Episode Twelve
The Saga of Lucius Victorium Gnaeus
Episode Twelve
We rushed to the ship rails to try and get a better view of the airship approaching us. “Molly! Come up here please!” I yelled down.
Molly was already on her way up. “I heard the call,” she said as she scrambled to our position on the rail.
“I thought there were only seven of these vessels,” Shen stated.
“There are,” Molly confirmed. “Four of the ships are merchant crafts like ours and the other three are warships. The warships are in the Far West. I have never seen one.”
“The one coming at us is much smaller,” Shen commented. “It looks like they have about a score of crew and they’re heading directly towards us.” Shen’s elven blood made his vision far more acute than mine.
“That is a hostile move in the open seas, but I do not know about the open air,” Edgy said.
“Well, it is not friendly here either,” Molly stated. “They are moving fast, but that is some strange copper plating they have on their hull. It looks like it was strapped on there yesterday.”
“Are we attacking them?” Thock asked.
“We need to be ready, but I think we should let them approach,” I offered. “I just hope it is not Grim.”
“It looks like they have a tough time maneuvering,” Molly observed. “I’m going to move us around a bit to see how nimble their craft is.”
Molly put Molly’s Folly through a series of maneuvers and it was clear that the intercepting craft was either poorly crewed or very clunky. It was also clear the smaller craft was much, much faster. Even as our ship out-maneuvered theirs, the intercepting craft’s speed meant they were going to catch up to us. We agreed to lower our altitude and prepare to ‘receive’ the foreign craft.
*****
A familiar leer shown in the face of the large humanoid on deck. It was Grim Balo, the cambion from whom we had liberated the airship. He had a crew of tieflings. The cambion barked directions at his fiendish crew and we set ourselves for a hostile encounter. Grim’s airship looked new! Even more disturbingly, it flew the flag of Iuz!
“Give me back my ship!” Grim yelled at us.
“You abandoned it!” Faithless retorted.
“Faithless! My fair maiden, how I have missed thee,” Grim replied with a toothy grin.
A string of the vilest, filthiest insults I have ever heard streamed out of Faithless’s mouth like a black torrent of audible hate. The outrageous, impudent, and blasphemous nature of these affronts made even the legionnaires aboard our ship blush! The fact that many of the acts she suggested were physically impossible did nothing to ameliorate their impact.
While the crew of Tieflings were visibly agitated, Grim smiled with genuine glee. “I always thought you were just a pretty face. Such originality! Such pluck! Now, I know I’m in love!”
I cast Kord’s Guardians, a new prayer of a higher valence than I had cast before. Several spectral warriors flew about my person wielding mighty hammers that crackled with lightning energies.
Battle is a Blessing of Kord
“I will even allow you to leave on this ship in exchange,” Grim called out.
“You are not getting this ship back!” I replied.
Thock pointed at the smaller ship and said, “Thock’s ship.” Those two words ended the parley.
The two Tieflings flanking Grim made supernatural jumps, spanning the six or seven yards spanning our vessels. One landed in front of Shen and the other in front of Faithless. Grimm pointed or gestured at our archer, Antonia, in the high crow’s nest.
The Tiefling that jumped in front of Shen was buffeted by Kord’s Guardians.
I heard a cry of pain from the area of the forecastle and saw two of our legionnaires down with arrows protruding from them. “Antonia has been charmed!” I called out. Now we were caught between our own expert archer turned against us and hell-spawn pirates!
Shen’s arcane words and gestures invoked Shen’s Sphere of Conflagration instantly killing several of the Tiefling crew aboard the smaller vessel. While Thock attacked one of the Tieflings on our deck, I launched a Greater Glorious Bolt of Kord. The prayer had amazingly little effect on the half-fiend, but Kord’s Guardians hacked him down.
There was one Tiefling still engaged in a desperate hand-to-hand battle with Thock, but I felt confident that conflict would go our way. The greater concern was Antonia was continuing to shoot down at us. One of her arrows wounded Faithless.
