Airships Over Aranor 6

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"We're getting clother. Plan of attack?"
"Latch on from the top. Pour some flame in through the third and fourth legs, but not too much, I seem to recall them using a lot of wood in their design. Don't want 'em crashing before we can loot them, after all! Oh, and would you mind announcing the attack? Their cat's probably going to try and negotiate with me.."

"Fine." Callor turns a device that looks sort of like a hearing horn toward him and, still piloting the ship with both hands, speaks through it dispassionately: "Attention, wothlethh thlugth. We are about to attack a thhip, tho get moving and line up at the fifth or thikthh leg, whichever one ith clothetht, for boarding. Anyone caught being lathy or cowardly will thuffer the thame fate ath a mutineer, and I thhoudn't have to remind you what that ith unlethh you're even thupider than you theem."

Meanwhile, the ca--err, Fylenis, attempts to negotiate with Verra.
Attention pirate vessel. This is Whyskar of the Farran. We do not have any valuable cargo. Leave us alone and we will not attack.
Shut up and get the captain for me.
Why? I know everything he knows.
We'll attack if you don't get the captain.
Fine.

There is a brief pause, during which Verra takes the opportunity to comment on Callor's announcement. "You're getting better at the pirate insults, but you make 'em sound soooooooo lifeless. They'll never believe you respect them if you talk like the whole thing bores you to death."
"Perhapth it doeth. Thith ith why you're the captain."

"Hahahahahahahaha, you got that right!"
Verra.
Ah, Captain Morgan. I was hoping you were still the captain of that ship.
It's my ship. I bought it with my own money. And we do not have any valuable cargo at the moment.
You expect me to believe you? Everyone says that!
The last time I said it, it was true. Choneiji do not carry worldly possessions, and the only thing Raoclem ever gives anyone is trouble.
Then why did you protect him?
I don't go back on a deal, even a bad one. My word can be trusted.
So if you were carrying something valuable you would tell me?
Probably not. But I would not tell you a lie in that case. Rather, I would ask you to stand down on other terms, such as 'it is better for us both if you don't attack'. Which, incidentally, is also true here. Since your favorite trick does not work, you would have to come personally and risk injury.
Are you so sure you can best me with a sword, then?
Oh, I have no illusions about that--even a fool would know better than to match blades with you. But it is not of much use from a distance.
Hah, that's only if your fancy metal crossbows don't backfire again!
That was a fluke; you would have a great deal of trouble reaching me anyway. We have been warned about your eyes, and I don't know if you recall, but at least two of my crew have no need for sight. But I am getting off track; the point is you stand to gain nothing from a confrontation.
Oh, but that's where you're wrong, Captain. We can always use a few more crew...
This is a lot of trouble to go through for people who would just be a hassle to keep under control, is it not?
But that's just a bonus. What I'm really after is a little revenge. You took something very important to us last time, after all.
What, the teleporting Neshobe? I was under the impression that he left willingly.
That doesn't make it any less your fault. See you in a few!

The psychic link is cut. Back on the Farran, the captain looks at the giant cat on the ground. "She just wanted to taunt us. I could feel her grinning all the way from here." He shudders briefly, and pulls from a hilt on the side of his hip what you or I might call a 'gun', but no analogous term exists on Aranor for the device. It is a hand-held explosive-propulsion crossbow, more commonly referred to as a 'metal crossbow', even though metallic crossbows which did not employ explosions already existed before the invention of such devices. The idea was first conceived by Lisare, who was mentioned briefly earlier. He invented a lot of things, but was around several centuries before the idea of airships was ever conceived. Anyway, Conall briefly inspects the mechanisms of the device to ensure it is in full working condition.

Another Neshobe, this one with brown fur, wearing a thick black blindfold and thin leather armor, enters the bridge. Anyone expecting a human would be a little put off by his skeletal structure, which is a little more like a canine's, by his size, considerably taller and clearly built stronger than Conall, and of course by the predatory sharp teeth in his mouth. He makes a short, crisp clicking sound with his tongue, and his ears twitch a few times. "You woke me?" He is of the Shadow Fang, the 'wildest' of the Neshoban kinds, and with the strangest magic. Suffice to say that while each of the other kinds of Neshoba has magic based on a specific element, Shadow Fang magic is more abstract in nature. (I should note that Verra traces a fourth of her lineage to the Shadow Fang.) Conall doesn't know what this one's spell is, but it's the kind that is involuntary--always active--and it affects his eyes in some way that makes him unwilling (though not unable) to see. He has long since learned to do everything by his other senses, especially hearing and smell, and he fights better blind and unarmed than most people do seeing and armed. The crew of the Farran doesn't use his true name often (speaking of which, Callor and Edward aren't their respective owners' true names either. It's a Neshoban thing), but they have a nickname for him.

"Glad you're here. Verra's back, and after revenge."
The Neshobe crosses his arms. "Hmph. A worthless pursuit."
"Apparently not to an insane pirate. If they start boarding, I need you to take her on. Whys should be able to find out where she is. It has to be you because of the eye thing."
He nods. "Ekim weapons don't break easy, but I'll do what I can."
"Good, that is all I am asking. Standby in the center of the hallway, please. And be careful, there is going to be some turbulence."

"Will do." He stalks off again, and then the aforementioned turbulence starts. Everyone hangs on to something, including the dragon in the engine room (who was not informed of the attack but simply that there would be turbulence and some noise), and Edward pulls out all the stops to get away from the pursuing ship. The chase lasts a good hour or so, but eventually the more complex maneuvers available to the Gran Daora give it enough of an edge to latch onto the top of the Farran. Then the pirates and flames start coming through, and the crew of the charter ship must defend it to the end.
Now everyone's going to be in different places at different times here, and I don't want this to suffer from too fractured a narrative, so I'll just ask--who would you like to follow? The choices are Captain Conall Morgan, The blind Neshobe, Ann, Whyskars, or Edward. Frankly, the pirates who haven't been named yet are mooks, and it wouldn't be proper form to follow the villain here, and Callor's part now that the ships are latched together is to sit around and wait. I suppose we could jump to somewhere completely different, but that would make this an awfully disjointed narrative and lead to a "gee, that sure was a fight" moment, far less entertaining than actually seeing the battle. But I'll do what you want, so go on and decide!

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From: http://www.mspaforums.com/showthread.php?42524-Airships-Over-Aranor-Prose