Chapter 6: Tangled Fates

Chapter 6: Tangled Fates

30 miles off the coast of Steepshore
Quest: Take what you can, give nothing back

Tied up to one of the ship's post was Zale Corin, son of a very rich Imperial Aristocrat. These pirates may look stupid, but they're keen on making coin. Zale didn't just leave his home behind, he also stole a large sum of money from his father which angered the old man dearly. Perhaps his greatest mistake was thinking that he could just walk away from his family and steal from them, like so, and not face any consequences.

Zale's father had put the word out. 400 thousand gil for the return of his son. That kind of price would have a lot of people looking in many places, Wrozan being one of them.

The pirates originally planned on returning Zale and claiming the reward, but they figured it wasn't enough. They are now planning on kidnapping Zale and asking them to pay a ransom worth almost five times the bounty price. Zale's father may or may not choose to pay the price for his son, either way, the pirates plan on making money off of Zale no matter what.

By this time, Zale would have slightly recovered from the effects of the Marlboro Ale. He's locked away in one of the tiny cabins of the ship, tied to a wooden post, with magic bindings placed around his neck to prevent him from using any magic. The room was dirty and damp. There was mice running around in every corner of the room, some of them were nibbling on Zale's toes. His feet were bare, the pirates had decided to take his boots and most of his fancy clothing, leaving only a wet shirt and his worn pants. The ship was well on it's way to Steepshore, soon they would arrive at the pirate infested village. And soon Zale would meet with the pirate's leader.

(As usual ^^ If you want to try and escape, you can by rolling the challenge dice. You need 3 Checks out of 5 rolls to successfully escape your bindings somehow. Or you could just wait and see what happens when you get to the island.)

Zale: "Oh fuck where am I? Why is the room moving?"

The first thing Zale felt was the ship crashing the sea waves, which made his super intense hang over worse. Next he noticed that his hands were not free and that he was inside a dark scary room filled with filthy rodents. Zale had a large thud in his heart. He was nervous for a moment, thinking he was drugged and would now be sold as a sex slave. Then the more he thought about it, the more it made him relax. Becoming a sex slave was not a bad idea for him. Not unless he was sold to some fat bitch like the one in the bar from before, that would really piss him off. To make matters worse, he didn't have any footwear on.

It was later that he noticed the thing around his neck. It wasn't a rare thing but it wasn't uncommon either, so Zale had no idea was it was. He's been such a carefree bum most of his life, that he's failed to identify common things like this in the past.

Zale: "Fuck this! I'm getting out of here"

Zale tried using magic but because of the thing around his neck, he efforts was met with failure. "Fuck! Why isn't this working?" he thought to himself. He began looking around, as if it would help him, but his lack of knowledge on how to get out of these kinds of situations proved to be his downfall. Not being able to find a means of getting out of his situation, Zale knew he had to calm down and not be a panicking little bitch. He decides to just simply wait it out till something else happens.

Chapter 6: Tangled Fates

Steepshore
Quest: Take what you can, give nothing back

Some time later. The ship had come to a halt, indicating that they've arrived at their destination. Zale could hear men talking and several footsteps heading his way. The footsteps got closer and closer, and the voices became louder and clearer. Moments later, the room to Zale's tiny cabin was opened, and there stood the same man that tricked him into drinking the Marlboro Ale together with two more pirates.

"Did ye sleep well yer majesty? Please pardon our intrusion but we've arrived at our destination." said Bronstroke. It was obvious from his tone that he was a being sarcastic. The two men then came up to Zale and untied him from the post, then they grabbed him by the arms and forcefully dragged him out of the room and up out into the main deck. The sun right above their heads and seagull-like birds were flying around the ship.

The village of Steepshore is visible from the ship's deck. There were already a couple of small boats in the water, ready to carry the crew ashore. "Aye! It's time to go meet the boss!" said Bronstroke.

(You have a choice, you can try your luck and try to escape or you can go to the village willingly, roll the Challenge dice 5 times and you must get 4 out of 5 checks to escape successfully.)

What a surprise. If it isn't that weasel Bronfat! He's the one who tricked Zale into drinking that knockout ale and lured him in with the promise of coin. "Well shit." Zale thought to himself. He couldn't really do anything while the two brutes drag him out of his cell, up the stairs and out into the main deck. The sudden adjustment of brightness caused Zale's eyes to squint. Looking around he saw an island surrounded by endless seas. He also saw an opportunity to escape. He thought about making a break for it, but where would he go? There was nothing out there for miles and there were probably sharks in the water.

Zale: "Eh Bron! Come on, untie me. Jokes over. I thought we were going to do a job out here?"

