T w e n t y S i d e d

While Enoch translates the text at the library, the Eomer and Thu’fir gather at the blacksmith’s shop. Upon learning that the party had lost many of their basic supplies in the shipwreck, he suggests they help him with a problem he’s having.

Before the city fell, he had stored away a cache of weapons, armor, and other provisions in the case of invasion. When the attack came, it happened a bit quicker than he anticipated, and he didn’t have time to reach the supplies or distribute them. Worse, soldiers came and siezed his house and have been living there ever since. The supplies are hidden in a secret room in the basement, but he can’t hope to sneak past the guards to reach them.

The blacksmith suggests that the party try to sneak in and retrieve the items. If they do so, they can keep some of the stash for themselves. The only requirement is that they not kill any guards. If they do, the soldiers will simply retailiate by coming into town and killing people in order to exact revenge.

Eomer asks about what unforms the northerners used. It turns out they didn’t have proper fancy uniforms like the Alidians, but instead wore simple black sashes around their waist or arms.

Thu’fir asks what they have been fighting about. The blacksmith explains that the war was over territory. Apparently there is a valuable mountain here called Mount Khelberg. It seems to be a rich source of both gems and gold. The blacksmith explains that the mountain is the birthright of his people: King Lorman (their leader) is the great great great (etc) grandson of the first foreman of the miners. He dug the first shafts and the land should be his. This is why they attacked the Alidians.

Finally Eomer get back to the subect of the supplies they need to steal.

Gereg draws a quick map of his house.

A crude drawing of the layout of Gereg’s house.
Click for larger view.

There is a front door on the house that faces west, towards the town. Behind the house is a storm door that leads into the cellar. There is a secret door in the cellar that conceals the goods in question. Unfortunately, the door is barred from the inside, so they can’t just pick the lock to get in. Someone will have to sneak in the front door.

Right behind the house, about ten feet from the rear door, is the woods. Gereg suggests leaving the heavy items there in the woods where he can recover them later.

By this time the sun is going down. Eomer goes east through the woods to the backsmith’s shop, which is a ten-minute walk. Everyone else gathers at the tavern and waits with a glass of ale. (Skeeve has Tea, Enoch abstains.)

Eomer watches the building as the sun sets. It looks like there is a circle of tents in front of the house, and a number of guards are gathered there, talking. He sneaks up to the back of the house and peeks through the rear window with his mirror.

A soldier is inside, working on something. Eomer can hear the banging of pots. This room is clearly the kitchen. After watching the place a bit longer, he returns to town.

They discuss their plans. Thu’fir suggests that instead of sneaking in the front door, they could just pull off the hinges. They worry that perhaps this would be too noisy. Enoch points out that he could create a zone of silence. This magic power of his will deaden all noise in a 20-foot radius.

They agree on this. Skeeve decides to stay at the tavern. He realizes they have no place to stay for the night. The soldiers tooks several houses, and the displaced families have filled the small inn.

Beck cuts in, suggesting they go in fighting. He’s clearly drunk. Thu’fir buys him another drink, and gives the bartender enough money to keep them coming all night. They slip out and leave Beck to his ale.

Eomer, Thu’fir, Enoch, and Thodek sneak through the woods to Gereg’s house. Enoch and Thodek stop well short of the house, not wanting to make a lot of noise in their heavy armor. Eomer moves forward silently and looks around.

Juding from the light, there is a campfire in front of the house. He listens carefully and determines that two guards are having a conversation. Using the mirror, he peeks in the window, but it is dark and quiet inside. He gives the signal, and Enoch casts silence on the door. Eomer takes the hinges off and Thu’fir takes the beam off. The beam falls soundlessly down the steps within the zone of silence.

Eomer sneaks in and goes to the secret door, which is a pegboard of tools. He moves one of the tools and finds it makes a very slight sound. The door is just outside of the silenced area! So, he needs to open a door which is covered in hanging metal tools, and he must do so without making any noise. He takes a deep breath…

…the door opens silently. He signals to Thu’fir, who is at the bottom of the steps looking in, letting him know where the edge of the zone is. They begin moving boxes. There are seven boxes of varying sizes, plus a sack and some other loose goods. Thordek and Enoch help move goods from the house into the woods, just on the edge of the zone. There are seven crates, a sack, a book, a lantern, and a longbow.

The goods unloaded, they realize that Eomer needs to stay inside when they put the door back on. If they want to hide all traces of their work, then he needs to place the bar on the door again, which can only be done once it’s in place and closed.

