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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Edward Kann@StoryART" data-source="post: 1792768" data-attributes="member: 23128">The Dread Legion Advances...The Poison Arrow drew slowly alongside the drifting ghost ship.  A flight of white birds, beaks dripping with bits of torn flesh off of the dead Windsail rose upwards in a spiraling squaking cloud overhead.  The birds called down their insults as a trio of barechested crewmen fastened hooked lines to the other vessel and secured a boarding plank in place.Beyond the crying of the gulls, the creak of timbers and the flap of unattended sails in the cool wind not a thing stirred on board the deck of the Dancing Girl.  Victor stood by with one of the two swivel gun crews, they stood ready, silent as well, waiting.  Hands holding the heavy iron business end of the small rail cannon in place.  Each was aimed at the empty deck of the Dancing Girl.  Aimed where I would soon be standing.Spiral tapped me gently on the shoulder and whispered in my ear."If I tap you like that make sure you close your eyes Frost.""Close my eyes?"  "What for?""Just do it..and here put these in your ears."Spiral thrust two balls of torn cloth and muslin into my hands.  I imagined it had to do with something that Candle had in mind.  Not happy.  Not happy at all with how this is developing, I thought to myself.I stuck the bits of rag into my ears enough to keep them in place.  I could still hear but not as well.  I readied my weapons, a thrusting dagger in my left hand and my Gladius in my right.Stepped to the edge of the deck and swallowed before planting my boot onto the boarding plank.The thing about boarding planks...well, it's just a plank of wood about a foot and a half wide and thick enough to not break when you cross it, but if you are heavy like me it does bend a bit.  For several seconds you are just out there, standing on a little bit of wood over...over nothing.  Over a planet sized drop through multiple layers of cloud into a void of nothing.The blowing wind didn't help matters.  For all my best efforts my knees shook when I took my first step out onto the plank.  I swallowed.  No good getting stuck out here.I pushed forward and with three determined strides found myself standing on the deck of the Dancing Girl.My feet slipped as soon as they touched the deck.  The planks were thick with blood, not all of it had dried.  Thick swaths of ichor left trails of red and dried black over the deck where the crew had been slain and down into the hold.Slain by what?  Dragged by what?Spiral joined me and I took another three steps out towards the center of the deck.  A large black pot burned low on a dying fire.  The fire was constructed in a sort of dutch oven right out on the center of the main deck.  The stench was bad on the Poison Arrow as we came near but here the thick smell of boiled fat and murder was so strong that it clawed at the back of my throat.  I felt my stomach turn over once warning me that it was becoming increasing unhappy with the situation."steady" Candle had joined us as had Scout.  Scout stooped and sniffed at the deck and then scuttled forward to crouch next to me."zzz..something is still here..below us...below the deck...I believe we interrupt its eating...I believe it knows we are here..."I gave a nod.  Together we cautiously crossed the swaying deck.  My footing was still not solid on the planks that were covered in the thickest mess.  Of course the worst of it was gathered right in front of the closed hatch leading to the deck below.Scout scuttled quietly to the opposite side and readied one of his throwing blades.  I swallowed and tried my best to ignore the gore beneath my boots although some of it was starting to soak through and make my feet feel cold and uncomfortable.I glanced over at Candle.  His hands were twitching and glowing a sickly violet.  Little worms of purple crawled around his fingers, little sparks of glowing energy."get ready to open it...on three."  He said quietly.With a nod I reached down for the latch."one....""two...."KEEEEEERRRRRRRRASSSSSSSSHHHHHH!Something wicked fast and mad as the hounds of Hel boiled out of the lower deck blowing the hatchway ten, maybe twelve feet up into the air off of its hinges and over the side of the ship like it was so much tissue paper.I got a brief look at a mouth full of more teeth than I'd seen in my top three nightmares combined and something vaguely manshaped but muscled like a beast and coated in the blood and gore of its victims."GREAT FIRES OF NIMROD! BARGHEST! BARGHEST!"Candle was clearly helping by pointing out the correct name of the creature that was about to make lunch out of me."Pleased to meet you..I'm Frost."  My voice had a sound that was surprisingly calm to my ears.  I caught the beast under the chin with the thrusting point of my dagger and buried the Gladius where I hoped to find its heart.Unfortunately the creature was a LOT faster than I gave it credit for and my Gladius missed the heart just grazing a smoldering gash across the creatures shoulder.Vicious beady eyes narrowed and those teeth seemed to multiply.  I realized I was about to loose my left arm at the elbow.I felt a solid tap on my back shoulder and remembered to close my eyes."BLOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMM!"For a moment I thought that perhaps the entire ship had just exploded and I felt the world go topsy turvy.  My footing had finally failed and I was blinking and sitting on my bottom gasping for air.My ears were ringing and I thought that they might be bleeding.  I looked up to see Spiral standing over me in a cloud of thick gray smoke.  Her face was smudged with soot like she'd been cleaning a chimney.  In her right hand smoked one of her two matchlock pistols.A large bloody fur covered hole was rent in the side of the Barghast.  Incredibly the creature, while looking stunned and blinking, half blinded like I was from the smoke and flash was still standing.It took a dizzy step up from the hold.Spirals other arm raised.  BLADOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!I'd never seen one of the powder guns fired close up before.  A ten foot tongue of spark, smoke and sulpher hit the Barghast in the face and set me to squinting and coughing as I struggled to regain my feet.The pistol ball, a lead ball the size of my thumb flattened out when it struck the Barghest in the skull and neatly peeled off most of the creatures face from the nose back to the ear.I just managed to get out of the way of the beast as it fell with a heavy thud, fur smoldering at Spiral's feet."Zzzzzz...look out..there's more!"Scout hurled one of his throwing blades into the darkness of the hold below and up came a bellowing wail.  Out of the hold boiled two more of the beasts.  This just kept getting better and better.  Like banging on a hornets nest with a stick for fun.Spiral dropped her two matchlocks.  I realized now that they were tied to her belt by lengths of fine chain so she would not easily loose them.  Her hand dropped to her sword and Candle finally began to finish his incantation.The fight was on.</blockquote>

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