kahir88

Aww cool! They look awesome! I didn't know, the elven clubhouse is already out. And you already have a herd of stags. Good job mate! Fine addition, to your bear cavalry! :)

Indeed, they are totally different, I mostly used them as moles. But I needed wombats, to more likely refer to the title of the build. It's a fantasy world, and the wombats here are these smalls, maybe, in wilder places of this world, there are bigger ones, who knows? ;)

Greetings! I hade little trouble finding the right theme for this entry, but, LotR builds are welcomed here, I thought another, fantasy-themed book is allowed too. I hope some of you know the author and his work. He is Joe Abercrombie, and he's the author of the First Law trilogy. The series is set in an epic fantasy world called the Circle of the World, which is reminiscent of medieval Europe. Magic was once a force in this world but now seems to be fading, to the point that most people don’t believe in it. The action, for the most part, takes place in or regards people from the central realm known as the Union. The Union appears to be in a state of near-perpetual war, constantly maneuvered into seemingly useless conflicts by a dysfunctional government and an uncompromisingly proud foreign policy. In the frigid north, it rumbles towards an inevitable war with the Northmen, a rough alliance of barbarous, warmongering tribes. In the heat-ravaged south, the Union and Gurkish Empire are in a conflict over control of the city of Dagoska. The story follows the fortunes and misfortunes of bad people who do the right thing, good people who do the wrong thing, stupid people who do the stupid thing, and, well, pretty much any combination of the above. Survival is no mean feat, and at the end of the day, dumb luck might be more of an asset than any amount of planning, skill, or noble intention. (from wiki) I would like to show some of the major characters from the books. I hope you will like them, and if you like a good fantasy story, this will encourage you, to start reading it. I started a year ago, and I almost finished the trilogy. :) --- Harding Grim “Uh.” –Harding Grim. Harding Grim is a Named Man, a masterful archer, and well known for hardly saying anything. He's part of Logen Ninefingers's original crew. --- The Dogman “Damn it, but he needed to piss. Always did, at a time like this.” –Dogman before every fight The Dogman is a Named Man famed for his scouting and marvelous sense of smell. He is Logen Ninefingers' oldest friend and a member of his crew. --- Tul Thunderhead "The Thunderhead was a different animal. Once that big ox got properly riled there was no calming him. Not without ten strong men and a lot of rope." Tul is truly a giant of a man with a thick beard; most people consider him the biggest man they've ever seen. Few men can stand against Tul's massive bulk and big heavy sword in battle. Tul has a deep, booming voice, and a laugh like thunder, which is probably where he gets his Name. He's probably the most basically decent member of Logen's band. --- Black Dow "This ain't for you, to kill a man tied up. It's for work like this, you bring along a man like me." Black Dow is the loose cannon of Logen Ninefingers' original crew of Named Men, one of the most bloodthirsty and violent men in The North. He earned his "black" reputation for attacking in the black of night, and leaving villages behind him black from fire. --- Rudd Threetrees "Rudd Threetrees. Rock of Uffrith, they called him. No bigger name in all the North. Great fighter. Great leader. Great friend. Lifetime o’ battles. Stood face to face with the Bloody-Nine, then shoulder to shoulder with him. Never took an easy path, if he thought it was the wrong one. Never stepped back from a fight, if he thought it had to be done. I stood with him, walked with him, fought with him, ten years, all over the North. I’ve no complaints." –Harding Grim. Rudd Threetrees is part of Logen's crew of Named Men. Threetrees is a great, broad-chested old veteran warrior of great renown with grey creeping up in his beard and tangled hair. He's known for his patience; always taking his moment to think things through before making a decision, and is very tactical in planning his attacks. He holds to the "old way", a now old-fashioned Northern sense of honour, despite his circumstances. --- Collem West "I owe you a lot, I know. It’s just that… you’re too angry for me. That’s all." Collem West is a common-born Major in the Union Army, West is a tall, gaunt, worried-looking man with a sharp, lined face and thinning hair. --- Ardee West “Would you care for a drink?” –Ardee to ... well, almost everyone Ardee West is the sister of Major Collem West, a country girl new to the big city. Bored with her station in life and what is expected of her gender, she finds distraction in self-centered young noble, Jezal dan Luthar. Ardee is quite a beauty with long dark hair, slightly tanned skin, and dark-brown eyes tending towards black. She has a shapely figure - not skinny, but far from fat - and often wears a crooked smile on her face. Her appearance is not what would traditionally be considered