featuring
Siğna Cove. A haven for pirates and outlaws alike, hidden from the eyes of the law. Built out of lonely shoreline attached to a large, hollowed-out cavern, this was just a stone's throw away from the local coast town, shielded naturally from view by both a dense jungle and a maze of islets and rocky coastline. A place where an outcast could kick up their feet and rest without fear of being ratted out to the authorities nor fleeced by their fellow scoundrels, for there was an unwritten code: a code of unity in which all could take refuge, no matter their status, their history, their infamy. A lowly thief could walk alongside a wanted felon in multiple states, and both would be protected from prospecting lawmen and from each other, lest the law risk total retaliation, and them exile from the sole welcoming community in this side of the world. This hidden cove has remained a popular stopover for many a pirate for the chance at civilization it provides and the sympathies and services the locals have provided since time immemorial…
One such pirate walked through the door of the local watering hole, opening the saloon doors with such force, it caught the attention of all the tough folk hanging around within. Eyes turned to size up the visitor who made a statement with her entrance… only to soften as they fell upon her familiar blue visages. The battle-hardened form of a Seadrai pirate captain that commanded respect and fear in equal measure from those who knew her history. From nobody to nightmare. The killer of the Butcher of the Niddar Coast. One who fought a sea serpent in an epic battle and lived with the scars to prove it.
Lerna. The Three-Headed Hydra of the Mercan Ocean. One head that imposes harsh tolls upon the obscenely wealthy merchant vessels that dare tread on her waters. One head that punishes those pirates that prey on the weak and innocent, sullying the fearsome respect that pirates should command over the rich and powerful. One head that captains a crew so loyal to the very end, they're willing to follow her to the edge of the known world and back, no matter what challenges they may face.
"Bartender!"
"I need your strongest drink!"
"None of that watered down shite you served me last!"
The blue pirate captain laughed as she pulled up a stool at the bar, leaning back against the driftwood counter and resting her elbows upon it. She considered Siğna Cove's tavern a home away from home for many reasons: the camaraderie she had with the staff, the entertainment it could provide with the many boisterous braggarts that came and went, and for the refreshments it served for her and her crew. She loved the homegrown feel the tavern had, built in the style of a ship cabin, replete with strong drink, loud, rowdy vibes, and an air of truly freeing casual relaxation. As the drink slid to her, she quickly grabbed it with her left arm and winked in acknowledgement with her left head, before flipping a gold coin over her right shoulder, swigging the drink with her middle head all in one motion.
Strong. Alcohol forward. Just a little hint of fruit and flavor. It'll do.
She wipes her middle mouth as she lets the tankard sit on the counter, watching the various patrons of the tavern go about their drinks and their business. She caught some staring at her, or more accurately, her distinct state of toplessness, but most didn't have the guts to tell her to cover up. Most just decided to avert their eyes and continue their conversations, wary of the possibility of being turned flat on their ass by the tenacious Seadrai. Lerna chuckled seeing this. A hint of wisdom and restraint, in her den of thieves and liars? Maybe she was making a difference out there in the lawless waters. She continued to watch the four corners of her favorite haunt, holding conversation with the staff, chugging grog, and humming her favorite shanty all at the same time.
That was when the tavern doors meekly creaked open, and she turned her heads towards the newcomer that just shuffled in. A young, innocent human, willingly choosing to enter a den of outlaws, dressed in exactly the kind of adventurer's clothing that begged for a prospective bandit to mug him. Her visions focused in on the different parts of his body, wondering what exactly this sharkbait was doing here. He was adjusting a pair of fancy lenses, carrying a satchel that clinked with the sound of coin, kicking off sand off his nice pair of travel boots.
Oh, Poldom below, he's not going to try and hire one of these scoundrels to do his bidding, is he?
Her fears were realized as he did just that, walking up to any of the pirates that looked at least somewhat approachable, practically begging for any one of them that would listen to hear his plea. Most didn't want to associate with the young man, not wanting anything to do with him or his money. Poor kid. He looked even more dejected with every rejection, every harsh rebuke he suffered. Maybe it was the drink that was getting to her, but she felt sorry for this young man, watching him take a dive to the floor as a burly pirate shoved him down to the ground and spat on his face.
"Hey, kid!"
Just as the human was about to leave, he turned around, hearing a title that could only possibly refer to him in this place. He finds the source of the voice as he looks directly at Lerna, transfixed by her gazes…
"You lost? You missed the bank by a whole island, if you're carrying all that gold."
A round of laughter rocked the tavern, but Lerna and the human weren't laughing. He began to approach her all too quickly, happy to not be fully turned away by her.
"Oh, thank the gods! Please, listen to me, I need help with~"
Lerna took a swig of her tankard with her left head, stopping the human with her right hand as she shook her middle head.
"Stop right there."
"Listen, kid, I'm not your gods-damned help. These folk, they're dangerous, and I'm not a soldier of fortune, either."
*gulp* "Go pester the authorities with the job they should be doing."
Just as she was about to turn her eyes away from the clearly desperate human, he managed to get a word in before he lost her completely.
"They're the reason I'm here right now! The Corsairs are robbing anyone who tries to leave by boat!"
