by Kieron Uchee
I looked around the room and decided to see if I could find anything else, the first thing was to deal with the dirty clothing, sighing to myself I began to clean the cabin. I threw all the clothing into the small wood burning stove and burnt it all to ashes. Then I stripped the bed and burnt the bedding, it had some stains on it and I really did not want to guess what they were from.
Taking one last look at the cabin I noted a small closet located against the back wall which was also the back of the ship. The wall had two windows built in and looking out I could see the lights of the town as it wrapped around the harbor. I opened the closet and was surprised to find it empty, but a closer examination revealed that something about the interior size was off.
I studied the wood it was made from and noticed it was all a light golden color and had been polished to a fine finish at some point. It was showing signs of wear and tear but was still a nice piece. The one thing that caught my attention was a knot in the wood about halfway up on the back of the closet. It was slightly off color and while at first glance seemed to be a part of the wood I was struck by the fact that the cabinet had been made with the finest woods available and none of the other pieces had knots in them.
I pressed the knot and suddenly the bottom of the closet floor lifted and I was able to grasp the front edge and pull the lid up. Jackpot, I thought as I stared into the small hole, seeing that it was filled with scrolls of correspondence. Taking the scrolls, I went and sat down at the table and began to read, it turned out that the Capitan was a smuggler and worse.
As I read I realized that the Capitan was not a nice man at all, in fact, he deserved to die perhaps several times over. The last scroll was the one that really had my interest, it was about this trip, and while it did not answer all the questions I had, it showed that Dark forces were at play in this game world. I reread the scroll and as I did I tried to find any hidden meaning or clues.
Capitan Draik once again we call upon your services, this time the fee will be tripled as the risks are greater. You will soon receive a passenger who will be escorted by several guards and accompanied by one Elf. The passenger is Lady Reona, the Viceroy of the city and the new ambassador to the Dwarven King.
She must not be allowed to continue her journey, I would suggest both her and her guards would enjoy this trip by sea, by being at the bottom of the sea. As for her companion, little is known about him, his level is low and he is new to the city. Still, it is best not to take any chances, after all, he was sent with the Viceroy for a reason.
If he should meet an unfortunate accident at sea along with the rest it would be acceptable. Be cautious, and when you arrive your payment will be sent to you at twelve bells. If there are any problems inform the messenger and we will proceed from there. It goes without saying you must avoid the city for a while. Until we have won this war; we won’t meet but your services will be remembered. BH
I thought about what I had read, it was politics and dirty politics at that, someone had known that both Reona and I would be traveling, and had made plans that our journey would not go as planned. The initials at the end of the note had caught my attention also, BH it could mean BanHammer the Dwarf I had entrusted the Book of Science with. He was the leader of the Hammerytes and I knew that he had been making war machines and shipping them to the Dwarven Kingdom.
It would seem that I was being caught up in a civil war that I had no understanding about, and while I would have been happy to not get involved, it seemed I had no choice. I had to admit to myself that I was a little pissed that BanHammer was making war machines and not things to help people. I would not make the mistake of trusting someone with anything important again, not until they had proven themselves to me.
I could hear the bells tolling, it was now ten bells and I had read that I could expect a guest at twelve bells, midnight. I had spent a lot of time on the ship, the evening had flown by but now I had to prepare for my guest. I went and checked on the girls, they were both sleeping but when I pulled open an eyelid the pupil was still dilated, the drug was still active in their systems.
Leaving them I jumped to the dock and went to where I had seen a boat tied up. After making sure no one could see me, I grabbed both of the sailcloth’s and dragged the bodies to the boat. Loading the bodies on the boat’s deck I grabbed the ropes holding the boat to the dock and loosened them. Then walking to the end of the dock I pulled the boat behind me and when it was finally at the end I gave it a powerful shove and sent it out into the harbor.
I then cast Dragon fire repeatedly on the ship till the whole thing was blazing. With the wind pushing the burning boat out towards the sea, I felt safe in the fact that the bodies had been disposed of. Standing there I spoke, “You guards deserved better than this, an unknown cremation at sea. I will remember you and when the time comes I will celebrate who you were and how you lived. You will not be forgotten.”
As I spoke a swelling of Ascendant power broke over me and suddenly I smelled a sweet garden amidst a sun touched land. I could see the guards sitting up and getting off the ground as they looked around with smiles, then the picture faded and I was once again watching a small boat with an out of control fire burning as it was being blown out of the harbor by the wind.
Turning, I made my way back to the ship, I had a guest to welcome and some more reading to do.
Chapter 30 Making Deals
Torn returned to the Capitan’s cabin and quickly picked the locks holding the Ship’s log and the Capitan’s journal chained shut. Rapidly reading through the Ship’s log he noted that several crew members had been discharged once the ship had reached port. That would explain why there had only been 9 crewmembers and the Capitan. The rest of the log dealt with inventories and supplies, the things needed to sail a ship.
