Its been well over a week since our celebrations and I could not for the life of me remember a thing that had went on that night. All anyone would tell me was that I had a grand time of singing songs and heavily drinking ourselves under. I kept seeing that dragon born woman out of the corner of my eye as I went about my day buried in my studies and practices. She was distracting I'll say that much for the beast. I met Caerulean, Gordon the VI, Rolan, and even on occasion Jörg at the Gregarious Goblin on a regular basis through out the week. I have not seen much of the poor halfling girl who was said to have been scared off sometime during the jubilation of our victory. After much meditation so that my emotions were under control as my comrades have seen fit to unravel after a few days of merriment, I have finally immersed myself in my practices learning more spells and perfecting them slowly.
The Keep gave plenty of space for magic users like myself to practice without being interrupted. Concentration was imperative for magic of course, but I did not like it so quiet. It was not so quiet at the orphanage among the spiders forcing me to concentrate on my magic in time to save the lovely she-barbarian haunting my thoughts so pervasively that I had to make a dream tea concoction to help lilt me into my trance in the evenings.
Anyway, this famous fog of the city's wafting in every morning was so opaque that in just moments of being out in its smoggy clutches, my robes were soaked through and all my hard work in making my hair stand perfectly in place was ruined. I must look like a drowned knoll rat, and that bard prances around like damned frittering cherubim and with the voice of one too. I wondered silently if the dragon born female had took notice of him. Ha! Of course she didn't. She was a woman who knew true fearlessness when she saw it. Spiders and thieves could not scare one with the power of Lo ready at his fingertips. She too was a woman of strength, maybe not as fearless but bravery to overcome fear most certainly. How her scales gleamed like emeralds from the Vales of Kesterly.
No! I won't think on her. I must conceal my thoughts and learn to suppress these weaker desires of mine so that I do not falter in my studies. Nothing could be put above my scholarly duties and so soon when I just began my journey to be the most cosmic powerful sorcerer in all the realm. I glanced quickly around to make sure no one heard my manic and high-pitched laughter. It wasn't my fault I acquired my mother's laughing genes, her voice, and perfect long lashes.
Today was the first in a long while that we have been summoned to meet with Thea. Distracted from my studies once again, I found my way to the court yard that was still eerily filled with this incessant fog and yet it is mid-day. Usually by late morning it dissipates but lately it has shrouded the city both day and night.
"I need for you to go down to the waterfront where the most grueling rumors have risen about a ship haunting the bay by our docks. I am sure it is just the paranoia felt with being trapped under the city's fog, but I'm afraid that a panic may start if we don't get to the bottom of these rumors. I will be here on the morrow to hear your reports. In the mean time, may Lethander be with you." She waved us on and the fog erased her form from our sight quickly.
Every one seemed to glide in this fog and hardly anything within ten feet from me could be seen through its white plumes. On the pier blocking our paths to the wharf, was that dashing ruthless man from the trial, Dickory Dock and a few of his....lesser companions who clearly did not have a care for personal hygiene. They were ruffians unkempt and were missing teeth. They had deep guttural voices with the eloquence of an orc, and the muscles of oxen. The fact that a wealthy, cunning man of prestige so nonchalantly kept such unkempt company struck me as highly conspicuous nature. His threat given to me directly the day of the trial was not forgotten and I made it a habit of mine to show those with loose lips how to keep them shut.
"Well, well the heroes of the hour." Hollow clapping from Dickory sounded in the silence of the pier in which there was no one around but us and Dickory's crew in the late afternoon when the activity should be at its highest with people swarming about. The rumors of the phantom ship must be strong enough to drive every one away from the water front. Dickory's dazzling smile reached his eyes meaning what ever he was up to he was please with himself for.
"Why I think they've come to rescue us from ghosts. How gallant of you." His smile faded into a sneer. "Come on boys we have work to do." A small smile twitched back into place for a fleeting second before he waltzed off with his thugs braying behind him as if his every word of his was something farcical to them. We let them walk off having more pressing matters to be concerned with ourselves at the Ambiguous Unicorn.