Corsairs. The mere mention of them caused Lerna to narrow her eyes, her hair-tentacles to tense up in anger. Scum that justify their atrocities with the shiny badge of authority backing their actions. Lickspittle used by governments to instill fearful obedience into their own constituents, all in service of lining their own pockets. She could almost taste the rancid bitterness in her mouth as she recalled the times she ran afoul of their garish ships, engaging in brutal naval battles that always seemed to leave her with the short end of the stick. She finished her grog with a heavy chug, slamming it down on the counter as she stared the human down with all her pairs of eyes.
"Where are these Corsair shits now?"
"I've got a crew I can round up…"
"…we'll make sure folk won't ever have to pay toll to any of those fuckers ever again."
The kid looked relieved. He quickly handed over the bag of gold he had with him, rattling off his testimony as Lerna stood up.
"They've just gotten finished collecting toll about an hour ago. They've left the port at the eastern Niddar Coast by now, but if you go quick-"
Lerna patted the human on his shoulder as she walked past him, picking up his bounty of gold as she dragged her scimitar on the tavern floor behind her.
"'ready on it, kid."
"Go back home."
"They'll be gone before you know it."
With a dash out of the tavern, Lerna made her way over to her ship, hells-bent on putting these Corsairs to the sword. The gold that the human gave her didn't matter so much to her in this very moment; she'd have her run of the Corsairs' ill-gotten goods, returning what was stolen from the commonfolk and having her revenge on all those defeats she'd been handed in the past. Finally, a chance to surprise them for a change, and rid them of the scourge they represented in the Mercan Ocean!
"All aboard! Don't keep the captain waiting!"
Lerna heard her dutiful clerk shout out towards the cove docks, kicking her crew into action and getting them to move supplies and cargo into the ship posthaste. Ever diligent Veron, always staying on or near the ship and performing her clerical duties over enjoying herself around town. It would be hard to think of the elf as one of the pirates at a first glance, dressing herself in finely tailored lace and with prim and proper grooming, but she made her allegiances clear with a skullcap bandana and some number of tattoos pledging herself as one of Lerna's finest. The captain could ask for no better a partner in finance as her, keeping the gold costs reasonable whilst still leaving enough pocket change for all the crew to enjoy. As Lerna climbed aboard the ship, she handed over the payment of gold to her, which she immediately began estimating the total coinage contained within.
"Got a bounty for us. Corsairs. Payment's a little light, but we can take our spoils from the fuckers' ship. Somewhere nearby. Think we have enough to take them on?"
Veron nodded. Lerna watched as she closed her eyes and her ears twitched. She knew that Veron was already performing a little quick bit of mental math to estimate the costs of such a mission.
"Fortunately, we have a surplus of gunpowder and cannonballs, and our ammunition stocks remain as steady as ever… we shall have to make use of most of them to take on such a target."
"Can always count on you, Veron. Tell the crew to gather up on deck once we've gotten to sailing."
It wouldn't take long for the ship to depart. The last bits of cargo and supplies were hauled in, the gangplank and anchors were raised, and the sails were opened, allowing the ship to begin negotiating its way out of Siğna Cove and into the greater Mercan Ocean. It seemed to almost shine in the sunlight, the imposing three-masted ship cutting a tremendous figure with its furbished wooden hull, its many cannons, and the huge metal squid figurehead that glistened in the light. The sails expanded with the wind, driving it forward and fully expressing the skull pattern sewn upon the main sail, declaring to all observers the danger Lerna and her crew represented to any that crossed them.
Said crew was now gathering up on the open deck. A found family, 40-strong, each of them having proven themselves to be willful followers with arms of steel, hearts of gold, and a strong dislike for the governments that have wronged them in their pasts. As Lerna established herself next to the wheel, she could see all of them looking expectantly at her, awaiting their next marching orders for the voyage to come.
"Cap'n? Floor's yours. Eager t'hear all ‘bout this kill order Veron's hinting about."
Lerna turned her right head to look up at her loyal first mate. Bani, the strong-armed, stout-hearted human partner to many of her various crimes in the high seas. They wore their scars proudly upon their bare chest, having taken to toplessness like their brazen captain, wearing naught but a pair of shorts to cover themselves up. Their staunch loyalty for Lerna and her crew was apparent in the way they fought in naval battles, fighting hard and fast to end battles quickly, while serving as a shield for any of their comrades. The sight of Lerna and Bani together inspired a fervor in the gathered crew, knowing that they were in good hands with the two of them leading the charge.
"Thanks, Bani. Alright, all you lads and lasses listen up!
"Word around town's a Corsair ship's been harassin' folk over East Niddar nearby, and you know we don't take kindly to any government-sponsored looting and pillaging!"
The gathered crew were thrown into an uproar at the mere mention of the Corsairs. That corrupt government faction represented everything that pirates like them were maligned for: robbing, lying, and cheating bastards without a moral code. Lerna could see the crew begin to speak amongst each other, raging against the unrestrained freedom these criminals with a badge had in brutalizing their own people. All of them would've jumped at the chance to go on a rampage against them at this very moment.
"So here's what I propose…"
"They've just finished looting a civilian ship, and so they should be nearby, still!"
"Why don't we show these royal fuckers our own personal brand of maritime justice, right at the ends of our guns, blades, and cannons?"
