I found three other survivors from the cutter. None of them knew anything useful, none of them were willing to join my crew.
Their XP wasnt welco.
Phillip found the body of the wind mage with his legs squished into a boneless mass. At a guess, hed had a mast fall on him and drowned. While I pitied the survivors Id killed, I didnt pity the wind mage at all. Hed gotten exactly what hed deserved.
Four of my crew had died, all of them due to the lightning spells. Each of them had been a slave laborer prior to finding themselves with and becoming sailors. I felt a bit guilty that I hadnt known them well enough to be sorrowful at their passing. All of their fellows were hurt by the loss.
Several others had been hurt by the fight, but were tended to by Myota. My own injury was the most severe. If the mage had cut my bicep just a bit more I would have been crippled until we found stronger healing than Myota and I could manage. If hed taken my arm off we would have needed a high leveled professional healer to restore it, and those werent people you found helping normal sailors, much less wanted n.
At least luck wasnt my very lowest stat. Small rcies.
Myota was slowly stitching together on the quarterdeck. Hed given his signature potion to deaden the pain while he did it, so I didnt feel like yelling and swearing the whole ti. I augnted his needlework with my cleansing waters spell. It would take several days, but I expected to have full functionality again.
I spoke with several mbers of my crew at the sa ti. Burdette, Phillip, Zander and Sadeo. Arnnaith was there too as my shadow.
I think that went as well as we could expect, I said. Though we took more damage than Id like to next ti. Sadeo? What are your thoughts?
He shrugged. We should have ans of addressing different types of targets. If you wanted us to take out that mage faster, we should have had multishot bolts to overwhelm his shields instantly, or armor piercing ones for the sa reason. Hitting highly mobile people is a different ga from shooting ships. My teams werent up for it.
We should have unleashed everything we had at the mage the mont he entered the water. Burdette said. You cant leave opponents like that on the battlefield. Theyre too powerful and unpredictable.
Hadnt we done that? I asked.
You told the kitsune to target the mage, Burdette said. He started taking shots himself, but he had the rest of his teams waiting on standby!
They werent ready, Sadeo repeated. They werent accurate enough. When I was told in no uncertain terms, the kitsune glared at Burdette. That I was to have all teams fire we did nothing more than fill the water around the man with missed bolts.
Thats what drove him away, Burdette said. That overwhelming fire. It has to be done like that.
I glanced at my shadow. Arnnaith doesnt agree.
Everybody looked surprised at my suggestion, including Arnnaith, who thought that he could make faces at Burdette without being noticed.
Well, lad? Enlighten us on your insight. I was partly calling the boy out on being rude enough that getting caught would disrupt my little counsel, but what I really wanted was to know was if the lads tactician skill had helped him understand the fight better than I did. Id already learned in Tulisang that young boys could be smarter strategists than .
Well Captain, Arnnaith said, slowly trying to reacquire the braggadocio he normally had. Sadeo keeping the mancer off balance was all well and good, but the rest should have sunk the cutter imdiately.
Why? I demanded before anyone else could scoff, though I noticed that the half-elf boy deliberately called the enemies mancers instead of mages after the elvish fashion. Not a big deal, but it would be better to use the sa terminology.
Because it was the hydromancers support. If wed taken it out earlier the aeromancer wouldnt have been able to share as much as he did back to the mainland.
We couldnt know he was doing that.
Arnnaith shrugged, getting into his rhythm again. Better reasons to attack the cutter would be to make the hydromancer defend it, giving Sadeo and his teams better shots. It also would have prevented the aeromancer from joining the fight.
An air mage was cut off above the waves, ineffective in underwater combat. Burdette said irritably. Its better to target the dangerous mage and then turn on the one that cant do anything.
And if the aeromancer had a sonic attack? Arnnaith challenged. The water environnt would make that more dangerous, not less!
I held up my hand to forestall bickering. Sadeo, as the professional in your field Ill leave it up to your discretion in battle how best to attack enemies whether that ans focused fire or attacking multiple directions. Could you handle directing multiple targets, or will you need to train up your apprentices first?
