Chapter 4: Fire Stingray

Alan: All is white mist and swirling cloud; the type of fog that invites comparison to pea soup, cotton swaddling, or the inside of a huge marshmallow.

Alan: And then—sheer glory. To those who have never flown, the sight of limitless rolling clouds below, like mountain ranges or ocean combers, is breathtaking.

Rien: (Rien is facinated, trancey has seen it all before)

Alan: Old Wolf is nonchalant, though a gleam in his eye betrays his delight; and Sabra lets only a faint smile crease her hard-nosed exterior; but Zan whoops and clambers up the net rigging for a better view.

Aryk 's face is pressed up against a glass window, jaw open. **

Rien tried to look four ways at once **

Alan: Celia Roughknight, captain of Aerial Warship Kefeinzel, smiles. "Put that rubbernecking to good use, people—if anything shares the skies with us, holler."

Renate removes her sunglasses to wipe off the last clinging drops of mist, then replaces them, settling their elastic band around her head. Unfashionable, but it does keep the things on her face. **

Renate: "Yes, ma'am."

Aryk: "Aw..." Aryk proclaims, and continues to swab the deck.

Alan: Tempest's most powerful aerial warship bears more resemblance to an ocean-going craft than you would have expected—if heavy galleons were routinely suspended by steel cables from a vast cigar-shaped flotation chamber.

Alan: ("Vast" was an overstatement; it's about three times the size of the ship. Less than you'd think.)

Renate stares down into the ocean below for a little space, not moving, then shakes her head sharply and begins scanning the sky for other craft. **

Alan: The Eternal Flame technician explained the principle to Leonid: Just as the presence of air in a ship buoys it above the heavier water that surrounds it...

Alan: ...the presence of sheer vacuum in the flotation chamber buoys the airship above the heavier air.

Renate: (That's. Really. Frightening.)

Alan: Like the magical flame-boosters on Sandor Highwind's ship, enchanted engines propel the airship through the skies.

Renate: (I hope they've at least got the sense to have an air chamber outside the vacuum chamber, to protect from arrows!)

Alan: And arcane devices mounted along the decks—far from being abstract sculpture—can direct withering spellfire against air and ground targets.

Alan: (The chamber is walled into twenty-eight segments, and jacketed in aluminum and chrome.)

Renate: (Good.)

Alan: (Cloud-colored canvas covers the outside, for camouflage.)

Renate: "Aryk, who told you to do that?"

Alan: All the answer you need...

Renate suspects some plot of Zan's. **

Rien is waiting for Aryk to utter his first 'Yo, Ho, Ho." **

Alan: ...is a bearded sailor, lounging in a corner, drinking a tankard of grog and tossing a pair of dice casually in the air.

Alan: He occasionally points out a spot Aryk missed.

Alan: (Can I call 'em or what?)

Aryk: "He said to make myself useful. I figured I had better not touch anything complicated."

Renate sighs. **

Aryk leans on his mop. **

Rien: (is his the grog containing Sulphuric Acid, MSG, red dye number 23 and other such items?)

Renate: "Did you bet against seven again, Aryk?"

Aryk: "You say that like it's a bad idea or something."

Sabra laughs out loud. **

Renate: "Sit down with me sometime and we'll go over the math."

Aryk: "I hate math." Aryk mops a little more, and then looks up at Renate. "Hey, just what the hell are we doing on this ship, anyway?"

Renate: "Chasing pirates."

Alan: The Seven Stars of Fate have gathered some specialized talent for this mission. You Troubleshooters are practically just along for the ride, in the company of the Cloudgatherers, the Red Wings of Tempest, and a crew of mages including the Dark Professor.

Renate: Works for Renate. She's happy to be low on the totem pole, for once.

Alan: The Red Wings, if I haven't mentioned them, are Tempest's elite airborne marines, considered as good as Heaven, weight for weight, though much fewer in number.

Aryk: ( I remember him. He gave Aryk the willies at Linten's Ford.)

Alan: And the Dark Professor, for those who don't remember Rien's prologue, is a necromancer who uses his talents to help people who might be considered "monsters," like ghosts, werewolves, and vampires.

Sabra: "Ilium," Sabra corrects in a bored tone. "When we were going after Greylight, remember?"

Alan: He survived Guran Agrippa's attempted coup, retaining vice-leadership of his guild.