Bani raised her cutlass in a rallying cry along the crew, all of them eager to begin tracking down the Corsairs and making an example out of the lot of them. The sounds of her crew raising their voices made Lerna's heart swell with pride.
"Back to stations then, all of you! Bani, get our ammo and our gunpowder up on deck soon as you can! Peko, Piko, give us a shout from the crow's nest as soon as either of you see anything. And Gaius-"
Lerna began looking around for her third mate. Where the hell was her security officer when she had orders to give? She was about to call Veron over to try and find where he'd disappeared to, when a pair of faint voices emerged from below deck.
"Captain! Got a stowaway in here! Might want to check this out, he might be a spy!"
Then, a rather familiar voice came right after Gaius's.
"I've told you thrice, already! I'm not one of the Corsairs!"
Lerna remembered that voice… she dashed down from the captain's wheel, running below deck to confirm her suspicions. As soon as she arrived at the bottom deck, she saw her third mate dragging along the leg of a young human, before pulling him forward, letting him settle in between him and the captain.
"I caught the human hanging onto the anchor chains, trying to sneak into the ship on his lonesome. What should we do with him?"
As her eyes fell upon the human that Gaius brought before her, Lerna placed her left head into her left palm, sighing three times over. This was the kid that gave her the tip as to where the Corsairs were. Splitting her attention between the soaking wet human and her third mate, she motioned for Gaius to leave them both alone as she pulled the boy up to his feet.
"Kid. Are you alright?"
"Why'd you even come here?"
"You should've gone home, like I said."
The dark-haired human looked guilty, arrested by Lerna's three different staredowns, each of her faces having different expressions of exasperation and concern. She watched as he looked down at the ground in shame. Then, thinking for a moment, the kid closed his eyes, lost in recollection… then tightening up his fists so much, his veins started to pop. It took him several seconds before he could speak, his anger rising with every word.
"I've always been so afraid watching ships come to port, wondering if at any point any one of them could've been destroyed because those Corsair bastards got too greedy with their toll-collecting. So, I-I…"
He looked straight at Lerna's middle head, eyes opening wide as he let out his frustrations.
"I want to see their ships go up in smoke, just like they did to my friends and family! I've been saving up gold for a long time, hoping that one day, someone would be bold and daring enough to sink those bastards! And I want to be there when they get theirs!"
The kid was out of breath. He had clearly been wanting someone to hear him for so long. Lerna was sympathetic. Another victim of these government psychopaths. Softening her expressions, she grabbed both his wrists, getting him to stop clenching them so tightly.
"Kid… what's your name?"
The human calmed down enough to take a few breaths, seemingly brought back into the present by Lerna's actions.
"St-Stahl."
Now having a name to work with, she brought both his hands together, a sort of plea to make him listen to her closely.
"Stahl. Your heart's in the right place."
"There isn't a single person aboard who doesn't abhor all that the Corsairs represent."
"But it's too late now to turn back, and the mission'll be all hands on deck."
She then looks closely at him, watching his eyes widen as she puts on a serious look with all of her faces, emphasizing the importance of her next words.
"Think you've got what it takes to fuck up some Corsairs?"
Stahl slowly nodded. She saw him produce a pair of weapons from the inside of his drenched coat: a small dagger and a pistol. She noticed that his grips on both weapons were shaky, unable to grasp the dagger or the pistol. Not ideal, but the kid could at least defend himself. She nodded at what he had to show her, then pointed up the stairs.
"Right. Stahl, let's go see Gaius. He's the feathery fellow who caught you trying to sneak in, the one with the mismatched leather pauldrons. He'll give us what we need to get you ship-shape and ready to fight. Got it?"
"G-Got it… C-Captain. See Gaius… then get some training."
Stahl's voice wavers as he gives a shaky salute, eliciting a couple of laughs from Lerna.
"Hah! No need to be nervous!"
"I haven't eaten anyone… since birth, at least!"
"You're in good hands with us… unless you fuck with Smokepuff! That cat'll give you battle scars!"
Lerna chuckles heartily, motioning for Stahl to follow right behind her as the two of them went topside. During the time they spent talking things out, preparations have been well underway on the main deck. Bani had gotten most of their cannonball and powder stores ready and hidden away, so as not to become easy targets for the Corsair ship to retaliate against. The twins Peko and Piko had gotten setup at the crow's nest atop the middle mast, using a pair of spyglasses to look for signs of the runaway Corsairs. Veron had already started to divvy up the gold Stahl had given, his eyes lighting up as he recognized his coinage being handed over to the grateful pirates and deckhands.
And Gaius? He emerged out from behind, patting the human on the shoulder as he set down some training weapons atop one of the gathered barrels, before moving to spread some of the weaponry across the top deck. He'd already left the bottom deck by the time Lerna and Stahl discussed training, but…
"Good ol' Gaius."
"Listening into conversations he shouldn't…"
Lerna motions for Stahl to pick up a training dagger and hand crossbow, taking up position on a free portion of the deck as the human took up the side opposite to her. While she wielded the dagger and crossbow with confidence, Stahl's confidence wavered as he tried to readjust his grip several times.
"Stahl. First thing you need to do is to calm your tits."
"You can't fight if you can't even move properly."