Enoch casts silence again, since he guesses that the five-minute duration is nearly up. They replace the door, attach the hinges, and Eomer places the bar on the door again. While this is happening, the members outside see a group of five guards head off towards town, carrying a torch. They conclude they can’t do anything about this now. They have to wait for Eomer.

Eomer, still inside, must sneak upstairs, out the front door, around the house, and meet them in back. He makes it upstairs and to the front door without difficulty.

Just before he leaves the house he pauses. He goes around into the kitchen and checks it out. He finds lots of dry goods. He also finds a sack of iron rations. He opens one, pisses on it, and then carefully re-wraps it and places it back in the sack.

He slips out the front door and rejoins the party out back.

While this was going on, Thu’fir had gone through the crates, suspicious of the smith’s story and wanting to make sure the story they had been told was true. He found the following:

• 3 bucklers
• 3 tindertwigs
• Very large bundle of arrows
• Several longswords wrapped in blankets
• 30 iron rations
• Another map
• A purse of gold.
• A very ornate horn
• A pile of blankets
• 3 iron skullcaps
• 10 sets of heavy boots
• 10 empty water skins
• breastplate
• Longbow
• lantern
• map case
• several backpacks

They take enough backpacks, blankets and waterskins to supply the party. They take enough food to supply themselves for two days, and they take the horn. They leave everything else hidden in the bushes.

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

Mar Talos is home to the Elves. Other races are not allowed to roam the land, and must remain in the capital / port city of Talosport. It is also the home of Sagemaster Teerin Forwinol.

Sagemaster was a major figure in our first campaign. He’s over 400 years old. He is respected and known throughout the other islands and Dunlock. He’s wise, thoughtful, and slow to act on anything. He prefers to watch and let things play out instead of getting involved, even when he has the power to intervene. He loves peace, and gets along well with other races.

Mar Talos has benefitted over the last 100 years with him as the leader. The island is strong, prosperous and secure.

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

Beck points out that these soldiers were without supplies, so therefore they must have had a base or camp nearby. Eomer changes into the guard’s uniform he scavenged from the least damaged soldier, disguising himself as one of the guards, telling his party to stay about 200 hundred yards from him. He follows the way the soldiers had come and finds a clearing with the remains of a fire and camp. While searching the area Eomer finds a cut length of rope, the cloth wrappings from iron rations, a dead soldier, obviously the captain of the band they saw, who was wearing a scale mail and has a horn. His neck has been snapped.

Eomer calls the rest of the party and they join him. Thordek searches and finds four backpacks with bed rolls and three iron rations. He also finds Endo’s staff.

Eomer is concerned at this. He knows Endo would not have left this behind on purpose. He searches as well, and using his knowledge of the wild he determines that a horse had been tied here, then was ridden east, towards Breakshore. Other horses were here and have gone west. Skeeve, Thu’fir, and Beck each take a backpack. The party stays to rest. Thu’fir starts a fire and the rest go to sleep. Thu’fir heads about 100 yards toward the conquered town (west) to watch for any more activity.

At 1 am the party sets out on the road. They follow it to Breakshore.

The village of Breakshore

The city is a medium-sized village along the coast. There are no ships in the port, which means they will not be escaping the isand soon.

Enoch and Skeeve go into town and head for the church. The church is overflowing with books. They speak to the head priest who explains the situation to them.

The Alidians (the southern forces) took the town without much resistance about a fortnight ago. They took the mayor away, but left everyone else alone. They commandeered a few farmhouses, took a goodly supply of food, all of the horses, and slew a few men who resisted, but they departed after a week and headed in the direction of Fort Bolland. The lands here in the north are still under martial law, and nobody is permitted to travel in the north without official papers. Anyone found in the wilderness will be assumed to be part of the resistance (of which there was very, very little) and arrested. The priest suggests they might be able to travel to Crossway and appeal to the local governor for papers if they explain their situation. They might also be able to buy forged papers.

He also tells them he has seen Endo and that he had quickly left town with a friend.

The rest of the party goes to the inn while Eomer goes to the priest and tries get an explanation of whom Endo was traveling with.

The rest of the party goes to the tavern / inn. The bartender welcomes them and says that meals were free for Alidian soldiers. Thu’fir claims to be a soldier for a free meal.

He is quickly found out when the bartender checks with the priest.

The bartender offers to help. He explains that there were supplies hidden in the smith’s house but that the house had been taken over by the soldiers.

