The Seas of Blood - Chapter One
The Price of Fame
Tavernport, located approximately one hundred kilometers south of Tersenne in what was once the great Kingdom of Verentis. The history of this port town was directly linked to the fall of the kingdom, for after King Leopold the Eight died at the hands of the great drake Pyrothraxus, the kingdom fell into petty bickering.
Whilst the great heroes of the land ran to combat the dragon in his lair, the nobles fought petty wars of succession. At the same time as the heroes died, so did the innocence of the land. Now little more than city-states and tiny baronies or self-proclaimed Kingdoms remain, and Tavernport prospered.
With the breakdown of law, lawlessness prevailed. Pirates flourished off the lack of a lawful force on the ocean to stop them from plundering the Tirian Coast. Some groups, like the Crimson Waves, made a great fortune in hiring mercenaries to defend merchant vessels against pirates, though they themselves were little more than hired killers.
But of all the pirates that sailed the waters, only two could be called legendary...
The Moon Goddess had been in port long enough to spend her ill-gotten booty on supplies, wenching, drinks, and gambling. The great three-story ediface of the Dyke and Wheelbarrow looked over the bay at the lights of the ships in port, and if anyone was sober enough to take notice, Captain Swoop's grin was worse than a cat's.
The rest of his crew were milling about the various levels of the tavern on their own missions, enjoying what life had to offer those with enough stolen money to spend. They all knew that Swoops was smart enough to look after himself, and if there was any trouble than they'd all be ready to stand for him...staggering or no...
Swoops pointed at a light on the horizon. "You sure?"
Rameses dropped the spyglass for the third time. "Yes Cap'n, it's them."
Swoops smile could've split his face in half. "Tell the others...Captain Theodore Fontane and the Silver Sovereign is coming into port."
For years the two had been legends in the area, the two greatest pirates in the world most people whispered. Each had managed to make a small fortune across the Kingdom, and though they had seen each other in the waters many times before, both had respected the reputation of the other to avoid conflict...such things were, messy.
Within the hour the crew of the Silver Sovereign stumbled into the tavern with golden crowns to waste, immediately plunging into games of chance, mugs of ale, and the breasts of the ladies willing to releave them of their fortune.
Captain Theodore "Seadog" Fontane swaggered into the Wheelbarrow with his first mate at his side, a strange little midget halfling that barely stood over a foot and a half tall (no-one had ever heard him speak, but he whispered in Seadog's ears contantly). He saw Swoops, and the two's eyes drifted to a table nearby that quilckly emptied.
There was something in the air that night. The owners of the bar thought that it would be the end for the town should a fight break out between the two of them here, but neither was interested in hostilities...
...there was money to be made, or lost, on this night...
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