BountyOfTheSeas/Session2

BEGIN CHAPTER 2
The slaver-ship turned liberator, the Brilliance, plies its way through the sparkling waters of the Seaspray region. Salas Toad approaches his captain, the Zenith Caste Zeleny.
Salas: "Sir!"
<Zeleny> "Yes?"
Salas: "Something most peculiar, off the port side."
Zeleny strides across the deck to look off the port side.
A floating structure, that despite looking like several vessels lashed together still manages to evince some air of class and opulence.
"Damned if I can figure why something like this would be out in the middle of the sea, sir."
"'tain't no boat, not like any I've ever seen."
"I've heard tell the Lintha pirates have somethin' like that... like a fleet, all combined into one huge ship."
Pyhrra leans on the rail. "What *is* that??"
<Zeleny> "I don't know. This isn't a fleet. Or near the Lintha's water's. So...let's go find out."
Salas: "Aye, sir! Hard port, men!"
Salas: "If they're pirates, we'll give 'em a sound thrashing, we will. And if they be friendly, we could stand to take on fresh supplies."
Dell: "Maybe that's what it is - a trading post!"
The ship tilts as the main sail swings around, and it begins its ponderous turn towards the unknown vessel.
<Verdant> "Strange spot for a trading post."
<Zeleny> "We will see." Zeleny glances across at his men. "Verdant, myself, and...Pyhrra will be the landing crew. The rest of you, keep alert and stay on guard."
Salas: "Ay ay, sir."
Verdant nods and gets his staff.
Pyhrra makes no preperation, her whole kit is on her person at all times. "Maybe its a hotel? Or a casino... or a floating brothel?"
Once the Brilliance is close enough, it becomes obvious that the vessel(s) have been christened the Starlit Waters. What isn't any clearer, however, is the purpose this floating mansion could serve.
Salas shouts at the crew as they come abreast with the Starlit Waters. Ropes fly out from both vessels, and the shouts of sailors fill the air as the docking gets underway.
With a few last tugs, the ropes are made taut. The Brilliance is docked.
The gangplank is lowered.
Standing at attention on either side of the debarking area are large men in very finely-tailored clothing.
Pyhrra gulps and taps the pommel of Memoir. She may be a Dawn, but she still got nervous.
Zeleny has donned a buff jacket, and a pair of punch daggers are strapped to his waist. He stands on the gangplank, and examines the welcoming committee.
Pyrrha's guess of a brothel is, improbably, looking more and more possible. The deck is richly appointed in water-proof but still quite fine decorations.
The welcoming men gesture towards the largest doorway set into the deck.
Zeleny glances at them, and walks down the plank, onto 'Starlit Waters' and towards the door the men had indicated.
<Zeleny> He moves slowly, but with confidence.
"Right this way, ladies and gentlemen. We apologize, but we were not informed that you would be joining us this fine day."
Verdant follows Zeleny, glancing from side to side.
"...may we ask from whence you hail?"
Zeleny shrugs. "You may."
Pyhrra snorts in amusement quitely behind Zeleny
"Er... of course. Right this way, Mistress Irisa will see you shortly."
<Zeleny> "Very well." He goes where the man indicates.
A slender but pretty girl comes out of the large double-doors. She is tastefully dressed in a simple dress.
Pyhrra follows suit, feeling a little more confident knowing that the place *wasn't a pirate den.
She bows respectfully to Zeleny, then Pyrrha and Verdant Waves.
"Greetings. Welcome to the Starlit Waters. I am Joyful Wave."
Joy: "I will be happy to entertain you while you wait for the Mistress to conclude her business."
Joy: "In the future, we can assure that you will not be kept waiting if we receive at least three weeks notice of your intention to visit."
Joy leads the way through the dark wood doors, into a even more finely appointed sitting room.
Verdant mutters, "Quite a waiting list. High-class establishment."
Zeleny takes a seat. "We will strive to be more prompt with our notice in the future," he remarks to Joy, with just a tinge of irony.
Joy: "Please, be seated. May we procure anything to drink for you?"
<Zeleny> "No thank you."
<Pyhrra> "Water please." Pyhrra says then mutters to Zeleny under her breath. "Why are we here again?"
Verdant shakes his head.
Joy: "Of course, right away."
Pyhrra adds the respectful "Captain" almost too late.
<Zeleny> "We were curious." A smile flickers at Zeleny's lips.
<Verdant> "I'm hoping you have a plan."
