Tales of Illidranna

There weren’t always dragons in the valley. During the start of the Thirteen Years War, the Earefrost Empire and Demarr Republic quickly built up their military might in the hopes to overwhelm their enemy. And while their fleets fought and burned in the sky over the valley, the dragons decided to abandon their territory as they did not want to get entangled in the humanoid’s war. This war dragged on and eventually turned into one of attrition as the Republic pushed far into the Empire, past the valley. Once both of their resources had dwindled, the dragons took this as an opportunity to reclaim their land, which to the benefit of the Empire, created a new barrier between the advancing Republic troops and the remnants of the Empirical forces. At first, this did not dissuade the Republic as they sent numerous regiments to cross the valley in an effort to continue their onslaught. They didn’t stand a chance, however, and were quickly dispatched by the tremendous destructive force of the dragons. After months of attempts, the valley gained the nickname of “the Meat Grinder” by troops on both sides of the battlefield.

A few more years had passed, and the dragons had gotten even greedier. They grew tired of picking off the remaining soldiers and looked toward their fellow dragons’ territories as each of them believed that the other had the better land and, therefore, the better hoard. The dragons fought each other for weeks and it was at this time that the Empire choose to commence its counterattack. The Republic, unaware of how much their enemy had regrouped during this time, was pushed far back beyond their original borders. And as the Empirical troops began to surround the Demarrian capital, the Republic waved the white flag and surrendered, ending the long, blood-filled war.

Years have passed since then, and the valley has been quiet since the war ended. Life, for the most part, has moved on and the people have returned to their daily lives. And in a coastal town, not too far from the Demarrian border, a dense fog began to roll into its harbor. It is here, in Farwind, where Commander Jonathan Rikes, a tall, gruff-looking veteran soldier with black hair that has streaks of grey at the temples, leaned on the railing of the dock. He stared at his men across the way lounge around lazily as they watched the dock hands load their equipment onto the ship. He felt the boards of the dock creak softly when he shifted his weight from one side of his body to the other as he straightened his uniform and just as he was about to move to address his company, a voice called out to him,

"The Forgone Lady. Who comes up with these names? Is there a council somewhere that decides if a ship has an ominous name or is called a creature's body part?"

“What are you, a critic?” Rikes retorted.

The boards creaked again heavily, and a hand came down onto his right shoulder as beside Rikes stepped Lieutenant Andrew Bradford. A large, imposing man, Bradford stood at almost a full head above his commander. His worn but well taken care of armor reflected back at Rikes his own exhausted expression as he turned to face him. Bradford ran his fingers through his long blonde hair in a futile attempt to keep it out of his face as he gave his old friend a warm smile.

"You should really get it cut, or at least tie it back,” Rikes said as he half-heartedly gestured toward Bradford's hair.

"And you should really relax once in a while. How long have you been standing here?" Bradford quickly responded to change the subject.

"Long enough for me to watch the men go from helping load the equipment to sitting around chatting as the dock hands do it unassisted."

Bradford smirked as he leaned toward Rikes saying softly, "And I wonder whose idea it was to help in the first place?'

Rikes scoffed. "They were doin’ nothing."

Bradford let out a laugh, "That so? And you thought that after spending months on the border, patrolling what used to be the most heavily contested area during the war, they should load the ship instead of taking a well-deserved break? I cannot possibly see any flaws in this."

"They will have plenty of free time aboard the ship. Besides they were beginning to get a bit rowdy with some of the locals. Had to remind them that until they reach the capital they are still under my command and will act accordingly.”

"How rowdy are we talking?"

“Just some peacocking, cat calls, that sort of thing. Then Jackson almost started a fight with a dock worker for looking at him the wrong way. I swear some of them are more animal than man."

"We never are sent down here with the best of the best" Bradford said with a grin following a sharp exhale.

"Yeah," Rikes said with a long sigh "C’mon, looks like they're about done."