the beauty ideals in the Union, but men tend to find her attractive nevertheless. Ardee is clever, witty, and not afraid to speak her mind. Her relationships with the men in her life are always messy, and she's prone to drowning her sorrows, drinking heavily when she starts to contemplate the wreckage of her life. She can sometimes be quite a mean drunk. --- Sand dan Glokta “Body found floating by the docks...” Sand dan Glokta was a former champion swordsman and dashing war-hero of the King's Own, before his capture and years of torture by the Gurkish. Now a shunned cripple, he has turned torturer himself, as an Inquisitor in the King's Inquisition. --- Practical Severard “Not really, she fucks like a madman. I’d thoroughly recommend her, if you’re interested.” Severard is one of Inquisitor Glokta's two Practicals. He is a tall and thin man, with long greasy dark hair. He has a nonchalant attitude to violence, and is a bit of a knife nut. Also, quite an accomplished lock-picker. He has a snarky sense of humour, and his eyes constantly seem to be smiling. He habitually whistles tunelessly to himself. In secret, even to Glokta, Severard likes to feed stray birds. --- Practical Frost "Etherer." Frost is one of Inquisitor Glokta's two Practicals. He is a massive albino with extremely pale skin, and red eyes. He is the personification of stoicism, rarely displays any kind of emotion at anything. His speech is badly impaired, through some chronic swollen tongue problem. Frost's speech impediment doesn't stop him from occasionally making snide remarks.Surprisingly enough, Frost has beautiful handwriting, and takes great care when preparing confessions for the prisoners to sign. --- Practical Vitari "A Styrian, from Sipano. Cold as the snow, those people, and she’s the coldest of them." "Shylo Vitari is a Practical in the King's Inquisition. Vitari is tall, svelte and sinewy woman, with short spiky red hair sprouting all ways from her head. She’s a formidable fighter, even holding her own alone against Logen Ninefingers for a while. --- Jezal dan Luthar "He wiped his face, and then—his favorite part of the day—gazed at himself in the looking glass." Jezal is a noble-born, whose life of much ease and little responsibility, has made him shallow, naive and self-centered. He’s quite vain and concerned with his clothing and appearance. However, his main interest is his own advancement, which he considers he’s entitled to by virtue of his birth; he views the lower classes as inferior to himself. When he’s finally exposed to the real world, it quickly becomes apparent that he’s out of his depth. --- Bayaz, the First of the Magi "Power makes all things right. That is my first law, and my last. That is the only law that I acknowledge." Bayaz, the First of the Magi, is an enigmatic ancient wizard with eyes and ears seemingly everywhere. Having lived in isolation in his library for centuries, he's now considered a legendary figure in The Union, famous for founding the realm. --- Malacus Quai "Well enough? That’s all? You have learned to stay silent, then, at least. How did you teach him that, Bayaz? That I never could make him learn." Malacus Quai is an apprentices of the Magus Bayaz, originally from The Old Empire. Malacus Quai is a pale, gaunt, sickly-looking young man with dark rings round his eyes. He has long hair and a nervous smile --- Ferro Maljinn “megablocking pinks!” –Ferro Ferro Maljinn is an escaped slave of the Gurkish Empire, now the most feared rebel, who puts her thirst for revenge over all else. Ferro has short, spiky black hair and dark skin. She has a long thin scar across the right side of her face, starting at her eyebrow and ending across her lips. However, her most distinctive feature is her eyes, deep, rich, golden coloured and slightly slanted. --- Logen Ninefingers “You can never have too many knives.” Logen Ninefingers, also known as The Bloody-Nine, is an aging Northman with a black name and even blacker past, who strives to turn from the path of senseless violence he has followed for so long. And all of them:

Have you ever wondered, how the people in the fields spend their days? Just like the ones, in the city. They work hard, and after that, they gather up to spend their time with their friends or families. Sometimes they gamble, but not with cards and dices. They leave them to the man of the city. Sometimes the fields are infested with a medium-sized rodent, Wombats. They eat almost every kind of vegetables, causing big troubles to the local farmers. If they manage to capture at least two, the fun begins there. The males could be very aggressive if another male enters their territory. The fight is fierce between these two little animals, some farmers claim: If you never saw two wombats fighting to the death, you don't know what bloodshed is. During the fight, te viewers can place bets, which one will win, and stay alive. The price of the winner is a quick and clean death, from the judge's cudgel. This seems cruel to most folks, but, after all... they are vermins. They gave many names to this amusement. The two most common are Mortal Wombat and Wombat Combat.

