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Message: <blockquote data-quote="talien" data-source="post: 4917570" data-attributes="member: 3285">Gangs of Freeport: Part 5 – That Sinking FeelingVlad followed Paulow for almost half an hour.  They made their way southwest along the shoreline, leaving the bustle of Freeport behind. The thick jungle loomed nearby, casting dark shadows like fingers out onto the sands. Strange animals call from within the dark trees, as though disturbed that Vlad had the audacity to leave the city at all.Finally, just as it was beginning to seem as though Paulow was leading him on a false trail, Vlad spotted it in the water some ways further down the shore. It was a capsized vessel, partially sunken and resting in the shallow waters. Perhaps a bit less than one-half of the port side of the ship was visible above the waves. The deck faced the shore, the masts stabbing out as though desperately reaching for the land. A thin and rickety bridge, anchored to the ship and to the trees nearest the shore, provided the only visible means of access.Paulow stumbled his way across the bridge.  Vlad padded out onto the stands near the water.  The sand near the bridge was churned up and bedecked with tracks, both humanoid and wheeled.  The place clearly saw substantial use.  Several of the humanoid tracks were blatantly inhuman.  In fact, though sized comparably to human feet, they were clawed, almost…“Ssanu,” Vlad hissed beneath his breath.  The Ghoul Juice epidemic was spreading to everyone.  If the serpent people were involved, it meant the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign was involved.  And that meant they had not been weakened after all their efforts.Vlad waded into the water, carefully and silently swimming to the other side of the ship.  He could hear Paulow arguing urgently with guards at the wheelhouse.  He slipped out of the water once he could feel the sunken deck beneath his feet.  The guards were letting Paulow in.Vlad concentrated on his ring.  The spells stored within it caused his features once again assumed the appearance of a Cutthroat gang member.  Then he knocked on the door.A slot opened, light streaming through the hole.  “I’m with Paulow,” he said simply.  “Let me in.”“Hold on a tick,” said the gruff voice on the other side.  Then a plate opened up.  Vlad found himself looking down the barrel of a Titan GG Swivel Gun.With Grungronazharr in one hand behind his back, Vlad had only a split second to bring the blade before him before the cannon blasted him.  The magical shield that enveloped Vlad and protected him from heat only mitigated some of the damage.  He was knocked backwards, falling into darkness.The entire ship was stirred to alarm.  Men shouted and grabbed their weapons below.  The gun swiveled to track Vlad, but they had difficulty spotting him.  With a roar, Vlad slammed into the door with his shield, smashing it open.The thug manning the Titan Gun tried to swivel it, but Vlad stabbed him in the throat.  A bullet ricocheted off of Vlad’s studded leather armor as another thug fired a pistol at him.  Then the Milandisian was through the door.Another quick thrust and the second thug fell.  A closed trapdoor led below.Vlad took a deep breath, opened the trapdoor, and jumped down into whatever lay in wait for him.He faced a cramped hallway.  Vlad cursed himself for expecting anything else; he’d become so accustomed to fighting in dungeons and alleyways that he’d forgotten how tight the confines of a ship really were.  He hunkered down behind his shield as the crack of Freeport pistols fired simultaneously.  He was a sitting duck if he didn’t do something soon.“My darkest hour,” Vlad said to himself.  He pointed an open palm towards the hallway. A gout of flames burst from his hand into the hallway.  Shrieks and screams reached his ears along with the subsequent explosions--the sound of black powder exploding.The familiar thump-thump-thump of someone running were the only warning he had before a horrible figure emerged from the smoke.  It was a tall, pockmarked scarecrow of a man wielding two wickedly curved short swords.  His skin was a rubbery gray; red pinpricks of light reflected behind black goggles and a long tongue lolled from his mouth.“You’ve come for the Ghoul Juice?” he lisped.  “I will bring it to you!”The ghoul lunged forward, striking high and low with both blades.  It was all Vlad could do to block the first attack.  The second sliced through his armor.  Vlad howled in pain and stumbled back against the ladder.Smelling blood, the ghoul cackled and pressed the advantage.  Vlad shoved forward as it lifted both swords for a scissoring attack on his neck, slamming the thing down the hallway.  The ghoul howled as he bore down on, its expression shifting from triumph to fear.  With a roar, Vlad jammed Grungronazharr through the ghoul’s torso.  It shrieked and kicked, flailing violently.  Vlad took a step back to let it die.  Then another sound caught his attention. That of someone terrified for his life.“Paulow,” said Vlad calmly.  “Get out here.  I want to talk to you.”</blockquote>

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