He who controls the past controls the future (George Orwell)

  Extract from the ships log, Spirit of Luck, flag ship of the Miragliano Federation, Lustria trading fleet from 2501-2503 (part 1)

  Pflugzeit 2501

  This account has been written by First Mate Fredricko Giannakos

  We set out from Miragliano harbor on the turning of the tide after many years of preparation and negotiations. The ships have been especially constructed in the new shipyard to be suitable for the dangerous crossing and long journey times involved. With larger cargo spaces, smaller crew and the best weapons that the 'Besieger' can provide! Even more important was the provision of special supplies to stop the 'scurvy' and iron water tanks even rather than the usual barrels. I even heard that the ships biscuits are meant to be free from weevils! Though I admit I will believe that promise when we are safely home again!

  The beginning of the month of 'ploughtide' was auspicious, so say the priests so that was set as our departure date. The old Lustria hands also told us this was the best time to make a swift passage. We sailed with ten war galleons and eight transport galleons; it was a proud sight indeed! Many small boats rowed or sailed out of the old and new harbors to speed us on our way with sweet memories of home and hearth to keep us warm during the no doubt cold crossing.

  The naval academies of Mymidia have several branches, including the recently established Miragliano one. The reason I bring this up is that damn fools have provided a whole passel of 'midshipmen' as they termed it. The deal seemed good to all the crews and captains at the time get some free labor and money for a little babysitting. I should have listening to those inner voices of doubt! The young snots have their letters and numbers, I will give them that, but otherwise this school of theirs has just filled heads with nothing but foolishness!

  Even worse they have sold shares of their investment in our ships so that men who have no hand other than the one leading to their purses in our risk will share the benefits! I have heard of shares in cargo being sold but this practice of selling shares of the booty even before the gold is in your hands! This smacks to me of more excessive changes that don't need to be made! Sometimes the old ways are best! Plus whom will the investors come looking for? Why the surviving members of the crews that failed that is who!!

  Sigmarzeit 2501

  The fleet sailed unmolested into the southern sea, those few pirates that spied us on the horizon fled post haste! I thought this a shame as it meant that we could not try our guns before leaving home waters and a chance of replacement! Especially seeing as we had many new types from the usual to the newfangled and only a small party of 'engineers' to cover the whole fleet and look after our fangs! Though they did have access to several 'steam launches' propelled by two small side wheels, kept as dedicated deck cargo on two of the cargo galleons until needed. Their fuel 'coals' is also stored there as well, more wasted space!

  We entered the bay of Quietude only encountering a few fishing smacks, all the while being shadowed by sloops hailing from Magritta. Though watched we sailed without issue as we were to meet their contingent of the grand expedition to the New World in their home harbor. In the distance you could see the haze of the city ahead of us, unmistakable as place of human habitation, due to its wastes and people wonder about the lure of the Sea! As we drew closer more details that did not need a spy glass became visible. The river Tagos estuary spread in front of us on the right, some was pure wilderness swamp and forested islands other parts nearer to the city showed signs of changes. Fields and drainage works were under construction turning the wild river into straight channels, canals putting mankind's imprint on the chaotic world!

  We turned towards Marritta harbor to see the battlements of the sea defenses full of cheering crowds and flags waving in wind, this was very heartening as this city was one of traditional rivals after all! The harbor was full of activity as well as construction as gangs of men became visible working on a new breakwater, pushing wheelbarrow of rubble to the edge and tipping it into the sea to make a new barrier against natures travails. All under the guard of troops in the livery of the city, so prisoners of the state I assume.

  The ships to join us were obvious as they were grouped at what looked like a new pier jutting out into the sea further and higher than the other piers. To match the size and grandeur of the vessels tied up to it, at least that was my conceit at the time! There were five war galleons and ten merchant galleons waiting for us all looked to be new or nearly new build, though not as marvelous as our own ships they looked fine in the daylight sun streaming through the low lying clouds.

  Sommerzeit 2501

  The weeks since we arrived have flown by, the inhabitants have surely taken us into their hearts as the wine flowed freely and the sentiments were most warm! Especially so the matrons of the city, that I had some passing acquaintance with during my stay. In fact I stayed at one fine ladies house for a whole month in total! The men of the fleet made free with this, I can assure you, but apart from the usual disorder of men at sea for a while there was no real trouble!

