Silence - Chapter 09

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The pirates of the Ten Hands knew how to throw a party. After a cramped and rickety stairway down, the entire fortress below seemed to be one huge chamber. It was at least three thousand square feet, filled to the brim with tables and bars, but still had several open spaces where various forms of betting occurred simultaneously. Shimmering multicolored lights hovered at ceiling level, sometimes zipping across the room at the gesture of someone wearing a fancy hat, reorienting around some new game or diversion, be it a dice game or knife fighting. A band had struck up a lively tune, a sea shanty that was all sorts of dirty. The overall ambiance was ribald decadence and violent debauchery.

Felix was on edge, and Pit was not much better. The tenku pressed tight against his legs, unwilling to be parted from Felix...until he caught the tantalizing scent of food.

Captain Nokk seemed right at home, of course. A king in his castle, the master of all he surveyed. As Felix and Pit followed the shark-toothed man, folk of all stripe bowed and stepped out of his way quickly. Felix's sharpened eyes recognized the looks on their faces: fear and hunger.

From the Whale to the Shark. Why can't we have a nice quiet life, Pit?

The tenku ignored him though, more intent on stalking a table full of steaming meat that had been slathered with a sweet smelling sauce. Felix didn't know what it was, but the combination of Pit's hunger and his own made his mouth water. A hissing laugh came from behind him, and Nokk had turned back toward him and beckoned.

"Come, lad! I have food aplenty at my table." Felix cast a glance back at Pit, who had jumped atop a table and started eating, to the annoyance of a Gnome and Goblin. He followed the captain, sending a quick word back to his Companion.

Be careful.

Nokk led them up a set of stairs and onto a wide open dais at the far end of the hall. A large rectangular table sat here, made of some sort of dark material polished so brightly it gleamed, and was surmounted by an elaborate throne made of the same stuff, except built far more angular. The back of the throne extended high up, at least twice the captain's height and ending in a series of spiked protrusions that looked like a rising sun...or a crown. Nokk settled into the throne, then gestured to the set to his right.

"Take a rest, friend Felix. Food is on its way." He smiled his sharp teeth and handed him a large mug that looked fashioned from a horn. "Drink! I have a story to tell you."

The captain knocked back his own drink, and Felix eyed the liquid before him.

Name: Twice-Boiled Swill
Type: Poison
Lore: Alcohol made from the twice boiled gastric juices of a Harrowing. Very strong.
Effect: Chance of alcohol poisoning increased by 95% for all those below Apprentice Body Formation. 65% chance for those below Journeyman.

Nokk was eyeballing him, having finished his own drink, and though suspicious Felix quaffed his; he didn't want to stand out, not yet. Besides, he had Poison Resistance, right?

You Have Poisoned Yourself!
-50% Dexterity and Agility for 1 Hour
-60% Intelligence and Willpower for 1 Hour

Poison Resistance is level 29!
Poison Resistance is level 30!
...
Poison Resistance is level 35!

Felix's eyes widened a moment when he saw the instant effect.

You fool, hissed the Maw. Never drink what an enemy offers you! This Nixie is dangerous.

Shut up, Felix thought at her. It was harder to do than ever before, though. I know what I'm doing. His Resistance began to rise, he let his eyes drift closed, looking at Nokk with a faked, half-lidded gaze.

Stop, Felix Nevarre. You threaten us all, even your precious mutt!

SHUT UP!

Felix flared his Bastion of Will, one of his Epic Skills, imaging the dark stone walls that guarded his innermost thoughts and slamming them down. To his surprise, the Maw flickered and vanished, like a cell phone with a bad connection, though it returned within seconds. The Primordial was visibly alarmed, staring at Felix with something he didn't recognize at first. But then he understood.

It was fear.

You Have Poisoned Yourself!
-40% Dexterity and Agility for 45 Minutes
-50% Intelligence and Willpower for 45 Minutes

The Maw fled, flitting into the crowd like the ghost it was. Felix put it out of his mind entirely and focused on his situation. His Resistance had already cut the penalty and timer down on the drink, so in Felix's mind there was only one thing to do: Resistance training.

"Oh this is delicious,"he drawled. "Can I have some more?"

"More?" laughed Nokk. "As much as you like! Barkeep! Another for our honored guest!"

