The skies howled and the winds lashed against Lucan, an Imperial a long way from home, travelling with an Orc who was even further.
"I don't see how these Dark Elves can stand it, honestly," Azuk moaned. Lucan murmured in agreement with his companion.
"It's just rocks, stormy seas and dead plants," He continued, gesturing to the inhospitable landscape in front of them. "Then when you think you're away from this wretched coast, you go inland and see a fiery volcano spewing ash, blight and Malacath knows what else."
Lucan sighed and stood up from the piece of wreckage he had been examining. The journey here to where the Imperial Agents had found the scuttled ship had certainly been a long one, made slightly more unbearable thanks to Lucan's travelling companion. The Orc mage Azuk was overly talkative and loud at the best of times.
"So this is the ship," Lucan said, his hand waving across the ruined remains of an Imperial prison ship, now mostly debris littering the shore of a particularly jagged and harsh area of coast.
"Looks like it couldn't handle the seas, this is an easy place to wreck in," Azuk offered. But Lucan shook his head,
"No, no... this ship was supposed to dock at Ebonheart after it arrived at Seyda Neen. The tides aren't strong enough between those two places to knock the ship this far off course, it has to be intentional. Would Jiub have been able to get assistance from the outside, or work with someone on the ship to aid his escape?" He asked. Azuk scowled,
"Definitely not, he would not murder any guards to abet his escape, plus he wouldn't have the contacts to plan help from pirates or any of that nonsense, he's been stuck in a cell for months, how could he plan his own escape?"
Lucan sighed once more, he too was beginning to doubt that Jiub could have planned his own escape. Although had earlier suspected the Guard who had came ashore in Seyda Neen of working with Jiub, the scuttled ship and missing crew just didn't add up for that theory either. The remaining option was something that Lucan, and no doubt his superiors, would not want to be the reality of what happened here.
"So it looks like you may have been correct in the tavern Azuk," Lucan said, turning to the Orc.
"Hmm, I expected as much. Looks like your 'loyal' crew here got greedy and are planning something with my friend," He muttered angrily in reply.
"It seems that way," Lucan said quietly. Azuk glanced at the Imperial with narrowed eyes and Lucan shifted uncomfortably, Orc tempers were notoriously short he noted.
"Sir! Sir!" Came a cry, as Lucan turned from the wreckage. One of the Imperial soldiers who had escorted Lucan and Azuk here had come running up to him from his post.
"What is it?" Lucan queried.
"Lannis' search party have found a survivor from the wreckage a few miles up the coast." He explained. Lucan turned to Azuk, who had a determined glint in his eyes.
"Let's go."
Continuing up the coast, Lucan and Azuk arrived on a distant stretch of sand to see Lannis and his men standing around a man, slumped on the ground against a rock.
"Lannis, report," Commanded Lucan.
The Imperial Guard turned to Lucan,
"Sir, he appears to be a crewmember from the prison vessel. He won't talk to us though, he's in pain."
Lucan approached the crewmember, who was clutching at his waist with his arm, using all his remaining strength.
"Tell us what you know," demanded Lucan.
The man grunted and moved his arm, revealing a gaping cut across his side, festering and blood soaked.
"I said, tell us what -" But Lucan was cut off by Azuk,
"Out the way, let me use a healing spell to ease his pain," Azuk said, raising his hands. Before he could begin casting, Lucan pushed Azuk's hands down and drew his dagger. Turning back to the crewmember, he looked him in the eye and asked again,
"What happened on the ship. Where is your prisoner?" The man's silence was his response, aside from a few murmurs of pain from his wound. Lucan felt his head pound, and before he knew what was happening, he gently slid his dagger into the man's open cut, slowly twisting the blade against the injury.
The man screamed in pain, desperately kicking against Lucan and grabbing at his arms, pleading him to stop.
"What are you doing Imperial?!" Roared Azuk, who turned to Lannis and the other Guards, expecting a response. They simply turned away, not willing to interfere with their superior. Azuk pulled Lucan's hand away from the dagger, which fell to the ground.
"What has possessed you?" Azuk asked angrily, but before Lucan could reply, the man spoke,
"The buyer... he wasn't here to buy," coughed the man "They took the blasted prisoner..." his voiced trailed off and his eyes began to shut.
"Who took him?" Demanded Lucan violently, "And where?" The man looked into Lucan's eyes and answered,
"The Dark Elf mage... and his... creatures," he moaned miserably, before slumping even further as his eyes rolled back into his head. His hand fell to his side and finally, his breath stopped.
"He's dead," Stated Lucan, retrieving the dagger and sheathing it once more.
Azuk stood, towering over Lucan, his eyes aflame with rage,
"You tortured this man, in his dying moments. We should have eased his pain!"
Lucan stood also, he hid his shaking hand by his side,
"He was dead no matter what we did. I had to get some information from him."
Azuk looked disappointed more than anything,
"And this is how the Empire gets things done? Through brutality and violence?"
Lucan didn't answer, he merely left the body and began speaking to Lannis.
Azuk approached the water's edge. They had figured out the mystery of the crew, but it felt like taking one step forwards and two steps back. He worried about Jiub, but took some solace in learning that he was possibly alive... at least for now. One thing was for certain, he didn't trust Lucan one bit. When they found Jiub, if they found him at all, Azuk was certainly not going to let Lucan get anywhere near him.