Opening the journal Torn began to read, it recorded a number of shady deals and meetings, including human trafficking and smuggling. The final entry mentioned meeting the cloaked one tonight. He would want the particulars on how Reona had been dealt with and the details of what happened to the rest of her Guards and Torn.
Smiling to himself Torn closed both books and put them in his bag. Then making his way to the deck he cloaked himself within Shadows and waited. He had lit two lanterns, one on the foredeck and the other on the aft deck which left the middle of the ship in shadows. As he waited Torn noted that there was a small blinking tab on the lower rate of his interface, opening it he saw that it was the combat log of his recent fight.
Scrolling down he read,
You have attacked a sailor, critical hit, you have hit the sailor with claws for
800 hit points.
The sailor is dead.
You have hit two other sailors with a crewmember’s body and knocked them
down for 300 hit points each.
You have dislocated the arm of a sailor for 300 hit points.
You have used the weapon of a sailor to attack a sailor, critical hit for 900 hit
points, the sailor is dead.
You have been attacked, you have been punched for 25 hit points.
You have kicked a sailor in the stones, critical hit you have crushed the testes
for 900 hit points the sailor is dead.
You have been attacked, you have been kicked 3 times for 150 hit points.
You have broken the leg and crushed the foot of a sailor for 500 hit points.
You have kicked and broken the hip of a sailor for 250 hit points.
You have applied a bleed effect on the sailor from the compound fracture of
the leg.
The sailor is losing health at 3 points per minute.
You have cast Dragon fire at a sailor, the sailor has breathed in the Dragon
fire.
Critical hit, the sailor’s lungs exploded for 1200 hit points, the sailor is dead.
You have stabbed the sailor; the sailor is already dead.
You have been attacked by a sailor, you have used claws and punctured the
lungs of a sailor.
Critical double hit for 1800, the sailor is dead.
You have thrown a knife at the head of a sailor.
Critical hit for 850, the sailor is dead.
Wow, I had not expected the recent fight to be broken down into mere numbers, it had seemed too real for that. I had never been a person to try to squeeze the numbers and theory craft on combat, but looking at the battle tab I thought it might be worthwhile to have a look.
The problem was that a lot of my abilities and buffs were unique, I had planned on having an advantage in the game but things ingame had gone so far to left that all I could do was try to level and power up with what I had to work with. I was not complaining but it was not the route I had planned. However, I knew I might be able to find some new spells and abilities within the game if I ever had a chance to actually work at grinding and leveling up.
The creak of the ramp signified the end of my musings as I began to scan the deck. He was stealthed and I could not see him, but I could hear him as he slowly made his way to the mainmast and then began to climb, going through the Lubber’s hole he settled against the Futtock shrouds and became still. We stood there for an hour and then he began to descend, I waited for him to get halfway down and then I shifted as the ship bumped against the dock from a large swell.
The bastard must have heard me and as I stared at him, he dropped out of stealth and fell to the deck, as he landed he pulled what looked like a flintlock from behind his cloak and fired it at me all in one smooth move.
I also was moving at this point and just before he manage to get the shot off I threw one of the sailor's knives I had found. The knife hit him in the arm spinning him around and causing him to drop the gun. He still moved damned fast, jumping off the ship onto the dock with a muttered curse.
I could hear his footsteps as he ran up the dock, I wanted to chase him but was having some trouble of my own. The ball he had shot me with was both physical and magical in nature, it had left an ionized trail as it left the gun and hit me in the left shoulder. The impact knocked me backward while spinning me around, finally slapping me against the wall of the aft deck.
I slid down to the deck with my back against the wall, the after effect of being shot was a huge amount of pain. As well as the total loss of control in my left arm from the electrical discharge the ball had carried. I sat there and let the nanobots go to work as I began to cast my healing spell Holy Health.
I heard the ball drop out of the wound and then felt the wound begin to close. I continued to cast my healing spell, Using Manaflow I had virtually unlimited mana now and I wanted to be at full health before I began to track the cloaked figure.
Once I felt stable enough I stood and picked up the ball then walked over to the dropped gun, lifting it up, I examined it. The workmanship was excellent and the design similar to a 17-century flintlock. The weapon did not use black powder; the ball was dropped into the barrel where it would stick to a magnetic plate. The handle of the gun held 4 stones. They were all connected to the chamber where the ball was held in place.
As I examined the stones, my Perception focused in and I soon could see that each of the stones were capable of being loaded with a spell, they were like a permanent scroll that had to be recharged after each use. The largest stone held Mana, the next one would take a fiery enchant, the last two took an electrical enchant and a frost enchant. At the bottom of the gun, on the grip was a small chamber that held ten of the small balls.
Each one of the balls was enchanted to receive the other enchants and to discharge them once they hit something. It was a miniature railgun, basically, an electro mana enchanted projectile launcher.