Alan: (The true leader, of course, is a dragon.)

Aryk: "Same difference."

Sabra tosses a quick smile in Rien's direction. **

Alan: Solán Cardés isn't present, but he was instrumental in setting up this pirate-hunt.

Rien smiles softly back **

Alan: The Lan'yarian police force is heavily compromised; the cops are either corrupt, or encounter such heavy crime that they use gestapo tactics and are practically vigilantes.

Renate: One starts to understand Noble Mercury's "stop it while it's small and relatively harmless" tactics.

Alan: Solán Cardés has established a sort of force within the force—they call themselves the Secret Police, and attempt to defeat the criminals on their own ground, not on their own terms.

Aryk: "Yo Yo Yo Yo A pirate's life for me..." Aryk sings as he mops.

Alan: Undercover members of the Secret Police have pulled off an intelligence coup.

Alan: (Brb.)

Renate: "Aryk," Renate says, with just enough bite to interrupt. "Pick another song, please."

Alan: In the course of international commerce, it sometimes becomes necessary to move large amounts of gold.

Aryk: "What's wrong with it? I always wanted to be a pirate when I was little. I used to jump aboard people's rickshaws with a wooden sword and demand their booty." Aryk looks up, reflectively.

Alan: These gold shipments are swathed in utmost secrecy; their routes are randomized, the freighters disguised.

Alan: They enter and leave port under the heaviest and most subtle of security.

Renate: "It's just the tiniest bit inappropriate when we're hunting them, Aryk," Renate answers, her patience like iron.

Alan: Below the airship, and far to the west, nearly on the horizon, the Caliph of Eridu forges through the waves...

Alan: ...its cargo hold laden with heavy metal.

Renate: "Plenty of sea-chanteys with no pirates in them. Pick one of those."

Aryk shrugs **

Alan: Ninety percent is lead. It is helmed by a ghost, and manned by skeletons... but the Ruido Grande doesn't know this.

Renate: (oh, NICEly done! Go Secret Police!)

Alan: To them, the Caliph is a prize duck, a treasure ship, its every secret betrayed by their informants.

Alan: To them, the ghosts and skeletons are simply more security, fewer people to spread the word about the ships they sail...

Alan: ...to the Silver Coast, they are expendable, far preferable to using a living crew that would certainly be murdered.

Alan: When the pirates strike and capture the Caliph of Eridu, the Kefeinzel will follow, hidden above the clouds, to their base... and swoop to destroy it.

Alan: Leonid Tarraquene climbs up from belowdecks. "My lady Renate, Master Rien... Sir Aryk."

Renate: "Good afternoon, Master Tarraquene," Renate says, without taking her eyes from the sky.

Alan: "The gathering below is more convivial than I expected. Once mages begin to talk shop, guild differences fade."

Rien: "Master Tarraquene, good morning."

Alan: "I'd never met Midian Solaris before. Now I understand his many followers."

Rien shakes his head **

Rien: "Err...afternoon"

Renate: "You've been abovedecks too long. Why don't you go below with Master Tarraquene and meet a few mages?"

Alan: "I have mentioned your unusual powers to Master Solaris, and he expressed an interest. Why not, Rien? He may know something."

Rien: "Hmm...maybe..."

Renate: "Oh, go on. Scram. Raus. Git."

Rien follows Leonid below decks **

Renate sighs a little, relieved. **

Aryk makes comparisons to the mop and Rialto's hair. **

Alan: Rialto laughs. "Man, the girls love it, though."

Alan: "I'm boyish, yet mysterious."

Alan: "Never fails."

Aryk: "Hmmm.... never fails? You don't say?"

Aryk: "Man, I act like a kid all the time, and I get no play!"

Renate chuckles. **

Renate: "Don't assume, Aryk. I had that haircut when I was sixteen, and it did nothing for me."

Alan: A few of the Deadly Fighters are along for the ride; among them, Evelyn McCall and Raven Selleck (of the deadly "Blue Hawk Fist," if you care about such apellations).

Alan: "My, this certainly is a clean deck," Evelyn quips as she saunters over.

Aryk: (Evelyn was the one whom was a good friend of Aryk's? Used a whip?)

Alan: Whip and shortsword. The Lan'yarian "Terrish Maraounshi" style.

Renate has dutifully been making acquaintances. **

Aryk: "It bloody well better be."

