The Dark Waters of Azmier

☆"The pleasantries of life, they can be relative to your current situation. While a king would find joy in fine jewels, more properties and power, would a peasent not find joy in but a simple loaf of berad or the peace of mind that your rent is paid for next month?"







Xil'jier sits in the center of his raft with his legs crossed, hunched over vigorously picking at an old rusty metal lock on the small dark wooden chest he took from his latest victim. The chest is stained a dull almost black color with a hint of algae green from so many years at sea. Xil'jier knew that even if nothing valuable was inside that the metal lock would be worth the effort it took to steal it in it self.
Sweat drips down Xil'jiers ebony face, his Drow skin as black as night. His snow white hair matted and pulled into a scraggly bun with strands blowing with each gust of the wind. He is a thief, a cut throat and every thing people associate with his race. Xil'jier being an energetic young adult of nine hundred and fifty years old feels as full of life as anyone on this wretched place called Azmier.
The human man was slightly easy to con, I could tell him and his friend where desperate for fresh water. To bad the other one drank so much of it before we could kill them. Xil'jier says to Corvax.
The tan skinned half Drow with his white long hair dangling well below his shoulders turns and looks at his half brother and nods slightly. The huge turtle gliding effortlessly through the water, the half Drow mounted on top. A rope attached to the back of the turtle and to the front of the raft acts as a sort of turtle drawn raft allowing the two to travel at a somewhat decent pace.
Corvax is a beat master ranger, having raised his turtle mount straight from being hatched. The two have been together ever since and have grown inseparable. Ever since Corvax was young he has had a connection with animals, tracking and survival. His Drow father saw this in his half breed son and knew he would become a great ranger one day.
The waves splash onto the raft over and over tossing the raft over the surface of the ocean. The sea sways up and down a motion that has become a part of life. The two sleep as the clouds drift away revealing a moonlit night with millions of stars twinkling over head. Xil'jier lay awake looking up at the splendor of the stars thinking about how much diffrent this is compared to looking up at night in the underdark where there is no sky and no stars. How ironic it was that he lives on the surface now where his peoples sworn enemies are. How much diffrent the times are now, how much has changed in only two hundred years. He wondered what ever happened to his people back home in the underdark. Was he lucky to be out on a raid when the big wave hit, or has he been cursed?
At the first light of day Corvax wakes his half brother and points out into the distance. The half Drow hands his brother the synth and bone telescope. The Drow swipes it from Corvax and peers through it. He sees a boat with a few passengers. "It looks like the captain is that Dragonborn" Xil'jier proclaims.

Red was havin a lazy sort of day. He was fishing, even though he had enough food to last him a while. He enjoyed it, it relaxes him. As he was lying in the sun, he noticed a couple ships off in the distance. He decided to go investigate, at the very least he could see if they were willing to trade. And if a fight broke out, well, he needed the practice. He set sail and made ready for the worst case scenario.

The sight of the glorious sun pulls the slumber out of this blood-shade Dragonborn, commonly referred to as Captain “Vermillion” Scales, with slight variations here and there. His ship a family heirloom, “Melora's Vengence.” named after a creature or woman that Scales never bothered to ask, cuts through the water heading to her next destination.
Getting the day started he stands up and rubs the sand from his eyes, walks over to a pot of Seawater and splashes his face, wiping it clean with his shirt. He steps out of his sleeping hole, and eyes his passengers, his eyes pop open at a random passenger “Aggie?! But!...But! We all at...Nah I did that joke yesterday.” Before he could shrug it off, he spots a turtle towing a Raft. He shoots a glare at another passenger, “Keep your head down and hidden, crawl into my sleeping hole and fetch my trident. Everyone else ignore me.” Scales moves closer to get a better look.

Xil'jier gets antsy when pursuing another vessel, he finds that tinkering with things can sometimes calm his nerves. So as his brother sits mounted on the turtle tugging them along towards the ship in the distance, he sits on his raft and attempts once more to open the mystery chest from the last job. Using his bone lock picking tools to fiddle inside the key hole. Unfortunately the actual key sunk with the chests owner.
As Corvax gets them in closer to the vessel Xil'jier pulls his bone bladed dagger from its ray skin sheeth. He scraps his thumb on the blade to check it's sharpness. The Drow replaces the dagger into its sheeth as the small ships sails come into view. "You trade'in ay sha? Corvax shouts out to the vessel. The half drow pats his turtle on the head as the two crafts finally catch up to eachother.
Xil'jier spots another vessel off there port bow, "this should be interesting" he thinks to himself before alerting his brother. "This changes things, we will trade and scout out the situation
Corvax says in a light whisper.

