Sol Grim

Legends of the Lost Age

CHAPTER 1
10 YEARS LATER

It was not meant to be. Whatever the reason, Dalious knew she was gone. Instead of dwelling on what could have been with Sybil, he instead focused on what was. The pirate and his new crew were all wanted dead or alive by the Empire. So they sailed east to dissapear.

In ten years time, the war was over. The Imperials won, claiming much of the continent and many lives. King Reol Hilden still rules the kingdom of men, and in his eyes, there has been a decade of peace. In reality, thousands are in poverty throughout Dunarlae, slaves are constantly being bought and sold, or thrown into the arena pits. The elves and the dwarves remain quiet from their kingdoms, neither of their plans known amongst the imperials. King Hilden is left freely to rule over mankind however he sees fit, and only his family or the rich feel the benefits of such a way of life.

To the east of the king's sea, Dalious and his fellow pirates have made quite the name for themselves, still sailing with the sparrow. Throughout the years, they have turned from mercenaries to monster slayers. Many towns and villages they sailed to were infested with some kind of monster or creature.

Such as the giant krakken monster that infested the seas near port Duhill. Its presence in the port's bay was an extreme nuesance to the villagers. No goods could be sold because the river boats transporting the supplies would get destroyed. Not even the guardsmen would dare enter the sea, but when word of the krakken came to Dalious and his crew, they accepted the challenge. Using cannonballs from the sparrow, they kept the massive beast at bay until Dalious shot a whale spear into the thing's heart. Which was oddly located in its' face and was just simply a lucky shot.

"Ah, I hate the smell of squid," Armuille said. Armuille was one of the two Muleki, or cat-folk, in the group. His fur was all black with gold patterns within. The other Muleki was Bernen, the younger and more brash of the two. His fur was orange and black, resembling the tiger.

"Smells delicious to me," Bernen added. They were standing before the corpse of the krakken, the townspeople yelling with cheers from the shore.

"Get ready, mates," Dalious told them. "We're about to make a lot of gold."

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and now we have cat people.

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Imperial song

youtube.com/watch?v=VnwD8zsGl2Y

A few other bards joined in with different instruments, and together they played to the patrons entertainment. The entire floor of the tavern was dancing to the music, though Dalious and probably Sybil didn't know the imperial dance, it was very easy to figure it out from watching everyone around them. The woman and the men stayed on either side from each other, while they went back and forth to and fro, spinning around and about. Once Dalious got the steps down, he looked up to Sybil to see how she was faring.

The poor girl had lost her mother just the other day, but it was nice to see her being able to have some fun. He spun her around once again, then held on to her as he recognized a shadow from the window. The dwarf and his men were just outside and making their way in.

"He's here," Dalious whispered. "Meet me at the docks, look for the ship with a painted sparrow alongside it. Be there soon!"

Dalious spun her off to another dance partner and made his way off the dance floor. When Grefolin and his men came in, they all dispersed around the people dancing. Some went to the tables for some poker or dice, others went straight to the bar, but Grefolin went directly to the head whore of the tavern. They spoke for a little while, while Dalious danced and moved, blending in with the crowd. Soon after, Grefolin was given a room upstairs and he headed toward it.

Dalious went outside, immediately feeling a fresh gust of wind and a soft breeze with it. He waited until it was clear, then climbed the tavern to the second floor, where he entered a room through the window. The next room over was were Grefolin was, the dwarf already beginning to remove his armor and clothing before the whore had even entered the room.

When his back was turned, Dalious went in and walked directly behind him. The dwarf was so busy oiling up his arms that he hadn't noticed the hangman's blade held up just above him. The blade was placed to the dwarf's throat and he paused in movement.

"You are a traitor," Dalious spoke.

"Ah, I heard you escaped," Grefolin replied, knowing immediately that it was Dalious who had come back for him. "I was happy for you, you know it was all just business, right?"

"Not pirate business, makes you a traitor. Penalty for betrayal is death."

"You are a wanted man now Dal, you kill me, and..."

Dalious slit the dwarf's throat, as the large traitor fell to the floor grabbing at his open wound. He slowly died in a pool of his own blood, left for the whore to find.

The dancing seemed to continue on even as he reached the Sparrow at the docks. It appeared to be empty, so Dalious quickly cut all ties except for one. He would give Sybil some time to get aboard, unless she were here already. The pirate went down and checked the rooms of the vessel for Sybil, and though he did not find her, he found Grefolin's prisoners.

There were about ten of them, most human, a few of them were cat folk known as the Muleki, from warmer islands in the far east of the sea. Grefolin was selling them as slaves, as cat folk were very good at various skills. They were humanoid in figure, though their skin was covered in fur of various colors and designs. They had tails and their faces resembled cats, and they spoke a broken common tongue. Most of them sounded very drunk when they spoke, as their voices were slow and slurred.

"Help us, whoever you are," one of the cat folk spoke upon seeing Dalious. The cat was completely black in fur, with yellow eyes and pointed ears.

"Help me sail this ship, and you shall have your freedom," Dalious responded.

