Chapter 20, in which the Adventurers finds a submarine and drink and fight with its crew

Vodok
"You can take a dwarf out of Kazordoon, but you cant take Kazordoon out of a dwarf." Vodivir replied to Aiyare.

Tujex
Tujex watched as the dwarves came back onto the ship, covered in blood. He sighed, brushing some of his long white elven hair form his face. "I wanted to be out there." The ship was headed towards Vega shortly after that. Tujex sat on a rail staring out at the sea.

Tojiliz
Tojiliz sees the dwarfs retreating back to the ship, so he sadly slinks back onto the deck. He asks Vodivir, "Did you get that guy I saw you guys were fighting?" Seeing Vodivirs face, he suspects something not too good…

His attention was now turned to where they were going. Folda was but a distant speck, and another island was closing in.

Red Un
"Oi captain', what's that island?" asked Red Un. "I've never seen it before..."

"Hmm...it's new to me too" the captain replied. "P'raps we should check it out?"

"Sure" said Red Un. "I mean, what're the odds that we'll run into trouble AGAIN?"

Vodok
"Nah, no' fishy a' all... A new islan' only jumps up from no where and we 'APPEN te be 'unted by some 'ighly powerfull Soceity o' some sort..." the short dwarf said to Red Un.

Vodivir shook his head. "He's someone I want dead at all costs. He escaped." Vodivir muttered.

Red Un
The ship moved up and bumped into the island. It shivered slightly. The captain looked a little worriedly at Red Un.

"Uhm...does islands shiver often?"

Red Un looked a little worriedly at the island.

"I don't think they do. Let's get outta 'ere. Now."

"Right."

Tojiliz
Tojiliz sailed through the air, and as he passed by Red Un's ear, he whispered "Why me?"

When he climbed back aboard the ship, he asked Red Un "Why did the little island shudd-" He was cut off by a load moaning from the island.

He asked Red Un, " Do islands usually moan when you hit them?"

Kalistra
Kalistra gave a little giggle as Tojiliz sailed through the air when the ship bumped into the island.

She walked towards the starboard side of the ship, which was already being turned away from the island, and peered of the railing.

"Okay people I have a riddle for you. What’s big, green and lives in the sea?"

Vodok
"Hmmm... 'Aybe i's some sort'a rare fish or summin'..." the short dwarf said thoughtfully answering Kalistra's question. "No, of course not. It must be... A ship! Yes, a ship... No, ships don’t LIVE in the sea... It must be a fish then." Vodivir said, involving him in Kalistras riddle. He looked out on the sea for some help. "Oh..." Vodivir said as he looked on the sea, seeing something that shocked him rather much...

Red Un
The thing that rose was covered in seaweed. It smelled terribly. But the strangest thing was...it was singing! And not just any song, but a old dwarven drinking song! The captain blinked slowly.

"Could it be...?"

Suddenly, a hatch flew up, and a grey-bearded dwarf stuck out his head.

"Oi...'o arr 'ya?"

Red Un backed away in shock.

"That accent...this...ship...are you...Numo?"

"Arr...y' 'eac 'e 'ame? 'ye, 'm Numo 'right..."

The captain stared in awe at the old dwarf that spoke an ancient dwarven tongue.

"But...I thought you were just a legend! The dwarf that built an...underwater-ship and was cursed to sail under the seas for eternity! Numo!"

Then, another dwarf looked up.

"Cap'n...wot izzat? Ah! Yer dwarves! Well call the fishes and cut m' beard! It must've been...at least 400 years since we saw dwarves 'round here."

Red Un stood still, in complete shock as a large bunch of dwarves started to appear, all with long, grey beards and the smells of the sea.

"Arr...'ould 'ave 'ome ale 'ow..."

The captain blinked again.

"Some ale? Well sure! Come aboard, fellow dwarves!"

And thus, the legendary Captain Numo and his crew of cursed dwarves climbed aboard the steamship.

Dargon The Great
"Who are these dwarves?" Dargon asked Red Un, who seemed to know then, "And how’d they manage to go underwater without sinking? An interesting magic..."

Red Un
"Well...it's a long story...a very long story in fact."

"Y'err 'ivin' 'e ale, 'eh?"

"Yeah, go have some ale. I might even join ya later..."

Red Un turned back to Dargon.

"Well, y'see, a couple 'o thousand years ago, Cap'n Numo built a ship that could move underwater, with the help o' steam, engineerin' an' some magic. However, according to legend, Durin didn't like engineers at all... He never has, it seems...so he sent the poor Cap'n an' his crew on a...one-way journey, so to speak. They were cursed to sail under the seas for eternity. Another story says he just got very drunk one night, made some insulting remarks 'bout the Emperors wife and left early the next mornin'..."