Aryk: "How've you been, Evelyn?"

Alan: "You've met Master Selleck? He just returned from a duel in Vollis, against Tojiro Kensuke himself."

Aryk: "No, I haven't. Kensuke, huh?" Aryk shakes his hand.

Alan: Raven Selleck bows. "A pleasure. Do not listen to Evelyn's stories. The Baron of the Silver Hills was a worthy opponent, and defeated me roundly."

Alan: He's a dashing and handsome man, dressed in a hooded gray tunic that hangs down in a triangle pattern.

Aryk: "Well, I respect a man who can accept defeat. If only now I could learn to. Have you guys met Renate? She's my li'l sis, yo."

Alan: There's a yell from the fore. Ships have been spotted on an intercept course with the Caliph of Eridu.

Renate reflexively turns her head with a smile. **

Renate: "Mistress McCall, Master Selleck, pleased to -- oops."

Aryk: "Oops. Well, I guess we'll save those introductions for later."

Alan: They fly the flag of the Lan'yarian maritime force (as opposed to their equal aerial force).

Renate: "Shall I pass the word below, Captain?"

Alan: Captain Roughknight is already giving orders, mounting to the poopdeck, her golden hair streaming in the wind as she quickly binds it into a knot.

Alan: The Kefeinzel leans to one side as it seeks the cover of cloud.

Renate shivers as the world goes grey and chilly. **

---

Alan: "So, you are the mystifying Rien. Well met, son."

Rien bows **

Alan: Midian Solaris a barrel-chested bull of a man, all fringed leather and wrought iron. He looks more like some backwoods blacksmith ranger than a famed mage.

Alan: Leonid bows as well. "Rien, this is Midian Solaris, head of the Wild Path tradition."

Alan: "Like yours, his magic is as much instinctive as intellectual."

Rien: "An honour, sir."

Alan: Solaris takes your hand and forearm in a hearty clasp.

Alan: "Have you met my associates? Maltavan San-Kane Aurahin..."

Rien: (big hands?)

Rien: (the dark professor?)

Alan: He gestures toward the Dark Professor, a roly-poly men with a short beard and thin glasses.

Alan: The Dark Professor smiles and waves, then returns to his conversation.

Alan: "...Galask Tomaque, a monk who studies the boundary between the physical, the spiritual, and the arcane..."

Alan: Galask Tomaque is less than six feet tall, and not especially broad, but seems to take up a much greater physical space than he does. His impression is one of mass, or mastery.

Rien: "I have only met Master Aurahin at a distance whle he was battling Guran Agrippa a few years back."

Rien bows to Tomaque **

Alan: The monk bows, hands clasped. "Master Rien," he says, gentle voice at odds with his fierce blue eyes and cropped gold hair.

Alan: "...my old old friend, Lantis deGage..."

Alan: Solaris indicates a dwarf in a wheelchair, just behind Tomaque.

Rien: "Master Tomaque"

Alan: "He's a geomancer, he's trying to get the spells cheap enough to use in everyday construction."

Alan: The dwarf nods his head.

Rien inclines his head in turn **

Alan: "...my beautiful consort Kaeli Alastor..."

Alan: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, of course, but Mistress Alastor has at the very least aged admirably. She is that most egregious of cliches, "striking."

Alan: Red eyes and white hair are uncommon in any land, after all; she wears heavy veils, perhaps to shield delicate skin.

Alan: "She uses ritual magic. Most powerful than all our point-and-shoot business."

Rien makes an appropriately courtly bow to Mistress Alastor **

Alan: "And last but, in this bloody enterprise, not least, Solara Gitán. She's a Mage Knight too."

Rien: "An honour Mistress Alastor"

Alan: She and Leonid exchange salutes; then she sketches a bow to Rien.

Rien does the same for Mistress Gitán **

Alan: She's clad to the neck in armor of some very thin-looking green metal.

Aryk: (Solan, Solaris, Solara... man... I'm detecting a trend here.)

Alan: A pretty face is marred or enhanced, depending on your taste, by a scar that runs from the bridge of her nose down to one earlobe.

Renate: (sunny-side up!)

Alan: It's light enough that it was obviously left intentionally during the healing process. As a punishment, or a badge of honor, or a reminder.

Alan: (Not to mention Soleil.)

Rien: (hmmm...her and Sashi would fit together well then, although Sashi's scar isn't as evident)

Aryk: (Ah, yes, how could I forget!)

