The Last Year
The past year has been very good to me, no one tried to kill me, except for that one wench in Falstagrad, funny she didn't look dwarvish when I made that comment about stunties. I meant no malice, dwarves have been some of my best mates. At any rate I made captain in the spring, the good Duke passed in his sleep, apparently he had a breathing disorder, HONEST!!! He snored something terrible up until that night, we just thought the alchohol and spicy foods had opened him up to breath right, wasn't until the next morning we realized he wasn't just sleeping it off. There was no drawing of lots, or a vote, the mate just asked "what next Cap'n?" They just call me Captain, no name, not even in port. I was still hiding from the Red Wizards, forgot my own name some time ago hoping that they would too. Not the first sign of them in the past year, so that was another thing that made it good. Ship seems to be holding up well, no repairs, no bad weather to speak of, and it seems to move faster without Duke. Profit's are up, the crew is happy. We finished out the year with a trip to the inner sea. Took a young Tianman and his crew, several of them Stunties to an undisclosed location. Reminded me of Company business. No names, no real port as a destination, just a clearing along the shore and the smell of trouble in the air. Reminded me of my friends and the old days. We took our pay and set out to spend that merchant gold in the nearest port, celebrate the coming of the new year. Year of the dragon to the Tian's I was told.
I woke up in a new year, same port, same crew, but a new feeling. Dread.
I wasn't sure why, so I rolled out of the bunk and went to check the watch, only to find him sleeping. There were wet footprints on the deck, and small jar with what appeared to be teeth in it sitting on the rail. Just sitting there. It was a message, the Red Wizards had found me and wanted me to know they had found another as well. I couldn't tell from the teeth who, but they looked dwarven to me. That would figure, the dwarves were less likely to run from a fight and more likely to try and face what was coming. Obviously what was coming came and now it had come for me.
Maybe it was the thought of my friends being hunted down one by one, or maybe it was the memories stirred up by the Tian and his friends, or maybe I was just tired of running. One thing I knew for sure was that I was done with that, a new day had dawned and with it a new plan. Since they knew where I was, no point in hiding it anymore. I went ashore and commissioned seamstress to make me a new flag drew her a picture of the company seal, picked up some tar and went back to the ship. I had the new name on the back before the watchman woke. The crew didn't quite understand the ramifications, but they seemed proud when they saw the name, even prouder when we flew the new colors. I made them all take the oath before we set out to sea. Too niave or too foolish to realize what they were getting into, they all seemed a little taller after taking the oath. Only the first mate seemed a bit worried, but then with age comes wisdom. We set sail under the seal of the Company in a boat named The Black Hand.
The Red Wizards sent me a message, and I sent one right back. For one of us, this was going to be the Last Year.
I woke up in a new year, same port, same crew, but a new feeling. Dread.
I wasn't sure why, so I rolled out of the bunk and went to check the watch, only to find him sleeping. There were wet footprints on the deck, and small jar with what appeared to be teeth in it sitting on the rail. Just sitting there. It was a message, the Red Wizards had found me and wanted me to know they had found another as well. I couldn't tell from the teeth who, but they looked dwarven to me. That would figure, the dwarves were less likely to run from a fight and more likely to try and face what was coming. Obviously what was coming came and now it had come for me.
Maybe it was the thought of my friends being hunted down one by one, or maybe it was the memories stirred up by the Tian and his friends, or maybe I was just tired of running. One thing I knew for sure was that I was done with that, a new day had dawned and with it a new plan. Since they knew where I was, no point in hiding it anymore. I went ashore and commissioned seamstress to make me a new flag drew her a picture of the company seal, picked up some tar and went back to the ship. I had the new name on the back before the watchman woke. The crew didn't quite understand the ramifications, but they seemed proud when they saw the name, even prouder when we flew the new colors. I made them all take the oath before we set out to sea. Too niave or too foolish to realize what they were getting into, they all seemed a little taller after taking the oath. Only the first mate seemed a bit worried, but then with age comes wisdom. We set sail under the seal of the Company in a boat named The Black Hand.
The Red Wizards sent me a message, and I sent one right back. For one of us, this was going to be the Last Year.
posted by Black Hand Annalist at 1:53 PM
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