"Take a few deep breaths…"
She observed his face, his hands, and his chest all at once, seeing that he tried to heed her advice by slowing his breaths and gripping the weapons more firmly. Then, he tried holding the dagger in front of him, whilst keeping the crossbow held down at hip level, mimicking the stance she held.
"L-Like this?"
"Good. Just like that."
"Now, Stahl, first rule of fighting… survive what's thrown at you first."
"Then, counterattack!"
Lerna beckoned for Stahl to attack him, keeping only her middle pair of eyes focused on his face to make conversation, while her other heads expanded her overall view by looking at his arms and legs. With the human tentatively approaching her with the dagger, she looked for just the right moment…
…which came as the human overstepped, lunging with the dagger before his legs were set! She sidestepped his strike attempt, sweeping his unstable pivot foot at the same time, causing him to trip and hit the deck. She chuckled for a moment, then offered her hand as Stahl turned, an annoyed expression apparent on his face.
"Hey! That wasn't fair! You didn't tell me to watch for your tricks!"
"Heheh. I know. But I wanted to make things clear for the get go. Out in these lawless waters, playing fair's just gonna get you knocked flat on your ass, or worse."
As Lerna pulled Stahl back up and patted his back, her first mate dropped by to give a little tip themselves, watching the training session with interest.
"Hit ‘em where they least expect, kid!"
With Bani giving Stahl some solid advice, Lerna decided to join in, making a show of closing some of her eyes with her hands.
"Just like Bani said. Wreck their shit where they're least protected!"
The burly Bani moved to Stahl's side, giving him a massage on his shoulders to get him to relax. Then, with a gentle nudge forward, they gave him the boost he needed to break into a sprint, running towards Lerna with renewed energy. She found it a little bit harder to anticipate his next movement, putting herself on the ready to react to whatever he would do next. She watched his dagger hand and crossbow hand at the same time, keeping her middle head centered on his body-
-only for Stahl to suddenly drop to the ground into a roll, exploiting her focus on his arms and body to go lower than she expected. He rolled past her downwards dagger swing and got too close for her to aim her crossbow. Then, she felt a pair of dull sensations poked at the exposed half of her belly, looking down to see both the training dagger and crossbow pointed at it. Stahl sat there, both his eyes closed as he squeezed the trigger and pushed the dagger in…
…causing Lerna, Bani, Gaius, and anyone who was watching to erupt in belly laughter, making Stahl drop the dagger and crossbow from surprise. Standing up, he began to rub the back of his head and readjust his glasses.
"I did something wrong, didn't I?"
"No, kid! You got balls, that's what, rolling into cap'n like that!"
Lerna calmed herself just in time to watch Bani lift the human up in the air, Gaius cheering for him, getting a small chant of Stahl, Stahl, Stahl to be repeated all throughout the crew. She couldn't help but put on three smiles for the kid; he was a quick learner!
"That was fucking great, Stahl!"
"All we have to do is clean up your movements a bit…"
"…and you'll soon be felling those Corsair fuckheads by the dozen."
With a little twirl of the dagger and a reset of her grip on the hand crossbow, Lerna motioned for Stahl to rejoin her in training, an offer which he happily accepted. The two of them would train for the duration of the voyage, all the way up until they would face off against the Corsairs…
A pillar of smoke rises close by, signaling to everyone aboard that the time for a fight was nigh. With Peko and Piko's advance warning fresh on everyone's ears, Lerna's crew began to prepare for a large naval battle. The cannoneers aimed the cannons towards the smoke, ready to fire as soon as the Corsairs were within range. The dedicated boarding party began to take position up on the rope ladders or at the portside, anticipating the moment where they would descend upon the red-and-blue bastards like a committee of vultures. Everyone else was dedicated to the defense of their own ship to ensure that no counter attackers could take control of their ship while most of their crew was boarding.
Lerna took up position up on the rope ladders close to a mast yard, holding her scimitar up, ready to cut and swing when the time came. She looked down, watching Bani take up position behind a tall gangplank, ready to drop it down and charge onto the enemy ship. Gaius and Stahl were right next to a cannon; her third mate took the human under his wing to fire upon the Corsairs then fall back to defend their own ship. Above her, she awaited Peko and Piko's signal, trusting in their ability to estimate the proper engagement distance as well as their natural talent with the bow.
"Corsair ship spotted!" Peko shouted first, nocking an arrow into their bow as Piko followed up on the signal, "Counting… 50-60 crew on the main deck! Fifteen minutes!"
A few deep breaths out of each her heads. Each of her crew would need to handle 2-3 opponents to a man. She closed her eyes for a spell, focusing on she needed to do. Swing in, find the captain, and force a quick surrender. While she wholly believed in her crew's ability to emerge superior over the uniformed blaggards, they needed every advantage that the element of surprise could offer them. Looking down, she raised her scimitar up to the air, calling out to her crew.
"Lads, lasses! Today, we do these lawless waters a service!"
"We're getting rid of some poxy government shits and the scourge they bring!"
"So keep your heads held high! Hit them hard and fast, and make their heads spin!"
