Alright, I have to give it to you, Quasi readily admits, this is fucking amazing.
Davy nods proudly. His ghostly eyes glow with the reminiscent of a distant mory. Dutchman was an elder water dragon with an innate ability to manipulate the sea. This ship, built with its bones, is capable of producing a fraction of the dragons power, the [Archlich] rattles on as he sails his ship across the sky. Holding them aloft and pushing them forward is a cyclone tilted so far down it may as well be sideways.
Quasi only partially listens to the undead. The [Hero] is too caught up in the sheer awesoness of sailing with a dead dragons maelstrom.
If an elder dragon can create hurricanes, how the hell does a dragon die? Aren't they supposed to be immortal? Howd you kill it? he asks.
Hmph, Davy snorts. I thought youd be able to tell, being a lich and all, but Im not suicidal. No, an elder fire dragon ford a volcano directly under Dutchman and killed it. But why let good bones go to waste?
Quasi pauses for a mont. Volcano Holy fuck, dragons are dangerous. Makes you wonder how they went extinct.
Davy doesn't move or react as he continues maneuvering his ship and the rivers of mana streaming forth from it.
Elder dragons are overwhelmingly powerful, but theyre also beyond rare. Most dragons didn't live long enough to grow old. Id wager there were only seven elders alive at any point, and they were always the leading cause of death for other dragons. They only went extinct because they ignored humanity long enough for humans to develop [Dragon Slayers] with enough levels to kill them.
Quasi folds his arms. Yeah, I can relate. I thought I was [Assassin] proof with my skills and stats, but maaan was I wrong.
Davy shakes his head disapprovingly. If you wish to live as long as , you must never be careless. I hope you learned sothing from nearly dying.
Nearly? Nah, I actually did dieOh, hey, is that the fleet? Quasi points.
Davy raises a spectral eyebrow but lets it pass and answers the question.
Indeed, and it seems as though the fighting has just started.
Yup, and it looks like Testudo is still alive in his castle Why is his castle so shiny?
How in the Davy voices with an elated degree of surprise, where the hell did he buy that much adamantium!? And how did he keep it all concealed!? This This changes my ranking considerably!
Quasi snorts. Only if he survives. It looks like his castle is caught and the [Pirate ArchQueen] is coming in to give the turtle a really bad day.
Are you still sure you want to drop you off on his ship? Davy asks, but Quasi quickly waves him off.
Yeah, Im good. Quasi reaches into his shadow and retrieves a mask, cane, and hat. I can't let you outdo with your hurricane sailing. Quasi taps his cane on the floor. Barglesmash, to !
A phoenix caws from the Dutchmans mast. The bird flaps off its perch and descends in a fiery ball of light, extinguishing his fla the second before it perches on Quasis shoulder. The bird, forrly small enough to live inside his hat, has grown considerably over the course of a few days. Its old, red feathers have molted off, replaced by bright blue ones.
How long did it take you to teach your bird that?
I dont know what youre talking about, Quasi lies without hesitation. Just drop off by the castle and prepare to unload the rest of my crew when I have everyone's attention.
Davy looks at the young man and the confidence oozing from his posture. Hes not sure what the man will do, but he can't help admit that hes curious. Then be ready to jump. I stop for nothing.
With his final words, Davy pushes his ship's core to the limit. The unruly swirling winds pull tighter, until the vortex looks more like a tube of wind.
_______
Depths take us, what is he doing here? Aegir growls as the waterspout grows more concentrated as it approaches. Within the maelstrom, sailing on the whirling vortex of water is the Flying Dutchman. Hes heard of Davy Jones. Everyone has, and the stories told about the immortal lich make most [Captains] quiver in fear, too scared to even na him. Any idiot should know those stories are just tall tales, but the man himself must not have gotten the mo.
Aegir checks the battle, finding the fighting has almost entirely stopped. All eyes are now on the encroaching cyclone that would obliterate any ship lacking strong defensive enchantnts. It would be so easy for the storm to land on the fighting fleets and destroy over a hundred ships and damage dozens more.
Aegir is that him? the [Abbot] asks.
Without turning to Nickolas, Aegir nods with an audible gulp. Yes. That is Davy Jones, the Terror of the Sea.
Why is he here?
I don't know, Aegir answers. but I doubt its to aid us.
The [Grand Admiral] waits and watches like all other ships as the hurricane rises further up, tearing into the storm clouds that have begun to form.
Nobody moves or says a word as the funnel of wind rises over the ships and, to everyone's surprise, tilts downward towards Testudo. Gales arc from the cyclone to toss the sea and drag at sails, pushing the ships near the castle away with its approach. Molucca releases the nets holding the Navis and flees, lest he be dragged wherever Testudo might be going. He isnt a mont too soon, as imdiately afterwards the castle is engulfed in the vortexs maw. Sizable waves emulate from the violent crash of water.
For a minute, the maelstrom churns the sea where the Navis had sailed, spraying everyone in proximity.
Then, all at once, the whirlwind dissipates. Wind and water slows, until the sea is steady once again. What remains is the Navis, unscathed.
No, Aegir notices, there is sothing else. Soone.
