Admiral Roger Eramus settled back in his red velvet chair, one of the few luxuries he allowed himself in the otherwise spartan captains quarters aboard the flagship 'Righteous.' Taking a sip from his wine glass, he looked again at the charts laid out on his desk. Yes, they were making excellent time. the large contingent of soldiers aboard this small fleet could well turn things around in Mithranas. He stroked his well groomed moustache and took another sip of wine. Yes indeed, the governor would be most pleased. Perhaps he could get command of that war fleet after this. It would be good to see some real action instead of playing ferry captain to these land lubbers.
The silence of the night was suddenly shattered by a tremendous clap of thunder accompanied by a flash of blue lightning. 'What in Rowans name!?' cried the admiral with a start, standing up from his chair. The second mate had told him the sky would be clear and the wind favorable all the way into port. Someone was going to be given bilge duty for this blunder, thought Eramus as he rushed onto deck, his admirals jacket only half buttoned. 'What the devil is going on?!' he queried the startled helmsman.
'A storm, sir, and a big one! It just came out of nowhere!' A staccato roll of thunder and ragged bolt of lightning accentuated his statement. 'Sir, it will be hard to hard to maintain course with the sails still up'
'The wind is to strong already to drop them easily,' replied the admiral over the growing din of the storm. Hold steady as you can, I'll get the men to cut the sails down. the mast will splinter under the force of this wind otherwise.' Another burst of lighting showed the lookouts scrambling down from the mastheads. In this weather, the crows nest was far to precious to remain in. The lightning showed that at least one other boat had already dropped sails. 'Good,' thought the admiral, 'that captain is a quick witted fellow.' A dozen sailors rushed onto deck, and expertly cut a few key ropes. In moments, the sails crashed onto the deck in a tangled heap. The wood and riggings groaning began to subside. It was a mess, but everything was repairable. they would ride out the storm. Having done their job most of the crew rushed back under deck for fear
of being washed overboard by the growing swells of water. The angry ocean was tossing the galleon about, but the steady hand of the helmsman managed to keep the craft from capsizing. Huddled around the wheel were the admiral and, two sailors, and the helmsman. Roger laid an encouraging hand on the helmsman’s shoulders and shouted something in his ear that was ripped away by the furious gale. The helmsman acknowledged what he assumed was encouragement with a grim nod. Experience told him this was going to get worse before it got better.
* * * * * * * * *
Daryuun stood at the prow of the 'Sea Wolf' and watched the storm unfold before him. he could feel the energy, the raw natural power still lingering in his sinews after the casting of the potent spell. El-Amn and his cousin, Kratus, god of storms, had wrought this gale at the Druids behest. He enjoyed the sensation of this testament to natures power for a moment longer, then gave the signal.
Five eagle men lifted off from the deck of the little ship and began to circle low about the water. Two Jaguaro men clad in black leather armour, along with two rangers clad in a facsimile of a white cloak uniform skitted off just above the waters surface aboard the flying carpet. Seeing the well trained veterans were ready, Daryuun mounted Lucas, Galen McGown's loyal hippogriff mount of these past twenty years. Galen had loaned the flying beast to the druid for this special mission. Daryuun stroked the animals feathers and whispered into his ear. With a flap of his wings, Lucas gently took flight.
The airborne warriors flew low and fast into the heart of the storm towards the nearest ship. The crew had managed to drop most of the sails, but one mainsail, its surface emblazoned with a now ruptured sunburst of Rowan fluttered in the raging winds. Buffeted by the storm, the flyers struggled closer to their mark. With a mumbled incantation and a wave of his hand, the druid caused the wind and waves to settle around him, and the other men moved in close so as to remain within the druids protective sphere. A flash of lightning told Daryuun what he wanted to know. The deck was, as he had hoped, virtually deserted. the storm would not only distract the crew but also cover any noise his force might make. HE flashed a hand sign to the flying carpet, and then held position with the Eagle men about a hundred meters off the ships starboard side. The carpet and its four passengers zipped forward over the bulkhead of the galleon. Setting down lightly the deadly warriors crept up behind the small group that was encircling the wheel. The ranger captain saw, as he grew closer, that one of the men was the admiral. They had stumbled aboard the flagship on their first try. Not that it really mattered much. they had to board every ship to accomplish their mission. The two rangers approached from behind, as the Jaguaro men took to the flanks. The Ranger captain tapped the unsuspecting admiral on the shoulder.
