Vencrest stood at the stern of the massive boat, looking out into the distance. Some one had cried ", Land Ho!," signaling the arrival of the Pirates Hideout. Sure enough, a speck was visible in the distance. Vencrest turned, and walked to the mast, were the captain was waiting. The captain had hired him, and another for a job. His mind drifted back to the small village, were he had been pulled aside, and requested for help...

Vencrest was walking through the small village, near the coast of the ocean, to small to be located on any map. He had stopped to fill his canteen with water, and stock up on food, and give Zekbel, his Plasma Dragon, a chance to roam free for a little while. A grizzled old man, who looked like the sea faring type, had pulled him aside. Vencrest reared his fist back, to defend himself, but the man shouted ", NO, I won't hurt yar!"

Vencrest put his fist down, and looked at him and said ", What do you want old man?" The sailor stood at his full height, and responded to him in his sailor accent ", Well, I'm in dire need of yar assistance. You see, me sword has been stolen, along with me drinking glass." Vencrest opened his mouth, as if to say something but the sailor continued ", Do not freight me friend, there is pay, and these items are heirlooms of mine. They were stolen whilst I was out fishing with me sons, and we were raided, and robbed. I would like to hire you to go out to the Pirates Hideout, and retrieve these items. If you can retrieve any other items they stole, you can keep them, all I wish to regain is my sword and glass." He held a crudely drawn picture. On it was a picture of a sword and a glass. "Study these well, for when I sail ya, you need to find these items."

Vencrest studied it, absorbing the information. The sword was a scimitar, a natural sailor weapon. Its scabbard was ornately designed with blue waves carved on the deep brown wood. The hilt itself was a mermaid, while the sword was dyed a deep blue. The glass was made of bright pink coral. "If ye accept me mission," the sailor said ", I will provide transport, and pay you a reasonable sum of money, IF you return with my goods." Vencrest stood back, pushing the pictures in the mans arm and said ", When do we set sail." The sailor let out a rough laugh and said ", Yersh, two soldiers will be unstoppable!" Vencrest swerved on his heel, saying ", There's gonna be two of us!?!?" "Why, yes," he added. Vencrest debated quiting the mission, but decided against it, and followed the sailor to his boat.

That was how he was here now. He was on a small boat, big enough to house 20 people, with only the crew of the old man who hired him, and his three sons. He shot a glance to the sky. Sure enough, the red dot that was Zekbel trailed behind. He looked into the cabin. 'When will this guy come out,' he thought to himself, eager to meet his ally. They would have to formulate a plan, and then, they could set out, to find the items, and hopefully kill some pirates along the way.

Ladislaus had been resting, having just arrived at an inn in a nearby village. He was still confused about what had happened in the desert stronghold, but he decided not to let it plague his mind any longer. He gradually fell asleep, his mind oblivious to his surroundings. For the next several hours, Ladislaus was having his first "restful" sleep in a long time. Ladislaus woke up, startled. "So much for sleeping in......" he murmered to himself. Looking around for what had woken him up, he quickly realized that the innkeeper was knocking at the door. He swiftly put on his armour, and answered the impatient innkeeper. "Why did you wake me up?" Ladislaus questioned. "There is a man downstairs asking for you." the inkeeper replied "he said he needed someone with combat experience". "Did he say how much he was offering for my services?" Ladislaus probed. "No, but he did say he was offering a shield and a fair amount of gold." the innkeeper replied, hoping to cheer Ladislaus' spirits. "Really?......Well, could you lead me to the man?" "Sure, if you wish."

Ladislaus went down the stairs, looking around the pub. "Where is this man?" Ladislaus asked, starting to get impatient. " Right around this corner," he answered, leading him between the tables. "Here he is," the innkeeper announced. "Thank you," Ladislaus chimed as the innkeeper walked away. "Welcome, Asassin. I've been expecting you." the man replied. "Hmph. You know, I do not normally take low pay assignments," Ladislaus exclaimed, " A mere shield and a few gold coins is not usually enough. However, I am in dire need of a shield. What is it you require of me?" " A few personal possesions of mine were stolen, and it would greatly please me if I got them back," the man exclaimed in a laid-back voice. "Who do you believe has possesion of them now?" Ladislaus questioned. "A group of pirates, whose hideout is none other then the notorious Pirate Hideout. They robbed me while I was at sea, stealing me cutlass and me finest drinking glass. You will have a partner if you accept this. A chap by the name of Vencrest. Not exactly the friendliest fellow, but he's rumored to be deadly with a sword." the sailor rambled on, becoming incomprehensible after a few more sentences. "Enough old man. We have a deal."

Ladislaus was on the sailor's boat, looking at the vast sea surrounding them. According to him, they on thier way to get Vencrest, and it would be a few hours before they reached port. After that, they were to go to the Pirate's Hideout, and retrieve the sailor's belongings. After 3 hours of smooth sailing, they reached port. Ladislaus went into his cabin to get equipped and to make ready for battle. There were pirates to slay.