As their ship crosses past rocky islet, the Corsair galleon comes into view. A big, loud, ang ugly ship, draped in the garish colors of the greater Niddarhe government. There must've been at least a hundred conscripted deckhands working the lower decks, likely taken from as collateral payment for the "tolls" they enforced upon passing ships. The soldiers and sailors up top weren't any less displeasing to look at, covered in the bright red-and-blue that set Corsairs apart from any other seafarer. It sickened Lerna to her core that her homeland could've stooped to such lows, hiring such rotten bastards to police the Mercan Ocean…
Peko & Piko began a countdown. She could hear her crew starting to get rowdy, the beginnings of a battle cry brewing. Over at their target, she could see their scouts starting to take notice of their approach, their soldiers unprepared for the possibility that they would be the ones being ambushed. It looked like chaos on the other side, but Lerna's crew were calm, collected, and focused.
The time was now. The countdown was within seconds of completing. Lerna emptied her lungs, shouting out for everyone to hear:
"LADS! LASSES! LET THEM HAVE IT!"
A deep, bellowing battle cry sounded out from Lerna's ship, a resounding shout of fervor that could be heard from leagues away, striking fear and panic in the hearts of their foes. The battle cry was punctuated by the repeated drumbeats of cannonfire, explosive payloads dashing across the top deck of the Corsair ship, sending some of their number overboard as they attempted to brace for impact. A beautiful sight, and the perfect opening statement as they closed within boarding distance.
In response, a few of them popped up out of their starboard cover, loading up cannons and aiming their rifles and bows. Lerna shouted out for everyone to brace, pivoting herself to hide behind the mast, her right head taking peeks around the bend as shots, arrows, and cannonballs hit her own ship in return. With each impact that hit near her or her crew, their spirits raised in spades: so harried the Corsairs were by their opening volley, they couldn't hope to return the level of carnage inflicted upon them. She listened closely for Peko's next signal, gripping the rope she would use shortly…
"We have them on the ropes, Captain!"
Music to her ears. Lerna began to hang off the rope she was ready to cut, seeing the ship they were firing upon getting closer and closer. She scanned the top deck, finding a well-armed, well-armored dwarven warrior standing by the helm of the ship, barking orders to all of the crew under his command. He was the one she needed to take down. Seeing Bani about to drop the planks, she cut the rope, aiming her swing to get as close to the wheel as possible. She felt the wind rush past her heads, an exhilarating rush of energy well up within her as she focused on a good landing point…
…right on top of a poor soul! Lerna dragged the armored sod all the way to the ground as she landed, taking her saber with both hands and smashing the hilt upon their helmeted face, causing them to fall unconscious from the concussive force rattling their brain. Immediately, she rolled to her feet, keeping herself alert as all three of her heads looked around her. A tripled wide view of the top deck would reveal three different Corsairs with polearms surrounding her, keeping her at a distance that she couldn't close. Her crew was more than willing to follow her charge, Bani dropping the gangplank right atop the sailor to her sharp left and allowing the rest of the crew to stampede over their fallen corpse. To her right, she saw the Corsair get taken to their knees by a pair of gunshots to their ankles, followed up by an arrow shot right into their neck. Looking back, she saw Gaius, Stahl, and Piko all giving each other compliments, looking for more targets to shoot.
"Good aim, lads! But the fight's just begun!"
So that left the spearman to her front. A quick assessment of her opponent's posture told her that the elf was classically trained, quick to move forward and back depending on how she moved, using his weapon's reach to keep her at bay. She couldn't close the gap like this…
"Oi, tried to get the stick out your ass lately?"
"Pirate scum! You'll pay for that insult!"
The taunt worked, and she began a dash to her opponent's offhand as he stepped forward into a thrust, then dropping low into a roll as he overcorrected into a wide spear swing. She could feel the sharp spearhead pass over the backs of her heads, nearly skewering her right due to it dipping the slowest from how she moved. Her heart skipped a beat as she dashed past his weak side with a sidewards slash, cutting their gambeson and their sides open, before turning her scimitar to her other hand and aiming a stab with her left head, stabbing directly into the spearman's heart from behind, neutralizing him! She stood up with the aid of the port taffrail, turning her attention to the helm and moving towards it-
The sound of footsteps behind her forced her to duck towards the left, feeling her right head's bandana get cut open. She looked forward, seeing a sandbag get torn open by an embedded axe, then feeling herself get yanked back by a rough hand grabbing onto her right head's now-exposed hair-tentacles.
"Got you, you criminal fuck!"
The gruff berserker's voice teemed with hateful venom, hooking Lerna's middle and right heads with the beard of her axe while smashing her fist on top of her left head, causing her left vision to grow blurry from the blow. She hurriedly looked for a way to release her grapple, before feeling a bundle of sand on the ground by her left hand. Effectively blind from her left side, she was forced to look up as much as possible with her middle vision, before throwing the accumulated sand upwards!
"Graaargh! You-"
The berserker stumbled back, releasing the captain to do a wild, wide swing. Lerna couldn't avoid her middle cheek getting cut as she fell flat on her ass, before paddling back to avoid a follow up swing. She raised a hand to feel the raw wound dripping blood upon her, before gritting her teeth and standing back up. Seeing the axe about to crash down upon her from an overhead swing, she raised her scimitar overheads, hoping to parry it away…
…Bani came to her rescue, running in to tackle the berserker up against the taffrail, knocking the axe away with by pinning her arm against the rail, then tossing her overboard. They quickly moved up to Lerna, and she gratefully accepted her help in steadying herself.
