Pirates of the Sorcerean: No Peace on the Rock

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Desmond catches sight of the retreating figure of St. John, his back hunched by the heavy books and his halting steps ever slowing. Two other pirates follow Desmond and they sprint down the corridor, swiftly overtaking St. John. The Steward raises a hand to cast a spell but his fingers are gnarled and his voice nothing more than a harsh croak. He can do nothing to stop the falling cutlass blades.

The Lorebooks tumble to the floor under St. John's body. Desmond kicks the corpse away roughly and watches as St. John's blood soaks into the cracked leather covers of the tomes, leaving no stain at all. He shudders as he drops them into a sack and returns to the treasure cave.

 

Tanya gives Nimue a hard stare.
"stop!"

Turning her back to Nimue, Tanya sighs.
"You are right to question me, Nimue. I see the same ends as Perry did. His motivations are no longer here, but.. Perry's life is longer than my own, I.. how can I say who I really am anymore? It will take time before I realize what's only mine, and only his. It all feels equally real right now."

She heads towards the treasure grove, entering the deep storages of gold and jewels. Finally she was here, she had been right all those years. It did exist. As the piles upon piles of treasure mounted in her sight, she fell to her knees and a few tears of joy down her cheeks.
The hoard of Ruthbarb! My goal..
Leaning forward, she scooped all the gold and jewels she could muster in an embrace of success. If only they had been here to see it, all those unfortunate souls that had been lost on the adventure.

***

”sanctus”

A red ward forms around Perry as the tide washes around him. Standing once again, eye to eye, Perry grins at Fabian.

“So it begins..”

Rashka, Imfu, Mortis, Vitae!
More and more lost arcane spells from the past are released in the spherical arena, filling it with remnants of elemental shards from every kind. Cold death is ready to respond to any foolish act as the eons pass. While the true mages battle, their struggle for knowledge, prestige and power seems without end. Fabian, agile of mind and speedy of hand counters the conflagration of doom that Perry unleashes against him.

"You're stronger than I thought, Fabian! Let's see how you handle this!"
he raises his hands and calls out another chant, "Helio impera amar tachio!" making a small whirlwind consisting of several shimmering fires and lightnings form around himself. As it speeds up, it grows larger and larger extending in the arena at an increasing pace.

[ November 13, 2003, 17:30: Message edited by: Lokken ]

 

Water… Its strength lay in its patience – given time, water could carve its way through any immoveable object. Its power lay in its adaptability – there was nowhere that water couldn’t go, in one of its many forms.

Mister Fabian knows this, and the small smile never leaves his face as he parries each attack that Perry makes through the eternal span of their duel. His ripostes are subtle, flowing into the openings that Perry doesn’t realize he’s left, taking away tiny bits of his opponent’s power like a river content to carve a canyon one grain of sand at a time. The cycle of rain forever refreshes the infinite sea behind him, adding Perry’s strength to his own as every flaming attack is doused.

When Perry releases his whirlwind, Mister Fabian pauses. As the inferno grows, he can see that there is only destruction left in its wake and he knows that it is Perry’s final attack, that he has spent his last resources in one desperate act. Mister Fabian steers a flowing river into the whirlwind, steadily feeding it until the lightnings flash no more and the fires are doused. All that is left is Perry standing alone in the middle of a desolate plain.

Mister Fabian walks towards the shadow-man as it moves towards him, mirroring his steps. They each raise a palm towards the other as distance closes, but stop short of touching.

“So, the end has been reached,” Perry says.

“It was inevitable,” Mister Fabian responds.

“You’ve beaten your darkness, as required, Magus.”

“And now I welcome it back.”

Their hands clasp, and Mister Fabian throws back his head as he absorbs the shadow. When he opens his eyes again, he is standing in the treasure cave as all around him pirates are gleefully stuffing sacks full of gold and gems.

