The Pheonixclaw incident
Nov 14, 2015 8:12:02 GMT -5
Post by Taurian on Nov 14, 2015 8:12:02 GMT -5
{I'm putting this in the Salamandastron thread because it pertains to the badger lord, and there's really no need to make a whole thread for the estuary. These events have taken place in the PAST, around 19 seasons ago, when Molan was in their 20s (in human years). These events take place in the EASTERN ESTUARY and the surrounding areas.}
"Cap'n, there's a ship 'anging 'round by the cove. She's a bit too close fer comfort," Urscar Waterlion reported. Ilira Riverbull groaned, and gripped her claw-pike tighter. She turned to Molan, who was sitting beside her.
"Mol, m'lad, how'd ye like tae take care o' this'un?" Ilira grinned at the badger. Molan, eager as always, readily accepted the mission.
"But of course, thankee, Cap'n! Do I get tae choose my crew?"
"Aye, Mol. I'd appreciate it if'n ye'd take a senior h'officer with ye, but I trust ye tae choose who ye will."
Molan selected Tiol Waterlion, Winyr Riverbull, Urscar Waterlion, Madrin Riverbull, Ahea Waterlion, Ilira, and Captain Renwol Filonberry, a hare, who had come from a southern fortress in an act of goodwill.
----
As the crew neared the cove, Molan felt a paw on their shoulder, keeping them back. They turned to see who it was, and stared up into the face of a regal badger lady, with an axepike in her paw. She gazed sternly at them and shook her head. "Stay back, Lord Lasair!" She warned in a ghostly, booming voice. Then she dissipated, and Molan was left startled and confused. Ronwol came up behind them.
"Sah, are ye alright? Y'look like ye'd just seen a ghost."
"I think I may have," Molan replied in an astonished tone.
"If it was a badger lord, ye'd best listen to 'em, sah."
"She wasn't from the Maelstrom, Cap'n. 'er eyes were pink 'n reddish, like bloody pearls."
"By the fur! Lady Cregga Rose Eyes visited ye? Ye'd do yeself good tae listen tae her, Mol."
"She told me tae stay back, Cap'n." Molan looked guilty as they said this.
"Well then. Pick a scout, an' wait back 'ere with Ilira while that lucky rotter 'n myself go on ahead."
Ilira immediately set to arguing when Ronwal suggested the plan. "Nae, ye fool o' a 'are. I'll be a-goin' with the scout. Cannae risk our link tae the badger mountain, can we? Urscar, come with me. We're goin' tae scout out this ship."
Urscar saluted, and the two otters loped off towards the cove, falling onto all fours for added stealth and speed.
The waiting was torturous. Every sound could be the scouts returning, or an enemy approaching. Ronwal kept his paw on Molan's shoulder in a comforting gesture. They went over the plan many times over. If it were a vermin ship, Molan, Urscar, Ahea, Madrin, and Ronwol would stand and warn the ship to leave the coast, while Ilira, Winyr, and Tiol would swim underneath the ship and direct her out to sea, possibly cutting her anchor and damaging her rudder. If they were friends, Tiol would run back and tell the elders to prepare for company.
----
"RUN! RUN! RUN AND GET THE GUARD! THEY'RE COMING!" Ilira's shout broke through the tense air. Tiol started running, but was cut down by an arrow from the sea.
Behind Ilira was twoscore vermin, armed to the teeth, led by a strange foxlike creature. "GET DOWN," Ilira called as she skidded to a stop behind the rocks the group was crouching by.
"Ilira, wot 'appened to Urscar?" Ronwal asked worriedly, even though he already knew the answer.
"Dead," came the expected answer. The otter captain struggled to her feet, and growled and clutched her weapon so hard rivulets of blood sprang from the wounds on her paw. She winced. "What's yer orders, m'Lord?" She asked a horrified Molan. The other otters also looked towards the badger.
Horror became rage as Molan thought about the situation. Two of their good friends were dead, another injured. The vermin needed to pay. Without consulting anyone, and ignoring the Badger Lady who again appeared to bar their way, they yelled, "ATTAAAAAK! MAELSTROOOOOOOOOOOOOM!" and leaped from behind the rocks. And the others followed, grim looks in their eyes. It was suicide for six to fight twoscore, even if one was a badger, but they would stand beside Molan, and make sure at least they got out of this alive.
