#Endarla

[theunnamedlizardrogue]

Chapter 8: Discovery

Sorry for the long wait!

Booker sneaks back outside the inn. He can still hear the voices from earlier tonight. They’re coming from what looks like a block of houses. A man, standing in front of a house, the door closes in front of him and he treads towards the next house. He’s getting closer to the inn. He’s doing rounds; going door to door. It won’t be long until he arrives at the inn. And so the next door opens, and there’s a small pause before Booker can see the black figure move about, he looks like he’s just started talking. It’s risky but Booker edges closer, what’s he doing at this time of night? He moves to a stall near the Inn, and begins to hear “-...but I came to ask if you’ve seen someone?” The woman responds, but she’s too far. “I… - hav… sorry” “They’re a green lizard. Murdered a citizen from the nearest town.” I... The... Why... Uh... The bandit hideout. Somehow. The guards? “If you see anything, come here.” The man hands something - a piece of paper. … The woman shuts the door, and the man turns. At this distance, he can make out a red article of clothing, wrapped around his forearm. Booker shuts the door.

Focus. The innkeep, quick.

The man rubs his hands on his shirt “What’s got you riled up?” Booker shuffles his hands and changes to an articulate speech, lowering his voice.  “A man is going to come in here, a dangerous man. He’s going to tell you that I’m a murderer. But it’s not true. I am carrying a rare map that they plan to take from me. They shot my dragonborn friend the other day due solely on suspicion.” The innkeep looks up at him in surprise. “I beg of you, they will slaughter me on the spot. Tell them you haven’t seen me.”

He lied through his teeth. But there’s no option but to place faith in the innkeep, Endarla and Locke are still upstairs. Booker runs up the stairs to his room.  

He quickly moves and hides by the edge of the door, breathing heavily. It’s dark, and he’s holding a knife close to his chest. Locke raises his head, but Booker holds a finger. Locke stares, and lies down. He can vaguely make out a conversation downstairs. Then footsteps. Footsteps. He grips the knife harder. Footsteps get louder and nearer. Footsteps. … The door handle creaks. Booker’s readied the knife.

The innkeep opens the door. “You’re safe.” Booker sheathes the knife in the dark. He swallows. The innkeeper didn’t notice the knife. That would have been hard to explain. “I thank you, I shall leave in the morning, post-haste.”

The morning after is hard to wake up from, Booker’s head is buzzing. He reaches for his knapsack lying on the floor near the bed and rummages through its contents. 2 potions left, he can’t get any more. The mage left a message at his makeshift stand last night that he’s momentarily stopped producing the potions to focus on his studies. Just have to try and fix the sleep schedule. He sighs and rubs his muzzle.  Always gotta improvise.

It looks like he’s the first to wake up this time, Locke’s lying on the ground with his arm lying on his forehead. He looks as terrible as Books feels. Booker stretches and he thinks of last night. He needs to gather everyone up and leave, before he’s discovered. He gets off the bed, gets on his knees and lightly shakes Locke. Locke wakes up and turns to him, with a glazed expression. “Meet me downstairs, alright?” Locke mumbles a “okaymph”.

Booker knocks on Endarla’s door and shouts “Endarla! Meet me downstairs!” There’s a slight pause before Endarla shouts back “Okay!” Booker pulls up his hood as he heads downstairs.

Endarla’s bought another pie for herself, she offers a slice to Locke. “Okay, what did you need?” “We need to leave town, no questions why, alright?” Both Locke and Endarla look at Booker confused. Endarla opens her mouth “… uh-“ “I know, I know. But someone’s following our movements. Her posture immediately changes. She instantly starts eyeing her surroundings. “Okay.” “If we’re leaving, I’d like to ask you something. I want to visit the box I woke up in” He remembers talking about that a couple of nights ago “…” “It’s not important, but…” Booker looks to Locke, he shrugs He thinks. “… Yeah, we can do that. We’d be out of town anyway.” “Really? Thanks.” He forces a weak smile “Hey, no problem.”

Booker checks corners on his way out of the town, no pirates in sight, thankfully. The morning light is way too bright to sneak around alone. He thinks of the directions Endarla once told him, follow out to the forest. 

The walk out of town is uncomfortable, a path in the middle of an open field. They’re exposed and could get spotted fast. When they reach the trees Booker feels almost instantly relieved, there’s high trees and thick foliage. Both Endarla and Booker try to figure out the trail she took into town. The trees whilst giving good cover A flock of birds fly out of a nest up high in one of the trees. Locke watches in wonder as they pass by. The three keep quiet as they pass through. They found the set of footprints. It’s a very unsteady trail, as expected.

Once they’re out, it finally leads to the box. It’s a stone box, partially glass at the top, and seeing inside it, there’s a cushioned inner layer. There’s silver layered about, but it actually strikes his notice, it’s brown-ish at places. Booker kneels down and traces his fingers on the surface. It’s dirty, certainly. He pulls out a flask filled with water and pours it on his hand, rubbing it again on the silver. It stays brown. He stands up “I’ve worked it out.”

Endarla looks amazed “That easily?”

Booker sighs “Yeah. The box has a silver lining, but the silver itself is tarnished.” “That means?“ “It’s from the air, this box has been here longer than you have.” Booker hasn’t broken eye contact with the box yet “I think it’s a… coffin. And with this sorta quality it means it was someone rich.” Endarla squints “I still don’t understand” Booker finally looks back at Endarla “Alright, let me run you through this” “This box was a coffin for a wealthy person, who designed the box with silver and glass. But it’s been here for a really long while, because you can see the silver’s tarnished over the years. You surely can’t be old as this box, so something tells me you were put here by someone.”

The tracks. That’ll give evidence. They’re hard to determine, but amongst the trio, there’s a fourth boot print here from the others, a little more delicate actually, not like the boots or wraps from Locke, Endarla or Booker. It heads into a different direction in the woods, back the way they came.

Booker’s curiosity takes a hold of him. “We’ll investigate.” “Right.”

Backtracking through the woods, he realises. The tracks… head back into the town. Booker pulls on his scarf slightly. “The person we’re looking for is in the town.” “Ah...” “I… want to know, “Then we go.” “But, it’s still risky.” !”^$&)”!(£)(£^!”_ “I’m curious.”

Booker casually walks into town, ignoring eye contact with anyone who passes by. He takes alleyways, waits until streets are empty, signals to the others when it’s safe to pass, all the while following the tracks.

They finally arrive. A hulking college in the middle of the town. White brick. Multiple buildings with different purposes, storing people, components, and most of all, knowledge. It’s a shame that the books in these colleges rarely have anything more than information about magic. He could never get a hang of it.