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

Above deck there is a horrific crack as the mainsail rips free, unfurls and catches the wind. The loose ropes whip about violently in the wind. Beck is sent out with Eomer to secure the sail (if they can) or cut it loose (if they have to) lest the mast be broken.

Eomer and Beck struggle to secure the sail. They have to climb the rope netting and recover the sail. Eomer is blown off as he reaches and misses. He falls into a wet coil of ropes on the deck.

Eomer is still conscious after the fall but is hurt. He gets back to his feet and attempts to climb back up. He climbs back up but nearly falls off again, managing only to catch hold. The mast creaks loudly. The ship is listing heavily as the wind shoves the vessel around. Not wanting to waste any more time, Eomer and Beck draw their swords and cut the sail free.

They climb down and get belowdecks again. Inorem stands by, furious that the sail has been cut.

A wave wash over the ship. Thordek losses his grip and is knocked over while sliding across the deck, getting caught in the the ropes. Thu’fir holds on to the wheel.

When all recover, they see that the captain is gone.

Beck yells, ” Bring us about, we must rescue him!” over the wind.
Inorem shouts, ” Belay that! Hold your course!”
Beck, “We can’t leave the captain!”
Inorem, “I’m in charge!”
Beck, “You won’t take his ship!”
Inorem, “Going back is suicide!”
Beck, “Leaving him is suicidal for you!”

They draw their swords and start to fight as they fall down to the quarterdeck. With them gone, Thordek, Thu’fir, and Eomer are free to choose who they will obey. Should they abandon the captain, or risk the entire ship by trying to come about? Cutting accross the wind will be very dangrous.

They choose to go back for the captain and begin trying to turn about. As the ship turns accross the wind, they loose control of the wheel and the ship turns sideways. Eomer and Thu’fir try to regain course. Waves wash over the deck. Thordek looses his footing and slides away, ramming into the railing.

A flash of lightning reveals the two combatants on the Forecastle Deck. Beck has run Irnoem through. He pushes the elf off of his sword and into the sea.

Thordek grabs the banister and tries to work his way down to the quarterdeck.

The ship starts to list. A wave comes across the deck and the ship begins to lean to starboard. Water pours over the deck. One of the hatches dips below the water for a moment and the ship takes a big drink. The wave relents and the ship corrects itself. Those at the wheel find it is much easier to steer but nothing happens when they do.

Beck shouts above the din, “The storm has pushed us too far south. We’re being drawn into Stonehelm!”

Lightning flashes, and they can see the dark rocky teeth of Stonehelm jutting out of the water. There is nothing they can do. The ship is beyond their control, and all they can do is wait to be dashed against the rocks.

The rocks are hidden for a moment as they are engulfed by waves. A moment later the wave passes and the rocks are even closer. There is an overpowering crash as the ship is torn apart.

All manage to keep their weapons and armor, but are obliged to leave their packs behind. Thordek and Thu’fir, dressed in scale mail, were sure to sink unless they gave up their armor. Thordek suggests they lock arms over the captain’s barrel. They do so, and jump in, using the barrel as a raft. Skeeve uses his arcane magic and takes to the air. He lights his staff and provides light over a rock jutting from the water. He acts as a beacon to the others. Enoch calls on his holy powers and walks on water with Eomer and 3 other of the crew he grabs. Together they head toward the rock where Skeeve hovers.

The ship slides beneath the waves, and they are left among the churning waves. Everyone ends up at the rock, clinging to it. They have no food, no water, no way to rest, and no idea which way land is. Enoch passes out from exposure. Those that survive are exhausted, hungry, and thirsty, barely holding on in the midst of the storm.

As the night draws on, the storm relents.

Dawn comes at last to show that most of the crew has drowned. Many bodies are face-down in the shipwreck-filled water about them. As the sky brightens, they can see the island to the south, less than a mile away. Of those Enoch saved, there are only two sailors left. Thordek and Thu’fir are kicking their way toward shore. Enoch helps the others get to shore walking on water.

Thordek and Thu’fir get to shore and are waiting for the rest. Bits of the ship litter the beach.

Endo is gone.

Way down the beach they find Beck digging a hole with a part of a stool as a shovel, making a grave. Nobert is dead, and Beck wants to bury him. He finishes the shallow grave and puts Nobert in. After a moment of silence, Beck resolves to travel with the party back to Bayhaven and marry Talla.

It is drizzling and cold. Everyone is exhausted and has been without food and fresh water for about 10 hours. Nobody has slept in over 24 hours.

Eomer goes off looking for Endo. Enoch casts helping hand (a mystical floating hand that searches a 5 mile radius) The magical hand drifts away in search of Endo.