I can handle it, Sadeo said. But of course Ill be training my prentices up! No sense for the whole fight to get buried if a wild round catches .
Every now and then people would drop strange turns of phrases that exposed their origins. I imagined getting buried ant sothing different to the kitsune than to us.
Good. What else?
Rhistel brought up streamlining communication, Myota piped in that several crewn could be trained as dicos, and Phillip thought I shouldnt have fought the water mage since I was the Captain.
The first two were discussed. The last wasnt. I had direct orders from Jones to take risks in fights, not to ntion I was the only trained spellcaster on board. Id hoped my willingness to fight with the crew might improve morale, but it seed like they accepted it easier because not all of them were opposed to the idea of falling in combat.
I searched the bodies of the mages but found nothing of real interest beyond their necklaces and their adventurer bags. I opened one up to loot it when I was reminded that it wasnt my bag, and that its contents were barred from .
Arnnaith, I said to my shadow. Can you pickpocket this? One item at a ti?
He gave a look. Not at my level. And you didnt want doing any thievery!
I stewed on it, holding potential treasure or worthless sacks in my right hand my left being tied to my chest while my healing worked. Tell you what, work with Rhistel to get each crewman a wooden coin or sothing. Your objective will be to try and get as many of them without being caught as possible. Think itll grind out your pickpocket skill?
He thought about it and nodded. Should work. I dont know if Ill get it levelled enough to pick these bags anyti soon though, and even then it would take forever to empty them.
There might be sothing useful. I said. It all depends on whether they carried everything with them.
I moved to the quarterdeck and adjusted the depth of the ship to account for changes in the sea floor. I was the only one that could adjust depth, and another one of Arnnaiths observations had been that we should have attacked from below in the first place, not testing the cutter on the surface. In hindsight, he was absolutely right. It was only habit that had made approach the ship like that. A stupid mistake that cost the lives of 4 of my crew.
Yeah, I understood now why I hadnt gotten the tactician skill from orchestrating that battle.
Running deep was now the na of the ga. No chance encounters on the surface. Thered be plenty of ti for battle once we reached our destination. And any idiot with a map could have traced our encounter from Pristav and seen where we were headed.
Except they knew where to find us in the first place. The fact that I didnt know the limitations of the tracking magic being used on my unique skills made uncomfortable. So did not knowing what else was going on in the world. What the administrator had said about navies being manned and nations turning into battlegrounds made realize how out of the loop I was. Id always been a bit out of touch as I was never in town for long, but there were important things going on in the world that pertained to , and I was in the dark until combatants showed up.
One potential way to redy that was the skill Jones had ordered I get next: Domain. There was no skill description, but Jones order and the very na of the skill promised it would be a powerful ability.
The downside? It cost 150,000 XP. After all the creatures Id killed in Tulisang (ok, those werent that impressive) and the rewards for battles Id picked since, I had about two-thirds of that. If I was killing monsters, it would take months more to finish accruing enough.
For better or worse, though, there would be naval combat in the Broken Isles. As my last battle had shown, being the victorious Captain of such conflicts was well rewarded.
So that night I laid in my rack thinking over what I was going to do how I was going to outmaneuver the confederate navies, how I was going to get XP, how I was going to beco hard enough that the orders Jones imprinted on would be fulfilled.
I want you to attack, raid, and destroy until youve gotten over this squeamishness of yours. You understand you are not to leave the isles until youre willing to slay whover it is necessary to slay.
I would have to be able to kill and order killing without hesitation. Without squeamishness. I would have to be hard! Hard
Do you regret accepting my offer? I asked Arnnaith, knowing the kid wasnt asleep in his corner yet. Back when the sirens were attacking? Do you wish youd drowned, or struck off on your own?
He looked at with those critical eyes of his. Not yet.
I snorted. You will. If youre anything like , you will.
We entered the realm of the Broken Isles, and the force driving onward abated. I was free to plot a new course again so long as it was within my pen.
