Escape from Booty Bay: For Death and Water

[Daijaga]

This is a short featuring my guild leader Sidora and her irl husband, Arturi.

"Escape From Booty Bay"
A six part mini series.

For Death and Water
Part one of "Escape from Booty Bay"

The wind this high above the thick jungle was as hot as it was strong. Rising far above the tropics, Hallow Pearl Island stretched skyward, almost in an attempt to elude the choking grasp of the Stranglethorn Vale below. Try as it might though, the mountain couldnt escape the dense foliage and tree cover, even seperated from the main contenient by a broad river. Not to any of it's denizen's dismay, the musty jungle provided the perfect bastion of power for the Black Pearl Naga tribe.

When the troll tribes of Zul Gurubashi took the eastern reaches, they left their cousin tribes, including the Dark Spear Trolls, to vie for controll of the remainer of the Stranglethorn. During this period of insurrection, the naga tribes were virtually wiped from their small seats of power, those remaining took to the Hallow Pearl Island - their last line of defence. There, ruled by the Naga Lord Bauri, they managed to find a delicate balance with the pirates to the south and the troll witch docters of the Vale.

Sidora shook her head, clearing out all the useless information. Arturi insisted on weeks of study and research before heading into dangerous places like this, it drove her nuts. She was backed against one of the vale plams that were packed tightly on the island's summit, her white cloak pulled tightly around her. Just a hand's reach away her pole arm, the Blight, lay hidden in the thick grass. She'd stalked up the summit hidden by a gnomish light bender, but it had fizzeled out in the damp atmospehre shortly after shed found a spot to lay low.

"Peice of junk." she mused, tossing it into the near by lake. The splash make a curious plunk sound. Three Naga's snaped to attention. Obscured by the plam trunk, she wondered why in the hell she was sneaking around on the top of some Naga stronghold in the first place.

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"I'm telling you, its the truth!" Ivri boasted, only slightly less inebriated than usual. "That damn map is out there!!!" she flung her arm outward.

Thelm ducked. An elementalist, his robes were damp with the waters which he worked his magic. A thin man to start with and laden under the wet blue robes, the dodge was nothign short of a instinctful sixth sense only lover can share.

"Good dodge, baby!" the drunk pirate announced.

Clair Valentine stood in the corner near-by, decked in her attaire that barly hid the heavy plate beneath. She gave a quick nod to Sidora, who was sitting beside Ivri. Sid took the hint and stealthily knocked over her ale.

"Aaah!" Ivri moved sluggishly, attempting to dodge the liquid. Thelm's hand fluttered, the liquid seemed to pause, Ivri finally stumled back, just in time for the spilt ale to rejoin gravity.

"Oops! Sorry Ivri!" Sid faked, "But maybe you've had enough anyway, right?"

Ivri grunted. "Lishten Sidsy - get the gang together and comb the Bay. That damn Krazek prolly cut the map up and sold it to a bunch of suckers...find the peices and meet me at the Sun in a week."

Thelm smiled in that sympathetic way when a man is dealing with a drunk friend. "Sidora, while Ivri is....um....under the weather..."

"IM DRUNK!" she boasted merrily. Clair erupted in laughter.

"...or drunk, uh, shes really onto something with this map thing, see if you guys can come up with any clues and meet us back at the Black Sun., ok?"

Sidora nodded, "Ill gather a few of the usual suspects, well look into it."

Thelm rose and thanked her and Clair for coming, and helped Ivri out of the bar.

"Clair, team up with Saurion and check out the Bloodsails on the south of the cape."

"The gnome?" Joking distain.

Sid laughed. "Hes in Ironfroge peddeling enchanted origami, he needs to get out of that pit and get his bones moving."

She ackowledged with a grunt and wordlessly headed out of the bar.

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A map to the lost treasure of the tides of darkness. The promise of gold and powerful items that currently had landed her sulking behing a tree while naga guards stared down palm trees. "Dammit, Arturi, where are you" she cursed.

As if on some cue, there was a soft russeling behind her, then the dull sound of a limp body crashing into the ground. Four Six naga warriors became four in the space of a breath.

"Gung'yat! Arama!!" One shouted and the mess of them went charging down a narrow path back down the incline.

:"About time" she huffed and grabbed up her pole. She pressed past the stone arch that marked the inner most of the summit's seat and there, across a swinging old wooden bridge that hung suspended over a waterful, was the Holy Spring of Stranglethorn.

Its beauty took her breath, she was hard but a paladin none the less, and the divine energy that flowed within the spring's water was overwhelming. It cascaded out of an ornate alabaster fish and tickeled down slightly into a crystaline pool where the sun reflected as though it were shining from the Stranglethorn itself. And bathing in the middle of the damn thing was the Naga Lord Bauri.