They stand at the gates, no one stands guard, but a mage wanders by at the perfect time. “HEY!” Booker shouts. The mage turns and points to himself? “Yeah! Open the gates please!” The mage errs in hesitation before coming closer and opening the gates, it’s better than breaking in.

“Do you know where the main desk is?” “Y-Yeah. It’s… over there.” He points to the large building in the building.

They push open the wooden doors and walk in, an elf receptionist looks up from her desk, and stops writing on a sheet of paper, and stands up; she lifts her head up high with a smile.

“Welcome to the College of Scientific Magic! CSM, for short. This place is run and maintained by our headmaster and founder Ignatius Saeno!” Locke’s already checked out. Booker inquires “… Scientific magic?” The receptionist responds “Yes, based on a theory held by the headmaster back in the day. The synthesis of magic and science into one! Mages scorned him, but look at the infamous mad mage no-” Saeno, that’s a name Booker can remember. He read some of the books as a kid. Ignatius Saeno used to adventure. Known almost worldwide for his erratic manner and was intimidatingly good at his craft. “I’d be interested in hearing the story, but first, we’re looking for a specific mage. He isn’t part of this college and he arrived here in the last two days. He might have been hurt?” “Oh! Yes! We have had one such person. His name was Wolfgang, correct? Let me grab him for you.” The receptionist walks away with an elegant strut. Booker smiles, the mystery is about to be solv-

A spear prods into his back Booker turns his head to the right, and behind him stands a man with a red neckerchief around his neck. With twenty or so other men.

“You’re coming with us.” … They all have a neckerchief. Is it all a symbol? He laughs “What about my friends here?” “Does it look like I give a shit? You’re coming with us.” Can’t attack, outnumbered and at a disadvantage.

Booker looks at Endarla and Locke He fakes a smile “Well, I’ll be leaving, I hope Wolfgang can answer your questions.” Endarla stares “I’m coming with you.” Endarla’s words surprise Booker “What, why?” “Wolfgang can wait, you’re being held at spearpoint” Locke nods in unison. “Well, this is all fuckin’ heartwarmin’, but can we hurry this along? Boss’ll want to see you.”

And just on time the receptionist returns with a man in purple clothing in tow. His hair is a mess, bags under his eyes and his left arm is bandaged.

“What’s happening here?” says the receptionist in slight panic “Nightingale?” Murmurs the purple mage, staring at Endarla. Endarla widens her eyes. Booker tries to cover; he still has his hands up “Sorry about the commotion, miss, but I’ll just be leavi-“ “Shut the fuck up, he’s coming with us, pissed off the wrong people.” The crude wastrel interjects. The receptionist’s eyes lower down towards the man’s neckerchief and she responds with “Ah… Right.”

Before they leave, Wolfgang quickly rushes whispers to Endarla. A spear points at him, but he, in a panicked stupor, declares he just wanted to give her some quick information. He declares that he’ll be staying at the for the time being, and for Endarla to return as soon as possible so he can check how she’s recovering.

The trio are pushed back outside, and led out of the college. When they return to the outskirts of the city, a carriage lays in wait of them. “How long’s the trip?” “Get in.” “Come on, the syllable count isn’t that mu-“ “A day. Get. In.” Booker climbs into the back of the carriage, with Endarla and Locke following him in.

Chapter 9: https://theunnamedlizardrogue.tumblr.com/post/178221350911/chapter-9-by-its-cover

[444names]

tolkienesque and farbaddan forenames

(link to farbaddan forenames)

Abbál Adana Adanasá Adarda Adari Adwyn Adánn Alakka Alann Alant Alaranda Alballa Albatapan Alcast Aldur Algel Allaiana Allal Allanna Alládrala Allág Allán Allás Alman Amaka Amilron Amlada Anakaran Anarjan Anatt Anatä Anbucarma Andabal Andatar Andil Andiondar Andir Angon Angorna Annarap Annathrór Arabbála Arakas Aranna Arastas Ardall Ardatná Arfin Arkal Arkalmir Arlas Armart Arnui Arrattán Arrána Arthielan Artlart Arumalád Arágas Aslán Asméagrór Assada Assauraqá Assil Atana Attargoth Augli Aviel Aváva Babakalan Balacirm Baladoc Baldbeli Barastaná Bardil Barjas Baros Barrahir Bartanda Bartlán Batas Batavant Batlá Belcall Belendis Belras Belwë Beoron Berion Berká Beronn Berrá Bofungala Bofungama Bolir Bomil Borna Brakanna Brala Bralanard Brapa Brecth Brendsá Brinel Briont Bryllared Burondë Callá Caratar Carran Casan Celda Celin Celroher Celwë Cothrórin Dacil Daegoldil Dagdur Dalada Dambur Danattam Dargor Darmar Darrá Darvion Datas Datrassa Dattá Dattârion Denwë Derion Doros Duila Dwada Dánazôr Ecthall Egrandush Eiladaká Elegra Elemel Elemmanná Elene Elfantin Ellád Elminúvin Elrasa Elwaer Elwanna Endarla Endin Erúthrá Estane Estawn Falaka Falda Falia Fanastalá Fanduin Fannor Fantároth Felith Findil Finyë Fradanarl Fraddág Fragoront Frakasto Fralanka Fralá Frasta Fránn Fílin Fírielma Fírinaras Galla Gallan Galluglak Gamand Gannaka Garakk Garan Garandan Gartnál Garána Gildë Gilir Giman Gimin Gimir Glaka Glankald Glassar Glúthéoth Golapra Gollan Gorië Gorth Gragárion Graká Griad Griel Grion Grisilind Grían Gwarane Gwingold Gwingád Hagold Hallanna Hanfala Haramdís Hedherd Herundil Huanna Huannál Hundug Hungor Hámas Ibûna Ilbêthôr Imbryat Imung Isilrald Jadoc Jador Jafran Jakargor Jakhâd Jaldas Jamana Jamatard Jamauhúr Jamrodrá Jangue Janlára Janth Jantá Jarakk Jaranron Jarta Jarvi Jasada Jasadal Jassë Jámannar Jámog Kakarinda Kakas Kallattor Kaltaras Kalvara Kalved Kamara Kanaka Kannák Karad Karasá Kargelmar Kasapher Kattard Khaká Kinvakta Klandil Klarad Klasan Klána Kranta Krasara Krassá Kúvana Lakammarn Lakat Lakka Lalakal Lalapa Landir Larag Larakk Lasamlin Lasammar Latanná Latra Lavala Lavion Laxas Lazalla Lemin Lemnanas Lenna Lothir Lumadan Ládradach Lánarasa Mabandort Macilin Macir Madartië Magarth Magol Mahad Makarakta Makqál Malan Malanka Manatta Mandin Mandra Maraik Maran Maranna Marassan Maratan Marger Margorna Marimon Marlastë Marna Marnas Maslád Mavakar Melitë Mirion Muzgalará Márál Mírimbron Nalimir Narda Natta Nattara Nóling Oromin Ossaprik Ossán Ostarm Palana Palaslá Palirion Pallá Pamlin Patamir Patarana Pattar Paturi Pelmë Penda Penelecth Pralmo Rabaká Radala Radran Raggan Ragna Rahel Rahelor Rakassá Rakkalasá Rallá Ralvana Rammag Ramûl Rasamdís Raska Rastarra Ravala Rórwaska Sadak Sadgam Sadwatta Sakar Sakká Salas Salath Sanklána Saphar Saraká Sarastaná Sarma Sawin Scari Skaktar Skaldabar Smacirë Snorna Sákarda Sánnat Tadnat Tandilda Tarna Tarod Taslá Telend Telfwin Telmarken Telmo Telsaratt Théomë Trattal Tratä Tulda Uftar Uilzôn Ulatran Ulkana Ulmar Ungos Ungála Uollánata Vaihil Valassá Valganan Valla Vanfanron Vango Vannará Vardan Vardas Varrassá Varth Vider Videór Voroth Walla Wandratra Warká Warma Wassá Wánad Yarattána Yávingue Zanorien Zildoc Ágald Álaná Álaxá Ánnálan Átrava Éoddán Éodeórwen Éodreg Éodwyn Éothôn Éottand Íriel