Alan: (And Sunny McSunshine, dragon lord of ... Sunland.)

Alan: (Ahem.)

Aryk: (LOL)

Rien: (:) )

Alan: Midian Solaris wipes his brow theatrically. "Let's just hope nobody else comes down here."

Aryk: (If you'd said the Kingdome of SUNe, maybe)

Alan: "The introductions grow taxing with repetition."

Alan: "So, you say your powers are somewhat of a mystery even to yourself, Master Rien?"

Rien: "Yes... indeed."

Rien feels out of place amongst so many mages **

Rien: "Yes, they are. I know nothing of them or how to use them. It is... well you might say it is my other personality that takes care of that."

Rien: "He may or may not choose to come out and make his own greetings at some point, I do not know."

Rien: "But he has seen all of this so far."

Alan: "Indeed... did these powers simply come into existence one day? Or do you think you learned them, and then had some spate of... amnesia, perhaps?"

Alan: "Master Tarraquene tells me we can rule out a simple wild talent. You have both Matrix and Pattern powers."

Rien: "I have amnesia anyway. I cannot remember anything before a certain age. I think It was about eleven or twelve years-old at the time. That is my earliest point of memory."

Alan: Solara Gitán is listening intently as well. She's a Mage Knight like Leonid, but her outfit seems completely different. Perhaps she's a Pattern Knight.

Rien: "I also cannot remember anything that takes place while my other personality is in control."

Alan: "And your other personality has the same limits?"

Alan: "To his memory, that is."

Rien: "I do not even know what it is I do that fits into this 'matrix' and 'pattern' that you speak of."

Rien: "He has large gaps in his memory to, I am told. He doesn't know who he is, or how he knows what to do. It is all instinctive to him, as far as we know."

Alan: A sailor sticks his head in the cabin and says "Tally-ho, we've contact. All hands are requested on deck."

Rien: (pip-pip...cheerio)

Rien: (:P)

Alan: "Well then, as long as he can cover our backs, he's a friend of mine," Solaris says, and leads the charge to the deck.

Aryk: "SHIP HOES!"

Alan: As you come on deck, it's back to cold mist and limited visibility; the Kefeinzel is flying blind.

Rien follows the others onto deck **

Alan: The first mate requests Midian Solaris, the Dark Professor, and Kaeli Alastor on the poopdeck; Alastor's ritual magic is needed to track the Caliph of Eridu, and the Dark Professor is to control his undead when the pirates close in, to give the illusion of a serious fight.

Aryk: "Or is it... SHIPS, HO!"

Rien runs over to Aryk **

Alan: A passing sailor shushes Aryk. "We're way up, and way away, but you never know how sound can carry."

Rien: "Aryk, would you please stop yelling...we're trying *not* to be seen or heard"

Aryk: "Ah, alright." Aryk points in the direction of the ships. "They're out there, not that we can see them now."

Alan: Long minutes pass, as Kaeli sketches a dimly glowing circle and casts her divinations, and the Dark Professor uses her ritual link to control his allies.

Renate slips quietly out of the mists to stand silently beside Aryk and Rien. **

Alan: At length, the activity on the poopdeck breaks up. Old Wolf comes forward, and gathers Zan, Rialto, and Sabra to him.

Renate: She has pushed her sunglasses up on her forehead, to see better.

Alan: He joins you. "The Caliph of Eridu is 'captured.' The pirates threw all the skeletons overboard, Uriel rest them. The ghost was retrieved into the Professor's staff."

Sabra: "So what now?" Sabra asks practically. "And how long have we got?"

Aryk: "We follow 'em, then whamm-o!"

Renate: "'Aryk, hush."

Alan: "And there's even better news. The pirates seem to be headed for an island a few kilometers over the horizon."

Alan: "The island is new—at least, new within the last five hundred years."

Renate says nothing, but one of her fists clenches suddenly, and she listens with attention. **

Alan: "There are no more Skyseekers," he says, referring to the original explorers of the Second Age, "so when a volcano creates a new island like this, people don't tend to notice."

Aryk: "With this crew, they won't know what hit 'em! We'll be home in time for dinner!"

Alan: "Kaeli's farsight shows it to be overgrown with jungle. The pirates could be the first mortals ever to have set foot there."