A strange, blank look crossed over Thock’s face just as Grim emerged from cover on the other ship. Fortuitously, the Half-orc shrugged off the magical mind ensnarement and proceeded to hack down the remaining Tiefling on our ship.
Shen said, “We need to concentrate our efforts on Grim. Be ready for him to pop out of cover again.”
Thock picked up a grappling hook and heaved it over to Grim’s ship. As the grappling hook dug into the enemy ship’s hull, Thock strained to pull the two vessels closer. The physical impossibility of the task was no deterrent to Thock, as his muscles bulged from the effort.
Grim emerged from cover and Shen peppered him with Marvelous Missiles of Unerring Flight while I hit him with a Greater Glorious Bolt of Kord. The Cambion quickly ducked back into cover. Shen smiled over at me and we prepared to do it again when Grimm revealed himself.
I almost lost concentration on my spell when I heard a surprised yelp from above. Edgy had shinnied up the main mast to the high crow’s nest and was attacking Antonia. Apparently, the Tabaxi’s attack broke the effect of Grim’s charm, because we could hear Edgy and the archer conversing thereafter.
Shen and my preparations had been in vain as Grim did not reappear. “He planeshifted,” Shen noted regretfully. “We need some way to pin Grim down to Terra Firma,” I stated. Shen nodded in agreement.
Scorn and Pity the Coward.
*****
Employing numerous grapple hooks and lines and most of our ship’s crew we managed to secure the smaller ship to Molly’s Folly. We boarded the vessel and found the deck empty. The construction of the ship was hasty and clumsy. We continued below deck where we heard conversations. Going below deck we were immediately hit by a wave of heat. The temperature below was at least 25 degrees hotter than above. We found three Tieflings, each armed with a dagger. There were also four folks chained to a strange looking mechanical pump. The four slaves consisted of two dwarves, a human, and a female tabaxi. Edgy immediately went over and began freeing the slaves from their chains.
“Oh great,” I whispered, “the last time I freed a tabaxi it did not go well for me.”
“I heard that priest,” Edgy replied.
One of the tieflings stepped forward and in an imperious voice announced, “I am Mordai, chief engineer of this ship of the Dread Sovereign Prince of Demonhood Iuz and I suggest you leave!” His voice had a high, atonal quality to it that bordered on screeching.
Faithless laughed loudly at Mordai’s pronouncement.
“This gem is making heat,” Thock observed.
“Yes, we will have Molly come look at it after we fully secure the ship,” Shen stated. “How did you find us?”
“That was all Captain Grim’s doing. We were not supposed to be here. He was insistent though,” Mordai replied.
“He’s not much for going down with the ship is he?” Faithless asked with a smirk.
“He was not supposed to be in charge of the mission - I was!” Mordai whined.
“What mission?” Shen asked.
“We were to drop off a contingent of troops about a day north-west of here to put down some puny rebellion,” Mordai replied.
We exchanged glances - we all knew these had to be the same rebels we were bringing supplies to.
“Yes, but how did Grim find us?” Shen queried.
“Everyday he consults some old ship compass. Two days ago he started saying that ‘he found it.’ We dropped off the force and he directed us here. Now, I must insist that you turn this ship back over to us as part of the Royal Forces of the Dread Sovereign Prince of Demonhood Iuz - unless you want war!”
A deep bellowing roar came out in a rush from the half-orc, “Thock’s ship!” Thock’s mighty long sword swung in a high arch, splintering off a piece of the deck’s ceiling and crashing down on Mordai’s skull. Thock forced the blade through the tiefling’s torso and out his crotch and drew the blade back. Mordai stood for a flash moment and then his bisected body tumbled in separate directions with blood and viscera spraying throughout the hold.
Mordai’s shocked companions gaped in abject horror at their former comrade’s demise. Their dismay would be short-lived as Thock swung widely again and decapitated the pair. Making even more great fonts of blood spraying throughout the lower deck.
“Thock’s ship!” Thock proclaimed in another bellow.
