Christopher Robinson
Stories
7
Chapters
2,452
Words
578.5 K
Comments
0
Reading
2 d, 0 h
-
I faced the voice with trepidation, and discovered my fears were well founded. Before me was the being that gave admirals nightmares, the ghostly doom described in sea tales by those foolish enough to be irreverent of his power. He was the closest thing the seas had to an avatar. He wore a tricorn hat and a frock coat fit for heavy seas, both black. The buttons and buckles of his outfit fairly shone green with the patina his saltwater home had created. Every article he wore spoke of worn sturdiness, and…-
71 •
-
-
I woke. That was surprising in itself. I didn’t think I had any business being alive. I was alive, right? Yep. For better or worse. My head throbbed in a counter-rhythm to the rolling of the ship. Notifications were flashing in my head, but I ignored them for the moment. A Tarish pirate in light armor was watching me come around. “You’re lucky you were out for the captain’s wrath. I’ve seen him get angry before, but that was something else.” I blinked my dry, crusted eyes and tried to stretch…
-
71 •
-
-
I turned to look about the deck and saw the last of the soldiers being surrounded and ignobly backstabbed until his HP disappeared. The sailor who’d helped me lower the raft was dead, bright red bubbles still forming in his wound. It wasn’t pandemonium anymore; the defenders were dead, and the attackers were catching their breath. I wasn’t unnoticed, several pirates were watching me with amused faces. They’d probably seen the whole drama that had just occurred with me throwing Hali overboard. I was…
-
71 •
-
-
When we were about a week out from Andros the captain called the crew to muster on the main deck. There – to my surprise – he announced that the I was more surprised that the officers would tell the truth so close to our goal after maintaining the illusion for so long. We were a week out, surely the captain knew he wouldn’t have trouble from this crew if he just overrode them? Not that I was supporting that kind of action, I just felt a little peeved that I wasn’t in on the grand secret anymore…
-
71 •
-
-
I plotted my next move carefully. I was new to this whole intrigue business, so I didn’t want to blow it. I waited for an opportunity to confront Hali alone, and discovered that she often disappeared. She’d always have a ready excuse, and those that didn’t believe her assumed she was slacking off. Was she up to something more nefarious? I made my move when I heard she was inventorying in the cargo hold. I went below and saw there weren’t any others nearby. Perfect. She saw me as soon as I entered,…
-
71 •
-
-
Blake relayed my request to the captain and returned a few minutes later. “The captain will see you.” I nodded and stepped around him when he caught my arm. “Mind yourself now,” he said warningly. “Don’t do something stupid because you got your dander up.” I nodded and he released me. I tried to mentally shift my facial expressions to something more ‘solemnly serious’ than ‘storm clouds’. I knocked at the captain’s door and was invited in. On a ship this size, the captain could…
-
71 •
-
-
Everybody had their stats hidden at first, but the example Virgam and I set – and the implicit credentials that came with your skills – had most people opening up by the second week. During that time, we fell into the rhythm of sea voyages: lots of routine, normal work; the games and shenanigans that the crew organized or fell into; and a spice of danger now and then that was more hazardous because you weren’t paying attention. For the first time ever, I practiced dedicated combat skills. The…
-
71 •
-
-
I met with Blake and he pointed me to first mate Donaldson’s cabin. The first mate had open stats, and a wealth of seagoing experience as well as skills in naval warfare. That made me feel warm and cozy, I was truly glad to see someone with his abilities as first mate. He looked more like a professional gentleman than naval tactician. Compared to the motley crew down below he could have passed for the head of the national bank. “Name?” “Domenic.” “Last name?” “None.” He riffled…
-
71 •
-
-
I woke up the next morning and stopped by a bakery for some food. My I enquired with the harbormaster and he told me the “There you are! We’ve got most of the crew on board already. Get into that boat.” I looked at the pair of rowboats. One had two teens without the rowing ability and most of the foodstuffs. The other had two sailors with low-level rowing abilities and what looked like luggage. That was the boat he wanted me in. I growled under my breath. Did he have a reason for his…
-
71 •
-
-
We picked up the place a bit and jerry-rigged enough tables and chairs to suit us. Our first poker table was a lost cause – each leg was busted and it was cracked down the middle. We carted it out back and dragged a stained, unbroken one from the corner. No one knew where we’d left off or how much was in the pot. We scraped coppers and Braggarts’ silvers off the floor and divvied them between us before re-dealing. Then we found we were missing some cards and had to search for them and start…
-
71 •
-
- Previous 1 … 16 17 18 … 246 Next