  There were many types of council, of which I was only on the outside of only being a first officer after all! The Engineers, Captains, Knights of the Blazing Sun and the learned men of the city discussed our best course that avoided the normal and supernatural hazards of the sea crossing. While the high powered envoys we had carried with us from our homeport, Men of high repute discussed the actions that we would take upon our arrival in the New World with the counter parts from this fair city. I was leaning against the wall of one such meeting looking out the new large paned glass window that looked out over the harbor, ticking off the seconds…..

  The final preparations and supplies were being taken onboard, ready for the date ordained as auspicious by the Archecclesiarch of the Cult of Myrmidia, Verna de Caprice. Then there arose on the horizon a great smoke and disturbance like the sea had sprouted a dragon, of course it was just smoke from several steam engines, but it was a thought I remember at the time that made me smile!

  Soon the source of the smoke was revealed as four Dwarven Ironclads topped with a single gun turret each, they steamed up to the main harbor unchallenged though while they were expected, nothing on shore or onboard could have scratched that Iron armor. Even our new guns would probably not even dent them! When their delegation made its way up to the council meeting hall that we were using for our deliberations it was lead by a most strange Dwarf who was tall for his race and only had one leg and one hand! It turned out he was no other than the famed Long Drong the Slayer Pirate captain and mercenary!! He was famous across the Old and the New World for his exploits so it made sense that he was joining our fleet for this great adventure! I did not see much of him myself but I did talk with a few of his officers and they were confident that we find a mighty battle that would let us all find our dooms. This was not the most reassuring of sentiments however I understood what they meant and then just got on with the technical details of adding them to our fleet, such as supplies of Beer and salted meat etc.

  After all this planning we were ready to set out across the sea! The Knights of the Blazing Sun, for this day dressed in their armor looking splendid for the crowds, but these men were most valuable for their minds! Their addition to this expedition showed how much import this endeavor has gathered!

  At the last minute a group of various kinds of Empire Wizards joined our passengers, this caused much dismay among the crew as this was seen as very unlucky! To be fair I thought this myself! Why let Chaos lovers have a hold on our ships while we undertake such a dangerous voyage over the wild seas! Despite these misgivings we departed on the anointed date without issue but with much celebration and soreheads among the crew. In fact there were three ladies of dubious virtue found by Bosons in the fleet during the first few hours and had to be dispatched by the steam launches back to shore!

  Vorgeheim 2501

  After much debate it had been decided that we should take a southerly route skirting Ulthan, sailing past the tip of northern Araby then heading across the Great Ocean to reach the continent of Lustria and the riches therein! This should we hoped avoid the Dark Elves and some of the other more unsavory foes of the sea, but you never knew what would appear through the mist or rise from the depths!

  As the days passed the crossing though still challenging become routine, almost mindless under the harsh tongue of the weather and each other's confined company, The priests held droning sermons while the crew lined up to draw their daily watered wine ration. The engineers held reading, writing and arithmetic classes for those that wanted to attend on their few slack hours to help while away the time. Often these classes were with the 'midshipmen' attending as students, tutors or teachers.

  It was another routine day when it finally happened; it started as usual with morning prayers, breakfast and announcements by the third mate. Pertaining to the work schedule for the day, plus any punishment duties or rewards for above and beyond etc. The dull minutia of the day was shattered by the sudden splintering noise of shattering wood!

  A trio of Kraken had attacked our fleet in tandem throwing their tentacles and clawed beaks on the sides of our ships in an attempt to capsize them so they and their foul progeny could feast on our flesh! You could see their massive eyes just under or on the surface of the sea as their many limbs flailed at us seeking our deaths and the doom of our crusade!

  The pre-agreed drill kicked in at this point, the men and I moved into their prearranged positions and stations to deal with this threat to our fleet and persons! Without check these monsters could kill every man women and child in this fleet! The tarps came off the harpoon cannons and the specialist harpooners came finally into their own after many weeks of boasting they finally had to prove themselves against the foe!

