Uyllious Tales (Open RP)

 

Torre stood near the front of the delivery line, a large crate cradled on one shoulder, as well as pulling a wooden cart with stacks of crates behind her. The sun was shining now, and it didn't feel too hot nor too cold to her, but a bead of sweat ran down the side of her face solely from the exertion alone. Better to get them all done in one trip than many, she thought. Nothing worse than waiting in lines all day.

As she approached the front, she gingerly rested the handle of the cart on the ground, placed the other crate on top of it for now, and reached into her satchel. She procured a piece of paper, and held it out to the foreman to take.

"M' apologies, sir," she started, stretching her arms and back, now free from their burdens. "This 's the shipment list I was given, but I'm still getting used to this port. D'you mind directing me to where I should drop 'em off?"

She hadn't pried into the crates or even took a good look at the list, herself. Her job was to get supplies from point A to point B, no questions asked. If she had to wager a guess from the weight and sound of objects shifting, she'd assume they were tools or something of the like. Whatever they were, they were heavy. Not that she minded, it was why she was chosen for so many jobs, after all... She couldn't help but think of herself as a pack mule, sometimes.

Epic intro posts! I can easily tone it down; just lemme know.  
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A pair of eyes cautiously scanned the deck of the large, metal ship that obstructed most of his view; the vessel must have made port during the night. The reason the ship caused him concern was that it was a military vessel. However they couldn't wait any longer; the winds were perfect, the dock was crowded, and the port authorities were schedulued to inspect a particular ship later today.

A sharp vibration through Kal's hand brought him back to his task. He rubbed the crude dagger in his pocket between his thumb and finger and felt a piece of the blade flake off.

He continued to weave his way through the crowd until he was near a mooring post. Quickly stepping to the side to avoid someone, he slid his left hand along the post to steady himself. As he did, the small dagger exited his pocket and was wedged between the post and the mooring line. Five of five.

Kal chanced a last, quick glance at the large warship next to him. It would have been perfect for the task, but it was unfortunately off limits. He had chosen the three ships carefully. They were all on the larger side, fairly heavily laden, and awaiting inspection; which meant only skeleton crews were on board. The one closest to him, and his last target, should miss the warship...should.

A light gust ruffled Kal's shirt and was shortly followed by a loud snap. Shouting erupted from the end of the dock and he turned, along with everyone else, to see what was happening. Around him, people were gasping as a ship broke her aft mooring and was twisting toward the opposite pier.

Most of the experienced dockworkers resumed their tasks after a few moments; a broken mooring line not exactly uncommon. However, most activity stopped when the fore line gave way. The free ship, sails still furled, silently drifted toward the opposite pier as the few crew members on board scrambled to lower her sails and regain control.

The third line to snap caused all activity around him to cease. The second ship, and the smallest of the three selected, had just broken her fore mooring and started to swing out toward the open harbor. This crew, perhaps being on guard after the first ship broke free or perhaps having some knowledge the other did not, reacted quickly. They cut her aft line and unfurled full sails just as the ship was almost pointing straight out into the harbor. Free from her berth and with the wind instantly filling her sails, she practically lept out of the dock and into the open channel; away from the chaos and the inspectors.

The copious amount of yelling was drowned out by splintering and cracking as the first ship collided with one half her size. The smaller ship, masts and rigging entangled with her attacker, quickly began to take on water. As the smaller ship slowly began to disappear, she pulled the other one with her, threatening to capsize the larger vessel.

Shouts of surprise erupted around him when the mooring line nearest him broke. Four. He watched as the bow of the ship lazily swung toward the big warship and her berth. If he had done his job properly, the aft line should hold until it cleared the larger vessel. Should. An oversight occurred to him and he looked at the sky; the winds would also get a vote. He joined the crowd that was beginning to move away from the area; he preferred not to be around a bunch of irate, trained sailors if things went wrong.

"M' apologies, sir. This's the shipment list I was given, but I'm still getting used to this port. D'you mind directing me to where I should drop 'em off?"

The Foreman raised their head away from their list for the briefest of moments, taking the piece of paper off Torre’s hand with a quick snatch, not out of rudeness, but mere reflex of the same interaction day in and out from others just like this.

“Okay, okay let’s see this….shipment on behalf of the Yotul Family….extra mining equipment for Thorngulch via Dawnwall….you’re scheduled for departure on the Silver Warden in the next two hours. Down at the far end of the pier, large metal and redwood ship, you can’t miss...hey, Hey, HEY!!”

It was so sudden. First a snap, then the sound of wood creaking and sails violently filling with wind as one of the closer ships docked was quickly found drifting not leisurely out into the main part of the lake but turning and spinning almost on point before colliding with one of the smaller vessels moored a little ways out in the water. The sudden swiftness from the dockworkers and the few crew members on board were enough to lessen what would have been a devastating crash, however the sounds of shouting only grew louder as the smaller ship, luckily unmanned at the time, began to take on enough water than its sinking threatened to take the larger of the two along with it.

