Hi!
This story of mine I've been working on for the past three years or so and it's still not completed, however I will post parts of the story when they get finished. A reason for it taking so long is my: It's not good enough feeling that I keep on having while writing and as a result I can't even count how many times it has been re-written. Critique is always welcome =).
Chapter 1
It was a cloudy sky above the costal city Neiros during the morning hours and a ship was preparing to set sail in the harbour. The ship were of the type High Transporter. A ship with three decks with cannons mounted on the upper deck, second deck acting as crew cabins and storage while the third acting as cargo storage and ship maintenance room. It had three main sails on it, a triangular shaped sail at the bow, a rather big mast sail in the middle and another triangular sail at the stern. In the front of the ship on the left side of the ship there sat a name plate. It held the name of the ship: Elina. On board of the ship there were full movement, the crew of the ship were both rigging the masts and moving down boxes of cargo to the lower deck. The captain were leaning against the ship’s wheel while reading the instructions that he had gotten beforehand.
“Royal Decree”
“As always with the missions to the high transporters your mission must always succeed, if you were to fail you will need to pay for the lost goods and ship from your own pockets. Your goods this time contains silver coins and other fine things that needs to be transported to Cenaria. Be careful though since there has been an increase of piracy lately and while we do not doubt the skill of our chosen captains caution is always advised. ”
“Signed Keroe Herth, Administrator of the High Transporter Fleet”
“Pirates huh? I haven’t seen them in many years, well usually it’s just people who is too lazy for work or deranged ones. They aren’t as tough as they sound in most cases.”
“Captain, the crew have completed their tasks and are now waiting for your commands.”
Calir, one of the captains most trusted crew members and third in command was standing next to him. He wore a black-brown coat while his face showed a strange mark going over his left eye.
“Is Iory down and securing the cargo now then? Have you heard from him yet?”
“About that there seems to be some trouble with one of the guards that were supposed to arrive today, he has yet to arrive here.”
Just as Calir finished his sentence a young man came running onto the ship, he panted heavily as if he had ran all the way there.
“Speaking of the devil” the captain muttered quietly to himself.
“Yorad, you are late on your first day on the job. Do you have any excuse for this?” The captains commanding voice could be heard all over the ship.
The guard by the name of Yorad simply shaked his head. “I do not Sir.”
“You were lucky just to make it here in time, now get down there and do you job. This is the first and only time I’ll forgive it since it’s your first day”
“Yes Sir, Thank you very much Sir.”
Yorad hurried down to the third deck and entered the cargo room, there he found the other three guards waiting for him. Yorad was a guard that had just finished his training over by the High Transporter Guarding Camp. He was as many used to call him; fresh meat.
Many times before he had heard the stories of a single guard taking down many pirates on his own to later become a hero of the Transporter fleet or the times were a crew and captain tried to take the cargo for themselves and the guards fought them off since they held absolute loyalty for the King. Yorad also wanted to become one of those heroes more than anything. The guards were more of a scare factor and as long as they were there no one would even try to lay their hands on the cargo. Traitors that were found out usually got executed by firing squad or hanged.
“Your first day and you’ve already managed to upset the captain, you’re in for a tough ride kid. If it wasn’t your first day you would’ve ended up worse, trust me.”
Yorad turned around to see the second in command, Iory bolting down the cargo chains. Iory was smiling faintly at him while he continued.
“Good luck son, I’m sure you’ll need it. Also if anything comes up don’t talk to the captain about it find me or Calir first. Cethan has to focus on driving this ship. I don’t really know what the Transporter camp taught you but don’t call him Sir anymore it makes us all feel strange about him just call him captain.”
Iory finished his work and went up to the first deck to inform the captain that everything was set to be able to leave. He found the captain and Calir in the captain’s cabin discussing something about magic's again. It wasn’t unusual for them to do so since Calir had revealed a year ago that he in fact was born the son of a mage.
“ In case of us meeting any pirate do you have anything that can make this ship invisible? The best would be for us to not encounter any on the way since they tend to have better guns than us.”
“I can create a ritual that would make this entire ship invisible yes, but it will only last for an hour so you will have to tell me when you want it to happen, if you would’ve told me that we would sail today earlier than you did I would’ve been able to gather more resources than I managed but for now you’ll have to do with this.”
“Not my fault the board got a sudden request, well it’s better than nothing. Do what you will have to do to prepare it.”
Calir turned and exited the cabin.
“Ah, Iory you’ve returned. Is everything done now?”
“Yes, I’ve bolted the cargo on its correct place with the chains and the guards are in position in the room. I heard you had some trouble with the new guy today, he’s in for a ride now.”
