entral Calendar Year 1639, Month 1, Day 24. 8.00. Morning.
In the sea region that is called the Great Orient, far from the Three Great Civilized Lands, there was a continent.
Its size was about half the size of Australia, so it was too small as a continent but also too big as an island.
This land was called Rodenius, where three countries exist.
· The agricultural nation that was endowed with fertile soil and had an extensive farmland region, 『Qua-Toyne Principality』
· The poor country with great desert expanses where it is hard to grow crops, 『Quila Kingdom』
· The human-only country that continues to discriminate against demi-races like elves, dwarfs, and beastkin and aims to unite the Rodenius 『Louria Kingdom』
Both the Quila Kingdom and the Qua-Toyne Principality had one-third of their population composed of demi-humans like elf, dwarf, and beastkin. For that reason, they didn't maintain a good relationship with the Louria Kingdom, which sang the demi-human extermination plan. They had a good relationship with each other, and together they cooperated to oppose the Louria Kingdom's threat.
North-east of Qua-Toyne Principality. Great Orient Sea. The Brig vessel is known as the Salty Bitch.
Cutting through the waves of the Orient Sea, the Salty Bitch, a ship that has sailed these waters for many years, was making its way back to Qua-Toyne territory. The crew were smugglers shipping out goods that were either hard to come by or illegal within these areas. They also brought in news from the outside world; they have been doing this more often due to the hostile Louria Kingdom in the last few years. They made it clear that they were wise for the extermination of all non-humans, and the crew of the Salty Bitch was made up of mostly non-humans.
"Ah! This is the best time to be out on the open waters; no sea beast or any of those fuckers from Louria will bother us."
The helmsman, one of the few humans on the ship, spoke out with a smile on his lips. He said he has grown used to the non-humans among the crew and has earned their respect. All around them for miles, there was nothing but open water. It was easy going for all of them, as around the deck, much of the crew was relaxing. Some played games on the deck; others chatted with each other, with a few others keeping an eye out along the railings. Turning the wheel to the left, the sails caught the wind, picking up speed. They were not in a hurry, but in this event, a threat was to show up. They had a better chance of outrunning it. Out of all the times something has threatened the Salty Bitch, only two things have ever gotten close enough to damage the hull.
"I say enjoy it if things keep on going as they are with the Louria Kingdom; this might be our last time and drop off at the Qua-Toyne Principality. You heard the stories. Of them building a massive fleet and army. They have been making plans for years, and soon, who knows when they will bring it all down on Qua-Toyne? And they want to be able to fight them off; they don't have any of the backing of any other nation across this world to keep them back."
A woman next to him spoke as she leaned on the railing near the helmsman. She was one of the demi-humans that have dragon characters. With her green, scaly skin, horns on her forehead, dragon-like feet, and a long tail, she would be an exotic beauty to many men. Many men, human or non-human, have sought to take such a woman as a wife, and most of the time it ended badly, according to the stories.
"That is true, which is why I am wise to enjoy it while I can before it all crashes down, for it is going to be a blood bath. There is no other way to put it. I heard Louria built up a navy of over four thousand ships of all shapes and sizes and a massive army."
Since getting close to any dock yard controlled by Louria would be the death of them, they could not get a good idea if these rumors were true or not. But in any case, it was soon time to start setting up operations in other kingdoms within the region. As the two of them pounded on this, a voice would be heard on the deck; it came from one of the lookouts.
"Sir! The ship to the east of us near the horizon seems to be emitting smoke out of the middle."
As the crew all started to look outwards toward the direction, many of them all walked over to the railing, trying to get a better look, as two of them pulled out a spy glass. Looking through it towards the source of the black smoke and the dot that was becoming more visible.
"I can't fully make it out, sir, but... I don't see any sails on it, and the smoke seems to be coming from some kind of funnel-like stack in the middle."
It was still too far away to make out what it was and who it belonged to. The crew heard stories about a nation that used such a vessel at sea. Yet not one of them had seen it in person, but going from the details, it was clear why they are known as the second superpower. Yet, the helmsman was at a loss for why one would be this far out at sea, and one other thing that was standing out seemed to be getting closure.
"Go wake up the captain; we need him up here and at the wheel."
Jumping down over the railing, the woman knocked on the door that led to the captain's quarters; he had much of it soundproof. Due to his habits with several of the women on the crew, soundproofing was needed on top of his womanizing habits. A few consider it a problem at times, causing spats among the women of the crew a few times. Yet he seems to find a way to keep things from blowing up into a fight and knocking much harder. She moves close and places her ear on the door. The sound of groaning, as if someone were waking up, could be heard.
"He will be with us in a moment."
Walking up the steps, she retook her place next to the helmsmen. She liked the others, who were keeping watch on the ship that was on the horizon.
