Coriani groaned briefly before opening her eyes. Even in the dim lighting, she could see the bars of the brig she was locked inside of. Cori sighed; it was precisely the one located on a pirate mercenary ship, Henrietta’s Bane she was traveling on when a mutiny takeover occurred.
It was last thing she had been expecting considering the trip over to Kul Tiras didn’t have any issues; granted the trip was slow with one delay when they checked out an ‘abandoned’ island but she got to Tiragarde Sound and Freehold safely.
She would spare the details but the task that brought her to that place was a success and her cousin was freed. The huntress was planning on taking a different ship back to Ratchet and get Failiani to the Da Doctas campus.
Faili was scared and didn’t wish to ride back on a Horde vessel. The young rogue really panicked, mentioning something about the ‘assassins’ that pursued Cori months ago might try again to make another attempt…
Coriani didn’t wish to stress out her weakened cousin so she wrote a letter and was able to get passage back to Ratchet; at least that had been the plan before this mutiny. Such her luck! Thankfully Failiani was able to escape.
Hopefully Faili was staying put in Anyport and hadn’t left to explore. Due to her cousin’s condition, it was unlikely that the blood elf rogue would be strong enough to leave but anything was possible and Drustvar was a very cursed place…
The Sin’dorei thoughts drifted to the ship she was on. Henrietta’s Bane was the newest vessel in a small fleet of ships owned by the worgen brothers; Greywell and Erdin Vhitaker-Vasile.
Cori was familiar with them as her ‘late’ mother Vylairea used to work for these pirates- mainly with Erdin as a healer but she would work with Greywell’s crew occasionally. Technically her mother was still alive but the huntress considered her dead after she went insane and joined the Twilight Hammer cultists.
This ship was usually captained by Erdin but a family emergency of sorts called the worgen away from the ship. He was currently taking care of his greatly injured wife and their two younger kids; one which had a very severe case of narcolepsy.
With Erdin away, Greywell was the ‘stand-in’ captain. His flagship; The Hester Maria was undergoing repairs and upgrades at the family docks. Not to mention most of the crew of that vessel were in Darkshore; getting their revenge for Teldrassil.
She sat up, feeling a bit sick to her stomach. The blood elf noticed Greywell was also awake. He look at her briefly before handing her a canteen of water, gesturing at her to drink it; despite it being one of the few left in the brig.
The sin’dorei slowly sipped as she thought back to the day before the mutiny happened; it wasn’t like she could do much else being locked up with no release in sight.
Coriani had been watching over Failiani late afternoon when Vaylynna, the night elf medic checking in suddenly collapsed. Greywell heard the noise and attempted to give aid, noticing the medic wasn’t breathing at all. Cori got out goblin jumper cables that could supposedly bring someone back to life.
That was no avail as Vaylynna was clearly dead. The worgen captain was quite enraged and started to question the crew. After some investigating and around dusk-fall, the cause of death was suspected; a keg, one that had been filled with Cenarion Spirits had been tampered with.
A deadly type of poison was likely involved as there was an empty vial found nearby. Dew, the attractive male night elf navigator had also drank out of the same keg Vaylynna did- a few gulps where she drank a few glasses worth. While he hadn’t shown any signs of being poisoned, it was only a matter of time before symptoms would show up.
And no cure for it, either. Greywell had to check the supplies after the boatswain failed to report back. He noticed all the antidote and antivenom supplies for various poisons was gone- vanished.
Shortly after that, the missing boatswain was found dead in the hold of the ship; where the brig was located. He was wearing a red swashbuckler shirt at the time of death.
Coriani didn’t get much sleep that night as Faili was a bit distressed at having a medic die in front of her. Granted, her cousin had been unusually tired and had been asleep for most of the voyage. In a way, she didn’t mind trying to calm the blood elf as she was spending time with her.
Around dawn, several hours before the mutiny took place; Briny, the gnome chef had prepared a special meal of boar bacon for the captain and crew. Within minutes of him eating it, Greywell collapsed and fallen into a deep sleep.