I'm a little disappointed with the results... I know, my builds are shitty, my stories are dull, and my photographing skills like using a potato, to take pictures and edit them. When I first read about this challenge, I wasn't sure, I wanted to participate in it. Didn't know anything about Varlyrio and it's politics. Also, who would want a no-skill-builder in their collaboration? Later I got an idea, which sounded great (at least in my mind), and it could be fit in cat.A. I made research, read a lot of about this guild. Who hates who, who conspiring against a third person, why, etc, etc... Planned everything, who and what to say, how the entire build should look. I read others are complaining about they can build only for cat.B and I thought maybe it's my time to shine. This one sentence helped me to start: I thought this guild is mostly about this, this is why I made my entry about this theme. Yet again, I failed once more. Who needs planning, making researches, investing their time so their story could fit in the lore when you could make a giant monster, and craft a long story about it, and then telling the cause in two-line: "I have no more soldier to send". The entry was good, both the build and the story, my compliment isn't about this entry. More like the choice... Go on, call me a whimper, cause not my entry won. I don't care about the prize, but I'm interested, why this entry won.

Thanks guys, really good to hear you liked it. As I said earlier, not every fairy tale must be shiny, clean, and "happily after". There are dark corners of the world, And if no one will, or want to show it, then I will. :D The huge cistern was a mess, I rebuild it almost three times, the dome-like ceiling never took the perfect shape, so I hade to hide it, with the horizontal wall, and planned photographing. The dark green water was the perfect decision. I was too amazed at how good-looking was! Jabba was a last-minute change, First, I wanted a pimp, dressed in pink or purple, and have this little gangster guild down here. But someone bought Jabba in the store, and I was able to lend him and make a better villain for our heroes. As you mentioned @Grover, I heard stories, and this inspired me about his backstory. I hade so many good (and disgusting) ideas, what to build here. If I have to choose, maybe the huge turd pouring out from the tube, and under that, there is already a load. xD I finished their stories, now I try to recap, and start building something in the present too. :D Next: Gods of Historica, and connect the builds with HSS. :)

As many of you waited for this moment! The collection of the origin stories of my mercenary band! The Wolves of Avalonia Hope you will enjoy it, but most of you already read about them. :D Now is time to leave the past, and start building something in our present!

Now, I have finished all of my little wolves backstories, it is time, to collect all of them in one topic, so you guys don't have to spend hours to find all of them. The order of the links now in chronological order, not as I posted them. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Conrad the Sly. Leader of the Wolf Brigade, and Lord Protector of a small Avalonian country: Deep Garden. His story: A mercenary's story: Part I A mercenary's story: Part II A mercenary's story: Part III A mercenary's story: Part IV A mercenary's story: Part V A mercenary's story: Part VI. Epilogue ------------ Lok the Wild One. Former bandit and highwayman. After Conrad beat him in a duel, he and his crew joined the mercenaries. His story: Taming the Wild One ------------ Zan the Black Arrow. A killer and poacher. Conrad gave him a choice: the gallows, or to serve in his army. His story: I'm not afraid of wolves... ------------ Scarlet. Call her a harlot, or a whore, but know this. She is the only one, who was able to trick Conrad. Her story: The pup and the whore Part I. The pup and the whore Part II. ------------ Boris the Houndmaster. An old and famous bounty hunter. A reliable ally of the Wolf Brigade. His story: The Lone Wolf