Vencrest looked out the boat, his hair flowing behind him. Were was this new mercenary? Frustrated, he swiftly turned on his heel, determined to find this man, and set a plan straight. He slammed open the door to the cabin were he was supposed to be waiting. The room was small, with only a small bed inside, along with a shabby dresser. The man had all his equipment ready, along with his blade in his hand. Vencrest drew his own, and looked him in the eye, searching through the emotions he could read. It was difficult to tell, he was a protective type, that was for sure, and worse, he was a human. Vencrest shook his head slightly, refusing to let the simply matter of the mans mortality. That man could save his life, if he was skilled in combat, which his looks showed.

"Hello.... Ladislaus, I presume. We have both been hired to retrieve the sailors objects, correct? If so, we need a plan, a plan that will insure our lives, and the destruction of those we have been hired to kill." Vencrest walked forward, and pulled out a small hand drawn map, created by their employer. It was roughly drawn, but it would suffice. The island was small on the map, and consisted of several caverns.

Vencrest pointed to the first cavern, were they would land. It was a large overhanging, leading into a small shadowy area underneath. It wasn't technically a 'cavern' but instead, a large cliff overhanging the shore. Vencrest pointed to that location with his scimitar and said ", This is were we will be landing." He dragged his scimitar along the right side of the map, along the edge of the island, saying ", We will travel along the coast, into a full circle around the island, until we reach the destination point. And if we haven't found the items yet, we will travel inland to search for them."

Vencrest looked expectantly for a response, but a loud THUD echoed across. Vencrest hurried on board, only to see a grappling hook attached to the side of the boat. Vencrest's eyes traveled along the rope, and they might a horrible sight. There was a boat, about the same size, but filled with items, none which seemed to be the sailors. To his own dismay, they were trying to raid there boat. He quickly tried to asses the situation. There was only eight pirates, excluding the captain, should be simple enough.

Vencrest wondered to dismount the grappling hooks, but it was to late, all eight of the pirates had boarded there ships. "WEAPONS!" the sailor shouted, standing at the stern. He looked to his sons, but they both were busy bailing out a small fire from a shot fire arrow. "Clever bastards!" Vencrest shouted. They had purposely distracted the crew with the flames. But it didn't matter, they didn't know two mercenaries were aboard the ship.

Vencrest's four were all surrounding him, circling him like some kind of prey. They all had rapiers, and all were smiling, as if they thought they would be successful. Vencrest couldn't help but laugh, and then whistle. All the pirates looked shocked, but soon enough, Zekbel swooped down, and grabbed a pirate, and flew high in the sky. He tossed him up, dove, and swallowed him with a odd gulp sound.

All the other pirates looked in the sky with fear, unaware of Vencrest. Vencrest focused his energy to his hand, causing a blue orb to form, and in seconds, the orb released itself, as an arrow of ice. It impaled another pirate, causing him to collapse onto the ground. The remaining two looked at him, but again it was too late. Vencrest swirled forward, plunging his sword into the mans chest. "Only one to go!," he shouted. He wrapped around the dead body, using it as a shield to deflect the stab of the last of his pirate.

He kicked the body forward, slamming into the last pirate. The pirate shoved the body off, wiping down his shirt, but blood soon began to pour down. Vencrest's scimitar had impaled into the mans skull. Vencrest shot a glance to were Ladislaus should be, looking to see how he would be faring.

No sooner than Ladislaus had gotten his equipment ready when a men bursted into the cabin. "Hmmm.......a drow....." Ladislaus observed. The Drow quickly asserted himself by drawing his blade . "Good thing he's alert......could end up saving his life....." For a few moments, the Drow, who Ladislaus presumed was Vencrest, appeared to be studying him. Vencrest finally broke the silence by saying "Hello.... Ladislaus, I presume. We have both been hired to retrieve the sailors objects, correct? If so, we need a plan, a plan that will insure our lives, and the destruction of those we have been hired to kill". The man was right, but Ladislaus decided to keep his mouth shut, and let him explain his plans first. Vencrest reached into his cloak and pulled out a scraggly-looking piece of parchment. Upon closer inspection, he realized that it was a map, poorly-drawn, but nevertheless, a map. It appeared to be of an island, presumably the one they were going to. Vencrest pointed with his sword at what appeared to be a cave or an enclave "This is were we will be landing," he exclaimed. He then moved the tip of his blade to the right, running it along the edge of what was most likely a beach. "We will travel along the coast, into a full circle around the island, until we reach the destination point. And if we haven't found the items yet, we will travel inland to search for them." He said, expanding onto the plan.

