Levanna's Homeland Chapter

Olverd sat on a crate as Jethaam steered the Lessiiv out of the Polasian Reef after three more days of sailing from the Veek outpost they moored at. His new companion proved a little more troublesome to the crew and guests from his behavior to his droppings on the deck. He sat on the stern as little Oross was doing his little business over the side while no one else looked, but the birds and Gods above. Senestra seemed eager to get a letter to her friend back at Etras through the trade routes of the Veeks and Crowsians. Somehow the Crowsians north east of Kruskor had connecting trade routes to both Veeks and Crowsians to the east including those of Auxmire.

He would very much like to visit the Crowsians and pester them with questions of why they never told anyone about these islands or this continent of Emnos. Then he realized the dangers they had come across sailing directly from the ports of Etras. The Delkyr Serpents were the first dangers that came across after coming to a Crowsian colony that was on the edges of their charted waters. Their second encountered danger was just after the Delkyr. Kruskor Island brought out nightmares he wished would never dream of again. Beyond that point he was more comfortable with the thought of pirates attacking, which proved little challenge to them save for the loss of two escorts. Three vessels were left of the escorts they were given. Each one did not belong to the main island of the Hegemony most of the Veeks told them about. He recalled a one eyed Commander of a Hoplite-Marine unit who fought in Emnos and gave them directions. Just sail on a northwesterly course until you come across a row of towers built upon small islands. From there follow any ships that hail you. They will take you to a port island in between the Fist and the Blade. The only way you’ll be able to tell is if you see a statue of a mermaid with starfish sucking her tits. The old commander laughed at the mention of the starfish sucking the mermaid’s tits.

Senestra rolled her eyes when he told her about the mermaid statue they would see excluding the tits part. The woman could tell that joke was made just by looking at his happy eyes. She never brought it up recalling what she has done so far in her life. Olverd was wary of that all too well and chose not to remind her. He looked over at Jethaam who seemed distraught, but kept his focus on sailing to the continent of Emnas.

“What seems to be troubling my feline friend?” Olverd asked as Oross clambered back on to his shoulder.

Jethaam was silent for a moment before speaking to the Captain. The wind blew a little water onto their faces as it came from another direction. Senestra was still asleep in her quarters while the other two women were at the bow with the Crowsian and his pupils. His other wenches and maidens left the ship save for Leliin and two others opening more space for other crew members to occupy. He had no need for those women anymore since the entire crew quenched their appetite with the mermaids who enjoyed the sex with the sailors. Most of them tossed a coin to the sailors as payment.

“There was something I must tell you about my past Captain Olverd.” Jethaam confessed.

“What would that be?” he asked eyeing his fury friend and new lieutenant.

“The Cren Order never gave me any reason to help them other than kill you, Senestra and provide the whereabouts of the Angoths. But from what I… have…. Seen…” Jethaam started to laugh. “They will never conquer the whole world, not even if they had help from those Makool or Ipama.”

Olverd shot up with his new weapon drawn ready to strike his new friend. When Jethaam noticed he growled at Olverd. “I did not kill you! Nor do I have any intentions of doing so any more!”

“What did they promise you?” Olverd argued as Oross scrambled away scared of the conflict. “Are you sure you won’t kill us?” he demanded forgetting about the Mages on board.

Jethaam let go of the wheel to confront his foolish captain. The Vah Shir allowed the Lessiiv to run slow and straight with no one at the helm as the wind steered her off course a little. “I will NOT KILL ANY OF YOUR PEOPLE OR YOU for that matter! The day I became a slave and the day I was rescued by Leothrad was when I chose to betray the Cren Order! DO YOU UNDERSTAND CAPTAIN!” the Vah Shir roared causing a scene aboard the Lessiiv. The words carried over the ocean as though there were high-towering mountains around them for the words to bounce from.

