Over in Frigandor, in Delga’s palace, a female Frostik and her harem boyfriend stirred in the bed they shared. This was the beloved wife of Delga, Lady Larbuu Larkentha and her lover, Dorbu, Co-head of the Blue Rose Harem with Enfanti. Dorbu felt his Mistress’s fur brush against his back as she got up. “Good Morning, Mistress,” he murmured.
“Good Morning, Dorbu,” Larbuu softly replied before kissing the back of his neck. She then slowly got out of bed, with Dorbu following just as slowly. “I wonder what Zelpa and Rotem have for breakfast today?” wondered Larbuu as she groomed her fur.
“Something amazing, as usual, I’d wager,” replied Dorbu as he got dressed in his harem outfit, attaching a blue rose to his hip.
“Well, let’s not keep Delga and Enfanti waiting,” mused Larbuu. “Let’s go.”
“Yes, Mistress,” replied Dorbu as they left the room. They made their way downstairs to the dining hall to see Delga and Enfanti entering as well. “Good Morning, Master, Enfanti!” called Dorbu.
“Good Morning, my dears!” replied Delga. “Did you two sleep well?”
“We were safely in the arms of the Dark Divine Ones,” assured Larbuu. “How about you and Enfanti?”
“We slept like dead logs, Mistress,” replied Enfanti as they all sat down. Breakfast was then served and they ate slowly to savor the tastes. “An Over-realm method of scrambled eggs, I would guess,” deduced Enfanti.
“Nothing escapes your notice, does it?” praised Delga. Just then, the door burst open to let a blonde Elf harem-girl with a blue rose in her hair, like Enfanti, run in with a communicator in her hands.
“Master!” she called. “Urgent news from King Orbak and Realmfleet! You need to talk to them at once!”
“Selfa, let me have that,” ordered Delga as the harem-girl, Selfa, obeyed. Delga inserted the communicator in a slot set into the table and King Orbak and Rokalla appeared.
“Delga, did we catch you at a bad time?” asked Orbak.
“Not at all, Your Majesty,” assured Delga. “What can I do for you?”
“Have you heard of Admiral Reb Rojam?” asked Rokalla.
“Only from my wife,” explained Delga.
“What did that pirate do?” asked Larbuu.
“She’s taken the Endeavor and her crew hostage,” explained Rokalla. “We just got the ransom notice from her.”
“Ransom?!” yelped Larbuu. “Sweet Arsha’s being ransomed?!”
“Not in MY Realm, she isn’t!” declared Delga. “Where are the pirates?!”
“What to do, what to do, what to do?” muttered Melgem as he paced the cell with Arsha, Bashoon, and Yotek chained to the wall. “I don’t want to kill you, per se. Neither does my Reb. In fact, you seem like decent people, even you, Yotek. Understand, this is just business. Once Reb and I get our money, we can go back to being friends. It’s very simple. Now, try not to complicate things by making another escape attempt, all right?” He exited the cell and re-established the barrier. He then left the cell block, going towards his and Reb’s quarters, when a female Troll, Raltii, approached him.
“Commodore, I have news,” she reported.
“About the ransom?” asked Melgem.
“I don’t think Realmfleet’s paying,” replied Raltii.
“Come on, now,” countered Melgem, “they wouldn’t let one of their precious captains be locked up forever.”
“No, but they didn’t send money,” replied Raltii, “Lord Delga’s mobilized the Frigandor Militia.”
“Now, wait just a minute,” snarled Melgem, “who told him?!”
“We’re trying to figure that out now,” reported Raltii, “on top of readying our defenses.”
“Good work,” replied Melgem. “Has my wife been informed?”
“Captain Rochak’s is telling her and…” Raltii was interrupted by a shrill woman’s voice, Reb’s, to be precise.
“WHAT?!” she shrieked. “OF ALL THE DISGRACEFUL…! DON’T LET THEM THROUGH!” She then appeared in the hall. “Melgem, DEAR, have you heard the DISGRACEFUL news?!”
“Raltii’s just told me about what happened,” confirmed Melgem. “Defenses are being readied as we speak.”
“MOST excellent!” praised Reb. “Now, with that headache assured to go away soon, is there any progress on the MYSTERIOUS pink mist?”
