{"id":3084,"date":"2021-01-07T11:49:33","date_gmt":"2021-01-07T16:49:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/?p=3084"},"modified":"2021-01-07T11:49:33","modified_gmt":"2021-01-07T16:49:33","slug":"3-realms-3-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/3-realms-3-25\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Realms 3-25"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Endeavor<\/em> made it to the Coliamdii Kingdom, the Over-realm\u2019s most frigid area. Elmpam sighed happily as she put on her old Coliamdii clothes. She DID have a bit of a time trying to match her arms to their proper sleeves, but she got them correct. As she, Arsha, and Malnar went down the entrance ramp, her tail was wagging happily. \u201cBack to the old fisher\u2019s grounds!\u201d she yipped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou always light up whenever we visit here,\u201d observed Malnar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019d do the same if you spent most of your adult life in another place outside your home,\u201d answered Elmpam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026Fair point.\u201d Malnar then turned to Arsha. \u201cYou coming?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSorry, but I can\u2019t,\u201d replied Arsha. \u201cI still need to help set up for Elmar and Calandra\u2019s wedding in a few days. You two enjoy yourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will,\u201d promised Elmpam. She then led Malnar in one direction as Arsha waved them off. She then went back into the ship and made her way to where the wedding banquet would be held, Barmek\u2019s Bar and Grill. Mr. Barmek and Jaltor were discussing some final edits to the menu with Calandra and Elmar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, the sausage became too expensive,\u201d Calandra summed up what Mr. Barmek and Jaltor told her. \u201cAre there any acceptable substitutes?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnless you\u2019re fine with losing the spicy flavor, no,\u201d sighed Mr. Barmek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat else has that kick that can be made quickly?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, there IS a salmon dish\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got Galdredan salmon?\u201d asked Elmar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, a whole shelf of it,\u201d replied Jaltor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026You know, I haven\u2019t had salmon since my 300th<\/sup> birthday,\u201d mused Calandra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd fish IS part of a Merperson\u2019s usual diet,\u201d agreed Elmar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd you like fish too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIndeed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, is that a \u2018yes\u2019 on the fish?\u201d asked Jaltor. The future bride and groom looked at each other, then nodded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGo ahead with a salmon dish!\u201d declared Calandra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPerfect!\u201d declared Mr. Barmek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWait a minute,\u201d called Arsha, attracting their attention, \u201chow did the sausage get so expensive?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRemember that outbreak of foot and mouth?\u201d asked Calandra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026It was that bad?\u201d quizzed Arsha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYep. Farmers had to raise the price on their healthy livestock to turn a decent profit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYikes.\u201d Just then, Shalvey came up. \u201cCommander, what can I do for you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA message from Realmfleet,\u201d reported Shalvey. \u201cOltor\u2019s been spotted here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026Oltor?!\u201d repeated Arsha. \u201cThe Over-splitter Supreme?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe same. All ships are being searched by order of King Tegnar and King Lektem Yantoru. Yes, even Realmfleet ships are being searched. They don\u2019t want him leaving this place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, if the search party has a warrant, we\u2019ll happily cooperate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

The Search Party\u2019s commander presented the warrant to Arsha when they arrived an hour later. Once everything checked out, Arsha bade them to carry out their search. The stereotype for Inus is that they\u2019re able to smell a criminal from across a continent in any Realm. They\u2019ve cultivated that for a while by joining law enforcement organizations. The commander stayed behind to speak with Arsha. \u201cI know you\u2019re Elgrad\u2019s daughter and that the Royanas aren\u2019t known for being nice to Splitters,\u201d he remarked, \u201cbut we cannot afford any chances.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI understand, Sir,\u201d assured Arsha. The search lasted for a good two hours, each room being turned upside-down, restored, turned upside-down again, and restored again to really make sure Oltor wasn\u2019t on the ship. The search turned up nothing, so the Search Party pulled out, the commander thanking Arsha for her and the crew\u2019s cooperation. When gone, the whole ship shuddered, no matter where the crew member was. After the whole thing, Arsha spoke with Denstra and Dalengor about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have to say, I almost panicked,\u201d muttered Denstra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow so? You\u2019re not a pirate anymore,\u201d replied Dalengor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been one long enough to flinch whenever someone even utters the phrase \u2018search the ship\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat engrained into your skull, huh?\u201d mused Arsha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, being a former pirate has its disadvantages.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt also has its advantages. I mean, you DID help us beat Reb back on your first days here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026Yeah, I guess it does.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Malnar and Elmpam\u2019s carriage arrived at Elmpam\u2019s childhood home and released them at the foot of a marked path to the door. Elmpam paid the driver and he left as Malnar and Elmpam headed up the path. As they got closer, Elmpam could see people coming to a shed, people that wore police uniforms! \u201cWhat in all the Realms?\u201d she muttered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of police activity around here,\u201d remarked Malnar. \u201cWhat\u2019s going on?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo idea. I\u2019m going to get to the bottom of this.\u201d Elmpam approached an officer talking to her father, Lensarn. \u201cExcuse me,\u201d she called. Lensarn and the officer turned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cElmpam!\u201d greeted Lensarn. \u201cAnd is this little Malnar?! Sweet Heights, my girl! Last time I saw you, you were up to my waist!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGood to see you too, Grandpa,\u201d replied Malnar. \u201cWhat\u2019s all this?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOltor\u2019s been spotted in this kingdom, Your Highness,\u201d explained the officer. \u201cWe have no intention of letting him get away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOltor?!\u201d yelped Elmpam. \u201cWhy would he be here?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGathering what few allies he has left alive, I would guess. Dr. Borg\u2019s been killing Splitters all across the Realms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cErode public trust in us, I see,\u201d mused Malnar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve already spoken to this officer about a warrant and he produced one,\u201d assured Lensarn. \u201cGiven Oltor\u2019s past, I\u2019m not surprised they want to search here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy? What connection does your home have to Oltor?