Chapter Five - Tides of Dread

[Trogdor]

Lavinia Vanderboren stands looking over the town of Farshore from the veranda of her manor and muses how much difference a few months can make. Just about twelve weeks ago the town was facing a pirate attack of unknown power, with very little to defend itself, and the prospect of a Mayor Meravanchi, who might strip them of what defenses they did have. It had not been a warming prospect.

But, of course, the Defenders of Farshore had been on the job, determined to keep Farshore safe. Things had started to turn around when they had returned from the jungle having secured allies, the tar pits, and even some ancient rakasta weapons. Then, they had recovered The Sea Wyvern, allowing The Blue Nixie to return to Sasserine with the a large part of Farshore's gathered wealth in spices and hardwoods, thus depriving the pirates of that wealth if they won.

And throughout, the building of the defenses continued. A barracks for more militia, watch towers, a reinforced city wall, and more. She wasn't sure if they'd have managed to get it all secured in time if it hadn't been for the aid of the local Olman villagers, who had agreed to help based on the assistance that the Defenders of Farshore had given them.

Then there was the election. How she'd dreaded that day. Lord M had seemed poised to claim victory, after his nephew Avner had proved a surprisingly able campaigner. But then Daerith and Fin got involved and started to turn the tide. The only question was whether it would be too little too late. In the end, she had squeaked by, winning the election by 101 votes to 99, though the votes had to be counted three times before Lord M had acquiesced.

Then the day was upon them. Fast-moving fishing boats brought warning of the attack, and the defenses were readied. The militia was armed with superior rakasta weapons, and the Olman and phaeraton allies were prepared. Everyone was gathered inside the city walls, and the Defense of Farshore began.

There were five caravels attacking: The Hag, Sea Witch's Curse, The Kraken, The Stygian Shark, and the flagship, The Brine Harlot, each with a full complement of pirates, ready to take the town. And Vanthus, himself, was in command of the entire attack, prepared to wreak his revenge on her and their parents' legacy. What was worse was that there were more than just pirates. One of the ships had terrible bird demons called vrocks that were released to harass the defenders; another had snake sorcerers called yuan-ti who rained fireballs down on the town; some others had flesh golems that were sent in a mindless attack on the streets of Farshore. All this in addition to hordes of pirates attacking the shores.

And through it all, the Defenders of Farshore and the Jade Ravens were everywhere, protecting the town, though they were by no means the only heroes. The town militia, lead by Ulvar Kabbanja and Karl Deitrich presented a fantastic defense against the invading pirates, repulsing many longships at the shore, and fighting a running battle against pirates throughout the town; Vesserin Catherly and Kalthan Arborus maintained a heroic defense of the church, keeping it as a strong point and place for healing; Professor Aldwattle used four years of stored magic to pay the pirates back for nearly killing him in their first attack; and Lavinia and Avner had formed an odd alliance, fighting back-to-back in a bloody battle when pirates stormed the council chambers.

Kaskus Kiel and Zan Oldavin confronted the flesh golems, narrowly defeating them at the cost of Zan's life. Liamae Teslikaria and Wavedancer dealt with the yuan-ti, bringing a hasty end to both their attack and the ship from which they were launching that attack. Berek and Grask fought the vrocks, and managed to return them to their home plane, though Berek lost his left arm in the effort when one of the demons literally carved it off his torso with a magical blade. Chanur and Fin lead the Sea Wyvern against the pirate ships, whose artillery was wreaking havoc with the town. They sank one ship and captured two others, The Kraken and the The Stygian Shark, but Chanur was dealt a death blow. It was only the quick action of Fin that brought the brave captain back from the brink, though the experience changed Chanur forever. Finally, Tolin Kientai and Daerith confronted Vanthus on his flagship. It was a hard fought battle, but in the end Vanthus, who had undergone some kind of demonic transformation, was defeated and killed by Daerith, though not before almost activating another black pearl that could have plunged Farshore into a Savage Tide. It was only the quick action of Tolin that saved the town from that terrible fate. Alas that the flagship was scuttled by its cowardly crew rather than let Farshore capture it.

Lavinia could only marvel that the pirates were defeated with such a minimal loss of life. Only nine residents of Farshore were killed, with the number of injured being much greater. Casualties among the Olman and the Phanatons were less, though they had only sent warriors to the battle, so that wasn't surprising. As for the pirates, she doubted a dozen escaped, and those on a single longboat that fled the scene when things got rough.

In the end, two pirate ships were sunk and another two were taken, The Kraken and The Stygian Shark, claimed by the Farshore Trading Company. Chanur had signed on as captain of The Kraken, having retired from adventuring after his brush with death. The Stygian Shark was renamed Farshore's Freedom and took Amella Venkalli as its new captain. Now Farshore would be dependent upon no one for its supplies, but had its own fleet to rely upon.

The return of The Blue Nixie to Sasserine was a fantastic success for the Farshore Trading Company. The shares Lavinia had inherited from her parents had won her back her fortune, while Lord Meravanchi's shares had earned him a second one, easing the sting of his loss in the mayoral election. The Farshore Trading Company had also made all of the original residents of Farshore wealthy, or at least quite well-off. This included the Defenders of Farshore and the Jade Ravens, who were all voted shares in the Farshore Trading Company for their efforts in the defense of the colony.

And now, there were six ships in the harbor: The Larissa, The Dolphin, The Brass Dragon, and The Blue Nixie, all arrived recently from Sasserine with supplies and colonists, Farshore's Freedom, preparing another load for transport, and, of course, the Sea Wyvern, flagship of the Defenders of Farshore. The Kraken was already on its way back to other ports for another trade trip. Amazing how Farshore had gone from being an isolated harbor to a bustling trade port in such a short time.

Lavinia was proud to see that one of the new ships, the Larissa was her own, newly purchased with the fortune she recovered from the success in the Farshore Trading Company, replacing the one destroyed by her brother Vanthus when he killed their parents. It wouldn't bring her parents back, though it would help secure their memory.

But she had lost the Defenders of Farshore and the Jade Ravens both. The Jade Ravens had broken up. Apparently, there had been troubles before, and the death of Zan was the last straw. Lavinia also felt that Tolin's unrequited love for her had made it hard for him to stay working for her. Tolin and Kaskus had secured passage on The Kraken looking for greener pastures, while Liamae had gone off with Chanur who, of course, had retired as well, taking up as the captain of The Kraken. The two were last seen sailing into the sunset together. Berek agreed to become armsmaster for the Farshore militia. Gods help any recruit that questioned how a one-armed dwarf could be an 'armsmaster.' Fin had taken his newfound wealth and was working on creating a temple and monastery to Procan overlooking the town. It was sad to see him leave her service. But she had to admit that having a powerful cleric in residence was comforting in many ways. Finally, Wavedancer had taken a break as well. He said that he felt he had to go visit his people again, saying that he might be back some day, though Lavinia questioned how true that was.

That left her only with Daerith and Grask, a relatively new recruit to Daerith's team - if you could call two adventurers a team. The truth was, she needed more adventurers in her employ if she was going to get everything done she needed to, especially now that she was mayor and was responsible for the well-being of all of Farshore. In fact, there was a task in need of doing now, and she was loathe to send Daerith and Grask alone to do it. All she could do was hope that someone among the new colonists was willing and able to do service for the town. With that thought in mind, she steps off the veranda and starts the short walk down to the docks to see what fortune will bring in the way of new adventurers.