Chapter 334 Embarking to Treasure Island
"Alright," Gafgar said and stomped the ground. A dunlord soon appeared, and he rode on it then coursed through the forest in Dave's territory.
Dave followed after Gafgar. Soon he heard the sound of water. There was a stream next to them. After following along it, the stream converged into a wide-raging river.
They continued moving through the forest and following after the river until they exited. In front of Dave was an enormous raging sea. It was pitch black like if the water was made of ink. The broken moon hung close to the water; its reflection was hard to see among the raging waves.
At the end of the river was a large dock that had dozens of undead moving about. Logs and metal were placed neatly around the doc in stocks.
Looking into the sea Dave saw a ship that didn't budge even though the waves of the sea raged. But calling it just a boat would degrade the enormity and beauty of such a vessel.
It was made entirely of wood and had a reinforced hull that ended with the head of a draconic creature. It had three masts that were dozens of meters long. It was at least a hundred meter in length and was heavily fortified.
There were dozens of cannon muzzles peaking from the side of the ship.
"How is it?!" Gafgar asked in all pride.
"It's huge!" Dave replied as he got closer, but the closer he got, the more imposing the ship looked.
"We'll need to take the row-boats to get there," Gafgar said. There were a few row-boats that were tied to the harbor.
Gafgar called two undead and turned to Dave and said, "Let's take her for a ride!"
"I've never driven a ship before," Dave smiled.
"I'll show you how to. It's not easy but not too hard," Gafgar said and hopped into the boat.
Dave unsummoned Grumpy and jumped into the boat.
The two undead rowed the boat through the raging sea and approached the floating ship.
Slowly they made their way through the waves and stopped in front of the ship. It looked like it could reach the sky and was as wide as the horizon.
"Lower the ropes!" Gafgar called.
Several undead threw ropes form on top of the ship's deck.
Gafgar and the two undead tightened the ropes on the row-boat and called for the ones on the Leviathan to pull.
Moments later Dave was on top of the ship.
Dozens of undead saluted him, and Gafgar opened his hands wide shouting, "Isn't she lovely!" pride could be seen shining from his hazy eyes. It seemed that Gafgar grew an enormous attachment to this structural miracle.
Dave's gaze wandered; the ship was beautifully made. The sales were folded and black as the night. The deck was clean and shiny. It was recently mopped and polished. Kegs and crates were neatly stacked to the side. These must be the supplies for the ship. A large portion of the boat was built in the back. There was a steering wheel on it. When Gafgar saw Dave looking at it, he smiled and said, "That's the Wheel-Deck. I've built you your stay under it. It's called the Stern-Castle or the captain's quarters for a simpler term."
"Thanks," Dave said. he wasn't too familiar with the ship terms, but Gafgar was an excellent help.
"Come, come, let's get this beauty moving."
Gafgar walked up a staircase that led to the Wheel Deck while Dave followed after him.
Dave stood and stared at the wheel, it had a skull in the middle, and its handles were made of bones. It looked frightening yet fascinating at the same time.
"Before we go, we need a flag," Gafgar said.
A notification window appeared in front of Dave.
***
Please personalize your ship-flag. It will be a way to identify your ship.
***
The panel in front of Dave had several options. There were ready-made flags, some had skulls like pirates and some had the logo of the four kingdoms. But Dave wanted something unique.
He chose to make a personal logo, he opened his browser and looked for the CCN logo of his smiling draugr face. He copied the logo and added it to the flag. It showed a smirking bearded dragur.
Another notification appeared in front of Dave.
***
Your flag contains an element related to death.
Skulls, Undead are symbols of pirates.
Choosing these flags will make neutral ships hostile toward you!
Do you still wish to continue?
***
Dave smiled and pressed, Yes. With a ship this big, he wasn't afraid of anyone.
"HA! What a fine flag!" Gafgar said as the flag with the draugr's face appeared in his hand.
He handed the flag to one of the undead and said, "Climb the crow's nest and put this up! make the world know that the undead is coming!"
The undead took the flag and climbed up the middle mast like an agile monkey. He entered through a small opening into the Crow's Nest and placed the flag in place.