There, atop the highest parapat, stands an interloper.
Blinking the saltwater from his eyes, Aegir takes a better look. What he sees is a suited man wearing a skeleton caricature mask, a tricorn tophat embellished with bone, and a cane that looks like a humanoids spine. But most notable about him is the Phoenix wearing a bowtie perched on his shoulder.
Be careful, the [Abbot] warns, I sense the will of several gods surrounding him.
Aegir frowns. If so, then hes not Davy Jones. That immortal does not tie himself to the divine.
The masked man's head moves slightly, seemingly looking at everything around him. Then, his head stops facing Aegir. The [Grand Admiral] feels a chill go down his spine.
Several silent seconds pass before Aegir and Nickolas feel an aura descend upon them and over the sea.
Good day to you all, my lovely audience. The words echo through the aura and into everyones mind with a powerful compulsion attached. All eyes are drawn to the dandy, who has his arms stretched out to sides.
You may call , Bone! he shouts his na with such energy that countless sailors flinch from the volu.
and I thank you all for coming to my concert.
The man slides one foot forward, left hand swings back with the staff, while the right hand lifts his hat to his side as the man bows. The bow is magnificent for those with the stats, skills, or tools to see such a perfect movent.
The man stands up and once again glances across everyone present.
Please stay seated until the performance begins.
From the man's back, ivory bat-like wings erupt in a spray of blood that makes the Phoenix take flight. The new necromantic appendages shake off the excess liquid before flapping once and pulling Bone up into the air.
Everyone silently watches the man, either held still by his aura, or like Aegir, transfixed by fear. He can feel it, a new storm is brewing, and Bone is at the epicenter. Sothing chaotic, uncertain, and worst of all, hazardous, has arrived in this masked man. This man is the fleshy antithesis of Odins teachings, and it does not bode well for what is to co.
Bone gently lands on the water, half a league from the Navis, in the center of all the ships. The patch he stands on glows faintly with violet, unperturbed by the passing swells. The man's wings fold into his back, and in their place grow nine transparent, purple tails.
The tails swish elegantly in ti with the movent of the waves.
One of the tails unravels into strands of energy which join the violet water beneath Bones feet, expanding it. Another tail follows, and so grows the patch. So it continues, until every one of the nine tails are part of that brilliant pool of mana that has the [Mages] seriously worried.
From the violet water rises the most extravagant and grand piano Aegirs ever seen. The instrunt is larger than a skiff, it's even larger than a trawler.
The man pauses once again, taking another mont to look at his silent and entraptured audience.
Then, with lazy motion, he seats himself. His gloved white hand slides across the polished, phantasmal wood and delicately raises the cover from the keys. With the slow, soft caress of soone who genuinely appreciates a finely crafted and tuned instrunt, the masked man touches the solid ivory keys.
Thank you for your patience, the man's voice reaches everyone, I will be performing a piece written for just this occasion.
The man taps a single key. The sound doesn't co from the piano, but from the stormy sky above. The clouds look ready to pour down, but they wait like everyone else.
This song is called Rise of the 34th. [Sonorous Skies]
With a final breath, Bones hands fall upon the keys with a soft touch. A relaxing lody begins, a slow start to what everyone feels is only just the beginning. So continue to stare at the man as he plays, but most choose to look up at the sky and watch the clouds shift with every stroke of the keys. This lasts for ten seconds before the music becos louder, faster, and is accompanied by more instrunts; more layers
Eyes turn from the lodious heavens to Bone in the throes of a symphony. Near the man, several dozen other instrunts rise, each one played by, to everyones horror, skeletal undead.
The strongest [Captains] break free from their trance at the sight, but everyone else remains transfixed, enthralled by the macabre show.
The music crescendos, louder, faster, more magnificent than before, as more and more players join the ghastly chorus. A stage rises up, still upon the ocean, and lifts the skeletal orchestra above the waves.
The stage continues to rise, a small piece of a much larger superstructure. Slowly, the whole erges, barely contained by the imnse oval of violet water. Up and up it goes, the stage atop a hull twice or thrice the size of Aegirs flagship.
Finally, the onlooking [Sailors], [Captains], and [Admirals] perceive the structure as a ship, broader of beam than the Navis and displacing more than the Dwarven Anvil would, had it been built to float.
The ship ascends in ti with the symphony descending on high. The music grows louder yet, each reverberation shaking the ocean, heralding the resurrection of sothing fell and ancient.
Eventually, the ship reaches its full freeboard and then, to everyone's mounting terror, the ship continues rising. Floating on air, the ship ascends further, defying gravity and revealing its full form for all to see.
Above the waterline, the vessel is a super-dreadnought and at the keel, so crazed shipwright retrofitted it with the black skeleton of an oversized narwhal, complete with its skull and crystalline horn. Seemingly pulling in the surrounding light, veins of purple crisscross the ships monstrous hull. Gravity attuned mana floods the surrounding sea, supporting the battleship and wrecking havoc nearby.
But, what chills the blood of everyone outside the ships gravitational wake is the vessels na written across monster skull and silver prow.
Like the ship, a compound of an ancient Legend and an unknown Terror
ShadeHaven
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