Id plotted with Sadeo, Arnnaith, Phillip and Zander on plans of attack. I wanted to find ways to use my traps skill, and though no one else had it we were able to brainstorm a few ideas one of which was being implented now. On an island just big enough to deserve the na, my crew was scavenging timber. Non magical traps needed a frawork, after all. Traps scaled up to ship-sized needed lots of materials.
Well have to clear the deck if we want to fit any more, sir. Rhistel said. I didnt realize you really wanted all that.
No need to clear the deck, Rhistel. Well bundle the logs and lash them to the sides we dont have to ferry them far. The air was chill, even though the sun was high and bright. The water was a clear, sparkling blue. Rhistel, the scavenging can move apace without you for awhile. Why dont you take a swim about the island, hmm?
He gave a look. Youre not very subtle, Captain. If you need to do sothing without my presence, you can always order below.
I dont need you gone for anything Rhistel, I said quietly. Theres a magical beauty to the life in the sea, sotis. I want you to go find it.
His earlier flat look was more suspicious now. Why? he asked slowly.
Couple reasons: I want other people to be able to appreciate it. I know your old profession was built around a love of the forest. I think theres a world under the waves that will an sothing to you. I took a deep breath. The rcenary reason is I want you to unlock a profession that was once offered to . It would give us more fighting power.
I wasnt looking at him while I said it, so I couldnt see his facial expression if any. He simply said I see and left. A splash a minute later marked his entry into the water.
Did being hard an I shouldnt appreciate beauty? That I should oppress my crew? I didnt think so. I hoped not. If it did, wed be stuck in the Broken Isles for longer than I intended.
The crew status of lancholy was still chipping away at morale at 5% a day. It made the crew feel like the ship and , and each other were unwelcoming and oppressive already. I didnt need to add to that. I had plans to get rid of it.
Captain! Hrothgar said from the deck, hoisting sothing for to see. The lads found a bottle!
In his hands there was indeed a dark colored bottle with a cork, barnacles growing over it. Well, open it up and pour yourself a round, if you trust whats in it!
But what if theres a ssage inside?
Then you better throw it back, because anyone sending it wouldnt want it in our hands.
The dwarf held the discovery in his hands, obviously wanting to cherish a mystery and taking at my word.
Or, open it up and satisfy your curiosity.
Hardly had the words left my mouth than the dwarf had broken the top of the bottle off. Either he was sure there was a ssage inside, or had no intention of sampling the contents fouled by seawater.
Paper! he yelled. A ssage! He dug it out carefully with his finger, a growing crowd beginning to surround him. He held the scrap aloft for everyone to see, with cries of read it! beginning to erupt. With a showmans flair, he unrolled it and read aloud the ssage for all to hear:
Bet you wish this had grog in it, huh?
There was a stunned mont, before I burst out laughing. A few of the crew chuckled, most just shook their heads and went back to what they were doing, grumbling.
Ah, right. An example of low morale.
The work crew on the beach gathered a handful of logs, tied them together and floated them out to the ship. I lowered the deck of the ship to a convenient height and they lashed a bundle to either side, keeping the weight evenly distributed. The ship wasnt listing, and I didnt intend to make it do so.
I let the crew have a break, encouraging them to swim about and explore. Enough of them did and enjoyed it that the overall morale got a small bump upwards. When Rhistel returned, I had the crew recalled and after a quick roll call we set sail again.
I didnt ask Rhistel how his exploration had been, but judging by the happy look on his face, my devious kindhearted plan was working.
We had an ambush location scouted out by the next day. I helped my crew arrange the traps myself, giving each my 30% boost to setting them. Then we waited at the bottom while the last improvised weapon was added to the front of the ship.
We were sitting in the channel between two islands. The northern island was large and well populated. The southern was even larger but much less hospitable, ho to only a few rugged fishern. The channel between them was a favorite for shipping traffic I knew because Id used it. The space between the islands was deceptively wide but only a narrow portion of it was deep enough for the larger vessels. The rest was too shallow or the ho of dangerous rocks. Popular as it was, no one had an accurate sea chart of the dangers besides the one safe route. That was good enough for most Captains.
