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Would the well known smuggler demand the head of Lon Gon, hiding on board the Shibboleth and pretending to be one of the crew? Would the crew of the Gargoyle rise up and overrun the Shibboleth while the Captain was distracted?
Fortunately, Captain Trondheim emerged from his cabin, rubbing his hands together and smiling, and reported that they had traded ships. Apparently the Gargoyle was having difficulty with Specularum Customs and was unable to dock at Specularum, and was in fact running from Specularum Navy vessels. The Gargoyle crew would come on board with their cargo while the Shibboleth crew would transfer our cargo over to the Gargoyle.
"I just can't go to Specularum, is all," Captain Trondheim said. "You may want to stay on board the Shibboleth, as they will be travelling on to Specularum"
"Not flaming likely!" thought Bookem out loud. "Perhaps a small subterfuge might be in order, and wouldn't it be nice if the other four passengers carried on to Specularum without us"
A little transfer of gold saw the Special squad hidden inside a series of large barrels and transferred across to the Gargoyle with the rest of the cargo. Lon managed to swing across between the ships with the rest of the crew and successfully keep out of sight of the other four passengers, who were of course not Specularum militia personal as they claimed, but undercover operatives belonging to the Jorn guild of Thieves. Obviously sent to keep an eye on our operations, and possibly even to infiltrate the Specularum militia. We were very suspicious of them and thought they would benefit from arriving in Specularum aboard the Shibboleth; particularly if Specularum could be informed of the cargo transfer even now taking place between the two vessels.
As the two boats finally separated, the Shibboleth, now containing the suspect cargo of Black Lotus, towards Specularum, and the Gargoyle off to Fort Doom, the four thieves were seen running to the stern of the Shibboleth and shaking their fists. Unfortunately their faint shouts couldn't be discerned, but they didn't seem too pleased . Randy waved politely back.
"Fort Doom!" yelled Stanley. "Why would you want to go there? It's inhabited and run by vampires!"
"You're thinking of Luln," responded Bookem, "Luln is 156 km roughly klibwards of Fort Doom, which is actually on the coast, and is the main trading port of the Barony of the Black Eagle. It's true that undead creatures are often seen around Fort Doom, but if we keep inside during the night and don't venture to far from the city during the day, we shouldn't have any problems"
"Bloody good trade prospects too" replied Captain Trondheim, "and that's where we're going! Don't worry though, we'll overnight well away from the coast and slip into the docks with the morning tide. Stay in the sun and I guarantee you'll be able to pick up a boat to get you back to Specularum within a day, or two"
"What's a vampire?" asked Randy.
Sure enough, the Gargoyle arrived off the coast at Fort Doom just before nightfall, and dropped anchor.
"Should be plenty far enough off," stated the Captain, "but you bastards keep your eyes peeled tonight" he yelled at the crew.
Being a paranoid bunch of seasoned adventurers, the Special squad set their own watch that night, which turned out to be a sensible precaution as sure enough, just after midnight, a small rowing vessel was observed slipping quietly through the black waters towards the ship. Almost invisibly the little row-boat with its silent crew of two came alongside, just the faint drips of water dropping from the raised oars back to the ocean, and the muffled thunk of the rowlocks, the only indication of their presence.
"Fuck off you fuckers, or I'll fucking fuck you up!" yelled Zippo, "and don't you fucking climb up here"
As Zippo's yell echoed round the ship, and no doubt across the silent ocean for miles in every direction, the two shapes slipped quietly off the row-boat and started to climb towards the deck. The slippery side of the ship seemed to present no difficulty to whatever creatures these silent humanoid shapes actually were.
"Don't fucking say I didn't fucking warn ya" yelled Zippo as he sprayed the climbing shapes with holy oil, direct from his urinary tract. (This is a unique talent that Temple Fighters of the God Hob all have in common) Quickly zipping up his fly he flicked a lighted splint out into the night and down onto the two silent shapes below.
"Don't burn my fucking new ship" yelled Captain Trondheim, "or it'll be back in the brig with you, straight after you've got rid of those things!"