Rikes bent over and grabbed his pack, threw it over his shoulder, and began to walk over with Bradford in tow. The large thuds of each step of both men announced their presence as they turned to where the rest of their company awaited. As the two officers approached, each of the men of the regiment quickly gathered themselves and stood at attention. Rikes and Bradford scanned them all with a long, cold look but before either could start, an older man in his mid to late sixties walked up to greet them. He had a long scruffy beard that had been matted by seawater and beady brown eyes with wrinkles that spider-webbed out from the comers. His skin was very tan from the seemingly countless days on the deck of a ship, and he held a triangular-shaped hat at his side which would usually cover the large bald spot at the top of his graying head.

"Commander Rikes?" he said as he extended out his right hand.

"Yes sir, you must be Captain Mirmost,” the commander responded as he took his hand with a firm grasp. “Has all our equipment been loaded onto the vessel?”

"Yes, yes. They just finished." Captain Mirmost said as he released his grasp of the commander’s hand and quickly adjusted his gaze to the Lieutenant. He extended his hand out once again.

"You must be Lieutenant Bradford"

"That must be me.” The Lieutenant said with a smile as he shook the captain’s hand. “Sir, are all your crew been accounted for? Our men here are quite eager to get underway."

"We are just waiting for our Quartermaster. Once she is here, we’ll be ready to go. In the meantime, your men can start boarding and get situated.”

The Commander turned and addressed his men after hearing this. "Alright, you lot of slackers, get aboard! Ship's departing soon."

As the soldiers began to pick up their personal belongings and fall in line toward the gangplank, Rikes walked over to one of them and quietly pulled her aside.

"Lisbin, I need you to watch over the squads during this voyage. Make sure they don't tear apart the ship."

The young woman looked up toward Rikes with her bright blue eyes that were partially covered by the strands of her long brown hair. "Yeah boss, no problem," she said as she readjusted her stained, bulky armor. She gave a quick nod and smiled then grabbed her things and rejoined the line to board.

As the Lieutenant and Captain Mirmost began to discuss the ship’s manifest, Rikes watched as the rest of his regiment shuffled onto the ship. During this time, he wondered to himself,

Why the hell was she assigned to us?

From what he could tell, Sargent Mary-Anne Lisbin's service record was nothing but exemplary. She was young, bright, always followed her orders, and more importantly, she understood them. Everyone in her squad respected her. Even the other squads respected her. It made no sense to Rikes why she was here. She should be in a command course in the capital instead of here with all the rejects doing pointless patrols and peacekeeping of an area that nobody wanted. It was a massive waste of potential to have had her here for the past 7 months looking for Demarr Republic agitators that will never come.

As he watched the last soldier step off the gangplank he turned back to Bradford and Mirmost, catching the end of their conversation.

“I promise you, Lieutenant, there is nothing to worry about with this fog. As soon as we push off and get up there it will be clear and calm." Mirmost said as he put his hat back on top of his head.

"I'll have to take your word for it, Captain." Bradford said nervously under his smile.

The captain let out a hardy laugh and clapped Bradford on the back. "Don't worry my boy, it'll be just fine." He said as he walked off.

Riker looked at Bradford, "Guessing you haven't been on a sky ship before."

"Never. I've heard the experience is quite unlike anything else, but I've also heard some horror stories from the war."

"That was in wartime,'' Rikes said as the fog now completely engulfed the port and had now started its creep inland. “You'll be fine. Just think of it as a normal ship."

Bradford slowly looked up and gripped the railing of the dock "Hundreds of feet in the air."

Rikes smiled, "That's the spirit."

Rikes and Bradford walked toward the ship and could already hear the captain yelling orders to his crew. "Prepare for departure! Mr. Stevens, double-check the riggings! Mr. Morris, make sure all the cargo is secure! Mr. Crane, show Commander Rikes and the lieutenant to their quarters!”