The nature of the channel made it a decent spot for ambush from normal pirates in the area. A daring Captain would learn a route through the dangerous waters, ambush its prey, and then retreat where no one would follow. Of course, that made it a place of routine patrol for pirate hunters and naval ships, so it wasnt that good.
Other ambushers didnt have my unique advantage, though.
Ship on the surface, Captain!
Is it another trire? I asked.
Stand by, was the response, as the lookout tried to identify it by the hull and any oars in the water. Trires and bires were a favorite type of ship in the islands, where the distances were manageable with a hold full of rowers and the winds were a difficult thing to predict without high skill levels. I expected them to be a hard nut to crack with little reward, as there would be a lot of people on board compared to the cargo.
I didnt want to deal with a lot of people yet. I was trying to make myself hard, but it wasnt easy.
Looks like a bire, Captain!
Well wait for better pickings. I said.
Understood, ca the response, though it was unhappy. My crew wasnt looking forward to fighting whatever ship I picked, but the waiting was making them all nervous and antsy.
The bire ca and went. Nearly an hour later ca another report, Ship on the surface, Captain! Deep draft!
I pulled out my own spyglass awkwardly with my good hand and looked for it. It was indeed a larger ship: a schooner. Judging by the size of the keel, it had three masts. Judging ships from below was odd, and we wouldnt be sure of our prey until we were close enough to identify it.
Ready on the decks! I shouted.
The decks went into an initial flurry as everyone got back in their places, then the waiting began anew as the schooner seed to move into the trap zone at a snails pace.
Finally, it was in the right place, and the trap crew released.
It wasnt a trap in the proper sense of the word. The schooner didnt trigger it, my waiting n did. It was one of many clusters of logs tied together in a star pattern, with their points sharpened. Id read about strings of such things being tied together to block ship passage (to limited success) and thought Id adapt them. Wed anchored each cluster to the bottom, but when released the buoyant logs floated upwards. The idea was theyd hit the hull and damage the ship. Since we couldnt predict exactly where the ship would pass above, wed made a lot of them and spaced them out over the most likely area. The trio Id left in charge of cutting the traps free triggered two that theyd thought would be likely. Their job done, theyd et up with us again after the ambush.
Id had high hopes, but wasnt sure how this would perform, or that it would advance my traps skill. As long as the things did so damage, that would be okay.
They floated up not exactly shooting towards the surface, but they were fast. One missed by about ten feet. The other hit the hull of the schooner.
And slid right off, popping to the surface on its starboard side. Well, fishguts. So much for that idea.
I gave the order, and the Deaths Consort began surfacing, hopefully for the last ti. We didnt surface straight up, but at an angle to intercept the schooner. We wanted power and montum behind our initial attack. We intended to ram them.
Another thing about the galley ships in the area: they tended to ram their opponents either to sink them or board them and had thus evolved a number of different thods for warfare on that scale. Larger sailing ships fought differently most of the ti. Wed borrowed the mast from as sunken wreck and fastened it to the bow of the Deaths Consort.
Brace for impact! Burdette yelled from the helm. A mont later our improvised ram speared through the hull of the ship on the port side of the keel, our montum driving it up through their lower deck as well before it erupted from their starboard side just below the waterline. Our crew was thrown about from the sudden stop, but got to their feet. I imdiately noticed how both our ships were now moving through the water, the schooner dragging us along on its original course as we pulled it to port like the largest anchor in history.
Arnnaith had pointed out the problem with us using a ram like this: wed be stuck. Sure, we could work ourselves out, but it would take ti that we shouldnt give the enemy in a surprise attack. Wed installed our ram with this in mind, and a team jumped up to sever the rope and improvised structures that were binding it in place with their axes. Rather than an hour or more, we were free in a minute. It still felt like a long ti.
The schooner now looked like it had been spitted for a fire. Wed dragged their speed down to nothing, so when we rose to the surface it was directly alongside them, not in a chase.
Judging by the screams, shouts and curses I heard when we broke through the surface, the Deaths Consort surfacing was a terrifying sight.