They all nodded.

The alarm suddenly started going off in the town of Tortugal, as a great bell rang though the night. It meant they found Grefolin's corpse, and were on the lookout for trouble. It was time to leave and explore the open seas. Dalious went back on deck and readied the last tie to be released, waiting for Sybil to appear. He would hate to have to leave her, but at the same time was prepared to.

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The pirate gave her a frustrated look as she kept stepping at his heels.

"We'll be in and out, no worries," he told her. There were ships already docked nearby, but none of which were the Sparrow. If it came to it, any ship would really do. They just had to scope out the scene.

A nearby man nailed a wanted poster up on a pole just outside the tavern. It was a fresh artist depiction of the two of them, a young blonde man and a young girl, the pictures surprisingly accurate. It read that they were both wanted dead or alive, 80 gold alive and 120 gold if dead. Dalious quickly pulled the poster down and pocketed it into his garb.

They entered the lively tavern, with a bard playing an upbeat song on her lute.

"Bard's song"

youtube.com/watch?v=b48KCbSWMeM

The place was filled with locals and passerby's, all really drunk and seemingly without a care in the world. There were few Imperials on duty, though they paid little attention to the tavern, less a fight broke out.

"Rum, and two pints of ale," Dalious told the barkeep, as the man went to work pouring their drinks. The drinking age on Imperial soil was quite young, so there was no hesitation. "What news of the war?"

The bartender handed them their cups, then replied, "It continues. The savages and the Imperials have been at it for almost a year now, but the Imperials are winning and soon, those barbarians of the forests will be gone forever. Good riddance, I say!"

"Agreed, mate," Dalious said as he downed his rum and handed back the cup over for more. He placed a few burnt gold coins down for payment, of which the bartender barely noticed. "Have the ships sailed back from Arthenway yet, we were to meet a friendly dwarf named Grefolin?"

"Yeah I know Gref," he replied. "He stopped in here on the way in to Arthenway, said he was transporting prisoners to the king's city. Hasn't made his way back here yet, probably be here in the evening, though."

"Thanks," Dalious said with a nod, then took the pints of ale and directed Sybil over to their own table to drink and wait.

"That changes things a little," he told her as he took a few sips of the precious booze. "Ah, that is damned good ale. Anyway, Grefolin hasn't arrived yet, so we wait. Until then, drink. It will soothe your worries."

Before long, Dalious was 5 drinks and 6 shots in, and was feeling much like everyone else around them. He still was aware and knew what he was doing, but he had a nice buzz and felt happily good. A few others were dancing to the bard's tunes, while the gambling tables were getting rowdy and wild but they still remained to themselves.

"I want to play a song," Dalious said with an immediate hiccup afterward.

He stumbled his way over to the bard, dropping a few burnt coins in her case. He asked if he could play, and the kind woman obliged. The pirate sat on a stool and began to play an old song he knew.

"Welcome Be, You Merry Drunkards!"

youtube.com/watch?v=KNLcFqwUv4U

When he finished, he received a nice applause, then gave back the instrument and went back to his table.

"See, this place is not so bad," Dalious said and took another drink.

Just outside at the docks, the Sparrow pulled in to port. Grefolin was at the helm, as he and his men walked down the path toward the tavern for a drink. Many hounds began barking at the sight of them, as the sun fell once again from the sky.

"Care to dance?" Dalious asked Sybil as the next song started.

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I'll make it happen, but number 8 might be page 45. We shall see when I'm home.

Edit: you picked a dog, or hound to be more specific. Lol. This big ads book of mystical creatures and we've picked a scorpion and a hound dog.

Legends of the Lost Age

And our first mystical creature via the encyclopedia of mystical creatures has come and gone. Creature#1, the scorpion. Ooh ahhh. Now you choose, give me a random page number from 1 to 500 something. JUST DO IT! :D

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It wasn't the men he had killed that kept him awake that night, but rather the one's Sybil killed. Her method was so fast, so deadly. He watched her sleep on the ground and thought of her only as a child. She looked innocent and pure, but whatever was within her gave the pirate the chills.

Before long he fell to sleep, and he dreamt of something quickly forgotten. It only felt like seconds when he suddenly woke up again, Sybil shoving him and yelling in his ear. He grabbed the girl and tackled her over to where she now lay back to the dirt, while simultaneously pulling out his blade and stabbing it just past her left shoulder.

"Good morning," he said with a smile, then backed off of her. His blade stabbed into a scorpion that had been crawling on her back, its' legs and tail still squirming with the blade pinning it to the ground. Dalious flicked the scorpion away and then sheathed his weapon again. "Saved your life twice now in just two days, must be a record."

The pirate stretched and then plopped down again next to the already lit fire. He began cooking breakfast, the burnt rabbit meat, and cracked the bones in his body that needed cracking. When breakfast was done and the horses were loaded, they were off again toward the ocean. The dark forest was quickly clearing away as they came out of it, not needing to head through it to reach the sea.

