Chapter 2: The Vermillion Vulture

"Captain Henri! The wind, she blows in our favor. I reckon our Morning Star will reach port Yelas before sun down."

"Good." Captain Henri, a burly man in his fifties, cladded in seafaring attire in red and navy blue with an unyieldingly big tricorn, nodded his head in satisfaction "Make sure the men don't slack off, we are traversing dangerous waters. The pirates never sleep, or so they said. And they frequent the Winchesia islands on our portside here. I ain't fancy meeting 'em good for nothing thieves, not today with my girl full of goods."

  "Certainly, sir! Oh and shall I let sir Monroe know to sail in between the Heaven's Pillars? We can save some twenty miles by moving through the basalt region. And I reckon there won't be no foolish sea thieves trying to rob us in such terrain."

  "Good. Good. Tell Monroe to make haste. I would hate to miss the ball at Madam Mabelline's castle tonight."

The three-masted merchant vessel sped ahead with its sails full of wind. Captain Henri laid back onto his padded chair and rested his legs on his burgundy table in the captain cabin. He savored a jug-full of warm rum while caressing his fitting mustache. 

He had been incredibly lucky as of late, for he had won several biddings for transportation contracts with one of the distributing branches of the Lonan Trade Company in Manch. And for great price too: two gold coins per five barrels of fox fur brought from Manch to Yelas, and his ship - the Morning Star, distinguishable by a single golden stripe on its right hull, was holding fifty two barrels. 

That's 104 gold coins just for one trip. Henri had to make some sacrifice in firepower, he had left behind in Manch four cannons, to make place for the furs. But it would be worth it, more than a hundred gold for a day trip, Henri would soon catch up to the legendary captains in the business, to sir Pharon One-eyed and sir Bizan "The Golden Son". 

Subtracting 5, no, 4 gold coins to keep his crews happy and loyal, he would have 100 coins left, enough for a serious upgrade to his Morning Star vessel. 

Maybe captain Henri just might begin to sail the high sea and trade expensive wines to Gawon or Mankon or even Qarchehia. He heard that the other continent consumes wines like water, and business will be booming.

Not only that, he was personally invited to the ball by Madam Mabelline last week too! In other words, it was finally time for captain Henri to receive the god's blessing for his hard work. 

He no longer had to transport elf slaves for the warlords or pick up a middle class merchant just for a meager payout. 

No. 

Captain Henri was now far beyond that. He and his Morning Star had finally stepped into the royal class. After this trip, he might just stop by a dry dock while his crew rest up for the next job and get his vessel a makeover. Maybe he could get her fixed with some better sails, a better storage to keep more supplies for a trip overseas, and some heavier firepower… 

Maybe that luck was why he allowed his vessel to cut through the waters near the Winchesia islands - infamously infested with pirates and slave trader vessels. Maybe greed blinded Henri, for how skimpy he had equipped his vessel. 

With two cannons and two light guns remaining on deck, the Morning Star would certainly not be able to fend off any ship with malicious intent. 

Maybe that was why he spilled his jug and his eyes filled with fear when the bell on the main deck rang, alerting the ship of impending danger. 

Three, and then two rings, repeating almost desperately - there was no doubt pirates had targeted Henri's Morning Star. 

Captain Henri rushed out of his cabin onto the main deck as chaos hit his eyes. His sailors rushed to man the cannons in panic, transferring cannon balls onto the deck as the rest equipped themselves with rifles and pistols and cutlasses. 

Not five minutes of sailing ahead was the Heaven's Pillars, a wide region of sea where basalt pillars rose as high as his vessel's top mast. And appearing behind a large pillar was a galleass, three masts and painted red in color. 

Five large oars on each side rhythmically propelled the vessel forward with incredible speed. Flying atop its top mast was a black flag with a skull drawn in a grotesque way. The pirates must have laid low behind the pillars, waiting for their prey to come near before pouncing. 

"Turn this goddamn ship around now!" Captain Henri roared, he was not going to surrender that easily "Main the helm! Set the jib! Cannon on the ready! We are not that far away from Marshington, full speed starboard! Get your goddamn legs working, if you wanna see the sun tomorrow!"

One of his sailors rushed to him with a pistol in one hand and a telescope in the other. His sunburnt face paled and his eyes almost pleading for a miracle. He frantically cried out and almost forced the telescope into Henri's hand: "It's the red demon! It's the infamous red demon, sire!"

"What the hell are you talking about, son? Ain't no demon working as a pirate around these parts!"

"No sire, it's… it's a tavern tale, a myth, about a pirate so fierce and brutal, he was named the red demon for his vessel is painted by the blood of his enemies!"

Henri did not reply. 

He raised the gadget to his eye and gazed at the pirate ship. He could see humanoids of many races, all armed to the teeth with high power rifles and swords, dwarves with war axes and dynamites, halflings and gnomes manning cannons, elves and humans with bows and guns. And standing proud on top of the bowsprit, a human in a silver trousers and bare torso, his skin a healthy sunburnt shade and his muscle well-toned, a rapier on his right hand and a pistol on his left. A confident smile on his face. 

He must be the captain of the pirate vessel.

How cruel and evil a man must be to be able to lead a pirate crew at such a young age?