The wind made the flag flutter in the dark skies of the underworld.
"WEIGH THE ANCHOR!" Gafgar bellowed out.
Four undead went to the mainmast, and each pulled a steel pole down. The steel poles looked like a wheel that was attached to the mast.
Then the undead began pushing all the poles in one direction. The sound of chains crackling echoed as the undead pushed the pols. Soon the anchor was hoisted, and the ship was free to move.
"HOIST THE SAILS!"
Other undead began pulling at ropes. These ropes hastily drew up the black sails of the ship. The wind blew into the sails and began pushing the vessel forward.
"Commander, take the wheel," Gafgar said and went behind Dave.
Dave hesitated for a moment then took the wheel in hand.
"Turn it starboard."
"What's that?" Dave asked.
"Starboard means turn the ship to the right," Gafgar said in a smile.
"Then why not just say that?" Dave asked as he turned the wheel to the right.
"Ha, you'll know when we are in the deep sea. Sometimes left and right becomes confusing. So we use Starboard or Portside to indicate right and left respectfully based on the ship's hull." Gafgar explained.
"Ah," Dave nodded. He was still unconvinced, though.
"So how do we get this ship to the overworld."
"His majesty ordered the building of the naval teleportation gate, so we go through it," Gafgar said.
"Uh, I don't see any gate," Dave replied as he kept his hands firm on the wheel.
"Well, of course, because it's underwater.
"Huh? Say that again?" Dave asked.
"Yes, the naval gate is underwater, so we'll dive," Gafgar said.
"I think you're mistaking something. Ships weren't made to dive underwater."
"Yes, but those are human ships. Use the power of your ring lord Kis'Shtiengbrah," Gafgar said.
Dave looked at his ring then remembered that he had obtained a new ability.
"Dead Men Tell My Tale, huh."
As he spoke the words, a dark aura spread from his ring and seeped into the ship's wood. It ate at it and made it decay. The brand new ship began to corrode and rot. Even the sails became torn in many places, but instead of the vessel decelerating, Dave noticed that the boat was actually picking up speed.
The ship became dark and slowly almost ethereal, mixing between physical and nonphysical.
"Push the wheel!" Gafgar said.
Dave pushed the wheel, and the whole ship released a groaning sound as the bow dove into the water. The seawater climbed up the boat like a hungry beast and covered all the undead. Yet not a single undead was moved from his spot. Even when the water blasted into Dave, it just went through him. The ship was actually diving into the depth of the water.
"That's the gate!" Gafgar said, his sound clear even through the water.
Looking in front, Dave saw an enormous teleportation gate that was placed in the depth of the sea. A bright light was coming out from the gate. Dave guided the ship through the gate and exited from the other side.
The black seawater was changed to blue, and the sun could be seen from the depth of the sea.
Dave looked at his mini-map and saw that he was in the Southern Sea.
"Now pull the wheel," Gafgar said.
Dave pulled the wheel, and the ship began rising. The old boat broke through the sea surface and was out.
The bright light of the world shone upon the ship.
"How is it!" Gafgar asked.
"This is wonderful," Dave said as he gazed at the calm sea.
Turning his head, Dave saw land. There was a small hamlet in the distance.
Dave saw the name of the hamlet was Sisili. Dave called Lone, telling her to come there.
Moments later, all of Dave's party were staring mouth agape at the ship from the hamlet's dock. The NPCs, however, weren't too happy with the sight of the ghost-ship in the distance. Most of them escaped and hid in their homes closing their doors and windows.
"Get someone to bring my friends over," Dave said.
"As you command captain," Gafgar turned and ordered a few undead to take the row-boats and bring his friends over.
When the party climbed up, flanker commented, "Man, this is a rusty old ship. Should this ship have like…less holes? How the heck is it even afloat, man there's a big ass hole in the hull!" Flanker said, pointing at the hull from above the deck.
Dave smiled and disabled the ship's ghost ability. He couldn't use it anyway with his friends, if he dove into the water, though he won't be affected they would drown.
The ship returned to its magnificent shape, making a gob-smacked priest shut up.
"Alright, let's get them treasures!" Dave said and spun the wheel, guiding the ship toward the marker's location.