Cryptodiro the Surge of Tides

Role

Chapter 5

The massive wave engulfed the little gnome boy as it came pounding over the
side of the ship like the fist of an angry storm giant. Coughing and spitting
out sea water the little gnome, a bit feisty for one of his race spat a curse
at the sea. The ancient gnome invoker only raised one bushy eyebrow as he
leaned on his cane and said sternly, "Cryptodiro, how are you going to
master the elements if you keep allowing them to master you?". "I kept my
balance though master!" retorted the young wizard. The old master rolled
his eyes this time, "The Balance you must be concerned with encompasses
much more then your feet my boastful apprentice, shall I give you yet another
lesson of your purpose as a guardian of such?". Suddenly the ship
lurched, the old master looked to see if they had hit a rock traveling
through this dense fog. The ship lurched again this time from the starboard
side, and before either gnome could turn their heads, the shout of
"Pirates!" went out in shrill alarm from the crows nest. The crew of
the White Lotus sprang into action to try to save their beloved ship.

The battle was over in a heartbeat, well three or four heartbeats as
for all the ancient gnomes knowledge of magic he had never been in an actual
fight before. His ancient heart burst from the excitement of it all and his
hastily cast pillar of lightning went awry, missing the pirates ship and
making the sailors of the White Lotus dance the strangest frenzied jig before
exploding all over the deck. "Sure as the nine hells aint cleann that
mess up." Muttered the cabin boy as he ducked to avoid a flying boot with
the foot still inside. The pirates captured the rest of the crew without much
fight, expect little Cyptodiro. As the dread pirate Captain Bloth approached
the young wizard, Cryptodiro began to cast the most potent spell in his small
arsenal. The pirate captain and his men watched in amusement as the young
mage wiggled his fingers and whirled his hands about chanting the whole time,
his pale face turning red with effort. Suddenly the pirates faces turned
serious as an arcane hum filled the air and Cryptodiros eyes flashed blue.
From his hands burst fourth a mighty wind right at the fearsome Bloth, and
then...




...knocked his captains hat right off his head. The roar of laughter was
deafening, and Cryptodiro thought he might die of embarrassment if the
Pirates did not finish him off first. Bloth still cackling commanded first
mate Mister Barnacle, "This one be amusing to me, hell be joinn the
crew, unless hed rather walk the plank?". Cyrptodiro hardly able to move
gripped by embarrassment and fear, managed to shake his head no at the plank
idea. Mister Barnacle a horribly scar faced man with the breath of sour clams
and rotting squid, slapped a ragged old mop into the young gnomes hands.
Mister Barnacle croaked, "Yer first job be makn all this mess be
disappeared yer grand wizardship, and get to it before I wizard me up my
cat-o-nine tails on yer arse!". The once innocent little gnome still in shock
from having his life turned upside down in an odd twist of fate, heard the
cabin boy sigh in relief as he was being hauled off in chains and
saw he didn't have to clean up that awful mess afterall.

Role

Chapter 4

Cryptodiro took the mop and handed it to the cabin boy, with a slight grin.
The cabin boy cursed as Cryptodiro pointed to the bloody mess all over the
deck of the now captured ship, Cadors Wrath. "Make sure yer be makn
it cleaner then an elven arse fer the Captn." commanded the grinning
gnome pirate. Calling on the added power from the mystic gemstone in the
heart of his ship the Maelstrom, Cryptodiro called the very sea itself to
form stairs. He climbed back onto the deck of the Maelstrom on the stairs of
waves, and the pirates gave him a cheer as it was his elemental display that
had made this capture and the many since his arrival a few years ago so
easily. His natural talent coupled with the sapphire wonder called the Heart
of Rayihn, allowed him to give unnatural speed to the Maelstrom with wind for
the masts and to calm sea, tear the sails of enemy ships with lightning, and
then wash half the opposing crew overboard with waves higher then the walls
of Hamsah Mutazz.

