Seaborn

100.

100.

You have damaged an enemy ship of a higher level! You have been awarded 40,000XP.

You have caused the most damage in a significant engagement! Your reward is based on relative damage done and the average damage by your fellow combatants: +25,000 XP

I would have appreciated having more time sailing the m...

99. Intentions

99. Intentions

When asked to perform this escort for Antarus, I’d wondered why the Emerald wasn’t involved. I’d assumed the ship was either carrying out some other important mission or was simply too far away to make the return in the timeframe required.

So when I saw their sails on the horizon, I didn’t think too much of i...

98. Route to the Future

98.

We held a funeral service the morning after our modest celebration of remaining alive. Having the opportunity to eat and drink with friends, sing songs, share stories, break down and cry in more than one case – they all did good things towards putting the fleet into a mental headspace for moving on and continuing the mission.

97.

97.

Travelling with a larger armada det

96.

96.

In stories, when people became allies they were able to trust each other. Maybe my problem was that I wasn’t quite an ‘ally’ to Antarus and more like a ‘mercenary’ so far, and all stories portrayed them as having dubious loyalty at best.

I tried thinking of myself as the main protagonist of the story securing the alli...

95.

95.

The two-headed sea serpent had interrupted both the setup of the Tempest and my own operations incorporating it to my little fleet. The first problem was taken in hand by Rhistel and Jack as they saw to the proper outfitting with the supplies we had escaped with and made note of the things we’d need to replace.

The s...

94. Tempest

(Name Credit to H. Scott)

Memories are different from reality.  Even cherished memories are not always how something really happened.  Nightmares are known for twisting experience.

Redmund was not how I remembered him.

For a moment I questioned whether I’d done something wrong in creating his body, but I hadn’t sc...

93. The King

93. The King

My relationship with my home country was complicated.

I was raised with all of the nationalism you’d expect a country to try and instill. My indoctrination was instigated by the mighty warships of the navy – Antarus’ navy being its main strength – since they were the most glorious thing on the waves a youth cou...

Name Solicitation

This isn't a chapter, but go take a look at chapter 92 released just a minute ago!

***SPOLIER ALERT AHEAD!!!***

Now, I'm looking for input on a name for a certain ship ...

Or is it really a spoiler?  People have been expecting it since chapter 12 ...

So Chekhov's ship is go...

Chapter 92

92.

“Make course 080!”

“Making course 080, aye Cap’n!”

“Onager crew, prepare to fire!”

“Onagers, standing by!”

“Signal the boats, prepare to throw!”

Arnnaith began rapidly moving his arms with the flags to pass my message to Gnar – unneeded as it likely was – and I found I had no ot...

91. Another Settlement Needs Your Help

Despite the headache I was certain I was in for, my mood was noticeably improved when we brought the money and started picking up our goods. The sentries opened the gate for me, but seemed more uncertain about it now with the entourage I had with me. As soon as my men were in though, it was a moot point.

Hali had put out a few...

90.

Here it is!  Tried to get it out by end of May, but guess it's 1st day of June.  Barely.  I'm going to go to bed now.

90.

When I asked for the Captain, two men stepped forward; one in a full kit of armor made from some scaled beast, the other wearing a tailored red and black uniform. My first thought was t...

89. (It's a Chapter!)

89. 

“Drop sails, prepare for ascent,” I ordered, my word quickly being passed along and signaled to those on the spars awaiting that command. Normally I could raise my voice to a level clearly heard anywhere aboard except during storms, and even then my voice could fight the wind to be heard. Here, in the stillness of the darke...

88.

New chapter!  Yay!  I'm sure nobody was wondering when I'd release this ...

88.

Lawless Jack, the chortin pirate Captain who’d taken the Wind Runner and subsequently sent me to the bottom of the ocean, stumbled and fell like a newborn lamb. He flailed for only a moment before he composed himself, bri...

87.

It's twins!  I finished the chapter and it was big enough to split in two, so if you haven't read 86 yet go check it out!

87.

There was something thrilling about storming a beach. Crouched below the surf, hearing and feeling the pounding waves so close, knowing that just out of sight was a territory that posed a dan...

86.

Author's Note: I finished the chapter, and it turned into twins!  Hope the double-chapter makes up some for my recent quietness.

86.