“Yes, and you are cleaning this mess up Thock,” Faithless admonished the barbarian. “All we had to do was send these fellows on a short flight over the side. Now, look, what a mess you’ve made.”
“Too much talk. Thock bored,” Thock replied.
The two dwarves were applauding Thock’s actions with glee. The human looked dumbfounded and bewildered and the tabaxi had no reaction whatsoever.
“What is wrong with her?” Shen asked.
“I don’t know,” Edgy replied. “She seems lost.”
“They broke her,” one of the dwarfs offered.
“She’s cat-atonic,” I offered.
Faithless groaned, “I know I will see you in the hells for that one priest.”
“Not funny,” Edgy said.
Sometimes my companions lacked the sophisticated wit to appreciate my repartee. A curse of my superior upbringing and education I suppose.
The dwarfs introduced themselves as the brothers Balen and Valen. The human remained quiet.
“I will go get Molly, and Thock, you go get a mop,” Faithless ordered.
Action is Honored by Kord
*****
Molly came aboard the smaller ship and stepped gingerly around Thock’s mess. “I cannot believe it,” she exclaimed. “This is a new airship! Very crude compared to ours, but look at the size of the propulsion gem. No wonder it is so fast.”
“What is the pump for?” Shen asked.
“They have to pump the heat out of here to keep the gem from exploding,” Molly replied. “Not many facets on the gem, which explains why they had a tough time maneuvering. Very crude and definitely not gnomish design.”
“Can we use it for parts or something?” I asked.
“It is far more valuable intact,” Molly replied. “It should not slow us down much to tow it.”
“Thock’s ship,” Thock announced proudly. “I steer it.”
Shen raised his eyebrow at Thock’s suggestion and I looked at Molly.
Molly spoke up and said, “I just have to make a couple of adjustments to the ship and then you can drive Thock’s ship all the way home after we make our drop-off. How does that sound?”
“Good,” Thock replied with a smile.
*****
Filbert came out with heaping trays of food. The halfling cook had even prepared a special tabaxi dish for the former female slave. Although she remained largely non-responsive, the taste of home did seem to put her at ease a bit. Edgy finally managed to get her first name from her, which was Whisper.
The human ate heartily from the feast table, but did not say too much. The dwarven brothers on the other hand, were full of mirth and merriment. They dove into the victuals and rum with gusto.
I attempted to engage the human several times in conversation and only learned that his name was Trevor. He did not share much except that he learned he did not have much respect for organized religion or governments. A viewpoint I somewhat agreed with, but when I inquired where he would like us to take him his response caught me off guard.
“If you could give me a weapon and a couple days of hardtack, I will be on my way,” Trevor said.
“Naturally, we won’t hold you against your will,” I replied.
“Yeah, feel free to leave, but watch the first step off the ship - it’s a big one,” Faithless said with a smirk.
“I thought you said I was not a prisoner,” Trevor protested.
“You certainly are not. Do not mind Faithless. What makes you want to leave us out here in the wilderness?” I asked.
“I saw what the big man did to those tieflings. I think I would rather take my chances in the wilderness,” Trevor replied.
Everyone seemed satisfied with this reply, but I was not. I had a sense he was hiding something. “Look, Trevor, we don’t care if you are a criminal or a political fugitive. We represent no governmental agency and have no agenda for you and the others. What are you worried about?” I asked.
“Oh, I see,” Trevor hesitated. “Yes, I am a criminal and I have a price on my head.”
“Don’t we all,” Shen chimed in.
“He probably has a real price on his,” Faithless sneered at Shen.
Shen and Trevor both laughed.
“I really would rather leave now,” Trevor insisted.
After further conversation and ascertaining that Trevor felt confident in his abilities to survive in the wilderness and that he was no friend of the forces of Iuz, we agreed. Trevor was presented with a solid sword and a few days rations. He seemed genuinely grateful and said we should look him up at the Wolf & Mug Tavern in Dyvers. He had a brisk trade business waiting for him in that city. We said our goodbyes and lowered him over the side of the ship to the ground with a long rope. Trevor quickly disappeared in the surrounding foliage.