Several voices responded to Mirmost’s orders from around the ship, "Aye, Captain"

As Rikes and Bradford stepped onto the deck they could see standing there waiting for them was a slender Baekshee. Even with his feline features partially hidden under his hood, Rikes could still see his bright blue eyes surrounded by black fur that was beginning to grey at the tips. He wore very simple clothes underneath his well-worn leather armor that was strapped tightly around his thin frame. His long black tail had begun to wrap around him but then stopped as he approached the two.

"Gentleman, if you would please follow me.'' He said in a raspy voice.

The two nodded and followed Mr. Crane as he led them down to the second deck where, through a series of corridors, they arrived at the bow of the ship. Here there were two rooms across from each other in this small, somewhat damp hallway.

"Commander, your room is on the starboard side and Lieutenant yours is on the port. The mess hall is back down that hallway on the right. Dinner will be at sundown but if you are feeling peckish then just ask the cook for something to hold you over."

“Thank you, Mr. Crane." Bradford said as he moved toward his door.

"One last thing gentlemen,” Crane said before Bradford could enter "If you could make sure that none of your men would interfere with the crew while they are on duty. You are all passengers on this ship and if the duties of one of the crew members were disturbed for any reason it could be very… disruptive."

Rikes looked at him sharply "None of my men will get in the way of the operations on board this ship. You have my word."

"Thank you, Commander." Crane bowed his head slightly before he turned and walked back toward the stairs.

Bradford turned to Rikes, "Your word, eh?"

Rikes grasped the handle of his door and began to turn it, "Let the men know that if I hear that any of them are misbehaving, I will personally throw them overboard".

Before Bradford could respond Rikes had entered his room and closed it behind him.

"Yes sir." The lieutenant said to himself as a smile curled up his face.

...

Crane stepped back up onto the deck of the ship and approached Captain Mirmost. "The officers are situated in their quarters, sir."

Mirmost leaned in and responded in a hushed tone "Good. Listen before you go back to your duties, go find Nimrod. Tell him to go into town and get Jules. I assume she's at the local brothel."

"I’ll get him. And I believe that we should be ready to depart by the time they get back"

"Good, good. We shouldn't delay too much longer. Let me know when they’re back aboard.” Mirmost said as he turned and opened the door to his cabin.

Crane went back down below deck to the hold. As he took the last step off the stairs and turned, he could see the large immense silhouette of Nimrod lit up by the lantern that was placed on the crate beside him. One of Nimrod’s Giant-kin hands clutched a small ledger and the other rubbed the top of his bald head as he peered through a pair of bifocals that rested at the tip of his nose.

He muttered to himself as he read, "Two crates of silk, one crate of sugar, more fruit..."

In the corner of his eye, Crane emerged from the darkness; "Nimrod, how's the count going?"

Nimrod flinched as he turned to face him "Oh Crane! You snuck up on me.” He sighed as he regained his composure. “Everything seems to be in order. I was just double-checking Morris’s work and making sure everything is secured before we get underway." Nimrod said in his calm and eloquent demeanor.

"That’s good. Listen, Captain wants you to go into town and fetch Jules.”

"She's still not back?" Nimrod said as he closed the ledger and took off his spectacles.

"No." Crane said as he leaned on one of the crates, "She’s delaying us. The captain said to start at the brothel."

Nimrod chuckled as he handed the ledger to Crane. He pulled out a small case from his pocket and gently placed his glasses into it. "Could’ve guessed that. If she's not there, then she's probably at a dive. I'll find her."

As he stepped past Crane and began to head back up the steps, Crane called out to him, "And be quick about it! We have a schedule to keep.”

Nimrod shouted back down, "No, I thought I'd take in the sights one last time!"

Crane chuckled as he opened the ledger next to the lantern. His brow furled as he spoke to himself softly "Gods, that's a lot of fruit."

…

Nimrod stepped off the gangplank and looked down the fog engulfed dock. He slowly made his way until he got to the street and then turned onto one of the main roads. He walked for about 10 minutes until he was outside the most prominent brothel in the town, the White Swan. He stepped inside into the warm, low-lit entrance hall and was greeted by a very attractive older woman wearing a well-made red evening gown. Her dark hair was neatly draped over her shoulders and her brown eyes scanned him up and down.