<Pyhrra> "Curiosity killed the mortal..."
<Zeleny> "It behooves one to know what...and who...prowls one's seas." Zeleny shrugs. "We wait here, see this 'Irisa', and find out what this place sells."
Joy, after serving the requested water, bows respectfully again. "I will see if Mistress Irisa has finished with her appointment."
Verdant whispers, "Something tells me it's going to be fancier than fresh water and ship's biscuit."
She leaves the three Solars sitting, somewhat awkwardly, with two attentive-seeming men standing at attention by the door.
<Zeleny> "No doubt."
<Pyhrra> "Well, I'll take my water thank you very much..."
Interior: Starlit Waters, Irisa's Private Office
Pyhrra lives up to her claim and drinks the water.

Callidora sits across from Irisa's large desk.
They have been arguing, as they have grown accustomed to doing over the past few months.
The argument ranges from a perceived slight that may have been made as far back as 150 years ago in the local Water Court, to the fiasco with Honorable Snail and his cohorts, and back again.
<Callidora> "So, I was asking you where you got your unusual desk?"
Irisa: "Well, of course it cost a great deal to have the wood imported..."
<Callidora> "Just how much money does this place make, anyway?"
<Callidora> "If I may be so rude."
Irisa: "You may not. Suffice it to say, quite enough to pay for my expenses."
A gentle knocking comes from the door. Irisa turns her attention to it. "Come in, sister."
<Callidora> "what is the correct height for a man?"
<Callidora> "long enough that his legs can touch the floor."
Joy steps daintily inside.
<Callidora> "Joy returns to us!"
Irisa cocks an eyebrow curiously at Callidora, then looks to Joy.
Joy: "Apologies for interrupting, Sister."
Callidora Has very strange social habits."
Irisa: "No concern, Joy. Callidora and I will have, I am sure, many more occasions to discuss... things."
Irisa: "What is it?"
Joy: "Visitors, Sister. Unscheduled arrivals."
<Callidora> "Anybody interesting?"
Irisa: "Peculiar... not our good friends Honorable Snail and his cohorts, I pray?"
Joy: "No, no, I don't think so."
Joy: "But they are a bit peculiar."
Joy: "They don't look like the usual client. I think they may have found us by accident."
Irisa: "That is peculiar. I wouldn't expect much traffic along this lane for another three months or so."
Irisa: "Callidora, would you mind if we called this 'meeting' short, so that I might attend to new customers?"
<Callidora> "Well, lets go say hi."
<Callidora> "Dear Dragon, no."
Irisa: "Rightly so."
Callidora bounds out the door
Joy leads the two women to the waiting room, where the two broad-shouldered butlers are busy subtly jockeying for Pyhrra's attention.
Pyhrra blushes awkwardly and tries to ignore the two.
Joy: "Masters, mistress: this is our lovely proprietor, Mistress Irisa."
Zeleny rises to his feet. "Greetings."
<Pyhrra> "Hello.."
Irisa gives a subdued curtsy/bow. "Greetings to you all. Welcome to my establishment."
Verdant follows Zeleny's lead and rises, nodding his head.
Irisa: "How may I be of service?"
<Callidora> ::gives a deep bow::
Irisa: "...I gather, from your somewhat confused expressions, that you did not intend to come to the Floating Palace of Dreams today."
Zeleny 's gaze flicks from Irisa to the...ocean woman. "No. We stumbled across your establishment. We were intrigued, of course."
Irisa: "But of course. We have tried to give the Starlit Waters an appearance as unique as its purpose."
<Callidora> "of course you were. Its quite beautiful, isn't it?"
<Pyhrra> "It certainly is unique." Pyhrra admits
<Callidora> "But tell me, what were you doing here?"
Irisa smiles in polite acknowledgement of Pyrrha's compliment.
Pyhrra just looks to the captain. We are bloodthirsty pirates (yarrr) where be the loot, etc..
Zeleny raises his brows. "We were on our way from one place to another. What else what would be doing here?"
Irisa: "Ah... well, we cater to a select clientele of some of the wealthiest men and women in the West."
<Callidora> "You could be on your way back?"
<Zeleny> "Really. What do you sell?"
<Zeleny> "It must be something quite unusual, to draw clients from so far."
Irisa: "I have been gifted, by unique parentage and upbringing, with the ability to give you dreams of unparalleled clarity, tailored to your exact specifications."
Irisa: "Many of my clients have told me that it is quite unlike anything they have experienced."
Verdant seems impressed.