Sabra: "Aryk, shut up!"

Aryk: "Quite, Sabra, you don't know how sound can carry up here."

Alan: Old Wolf pats Sabra and Aryk both on the shoulder. "Enthusiasm, Sir Aryk, is good; but it is best used as quiet confidence."

Alan: "And Agent Sabra, that same quiet confidence can make the best example."

Renate: "Will we get any sort of map of the terrain from the divination, Master Yulias?"

Aryk: Aryk nods. "I do have a question though. Or maybe, a comment. I don't see why pirates would want to go to some island that likely hasn't even been walked on for a couple centuries. They must have a reason for going there. Maybe it's not as uninhabitable as we think."

Alan: "Only in the vaguest of terms. Kaeli has said that the island is roughly diamond shaped, with its points facing in the cardinal directions."

Alan: "The active volcano is at its center, of course."

Renate nods; that only follows. **

Alan: "The island isn't uninhabitable, Sir Aryk, only undiscovered."

Alan: "It's a perfect base for them, for just that reason."

Alan: "But we shouldn't rule out the possibility that its rise wasn't simple volcanic activity."

Alan: Rialto blinks. "So what would it be?"

Aryk: "Well, if I was a pirate, and I'd stolen a bunch of gold, I'd take it back to my place, not to some jungle-infested island."

Alan: "The saints only know, Rialto. And of course the Ruido Grande's plunder finds its way to Lan'yaria, Sir Aryk."

Alan: "But Lan'yarian ports make a poor base for a pirate fleet."

Rien: 'Buyt what if said jungle-infested island is your home, Aryk?"

Renate: "The saints indeed," Renate mutters, sotto voce.

Aryk: "Then I wouldn't have much need for gold!"

Renate: "Are there any ships in port at present, do we know?"

Alan: "Kaeli's visions have improved strongly since I've known her, but they have never been her specialty. Give her a spyglass and she'll rain havoc down on an army. That's her real stock in trade."

Alan: "We'll be in sight of the place soon; as soon as we risk revealing ourselves, our spyglasses will fill in the blanks."

Sabra: "So it's guesses for grabs how many we're up against."

Alan: "We plan to strike the pirate ships at sea; only two were enough to deal with the Caliph of Eridu."

Alan: "If more sally forth from the island, let's hope we've dealt with the first two by then."

Alan: "After defeating the ships at sea, we move on to the island, hoping to catch the pirates at port."

Aryk nods, managing to observe silent confidence. **

Alan: "Infiltrating the pirate base first, and dealing with the seagoing ships second, is too risky. The mobile ships might be able to stage a bombardment, if they have spell devices like ours."

Renate stares out into the clouds, as if in hopes her eyes could shear through them. **

Sabra: That leaves Sabra to observe "Divide and conquer."

Alan: "In this case, we are dividing; if we attack one ship at a time, the other can act against us."

Rien: 'Strip the base of it's mobile defenses then go in under cover."

Aryk: "We'll have to be quick about it."

Alan: "Instead, we," he includes Sabra, Zan, and Rialto in the gesture, along with Leonid, Solara, and Midian, "will drop to the port ship; the Red Wings and Deadly Fighters will drop to the starboard one."

Alan: "Kaeli and Galask will remain aboard and use their talents from here."

Alan: "You three will stay behind to defend against any pirates who manage to grapple or fly to the Kefeinzel itself."

Renate nods absentmindedly. **

Renate: "Very well, Master Yulias."

Alan: "The Tempest navy trains competent fighters, but they'll be more useful maneuvering the ship."

Rien nods **

Aryk: "That's bonk."

Alan: "I beg your pardon, Sir Aryk?"

Renate: "Only remember," she adds, waking up a little, "what happened the last time we were sent out of the action."

Aryk: "I said 'Great Idea, Mr. Wolf."

Alan: Old Wolf nods emphatically at Renate. "That's part of the reason I've chosen you three to stay behind during the assault on the ships. You've proven highly adaptable."

Alan: "I trust you with the unexpected."

Alan: "Once the ships are subdued, you'll join in the ground attack on the base."

Rien: 'Becuase half the time we are the unexpected."

Renate: Renate raises an eyebrow. "I am honored with your trust, Master Yulias."

Alan: "That's some suspiciously diplomatic trust, Master Yulias," Rialto quips.

Alan: He punches Aryk in the arm.

