Adrian: Baldur's Gate

They veered briefly back towards the coast, next day. Adrian asked why. Zavrian offered him a small, sad smile and said "You'll see."

And he did see. It was Candlekeep. Adrian sighed, sadly. He did miss his home, even if he had never been truly welcome there. And he knew that one day, he would have to go back. One way or another.

After a few more minutes, Zavrian said "Have ye seen enough, lad?"

"Aye."

The haughty mage Ulraunt, nominal ruler of Candlekeep, had seen the pirate ship as well, from his lofty tower window. He had taken it as an ill omen. Not that any single pirate ship could threaten this walled fortress, of course, but it meant more trouble was stirring in the world, and he did not like it. Not that he liked anything, much.

Unfortunately for him, he was right. For even then, the first few had entered Candlekeep who were not who they seemed, at the bidding of Sarevok and Reiltar.

As the day wore on and they drew away from the coast again, the crew and guests aboard the Wailing Banshee ran afoul of a storm front coming in. They had fled south ever faster, trying to avoid it, and had mostly succeeded. But just as they were beginning to outrun it, they came in sight of an Amnian warship, separated from it's convoy by the same storm.

It was a fight to the finish.

Lightning forked across the sky, as the storm clouds slowly swept towards the two vessels. They had closed, and fired gigantic steel bolts at eachother from ship-bound crossbows. Doing some damage to eachother, they had then fired more, with ropes attached, to board. The Amnians had reached them first, and they would have to fight them off before boarding the other vessel.

They were the same type of warrior Adrian had seen in Nashkel, winged flare-back helmets, scarlet-stained chain mail armor. He had the feeling that if it indeed did come to war between the Gate and Amn, that the Northern City, with it's Flaming Fist warriors and peasant conscripts, would be hard pressed to hold their own territory, let alone invade the rich vales of the enemy south of the Cloudpeak mountains.

He did not have long to analyze it, as the Amnians came over the ropes, crying out "For the Glory of Amn!" They were fast and strong. He and Coran had peppered them with bolts and arrows, and memebers of the pirate crew had likewise shot arrows and sling bullets. Xzar and Edwin had hurled all their magic missiles. But still the enemy came. Adrian wondered just how many troops a warship could carry. A lot, apparently.

With the booming rush the storm was upon them, as the surviving soldiers made the journey across, and drew their swords.

Beside him, a pirate named Meerkus, taller and burlier than even Adrian, lept into the foe, a mace in one hand, and morning star in the other. Coran dropped his bow and hefted the spider sword. Adrian had one glimpse of Viconia, rising from the hold, helm in place, summoning skeletons, and then he had his own enemy to face.

A grizzled seargant type, stubble thick inside his helmet. Mesuring blue eyes bored into Adrian's cold grey ones. Swords met and clanged, parted and clanged again. The man was a good skirmisher, but Adrian had the superior, enchanted weapon.

Across, back, down, across, overtop the thrusts came, and Adrian parried them calmly, trying to fight with tactical reason rather than Bhaal fury.

The enemy realized that Adrian was trying to exhaust him by merely parrying his own attacks, and so ducked down and kicked instead. Adrian leaped, realizing too late it was a feint. A sword slice impacted with his armor, but sparked off without harm.

Adrian breifly contemplated using the lightning power of the emerald in the armor, but discared it. Lightning, even magical lightning, tended to go every which way in wet environments like this. This momentary contemplation earned him anoter glancing blow off the shoulder of his armor.

Another bolt of lightning boomed overhead, as Adrian parried high, keeping their blades up, and then kicked with his right foot, straight into the enemy's midsection, forcing the man's chain mail into his skin. The Amnian let out all his air in a whuff, and went down. Adrian's sword followed him, spearing his neck.

A flail cracked across his back and he whirled, facing another Amnian, younger, less experienced but with more stamina. Unfortunateily for this man, the iron crisis took it's toll, and his flail's chain snapped when Adrian's black blade met it. Adrian spun and cut his head off.

There was, for the moment, no enemy near him, and Adrian pivoted, seeking a new foe. He saw Kagain dancing between two Amnians, stinging their knees with his axe as they danced back from him. He moved to aid the Dwarf, but there was no need; before he had taken quite three steps, one was down with Kagain's axe in his head. The other, seeing Kagain was weaponless, closed in, but the Dwarf charged and leaped, slamming into the man's chest, knocking him backward to trip and fall overboard.

Adrian smiled at the tactic, but then suddenly found himself in the same crisis, being pushed towards the starboard edge of the ship by the spiked shield boss of another warrior. Cursing his own lack of focus, he dropped his own blade, grabbed the shield, yanked it off the shocked man's arm, and before he could bring his own weapon to bear, Adrian bashed him over the head with his own shield, into unconsciousness.

Adrian knelt and grabbed his sword, and in the process just missed being shot by an archer. As he came up, the archer fired again, but Adrian's blade blocked the arrow, which clanged off his sword and fell to the deck. He chaged the archer, who turned to run, but didn't heed where he was going and fell into the ship's hold.

Adrian turned, and saw a Half-Orc pirate naamed Kreiger knock an Amnian's blade away, then pick the man up and bear-hug him unti his back broke. Zavrian danced into his vision, whirling his cutlass, and disarming his opponent, then running him through.

Adrian turned again and advanced on a huge Amnian brawer, without a blade to speak of but with spiked knife blade sticking out of bracers on his hands. He whirled them dangerously, only to have Tiax dance in below his reach, and bash his knees in with his mace.

Adrian looked around as the lightning crashed again, but between the pirates, his companions, and Viconia's skeletons, the deck was cleared of the foe. A pirate came out of the hold, bearing the head of the Amnian that had fallen in.

"Now we take them!" Zavrian bellowed.

"No," Viconia's voice cut across him. "Not yet."

"Wha d'ye mean not yet, Drow?"

"I mean this," she said, and pointed. As one, the skeletons clambered over the enemy's ropes to board their ship. "Let my pets deal with them first."

"Aye!" said Tiax, eyes gleaming. "Tiax should've thought of that!" using his own clerical powers, he summoned a Ghoul, which followed Viconia's skeletons over.

Indeed, they did a good job, killing all save the Amnian Captain. He called for them to duel him to the finish, and Zavrian was indeed tempted, but he turned to Adrian, who nodded. Picking his crossbow up off the deck, he put a bolt into the Amnian's head from thirty paces.

They looted the warship and then set it afire, as Zavrian didn't have the crew to spare to capture it, as he would've wished. Adrian was surprised he'd want such an option. "New ships is always good, lad," Zavrian told him.

They got a fair amount of gold, gems, and several magical weapons, including the Amnian captain's own silver blade.

"Now cut those ropes and let's get outta this storm, and we'll head for home!" Zavrian bellowed.

"Home?" Adrian asked.

Zavrian winked. "You'll see tomorrow."

Adrian slumped into his hammock that night, sure that he was far to exhausted to have any nightmares. Indeed, he would shortly simply black out into sleep.

But before he could, a pair of red eyes floated towards him.

"Adrian," said Viconia in a soft voice.

He smiled wearily, knowing she could see his expression in the dark. "At last you have come to me, Drow beauty," he said. "Alas, I am to weary to pleasure you."

"And I you," she agreed. "But I heard your screams last night. If nothing else you do not wish to sleep alone, true?"

"True," he agreed.

That night he went to sleep with Viconia's warm flesh pressing against his, as they snuggled together.