[ November 13, 2003, 20:23: Message edited by: Rallymama ]

 

Tanya seeks out as many diamonds, gemstones and jewelry as she can, stuffing them into a small bag on her belt. There was more treasure than could even fit on the Ariel, and as for dragging it. Would take a long time without a lot of manpower.
If Peyweth was correct, the royal armada would arrive soon. Speed is of the essence

Heading back up, she walked to the ghost pirates. "You're task is done, Ruthbarb. I bring you peace.."
They whispered a few words, and she waved a hand, muttering the old arcane word for freedom, and the ghosts vanished, except one. Ruthbarb himself remained, smiling to himself, "I have one more I need to see."

Tanya nodded, and walked down into the grove again, returning a few moments later with a new rapier. She notices Fabian has returned and looks slightly ashamed as she slowly approaches him.
Nearly inaudible, she coughs a little and sounds like she's about to turn and run away.
"Fabian.. I'm, sorry.."

 

Nimue sais, "Tanya. I repeat that I do not question you with my life. I would put it in your hands in a heartbeat. But right now I do not trust you with your own - I do not trust you to know the value of the gift you've been given, and I do not trust you to hope.

"In a very real way, it's like you've been raped: not your body but your mind. I've seen those that survive this evil, and they were shattered." Rather than rejecting the memory, for the first time, she accepts it as part of herself. It happened...I can let it go. "So," she continues, "I can only begin to imagine the depths of your self-loathing when the rape itself was mental."

She sighs, and sais, as earnestly as she can, "You are what you make yourself to be, Tanya - no more, no less. Others can wear lines in what is, but no one can change who you truly are...only you determine that. In some ways, people do not really change - they evolve. You are who you always were. If you open your eyes, you will know yourself."

She gasps and trails off, for the second time that day, as a brilliant bubble of green light appears and pops, leaving Fabian standing in the center of the room. Without a second thought she stands up and hurls herself at him in a bear hug, "You made it!"

 

Mister Fabian is confused as he turns towards Tanya and takes her hands. "Sorry for what, Tanya?" he asks in a voice for her ears alone. "For being so human that you were snared by this place's curse? If you didn't care so much about your men you would never have been taken - but you also wouldn't be half the commander that you are." He bends and kisses her gently on the cheek, noticing her new flickering aura as he does. I can help you, you need only ask, he thinks, his eyes boring into hers. Somehow, he knows she understands.

 

Mental rape.. that was truth..
Her pondering upon Nimue's words seem instantly dispelled however, and Tanya's heart skips a heartbeat as she feels Fabian's presence. Only able to keep eye contact for a brief moment, she breaks and looks into the ground at a random rock as if it's the most interesting thing in the world. Taking a few deep breaths, she calms herself and looks to the remaining crew.
"I er.. we should be going. We're not out yet."

 

Nimue picks herself up off the ground and offers Tanya a hand, "You must be exhausted." She groans some and picks Urya Isilme off the floor, heaves her backpack onto her shoulders, and groans. "I don't even want to think about what awaits us on shore," she mutters. "The Royal Navy probably managing things with sodomy, rum, and the lash...."

She moves over to the treasure and stuffs gold and gems into her small backpack until it appears liable to burst, "Men...take as much as you can hold. The rest, we should put in sacks and carry away...I'm sure the rest of the crew want their cut!"

 

Mister Fabian turns to get the Lorebooks and panics slightly when he sees the empty pedestal, until Desmond holds out the sack. “Looking for these?” he asks with a grin. “The Admiral’s dog was trying to make off with them, but we caught him before he got too far.”

Mister Fabian takes the sack gratefully before poking through the piles of treasure, selectinging a number of trinkets and pieces of jewelry. “Nimue’s right, lads,” he says as he straightens, “the Navy is likely to be waiting, and we don’t want to be weighed down. After you, Ma’am!” He makes a gallant sweeping gesture, indicating for Tanya to lead the way back to the surface.

 

In silence, Tanya heads for the path up towards the daylight. The cold tunnels of the complex doing it's work to conceal her doubts about herself. She no longer felt the hardened secure commander she had been, this place had shook her to the core of her being, even changed her completely.
Trying to rediscover herself, she unconsciously trails a finger along the wall as she mutters a phrase she recalls from her memories in a repeating pattern, "there is no future.. there is no future.."