<Zeleny> "How unusual."
Irisa: "But quite enjoyable, as I'm sure you can imagine."
<Callidora> "It is. She's really quite the diamond in the rough oceans."
Irisa: "Err... yes."
Zeleny glances at Callidora. "I'm sure she is."
Callidora looking at Zeleny's scars. "Somehow, though, you don't look like a man given to indulge himself."
Zeleny shrugs. "I see nothing to keep us here. I apologize for taking up your time..."
Verdant glances at Callidora, murmuring a note to himself.
Irisa eyes the three visitors up and down. "I... don't suppose any of you are interested?"
<Zeleny> "No." He looks at the others.
Irisa: "...or capable of paying?"
<Zeleny> His lips twich. "Likely not."
<Verdant> "I'm sure there are many who would be interested, but interested and willing to meet your price are two different things."
Pyhrra coughs both in personal embarassment and in thinking of her less than oppulent supply of jade. "Perhaps another time..." Like never?
Irisa: "I... see."
Irisa: "Well, for those more inclined towards the practical end of the spectrum, we do offer resupply for ships that pass through."
<Zeleny> "Do you? That would be most helpful. It always pays to keep well-supplied."
Verdant nods.
<Callidora> "The ship?"
Irisa: "If I may, perhaps your quartermaster would care to come aboard. We would be happy to entertain you here while the transfer of goods takes place."
Zeleny shrugs, and leaves the room to call for Monk.
From outside, the clamor of men running and shouting can be heard.
Verdant goes to follow Zeleny.
Outside, there is chaos.
<Verdant> "Hmm?
<Zeleny> When he hears a commotion, Zeleny breaks into a run.
<Verdant> "What the-?"
The crewmembers of the Starlit Waters are running about in a panic, some bearing weapons.
Crew from the Brilliance is starting to leap onto the Waters' decks as well.
Callidora runs to get her Staff of Gold and Glass from her quarters.
Zeleny runs to his ship. "What- is going - on!" he shouts.
Salas runs up, face red with exertion.
"Sir! Pirates, inbound!"
Verdant follows Zeleny at a fast run.
<Pyhrra> "Uh oh..." The aprehension Pyhrra felt before returns double when the news of the attack is heard.
The Brilliance crew begin to strap on their own weapons.
Zeleny instantly begins roaring orders, getting the crew organized and prepared to repel invaders.
Dell, perched on the far side of the vessel, is peering intently at the approaching black-sailed ship. "It's the Burning Rain!"
Salas: "Sir, they'll be here in a matter of minutes."
Verdant moves to Zeleny's side, his back to Pyhrra. "Captain, how...open...do you think I can be?" He says, pointing to his forehead such that Pyhhra can't see.
<Zeleny> "Don't bother hiding yourself."
Zeleny orders a skeleton crew take the Brilliance out to sea.
<Pyhrra> In the chaos, Pyhrra draws her sword, battered and worn from the scabbard, kneeling facing the sun and placing the point into the deck. She bows her head and breathes deeply her eyes close.
<Zeleny> The pirates, he guessed, would strike at the Starlit Waters first. And that's where he keeps the bulk of his men.
<Zeleny> (*sea)
<Pyhrra> "Memoir. Treasured memento of my brother's absence, see me through this trial, as you saw him through his, and have since seen me through mine."
The Burning Rain is an infamous ship in these parts, wanted in numerous ports for slaving and raiding, seemingly indiscriminately. Even Coral won't harbor the Burning Rain.
<Verdant> "Watch my back, will you?"
<Zeleny> "I will do what I can."
Pyhrra stands, slicing the air with the sword and strapping the Siren Shield to her arm. "Ask me to watch your back, and I'll watch it..."
The fighting men of the Starlit Waters are arrayed along the side of the vessel, facing the approaching pirate ship.
Zeleny arranges his men to support them.
<Verdant> "Armor up or try and tag their captain?
The men on board the Brilliance cut the lines and take her out, ready to run should the pirates pursue.
<Zeleny> "We will assault their captain first."
Irisa herself seems to be the orchestrating force behind the Starlit Waters' defence.
<Zeleny> "If there are..things you must prepare, I recommend you do it now."
She barks orders in a commanding tone, and where she goes men's resolve is strengthened.
<Verdant> "You know that if I do that, there's no subtlety. Do it anyway?"
Joy is nowhere to be seen. Salas and Monk are on the Waters; Dell is aboard the Brilliance.