For a few moments, there was an awkward silence, which was interuppted by a blunt smash to the side of the ship. The Drow left without saying anything else, striding towards the deck of the vessel. Ladislaus followed right behind, not forgetting to take his scimitar. When he caught up to his comrade, he found him gazing off of the port side of the ship, at what appeared to be a rope. Ladislaus, being a beginner at naval combat, did not realize that they were to keep his ship from getting away, and to get the other crew onto his ship. Ladislaus looked at the other ship, trying to understand what was happening. Then it hit him. They were pirates. privateers. the robbers of the sea. The ropes were to help them kill us, the noise was the grappling hooks hitting the sides of the boat. It was already too late, they had already boarded our vessel, and were preparing to kill, rob, or maim them He counted his forces. Six of them, including himself and Vencrest, versus around eight pirates. One of the sailors screamed for weapons, while a few others tried to put out a fire started by a burning arrow. Vencrest was quickly surrounded, and Ladislaus' odds weren't in his favor either. Out of nowhere, Vencrest whistled, and a red blur fell from the sky, snatching one of the pirates, the carrying him back up with it. Ladislaus peered up, trying to distinguish what the blur had been. A dragon. Vencrest was a dragon-rider. He would have to ask him about this later, as he had his own "issues". Doing a spiral kick, followed by a quick slash from his sabre, he sent one pirate overboard, and the others several yards back. He then realized that if he didn't get away from the edge of the boat, he would end up swimming just like the pirate he had just condemned. Working his way towards the starboard side, he managed to riposte one pirate's swipe, and quickly fend off another. A razor-sharp sensation ran down his spine. "There were three pirates left, not two you idiot! Don't let your guard down like that!" he mentally scolded himself, knowing that he could not afford to lose. He made annother swing with his sabre, earning a killing blow by slitting one pirates throat and letting him fall overboard.

Vencrest averted his gaze towards Ladislaus, watching how he would fare against his enemies. He watched him kick a pirate over, and block a blow with skill. 'A gladiator, I presume,' He thought to himself, absorbing the combat style he was using. He watched as Ladislaus finished off one more pirate, leaving only two on board. 'Humph,' he though again, running over to the spot were the fire was, helping extinguish the flames. 'He has only killed two, oh well, I'm sure the sailors will finish all the others.' The flames were gone in seconds, and he darted towards the side of the boat.

He looked at Ladislaus, and shouted ", It is time to finish this! We must have a plan to destroy the pirate boat before we come to close to the hideout. If they see us combating, they will know of our arrival. We will also have the chance to steal their colors, so when we sail in we will be detected as pirates!" He shot a glance to the sky. Zekbel was high in the air, out of the view of the general public, only seen for those who were searching for a dragon in the sky.

Vencrest continued his plan, untying a rope to one of the sails. "I will lift you onto this rope, so you can swing across to the other boat. Once their, kill the captain, and begin the destruction of the boat, and save their colors. I will crawl across their grappling hook. It will be slow progress, but I will get their in time to help destroy the boat. I trust you can kill the captain. We will have to formulate a way to reach our boat once theirs has sunk, so be prepared to swim, or do something crazy."

He looked at the other sailors aboard the ship, watching their progress against the pirates. They both wielded similar swords, both of normal quality. It was three sailors against the two pirates. A sailor lunged forward, but the pirate danced backwards, only to be stabbed by another sailor. A pirate lunged at a sailor, leaving a cut on his arm, but the other two both attacked, stabbing him in two different spots. They yanked their blades out, leaving the corpse to collapse to the ground.

Time seemed to move in slow motion, as a horrific act happened before Vencrest's eye's. Each sailor grabbed a body, and tossed them over the side of the ship. "NOO!," he shouted at them. It was too late. The sailors looked back, wiping their hands, inquisitive looks on their faces. "They'll attract sharks!," Vencrest shouted at them. He looked in the ocean helplessly as the bodies were slowly picked away by large fish, and soon sharks. The water below became a flurry of water and fish as it soon turned into a feeding frenzy, the ocean turning red.

Vencrest looked at the other boat in dispare. It was moving fast, they had no time to fix this problem. He shouted to Ladislaus again ", Don't fall, you'll be eaten alive!" Without further waiting, he held his palms down, and linked together, as to help Ladislaus climb up and reach the rope.

Ladislaus had just slit the throat of a pirate, and glanced at Vencrest. Vencrest was surrounded by 3 dead pirates, and was looking at him with impatience. The drow turned around, and tried to help put out the fires raging onboard the ship. "It is time to finish this! We must have a plan to destroy the pirate boat before we come to close to the hideout. If they see us combating, they will know of our arrival. We will also have the chance to steal their colors, so when we sail in we will be detected as pirates!" Vencrest yelled. Ladislaus swept his armoured leg around him, knocking the two pirates down. He ran over to Vencrest, and listened

"I will lift you onto this rope, so you can swing across to the other boat. Once their, kill the captain..........." The drow continued on, but after a few moments Ladislaus stopped paying attention, assured that he had gotten the gist of it. Nodding his head in false agreement, Ladislaus noticed that the drow had stopped talking. He quickly stopped nodding. He followed the drows instructions and was boosted up to a rope, which he grasped. He then kicked off of the mast, and swung the chasm between the two vessels. He let go a bit late, and started to fall.