 

Kassandra had no clue what just happened. It all seemed like a bad nightmare, or a grim fairy tale. Seeing a woman speaking like a man, then watching as all the Stewards mysteriously vanish and reappear, and then being attacked by magically animated golden lions broke Kassandra's mind on what was possible and what was not. She knew that magic was a dangerous tool, but she couldn't imagine that it was that destructive and that...evil.

She couldn't describe how she felt when that woman appeared, but her blood felt as if it would burn up inside her veins. She had wanted to sink her blade deep into the woman's gut, to rid the world of that type of evil, but luckily for her, she and that male steward had disappeared.

It was just all so weird, she couldn't make heads or tails of it, but it didn't matter. That woman seemed alright, the evil that had been inside her before was no longer there, the Stewards seemed about as normal as they could be, and she was left with all this treasure to plunder. "Too bad," she said to herself as she stuffed her pilfered pouch with as many gems and coins as she could muster. "I wish I could take you all with me."

Kassandra watched as the pirates began leaving the room, one by one, their arms stuffed with all the booty they could carry and felt that it was best if she leave as well, leaving behind this accursed rock forever. "Father, please, rest in peace." She wiped away the only tear she had ever shed for her father's death and began to walk out of the antechamber before she was stopped by a familiar voice.

"Aye, lass, he shall rest. He and all of us."

She turned around towards the voice and saw the shade of Ruthbarb, glimmering slightly. "I am glad that you can finally rest, Captain. Although I did nothing to aid that."

"Nonsense, gem. Ye did more then enough for ol' Ruthbarb."

"And what did I do, since you know so much?"

"Ye were here, lass. Ye gave me what I've wanted for so long."

"I didn't give you your freedom," she said, wondering if the spirit had finally gone the way of the dodo.

"Nay, my bonny Kassandra. Ye gave this ol' sea Cap't a chance to see 'is grandgirl, even if it 'twas only for a time." With a last, satisfied smile, the spirit of Ruthbarb vanished from their realm into the afterlife.

Kassandra let out a soft chuckle at the irony of the situation. She couldn't believe that she was Ruthbarb's kin, but these days, she was willing to believe anything. She smiled to herself as she looked at George, the man who had saved her life and said softly, "Let's get out of here."

 

George nodded, satisfied with the treasure he already have, but nonetheless he took out a sack he prepared specially for this journey and put in some treasure, as an afterthought.
"Going home would be fun. So what do you plan to do, Ms. Taylor?"

 

Things had happened almost too fast for Admiral de Trinst to follow. Tanya had been acting so strangely that he wasn't really surprised to see the shadows drain from her, but after that all the images blurred. The tigers, the other Steward vanishing, the Green Woman, St. John's death... and now the pirates were digging into Ruthbarb's hoard, scooping up the treasure of a lifetime. Even that murderous woman, and George - what did he think he was doing?! Then he thought of Perry's scrolls of summoning. Those were too dangerous to be allowed to return to the world.

The Admiral's attempts to locate the scrolls are interrupted when two pirates grab him from behind. His hands are bound and he is hustled down the corridor, his escorts brandishing their cutlasses, but he still carries himself like an officer.

"Tanya," he calls out loudly. The pirates are startled - how was the Admiral on first-name terms with their commander? "Tanya! You can't ignore me forever, girl, I'm still your father!"

[ November 14, 2003, 15:11: Message edited by: Rallymama ]

 

Tanya freezes on her way up, her eyes blinking as she cannot deny what's spoken. She can feel the tears burn, and turns around with a remorseful look on her face. The Admiral, and the father, stood there in bonds with an undecided fate.
"Release him.." she tried, but the command sounded frail and doubtful, without any authority at all.
If he claims it.. but the horrors I've done! Oh William, you were right all along.. I shouldn't have come here.

She closed her eyes, and turned around showing her back at them. She sighed as she looked back, the gaze of her grey eyes seemed piercing as she looked upon the pirates standing next to William. Speaking in a nearly unnatural cold voice, the two pirates felt Tanya's order like a whiplash in their faces, "RELEASE HIM! NOW!"

With a fastened pace, she tried to get out into the open air. The place and the people.. the confrontations was too much to bear with nowhere to run to.
I'm losing.. must be strong..

