Hugo Aldsworth's Story

Dominic Diamondheart

For a brief moment Johnathan had thought he was going to get a crossbow bolt lounged between his eyes. He knew that in most instants that the Sea Monster wouldn't murder a man for speaking to him. The moment he had turned around through, he seemed as intimidating and massive as the leviathan he was named after. His words had somewhat grounded him back to reality as he had offered a seemingly calm smirk and a nod of his head. "The lovely fragrances of the Carmine Maid will be eagerly awaiting your legendary company." he prose as the four departed again.

Johnathan was surprised how good of a promoter he was at time, the rare patronage of a powerful warlord for the evening for the Madame and the Carmine for a brief exchange of words. Then again, when finding words to say Johnathan always had a particular talent in that aspect: even as a lying good for nothing whelp. With a smirking grin, the handsome well toned man returned back into the confines of the rich exotic brothel. A few approached the single prostitute, some neutral and others irritated.

"You didn't piss off the bastards with those smug words of yours did you!?" One in the group accused almost appearing as though she was about to strike him for losing such fine business. Johnathan's dwarven friend was quite quick to come to her co-worker's aid. "If the Sea Monster was disgusted by the offer there would be one less whore in the Ruby Quarter." She asserted.

Though it did silence the critics, Johnathan was not so terribly assured with those amoral wording. "The Sea Monster has business in the day, he told me he will be dropping by the evening." He proposed which gave enough certainty to dispel the group away. Johnathan took another breath as he looked a rather fat hairy man wearing too much jewelry with teeth made of gold that was pacing out with a friend armed thugs. It was none other than Hassir the Flesh Peddler, a slaver that bought exotic people of the wild untamed lands and sold exclusively to brothels. If he was here, it had meant he was seeking business.

"You! Whore!" he somewhat bellowed. Hassir had never bothered to learn any name he did not deem important, it was strange of all the seasons he had been in the city he was always referred simply as 'whore' to this man. Holding in his true disposition he turned to the man with a neutral face bowing his head as he spoke "Master Hassir, How may I-" Was all he could say before the impatient man spoke again "I have no time for formalities! Where is your mistress!? I have business to attend with her. Very rich business that need not wait!"

He paused for a moment before he idly spoke "She is at the Bazzar during this hour." Johnathan had answered in return "Good! Good! Than that is where I go next!" With that had said the immensely wealthy man paced away with his guards in tow. Rumors had circulated that Hassir had privately funded a war in the wild lands beyond the seas for an aggressive chiefdom to expand its statehood. This had resulted in Hassir having first pick of the thousands of war captives in the aftermath of this war, some have said the fleet of ships that were said to arrive would be rich in 'black gold'. To Johnathan though, it may mean having new blood in the Carmine for Hassir always had a habit of saving his absolute best pick for the Madame.

For now Johnathan would wait, the red haired client would arrive sooner than later and it was his personal responsibility to greet and escort her through the Maid with her list of potential new clients.

---

The Docks

Prince Constantine IV

The morning was still and the skies a murky grey, fog had begun to roll along the piers obscuring the fleet of ships that crowded the free port of Daggerford. Nathan Bounty had been a smuggler and a very successful smuggler at that. His days in piracy and contraband from slave to foreign silk had given the man a rather comfortable retirement in the Palace Ward. As a sign of sentimental value he had kept his old vessel: The Sapphire of the Ocean seaworthy in port managed and maintained by a few paid crew members to clean and manage her a small gang of toughs to discourage vandalism and theft.

Nathan was now an elder man, a bald wrinkled head with a well trimmed white beard. He was deeply tanned and still a very active looking man due to his many adventurers on the high seas and dressed in rather rich clothes as a sign of his own status in the Merchant Guild which he served somewhat as a adviser to for a good pension. Dulled brown eyes examined the vessel again as a voice spoke out to him. "Its rather a marvelous vessel old friend, it sometimes makes me wonder our place in this new generation."

His eyes turned to Merrivian Veldonnas. Veldonnas had been an actor once, though when the more respectable seeking pashas had noticed how eloquent he was with words they began to hire him to write speeches and pamphlets of all kinds. Within the city where literacy was rare, Veldonnas quickly became the most popular playwright and author within Daggerford, supply the ample masses with witty comedy, beautiful drama and to some extend tragedy that was not booed off the stage by the groundlings.

The equally old man seemed to age somewhat more gracefully, appearing a smooth, handsome man of his late forties more than the elderly pirate before him. Dressed in equally rich flowing robes he was accompanied by a single slave bodyguard, a loyal mercenary that held no tongue from the Wild Lands. Merrivian spoke a foreign dialect and the man departed from earshot for now as he joined his old friend's side to speak in private.

"We'll out live the little bastards yet." Bounty had boasted rather firmly prompting his friend to somewhat chuckle.