Tujex
Tujex sat not to far from Red Un and listened to the story he told. He quickly sat up from the rail remembering a story of a ship that could sail underwater, and the cursed crew who sailed within it. He grabbed his sword from where it lay on the ground next to him. He started after the sea smelling dwarves, humming an elven folksong. "It’s not everyday you get to meet a legend," Tujex said with a grin.

Vodok
Vodok and Vodivir came up to Red Un. "Yeah... That’s how it went..." Vodivir said. "They 'ad to 'ave a lot'a food with 'em..." Vodok muttered. An elf from the crew came up to the two dwarfs and the half dwarf. "You dwarfs have very silly legends..." he said. A dwarf stepped out from under the water machine. Seeing two dwarfs´, a half dwarf and an elf discussing something was like seeing a sheep and a wolf deciding if they should boil a stone or eat it raw for dinner. Which no one had seen, of course. Well, it wasn’t THAT rare but it was extremely rare...

Red Un
Meanwhile, the ancient captain and his crew had proceeded to the dining room and had emptied many barrels of ale. Red Un had followed them and sat next to the dwarf that spoke a tongue that was at least a bit understandable.

"So, why did ya decide to resurface now, after all these years?", Red Un asked.

"Well, 'twas gettin' mighty borin' under t'sea, an' 'tlooked like sum sort 'o sea-monster or somethin' was abound. So we decided t' surface at a place where many ships used t' pass by, an' 'ere we are."

Tujex
Tujex sat drinking a bottle of wine, watching the dwarfs gulp mug after mug of ale. He listened to them speak in a tongue that he had rarely heard the dwarves speak. He could understand a little of it, but most of it was nothing but gibberish. He understood enough to understand why the dwarves surfaced. He soon finished his wine, and moved to a seat closer to the dwarves. He approached one and held out his hand with a smile. "How are you?" he asked as the dwarf grabbed his hand. The dwarf had a strong grip that made Tujex grunt a little once the dwarf grabbed his hand.

Kalistra
Kalistra watched Captain Numo drink and sing dwarven songs and boast about past exploits, while sipping at a glass of wine. In all those centuries, he hadn't changed a bit. Smiling, Kalistra walked up to the dwarven legend and plunked herself down on his lap, ignoring his indignant squawk.

"Hey Nummi, do you still remember me? It’s been a while hasn't it? Drunk any good wine recently? Any nice dwarven ladies you've entertained? Good loot and treasures?" She asked the ancient dwarf in dwarfish dialect.

Vodok
The short dwarf followed the crew down under the ship for some refill of beers. He started pouring the ships beer into his own bottles in his backpack. Then he started drinking the ships beer while he was speaking to the crew a voice impossible to understand, unless you're used to it, which almost all dwarfs were.

Red Un
Red Un looked surprised as Kalistra sat down on Numos lap. Numo coughed, a bit embarrassed.

"Err...'o I 'now ye? 'an't remembe' seein' y' b'fore."

Red Uns expression changed from surprise to amusement.

"Hey Kalistra, I don't think Numor remembers all the women he's been with over the centuries. Tell me, how do ya know him?"

Numo looked around, desperately trying to escape the situation...

Tujex
Tujex had managed to escape the dwarfs death hold. He rubbed his sore hand and was glancing around the room when he noticed Kalistra sitting on Numo's lap. He let out a slight giggle that quickly turned into a loud hearty laugh. He turned to a dwarf who was sitting next to him, who had done the same. "Your captain’s quite the ladies man, eh?" Tujex asked with a grin as he rubbed his stomach that was sore from all his laughing.


Vodok
The short dwarf was very drunk now. Normally dwarfs stated disagreeing on everything when they got drunk. But Vodok was in a very peculiar situation. He was saying things that you couldn’t disagree about... "So... Yeh come from 'e sea, eh? Migh'y wet stuff..." the short dwarf said.

Red Un
Numo decided that the only way to escape the situation was to get excessively drunk. He got right to work...

Tujex
The dwarves weren't the only ones drunk. Tujex stammered around the room. "Hey you," he said to a dwarf who was finishing off another mug. "Teach me how to speak dwarf," Tujex said with a drunken grin. The dwarf opened his mouth to speak, but burped in Tujex's face and staggered back to his seat. "What have they been feedin' you?" Tujex exclaimed as he wobbled back up to the deck.

