it. The bird had been watching the fight. The small bird nodded in satisfaction and then flew away.

Wulf and his men were still surrounded but a sudden volley of arrows had given them a break. A half dozen arrows had thudded into the devils, each one killing one and giving the others pause as they looked to the heavens. That was all he and his men needed. Seizing the advantage they quickly surged forward and within a second twelve more had dropped dead to join their companions and more were on their way.

For the first time Wulf could see the end of the ranks of devils and they did not have many left to kill. It seemed Jura had killed a lot of them and while some had gone after the big warrior none had survived.

Swinging his warhammer in huge arcs, Wulf used brute strength to kill the devils in front of him and open a gap in their lines. He and the man next to him stepped up into it and started to stab, and crush their way around the mast, hitting the devils in their flanks. It was quickly over and the exhausted crew members slumped on their feet.

Wulf looked over and saw Jura's plight and slowly made his way over, the adrenalin that had sustained him during the fight wearing off and leaving him weary. "I thank you friend Jura. Without your timely attack I don't think any of us would have survived. One day you are going to have to tell me how you got over here though," he smiled as he lifted his hammer and easily smashed the planks away from his foot. "For now though it looks as if we still have some more fighting to do," he said glancing back at the Dragon and the devils that were still on it.

"Right you lot," he bellowed at the men who were almost out on their feet. "What are you standing around for? We have a ship to save before we can rest. Now move you Bilge Rats." With that he picked up his hammer and vaulted onto the Dragon smashing a devil from behind killing it instantly, before wading into the fighting again.

Blade

There was usually no need for Blade to swing down from his nest. He had of course struck from above, but it really didn't seem that anybody needed him. So he kept an eye on Red, got a good eyefull of Jabnil and of course noticed a weird bird. Not that the bird looked weird, it acted totally out of character. Even though Jabnil almost blew the ship apart, he noticed that the bird survived said blast.

He was still puzzling this over when he noticed a group of demons making their way on to the deck. Darts and daggers quickly made certain that they did no harm. The waters was red and churning as sharks fed on whatever was down there. Finally Blade became bored, there was no challenge for him up here, the horizon remained empty and he needed some blood.

With a laugh he hopped from the crow's nest and with two swings landed next to the big man named Wulf. Drawing two long blade daggers he attacked the group of demons, his laughter merry and joyful as he slipped among their ranks, dealing damage and death as he went.