Within the captain's quarters, Salt Paw rubbed his eyes, looking towards the door. Sitting up from his bed, looking to his right side under the blankets, was Erelva. She was among the elf races, in this case one known as Drows; they had darker skin than the others, similar to certain humans he had seen.
"Dammit..."
He groans, getting out from under the cover. He did so not to wake up Erelva, keeping her cover up and stroking her white hair before getting his clothing on, which was scattered over the floor.
"This had better be a good reason for getting me up out of bed."
Getting a good rest was hard at times at sea with the rocking of the ship and other factors that came into play. Walking towards the door, he opened it and stepped out onto the deck. Looking over the deck, he notices right away that many of the crew members are looking out towards something to the right of the ship. Looking in that direction and letting his eyes adjust, he spotted the speck on the horizon, and it gave him a good idea why they woke him up.
"A captain-unknown ship has been sighted; we can't tell who it is or any kind of markings; it is still too far out to make out anything."
One crew member told him as he made his way up the steps to the wheel, taking hold of it and turning the wheel in the direction of the unknown ship.
"We will get a little closure to get a good look at it if we need to warn anyone of it. If they are a threat, there could be a chance they are from Louria. If that is the case, we make our way towards Maihark and get the word out. If they are not hostile, having a chat with them can't hurt. However, everyone is to be on guard in the event they are hostile."
The Salty Bitch is one of the fastest ships on the waves, using magic mixed in with the wind to outrun most ships and get them out of danger. To which everyone got into their position; a few went below deck, and some got weapons ready to use. This was all done in the event that this ship that is close by is hostile, allowing them either to defend themselves or flee at a moment's notice.
Sailing towards the unknown ship and getting a better look, it was clear that this was not a ship made of wood or using sails to move. The hull had a gray color to it, and other parts started to stick out on it. At the front bow was a single cannon. This, along with other objects on the top of the ship and along its body, drew many of the crew's attention towards them. One other thing that stood out was its size; it dwarfed the Salty Bitch several times over, and none of them could guess at how large it is.
"Sweet blue goddess. It is more like a mobile castle than a ship. I think I see someone along the deck there."
One of the crew members spoke out, looking through a spy glass along a railing along the side of the ship. There were several people walking about. Each of them had blue clothing on their shirts and pants, working to get a better look so they could see that they were humans.
"Order captain I don't think they spotted us yet, but I don't like this looking at the size and that cannon. I, for one, don't think we should take our chances. We should head back and get word to the people of Qua-Toyne. As much as I like to hope they are friendly, my gut is telling me they are not."
"Hmm. Parts of me agree with you on that. I say they could be hostile, yet look at the speed and that cannon. We turned our tails and tried to run. Now I would bet my left paw that they would either outrun us or send us to the depths. I think we should speak with them at the very least and give it a try using a mirror to see if we can't get their attention."
As much as the crew had trust and loyalty towards Salt Paw, his orders put everyone on edge, yet two of them would uncover and drag out a large mirror. It was used to either get one attestation or send out a message reflecting the sun's light a few times, sending out flashes towards the ship. This seemed to have gotten their attention, for it started to turn towards them, yet no signs of hostile action came from it.
Bismarck Task Force Group. Captain quarters of the Lütjens-class destroyer
It has been three months since a bright flash of light engulfed Germany when this came about, which only lasted a few seconds. All contact with her allies had been lost, and not just with them but also with all satellites in orbit. It was a near-total communications blackout. Many assume that a nuclear missile had been set off above Germany, but city lights and radio communication still worked. Martial law was put into effect during the second month, when there was still no contact and the discovery that every nation that bordered Germany. It was gone with nothing but sea for miles in all directions. Things had slightly cooled down, but it was still a mess that had yet to fully clear up.
The Bismarck Task Force was given the objective of exploring what was out around them, as other naval groups were given the same orders. So far, there has been nothing but the ocean for miles, with no signs of land or other ships. A few days ago, they did pick up a weak radio single, but it was too weak for them to locate. At this time, Captain Anderson was setting down within his quarters. Behind a desk, he was reading a set of papers—the latest reports from the other ships and the Bismarck herself. Their current orders were to expand out over an area of thirty miles; if they find nothing, report it and move out another thirty.
A knock on his door would get his attention, looking up from the papers.
"You can come in."
Opening the door and stepping into the quarters, the officer would salute before speaking up.
"Sir, we have, I think, sighted a ship. It is about one mile from us to the south-west and closing, but there is just something off about it. For one, it is a wooden ship, one with sails, and it has no flag or any signs of a nationality that we are familiar with."
"Hmm. That is strange to say the least."
Stacking the papers together, he would slide them into a folder, placing it on top of two others. Turning off the light on his desk, he would stand up.
