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ST Despite the warnings of their crew, Carmine and Corve have no choice but to take their river barge across the waters claimed by the Walker in Darkness from his cursed Citadel mere miles from Great Forks. Moving quietly during the day and running quickly and alertly at night, the barge makes the first day of passage without trouble. Come the second night in the shadowy waters of the Deathlord, there are signs of ill fortune.
ST In the water behind and ahead of their barge Carmine notices dark shapes at the bottom of the river where it swirls in pools of inky glass-like transparency. While she can't guess what they may be, their presence troubles her greatly when the movement of the ship does not remove them from her sight.
Carmine frowns down into the water. She waves Corve over
Corve raises his eyes from his inspection of his rifle, shoving the last bullet in and closing it with a click. He stands up and walks over, stopping next to her. "What's wrong..?"
Carmine points down into the water
Corve shakes his head. "It's nothing. Just the water playing tricks on you, love."
ST The dark shapes still ripple under the surface, following the ship along. But they could be just the water...it does strange things around here, the sailors say.
Sailor steps hesitantly up to the two Solars, cap in hand. This is the man who first offered to swear to Corve and Xar after their mercenaries were defeated. "Sir, ah, ma'am?"
Corve turns to the sailor, raising a brow. "Yeah?"
Sailor "It be custom to offer blood and salt into the water and make sign that we offer no ill-will to the Walker. The crew are worried that we not be showin proper respect." He twists the cap in his hands, obviously having been forced into speaking the crew's fears to their new masters.
Corve looks at Carmine, mostly to see what her thoughts on it are.
Carmine turns her frown on Corve, though she stops as the crewman approaces and asks his question. "If it's tradition..."
Corve shrugs a little, looking at the sailor. "Well, go get some salt, then." He turns to Carmine. "I'm rather hesitant to give it any of our own blood..." he says carefully. He's not sure if Solar blood is actually any different in this sort of cases than human blood, but if the Walker finds out they're Solars, it may get ugly.
Sailor "And the makin a show of respect and submission, ah..sir?"
Corve shakes his head. "I'm afraid I'm not too good with rituals... I wouldn't know where to begin."
Sailor "Ah, we can take care of that sirs..but everyone has to do it."
Sailor is apparently afraid that this might be a sticking point for two Solars.
Carmine "So you think we should ... what?"
Sailor "Ah, it's just a simple prayer, face to the deck and such. Acknowledging the power o' the Lord and vowing him no ill-will an such.." He tries to make light of it.
Corve doesn't like the sound of that. "Ah..." he says, turning to Carmine.
Carmine doesn't look too pleased either
Sailor "We, ah, haven't much time, sir. Afore dark be best."
Corve sighs a little and scratches his chin slightly. "I suppose it'd be best," he murmurs, rather reluctantly. He looks at Carmine again. "What do you think?"
Carmine "...I'm not bowing to the dead. Something like that is what lost me my memories."
Sailor looks even more nervous "Ma'am they keep watch on their waters..there might be um..well troubles"
Corve bites the inside of his cheek. He could try to convince her, but... really, he doesn't have it in him. She's right- bowing to the dead is not something he feels as bad about, but he can see where she's coming from.
Carmine "There will be, if they try anything."
Sailor "Tha rest though...uh the crew can be making the prayer and the salt and blood? There not be a problem with that, ma'am?"
Corve looks at the sailor. "You go ahead and perform the ritual. We won't interfere... but... we can't participate. We have a grudging history with the dead and their lords; we're not ready to submit ourselves to them." He says it as pelasantly as he can.
Sailor nods and backs away from the edge of the boat, hurrying toward the others. A short time later most of the sailors have put a pinch of salt into the waters along with a few drops of blood. One at a time they pause in their duties to bow to the deck and pray quietly for safe passage.
Corve mutters something in Brumish and kisses Carmine's cheek softly, wrapping his arm around her waist.
Sailor screams, near an hour later, when he takes his turn to pray and offer the blood and salt to the river. One of the vast black shapes that has been trailing the ship rises up from the deep and strikes at the man leaning over the edge to offer his salt. The knife in his hand slips into the water as the beast bites down, swallowing the sailor in one gulp.
