The Veil is Dark and Full of Terrors

We had just pulled alongside the Lilu and were preparing to board their ship. Lilu, what a nice name for a nice ship with not-so-nice people aboard it.

While my friends readily hopped on the enemy ship, I was reluctant to leave Fool's Errant. Gar would stay below decks just in case they started to fire on us. The goal was to keep the ship intact so we could fetch a price for it at the Boneyard. That would be hard to do if we blew it to smithereens.

I heard a loud roar coming from the enemy ship. It came from a huge, ugly creature on Lilu; a brute of a man who made Dorn look like a beautiful halfling. The rest of their crew looked to be quick, agile fighters, not so-unlike the ones who attacked Fool's Errant while we were docked at Doveport.

One shifty crewman of the Lilu scaled up their rigging and tossed a small object on the deck of our ship where Dorn and Keely were preparing to jump across the open water. The object exploded when it hit, sending a stick substance splattering everything around it. The concussion knocked Keely and Dorn off their feet and coated them and the deck with oil. Two more quick crewmen ran up the rigging and took aim with arrow, their tips lit with a flame. It didn't take a scholar to figure out their plan. They were going to set Keely and Dorn on fire!

Varis, not to be outdone by  the enemy, also took to the rigging of Fool's Errant. Praxis stayed on our ship and took aim at the sparrows in their nests with his big gun. A loud boom, and one fell down.

Just as Keely and Dorn managed to get up, one of the enemies with a bow lit the oil ablaze. Realizing they had to get out

of that sticky situation quickly, they grabbed some ropes and swung across to Lilu 's deck, fanning the flames as they sailed across the open waters. Varis had already climbed across to Lilu 's rigging, and was now in a face off with one of the sneaky, cloaked elves. I was doing my best to help them from afar by singing healing words and using my wand to hurt the bad guys.

From my vantage point on the deck of Fool's Errant, I could see that the cannons on the lower deck were being reloaded. They weren't finished with the artillery! I shouted a warning to my comrades, hoping that Gar, in particular, could hear me. At that point, I seriously thought about leaving our ship for the relative safety of the Lilu, but before I had the time to consider my options the fight came to me!

I found myself all alone on the deck of Fool's Errant. The two enemies in the rigging of the Lilu jumped across to our deck! One was soaking wet from my pushing him off the ship. He didn't look to happy about that. The other must have just liked picking on poor, defenseless girls—I hadn't even touched him! I had been focusing all my attacks at the big, ugly man that rocked the ship back and forth when he took a step. He looked like the scariest enemy, so I wanted him to be the first to go down—and he was.

Before I could celebrate the large beast's death, I took an arrow and another attack that knocked me down and nearly took the fight out of me. I would have run for cover, if we weren't in the middle of the ocean! I watched as Keely and Dorn disappeared below the deck of the other ship. Varis was busy with two foes, and Praxis—my sweet Praxis—was leaping across the expanse to save me!

He made quick work of the bowman and the other sneaky elf while the sun framed his oddly cherubic-yet-manly face. By that time, the fight was all but finished. Varis had just defeated the last sneaky elf, and the lack of cannon fire told me that Keely and Dorn had successfully negotiated a cease fire.

We rummaged through the bodies to try and find out the crew's reason for hunting us down. After all, they didn't look like tyour typical pirates. All we found on the bodies, though, were some nice magick items which we would put to good use. In the captains quarters, however, we found notes and information that someone had been tracking our whereabouts since we arrived in Doveport. There was a logbook of sorts which said when we docked, when we left, and each stop we had made before our run-in with Lilu. It became clear that Lilu was sent to send us to a watery grave!

We all went below deck once we were sure there were no more enemies. The poor people down there had been broken so badly and in so many ways, it was doubtful if they could be made whole again—let alone grow to trust another person. I and my friends did our best to tend to wounds and get them fed, but they all remained wary. Some were almost hostile. Keely, Dorn, and I shared our stories of slavery, trying to coax them out of their state, but they remained disbelieving, as if we would strike them and chain them at any moment. I resorted to humming and singing soothing songs to them as the others worked to tether Lilu to Fool's Errant. We decided to bring the ship and the slaves to the Boneyard.

The ship we would sell, and the slaves we would set free with a little coin to get them on their feet. They would need to work for their wages, but it would be a lot better than slavery. Especially the brutal slavery that these poor souls had been subjected to.

By the time we made it to the Boneyard, we discovered that half the slaves had killed themselves. The bravest of the slaves admitted that they feared freedom. Being a slave was a horrible existence, but the thought and challenge of surviving as something else terrified them.

We stayed the night at the Boneyard and got ourselves cleaned up and restocked for our next journey. The Boneyard was also a great place to find information as it was a place that we could openly inquire about slavers. When we asked about our list of slave ships, we got a tip that several had been seen to the north, toward the frozen landscape of Khelek. Varis was still barking up Dar Shaw's tree about some golden relic, but with that only being the rumor of a now-dead pirate we instead opted to go after slavers and collect their bounties in the process. I'm sure good deeds felt better to Varis if he could also line his pockets.