Treat the Forsaken Kindly.
*****
We resumed our journey to deliver the supplies to the rebels. The dwarven brothers Balen and Valen were playing a drinking game with Thock. They had drank enough alcohol to kill a horse, but none of the trio seemed affected in the least. The three were playing a drinking game, and although I watched for several minutes I could not tell how the game was played. I had gathered that there were stakes and that Thock was winning.
“I bet this,” Thock announced and placed a spyglass in the center of the table.
The item immediately caught my eye. “Thock, we could use that. Where did you find it?” I asked.
“Thock’s ship,” he replied.
“You cannot wager it. We need it,” I said.
“He has not lost yet, Father Lucius,” Balen tried to reassure me.
“I am not a Father, and that item is potentially far too valuable to us for a wager in a drinking game,” I replied.
“No worries Master Lucius, he can double down and earn it back in a side dribble,” Valen interjected.
“Please do not call me master and I have no idea what that meant, but he cannot wager the spyglass,” I insisted.
Thock ignored me and slammed his palm on the table, “Bet!”
The dwarves shrugged their shoulders and Balen placed a steel pin on the table and Valen said something about a five drink saga. They then all quaffed their alcohol simultaneously and slammed their tankards down together. They looked at each other, laughed, and the dwarves said that Thock had won again. Thock smiled broadly and gathered the stakes..
“Thock, I wonder if I might borrow that spyglass?” I asked. Thock raised an eyebrow at my question, but after a moment handed the spyglass over.
I took the spyglass and looked it over, It was a well-built brass instrument with quality lenses, and I had no doubt would prove very useful to us. Meanwhile, Thock and the dwarves had resumed their baffling drinking game. So, I took the spyglass and left the trio to their merriment.
*****
We neared the area where we were supposed to deliver the weapons and healing elixirs to the rebels and came upon a scene of war. Shen reported that through the spyglass he could see three large war machines, massive catapults that were manned by bugbears. They were set up on the edge of a descending cliff and were preparing to fire into a canyon.
“By the Hells, please do not tell me that these people set up their camp in a canyon?” Faithless exclaimed.
“It would appear so,” Shen confirmed.
“Crew the ballistae!” Antonia ordered.
Molly moved the ship to a higher altitude as we approached so we could get a better view of the layout of the battle. In short, it was not good. The rebels were indeed in a canyon. The bugbears were preparing to reign massive burning balls of tar down upon them and there were stone barricades on both sides of the canyon manned by yet more bugbears.
“They are all fish in a barrel - the fools!” Faithless decried.
Following a quick discussion we decided to swoop in with our ship and with the help of Shen’s magic drop right on top of the catapult crews. It seemed like hours to close the gap to the enemy and I watched with horror as they began to rain their fearful munitions down on the rebel camp. As we came closer, the scene was even worse, as it was clear that their were numerous elderly and children amongst the rebels. We attacked with the ballistae as we approached, but it was mostly ineffective. The only benefit I could see was that the bugbears rotated a catapult towards us.
“If we get hit by one of those catapult loads we are in big trouble!” Edgy warned. “Ships and fire do not mix!”
Molly poured on the speed and skillfully placed our airship over the top of the bugbear crews. Shen cast Fortuitously Falling of Featherly Descent on the five of us and we stepped over the side of the ship. We could see from our high vantage point that there was a bugbear captain directing the catapult crews and that each crew had three bugbears apiece.
As I fell I watched a Shen’s Sphere of Conflagration burst amongst one of the bugbear crews immediately killing two. I cast a Greater Glorious Bolt of Kord killing the third crewmember. Faithless launched a massive ball of hellfire and destroyed another crew of three. I was starting to feel confident and thought we might wipe out their force before we ever touched ground!
Challenges and failures sharpen the sword of Kord.
