We have lost our ship.
I lost my book when she went down too, so my records will have to begin anew here. Now that I think about it… did she go down? I didn’t see what happened after the giant hands tipped us all off. Damn that sea-witch!
Ah, but I get ahead of myself.
It started fine, Sett assembled us in the cargo hold and laid out the plan. The concealed dwarf with the parrot, the half-orc, me, the first-mate, and himself.
“Captain says there’s a storm coming. We do it tonight.”
I protested. “You trust these people?”
“I don’t even know if I can trust you, Rohoyo.”
What does he think of me? Perhaps it’s my foreign accent, still lingering even after years at sea. I bowed. “My friend, you can trust me with all your heart.”
He smirked. “Too late now anyway. You.” he said, pointing to the half-orc, his voice hushed but commanding. “Tie the cargo up down here, but don’t do a good job of it. When the cargo comes loose the crew will come down here, and I’ll chuck the captain overboard.”
“It’ll be a fight when the crew finds out what happened.” the half-orc said. Sett nodded, and paused.
“Yeah… five isn’t gonna be enough. What about the mercenaries we picked up on shore?”
I spoke. “They have no special loyalty to our crew. I imagine many of them will be fine with our plan if we let them know. Some of them are capable fighters, they’d be a great asset. Who’ve we got?”
The parrot on the shoulder of the dwarf spoke. “Gunman, pale woman.”
“And the sea witch” said Sett.
“No.” I protested again. We glared at each other. His glare is stronger than mine. “She’s probably the one bringing that storm! You know she has powers, Sett.”
“We need hands. If she does control the storm then she can control it for us. I’m sure she’d be happy to be set free.”
Contemptible sea witch. He claws were already in our captains shoulders even then it seems.
“Rohoyo, you go talk to the woman. Hafdan, you stay here and tie the cargo. Stede, get the cook. Then one of you get the gunman. They’re up on the crows nest. I’m gonna talk to the witch.”
We had picked up a pale skinned woman, Zekia, in a less-than-reputable port a while back. She had stringy hair and tattoos on her arms. I found her on the top deck, staring out over the water. I approached.
“You’ve done a remarkable job so far, my lady. It’s tough work being a sailor.”
She didn’t look at me to reply. “Is it? I’ve seen nothing but your men get drunk, complain, and sleep.”
“Ah you must forgive them, they are not as dedicated as your or I.”
That made her face me, a quizzical expression on her face. “I haven’t seen you on the top deck once since yesterday morning.” I ignored her.
“Yes, tough work being a sailor. You can forgive the men their vices. They have many burdens. Life is always changing on board. Going to different places, meeting different people. Storms especially, bring change. Many things can happen during a storm. Men’s bodies are tested, but also their minds. Their spirits. Especially, their loyalty.”
She blinked at me. “Is this where you ask to sleep with me?” I grinned at her.”Please, what do you take me for! I am nothing if not a gentlemen, though undoubtedly better in bed than any of these wretches.” I gestured around the deck, then leaned in close.
“No. I’m here to tell you that change may be coming to this boat very soon. And if it does, what do you think you’ll do?”
She peered down at me. “That depends which way the wind blows.”
I stood up straight with a wide smile, said “Excellent.” and trotted below deck.
I waited by the door to the lazarette where the sea witch was kept. I saw Sett enter, and the guard inside step out. Then I watched the door intently, expecting to see flashes of red light or smoke or sparks from under the door. Instead, after a few minutes Sett exited the room. He spotted me watching, or rather I let him spot me watching. He threw me a wide smile, that manic smile like when hes cleaving another man in two. Things must have gone well. Prick.
A while later, when the sky had greyed and the wind picked up, some of the men started fishing over the side. The captain and the half-orc were talking. I walked over casually to see if our scaled friend had betrayed our trust. To my relief, their discussion concerned only squid, and the unusually high amounts of it in this part of the sea. I turned my gaze to the crows nest to see the cook and the mysterious gunman standing atop it, entrenched in ecstatic conversation.
The gunman, young Skylar, has too enthusiastic. It got on my nerves. But he was effective with his weapon, a strange noisy contraption called a firearm. I once asked to inspect them, but was only allowed so close. They were apparently gifts from his enigmatic master. His gaze turned to meet mine, then hopped between the half-orc, the pale-skinned woman, the captain, and the other crewmates. Very subtle. Luckily no one else was watching. That means the cook, Julez, was also with us. I started feeling more confident about our plan.
