The Battle of Nujel'm Cove
Lord Frostmore had cast a web throughout the kingdom in search of anything that might lead to Captain DeGraaf’s location. His efforts paid off one random afternoon when one of his agents, a man named Thufir, brought him an intersting piece of information. Thufir spotted DeGraaf and his pirate fleet, a ragged band of murderers and theives north of Nujel’m. They were stationed on the northern cove preparing for the final assault on Vesper and the ultimate revenge against the Agrivar family.
The various ships they boarded and captured and the pillage of Monglow were not enough. DeGraaf wanted to crush Piram, and in order to do that he would need a fleet that rivaled the Armada at Vesper. Not an easy task by any standard, but he had been unstoppable so far and this bloated his allready magnanimous ego. When men are motivated by revenge their other faculties are often blinded to the reality that looms close.
An important report such as this must be verified by first hand knowledge. In order to make a convincing case to the Governor, Lord Frostmore would have to set out to Nujel’m himself, and that’s exactly what he did. He dressed himself in pirates clothing and assumed the identity once again. Once he arrived to the cove he had seen exactly what he expected to see. The majority of DeGraaf’s fleet was out on the open water, but he left a few behind. They bore the markings of his fleet, flying the pirate flag high on the mast. With the report validated Lord Frostmore slipped out as quietly as he strode in and hurried back to Vesper.
Back in Vepser…..
Lord Frostmore hurried to the Governor’s office. He burst through the door starling Governor Quacklebush. Lord Alward and Stry were there as well, representatives of the Guard and the Armada, respectively. The Governor spoke, “Ah, nice of you to join us Lord Frostmore. We were just discussing plans to sure up the eastern coast against the pirates and reviewing our weak points discovered during the unsuccessful invasion the other month.” With a slight grin on his face Frostmore communicated his findings to the group. “I have a location on DeGraaf’s fleet. They’re based in the northern cove of Nujel’m. They are gathering their strength against us.” Quacklebush’s long beard jiggled about as he bellowed with great laughter. “Exceptional work Lord Frostmore! Your little birdies have done us a great justice; you should feed them well!” He chuckled. “This is just the news we needed to hear gentlemen. It is time to rouse the guard and furl the sails.” The Governor proudly stood up from his seat and clenched his fist. “We will put an end to these pirateers before they get any closer to the city. Piram will be pleased.” Alward added, “I know that cove my lord; we could box them in with our ships and pummel them until they yield to us. It is the perfect place to trap them.” Frostmore continued, “We will take them unawares. They will be crippled before they even realize we are on them.” Stry asked, “And what will we do with these pirates once we have them under our control?” Frostmore and Alward replied in synchrony, “Hang them!” The Governor smashed his fist on the table and the three other men fell silent, “NO! This is Vesper. We have laws here, ours and the Kings and we cannot stoop to the level of these savages. We will put these pirates in chains and bring them to the city jail to await trial. Their crimes will be dealt with through civil means and when they’re found guilty of their crimes….. Then we hang them! Make the preparations. We sail on the marrow.” The three other men all looked at each other and nodded, then left.
At the Northern Cove of Nujel’m...
The pirates were loading some of the last provisions and arms onto the two main warships. Haac, the First Officer in the fleet, was inspecting the cannons before ordering them to armed and ready to fire. In a night or two they would be departing for the long awaited voyage to Vesper, to plunder and gold. He was convinced now more than ever that all of DeGraaf’s pretty words and shallow promises would come true. Haac wasn’t fueled by revenged like his captain was, in fact he didn’t care at all about the Agrivars or what they did to DeGraaf so long ago. All he could see and taste was the gold.
“Bancroft make sure those barrels are cleaned, and inspect the rigging! Consuella, take stock of cannonballs, torches, fuses and powder! We are going to use everything we have when we reach Vesper. Agrivar and his new friends will crumble when we ambush them unawares. When we sink the mighty ships in their very docks they will be scrambling and disoriented. Then we will land on their shores and strike them with all our might the midst of the chaos!”
“Soon weh get ta Vesper, weh hav mos of da supplies. Weh gonna take dem by suprize! Hit hard!”“Aye Haac,” the captain replied. “But we should be ready for them. Vesper is ripe my Orc-friend, and the Agrivar will rue the day!”