Zale hoped that Bronstroke was just punking him. He thought that these pirates had nothing to gain from him, nothing at all. So why would they do anything like this to him.

Chapter 6: Tangled Fates

Steepshore
Quest: Take what you can, give nothing back

The crew of the ship started laughing at Zale for having though that he was being pranked. Bronstroke decided that he'd play with the boy by telling him, "Well blast-d all! Looks like our friend here has caught wind of awr little joke. Ar!! Hahaha!" Bronstroke and the other pirates started laughing hard but soon their laughter died down and it seemed obvious that the crew were all thinking the same thing, as shown by their expression towards Zale. They didn't remove Zale's bindings, instead they showed Zale the way down to the small boats.

"You're not smart in the head are ye lad? Come now. It's time you met with the Captain." said Bronstroke. They soon departed the ship and rowed towards the shore, where they were welcomed by even women dressed in rags and children who were even less clothed.


At first they looked like beggars, but it was soon made clear that these were the wives and children of the ship's crew members. They walked around the beach to make their way to the village of Steepshore.

Raised inside a giant waterfall cave, the town of Steepshore is home to pirates lead by Captain Wakelin. This town wasn't built in this secret location by accident, as it has ancestral grounds, which is of great importance to the people of Steepshore and its success. The town itself looks very poor and desperate. The town is not allied with Northrend and has also been in constant conflict with Vhetlaug.

How much worse could this get? Zale was pissed off. He was played like a fool. Like a mother ****ing fool. If he had his magic, he would destroy Bron's face. He would destroy everyone's faces. Zale had no choice but to comply with the pirates and take their shitty treatment of him. His anger quickly turned to pity when he saw how poor these pirates really were. Suddenly Zale had an idea why he was being taken prisoner. Knowing his father, Zale probably has some coin on his head. The man is most likely angry that Zale stole from him. So pirates, one of the best smugglers in the world, would definitely be on the list of people looking for him.

Zale had lost his will to fight after seeing the lives. He was hundreds of times richer than these people, a thousand times more handsome and definitely smarter. So what's left for this handsome hero to do? Well he'll just have to wait and see. After all, he's the hero. What could happen?
No matter what, Zale had to show these pirates that he wasn't going to be intimidated.

Zale: "Go on take me to you master! I demand an audience!"

Zale: "H-h-hey! Now hold up! Let's all just relax! Let's not feed anyone to the beast alright. Let's all just take a deep breath and think this through."

Zale hoped he could talk his way out of this predicament he has gotten himself in.

Zale: "If you kill me, even if you leave no tracks, there's no guarantee that my father wont find out who did me in. Not with all his money and influence. You guys are just setting yourself up for an all out war with the Empire."

Zale: "But! If you let me go, I promise that I won't hold any grudges. I'll even help you. I can't pay you guys, obviously, because I have no money on me. But my father has tons of money, mountains of gold and jewels. You need money, I need money. I know where he keeps his cache of money here in Wrozan. It's heavily guarded, but I can get us in there."

Zale: "You'll miss 100% of the shots you don't take. So what do you say? You've more to gain by working with me."

Chapter 6: Tangled Fates

30 miles off the coast of Steepshore
Quest: Take what you can, give nothing back
#TWYCGNB #Chapter6 #Sora

The red-haired boy was in no position of bargain, but he did make a decent point. There's always more to gain in making allies rather than enemies. His father did offer a great sum of money for the boy's return, meaning their family must be very wealthy. The Pirate Captain knew that his boys could handle pretty much whatever is thrown their way, but Imperial guards were another thing. The one-eyed captain smirked and said, "Ah the man strikes a bargain, not a very good one though. We'd never steal from the Empire, they'd find us, kill us, and burn this entire village down."


"Feed him to the beast!"

The One-Eyed Captain knew that the boy would say anything to save his life. He needed more than just stories. He needed to know if the boy was telling the truth. Meanwhile, a large vessel approaches the island form the west. At first it looked like a ship, gliding on top of the sea's surface. But as the vehicle got closer, it became evident that the vessel was an Imperial Battleship.

On board the airship was Zale's father. Because most of the Imperial forces in Wrozan were too busy looking for Agnes and the Earthlings, the airship and forces had to come from Thanatos. Somehow, Zale's father learned of his son's whereabouts and had sent a battleship to find him.

The village of steepshore sounded the alarm, which could only mean one thing, they were under attack. Zale's execution had to be put postponed. The captain ordered the men to lock up Zale in a cell and prepare to defend the island.

Three Pirate ships sailed out to intercept the Imperial Battleship. They gave the Imperial a warning shot, to let the Imperials know they were entering a restricted area. The shot didn't seem to alter the Imperial ship's course. Instead they fired a shot of their own. A massive energy blast from one of their main cannons, completely decimated one of the pirates ships, and sunk it like it were nothing.