Not just him, Briny and six worgen deckhands who ate the bacon also fell unconscious. Yes, the chef who prepared the food succumbed. He and five of the deckhands perished a few hours later.
Donrick, the oldest deckhand survived but was in a similar state Captain Greywell was in.
Coriani tried to investigate the galley where the meat was kept. She may not eat it but her pets did. She did have to buy meat for them whenever she was too injured to take them hunting. She wanted to see if the meat in the gallery was normal looking or tainted.
However, she was stopped by Little Finn, the second mate of the vessel. He claimed to have the area ‘sealed off for investigation devices’, despite the fact she couldn’t hear anything. After he snarled at her a few times, she went back to where Faili was, watching a few of the crew also being turned away.
The huntress then noticed something strange in all this; all of deceased crew had been wearing red swashbucklers shirts. Vaylynna, the boatswain, the chef and deckhands. Was the ship cursed or something?
Greywell wore pink… clothing while Donrick didn’t wear any shirts and they were alive- just stuck in a deep sleep. Tibson, the youngest deckhand and crew member currently aboard didn’t think a curse was involved but he was a teenager and magical stuff weren’t his specialty.
He did noticed that over half the crew hadn’t ate the bacon earlier in the day when normally it was their favorite food. Even though Tibson hated bacon and didn’t eat it, he noticed it also had different smells from what was usually served.
The slab of boar the captain and Donrick ate from had a more… peppery sour smell where as the cooked slab the gnome and other deckhands consumed had a overabundance smell of smoke to it. When boar bacon was usually served, it was smokey, fruity with a slight hint of pepper in smell.
He was convinced someone tainted the bacon and was surprised it was eaten at all, save Briny who apparently lost his sense of smell. Coriani agreed with his assessment; especially since she or Tibson hadn’t been allowed to take a look at it.
Later in the afternoon, Coriani heard Featherwing starting to make a squawk above; her gryphon took over the ship’s crow nest. She left her cousin briefly in the ship’s mess to check on her pet and see what the commotion was about.
At the doorway, she knew what the fuss was about as she saw saw four deckhands- all wearing red swashbucklers shirt were lying on the deck -with fatal wounds to their bodies. ‘Ol’ Keg, a dwarf cannoneer tried to warn her as he suddenly fell over dead, with a tall worgen standing over the dwarf’s body.
Mutiny during the daylight hours? That was something that normally happened during the nighttime. But yes, one was happening that seemed to be gaining a lot of support and was being lead by Little Finn. Not surprising given his attitude earlier…
She called the gryphon down to protect her as she ran below deck to warn Tibson of the danger- he was keeping watch of Greywell and Donrick. She had to get Failiani off the ship before things got ugly and grab her crossbow.
The teenage worgen looked terrified as he closed the door of the captain’s quarter’s, hopefully barring it shut while she made her way to the ship’s mess; hoping for no mutineers there.
Featherwing clawed a worgen mutineer- who was one of the cannoneers to his demise as Coriani entered the ships mess hall and was surprised to find one traitor dead with Failiani firing the killing blow to another from a pirate pistol of Sin’dorei design. She blinked briefly before hugging her cousin.
Faili realized what was going on and handed Cori her crossbow. The rogue wished to stay and help defend the ship. However; the huntress couldn’t risk having Failiani being hurt or worse, killed during the mutiny takeover as the younger blood elf was really tired after fighting the two traitors.
Cori convinced and had Failiani use a teleporting stone the rogue obtained at Anyport in Drustvar to escape the pirate mercenary ship. While it would take her cousin to that shady questionable place, it was still safer than being where they were.
She and Featherwing attempted to defend themselves and Dew- still loyal but he very ill from the poisoned keg he drank the night before from the mutineers. Coriani frowned as she realized he was also wearing a red swashbuckler shirt. O no, hopefully he wouldn’t share the same fate as the others…
Cori wasn’t prepared for the chaos that happened. Sometime later, she found herself waking up and locked inside of the brig with her armor still on, thankfully. Greywell, Donrick and Tibson had also been imprisoned along with her- all unconscious at first. Featherwing survived but those blasted mutineers held her pet elsewhere on the vessel.
