[Soulfinder] Prologue: Fate of a pirate lord

[Cap'n Gravelock]

ONE

The island-country of Isgen was in an uproar when it was confirmed that the Isgen Navy had captured Captain Gabriel Palmar, a fearsome pirate lord known to prowl all across the Elryth Ocean. He was feared not just because he was a truly dangerous pirate who commanded a vast fleet of other pirates and often laid waste to even the most powerful of Accord and Affiliation ships. He was feared because he was also a lich, an extremely powerful undead mage that could wield sorcery beyond mortal ken and perhaps even rival the power of a lesser god.

On the day after his capture, Captain Palmar was brought to Tholmaren, the capital of Isgen where its central government resided. He was kept in a cage enchanted with vast arcane energies that prevented him from using his own terrible powers while confined within. He had been a wanted man for more than three centuries now, a hated enemy of the Accord of Nobles and the Affiliation of Commoners and was mistrusted by authorities in many independent nations like Isgen.

TWO

Tholmaren's city hall was crowded as the time had come to reward the brave sailors who had captured the lich pirate and the city council had to discuss the fate that awaited Captain Palmar.

There was an audible plink as Councilor Rufus Ronson dropped another platinum coin into the small bag of coins in he held in his other hand.

"And that's a hundred!" he smiled and handed the bag to three fishermen whose eyes were now quite wide, their jaws hanging. "Tell me again how you captured Captain Palmar, if you please."

"Of course," laughed the oldest of the fishermen while stroking his long, white beard. "This is one story I'll never tire of telling and it's something I'll probably be telling my grandchildren until I die.

"Anyways, we saw his ship, The Sitting Duck sailing away while the Isgen naval fleet pursued her, cannons blazing. One thing I never understood was how a ship like the Duck, a thing of wood and sails, could still best the ironclad ships of the Isgen Navy or that of the Accord's and Affiliation's. He really must be a magician of some kind if he can make an old-timey wooden ship tougher than a ship of steel, not that I ever doubted that, mind you.

"So, The Sitting Duck was sailing away and we thought that even if it was protected by Cap'n Palmar's magic, it wouldn't be able to fight off all the ships that were after it. I'm not gonna underestimate his power, but I know the Isgen Navy's got magicians of its own. Heck, my niece is one of them. And no matter how powerful Palmar might be, I don't think even he can beat all that the Isgen Navy was throwing at him then.

"That was when Palmar decided to abandon his ship. He jumped off the side and all the ships of Isgen seemed to focus on him instead of the The Sitting Duck. He was under for quite a while but being dead and all, I don't think he needed to breathe. Then up he came on our very boat, scaring me and my boys here.

"He was all wet from his tricorn hat to his long black coat. He still had his cutlass and pistol on him but that wasn't what we noticed. What we noticed was that he was just a skeleton with glowing green flames in the eye-sockets of his skull. I tell you, we were about to jump off the boat when he said: 'I surrender. You've captured me. You're to hand me over to the Isgen Navy for a big reward.'"

"And that's all?" Ronson looked at them.

"Aye, that's all Councilor," the old fisherman nodded. "If he was in the mood to fight, I doubt we'd be here to collect our reward."

"Alright, thank you," Ronson nodded. "Again, you cannot imagine how grateful I am that you three have finally captured one of the most feared pirates in the Elryth Ocean. You may go now and split up that reward money amongst yourselves. However, don't forget to come back a few days from now as there needs to be an awarding ceremony for you and, if the prime minister herself wills it, you can also be given lands of your own as an additional reward."

"Aye," the fishermen moved to leave the councilor's office. "Thank you Councilor."

THREE

After the fishermen left city hall, Councilor Ronson immediately joined the other city Councilors in a room on the uppermost floor where the rest of the magnificent city could be observed. The other Councilors were gathered around a large wooden table and were talking among themselves before Ronson entered the room. There were nine of them in all, with Ronson being Tholmaren's tenth Councilor, and they regarded the human Councilor with an anxious look.

"So?" asked a dwarf Councilor. "What did they say?"

"Nothing new Councilor Skerrig," Ronson replied. "They told me the same story they told the others."

"In that case," said an androgynous elf. "Their story must be true."

"While that is very likely," said a dark-bearded dhampir. "It's still possible that their story is heavily exaggerated and embellished."

"That's possible alright," a female halfling nodded. "But Captain Donner, the one who brought in Captain Palmar, confirms their story as he allowed the fishermen to capture him first."

As Ronson took a seat among the Councilors, their bickering rose higher and higher as they could barely believe the way things had played out.

Ronson considered asking them what preparations they had already considered when the doors to the room burst open and two armored figures strode in. One stood at least seven feet tall and possessed curling horns and was more feminine in shape while the other was equally tall and burly but with a single conical horn and bright orange skin and was more obviously male. A female troll and a male ogre, Ronson thought and the ogre cleared his throat, preparing to announce something.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" announced the ogre. "Her excellency Prime Minister Glenda Mallory!"