Dargon The Mastermind
Dargon was up on deck, not much liking a lot of drunken dwarves all together, makes a room smelly. However, he heard a clatter as a dwarf fell off his chair below, and after hearing many curses, burst into laughter. He immediately set to work. He grabbed his staff, and said "Whachichi Nomugo," which caused the staff to start morphing. It was a hideous sight and Dargon nearly dropped the staff. He would have, but it was morphing on him. As it progressed, he felt slightly taller, and looking at his hands, saw they were green. The change was complete, it would last about two minutes, Dargon now looked like an orc. He charged into the room where all the dwarves were drinking, yelling and screaming in what he hoped sounded like an orc shouting battlecries. The dwarves either yelled, or just jumped in their chairs. Dargon laughed, but soon his little prank backfired. A couple dwarves had axes and started chasing him around the room, he jumped onto a table, and ran back to the stairs, all the time yelling it was him. The morph wore off, and a few dwarves vomited as he demorphed. He jumped onto a chair and yelled, "Ta Da!" to the immensely annoyed dwarves.

Vodok
A drinking contest had started in the ship. It was between Vodok and one of the crew on the underwater ship. The dwarf Vodok was facing was extremely heavily built (For a dwarf, that is) and he didn’t seem to have a lot of brains... "I've go' ten gol' on'na land dwarf!" one of the crew yelled. "Ha! I'll double tha' to... Ummm... BAH! Le''s make it thirty gol'!" another dwarf yelled. Soon everyone was yelling their bets. A dwarf went up and filled two large cups with beer.

The drinking began...

Red Un
Red Un looked around. Dargon had disguised himself as an orc and gotten half of the crew to chase him with axes. Vodok had started a drinking contest. And Kalistra was sitting on the lap of one of the greatest dwarven legends in the world. All in all, a pretty good party...

Vodok
The dwarfs started drinking. Mug after mug was drained and place upside down on the table, to prove they were empty. Vodok was getting extremely drunk. The other dwarf hadn’t shown any sign of drunkeness yet. They continued. Vodok felt the contest was soon over, he wouldn’t be able to drink more beer, the other dwarf still didn’t move a muscle.

Vodivir had started moving towards the sea-dwarf. He looked at the dwarfs left hand which he was using to drink. His other hand was hidden under the table. Just as the dwarf was going to drink Vodivir pushed the mug out of his hand. "Oi! Yeh idio'!" The dwarf yelled, reacting very quickly for being a drunk dwarf. "Oh dear I'm soooooo sorry." Vodivir said sarcastically. The dwarf reacted quickly. His right hand formed a fist and was flying against Vodivir. Vodivir, against all odds caught his hand. Vodivir forced the dwarf's hand open. On his hand was a ring. A white one, a ring to stop drunkeness. "A CHEATER!" Vodivir yelled, throwing the ring to Vodok. Vodok, who was drunk, didn’t catch it. A member of the crew picked up the ring and shoved it on Vodok's finger. "This dwarf cheated!" Vodivir repeated. The bets were handed over, since it was an ancient law that if the dwarf you bet on cheated, you automatically lost your bet.

The dwarfs who had lost their money became very angry at that dwarf, and the dwarf on Vodivir.

Tojiliz
"BAH" Tojiliz screamed as the chair narrowly missed his face. He was probably the only person in the room who was not drunk, and also the only person not fighting. But that soon ended as a dwarf smashed him hard on the back of the head with a crudely made club. After he came back to his senses, he screamed louder as he turned around only to be smashed in the face by a chair.

Kalistra
Kalistra settled herself on Numo's lap and laughed cheerfully.

"Just like the old days isn’t it, sugar?"

Captain Numo looked at the assassin dourly, lifting yet another tankard. “Yes, just like the olden days, except that you haven't aged a bit, while I have."

Kalistra laughed. "Tisk tisk, such vanity. You are as handsome as always and well you know it! How about we see if you can still outdrink me, huh?"

"Alright, you are on!" the captain said more enthusiastically. "And Kali... You wouldn't really have told would you?" he asked carefully.

The assassin just laughed. "Drink up Nummi, you are lagging behind."

They were oblivious to the fight around them, and just kept drinking, until Kalistra finally set her mug on the table with a thump. She stood up slowly, swaying gently, then ran outside and heaved over the railing.

Kalistra came down the steps again, unsteadily. Captain Numo laughed uproariously. "Still can't hold your alcohol ey, can ye? Hand it over!"

Kalistra wiped her mouth and glared at Numo. She dug into her pocket and handed over 10 black pearls. "I can outdrink everyone but you! I can't help it you have alcohol in your blood!"

A dwarf nearby heard her boast. "You can outdrink anyone? I would like to see that! Come over here and prove yourself!"