They called him the Wave Runner now, and his youth as a civilized apprentice
invoker and Balance keeper was almost forgotten for now. He adopted the tough
talking bawdy ways of the pirate, mainly because when he used big words he
was likely to get a punch in the mouth by the crusty old first mate, Mister
Barnacle. He still painfully remembered the time he said, "According to my
calculations if we regulate the density of our canon projectiles by altering
their chemical composition and elongate the barrel of the canons so that the
hypotenuse is greater then six paces and factoring in humidity and the
differential of wind draft to the vessels acceleration we can augment
accuracy by fourteen percent". When Mister Barnacle reached for his trust
cat of nine tails, quickly he added, "Fourteen percent, Arrrgh?". Poor
Cryptodiro couldnt eat or sit down for nearly a week. While as much as
Cryptodiro wanted to hate him, Mister Barnacles tough lessons about life
on the open sea had saved him more times then he could count.





Cryptodiro spent most of his time on the bow of the ship, so much in
fact that some pirates joked if their figurehead was going to be so ugly, it
should at least have a great big pair of teats. He would go into a trance
there, with the two loves of his life, the Sea and the Maelstrom to keep him
company. He was fascinated with manipulating the elements in just the right
way to get the most out of the Maelstrom. He had to keep the winds just
strong enough to keep the sails full, but not strong enough to tear them and
not too weak that the ship slowed. If he kept the waves at the right strength
and from the two opposing directions at the right angle he found that he
could actually speed the ship even more. He thought about the balance of the
elements and the world around him more and more as he got older without
realizing it. It just came naturally, he was especially obsessed with his
once cursed enemy the seas of water about him. Water was the perfect example
of balance to him, while useful in its extremes of ice and steam, it was
its most beneficial as water in its natural state, to drink, to sail, to
fish from, to feed the crops, to cleanse, and to heal.

From behind him he heard the ever more infamous Captain Bloth cry, "Another

Skill List

Role

Chapter 3

Cryptodiro sat and starred into the Heart of Rayihn swigging his tankard of
rum. The giant gemstone swirled in colors he could not name, fastened
securely in its own vault in the hull. The captain had given him decent
quarters, but he preferred to sleep in here close to the source of his power
and inspiration. As he chugged the rum, he could hear a sweet voice calling
from inside the vault. Suddenly fine mist had filled the room, and within it
the shape of a beautiful maiden. He wanted to see her more clearly, but it
was like trying to hold the mist made drops of water that slipped between his
fingers to the floorboards. He knew this must be Rayihn, the Goddess of the
sea had come at last to enlighten her chosen one. Not knowing what to do he
knelt before her in reverence. He strained harder and harder to see her, but
she was elusive to his eyes. Suddenly the shape put its head to Cryptodiros ear
and began to whisper. He could not make out what she was saying, he could
hear phrases but not put them together. Understand Love...true
sacrifice...heal the wounds....chosen one. The mist made phantasm stared at
him with soft blue glowing eyes as if expecting a response. When he simply
shook his head not understanding he could sense anger and frustration.
Suddenly it grabbed him and his vision swirled, he was suddenly in the crows
nest of the Maelstrom and he could see all the world span out around him.

Every port from Hamsah Mutazz to Seantryn Modan was burned to the ground,
the angry spirits of its people howling at Cryptodiro in rage. The seas
were nothing but shipwrecks and floating dead fish, all destroyed or killed
by the pirate hordes. He could sense Rayihn herself being held captive by
Bloth in the vault below, and she demanded freedom of her loyal servant.
Cryptodiro searched frantically about for a way to free her, but nothing
could upon the vault door. He tore at the door with his own little gnome
hands, clawing at it. The spirit of Rayihn screamed at him from the vault, so
much that his ears began to hurt. The pain in his ears became so intense he
thought they were going to pop.







Then suddenly Mister Barnacle's pitted face appeared before him. The smell of
sour clams and rotten fish eggs brought him fully awake. "Wake up yer drunk
little glob o whale shite!". Mister barnacle yelled as he dragged
Cryptodiro by the ears. "The captain be wantn yer on deck, we gonna raid
a fishn village and he be wantn his fancy schmancy water wizard at his
side." The grim first mate barked. Suddenly Cryptodiro wished he was still
having his nightmares.

