[Hogaz: Servant of the Moon - Level 3.]
So many spells.
There were so many spells given to me by Amun to aid in my investigative quest. Many- most of them only required arcane words or eclectic gestures of the hands to cast. Others used the Moonsliver, my lunar mithral falchion, as a focus. But a few required components like my feather and petrified eye of newt. Things like diamond dust and, strangely, an eyelash encased in acacia gum.
Things I decided I needed at once.
Yet, other things occupied my mind. Notions and scratches lingered within my conscious stream of thought, telling me- unlike my comrades experienced- how to move further down my path.
Whispering to me in the voice of my patron.
"The first- and easiest point has been found. But it only gets harder from here. Even you, blessed immensely as you are, cannot do it alone.
"Find your crew." The Man inside the Moon continued after an eerie pause. "Find the future captains and commanders of your fleet. For you have your job in the Legions still."
The searing pain of imparted knowledge punctuated his words, bringing me to my knees while blinding visions of colossal ships- magnificent vessels capable of soaring through the skies and ocean depths alike. Fleets of them, some kilometers long, housing cannons that could eclipse buildings. And commanding them all was me.
"Pirate or privateer. Naval hero or nautical explorer- your aim is your own. So long as you become Supreme Commander of the Noctis Fleet, I care not how else you are labeled. So find your crew, and hurry. A surprise awaits you."
"How fortunate am I, to have such a benevolent patron." I bowed lowly to the monolith, both a gesture to Amun and a goodbye to the otherworldly construct.
And then I was off. Walking dutifully through the woods under the mid-morning sun towards the city of Anabel, pausing only to envision a form in my mind and send it through the phantom mask embedded under my flesh.
I knew not how the other humans would react to a half-orc walking in their midst. But with the barbaric lands of the Mazi Council just to the north- a land teeming with orcs- I could only assume it to be adverse. With sun-tanned skin pocked with red insect bites and hair just as messy as the locals, though, I found it easy to walk through town with nary a glance my way.
It was a strange feeling, walking down roads and avenues so akin to the ones from home and experiencing the very treatment I always longed for: indifference.
I grew up the same as many of the urchins running through the streets. Begging, stealing, or doing whatever else necessary to simply survive. Fighting or being bullied- or feared, because of my green skin and tusked jaw.
Unlike most of them, I found my way out through the sea. On a merchant ship as a cabin boy. And I was happy.
Until I saw just how terrifyingly powerful the sea could be.
Until I developed an obsession with finding a way to fight that power.
I honed my strength and skill as best as I could have and more. Yet, I continued to despair over how weak I was in the face of those monsters.
I proved myself skilled enough to make it to the Bodhi Tree. And then I despaired more.
I met a devil and a god combined and agreed to his tantalizing offer. I received immense power. Enough to give me the confidence to sail fearlessly. Enough to rid my mind of the obsession that plagued me and cause the problems from before that time to resurface.
I knew still, that these humans- my people by half my blood- would only see green skin and a tusked jaw the moment I dropped my disguise. So I purchased my bit of acacia gum and waddled my way back to my ship, knowing- and denying- where and how I would find my crew.
Sailing out of the inland waterways was as simple as any part of the journey thus far. Our meandering pace put us at the coast within a day, giving me ample time to sort through my thoughts until the opening waters ahead demanded my attention; for it was a sunny day with calm seas, and a ship like this cared not for the winds heading.
More so, I saw exactly what I hoped not to see ahead. A pair of hardly settled islands some 300 klicks off the southern coast of the Horn of Mazi. Uninhabited rocky jungles with a few smoke stacks rising into the skies, and large cannons jutting out from the hills.
A pirate stronghold.
Two of several, according to Amun's map of the peninsula, and the smallest of the unclaimed islands dotting the seas around the Bodhi Peninsula.
In all, it was easy to see why the shipping lanes hugged the coastline all the way around. Even then, though, they were subjected to be pirate bait.
I had no intentions of being pirate bait.
I wanted their undivided attention.
"You, on the scope. And you." I tossed the shadow durzagon my weapon once the little derro went running up the radar mast. "Man the cannon. I want the dwarves ready to deploy the tender and capture anyone drowning. The orog and the skeleton are to board with me.
"Neil." I turned to the human shadow. "Put us between the islands at dusk."
"Hell yeah! I've always wanted to be a pirate!" The undead pumped his fist overhead. "Let's make Darkblood proud and see what this thing can do!"
I meant to inquire more of this, Darkblood, but I was suddenly caught by a deep, throaty growl before I was pushed back in my seat. Then the growl roared into a whining scream and the coast suddenly jumped to our backs.
I started to feel as if we were floating- gliding as the whine evened out and soon remembered that we more or less were as a result of the lunar steel the ship was made from.
With water being one of the many affinities granted from the lunar materials and the jet propulsion technologies inside the ship, her maximum cruising speed was an astounding 26 meters per second.
Even at such high speeds, however, she took around six hours to travel across the open seas and lull to a crawl between the islands. The sun had long since dipped below the Plane and the sky had taken on its midnight hue, darkened by the sparse light of the crescent moon.
With the illusions faded, the ship hardly glowed in the sparse light of the crescent moon, yet she glowed enough to make it stand out as a silver sliver atop the wrinkled inky blanket of the sea.
It didn't take long to see the first sign of sails. And it didn't take much longer for us to be fired upon from shoreline emplacements on the port and starboard side.