“None so far, Admiral,” reported Raltii.
“Oh, I DO hope you find out quickly,” replied Reb. “It has caused our POOR ships to go haywire!”
“Did you hear that?” whispered Bashoon.
“We need to get a sample of the mist,” resolved Arsha.
“And what?” snarked Yotek. “Unleash it on a ship? This is a pirate armada we’re dealing with!”
“I suppose you have a better plan?” asked Bashoon.
“We simply sit and wait for the Frigandor Militia,” replied Yotek.
“Out of the question,” dismissed Arsha. “I don’t know about you, but Bashoon and I are representatives of Realmfleet. We’re bound to do whatever is in our power to make sure our crew is okay and our ship is fully functional, making every escape attempt possible to ensure that.”
“I hardly see any profit in such an endeavor,” hissed Yotek.
“I hardly see any profit in rotting in this cell a second longer!” countered Bashoon.
“I should have pushed for permanent destitution!” growled Yotek. “No chance of ever regaining any assets!”
“You tried, remember?” remarked Bashoon.
“Oh sure, bring up a man’s failure!” snarled Yotek.
“Oh, great, now he’s playing the victim!” snapped Bashoon.
“Well, it IS your fault!” roared Yotek.
“GUARD, HE’S BLAMING ME FOR OUR MISFORTUNE!” shouted Bashoon. “YOU CAN’T KEEP ME LOCKED WITH A PATHETIC MAN LIKE HIM!”
“You know,” remarked Yotek as Arsha shut her eyes, trying to keep her cool in the situation as she guessed what they were doing, “I think I know what else to label as your fault! Joining Realmfleet!”
“GUARD, I CANNOT REMAIN IN THIS CELL! KILL ME NOW!” called Bashoon.
“Go ahead, Guard, kill the traitor!” Yotek called to the guard.
“No, wait, kill him first!” countered Bashoon.
“A true Goblin finds profit in death!” called Yotek. “Murder away!”
“Kill him!” demanded Bashoon. “I’d like to see if he can blame me for his death after you shoot him!”
“Well, if I die,” remarked Yotek, “I know who to haunt!”
“Yes, wasting time chained to our plane of existence!” argued Bashoon. “How else can he continue to be pitiful?! GUARD!”
“GUARD!” called Yotek. The two Goblins continued shouting “GUARD!” over and over until Arsha had had enough!
“WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP!!!” she bellowed, having long since mentally transferred her hairpiece to her waist. The Goblins then stopped shouting.
“Thank you!” called the guard. “Hey, you two, have either of you considered, at all,” he then leaned his seat back to reveal his species was the same as Bashoon and Yotek’s, “that, perhaps, the guard tried what you did since he was a cabin boy?”
“Well, darn,” muttered Bashoon.
“Could have sworn he was a Minotaur,” mumbled Yotek.
“What are you two talking about?!” snapped a currently frustrated Arsha.
“Classic Goblin trick,” explained Bashoon. “We squabble and cause a headache for the guard.”
“It would result in a separation and one of us would break out,” continued Yotek.
“…Is that seriously the best you two can do?!” hissed Arsha. “You planned to starve to death in here, squabbling on the vague assumption that the guard didn’t know that trick?!”
“…I’ll tell you one thing,” remarked Yotek, “I’d have lasted a lot longer that her.” Bashoon snorted.
“Really?!” she called out. “I think you’ll find that female Goblins have a certain genetic advantage!”
“Ensign,” barked Arsha, “it is NOT a competition of who would had died slower!”
“It definitely would have been me, though!” replied Bashoon. Arsha cast her gaze heavenwards.
“Delga, get here quickly!” she sighed.
The Frigandor Militia was mainly comprised of any able-bodied volunteers who wanted to protect Frigandor and any islands under its protection. As he was a Knight of the Under-realm, Delga was in charge of the Militia. He and his son, Morla, saw to it that the Militia was a well-oiled unit. The boats stopped on Delga’s order, just out of sight of the island. “There it is,” whispered Delga, “Reb Rojam’s island stronghold.”
“Suggestions?” asked Morla.
“Disguise and surprise, my son,” replied Delga. “You will take a squadron and cover the right docks in disguise and I will take the other squadron and cover the left docks. We’ll diffuse ourselves across the island and search for the Endeavor and her crew. Once found and quietly rescued, fire a flare and we reveal ourselves to the pirates, putting them in disarray and making it easy to arrest them.”
