Role

Chapter 10

An Entry from the Captain's Log Book

Much has changed since my youth. If you had told me, some ten years ago, that
someday I would be the Captain of my own ship, I may have believed you. If
you had told me that it wouldn't be a fishing vessel, but instead a dhow
outfitted for war, I would have scoffed

But here I am, A Buccaneer, and a Priest of the Lady Tempest. The Storm's
winds blow, and you can either unfurl your sails and ride them, or spin
without direction, tossed by the waves.

The filth that sail the Aryth are nothing compared to the likes I have met
since joining my brothers of the Light within the Fortress. While the
pirates I have made it my career to hunt are motivated largely by greed, my
enemies, now, have black hearts full of dark motivations. Some wish to herald
in a time of Eternal Night, to see the seas becalmed and the Storm quelled
beneath an ink-black sky. Others, like the Orc, seem to thrive on the pain
and terror they cause, feeding on the flesh of the people I have vowed to
protect. The Imperials would take away the freedoms of Thera's people, force
them to live in fear, and to pay tribute for a measure of peace. The enemies
of the Light are numerous, and I have become a student of the Art of War by
necessity.

Those who share my burden, my brothers and sisters of the Fortress, have
become like family to me, if not yet as close as my own crew. They each have
their strengths, and weaknesses, and I find myself paying careful attention
to their actions in battle, critiquing them and for the most part, holding my
tongue.

It's a Captain's job to see that his ship sails smoothly, and the Fortress of
the Light is a ship full of good intention but lacking in discipline.

I have stood now at the Redhorn Gate more times than I can count, at the left
hand of the Maran, defending his flank and unleashing the terrible fury of
the Storm upon any who would think to assail these hallowed halls.

I learn more of defense every day, and have come to think of the Stone walls
of the Fortress like the hull of my own ship. I study the tomes of history,
battle strategy, and anything else I can get my hands on. They are my charts,
that I will use to plot my course and the course of the Acolytes. My faith is
my sextant, and I have set my eyes on a distant shoreline. I will make
Captain Neltouda proud as the next Marshall of the Fortress, and I will never
abandon one of my crew to stand alone, undefended. The Captain goes down with
the ship, and so will I fall before I allow the Redhorn Gate to be breached.