"Alright, Cap'n? Nasty blow you took."
Lerna shook her left head for a few seconds to restore her sight, then nodding at her first mate with that same head.
"I'll be fine, Bani. Let's-"
She looked over Bani's shoulder to a horrifying sight. Stahl running past Gaius, blinded by anger and rushing after the retreating Corsair captain. Gaius tried to grab onto him to prevent him from running ahead, but the human's cloak tore away in his grip, leaving Stahl free to run past the gangplank avoiding most of the fighting atop the ship, and chasing after the dwarven coward.
"Stahl's gone running after the dwarf!"
"Get things under control up top, Bani!"
"I'm going after the lad!"
Bani nods resolutely, and they split off from their captain, backing up the rest of the crew as Lerna dashed past, under, and beside all the fighting up top. Lerna trusted in her first and third mates, as well as Peko and Piko's eagle eyes to see things through topside, but she couldn't chance Stahl making it out of the lower decks alone.
Running down a flight of steps, she was shocked to see just how cruel these Corsairs had been treating their prisoners. Several chain gangs of conscripted townsfolk and kidnapped travelers were forced to row the galleon forward, only stopping because the anchors were dropped. The sight of what felt like a hundred poor souls rowing themselves to starvation made her blood boil with anger.
"Everyone! Your liberation will be coming soon! Tell me where the captain went, and you'll be free from this nightmare!"
Fingers were pointed down the path past the gallery of rowers, where she saw a trio of Corsairs emerge out of a hatch around a store of goods and materials, closing it behind them. They looked like they'd been cut up a bunch, no doubt the handiwork of Stahl, but not seeing him anywhere nearby worried her immensely. Gripping her saber closely, she broke into a sprint, deciding to meet these obstacles head on.
The first one aimed a small flintlock at her, trying to gun her down before she could get started. Lerna was quicker, however, striking away the barrel with the flat of her blade, then tackling him to the ground with a shoulder blow. While she sat atop his paunch, the quick-thinking captain reached into the fallen soldier's hip pouch, producing a derringer.
"Thanks for the firepower, fucker!"
Lerna would then shove the pocket pistol right into the neck of the attacking second soldier, gritting her teeth as their sword made a long cut from the top of her chest all the way down her right forearm. In that instant, she pulled the trigger, feeling a spray of blood coat her and the nearby rowers as the attacking soldier's neck exploded upwards and outwards. The close gunshot followed by the gaggle of screams deafened her, a constant ringing sound surrounding her every move. She shoved the soldier's fallen corpse forward, letting the lurking third Corsair catch it and fall back, and stood up-
-screams of pain ripped from her three mouths as she felt a sharp stab into her right thigh. She turned around and spotted the gunman she had been sitting atop of produce a dagger, going for another stab on the other leg. In pain, Lerna swung her blade backwards, watching a streak of red fly across the gallery as she sliced off his hand in one blow, yet another scream dulling her already deafened hearing. Her heart pumped with increasing frequency as adrenaline started to flood her system. Kicking off the fallen soldier's stomach, she then plunged her scimitar downwards right onto his face, the grotesque sight of his head splitting open imprinting itself on all the prisoners around her.
There was no time to assuage their newfound trauma, however. She turned around and held her scimitar up to defend against the next blow, only to find the third soldier's flail wrapping around it, then wrenching it away, flinging the blade into one of the nearby pillars. Lerna could only barely hobble past the combatant's next set of flail swings, getting herself closer to the hatch, but without a weapon. Panting, bleeding from several spots, she looked around for anything that she could use as a weapon against the advancing soldier. With only an unsteady shelf of goods nearby her, she was forced to come up with a plan on the fly.
"What're you waiting for?!"
"It's not like I have anything to defend myself with!"
"Come get me, you sad sack of shit!"
Pretending to lean against the wall for support, she bided her time, waiting for the soldier to run in swinging. Once she saw they were close enough, she threw her chest forward, letting the flail painfully embed itself onto her left shoulder, the sharpened ball leaving bloody holes on her skin. Through the excruciating pain, she got the soldier right where she wanted them, pulling them as close as she could to her, then falling backwards whilst holding onto a weakened diagonal support. Their combined weights made the shelf collapse, all its contents falling on top of the opponent's back, dazing them just long enough for Lerna to eye his sweet, deliciously exposed neck. As soon as they had recovered, their eyes widened as Lerna stared directly at them, her side heads lunging forward and taking a huge chunk out of their neck with her razor-sharp teeth. The soldier tried to pull her heads off them, but Lerna ensured that she would be the last thing they saw, spitting out their neck chunks. They bled out in short order, leaving a bloody mess flowing all over her.
Exhausted, bloody, and wounded, Lerna hobbled up to her feet, wiping her mouth and checking herself for a moment. She had wounds across both of her arms, on her thigh, on her middle cheek… she wasn't quite sure how she was still conscious at this point. All these wounds would have killed a lesser person. Her clothes weren't doing so hot, either, as only her sleeves, her short pants, and her boots survived the battle so far. Steadying herself, she moved to retrieve her scimitar and continue her search for Stahl and the Corsair captain…
"Nnnngrh… get off of me!"