The Imperial Forces continued to press forward and then they announced through some sort of loud speaker, that the Pirates needed to surrender their Prisoner Zale Corin or face total annihilation. The two remaining ships were forces to sail away to avoid suffering the same fate as their fallen comrades.

Zale: "I told you they'd find me! No what's it going to be old man are y-!"

Before Zale could finish his sentence though, the one eyed baldy had him tossed in a cell. His Empire mates had come for him. Upon hearing his name being called by the Imperial Forces, the scruffy red-haired prince of rock knew that this was his dad's doing. Zale didn't want to go back to Thantos, fuck Thantos, and join the army, fuck the army. He wanted to live his life based on his own choices, like a glorified rockstar. Shit! There's no way in the seven hells that he was going to get on board that Imperial ship. Fuck them!

Thinking back to his training days, he looked for a way to free himself from the rope around his hands first. If he could free his hands, he didn't even need magic to leave the cell. It was damn hard because Zale was a slacker at school and at training. His mind wondered off during his classes. But he knew the knowledge was there in his mind somewhere. 

He recalled something about making fire without the use of magic, using only his shoe string. Zale applied this in his current situation. First he maneuvered his hands to his front side, then he took the string on his necklace, because his boots were taken. He tied the string around his two toes, and used it like a saw to cut through the ropes around his hands.

Zale: GENIUS! I AM A GENIUS!

It took some effort but the ropes finally came loose. It was a refreshing feeling, being able to get rid of those nasty things. Although his hands were free, he still couldn't use magic, not with the thingamajig around his neck. It was stupid, but it was worth a try. Zale tried undoing the thing by slamming it hard against the wall. This move was so dumb, that it wound up hitting his forehead on the concrete walls. 

Zale: Stupid stupid!!

He did it one last time, and hoped that the thing would come off.

The member 'Hollowed Sora' has done the following action : FFMSL Dice

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'#10 Challenge' :

Result :

Chapter 6: Tangled Fates

30 miles off the coast of Steepshore
Quest: Take what you can, give nothing back
#TWYCGNB #Chapter6 #Sora



Zale had successfully escaped from his bindings, he can now use his magic once again. It should be a piece of cake for him to blast open the cell doors and escape while the town was busy fighting off the Imperial Battleship.

Meanwhile, the pirates continued to resist the Imperial forces. The Captain knew that even if they surrendered Zale, the Empire would still destroy them. The Empire had far more advanced weaponry and technology. They were down to one ship, after the Imperial vessel shot down another one of the pirate's ships. It would seem like a one sided-battle, however the Pirates had a secret weapon. The old Pirate Captain was once a powerful conjurer, but because of his age, he has not used his powers in a very long time. Using his powers again will put his body under a ton of stress and could possibly kill him. But that was a risk he was willing to take in order to save his people.

The old captain stood over a cliff by the sea and, using the last of his powers, conjured a giant Water Elemental, big enough to challenge the Imperial Battleship. The elemental giant moved swiftly under water, carried by the waves. It resurfaced behind the Imperial Battleship, where it's defenses are weakest. Using it's massive arms, it hammered down onto the Imperial vessel, the force of the blow created sunk the vessel deep into the sea.


Unable to maintain his conjuration, the Old man fell on the ground. The massive elemental spirit dissipated without it's master. The people celebrated, for the battle seemed to have been won. However, they celebrated too early. The Imperial ship rose from the sea's depths, having only suffered some minor damage. 

The Empire had been preparing for a war with magic users for a very long time. Through the course of time, they've developed their technology to become highly resistant to magic and energy. They used the powers they've extracted from the Guardians that they've enslaved to improve their machines.

The Imperial Battleship fired an energy blast right at the town of Steepshore, in retaliation. The blast went through the town's natural defenses, the mountains surrounding the town, and decimated nearly half of the entire community. The place where Zale was being kept, was shook so hard that the walls collapsed, giving him a way out. Light began entering the Zale's cell, it was sunlight coming from the outside. Zale had a clear view of the town below, in ruin, and the Imperial battleship floating just outside the harbor. Down at the harbor, there were several small boats that Zale could use to escape.

Zale now had a choice, he can escape the island while this chaos ensues. Or he could try an be a hero and do what's right.

Everything went according to Zale's plan. He was a genius at planning and executing escapes. He hurried to rid his body of the shackles and all that junk, so that he could get the hell out of this nasty place. Zale was about to blast the cell doors open with his fire ball but the whole place shook.

Everything got nasty all of the sudden and the whole place went to shit. Something had hit the town, Zale didn't know what it was but it was a beast. He staggered for a second, he felt so gnarly, before getting back up to assess the situation.