“What is all the fuss about? Why have we decided to draw weapons in the middle of the ocean?” Ceinius demanded wielding a ball of energy in one hand and flames hovering above the other palm. Senestra and Levanna are behind him looking concerned over the words they heard exchanged between them. Jethaam returned to the wheel and Olverd sheathed the axe he won from the Goblins. He now had more weapons aboard his ship since his venture in the island he cared not to mention or think about again. It was customary for Victorious Captains to collect the weapons of defeated enemies particularly pirates. In his case he had all sorts of weapons from scimitars to maces from the Ipama. Rusty knives, swords, axes, and sickles were collected from Goblin Pirates and Cren Warriors who died at the hands of the Angoths.

Neither of them answered Ceinius’s question as they returned to their previous statures. The three leaders chose not to ask anything else and went about their business. Olverd watched Senestra as she made her way down to the bow of the Lessiiv swinging her hips as she passed members of his crew. Each one watched as the woman they would never have in their bed walked across the deck like a happy woman. Her mind must be on him and him only! Olverd’s thoughts told him. He thought nothing of it what was between them was just business of a bet they both made together. Olverd never grew jealous of Leothrad knowing she had been looking for someone like him for a while ever since she bedded that Civid Noble. His attention was drawn away by something moving in the water. He focused his gaze on it, squinting his eyes he made out the shape of a ship. It was headed towards them at full speed.

Olverd jumped up realizing it was an Angoth vessel hailing them from afar. He tried to look past it making out a tiny object sitting in the ocean. “All hands to your hailing stations!” Olverd ordered. His entire crew on the deck scrambled around, climbing up ladders, adjusting ropes to ensure the ship run smoothly. Some sails were taken down others released as they slowly made their way to the Angoth vessel. “Jethaam you take command I’ll talk with the Angoths.”

“Aye, Captain.” Jethaam replied acknowledging the order of taking temporary command.

Olverd made his down to the bow joining the Mages and Emissary. He quickly turned his head around and glanced over his shoulder. The flag of Etras flapped in the wind unveiling its colors and designs to the winds and the world around it. It took some time for them to get within shouting range of the other vessel which waved a reef of peace at them.

All across the world every ship was required to have a reef of peace aboard their ship. Otherwise the ship would find itself at war with that faction. Most vessels followed those peaceful procedures except for the vessels of the Cren Order.

“AHOY THERE!” Olverd hollered at the top his lungs waving the reef of peace over his head. He was greeted in return with another “AHOY” from the Angoth vessel. When they were closer they saw the leaders at the bow of the ship waiting to hail them at a closer distance. One of them looked closer at Levanna and Visdiar not sure if they were the ones they were expecting to see. Ceinius’ blad head was an indication of who they really were. Senestra stood next to the Captain and waved back at the Angoths. She yelled as they drew closer. “I am Medryn Senestra, Emissary from the Kingdom of Etras. I am in search of your brotherhood council for aid!”

“Greetings Emissary, may I have a word with your Captain and the other leaders next to you?” the Angoth Captain asked without introducing himself.

“Introduce yourself you barbaric buffoon. This is a diplomat CAPTAIN! You should speak to her as well!” Ceinius snapped at them.

“Then have the Captain follow us to the fortress island of Lethair. Madam…” his voice trailed off as the ship turned around taking the other Captain’s voice with the bow.

Olverd huffed. “I guess we’ll follow him to this fortress.” He suggested. “JETHAAM FOLLOW THAT SHIP!” he commanded from the bow to the stern as the wind picked up pushing the Lessiiv along. The Angoth vessel was also pushed along by the winds that blew out of nowhere. There must be some mage or sorcerer controlling the weather from somewhere! Olverd suggested in his head, but kept it to himself.

He glanced at Visdiar very suspicious of the old Crone who cackled as she held on. Some of the crew members fell on the deck in response to the sudden gust of wind that came without warning.