"No… the wind's dying down…" Captain Henri moaned as the Morning Star, in the middle of adjusting course, suddenly slowed down to a crawl. "No no no!!!"

The merchant vessel's crew stared in disbelief at the crimson galleass gaining on them, for the pirate vessel "employed" slaves to row the 10 giant oars to move it independently to the will of the wind.

And the rowing speed was in no way lacking, for the pirate would encourage the slaves with whips to the back if they ever needed more speed. There was no escape, there was no other way out other than surrendering or fighting a hopeless battle. 

Captain Henri spat onto the deck, unholstering his two silver pistols and stared at the pirate ship now behind his Morning Star.

"Monroe, ready your spells! Men, oil your guns and man the cannons. WE WILL BRING OUR WRATH TO THESE SEA RATS! THE STAR OF MANCH WILL NOT BA…"

The wind brought a loud explosion, flinching the whole crew as they looked over to the 'Red Demon'. Smoke puffed out of the pistol on his hand as he grabbed onto an ornate horn on his belt and blew into it. 

Captain Henri did not finish his inspiring speech, the only thing coming out of his mouth then was gurgles and blood as a grievous hole was opened in the back of his throat, piercing his pharynx. 

The captain slumped down lifelessly as silence befell the vessel. The fear of gods came to the eyes of the remaining crews, for their captain was dead. 

Some kneeled and laid down their weapons, some stood dead in their place, fear gripped their very soul - the fear of the Red Demon. The reverberating sound of the blow horn shook the sailors to their core as most of them surrendered.

Monroe - the tiefling sorcerer cum first mate spat in disgust from the sight of the crimson vessel closing onto his merchant ship. He raised his hand and crushed a bottle of oil as he casted a fireball with all of his arcane prowess. 

But as the magic coalesced in his palm into a bright hot ball of flame, it fizzled out before the tiefling could throw it. Monroe raised his head to the sight of an elf hanging onto a rope ladder on the pirate vessel, his hand illuminated with purple light as he had just countered Monroe's strongest spell. Truly, there was no hope left for the Morning Star.

"LOWER YOUR WEAPONRIES, FOOLISH SCALLIWAGS, OR DIE TRYING." A booming voice filled the silence of the ship as the crimson vessel finally got into position for boarding. Hooks and ropes and wooden boards thrown overboard as pirates rushed over to the merchant vessel.

It was truly over, the moment the red ship caught wind of the merchant vessel.

"Very well. Line the crew up, boys." The human in baggy silver trousers swung down onto the Morning Star and stood on the handrail portside. His pirate crews quickly moved to tie up the surrendering sailors before dragging them into a line. 23 men, shaking and quaking in their boots, for their fate to come.

Some were so stricken with fear that they soiled their pants.

"Be grateful, you mongrels. You are being detained for trespassing on private water by the left hand of Master Vivani, Charleston Hemmingway at your service. Some call me Fel'Kaira or the Vermillion Vulture, some, like you fools, call me the Red Demon. No matter. I won't kill you, for Master Vivani has ordered all of you to be captured alive to face his judgment, except for your sad excuse of a captain here…" The human pirate kicked captain Henri's lifeless corpse "He is to be executed on the spot for transporting slaves through our waters without permission, attacking righteous pirates of the Vivani's Company and taking slaves from the island of Winchesia, our home. 

Some of you crews will be ransomed back to your family, so if your daddy and mommy is rich, speak up now. Some, well, worthless beings of yous, will become slaves to atone for your crime. Don't worry, we are kinder than you lot, our slaves are fed and clothed, but do not mistake our kindness for weakness. I will personally execute any of yous if you even have the idea to try and escape." 

The human pirate slowly walked along the kneeling line of men, casting his eyes over the defeated and hopeless sailors. Most of them were human, for captain Henri did have somewhat of a racist prejudice against other races, except for the first mate tiefling and a single elf, which caught the eyes of the pirate captain. 

The elf was covered in grime, his hand full of callous spots and his hair, once proudly blonde and long, damaged by the salty water and bleached a sickly white by the unkind sun. 

He wore a ragged linen shirt, full of clumsy patches and discolored by his sweat. 

The elf was treated much much worse than his human counterpart on captain Henri's merchant vessel. But Charleston stood before him a second longer, an interest sparked in his eyes although he tried to suppress it from his crews. 

He smiled mysteriously, but walked away as soon as the elf raised his fearful eyes up, as if attempting to keep the elf from looking at him.

"Very well! Men, lock 'em up and man this meager of a vessel. Trenni? Where's Trenni?"

"Here, respected Fel'Kaira!" A gnome in blackened leather armor and a red bandana ran up from the deck below

"What's our haul?"

"Here, sire. Fox pelts. Very high quality! Master Vivani will be pleased." The gnome gave the human a red fox pelt, already processed and cured, ready to be made into luxury scarves and hats and gloves. The gnome raised his chubby fingers and counted before announcing "There are also 4 female human slaves too."

"Good. The master will indeed be pleased, our information was good. Men, move out!"

The pirate crews sprang into action, setting the sails back, dragging prisoners into cages after tying them up, and both vessels, one crimson in color and one with a single golden strip on its starboard hull, rode the wind back to the island of Winchesia.