<Zeleny> "Yes. The Burning Rain is foolhardy enough to attack anyway."
<Verdant> "Right."
Verdant begins chanting as mystic runes blaze about him.
As the black sails loom, they seem to block out the sun itself. The pirate vessel continues to grow, much larger than it seemed at first.
Callidora reappears, bearing a stuff of gleaming orichalcum glass.
Zeleny glances at it, but dismisses it from his mind. He straps on his punch daggers.
With a smoothly practiced motion, the pirate ship comes abreast with the Starlit Waters.
Verdant his forehead erupts into blazing light as the runes swarm around him, growing tighter, tighter, closer until they strike his skin and vanish, leaving his skin a shade of bronze."
Pirates leap over the side, even as others prepare to lash their boat to the floating pleasure palace.
<Zeleny> "Victory!" Zeleny roars, and leaps into the fray.
The sounds of steel, death, and valor fill the air, as combat is joined.
Verdant faces them with his staff ready, his Caste Mark shining upon his brow.
Callidora glances at Zeleny, her face suddenly grim
Pyhrra has no time for surprise at the suddenly revealed power of her companions, fighting fear and foe is enough!
To the west, the Burning Rain is docking with the Starlit Waters.
The two ships are roughly the same length along this side, and three planks are being lowered between the two.
A line of the Waters' crew is the first line of defense.
They are armed primarily with short swords and breastplates - they are competent and well-equipped, but there aren't a whole lot of them.
<Callidora> how far are they above the water?
The pirates wield cruel-looking chopping swords, and most wear buff jackets.
The Burning Rain's deck sit higher than that of the Waters.
Behind the first line of combat, the Brilliance's crew of liberated slaves sits, ready to join the fray.
In their midst are Zeleny, Pyrrha, and Verdant Waves.
Callidora is near the northernmost part of the Waters, having just emerged from the cabins belowdecks.
The Brilliance has pushed off and is sailing to the west.
Irisa hangs back, urging her troops to heights of valor.
Verdant charges forward, shouting, "For the Sun's glory!". He stops in front of a pirate, letting his momentum add to the swing of his staff.
Verdant sends the pirate sprawling, twirling his staff in his hands to bring the weapon to bear downward onto another pirate's head.
The first pirate is whipped away from the crewman he was fighting, teeth flying through the air; the second simply slumps to the ground, bleeding from the nose and ears.
Callidora flies through the air, clobbering her first hapless opponent.
Her second strike, however, catches on a defender, knocking him senseless even as her staff is almost ripped from her hands.
Juggling it awkwardly, Callidora regains her grip just in time to jam the butt of the staff squarely into a pirate's nose, with a horrifying crunch.
Pyhrra wastes no time and pushes through the crewman militia to face off with one of the pirate raiders. She tosses the sword spinning into the air in front of the bewildered pirate before grabbing the collar of his buff jacket with her now-free hand, yanking him downward to meet her rapidly rising knee in a rib cracking blow.
<Pyhrra> She tosses the stunned man back and grabs her shield in both hands, summoning all her strength and smashing it down on his head with a resounding clang oddly like that of a wielded fry-pan. As he drops into a heap she neatly catches Memoir by its worn grip, the leather still warm.
The battle near Pyhrra freezes for just a second, as both sides are stunned by the brutality of her work.
Zeleny lunges forward, leaping over the heads of Irisa's men and landing smashing his khatar deep into the pirates' gangplank. Essence seems to shimmer along his arm, to drip, golden, from his dagger's blade. As the wood rips in half, he grabs the broken plank, two-handed, and sweeps the stunned pirates hanging on the Burning Rain's railing above him into the water. He flings the plank aside and grins savagely at the oncoming bandits, giving them pause as they advance.
The pirates stare in shocked horror at the scarred captain, then rally with a shout of defiance, pouring onto the Starlit Waters' deck in a tide of steel and blood.
Starlit Waters Crew:
The crew is being pushed back by sheer numbers; the pirates make up in savagery what they lack in discipline.
Brilliance Crew:
As the front line is forced to fall back, the crewmen of the Brilliance begin to join battle.
Monk breaks someone's knee; Salas clouts someone on the head with a mighty shout.
Irisa seems to be holding three pirates rapt with nothing more than the power of her gaze.
Pirate Crew:
The pirates wheel on their new assailants, teeth bared in feral grins.
The violence of the first few seconds of combat have done nothing to dim the bloodlust in their eyes.
