"Good morning, captain," the young half-elf said, touching his brow in salute to his superior officer. And a good morning it was, indeed. It was late spring, and the waters around Gradsul were calm and blue. There could be no better day than this to set out on campaign. "Looking forward to heading out, sir."
"Ah, leftenant," the aging seadog replied, tapping his own brow in return. He was genuinely glad to see that the admiralty had assigned Rum Nimruil to lead the contingent of marines on the upcoming mission. "It has been some time since you've been aboard this old boat,"
"Yes, sir, it has," Rum agreed. It had been quite a long time, in fact, since he had been stationed aboard the Arabella. "I believe we were dealing with a gang of Wild Coast slavers in '51."
The shipmaster frowned. "Bad fighting, that was. Bad fighting."
"That it was, sir," Rum agreed. The skirmishing had been close and bitter in that campaign. The slavers were tough, and had magic-users in their ranks. They had also had among there number a gang of strange, unarmored men who fought with their bare hands. Those had been the toughest bastards of all... "I hear we're headed east this time, to the waters around the Pomarj. I'll take orcs over that any day."
"Aye, that we are, Mr. Nimruil, that we are. I assume then that your commander has already briefed you?"
"Aye, captain," he replied. "A counterinsurgency, I was told. The last holdouts of the old baronies are being harried by the orcs and goblins of the Lortmils, so I and my marines are landing to sweep and clear."
"Well, that is mostly true. It seems that now that the old baronies are toppling one by one by the orcs, pirates have begun to make common cause with the conquering horde. If the buccaneering villains start taking refuge in friendly ports that close to Keolish shipping lanes, well... let's just say that the admiralty has taken a renewed interest in the goings on in our former territories."
"I've only got twenty men, sir," the young marine offered in a measured tone. "It's going to be a tall order to take out a pirate's port if they're dug in."
"Not to worry, Mr. Nimruil, we will not be sailing alone. We'll meet up with the Astrea and the Aurora along the way. You'll have sixty of your number by the time we hit the small outpost of Lowport. I am told you are the senior leftenant on this one, so the field command will be yours."
"Very good, sir," Rum replied. "Do we have any reliable maps of this place?"
"Everything we have is relatively outdated. Nothing since the orcs overran the Barony of Ambras three years ago, anyway," the captain reported. "Even so, we have a former resident of the place who can give us information about the port's layout. One of the younger sons of the deceased Baron, I'm told. He's already aboard and waiting for us belowdecks."
"A knight?"
"Well," the captain said thoughtfully, "technically, yes. Not much more than a boy, though. I don't think his blade has been wetted yet, to be honest. Being a younger son, I suspect his House felt they could spare him if anything went wrong..."
* * * * * *
Despite the dim light of the captain's cabin, Rum could easily pick out the young man's features from across the room. He was tall and sturdy, black of hair, clean-shaven and dark eyes deep set. He wore a longsword at his hip, as well as a breastplate emblazoned with what Rum assumed was the crest of his fallen house. By Rum's measure, he did not think this was the young knight's first campaign. Something about his demeanor said otherwise. One way or the other, Rum knew he upcoming events would settle the truth of the matter.
"Have the marines arrived, captain?" the knight asked as the two sailors drew near.
"They are stowing their gear as we speak," the captain answered. "This is leftenant Nimruil, the royal marines' squad commander."
"Leftenant," the man nodded in return. "I am Sir Robilar of House Ambras. I intend to retake Lowport in my family's name, and your assistance in doing so will be crucial."
The knight gestured down at the map spread out on the table.
"We have much to discuss today, we three."
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