Aryk: "Wudd."

Alan: "Be that as it may," Old Wolf says with a smile, "it is well-placed."

Alan: The ship lurches beneath you, and you feel an unpleasant lightness as the ship begins to dive. "Well!" Old Wolf says. "As none of the sailors seem alarmed, it seems we're on our way!"

Aryk: "Zan, don't go getting yourself hurt now. Rialto, make sure you come back with those boyish good looks."

Alan: The chill mist cuts into you as the ship accelerates, side-mounted artifact spitting dull flames.

Renate: "Rien, to the helm, please; Aryk, to either side, take your pick. I'm going aloft. Good luck, everyone."

Alan: Eternal Flame technicians come forward to man the spellfire devices; they come alive like kinetic sculpture.

Rien carefully moves to the helm **

Aryk: "Which way is starboard?"

Renate pulls on Aryk's right sleeve as she moves past him toward the rigging. **

Aryk: "Rennie.... be careful!" Aryk goes starboard.

Alan: In a noiseless transition, you can suddenly see again; above you, the airy mist resolves into a looming ceiling of dark gray clouds.

Renate: "I will, Aryk. You too."

Rien: "Don't you go getting killed now, y'hear?"

Aryk: "I ain't worried about your Trancey ass."

Rien: 'Either of you."

Alan: Above, it was bright and beautiful, like storybook pictures of a mythical heaven; below, it seems almost ready to storm.

Renate: Hanging from one arm and one leg in the ropes, Renate lowers her sunglasses over her eyes with her other hand.

Alan: The waves far below chatter and chop, traceries of white ever-changing.

Alan: The "Lan'yarian" ships have raised the blood-red flag of piracy on their own mainmasts and that of the Caliph of Eridu.

Aryk stands at the starboard edge, taking it all in. Then he shakes his head and stands at the ready. **

Alan: The collected warriors are preparing in their own ways; Old Wolf clutches the gunwale, staring intently down at his targets. Sabra whispers something in his ear, fidgeting with her bowstring; Old Wolf makes a chopping gesture. Probably a "don't shoot until you see the whites of their eyes" speech.

Renate: Renate's bow is at her back; she makes no move toward it. Until she has this business with her eyes sorted out, she's as much a danger to her friends as her foes if she tries to shoot.

Alan: Zan stands with one foot heroically on a locker, balancing bravely as the ship continues to drop; Rialto holds a rope nearby, ready to grab his friend if his showoff nature gets him toppled.

Renate: She gets one foot against a mast, ready to spring off in any direction.

Alan: An Eternal Flame navigator is working magic, probably controlling the amount of lift provided by the flotation chambers.

Rien for some reason in standing on a different angle from everyone else, perfectly perpendicular to the deck, head down, hands at his sides **

Alan: Leonid explained something about the chambers accepting air in controlled amounts to reduce buoyancy, while spells "burn" the air out of existence when needed.

Alan: (Just like the classic "crushing a tin can with a matchflame" experiment you may have done in high school.)

Renate: (ee-yep)

Rien: (no, but I know the principal)

Renate: (Girl Scouts, actually)

Rien: (we do it with unused petrol canisters)

Alan: (How does that move cookies? Brb, by the way.)

Rien: (stick them in the fire with the lid off for a while, pull it out and immediatly put the lid back on, chuck it in cold water)

Renate: (Quiet you. The cookies are to earn money for the real stuff.)

Aryk: (Mmm... girl scout cookies....)

Rien: (while alan's gone, I'm going ot get more breakfast)

Rien: (are they made from real girl scouts?)

Renate: (Yeah, I could go for some Thin Mints right now.)

Alan: Well, I'm back, actually.

Renate: (You know it. Accept no substitutes.)

Alan: Gimme a sec, we can have a quick break after the title sequence.

Renate: (Now you know where that missing kidney of mine went.)

Alan: Which I'm finally going to do.

Alan: We'll have to, anyway, since it'll probably crash Matt's computer.

Renate: (go for it)

Alan: The airship picks up speed, as the rockets open wider, delivering the power of the Eternal Flame spell "Channel Blaze."

Alan: There's no point in stealth now; the ship has dropped from the cloud cover and can't be missed.

Alan: The pirates haven't noticed it just yet, but they do when the airship drops low enough to hit the tops of the waves, jolting along the surface at deadly speed.