He landed with a resounding thunk, thanking the gods that he didn't have a shield that time. He pulled himself off of the floor, slightly bruised, but otherwise unharmed. He walked over to the captain's quarters, and bashed open the doors.
"Garr.......... I thought I told ye not to enter here unless asked ye mangy dogs......" The captain said, sitting comfortably in a large chair. He turned around, looking confused at Ladislaus "Who are ye?! State yer name and purpose, fool!" The pirate roared, clearly trying to intimidate the gladiator. "Ladislaus Augustan, killer of thieves and serviceman of all who have the money! Here to end your miserable existence!" Ladislaus bellowed back. The captain stood up, drawing both of his cutlasses from thier sheathes. "If it be a fight you want, then your death you shall get!" The pirate yelled, lunging at Ladislaus.

Ladislaus rolled, narrowly dodging the swipe from the captain. The gladiator countered with a swipe to the seaman's ankles, knocking him clean to the floor, and pulling himself up in the process. He held his sword behind the head of the captain. "We know you took that sailor's possesions. Where are they, imboscile!" Ladislaus said, with emphasis at the end. "To our hideout, fool! But, alas, even if ye get there, ye will never make it back alive!" the captain answered, but a bit too boldly for his interrogator's taste. "We shall see, but I will let you know. I am not acting alone, and I am not a simple warrior. I am a plague to any thieves ambitions, a scorn to any rogue's honor. You have answered my question. I will let you go now." Ladislaus said, adding a miniscule amount of cheer to the end. "Truly?" the captain inquired. "Sure. I will not kill you. The sea will." He said, deciding to add irony to the man's demise. He stormed out, barring the doors behind him.

He walked into the lower decks, picking up a few coins along the way. He had been going along, looking for the bilge, which would be the best place to start the fire. After a few minutes he found the bilge........

Vencrest watched as Ladislaus grabbed on the rope, and sailed across. He looked on nervously, hoping that he would not fall to his death to the maw of sharks below. He let go prematurely, but luckily, landed on the other boat with ease. Vencrest watched as he entered the captain, and hopefully kill the fiend. Vencrest didn't have time to wait, he would have to help him destroy the boat, but there was another matter. The rope he had used to come across had swung back to their boat, and crawling across the grappling hook would be to slow. They would have to come with a way to safely return to their boat. He came with a plan, he would have Zekbel save him, and the gladiator could use a rope again, like he had done before.

He approached the rope, shook it a little to test its sturdiness, and decided against it. The sharks below were dangerously close to the dangling rope, so he would come with another way. He found the rope Ladislaus had used to swing across, deciding he would use the same method. He lifted himself up, and with a mighty swing, pushed himself off. He looked down below, at the flurry of sharks. He looked forward again, and jumped, landing on the boat, causing it to tilt with the impact of his body. He saw Ladislaus close the door to the captains cabin, and run down to the deck below.

'Clever', he thought to himself, and he began to run forward. "Argh, what be doing ye matey," said a gravely voice from above. There was a small, gnome pirate steering the boat. Vencrest rolled his eyes, at his stupidity. Some one was piloting the boat of course, and he had been so foolish to over look that simple fact. He raised his hand, and focused mana into it once more, and a ball of ice had formed. With a burst of mana, he sent the ice ball hurdling towards the gnome as an arrow of ice. "Eeyeyeye!!!," the little creature shouted, before the arrow impaled him. The gnome flew overboard at the force of the shot, almost tearing his body whole due to the arrows large size, and the gnome's little size. In seconds, another hoard of sharks came, devouring the thing in a mere second.

He rushed forward, and darted down the stairs, were he meet Ladislaus. He looked over to him, and nodded, showing that he knew what to do. He grabbed his scimitar, and one that was lying on the ground nearby, and set to work. After a couple of tries of hitting them together, his make shift flint and steel had produced a spark. In no time, the spark had risen to a huge flame, and began engulfing the boat. "LEAVE NOW!" He shouted, running out of the boat. As he leapt across the distances, he scaled the ships crows nest, and unlatched the flag, and leapt. As if on cue, Zekbel swooped down, catching Vencrest, and released. Vencrest landed graciously on the deck, and raised the colors quickly, then shot a worried look, wondering if Ladislaus had managed to escape successfully.

Ladislaus entered the bilge, looking for any place good enough to start a fire. After a few minutes, and no luck, he left. He walked through the halls, and came upon a room. It was the treasure room, and it was full of gold, weapons, jewelery, pretty much anything you could imagine. For a moment, Ladislaus stood there, dumbstruck. Then he walked over towards the heap of riches, starting to stuff his bag full of jewels. He also noticed a barrel, presumably full of rum. He yanked off the lid of the barrel, and smelt the liquid. Obviously, it was rum. Ladislaus debated whether or not to drink some, but decided not to. The last thing he needed was attempting to escape a sinking ship while drunk. He went back to filling his rucksack. After he gathered enough, he made his way to the deck.