"Still as jovial as ever I see." The other old man commented as the two actually made their way up the walk way of the ship.

As the two arrived on top deck, they behold an image they had not been expecting: Prince Constantine awaiting for them. "Gentlemen." The masked prince hailed the other two men. Both were in slight fright, and this was what Hugo desired if for a brief moment the brief and sudden realization that he could be anywhere at any moment. The loyal and secretive monarchists returned their attention to Hugo both bowing their heads respectively as they spoke "Your Highness." In their graces.

Hugo had liked these men, they were experienced and competent something he found lacking with the boot lickers and flatterers of merchants that made the bulk of the movement here in the city. He did tried to seek other counsel now and then to give the illusion that he held them dear and appreciated their support but he would not be a vain and rash ruler but a prudent one and remained grounded in wise counsel.

"Forgive my intrusion on your weekly conversations of philosophy and science, but I knew this was the only time I could seek word with you." The spies the Prince had been able to install had told him through contacts that The Rakkath had vanished from affairs and that his Blood Hound was distracted with an assassination attempt on his life to manage the guild personally in his master's absence. The infrastructure of the Achaz was awe inspiring and perhaps too good for Rakkath's other lieutenants to truly manage on their own accords. It had left cracks in the system, which have given the Prince ample enough time to slip this small meeting in and then vanish out before anyone above could suspect a thing.

"Let us take this conversation inside the captains quarters." He requested and with that statement the two men followed him inward to speak.

Prince Constantine IV

The three men quickly retired to the lavish Captain's Cabin of the Sapphire of the Ocean. Nathan dull brown eyes took a gander at the quarters before him, a simple cot, an end table, a few chairs and a table. Yet for many a time at sea it had been his home, where he had retired in the evening and such forth. It brought back fond memories as his attention warranted back to the Prince.

The masked young man took a gander at the rustic and simple room, silently choosing to remain standing as the two retainers had took their seat. "Word has already reached port of the ship our agents had hired Drake Sigurdsol to sack. 300 tons of cargo and medicine now lay at the bottom of the seas with many of its crew managing it dead, enslaved or stranded." Merrivian explained.

Surely to condemn those innocent sailors to their dismay was immoral, but Hugo had quickly learned the morality had to be separated if he desired his throne. "Then our contacts at the City State of Suran should be speaking with the Malik about this issue now." he proposed.

The pirate guild had been their puppet in this ploy, and now he could reap for what he had to pay a king's ransom and the loss of many lives. The Malik al Suran was the equaliviant of a King and a immensely wealthy King at that. It was he who ruled the desert city of Suran, owning a large harbor which traded the gold from the wild land's mines for the rich cloths and spices from the east taxing the trade to make his own lands extremely wealthy.

Trade had led to exposure, Suran had felt a horrid plague sweep through the streets of the city some said being brought by the rats and other vermin that stowed away from the east. The Malik had chartered a vessel under strict diplomatic sanctions to supply the city with much needed medicine. The destruction of this cargo ship meant the wraith of the wealthy and still powerful Malik.

"Stories tell me that the Malik is summoning a fleet of mercenary pirate ships unlike the world has every seen before." Bounty stated as he leaned a bit back on his chair. "5,000 vessels of all shapes and sizes all with the promise of gold and salt and other fine goods. . .by the smell of things it could spell the destruction of the Pirates Guild." He explained very cautiously. "But the men we are dealing with are no idiots, 5,000 ships of mercenaries docking in an extremely wealthy town can easily spell a riot of massive proportions and knowing the amount of gold that Suran keeps in its vault that threat can become a very likely counter before those godless corsairs even set sail."

Hugo listened to Bounty, certainly there was much that could go wrong but there was much to gain from this venture. The destruction of the Pirate's Guild meant an ally that Rakkarth or his opponents could not siphon for their own uses. Its destruction would also sow seeds of discontent among the ranks of both factions pegging and guessing who had set the pirates up and more importantly who would be next.

"Then I suggest our next action would to be install a adviser of some kind that has the Malik's ear, someone talented to scenting out subterfuge." Merrividian proposed.

The Prince paused to consider these options, the towering man in the rich robes of bright indigo slowly calculated the thoughts in his head. "The Malik's cousin is one of our greatest supporters in Suran. I will personally write him a letter which will be smuggled into Suran for his eyes. Tell me Nathan? How long would it take for it to reach his eyes if I send it by tonight?" He inquired looking back to the old man.

The old sailor simply pressed his chin, the professional doing a personal appraisal. "About 2 weeks if the ships have good winds riding on them."

"Then Gentlemen we will reconvene at that time." With that said the the Prince motioned to pace out the nearby window that led to the balcony. Both men somewhat rose from their seats following by to their astonishment the Prince was no longer present.

Bounty eyes searched the foggy harbor and slowly drew to the lone figure vanishing in the mist rowing the rows of a humble row boat.