Vengeance at Last

We wrapped up the Calibration Visit by the "Caravan" of Fair Folk uneventfully. It was decided to shelve the final details of the dominion's government to a later date and get some business done. The dominion was young and barely deserved to be called that. The people however, with our guidance were disciplined, intelligent, industrious, and well cared for. They show excellence as is the goal and ideal in Coral.

Azure Heart will tend to their needs while the rest of us go about some business to further the interests of our Circle and dominion. I asked Raging Snowstorm and Peleps Nuada to accompany me out on patrol and ostensibly on defensive maneuvers with our newly trained Tiger Warriors. The truth is I wanted to hunt down some Lintha. I had heard rumors that they were traveling some old routes, particularly the place where the Black Steel Siaka, my old ship, was boarded and sunk - and where I took the second breath.

We were in luck. After nearly a month on maneuvers, we passed that particular spot, and we saw a Lintha vessel. When I finally beheld the ship in question, I could not help but smile with keen anticipation. It was that ship. It was the Virgin's Spree, captained by Lintha Roojag Ritha and crewed by the "Children of the Dead" the same people who slaughtered my original crew and sunk me with my vessel.

As we approached the ship moving to engage, plans whirled around my head and the more I thought about it the more I grinned in anticipation. I quickly grew tired of the chase and solidified the water with my hearthstone. We quickly approached the vessel and I prepared myself for battle drawing on the strength the Unconquered Sun chose to give me and calmly ordering up the men on my ship.

I looked back and saw that Nuada's Ship was stranded with a broken mast and Raging Snowstorm was still quite far away. We exchanged an ineffectual volley of arrows with the Lintha and quickly moved to board their ship.

The training of the Tiger Warriors showed when they boarded the ship in perfect coordination with no one missing a step anywhere. During the first melee, out warriors executed some of the more complicated martial arts tactics we devised flawlessly and the Lintha, despite their demon-blooded heritage and inherent savagery, it was clear from the start that they were no match for the marines from the Midday Shadow.

Ritha was the immediate target and my warriors quickly cut a swath towards him. He never saw what hit him. He was almost incapacitated when he moved back and his second took command. He, unfortunately for them, was much less able than Ritha himself and his men were quickly beaten back.

When Raging Snowstorm finally arrived, he ended it with a classic hammer and anvil maneuver pounding the remaining Lintha into submission. Peleps Nuada also arrived at that point in full elemental fury quickly quelling any remaining fight left in the demon-tainted. I was extremely happy however that Ritha remembered me. It made slapping him and kicking him around so much more fun.

I am an exceedingly practical person as well. We beat back these Lintha and shamed them with the ease it took. My vengeance was at hand but I saw however, a much greater use than simply killing off all these pathetic bits of flotsam.

This Lintha ship and this crew, the so-called "Children of the Dead" are feared throughout the West and it would be churlish of me to not share the glory with others. I decided to take these Lintha as prisoners and sacrifice them in the great Temple of Siakal in Azure. I would parade these feared pirates to the people of Coral and show them the might of my warriors.

This would serve a two fold purpose. It would gain me and my allies influence with the pirates and many citizens of Coral. The Sealord himself has said that the Lintha have nothing good in them and should be wiped out down to every last man, woman, and child. It would make us heroes in the nation. Secondly, such a huge sacrifice to Siakal would surely gain her attention perhaps her patronage and her support to us who would see the Lintha eradicated from the face of Creation.

I gave the instructions to the men, and none of the Lintha were killed. I believe that safety is non-negotiable however and no pirate stays alive without keeping as safe as possible given the circumstances. We noted that these Lintha heal as the Chosen do, so I decided to take some precautions.

I had all their hands and parts of their legs hacked off. We gathered the body parts and fed them to some sharks in a nearby reef. It gave me a warm feeling inside, watching the prelude to the great sacrifice and I'm pleased that Nuada and Snowstorm were not disturbed. Our observations about the Lintha's resilence were correct and none of them died from this incident.

I'll send a message to Azure Heart to send a few ships with food to meet us on our way to Azure. I think I'll pay a visit to the Temple of the Ocean Father as well, to pay my respects, as well as gather some pirates for Tiger Warrior training and Indoctrination. Maybe we can lure out the Prince Desolation one of these days and we'd have another First Age Warship.

Plans whirl around my head once again but for now, I head towards Coral.