"In order to head east, we need a ship," he started. "The next town is a gutter hole, a real piece of shit. It is Imperial owned, but its easy enough to sneak through there. Lot of drunks and losers. Gambling town." He had been there a few times before, though he was very young and hardly remembered it. The band of pirates he joined up with went there a few years back, when the world was somewhat peaceful.

"The reason I was to be hung, was because a dwarf named Grefolin betrayed my captain and those loyal to him," He said. "Traded us to the empire, and so here I am. Now, that was just the other day. If I know that treacherous dwarf like I do, I'd say he took the Sparrow for himself along with whatever gold the Imperials gave him." He spit to the ground, he was angered just thinking about the traitor. "Which means he's in the King's Sea and has to circle back to Tortugal, the place we are heading to. There, I will get my vengeance as you have gotten yours. Also, the Sparrow. Fastest ship in the sea. After I kill the dwarf, we will need to find a crew to sail it. So try not to kill everyone. We must make haste!"

Dalious jumped on his horse and freed the ones they didn't need. Then it was back to the path. If they rode the day and into the night, they would reach the town before the dwarf could. Also the word of them being outlaws wouldn't have reached the town just yet either, which gave them a bit of an advantage.

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Dalious just stood next to Sybil, occasionally raising a forearm to block his face from the heat pouring off of the flames. Putting it all together, he realized that the woman burned on the pike was her family. The pirate cringed as he watched the commander's face implode, while also burning to the bone. He decided not to speak of any of that, as not to anger the magi. She was far too powerful, and he was thankful he was on her good side.

"You burnt the rabbit meat," he informed, as he stepped over the burnt corpses and pulled the two sticks from the fire. "I've lost my appetite anyway, best to pocket these for later. We should go, we have plenty of horses now."

He would have loot the bodies, but everything was ash and flame. The Imperial's horses were in fine condition though, as the pirate set another one up for travel.

"Imperials control most of the country here," he said. He loaded the horse with a few supplies, then hopped onto it. "The fae to the west, the dwarves to the north, the free people to the east. I say we find a ship, sail east. There you wouldn't be hunted, and I would be at sea. We both win." He was too nervous to mention that he wanted to use her. Not for anything cruel really, but her gifts could make him rich. He just had to sway her further to his way of life, he figured.

"Of course, the fae and the dwarves don't hunt the malignant, either," he added. Also not mentioning how much gold he could make in selling her to one of those houses. They would probably pay high, but she would be used as a war weapon most likely. She was extremely dangerous, should her power end up on the wrong side of battle, she could kill hundreds of innocents. It was too early to tell the state of things, for now all he wanted to do was keep moving. "Some of the horses carry water, here. Even you need to drink still, I think?" He handed her over a canteen of fresh water, courtesy of the empire. "We can camp further down, surely this area will be attracted by wolves soon. Then we can finally rest."

It had been a long day.

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"Interesting..." Dalious said. She had basically told him her secrets, probably because she trusted him already. He was by no means a good person though, as he quite often lie, cheated, and stole his way through life. "You're a very interesting young lady." He quickly thought of how much gold he could get in using her. Or maybe in selling her. He rubbed his temples in thought.

The twigs snapping caught to his attention as well, the pirate grabbed his blade and stood. Before he could go any further, the Empire's men were all around them. The short commander stood over a hill behind them, while the rest of the soldiers encircled the two. They were caught again.

"Did you really think you could get away from the Imperial Empire?" the commander spoke, a smirk pressed on his face. "And did you really think I would not come for my horse?" It was his they fled on from the gallows. He gave the horse a kind look and then focused back on the captives.

"Yeah," Dalious answered.

"...well you were wrong," he said. The men around them had their weapons ready and aimed. "You, the boy, you were to hang for thievery and pirating, a noose is noble for crimes such as that. The girl, for suspected witchcraft. Now, you are both murderers and outlaws of the Empire. You will be cut down where you stand."

The hangman was the first person Dalious had ever killed. It just came naturally, as he felt like it was a self defense. The young pirate hadn't even had a moment to think about it all before the Empire was back on them. He stood in front of Sybil, not sure if even her magic could help them this time. Perhaps his words could, he quickly thought.

"A cowardice method," Dalious said with a spit to the ground. "Pirate's may be scum to you, but at least we live by honor and code. Have your best man face me one to one, if we win we go free. Come on mate, have a spine."

The commander let out a laugh, and for the fun of it in his mind, he accepted. With a nod and a point, one of the soldiers came forward and faced off with the pirate. Dalious gave a courteous bow, then took his stance. He had never trained like the soldier, but a lot of things just came naturally for the pirate. So naturally, that he was as calm as ever.

"So you are the best?" Dalious asked the man clad in red and white armor.

"Ai, boy," he replied.

The soldier rushed in with a swipe of his blade, but Dalious deflected it and did a quick inward spin, then drove his sword through the man's chest, armor and all. He had to kick the dying man from his weapon to get him off, as the soldier fell to the floor and died.

"There, fair is fair," he said. "We are free!"

"KILL THEM!" the commander shouted, as it seemed even the forest was moving behind him. "Kill them now!!!"