Red got a bit closer to the pair of ships and saw that one of them wasn't actually a ship, but a giant turtle with stuff on its back. This intrigued Red, since he's never actually seen one of these creatures, only heard stories about them. "Whoever rides it must be very lucky to have such a marvellous creature working for him." he thought to himself, and he did his best to speed his ship up to get closer to the giant turtle in order to see it, and it's master, a lot better. With any luck they'd trade with him, and if he was even luckier, he may be able to convince whoever was on it to let him ride it for a little while, just to see what it was like. After all, they could just say no to him and that'd be it, but he hoped against hope that his luck would hold, and that he'd get a tale he'd be able to boast about for years to come. Who knows, knowing someone who rides one could come in handy one day.

Rhyn's mouth scrunched into a scowl as she glared at the seaweed plant in front of her. It was a tasty morsel that, once she saw, she knew she wanted for breakfast. With a growl, she planted her feet on the coral that had the weed ensnared, and grabbed as close to the coral as she could. She tried to wiggle it around with her new leverage, but the plant didn't budge. With a grunt, she yanked it as hard as she could, and she and the plant shot out from the coral outcropping. She laughed as she drifted backwards, the seaweed trailing in front of her body. She ripped off one of the large leaves and shoved it into her mouth. She chewed as she put the plant in a small satchel she had slung over her shoulder; she had weaved it from other, less edible seaweeds a few days ago. She kicked her slightly-webbed feet slowly to get back to the outcroppings surface, and looked up to the brightening surface.

She savored the salty, refreshing taste of the seaweed as she looked for her vessel. She didn't like to leave it unattended for long. Although she kept her most valuable possessions in a hidden compartment (that had taken her more than a year to stumble upon, it was so out of the way), like her sword, star-map to Three Tress, rope, and any food she had collected, she had more than once came back to her boat to find a few of her other things missing. It only happened when she dove deep enough to lose sight of The Roiling Maiden, because it was the only time she left it long enough. It was very rare to come across another boat when she was far from Three Trees, but where she was now, a known channel that will eventually drift to the city, it was not unheard of to find another group going the same direction. As she spied her boat, she didn't see anything out of the ordinary, so she turned her attention back to breakfast. She grabbed her harpoon from where she had wedged it between coral and turned her attention below her.

Lavender fingers gripped the outcropping before the half-elf propelled herself downward. Her body floated outward until she was parallel with the surface and she used her arms to move around the outcropping. She was searching for the mussels and crustaceans that hid inside of the reef. She found a promising crack and backed away from it so her shadow wouldn't scare whatever was inside. She wiggled her finger in front of it, before taking it away and doing it again. After a few attempts, something shot out of the hole and bit her finger. Her hand immediately wrapped around it, and she saw it was a cute little spotted crab. She cooed at it before she harshly cracked it against the coral it once called home. Stunned, it stopped struggling, and then she stabbed its face with her harpoon to put it out of its misery. She buried the creature in her seaweed to hold it and looked in the bad. At the bottom was a lucky catch from earlier that morning, an eel around 18 inches long, and she decided that she had enough and started to drift to the surface.

As she rose, more of the surface came into her view from behind the coral outcropping, and she gasped as she saw several other vessels drifting in the vicinity. They were a decent distance from her own boat, but The Roiling Maiden looked to be coming into their view. She cursed to herself in her native tongue, and began actively swimming to her vessel. She was there quickly, she was an extremely talented swimmer after all, and surfaced on the side opposite the other vessels. She grabbed one of the ropes trailing in the water and climbed up the side, keeping low on the railing and staying crouched once she touched the deck. Water dripped off her freckled skin and spattered on the dry wood as moved forward to the other side of the boat and finally looked over the other railing to the vessels in the distance.

They were close enough now to have seen her, and were closer than she to Three Tress. So, unless they too were traveling toward the city, she would most likely come across them. Finally, she stood, and put her satchel with her other belongings and grabbed a shirt at the same time. She pulled the loose white shirt over her head before she went toward the center of the boat. She unfurled her sail and, and after a few grunts and heaves, her boat was ready to pass the others by. Sometimes, if other boats were willing to trade, she would, but she didn't have much except for her crab and a few clams. She had enough of the seaweed she would trade it, but the surfaces races were dehydrated by the briny plant quickly. So she didn't necessarily plan to stop, but she kept her eyes open and in the direction of the other vessels.

Capt. Scales narrows his eyebrows as he spots two other ships in his vicinity, he then quickly turns to face the elves,“I am a dragon of customs and beliefs. Are you fellows aware of Dark Sea Safe Trade Agreement established by Three Trees in its 82nd parliament sometime ago? It states 'Before the exchange of goods on open waters between the two parties a 3rd party must observe the deal to allow the goods to flow safely and fairly between vessels.'”Scales then extends his right index finger towards Red, “Adhering to the agreement, how about we elect that creature over there to observe?”

The turtle whom has come to be called "Shell" by its master Corvax floats in the water next to the vessel "Melora's Vengeance" the Drow brothers who are both on Xil'jiers raft shuffle through there items looking for anything that they happen to have for trade. The older brother Xil'jier squats over his dark green seaweed and synth cloth shoulder bag rummaging around. He pulls out a set of carved bone dice and shakes them in his hand.

