Here be Dragons!
Chapter 9
It is 3 months later, mid March
They had a ride on a ship tomorrow so today they were leaving both their horses and saddle bags behind at the Temple of Helm.
The head Priestess had been very happy to marry them in her Temple. She hadn't even charged them anything and the place had somehow been filled with flowers. The wedding itself had been simple and no one they knew had attended it. However, some locals that had happened to be there at the time had attended as well as most of the Temple so it hadn't been empty.
Kate had found a lovely dress locally that was now stored in her portable hole to be saved forever.
Amazingly the head Priestess did happen to know where a Temple to Bahamut was located though she herself had never been there.
In the northeastern reach of the Sword Coast, Avraathe sat amongst hills of the Moon Pass of the Nether Mountain Range between Stone Stand and Arn Forest, nearly two tendays east of Silverymoon.
They were both shocked to learn that it had been maybe a couple of weeks away from the city they had started from. Rick had actually somehow headed right for it without knowing it before Bahamut sent him elsewhere.
Kate fed Pippi the last apple she was ever going to feed her. "They'll take good care of you here. I know you'll serve your rider well." Kate felt a tear fall. She was going to miss her horse.
The Temple gladly accepted the horses and the magical saddlebags.
They were going to miss their little apartment above a warehouse. Thomas was getting a well equipped and clean apartment to rent out probably for more gold now that it looked so much better. He still had to fix the stairs that led to it, though.
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Rick and Kate watched as the ship had cargo loaded down into the hold before finally headed for the gangplank that allowed access to it and checked in with the captain.
It was named Darkmaiden's Dance and was a merchant Caravel. As a result it had four decks with a large cargo hold in the center plus a bilge level. It had three masts. The first one forward was the tallest and largest. The second one aft was smaller until finally the last one aft, located on the upper deck was smaller still.
It had a captain, first mate, and a crew of six. It was fifty-five feet long from stem to stern and twenty-five feet from port to starboard.
It wasn't taking them all the way to their final destination but they hadn't expected that any ship, no matter the size, would. This one was taking them to Alaghon which was the capital city of Turmish. That placed them, as far as Rick could figure, about halfway there.
It was going to take them almost two weeks to reach it. There was just one tiny hiccup to this trip that Kate didn't like. The captain was making a quick stop at Westgate to pick up a little more cargo. They would be spending the night there before moving on.
Captain Manton Holton welcomed them and their gold as well as extra gold for their dog that they had to pay in full before boarding his ship. He had his first mate, Rodman Vaughn, show them to their room while he made sure his cargo was secured properly.
Vaughn took them both forward and down a set of stairs forward of the forward most mast. At the bottom they found hammocks for the crew to sleep in along with trunks for their possessions. Ducking under the hammocks they went through an opening and into the cargo hold that was already full at the bottom. What was being loaded now was going on top of all this.
He stopped at two doors. One at their left and one in front of them. He opened the one on the left first. "The head, everyone onboard uses it. These are your quarters." He opened the door in front of him and stepped inside.
Like everywhere else everything in the room was wood. He uncovered an everlasting torch that was basically a light spell that never went out so they could see. In the room were two hammocks, one in the back and one against the side of the ship.
"If you have to, vomit in the bucket." He kicked it to show them where it was. "Otherwise go topside and vomit over the side. The galley where everyone, including the captain, eats is on the main deck next to the captain's quarters. Dog food is your problem.
"Go where you wish except for the captain's quarters and stay out of the way of the crew. Cooking is not allowed in any room save the galley. There are two meals a day with one hot meal a day. Clean your own room. …Questions?" Vaughn inquired.
"I think we got it. We'll help to defend the ship if it becomes necessary," Rick assured him.
Vaughn had to admit that he wasn't expecting any trouble but the male at least looked dangerous and useful if they did need help.
"I would lose that armor unless you like drowning," Rodman advised him since it looked heavy and not safe to be wearing in water.
"I'll consider it." Rick wasn't taking off his armor no matter what. He knew how to swim and had potions for water breathing, surviving deep depths of water, and swim. He thought he would be fine.