COMBAT, TURN 2

(MISSING TEXT)

Verdant lunges towards another invader, his staff darting between the man's legs before Verdant slams his right hand down on the other end, using his left as a pivot to swing the pole upwards to the man's torso, striking his family jewels.
Verdant adjusts his grip, whirls about and slams the other end of the staff into another pirate, pushing the luckless man towards the former location of the now missing gangplank.
Callidora plants her staff on the deck in front of her, bracing her hands around it firmly
<Callidora> (shit, sorry, meant to wait to hit enter)
The first pirate collapses, retching; the second is hurled through the air and overboard, his dwindling scream ending in a splash.
Callidora swings her staff in a wide arc, catching two pirates in the midsection. The force of her swing sends the brigands into the water, a 'gift' to the gods below
With mutual exhalations, the two thugs are hurled through the air.
One hits the side of the Burning Rain on the way down with a 'thunk' that could be heard even over the din of battle.
Callidora brandishes her golden bat with a wry smile, a strange player for a stranger game.
Pyhrra steps up to the second gangplank, darting at a startled pirate causing him to stumble back. Taking advantage she grabs him around the ankle pulling him off his feet then throwing him sprawling up in the air. Leaping forward, she lands her free hand on the deck and vaults upwards into the pirate like a dart, both feet slaming into the airborn man with a thud of bootsoles hitting leather.
The pirate's back is bent at an unnatural angle by Pyhrra's boot, and he lands much less gracefully on the deck than the Solar.
He makes a crunchy sound upon impact.
It should be noted, he's not dead. He's just very, very unhappy.
The mid-afternoon sun beats down on the men and women on the Starlit Waters' deck, even as more pirates swarm in the shadows of the Burning Rain's sails.
The stink of sweat and leather and blood fills the air.
The Starlit Waters had been so nicely decorated...
<Zeleny> As the battle begins in earnest, Zeleny shouts encouragement to his crew. He swings easily onto the Burning Rain's deck, continuing his motion in a vicious kick, to send another pirate to a watery grave overboard. As he surveys the chaos aboard, he tightens his grasp on his dagger's leather grip, drops low, and brings the khatar up to sink deeply into the chin of a bearded pirate with a wet, meaty sound.
The kick is flawless, and Zeleny sails gracefully into his crouch even as the pirate sails gracefully overboard.
The second falls to his knees, his sword clattering to the deck by his side, as he tries to hold back the blood pouring from his chin.
The crew of the Starlit Waters would have broken and run by now, if not for Irisa's coaching.
The Brilliance's crew, however, rallied by their captain's bravery, are holding their own.
A pirate, his teeth yellowed and crooked, warily circles Verdant Waves.
With a shout, he brings his sword down in an overhead arc.
A pirate tries to dart in and stab Callidora from behind.
Verdant dives to his left, rolling away from his attacker and ending in a crouch, his staff at the ready.
<Callidora> A casual movement of her wrist
<Callidora> Sends the heavy stave in the path of the blade's arc, clattering it to the ground
Zeleny tries to keep his eyes on the two pirates attempting to get into his blind spot. With a practiced coordination, they strike almost simultaneously.
<Zeleny> With almost contemptous ease, Zeleny rolls away from the attacks.
Pyhrra's attackers are not so coordinated, but one comes swinging down on his ship's ropes even as the other darts in low, attempting a hamstring.
<Pyhrra> The first pirate slams into Pyhrra's shield, but his momentum pushes her back into the second pirate's attack.
Pyhrra cries out as the chopping sword slices cleanly across a bare thigh, a torrent of blood sprays out before her exalted essence wills the wound to close.
Zeleny and Pyrrha have a brief instant to take in their surroundings.
The ship is a large galley, no doubt to accommodate the slave-holds below. Two sails tower overhead, and the deck is divided into three parts – two raised portions on either end of the boat, with the middle section being lower. A thick railing surrounds the decks on all sides. Everything is a chaos of fighting and dying: stray ropes, loose planks, and dead men’s weapons abound.
On the far deck of the ship, you see what can only be the ship’s captain, bellowing orders and urging his men on in a frenzy. You can only make out a few details from this distance: he’s heavy-set, almost squat, but powerful-looking; his hair is a striking blend of bright red and deep black, which extends to the large beard covering most of his face; his clothes are even gaudier than those worn by his sailors; and he wields a large curved knife in one hand and a smaller straight knife in the other.
Both Solars are at least one turn's worth of fighting away, though. Five pirates stand between the two, and their adversary.
