Closer
InvestigationCloser
Investigation
You decide to leave Windspeeder and sail closer to the fire with your other two ships.
As you near the island you can make out no signs of life. Even with the light of the fire and the full moon, it is difficult to distinguish the markings on the ship. You decide to take about twenty of your crew for a closer look. Silently you lower the long boats and row toward the anchored ship. Quietly your men scuttle up the side of the ship and over the rail. You order them to spread out across the deck and search for pirates.
Suddenly
pirates drop down from the rigging,
explode out on to the deck from the cabins below, jump out of the
covered long boats and almost magically appear from storage hatches
and who knows where else. In moments the deck is a
frenzy
of tangled bodies, flashing steel and the sound of small arms fire.
Your own cutlass finds an unlucky pirate or two when you spot the feared bloodthirsty pirate Beheader. He was called that because of what he was rumoured to do to his captives. In the same instant he sees you and draws his cutlass. In seconds your swords clash and clang as you both fight for your lives. You chase him to the upper battle deck and against the giant wheel. But in an instant he turns and you find yourself fighting desperately for your own life. You can hear the sounds of battle subsiding below you and can only wonder who has won the battle down there.
Then,
in a desperate attempt to free yourself you lunge
at Beheader causing him to slip on the bloody deck. In a heartbeat
you are on him slashing and attacking him in swing after swing of
your trusty cutlass. You can see Beheader tiring and with one final
thrust,
you knock his sword out of his hand and watch it clatter across the
deck. In another second he falls on his knees before you. "You are
truly a good swordsman," he remarks, "but my men will soon make short
work of you."
You hear footsteps climbing the ladder behind you. Turning slowly you see Andrew, your first mate, clearing the edge of the battle deck. "Great news, Captain," he exclaims. "We beat the best of them in short order and the rest of the pirate scum are fleeing for the island."
"Round up what rabble you can, Andrew, the prisons at Dunnbar will be full tonight. I hear there's a fat bounty on this one," you say pointing at the humiliated pirate at your feet.
Tilghman's ship, still anchored in the cove, is an unexpected bonus. Seaworthy and faster than even Windspeeder, you order your crew to commandeer it and in less than one hour you return to your ships, hoist anchor and sail home for Dunnbar.