[thedungeonden]

Session 1: Absconding from Barovia

Well, I say abscond, but what I mean is leave after about a week of solid partying and throwing fruit at ACTUALLY absconding gipsies.

Gool old Lizard Bro (otherwise known as Oleg) took to the amber temple and did a number on the sarcophagi, making sure no-one could ever follow the same path as Strahd again. The Lich wasn’t best pleased, but his books were fine so who really cares.

So eventually the “brave” adventurers made their way back through the thinning fog, travelling back home.

Unfortunately, “home” was in shambles. And in addition to this, Endarla and Locke were missing from the group. After a brief sob in front of the ruined church of Mikshakal, Locke and Endarla popped back into existence, with a new friend close behind.

There was little time for introductions, and before anyone knew it, he had them hopping through an incredibly unstable looking portal. It was either that or face the giant 9-eyed floating freak that was busy chasing him. So, without further adieu, through the portal they went, ending up in... The same place. But with lots of grass.

It was here that the man named Havoc explained how the entire material plane had gone missing, and at this moment they were in fact in the Feywilds, a grassy, twilight mirror of the real world, and they were in fact in the Shadowfell previously.

So after a few chats with some strange characters and the successful completion of a puzzling labyrinth (in which they had to complete the poem The Jabberwocky), they found a portal to the next world. And in this next world, they found a particularly nervous looking cat...

[theunnamedlizardrogue]

Chapter 7: Monsters Inside

“Morning!”

Books wakes up instantly, lying in bed. He sits up. His head hurts, but less than usual. His Circadian Rhythm must be freeform jazz at this point. Locke’s curled up in a ball on the floor, still half-asleep. He’s twitching and muttering something under his breath. He feels at ease, it’s quiet but the comfort of someone else in the room makes it enjoyable. He leans closer to Locke, trying to listen to his sleep-talking. Endarla walks into the room, holding a rolled up parchment “We have a new job.” “Oh? What’s it this time?” She unravels the paper, revealing a poster, it’s a higher quality than the bear one yesterday, with a stamp at the bottom. There’s no picture, just cursive writing. Even the paper looks expensive, he recognises that material, it’s really really soft to touch. He might take it off Endarla’s hands if he can. “We’ll be wiping out a bandit hideout.” He pauses. “After the bear one?” “Yes.” “… Fair enough, just give us a minute to get down.”

They take a different table in the main hall this time, the one from yesterday is occupied by a halfling who’s heavily invested in a conversation with a human, they sound like they’re talking about magic. Books looks around again, not many people in this inn, and they’re mostly human or elvish. He can spot a half-orc over in the corner laughing with other adventurers, at least judging by their gear. He turns to Endarla and plucks the poster from her hands “Right, it says here we’d need to go to the guard barracks for more info-” Endarla adjusts herself on her seat. “I already went. They want the bandit leader, because they suspect the followers would scatter soon after. He’s been camping for 3 weeks straight in that hideout.” She took initiative, rogues love that. He looks up from the poster “Do you know the directions?” “Yes, I do.” “Well then, there’s gold to be had!”

Books stands back and gives the place a once over, it’s ripe for opportunity. The hideout is a dilapidated building, the brickwork seems as if its close to crumbling and certainly stands out from the surrounding atmosphere. There’s a section of the wall with a slightly different colour to the rest on the second floor, more decayed than the rest, made out of a different material than the first floor’s brickwork. There’s also a broken part of wooden floor straight in front of it, acting as the first floor’s roof. The building used to be larger, until something happened to it. The front door is locked, which is no trouble for a rogue, but the cheers from inside are probably more problematic. There’s at least five or more voices from inside.

Endarla turns to Booker expectedly, after yesterday, it seems she’s guessing he’s got another cunning plan. She’s… half right. “Uh… I can see part of a wall up there that’s structurally weaker than the rest, if we can get through that, we’d probably find the main guy and avoid most of the rest downstairs. But it might be a little hard to break down the wall without a hammer or something.” Endarla looks at the wall “I can… solve that, and what will we do when we’re in?” “We… uh… improvise.”  Before she can say anything else, Books runs at the wall. He jumps towards it and tries to place a foot on the wall before just bouncing off and hitting the ground. There’s a moment of silence as he stands up. “… Let me try that again.” It’s been a good while since he’s ever done that, he tries to think back to what snakes used to say. Run diagonally, jump, foot on wall… push up… Turn body… Wait, lean back. That’s what he was missing. He tries it twice, trying to get the movement down. Both of Locke and Endarla stare at him dead-eyed. The fourth try is messy, but it works. He leaps off the wall and hits the upper floor, holding onto the wooden floor before pulling himself up. There’s an “ohh” from Endarla down below.  He turns around and offers a hand up to Endarla. Bad mistake she’s heavy fuck fuck fuck let go. Okay, he lifts up Locke, and both of them attempt to lift up Endarla. Endarla’s a little heavier than he’d expect, he’s an archer who’s experienced enough with climbing, so that was peculiar. Locke has a surprisingly good grip however. Once everyone’s up, Endarla walks up to the wall and traces it with a finger. “Would you mind looking away? You might get hit by debris” Smart idea, Books and Locke turn around.

