Chapter Six – Tragedy aboard the Greatship Bitter Chain
Lady Pria stood amidships as the flagship of the Pelagic Navy was docked and made ready for repairs. The boom of the mainsail was to be replaced. With two other sailors she sent a steady stream of sea water through the wheels powering the crane. The old splintered boom descended to the deck. As with all operations Lady Pria was involved in, this one was going smoothly.
Pria’s rise through the ranks was nothing short of meteoric. Her devotion to the Navy was second only to her devotion to the Brothers, the gods of Pelagos, the Plane of Water. She was the youngest ever to become executive officer of the flagship.
“Once the boom is off decks have the salvage crew see if any use can be made of it,” she ordered. One of her sailors acknowledged and sent a runner to the salvage team to relay the message. The new boom was already waiting on the docks to be brought into service.
The new boom would still need to be furnished for use on the ship. Pria looked at the long list of repairs that needed to be done. The seas of Pelagos were harsh. The weather was bad, the pirates were worse. Battle scars from nearly a year’s worth of squalls, sea monsters, and marauders were methodically stripped and replaced plank by plank, nail by nail.
The Brothers emerged from their cabin aboard the flagship and waved to Pria. She joined the small entourage as they disembarked and headed towards the portal site. The portal would open in three weeks; and after almost a thousand years of portal openings the immortal gods of the elemental planes had learned one invaluable lesson – be prepared.
Qin, the older and more grave of the two was in charge of the primary defenses at the portal. He was the head of the Pelagic Marine force. Lin led the marine’s counterpart, the Oceanic Magi. The permanent defense structures erected around the portal site needed only modest refurbishing.
The ramparts were designed only to delay an invasion; the real defensive line was the fully assembled naval fleet moored around the island. The fleet would simply draw anchor and bombard the overrun island from afar.