(G50 - KT 01/05/09)
DAY 101
Some sails spotted today.
I later learned that they were ships sailing under the flag of the "Flaming Fist".
Some sort of group that has connections to a big city in the North.
Fort Beluarian is used as trade outpost for the North and some mad Northerners start
expeditions from here into the jungle to exploit its riches.
We traded with them. I sold some of my whisky and Shifty bought a cold iron rapier.
I also got some of the Tamoachan treasure identified and did my best to divide up
the loot from there.
In the evening some sharks circled the boat and then swam off.
DAY 102
Very Hot. No Rain.
This morning Retzal said his good byes and went over to the Flaming Fist merchant ship
which was still over in the distance. He did have our boat returned with a man who he
found to replace him on the Wyvern's crew, a young and slight fellow called Mathmos.
He seemed very thin, but extremely agile up and in the rigging.
I flew north until I found the Nixie that morning also, and reported to Lavina our
relative position. She was with Tolan and seemed to not give two hoots that we were no
longer sailing side by side. I got the impression she quite liked having the distance
between the two ships. I'll not fly to the Nixie again.
As I flew back towards the Wyvern, my blood already boiling, quite frankly, I noticed
that Shifty was tracking me with the ballista again! I decided to calm down a bit before
confronting him about it.
DAY 103
Hot day. Light wind. No rain.
That night, on the changing of the watch, I decided to confront Shifty.
I told him in no uncertain terms to stop tracking sea birds with the ballista
as I don't want to be shot out of the sky again. He refused to do so, saying that he
wanted to keep practicing.
Rather than destroy that wretched contraption again (Targy had only recently beaten it
back into shape) I decided to punish Shifty more directly.
I summoned a wood wose to follow him around all evening pointing at him and calling him
a .. well.. I hesitate to use such a crude expression even in my own journal but
suffice to say the word started with 'T' and rhymed with 'hat'.
It provided me with amusement for a minute or so, but Shifty did manage to cleverly
lock it up down in the hold.
It was still calling out its expletive though so the passengers came to me and Nobby
to deal with it. I pretended it was an evil sea spirit, come to get revenge on someone
who was being mean to seagulls (i.e. Shifty!). I let it out and commanded it in Druidish
to seek its prey out again.
Shifty was out on deck and was most dismayed to see his tormentor again. However, I must
admit this was my fault, it did also distract him from watching out and he did not see
the half orc pirate vessel as it loomed out of the darkness.
Still, it did mean I was on hand, rather than asleep in the passenger cabin where I was
supposed to be.
The pirate ship came in towards us and about a dozen of them jumped onto the Wyvern where
a desperate melee took place. Meree, Kelech, Shifty and Mathmos held them off for a while.
I jumped into the sea and turned into a dolphin, then pushed the pirate vessel away with
a 'Rogue Wave' spell which sent many of the crew over the side.
Meanwhile, Mathmos, in an incredible display of dexterity leapt from the rigging of the
Wyvern to the enemy ship all the while harrying the half-orcs with arrows from his
deadly bow. On board the Wyvern, Eriss joined the fight and the tide turned so far in our
favour that by the time the captain staggered out of her cabin it was only to see Meree
standing on top of a heap of orcish corpses!
The fight effectively over here, Nobby began to heal the injured and the more blood thirsty
began to finish off the pirates. Shifty tried to hide in the shadows, but had forgotten
about the wood wose that was still pointing at him and calling him names.
The action continued on the pirate ship. Mathmos tackled the pirate captain and his second
in command while I cast a 'Control Water' spell to send the enemy ship down into a 70ft
wide and 14ft deep dip.
This swept more crew from their decks so by the time I had inelegantly flopped onto the
stern and changed back into my human form there were only a few left.
The final fight was desperate. Me and Mathmos against the pirate lord. Mathmos dealt some
telling blows but had to leap across to the Wyvern. I had summoned a crocodile and a Flaming
Sphere, but even these did not stop him from attacking me. Two blows from his falchion and
he had nearly killed me! I stepped over the rail and fell into the sea once more to escape
my certain doom.
The captain was on his last legs too though, and a final volley of arrows from the Wyvern
stopped his piratical ways forever.
I climbed up onto the pirate ship again, and being the first on board went into the main
cabin. Here I found a half orc tied up against a wall, with cuts all over his body as
if he had been a victim of wicked torture.