He can hear a flutter of her cape and a noise of the wall smashing. It isn’t loud enough to rattle anyone from inside, luckily enough There’s a small circular hole in the wall, which she pulls away to make a larger one the trio could pass through. Books peeks inside, there’s a corner at the end of a hallway, with two doors on his right and his left. He enters the building and peers around the corner. A man stands in front of a well-maintained wooden door. He looks impatient, the cheers from downstairs is probably why. “And that’s when Dillan didn’t realise I took his share of the loot!” Endarla looks at Booker, he holds a finger up. If he’s right…

Yeah, the guard throws his hands up, and he walks downstairs in a huff, looking ready to chew someone out. The trio rush to the door, but the thing won’t open. They could break down the door in seconds, but that’d alert the guards in a heartbeat. Books reaches into his pocket and pulls out lockpicks. It’s a weak lock, simple enough even for a beginner, but the cheers seem to have stopped. Wait. A door closed. He looks behind him, stairs are empty. Enough time to open…  

The door is open. There’s footsteps from the stairs. Locke’s first through, before Books can step inside, it takes Endarla a second before she can rush in as he holds the door open, then Books tries to delicately close the door behind him.

No one’s here. Shit. The room has a map held tight to a table with a knife. There’s bookcases with no books, a bunch of chairs… This place feels empty. Booker wanders to the map and looks at the knife. After a good period of time staring at it, he picks it up. Weighty. He tries to block out every negative memory and hides it on his person. Did… the bandit bail?

He whispers to Endarla “Hey, Endarla, were you sure the guards said he was camping here?” “Yeah?” “He… isn’t here, judging by the room.” “…” They need to leave, before anything unfortunate happ-

“…The hell? Where’d this hole come from?!” bellows from the halls. They can’t take that way, only way is… down the stairs, great.

“We need to go downstairs.” “But that’s dangerous” Locke says “Yeah, but there’s little choice.” We could go through him, the knife gives a slight advantage. No, that’s… bad, last time was because his guard was down, but more importantly it was self-defence and it was an exception. Fuck. He doesn’t trust himself, they have to go down. “For this to work, you’ll move to the stairs quickly, and head down, then just keep going straight until the exit, alright?” He opens the door, Endarla first. Then Locke. He takes a deep breath, and quickly dashes to the stairs. Did the bandit just- No, no time to think about that, as soon as they’re downstairs, three doors are beside them before leading to the exit. One has the banter of other bandits coming from inside. Books can hear footsteps from the stairs behind. Locke opens a door and rushes Endarla in. Books doesn’t have enough time and tries to enter the one closest to him, opposite the main hall containing the others.

There’s nothing in here other than ‘faculties’. And the door opens. The lizard stands face to face with a bandit. The bandit almost jumps and readies a hand on his weapon. He’s black haired, scar on the side of his cheek, good muscles, bad hygi- “Oi, what’re you doin here?” “I… uh…” 2 others are in the room, finishing up, they join the bandit’s side. The lizard tries to think of a response, he can lie through his teeth and claim he’s a bandit here, he could try to bribe them, he could scare them and…

Fuck it. He grabs the knife and slashes through the bandit.

Booker spins it in his hand and plunges it into the open wound. The bandit tries to process what’s happening before collapsing, whilst the other two shout in frenzy and draw their weapons. Wait, no- Thinking kills, act on instinct. He moves to one of the bandits and decks him in the face, the other tries to swing, but he turns in time. He puts his arms in front of his face to block the sword FUCK THAT STINGS Wait, stings? No time, he moves his right elbow back to strike the bandit behind him, and punches forward into the other. When the bandit recoils, Booker reaches for the bandit’s blade and charges into his with an elbow. The guy strikes the wall, and the lizard grabs him by the throat and smashes his head back into the wall, just to make sure. He turns to face the other, who tries to slash him. He bounces back and readies his sword in his left hand. The man strikes at him, but it’s parried. They lock blades for a second, booker puts his right hand on the sword and pushes, but no dice, they’re at a stalemate. He knees him in the stomach and grabs the bandit. He pushes him against- … Through the door. They’re in the hallway. Both of them lost their swords in the process. He thinks he can see Endarl- Booker gets punched in the stomach, he’s winded. He bends in pain and is hit by the bandit’s knee. Adrenaline is fighting off the pain. He’s grabbed this time and forced through the main door. More men shouting, as he stares into the bandit’s eyes. He can hear men standing up from their tables.

… He leans forward and opens wide, digging his mouth into the bandit and clenching. A horrible if not invigorating scream is let loose.

That intimidated the men at the table, and the man who’s holding him crumples like the others before him.

The men at the table; there’s four; none have weapons; Booker looks behind him; the swords are on a rack where he is.

This could work.

He reaches and grabs a sword, with his back turned, he suspects someone’ll try to exploit it. Footsteps. He turns around, swinging the hilt. It slashes through something. A bandit crashes into the ground, clutching his wound. The second one runs at him and tries to punch him, he dodges. He doesn’t dodge, it strikes him in the temple and he falls to the floor. He’s forced back up by two men, as one reaches for his sword. He walks back, trying to force the bandits away from the third bandit. It’s not enough. Booker jumps. He uses weight to force the two onto the ground. He hits the ground and spins, and he slashes through the standing bandit’s leg with his claws. The man yells and falls to his knees.

Books is the first to stand up, kicking the kneeling bandit to the floor, forcing the other two to stay on the ground while looking for rope.

He’s panting, and the adrenaline kicks out, his body is in agony.

Endarla and Locke walk into the room

…

Endarla’s the first to talk

“… Wow.”

“We should tend to their wounds. Stab wounds can kill in three to twenty minutes.”

Endarla looks quizzically, but Booker points at Locke. She nods.

Locke’s expression is hard to decipher, he looks…

Fuck.

  Endarla walks into the tavern with a hefty gold pouch. Booker’s sitting on a table with Locke. “The guards are tracking the bandit chief, and they’ve set up an outpost in the now empty hideout.” “Great.” “So, what exactly happened?” “I got cornered, no other way out. My body’s aching from all of it, I’d just like to rest.” “Right, we’ll talk about it when you’re better then.” “Uh, hey, Locke, would you mind going to the shop two streets away to buy a potion for aches? You have to go right then take a left.” Locke responds simply with an “Okay.” Endarla hands him the gold pouch.