And a woman, dressed in more formal clothing entered the room and walked past the troll and ogre who made way for her. She was a human woman of average height, dark hair and a pale complexion. She surveyed the councilors who now stood in attention before her.

"Wow," Ronson whistled. "You came earlier than we expected."

The room burst into uneasy laughter and even the prime minister found herself laughing at this as this was probably the first time she had arrived early on just about any occasion. The only ones who didn't laugh were the enormous guards that flanked her as was customary for their profession. The prime minister told them to wait for her in the lobby and were free to do what they wanted while they waited for her.

"So tell me Rufus," Prime Minister Mallory turned to the human councilor. "What do we know so far?"

FOUR

The prime minister had taken a seat among the councilors as they continued debating over the pirate lord's ultimate fate. Would they execute him? Unlikely but there were many who would definitely clamor for it considering Palmar's foul reputation. Would they imprison him indefinitely? That was probably one of the better choices but was questionable due to the amount of resources required to keep such a powerful entity like a lich confined for an extended amount of time. What about simply setting him free since he hadn't really violated any laws inside the territories of Isgen and was only wanted for questioning? That had its appeal but it was too naive to consider as neighboring nations and factions might not appreciate having a dangerous pirate prowl the seas again after being captured.

It was only when the prime minister struck the table with a fist that the other councilors paid attention to her.

"People," she said calmly but with a growing annoyance. "In three days time, ambassadors from the Accord and Affiliation will be arriving in Tholmaren and ask to take Captain Palmar to their respective capitals. I don't know about you but it's better if we deal with the issue ourselves because we wouldn't want to provoke either faction. The last thing we want is to get involved in their squabbles especially now that we have our own problems to worry about."

"What does she mean?" asked Councilor Trigon who sat beside Ronson, he was a gnome who'd only recently been elected.

"It's simple really," Ronson said. "We can't hand him over to one without pissing off the other. The Accord and Affiliation hate each other to the point that they'll openly declare war, or not and attack you anyway if you're really unlucky, with any who they see getting too friendly to the other. So if we give Palmar to the Accord, the Affiliation will declare war on us and if we hand him to the Affiliation, the Accord will definitely take offense to that. Make sense?"

"No," Trigon said. "Not in the least bit."

"You and me both then," Ronson nodded. "This 'Vigil War' of theirs is getting ridiculous, if you ask me."

"So what do we do?" asked the elf councilor. "I have to agree that getting involved in the Vigil War is the last thing we want."

"We execute him," said the female halfling councilor, sighing and shaking her head. "Either we execute him before the ambassadors get here or when they're both around to see the proceedings. That way, both parties will see that we're not taking either's side and leave us alone."

"What about simply setting him free?" asked an orc councilor who remained strangely silent throughout most of the discussion. "We can always claim that he escaped, right?"

"An appealing idea," the prime minister agreed. "But that's not how they'll see it. With a huge standing navy at our beck and call, there will be questions. A lot of them. And while I don't know the two ambassadors personally, I know enough that we won't be able to fool them. They'll see us letting Palmar escape as a betrayal of both parties and turn against us regardless of their hostility towards each other."

"How about imprisoning him idefinitely?" asked the dwarf councilor. "That way we keep him out of trouble."

"With all due respect Councilor Skerrig," said the elf councilor. "Anti-magic materials do not come cheap and the innate entropic aura around Captain Palmar will weaken at a gradual but assured rate. We can contain him for now but for how long can we even hope to do it. And that's if the pirate lord isn't already making plans to escape as we speak. No Councilor Skerrig, I do not think we can hold him for long especially if he's determined to escape."

"So execution it is then?" Councilor Ronson sighed.

"Execution it is." Prime Minister Mallory nodded.

FIVE

All across Tholmaren and the rest of Isgen, the fate of Captain Palmar was discussed. From the wealthy aristocrats who argued between trade being safer now that the undead pirate was captured and those who thought that his loss was regrettable as he allowed for free trade to wretched beggars who debated that the world was better off without pirates like Captain Palmar and those who thought that the lich actually fought for the rights of the downtrodden such as beggars like themselves. Indeed, the fate of Captain Palmar had become more divisive than the Vigil War which currently gripped the rest of the Elryth Ocean.

After the meeting between the Prime Minister and City Council of Tholmaren had been concluded, another meeting took place in a dilapidated windmill on the outskirts of the city.

"So," said one of four hooded figures. "They've decided to execute him?"

"Yes," said the tallest of them who spoke with a feminine but deep and husky voice. "We cannot allow that to happen!"

"We stick to the plan then?" asked another hooded figure.

"Yes," the tallest figure said. "At all costs!"

"Will it..." another figure trailed off, this one sounding more feminine and smaller. "Will he come?"

"Yes," the tallest figure replied confidently. "He will come when we call, is that not enough?"