"Undead!" yelled Bookem, who had been woken by all the noise. "Beware their nasty claws and sharp teeth"
The crewmen clustered round the side of the ship waving their clubs all took a step back and allowed Zippo plenty of space to draw his mighty sword (The other one!)
Fiona was able to let fly two arrows from her bow, both disappearing into the burning figures on the side of the ship. The flames were leaping round the two shapes by this stage, and finally a sound from the figures could be heard. A high pitched whine, slowly increasing in volume, swelled out into the night, as suddenly, one of the burning shapes fell from the side of the ship and plunged towards the ocean. A mighty crack echoed up from below as the burning figure smashed into the middle of the row-boat, cracked open the bottom of the small vessel, and disappeared, sizzling and steaming, into the cold depths of the ocean below.
"Ha, fuck you" yelled Zippo, looking down into the dark water and shuddering quietly to himself.
The second figure, still smouldering, sprang silently over the side of the ship and landed right in front of Randy, Stanley, and the rest of the crew who all jumped back another step with a loud "Oooh"
The silent creature swung at the closest figure, which happened to be Randy, just as he twisted his magic earring, his magical short sword appearing magically in his hand, and fierce battle ensured. But given the odds, it was only a short battle, and the creature was soon dispatched and tossed over the side.
"Nice job Randy" said Stanley, "Randy, hey Randy, what's the trouble?"
Randy was standing just as had been when the creature was killed, sword raised in a striking pose, blood leaking from a small cut across his cheek.
"Petrified" stated Bookem, "obviously a pair of marine gouls on the hunt for fresh flesh. He'll be right in an hour or so"
And so he was.
We docked at Fort Doom the next morning, said goodbye to Captain Trondheim, and started looking for a ship to take us on to Specularum. There were none leaving that day so we were forced to overnight in one of the Fort Doom Inns. It was actually quite reasonable, but we all crowded into the one room, kept watches running all night, and didn't really sleep that well, due mainly to all the screams and strange figures roaming the streets throughout the night.
Still the next day saw us able to book passage on a small cargo vessel the Meme heading to Specularum. Except for Lon of course. He didn't have any money and had to hire on as crew. Pretty lucky really, as Captain Tremain wasn't looking for any new crew, but one had just broken his ankle that very morning and he had an opening. Still Lon is a lucky bastard!
"What are those coffins doing on the dock there?" Bookem asked the Captain.
"That's our cargo" he replied, "good trade in coffins round here"
"Would you mind if I checked for Undead" asked Bookem, "can't be too careful you know"
"Sure, go ahead. But they HAVE all been cleared by the dock Priest" he said, pointing to a glowing helmet at the other end of the dock.
"I agree, they all seem clear" stated Bookem after waving his hands about a bit and muttering in a knowing sort of way.
"Timber sides wouldn't stop that from working, would it?" asked Lon
"Yes, but they would have to be a foot thick" replied Bookem, "then there would be no space for any contents. You would have to have an 1/4 inch thick metal container to defeat the Detect Undead spell, and those are all timber as you can see"
"Hey" yelled Zippo who had been prodding the coffins with his sword, "this one's metal on the inside!"
"Oh, bloody hell" muttered the captain, "quick, get the Priest. I ain't carrying no live undead thing on my ship"
Weapons, Priests, Zippo and his Molotov cocktails, and assorted observers gathered round the suspect coffin in a large semi-circle, the timber lid was prised open, the lock picked, and the exposed steel lid thrown open.
"Oooo" went the crowd.
"Undead" cried Bookem
"Wooof, crump, wooof" went Zippo's Molotov cocktails.
"Arrr" cried the crowd, jumping back a few paces, as a fiery conflagration lifted skywards from the coffin.
After a few seconds Zippo waded into the shimmering wall of fire, emerging a few minutes later with a steaming amulet, a clenched fist, and a big smile.
"Nothing left but ash" he grinned "and these pretty things"
Which turned out to be an "evil" magical amulet and a pair of pearly white magical vampire fangs.
"Mine" stated Zippo.
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