Breaking her pace as she enters a run, her steps can be heard echoing through the corridors. After a few hours, she saw the dim light radiate in the horizon. The exit! Once more she ran, as fast as she could manage feeling the perspiration on her forehead while her hair danced behind her.
Blue sky!

A breeze washed over her, and she felt the sweet caress of her skin as it coursed through her, gripping all of her worries and flying away with them.
She took a deep breath, inhaling freedom till her lungs were nearly bursting, then fell to her knees to kiss the cold dirt.
I'm out.. Free of the dreadful prison.. I'm out..

Slowly gathering her senses, she finally stood up and looked around to see if the ships could be seen. A ride home would be the most welcome of sights, soon at sea once more!

As her gaze looked down towards the beach, a faint mix of colour was in the horizon, only a day or a half away.
By the blessed mother.. It can't be..
Pulling forth her trusted spyglass, she peered toward what had to be the fleet.

Fleet.. 'tis an Armada..
The leviathan of a ship in charge, she knew. William was obsessed with that ship, as she had to admit she was too. The flagship Isabelle, greatest piece of work to function on the sea. The massive Leviathan of the sea, sportings it's fourhundred and thirtysix cannons, came towards her in the spyglass as if pulling the rest of the royal armada with her across the sea.
Tanya had heard tales that some pirate ships had been literally rammed down by the Isabelle without it taking any damage. It took a moment before Tanya realized she hadn't breathed at all for the duration of her stare, and she nearly fell over before heaving in a few large gasps of air. Phew.. we're done for unless we get out soon.

Looking down towards the beach, she saw the chaos of pirates and royal soldiers. She wasn't even sure who was who, and what ships belonged to what owners anymore. Ariel!
Like a pearl of the sea, she ran down towards it. They had to get ready to sail as soon as the remaining people of the crew came out if they weren't going to be captured.
Started as a treasure hunter.. ending a pirate. I must be more careful in the future.

 

Mister Fabian surprises Nimue by throwing his arm around her shoulders and pulling her to his side as they head out. "Well done, my dear, I couldn't have asked for more from my first Apprentice." He sees the new tinge in her aura. "Goddess-magic, eh? Then I doubt there's much more I can be teaching you. We'll have to be seeing about your Initiation when we get back to Drentan."

They emerge on the beach and the crowds of pirates looking to the horizon tell them that not all is as they had hoped. Mister Fabian quickly sends his spirit ahead to scout the armada, and looks to Nimue before going to relay their foe's strength to Tanya.

"...Assuming we get back to Drentan, that is."

 

Nimue is caught halfway between a grin and a groan. "Like annoying insects," she growls. "They tend to travel in swarms. I guess we should consider the possibility of using the Admiral over there as a hostage. I don't much like the thought...too much potential for trouble. But we need to get back on the Ariel and get out, FAST. So...the question is how."

 

Striding back to the Ariel, Tanya is happy to see Peyweth having the situation under control and most of the ship ready to set sail.
"Captain! Captain! The Navy!" Tanya calls as she swims towards the ship, leaving the boat for the crew.

"Ye back! I 'no 'bout 'em, get 'board now!"
Peyweth calls from the ship, and orders one of the pirates on the ship to throw her a rope ladder.

Tanya scurries the fastest she can up of the ladder, and hops onto the ship, dashing towards the captain.
"Captain.. it's true, the gold.."
Tanya waves her arms to form an impossible to tell shape of the gold.
"Piles.. gold, everywhere!"

She grabs her spyglass, as she breathes heavily from the exhausting stride.
"Is everything ready? I don't want to get near.. damn, it's Prince Richard."
The personal emblem of the prince was to be seen on the royal banner of the Isabelle.
"The crew is coming shortly, I'll sound the bell."
She handed the spyglass to Peyweth so he could see it for himself, and then ran down into the galley clinging the meeting bell.

 

Nimue groans as she climbs up the rope-ladder and onto the deck of the Ariel. She turns to Fabian, who was on board ahead of her; she was the last one to go up the ladder. "Fabian, we need to get out of here, and FAST. You know what I'm proposing. I'm guessing...the reason it's gone so wrong before, but you and I survived, is because it takes two. Air and Water, Fabian - those make up a Storm."