  They calmly checked the fuses and sights of their weapons lining them up on the eyes that I had spotted earlier. Then they all fired in the space of a few seconds their barbed harpoons covered in runes and anti-chaos enchantments designed to be deadly to their kind. They sped towards their prey and struck impaling two of the creatures in their eyeballs and one in the flesh of its bulbous head! Causing them all to strike at random all around in pain their tentacles frothing the sea surrounding them trying to hit back at their tormentors. Some struck men, wood or metal destroying it instantly. Then the Harpooners fired again the stink of the burning gunpowder rolling over our decks as the follow on shots struck only once this time as rough sea put off our gunners aim. The shot that struck though went true and caused the beast to sink into the depths struggling all the while to take more souls into the deep with itself!

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  Of the other two creatures one had the misfortune to turn and find itself confronted by the mad Dwarf slayers Iron ship, blinded in one eye it was still game for a fight! However as it approached several his crew swarmed from the deck onto beast hacking and slashing away with all their might and deadly weapons. Combined with the third volley of the harpoons it was enough to send it to the deep alas along with several crew members. At least in their terms they has met a worthy end, expunging their shame from their clans and families?

  The other after being hit for the second time with one of the magical barbs decided that the depths was a better spot right now for hunting and fled! This had all been expected to a degree and the design of the new 'harpoon guns' had proved effective against at least these sea monsters!

  For the whole fleet the causality total was under sixty men! This was unheard of for such an attack in normal circumstances maybe at least one third of the fleet could have been taken to the depths! There was also much damage to the ships and new harpoons had to be broken out from stores and brought up to full activation by the mages we had previously cursed at every meal and wine ration time.

  Nachgeheim 2501

  The final stretch of the crossing to Santa Magritta ran in sight of the southern shore of Ulthan, The Sea Elves checked us out with several near passes from their sleek deadly looking ships but as this was a authorized passage we were allowed to pass, an almost unheard of privilege. This was gained at the cost of pre-paying their exorbitant tolls to the Marienburg embassy but we gained the military cover in this most dangerous part of our journey in terms of possible attacks from the High Elves evil cousins to name only one foe!

  As we traveled down the coast of Naggaroth there were many islands mostly small coral atolls with white sandy beaches, mature trees and scrub covering them in riotous abandon. They appeared to be free of the hand of civilization undisturbed since time out of mind.

  This was in the main I suspect because of the lack of potable water; we investigated several of these lonely islands. Apart from the sad remains of ship wrecked sailors and evidence of cannibalism and such, there was nothing of note that was apart from the lack of no animal or insect above the tiniest size!

  On most islands you could expect to find many strange beasts and freakishly large instances of the god's fancies. All we found were bones and empty nests, dens and these were only on the largest islands. There was large numbers of birds which nested not one of us knew where, they were however in a large number of colors and sizes ranging from the small. The largest an eagle that I saw swoop into the water to remove fish as long as a man's arm in a fraction of a second. At night when we put down anchor near shore there was a large number of small bats that fed upon the cursed insects that infested every corner of this land!

  There were also volcanic islands with small smoldering or extinct volcanic peaks surrounded and being encroached upon by verdant forest and vegetation. We landed on several of those kinds of islands and on the largest that had drinkable water we explored exhaustively with the thought that a small colony or way station could be established there later. It also allowed the crew and the militia to practice with their weapons and skills while filling the cook's pots with the smaller animals and rats that were the main inhabitants of these islands now. As I predicted the biscuits have weevils, though we are glad of the protein most days as supplies will last mostly as no one wants to eat them anymore!

  We passed the mouth of the Straights of Fear with no incident then sailed close to the jagged rocks of Grey Rock Point. As we passed close to the shore the fleet became slightly separated by wind and the relative speed of the different vessels due to the varying levels of fouling and underwater damage from the attack from the Krakens earlier in our voyage.

  At this critical point the worst occurred the vile Northmen out of Skeggi attacked! Their longships emerged out of the morning coastal mists full to the brim with chanting crazed Northmen ready to tear us all limb from limb! The weak morning sun was glinting off the blades of their axes and swords as they waved them energetically in the air. The echoes of their bloodlust sent the women and children in the fleet along with the weaker men scurrying into the holds in fear waiting fro the end!

  The drums and bugles cried out from our marine sergeants and crewmen as they mustered for battle. The canvas shrouds were taken off the Puckle Guns and the cannons were run out after being loaded by their sweating fearful crews. I had observed and served besides them on our journey learning their trade through every step. so that I could advise my captain or take over the task of a gun captain or loader alike at need in the dire smoke and death of battle!