The two war ships cradled the cove waiting for the other smaller ships in the fleet to return from their duties. The schooners paroled the water while the fishing boats caught the days meal for the men. DeGraaf looked out toward the water searching for signs of the other men. He caught sight of a handful of familiar sails, not nearly as much as he would have expected. The Captains face grew confused. His ships were coming in fast as if something was chasing them. Suddenly, three massive ships flying high the bright flag of Vesper, were almost twice the size of one of DeGraaf’s warships and rounded the opening of the cove. Realizing what was happening the captain yelled, “Man the cannons! Raise the sails! The enemy is upon us!” Thunder boomed in the air as the enemy fired its mighty cannons on the fleeing ships. The handful of pirates watched helplessly from the warships as their fleet sank beneath the water.
DeGraaf was furious, but the Armada was swift and fell upon them before they able to respond significantly. Only one of the ships was fully manned and armed. One the Vesper ships took out the nearly defensely warship with little effort. Then they surrounded DeGraafs main ship. “Fire all cannons! Now you filthy scum! Now!” boomed DeGraaf. He was being attacked from both side now and before all the cannons the Vesper ships had done severe damage to DeGraaf’s vessel. The Armada, led by the Lord Governor Quacklebush himself, had outwitted the pirate and all his schemes. Now the captain of the broken fleet heard the Governor yell out to his men, “Board the ship!!!!! We take them alive!”
The Governor spoke with an air confidence and determination. “Lay down your arms pirates and yield to us. We do not wish your deaths and will offer you the mercy of surrender.” Haac turned around to meet Quacklebush face to face. The Orcs eyes turn red in a frenzied rage and he roared, “Never!!!” He leaped toward the Governor with an assorted blow of attacks. Quaklebush blocked, parried, and skillfully evaded each one of the Orcs freakishly strong blows.
They danced the mortal dance upon the deck of the ship while Cauchemar of the Vanguard and a mage named Lore, a friend of the city, were having trouble keeping DeGraaf from aiding his first mate. Quacklebush saw an opening through the Orc’s tornado of strikes and seized it, quickly. He plunged his cutlass through the orcs armor and withdrew it, opening a giant wound in the orcs side. Haac dropped to the deck, montionless and in an egregiously large pool of his own blood.
As Haac lay slain on the floor Quacklebush was able to aid the two men fending off DeGraaf’s blows. With three opponents on him the pirate captain couldn’t defend himself against all those swords and was quickly wounded in the leg. “You bastards! Where is the Agrivar! I will gut him like a pig! Argh!!!!” The only response the pirate received was the Governors gruff voice saying, “Put him in chains and bring him back to Vesper with us. We are done here.” With that the barely scratch Armada took their prize and sailed back to Vesper.
Quacklebush in his foresight had ordered Frostmore to stay behind with Piram and Tian, who both initially protested vigorously at first until they saw the wisdom in the decision. The Governor knew that bringing them along could create an unpredictable set of variables and this was too important to allow an emotional out lash to jeopardize the mission. The encounter proved to him that he made the right choice because it wasn’t just a member of the Vanguard who was at stake, it was the entire city of Vesper, everything he his predecessor worked so hard to build.
Back in Vesper, after the Armada returned home….
Frostmore was summoned to the jail by the Governor. “So did you bring DeGraaf back alive and unharmed?” “Aye, alive we did, but we took him with a flesh wound. It went precisely as we discussed at my office the other night except that I had to fell the orc. He couldn’t be subdued. DeGraaf was my main concern,” said the Governor. Frostmore shrugged with impunity, “I will sleep well tonight knowing the world is free of one more orc.” They both allowed each other a slight grin. “Come in Lord Frostmore, and gaze upon our prize this evening.”
As Frostmore entered the jail and looked upon the disheveled pirate licking his wound and his pride Frostmore smiled wickedly. He took a slow deep breath and he could smell the blood seeping through DeGraaf’s bandage. It titillated him. Cauchemar and Lore were already there and noded. Frostmore turned to the Governor. “I would take great pleasure in extracting any information you might need my lord. I still have the skills taught to me by the Ebon Skull, I could use the practice.” “Nay Joseph, it won’t be necessary. We have all we need behind those very bars. We will put him on trial as I said and this washed up pirate will seal his own fate, with his own words. Then, maybe… we will have ourselves a good hanging.” Frostmore smirked. “The mighty DeGraaf,” he chuckled. “Frostmore, I want you to send word to Moonglow. See if they wish to be present during this trial. They were the true victims of the pirate.” “Aye my lord I shall do that as soon as I get back to the rookery.”
As Frostmore and Quacklebush walked out of the jail to leave the pirate sulking in his own loathsome demise. “Well done Governor,” said Frostmore, “I will go and inform Piram, he will be relieved at least and jubilant at best.” Quacklebush put a hand on Frostmore’s shoulder and had a big smile on his face. “You did well too my friend, we all did well on this day.”