"My, my," she said in a sultry voice as she approached Nimrod and traced her fingers up his arms, "Aren't you quite a unit. What can I help you with, my dear? Are there any preferences you desire?"

Nimrod cleared his throat before he spoke. "Oh no, Madam. I'm looking for a friend of mine. A woman with red hair and an athletic build. Her name is Jules."

The woman continued to trace her fingers across his shoulders as she stepped behind him and then crossed to the opposite side. "Yes, I remember her. She came in not too long ago, took two of my best girls with her.''

Nimrod felt his heart pumping harder and the blood rushing to his face. "Oh, she is here. If you could just tell me what room she’s in.”

The Madam now stepped back in front of him with a smirk and dragged her fingers down his chest. "Looking to join in, are you? Shame, we could have had a lot of fun." Her hand slowly pulled away as she reached the middle of his stomach and pointed up the stairs. "She's up there, third room on the left.''

"Thank you." Nimrod said sheepishly as he cleared his throat again and quickly made his way up the stairs.

As he reached the top of the steps, he could see that there was a long hallway directly in front of him and a walkway to his right with a banister that overlooked the hall he entered. As he walked ahead down the hallway, he heard the moans and groans coming from behind each door he passed, and he could smell the various fragrances that wafted out of every room.

As he approached the third door on the left, he could now hear the muffled voice of Jules coming from behind it. He put his ear close to the door and knocked loudly.

"Jules, it's Nimrod. I need you to finish up in there. The crew is waiting on you.”

Jules’s voice spoke up louder than the other moans that emanated from the room. "Yeah, yeah. Just give me a minute." she said in a panted tone.

"No Jules, the ship's ready to leave. So be quick about it.”

"Okay, alright,” she quickly retorted, “You know, you could always come in here and give us a hand. It could make this go a lot faster.”

Nimrod coughed suddenly, “No, I’m quite alright. I'll just wait out here for you.”

He turned and leaned against the wall opposite the room and crossed his arms. There he waited uncomfortably for roughly 15 minutes, occasionally nodding and awkwardly half-smiling to the patrons that passed him by in the hall. After one bulkier fellow started giving him odd looks and began to approach him, Nimrod quickly pushed himself off the wall and knocked again at the door.

"Come on Ju..." but before he could finish, the door opened and there stood Jules with a sly smile.

She leaned against the doorframe, with her usually neatly tied long red hair now messily draped across her shoulders and obscuring part of her face and her almost elven-like ears. In contrast to her typical buttoned-up appearance on the ship, at this moment, her white puffy blouse was open, her trousers were loosely on, and her boots were barely tied. Now Nimrod could see the redness in her face and slight beads of sweat rolling off her forehead. His gaze slowly drifted from her to the two naked women laying in the tossed bed, seemingly exhausted.

"Nice," he said in a sarcastic tone as his sight shifted back to her. "Couldn't bother to finish dressing first?"

Jules leaned behind the wall and grabbed her jacket that was barely hanging off the nearby desk chair and threw it over her shoulder. "You said you were in a hurry."

"WE are,” Nimrod said as he turned and began to make his way back down the hall.

Jules grabbed the door handle and looked back inside the room to the girls "I'll tell the Madam to give you two a few minutes.'' She closed the door and moved quickly to catch up to Nimrod just as he got to the stairs.

"Alright, alright. You're upset with me" she said as she put on her jacket.

"Do you know how many looks I got while I waited for you in that hall?" Nimrod snapped back.

"Nobody told you to stand right there like a creep, you could have waited outside."

"IF I waited outside, I'd still be waiting there for another half-hour!" Nimrod said as he struggled to keep from shouting at her.

As they get to the bottom of the stairs the Madam approached the two of them. “Hopefully, everything was to your liking."