“Do not fret Captain Olverd the mages on the lighthouses ensure no one is smashed into any rocks or piers as they are sped towards the mainlands. If you look on ahead you can see the Blade of Angeris and the Fist of Lothi coming up.” When he looked where the Crone told him sure enough two other land masses seemed to have emerged from the depths of the ocean as the ships sailed towards land. His eyesight was not lying to him, land was surely appearing before them as they followed the Angoth vessel.

It did not take them long to get to the island fortress that was small with piers and docks jutting out of it. The island itself was covered by the fortress and the docks together. Ten vessels were docked at three of the four piers the island possessed. Beyond this island was another greater island between two larger land masses. “Over there is my hometown.” Levanna informed them all. “My home island it is where I was raised with my mother at her inn. My brother lived there until he came of age and was taken to the Hilt where he began his training with a thousand others.-“

“Pardon me if I may interrupt, but are we going to meet your mother at the inn or this fortress?” Olverd asked. He looked back seeing Jethaam still maintain control over the Lessiiv as though speed they were going didn’t have any impact on him. As they neared the fortress the Lessiiv began to slow its pace to seven knots. Senestra leaned over the railing to puke, she apparently held it in long enough as not to vomit all over those behind her. Visdiar and Leliin tended to her needs.

Olverd turned to Jethaam and started towards him when Ceinius caught him by the sleeve. “Tell that Vah Shir he is not permitted to dock at this fortress. Only warships are allowed to dock there. Your ship, however is not a war vessel it is a trading vessel isn’t it?”

A smuggler’s ship. Olverd wanted to say, but instead he said. “A Merchant Ship.” He smiled at the Crowsian as the Lessiiv followed the Angoth warship past the fortress. Orange banners hung down from the towers, windows, and masts of vessels bearing the Angoth insignia. Olverd had no time to take a closer look he went over to Jethaam to tell him of their course. The Vah Shir already knew not to dock at Fortresses. Olverd did not ask why, but chose to ask Jethaam some other time.

An hour later and the Lessiiv came to the port of Levanna’s home town. Olverd spotted a large figure standing with four others at the beginning of the pier where the ship was to dock. At the sound of a horn from a tower ten crewmen rushed onto the pier and picked up lines set up for docked vessels. Another horn blew from afar as their escort left the port for the fortress. As the ropes were tossed up his crewmen grabbed the lines and tied them to the rigging of the Lessiiv. Triaunes and another crew member unhinged a section of the port-side and let it fall inward. The unhinged section of the portside gave way for a loading ramp to be hooked on the Lessiiv.

All three anchors of the Lessiiv were dropped so the ship wouldn’t move around too much as they made port on this Angoth Island in a strange new world. Levanna and Visdiar made their way to the loading ramp and left the ship. Ceinius and his two pupils followed them down the ramp to whomever it was standing there. Senestra proceeded toward the ramp then stopped and looked over at him. He could tell she was thinking of Leothrad and knew what they had was only business. “Aren’t you coming along?” she asked him knitting her eyebrows.

“Uh no, I will explore this island or port with my crew.” He answered her.

“Then Ceinius will have to accompany you for a tour of the town.” She said descending the ramp to join the others. Olverd watched her go down thinking of what Leothrad must think of her. In the back of his head a little voice told him Leothrad would love that woman while another said she wasn’t worthy of the Champion. She had acted like a whore her whole adult life until this very moment. Even as he watched her Olverd senced she was thinking of Leothrad at this point.

“Are we ready to head out Captain?” Triaunes asked appearing next to him.

Olverd nodded not looking at the young sailor. “Tell the boys they can wander the portside of this town and stay out of trouble. One of the Vah Shir will be in command of them. Jethaam will join me and so will you.” Olverd descended down as Triaunes hurried tell the rest of his crewmates. The descent was easy as he made his way down seeing Ceinius waiting for him with his hands folded together.

“Well, your Medryn has told me you are seeking to let your crew pillage the town.” Ceinius said sarcastically. Olverd grinned at the joke getting a whiff of the Crowsian’s sense of humor.