His horn was refilled by an attentive Korvaa, their dark feathers reminding him of a raven or crow. Like Pit! Felix crushed that stray thought before it burst from his mouth. The Intelligence penalty was doing strange things to him. Plastering a not-entirely-faked grin on his face, Felix tossed that one back too.

Poison Resistance is level 36!
Poison Resistance is level 37!
Poison Resistance is level 38!

You Have Poisoned Yourself!
-37% Dexterity and Agility for 40 Minutes
-46% Intelligence and Willpower for 40 Minutes

Captain Nokk had started talking at some point, and Felix had to struggle to follow for a moment. Once his Resistance hit level 38 the fog lifted slightly more.

"—yes, privateers we were. Sailing high on the riches of the Bitter Sea! I still miss that acrid spume, the smell of vinegar on the fresh mornin' breeze." Nokk sighed wistfully, then clacked his teeth together. "But it were not to be. Swallowed up we were, ship an all me crew. A leviathan as big as a city, and in its belly we floundered into the Void. The how I can't be tellin' as I don't unnerstand it much myself. Old Mungle had a theory once, though the damn fool has forgotten much else besides."

Poison Resistance is level 39!

A pain started up in his core, faint but noticeable. Felix blinked actual haze from his eyes as the swill began affecting him more and more. He gathered his thoughts. "How long have you been here, then?"

Nokk leaned back and looked out at his people, many of which had started singing along to the newest song, one about a long lost love. "Thirty seven years, three months, and twelve days. Entirely too long, stuck in this endless nothin'. You? Veris says you only just arrived, but time be a bit fluid in the black."

"My condolences, Captain. I've just found myself here two or three days ago, actually."

This time Nokk looked sympathetic, quirking his sharp mouth. "Ach, so recent. A pity. You must have been near the Bitter Sea as well, yes?" Felix nodded. "Live here long enough and you see patterns, lad. Folk appear in the Void round about where they got swallowed up, or fell; it's different for most. This section is roughly the same as the Bitter Sea back home, give or take a dozen miles. I've seen travelers pop into the Void many a time, but rarely out here. It's why I picked this place. Nice and private, away from...distraction."

Distraction from what? Other pirates? Authorities? Were there cops in the Void? He took another small sip of swill. "You being out here saved me, Captain. So I have to thank you...but, what was that white barrier I saw earlier? Your men used it to ward off a flock of Harrowings."

Nokk looked inordinately pleased, as if someone had just complimented him. He smiled smugly and waved a hand. "Oh that? Desolation magic. Powerful stuff, indeed. Thirty six years ago, we found a sigil stone grown into this island that can make a smallish dome of it for a little while. Our trump card against the big nasties out here, and one o' the reasons we're still alive. It's also good for fishin' so anytime we get a ship coming back we make sure to vent our Mana and lure in a good haul."

A plate of steaming...something was placed in front of both of them. It was grey and puckered, marinated in some sort of oil and garnished with long, hooked...talons. Felix looked up to see Nokk happily slurping down pieces of the meat before him.

"Only real pity is that we can't move the damn thing. Ah, to have such a dome around our ships!"

Desolation? What is that? Felix asked. He identified the meat as from the Harrowings, and that it was safe enough to eat. He muscled past his distaste and dug in.

"Ach, of course. So new and shiny." The captain held out his hands, both dripping grease. In his right hand flared a smokey ball of darkness. "There is the Void, endless span of rocks and not much else, flotsam and jetsam mostly. Castoffs. Then," here he summoned a bright ball of white light in his left hand. "Then ya got the Desolation itself. A sorta flipside to the Void. A light to the dark. Except anything that falls into the Desolation ain't just castoff, its gone. Forever. Like these Harrowings that was chasin' ya. We had to catch these. The ones that hit the shield? Barrier ate em up. Desolation rips apart anything ya throw at it."

Felix eyed the light show. Illusion magic, his Manasight told him. How much of what he was seeing was real here? Felix pushed that thought aside. "So it's an energy?"

Nokk half shrugged, the lights in his hands going out. He returned to shoveling more pieces of grub into his mouth. "More like a place, but ya can find holes to Desolation all over the Void. Sometimes they even move." He took a drink from a small horn, something bright orange and bubbling. "There's even one nearby. Suckin' in all the rocks and debris around it; it'll collapse soon enough and reappear elsewhere."

The sharp-toothed man shifted in his throne and threw a leg over the arm rest. "Now onto the important stuff! Who are you, and what, by all the broken gods, is a Nym?"