“Hopefully all goes well today, if he’s acting up again he’ll get the whip. The faster he learns the better.”
Cethan and Iory both headed out of the cabin together and up to the ship’s wheel.
“Everyone to their assigned position, we’re heading out now.”
Cethan’s commanding voice was heard once again by everyone on the ship and many of them could be heard responding with; “Sure thing Captain!”
“Iory you head over to assist Calir with his rituals. Also don’t forget to tell the new kid not to touch any of the drawings.”
“Certainly, then I shall take my leave now.”
Cethan could see Iory heading down to the second deck while he himself focused on steering the ship out of the harbour. Since the ship was rather big compared to the other ships around he had to be careful not to bump into the smaller ones. The only thing he disliked with Neiros Harbour was that it was much smaller in size than what the other islands harbours was. If he were to hit anything it would most certainly flip or sink. This wasn’t really a day where he wanted to argue with someone since Yorad already upset him earlier. Slowly but carefully he zigzagged his way out through the harbour and a moment later he was finally out on open water. A voice was then heard from the lookout.
“Captain there is some kind of battleship approaching us, it doesn’t seem to be a pirate ship though since there is a royal flag hanging at the masts.”
The captain reached for his spyglass and just as the lookout up in the tower of the mast had told him a battleship was heading his way.
“It’s probably only Captain Dregnar wanting some information from me again. Let’s see what he wants from me this time.”
As soon as he muttered out the sentence a voice could be heard calling from his coat pocket.
“Hello Cethan, are you there?”
Cethan pulled out from his pocket a small squared stone. It was a more convenient way to communicate with these stones instead of having to board each other's ships. It had a limited range though and was almost only used as a way for ship captains to communicate with each other.
“Yes I’m here Dregnar, what do you want from me this time?”
“Since there has been a new outbreak of piracy lately I’ve been ordered to search for any hideouts that they may have. Do you know of any? You used to be one back in the days so I thought you might have a clue.”
“First of all I don’t like that you bring it up let my past rest in the past, I’ve changed now. Secondly, to answer your question; most of the ones that I knew were taken down as soon as I shared my knowledge of them after becoming acknowledged as a High Transporter. They tend to be set up in places no one expects them to be. The Black tail is a good example of it since it was set up disguised as a bar hidden in plain sight in Cenaria. The easiest way to find one is to interrogate the pirate ship captains. There isn’t any use in interrogating the crew of the ship’s since they have sworn an oath of silence to their captain. ”
“In plain sight? Hmmm… Well I’ll take what you’ve said into consideration. Let me offer you a nice mug of Revonan beer once you get back. Good luck on your trip, May the leviathan protect you.”
“I’ll appreciate the beer but I’m not really a follower of the leviathan. Good hunting to you. Transmission over.”
The captain put the squared stone back in his pocket while the battleship were seen heading to the east, slowly disappearing in the morning fog.
Calir were heading down to the cargo deck to make the final drawings to the invisibility ritual, he was carrying a blue stone with him that were used for making the drawings on the ships wood. Iory had helped him find it earlier since he had forgotten where he had put it. He knocked on the door of the cargo room and a voice could be heard on the other side.
“State your name, rank and reason for wanting to enter. If you lack a reason we will not let you pass.”
“Calir, Third in command and I’m here to finish the invisibility ritual that the captain ordered me to do in case of us encountering any pirates.”
A mumble of sounds was heard from the other side of the door followed by the sound of the metal lock opening and moments later Calir entered the cargo room.
“Anything that lessens our work is always appreciated but please hurry up since we do not wish to have people in here for too long.”
Calir nodded at the guard and started drawing down the two missing symbols needed. Yorad sat and watched full with curiosity as Calir were drawing.
“I’ve got a message for you from the captain, new boy. Don’t touch these symbols or I’ll execute you myself. We need this to avoid pirates so don’t try to be a hero by erasing them and then thinking about attacking the pirates. They have more guns than us and since you are on the lower deck there is always the possibility of you getting hit by a cannonball.”
“I wasn’t even thinking about it, I swear.”
Yorad looked away from Calir while saying it refusing to make eye contact with him.
“I’ve also heard the stories about the heroic guards but don’t confuse heroism with bravery. A guard only holds the duty to protect the cargo not to go out and hunt pirates. That’s for the fleet to do. I don’t think you’ve heard about this but these new pirate bands attack with three ships at once, they aren’t like the old ones that only used one ship.”