Don't miss Part One. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Conrad stood up, walked to the chained man, and slapped his face. The crack would be louder, but the sack on the head absorbed the sound. -"Hmpf.." -grimaced Conrad and sit back to his seat. Again, silence filled the room. The noise of the mice was long gone, maybe their honeymoon was ended, and went back, deeper in the wall. Scarlet watched the mercenary. He looked sad and care-worn. The last few minutes of their shared past left a deep scar in his soul. He just looked out from his head. She felt pity for him, and she was the reason. There must be a way to cheer him up! -"And do you remember..." - she stopped to adjust her dress. -"How we second met?" A small smile appeared on Conrad's face. -"Aye" - he replied. -"You didn't change a bit, like... those years didn't have been passed. -"And how did you found me in Illaryian? I thought I was able to leave everyone and everything behind." -"I didn't go there, to looking for you. I was hoping to recruit some new members to my army, then I heard the familiar phrase, which haunted me for weeks... Do you want to know how I got these scars" -"I remember another thing, which caused more trauma to you" - giggled Scarlet. -"Sorry, but what were you expect, when you walk behind a woman, who is busy with her future client. And interrupt my introduction with: 'Still don't know, but I can carve you another" Unpleasant feeling swept through Conrad's body and stopped at his groin. After many battles, this one kick hurt him the most. Between his legs, and in his manhood. -"I still wonder, how were you able to alert Lok and Zan, to aid you." - giggled Scarlet. -"I was wonder about that too, but the more curious part, how the hell was you so fast in those high-heeled shoes. Zan gives you a good chase if he wasn't able to follow you in the narrow alleys, we would never found your secret hideout." -"Darlin, you weren't the first, who tried to surprise me from behind.That was a night of miracles." - The woman kept her smile. -"But the sewer under Illaryian is a maze! How were you able to follow me down there?" -"Zan's keen nose was able to smell out your perfume in that stench." - Conrad stopped here, to see the woman's reaction. -"But your ripped skirt also helped. We found many shreds of cloth on the way. After a while, we only followed the strange voices." Scarlet remembered as her boss cut many of the bars of the sewer, so his henchmen and girls can move freely under the city. In her hurry, she forgot the sharp edges of the bars, and after a few corners, her skirt just fell off. -"Oh, and ..." - continue Conrad" -"What the hell was Z'avo?" -"No one really knew him." - she replies. -"Someone said this happens, when you flush a snail in the sewer." -"He looked furious." -"No way! And you figured it out on your own?" - mocked him the woman. -"Well, he didn't welcome us, instead he sent his henchmen, to deal with us... Thanks to you." -"For me?" - Scarlet's tone was a bit furious. -"It wasn't me, who arrived uninvited!" -"True, but you showed the way." - smiled the mercenary. The woman's face was red, as her corset. She knew Conrad was right. And this made him attractive. -"Yes, but without my help, you wouldn't hade a chance." - she turned to Conrad and changed her redness into a smile. -"Indeed. Z'avo's life of crime ended on that day, by your hand." - smiled the mercenary. Scarlet saved that day. -"This was the second reason I offered you, to our little brotherhood." -"The second?" - she smiled too. -"What was the first reason? -"You own me something. Either way, you pay it back or give me, what I paid for." -"Here?" - she smiled, as she grabbed her skirt, and pulled a little up, so her ankle become visible. -"Now?" - her tone become much softer. -"What about him?" - she pointed with her head to the captive. -"I think he wouldn't mind it..." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And for the fun part:

Thanks guys! Indeed, I was worried about the reactions, saw many new builds after mine, and all of them already had many comments on them. But looks like the hype is gone for now, and it's my turn in the spotlight. :D As both of you @Grover and @Khorne mentioned, yes, I like a bit darker stories. Not everything must be pretty, and happy. And about the subject, let's face it: we are adults, this is a part of our lives. Someone is selling this "product" someone buying it. In the middle ages, the people weren't that prude like nowdays. :D Others already mentioned, to collect every little origin story of mine, and put them together. Don't worry, I was planning that. :) and About Scarlet's torso, yes, both are custom made sticker, by me. Years ago, sat down, fond somewhere torso ideas, and recreated them in Paint. So I got a lot of middle age themed torsos and custom Wolfpack shield and torsos. About the outdoor building, it was fun creating it, sadly, so many works only for one picture... :D But I took more photos, just used one in the story, I will upload them, when I get home from Paradise I mean work... :D This technique is a bit new for me. Not putting the long tiles tight on the studs, creating a really good looking weathered effect on the roof and on the wall of the buildings, or on the floor. I think not really visible on the wooden second floor, maybe on another picture.