Booker climbs the stairs and hits the bed in the usual room.

Nothing bad just yet, he takes a moment to appreciate the peace. Though, something irks him. The ‘dark thoughts’ were him. Maybe he was lying to himself about it being foreign. Maybe…

He’s drifting off.

[Midnight] approaches.

[Midnight] - II (Locke): https://theunnamedlizardrogue.tumblr.com/post/175703753251/midnight-ii-locke

Chapter 8: https://theunnamedlizardrogue.tumblr.com/post/176929148741/chapter-8-discovery 

[theunnamedlizardrogue]

[Midnight] - I

So first, an explanation. [Midnight] is an optional experience, this doesn't have the typical writing I usually do, these are conversations between the characters. This is typically a writing sin, but some people like hearing character interaction. I might switch back to the typical writing style if people would prefer it, but this is still worth an experiment. These discussions would probably be summarised the morning after if they have any significance for the plot, so don't worry about missing out. Without further ado - enjoy!

!"$*)&!"£()!"^$)!"(*£*!(£&)"&!*"(!_£&!(*£^(%"!)^*)(^)!£*(&(*)!"£^()^"!()£^"()!£^()"£^

Just as he predicted, it's happening again. Booker gets out of his bed, this time Locke's sitting in the chair. It's practically pitch-black outside

What to do?

There was always "practice" like that night with Locke. Wait shit that sounds bad, I meant the moment where I broke a guy's arm, not like-

He realises how sleep deprived he is.

He walks to the stairs, and notices that in the main room in the inn, Endarla's still awake.

Huh.

Booker: "Hey, Endarla!"

Endarla: "Hm? Oh, hey, you're up late."

Booker teasingly grins

Booker: "Yeah. don't you know lizardfolk are nocturnal?"

Booker: "But why're you up?"

Endarla weakly smiles

Endarla: "I couldn't sleep with all the thoughts running through my mind right now."

Locke's coming out of Booker's room now

Booker grabs a chair when he reaches the ground floor, and drags it along to Endarla's table instead of using the one opposite her.

Booker: "Well, that's interesting, what sort of thoughts?"

She frowns

Endarla: "Well, how I got here for starters, where I came from, why I can't remember anything before last night..." she trails off then shrugs "That sort of thing."

Booker: "What do you remember?"

Locke's reached the table, he sits down.

Endarla: "Well... only waking up in complete darkness, aching all over. My head and shoulders stung.

"I couldn't see anything but I was in a confined box."

"It was this stone container, broken and half-buried."

"But I realised I didn't know where I was or what happened. I only knew my name."

Booker: "What happened next?"

Endarla: "I needed to get somewhere safe, so I picked a direction and started walking. It was... left of the clearing."

"It took an... hour, I think, but I eventually found a town."

"Luckily I found an old bedsheet outside the back of the house, so I could cover my arm before I made my way in."

Booker: "And that's when you walked into the inn?"

Endarla: "Yes, but I needed to ask for directions first

Booker laughs

Booker: "Yeah, same. You figure they'd put up a signpost or something."

Endarla smiles

Endarla: "Yeah, you'd think so."

Booker: "So that's how we met, then."

Endarla: "Hm."

She looks at Booker now, a hint of curiosity entering her gaze

"So...how'd you come to be here?"

Booker: "I started 'adventuring' about three or so days ago, walked from one town to the other"

"Figured it'd be fun, dad used to do the same"

Endarla: "Your father was an adventurer?"

Booker: "Of sorts, naval."

Endarla tilts her head

Endarla: "Naval? was that his name?"

Booker: "Uhhh"

"He used to explore on the seas. That's what I'm saying."

Her face flushes, she's still confused

Endarla: "Uh, I'm...not...familiar with what a sea is..."

Locke: "The sea is a lot of water"

Booker: "Yeah, uh, that. A large body of water."

"You don't know the sea?"

Endarla looks down, her face red

Endarla: "No, I didn't..."

after a pause, she takes a deep breath, her face returning to it's normal shade and looks back up

Endarla: "It sounds like quite the sight though."

Booker: "Yeah, it... is..."

Endarla doesn't know the sea, but Locke does? That's... odd.

Booker: "Well, uh... it was great knowing about you, I'm gonna..."

He thinks, he could go outside and try to waste time or...

Booker: "Go back to bed."

"Night, Endarla."

She nods

Endarla: "Now that I've aired those thoughts, I'll probably head off as well"

Booker stands up and walks off, Locke following suit.

Chapter 7: https://theunnamedlizardrogue.tumblr.com/post/175669812031/chapter-7-monsters-inside

[theunnamedlizardrogue]

[Midnight] - II (Locke)

"£^£^£^£^£^£^£^&())!"(^£)&!$^"($$^("!)£"$*(!^*$()^!()&$()!"!&!()

Booker's getting drowned

He stirs up, coughing and spluttering a vague yellowish substance.

Locke's staring at him, holding a bottle filled with said yellow liquid.

Booker: "..."

Locke: "..."

It takes him a second to realise what's happening

Booker wipes his mouth

Booker: "You could have woken me up first!"

Locke: "Yeah."

Booker points to the bottle

Booker: "Was... that needed to be taken fully?"

Locke: "They didn't say."

Booker: "Well, uh, thanks anyway."

He licks the back of his hand and rubs it

A candle is lit by the bedside

Booker: "Do you know where Endarla is?"

Locke shrugs.

Booker: "Okay..."

"Looks like we got some free time."

Locke: "I... guess?"

Booker: "Sooo"

Booker: "How've you been finding our new group?"

Locke: "I don't know..."

Booker: "Come on, I've been dying to hear one opinion from you."

Locke: "..."

Locke: "I think I like it?"

Booker pumps his fist into the air

...

Booker coughs

Booker: "..."

Booker looks away.

Booker: "Yeah. Uh."

Booker: "I've been thinking about something."

Booker: "The bandit hideout. What I did. What you think."

Locke looks down in thought.

Locke: "Would you hurt me?"

Booker: "Gods, no."

Locke: "Why did you hurt them?"

Booker: "..."

Booker: "Well, they were going to hurt me first."

He looks away

Booker: "Alright, I don't know. It's been happening lately but I try not to do things like that. I'm just a rogue!"

Locke: "Okay."

Booker looks outside

A thought pops up, and he grins to himself.