That was Stahl! And right as she turned around, an angrier voice followed.
"Too late now, kid! No one goes for the face and lives."
Stahl!
Lerna turned down at the hatch after hearing both those voices. Her heart sank into her chest as she threw open the hatch door, sliding down the ladder, each rung sharply reminding her of the wounds she'd suffered across her body. But she gritted her teeth, powering through the pain: an innocent young person was about to be killed because she didn't end the fight fast enough, and she didn't know if she could let that weigh on her conscience. As she stumbled off the ladder and onto the bottom deck, she steadied herself, looking at the two figures before her.
First, there was Stahl. Dirtied, bruised, having dropped his dagger and his pistol, holding both of his hands up as he was being held hostage. Right behind him, the scoundrel of a captain was pointing a hand crossbow right up to his head and a cutlass across his belly, forcing him to walk back as the dwarf spoke at Lerna.
"This your crew, pirate wretch? You're lucky you arrived when you did; I was just about to feed this kid his own eyeballs for daring to cut my face up!"
A closer peer at his face revealed a long gash from the top of his forehead all the way down to his lip. A small bit of pride welled up in Lerna: the human really took the lessons to heart. Still, she shook her heads and approached slowly, both hands raised to try and get the dwarf to stop holding onto Stahl.
"Let the lad go, Corsair shithead. This fight's between you and me."
The dwarf tightened up his grip on the kid, pressing the loaded bolt up to Stahl's temple and the blade tightly enough to draw blood upon the underside of his stomach. Lerna gnashed all her teeth in frustration. She had nothing that could get him to back off, and reaching for one of Stahl's fallen weapons would get him killed before she could make a move. The Corsair held all the cards here, and she felt stuck.
"New proposal, seadrai snake… you let me and this ship sail free, and you get this human back, considerably less dead and riddled with holes."
Lerna could only growl in response, baring her fangs in a show of anger to try and scare the dwarven captain into submission. She couldn't get in. She couldn't reach Stahl in time. The dwarven scoundrel laughed at her increasing realization at her helplessness.
"What's wrong? Blue in the faces?"
The Corsair captain let out a cackle that froze both Stahl and Lerna's veins, shocked at his wanton cruelty. He would rather all those under his care died, if it meant that he lived to do all this again.
"Can't even talk things out, like the savage that you are! Just content to let the kid die if it meant sating your bloodlust."
"I'll make you regret living, dwarf. Count on it."
"Don't you dare hurt the lad."
"Or you won't see the light of day ever again."
The dwarf began to step forward, daring Lerna to try and approach. Lerna scanned his hands, ready to shoot Stahl in the head and disembowel him in the same motion. She scanned his face, completely smug and arrogant, believing he would get out of this unscathed. She could hear him quietly counting down to himself. All seemed lost, and this Corsair was destined to get away…
Only… she noticed that Stahl was giving her a sad but determined look. Her eyes widened, and her pupils narrowed. No. Surely the kid wasn't going to.
"Stahl…"
"DON'T DO THIS!"
She rushed forward, trying to stop him from doing what he was about to do. But it was too late. Stahl pushed himself back within the dwarf's grip, knocking his crossbow aim off enough, letting out a horrifying yell of pain as the trigger was pulled, the bolt shooting directly into his eye. With his last bit of remaining strength, he struggled against the dwarf's grip with his cutlass, wrenching the blade free from his gut… only to point it towards himself, stabbing it straight through, cutting into the ribs of the dwarf through one of the gaps in his armor at the same time.
As Stahl fell away, Lerna pounced upon the Corsair, decking him across the face, then jumping atop him. She roared as he felt him dig his fingers into her open wound, trying to raise the cutlass up and cut her up in defiance. Her strength was waning from the pain spreading all throughout her body, and she almost felt herself fall on the blade…
"NO! NO MORE!"
Raising her heads up, she slammed herself down, the mightiest of headbutts slamming down upon the dwarf's shoulders and neck. Then, she did it again, an audible crack causing him to begin choking, dropping the blade to the ground. Then, Lerna slammed her heads down again, raising her hands up, digging her claws into the Corsairs eyes, then jabbing into them, poking his eyes out as he tried to claw back at her. Several more brutal slams followed, Lerna letting out her anger at the Corsair with each successive headbutt, each cut from her claws. Her vision grew redder and redder with blood, until…
Huff. Huff. Huff…
She staggered back to a standing position, wiping her faces of the caked blood on it, seeing that there was practically nothing left of the Corsair captain's face. Her concern wasn't with him, however; she looked to her left, spotting Stahl breathing weakly on the ground. Dropping down to the ground close to him, she immediately took off her sailcloth hair straps and bandana, using them to cover his eye and his gut wound…
"Stahl, stay with me!"
"That was really fucking dumb of you, lad…"
"…so you better not die on me, you hear!? I'm not letting you die on my watch!"
Lerna pressed her right head close to his chest, feeling his weak heartbeat and his slow breathing. She picks him up, looking for a way to bring him topside. Then… soft, weak laughter. The human began to laugh a little bit as he looked up at his savior.