I was thinking the same before I make another religious war :D If they found this idea great, I hope, they won't make any challenge about this idea, cause I'm sure I will lose it again. :D

I was thinking about this for a while. We had a small talk about religion in one of my builds. I don't really see many gods in our realm, there is the Aslanic believe, but not really saw any history about him. Who created this world, are there more then one god, or there is only one? Is there any big end of the world event like Ragnarok? And so on. So, i decided, to make a free build about this. I got inspired to creat a pantheon for this world, got some good ideas. Or this is a forbidden topic? Just leave any politics and religious out from this forum?

Not at all, just tried some of tge hairs, which is good for balancing. :) The sack trick is old, saw it somewhere else.

This looks damn good! Fun fact, just sold one of the original version, maybe a month ago. Also, this gave me a good idea, to recreate so many old school city sets, to recreate them in medieval style. Keep up, mate!

The pup and the whore Part I.| Kahir88 | Avalonia The pup and the whore Part II.| Kahir88 | Avalonia

Conrad met many interesting people in his life so far. Most of them become his allies, few of them his enemies. But there is only a handful of them, who has remarkable stories, how they joined, to the Wolf Brigade. This is their stories: This is the story of Scarlet, the Courtesan. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Click* The door of the small cellar opened and filled with dim light from the other room. Three persons came in and strode down on the stairs. The first with light, soft steps, the second one with powerful steps, like he struggled with something. The third one slowly and accurately, watching to bang his head on every step. Scarlet quickly lighted the candle on the table, and while she lighted every other one in the room, Conrad chained the third person on the wall. - Alright. - Conrad put his hands together and turned to the woman. - Give him the antidote, and interrogate him. Darlin. - Smiled Scarlet. - If he didn't wake up after you dragged him down on the stairs, my potion won't make any difference. Conrad scratched his beard. -And how long should we have to wait? - I don't know that either darlin. He got too much from my cocktail, it would take a while. Scarlet was sure he heard a quiet curse from Conrad. The man turned around, and took two seats and hoarded in front of the chained man, and sit down on one. Scarlet joined him, on the other. They sat there for several minutes. Only the low sound of their prisoner's breath could be heard, and some mice screwing behind the wall. The woman noticed a small smile on Conrad's face, with a little blush. She was almost sure what was in his mind. - This reminds me... - broke the silence Conrad, but turned his head away, so the woman would think he searches the source of the mice behind the wall. His real intent was, to hide his blush and blithesome smile. - Do you remember... - How did we meet? - continue the woman, and she smiled the same was as his partner. - Of course darlin, that was a night, I can't forget easily. - and she winked, then paused for a moment. - I still can't believe, you chose me, to be your first. - Well, me either wasn't sure about that too. - continued the mercenary, and flashbacks came in in his mind. - It was after I received a larger amount of share from a previous encounter. We were in Avalonia, and our leader wasn't pleased with the local garrison status of prisoners. He called the day, and give us free time, till next sunrise. So we could spend some of our money. Back in the camp almost every night the main topic was about girls and women. I felt ashamed, cause I never shared a bed with one. And I taught this is my chance. To become a real man! - So, you walk in our brothel? - Yes, I walked in. The Madam was kind, she showed the establishment around, and started introduced the girls. Before I saw you, I almost choose the red-haired girl. - What? -giggled Scarlet. - Lice Lucy? Woaw, if you had chosen her, you would have been in more trouble. - she kept laughing. - Anyway... continued Conrad - You know the rest of the story. - Oh, I do! - stoped the laughing, but kept the smile on her face." - The last great deception of my life. Or at least I thought it would be that the last one... You could not look away from my breast. As soon as you made your choice, I grabbed your hand and suddenly we were in my room. Do you remember, what did I asked from you? -"Do you want to know how I got these scars." - answered Conrad. - Actually, you never told the story about how did you get them. -None of your business! - she replies - I used, to start the conversation. Like a little roleplay. But you were just stood there and didn't have any idea how to answer back to me. Then I understand the situation, so I changed tactics, and asked directly. But when I asked how to do it, you simply turned to red like a crab. And then you came up with that strange request... Where did you hear about that? - Some soldiers from the camp talked about this... Let's say.. It kept me awake for the next nights. - Truly, you couldn't make my job easier, maybe if you willingly gave it to my hands. - winkled the woman - I just simply tied you to the bed, as you requested and stuffed your mouth... - Catapult... - Conrad interrupted the story. Scarlet looked at him in confusion. - My safe word would be the catapult. Awkward silence. The mice stopped the act of their reproduction. Maybe one of them used their safe word too. - I never thought this could be any worse for you - said the woman, mixing pity and sarcasm in her tone. - Worser then letting me watching you, as you undress, then dress up, packing all your shit in a bag, including my whole payment, and bragging about leaving this hole, cause the Big City Life in Varlyrio. - mimicking the quotation mark with his hands. - I was different back then. I just wanted to leave Avalonia, and all the bad memories behind, and start a new life on the island. Well, I thought I could... - she paused. - In fact, you never told me, what happened to you afterward? - I hade plenty of time thinking." - Conrad recalled most of his thought, how to torture the woman, who robed and humiliated him on that night. Including Whipping, drowning, maybe impaled. - No one was looking after me in the night. Only in the morning, came my boss accompanied by the madam, to find my naked, and tied to the bed. On that day, I learned an important lesson. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Click here, for part two.

