With their eyes set on a piece of the greatest treasure of all, the heroes ventured north through the hidden mountain path into Spire Mountain Coves. Night fell as they ventured into the twisting cavernous depths in hopes of stealing away one of the one hundred fragments of the greatest power Acheron has ever known.
“... and we’ll use the side wings to steer like how we fly. I’m telling you, it could work!” Zhanatos explained.
“But I’d have to channel my wind magic the whole time.” Larxene protested. Zhanatos' idea for a wind-powered wagon was interesting, but the notion of having to channel her magic for hours on end sounded exhausting.
Radais winced as he tried to think through the physics in his head. “Well, the idea sounds reasonable, but I don't believe the mechanics work the way you think they will. We’d need to have the land equivalent of a clear, calm ocean, and those are rare. You have to think about the terrain.”
Xion chimed in, “What if the wagon was flying, though? Maybe with a large balloon, like an airship?”
“Oh, it would be so cool to have our own airship!” Zhanatos agreed readily.
“Yes, but then we would need a flying license from the Airships guild.” Radais countered.
Zhanatos blinked in confusion, “Boss… we’re dragons with WINGS; we can already fly; we've never needed a license to do so before.”
Radais opened his mouth to respond, but none came forth. After a moment, he canted his head and admitted, “Alright, you have a point there.”
The glow of distant lights ahead of the group caused them to fall silent. They were close to the enemy encampment now. Larxene, being the most stealthy of the group, opted to take the lead, with the others following a short distance behind her. As the light grew closer and brighter, the distant murmur of voices became more and more clear. “Cheering?” The Corsair wondered as she swore she heard a crowd like from a stadium. As she carefully stepped out into the light, a wondrous sight was there to greet her.
What Elderman White had described as a small outpost was nothing of the sort. It was an entire city! The small tunnel the party had travelled led out into a gigantic cavern as tall as any royal keep Larxene had ever seen. From a vantage point high above, she gazed out over the massive town made of old ships, rope bridges, and wooden docks/walkways all built around and into the giant rocky spires that rose from the watery floor below and the dripping ceiling above.
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This was the pirate city spoken of rumours and legends; this was Neptune’s Hold, the capital city for all sea-based tyrants and pirates across Acheron. It was hard for her to believe this legendary place was on the main continent. She had always assumed it was located on some distant island in the middle of the ocean, somewhere far from the reach of the kingdoms. However, here it was, practically hiding beneath the very nose of the civilized world. As she looked around, she spotted a massive tunnel at the water level with a small ship sailing from it to a nearby dock. “That must be the entrance….” Larxene mused as she studied the small fleet that was moored at the dock below her.
Three ships, in particular, caught her attention; they were big, at least galleon class, the sort of ships their target would have. In fact, one of the three ships had a marking of a red lion on its side; that was likely Redmane’s personal vessel. That meant the team was on the right track, but the other two large ships had markings of their own. One was a golden trident the other was a stormcloud. Were those the ships of other legendary pirate captains like Redmane? If so, what were they doing here? Her gaze drifted to a large open area in the centre of the city, something that looked like an arena. It was difficult to tell from a distance, but it looked like the sitting area around the arena was packed. Something big was going on, but what?
Larxene looked back into the darkened tunnel where the rest of the team was awaiting her signal and waved them forward; as they got close, she began to explain the situation, “Well… I have good news and bad news….”
Radais stroked his chin thoughtfully after hearing Larxene’s report. “This does rather complicate things… Taking on the Seaspeaker and his crew is one thing, but an entire city… I fear we may be out of our league.”
“But we’ll never break the curse unless we can get Red Mane’s Dragon Gemstone. If we don’t get it now, there’s no knowing when we’ll ever get another shot.” Zhanatos countered.
“That is true.” Radais frowned. “I believe what we need is some means of exploring the city unnoticed. I’m curious about what’s going on at that arena; I’d like to get closer, but…” he gestures to his wings, “...we tend to stand out in a crowd.”
“What if I got us some disguises?” Larxene suggested. “There’s bound to be some clothes around here we can steal, so we’ll blend in. This city is massive; I doubt everyone here knows everyone else.”
“Hmmm… yes, I suppose in this context, acting like we belong would be the most subtle method of travel.” Radais nodded, “Alright, go do that; the rest of us will wait here.”