Their large cannons and ballista rang like war drums in the night. Their shells and bolts shrieked madly as they sailed true. Yet, a purple flash caused them to veer away from the ship and harmlessly crash into a great cloud of mist.
I leaned my head out of the bridge at once. "Aim at the starboard emplacement and wait on my mark!" The undead dwarf-devil complied at once, wheeling the cannon around to face the right while I turned to Neil. "Bring us in line with both emplacements."
"Say no more!" He raised his thumb.
Trusting him to know my intentions, I went out onto the deck with my Doppelganger and, after bracing myself, waited for the telltale signs to pierce through the fog.
I knew not if my Doppelganger noticed it first or if I did. But when he gave the command, it was utter chaos.
Having fired first, the fog off to the port side dispersed first and the fortification fired immediately. Trusting in the ship to veer it off course, we kept our eyes trained on the further, larger island until a ribbon of lights blinked across its dark features.
The ship lurched beneath me the moment I saw it, nearly pulling my feet from under me. After fighting to regain my balance, I faced about towards the stern to try to spot the madly screaming projectiles before a sudden push on the boat faced me towards a ray of pale light.
Blindingly, the Moonbeam soared to the far island to bathe the emplacement in a ray of frigid light. Then the ship lurched again. The cranking of the cannon racked through the suddenly still night.
And it burst to life again, streaking silver fire across the port side island.
I took off across the deck, catching glimpses of a few ships abandoning the chaos ensuing at both islands before I arrived to rip my sword from the cannon's mount and point its tip to the furthest island.
"Fire!"
The shadow devil-dwarf complied immediately by aiming the three-pronged barrel up and out across the waters. But instead of a cold line of pale light, a misty arc of the darkest gloom splashed across the water like an airy ink, filling the waters between us and the unmissable flagship in impenetrable darkness.
Meanwhile, I thrust my sword back into the mount while the durzagon turned and lowered and fired off to the port side.
Once, twice, flashes of pale light and silver fire ripped through their hulls entirely, vaporizing the wooden beams just at the waterline before a subtler throaty growl shrieked through the chaos. hen came more shrieking- human-like, as the undead dwarves corralled the drifting survivors.
Under the cover of magical darkness, we coasted up to the flagship's port side just seconds later, hearing confused and panicked shouts echoing through the peerless night. But with my blessings from Amun, I could see them as clear as day.
More importantly, I could see they'd managed to withdraw almost half the ship from the dark cloud and were engaged in attempting the impossible- fighting hard to get away from my ship.
But the Moondrop was unlike anything these realms have ever seen.
With the press of a lever in his plush helm, Neil sent the vessel into a sideways motion, bringing us ever closer to the fleeing ship while our nose- and cannon, steadily pointed to the island. Meanwhile, I prepared myself with a surge of mana through my moon mail armor. Then gave a final look to my undead companions.
"Kill the officers. Let the cabin boys and young ones live.
"And save the Captain for me."
With my orders given, I looked inward to the eldritch energy implanted in my spirit to feel the cold, silver fire flowing through my armor, harnessed it, and found myself muttering as I stared at the flagship's deck.
"Saliet sicut argentum caligo!"
My body turned incorporeal at the last syllable, then I found myself floating as a mass of silver mist. Drifting across the open waters to land at the point of my focus- behind a poor sod aiming a heavy crossbow at the shining beacon that was my armor.
I swept down at once, slicing easily through his padded armor, and noticed for the first time, the lightness of the mithral blade as I casually reversed the motion. The ease at which the pointed tip slipped into his back astounded me, giving enough time for the young deckhands to lung forward with sabers, knives, and rapiers bared.
But I was faster.
Fluidly, I spun about while reaching into my components pouch to hold a cricket out at arm's length, then flicked my eyes between the three deckhands whilst whispering. "Somnus sanitatis in lunae lumen."
A surge of mana preceded a quaking chirp of the cricket, then the three deckhands comically twirled to the ground as one, snoring loudly among the shouts and cries of their dying officers.
Before turning on my heels towards the stern, I focused once more on the silver energy in my suit and muttered yet more eldritch words.
"Vide in speculo argenteo."
Another surge of mana, and out came four shimmering copies of myself that promptly shuffled between me and my Doppelganger. Then, with two behind me and two behind my clone, mimicking my movements precisely, we climbed the twin stairs leading up to the helm. And together, we bored holes into the paling captain while the skeleton and the undead duergar pocketed the dead and rounded up the slumbering living.
Of which there were many.
And many more who clambered onto the deck, leaving puddles below their raised hands while they looked about the bloodied and corpse-less deck in horrified confusion before their eyes settled on their jumpy captain and the six objects of his focus- the six identical half-orcs surrounding him, all standing with outstretched hands, aiming bolt of crackling silver and black energy at the Captain's heart.
"Put down your weapon and surrender." I calmly ordered.
"Or, attacks us. And become like them." My clone gestured to the undead duergar, waiting impatiently. "Either way, you work for us now."
After taking a solemn look at his crew, the Captain surrendered to his knees and unbuckled his belt, allowing his jeweled saber to clatter loudly to the deck. "No need," he said grimly. "We are at your mercy.
"Or, pardon my tongue, but you, young pirate, may be at the mercy of the other six."
"It's a good thing you surrendered then." I sheathed my sword with a smile and sent the mirror images off into nothingness. Then approached the Captain to kneel beside him. "You can introduce me."