Rien: (back)

Alan: Another of the Dark Professor's friends, who wasn't present with Rien, is a space mage; and as the airship lifts back off the waves to pass mere meters above the Caliph of Eridu, he casts spells that create purplish gelatine auras just beyond either gunwale of the aerial warship.

Alan: "When you jump," Old Wolf cries over the rush of wind, "you'll be slowed to a safe falling speed! Everyone ready? Then... now!"

Sabra leaps without hesitation, fitting an arrow to her bow as she goes. **

Alan: As the Kefeinzel passes over the ships, the attack teams dive from the rails, dropping through the aura which kills their lateral velocity, and landing safely on the deck of the Caliph.

Alan: As the embattled ships whirl past the taffrail (from the perspective of you still on the ship), the warriors immediately engage the confused pirates, attacking with decent coordination and skill.

Rien: (does that mean they get an initiative bonus?)

Alan: Old Wolf and Karl Schoenmar (of the Red Wings) chose their teams well; although the mages and the Deadly Fighters aren't known for smooth cooperation, the Church fighters and the Red Wings are, and they sweep their allies along with them.

Renate isn't watching them; they are someone else's problem. Her eyes behind the dark lenses scan the waters about for unknown quantities. **

Alan: Excellent call, Renate—you're the first to notice the anomaly.

Aryk can't help but watch everything **

Alan: As the Kefeinzel banks across the surface of the water, seaspray whipping into your face, centrifugal force pressing you to the deck, you see a winking reddish dot somewhere beneath the waves.

Alan: It's like a jewel, caught by chance sunlight, deep in a clear fountain.

Renate: "'Ware below, port side!" she yells, with all her strength.

Rien: (Don't tell me they have a Leviantanite on their side)

Alan: Noble Sapphire told you the suspected pirate base was near the suspected location of the Dyne Bloodstone... could it be that big?

Aryk thinks hard to remember which side is port side, than takes a gander **

Renate: Rather than climb down, she kicks off from the ropes and lands on the deck near the gunwales.

Renate: "I thought I saw -- no, there's -- wait, there it is again!"

Alan: Captain Roughknight sees it as well, and calls for altitude; too late, as the submerged jewel grows suddenly and sharply in size, resolving into a glittering red dragon, exploding out of the waves in a blast of steam and anger.

Aryk: "HOLY SHIT!"

Renate: "Saints and angels. Rien!"

Alan: Its claws rake the surface of the flotation chamber as it plows into the Kefeinzel, but are unable to penetrate it—Tempest's skunkworks did their job well.

Aryk: "Nobody said anything about giant fucking dragons!" Aryk removes his sword and runs to Renate's side.

Alan: The Kefeinzel's spellguns come into play, raking lightning and light across the dragon's path as it streaks off to the port.

Rien looks up sharply, and wind swirls in a tight column aorund him, condensing into a column of cloud about him, which flattens and leaves him standing there, glittering sword in one hand, eyes blazing white and hair and clothes streaming in a wind no one else can feel. **

Rien runs forward, easily keeping his footing, stopping at Renate's other side **

Alan: The dragon's shape is familiar, Aryk... you only saw him once or twice... and you remember him being bigger, but then you were young... the dragon currently twisting around for another pass looks a great deal like Devilsbane.

Renate throws off her glasses and pulls out her bow, stringing it quickly. **

Aryk: "That's not... Devilsbane, is it?"

Renate: She may well miss, but she cannot do nothing.

Aryk: "No, it couldn't be."

Alan: His huge clawed bat-wings, the mixed fur and fins around his head, the barbed tail, the serrated dorsal spine...

Renate does not answer, intent on the dragon's face. **

Rien: 'The govenor of Rivalon? What's he doing here?"

Alan: ...but where Devilsbane is a glossy red-black, like glazed brick, this dragon is brilliantine red, like a sequined jewel.

Aryk: "It's not... but it looks so close..."

Renate: "Less talk, more holding off dragon," Renate snaps.

Alan: The dragon spins and "kicks" in midair, defying physics to send itself into a second, roaring pass at the ship. The gunners find their aim, and explosions of ice and lightning warp off the dragon's magical shields.

Renate: "Trancey, you've got better distance strikes than we do. Go to it."

Alan: The Kefeinzel is in a steep climb, striving for altitude over its more maneuverable attacker; in a dogfight, altitude is everything.