“Please extend my breakfast invitation to Captain Jarek.”

“He won’t like that.”

“So long as he keeps his opinions to himself, we won’t need to have a repeat o...

85. Knockdown

“Captain, a moment of your time?” Hali said, her face popping up over the ladder to the quarterdeck.

I’d been having a private discussion with Rhistel on the nature of the role of first mate, my expectations and how I wanted to support him in fulfilling them. It was a challenging project not because Rhistel lacked the knowledge or ca...

Schedule Update

Unfortunately not a chapter, sorry to get your hopes up.

I wanted to apologize for the delay in content, and let you all know that you're not forgotten.    Real life has kept me swamped, and as my outline gets closer and closer to my planned epilogue I want to make sure I don't rush things (or chock chapters full of empty fi...

84.

84.

Five casualties from Jones’ attack.  All of them had been artillerists aboard the Death’s Consort.  I felt guilty at my relief that the tally was so low, and that I’d felt relief Sadeo and Rhistel had pulled through.  My first sound defeat as a Captain I’d lost nearly half of my crew.  Sin...

83.

So sorry for leaving you on the cliff for so long!

83.

My jaw dropped in a moment of shock as I saw the Perdition suddenly appear and open fire. The next moment it clicked shut as I braced myself and began to prioritize.

“I want Drese on the forecastle intervening as possible! Mirash, get the volatile ...

82.

“I expect to have the Death’s Consort ready to sail tomorrow.”

“So there’s no problem with me having the lads practice some fighting between the ships in the meantime!”

I sighed and rubbed my face. In front of ordinary crew signs like that were things that I tried to avoid, but in front of my lieutenants – and Gnar in p...

81.

Following my creation of a hierarchy aboard my ships I met with my newly appointed lieutenants and advisors to flesh it out. It was important to me that the crews of the two ships be mixed. The old hands from the Death’s Consort needed to be mixed with the fresh blood from the Final Internment. It wasn’t just about managing crew composition ...

80.

FYI; if you didn't check out the changes to chapter 79, you really should!

80.

The Captain’s cabin was supposed to hold a kind of authority on its own, sort of like how an audience chamber would for a king. By virtue of the Captain’s authority, the place where he slept and conduced business would take on an ...

79. Fate of the Death’s Consort (updated)

Note: with all the awesome feedback I've gotten, I've been able to flesh out this chapter better and I'm much happier with the results.  Character development will be ongoing, but I don't think this chapter feels so rushed and unfulfilled now.

Edits are made throughout the chapter, but I delineated major sections I added/changed with ...

78.

Sorry about the unexpected delay: after 2 years of dodging the bullet I finally got COVID.  I'm getting better, and hope to have chapter 79 out to you this weekend!  

78.

You have advanced to skill level 11 in Traps.

You have advanced to skill level 6 in First Aid.

Aside from the pair of skill-ups, ...

77. The Kraken

77.

“Captain? Captain can you hear me? You need to heal yourself! Use your replenishing waters spell …”

“Captain, we can’t keep going like this, you need to use your magic!”

“DOMENIC!”

In a terrifying fever dream, I latched onto an insistent voice and gradually realized I was being given instructions and...

76.

“What do you make of it?”

“Looks just the same to me now as it did yesterday.”

I huffed in exasperation at Jorgagu’s reply. The orc knew the importance of discovering the mechanics of the trap laid for us, yet after several days of scouting our targets out he was succumbing to his racial impatience. At least he wasn’t as ...

75. An Unexpected Party

This chapter has quite a few tables, so recommend checking it out in the attached pdf since patreon's site doesn't play nice with those ...

I appreciate your patience with this delayed chapter.  Several things conspired together to make it late, but I hope that the result is enjoyable!

As a side note, I intend to take some time ...

74.

“Die!” my opponent screamed in a desperate octave, his blade slicing my light armor as I tried to dodge. There were some times – lots of times – where I wished that I had any talent for using a shield. I wouldn’t ask for much … just a single level with the skill so that the vitally important piece of defensive gear would be more usef...

73.

(Author's Note: I edited chapter 72 to include a discussion on enchanting that I meant to include.  That also pushed that particular chapter to almost 7,000 words, which I hope will make up for this one being just under my average goal of 4,000.)

I sat on the fantail of the Roc’s Eye, one of my father’s books o...