All the other loyal crew aboard were dead; Dew didn’t survive the mutiny takeover. Whether it was the poisoned keg he drank from or one of the traitors that dealt the killing blow or the red shirt, she didn’t know. As it was, Cori wasn’t aware of how much time had passed since being locked up. The hold where the brig was dimly lit.
The surviving mutineers; all worgen mentioned they were keeping them and the Greywell alive as a gift for ‘Her Radience’, ‘The Light Beneath the Tides’, ‘Naga Queen’. Coriani was fairly certain she knew who the worgen were referring to and was sickened at the thought of anyone serving the Naga and their Queen willingly.
Granted, she shouldn’t have been surprised at the traitorous actions as the crew hadn’t been able to pillage that many ships as of late due to a on-going search for a young relative. However; that wasn’t the reason the those crewmen chose to mutiny against their captain.
It was much more foolish and dumb; The betrayal was due to the captain’s clothing choices. Greywell dressed… unique for a Gilnean worgen male as he wore a pink dress under his slate blue pirate coat but it was fitting for him despite his manliness and bachelorism. He was a mage, not a warrior or hunter.
But his traitor crew didn’t see it that way and would rather serve a sea-snake queen that had betrayed her own people to the Burning Legion before the Sundering. At least that’s what Coriani remembered being taught when she was younger. Hopefully these worgen would get the same treatment from the Naga.
The huntress wasn’t too keen as being a slave. Neither was Greywell and the deckhands who had since woken up and were fairly enraged at the situation- especially the worgen captain. He blamed himself for reading tomes instead of looking for signs of mutiny with this crew and preventing it.
Cori didn’t blame him for trying to find a potent scrying spell. The relative he had been searching for was his runaway teenage niece. She knew the feelings of trying to find a lost relative alive and safe- she had experienced it with Failiani.
Still, she didn’t know how long she could survive considering the conditions the naga kept their captives in. Could they escape? The brig had been enchanted to suppress magical abilities from being cast while inside. Greywell had tried countless times to no avail. The huntress had all her engineering supplies taken away and didn’t have an explosive that could blow the lock open.
The keys to the brig’s door were on the wall near the stairway. Even if they somehow got them, freed themselves and dealt with the mutinous crew, there wasn’t enough left to man the ship properly. And who knows where the ship was headed or even how it was still afloat…
“Hear that?” Greywell whispered, gesturing to the ceiling above.
Coriani nodded, hearing what appeared to be a struggle breaking out in the ship’s mess hall above them. There were three crew members, including the first mate that had been off the ship; all very loyal to Greywell and the family business. Likely one of them had used a hearthstone to teleport here and were defending themselves against surprised mutineers. “Yes. It is the first mate?”
Greywell shook his head. “No; Tall Dale is quieter than a mouse when he fights in battles. Based on the ruckus, it’s Malgekk.”
She sighed and nodded. Malgekk used to be a peon- possibly one that was considered lazy due to how he was regularly abused in the Valley of Trials. Greywell and Erdin rescued him and the orc became a pirate. He was the main cannoneer and third mate on Greywell’s flagship.
Coriani hadn’t met the orc as he had away during the trip to Kul Tiras. He and Greywell’s nephew, Vailey were trying to find a few cannons that disappeared from the family docks and he hadn’t returned yet. “Can he fight?” She muttered.
“Aye.” His voice was still very quiet. “My late father’s crew taught him after he recovered from that horrid, bloody experience in Durotar. He shouldn’t have too many problems with the traitorous scallywags aboard. She might be the possible exception but if he can take the mad wench out…” The worgen mage pointed to a chair near the keys; one occupied by a void elf.
The huntress looked over where he was pointing and scowled. Yes, a damned void elf was guarding the brig and was starting to stir from a nap. Her skin was light with a purple hue to it. Her long, dark blue hair was wavy and frizzy in appearance. Sadly the hair wasn’t able to hide the two glowing tendrils protruding from her head.