"Suit yourself. We leave before low tide." He left them in their room.
"Could use a picture or two," Kate joked since it was drab, dark, and felt wet already.
"Two weeks, we'll live." Though Rick was hoping for no storms to make his stomach revolt on him.
"Good thing most of our fresh bags hold meat now for Dog." Kate didn't want him starving to death on this trip.
Since they knew how to get here they went up onto deck to watch.
They ended up on the upper desk where the first mate and the captain were located and listened and watched. It was all a lot of words neither of them knew anything about.
"Island, huh?" Kate queried while teasing him since she liked the idea.
"It doesn't have to be this big. Just bigger than that rowboat over there." Rick pointed at one of the two rowboats that were on the main deck. "One little mast with one sail should be enough. That or we build a bridge to the peninsula and walk into town." Rick wasn't thinking of doing that but it was an option.
The cargo hull got covered over and ropes were removed. The crew was going everywhere or so it seemed. Then a few sails were unfurled and they were actually moving.
Once out of port all of the sails were deployed and they watched as the first mate was at the helm doing all the piloting with the captain watching to make sure everything was going the way he wanted it to go.
A couple of hours later and most of the crew was gone as well as the first mate. It left the captain at the helm and two crewmen on the main deck checking lines.
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Dinner had the captain, four of the crew, and them eating what the cook made. The galley had a table that seated six, a wood fired hot area to cook on, two barrels that they soon found contained water and alcohol, along with a crate. There was one small cooking area that held all the serviceware in an open cabinet above.
Kate watched him cook and got up and pulled a small item out of her backpack that she was still wearing. "Here." She handed it to the cook. "Tell it what spice you want and shake it. If you want another one just tell it what you want and shake it." Kate left it with him and went back to sit down.
Kate looked at the captain. "No offense."
"You're going to spoil us with that thing," the captain said.
"Only for two weeks, then you can go back to normal." Kate smiled at him.
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Dinner was over. "All right maybe a trip into Westgate to pick up some spices," the captain relented since it was now clear his cook knew how to use them. They would find a place to store them.
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Dog was happy to see them and got his meat and water from Rick as they both worked at stripping down to get ready for bed. Dog was likely going to have to live in this room mostly and do his business in this room.
"Hammocks." Kate looked them over then decided on the one in the back, figuring out how to get into the thing. "Um, how are we supposed to make love in this thing? I'm going to go mad if I have to do without for two weeks."
"Sleeping bag." Rick said.
"Oh yeah." She forgot about her sleeping bag. She got it out and put it in the hammock. "I don't think this is going to work, either."
Rick was all set to counter that the bag had to go on the floor when he saw her trying to hide a smile. "Very funny." Rick got his out and put it in the other hammock.
"I thought so." Kate finally let her smile break out. It still meant making love on the wood floor in dog pee, though.
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Rick and Kate stayed on the ship when it docked at Westgate to pick up more cargo. They both noticed that they had to get in line and work their way to the dock to get the cargo and once it was onboard it was too late to sail back out so they anchored in the harbor.
Dinner found Kate getting her spice cup back. "The first mate went ashore and bought us a selection of spices. You have my thanks, milady." He was glad that now everyone wouldn't complain about what he cooked.
"Happy to help." She had left her backpack behind this time so would put it away later.
Kate found that she kind of liked the soft swaying of the boat at anchor and the light swaying of her hammock. It was soft so it was comfortable.
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Fortunately being in Westgate for a few hours wasn't that bad and they were gone early the next day.
They both tried to spend most of their time up on the upper deck along with Dog to get some air, even if that air was still rather chilly. However, winter was pretty much over so it should get better soon.
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One week in and they'd set up a routine of sorts. Eat breakfast with whoever was off duty, then go to the upper deck and watch for Pirates. They were fully dressed for combat and left nothing behind in their rooms. Not even their sleeping bags.
Rick even had Kate practicing which potions were what on her bandolier just in case she needed them much like he was doing.