"I could trade the dice...nah, Corvax and I still need to settle that game of sailors blunder"

He continues to dig in his bag and produces three sea melon seeds and a bone sewing needle. "This should do"
He mumbles to himself.

The Dragonborn captain and most of the others where busy trading. Corvax knew this trade route was busy this time of year but he dident expect to come across so many ships at once. He wondered if there would be any thing good to trade for from the other ships.
Corvax is younger then his half brother Xil'jier but in many ways felt more mature. He is versed in the diffrent trade routes of modern Azmier and useally knows trouble when he sees it. Things seemed fairly friendly so far but he knew that they all felt un easy because of there race. He did notice that one of the people tradeing was an Orc and that made him feel a bit more at ease.
Corvax lays out the maroon colored woven rug made from the hide of the wooly long tooth bass. He places the two fishing lures out on the rug and then sets a synth jug down next to the lures. The jug is filed a quarter way up with bits and pieces of diffrent colored glass. The turtle ranger sits with his legs crossed and awaits any curious traders.
Xil'jier looks over to his brother and then back to the group of attached ships. Hopefully him and his brother could find out somthing about these people. Like if they have any valuables worth stealing, where they are headed, and if they are an easy target or not. He smiles as his matted hair flails in the strong wind.

Red pulled up beside the turtle and the other ship, and noticed who was onboard each one. One had a couple of Drow, the other had a Dragonlike creature. He could see they were setting up for a trade, laying out what they were willing to trade. So, he did the same. He laid out a bucket full of water and fish, making them stay fresh and alive. He also laid out some fishing rope, normal rope, some spare cloth for sails, thread and some stuff used to catch rain water. "And now we wait." he thought to himself

Capt. Scales nods to himself and then turns his head to face his passengers, whispers a few words towards them, he then takes a step back and talks softly, “Oh~ Rug, where are you.” Grunting a few passengers stand up and walk in front of Capt Scales, giving him a grunt they then lay down in front of him creating a makeshift rug. The Vermillion Dragon ventures into the interior of his small ship and fetches a few items that he's willing to part with; A flask of rum, bucket of worms, dried sardines, several connected synth tablets that has been chiseled on with a sharp knife containing Capt. Scales Autobiography.

Xil'jier picks at his teeth with a bone toothpick. He had just traded one of the sea melon seeds for a nice fresh tuna. It tasted like steak once cooked on his sun grill and the dash of coal spice he had been saving gave it a nice kick. The Dark elfs stomach quite often directed him in his travels.

The tradeing is starting out a bit slow but the company of people other then his half brother has a strange comfort to it, even if it is with the enemy. The rogue has been taught all his life, since before the big wave that other races where the enemy. He was on a raiding party when the wave hit. He has killed so many "enemies" in his life that he has become numb to it. Killing is what you do. Xil'jier leans back and puts his hands behind his back resting on the mast post.

Corvax silently meditates sitting in a strict posture. He knows his brother gets antsy, he never could wait for any length of time without making trouble. He peeks open his eyes and looks over at his older brother. It was too many people to attack so he knew he wouldn't do that, but will he try and steal is the question.

A loud crack of lightning in the distance was both the sound of salvation and the sound of doom. Rain brought fresh water, but the storm that followed will knock the fresh water out of your boat or contaminate it with splashing Sea water nine times out of ten.
The sound causes everyone to react. The gray cloud in the distance slowly grows in size as it drifts closer. The Drow brothers have been lucky with fresh water. Stealing it here, collecting it there. Always just in time. They had stolen a tinker built water desalination device but the filter got clogged and was thrown over board in a fit of rage when it couldn't be fixed. They have been looking for one ever since. They had found one for sell at the last shanty town they found but it was over priced and the only one left. Xil'jier tried to steal it but it didn't turn out well. Xil'jier was even wounded. Good thing Drow heal fast.

Red was seating at the edge of his boat, fishing with the new lure he got in a trade with the Drow brothers. It was a good trade, two fishing lures and a piece of red glass for a medium sized tuna. Well, good for Red, he had enough food and if the lures were any good, he'd be able to catch more. But he didn't do it for the lures, he did it for the glass. It was small, about a centimetre wide and cut roughly, but there was a small image on it of a howling wolf. He smiled at it, amused by how something so small could be so detailed. He heard the sound of thunder in the distance, and saw the storm coming. That was his que to make a run for it. He reeled in his line and packed up his stuff as quick as he could. He turned to the others as they were watching the sky, "Unless you lot can handle a storm like this without getting your stuff destroyed, I'd suggest trying to make it to town before the storm hits, that's what I'm doing. Good luck to you lot." He then unfurled his sail and headed towards the floating town nearby, hoping that he'd get there in time.