Burdette maneuvered us close enough for a gangplank, but my boarding team knew to take every chance they could to get on the enemy ships deck and establish a foothold. They did. The crew of the schooner had scarcely gotten over seeing our black flag rise alongside them than cursed crewn flooded their main deck.
There was hardly any resistance. Id instructed the n to only fight ard, aggressive resistors. All others were to be corralled or bound the Deaths Consort had no shortage of manacles for this. If soone tried to fight without a weapon, gang up and pacify them. If soone had a weapon but wasnt trying to fight, let them surrender. If an ard fighter ran below to hole up and fend them off, let them do so and move on. Wed deal with them later once everything else was sorted.
There was a good deal of shouting as the crew that expected to be slaughtered was instead ordered Move over there! Yes, there! Now! I said move, why arent you moving? So ard n hesitated long enough to be confused by the lack of slaughtering. So of these surrendered. Others went down fighting. I saw one trying to surrender be cut down by Zander, the spearman apparently deciding that he wasnt going to be denied blood. I couldnt reprimand him, because I needed to be harder.
This was not a military ship. There was no hold full of fighters putting on armor. There were sailors and so hired guards for protection from average pirates which we werent.
I didnt participate in the fighting directly. That was sothing Arnnaith had convinced of . There was a high chance the fighting would be so intense and chaotic that my relatively low level and moderate fighting capabilities would be struck down by an unseen or even unintentional blow. Besides, my left arm was still in a sling. Id be useless. The XP of the group fight wouldnt compare to the XP I expected as the Captain of the winning vessel, so that aspect didnt matter and it seed Jones mandate was okay with that. I was fulfilling the spirit of his orders: sentencing those who hadnt wronged to die.
Id never loathed my profession more.
I boarded when the crew was bound on the main deck, archers looking over the prisoners. So of the prisoners had elected to stay facedown when their hands had been bound behind them. Others dared to look at and spit on the deck as I walked past. I ignored those.
Wheres the Captain? I asked. No one responded. I kicked one of the people glaring at in the face, knocking him on his back with a spray of teeth and blood. Wheres the Captain? Or so help Ill kill you all one by one and read your notifications to find him. Speak up!
There was a murmuring as whoever knew tried to rat the Captain out. Before the murmuring beca definitive, a dignified voice called here! I knew the dignity of the voice was a pretense. Or maybe I was just telling myself that to make what I was doing easier.
The Captain had been bound and laid out without any regard for his rank. Given that his working clothes didnt differentiate him much, I assud hed given up without ntioning his station to his attackers.
Captain Dylan, I said cordially as I analyzed him, hauling him to his feet. A pleasure to et you. Look at your ships interface and give your estimate of how long before this vessel sinks.
Confused, he did so. Estimate it at six hours before shes under, less than that for the lower holds to fill, of course.
While disaster could lead to ships being dashed and sunk in an instant, usually sinking took a good bit of ti. Our ram had done terrible damage to the ships durability, but it had also filled the space of the hole it made. The ship was flooding, but not as bad as, say, the hole Id punched in the Wind Runner.
Fine. Rhistel RHISTEL! I had to raise my voice to a shout since the elf hadnt boarded the schooner. With the grace of high agility, Rhistel leaped over and approached.
Captain?
I want you to take Hrothgar and whoever else and search out the lower decks.
Rhistel glanced around before leaning close and whispering, Captain, I want no part of this!
Im giving you an order, Rhistel.
Captain, please! Rhistel said, with the emphasis of a man who had no intention of obeying.
Rhistel, I am going to drag this ship to the bottom and claim it in place of the Deaths Consort. First I have to deal with these people I know are on deck. Do I make myself clear? I said, eting the elfs eyes. I saw the confusion pass through him before he schooled himself. He understood I was getting at sothing I wasnt saying was trying not to even think but hadnt pieced it together. It should be enough, I had faith in him.
Captain, I said to the captive Dylan. Walk with . I took him towards the bow. Youre going to help do
I think not, Dylan interrupted.