Three ships at once? That was something unheard of for Yorad. He thought that the pirates only used the old tactics of one versus one. That could explain why the pirates reappeared but were spotted less often.
“I never heard that they were using three ships at once, this is news to me. Don’t worry I won’t touch the drawings.”
“Good that’s what I wanted to hear.”
Calir was suddenly interrupted by a sound that went “shlom” arising from the ocean.
“This is not good. I better go talk to the captain about this.”
“What is it? What’s going on?
“There is riger fish in the ocean, that means we have a storm coming. It is likely to arrive in five minutes or so, prepare yourself in the time that you have.”
Riger fish is commonly known as “Storm callers.” They appear near the surface of the ocean once a storm is brewing up.
Calir hurried up to the second deck, where he met Iory.
“Is the ritual done now?”
“Yes, but we have a problem. I heard the sounds of riger fish in the ocean. Go tell the captain of this while I tell the rest of the crew to prepare for the incoming storm.”
“Don’t worry I’ll do it right away.”
Iory headed up to the first deck and went up the stairs to the bridge. He found the captain looking into a spyglass as if he was watching the ocean.
“Captain.”
“No need to tell me Iory, I can see it. We’ve got loads of riger fish skipping on the ocean waves. Seems like there is a huge storm brewing up for us. Things just had to get worse today. Is the ritual done?”
“Yes, Calir said it’s done and your message to the young one has gone forth. Apparently he got scared once he heard that pirates these days attack three on one.”
“Let’s just hope he can keep his pants up and hold that promise.”
“We’re in for a shitstorm, the riger fish just keeps on popping up. It’ll be hard to keep the ship on the right course in this storm.”
The clouds over the ship suddenly turned dark grey and the wind could be heard increasing in strength.
“It’s coming, do your best to hang on.”
A sudden shout was heard from the lookout.
“Captain I can see a pirate ship to our starboard but it seems to be stuck in something since it’s not moving. Also I’m coming down from here now since there is a storm coming.”
“Begin to hoist the sails, we can’t let them break during the storm. You said the pirate ship was stuck...but there is no land around here. It can only mean that the ship is stuck in a whirlpool. This day is just turning more and more shit.”
Whirlpools are a ships worst nightmare. An enormous whirl located in the middle of the ocean is usually only seen during big storms. It can suck in everything near and slowly crushes everything to pieces if it gets too close to its vortex.
“Gaargh” the captain suddenly let out.
“I can’t steer, the waves are too rough. I’ll have to let go of the wheel now, if I don’t it’ll just ruin my hands. We are in the hands of nature now.”
Iory simply watched as Cethan let go of the ship’s wheel. It was spinning like mad and Iory felt as the whole ship were tossed around by the force of the waves and wind.
“Let’s head down in the captain's cabin before it gets even worse, I’m having trouble standing up already as it is.”
Iory just nodded as reply while holding onto the captain’s seat. They crawled over to the staircase together and then down from it. Cethan reached into his pocket, got the key out and unlocked the captain’s cabin. As soon as both of them managed to get in Cethan closed the door and a knocking sound was heard from outside.
Calir had full knowledge for the storm coming but he had never anticipated that it would be this brutal.
“I got to get into the captain’s cabin, it’s the only safe place here except the guard house.” Now that I think about it I hope that the cargo is fully secured onto the ship otherwise there will be a huge risk that the guards will be smashed by the cargo crates.
Just as he got up the stairs he saw the door of the cabin close so he began to knock on it so that whoever was in there would let him in. There were no response however.
“Whoever is in there probably think it’s the storms doing, I’m better off just opening it with magic and get in.”
He began mumbling some words and a blue light was seen around the lock of the door. It took a little while but the door later swung up and he crawled inside. It was impossible for any of the crew to stand up straight in this storm so the best they could do was to crawl. The ones who tried to stand up was thrown overboard by the forces of nature that were toying around with the ship.
Calir closed the door after him and looked into the cabin to see both Cethan and Iory sitting down on the floor. Every piece of furniture that had been in the cabin that wasn’t secured by nails was piled up in one of the corners with everything completely broken.
“So this is where you were, why didn’t you open the door once i knocked?”
“We thought it was just something that flew and hit the door.”
“What are we going to do now then captain?”
“Just wait and see what happens. I can’t do anything in this storm, it’s the worst I’ve had so far. We are all just pawns in the hand of nature now.”
“Well that doesn’t sound reassuring.”
“It’s not supposed to be, I’m just as helpless as you two.”
Cethan let out a small sigh as he looked through the front windows of the cabin. He could only watch as the waves swallowed his men one by one, well anyone who was stupid enough not to hide.