Eramus turned around and stared. 'You white cloaks should stay below... What the devil!!' The men where dressed in white cloak uniforms, but instead of the familiar sunburst, these soldiers sported the depiction of a tree. Recognition of the symbol of Path dawned on his face about the same time the rangers mailed fist smashed against his jaw. The admiral crumbled moaning to the deck. The two sailors realized they were in trouble. One whipped out his cutlass and swung at the nearest ranger, while the other ducked and rolled off to the side, a dagger flashing from seemingly nowhere into his hands. The sailor with cutlass took tow wild swings, while the ranger stepped back and drew his sword. Though the ranger was a supierior swordsman, the sailors more experienced sea legs gave him an edge in the melee. With every swing the ranger found himself in an increasingly worse position to counter attack. He blocked a swing aimed at his legs, stepped back and barely parried a cut meant for his head. Just then a huge swell caught the 'Righteous', and sent the combatants sliding across the deck. The ranger lost grip of his weapon, but the experienced sailor did not. quickly regaining his feet, he Stood over the fallen ranger and aimed a swing meant to split the hapless mans head. His smile of victory turned to a look of shock and pain as he noticed the bloody spear tip protruding from his chest. The last thing he heard was a noise somewhere between a growl and a purr. The Jaguaro warrior stepped out of the way of the falling corpse as he withdrew his spear. The sailor may have had good see legs, but the nimble feline warrior had not even lost his balance, with a grin he helped the ranger to his feet.
Meanwhile, the second sailor had rolled into a kneeling position and hurled the two knives with remarkable accuracy at the ranger captain. The sailor, however, had not gauged the wind well enough, and the daggers fell short and skittered back towards him across the deck. With two quick strides the captain caught up to the sailor and grabbed him by the collar. 'Kinda like pissin into the wind, eh? Now if you know what good for you, you'll hold still.' A glance at his comrade told the sailor that any further resistance could earn him a one way trip to Davy Jones locker. The second Jaguaro man made sure the helmsman didn’t need any further subduing. He continued to steer, being full aware that that his life depended on the ship remaining above water.
The sailor and admiral were promptly lashed to the mast, and one look at the fierce Jaguaro warriors made them cooperative in telling the men where the navigators quarters were. The ranger captain strode to the side of the ship and signaled the other six flyers. Daryuun and the eagle people were aboard shortly. The calm that surrounded the powerful druid allowed the men to hear each other without shouting. Daryuun dismounted and followed the rangers to where the navigator was staying. The door was locked. Daryuun lay his hand against the stout oak. He could sense every fiber of the wood, he closed his eyes and focussed. With a loud crack that was drowned out by the thunder, the door splintered into fragments. The startled navigator was huddled under his bed. The robed druid strode over to him and pulled him out while rangers stood silently at his sides. Daring the mans face close to his, the druid spoke softly to the frightened man. 'You will come with us now.' Silently nodding his assent the navigator dutifully followed the druid out. the ranger captain grabbed the charts and the sextant that were in the room. All the navigation tools he stuffed into a sack, and then went out onto deck. The party was gathered around the helm, Daryuun still clutching the navigators collar. The five eagle men were standing about, their sharp vision watching for any possible problems.
Daryuun turned to speak to the admiral and the two other crewmen. 'Your lives will be spared for now, at least until I decide what to do with you. I must warn you that I will be angry if you try to reach port until I tell you to do so. But just incase you are stupid enough to attempt it...' The druid's hand reached out and caressed the compass that was mounted next to the steering wheel. The instrument suddenly erupted into a ball of blue flame, its fragments falling to the deck and coming to a rest in the unnatural calm that followed the druid. With a grin at the ships crew, he turned back to the eagle men and gave one a nod. The fierce looking creature let a screech and rose into the air. Its talons wrapped around the navigator shoulders. With a furious flapping of wings and rather unmanly scream from the navigator, the bird-man took off towards the 'Sea Wolf'
The rest of the small force gathered around Daryuun. 'The remaining four boats should be easy. They are the same design, so the navigator will be easy to locate. We'll go to each one using the same procedure. And remember,' said the Druid, his eyes resting meaningfully on the Admiral, 'we don’t need information from any of the crew anymore, so if somebody gives you trouble, kill them'
* * * * * * * *
They had done it. The navigators from each of the five ships were locked in chains below the deck of the 'Sea Wolf.' Every piece of navigational equipment was captured or destroyed. With the storm blowing the fleet around, ships would be hopelessly lost. Closing his eyes and reaching out with his mind, the Druid felt the storm. With his will he fed the storm more power, guided it in its power. Yes, the white cloak fleet would be hard pressed to figure out how to get to land, even if the captains had the courage to defy his threats. he had the 'Sea Wolf' navigator plot out the location of the white cloaks. The little ship would keep track of the fleet until it came time to return the navigators once the regional governor had agreed to the demands of the Mithranas alliance. El-Amn be praised, the nights work had gone quite well.