Renate holds her shot until the last possible second, then fires at the dragon's eye. **

Rien: The wind swirling around Rien condenses into his sword

Rien calculates where he'll dodge when Renate fires at him, and aims there. **

Renate: (good call!)

Alan: The dragon blinks at the last moment, and the arrow clatters off a metallic eyelid; Rien expected the dragon to dive, but instead Rien's spellstrike vapors the air just below its neck.

Aryk: "What in blazes can we do?"

Rien: (hmph)

Alan: A half-second later, it strikes the flotation chamber again, but this time its claws glow with blue-hot magical fire, cutting through steel and chrome like a welder's wand.

Renate: "Fine. Be that way." Her next shot aims for his inner ear.

Alan: The tense crump of collapsing vacuum rocks the ship, and Captain Roughknight yells orders.

Renate: "We're likely going down, people. Get ready to jump," she says calmly.

Aryk: (Is the dragon within jumping distance with an improved jump of 1?)

Alan: As spellfire forces the dragon off, you hear a snatch of the damage reports: "Cells 18 through 24 are gone, 5 through 7 leaking..."

Rien pulls a water strike into his sword **

Renate: (honey, I don't think Renate could land on him, and her IJ is 11!)

Aryk: (Well, I guess he could be REALLY close...)

Alan: The dragon climbs high into the sky, while the airship's climb has stopped; now, instead of trying to climb, it's making full speed toward the island. Roughknight sends a sailor to give you a message.

Alan: "We're going for a jungle landing. Survival chances are a bit worse than a sea crash, but with that dragon out there, cover's better than water. The others will have to come rescue us; pray they win!"

Renate: "With cover, we can dig in and defend ourselves. We'll be all right," Renate reassures him.

Rien nods **

Alan: As the Kefeinzel arrows toward the island, sandbars fluttering beneath your view like ripples in a field of grass, the dragon follows close behind, wings spread in a soaring dive.

Aryk: "Ah.... great." Aryk grabs hold of a rope tied to the mast. "I suggest we all find something to grab."

Alan: Galask Tomaque stands near the taffrail, legs and arms spread, gathering some sort of cosmic force into himself.

Alan: Kaelie Alastor has given up on casting another ritual; there's no leisure for that.

Renate raises her bow one more time. **

Renate: "Right down your gullet, you monster," she mutters.

Alan: The air around you goes suddenly icy as the dragon opens its mouth.

Renate: She fires, futilely.

Aryk: "I'm too young to die..."

Alan: Knowledge floods Rien's mind, unbidden... heat is an energy, constantly in conflict with its opposite force of cold; cold is the absence of heat, heat is the absence of cold.

Rien expands his water strike into a shield and calls up a fire strike, aiming for the dragon's chest **

Alan: So where did all that heat just go...?

Renate: "Quiet confidence, Aryk," Renate says, exemplifying it.

Alan: The arrow turns to a cinder, the fire strike is lost in the conflagration, as the dragon focuses a white deadly bolt of pure fire breath at the stern of the ship; the light is blinding, the heat unendurable.

Aryk: "You be confident, then. I'm busy fearing for my life! AAAAAHHH!"

Alan: Galask Tomaque screams, lost in the dull roar; and although the heat suddenly cuts off like a broken glowbulb, the ship itself explodes beneath your feet.

Renate: Renate throwing up an arm before her eyes is the last thing Aryk sees...

Rien goes flying past both of them, grabbing them both as he goes **

Alan: The last thing you see is wreckage flying in all directions, curving as gravity takes over; Galask Tomaque flying forward like a meteor, glowing like a star, Celia Roughknight, singed but alive, gathering up Kaeli Alastor even as they both fall through the sundered deck...

Alan: ...and the red dragon, recoiling backwards as quickly as Galask flew forwards, its flight out of control.

Alan: You strike the jungle canopy, and although its three layers of interwoven greenery may save your lives, it can't save your consciousness.

---

Alan: 2000 years ago, dragons burst into the sky, conquering all that stood before them.

Alan: Now, 2000 years later, dragons rule the earth, some with benevolence, some with tyranny.

Alan: Sometimes, in their endless struggle for power and domination, it becomes necessary for a dragon to die by mortal hands.

Alan: On those times, the call goes out... for a

Alan:

Alan: Chapter 4: Fire Stingray

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