He walked up the stairs, and as he reached the top, he saw Vencrest. He also saw a small fire. "LEAVE NOW!" his comrade yelled, starting towards the edge of the boat. Ladislaus just stood there, somewhat overloaded from the feelings of wealth and danger. Vencrest gracefully swung off of the boat, and onto the back of his expectant dragon, not forgetting to grab the flag of the ship. "I should have paid attention to the escape part of his plan....." Ladislaus thought, rubbing the back of his head. By now, the fire was starting to grow, and Ladislaus had to get to the other boat, and fast.

He scoured his surroundings, looking for anything that wasn't on fire. He saw some ropes lying on the ground, and hatched a plan. He tied the ropes around the hilt of his sword, and praying, he threw his sword across the gap between the ships. It landed with a satisfying thunk in the mast of the ship. He jumped, and started to fall. He skimmed within feet of the water, and suddenly, he felt his bag fall off of his waist, into the deep blue ocean. He flew up again and let go, smashing into the deck of the ship. Ladislaus just stood there, with a depressed look on his face..............

Vencrest was standing on the boat, with a look of accomplishment on his face, as Ladislaus fell to his knees, miserable, and once again, poor. He slowly got up, and stared at the inferno across from them. He was just there, and could have been dead right now, yet the only thing he cared about was the satchel of riches floating towards the seabed...........

Vencrest watched as the Ladislaus soared over the ocean, a bag of jewels hanging from his waist, only to fall to the ocean depths below him. He erupted in laughter, for this was surely ironic. He caught his breath, still panting slightly. "I will hang the pirate colors, and we can sail in undetected. When I give the signal, which shall be 'Ted'iiknin', the drow word for I summon death to all who oppose me, attack. We will have the element of surprise, and we can wipe out a good number of them." Vencrest did not wait for a response, knowing his plan would be much better than the mortals plan. With that he ran forward, and climbed up the mass, and lowered the flag of the sailor, which was a giant mermaid, laying on a rock, and replaced it with the flag of a skull and two crossbones.

They approached the hideout, into a harbor were other boats were landed. There was 40 pirates lounging around, talking. The majority of the group of drunk. As they were landing, Vencrest spotted a cage, that a pirate was approaching, while holding a young women, very beautiful. Her clothes were tattered and dirty. She screamed, and was shoved in the cage, were seven other women were in, crying. 'Holding women captive,' Vencrest thought to himself in disgust. Vencrest pointed out to the cage, and said to everyone ", I will free these women, and they will land on the boat. Captain, if you will, sail back and set them free, for I'm sure their families miss them." The captain nodded in approvement.

They hit the shore, and Vencrest jumped down, along with four sailors. A sailor, who was obviously a guard said, " Argh, ye mateys, did you manage to get yer paws on some booty, our another one of them fine women in the town." The pirate shot a look to the cage, and said to them ", yer not gettin out for a while, ye pretty lass." Vencrest held back from slitting his throat right then, but said instead ", Aye, as captain of this ship, we did not. Instead, we restocked on some food for our voyages ahead." "Aye, yes, a pirate ain't happy with his liquor." Vencrest nodded, and grabbed a bottle of rum the pirate handed to him. He chugged it down, and approached the camp.

He stood in the center, and shot a look at the cage again. The pirate who locked the woman up had a key on his side. He would have to kill him and get the key first. He approached the cage. "What one be you havin," the pirate said as he approached. Vencrest was tempted to spit in his face, but resisted and said ", the fine lass with blond hair." The lady seemed terrified and started screaming. "She be very pretty," said the pirate with a disgusting grin, and walked to the cage, leaning to unlock it. "Filthy scum!," Vencrest shouted, and with that, he plunged his blade into his back, and through his heart and pulled his blade back out. "Ted'iiknin!" Vencrest shouted, yanking the key from the cage, and shoving it in his pocket.

"I will hang the pirate colors, and we can sail in undetected. When I give the signal, which shall be 'Ted'iiknin', the drow word for I summon death to all who oppose me, attack. We will have the element of surprise, and we can wipe out a good number of them." Vencrest said, not even waiting for Ladislaus to reply, leaving him on the deck. "Hey, Ladislaus!" a voice behind him said. Ladislaus turned around slowly, identifying the voice as the captain.

"Follow me down to me quarters." the captain said, turning around and heading down below decks. "DOESN'T ANYONE WAIT AROUND HERE!?!?!" Ladislaus was tempted to scream, frustrated by the impatience of the sailors. Instead of venting his anger, he followed the captain below decks, trying to uncover the way to the captain's lodge. After a few minutes of scouring the corridors of the ship, he found the captain.

