Blood on the seas

'Ship ho!'

The call from the crow's nest caused a stir on deck. The past week had been quiet, and as a result, the crew was restless. Silently, Captain Faris thanked the gods for this chance encounter. Too many captains had been marooned or worse, simply because they did not run into any suitable prizes, and Faris did not wish to add his name to that list.

Trying not to appear too relieved, he took his spyglass, extended it and brought the device to his eye, all in one practiced motion. The priceless tool had been taken from its previous owner during a boarding some years ago, as had the ship itself and even part of the crew. It was a simple thing made of unembellished brass, but it served its purpose, and had often shown Faris whether a ship on the horizon was a prize laden with valuables, or a pirate hunter storing only guns and ammunition.

Peering through the spyglass, Faris could see this ship was something inbetween. It was a dwarven merchant vessel, ponderously crawling its way through the waves by virtue of its steam-powered paddle wheel. A slow prize, Faris thought, but dwarf ships were notoriously hard to crack. Still, he considered, the bounty offered by Marienburg for captured dwarven vessels would make this chase worthwhile. And besides, if he let this one go, the crew might just throw him off the side of the ship anyway.

Collapsing his spyglass, Faris drew his scimitar and made a dramatic flourish before shouting his orders. 'Prepare to board!'

The crew cheered, their boredom finally broken with the promise of battle and plunder. Sails were lowered, battlestations manned, and the black flag was raised to signal the crew's intent. Faris knew half of them would not survive an attack on a dwarven ship, but that just meant more loot for the rest of them. Still, it would take a bit of time to reach the dwarven ship- it had no chance of fleeing, but the sluggish ship wasn't exactly racing their way either. And Farid did not want the crew's newfound adrenalin to change into uneasiness. Fortunately, he knew just how to motivate them.

'Ifran,' he called to his gunmaster. The tall, rotund man responded almost immediately, finishing up some instructions to the crew before quickly hobbling up the stairs leading to the poop deck.

'The crew is ready, qubtan,' Ifran announced when he reached Faris. 'As are the guns. Orders?'

'Full speed ahead, Ifran. And fire a warning shot as we approach.'

This made the gunmaster frown. 'A warning shot? Qubtan, the dwarves are notoriously brave. The roar of cannons holds no-'

Faris made a slicing motion with his hand, cutting Ifran off. 'I am well aware of the stubbornness of dwarves, sadiq. The shot is not intended to make them fearful, it is to bolster the men. Remind them of the smell of gunpowder, the roar of cannons. It will steel their hearts.'

Ifran gave his captain a doubtful look, but did not question the order further. He descended the stairs again, barking the captain's orders at the nearest crewmen.

Before long two loud blasts exploded from the sides of the ship, followed by a thick cloud of white smoke. The crew cheered loudly as the ship's broadsides opened fire, and Faris smiled. Already he was making a rough estimate of how much a dwarf would go for on the slave markets of Lashiek.

Suddenly an explosion rocked the ship, and then another. The crewmen cried out in surprise- they were under fire, but there was no attacker in sight!

Ifran's booming voice could be heard even over the panicked shouts of the crew. 'Hull breach on the lower decks, qubtan! We are making water, and fast!' He ran back up the stairs, panic in his eyes. 'The damage is too great to repair. We must abandon ship!'

Faris was still groggy from the impact, but the words "abandon ship" woke him from his dazed state. 'Abandon ship? We don't even know what hit us! There is no attacker in sight-'

'Qubtan, behind us!'

Faris turned around, his mouth falling open when he saw two conning towers slowly rising from the water. The sight reminded him of tales he had heard in port, of dwarven ships capable of sailing beneath the waves, but he had always considered those stories to be fables. Until now.

Slowly the dwarven Nautili turned, bringing their guns to bear against the aft of Faris' ship.

'Oh-' was all he could say, before another pair of torpedoes struck the ship's rear, sending it to the bottom of the Black Gulf...