\u201d asked Malnar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026Elmpam, you told her, right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI swear, I did!\u201d answered Elmpam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTell me what?\u201d asked Malnar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMalnar, Oltor\u2019s my eldest brother.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026No.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026You mean your eldest brother\u2026is the Over-Splitter Supreme?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, that\u2019s why we don\u2019t really talk about him,\u201d remarked Lensarn. \u201cI disowned him when I got the news.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut why would he want to join the Over-Splitters in the first place?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGrief,\u201d answered Elmpam. \u201cHe had a wife and son, but a pair of humans from the Mid and Under-realms killed them. They managed to escape justice and he joined the Over-Splitters, feeling slighted by the Over-realm and promising to bring a new era of peace in our time. He rose through the ranks quickly and soon became the Over-Splitter Supreme.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026I\u2019m sorry for his loss,\u201d mumbled Malnar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy the Ones, it\u2019s FREEZING here!\u201d shivered a Mermaid as she sat on the icy shores of the Over-realm\u2019s Eastern Continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNext time, wear more than a mere fluffy skirt!\u201d growled Oltor unsympathetically. \u201cNow whip up a warming spell for yourself and then prepare the arsenal, Halfam.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat for?!\u201d argued Halfam, an Over-Splitter spy that entered into the Scarlet Stream Pirates two years ago. \u201cOltor, we\u2019re the last Over-Splitters! We need to consolidate our\u2026!\u201d Oltor then slapped her!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYours is not to reason why, just to obey orders!\u201d he growled. \u201cNow get that arsenal prepped!\u201d He then stormed off across the snow. \u201cStupid fish!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPure-blooded mutt!\u201d snarled Halfam as she turned her tail into a pair of legs, then cast a warming spell around her. She then got up and moved to the pile of weapons, getting them ready for a confrontation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Their arrival was NOT unnoticed. Remsu and Yamta saw the whole thing. \u201cOh, wow,\u201d muttered Yamta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSheesh, Ansark held women in higher regard than that,\u201d remarked Remsu. \u201c\u2026Can\u2019t believe I just said that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe\u2019s gonna lose an ally if he keeps that up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf she leaves him, she\u2019s safe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWait, your wife was serious?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOf course. No need for people to die if they see sense.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026Fair enough.\u201d Yamta\u2019s communicator then vibrated. She opened it to see Femfaf\u2019s face. \u201cWhat\u2019s going on?\u201d asked Yamta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGirls, there\u2019s a complication,\u201d reported Femfaf. \u201cElmpam\u2019s in the Coliamdii Kingdom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cElmpam? Here?\u201d asked Remsu. \u201cWhat for?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnknown. My guess is a family visit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Well, this IS her home,\u201d remarked Yamta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKeep us posted,\u201d continued Remsu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWill do. Femfaf out.\u201d The call ended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t good,\u201d muttered Yamta. \u201cElmpam\u2019s presence will make it harder to get rid of Oltor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot if we play our cards right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat do you have in mind?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

As that exchange went on, a trio of people camped a little further away from them. They all had blankets draped over their bodies and huddled around a fire. One of the people, a woman with blood-red hair and an equally colored floral hairpiece, was moaning her lot in life. \u201cGLORIOUS Pirate Admiral one minute, a homeless BUM the next! What happened?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou know the answer as well as we do, Reb,\u201d grunted the second person, a male Mega-shark. He then shivered. \u201cGrief, cold air is different to cold water!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou know, this may be our punishment,\u201d muttered the last person, a male, cybernetic Sea Elf. He then pulled out a book and read a bit. \u201cMaybe we SHOULD be cleansing our immortal souls.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow\u2019s a book gonna help us?!\u201d snapped the Mega-shark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the Divine Codex!\u201d remarked the Sea Elf. \u201cIt\u2019s just a starting point!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019d be more religious if a most DIVINE miracle happened right now,\u201d muttered the woman, the former Admiral of the Scarlet Stream Pirates, Reb Rojam. She then leaned onto the Sea Elf, Melgem\u2019s, shoulder. Jargoon, the former Mega-shark King, just snorted before turning his head away. He no longer cared enough to mutter any racial epithets, given his current company. He turned his gaze upwards\u2026to see something coming towards them. He alerted his current companions to what was going on. The something was a team of sled dogs pulling their owner on the sled. The lead dog signaled for the team to stop and the sled braked to a halt. The owner, their features obscured by their clothes, approached them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNeed a lift to civilization?\u201d asked the person in a feminine voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026You DO know who we are?\u201d asked Melgem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll I see are a trio of people needing warmth,\u201d remarked the sled driver. \u201cConsidering that symbiote slimes don\u2019t do well in the cold, I think you could use a roof over your heads.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026We\u2019ll take your offer,\u201d declared Reb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPerfect, climb aboard!\u201d directed the sled driver.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Endeavor made it to the Coliamdii Kingdom, the Over-realm\u2019s most frigid area. Elmpam sighed happily as she put on her old Coliamdii clothes. She DID have a bit of a time trying to match her arms to their proper sleeves, but she got them correct. As she, Arsha, and Malnar went down the entrance […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1876,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[97,236],"tags":[482],"class_list":["post-3084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-three-realms","category-the-three-realms-book-3-the-first-strike","tag-fantasy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3084"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3084\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3085,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3084\/revisions\/3085"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samueljvinton.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}