The gangplanks are crowded with still more pirates, who will have to be either circumvented or slain for Verdant Waves and Callidora to reach the Burning Rain.
Verdant hears Pyhrra's cry and erupts from his crouch, barreling up the gangplank, a swing of his staff sending an inconvenient pirate tumbling into the drink. As he reaches the deck, Verdant holds his staff like a spear, charging the pirate at the top of the gangplank.
The first pirate was as chaff before the scythe, and the second one is propelled backwards for several feet by the impact of Verdant's staff-tip square in his chest.
<Callidora> Yawning, Callidora swings her staff, disposing of two more unworthy adversaries.
Adversaries disposed.
Pyhrra stumbles a little from the wound then savagely backhands the pirate that sliced her, the pitted blade of Memoir flying stong, but awkward from age, glinting dully in the sunlight.
Slashed across the eyes, the pirate staggers backwards, blood splashing out in a brilliant crimson arc.
<Pyhrra> She pushes off the pirate and into the second that swung down to strike her, grabbing a fistfull of cloth with a pair of fingers while still holding the sword, and rams her shoulder repeatedly into him, using her arm to double the momentum, yanking the hapless man into her body.
<Pyhrra> On the third blow she substitutes the shoulder for the shield, pulling his face against the dented metal with a clash of steel and a crunch of rapidly flattening cartilage.
<Pyhrra> *thump!*thump!* *CLANG!* She 'whoops' loudly with the clang, the noise satisfying.
Zeleny takes in the deck. He sees the mess of ropes coiling haphazardly across the wooden planks...the masts, towering up into the blue sky...the men between him as his prey. To kill a serpent...you cut off its head. A grim smile plays around his mouth, as he catches the coil of a rope with his foot, kicks it into the air, wraps one end around his wrist and sends it twirling to wrap around the mast.
He yanks, rappeling around through the billowing black sails to land, with a crash, before the chief pirate. "Captain," he remarks cooly as he climbs to his feet, his still face masking the murderous tension in the muscles of his shoulders, the tightness of his grip on his khatars. The dagger's black iron is made carmine by the blood covering the blades, the grip, and Zeleny's fists...
From this closer vantage, the captain appears maniacally fearsome. His hair, even more striking from this distance, is the red of molten rock, with vertical streaks of black running throughout. Coupled with his solid frame and vicious knife-work, the overall effect is an aura of menace. He might even be considered handsome, if not for the twisted mask of rage and hate which never seems to leave his face.
And his knives appear to be made of red jade inlaid with delicate tracery of gold...
PIRATE TURN:
The three pirates on deck eye their adversaries.
Two round on Verdant Waves, while one moves to intercept the wounded - yet brutal - Pyhrra.
One pirate makes a diving tackle for Verdant...
Verdant slams his staff to the deck, using it to guide his flip away from his attacker, the deck planks groaning as the Bronze-skinned Exalt lands with a thud upon them once more.
Verdant grunts in surprise as his attacker finds him anyway.
The second pirate closes quickly on his downed prey, raising his sword to stab downward at the prone man's face.
Verdant gasps in horror as the second attack comes in, having nothing but his skin to guard himself...
Verdant 's gasp turns to a grim smile as the blade clangs against his sorcerous skin.
Chuckling evilly, Pyhrra's foe whips his blade around his head once, twice, three times, then lunges in with a mighty slash.
With a horrible sound, the brigand's blade buries itself in Pyhrra's shoulder, blood gushing over the steel and soaking into her clothes.
Pyhrra takes the blow, slicing a line down her cheek and diagonally across her tunic, a savage cut from the shoulder to her belly, the leather strap sliced clean and Memoir's scabbard clatters to the deck.
The captain of the Burning Rain doesn't say a word; the only noise he makes is an incoherent bellow of rage as he lunges at Zeleny. The two captains prepare to lock in mortal combat.
With greater speed than his wide frame would suggest, he dips low, then slashes up with one knife and across the face with the other.
<Zeleny> Lithe, Zeleny darts narrowly out of the way, keeping his feet and moving no further than neccessary to avoid the blows.
...just when the captain appears to have been thrown off-balance, however, his knives dart out with vicious speed, almost of their own accord.
<Zeleny> Barely, only barely, does Zeleny see the attack and step away from it. His knives graze Zeleny's skin.
ROUND 4 - BEGIN!
Verdant growls, "Let's see how *your* face holds up, mortal!"