Creature gulps the man down its maw, looking around with empty sockets for further targets. Tattered and water-bloated the giant corpse is the sewn-together remains of several water-dwelling predators the most recognizable of which is the deep-river dragons that feed on river dolphins and giant turtles.
Carmine whirls and turns at the scream, wrapped in violet light as eminence flashes to her hand, the edge glowing white hot, burning crimson sigils lighting along the length of it as she charges fullpelt at the creature, whirling Eminence around to strike it twice
Corve spins around, narrowing his eyes and unholstering his rifle. Without pause, he takes aim and fires straight at the beast's gulping throat, sending the bullet with outstanding precision right under the creatures throat, knowing that by the time the bullet hits, Carmine will have sword-in-hand.
Creature screams, spraying bits of itself and the unfortunate sailor across the deck. Turns towards the Exalted pair, snarling hate and drooling blood.
Creature is stricken by Carmine's glowing sword and falls under the assault, splitting in two and disgorging its guts and most of the former sailor, across the barge's deck as the rear half of it slides back into the water.
Corve looks around, trying to spot any other attack as he moves to the center of the ship's deck, essence slithering over him and bursting on his forehead as he prepares for the next attack, which he is almost sure will come.
Creature has, by its death, called for the other three shapes that had been following she ship. And so they rise, larger and stronger then the one that just died. One of them towers above the water, larger then the entire barge upon which the Solars stand. It roars in rage!
Giant Creature glows with Underworld pictographs tattooed into its dead flesh. Written in molten soulsteel, the tattoos roar in dissonant harmony with the rest of the creature. Armor plating and vicious spikes cover what is, possibly, a still-living being bound to the Deathlord's will. If Corve and Carmine had not personally experienced a true Behemoth they might think they face one now.
Carmine grins up at the monsters as they tower above her, then runs and leaps onto the biggest one, trailing her sword up it as she climbs for his head, glowing red sparks pouring off it, dropping steaming into the water below as she does so.
Giant Creature shakes its head as if knocking away a fly and growls as splatters of its blue-black blood hit the water. It growls at Carmine, promising terrible retribution. Lunging forward with its fang-filled mouth the beast closes its jaws around Carmine's body.
Giant Creature howls as the blade spears through its mouth and yanks away, leaving one of its cheeks a flapping mess of skin. Dripping blood all over Carmine, the beast roars!
Giant Creature The faster of the other two darts in, mouth wide, trying to swallow Corve as its younger "sibbling" did the sailor.
Giant Creature is not able to swallow Corve but it gets the man into its mouth and starts chewing painfully!
Corve screams as Carmine is chomped, his rifle coming up with outstanding speed to aim at the creature! It distracts him though, and even though his reflexes are, at the moment, preternatural, he feels the sharp pain of the smaller creature's maw on him. He puts the barrel of his rifle to the side of the top of beast's head and unloads it twice.
Giant Creature The smaller creature rears backwards as Corve flies out of its mouth through the new hole in the top of its snout. Thrashing around in agony, the beast's screams attract its companion, who swipes at the Solar with its claws!
Giant Creature Of course the creature fails totally.
Corve bounces on the hurt creature's head, dancing with shadow-like movements out of its companion's way.
Carmine "Corve" Carmine shouts out from the creatures mouth, digging the sunlight blade into its tongue, parting it as she leaps from the things mouth, dropping down the side of the beast and spinning as she falls, cutting out great slices as she drops down its side.
Giant Creature On the other side of the ship, Corve can see the two Dragon-Blooded fighting off another pair of undead water monsters.
Corve spins around as he hears her call his name and grins at her. "No problem, love," he says, carelessly unloading another bullet into the back of the creature who tried to chew him up, and then, as the other lunges, mouth wide at him, he lets go of three more shots right into its maw, the bullets searing the top of the monster's mouth and bursting out the other side.
Carmine stands on the tail of the monster as blood pours from the three gaping wounds she cut in it's flank, smiling as it turns to snap at her once more, letting it close it's jaws around her and using the force to drive Emenence up and through its skull, leaping away as it falls to the river with a wave that rocks the barge almost to the point of capsizing.
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