Tujex
Tujex came back into the room. He had to duck instantly upon entering the room, as a chair smashed the wall beside him. "Well an old fashioned brawl, eh?" Tujex muttered as he ducked and dodged his way to where Captain Numo sat, and where the flying chairs didn't seem to be a problem. Tujex took a seat next to the dwarf and downed a bottle of a potion he made to prevent him from getting "too" drunk. He rubbed his eyes and watched the crowd of people, mostly dwarves, brawling in front of him.

Red Un
The captain of the ship came down the stairs and saw the brawl that had erupted.

"OI! ALL O' YA!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing.

"Lisn', I always enjoy a good brawl meself, but we really ought t'get some sleep now. Ya can brawl all ya want when we get back to Kazordoon, but as long as we're out on this cold, Durin-forsaken sea, we'll get up in the mornin’ before the sun is in the middle 'o the sky!"

Red Un nodded in agreement.

"Aye, we don't know what awaits us in the library tomorrow, so we ought to get some sleep..."

Then he walked out of the room, in search for a bed.

Kalistra
Kalistra stopped the mug of beer that was halfway to her lips. Sighing, she plunked it back on the table.

"We really ought to get to bed yes. Come on Nummi, let’s get you tucked in."

Captain Numo snorted indignantly. "Tucked in? Tucked in??? Rude little girl." But he got up anyway and went to find himself a bed.

The assassin walked up on deck unsteadily, and started heaving over the railing again.

"Heavens, this is going to be a terrible night!" the assassin groaned softly.

Vodok
All the dwarfs rushed to get one of the few beds. Vodivir and Vodok were pushed down by most dwarves, since they had lost money because of them. When they got up and went to the bit of the ship where the dwarves slept, it was full. Vodok and Vodivir quickly made up a plan. They went to the two beds where two dwarfs were already sleeping. Suddenly they both pushed the dwarfs off of their bed and jumped in themselves. "Oi! Yeh'll be sorry fer 'at..." one of the dwarfs muttered. Thirty seconds later every one were fighting everyone.

Red Un
Meanwhile, Red Un found himself a bed in a calmer location of the ship. Namely, the engine room.

"Ah, there's nothin' like sleeping in a room with roaring steam-engines..."

He quickly fell asleep...

"Oh, it's you again."

The Master was sitting in a corner of a dark room. Red Un stood in the middle of it, with black ghosts sweeping around him and making some pretty annoying noises.

"Yes! And I shall unleash terrors like you never have..."

Red Un swept away the ghosts and walked over to the Master.

"Yeah yeah, it's only a dream. Big deal. Anyway, I guess your friends over at Folda got into some trouble, eh?"

"If it hadn't been for those smelly, stupid drunken idiotic dwarves..."

"Hey, I'm half-dwarf myself, ya know..."

"Exactly."

"Why you..."

The rest of the night, Red Un dreamt about chasing the laughing Master along endless corridors, screaming angrily...

Dargon The Mastermind
Dargon, after being punched in the face a few times by dwarves trying to find beds, gave up and walked upstairs, using his staff to walk since he still had not fully acquired his sea legs, and the sea was rather rough that night. As he came outside, he heard Kalistra groaning over the rail, and realizing what was wrong, began to laugh rather uncontrollably. He leaned on his staff, a grin on his face, as an angry and sick Kalistra glared at him. However, a rather rough wave splashed on the deck, soaking Kalistra and Dargon. Dargon began to laugh again, and muttered some words, and his staff glowed brightly and began to heat the air around it. He walked over to Kalistra and held out his staff, so she to could feel its heat. Dargon then was thrown overboard by a large wave rocking the ship, his hand barely grabbing the rail, his other grasping the staff.


Tujex
Tujex shoved his way through the Dwarves, occasionally throwing and taking punches and kicks. He soon made it to the door. As he walked out he shouted curses at the fighting dwarves and threw a broken table leg in the room. He slowly walked through the halls of the ship. His bare chest starting to feel a little cold as the shirt was torn off during the brawl. Not too far down the hall a fellow elf who was looking for a midnight snack offered Tujex a bed in a small three person room. Though there were six elves in the room, Tujex ended up sharing a bed with two girls. He fell asleep with a big smile that night.

Vodok
The short dwarf quickly put his helmet on. Just when it was on his head, a dwarf punched his head. In this case he punched his helmet. The dwarf started cursing, and kicked wildly around himself. Vodivir had apparently picked a fight with the underwater ships strongest dwarf. A ring quickly formed, with the two dwarfs in the middle. And the single combat fistfight began. The short dwarf, who didn’t know of single combats jumped out to his brothers aid. He took off his helmet and bashed the dwarf over the head with it. "GET 'EM!" someone yelled, and now they had the whole ship against them.