"Listen, I owe ye me life. You and Vencrest saved me and me crew, and if it weren't fer ye, me ship would be at the bottom of the sea. I'm going to give ye some of yer payment. I put yer shield in yer quarters, figured ye couldn't use it if ye were dead." The captain said, facing away from Ladislaus. "I'm trusting ye not to run out now that ye got yer payment." the captain said, with an untrusting tone in his voice. "On my word, I will not let you down." Ladislaus swore.

Ladislaus rushed back to his cabin, and burst the door open. The captain hadn't been lying, the shield was on his cot. It was a masterpiece, made of brass, circular in design, a serrated edge. He continued admiring his new gear, and noticed that imprinted in the middle, was his family emblem. He held the shield. It was light, and suprisingly easy to wield.

He smiled for the first time in months, and slung his new shield over his back. Heading up to the deck, he noticed that it was already dark out, and that they were approaching an island. Anxious to try out his new shield, he waited for the ship to drop anchor, then jumped off into the water. The water was cold, at least thirty degrees. Most people would have found this uncomfortable, but Ladislaus loved the cold. He waded towards the shore with difficulty, due to the weight on his back.

He finally reached the shore, and dried off. He ran stealthily up the shore, avoiding the watchful gaze of the guards. He snuck forward, and soon reached a small cabin. He looked in a window and saw about six or seven guards drinking and talking. He snuck in through a window into an empty room.................

Vencrest drew his blade hastily, ready to combat the opponents that were the 40 pirates lounging on the beach. He had only five allies, and a dragon, so the odds were against the pirates. They had the element of surprise, and they were all sober, unlike the other pirates that were strewn across the cove. Vencrest lunged forward, decapitating a pirate who stood shakily, unsure of what was happening. Vencrest pointed his fist at another pirate, and shot an ice arrow through the body of the human.

"Zekbel, rain fire upon the mongrels! Avoid the allies!" He shouted, in clear drow. As if on cue, the huge beast soared from above, sending massive waves of lava upon the resting pirates in the center. The lava had managed to incinerate twenty of the pirates, melting them with its massive heat. Only about ten pirates remained outside. "Finish them!" Vencrest shouted, towards Zekbel, and the four sailors that were with him. The dragon, and the men set off, finishing off the stragglers.

Vencrest ran towards the cage, were the women were inside. He reached for the key in his pocket, and pulled it out, and jammed it in the key slot. He turned it, and opened the barred cage, releasing the women. "Go, go, to the boat, were the man inside will port you to the town." The group of crying women flooded out, screaming there thanks, while sobbing gratefully. Vencrest looked inside the cage, making sure none were remaining inside. The cage was bare, with only a few empty plates, and tattered pieces of clothing.

Vencrest ran to a nearby building, and peered inside. Only two of these shacks were on the island, and he had seen Ladislaus check the other one, across the cove. This shack was filled with seven sleeping pirates, hungover. "No wonder they didn't hear the commotion outside," he said aloud to himself. He looked over to a nearby pole, to see a women, chained to it, like an animal. Vencrest looked in disgust, and gave a hand sign to her. The women seemed to understand that he would help rescue her, as a tear of thankfulness welled in her eyes. Vencrest kicked the door open, causing the pirates to stir awake.

Vencrest plunged his sword into ones chest, then slit another's throat. He shot an arrow of ice into the chest of another, and decapitated the fourth pirate. He stabbed a fifth, and a sixth, without any resistance. He turned to the women, only to find her out of her bindings, with a small shard of bone in her hand, viciously stabbing the seventh pirate. She must have planned an escape for a while, and specifically picked out this pirate. "I'm sorry what happened, I have a boat waiting outside," he said to her. The women embraced him thankfully, and ran outside, tears streaming down her face as well. He searched the cabin, finding it not to house the items they were searching for.

Vencrest steped outside, and waited for Ladislaus to emerge, so they could set out in search of the items they were questing for.

Ladislaus was standing in a small makeshift kitchen, trying to come up with a way to beat the half dozen guards that were lounging in the barracks. There were two doors, one presumably leading to them, which he guessed from the yelling coming from the opposite side, and one that was locked, that lead outside. He decided to go for a more frontal assault. He drew his sword and shield, and braced his shield against his shoulder, then burst off running towards the door.

He collided with the door, sending it flying across the room, and splinters rushing through the air. A few of the pirates were still sitting down, and one of the more oblivious ones announced "Yer buyin the new door," while the more sober drew thier swords. Ladislaus did a head count, deciding not to count the drunk sitting on the stool. Five in all, somewhat sober and ready to fight. He smiled. This was what he lived for, fights like these. Close-quarters, no rules, completely unrestricted. The only limit was how many of them were willing to die.