Then down to the galley to eat dinner before going back up to the upper deck until the night watch came on and it got dark. The ship never actually stopped though when it got dark most of the sails did come down and they slowed to a crawl.
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It is now three days later
Rick and Kate could see it coming their way which meant everyone was about to get really wet. Since it also meant Pirates weren't going to be sailing in this mess Rick and Kate went below to the galley so they could sit and talk.
It was loud down here as the ship rocked from side to side or up and down depending what the sea was doing as they sailed. Everything in the galley could move a little and hit something with every move of the ship.
"Queasy?" Rick asked since this was rougher than anything so far.
"I'm fine for now." Kate and even Rick were thinking of skipping dinner. Looking down showed that Dog was just lying there with his head on the floor looking at them. "At least one of us isn't affected." Kate was thinking she was going to envy Dog soon.
"He blinks for living. I'm not surprised he can handle this," Rick commented and wondered just how he felt when he blinked as much as he did.
Kate suddenly had a question. "If we're going to get to this island of yours using a wizard, why couldn't we use a wizard to get to where we're going?" It would have been so much faster and far safer.
"Remember when I said no magic can affect it?" Rick asked.
"OH! Meaning he can't teleport it but he could us." Kate got it now.
"We would have arrived but it would be right where it had been when we vanished. Then it would fall to the floor. Moving it physically was the only way," Rick said.
"Not worried about where we are taking it?" Kate didn't even know anything about where we they were going.
"None. Bahamut himself sent me on this mission and I trust him with my life." That was an easy question as far as he was concerned.
"Hadn't really thought about it like that. I'm too used to corruption. Guess I should have known better. Bahamut didn't send me, though. The Council summoned me," Kate explained.
"I'm skipping dinner and going to bed," Rick announced. He got up and found Kate right behind him.
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Rick and Kate skipped breakfast too come morning, though Dog got something to eat and was happy to lie on the top deck and rip his meat to pieces before swallowing. All this was after cleaning up from him in their room and throwing it over the side.
"CAPTAIN!" one of the crew yelled and pointed. The captain, Kate, and Rick went to that side of the ship.
"It's a ship and based on the number of sails it's bigger than us," Kate noted.
"Pirates?" Rick questioned but never actually looked at the captain.
"Ninety percent of the merchant ships on this sea are our size. Only the big shipping companies have ships of that size. They might have gone that far out to avoid last night's storm. We were only on the edge so didn't get it bad," the captain said. "But, yeah, it's likely Pirates. So why would they want me? I don't have anything special on board." The captain looked at Rick.
"We only have what we have on us," Rick said since technically he wasn't lying. He just couldn't risk telling him the most secret thing they did have on them. Besides, he might not understand what a portable hole was.
And the two of them likely had more gold or equipment worth a lot of gold than the captain had made all of last year.
The captain went to the front railing and rang a bell. "All hands on deck, man the weapons." His ship did happen to have two small ballistas on the bow. One to port and one starboard.
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It was almost close enough to start thinking about firing their little ballistas. "How many do you think?" Rick inquired since he'd never had combat at sea until now.
"One main mast in the middle. Two medium sized masts fore and aft. Thirty easy, maybe as many as forty. Heavy ballistas, two on each side. Little ballistas like ours forward on port and starboard. We'll know for sure soon." The forward part of the ship was facing them. They would have to turn first to bring their heavy ballistas into play.
"They don't want to sink us. They would lose my cargo if they did." He meant they would be boarded.
"You have any ranged weapons?" Rick asked, looking at Kate who shook her head. She was a Monk. If they got boarded then she could kick some ass, but not until then.
Rick pulled out one standard arrow. His quiver was full again but he was still down a number of magical arrows from a previous fight.
The captain saw him. "Wait until our ship is at its height before it goes back down again. It'll be easier for you." He walked forward to the railing. "Standby to fire!"
Rick saw this big bolt coming flying their way and slam into the side of their ship.
"FIRE!" the captain yelled since they had indeed shown themselves to be Pirates.