Excuse ?
I have no intention of helping you. Ive heard the stories. I know who you are. While I never believed in this Davy Jones before, he said with a sneer. I will not further your goals or his in any way. I was wrong. He had been dignified before. Or pompous it could be hard to differentiate sotis.
Why Captain Dylan, I said with mock hurt. All I was going to ask you to do is number your crew.
His eyes narrowed suspiciously. Number them? So you could conscript them?
For tidiness sake. Before he could object again I pulled a blade and pressed it to his throat. And if its too hard for you, Ill get your first mate to do it. Clear?
Clear, he said through clenched teeth. Going to the first bound crewman, he glanced at . Count in order?
Count however you see fit, Captain.
He looked back at the first man. One, the second. Two
I wanted to smack him so badly.
I followed him until hed counted every hand on deck, including to my consternation several passengers. He gave a challenging look at the end as if daring to make my next move.
My crew was waiting too. Besides Rhistel and Hrothgar, Id kept everyone above deck, waiting on my whim. They knew I was splitting the crew up, but not the importance of each persons number.
That was because I hadnt decided on the import yet. Id hoped the Captain would take the hint and spout random numbers, and I could do evens/odds in a skewed manner.
Maybe it was better that he hadnt. I needed to get this over with.
I want you to attack, raid, and destroy until youve gotten over this squeamishness of yours. You understand you are not to leave the isles until youre willing to slay whover it is necessary to slay.
Even numbers at the starboard rail, odd numbers at the port rail.
As they sorted them out, I tried to decide if I was going to flip a coin. No, starboard side was closer to the northern island. They would be the first. It had nothing to do with the female passenger on the starboard rail.
I took my hat off and walked up and down the line, letting each of those present see . See my young face, cursed by Jones into sothing they wanted to spit at probably even before my charisma debuff.
Unbind them. So of my crew hesitated, so I repeated myself. Ropes were cut and manacles were dropped on the deck. I fanned myself with my hat while the work was done. When had it gotten hot out? Why was I sweating now?
My crew backed away, hands on weapons to deal with any now desperate unbound people. I waved my hat at the northern island. Jump and swim.
Most gave each other and the sea behind them confused looks. It gave so satisfaction to see so who didnt think twice and dove over the side, taking the chance to get away. Theyd do well in life.
What do you an, jump and swim? said one. We cant make it to shore!
Thats what, just over half a mile? I turned to Dylan. Captain, would you place the shore at half a mile?
Maybe three quarters, Dylan said slowly. I nodded.
There, thats your chance. Go on, shoo. Take your chance.
More realized I ant what I was saying and jumped, taking the opportunity to avoid a bloodbath. The woman began to take her dress off with dignity despite shaking hands so it wouldnt drag her down. Foresight was good shed do well in life too. Soone whistled at her, and I barked at them to be quiet. So of my inner emotions leaked through my command, and no one dared comnt on her appearance again. She jumped over the side and began clawing towards the shore like she was making up for the delay of disrobing. I tsked and turned to the last man at the starboard rail.
The lady cant swim. Im sure shed appreciate the man who made sure she survived.
I cant swim either, he said.
Cursing him, I turned to the port rail. Swimr! Whos a swimr?
A trio of hands went up out of all the n. As if! I pointed to one anyway. You! Make sure the lady doesnt drown in the next minute.
As the brave volunteer trotted over to the starboard rail, I asked him. Lifesaver achievent level?
Uhm, three, sir. The man said, his voice having an odd twang to it.
Not bad. Im at six myself. Go on! With a surprised look at that almost ruined his perfect dive, the man was off. I gave the last reluctant man the choice of jumping or being thrown. He jumped.
What of the rest of us? Captain? Dylan said, sohow finding the courage to mock .
A choice. I said. The choice I was given: the choice my crew was given. The worst choice youll ever face. I selected every person there and offered them service. Join.
Dont do it! Dylan yelled. Whatever else he offers, its not worth it!