This is what I'm talking about. Lovely plants! I think this is a great idea, to show the flora and fauna of Historica. If there will be any challenge about that, I'm sure you would win it! Keep up, can't wait, to see the animals part. Maybe later I will provide a guide, how to cook them. :D Of course, I will share the cut with you! ;)

Again, this is just hilarious! :D

Hm.. true. Maybe the story's length and the sudden change of the scene confused me. Dunno, why I was thought, was a dream. :D Still, great story and a gorgeous beast! :)

That beast looks really good! When I first saw the build and started reading the story, I was curious how they will fit in the "not sending troops" challenge, but the classic "it was just a dream" twist was well placed. :) Keep on!

When I first read about this challenge, I don't have any idea, how, or what to build. Slowly I learned a lot from this guild, from the others, and from the guilds builds and stories. The builds are great! Really gives the feeling, maybe this collaboration has the best builds. And the story, This is what I was looking for! Betraying, backstabbing murders in every corner! There were so many names, I had to start drawing family trees.:D At the end, I lost in the story a little, but later everything becomes clear, Great job guys!

Indeed, the flora you created @Aurore is unbelievable! You should make a pop-up-book about them :D Really liked that scene. The Regos hall, the battle scene is really great, but the Kolgari throne room is the best! I don't know what to see on that build. :D The story is great, simple enjoyable, filled with little details about this country. And Amanico's escape leaves the story open.

Again, great and magnificent builds! The Dwarven gate, the crumbling cave, with the Piraka spine. The wonderful and huge canal square, beautiful. The story is well written, I would like to read more staby-staby, poisoning, and plotting. The usual things, when a whole guild is well known about these dirty deeds. Revenge is a good motivation, but they are in every corner. And in my opinion, there start to be too many dragons. :D