Rick was ready. He fired an arrow, quickly drew another, and fired again. He was pretty sure he hit both times. If they were lucky the Pirates already had two dead.
"Thirty-eight left," Rick told himself.
The pirate ship kept closing and the captain was back. "To board means they have to get really close," he commented.
Kate had an idea that was maybe a little crazy. She ran to the main mast, dug out a potion and drank it. She climbed the main mast like she was a spider, then climbed out to the end of the boom. She pulled out her Rope of Climbing, ordered it to attach to the boom, and waited.
"What is she thinking?" The captain watched Kate in amazement. He'd never seen anyone climb like that or be able to climb so quickly out to the end of the boom.
"Something silly I'm sure." Rick took a moment to look where she was. Still he lined up his next two shots as another two bolts struck the side of the ship.
Rick fired two more and hit two more people. This time they were close enough to verify that both fell down. "Thirty-six."
Then the Pirate ship turned and suddenly Rick saw lots of targets for him to shoot at. However, he also now saw two really large ballistas. He judged about forty feet out at the moment though it was still getting closer.
Rick reached up to his neck and yanked off a red ball. He selected a target location and threw it. Forty feet later everyone watched it blow up in a fireball that was twenty feet in diameter. He was off by a few feet but he still got a lot of people and it was tall enough to catch the lowest sail on fire.
It had cleared the area of Pirates at the big ballistas but they recovered quickly. Rick fired off two more arrows and hit two more people.
Thanks to the fireball Rick wasn't sure how many that had taken out so he'd lost count. Then both big ballistas fired and hit their ship. The difference was these two shots had heavy rope attached to them.
Just as Rick was ready to fire arrows again both ropes went taut. "Seriously!" Rick understood what they were trying to do now. Then just as suddenly all of their sails collapsed, leaving them drifting. "They're going to pull us to them."
Rick pulled another red ball from his neck about the same size and threw it. Like the last one it blew up in a mini fireball. Then movement caught his eye. Mostly because it was moving fast.
Rick stood there with his mouth hanging open as he watched Kate swing across, let go of her rope, and somersault until she landed on her feet on the foredeck.
"Your wife is nuts." The captain had seen it as well. "Fire!" he yelled at his ballista.
Rick wasn't sure if she was nuts, brave, or a genius. Still he pulled off another red ball, a smaller one this time, and threw it aft this time.
Then their entire ship lurched as it suddenly went sideways, followed by another one.
Rick raised his bow, took out a standard arrow and fired, followed quickly by another one and struck two different people.
Kate meanwhile activated her boots and sped over to two men side by side and hit both of them with her staff followed by running toward the crew manning one of the wheels that was pulling a rope around it.
Rick shot two more people as the captain yelled, "FIRE!"
Kate was doing great. Everyone was trying so hard to get their ship closer to this one that no one was attacking her. She was also watching as two men at a time seemingly just fell to the deck. She hadn't missed seeing the last fireball and was guessing that was Rick even if she didn't know how he was doing it.
Rick decided it was time for another small fireball so he yanked off another small red ball and threw it. This time he saw a few men fall except for one who looked right at him, raised something up to his mouth, and blew on it.
Everyone still standing heard two blasts of a horn. Rick had a magical horn and if that one was magical it was summoning someone or something. He just didn't know what.
Rick pulled out two normal arrows and fired both of the at this man and watched as both of them hit him. However, he didn't go down. "Shit!" Rick had found their leader.
Kate meanwhile had moved on to the other wheel and hit two of the three men manning it.
"KILL HER!" a voice bellowed which told Kate that she had trouble coming.
Rick heard the captain scream and turned just in time to see a gargantuan Black Dragon rise up of the water and land on their boat. The next thing he knew he was wet.
Kate had heard someone scream but then she heard something breaking up and turned in time to see a huge Black Dragon going back into the water and the ship with her husband on it was missing.
"RICK!" Kate wailed. She ran to the side of this ship and jumped into the water. She didn't know what she was going to do, but something.