Verdant slaps the pirate who stabbed him in the face with his staff, then brains the one who tackled him.
(Ooo... nice.)
The pirates attempt to feebly bat aside the hurtling rod, but it will not be diverted from its just and righteous course.
Blood sprays over Verdant Waves, beading up and running off his unnatural skin.
Pyhrra clutches at the torn clothing, holding it over herself and mutters in rising desperation as she feels defeat loom.
Pyhrra staggers back, slumped, barely holding on to her treasured sword, a trickle of her own blood running down the blade from her wounded arm. Gasps a quiet sob and the pirate closes in for the kill...
<Pyhrra> Then she balls her fists, her body quakes as every muscle tenses to steel and then she screams with the fury of one thousand warriors - it is an unnatural terrifying scream that pierces into the combatants' very hearts, a scream born of pure rage that no mere human could possibly contain.
<Pyhrra> Golden fire erupts out from her, illuminating the entire deck with bright light and a terrifying hot wind washes across the deck, whipping up clothing and small items and tossing hair about
<Pyhrra> The cry lowers into a menacing low growl that vibrates the ships deck, a hundred tigers channel their predatory might through her voice. She looms like death incarnate over the ship's deck, her eyes blazing blue and gold flames, and the mark of the dawn branded on her forhead shines like a doorway to her higher soul.
<Pyhrra> "NOW...!" she roars, her voice booming over the battle. "THE DEATH YOU WROUGHT UPON OTHERS SHALL BE WROUGHT UPON YOU TENFOLD!!!"
The pirate is cowed.
<Zeleny> Zeleny charges forward to grip the pirate captain's massive forearms. His muscles ripple in the sunlight, as, with a roar, he slowly twists the captain's arms behind him, into a lock- at which point, with a single, powerful kick, he sends the mass of the captain hurling across the deck, within reach of Zeleny's Solar comrades.
Callidora does a series of fast flips, landing in front of the pirate captain. A mirage of waves crashing to the shore seems to shimmer in her sine-shaped wake.
<Callidora> Shelands in front of the Pirate captain, and grimly clutches her weapon
With an undignified 'thud,' the captain lands on the lower deck.
Callidora looks down at the captain. "Well, looks like my work here is done."
He growls at her, his eyes practically alight with hatred.
With a twisting motion he gets to his feet and lunges at Callidora almost instantly.
<Callidora> With nothing but contempt for the fallen Terrestrial, Callidora catches
<Callidora> the red blade with her golden staff
Verdant stands up, raises his left arm and points one finger at the pirate captain, then begins drawing arcane sigils in the air, chanting in the forgotten words of the Old Realm, the First Age, the golden Age, as the runes begin to swirl in a spiral around his outstretched left arm...
Callidora raises her staff, and lowers it repeatedly on the pirate captain, her blows falling like droplets in a waterfall.
Zeleny strides across the deck, and pounds on the captain from behind, his khatar-blows leaving long, bloody wounds on the Dragonblood's back.
The captain manages to cling desperately to consciousness this round, but he is driven to his knees by the hailstorm of blows from Zeleny and Callidora.
Callidora bellows out "wait!"
<Callidora> "We should take him alive, and learn his secrets!"
Pyhrra slumps against a railing, watching the beating.
<Zeleny> "Secrets? He pillages, he murders, he raids. He has no secrets worth learning."
With a half-articulate curse of defiance, the captain spits at Callidora.
His hair stands on end, his eyes blaze, and the deck around the Solars ignites!
<Callidora> "Perhaps, but what harm is there in letting him live now?"
<Callidora> "we can always kill him later."
The midships of the Burning Rain is aflame, and the fire is quickly spreading to the great ship's sails.
Verdant shouts the final words of the incantation in Old Realm, each word punctuated by a sigil flashing in front of his outstretched hand. "Sprouting! Shackles! Of! Doom!" No sooner is the final word spoken than tendrils of Essence wrap around the pirate captain, wrapping around his limbs, slithering through his clothes...and then the essence tendrils turn solid, and start to squeeze...
Blood vessels in the captain's eyes burst, and his tongue hangs sickeningly from his mouth - his fantastic daggers fall to the ground.
Zeleny finishes him with a blow to the head, seperating the man's head from his body with a single, brutal stroke. He turns to the melee still on-going. "Your leader is dead," Zeleny shouts to the crew of the Burning Rain, as essence roars and golden lightning thunders above him. He holds the captain's severed head up by its hair. "You ship is lost. Surrender and you will be treated generously. Fight... and you will die." In a seemingly-negligent motion, he tosses the head into the crowd below, spattering blood on the bandit's faces as it spins in the air and lands with a splat on the deck of the Starlit Waters.
