Needen's War
* This document contains sensitive information from The Earthdawn adventure Prelude to War *
The Theran war vedette drew closer. Aboard The Justice, all was quiet. The appearance of the vedette was not unexpected, but the suddenness of its approach left those of us on deck at a loss. There was no sound, save the creaking of the wooden planks beneath us and the groaning of the numerous ropes and cables guiding the airship. Or holding it together. I felt uneasy for a moment and shifted on my feet, suddenly aware of being suspended in the sky. Not that I didn't trust King Needen's ship. It was all the air between the ship and the Earth below I didn't trust.
The vedette was closer then, now obviously maneuvering to come alongside. Trent had murmurred something about truce, and as it drew nearer I could see the flag waving in the wind. I wondered briefly if we could trust the Therans or if this wasn't some kind of trap. I glanced suspiciously around, tensed in anticipation. Seeing nothing, I could only turn and watch the Theran ship draw closer and closer.
"Ho Blades!" shouted a figure hanging from the rigging. I heard the sound just as I detected the motion and I looked to my right to see Drazon crouched with his eye along his crossbow. "Come aboard and we will speak--" continued the figure, breaking off abruptly as I quickly whirled to see a shaft lodged firmly in his throat. Without another sound he plunged from the rigging, clearing the ship and disappearing from sight. While several of the deckhands from our ship dashed to the railing to watch the crew of the vedette scrambled to pull away.
Had that been Shaladin, of whom Trent spoke earlier? I was stunned by Drazon's action, but I closed the distance between us, shouting at him. "Never fire on a ship bearing the flag of truce!" I grabbed him, but with no real force. I might have done the same. He ignored me, though, his eyes fixed on the departing Theran vessel. I followed his line of sight only to see Beleg land lightly on the deck of the Theran's ship where he was immediately surrounded by the crew and could be seen no more. Alarmed I rushed to the rail and gauged the distance but the vedette had already begun moving away at great speed and would soon dwindle to nothing in the distance. Frustrated, I turned back to the band, looking for a course of action. The others were obviously at a loss as well. King Needen was on deck, but he showed no interest in giving chase. Only Shar had any hope of catching the escaping airship, but sending the diminutive windling to rescue an elven warrior seemed laughable. Beleg would have to fend for himself.
King Needen was intently listening to a windling as I surveyed the ship, searching for some option we might have missed. I knew that the Theran ground forces were near and it occurred to me that the battle below must have already been joined. Looking to the forest below, it seemed I could see some movement, possibly of the masses of troops weaving in and out of the clearings. Over my shoulder Needen looked grim. It seemed my fear that the Theran airships would be able to relay our movements in time for them to position their forces were justified. The Therans were ready and they chose the field.
Someone cried out that the vedette was returning. Expecting the worst, we braced ourselves again but it only pulled alongside for a moment, long enough for Beleg to step back aboard The Justice and receive a chained prisoner. Then the vedette hastily retreated.
Beleg spoke animatedly to the press of onlookers that immediately surrounded him. The prisoner cried out and then chuckled to himself eerily. I attempted to move through the crowd into earshot of the conversation. Beleg lifted the prisoner and growled something at him to which he responded, "I'm not the one who's gonna die if I die!" From those around me came utterances of "mad" and "poor fool". The insane man cackled again, his eyes darting in and out among us, his voice strained and cracking everytime he spoke. The deck hands were slowly losing interest and one by one returning to their duties while Beleg continued to interrogate the prisoner closely. I started to approach as a few men turned away from the spectacle when I heard Beleg conclude, "... part in the King's assassination?" I stopped dead in my tracks. Even as the fragment reached me, I noticed once again a movement at my side. Drazon grabbed the haft of his act and charged in one fluid motion. The prisoner recoiled and Beleg turned, stunned, as Drazon shouted, "Kill him! Kill him!" leaping on them, axe held high over his head. The axe flew through the air and embedded itself in the deck as I hefted the little dwarf, pinning his arms to his sides while his legs kicked futilely. "Kill him!" he panted, "He's lying".
Beleg turned back to the prisoner. "Why don't you ask him about it?" asked the madman somberly. Then he began to speak, telling of creating a spell, amassing components and designing it, a spell crafted to kill the King. He claimed ignorance, that he did not know of the intended victim. He spoke of Drazon's part in the conspiracy and the dwarf struggled harder, denying the accusation bitterly until Shar lost patience with him and telling him to be still, entangled him in vines.
"I didn't want to do it," he said at last, in a weak voice. "They made me... they used my thoughts."
"King Needen must hear this," Beleg began, addressing us.
"I'm listening," said Needen. He pondered for a moment, then asked that the two conspirators be taken below and held. Hefting the dwarf, I grabbed the madman and took them to one of the chambers below deck. For a moment I listened to Drazon whimper and the prisoner mutter to himself, then I sat and began to chronicle the events of the day.
It was some time later that I happened to glance out and realized we were underway again. Back to Throal. The day was lost. So ended Needen's War.
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