Gallath's Vignette

[JadedDM]

Gallath wakes up that morning with a start, the sheets of his cot tangled and drenched in sweat. The nightmare that woke him quickly begins to fade from his mind, but that doesn't matter. He knew it by heart by this point. The screaming of his people, the stench of burned flesh, the horrendous appearance of the demons...

Looking around, he doesn't recognize where he is at first. But slowly the memories return to him. That's right, he's on a ship. A massive ship--a new type of vessel called a Galleon, designed by the dwarves. She was called the Bullring, after the two sisters who ran it.



Gallath remembers when he first saw the ship in the docks of Paradise City, on the island of Vaneil. It looked large enough to hold the population of a small village. Indeed, he later learned he was pretty close to the mark. The ship had a crew of 200 people--132 dwarves, 30 humans, 10 gnomes, 10 halflings, 8 half-elves, 5 elves, 3 half-orcs, and 2 planetouched. It was a wonder the thing floated at all, but float it did. In fact, it was remarkably swift for such a large ship.

He had been hired by a group of dwarves who worked for the Guild to head to the island of Mond. An organization there known as the League of Free Minds was found there, and they were causing trouble. Although the League claimed they were only interested in freedom, the Guild was worried they were little more than terrorists. Gallath's job was to check the situation out, see if the League was really a threat, and report back when he could. It was a simple enough job, and who knows? Maybe once on Mond, he might learn more about his missing sister or girlfriend.

So he headed down to the docks, found the Bullring and learned it was heading to the city of Deimos on Mond. He booked passage and was lucky enough to get an entire cabin to himself--the Bullring didn't pick up many passengers, it seemed. That's where he was now.

There were five cots in the room he was staying in, but only the one he was lying in currently was occupied. On a nearby rack sat Thrax, his falcon, his head covered by a small leather hood to keep him from flying around the cabin. Gallath's horse was two decks below, on the cargo deck. Getting him to even board the ship proved difficult. Horses do not like boats, as it turns out.

The galley was right across the hall from his cabin, and he could already smell breakfast being cooked up.

==============

(OOC: Here is a map of the Bullring.


Key:
01. Captain's Quarters
02. Captain's Study
03. Officers' Quarters
04. Armory
05. Ship's Stores
06. Galley
07. Passengers' Quarters
08. Bombard Deck
09. Powder Magazine
10. Head
11. Hold

Gallath can move about freely on the ship, for the most part. When you are ready to move time forward, return to the cabin and just let me know.)

[spyguy1503]

Breakfast! Gallath heads down to the galley and snags bacon, eggs, and some bread. He ventures up to the deck and sees if there is anyone to talk to.

[JadedDM]

Gallath gets up, gets dressed and heads to the galley. It's just large enough for the kitchen itself; there's no formal mess hall on the ship, so most of the off-duty crew eats down in the barracks on the berth deck.

After picking up some food, he heads up to the quarter deck. It's a very overcast day; grey and rather dreary looking. But there's a strong northbound wind, which is really allowing the ship to make great headway.

There are a number of crewmen going about their jobs, climbing up onto the mast, checking and securing rope, swabbing the deck, polishing the ballistae and so forth. The dwarven captain herself, along with her sister and first mate, stand up on the forecastle deck, supervising the crew and having a low-tone conversation.

The captain, and the older sister, was one Sierra Bullring. She has long red hair that has been tied up into four separate braids that hang over her shoulders. She's muscular and always wears a stern expression. Her posture is rigid. Her skin is deeply suntanned from spending a significant time out on the open sea. She carried herself with great authority and Gallath got the impression early on she was a no-nonsense type. Despite the harshness, the crew seemed to adore her, however.



Her sister, Terra Bullring, was quite the contrast. Her hair was blonde and shoulder length, her skin fairly pale--likely due to her almost always wearing a dark hood and cloak. Although nearly as muscular as her sister, she was far more relaxed and feminine. She moved with the grace of a cat, sinewy and near silent. Unlike her stern sister, she smiles and cracks jokes often.

[spyguy1503]

I walk up and speak to them. "Good day captain. You as well, Terra. What do you know about the island?"

[JadedDM]

"Morning," Sierra says with a brief nod. "I keep forgetting we have a passenger. Don't get too many of those after what happened last year."

"You want to know about Mond?" asks Terra. "Well, we visit the city of Deimos fairly often on our trade route, but usually don't go any deeper than that. I can tell you it's an unusual place. No laws, no police, no government, really. Everyone is considered equal, but everyone has to fend for themselves, too. Deimos is one of the few settlements on the island. Most people just live out in the wild, living off the land in small cabins. Large groups of people, communities like cities or towns or even villages are pretty rare. Although there has been talk of Deimos declaring itself a sovereign city-state. I imagine the League won't like that one bit."

[spyguy1503]

"What happened last year? And what do you know about the league?"

[JadedDM]

"What happened last year?"

"Pirate attack," Sierra answers. "Specifically, the Soulbiters. Ever heard of them? They're a vicious tribe of orcs that have teamed up with a family of black dragons. They only sent one ship, but they had three young black dragons with them. Their acid breath really tore the ship up." Sierra shakes her head. "Lost about half of the crew in that fight. It's taken a year to get back to where we started."