Jules turned to her as Nimrod kept walking to the door. "Everything was more than satisfactory. You, uh, might want to give them a second to collect themselves." The Madam smiled and nodded as they exited the White Swan onto the street.

Jules looked back toward Nimrod, "Well, you didn't have to wait at all. You could have had a lot more fun inside with me or you could have blown off some steam with someone else. There were people of all types in there, I'm sure you could have found one to your liking."

Nimrod began to walk down the street, “I have my own ways of blowing off steam.”

Jules ran ahead of him and began to walk backward facing him, “Like what? Daydreaming on the deck when you think nobody’s looking?”

“I didn’t know you saw that,” he said half under his breath avoiding her gaze.

“Well, it’s kinda hard not to notice. You’re not exactly what one could ‘stealthy’.” She turned again and began to slow down so they were side by side as they walked. “Listen, when was the last time you some, eh? I’m starting to think you’ll explode one day.”

“You’re real funny.” He said as he rolled his eyes.

“I’m being serious right now, Rod.”

“I don’t have time for these things, Jules. Between all the duties I have on the ship and having to keep an eye on you, there isn’t a lot of me-time.”

Jules began to laugh, “Okay, A. don’t make excuses, especially ones that pathetic and B. no one asked you to be my keeper.”

“Well, actually the captain asks me to…”

“No. no, no” Jules interrupted him before he could finish the thought, “You and I both know that old sod is just being overprotective of me.”

Nimrod shrugged his shoulders, “Well, sometimes it’s warranted.”

“And sometimes it’s not. Listen, I can handle myself. So, the next time we’re in a town I want you to relax the right way.”

“Jules…”

“Okay, fine. I’ll be on my best behavior too. I’ll act just like a monk and sit in my quarters and, I don’t know, look at a wall or something.”

“I’m pretty sure they do more than just that.”

“You get my point, though. Do we have a deal?” Jules said as she stopped in the street and extended her hand.

Nimrod stopped and turned toward her looking at her outstretched arm. He wondered what the chances were of her keeping her word. He knew it was naturally low but in case she did, what was he going to do? Make up some night of revelry just to keep her off his back? He could never do what she is suggesting. His heart just wouldn’t be in it, and he’d have a terrible time. His vision slowly moved up from her arm and locked with hers. He could see in her eyes that she was truly concerned for him. There was a softness to those green eyes that communicated how much she cared for him. He felt an immense sadness begin to well up inside him as he broke from that stare.

“Deal.” He said as he grasped her hand, shoveling down the sadness as best he could to give a half-hearted smile.

Her eyes suddenly lit up and she gave a soft punch to his shoulder with the opposite hand. “Great!” she said with a large smile. “Trust me, Rod, you gonna have the time of your life!”

She released from his grasp and walked past him humming a soft tune. Nimrod turned to watch her and stood there for a second thinking to himself,

Well, at least she seems happier. I suppose that’s good enough for me.

“So,” she said over her shoulder as they continued to walk “have our passengers gotten aboard yet?”

Nimrod sighed, “Yes like I said, we’re all waiting on you.”

“Cool, cool,” she said as she put her hands behind her head. “So, any cuties?”

“You said ‘best behavior’!” Nimrod said with a slight laugh.

“Yeah, at the next town!” she said as she threw up her arms, “Besides, maybe I’m thinking about you.”

“Yeah, right. Sure.”

“C’mon, spill. A couple of guys? Maybe a girl or two? There’s gotta be somebody half-decent looking.”

Nimrod smiled and shook his head.

Yeah, I got nothing to worry about.

…

Nearly an hour had passed before Commander Rikes could hear the sound of a bell ringing on the top deck. He slowly got up from his bunk and stretched out his back before clapping his hands together in a single large swinging motion. He walked over toward the door and felt the ship jolt as it began to leave the dock. He opened the door and walked across the hall to where the Lieutenant’s quarters were.

“Bradford,” he said as he knocked on the door. “Come on, let’s get up on deck. You’re not gonna want to miss this.”