He decided to get the massacre started with a bang, so he took a glass of ale from a nearby table and smashed it into the face of a nearby pirate. About half of the glass stayed on his face, while the rest shattered and fell to the ground. The pirate was screaming, not only from the initial pain, but from the pain of the booze seeping into his skin through his open lacerations. The other pirates just stood there for a moment, staring at their comrade, who had just fallen to the ground. They then looked at Ladislaus, their under-educated minds trying to compute that an angry murmillo equaled death or gruesome pain.

One of them let out a war cry, while the others quickly followed trend. Guess they want a fight... Might as well give them one... Ladislaus quickly dispatched the one that was closest to him, with a mightly slash to his torso. The other three wouldn't be too much of a threat he hoped, since he had been through a few fights already by then. One lunged at him, trying to slash him from above. However, as Ladislaus stepped out of the way, it soon became how obvious how drunk they were. His assailant had fallen to the ground unconsious. I guess that makes two? The other two just stood there, with their swords drawn, obviously at least slightly more sober than their comrade. One clumsily dropped his sword, and reached down to get it, and was dealt a hard blow from Ladislaus' shield, knocking him into the ground, and putting him to 'sleep' for a while. The last one just stood there, his weapon held at his side, shaking.

Ladislaus took a step towards the surviving privateer, which triggered the pirate to set off running through a nearby door, and into the jungle. Ladislaus stepped out of the door, and examined his surroundings, only to see Vencrest being hugged by a young woman. Awkward...... Ladislaus was about to turn away, when he noticed a pole sticking out of the sand. I'm just going to hope he saved her from the pirates, and that it's not what it looks like..................................

Vencrest sighed, slightly exhausted from the fight. He walked to the room were Ladilaus had decided to clear out, and found the gladiator inside. "Ladislaus, I'm going to explore the outside of the island, you should follow. We're not going to kill all of these pirates, we won't stand a chance. Instead, let us take their bandannas and wear them, to symbolise were in their ranks." Vencrest ran outside, and shouted to the four sailors who were on their side ", Quickly, grab a bandanna, and we'll search around the island, and then go inland." They all complied, grabbing the skull and cross bones bandanna's. Vencrest followed suit, grabbing one from a nearby pirate, and wrapping it around his head. He pulled the rest of his long white hair into a pony tail, making him seem even more like a pirate.

The rest of the crew looked like real pirates, and believable, especially to the drunk pirates. "Lets go!" He shouted, signaling them to move forward with his hand. The group set off, heading around the beach. The beach was barren for quite a while, without any disturbance. "The next group must be directly across the beach," Vencrest advised the group, as they walked along. After about a mile or so, they found the next camp, filled with thirty drunk pirates lounging outside, and two buildings on the beach. "Same setup," he warned them, as they approached.

No pirate seemed to recognize there arrival, and remained lounging. There was no cage filled with women, which means that there would be no more rescuing involved in this mission. "No fighting, set out and look for the objects" he warned them, as they passed through. They split up, in search of the objects. Vencrest searched through several crates, with no luck. It was all full with whisky and boos. He grabbed a bottle, and held it by his neck, taking swigs of its dark liquid occasionally.

He approached the cabin, hoping to find the objects inside this building. He entered, to find ten pirates inside the single room, drinking the beer, and playing some grotesque version of strip poker. He looked inside, all the pirates not even recognizing his arrival. The room was empty, with no sword inside, and no coral cup. As Vencrest was leaving, he kicked at the leg of a chair, knocking it over, sending a nude pirate flying through the air, and landing on the wooden floor with a gross 'thud'.

"Hey!" the thing said sluggishly, rising up slowly, teetering slightly. "Your, gonna pay, bub," he said slurred. Vencrest stepped outside and said ", Your on!" The pirate lunged forward with his fist, still nude. Vencrest side stepped, causing the pirate to fly forward, and land in the sand. Vencrest walked forward, stepping over his naked body, rubbing his body in the sand, ensuring that it was painful.

Vencrest walked to the group of sailors, and set off, to reach there beginning destination, and from there, they could search inland.

(In your post, search the next building, and led us back to the opposite side.)

(OOC= Campagna is a murmillian helmet, the one in my picture.)

Vencrest walked over to Ladislaus announcing "Ladislaus, I'm going to explore the outside of the island, you should follow. We're not going to kill all of these pirates, we won't stand a chance. Instead, let us take their bandannas and wear them, to symbolise were in their ranks," and with that, took off running down the beach, with all of the sailors following behind. Ladislaus decided to follow, taking of his campagna and wrapping the bandana in front of his lower face, in the style a bandit would.

Ladislaus followed behind slowly, feeling the exausting effects of the day start to take root. Vencrest and the sailors stopped, as apparently Vencrest was explaining 'the plan'. Ladislaus managed to catch up with them, only just as they started walking again. Ladislaus was starting to get annoyed by now, and was about ready to scream, yet he managed to hold back.


Ladislaus noticed they had picked one house in general, as they all had entered it. Deciding to split up from them, he entered a different building. It was smaller, and had no lights on. As he entered, he discovered why. It was their armory, and it was full of many different weapons. Ladislaus thought about taking some, but decided against it. He was a mercenary, not a thief.

