Imperator Hogaz.
9th Legion, Sea Kings.
***
While Davy Jones, my lore skull, had been making logs, I'd had little time to document the goings on since our foray with Captain Burns.
Aside from being trained, his first order of business revolved around dealing with his competitors in Knighilia.
Neither they nor the pirate crews who ruled the waters of Bakewia's Shavew Bay had an island to build up and unionize like the 7 Green Eyes had off the coast of Vruria. So his policy regarding each crew was sink or swim.
Sink, they wound up choosing, as Burns had quite the reputation in these waters that left longstanding grudges in the eyes of the other local captains. Thus, two weeks later, they all were working for him in death, and in turn, he was working under Commander Sinoshk.
In turn, I got a humorous message from Ed, who was in the city of Shavew with the President, watching the battle take place from afar. It seemed I had stolen his prey. Yet he thanked me for the job nonetheless and promised to repay the favor in kind.
To be honest, the promise fell into the depths of my memories once we moved on and Captain Burns began his training. While not as extensive as ours, it was far more streamlined due to the existence of the VoidNet and the many blessings coming from Amun. Thus his final testing was finished before we pulled into the Great Ligin Bay on the 2nd of Trescia.
Named after the knightly kingdom of griffon riders, it was more of an ocean than a bay, as it had three smaller bays scattered around its coast; one to the southeast on the coast of Ligin, another bay further north in Vruria, and the final one to the west of that, where the Vrurian capital of Maneas sat. Even then, the entrance to the Great Bay was straddled by the Rharian Kingdom to the south and the Protectorate of Bakewia, some 700 kilometers north.
With all that said, it was Bakewia who owned the relatively large isle, despite it being closer to Ligin shores. At 200 kilometers in diameter, it was filled to the brim with shipyards, dry docks, and other such buildings to serve the maritime needs of Ligin's western reaches.
Due to Ed's prominence and Amun's communications technology being spread across the Protectorate, it was more than easy to get a dock at the isle before we even saw it. But of course, few things were that easy.
The ship would have taken up too much space at the docks, and I didn't want to spend the time needed for the 'tugboats' to maneuver us into position, so I had the Moonsliver dive and hold its position near the sea floor a few kilometers from the island. Thus beginning our period of leave.
Or so we thought.
A searing light ripped my mind from my body and split it in two the moment I left the helm. One half went south, past the bay, across, the lands, and over the rolling hills to an arcane forest that overlooked the sea. The other drifted northeast, near the Vruria-Ligin border. And yet, there was more. Glimpses and visions of my ship completely crewed, and other ships.
Ships just as advanced as mine.
As was becoming the norm, I snapped to, and realized I'd been standing and staring for upwards of half an hour. And not just me. Vexx, Seadog, Stronghull, and everyone else had the same maddened gaze as me before they scrambled, dragging their crews to skiffs, submersibles, and speeders to various parts of the bay and beyond.
Smiling, I connected back to the island to request a dock and spread the advert created by Davy to the areas surrounding the island. Then my attention returned to the Moonsliver around me.
As I moved to the docking bays, I felt a strong sense of irony creep up from behind me. I had long since grown used to the many different faces belonging to the seven Captains, knowing they would one day separate and return to their crews. Only now, when the chambers and halls of this grand ship were vacated, did I see the irony of gaining an array of fleet commanders whilst having no junior sailors.
That was soon to change, however. Thus I imagined her when complimented with a full crew of 2,300 sailors pulled from the 12 or so cities scattered across the oceanic bay. As I entered the Moontear, I imagined her complimented with a full crew of 68. Though, in a way, it already was.
Undying shadows, pristine zombies, and metallic skeletons forever manned the bridge, galley, and engineering deck. But that simply would not do when I one day bring esteemed guests on board. Even if I were to replace them with machines, I would need living beings among my crew, for the way of our organization was to do as the locals did.
We were pirates through and through. But in these waters, where navies reigned supreme, we were just that. The Noctis Grand Fleet. Or, at the very least, Noctis Privateers.
Naturally, our flag reflected that. In pirate waters, our flag was the typical crossed swords and skull, only the skull had a silver snake slithering over the eyes to bite its tail, making the infinity sign. In all other waters, the skull and swords would fade into the background, leaving only the sign with a blue ocean in the left loop and verdant lands in the right; making our colors silver, ocean blue, kelp green, and sea green.
Such colors worked in tandem with the work of the other Legions to allow the Commanders to sail unabated.
From my fancy chair in my cabin, I could see Commander Riptide in a submersible, leagues away from the Moonsliver. As his crew had done before, they were scouring the sea floor, searching for and tinkering with sunken ships that had to be claimed by the life below the waters. Only this time, devices, enchantments, or magic were used to shrink, disappear, or repair them wholly.
On another screen, I could see Commanders Seadog and Woodgrain race through the waters or skies to the southwest to convince the knight-hopefuls of Ligin to put their skills to use in differing ways.
The former docked at the city of Vabi to organize a demonstration of her fast attack craft by spreading her ManaNet designator to every tavern in town and having them watch her raid the bandits who 'claimed' the territory of the two rivers straddling their city. Meanwhile, Commander Woodgrain landed his planes deeper in Ligin to convince the wanna-be griffon riders to fly his beasts of metal instead.
On yet another screen, I could see Commanders Sinoshk and Lu-Lu Stubbs take their tenders due east, where they quickly came across those of their kind who'd set up shop in some ancient ruins.
They took as many as were willing to go and left the rest to wait or live while they sailed up the Bokeringley River to enter the Khuld Wilds of Northern Ligin. The two cities at opposing ends of the river's fork served as the largest source of recruitment for the Legion; both civilians and legionaries. There were so many that Mani had to guide their march to the ruins in order to keep up with the tenders. Even then, however, it took them three days to reach the ruins at the shore.
In the time since, Commanders Vexx and Ragnuron sailed out of the bay to retrace our steps to the northwestern edge, where they docked at the Bakewian port city of Newalstran.
Set on the southernmost corner of a peninsula, it quickly became the new Bakewian maritime capital after the pirate infestation of Shavew. Dwarves, gnomes, and high-elves alike flocked to the lands, seeking to make a fortune in building and enchanting ships; or simply sampling the exotic wares they carried.
So it was that the two commanders saw many join their fleets; and like me, be guided to the most obscure places.
By the fourth day since I left the Moonsliver- the 6th of Trescia, I had sailed to the northeastern bay of Vruria, entering the Szoramelsa River to sail some 300 more kilometers upstream. A short swim and a trek through the dense jungle brought me to my destination shortly thereafter. Another monolith of off-white stone set inside a crater of onyx or perhaps obsidian, just like the last.
Unlike the last, I unfurled a long sheet of parchment and rubbed each portion of its surface with a piece of charcoal, ingraining the exotic words onto the paper flawlessly.
Such an endeavor took me hours. Yet the flash of silver light that followed saw me writhe and squirm as my mind filled with visions depicting me casting spells, thoughts of me performing skills, and memories of knowledge that was not my own in a mere instant. I felt my reaction to the sight of something grandiose, and then… nothing. Only a landscape I could not focus on. And… a message.
{Contact: Imperator Ed: 'As thanks for your help in Shujen, you're the first to get one of these. I also made some upgrades to your fleets. Enjoy.'}
Again, I remained in place for possibly hours before I stirred, noticing the smell of something… familiar before I noticed something was missing.
In the Industry tab of my arcane network, the Moontear was... gone.