The huntress recognized and knew her name, as least the one this elf had as a Quel’dorei. Norgallidori Brightdance; a rogue and a former scout for the Horde before being exiled and eventually becoming a Void Elf. Coriani’s brother courted this elf briefly a few years before the orcs came to Azeroth.
Vithran ended the relationship with the rogue after she tried to kill him on three separate occasions- one of the happened while he was trying to sleep at the Arrowind Estate. Granted, most of his former lovers were a bit unstable but she was the worse of them.
As to how the void elf got aboard, one of the mutineers stowed or gave her a hearthstone. Cori would love nothing more than to put several arrows into the insane rogue but couldn’t given the fact she was still locked inside the brig. Still, it was surprising the she hadn’t been able to hear the struggle happening above; perhaps too distracted by the whispers in her head.
Right now, Malgekk was their best chance at getting freed but if the elf were to hear the commotion, stealthy find and attack the orc before he made his way down to the hold, the chance could be gone. Perhaps there was a way to distract her but how?
She finished the canteen of water and put it down next to her. Greywell crawled over carefully before picking up and weakly throwing the canteen against the brig’s wall. He snarled and growled before saying something so foul yet fitting to Norgallidori that Cori nearly laughed.
"‘Well… the voices told me you would say something… insulting. Know you will be muzzled or have your tongue cut out before being presented to ‘The Naga Queen’ herself.’"She chuckled while walking over to the brig.
Cori watched Greywell make a brief rude gesture at her while staring. Donrick and Tibson were keeping quiet, just watching the worgen captain mage and the void elf.
“I do remember you, Coriani. The voices back then told me to kill Vithran while dating him those three times. The whispers told me to write him a letter concerning your well-being before destroying that mailing machine you brought with you. No worries; I promised him that I wouldn’t hurt you too much- unless ‘Her Radiance’ wills it. I must serve her. I’ll be rewarded!”
The blood elf shivered; insanity at it finest if she claimed to hear voices long before becoming a void elf. Knowing Vithran, he would very likely consider such a letter a ‘hoax’; especially one that was from a former lover. Who knows what he would do if he were to find out it was genuine.
“I know you were friends with that fat goblin, Ursulixxi. I had to attack her; the voices told me she would never serve Queen Azshara like her brother. I confronted her and the whispers were true… there’s no way she survived.” She smiles.
Coriani let out a sigh. As much as she wanted to deny it, there might have been some truth in that statement. One of Ursulixxi’s brothers, Grease was involved with illegal activities. While she didn’t have any evidence of him serving someone, it was possible given he was friends with her.
She tensed when she saw an orc male, presumably Malgekk grab the keys on the wall. He was wearing a red swashbuckler style shirt and black leather pants. Normally she wouldn’t be so worried; however, every loyal crew member that died had been wearing the same shirt that the orc was wearing now. Hopefully he would survive long enough to free them.
“I know you, elfie.” Malgekk spoke with a slightly deeper pitch than Cori expected. “You used to serve Horde, beat up poor sleeping orcs. Now serve traitors keeping Cap’n, crew, huntress friend in big cage. Starving too.”
“Well, if it isn’t the lazy peon I used to beat up on a frequent basis at the Valley of Trials. The foreman didn’t mind at all. The voices didn’t tell me you would be here.” She turned towards the orc, unsheathing her daggers. “I look forward to repeating that experience again and again.”
“I can fight now, Me get payback. See how elfie like being beaten!”
“Malgekk, just kill the bloody mad wench and open the brig so I can show these traitorous scallywags my fury at their betrayal.” Greywell sighs briefly before sniffing the air.
The orc nodded. “Yes, Cap’n. Good point. Do that instead.” He then gracefully parried a blow from daggers with his sword.
“Easy, there. Malgekk won’t let ye starve.” Donrick whispered as he and Greywell tried to calm Tibson who started to whimper quietly after smelling the air. They could smell something the orc had in his pack.
“Erdin sent safe grubs, even for huntress friend. Pet, too.” Malgekk smirked.
Coriani winced and hoped the orc was referring to food in general instead of larva. She may have been hungry herself but the thought of eating bugs, maggots and such made her stomach start to feel sick.