We were to leave the Boneyard without Keely and Dorn. They had decided that the perils of adventuring, while quite lucrative, weren't worth the constant risk of life and limb. Besides, they had already made enough coin to retire from the fighting pits and instead invest in their new dream of owning their own tavern. They would be on the lookout for a nice, large ship—maybe a Frigate—to fashion into a nice watering hole at the Boneyard. Who knows, we might be the ones to deliver the ship to them, after collecting payment, of course.

I couldn't fault Keely and Dorn on their plans for the future. Planning a future was a luxury to a slave, and as a former slave, I guess you could view it as a milestone of sorts.

With a quick goodbye, me and my boys set back out for the open waters. This time, we were heading north. As the winds started changing, a cold air settled over the water. We had traveled several days and had come across no trouble. That all changed when we saw the infamous floating island of the Sorcerers of the Endarkened Sun.

It was both a terrible but beautiful thing to behold. I ran to the Admiral and gripped his shoulders, pleading for him to change his course. I knew all the tales of the floating island and it's treacherous Veil. As fast as I could, I told him all the reasons why we should avoid the Veil at all costs. "... There's sea creatures that can swallow a ship whole! We'll never be heard from again."

"Ah, quit yer yapping, girl. If yer so scared get below deck and ye'll be fine."

Varis seemed amused by my terror and decided to goad the Admiral, not that he needed the encouragement. The ship lurched toward the eerie Veil that enveloped the bottom of the island. The closer we got, the more uneasy I felt. My head grew dizzy and I had to grip the railing to keep my knees from crumpling under my own weight. I looked around to see that I didn't seem like the only one who was overwhelmed with dread.

I summoned up all my strength of will and body and made my way back to the Admiral where he braced himself on the wheel for strength.

"The veil is doing this, causing us to feel this way. You have to change course and get us out of here!"

I saw the Admiral's eyes widen slightly with recognition and he reached down on the wheel and cranked it and the ship hard to starboard. I grabbed onto him for support as the ship lurched. "It's too late, girl."

The winds had stopped and it was eerily calm. A wall of clouds were in front of us. The Admiral's change in course meant that we wouldn't sail directly into the Veil, but we would still skirt along the edge.

Visions of krakens and giants sea creatures wrapping themselves around Fool's Errant and pulling her under plagued my thoughts. Varis still managed a smug expression despite probably being about ready to crap his pants like the rest of us. I shot daggers at him, wishing for a moment they were real daggers. Then, I watched as his face dropped. I followed his gaze to see a figure emerging out of the mists of the veil, though the creature seemed no more than mist itself.

Black, swirling mist seemed to ooze and drip and coalesce into a bestial figure. It didn't make a sound as it prowled the

deck of the ship, lashing out at Gar and draining his life force. The thing moved quickly, but soon we were able to fight back. Varis landed a blow and Praxis, too. Gar shifted into beastial form and met with claws against claws. I did my best to help my friends while staying as far from the beast as possible. Just being near the creature caused wounds to appear on your flesh. Whatever this thing was, it had come straight from the pits of the Nine Hells.

"And this is why we shouldn't have gone into the Veil," I muttered more to myself, but loud enough for Varis to hear if he were listening.

For as fast as the shadowy beast was, it was still five against one and my friends had managed to land some hits. That's when the shadow turned to vapor and all but disappeared! Undeterred, my friends kept focusing their attacks on where they last saw the creature. They felt like they were still hitting it, but their attacks seemed less effective.

When the creature turned to attack us, he became visible again lunging with claws and teeth at my friends. The next time the creature turned insubstantial, Gar managed to grab it, pinning it down. It was an odd sight—a beast holding another swirling beast. Everyone took their turn trying to hit the thing, and I even edged a little closer now that it was pinned.

That was a mistake. As soon as the beast became a swirling mass of black shadows again, it lunged and I felt the scrape of claws digging into my flesh. Then came the bite. I felt the energy drain out of me.

I backed away to let my friends finish the thing, but the effects were still lasting. Every few moments, more of my strength was sucked from my body as if the creature was draining me from afar. Dazed and drained, I fell to the deck.

Praxis fed my unconscious form a potion of healing, and slowly I came around. My eyes immediately sought out Varis, who was perched on the rigging and looking into the swirling mists of the Veil as we sailed away.

He must have felt my eyes on him, because he turned to me and said, "See, I told you we could handle it." I glared at him, trying not to pout as I seethed in anger. I had already died once trying to protect my friends, and today I had barely escaped death. Snake Sister wasn't here to save me this time if I had actually succumbed to my wounds.

Consider this my solemn vow that I will get back at Varis. I will teach him a lesson. Something that will make him think twice before heading head long into danger. I didn't know what that lesson would be, but it would be memorable.

And to think I actually thought he was cute! Ugh!

~Zaly

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