"And what do you know about the league?"

"They believe very strongly in freedom and individual rights," Terra says.

"They're anarchists and terrorists," Sierra interrupts.

Terra shrugs. "They are very anti-government. They believe that the Carnage War was caused because the Eonian government was too powerful and centralized. 'Power should never be held in all one place,' is sort of their motto. And as my sister points out, they are not always above using violence to achieve their goals. Well, some of them, at any rate. They are a very decentralized group. They have no official leaders, and consequently, no control over their own members. The only thing that really keeps them in check is the constant backbiting and in-fighting among themselves."

[spyguy1503]

"Damn dragons. They need to be killed by someone. What happened to them? Stupid terrorists, always fighting among themselves. Ah, well, makes my job just a bit harder, to find out about factions.

[JadedDM]

"Damn dragons. They need to be killed by someone. What happened to them?"

"We managed to kill two of them with artillery fire," Sierra says. "The third one was smart, though. It dived under the water, where we couldn't hit it, came up underneath the ship and started to scuttle it. Things looked pretty bleak and we thought for sure we were going to sink."

"But one of the passengers we had, this crazy half-orc, had this pet whale that was following our ship. She leaped into the sea, mounted the whale, and attacked it from under the water with her trident!" Terra explains. "Nearly got herself killed, too. Someone else had to dive in and rescue her. The dragon was hurt enough to be scared off, and so the ship was saved. I imagine it's still out there, waiting for the day to get its revenge."

Stupid terrorists, always fighting among themselves. Ah, well, makes my job just a bit harder, to find out about factions."

"Ah, so that's why the Guild insisted on us taking you on. They sent you to check out the League? Well, good luck," Sierra says. "You'll probably need it."

[spyguy1503]

"Hmm. Maybe i'll look for it while I'm here. Be a good addition to my trophy collection. Thanks, Sierra. Captain, do you mind if i exercise my falcon? " He heads back to his cabin to grab thorax and bring him out for some exercise if she says yes.

(OOC: Is the dragon killer whale lady a PC?)

[JadedDM]

"Sure, just don't get in any of the working crews' way," Sierra says.

=========

(OOC: You are correct.)

[spyguy1503]

I go get Thrax and let him exercise, go visit my horse, and pass the time.

[JadedDM]

Gallath collects his falcon, Thrax, and brings him above deck for some flying exercises. Falcons need to be flown and exercised daily, as Gallath well knew. Their health deteriorates if they are not flown at least once every 3-4 days.

When he was done, he brought Thrax back down to his cabin and replaced its hood. He then checked the local mouse traps on the ship and was lucky enough to find they had caught one. Mice are always a problem on any ship; they get into the food and spread disease. Hence why all ships had plenty of mouse traps about. But this worked out well for Gallath. He needs to feed Thrax at least one mouse a day or the equivalent of, as hunting birds cannot be trusted to hunt on their own, otherwise they are likely to fly off and never return.

After feeding the dead rodent to Thrax, Gallath then descended to the cargo hold and spent some time with his horse, seeing that it was fed and groomed. Borak, a war horse, was sturdier than most as it was trained to fight in combat. However, it was still uneasy being at sea. Gallath's presence helped in calming the horse down.

Borak was kept in a small stall that had been hastily constructed just for him and filled with hay. While inside the stall, nobody could see Gallath unless they approached it directly. Thus, so it was that when the elf heard footsteps approaching, he remained out of sight.

He overheard a few sailors talking, instead.

"You sure this place is safe to talk?" asks a gruff, male voice.

"Relax. Nobody ever comes down here," says a woman's voice. "Try not to worry so much."

"Harrumph!" grunts the first voice. "Worry? On a Guild ship? They'd tear us apart if they knew we were with the League."

"But they don't know, and we'll be landing in Mond soon enough," says the woman. "Then we can rejoin our brethren."

[spyguy1503]

I try to keep out of sight, while getting a look at their faces and keep listening. I keep one hand on my dagger.

[JadedDM]

Carefully peeking around the horse's stall, Gallath spots the people talking. There are three of them; a human woman and two male dwarves. One of the dwarves has yet to speak.

The woman is quite striking. She has brown skin, raven black hair and a curvacious figure. However, her back is to Gallath so he can't see her face.

"Who's our contact when we get there?" asks one of the dwarves, the one with the gruff voice.

"An elven woman," says the human. "Tialis, I think it was. She's not part of the League, but is working for them. She is helping to organize the coup in the city."

"Damn, we're probably missing it as we speak. I wish we would hurry up and get there!" the dwarf complains.

The woman gives a throaty chuckle. "This is one of the fastest ships there is. We couldn't get there any faster, trust me. Now, just behave yourselves, keep your heads down and wait until we arrive."

The three then head back upstairs, leaving Gallath alone with his horse.

Although by accident, he had eavesdropped on an interesting conversation. That woman is apparently a member of the League. If so, investigating her might help him learn more about what they are up to.