Oh shut up, I snapped at him, and remarkably he did. Maybe it was a bit nice to have soone to throw a little vitriol at.
What does joining an? a brave soul asked.
You dont know. I answered.
What does refusing an? another asked, thinking themselves clever.
You dont know that either. All you know is this ship is going down, and before it does I will have an answer from each and every one of you.
Dont do it lads! soone else in the line shouted. An eternity of service, cruelly bound to constant drowning, never able to satisfy your thirst! Thats what those who deal with Jones and his lackeys get! Others spoke up with the sa ssage, encouraging their fellows not to yield. I didnt silence the clamor.
And so I was shocked when I received the notification my offer had been accepted. One stepped away from the rail. I accept! he yelled, getting on his knees. A young man in his teens.
The rail went silent before more began shouting at him not to do it. I analyzed him:
Na
Willard Thorpe
Age
16
Race
Human
Profession
N/A
Level
5
Health
80
Mana
120
Stamina
110
Well Will, I said, loud enough to silence his forr mates. The first thing well have you do is get your constitution up, cant have a bad fall take you out, can we? Im going to put you with Sadeo, my artillerist. He was my first crewmber, and hell walk you through the pros and cons of being on my crew.
I slapped the boy on the shoulder and handed the dazed young man off to one of my crew, who also slapped him on the back and welcod him aboard, though the welcos from my crew were less glad youre here and more you jumped into a prison ship, lad.
Still, seeing the positive reception convinced three other young n likely Wills friends to jump ship too. They were accepted, freed, and sent to the Deaths Consort. After that, there was nearly a riot as those left cursed anyone who dared condemn their souls, and threatened to harm their own fellows before theyd let them turn. Doubting Id get any more volunteers, I rescinded my offer.
Very well, youve made your choice. I dont know whether youre all fools or heroes, but I cant fault you for it either way. I had to swallow before I could give the command. Kill them.
31 people sentenced to die by my own order.
It wasnt a matter of giving the order and it being over with. It took ti to carry out. Ti where so pleaded, others fought back, a few jumped overboard. Those that jumped were shot by archers. Those that stayed were killed by spear and sword.
Captain Dylan had charged as soon as Id given the order. I channeled shocking touch through my dagger blade as I cut him, observing the effects. Because of the shock, and given my speed buffs, I could have easily toyed with him even one handed. He had enough constitution to take lots of hits, but I didnt play gas. I disabled his limbs and executed him in a way that would have made even old trainer Kane back in Tulisang nod in respect.
Looking over the starboard rail, I saw more swimrs than had initially jumped. Good work Rhistel; I almost never knew.
You have captured an enemy ship without a threat level. You have been awarded 2,000 XP.
Argh, apparently taking a target incapable of putting up a fight didnt give the kind of XP I was looking for. At least I had gained a few crewn from this.
When the screams of the dying were silenced, there was a stillness in the air like the calm before the storm. It was broken by one of my crew puking his guts out over the side. I shook myself and went into my crew interface. It was ti to upgrade my ship and get rid of the lancholy crew status. Even a ship spitted through the middle would be better than a carrack!
At your current level, you may not claim two ships at the sa ti. Upgrade your ability to claim two ships if you wish to have both.
If you proceed, your other ship will be discarded. Would you like to proceed?
Yes. Please, yes!
Error. You are unable to discard vessel Deaths Consort due to ongoing questline Reluctant Slaver. Complete or discard the quest to proceed.
No, dont do this to , dont do this to
You are unable to discard the quest Reluctant Slaver.
You are unable to discard the quest Reluctant Slaver.
You are unable to discard the quest Reluctant Slaver.
No! I shouted, stilling my crew. I cursed the schooner, the Deaths Consort, and the quest that tied to a ship that I not only hated, but couldnt develop.
On top of that, I could tell that Jones order was still in place. It wasnt satisfied. I wasnt callous enough.
After a mont, Phillip approached . Captain? Whats After a mont he changed whatever he was going to say. What are your orders, sir?
Carry everything useful off this boat, I said. Store it in the Consort. It seems were not going anywhere.
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