Thu’fir and Eomer search for roots etc to eat in the woods. Beck gives them the gist of the island by drawing in the sand (what he has seen on a map.) Obviously they are near Stonehelm and the river. They are not sure however, if the Alidians have taken Breakshore and decide to try to avoid them. Skeeve levitates and finds the river ¾ of a mile west. Everyone heads to the river except Enoch who decides to stay at the beach in case Endo comes. The dwarf rinses off in the river. Thu’fir cleans up as well.

After some time, the hand returns without Endo, and then disappears.

Enoch rests on the beach with the two who were saved while waiting for the others to return. Everyone else rests by the river. Thordek offers the use of his helmet to carry water back to Enoch. Beck washes it out and fills it. They walk slowly and carefully back to Enoch. Enoch drinks, sharing with the other two who decide to rest a bit before moving on.

After a rest, they head for the road, which should be somewhere south.

Thu’fir goes first, then Eomer, Enoch, Beck, Skeeve, then Thordek.

The party encounters a group of soldiers coming from the underbrush ahead of them. They are scratched up and covered in leaves from running through the brush. Immediately the soldiers begin to question them. There are three soldiers and one unarmed soldier.

They conclude the party is a group of mercenaries come to help the northerners, and attempt to arrest them.

The party refuses to surrender their weapons. The uniformed unarmed man speaks in the ear of the head soldier and the group spreads out.

The party see this is leading to combat and act first. Skeeve summons a flaming sphere, rolling it toward one of the soldiers. The underbrush catches fire in its wake. Weapons are drawn.

The unarmed soldier stands behind the others, casting magic at the party. It is a hard battle. Both Enoch and Skeeve had spent much of their magic in the night before, and had not had time to refresh themselves.

One by one the soldiers fell. Skeeve and the other wizard end up in a sort of duel, tossing fire magic at one another. Finally the opposing wizard backs into the underbrush for cover. Skeeve commanded a flaming sphere to travel around him in a tight circle, setting the brush on fire. Thus surrounded, the sphere rolls onto the wizard and he perished in flames.

As the last soldier fell, Eomer cries out, “Isn’t anyone everglad to see us?!?!?!”

The party retreats for a few minutes, as the fire spreads. Eventually it burns itself out on the soaked vegitation and leaves a smouldering hole in the woods. The smell of burning skin and hair surrounds them. The party scavenges for usable items amongst the dead.

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

The captain concludes the south has conquered the town. Their only hope is to sail around the north end of the island and head for the city of Breakshore. If the city still stands they may buy the weapons in the hold, or at least allow port and re-supply.

Inorem reminds him of the storm.

The captain replies that now the storm will work in their favor. Ships of the south may well pursue them if not for the bad weather.

They bring the ship about and make for the north. As they turned they see and hear the alarm being raised from the tower on shore. They can see men scurrying about on the shore, archers obviously standing to the ready should they come within range.

The captain orders that all the cargo be dumped overboard. They are too low in the water and too slow to have any hope of reaching Breakshore like this. Inorem protests. The Captain relents. The crew is ordered to empty only the Captains’ share of the cargo.

Beck meets the loaders in the cargo hold and suggests they “accidentally” dump some of Inorem’s stuff as well, since his stuff is towards the front and they will have to climb over and around it to get to the captain’s.

Hours pass. The ship rises out of the water as it gets lighter. The men are sweating and exhausted as they work steadily trying to get ahead of the oncoming storm.

Inorem is furious about the cargo being thrown over. Skeeve tries to calm him down. Inorem assumes it was the humans and dwarf who did it, though Skeeve helped with quite a bit.

The ship pushes west at a good clip.

A whistle blows, sounding general quarters. The party comes up on deck to see the sky a sick green. The air is still and quiet. The men look apprehensive. It is very warm and humid. The ship stops moving as there is no longer any wind.

The captain orders the men to secure the sails, and the officers and the party are called to the navigation room.

The captain explains the basics of weather navigation, heading into the wind, not worrying about where you’re going, just ride up one side of a wave and down the other, no sails, as the wind will push the ship over, OR the mast will snap like a twig.

The storm draws nearer. The temperature drops quickly. Suddenly it is wet and chilly. The sea begins to churn.

The sky grows black as the sun sets. Rain begins to fall. As the ship is buffeted by the storm, they begin to take on water. The ship is still riding low in the ocean. The captain sits by the wheel upon his barrel. Two stout men, Thordek and Thu’fir are sent to the wheel. The captain explains that the more they aim INTO the wind, the safer they are. The sails are tied up and everyone else is sent below.