“Got it!” confirmed Morla.
“Stuck on guard duty again,” sighed Rochak.
“It’s what an idiot like you deserves,” purred Weltam. “Perhaps, with my…influence, I could get you a better position?”
“I don’t need help from someone hailing from a race of prostitutes!” growled Rochak. Weltam’s expression changed to an enraged one.
“Well then,” she snarled, “I suppose a lizard who’s brain has been zapped for too long with his own powers WOULD be mentally deficient!” Rochak then grew into his Bestial form, a yellow, quadrupedal, winged lizard with enormous jaws, and bared his teeth.
“You crossed the line with that remark!” he roared.
“I crossed the line?!” argued Weltam. “Where do you get off calling Succubi a race of prostitutes?!”
“Hardly unfounded!” replied Rochak. “Look in all the brothels and you’ll see that they’re all run by you people!”
“I’m gonna enjoy sucking out your soul for that!” shrieked Weltam.
“Oh, look at this!” jeered Rochak. “Commodore Weltam’s gonna get her hands dirty!” Now, normally, attacking a Dragon is a bad idea. Attacking a Dragon when they’re in their full Bestial Form is considered the worst idea you could come up with. However, when a Succubus or Incubus is enraged, their immense strength is increased a thousandfold, so they could hold their own against a Dragon in either form. Weltam launched herself onto Rochak’s trunk-like neck and managed to suplex him. Rochak electrified his scales and zapped Weltam, making her even more angry. She managed to take to the air and dove right at a wing joint. While it doesn’t render the Dragon incapable of flight when a creature our size manages to do it, it does leave the Dragon with a feeling similar to us being kicked in our privates. He recovered quickly and swung his tail into her, slamming her into the wall of a building. Melgem and a serpentine-looking Rock Dragon in Bestial Form witnessed the fight going on and moved to intervene. The Rock Dragon coiled around Rochak as Melgem managed to wind Weltam.
“All right, who’s the bilge-rat who started it?!” demanded Melgem. Both fighters managed to accuse the other. “All right, then! Commodore Orsank, throw them in the brig!”
“Aye, sir!” replied the Rock Dragon, Orsank. He carried Weltam away in his claws and kept his tail wrapped around Rochak who was futilely zapping Orsank. Once they were out of sight, Melgem laughed. The rest of the pirates joined in.
“WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT?!” roared Melgem. “Back to work!” The pirates got the hint and quickly went back to work. A Mermaid took her post at the Dock-Guard building and chanted a small spell, separating her tail into legs. Whenever a Merperson changes species, their fin-belt usually remains. She giggled as she took a few steps in her guard-post and then put on a skirt with a large amount of petticoats. She giggled again at the feeling of petticoats on her new legs and sat in her chair. She then took in the salty air, shutting her eyes for a brief moment, then reopening them to see multiple boats being tied up at the docks. She looked at the manifest to see that all boats had cleared the checkpoints and she should await payment.
“Well, if they passed,” she thought to herself, “they passed.” She stepped out with a cashbox for payment in her hand. However, the people that tied their boats started going past her! “HEY!” she shouted. The disheveled male Frostik leading them stopped and faced her. “From what my manifest says,” began the Mermaid, “you’re all together, correct?”
“That’s right,” replied the Frostik.
“Then, permit me to inform you,” continued the Mermaid, “that it’s 1 Gold from each crew member to tie a boat or ship at our docks and I shall need to know who’s name I put all boats under.”
“What do you say to FIVE Golds from each crew member,” offered the Frostik as he revealed a chest full of gold coinage, “and we forget the name?” The Mermaid indicated to her assistant, a Goblin male, to check if the contents of the chest were genuine. The Goblin did so and confirmed both authenticity and amount.
“In that case,” replied the Mermaid to the Frostik, “Welcome to Plunder Island Stronghold, Mr. Sarn.” The Frostik bowed as the Goblin took the chest away. A female Centaur then approached the Frostik.
“For a minute there, sir,” she whispered, “I thought we’d get caught.”
“Get caught?” the Frostik, Morla, whispered back. “Nonsense!”