Booker: "Hey."

"What do you say we go out for a stroll."

Locke: "Okay?"

They leave the inn. There's stars painted on a storefront opposite, causing Booker to look up at the night sky, the stars shine brightly.

Booker: "Alright, follow me."

They wander for a short while, the town is well maintained, hard to find a good practice area.

Here! The markets Books has been wandering around each morning, at night the stalls are cleared; buildings have random clutter near them, walls have indents, tables, everything!

Booker: "I brought you here cause I figured I'd like to teach you something"

Booker: "Would you like to know how to be dexterous?"

Locke: "Uh..."

Booker: "Dexterous like scaling walls and moving easily. That sorta thing."

Locke: "Ohh."

He's gone back to thinking

"Y-Yeah!"

Booker: "Well, listen closely..."

Booker's information is from snakes' old teachings. Locke listens closely, and when it comes to application it seems like he can pick up the information well enough, though he does make the mistake most novices do.

But the guy's trying his best.

[2 hours spent practicing]

Booker: "Be sure to keep your footfalls light, you always gotta account for the stuff you're walking on, you know."

Locke: "I'll try."

Locke's a nimble sort, you'd probably have to be if you're an escaped slave, but he isn't knowledgeable about how to properly navigate his surroundings. Who knows, this might save his tail in the future.

Booker: "You took to it well, practice like this and you'll be good in no time."

Locke stretches and rubs his shoulder, looking at the tables behind him.

Locke: "I wanna sleep."

Booker: "You and me both, let's go back."

Booker pats Locke on the shoulder

This was a nice night.

Booker recalls a night he once had training for an op the week after, he couldn't quite nail a jump and Snakes wasn't going to stop.

When they arrive at the inn once again, Locke heads inside, but...

Booker hears distant voices. It catches him off-guard, he might investigate after he escorts Locke off to his room.

Locke passes out quick when he reaches his bed. There's a slight chance he'll be aching when he wakes up.

Actually, Booker's head hurts a little less, the potion must be working.

He leaves his room and walks back into the main hall. Endarla's sitting there, like last time.

He'll have to check out the voices in a second, let's see what Endarla's doing.

[Midnight] - II (Endarla): https://theunnamedlizardrogue.tumblr.com/post/176190996386/midnight-ii-endarla

Chapter 8: https://theunnamedlizardrogue.tumblr.com/post/176929148741/chapter-8-discovery

[theunnamedlizardrogue]

Chapter 10

Unedited, sorry, but I figure I’d put it out. Now that Chapters 1-10 are done, I’m going to leave chapter 11 for now, and attempt to retail chapters to better fit the narrative. Hope you enjoy!

Hugrggg

Head hurts.

Booker feels cold, and his head stings something fierce. He’s lying on the ground, from what he can tell. And tries to scrapes the floor with his hand. It feels like dirt.

When he opens an eye, he can barely see, but he shuts it quickly. 

It’s bright out.

He can’t hear anything except the sounds of a… bath-house. Bath-house?

He finally gives in and pushes himself up, manoeuvring himself to sitting on the ground cross-legged still-blind, trying to coax his eyes to open.

He can squint at the very least, but can only really see yellow.

He rubs an eye… and now things are starting to make sense.

He’s on a beach.

He holds a hand over his right eye, still hurting even with pressure. What happened again?

Pirates, or something.

He looks around him, and a note lays folded in the sand; it’s only slightly sandy. Must have fell off him.

He leans a little forward to grab it, and opens it up.

“Well kid, your favour’s up.”

… Right.

He falls back onto the sand, looking upwards at the sky.

What now?

…

Meet up with the others.

Yeah.

He returns to sitting, and realises something.

This is the first time he’s ever been on a beach.

He stares over the horizon.

He’ll wait here for a minute, he owes snakes that one.

      Quiet.

The ocean almost spans on forever.

 He wishes Snakes was here.

He traces the sand around him, not much life here, just sand and water.

  He doesn’t mind it.

 Booker steadies his breathing. And tries to stand up.

It looks like the town is to the west of here, he’s quite a walk away.

 He starts walking, sand parting from his boots. He checks around him to make sure everything’s alright.

    Minute one walking back, he spots a splash in the distance. A fish, he thinks, not very large though.

  Minute three, another splash, two birds pass by, cawing loudly. He doesn’t know the birds around this area. They’re whitish with orange beaks, though.

 Minute four, another bird - different colour - nests in a tree on the edge, with sticks in its mouth. Booker lingers around to watch it at its craft.

Minute six, nothing much, he swears he heard a twig snap somewhere, but he can’t see it.

Minute eight, getting closer, he can see the buildings, closest one is this tiny wooden shack, looks like if the material was made by just cutting a log in half.

  He’s arrived. 

He looks around, breathing in the sea air. There are no ships at the harbour now, as he walks up a staircase onto a dock he thinks to himself  where his two amnesiac friends are.

Probably the inn. There’s one with an anchor made out of a rusted iron flapping in the wind.

Booker walks towards the inn, nearly bumping into a passing sailor. His headache’s feeling much more manageable. When he reaches the inn, he pushes the door slowly open, peeking inside. Endarla and Locke are the first people he sees.

Locke looks in front of Endarla, causing her to turn. Her eyes perk up. “Book-” Booker holds a finger to his mouth. She stops midway through the sentence and it takes her a second before she nods. He said no names. The room is quiet, not much business today, and the pirates left. Though there is a shady looking business deal at the back of the room, and this tavern owner looks as if he’s had a morally grey past, but it still seems like this is a normal pub. His eye catches the orc he passed earlier. The orc in turn doesn’t seem to make eye contact. Not all the pirates have left. Endarla continues when he sits next to them. All three of them are on bar chairs. “We’ve been waiting here for hours.” She turns back to Locke, nudging him to confirm. Locke shrugs, “I think.” Booker blinks his right eye in pain “I’ll explain when we’re out of this town.” Endarla looks at his eye, the look on her face means she’s probably caught onto his injury. The look on her face explains all of her thoughts. He’s definitely going to have to explain when they leave. Endarla continues “Well, we sat by the bar so you’d see us first, we were planning to grab a table once you-” The orc stands up, brushing his trousers “Returned.” Booker opens his mouth but his eyes are drawn to the orc, until he passes by. But the orc taps the back of his shoulder.

He turns to the orc

“Yea-” Booker recognises that posture. The orc’s arm readies up and flies Booker tries to-

The fist stops, inches away from his snout.

Endarla, visibly straining, calmly addresses the orc. Fist held by her single hand. “Would you like to join us, then?”