The sound of a thick watery substance hitting the inside of a metal bucket could be heard on the other side of the door before Bradford spoke up, “I’m not so sure about that. I think I’ll be quite fine, right here.”

“Come on, it’s not every day you get to see something like this. It’ll be fun.” Rikes said with a knowing smile.

Bradford spoke again after a long pause, “Is that an order, sir?”

“It is if it gets your ass out here.”

A few moments passed before the door slowly opened revealing a very disheveled Lieutenant without his plate armor and clutching his stomach. “Reporting as ordered, sir.”

Rikes laughed and clapped him on the shoulder, “That’s the spirit!” He turned and began to walk off toward the stairs with Bradford slowly following, keeping one hand on the wall for balance.

As they reached the top of the steps, Rikes immediately felt the sea breeze against him as he smelt the ocean air. He always found an odd comfort when he was out at sea. The kind of comfort that lets him forget all his troubles and lets all his worries just slip away. He looked off the ship into the fog toward the endless horizon and felt a true peace wash over him as he approached the railing. It was in this moment that he began to wonder to himself,

Why didn’t I join the navy? I could have been out here instead of that Gods forsaken wasteland.

He looked back toward Bradford who was now clutching the center mast for dear life, “Lieutenant! Come join me over here,” he said with a slight grin.

Bradford looked up toward him and waved his arm “No, no. I think THIS is far enough. I’m good here.”

The ship’s sails unfurled and expanded out as they caught the wind. The vessel creaked and moaned as it increased in speed. Captain Mrimost began to turn the wheel hard toward starboard and a wide smile began to creep across his face as he reached toward a lever to the right of the wheel.

“Alright, everyone!” He shouted, “Brace yourselves, we’re taking her up!”

Mirmost grasped the lever tightly and threw it back in one swift motion. The ship lurched as the bow began to rise, leaving the embrace of the ocean. As the ship pulled up, water began to slosh off the four large, previously submerged, wooden armatures that each contained a massive green crystal. The crystals began to shine brightly and illuminated the surrounding fog as the ship raised higher and higher into the sky.

Rikes turned back again toward Bradford, who was still holding onto the mast with his eyes now shut. “You’re gonna miss the best part, Lieutenant!”

“You mean there’s more?!” Bradford said as he began to heave.

Captain Mirmost looked down toward the Lieutenant and shouted, “Quartermaster! Get that man a bucket! I don’t want vomit on my deck!”

Bradford felt the ship rise once more and said under his breath, “Oh yeah, a bucket. That’s a big help.”

Quartermaster Jules untied a bucket from its secured spot and brought it over to the lieutenant. “C’mon man.” she whispered in his ear as she handed him the bucket “Trust me, just open your eyes.”

Bradford took three deep breaths as he debated in his head if having his eyes open would make this experience better or worse. After one final breath, he gathered enough courage to open his eyes. At first, all he could see was the oppressing fog that still surrounded them, but after a handful of seconds the ship finally broke through the thick mist and all he could see around him was the bright boundless blue sky. It was at this moment that Bradford forgot all about his uneasiness and his fear and walked over toward the railing where Rikes was standing. The ship began to level off and Rikes turned to see the childlike smile that had been plastered across Bradford’s face.

“See, I told you it’d be worth it.” Rikes said as he gently put his hand on the lieutenant’s shoulder.

Not a word was spoken between the two of them until finally the peace was broken by Rikes’s sudden realization as he took in the surroundings.

“Captain! Why are we heading this far east? What route are you taking?” he shouted back toward Mirmost at the helm.

“Well,” the captain shouted back, “I was told that you folks were long overdue at the capital so I’m taking an old sailing route. One that cuts through the valley.”

Rikes’ expression went slack, and he immediately turned to face the bow of the ship. As he peered ahead past the ledge, a cold shiver went up his spine and only one thought repeated in the back of his mind.

No, not the grinder. Anywhere but there.