Red Un
The caves...shimmered...and the Leader was gone.

"Damn...he escaped..."

Red Un realised that the noise from above had woken him up. He got up and walked up some stairs to the deck. Seeing Dargon desperately clinging to rail, he sighed, walked over and pulled him up.

"Look, if you're new on t'sea, I suggest ya stay below deck..."

Then he returned back down, only to see Vodok and Vodivir fighting against the rest of the crew.

"OI! I thought t'captain told ya t'go t'sleep!"

Kalistra
Kalistra had been a bit slow on reaching Dargon when he went over the railing. Her brains were still slushing randomly inside her head and her arms and legs couldn't seem to coordinate together properly. However, Red Un came running up to Dargon and pulled him back onboard just in time.

"Serves him right for laughing at me!" Kalistra thought spitefully.

The drenching had cleared her head a bit, and the reason why she was moving around like a drunken monkey suddenly penetrated.

"Why you filthy, cheating, double-crossing pigs-asshole! You drugged me!" Kalistra screamed in rage.

Taking a nasty-looking black lichen out of her pouch and swallowing it whole, she walked steadily below decks in search of Captain Numo. Ignoring the brawling going on around her, she hewed a path through the struggling dwarves using her fists and legs, punching and kicking, breaking a few noses in the process.
Eventually she spotted Captain Numo sitting contentedly on a beer barrel, watching the chaos around him. Suddenly he saw Kalistra walking towards him purposefully and a panicked look came over his face. Kalistra saw the captain was about to jump off the barrel and lose himself in the crowd. She made a huge leap over the dwarves and landed on the old dwarf's back.

"You little swine!" she said, as she dragged the struggling and wildly protesting dwarf on deck. She grabbed a rope and tied the captain securely, after which she threw him overboard and started dunking him, again and again.

Red Un
Red Un got up on the deck and studied Numos' punishment with a grin on his face.

Serves him right for cheatin' in the ancient dwarven drinking game, he thought.

Aiyare came up on the deck.

"By Crunor! All this fighting and yelling has even woke up me on my ship!"

He saw Kalistra purposefully drowning Numo.

"Why are you not helping your fellow kin, Mr. Half-dwarf?"

"Why aren't YOU helping him?"

"I am an elf. He is a dwarf."

"Fair enough. Anyway, he can take it, he has been under the water for several thousands of years already..."

Vodok
The two dwarfs were fighting away the others surprisingly good. "She got your captain... (OI! I'm speakin'! Stop attackin' me!) Get her... not us..." Vodivir said, wanting to avoid the fight he couldn’t win. "BAH! 'E can stay under water until he’s swallowed up the whole sea. We ca'nt die... (Unless someone uses a special curse on us)" another dwarf replied. "Good. 'Cause if yeh as much as THINK o' touchin' a HAIR o' someone who think I'm cute, yeh gonna answer to me..." Vodok said bravely. The fight continued for everyone. Except for those who had their noses broken from Kalistra or had been beaten any other way by someone else. Suddenly the short dwarf got a bright idea he had used before.

He made sure he was surrounded by dwarfs in a corner. "Ya'll think I'm a dwarf... But wha' makes yeh so sure...? Y'know... A dragon could 'ave this ship on the bottom of this ocean in a minute..." the short dwarf said loudly and clearly. The dwarfs eyed Vodok suspiciously. "I could continue fightin' you lot for ages on... Like 'is!" the short dwarf said, punching a dwarf nearby who had was off his guard because of the short dwarfs speech. No one cared a lot. "But that'd be a waste o' time... I think I'll only burn the lot'a you up." he said thoughtfully, more as if he was deciding if he should buy a bit of meat or a fish, more than deciding to kill a lot of dwarfs, or punch them. "Utevo Res Ina Dragon Lord." the short dwarf muttered so that no one could hear him. He took the appearance of a dragon lord. "BURN!" He yelled. The dwarfs quickly ran out from the room. Most people would have just laughed at this simple trick, but magic-hating dwarfs who have lived thousands of years under water didn’t think of the possibility that he might be tricking them. They ran out from the door yelling curses. But Vodivir stayed. He took a key from a drawer and locked the door. "I'm beginning to like that illusion trick." He put the key back in the drawer. Before they went to sleep they dragged the drawers and tables in front of the doors, so they wouldn’t blast the door. "'Night." Vodivir said. Vodok replied with a snore.

Dargon The Great
"Thank you." Dargon said to Red Un, who had helped him up. Though, when Red Un turned away from Dargon, Dargon stuck his tongue out at him, before slipping on the wet deck and banging his knees against the deck. "Ow ow ow!" Dargon groaned. He sat on the deck when Kalistra suddenly started yelling. Dargon, thinking she was yelling at him, quickly stood up and started running in circles in panic, eventually slipping and falling unconscious.