The fighting was brutal. The Bloodwrath claimed Molan, and they fought with the strength of a volcano, destroying vermin with their teeth and claws (they had never gotten the hang of the claw-pike). Ilira and Ronwal fought back to back, a whirlwind of claw-pikes and punches. Ahea and Winyr paired up and went down laughing in the faces of their enemies. Madrin guarded Molan, struggling to keep up with the berserk badger. As Ilira collapsed, the remainder of the Estuary Guard came into view, alerted by Molan's berserk cry. At a sign from the foxlike creature, the vermin withdrew and returned to their ship, hastily raising anchor and putting out to sea. They caught a current, and were soon too far to go after.
Molan's vision cleared, and they saw the carnage. At least a score of vermin were dead, but the bodies of Madrin, Ahea and Winyr lay among them. Molan started with a cry when their eyes fell on Ronwal crouched over the lifeless form of Captain Ilira Riverbull. The hare looked up at Molan's cry, and his face was streaked with tears. "We forgive ye, Lord Forgepaw o' Salamandastron," he said quietly. Molan pulled Ronwal and Ilira's carcass into their arms, and hugged them for long after Ronwal joined his friend in the Dark Forest.
----
Molan couldn't face any of the Guard for weeks after the incident. Milren and Sybael came by every day to try to comfort them, but Molan turned them away each time. They talked a great deal to Cregga, who appeared to them almost every day. Ilira and Ronwal would appear to them in dreams occasionally, and they talked with both of them. They avoided discussing the incident, and Molan was glad of that. But Cregga said it'd never go away if Molan just ignored it. And it didn't. It ate at Molan's mind, haunted them. Cregga offered her help to get Molan over the incident, but the younger badger always refused, and Cregga never pressed the issue.
A season later, Molan packed their belongings into a satchel, and prepared to leave. Before they could slip away, Milren and Sybael confronted them.
"We want ye tae 'ave these," Sybael said, as Milren handed Molan Ilira's claw-pikes and her captain's ring.
"An' these," Milren continued as Sybael presented Molan with Ronwal's ring, a badge from his tunic, and the paper from Salamandastron that had sent Ronwal to the Maelstrom. "The paper 'n badge'll get ye intae the mountain," Milren explained.
Both otters stood on their tiptoes to kiss Molan's cheek. "Be well, Lord Lasair," Sybael said softly.
"Aye. Ye take care o' yersel' d'ye hear?" Milren seconded.
Molan managed a small smile, and just barely fought off tears. They nodded, and hugged the otters. "I--I'll miss ye," they stuttered. And then they turned from the Maelstrom, and began the long trek to the mountain of their dreams.
----------
{the incident is known as the Phoenixclaw incident because the name of the vermin ship was Phoenixclaw.}
"Cap'n, there's a ship 'anging 'round by the cove. She's a bit too close fer comfort," Urscar Waterlion reported. Ilira Riverbull groaned, and gripped her claw-pike tighter. She turned to Molan, who was sitting beside her.
"Mol, m'lad, how'd ye like tae take care o' this'un?" Ilira grinned at the badger. Molan, eager as always, readily accepted the mission.
"But of course, thankee, Cap'n! Do I get tae choose my crew?"
"Aye, Mol. I'd appreciate it if'n ye'd take a senior h'officer with ye, but I trust ye tae choose who ye will."
Molan selected Tiol Waterlion, Winyr Riverbull, Urscar Waterlion, Madrin Riverbull, Ahea Waterlion, Ilira, and Captain Renwol Filonberry, a hare, who had come from a southern fortress in an act of goodwill.
----
As the crew neared the cove, Molan felt a paw on their shoulder, keeping them back. They turned to see who it was, and stared up into the face of a regal badger lady, with an axepike in her paw. She gazed sternly at them and shook her head. "Stay back, Lord Lasair!" She warned in a ghostly, booming voice. Then she dissipated, and Molan was left startled and confused. Ronwol came up behind them.
"Sah, are ye alright? Y'look like ye'd just seen a ghost."
"I think I may have," Molan replied in an astonished tone.
"If it was a badger lord, ye'd best listen to 'em, sah."
"She wasn't from the Maelstrom, Cap'n. 'er eyes were pink 'n reddish, like bloody pearls."
"By the fur! Lady Cregga Rose Eyes visited ye? Ye'd do yeself good tae listen tae her, Mol."
"She told me tae stay back, Cap'n." Molan looked guilty as they said this.
"Well then. Pick a scout, an' wait back 'ere with Ilira while that lucky rotter 'n myself go on ahead."
Ilira immediately set to arguing when Ronwal suggested the plan. "Nae, ye fool o' a 'are. I'll be a-goin' with the scout. Cannae risk our link tae the badger mountain, can we? Urscar, come with me. We're goin' tae scout out this ship."