There had been good amount of bread as part of the food supplies in the brig but it was all eaten up and the mutineers hadn’t given any more food…
She watched Malgekk and Norgallidori in fast-paced battle. While she was agile, the orc was surprisingly just as fast and stronger. The huntress wouldn’t have been able to guess he was a former peon based on his fighting abilities. Then again, Cori couldn’t actually recall if she had seen them fight before…
Not too much time later, the void elf fell to the floor. Her body wasn’t moving or breathing except for the glowing tendrils that were somehow moving? Creepy. So far, the orc had managed to evade the red shirt curse. Malgekk kicked the body a few times before running over to the brig’s door and unlocking it with the key.
Coriani felt a surge of energy as the door opened. She hadn’t stood much since the bread was gone whenever that was and felt quite wobbly and shaky. Wait, when was the last time she had a cup of Kafa? It had obviously been a while- far too long if she was getting shaky.
Greywell got to his pawed feet and made sure Cori was stable in standing. “Wait, Tibson; ladies first.”
She quickly left the brig and made her way over to the stairs, keeping an ear out for any mutineers before sitting down on one of the steps. She watched Tibson exit the brig and sit down near her, shivering a bit while looking very hungry.
Donrick limped out of the brig and sat down next to the teenager. Greywell weakly yet gracefully exited out while motioning to the orc. He muttered a chant and seconds later, and a magical-looking shield surrounded him. The worgen captain was happy that he could use his spells again before sitting down in the chair next to the stairs.
Malgekk dragged Norgallidori’s now lifeless body into the brig before leaving it inside. After he locked the door, he used his strength to break the keys into pieces. “Erdin suggest eat grubs first, then fight traitors.” He walked over to Tibson and handed him a cloth bag.
“Relax, Miss Arrowind. My younger brother is very aware of the fact that you are a vegetarian.” Greywell nodded to the orc while being handed a cloth bag. “Eat quick, we got a ship to take back and a gryphon to rescue.”
Coriani nodded as she watched Tibson quickly devour the stag meat given to him while the orc handed Donrick and finally her a cloth bag. As much as she wanted to get Featherwing from the vile traitors right now, she couldn’t considering her shaky, weakened state.
She opened it up and was very thankful to find a few slices of bread, cooked vegetables and a canteen containing a warm beverage. She opened it and realized the liquid inside was brewed Kafa’Kota berries. She quickly drank the beverage. “Thank you…” She muttered.
“Car mention Cori need Kafa.” Malgekk smirked. 'Me found Kafa."
Greywell’s ears seem to perk as he finished off the stag meat. Car; aka, Carena Vhitaker-Vasile was his human niece as well as Coriani’s pirate rogue contact and… friend. She worked with her worgen uncles but a situation had caused her to remain in a state of ‘hiding’. “I assume she contacted by letter, Malgekk.”
“Yes Cap’n. Car sent messy letter, Vailey hard time understanding. Letter said traitors taking control of ship, Your cousin escaped, Car found weak rogue in Anyport. Car asked Vailey make amends with her due to incident. She try to find the ship with Gryphie. Vailey keep your cousin safe.” The orc then grabbed a few grubs out of a small pouch and started to snack on them.
Coriani sighed in relief as she heard someone was keeping an eye on Failiani and protecting her. She hadn’t met Vailey but Car had mentioned him on several occasions during their contacts. Hopefully he was able to watch Faili without flirting too much.
“Oi… Carena is trying to find us while flying on Gryphy over open seas? With his bloody sense of direction?” Greywell winced. “I realize she has good intentions but that’s not a bright idea. I certainly hope she got treated by a healer before deciding to do this.” He finished off a canteen.
Coriani nodded briefly while finishing the bread. She had told him of the bizarre illness the rogue claimed to have off and on since arriving on Kul Tiras- one that caused the body temperature to drop to hypothermia levels instead of…
"WHAT IN LIAM’S GRAVE IS GOING ON HERE?"
Cori knew that voice belonged to Tall Dale; the first mate of this ship. She shrugged while the three worgen shook their head from the yell and Malgekk finished the grubs. If they could hear him; so could the blasted traitors.