He came to to see Kalistra dunking Numo, and after watching for a bit, got an idea. He spoke a few words of Elvish origin, and his staff became a long rope. He, as quietly as possible (very quietly since he had been trained to be quiet to hunt for the villagers), made a little loop in his rope, putting it a little back from Kalistras right foot. A wave then came by and made Kalistra step back, into the rope. Dargon tugged at the other end and it tightened around her leg. She, being very busy, didn't notice and he tied his end to the other end of the railing. He then sat down and waited so he could complete the next phase of his prank. "Just move a little bit away from the rail... Pull Numo up... Hurry up jeez that’s enough dunking" he thought to himself as he waited for her to lift Numo up.

Kalistra
Kalistra, deciding Numo could have a little rest from the dunking she was giving him, stepped back from the railing and pulled the dwarven captain back up on deck. He was gasping and swearing most foully.

"Serves you right, you old scumbag!" Kalistra yelled in the captain's ear. Suddenly she felt a rope tightening around her ankle.

"What the hell-?"

Dargon The Mastermind
"PERFECT!!" Dargon said to himself. The captain was lying on the ground and Dargon pulled the rope. Kalistra tripped and fell right on Numo, her lips falling onto Numos cheek. Dargon just roared with laughter.

Kalistra
Kalistra fell so hard on top of Captain Numo that all the water in his lungs spurted out, right into the assassin's face. Spluttering, Kalistra heaved herself up clumsily, wiping her mouth. She turned around, and saw Dargon laughing at her, holding a rope in his hand. A rope that was attached to her ankle.

Slowly the assassin advanced upon the druid. "Why you little slime, I've had enough with your pranks. When I get my hands on you..."

Red Un
Red Un laughed almost as hard as Dargon. He wiped some tears out of his eyes and walked over to Kalistra.

"Lisn', we really all ought to get some sleep now. You two can fight each other in the mornin'..."

Vodok (postid 1863568)
The dwarfs flew up on deck. "THERE’S A DRAGON IN THIS SHIP!" one of them yelled. Another dwarf, who was on duty on the deck yelled "'TIS SUPPRISIN' THAT YEH CAN RUN SO STRAIGHT AND SPEAK SO CLEARLY WHEN YAR SO DRUNK YAR SEEIN' DRAGON'S!" The other dwarfs temper went up. "THERE IS A DRAGON!" he yelled. This was about to start a new fight, for the third time in a night, which is a lot even for dwarfs...


"OI! Jus' shut up and le's go to this so called "Dragon". One of the crew yelled, who hadn’t seen Vodok use his illusion. The dwarfs slowly walked towards the door. It was locked. "BLAST OPEN THE DOOR!" One of the dwarfs roared impatiently.

Kalistra
Kalistra had had quite enough.

"SHUT UUUUP! IF YOU DON'T ALL GO TO SLEEP RIGHT THIS MINUTE, I WILL SLAP YOU ALL UNCONSCIOUS!" she screeched so loudly everyone froze and clapped their hands over their ears in agony.

Well, I guess that banshee did teach me something useful after all... Kalistra thought to herself.

Of course after a few moments of total quiet, all the dwarves went right on fighting and making a ruckus. Kalistra huffed in vexation and threw herself into the crowd of brawling dwarves, knocking them unconscious at a rapid rate. However, after a quarter hour of slapping dwarves, she emerged, exhausted and furious. Wisps of hair had come loose from her braid, and she looked very much like a scarecrow or a banshee. One of her eyes had run into a dwarven fist and seemed to be discolouring slightly.

Kalistra glared at Dargon and Red Un, who were still prone on the floor, laughing themselves silly. She advanced upon the duo, who abruptly stopped laughing and both watched her warily. Lightning quick, her arm snaked out and grabbed Dargon by his neck, hauling him upright. Bringing her face so close to his that their noses were almost touching, she hissed:

"If you value your life, you will cast a sleeping spell on them... NOW!"

Red Un
Red Un got on his feet, trying to not laugh, and quietly went back downstairs to the engine room. At least that was calmer than up on the deck...

Vodok
Meanwhile, the two dwarfs were calmly sleeping in the best beds unaware and uncaring of what they had done.

Dargon The Mastermind
"Gack... Ag.... Grlp.... Can't breathe...." Dargon struggled to say as he struggled to cast a sleeping spell. It worked and Kalistra fell asleep to the floor. "Woo, close." He lifted the sleeping body of Kalistra and tossed it into the fray of fighting Dwarves. Everyone looked at Kalistra a little suspiciously, and the three she landed on grumbled and pushed Kalistra off them. Dargon laughed himself silly.