Urscar saluted, and the two otters loped off towards the cove, falling onto all fours for added stealth and speed.
The waiting was torturous. Every sound could be the scouts returning, or an enemy approaching. Ronwal kept his paw on Molan's shoulder in a comforting gesture. They went over the plan many times over. If it were a vermin ship, Molan, Urscar, Ahea, Madrin, and Ronwol would stand and warn the ship to leave the coast, while Ilira, Winyr, and Tiol would swim underneath the ship and direct her out to sea, possibly cutting her anchor and damaging her rudder. If they were friends, Tiol would run back and tell the elders to prepare for company.
----
"RUN! RUN! RUN AND GET THE GUARD! THEY'RE COMING!" Ilira's shout broke through the tense air. Tiol started running, but was cut down by an arrow from the sea.
Behind Ilira was twoscore vermin, armed to the teeth, led by a strange foxlike creature. "GET DOWN," Ilira called as she skidded to a stop behind the rocks the group was crouching by.
"Ilira, wot 'appened to Urscar?" Ronwal asked worriedly, even though he already knew the answer.
"Dead," came the expected answer. The otter captain struggled to her feet, and growled and clutched her weapon so hard rivulets of blood sprang from the wounds on her paw. She winced. "What's yer orders, m'Lord?" She asked a horrified Molan. The other otters also looked towards the badger.
Horror became rage as Molan thought about the situation. Two of their good friends were dead, another injured. The vermin needed to pay. Without consulting anyone, and ignoring the Badger Lady who again appeared to bar their way, they yelled, "ATTAAAAAK! MAELSTROOOOOOOOOOOOOM!" and leaped from behind the rocks. And the others followed, grim looks in their eyes. It was suicide for six to fight twoscore, even if one was a badger, but they would stand beside Molan, and make sure at least they got out of this alive.
The fighting was brutal. The Bloodwrath claimed Molan, and they fought with the strength of a volcano, destroying vermin with their teeth and claws (they had never gotten the hang of the claw-pike). Ilira and Ronwal fought back to back, a whirlwind of claw-pikes and punches. Ahea and Winyr paired up and went down laughing in the faces of their enemies. Madrin guarded Molan, struggling to keep up with the berserk badger. As Ilira collapsed, the remainder of the Estuary Guard came into view, alerted by Molan's berserk cry. At a sign from the foxlike creature, the vermin withdrew and returned to their ship, hastily raising anchor and putting out to sea. They caught a current, and were soon too far to go after.
Molan's vision cleared, and they saw the carnage. At least a score of vermin were dead, but the bodies of Madrin, Ahea and Winyr lay among them. Molan started with a cry when their eyes fell on Ronwal crouched over the lifeless form of Captain Ilira Riverbull. The hare looked up at Molan's cry, and his face was streaked with tears. "We forgive ye, Lord Forgepaw o' Salamandastron," he said quietly. Molan pulled Ronwal and Ilira's carcass into their arms, and hugged them for long after Ronwal joined his friend in the Dark Forest.
----
Molan couldn't face any of the Guard for weeks after the incident. Milren and Sybael came by every day to try to comfort them, but Molan turned them away each time. They talked a great deal to Cregga, who appeared to them almost every day. Ilira and Ronwal would appear to them in dreams occasionally, and they talked with both of them. They avoided discussing the incident, and Molan was glad of that. But Cregga said it'd never go away if Molan just ignored it. And it didn't. It ate at Molan's mind, haunted them. Cregga offered her help to get Molan over the incident, but the younger badger always refused, and Cregga never pressed the issue.
A season later, Molan packed their belongings into a satchel, and prepared to leave. Before they could slip away, Milren and Sybael confronted them.
"We want ye tae 'ave these," Sybael said, as Milren handed Molan Ilira's claw-pikes and her captain's ring.
"An' these," Milren continued as Sybael presented Molan with Ronwal's ring, a badge from his tunic, and the paper from Salamandastron that had sent Ronwal to the Maelstrom. "The paper 'n badge'll get ye intae the mountain," Milren explained.
Both otters stood on their tiptoes to kiss Molan's cheek. "Be well, Lord Lasair," Sybael said softly.
"Aye. Ye take care o' yersel' d'ye hear?" Milren seconded.
Molan managed a small smile, and just barely fought off tears. They nodded, and hugged the otters. "I--I'll miss ye," they stuttered. And then they turned from the Maelstrom, and began the long trek to the mountain of their dreams.
----------
{the incident is known as the Phoenixclaw incident because the name of the vermin ship was Phoenixclaw.}
bye!