"Heh… hahah… Captain, I hit him where he was least defended, didn't I?"
The earnest smile on his face, despite the pain. Lerna smiled from ear to ear. She knew that the kid would be alright.
"Hey, when I get us back up there, I'm telling everyone that you were the one who fucked up the Corsair captain, alright?"
Stahl raised his hand, tightening it into a fistbump, which Lerna gladly reciprocated. As soon as she heard the familiar bootsteps of her crew, she called out to them, ready to put this Corsair business behind them…
Stepping out of her cabin, Lerna would immediately see several weapons aimed at her and her crew's general direction. It looks like Siğna Cove's local coast guard had decided to show up in force, led by a grizzled, too-old-for-this-shit old watchman. She sighed thrice, preparing herself for yet another mandatory round of questioning.
"Captain Lerna! We ‘eard reports of cannonfire and skirmishin' close to the Eastern Niddar Coast. I ask ya, have ye brought trouble in yer return to this here sanctuary?"
The watchman's gruff voice did little to betray his disinterest in continuing this interrogation. Lerna agreed, but she knew that she wouldn't stop being hounded by the paranoid folk that live in these parts if she didn't give a convincing enough answer.
"Hey, watchman, let's cut to the chase here."
"I'm not a fucking rookie. I wouldn't lead trouble back to this place."
"Now, mind putting down the guns and letting us dock? I need a drink."
The watchman raised his one good eyebrow. His expression indicated that he was ready to drop all this talk, but that he knew he had to address the one big elephant in the room…
"Right… and the Corsair galleon behind yer ship?"
Lerna leaned over the starboard taffrails, her right head looking back at her quarry. The galleon formerly belonging to the scum that were the Corsairs, now systematically being torn apart. She had Peko and Piko working up at the masts to tear down the sails and rope ladders, Gaius gathering and sorting through the supplies left behind within the lower decks, and Bani literally tearing open doors and ripping off raw materials out of the top deck. Lerna smirked with her right head, pleased at the progress her crew was at stripping the Corsair ship bare, before turning her attention back to the watchman, crossing her arms.
"You see any Corsairs? I don't see any."
"All of them dead, thanks to me and my lads and lasses."
"You should see what happened to the captain."
As if to punctuate her point, a few of her crew hauled up the dwarven Corsair captain's slowly decomposing body, with its eyes gouged out and the top of its ribcage shattered. Many of the coastal defenders lowered their weapons upon seeing this, stifling laughter or spitting on the sand, letting their displeasure for the Corsairs known. The watchman, on the other hand, laughed at this sight, getting the rest of them to lower their weapons with a simple gesture with his hook.
"Knew ye weren't the type to be so careless. Welcome back, Lerna."
The defenders returned to their posts, and the gangplanks were dropped afterwards, allowing some of the dock crew to help unload materials, supplies, and cargo. Lerna looked to her own top deck with her left head, watching Veron gather all the conscripted rowers and deckhands. With several bags of gold laid at her clerk's feet, she watched as Veron would call forward individuals at a time, directing them to a bag of gold that they could use to start anew, each of them thanking her and the crew and saluting Lerna herself as they left the ship. Very soon, the Cove would find itself full to bursting with folk with very recent, very raw experiences and feelings about their very own Niddarhe government. Perhaps more pirates like her would soon sail the Mercan Ocean.
Before she could get caught up in her own thoughts, she signaled to her crew that she was departing, immediately heading to the tavern that started it all. Soon as she entered, many of the patrons and staff turned to look at her and her new look: a three-headed Seadrai who let her tentacles flow freely, covered cheek-to-toe in bandages. She would never let herself be so constrained to cover her buxom chest, however, opting to expose them in a sizable window as usual, even if it did show the ugly blade scar running across her arm. Lerna would seat herself at her usual spot, calling for the staff once more.
"Bartender!"
"I need your strongest drink…"
"…and something light for the lad that bagged himself a Corsair captain!"
Lerna looked to the entrance of the tavern. She beamed with pride as she watched them thrown wide open, revealing the battle-hardened form of Stahl. He wore a black eyepatch with a skull design over his bad eye, opting to keep a stylish monocle for his lone good eye. A short vest hid most of his torn undershirt, his ugly belly wound covered with the sailcloth Lerna herself used to patch him up. He strode in with comfortably loose breeches, announcing his every step with the sounds of a pair of heavy boots with a strip of steel at the heel. Immediately, he moved over to sit beside Lerna, giving her a salute as he took up his drink.
"Captain! I'm about ready to go on my first mission! Your orders?"
Lerna laughed aloud, clinking her drink with his, downing it with her middle head, breathing with relief. A hard drink always tasted sweeter after a hard-fought victory.
"Well, Stahl, I've got a mission for you."
She spoke with her right head, beckoning for him to lean in close to her left head.
"Go enjoy yourself, you little shit! You've got a whole bunch of admirers, now!"
Immediately, she stood up, allowing the incoming horde of tavern tough guys to approach the confused kid. As she heard cheers starting to fill the tavern behind her, she smiled a big smile across all three of her faces.
The Mercan Ocean was safer now, and she had herself a reliable, eager new recruit to show for her deeds. Stahl was right: she couldn't wait for the next voyage.