Red Un
Red Un went back to sleep.

"Ah, you have returned to face terrors beyond your wildest..."

"Oh, shut up. Go sit in a corner or something, I'm of to enjoy a nice dream for once."

"What?! You can't escape me!"

"Wanna bet?"

Suddenly, a door materialized in front of Red Un. He opened it and went in. When he closed it behind him, there was a loud click. The Master rushed up to it.

"Wait! What're you...?"

Meanwhile, Red Un went of to enjoy a dream about drinking, eating and singing...

Master Lau
Lau walked onto the deck, rubbing his eyes. He tried to sleep, but the sound of the dwarves crashing into the walls and floors of the ship during their brawl had awakened him. He stumbled over to the railing, spitting into the water. He turned only to find more dwarves fighting and someone throwing someone else into the fray. He chuckled and staggered down below the deck. Back to his room, which he shared with Tujex.

Vodok
Dawn was coming and the light was growing stronger every minute. The two dwarfs slept on. On the deck several dwarfs were sleeping on the wooden deck with only their scarves to make the deck softer. Two dwarfs suddenly jumped up from their sleep on the deck, as the sun hit their faces. "I'm gonna get on o' 'em beds if it's the las' thing I do..." one of the dwarfs said. The other one nodded. They went below deck, picked up a chair and started banging against the door. Vodok and Vodivir awoke, realising the situation at once. "What now?" Vodivir asked. Vodok threw himself under a bed to hide. Vodivir followed his example. The two dwarfs managed to blast open the door a split second after Vodok and Vodivir had hid under a bed. The two dwarfs quickly threw themselves on the best bed and started sleeping. Vodok waited about a minute, then slowly crept out. Vodivir followed. They went through the smashed door up on deck. The two dwarfs made up a quick plan.

"WAKE UP! WE'VE KICKED IN THE DOORS! WE CAN SLEEP IN BEDS NOW!" Vodivir yelled. Everyone jumped up from their sleep. "Where've you been?" a dwarf asked. "We stayed at the door and managed to kick it open while you went to sleep. Hamir was one of the dwarfs who locked the door together with Rimah." Vodivir lied, just as planned. "Hmmm... I could'a sworn I saw Rimah and Hamir..." one of the dwarfs muttered. Vodivir thought quickly. "Maybe they sneaked out to make themselves seen so no one would suspect them." Vodivir said. "You said you were outside the door all night." another dwarf replied. "Well, er, we 'ad to sleep a little bit, di''nt we?" Vodok said. "But how..." another dwarf started. "Shut up. If you don’t believe us, why are they sleeping in their beds?" Vodivir said quickly before the other dwarf could finish his sentence. The dwarfs shrugged and followed down below deck. And there they saw Rimah and Hamir, who only had been sleeping there a few minutes... "Talk 'bout framing dwarfs..." Vodivir muttered to Vodok.

Red Un
The Master appeared before Red Un, who was sitting at a table enjoying an enormous mug of ale.

"Very funny, half-dwarf, but you can't escape me!"

Red Un grinned. Then he looked behind the Master.

"Well, guess who've come to visit us! An entire dwarven army! Go ahead, gentlemen..."

The dwarven army dragged away the screaming Master. Red Un returned to his ale.

"I've never had a dream as good as this one before..."

Kalistra
Kalistra woke up grudgingly, to the bright sunshine shining on her face. Her hair lay in tangles about her face, ruined by the wind and the salt water. Her head was pounding mercilessly with the mother of all headaches. Groaning, she stumbled to her feet, and looked around. The deck was a mess of snoring dwarves, lying prone all over the place. Leaning against the ship's railing she tried to remember what had happened the night before...

Vodok
The short dwarf silently went out of the room to escape more questions, and went down to the machine room. There he saw Red Un sleeping. Vodok was about to yell in his ear to wake him up, but when he saw the happy expression on his face, he decided to just poke him a bit until he woke up. But the short dwarf, out of pure instinct just started pushing Red Un out from his bed.

Red Un
Suddenly, all the food on Red Uns' table turned into spiders.

"Spiders?! Is that the worst you can do?" he said to the Master standing next to him.

"Fool! These are no ordinary spiders! They are..."

But Red Un would never find out what was so special about the spiders, and frankly, he didn't care. He woke up suddenly and brutally when Vodok pushed him out of his bed.

"Gee, thanks Vodok, I was just enjoying the best dream I've ever had, and you awoke me."

He got up on his feet.

