City of Sinister Angles

The Sword In The Sea

Wugui Island rose tentatively out of the Celestial Sea like a tortoise unsure whether to surface. Perfectly situated within raiding distance of Cathayan treasure ships, the Paradise Islands, and many of the major Thulian trade routes it was bustling epicenter of pirate activity.

As much a naval fortress as a city, there was nary a groghole, den of inequity or house of ill-repute in all of Wugui that didn't boast parapets and a cannon or two. In the worst cases perhaps a catapult loaded with random debris. The pirate town had repelled at least three invasions by sea in the century-and-a-half of its existence, one of which was a very earnest attempt by the old House Oberon. This was, as any sailor could tell you, won by the invincible alliance of Huang Zu Shi, the Pirate Queen of the Occident, and Oskar Totenkopf, the Reaper of the Thulian Sea.

That time, however, had passed. Both Huang Zu Shi and Oskar Totenkopf had left for the only pirate island grander than Wugui: the city of sinister angles herself, Thule. In doing so they created a power vacuum that shook the pirate world like an earthquake.

And so, as was always the case when it was unclear who truly ruled Wugui, idiots and children began to tell stories of the Sword in the Sea.

* * *

The Smiling Skull was the kind of bar frequented by pirates back from unsuccessful raids and various hangers-on. It was considered disreputable even for an island of disrepute.

The air inside was thick with the druggy smoke from dozens of pipes and poorly rolled cigarillos. It was a claustrophobic little rat's nest of a pub, actually a good deal larger than it seemed from the inside but choked by the crowd and poorly placed furniture.

Griffin, the bartender, was a wiry old man who had withered away to just skin and muscles. He stood behind the bar glaring at each patron in turn. His suspicions were not unreasonable.

There was a man with a vulture nose and a patched black bandana fondling a knife like a lover at the end of the bar. He was sizing the crowd up for weakness and if he found any he was going to stab it. Griffin would be the one who had to clean up the mess.

A table on the left side of the bar was filling up with the crew of the Gorgeous Shrew. Their rivalry with the crew of the Smiling Jack Skeleton, who already occupied several tables on the right side of the bar, was legendary. Neither side would hesitate to completely destroy a lot of expensive flagons, trays, chairs and even tables if they started murdering one another. This was something they were generally inclined to do.

A man in a large pointed hat and ill-fitting robes had settled himself at a table in a corner and was preparing to smoke something out of a giant, elaborate water pipe. Griffin didn't know much about wizards, but he did know that sometimes they took drugs where if you take them wrong you can summon demons. At least that's what the wizards told him when the demons burned down his last bar.

The real trouble, however, had just walked in the door. She wore a greasy leather tricorn hat over a bandana that had at one time been red. Her stringy hair was long and pulled back into a rough ponytail. Her patchy jacket gave the impression of having been constructed from two different jackets. This problem-given-human-flesh was none other than "Captain" Cassie Callico.

"The Sword in the Sea!" she announced, apparently to the entire bar "I'm putting together the finest crew this island's got and we're going to find it. Who wants to come with me and become a legend?"

The general din of the bar hadn't let up any, and her speech died in the air.

"Come on ya lilly-livers! Who's a taste for romance?" she yelled, a little louder.