Skeeve begins offering random spells he can do. None of them are “make the storm go away”, so the captain sends him belowdecks with the rest. Thordek and Thu’fir have no trouble keeping the ship on course.

Night falls. Inorem stands just inside the door and runs the damage control operation. At first he sets the men to bilge, but it is a lost cause. Water comes in too fast. He concludes they need to lift the ship up or they’ll sink. He orders all hands to begin hauling his weapons up from the hold, and shoving them out the door. He goes out and sets to pushing the crates overboard.

Beck is there to remind the party that they could have tossed Inorem’s stuff hours ago, made better time, and saved themselves a lot of trouble during the storm. Inorem’s greed has put them in greater danger.

Sailors (along with Eomer) work furiously to haul the heavy cargo out of the hold and get it overboard. Then, one of them loses his footing on the slick steps. The crate hits the deck and burst open, releasing an avalanche of broadswords down the steps. The hapless sailor is caught in the flow and sliced up as he falls downstairs in the pile of weapons. Eomer is right behind him, but quick enough to leap up and place his feet on the railings, holding himself above the steps as the swords and victim slid by beneath him.

The steps are now coated with seawater, blood, and swords. Enoch is called. He grants healing to the injured man, while everyone else goes about the tricky job of gathering up the swords as they slide back and fourth on the rocking deck. The cargo unloading operation is delayed as all of this happens.

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

As soon as all are settled the ship sets sail. Eventually they make their way to the mess deck. An unshaven sailor wanders over to their table and joins them. Skeeve greets him as he sits, which is more than enough to loosen the sailor’s tongue. A man who enjoys his own voice, Nobert introduces himself as a member of the crew and cheerfully goes on to fill them in on all the ins and outs of the crew, wandering happily from subject to subject with little prompting from the party.

The Ocean’s Majesty
Click for larger view.

As it turns out, Endo was right in assuming that boxes coming from the blacksmith were likely war supplies. The ship is selling weapons to the northern states of Mar Tesaro, an island deep in some sort of civil war.

The conversation then turns to Inorem, whom according to Nobert, the crew dislikes. His rudeness and distaste for humans are more than enough to keep him from favor amongst the crew. Inorem used to sail on a much grander elven ship, but it was sunk in the battle of Bayhaven. He’d been forced to take this position on a human crew and he resents it. Half of the cargo hold is his, and he is free to use this ship until he can make enough to buy his own. He does this by stacking it to the rafters with weapons for sale at Mar Tesoro.

Nobert then goes on to explain that Beck used to be first mate, losing the title to Inorem when the Captain offered to help Inorem get funds for a new ship. The crew however misses Beck as such, liking him as much as they hate Inorem. The crew also is very fond of the captain, who they refer to as “Puffins” or “Puff”. He runs a loose ship, but his generosity with his pay make up for any faults.

Nobert rambles on about various things until he settles on his girl Talla in Bayhaven, and he how is looking forward to seeing her. He goes on to describe her many attributes, though none of them seem to be her looks. After some time the men manage to turn his conversation to Bayhaven. Bayhaven is fine, or was when the ship was last there. The old town has been repaired and there was a huge harvest that year up north. Their biggest problem is that goods are piling up on the docks because there aren’t enough ships to move everything. Several were lost in the battle of Bayhaven, and a few others to pirates before that. Other ships are floating goods for the war (which is more profitable) so Bayhaven just isn’t getting enough ships to move everything.

Nobert takes leave when he finishes eating, saying he is needed on deck. The others go to work for a bit then retire to their quarters for the night.

The next day is clear and bright. Around noon the party, all about their duties, hear a ruckus on the deck. There they see a big crowd gathered, a great conglomeration of sweaty sailors and noise. After some shoving the party manages to work their way towards the innards of the fray, only to find Beck and Nobert in the middle, preparing to fight. The party finally surmises that Nobert and Beck had each had a letter from their girl back home, only to find that she was one and the same AND pregnant. After further discussion the two decide to fight for her. The winner of the fight will get to stay a sailor, loser will get all the money and go back to Bayhaven to marry Talla.

Inorem quickly steps in trying to settle it, pointing out that “This is most certainly not how civilized people settle arguments and certainly not on my.. erm.. this ship.”

The captain however waves him aside with a brisk, “Go ahead, go ahead, lets see the outcome. This should be a good show.”