<Callidora> "Hurry! We must evacuate the ship before it burns!"
<Zeleny> And then, with an oath, as he realizes that flames would soon consume the vessel, he turns, and runs in the darkness of the ship's hold.
The pirates on the Starlit Waters grudgingly lay down their weapons.
Callidora follows him down
Inside the Burning Rain, now more aptly named than ever, it is madness.
The demons themselves could not imagine a more hellish place than the dark and cramped hold of a slave ship that has been lit on fire.
<Callidora> "Any idea how to get these manacles off 'em?"
<Zeleny> Desperate, Zeleny smashes the chain.
<Zeleny> There was no time for anything more graceful. Coughing, he points the miserable prisoners to the surface.
The slaves are panicked - they seem wild, lost, fear deep in their eyes.
<Zeleny> "Freedmen!" Zeleny shouts, bright and golden.
Callidora searches the ships for papers, anything to point to its history, ownership, and prior dealings
Their fear evaporates, and they gaze rapt at Zeleny.
Callidora must know if any prince or priest was sponsoring this madness
<Zeleny> "You are saved. You are free! And you will live free- as soon as you get off this ship."
Zeleny's words, charged as they are with his charisma and the power of his essence, seem to be lost on the slaves.
<Zeleny> "Calm down! Be patient, be calm, and you will survive!"
Timbers groan as fire begins to eat through crucial load-bearing beams.
Zeleny grimaces, and leaps forward, holding a crumbling beam with not but his muscles and his burning purpose.
<Zeleny> *naught
<Zeleny> "Go!" Zeleny roars, and points to wear the sun has just reached the angle to shine down into the darkness of the hold.
<Zeleny> *where
The slaves seem to understand - they begin to hurriedly shuffle through the smoke and chaos towards open air.
Zeleny stands alone, supporting the burning beam on his back. As the last slave climbs from the slavehold, Zeleny lunges forward for the exit and lets the beam collapse...and with it, a good portion of the ceiling.
Callidora jumps out a window in the boat's hull, fleeing the blaze and the collapsing deck.
Zeleny, if you've spent any WP, I'm sure you've earned it back for this.
<Zeleny> (I don't think I have, more's the pity)
Verdant grabs the papers and races out.
As Verdant Waves darts down the burning hallways beneath the ship's deck, he narrowly avoids being trapped behind a collapsing section of wood.
Callidora, you're in the -water-?
<Callidora> yup
Heh heh...
<Callidora> swimming, I guess
Zeleny has managed to herd the slaves off of the boat.
Verdant leaps across the gap between boats, papers fluttering in his grasp.
Callidora swims clear of the burning galleon, then tries to figure out how to signal for someone to lower a rope down for her.
On board the Starlit Waters, Irisa is wounded, but directs her remaining men and the crew of the Brilliance to cut loose the pirate ship.
Callidora grips the edge of the boat, begins to climb up
The sails of the Burning Rain, aflame as they are, pose a danger to everyone aboard the Waters.
The crews of the Brilliance and the Waters scramble to move her away from the dying hulk of the Burning Rain.
The task is complicated by the pirate prisoners, whom no one trusts to leave unattended.
Callidora calls out to his friend Rain, asks her to cast her bounty upon them
Rain's busy. Would you like to speak to drizzle?
<Callidora> "oooo, drizzle. He's cute."
<Callidora> "A little young, but maybe I can set him up with pond...."
<Callidora> "Sure!"
With a jolt, the Starlit Waters starts to move, far faster than her usual clip.
The massive assemblage is being propelled from the east by unseen hands.
Zeleny climbs a mast, and scans the horizon for the sails of the Brilliance.
A small wake even starts to form behind the ship; whatever force moves the ship, it moves it with gusto.
The Brilliance sits calmly upon the sea to the west, awaiting her captain's return.
...and it is growing closer by the minute.
Soon, the Burning Rain is a safe distance away, even as its mast collapses in a spray of sparks and ash.
The mortals are all agape, staring over the port side; the Exalts are in time to see one water elemental wave goodbye before disappearing beneath the waves.
END CHAPTER 2

Comments

I'm not done with this. So, y'know, feel free to clean it up, but I'm coming back to make it into something a little more readable. - DigitalSentience