He continued searching, and soon found a small rack with different cutlasses laying in it. One of them was the cutlass the captain had described, and Ladislaus took it, stowing it over his back. He smashed in a window, in order to make it appear to be just a standard robbery.

He started towards the door, yet noticed that there was a flight of stairs going into a basement. Deciding it wouldn't hurt to check, he descended down them. It was pitch-black down there, and Ladislaus couldn't see anything, not even his own hand if he held it right in front of his face. He quickly recalled the lyrics to the spell he had learned, and recited them. Light burst all around him, and he was horrified at what he saw.

There were skeletons. A lot of them. They were chained to the walls, and many were missing bones. What in the name of.... Ladislaus' chain of thought was interupted as a large bellow came from behind him. He spun around quickly, and saw a large man, armoured in chainmail, swinging a flail. The man swung the flail at Ladislaus, hitting him directly in the chest, and sending him flying onto the floor.

The armoured man apparently realized an oppurtunity, and lunged towards Ladislaus, as he was still on the floor. Ladislaus rolled out of the way, just as he had planned to, and stood up, swinging his sword through the unguarded back of the man's neck, killing him. Badly bruised, Ladislaus started up the stairs, and left the building.........

Vencrest wiped a trickle of sweat from his brow, and looked back, hoping to find his ally trailing beyond. There was no such sight, the gladiator was not there. "Have you seen Ladislaus," Vencrest questioned the crew. They all shook there heads. Vencrest recalled, he had gone into the other room to search it. "Quickly, we must go back," Vencrest shouted, breaking into a jog. Not shortly after, they found the camp again, with lounging drunk pirates. The one who he had beaten up early had disappeared, leaving a pile of blood on the sand. "Come on, to that house," Vencrest urged the crew.

The pirates did not seem to care that they had entered, looking so worried. They were all too drunk to understand anything that was happening. Vencrest opened the door to the room, saying ", Wait outside, its dark, and I can see through my Infravision." With that, he entered the room. His eyes grew pale, and he began to make out the surroundings of the room. Years of living in the dark, had granted him the ability to see in such conditions, and they came in handy in times like these. One of the best side affect of the ability was that it took no incantations, therefore, never revealing ones position.

The room was an armory, filled with swords, armor, and shields. They all looked used and battered, several them had vomit spread across them. Vencrest felt no need to take any of these items, for they were all useless. He had the strongest weapon, a dragon! A thud shook the house. "What," he murmured under his breath. It seemed to have come from below. He found a trap door, leading to a basement, and followed it down.

Immediately, his Infravision ceased, for a light emitted from the sword of Ladislaus. The gladiator had just slit the throat of a man down below. "Ladislaus, hurry up, were setting out, wait, wait a minute. Whats that?" Vencrest pointed to a bony hand, clasping a cup, created from coral. Vencrest snatched it up, and held it above his head with a gleam in his eye. "Yes, lets go back to the ship, and then may be, leave an imprint of this island, so all these damn idiots knew we were here!" He jumped up the stairs, and out the door, and looked to the crew. "Lets go men, we found the items, and we can go home!"

(In your next post, lead us back, and then, I'll wrap it up and finish it!)

(OOC: I'm annoyed! My keys aren't taking a lot of the keys I'm hitting, so I have to revise EVERY sentence I type to make sure all the letters are there!)

Ladislaus was in the basement, heading up the stairs, when Vencrest burst in, saying "Ladislaus, hurry up, were setting out, wait, wait a minute. Whats that?" He contiued, pointing towards a nearby skeleton. He rushed over to the skeleton, and ripped a cup out of the skeleton's hand. It was made of coral, identical to the one that the captain showed him. They were done.

"Yes, lets go back to the ship, and then may be, leave an imprint of this island, so all these damn idiots knew we were here!" Vencrest exclaimed, clearly excited about the completion of their mission. Vencrest ran up the stairs, and soon had met up with the sailors, Ladislaus following closely behind. "Lets go men, we found the items, and we can go home!" Vencrest announced, as the sailor cheered and started towards the ship.

Ladislaus was way ahead of them, running towards the ship. He had noticed that some of the pirates had heard the crew cheering, and had come outside, bringing several other angry pirates with them as well. They were being chased by at least three dozen pirates. Realizing he was outnumbered, he had gotten a headstart on the crew, and was wading into the ocean towards the ship. He climbed up an anchor line, and arrived on the deck of the ship. He ran to the wheel, and warned the captain about the incoming pirates.

"Yer got me stuffs, ye?" The pirate questioned, checking to make sure the job was done. Ladislaus nodded, and soon the entire crew crawled onboard. The captain pulled the anchor up, and soon, they were sailing away. Several hours later, Ladislaus went below deck to accept his reward. The captain, in a great show of generousity, gave him seventy gold.

FIN?