Both men quickly throw down their valuables in a pile as the mob of sailors crowds Inorem out of the way. It is no contest. Beck easily wins the fight, knocking Nobert out cold in less than a minute. Beck looks through his pockets, making sure he didn’t miss anything of value to give to Nobert. He goes below, looking sad.

Someone dumps a bucket of sea water over Nobert, who despite the numerous cuts, bruises, and one rather large lump upon the head, wakes immediately, grins a wide, toothy grin, and shouts, “Congratulate me boys, I’m getting married!” The crew all cheers.

The next day arises, sleepy and full of sun. The seas sits calmly, gently rocking the old boat. The party assembles over their evening meal when they are approached by the man they had seen running from the smith. He introduces himself as Thu’fir, settles himself down amongst them and begins to talk. He likes to talk, mainly about himself and his pet sword. He goes on and on about the number of people he had killed with it, though when questioned they find that the number is rather smaller than his bragging implies (namely 11).

The next day is rainy, a steady chill drizzle, in which the crew works steadily in alternating wind and rain.

Enoch, in his rambling about the ship (being a cleric, the crew will not let him help), discovers that there is another cleric aboard and decides to visit him the next day. The crew warns him that the other cleric is a bit of a joke, quite old, blind, and deaf.

Enoch makes his way below decks to the infirmary. There he finds Crolman, a human who looks to be a hundred years old and his attendant, a young sailor who tries continually to make sense of the old man’s mumblings, hoping for a hint at what the weather will be in the coming days. After some time and a bit of halting conversation with the sailor Enoch surmises that Crolman had once been a cleric but has now lost all his powers except for a gift of prophecizing the weather, which Crolman foretells in fits and starts amidst numerous comments on food and achy joints. While Enoch listenes, Crolman suggests that he is hungry, thirsty, uncomfortable, and that the weather will be fine for the next two days.

While Enoch visits the old cleric, Thordek looks for Beck. He finds him in the carpentry shop of the ship, practicing his sword fighting. Thordek watches as Beck’s sword slices through the air, looking as if it was drawing an elaborate picture inthe air as it flashes and swirles, cutting and slicing.

Skeeve decides to go practice his flying.

The next day there is much talk amongst the sailors about Crolman as he seems to be very disturbed and more confused and upset than usual. Each has his own opinion about Crolman’s odd sayings that day. Enoch goes below deck to see what is going on.

In the infirmary he finds Crolman and his helper, Crolman going on, mostly about food but quite happily tossing in random, cryptic comments regarding the weather, and in all appearances quite disturbed. The sailor attending him is listening carefully to each word he says, attempting to get a straightforward answer out of him, so intently that he rather absentmidedly gets his food and drink and sets them down before him. Crolman, in his own little world, is quite oblivious to him. Crolman sits in his usual spot feeling around on the table before him obviously looking for his food, “Hungry!? …Thirsty?!”

Crolman mumbles, ” They won’t like us. Not gonna be happy. Not our friends.”

“Hungry!?” Crolman exclaimes as he feels around for his food. “Gonna rain. Big storm. The ocean’s gonna fall on our heads. Two days off, ” Crolman continues, still feeling around for his food, ” Watch the sail. Tie it fast. Don’t let it come loose!”

“Wet!” Crolman complains as he finds his food having put his hand in it as he felt for it.

Enoch then goes back on deck to tell the others about the latest, more complete news on the coming storm.

The next morning the captain announces that they are drawing close to Fort Bolland, and should reach it by morning. There is a storm approaching, but they expect to reach shore well before it hit. The men need to work fast to secure the ship and get it unloaded before the storm hit. They need to get some of the dead weight (weapons) out of the hold so they will be less likely to sink with the high waves. Everyone needs to pitch in to make sure they are ready when the storm hit, or the ship risks being smashed into the docks.

The standing rule is no shore leave in Fort Bolland, due to the war. This is still the case, but the captain allows some of the crew to go ashore and seek lodgings, since there is no sense in sleeping on a ship in a storm at port. He asks for volunteers to stay up all night and watch over the ship.

At dawn they make ready to port.

An hour later the island draws near. The storm is a ways off yet. Everyone relaxes. It looks like they will port and unload well ahead of the storm. As they approach, the sailor in the crow’s nest sounds an alarm. They draw closer and see that the city is laid to waste. All has been burned. The lighthouse is dark, and the docks are smoking. A lone and crudely built watchtower had been built on the coast with a sign of an eye with a thorn through it.

This is the image on the flag seen flying over the city.

Fort Bolland has been defeated.

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.