He was in teh ackward position of attempting to wash something off of his back when the paladin reached the far side of the bridge. The two stared at each other for a long moment, finally it broke the silence.

"You could have cut me down, already, fool." its accent was thick, heavy.

"Take your time, Bauri. You dont have much of it left."

"Gg'gurithya" it said and snaked up and out of the water. After making sure the paladin wasnt advancing any further across the bridge, he donned specialy crafted plates and picked up his own spear.

"You'll regret that."

Sid smiled and dropped her white cloak, revealing think black armor, peices of it pulsating with energies she herself and woven into its being.

"Bring it."

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Arturi dropped two more naga and let the shadow of a fruit tree envelope him. All around him the mountain was coming alive with shouts and commands. He only understood a little naga, but it was enough to be entertaining.

Gudgyada, that one ment army; Trur, a word for seige warfare; Gg'gurithya, that was one was a slang word for humans, derrogitory. Fools thought they were under some military attack.

A wind rose, a bird flew, and the shadow of a fruit tree was empty.

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The shadows of the noon sun were dark pools under Sidora's feet. The naga shifted his weight, his body contorting, serpentine muscles flexed. From opposite ends of the suspended ropes, the duelists raised their spears.

With out words, they charged.

Barius, more accostomed to moving on the swaying ropes led the charge, crossing half the bridge in only a few movements. The paladin's footing was unsure, and the sway of the ropes left her stumbling her quarter, meeting the naga's first lunge clumsily.

"Not my finest moment." she thought.

His own twisted spear clashed with her Blight, the two locked a space of a breath before the naga lord pushed the advantage, sending sid two pacesback, further disorineting her footing. A spin and the spear was twriling above barius like a tornado, and he brought the silver end striking out of the vortex like lightening. One, two, three time sidora's pole smashed away the bolt, but the strikes were fast, and frequent.

Barius let out a hissing laugh. "Is this what has come to challenge me? A champion of the light, stumbling around like a drunk pirate? Prepare to meet your beloved Light, Gg'gurithya!" His spear arced down in a flash.

There it was, opening. Sid flung her weight forward and twised the butt end of the blight around to smash the naga in the temple, disorienting him enogh for a flash of white cloth to move past and take a position further toward the holy spring.

"Think Sid, whats he doing that your not."

The serpent spent little time stunned, and moved in the curious way that snakes do to turn and face her. "You'll need more than tricks and taps to save your pink hide." He began to slither forward once more.

Her sense kicked in. What was happening...something wasnt changing. Time slowed, what was she missing. Sky, same. Her body felt strong and taunt, no sign of poison. Her perspective was steady. Steady, unmoving...the bridge. Even as the bastard snake slithered toward her, the bridge was steady as a rock. Sorcery?

No, sidora, movement.

Back and forth, the gentle, simple rhythm of the snake's body balanced itself against the swaying of the bridge. Bingo.

In a second the naga was back on her, but this time she was prepared. His lunge carried to oneside, and sid moved away from it, but ws careful to keep the Blight opposite of her step, the counter weight kept her steady, and set her up for her own assult, a right one handed arc. Barius was caught offguard and took a nick in the chest while he back peddeled.

"Light take you!" she screamed and took three long steps, each one wide and opening on normal ground, here steady and sure; and brought the blight under and up, stabing the naga surly in the gut. The following eruption of holy energy washed over his green scales, and ended him.

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As Sid and Art passed the over bufffed goblin bruisers walking into the Maw of Booty Bay, they chatted about the weather, politics, and friends. The day was ending and the last lights of the sun stole out of the vale, happily retreating, one of the few to escape it clutches.

Sid juggled a wineskin that sloshed with water. "Well that was an adventure, so to speak. We give this to the Krazek guy at the Bar and collect our map peice. Simple as that."

Art smiled, "I just hope he doesn't try to pull any funny business. Whats so great about this water anyway?"

"Some sort of remedy, cures a plague only found in the Vale. Hr probably sells this stuff for a small ransom. Speaking of plagues, your poison's abot to wear off, isnt it?"

The elf nodded. "They'll have quite the headache when the sun is finished for the day. What about that Barius guy, you finish him?"

"I don't kill for the pleasure of death or water." she said, now standing before the torchlit bay, "And damn sure not for scum goblins. Lets get a nap and meet Krazek in the morning."

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On Hallow Pearl Island, a naga lord lounged in a holy spring, and watched the lazy trail of the moon in the sky and smiled.

"Bitch"

[shadokastur]

Dude that was awesome. I might try my hand at this here.
Excellent fight scene.

REY