Bloodsword: War of the Leaf

Chase through the Kardells

"Dragons burn me, it's been almost five days, Sark."  Hissed the Dawn Princess' helmsman, Baz Tranos, a rat-faced Solavar out of Kar Ezel, to the far north.

  "Does the Hammer think he'll pull the Cloudwalker out of a magic hat, out here in the open sea??"

  "Shut yer gob!"  Sark snarled as he twisted away from the rail he had been leaning on to glare over at the small Solavar.  Grimacing after giving what he thought was a goodly hard look to the helmsmen, he turned back to the view of the mid deck he had been examining.

Everywhere his eyes fell, crewmen were working hard to keep the Princess in tip top condition; cleaning and refinishing the deck, scrubbing the metal fittings until they literally glowed and mending torn sail and rope with awls and twine.  The Princess may have joined the Seventh Dragon in Hell while she was in port, but, as soon as she got onto the open sea, she was run as tight as any Imperial warship.

  "Unless you want to feel the cap'n's hammer splitting your head like an over ripe melon!"  He went on, eyes narrowing as they caught sight of a couple of slackers over by the grappling hooks.  They were supposed to be re-coiling the ropes that kept the hooks attached to the ship during a boarding, but were smoking karn root instead.  Not that he minded the crew smoking root now and then; it helped settle the nerves.  But an order is an order, and to the Seventh with the bastard unlucky enough to be caught flaunting them.

Hefting his own short club used to maintain discipline, Sark pushed away from the rail once again.  Turning to Tranos at the wheel, he frowned as he ran his hand over the smooth length of the club.

  "The cap'n likes finding ships in the middle of open sea, you know that.  It's a gift and he's got it.  He knows where the Walker is, of that I have no doubt.  And, if I ever hear you expressing doubt in the Hammer's abilities again, I'll gut you myself!"  He warned tightly, with a shake of his club in Tranos' direction.  In reply the rat-faced elf muttered darkly, but nodded.

Grunting in satisfaction, Sark turned to take the stairs down to mid-deck, intent on finding his slacking root smokers.  Just in time to narrowly miss a massive, blocky mountain of a man step out of the captain's quarters, his bald head nicked and scarred from a dozen wounds, easily matched by an equal number of scars on his craggy face.  Deep set eyes literally burned with intensity out of sunken sockets and a nose that had been broken more than once, completed the fierce visage.

Brawny arms jutted out of the sleeveless tunic he wore, strained by his massive shoulders, and his tanned forearms were tattooed and almost as scarred as his face.  Baggy black sailor's breeches tumbled into calf-high boots of fine Lodremoor leather, held up by a broad crimson sash, both immaculately clean, as was his white tunic.

The beetling brows rose at the sight of Sark bearing down on him, head down.

  "You have news for me, Sark?"  The big man rumbled and the Mardish first mate looked up and caught sight of the human for the first time.

Slowing to a hold, he shook his head 'no'.

  "I was just on my way to talk to a couple of slackers, cap'n."  He continued, pointing in the direction of the foredeck with his club.

  "Pity."  Lot said softly, his Tranalo now almost perfect.  He then jerked a thumb back into his quarters.

  "Go and grab Rack.  I want to go over our course for the next fortnight."

  "Aye, sir."  Sark gave a nod of acknowledgment and was quickly off to find the Princess' second mate, the slackers momentarily forgotten.   

It was shortly after that found all three men sitting around a small, collapsible table in Lot's tiny cabin.  Several charts and maps of the eastern Meridian were spread out on the table's surface, held down with various navigating gear, including a protractor and a navigator's astrolabe, it's intricate mechanisms gleaming in the sunshine that poured in through the windows.  Lot put a thick forefinger on the top most chart, indicating a spot west of Tarol and just north of a group of large islands called the Kardell Clan Islands.