An evoker emerged from invisibility and cast a fireball up at us. We dodged much of the blast, but it was clear this combat was far from over! She fired another fireball at us, and alas, this spell hit home. Edgy YOWLED as he came down very near the bugbear commander and took a blade for it. As soon as I touched Terra Firma I quaffed a healing potion.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw the evoker cast another spell towards us - a streak of arcane lightning lashed towards me, and…
*** DARKNESS***
Thock was pouring a healing potion down my throat. “Wake priest! Wake!” he was demanding.
I did wake and called a Great Spiritual Hammer of Kord down upon the evoker and then launched myself in a hand-to-hand attack against the bugbear commander. Sadly, both attacks failed. Edgy ran from the melee to take cover behind a war machine and Thock went down in a heap from damage.
My comrades were taking their toll on the enemy too though - the evoker went invisible rather than face a further assault from Kord’s Spiritual Hammer. I then called Kord’s Guardians to finish off the bugbear commander, but my prayer failed! The now visible evoker had emerged from her shroud of invisibility to dispel my prayer! She paid a heavy price for her action - Faithless hit her with a massive ball of hellfire and the evoker fell, burnt to death by the foul flames.
All that was left was the commander and a couple more bugbears. Edgy emerged from his hiding place and buried his blade deep in the back of the commander. The bugbear’s eyes went wide with surprise and then a drool of blood formed at the corner of his mouth as Edgy kicked him away from his blade. The bugbear was dead before he toppled to the ground.
The remaining pair of bugbears fought half-heartedly and were quickly dispatched. I began healing myself and all of my comrades. We looted the evoker and the commander.
We had managed to stem the immediate damage to the rebel encampment, but there was still the problem that they were surrounded by a sizable bugbear force. “Let’s use these things on the bugbears,” Edgy suggested pointing at the catapults..
“That is an excellent idea!” I proclaimed. I was genuinely impressed. I thought Edgy was pleased with my compliment, but honestly it was hard to tell with the tabaxi. His resting state was one of an appearance of being smug and pleased with himself. We managed to turn the catapults and began raining fiery bolts down on the bugbear forces. It did not take long for the bugbears to retreat.
*****
The leader of the rebels was a middle-aged man with burnt skin and was a bit soft in the middle. He was clearly upset by the carnage the bugbear catapults had rendered on his people, but he was also very appreciative of our help. He explained that his people had been fighting against the usurpations of the Overking Ivid IV. He was disconcerted to learn that the force he had just faced served Iuz. He knew of no connection between Ivid IV and Iuz.
We delivered the weapons and healing elixirs and the rebel people tried to put on a feast for us. It was simple fare, but their effort was genuine. I brought out the wine barrels I had transported from home and offered them for sale to the rebels at a very reasonable price. Alas, they had no gold for trade, but they did offer a magical Deck of Illusions. Honestly, I had no use for such an item, but I certainly was not going to deny these people some well-deserved wine! The trade was made.
There were numerous toasts made. I made one, admittedly somewhat under the influence of my vineyards fine product, “I shall not rest until the usurper Ivid IV is overthrown by these righteous people!” It was a regrettable oath, but the rebels cheered it wildly. After night fell we said our goodbyes. The rebels were packing up their camp to get out of the canyon and we were taking our ships back to the Isle of the Unseen Hands near the city of Rel Astra.
*****
I woke early in the morning with a splitting headache. Too much wine always has that effect on me. Fortunately, Filbert was already up and served me some herbal tea with honey. It helped a bit.
There were a flock of beautiful birds soaring alongside our ship. They were a stunning azure, blending with the bright morning sky with flecks of silver towards their slender beaks. They swooped up and down occasionally and their grace reminded me of hunting barn swallows. I believed them to be a positive portent for the journey back.
I looked back over the aft of the ship at the smaller airship we were now towing. There I saw Thock standing proudly at the wheel, his face straining with concentration as he guided the smaller ship in our wake. I noticed he had changed the name of the ship as well. The symbol of Iuz had been scratched out and ‘THOCKS’ replaced it. The “K” was backwards, but I was not going to mention it. Somehow it helped to confirm the ship was indeed his. He noticed me and gave me a quick wave and then returned to his white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel.