“No not likely, this is full of warriors who would butcher my men in an instant if they wanted to. If I recall correctly I believe we came across some warriors on our way to search for aid. One of them nearly killed Triaunes and it is possible they were Angoths.” Olverd replied seeing a symbol of an anchor and a trident put together. It was on one of the barrels standing on the pier with other barrels aligned from the ramp to the start of the docks.

He turned to Ceinius and pointed at the symbol. “That symbol was on one of the warriors’ shoulders. Is there a trend among these warriors to tattoo a certain symbol on them?”

“There are often hired hands or thugs as you would call them in your part of the world. I presume these Angoths all had this symbol?” Ceinius pressed his hands against each other in a praying position. His thoughts were that the Crowsian was mocking him, but the posture and seriousness in his eyes said that Ceinius was taking this seriously. Triaunes and Jethaam came down to join them. “Where are we going Captain?” the young sailor asked smiling like a child.

Ceinius turned to the boy. “Could you point them out Captain or does Triaunes have a better idea of what these Angoths looked like?”

“I am betting on whether you know where we could find these sailors. And no not all of them had that symbol. Let’s go.” Olverd pointed out the symbol again leaving Triaunes confused and the Vah Shir out of touch with what was going on.

“Then follow me, gentlemen.” Ceinius offered stepping ahead of Olverd as the other two followed them down the pier. Levanna’s hometown had a complex of stone structures for homes and a complex of inns and a taverns all along the port. There were some structures with wooden beams keeping the structure together and mortar keeping the stone slabs from falling out. Most of the buildings were made from natural stones large and small each one smooth as a newly chisled statute. Senestra would be impressed at their work if she wasn’t with the other women.

The wooden roofs had their own unique style making you forget the structures appeared primitively built. Some of the inns appeared like small castles without the battlements. Instead there were thatched roofs and planked roofs in a circular formation.

Olverd looked at the Crowsian eyeing him with more curiousity than he already had. “And where is Leothrad’s mother’s inn?” he asked as scores of Angoths passed them by with some notification of the strangers, glancing at them from time to time. Most minded their own business on the port section of the town. Dozens of vents were set up along the walls of houses and inns next to other shops and taverns. A heavily armored guard stood at every structure they passed. There were plenty of them patrolling the streets. There were just as many women as there were men some carrying children or escorting them along. Most seemed concentrated on getting where they were going or shopping as their children gazed up at the Vah Shir. Seven women were gathered around a fountain glancing over at them and winking at each one as they passed.

One woman blew Triaunes a kiss causing the Captain and sailor to not pay attention to where they were going. Both Olverd and Triaunes bumped into three large Angoths who were about as tall as Jethaam. Olverd regained his focus and saw the same symbol he saw on the barrel as before. He looked at the man’s face and recognized him immediately. He had a scar on his cheek, dimple in his chin, forward brow, long black hair and surprisingly good features on his face.

“Come for another fight?” the dark haired Angoth asked both sailors from Auxmire.

“Did you try to kill these men?” Ceinius demanded making a fist them opening his hand to unveil a ball of flame.

The two Angoths looked at each other with worried eyes. “Don’t tell Madam Frejya, please Master Mage! She will kill us or worse!” The Angoth begged dropping to his knees. His companions did the same.

“Madam Freyja is mother of Leothrad and Levanna. We will take them to her at once.” Ceinius told Olverd who agreed to do so.

“I will join you later.” Jethaam said as he spotted something that caught his attention. The Vah Shir brushed past Olverd then headed towards a street leading further into the town.

“I believe our fury friend has found more Vah Shir.” Ceinius observed as a guard came up to them.

“Is there a problem Master Mage?” the guard asked.

“Yes, Madam Freyja’s pets have been naughty since they went on that business trip for her trading.” Ceinius informed them as shackles were placed on the three Angoths’ wrists.

“Perhaps one of them should serve aboard Olverd’s ship as a member of his crew.” Ceinius suggested grabbing the chain of one of the shackles on the scar faced Angoth.