"Are we there yet?"

Vodok
"I was goin' te ask you the same." Vodok said.

Red Un
Red Un went up on the deck.

"Ahoi captain! Are we there yet?"

There was a large moaning, and then the captain appeared, visibly hungover.

"Please...don't...yell like that..."

Red Un shrugged and took out his spyglass. Through it, he could see Vega at the horizon.

"Ah great, almost there."

Then he noticed that the submarine wasn't to be seen anywhere.

"OI CAPTAIN! What 'appened to Numo?"

"I don't know...they must've left...please...don't yell..."

Vodok
The short dwarf jumped up after Red Un from beneath deck. "HEY! WHERE DID NUMO 'N' 'EM GO?!" he yelled. Vodok quickly grabbed the spyglass from Red Un, ignoring the whimpering captain and started looking around. "Hm... That far left...? Oh. Wai'... Tha's tha' other island... Oh! THERE! Well we're pre'y close now..." Vodok muttered to himself, and put Red Un's spyglass down in his pocket.

Tujex
Tujex walked onto the deck with a huge smile. He had the best dream last night. The sun felt good against his skin as he scanned the horizon for Vega. He noticed Kalistra holding her head not too far from. He laughed and walked over to the other side of the ship, and leaned over the railing. "I wonder where that Numo guy went," he wondered as he stared into the morning sky.

Kalistra
She heard Tujex wondering where Captain Numo had gone.

"He probably dove under again. And a good thing he did, because if he were still here when my head stops pounding I would make him wish he would have never been born." Kalistra answered. Her threat didn't seem very realistic, because right then her legs jellied and she collapsed against the railing. "And if you dare even so much as smile at me, I will smash your teeth into the back of your throat."

Vodok
There was a loud boom suddenly. Thunder cracked over the sky and suddenly it started snowing VERY much. With in a few minutes yells such as "BELOW DECK!!" were flying through the air, but they could not be heard because of the thunder. Below deck a minor group of dwarfs were discussing the sudden storm. "Ain’t natural, I tell yeh... I've been sailin' these waters for years and a storm has never started this suddenly and this powerful." one said. Vodivir dragged Vodok back a few feet. "Them Dark Star have proved they master the elements... You don’t think this is their work?" Vodivir whispered. But Vodok didn't have time to reply. Suddenly a dwarf burst in through the door. "We're already running out of things to burn." He said and took a barrel. He threw out what it contained and quickly went to the engine.

Meanwhile...

"Do you really think he can do it?" one whispered to another. "Well, no one masters the elements better than he, so if anyone does, he does." the other one whispered back. The two observed one of the robed figures. He stood still in trance. He had a black robe, like all other members of the Dark Star, he also was very young. He stood there muttering under his breath. Suddenly another robed figure burst through the door. "Well how’s it going?" he snapped at the two onlookers. One of them quickly grabbed a large orb, and gave it to the figure who just burst into the door. "Here, master" he muttered. The other figure said nothing, just looked into the orb. "Good... Snow and thunder... Just like I said. Don’t let him stop until the dwarfs are dead." he commanded, and put it down.

Kalistra
The sudden cold and snow cleared Kalistras head a bit, and she managed to stumble below decks.

"Vodok," She said when she bumped into him. "What the hell is going on? Why are we running out of fuel? Shouldn't we dock on dry land so we can wait out the storm?"

Vodok
"Well I reckon 'at Numo reckoned tha' we owed 'im abit o' money. We 'ad none, so he took some o' our fuel instead jus' before he left..." Vodok replied sadly, while someone grabbed another barrel.

Red Un
The Captain was desperately grabbing at the steering wheel.

"Damn...I hate startin' the day hungover an' in the middle 'o a storm..."

Meanwhile, Red Un once again took up his trusty spyglass and peered at the horizon.

"Oi Captain! We're not far from the coast! We really ought to go there!"

"What do ye think I'm doin' half-dwarf?!"

Vodok
Suddenly a dwarf jumped down carrying a pick. "Hmmm... This don’t look like it supports the ship..." he muttered. A moment later he started chopping up the floorboard. "What the heck are you doing?!" one of the other dwarfs asked. "We're running outta barrels. Soon only the ship itself will remain. We might as well start gettin' some lumber now..." the other dwarf replied, while he attacked another floor board.

Red Un
The storm was roaring with power now. One of the masts on Aiyares' ship crashed down with a thud. The dwarf ship was struggling in the waves, but it was starting to break apart. The captain yelled over the storm.

"Abandon the ship! To the life-boats!"

Red Un ran for the life-boats, but suddenly a piece of the ship crashed down and knocked him unconscious. He floated away in the storm...