The group of Aigean were already making their way out to the scene, most of the older variety not even waiting for the prepared boats and merely diving into the water and quickly out of sight within seconds. Some Sliabh, some already part of the crew manning the now struggling ship, could be seen pulling on the large tangled cords and rigging, it not stopping at least slowing the sinking of the water logged boat and giving other dockworkers the chance to cut and separate the two vessels.

The sight of the second ship coming undone and sailing out to safety was almost a relief when compared to what was going on with the tangled mess of ships. However when the third came partially free and the sudden bellow of wind caused the lake’s waves to lap even harder, the still intact aft line was more of a hindrance than a help, the cord becoming taut within moments and swinging the stouter ship towards the berth of the Silver Warden itself.



Kal blended in with the crowd already making their way off the dock and led by some of Urense’s soldiers. None seemed to be on the lookout, and in fact no one seemed to be any the wiser of what truly went on right in front of their faces. If anything, it was going to be an interesting piece of gossip to talk about over the next few days. The crowded piers and thumping of feet on the boardwalk soon fell to the soft crunch of dirt and stone for Kal, the large archway shadowing him as he passed under it and continued to follow with the crowd alongside the numerous carts and beasts waiting for loading and unloading still to go on.

It was quite smooth when it happened, for anyone else they would never have even felt the light fingers touch their shoulder, just ever so slightly, just enough to steer them to the side and out of sight between a certain pair of crate stacked wagons.

A quick flash of a familiar raven emblazoned medallion from the cloaked figure was all Kal needed to be put a ease, the object soon out of sight as quickly as it had appeared.

“Nice work there. They’ll figure out the tampering in a few days, but it’ll be longer before they realise why it really happened. Most’ll think it was just some reckless vandalism.”

The small satchel shot out from the long cloak the figure wore, the brief sign of their slender glove covered fingers as the bag was sent flying and landed in Kal’s hand with a sound of clinking metal as the figure pulled back their hood to reveal short white cropped hair and two small emerald like veins running underneath their chin.

“Your cut. Araden’s been pleased Vanessa sent you our way, added a little bonus for your work the last few months. Well…more a little incentive to come on back once you check in with the Guild. Your ride out of here should be leaving soon, if you didn’t go and break it that is, heh.”

The shouting of dockworkers, crew, and people in general still filled the air as the out of control ship tugged on its cord and swung to the sound of wooden posts creaking and groaning loudly. And with one final groan there was a sharp crack as the support splintered and went flying out to bounce along the churning waves carrying the wayward ship more easily than before.

The sight of twelve emerald clothed individuals however were quick to rush up to the bow of the Warden, with wooden poles at the ready as they took position, shoulder to shoulder, to the sides of Captain Rochezin. Silently they waited those passing seconds as the vessel rose and fell with the waves, getting ever closer until just as the two vessels were about to hit, the Captain roared;

"DEFEND!!"

And with a faint glow of silver that seemed to radiate from Rochezin arms, to those that stood shoulder to her, and finally to the tall mooring poles each had in their hands, the sound of cracking and creaking wood was heard as the sabotaged ship collided with the group, but from the vessel itself as it strained against the seemingly immovable force it found itself battling.

With a final shove of strength, the glow of silver vanished as the vessel's momentum all but fell away, the still lapping waves now gently knocking the wooden ship against the twisted metal framing the Warden while a couple of dockworkers helped the rattled crew to finally get back control.

"Yeaaaa, I probably should have asked what y'all booked for me first."

Kal unbuckled the satchel and pocketed the ticket that was resting on top of the coinage. He lightly shook the satchel to move the coins around before closing and fastening the satchel around his shoulders.

"Keep this up and I might have to request a transfer. Just make sure that praise finds its way back to Vanessa; maybe then she will lighten up a little. It's been fun."

The next hour passed quickly as Kal returned to his accommodations to gather his gear before heading to the docks. The few belongings he had brought went into the modest sized pack and his weapons were fixed to its sides; stowed but accessible should the need arise. He fastened his cloak around his neck and shouldered the pack before heading to check out with the owner.

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"Might want to hurry; the Silver Warden is scheduled to depart soon."

He grinned when he was pointed to the large, metal warship from earlier. A quick thanks was passed to the worker and he headed toward the ship. He couldn't help but notice the third ship was missing from its berth but he couldn't see any damage to the Warden. At least she made it out ok.

The larger cargo ramp was closer than the passenger one; so he headed in that direction. He would probably get fussed at for using the wrong ramp, but he would be on the ship at that point and he would just feign ignorance.

He didn't want to make a huge scene, but he figured causing a slight disturbance would prevent him from appearing too suspicious. He reasoned that if someone had just committed a "crime" they would go out of their way to avoid attention; right?

To avoid standing in line, he used the wrong side of the ramp and flashed his ticket to a blue haired Aigean with a clipboard. He passed a quick greeting but continued past the man without stopping, intent on getting out of the way of the loading.