It was a damn fine piece of work and I knew where it had come from, BanHammer. If this was the kind of tech he was making whoever he was building these things for would be extremely overpowered and more than capable of taking over the other Kingdoms if he equipped his army with this gear.
The mana stone was discharged, so I decided to try to recharge it using my Manaflow spell along with my perception. It took several attempts but it finally succeeded. Suddenly a window opened and I read,
You have modified a piece of technology, do you wish to claim it
Yes or No?
I claimed it and watched as another window opened,
The balance of power is shifting as new technology enters the world
You have a choice to help stop this technology or to help all people to have
access to it.
Choose wisely
I thought for a minute, and realized that this was another game changer, my choice would impact how this realm could develop. I suspected that tech was here to stay, once people had wind of it could not be hidden. I decided to spread the tech around and received confirmation of my acceptance of the quest.
I loaded the gun and slipped it into a pocket on my cloak, then made my way down to the dock. I could clearly see the blood trail with my Dragon eyes activated and I slowly followed cloaking myself in Shadows. The way led off the docks and into the town, we traveled for quite a distance climbing higher as we went.
This area was no longer lower-income, the houses and shops were far more upscale. I eventually reached a building that was clearly Dwarven made and it was here the trail of blood drops ended. I knew I would not be finding any answers here with the sun about to appear along with the townspeople.
Turning around I made my way back through the town and reached the docks without any problems. It was time to check on the ladies, I thought as I boarded the ship. Entering the cabin, I saw that Tasia was still sleeping but Reona was awake. I greeted her and waited not sure if she would remember identifying me or not.
She looked at me and nodded, then said, “My thanks for my rescue, I was in a lot of trouble, they had drugged us, and then were planning on selling me to some minor noble.” Taking a deep breath Reona then asked, “What has happened to my guards?”
I looked away for a minute and then said, “They were all killed with the exception being Tasia, they were planning on keeping her alive for a while.” Shrugging my shoulders, I finally felt like I could relax, it was clear that Reona was still very fuzzy on everything, they must have really drugged her.
Reona stared at me and then said, “I have one question for you, how the hell did you get here. We left you battling in the middle of the ocean. The Capitan has insisted that we flee while we could and while we had argued he was in control of the ship.”
It was a tough question as I had no intention of revealing what had really happened. Thinking quickly, I said, “I managed to defeat Orion the sea giant. When the fight was finally over I could see that you were a fair distance gone by then so I swam to the portal. I felt that going through it was better than drowning in the middle of the ocean. Once I went through I arrived on a nearby shore and then found my way here.”
It was a half-truth, but better than a full lie. I continued and asked “So now what, everyone is dead but you and Tasia and the original plan is no longer possible. We could go to the local governor and explain the situation but that would require revealing more about our mission than I feel comfortable sharing.”
Reona nodded, I could see that she was troubled by what our choices were. I had been thinking that what we needed to do was leave this town as soon as possible and that getting off the ship would be a good start. I was not sure if the cloaked man from last night would be back but my guess was he would and he would bring some help.
Reona asked me, “Do you have any thoughts on what we should do?”
I nodded and spoke, “Yes the first thing is to move you and Tasia off the ship, then after you fully recover we will look at joining a Caravan or even forming one, and then heading inland, the goal is the same, to get to the King of the Dwarves.”
Seeing her nod, I continued, “I have looted the ship and money is not a problem at the moment, safety is, I would hate to abandon the ship but being safe is more important. However, it i
s possible that a deal might be made with someone about the ship. The Capitan and his crew will never be returning.”
“That is good, I hope that bastard rots in hell.” The words came from where Tasia was trying to sit up and they gave me hope that both ladies were finally recovering. I walked over and sat down near Tasia and asked, “How are you feeling”
“Better,” Tasia replied. “Those damn drugs were powerful but I think I can function.” Giving me a wry grin Tasia said, “Now would be a good time for you to practice against me, you might have a hope in Hell of winning.”
I smiled, it was good to see that what had happened had not overwhelmed her. I quickly brought her up to date on the plan, we would head into town and find an Inn, I would then try to arrange for us to join a Caravan or even start one. I would also try to see about selling the Golden Ass.
The women quickly began to clean themselves up and go through their belongings, it was not long before everything was sorted out and the ladies were dressed in leather armor and had weapons belted on. Tasia had two small swords with a dagger at the back of her belt. Reona had one sword and one dagger belted on.
The both kept their faces covered with scarves and were not recognizable. I would not want to meet them in a dark alley, they had a look of competence and skill, they were not playing around. I also gathered my gear and with my armor on and weapons at my side I felt that we might just have a chance.
We left the ship in the predawn light and made our way up into the town. I had noted the location of an Inn and we purposefully moved towards it. Few people were up yet and those that were had already begun the day’s work. Once we arrived at the Inn I suggested that I do the preliminary speaking and seeing the girls nod I led the way in.