Fantasy Gaiden

"You can hang ropes off the boat and trail them through the water. That's what good you can do." Aurelia shakes her head. Why a boat captain didn't think of that baffles her. An idiot, a coward and a liar...

Ricardo sighs and gives orders to his crew, though it's obvious that he isn't happy with the choice.

"What do you intend to do if the serpent comes back?" he asks as the ropes are lowered. "It's not as if you'll get another lucky strike in, and we can't possibly depend on a cleric to fend the thing off!"

Lumina continues shining her light about at the water as she grits her teeth and mutters. "We'll deal with it if it's still around the area."

"Consigning you and your crew to death, captain, is the quickest way to invite death."

Ricardo glares daggers at Aurelia as he replies. "I am not consigning to anything. I'm asking what you intend to do if it comes back."

Lumina notices a reef that had caught the cage Jörmungandr resided in.
She looks at the Secondborn in confusion, this was either a race Antarion had never seen, or it was some sort of monster. "What is that?" she asks no one in particular.

Aurelia looks over the rail, where she was aiming the light. "It's a Secondborn..." She says, trailing off vaguely.
"Quit just standing around! Get the cage out of the damn water!" She scolds the captain. None of her ire is directed to the crew.

Ricardo snorts in contempt as he turns around to address his crew.

"Grab a hook and throw it over the side." he says. "Pull that thing up."

Once the cage is lifted up, Jörmungandr immediately starts coughing violently and puking up water. He feebly struggles against the chains that bind him, but to no avail, as they give off a very faint glow.

Aurelia tries to break the chains with her blade.

As the chains are severed by Aurelia's blade, Lumina throws another line overboard. "That Half-Orc is also down there." she says.

The Half-Orc is also pulled on board by helping hands, much to Ricardo's ire. "I spent weeks trying to get rid of that prisoner...Now here he is again." he mutters.
The Half-Orc is unconscious, having struck his head on a rock and having miraculously stayed afloat on his back.
Lumina immediately sets about healing both the Secondborn and the Half-Orc; even if they were small injuries or even if they had none at all, she just wanted to make sure.
Holding out her Holy Symbol, Lumina looks at Aurelia as she works. "Could you check to see if there are any more out there?" she asks.

Aurelia nods her head and keeps searching, using the symbol.

Jörmungandr's eyes suddenly snap open, and he bolts upright in one fluid motion. His wings stretch out, and he roars loudly, causing several people around him to jump or cover their ears.

His tail lashes to and fro, as though seeking out an enemy, and he turns his head this way and that, surveying the situation around him, growling quietly.

Seemingly satisfied that there were no Dark Elves on board, he looks down at his body, and feels for the wounds that were once there.

"Who helped me?" he asks, his voice deep with a natural growl to it.

Aurelia continues searching for survivors. The symbol in one hand, her unsheathed blade in the other. "I did."

Jörmungandr turns to her, and walks over. He towers over her and regards her for a moment, before dropping to one knee, and bowing his head. Even kneeling, he towers over her.

"You have saved my life, expecting nothing in return. For that, I am not only grateful, but humbled. I pledge my loyalty to you. Where you go, I will go. Your enemies shall be my enemies, and your allies shall be my allies. I will fight for you, and by your side. This is an oath that shall last until mine bones are dust upon the ground."

Aurelia is taken aback by his words, but likely not in the way he expected. She looks annoyed. "I'll not take your loyalty. I didn't set you free to have you bind yourself to my service."

Jörmungandr laughs, it coming out as a deep rumble. He stands up and smiles, revealing his teeth.

"I have not bound myself to you, small one. I am no one's slave, servant, or tool. I am your ally, not your weapon. I am indebted to you for saving my life, so I too shall one day save yours, but you are not my kin. I will travel with you, but shall take no orders from you."

Nodding in satisfaction, he walks off, stretching his wings out and then folding them back up, and helps search for survivors in the water.

As Aurelia and the Secondborn spoke, one of the crew members had walked up and spoke to Ricardo, who quickly moves towards the railing.
He sighs in relief before he turns to address crew and passengers. "Looks like we've found land."

Strangely, an island resides in the distance, looking like it would take only two minutes to reach.
The odd thing about the island is that it hadn't been present before all the events of the night had transpired.
As Ricardo orders his crew to sail towards the island, Lumina stands and looks at Jörmungandr. "Have you seen one of those things before?" she asks Aurelia.

She gives Lumina a warning look, silently telling her to not say it again like that. "Yes, I've seen Dragonkin before... This one is a Secondborn. One that has not said it's name yet."

Walking over to the girls, Jörmungandr gives a strange looking bow before straightening up. "You may call me....Jörmungandr, yes that's it." The name is strange to hear coming from his mouth, and stranger still to the unfamiliar tongue.

"Well, Jörmungandr" saying the name slowly, trying to get it to sound right coming from her. "How did you come to be on a slave ship?" Her voice is not curious or accusatory. She speaks as a commander would when asking for a battle report.

The Secondborn growls, his tail lashing out violently in anger.

"Those filthy Dark Elves caught me during a hunt, using their magic to subdue me and chain me up. In the face of their magic, I was powerless to fight back."

"So they were slavers after all." Lumina says. "When this Half-Orc wakes up, I'll have a few questions for him."

After stabilizing the Half-Orc, Lumina stands up and watches the approach of the island.

---------------

Once the ship reaches the island, Ricardo gives orders to drop the anchor into the shallows.
Looking overboard, he scans the shore for any sign of life.
A thick fog seems to have rolled in, obscuring the vision of the crew and travelers, though it's light enough for them to see what looks like a building in the distance.

Ricardo sniffs and wipes a gloved hand across his nose. "We'll need a landing party to check that out." he says.

"I'll go." Aurelia commands. It's not an offer or suggestion. She's going.

"I'll come along." Lumina says.

Turning to Jörmungandr, she asks him kindly to carry the Half-Orc with them as they depart.

Aurelia leads the way to the building they spotted in the mist. And as the group goes, they're followed by a curious drow, who makes no attempt to stay hidden, shadowing the group from behind.

Glancing behind her, Lumina quizzically asks Aurelia. "Uh, is that a friend of yours?"