"I knew this trip would be a disaster!" grumbled Arnth, as he looked after the ship disappearing on the horizon. Five days earlier, he and the other crew members of the Rego's ship, the Golden Fortune, were preparing to set sail to the continent with their guild leader on board. Arnth got up early in the morning and took a walk to the docks, only to learn about the bad news when he arrived. Larxi and Venza, two of the other crew members, were missing. Captain Larze ordered Leuithu to visit the local taverns and pubs to recruit some extra hands for the journey. By good fortune, as Arnth considered it at the time, Leuithu arrived shortly after his departure with three new crewmen who all seemed to be old salts, willing to sail for very low pay. This should already have raised Arnth's suspicions, but he hardly noticed the fact. Everything else went smoothly - the Rego arrived with his bodyguards, and they were able to set sail with the morning tide. The first three days were admirable smooth sailing. Everybody worked hard to fix the bump at the beginning of the journey - everyone except the new hands. The three replacement seaman were hardly worth even their low pay. They were clumsy, slow, not that precise - or at least that's what they told the captain. But the sixth day dawned the worst in Arnth's life so far. Everything seemed to be working against them on the Golden Fortune that day. The winds were low, the compass had gone haywire, and many knots came strangely loose during the night. And on top of all that, the three new sailors claimed that they had eaten some spoiled meat for lunch and were out to lynch the cook. Strange! - thought Arnth - none of the others were sick at all. In fact, one of those three puked all over the deck that morning, Rego and captain notwithstanding. Captain Larze was furious! He couldn't just simply throw them in the seas or he probably would have; but without the manpower, the ship would never arrive at its destination. But he determined to punish them after they had docked in Avalonia... a good old keelhauling would do the trick... The sun had burned in the heavens for several hours already. On lookout duty, Arnth yawned at the noteworthy-nothing on the horizon. In his boredom he peered down to watch the happenings on the deck. The Rego and the captain were charting out a new course to gain some time. A glance to the other side of the ship showed him two of the newcomers cleaning the deck... after one of them puked out his breakfast. Arnth lazily wondered how he could have managed to vomit out some carrots if he had been eating biscuits and hardtack. On the other side, the guards stood next to the captain's cabin, the wheel was stirred by Tite, one of the original crew members, and the captain and Rego seemed to have settled on some new plan. But before the day could turn into a moderately decent day, something appeared on the horizon. Arnth only noticed it when he glanced back to where they had left the Varlyrian coast astern. A ship was sailing swiftly in their direction, gathering shape and form as it bore them down. And of course, the sails were pitch-black. "Captain, Captain Larze!" Arnth shouted down from the crows' nest. "Sail, Ho!" The captain grabbed his spyglass and, with the Rego quickly following him, headed for the stern of the ship. "Indeed Sire," Captain Larze exclaimed, handing the glass to Amancio, "it looks like this journey is no longer undercover. Those are pirates, beyond a doubt, and I'm sure they will gain upon us." "And what is your suggestion, captain?" The Rego turned on the shipmaster with a frown. "Glancing around on this crew, we don't have stand much of a chance if we must fight." "Argentum willing, we won't have to," exclaimed the captain, dashing off a prayer. "ALL HANDS ON DECK!!!" The upper deck soon teemed with seaman. Running up and down, unfurling the sails, stowing away everything that could be in the way on deck. They all looked busy. But in spite of all their efforts, the ship didn't pick up nearly enough speed to outrun the pirates. The black ship slowly but surely crept up on them. The cheering and laughing of the pirates sounded in their ears. "They are going to try to board us!" cried the captain. "You, bring up the weapons from below, and you," grabbing one of the guards - "go down with the Rego, and protect him with your life!" The guard nodded. "Aye, captain!" Then he turned to the Rego - "This way Sire!" - and both of them disappeared below deck. At the same time, the other seaman appeared with some weapons, which the captain distributed to the crew. "Listen up, men! We are outmatched in an open fight" - the captain looked sternly at the three weakest links in the chain - "The only thing we can do is to keep them away from our deck. We can't allow them to board too many men on our ship at the same time. If we can deal with them one at a time..." But as he was speaking, the pirate ship appeared behind them. Countless nasty-looking pirates glared back at them, their faces crossed with threatening grins and sneers. Arnth gripped his sword tightly in his sweaty palm. He had never been in combat. Only, once he fought back in a brawl because a drunken sailor bothered him in the tavern... "Hooks!" screamed the captain. "They are trying to board us! Don't let them, men!" The pirate ship collided against the sides of the Fortune, scrapping loudly against its hull, and the pirates threw over their grappling hooks, catching in the ship's rail and rigging. With the lurching sea, the pirates lost momentum for a moment, but luckily no one lost balance on the Golden Fortune. Arnth saw the captain and two others, as they charged without hesitation to cut