  There was over twenty of the swine's foul ships and over thirty smaller coastal boats racing ahead of the slower larger longships keen for a taste of the kill! They had sail's in the fashion of the vessels of Araby rather than the usual square sails of the larger ships and seemed to have what small selection of cannon that their fleet possessed. At least this was all I could spy out with my glass, when they let lose at a range far ahead of what they could hope to hit us at that gave it away. Foolish Norsemen forever trying to race when they should consider their options!

  The slayer Ironclad was the first to fire letting loose with shots from two of its rifled turreted cannon, one missed sending a giant plume into the air as the shell exploded the other hit one of the larger longships just as my glass swung onto ti so I saw the whole thing in gruesome detail as the shot hit the peaked leering dragon carving on the bow, slid through it like a hot knife through butter then exploded. This disintegrated the whole forward section of the ship sending it and most of the crew to the depths in under a minute!

  The surviving local vessels put on more sail trying to close to a better range, the longships increased their already frenzied rowing pace and you could see men scurrying in their rigging. The Iron clad was reloading its mighty cannons and maneuvering to get another good firing solution staining the sky with smoke from its decorated smokestacks. Our bow chasers and those broadside guns that could bear on the small targets fired almost as one shredding the sails of four of the ships, leaving them dead in the water. Some of their crews desperately putting out the fires in the dislocated remain of their sail plans, while others unshipped the few oars onboard these small vessels so they could maneuver their cannons to bear on our ships.

  Two lucky shots destroyed their targets entirely as the cannon balls hit and must have struck their powder magazines. They blossomed into fiery orange balls of flame, body parts and debris in a most righteous way considering the suffering those parts had caused! Many shot missed either entirely or just ripped small round holes in the garish dyed sails praising their depraved God's but the engagement was going in our favor in the main at this point.

  The Hammer rifles and the 'Shotguns' were broken out from the armories along with the traditional boarding pikes, cutlass, pistols and belaying pins as our fleet closed with theirs. The guns let loose again just as the smaller sloops let loose with their replies from no doubt demon blessed cannons and magical devices beyond my understanding.

  The results of which were two more hits on one cargo galleon which destroyed the stern castle with unearthly green fire and tore down the main mast so that it shrouded the main deck in smoldering canvas and rigging. One ineffectual hit on the Ironclad which rebounded into the sea leaving a steaming circle of water revealing its evil enchanted nature. There were also hits in the rigging of several Galleons reducing their speed to a crawling pace. Several men met their ends from great harpoons fired from catapults tipped with black iron no doubt steeped in evil, impaling them to the deck or throwing them into the sea to feed warped fishes of the deep.

  In return our much more numerous cannons destroyed two more of the small vessels and one of the larger ships packed with men was eviscerated when two cannon balls hit the prow of a longship and plowed down the hole length in a cloud of wood splinters, flesh and bone! There were many more minor hits including one that plowed down the bank of oars on one side of a Norse ship leaving shattered stumps waving in the air, no doubt causing carnage inside the ship going in small circles before order was restored. The air was now thick with powder and wood smoke from burning ships and cordage obscuring my view of the action even with a long glass!

  There may have been a few more shots from the small Norse vessels but this was obliterated by the return fire from our fleet! Our crews had now tasted the tang of blood, pain and they had risen to the challenge! The guns hammered out another return volley then in another few short minutes again they fired into the bank of smoke now covering everything like a sulfurous brimstone morning fog

  My ship now closed with the foe at last coming alongside the large longship that suffered the hit to its oar bank earlier. The deck was still packed with warriors ready for battle but before they could get to grips with us our anti-personnel weapons fired! The railing mounted Puckle Guns essentially giant revolvers that fired shotgun cartridges started to fire spraying cones of lead pellets and un-burnt gunpowder over their deck in waves leaving behind smoke bloody body parts and dropped weapons, after firing off their five ready shots there was a pause while they reloaded before firing again into the northern scum. The few survivors still standing after this were dropped by volleys from our Marines using their hammers to fire volleys into them until there was nothing but dead, fled or injured beyond the ability of even these dour foes to stand anymore. This action marked the end of the battle in general as after the smoke cleared all the longships were either disabled or sunk and the small ships captured, destroyed or fled!