I walked down below deck. Molly was tending to the gems and offered me a good morning.
“Do you know Thock is steering the towed ship?” I asked.
“Yep,” she replied.
“That, uhhh, that does not concern you?” I asked.
“Not in the least,” Molly replied.
“May I ask why not?”
“I disengaged the wheel from the air rudder gear. He’s not really steering at all,” she answered.
“Excellent,” I replied. I was truly relieved.
*****
We landed in the water port at the Unseen Hands Island and Grab the halfling quickly came forth to greet us. “You made the delivery?” he asked.
“We did,” Edgy answered.
“And you grew your fleet a bit by all appearances,” Grab stated looking at the smaller airship.
“How would you like to buy your organization one of the fastest airships in the sky?” Edgy asked.
“You are selling it?” Grab asked.
“We already have an airship,” the tabaxi replied.
“How much?” Grab asked.
“Did the documents get done and delivered to Lord Fabrece?” I interrupted.
“Yeah, it’s all good to go. Fabrece wants a meeting with you,” Grab replied somewhat distractedly.
“How much for the airship?” Grab quickly turned his attention back to the bargaining with Edgy.
“100,000 pieces of gold,” Edgy replied confidently.
Grab gave a low whistle. “Not saying your wrong, but that is way out of my league. I got to bring Oshi in to discuss something of this magnitude.”
“Fair enough,” Edgy replied.
Grab left and prepared a message for his boss.
“You do realize we need to get rid of this thing, right?” I whispered to Edgy.
“I told you on the ship earlier, we got to start big. Believe me, Oshi will give us a counter-offer,” Edgy replied.
“What about Thock? He seems very keen to keeping the ship,” I pointed out.
Hey Thock,” Edgy called out. “Do you care if I sell your ship for 100,000 pieces of gold?”
“No, ship steering not work right anyway,” Thock replied.
A couple of hours later Oshi and the dark elf Bowen arrived. Grab had a conversation with the pair, and even I could tell they were excited by the prospect of the flying ship. Molly gave them a tour of the smaller ship and explained how it worked and even some of the drawbacks of the technology, but reassured them it would fly and it was very fast.
“It’s amazing isn’t it?” Edgy asked Oshi.
Oshi did not directly smile, but her enthusiasm for the vessel was obvious. “100,000 pieces of gold is way out of line. Besides, shouldn’t you be offering it to the guild?” Oshi asked.
“First, it is only one-fifth mine, I am just doing the negotiations,” Edgy replied. “And second, I already am doing the guild a service - I joined you.”
Oshi smiled at the tabaxi’s response. “Look, we don’t have that kind of specie just free and clear. What about a barter?”
“We’re listening,” Edgy replied.
“If we had this ship, we probably would not need this safe harbor any longer. What about this island for the ship?” Oshi offered.
“Thock’s Island!” Thock pronounced excitedly.
The tabaxi hesitated. I interjected quickly, “Throw in 5,000 gold pieces and lifetime guild dues for the Tabaxi and we have an accord.”
“Agreed,” Oshi quickly stated.
Edgy looked sideways at me. “I could have gotten more,” he snarled under his breath.
“And I made sure we got rid of it,” I replied.
*****
Oshi gave us an extensive tour of the newly christened Thock’s Island. While we were walking about I mentioned that I would very much like to make another delivery to help out the rebels and Oshi affirmed that this could be arranged.
Edgy spent much of his time tending to Whisper. Eventually, he managed to learn that her entire name was Whispering Wind. He knew that name! Whispering Wind had been a great queen of the Tabaxi people who fought to keep them from being sold into slavery. Her former glory somehow made her current shell of a being all the more sadder.
I started thinking about how to build or convert some of the warehouse rooms to a gymnasium and where the Temple to Kord would be placed. However, I knew there were other matters at hand. The meeting with Lord Fabrece and reviving my family’s fortune. There was also that unfortunate drunken oath I had made to aid the rebels….
Better to not vow than to vow and not pay.