A sudden creaking sound was heard from outside the window.
“What was that?” Iory asked.
“It sounded like it came from the main mast...”
Cethan looked up along the main mast and saw that it had cracks going along the middle.
“The main mast is about to be split in half, it can’t take the pressure. This is not good. Take cover it looks like it’s falling this way.”
A loud bang was heard moments later as the main mast fell onto the stern mast.
“Everyone okay?” Cethan asked.
“We are fine but I’d like to say the the stern mast probably took a hit. How is it looking out there now?”
“The storm seems to be calming down a bit the waves are getting smaller and I can’t hear the wind as much as I could before. The height of the storm must have passed now.”
“Should we head out and check the damage then, captain?”
“Let’s wait a little bit more before we make our move. You can never be too careful”
As soon as Cethan finished his sentence a loud bang was heard behind them this time. All three of them looked through the windows in the back but to their surprise they couldn’t see anything that had broken down.
“Nothing seems broken, I wonder where the sound came from.”
“It could be the rudder, we can’t see it from here.”
“That’s just great. This is very close to being the worst day of my life.”
“You’ve had worse? I can’t think of anything worse than this. Stuck on the ocean with one and a half mast with no way to steer.”
“We can always try to repair the rudder once we’ve reached calmer waters.”
“You have a point there Calir but that requires us to get off this ocean since if you get too far out it never calms down. Do you have any idea of where we are located at the moment?”
“No I do not.”
“We were heading west but the rudder locked itself as soon as the storm began. We’ve been drifting far away from the islands straight out in Nargin ocean for a while now. This part of the ocean isn’t even mapped down.”
“So we are on uncharted territory now?”
“Yes, we will have to survive without a map for now.”
Yorad had been in the guard's house when the storm began. While the storm had been rough on the ship, the guard’s house hadn’t been affected much since the only way in and out was a metal infused door. Sure the ship was shaking quite much but the goods had been chained to the floor with bolts holding the chains and the force of the storm had not enough power for them to give up. One of the other guards had gone up on the upper deck to question the captain of where they were heading but Yorad and the others never heard from him again. They waited quite a time for him to return while the storm were reaching its height. They all heard the slamming sound as the masts fell. Hearing the sound another guard went up to check on it. He was also never heard from again. Seeing this as a very good sign not to head up Yorad and the other guard stayed in the guard’s house only to open up if someone were to knock on the door.
“Hey what’s your name?”
“I’m known as Narth. You’re the new one right? Terrible day for a first day. I wouldn’t worry too much though, Cethan tends to get us out of all kinds of trouble.”
“How can you be so trusting with the captain?”
“I’ve worked on this ship several times before and every time there were any kind of trouble he managed to solve it.”
“There is one thing that bothers me though. Just after the sound that the mast made there was another bang to be heard and since it’s not from the crates or the masts it can only mean that something happened to the rudder or the ship itself. There doesn’t seem to be any water leak though which means that the damage was done to the rudder and we now have no control over this ship anymore.”
“How bad is that then? Can’t we fix it?”
“If we can access still water we should be able to but out here in the ocean we are sitting ducks.”
“For what?”
“Anything really, especially whirlpools.”
Yorad was sitting down on one of the crates as he realised that he knew nothing of marine creatures. Back at guard camp he only got to know how to handle himself on the ship as well as learning combat techniques with halberds since all the people he were to encounter would be humans. Even if he were to meet one of the estuarine mermaids that were commonly found along the islands, they wouldn’t pose any threat to him since all he had to do was to guard the crates inside the ship.
“How about you go up and check how it looks on the upper decks? The wind sounds like it have calmed down and the ship isn’t going about as crazy as it were earlier.”
“Alright I’ll give it an attempt but if you don’t hear from me in a while then assume me missing.”
“Don’t worry just look out of this small window, the waves seems to have calmed down.”
Yorad took a glance out of the small window near where Narth was sitting and found out that Narth was correct, the waves that used to be huge were of no more.
“I can see something else though, we seem to be getting closer to an enormous sized jungle. The size of those trees are just immense.”
“What are you talking about, let me see.”
Narth discovered that Yorad really was speaking the truth, huge looking trees were seen in the distance and at the stem of one of them there appeared to be some kind of wooden structure.
“We gotta go inform the Captain about this, how about you’ll stay here and I’ll go to inform the captain.”
“Alright but be careful out there.”
“Sure thing, now I’ll see you in a while.”
Subject: The Fate of the Ship Elina and her crew. 
Tue Sep 25, 2018 5:00 am
