The Docks

Drake Sigurdsol

A strong west to east wind prevailed as Drake stood at the helm of his flagship, the Koloss, the salty air brushing past his weathered, afflicted face. There were many things Drake was proud of, his comeliness fortunately had never been one of those things. Drake's skin had a strange white look, more sun-bleached as a mutineer's skeleton left on an island would be than pale as a landed noble's skin might be. His hair was of similar color, not to mention its stringy, unkempt look. Unlike many respected captains, Drake did not grow out a beard, or rather he couldn't. These unusual characteristics were...reminders of what happened when one got careless. That had been years ago, a weaker man would have died from it.

However Drake was by no means a weak man, and if anyone thought his unfortunate looks funny, well they knew now not to laugh about it to his face. Drake was an ill-natured man by anyone's standards, and he did not take insults well. The last man caught ridiculing Captain Drake was keelhauled until the lower half of his body was separated from the upper half. Only then was he cut loose and subsequently fed upon by sharks. This was not the only punishment meted out by the captain though. For Drake was by and far one of the largest men in the fleet. If he felt so inclined, and he often did, he would reprimand his crew using his own fists.

That said, Drake was not an unnecessarily violent man. In fact, when the crew behaved and performed as it should, which was all the time now, he was actually known to be generous, even benevolent. Indeed, he acknowledged that these methods worked better to achieve results. Now, with one of the most disciplined and loyal crews in the world, Drake was a true force to be reckoned with. Aside from his flagship, he oversaw a large fleet of other pirate vessels as the head of the largest pirate guild. While the guilds were not always united, and didn't often work together, they all accepted that Drake was the most powerful captain of the most powerful navy in this part of the world.

As the boat bobbed gently in the dock, Drake thumped his way down the gangplank at the head of his pirate crew, standing head and shoulders, even more in many cases, above his men. His fearsome cutlass swung at his left side, gleaming now that he had cleaned the blood of his most recent victory from its blade and hilt. An ever useful hand crossbow was secured to his right hip. Now was time to let the men cut loose and celebrate, no doubt most of them would blow their spoils in very short order on cheap drink and cheaper women. Ah well, so long as they served him faithfully and effectively when he needed him, they could recreate as they pleased.

Drake's pitch black eyes swept towards an innocuous building on the edge of the docks. It was the logistical office. It always surprised people to hear that pirates had logistics. It was necessary though, it helped regulate and coordinate his ships and their missions efficiently. Long ago, Drake had realized that efficiency and effectiveness were often synonymous. Inside the office he filled out a brief report, he could write too, quite well actually, stating the completion of the mission his crew had been hired for. They had successfully sacked a ship of medical supplies, effectively skyrocketing prices in a city in some far off country. Drake didn't know why the noble paying for the job wanted that to happen, but then he didn't really care as he had received a nice payday, and he got to keep the valuable supplies. All in all it had been a very successful raid.

The report completed, Drake pushed his way out of the office. It was nearing on evening and he decided to pay a visit to the Ruby Ward with a few of his officers and see what there was to see. He felt fine leaving the ship, with the group of pirates pulling guard where it was. This area of the East Docks by the southeast gate was owned and operated by his guild. His the guild kept the area well secured with guards other than those on the ships, so thievery and other such mischief was not much a problem for guild members. And besides, there was always a good time to be had in the Ruby Ward, especially since he really didn't have to worry about safety. People knew not to mess with the pirate captain and his three officers, if for no other reason than the sheer size of the captain. Though even a complete moron could tell that the captain and his men were best left unbothered.

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.