Welcome Guest
[Log In]
[Register]
R.I.P. neildarkstar. Haven will miss you dearly.
| Gremlaith Ulfricsdottar and the Lay of the Black Mask | |
|---|---|
| Topic Started: Nov 17 2017, 12:03 AM (624 Views) | |
| neildarkstar | Mar 11 2018, 10:52 PM Post #101 |
|
Overlord
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Fortune favors the prepared mind eh? :) :thumb: |
![]() |
|
| Serethil | Mar 11 2018, 10:57 PM Post #102 |
|
Et'Ada
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Eh.... I hope so.... |
![]() |
|
| Kane | Mar 12 2018, 08:16 AM Post #103 |
|
Overlord
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
*brr* I don't fancy sleeping out on some glacier pieces! |
![]() |
|
| Serethil | Mar 12 2018, 09:05 AM Post #104 |
|
Et'Ada
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Well. She IS a Nord, so it should be okay. Thanks Kane! |
![]() |
|
| Serethil | Mar 20 2018, 06:31 PM Post #105 |
|
Et'Ada
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Chapter 16: It is DAMNED cold out here on the ice! Huge understatement, that. I couldn’t remember ever being cold to my inside bones before.... I had managed to come up on the stern of the ship, without I thought being seen by any of the crew. Then I’d found a good-sized ice-covered boulder to the lee side of the ship and pitched the tent behind it. There was no way to have a fire though - the ship’s crew would likely see or smell it, or both. Hence cold to my bones.... I needed obviously to do this as quickly as possible. However, I had no idea how I was going to get aboard to search for Arivanya. I knew I couldn’t kill every member of the crew - there were probably twenty aboard, or more. I settled to my cold hideout to think, hoping I wouldn’t freeze where I sat. This was a puzzle. I worried at it for the rest of that day, shivered my way into a light doze (all I could manage with the cold), and started gnawing on the problem again the next morning. After I’d eaten a second small meal, I edged around the ice boulder to get a look at what the ship’s crew was doing. Hmm. That seemed strange: they were walking down the gangplank, then dispersing on the ice northward. There was a lot of yelling, pointing, and so on. It looked like a good part of the crew had left the ship - so this was likely going to be my best, maybe only, chance. No sooner thought than put into operation; I slithered as fast as I could toward the gangplank, and then slowed to creep up it with as much stealth as possible. There was one crewman forward watching those out on the ice. I couldn’t see anyone else. I headed quickly and quietly for the fo’c’sle, slinking through the door and pausing for my eyes to adjust to the low light level after the brightness outside on the ice. I liked the way this ship was laid out. There was a companionway headed straight aft, and a ladder down into probable crew quarters. The companionway most likely led to captain’s quarters, and possibly those of the first mate and quartermaster. I crept down the ladder - lower in the ship’s holds would be where to look first. There was of course the possibility that Ulundil’s wife was being held by the captain in his or her quarters; I hoped not! The first area I entered was a galley. I told my stomach to shut it. The cook was busy, her back to me; I went on down the gangway. Left was crew quarters, with ten beds, but only a few had blankets and chests at the feet of them. Right was a gathering room of some sort - bookshelves, a few books, some tables, dice, cards. I hadn’t seen other crew as yet - just the one on deck, and the cook. The aft end of this hold was laid out as a dining area; past the long tables and benches was a ladder down into the next hold. Still no crew. I was deep enough into the ship now that I couldn’t hear if the crew returned - below waterline sound is deadened. This was a cargo hold, nearly empty. I moved forward into another cargo hold, and down another ladder into the true bowels of the ship. And there, I found not only Arivanya, but a dozen other captives. ‘Damn. Now what?!' Edited by Serethil, Mar 20 2018, 06:35 PM.
|
![]() |
|
| neildarkstar | Mar 20 2018, 06:51 PM Post #106 |
|
Overlord
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Cheaper by the dozen, eh? A nice, suspensful read! :thumb: |
![]() |
|
| Serethil | Mar 20 2018, 06:52 PM Post #107 |
|
Et'Ada
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Thanks neil! |
![]() |
|
| Areial | Mar 20 2018, 08:15 PM Post #108 |
|
Et'Ada
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Nice read....very hard to sneak too many!! |
![]() |
|
| Serethil | Mar 20 2018, 08:21 PM Post #109 |
|
Et'Ada
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Thanks Sis! Things will - become clear in time.... |
![]() |
|
| Serethil | Apr 1 2018, 06:54 PM Post #110 |
|
Et'Ada
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Chapter 17: Of all the things I need, helping a baker’s dozen people is NOT it! Unfortunately, I didn’t see that I had a choice. So I quickly and quietly cut binds and gags. Most of the captives were women. That made sense. As I reached the last - Arivanya - I cut her loose, then motioned for quiet. Whispering, as near to making no noise as I possibly could get, I asked “What’s toward here?” “The captain takes us to Cyrodiil with stops in Morrowind and Black Marsh. We will be sold wherever there is enough coin for his tastes. He berths at Leyawiin - they don’t seem to care that he’s a pirate.... and slaver.” Damn. “When do they come to check on you?” A dark-eyed Breton whispered “Not before dark. They don’t feed us much....” He was very slim - lack of food? I told them what the crew had done, that allowed me to find them. An older Nord’s eyebrows rose. “That’s - strange. There’s nothing out there - well, The Chill. But the only things in there are bodies.... Was the captain with them?” “I don’t think so. I saw one crewman left on deck, watching all of them from forward at the rail. I passed the cook on my way down here. I didn’t head aft toward the captain’s cabin.” So we spent several hours in quiet colloquy - trying to sort out how to get fourteen people off the ship and somewhere safe, without having to battle the crew. I didn’t know if I could sneak around and find weapons - I might get caught, or someone might notice weaponry missing. I really didn’t have any ideas at all.... Until I thought about killing the captain and taking over the ship. The bottom fell out of my stomach and my bowels went to water - I couldn’t really be considering this could I? I could. Edited by Serethil, Apr 1 2018, 06:55 PM.