There was a big whole in the wall (ooc: not that kind of hole in the wall, if you know what I mean) and it gave Zale an awesome view of the scenery outside. From the looks of things the Empire was winning the battle. There was no way a bunch of looters and criminals was ever going to match up against the might of the Empire.

Zale was happy. Those blasted pirates were finally getting what they deserve. He was laughing hard until he saw the devastation that was done to the town below. He saw corpses and people burning alive. It was such a horror that Zale was forced to look away, he couldn't stomach the sight.

These people will probably all die at the hands of that one battleship. It's too dangerous for Zale to be here, the whole building could collapse in the event of another attack. So Zale ran out and saw a group of boats conveniently sitting at the beach, waiting for him to get on it and escape.

Zale: "Fuck this mates! I'm outta here!"

Ignoring his moral compass, Zale ran to the beach and stole one of the boats. He pushed the boat out into the then paddled away from the island. He left the pirates and the Imperials, to hell with those guys. Zale wasn't going back to Thantos and he not stupid enough to fight a battleship to save a bunch of people he doesn't even know.

Zale was well on his way to freedom when his conscience took a swing at him. Was he really such a douche bag? For his freedom was he willing to sacrifice the lives of all those innocent people? That's just not what a hero would do. A hero should be able to defend the innocent and should be willing to sacrifice himself for the benefit of the greater good.

Zale: "Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!!"

Zale slapped himself in the face!

He decided to turn back. He started paddling as fast as he could back to the island. He couldn't bare being seen as a coward and a douche bag. Zale sailed to the Imperial ship. Using his magic he signaled the Empire of his location.

Zale decided to surrender himself to save the town. He figured that his freedom came at a too high a of price, and he couldn't endure his conscience. He hopes that the Empire will just take him home and stop attacking the pirates. But knowing them, they'll probably use this as an excuse to show off their new toys.

Chapter 6: Tangled Fates

Steepshore
Quest: Take what you can, give nothing back
#TWYCGNB #Chapter6 #Sora

What Zale did took a lot of guts. He surrendered his freedom to save a group of people who kidnapped him and were about to feed him to a monster. It could be argued as a dumb move, but the people of Steepshore will remember what he did for them.

The Empire saw Zale's signal and halted their attack on the island. Had Zale ran off, the entire town of Steepshore would've been obliterated. Zale was picked up by a motorized speed boat, which was accompanied by two amphibious magitek armors and a couple of Imperial guards. Then he was taken to the bridge where his father awaited.

Meanwhile, the townspeople of Steepshore evacuated their homes and escaped to the underground shelter found in the mountains. The pirates had no other means of fighting off the Imperials. Their ships have all been sunk and their captain was in a coma. They remain helpless and at the mercy of the Imperials. Bronstroke felt responsible for the tragedy, he only wanted to help his people but he actions led to their demise. A small blessing was handed to them from above, rain began to fall, putting out most of the small fires in the town. It was a sad day for the people of Steepshore, but it wasn't over, not until the Imperial battleship leaves their shores.

Back at the battleship, Zale was escorted to the bridge. He met with his father, a rich aristocrat and a devote supporter of the Empire. He wanted nothing more for his son, but to join the Imperial Legion. But his son didn't share the same devotion he had for the Empire. Instead, his son chose to party with girls, gamble, and drink till his pissed drunk. It goes without saying that he was disappointed with his son and if he could, he would throw him away and disown him. But Zale was his only son and his wife couldn't bare anymore children. He was stuck with Zale, the disappointment, and must endure the shame he's brought to their family.

Zale was brought in front of his father and was met with the same look of disappointment and resent that he's always encountered all through out his life. His father spared no words for Zale, for he knew none of them would ever get through the boy's thick skull. Instead, he turned his gaze away and told the captain to set a course back to Thanatos. Normally, civilians don't have the authority to tell Imperial officers what to do, but Zale's father was no ordinary civilian. He was also one of the Empire's biggest financial supporters, thus giving him some authority and leverage in the Imperial Ranks.

Zale was taken to one of the luxury cabins in the ship, his doors were locked and guards were posted outside. It would be foolish to try and escape through the windows because at the height the airship is flying, Zale would impact the water like he would a concrete floor.

Fortunately, the Empire abandoned its assault to the pirates and the town of Steepshore. They turned their vessel around and sailed back to Thanatos with Zale.

(As per request) Zale Corin has left Wrozan. His chapter 6 has ended. 2,000 XP awarded. (double XP for players below level 50, 4000 XP earned in total). Black Mage has been unlocked for Zale Corin! He will return in Chapter 7.