That same smell of a most alkaline odor mingling with the sweat and grim of humans and dwarves, sailors to be sure, plus something I supposed was beef stew, intrusively flooded my elvish nostrils. It was obvious to me that these fellows needed lessons in bathing.
"Aye there ya are. 'bout time the keep sent somebody ter find out whats going on 'round here." A big man with the waist of a barrel came forward and clapped Jörg and the Gordon on the back with his hammer-like fists. "Bloody ghost ship is scarrin' off me customers and not just that but I got delays on account nobody is brave enough ta ship out.The men here keep whisperin' bout a plague ship and I don' like ta think so meself but we haven seen a soul out on that darn ship's deck."
"You know where the ship is then?" Maleficent inquired. He gestured with his hand for us to follow him out the door and back out into the eerie foggy night.
"I got some dinghy's you can use to get ta her I'll show you the dock right over this way. Everyone scared shitless of her thinks its the old Octorain from decades ago. The Octorain was this city's greatest naval ship. She was known to claim many pirates and sunk over ten of them ships. Well the Octorain met its match against a pirate ship called the Sea Witch, named for her captain Ulani Witchmar. They say she was a sorceress who sent plague down on her enemies. Some say she was in service of the merqueen Valora and so she drowned all her victims as a sacrifice ta her queen below the water. Anyway people are saying that that there ghost ship is the Octorain finally came home to port. Eh' I don't care either way I just want to know the truth of the matter. that where you come in. Find out if its a phantom ship or a plague ship. if its the plague burn it and if any of ya get on I expect ya to do proper and burn with it so I don't have ta." He gave a small but hearty laugh at that though I didn't see any humor in being burnt alive. We glanced at each other then, less sure of what we were dealing with. My hairs tingled on the back of my neck which was always a sign that something was wrong here. Half of my companions were already in the dinghy and so I supposed I'd go along to find out just how wrong things were.
I barely could make out the frame of the ship through all the fog and it was easy to see how anyone could mistake it for some ghastly apparition of a ship. All this fog could make this whole damned city look like a ghost city to some far off in the distance. Once we neared, the ship became real, more solid and we circled around it looking for any sign of life up on the deck. It was still early in the night for a crew to be sleeping below deck and even so Caerulean said that there had to be at least a few on deck for watch. It was so still and silent even the water could barely be heard lapping against the ship's hull. With only one thing left to do we started up the rope ladder and boarded the ship.
Not a soul in sight. We scattered and I knew to head to the bow where I might peer down into the lower compartment to see if anyone could be found and hoped to the gods that if I did find anyone they were well and alive. Just as I was about to follow a ramp down under the deck I heard a small raucous and a high-pitched and clearly unstable laugh coming from the crates over by Gordon. Just then the little halfling girl, Daisy went hurdling over crates and boxes screaming, "The ship's going to blow! Get off the ship! Its going to blow!!!!" Then she did it. Daisy dove straight off the ship like a mad woman. There was more manic laughter coming from somewhere I couldn't see then I heard several more splashes. I thought to hurry and take a small peek below deck and found the entire space was filled with barrels of Wun Powder. Then twenty paces towards the middle was a sizzling noise where I saw a wick sparkling with fire that came from a hole above in the deck and was about to blast me sky high into oblivion.
"God of Io give me Frost." I caste my spell all but too late and in my panic I faltered missing the wick and with horror I watch it fall into a barrel. One barrel of over sixty surrounding me and I knew then that this whole ship was in fact only meant for one thing, putting that smirk on that bastard's face, Dickory. All I could think to say was, "Bastard." Then a burning wave hit my chest as the thunder-clapping blast exploded the ship and I felt myself falling back as the splintering wood rung in my ears and then it black.
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