The sky darkened and the rain began. Our boat heaved through the waves, the sails billowing and ropes flying. Men ran every which way, yelling above the storm. Ordinarily I’d have been safely tucked away inside, but my first-mate duties had called me up to the main deck, standing beside the captain, standing beside Sett. Well, stumbled is more correct. The storm was ferocious, an unexpected last obstacle from mother nature, that heartless bitch.
There was a clattering from below, and our ship started to lean to one side. Our captain barked an order and the men filed down the stairs to the cargo hold. The only ones left on deck were me, the half-orc, Sett and the captain. Poor captain.
If it had been anyone other than Sett, I would have been nervous, but he had proved himself capable. Since the day he stepped on board, I knew he would be captain. The ship lifted, and I lost my footing. I’ve never been too good at staying up when things get rough. The lightning flashed, illuminating Sett’s form approaching our captain from behind. The captain suddenly noticed something was wrong. Call it sailors intuition. But he was too slow. Sett lifted him up from behind, grappling the captains flailing body and dragging him with ease to the side of the boat. He flung the captains legs over the taffrail, letting them dangle over treacherous water.
“Sorry cap’n. It’s not personal.” Sett yelled over the wind, a murderous grin spreading wide across his face. “Well, actually, it is. You’re not especially bad. It’s just… I’m better.”
The captains scream was barely audible over the wind of the storm, but it didn’t need to be heard. A seaman had seen the whole thing, and screamed for help.
“MUTINY!”
He was quickly silence by Hafdan, the half-orc, leaping off the poop deck and slicing downward through the mans shoulder, roaring with laughter. Hafdan has always had an odd kinship with storms.
The fighting was beginning, but Sett was distracted. I approached, slapping a hand on his back.
“Well done, Captain. What’s your first command?”
Sett was distracted, squinting down through soaking hair and violent rain. He pointed at the side of the boat. “What the devil are those?”
I followed his pointing to the side of the ship, and my heart sunk. I suppose I should have known then it was over, but men always fight to the bitter end. Three giant squid were crawling up the side of our boat. They were colossal, the size of horses at least. If stretched out to full length we could maybe barely fit them onto the deck. It was at that moment we were keenly aware of the fact that the ship had no one left steering it.
Me and Zekia fought with the wheel, but Sett took over soon after. The fighting erupted out from the lower decks, men both loyal and not fighting on the main deck, soon going toe to toe with giant squid. Three more had appeared on the other side of the ship , their beaks plunging into the wood as they climbed up, for a total of six giant squids feasting on our vessel. The crew fought for their lives, and just as things seemed to be turning in our favour, I caught glimpse of something else in the water.
In all my years at sea, I have never seen anything like it. Never heard of it either, and that’s what’s really strange. Everybody knows about Krakens, or sea-serpents, or ghost ships or the vengeful spirits of long-dead sailors. No one ever talks the radiant golden glow that swims, faster than any ship, beneath your boat. They never tell you of the giant hands emerging from the water, to pluck at a giant squid the way you might pluck at a flower. Two of those hands, bright and brilliant and golden, reached up from the depths, where still more of the things form was hidden, and grabbed our boat, and turned it over like a child might flip over a branch to search for bugs.
Cold, dark, wet, and yet, silent. The noise of the storm disappearing as each and every one of us plunged into the churning ocean.
I do not know if our boat sank or drifted or flew away. All any of us knew for the next three hours was the relentless battle between our limbs and the waves. Stedes parrot managed to give us all rope to make sure none of us got separated. Not for the first time, I saw my life flash before my eyes. However, the storm receded as our boat sailed away, as if following the thing that stole it. The swimming became easier, though our muscles grew more tired.
And then it was over. We collided with the sandy shores not far from our hideout. I’m not much of a believer in divine providence, but if the gods favor was with anyone last night, it was with us.
At least now it is over. The boat is gone and the sea-witch with it. Unfortunately, all of our plunder is gone too. We are poorer now than we were before the expedition.
And, we have new crew members to pay.
Sett (Captain): Red haired muscular barbarian. Smiles wildly when in the throes of combat. Wickedly smart. Deranged.
Rohoyo (First Mate): Bronze skin, hair always greasy, lithe and tricky. Has told the truth at least once in his life.
Zekia: Pale-skinned woman with stringy black hair and tattoos. Small frame, but packs a punch.
Skylar: Young, energetic, acrobatic, good with guns. The entire world seems to excite them.
Stede: A grey dwarf, wrapped up tight enough to avoid the sun. Rarely speaks, but his parrot, Crack Macaw, talks for the both of them.
Hafdan: Half-orc seaman. Cheery, has a unique kinship with storms.
Julez: Cook and surgeon. Confuses his two professions, but is gleeful during both. Also deranged.