Her pointed ears twitched as she heard him take a look around and grab items off the floor before throwing dust up in the air and ‘vanishing’ out of sight.
She heard a few of the mutineers enter the ship’s mess above and take a brief look around, muttering something before heading back towards the stairway entrance of the deck.
She nearly jumped as Tall Dale appeared right next to her suddenly carrying weapons in his arms. Despite his nickname, he was actually on the shorter end in height for a worgen male. She sighed as she noticed he was wearing a red shirt.
While it wasn’t the same style as the others deceased crew, it was the same color. Malgekk so far had evaded that fate; perhaps he would, too.
“Yer survived!” Donrick smirked as a sword was handed to him. “Erma didn’t kill ye.”
“Heh, barely. My sister is still threatening to rip my heart out; despite me making it in time for see her son born.” Dale shook his head. “Oi… sorry about the ruckus, Captain. I wasn’t expecting a bloody mutiny to happen while I was gone.”
Coriani sighed greatly and shook her head briefly at the mention of Dale’s sister. The worgen smirked before giving her weapon. She briefly inspected the crossbow and was thankful it hadn’t been too damaged in the mutiny’s aftermath.
“Aye. Little Finn is behind it. Damned bastard scallywag and the other mutineers wish to serve the Naga and their Queen.”
Dale shook his head, angrily. “I should have known he was up to no good! They must be trying to find Nazjatar if they serve those bloody sea snakes. Erma’s fiance heard a rumor that location has been revealed on the ocean floor and is surrounded by a giant water wall.”
Greywell nodded slowly, blinking at the mention of Nazjatar. “We all should have but the past is done. What’s the condition of the ship?”
“The ship’s mess hall is a bloody sty. Ritual circles, broken tables and glass along with overturned shelves. The cook stove has been tore apart along with what appears to be several thousand pieces of some engineering device. Just outside the staircase here are two dead female deer…”
“Meat for Cori’s pet.” Malgekk replied.
“Aye.”
Coriani let out a sigh as she knew the several thousand fragments pieces was her portable mailbox that malfunctioned on a regular basis. The huntress was surprised that Malgekk had managed to bring two animals for Featherwing. That was very thoughtful. She had doubts those mutineers had fed her gryphon properly; poor beast had to be really starving.
“The shelves have been overturned? What of my books and tomes collection on this ship?” Greywell asked.
“From what I saw, most if not all of them are completely ruined, sir.” Tall Dale shook his head.
“My books have been destroyed??” Greywell got to his pawed feet, briefly lifting the skirt part of his dress. “If I wasn’t furious with those scallywags before… I am now.” His blue eyes were enraged.
“Aye. The biggest loss so far.” Dale sighed heavily before turning to Coriani. “Those two mutineers that tried to find me mentioned Featherwing was chained up on the deck. She’s still alive but some of them are wanting to use her as a target practice.”
Greywell turned to Coriani and observed her briefly. “Are you able to fight? I’m loathed to ask due to an oath I gave your ‘late’ mother but…”
Coriani sighed, using the stairway to help herself stand. The last thing the huntress thought she would ever have to do was help take a ship back from a takeover. If she didn’t and the mutineers overpowered them again… “Yes, I can fight. Don’t worry about that oath- I don’t think it’d apply to taking a ship back from a mutiny.”
“Yer certain?” Dale asked.
“Yes I will admit I don’t have much experience fighting aboard ships but I can learn. I know you could use all the help in taking back the ship.” Coriani let out a sigh. “Featherwing will need to see me in order to her to calm down once she’s freed; otherwise there’s a chance she may attack you.”
“Alright…” Greywell nodded with a sigh before motioning to the others. “Gents, Lady; Time to show these mutinous scallywags my fury!”
(( More to come in another post.))
((OOC info. The title of the thread may change in the future, along with very slight edits. If it’s too long, I apologize but it’s how I write forum posts.
This is a something I started to work on months ago but my health issues, out of town relatives visiting and life-stuff delayed this.
I had to modify the original idea a bit and move the storyline along. Hopefully the idea is still acceptable. ))