off the hooks. He felt the adrenaline pouring through his veins, and, letting out a regretful sigh for the life he figured he probably was about to finish, collected himself to join in with his comrades... All of a sudden his ears rang, everything was blurry around him, and he had never felt so dizzy. Next thing Arnth knew, he found himself on all fours on. What had happened? His blurred vision started to clear up, he began to regain his hearing, and he felt a bump growing on the back of his head - but everything around him was still a mess. The captain's familiar voice near him shouted out, "Traitors!!" Something wasn't right, he felt it. Arnth reached out to find his dropped weapon, but a heavy boot stepped on his back and pushed him down on the deck. "Don't be a hero, lad!" a wicked voice sounded behind him, and he felt the rum coming from behind his ears. "You don't want to be like him!" Arnth groaned as his attacker jerked his head up by the hair. "Look!" His vision was still blurry, but Arnth recognized the blue uniform of the bodyguard, and saw as other blurry figures disarmed and tossed him overboard. The skirmish ended quickly, and the prisoners were lined up on the Golden Fortune's deck. Arnth felt a little dizzy, but he watched as the pirates escorted the Rego out from the deck. The pirates' bloody axe reminded him - the Rego hadn't been alone down there. "Good day gentlemen," came a calm tone from the other direction. Arnth and the rest of the crew turned to the voice. A black-cloaked figure crossed the plank between the two ships. "Sorry to interrupt your journey," the pirate smirked in a sly tone, while put his hands behind his back. "But during our trip, I remembered that I missed a good old friend of mine," - he stopped and turned on his heel, his eyes skimming over the lot. "We're visiting the ships in this muggy latitude, 'case maybe one of you have seen him. This tall, white beard and hair, usually dresses in red..." - he paused again to look into the eyes of his prisoners. - "Anybody?" He stepped next to the first seaman in the line. "Who is the captain of this lubberly barge?" "Captain Lar.. BLUAGH!" - the sailor collapsed on the deck with an uppercut to his stomach from the pirate captain's fist. The captain left the man on the deck and stepped to the next seaman. "Who is the captain?" he repeated "Capt.. Fwaah" - but again, the sailor couldn't finish the sentence. He was slapped across his face before he could. Then the pirate captain stepped next to Arnth. "Maybe you, young man can answer my question," he smiled. His face was bristly and rough from lack of shaving, but Arnth had not regained enough of his vision to notice it yet. "Y..." Arnth gulped, - "You?" "Blimey! Looks like you are the brain on this cog, dear sonny!" said the pirate with a relief! "Now then, would you be kind as to show me around?" "Enough of this farce, Xari!" exclaimed Amanico, stepping out from the line. "Here I am, leave them! They have no quarrel with you!" "Blow me down! Is it truly you, Amanico?" And Xari started to approach the Rego with opened arms. "We were so worried about you! And what wond'rous luck! The first ship, and you are on it? I should play gambling more often!" "Cut the comedy, Xari!" exclaimed the Rego, with a wave of his hand. "You are working for the de Fioris, are you not? What do you want from me? Varlyrio, I tell you, will not bow to them!" "I don't have the slightest idea what you are talking about," Xari smiled. "But please, come, we have much to discuss." He pointed commandingly towards the gangplank to his ship. "And what," began Amancio regally, "what if I don..." - but he fell to the deck unconscious. Two pirates picked him up, like a sack of potato, and dragged him on to their ship. "Rogle..." Xari approached the pirate who had knocked down the Rego, "I said no violence!" The pirate just shrugged. "He talked too much." And with that, he followed the others back to the ship. The pirate captain nodded over to the line of prisoners, and the three "new hands" walked out of the line and over to the pirate ship, just turning back to wink at the crew as they swung over the side. And, as promptly as they had arrived, the pirates disappeared again with the Rego, leaving everybody tied to the ship's mast. The crew looked helplessly at each other, as the pirate ship vanished into the horizon... "I knew this trip would be a disaster!" grumbled Arnth. ----------------------- Arnth gulped down his tenth cup of grog, and sighed at the memory of that awful day. He turned again to the group of old salts gathered around him, soaking up his story like rum. "Yesh, maties," he swirled his cup, with a slovenly gesture - "thatsh just wut happerned to the Reger, sho I say! Ashk any o' my maties, and they'll tell ye jush the same thing!" One of his listeners in the back corner of the tavern leaned back in his seat and laughed softly to his buddy. An eyepatch and well-kept mustache altered his looks, but if anyone looked at him closely enough, they might recognize him as the second mate of Xari's ship - one of the "replacement hands" on the Golden Fortune. "I'm sure they would," he whispered with a wink to his companion - "if they were drunk enough!" ----------------------- I would like to thank @Garmadon, who invited to his team, and also checked and corrected some of my mistakes from the story! And also here are pics about the ships: The Golden Fortune, and the Black Parrott

Thanks, check back later, we are puting out soon our collab too. Yours look like awsome too, i hade time to watch the pictures yet, but I'm interested in the story too, as soon as i can get home, and read it, and write down my thoughts. :)