The orc, someone towering Endarla, can’t move his fist.

Booker and Locke are staring, both silent.

The orc lets out a weary sigh, and shakes his head “Guess I ain’t what I used to be” He tries to move his arm, but Endarla still grips it. She might start a proper fight if she wanted. “Alright, let me go.”

Endarla lets go of his fist, and he lowers his arm. Endarla stands up while staring at him and Booker and Locke quickly scramble up.  The tavern owner is on guard already. Eyeing up Endarla, though Booker’s doing the same thing.

They follow through to a proper table and sit down, Locke edging his seat closer to Booker and further from the orc.

The orc has a set of gray hair, tied back. He’s a bulky figure, Two scars next to each other on his mouth. Whitish shirt, and brown trousers. Booker keeps his eye on him…

Endarla starts.

And Endarla squints. “Right, who are you?” His expression stays almost static “Durz.” “Are you a pirate?” He crosses his arms. “Yes. A new one.” Endarla turns her head slightly at him “You don’t exactly look new” “Cause I used to be a mercenary.” “Right.”

“Why’d you attack our friend here?” “He stole gold from the captain.”

Endarla is already doubtful. From Booker’s persective, she’s an open book to read, but she seems just as apt as he is from determining people.

Booker closes his eyes. “Durz, was it?”

“Yes.”

“Funny, I only recall one orc.” “I think he was an old friend of Snakes.” “Master Gunner of the ship for years.” “Don’t you agree, Mag?”

The orc pauses. “I know hi-”

“You don’t know Mag, because you look exactly like him.”

“More importantly, the lie you were feeding us. I didn’t steal anything.  I found a dragonborn slavery ring.”

The orc still stays silent.

...

Booker gently puts his fist on the table.

“I’m Booker, the son of Snakes.”

...

Oh uh. “… Adoptive son.”

…

…

Everyone’s silent.

…

“Mag, Snakes used to talk about you so positively. Why are you doing this?”

…

…

…

The orc talks

“For my girl, what else, kid?”

Booker…

Booker looks at him

Booker interjects “She’s around the same age as me, though”

“She’s reached her twenties. Works on the ship with me. She’s used to the life now, so we haven’t stopped.”

“You really Snakes’ kid?”

“Yeah?”

He looks away and scoffs

“He changed.”

“He didn’t.”

Mag looks back, Booker cuts him off 

“You’d have to take my word for it, Tusks.” 

Mag lets out a heavy chuckle.

“Yeah, you’re Snakes’ kid.”

Endarla looks puzzled, Locke is still sitting behind Booker, but looks like he’s slowly getting coaxed out of his shell.

“I’ll let you off the hook about this, kid. Just run for the trees.”

Booker relaxes his stiffened posture a little, but states reluctantly “We might go and stop the captain.”

“I knew Snakes always wanted to stop this, though I thought after he ran that he wouldn’t go back. But if he’s doing this, I trust him.” “Where’s the fool hidin’ now, though? I didn’t see you guys with him.”

!”_*(£&”!_$&£(_%!£%^!_&$!£_$&!”_(£_!”)£($&!£*)%_^!_^!£)_%^)£!)!£^_)!%^)£!%^_!&$£!$&)£!$&£)!$&)_!£$&)&!)£$!£)&$£!_)£&£!_)&!)%^_!£%_&)$&_!&)£&$!£_)&$_!£)&$*!£)_$&!)_$&!£$_)&£)_£$!&)$£&!_)&£)!$&)!£&$)_&$)_!£$)£&!)$&)£!&%)&%)!&%)!£&%)!£&)%&)_£!%)_&

Locke shakes him, Booker looks around to remember where he is.

Locke whispers to him quietly “You were staring.”

“Kid, Where’s snakes?”

He looks to his left.

“He’s… I...uh....”

Mag slams the table, standing up. Locke shrinks behind Booker again

Endarla interjects “If you try-“

Mag sternly asks Booker

“Who.”

“One of the pirates. A cabin-boy. He’s gone. But the ‘navigator’ was-uh instructing him.”

Mag’s teeth are baring.

But his brow furrows.

“… Eamon?”

Nevermind, Mag’s teeth are grinding now.

Silence plagues the table again and Booker spends his time quickly assessing the room during the wait. The innkeeper is holding something under the bar, from the looks of it. If anything happens, it won’t turn out well.

Mag’s stopped his silence.

“I’m joinin’.”

Booker snaps out of his assessment, realising the statement Mag just said. Mental whiplash.

“I know Eamon. He had it out for Snakes when he joined.” “If what the cap’n says is true, then I’m finding him.”

Endarla and Locke look to him, Booker’s the only one who knows what’s happening.

Booker rubs the back of his neck “Right.” ... “Right.” “So… uh, you don’t have a ship, correct? How are we meant to do this?”

“Trade routes. I was expected to deal with a few select individuals which is why I’m off-shore. Given a cart and a horse to bring ‘em to a select location” Endarla responds “Which is where we can meet them, right?” Mag turns his head and folds his arms “Certainly can try, but it’s simpler just to interrupt them when they’re making stops at every port, all you need to do is find them at the right time, it’s about five days until each stop, give or take. A triangle of sorts. We have we got a remote island as our base.”

Booker, Endarla and Locke feel at a loss for words. Locke tries pulling on Booker’s scarf. He looks like he’s trying to try and get a grasp of a situation, so Booker smiles to put him at ease.

“Time’s a wastin’. We better get movin’.”

They all stand up, all shuffling past the bartender’s hardened gaze. Mag puts down a few coins in silence.

The cart is outside. Around the same place the cart they all arrived in. Wait….

Yeah that’s the same cart as the one they all arrived in.

Mag looks at Booker and shrugs “Less coin.”

As Booker steps foot back into the cart, he gets that feeling that Locke and Endarla are going to have quite a few questions after today. Then the realisation what he’s just gotten himself into.

Godsdamn it.

[theunnamedlizardrogue]

Chapter 9: By its Cover

They’ve finally arrived.  It’s a port, and there’s a visibly large ship with a pirate flag waiting by the town, twice as large as the schooners surrounding it.

As they step out of the carriage, Booker turns to Endarla and Locke to comment on the size of the ship but one of the pirates stops him

“Mate, we have to do this as quick as possible, you understand? Come with me, these two can sit around.”

Booker looks at him, and back at Locke and sighs.