Role

Chapter 2

Bloths meaty fist sent Cryptodiros teeth rattling in his skull. "Yer
stinkn gnome, yer dont ever tell me NO! Just cause I dont treat yer
like my slave dont mean yer arent." chided the mammoth pirate
captain. "Now capsize them fishin boats so they dont come disturb us
while we pillage their village." He finished. Cryptodiro let out a deep
sigh as he came to his feet and headed to his place at the bow. For years
Cryptodiro had traveled with Bloth, so long in fact that he began to believe
he was treated as an equal and could come and go as he willed. Bloths fist
had brought the truth of the matter home to him, he was a slave and a
prisoner. Bloth at first had been happy just looting rich merchant ships, but
his hunger for power and riches almost rivaled the dark lord of Tyrants, the
most vile Enlilth himself. Cryptodiros gnomish wisdom had been perhaps
silenced too long by too much rum and pirate living. The cool collective
reasoning of his people coupled with his dreams of Lady Rayihn had finally
shown him what he must do, no matter how painful.

After the pirates had burned the village to the ground, the crews gorged
themselves on the spoils as they always did. Cryptodiro had the helm of the
pirate fleet, and he guided them back out to sea towards the center of the
Aryth Ocean. He was alone up top, except for the oldest angriest cabin boy
who ever lived, swabbing the decks in the darkness. Out in the distance he
could begin to sense his destination, could feel the swirling waters. He
slowly caressed the wheel of his beloved Maelstrom, giving it a final goodbye
as he headed towards their doom.

Bloth awoke from his drunken slumber, still clutching the corpse of the poor
village girl he had "loved" to death. He heard the sound of rushing
water, almost as if they were going over a waterfall. That was impossible
though, the Wave Runner loved this ship more then anything, he would never
let anything happen to it. Then he noticed the shafts of light coming through
the floorboards from below him, where the treasure of all treasures was
tucked away. Suddenly his one good eye opened wide with rage, he tossed the
corpse into a pile of drunken sleeping pirates and headed for the deck with
murder on his mind.




It was the end of all things upon the deck of the Maelstrom. There stood
little Cryptodiro bathed in the same glow the emanated from the Heart of
Rayihn. The Maelstrom was spinning like a top stuck in a mile wide vortex of
angry ocean. The sheer power of the vortex even made the clouds swirl into a
vast circle for miles around. His pirate fleet was getting pulled down into
the whirlpool, all their sails had been torn by wind and burned by lightning.
All sailors knew to avoid the whirlpool of they Aryth, but it was never this
big, never this brutal, not by a tenth. Bloth knew it must be
Cryptodiros doing, the little bastard had gone mad. Bloth charged the
seemingly unaware gnome with cutlass drawn and teeth gritted.

Cryptodiro was more alive then he had ever been, the pure power of the
gem flowed through him as he stirred the sea into the monster before them.
Though he wept like a babe as he prepared to sacrifice his Love to the
depths. Several times he almost stopped, but he knew deep down he must do
this to heal the rift he had caus

Role

Chapter 1

Hopefully you've read the small novel I've written about Cryptodiro but if not, this sums him up so far.



Cryptodiro was a promising young invoker on his way to Seantryn Modan with
his ancient teacher to study abroad. His ship was captured by the dread
pirate Bloth and his master died during the attack. He joins the crew of the
Maelstrom and finds he can strengthen his natural abilities for sea magic
with an artifact on board called the Heart of Rayihn. As time goes by he
helps the pirates grow too powerful using his magic, but because he has
fallen in love with the ship and sailing the seas he does nothing to stop
them. He learns to act as the pirates do in order to avoid beatings by the
cruel Mister Barnacle the first mate. More time passes and he begins to learn
the teachings of Rayihn being so infatuated with the artifact name for her.
Eventually after a vision and coming to the realization that he is only a
slave to captain Bloth he decides he must sacrifice his beloved ship and the
Heart of Rayihn to stop the pirates. He uses all the gems power to strengthen
the whirlpool in the Aryth and sinks the entire pirate fleet. He awakens in
Hamsah Mutazz, saved by sea turtles. He realizes he has a duty to help
shape the world and bring it balance and so seeks out the Nexus. He also
seeks to become a chosen of Lady Rayihn but has so far been afraid to
do little more then approach her shrine after what hes done.

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