|
![]() |
|
| neildarkstar | Apr 1 2018, 08:19 PM Post #111 |
|
Overlord
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Aw, why the hell not? :) :thumb: |
![]() |
|
| Serethil | Apr 1 2018, 08:22 PM Post #112 |
|
Et'Ada
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Heh. If you ever thought a character has bit off more than she could chew.... well, that would be Grem just about now. |
![]() |
|
| Areial | Apr 2 2018, 12:38 AM Post #113 |
|
Et'Ada
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
hmm she'll figure something out... |
![]() |
|
| Serethil | Apr 2 2018, 08:57 AM Post #114 |
|
Et'Ada
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
She'd better.... thanks Sis! |
![]() |
|
| Serethil | Apr 2 2018, 09:50 PM Post #115 |
|
Et'Ada
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Chapter 18: No time like the present.... I swallowed hard. My stomach roiled and cramped. But - if I was doing this, I had to do it NOW. So I whispered “I’m going to go kill the captain. And then we’re going to take the ship. When the crew comes back - we’ll be holding it. They can board and work, or they can die on the ice.” Later, I blushed at the rhetoric. But I had to make sure these people would - what....? Follow me.... I guess. My body was shaken by cold grue. But I didn’t have time for that so set it aside in some odd cupboard in my mind. If I’d known it would come back to haunt me years in the future... well, I didn’t know it, and had I known it then, I’d still have set it out of mind to accomplish getting fourteen of us out of harm’s way. So. I slithered back out of the deep holds. I ignored the cook, now snoring over her tot of brandy. And reaching the main deck, I first checked to see if the bulk of the crew was still out on the ice. They were, apparently - since that one crewman was gazing out north yet. And again, I wondered what could have lured them out there. Well, I didn’t have time to worry it over. Turning back, I slunk aft. As I expected, there was a cabin port and another sta’brd; no one in either, which was good. And between those doors, another - likely the captain’s cabin. I limbered my bow, opened the door as quietly as I could, and nocked an arrow, with another in my teeth and one behind my left ear. Then I slithered into the dim light of the cabin. It was - luxurious - at first glance. I didn’t have time to consider that though - I wanted to find and neutralize the captain as fast as possible. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see anyone at all. Now - that was odd. The captain should have been still aboard - sure, he or she might send most hands out onto the ice for whatever.... but the captain should still be here. And visible. He - or she - wasn’t. Visible I mean. I really thought I felt someone - someTHING - in the cabin. But that must mean.... I nearly shrieked as a bony arm went around my throat! And then it was a fight - to the death.... with a skeletal entity I couldn’t see, and could only try to front. Well, not front exactly - but try to keep from cutting my throat.... And the entire encounter was completed in silence - aside from the rattle of whatever bones the erstwhile “captain” still retained. I broke loose and ran for the far side of the cabin. The bones followed but more slowly - hmm. They were having a hard time retaining coherence. Good for me - not so good for Captain Bones. I slid quietly into a little angle - a cul de sac - behind a very heavy large desk. I stopped my own breath - I knew I could manage without breathing for some while. And I - waited. The bones rattled. And rattled more. And then, peaking around the corner, still not breathing, I saw Captain Bones heading toward the door to the companionway. Standing, silent as I could be, I nocked an arrow and pulled the bow back as far as I was able. Loosed.... and the bones exploded into - nothing but bones rolling on the floor. And rattling.... I shuddered. Bones..... Well. Strange things. But now, I must needs deal with the crewman up top. And the cook. |
![]() |
|
| Areial | Apr 2 2018, 09:55 PM Post #116 |
|
Et'Ada
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Well that would be.. a nightmare happening! Good suspenseful read! |
![]() |
|
| Serethil | Apr 2 2018, 10:10 PM Post #117 |
|
Et'Ada
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Thanks Sis! I really didn't know where this was going. But.... it's been full moon.... and I had some dreams.... Y'know.... I could TRULY do without full (or new) moon dreams. |
![]() |
|
| Areial | Apr 2 2018, 10:40 PM Post #118 |
|
Et'Ada
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
I hear ya... |
![]() |
|
| neildarkstar | Apr 2 2018, 11:41 PM Post #119 |
|
Overlord
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Oy! Great, eh? :) |
![]() |
|
| Serethil | Apr 2 2018, 11:48 PM Post #120 |
|
Et'Ada
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Thanks neil! |
![]() |
|
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |
| Go to Next Page | |
| « Previous Topic · Single Volume Epics · Next Topic » |
| Track Topic · E-mail Topic |
4:46 AM Jul 11
|
Theme created by Sjaelen Auren from Zathyus Networks Resources







4:46 AM Jul 11