Once he follows the pirate, he looks at the town he’s entering. It’s a small place, most of the buildings here are shops for passing ships. He spots another inn, with a steering wheel as its logo. Further ahead is  weapons shop, with a blacksmith working out in the open sun. It doesn’t take long before the pirate tells him to hurry up. He’s a lot more polite than the other one. That’s enough sight-seeing anyway. Finally, they arrive at the port, and as Booker walks up the gangplank, an orcish figure passes him by.

He gets an odd sensation, like… deja-vu, as if he recognised the entity that passed him, he quickly turns to see the back of the man’s head, a mess of black slowly turning grey. The description, felt very similar to something… Maybe a book he read when he was a child? He shrugs it off and continues up the plank. On deck, a dirty-blond haired man is standing looking at a piece of paper. Booker navigates the ship to subtly walk in front of him and sees that he’s actually holding a map. This man’s a navigator. Quite the difficult job. He holds a cane in his off-hand and looks like he’s bordering on 40s.

Booker’s guided down into the captain’s quarters, the place is almost empty. The pirate knocks on the door and shouts that he’s got the “One stirring up the trouble”. He pushes open the door.

And thus, they enter.

The Pirate Queen is a dark-skinned human with black hair. She looks like she’s in her thirties.  That’s… odd. She’s as old, maybe older, than snakes.  She has a gold ring in her left ear, braided hair and a loose white shirt with an insignia of the design of the boat. Another sense of deja-vu… Wait…

“I recognise that outfit.” She looks at him with a cold and questioning glance “It’s the… ‘scourge of the south’?” A pirate queen, from what snakes told him. She takes a second and nods. “Aye?” “That’s funny, my father always wanted me to read that book. He never found it, but he remembered the first chapter vividly.” Booker loses his train of thought, and it takes him a second to realise. Snakes wanted him to read that book. “You... Uh, you’re a reader.” The look on her face, ah shit. ”So... the scourge?”  She speaks “She were one of the most fearsome women of the seven seas in that book.” An inspiration. “So that book made you a pirate?” “Aye, just like yer hood makes you a rogue.” She grins, isn’t exactly one of the most comfortable grins, Booker half expects the pirate behind him to shiv him in the back. She leans back into her chair “I read more than just one book, lad.” “Takes more than one book to know the difference of port and starboard, how to tie a bowline and how to break a man’s jaw.”

Avid reader.

“So, you’re the mysterious murderer I’ve been hearing about?” “I… guess so. Yes.” “The cabin-boy? Wouldn’t know the sorta type who’d have the balls to mess with a crew.”

Booker swallows. It takes him a moment to steel his nerves. “Snakes was killed by him and he was threatening to frame me.” He clenches his teeth tog”$e*(ther.

Her posture stiffens, and a glass of whiskey on her table shakes a little. “Wait, Snakes? Dead? I never heard about this.”

“You didn’t? I-”

”What in the godsdamned hells was going on behind my back?” ... She looks back at Booker. “You have my condolences, kid. Snakes was a good man. “I still owe him after all he brought to the crew.”

Booker nods. “Were you ordering your crew around offshore?”

“Aye, but I leave it to Eamon, the navigator.” “... You’re Booker, ain’t ya?”

Booker nods again. There’s a silence in the air “I’m curious-” The Pirate Queen rolls her eyes.  A phrase all too familiar to her. “but... I can’t help but notice your age. You should bordering on sixties or something, right?”

Her eyes narrow “You’ve quite the eagle-eye.”  She unsheathes her rapier and stares at the blade of the sabre pointing upwards. She moves the falchion in her hand, and puts the shortsword on the table. Wait that’s not right- “They called it this weird name on one island, had to loot and plunder enough to make Davey Jones blush. But it works like a genie, just gotta wish and it’ll all come true”  

“A… magical blade? You can make a wish and it’s granted?”

“Aye.”

“Then… that means…

...

C-Could you… bring back snakes?”

She looks at Booker, and shakes her head, leaning back into her chair.  “No. This thing only has two charges left in it. Somethin like this is more valuable than life. “I...uh... you.. Y-You said you owed him one, right?”

“Aye, but I’d have probably just brought you a case of rum or somethin, not bring your pa back from the dead.”

Booker’s spirits are crushed. That… stung.

He looks away “Right. Is that all?”

She nods “I’ll leave you, lad. Better luck out in the world.”

Booker slowly trails out her quarters. The pirate looks at him and puts his hand on Booker’s shoulder. Booker looks at- He’s walking up the stairs. And comes back outside, the blue sky staring right back at him. And slams his fist against the wood. It hurts, and the wood barely even chipped.  Maybe he can ask the navigator. Maybe he can steal that sword right under her nose. Maybe... Maybe he can keep punching this wall for !(**”+£*+!£*+£*”!++*+£!”**!£)(*”)$”&£_)!&_)*%!&$”!_)£&!”_)&$”!_)!£&*(!”$&_!(“$&_!&£*)_!”££&*_£&*_!”£&*_!”)£&*_)!”£&*_)”!&£*_)&!”*_)$&)_!&$)_&$”!)_&$)_!”&$)_!&)_&$)_&!”$_)&*!”_)$&)!_&$)!”&$)_!&”*)$_&*!)_”&$*)_!&$)_$&)!&”$)&$)_!”&$)_!&”)$&!”)_&$_)&!”)_$&)!_$&)!”&$)!”&$_&!)”$&”)*_&*)_&!_)”$&)_!&$)& Wait.

There was a noise.  A Sob.

It came from below the deck.

Booker looks around, no pirates.

He moves to the hatch.  The dread begins to creep up again, the same dread as “$&*( This must lead to the crew’s quarters, right? He read diagrams of boats and-  He opens the hatch. When he climbs down the ladder… Maybe something won’t go wrong.

He sees Dragonborn.

Red Dragonborn.

This isn’t the crew’s quarters.

They’re behind bars, bound and gagged. Young, old. Men, women. Rows, too many rows. Too many people.

These people aren’t pirates.

Booker doesn’t know how to react.

His eyes move first. Scanning for a set of keys. He searches his pockets and manages to fish out a lockpick, trying not to listen to the begs and pleas of the dragonborn.

But a voice comes from behind him.  “We learnt how to deal with curious types long ago, lizard.”

A giant grey fist flies at Booker.  Booker has enough time to duck as the punch enters the wall on his right, surprised shouts of draconian ring out.  He can hear the wood explode from where the impact landed. A straight hole. Oh gods.

The Goliath throws another punch. And Booker holds his arms in front of h-FUCK. Pain sears through his arms. His eyes shut instantly as he stifles a cry. When he opens them he can see the goliath readying his arm. It takes a split second.