"One other thing before I came to make this report was that there were flashing lights coming from the deck. My best guess, sir, was that they were trying to get our attention. And this was not morse code by light at the current speed they and ourselves are going; we will be alongside them in a few minutes."
"Let's head for the bridge and get a good look at what is coming our way."
Both of them would step out of his quarters, shutting the door behind him, and follow the officer to the bridge after going up a set of stairs.
"Captain on the bridge."
"At ease, know what we have spotted?"
One of the crew members would wave his hand for him to follow him, leading him to one of the bridge windows and handing him a pair of binoculars.
"An unknown ship, from the looks of its sir, seems to match the layout of what is known as a Brig, an old type of sailing ship that uses two square-rigged masts. They have no flag, and nothing stands out to get an idea of who they belong to your orders, sir."
As he explained, Anderson looked outward with the binoculars and worked to get a better look of the sailing ship as it was getting closer to them. Light flickering could be seen coming from the deck as he looked, and he spotted one thing that also stood out along the deck.
"Know that is something... Unless I am going insane or having eye problems, I think some of those people on that ship are not humans. I am seeing one that has green skin and another that looks like a crow standing on two feet, and... I am not even going to take a guess on who is at the wheel."
"So, you are seeing what we have seen. I was making sure that I was not the one going insane when looking through them, sir. We notice that it seems that some of the crews of the sailing ship don't appear to be humans, but the fact is. They are trying to get our attention; I think if they were hostile, they would not be trying to do just that."
After lowering the binoculars, he would hand them back to the crew members.
"Have us match their speed and move along side of them; if they show no further signs of hostile actions, then we come to a stop and make contact. But I want everyone on alert and ready; this is not a drill; I want everyone combat-ready."
After giving out his order, everyone moved about and would send out his orders over the communications to the crew of every deck. Very soon, the destroyer came alive. They were dealing with the unknown at this time, and there was no telling if they were friendly or hostile. On top of what they could do, they might be on a primitive ship, but the fact that they were not humans could make up for that.
Five minutes after sighting.
The two- men put down the mirror after it was clear that they had gotten their attention and that everyone on the Salty Bitch was really worried. It was clear that they could not run out of the strange ship. Getting a better look at it, three things stood out. First was the weapon; only a single massive cannon could be seen on the front deck, but its design was different from the ones they have. The second part was the fact that the entire thing seemed to be made out of metal. The third one was the most important; the flag flying up two was not the flag of the Louria Kingdom; the flag was blue in color with a horse in the middle of the shield and two swords behind it. This one had stripes of black at the top, red in the middle, and yellow at the bottom, with a hawk in the middle of a small yellow shield that rested within the center of it.
"Hoist the sails!"
Some of the crew looked at him with surprise, others with confusion, and a few even had fear spread over their faces.
"Captain... Do you think that is a wise choice? I get we can't outrun them, no matter how close we are known, but I would rather have a chance than stop knowing."
"And what of that cannon of their something tells me that even if we somehow ran them, we could not outrun it. Our only choice here is to speak with them and hope that they are friendly. What do you see on their decks? Any good signs of the crew?"
Through the spy glass, one of the crew members on the deck was looking towards the Lütjens, scanning the deck from front to back.
"Getting a better look, they are humans; a few I am seeing are armed with something that looks like a flintlock rifle with no signs of armor or swords. Or, for that matter, any melee weapon of any kind that is quite odd to say the least."
It was well understood that combat at sea with boarding another ship needed melee weapons and, at times, armor, which could turn into a bloody mess for both sides. He imagines this has to do with the cannon at the front and the steel armor of the ship. He was racking his brains trying to get an idea of how it even stayed afloat or moved.
It was not long after the sails were raised that they started to slow down. The Lütjens started to do the same but adjusted their course so that they would run alongside the Salty Bitch.
"Take the wheel, helmsmen; no one should do anything stupid; let me do the talking."
Walking down from the rear of the ship and onto the deck, he reached the railing and looked over toward the destroyer. Looking towards two of the crew on a small deck, he would shout out towards them.
"Ahoy there."
Shouting those words as a greeting, the two of them looked towards each other, then back at Salt Paw.
"You speak German?"
"I don't know that language, but it seems to me you are speaking the common tongue."
"Might I ask what are you?"
This caused him to raise an eyebrow at his question. Everyone within this world knows what a Gnoll is, yet these people don't seem to know what he is.
"I am known as a Gnoll. My kind comes from a land to the west of here, pretty far away, but it is quite a hard land to live on. I mean, you no harm; me and my crew are merchants."
It was a lie he has used many times.
"What are you wise to speak with us about?"
"I assume you are the captain."
"My name is Salt Paw, and yes, I am."
"Hmm... wait right there, we shall speak with our captain on what to do."
One of them stepped away from the other and went inside through a bulkhead, and thus the first meeting between this world and Earth was soon to happen.