7/1/2019

We invite you to sit back and enjoy Trust Thy Brother,

By EM Malachi

The lamb looked at the shepherdess and gave a confused bleat. With the new smells, the small animal had grown shy. Katrina gently guided the lamb into the pen.  Feridwyn, the animal’s owner, had sold the rest of his flock, but he had wanted her to have this one. “Why Britain? Why can’t you do their work here?” she asked.

Feridwyn emptied the oats from his pockets and tossed them into the pen. “It’s where I’m needed. The poor of Britain and Paws are crowded together in that awful city, and the Fellowship goes where their help is needed.”

“There are poor people here too.”

“True, but the shepherds take care of our own. When those vultures came for the gold I owed last year, you paid them and prevented them from throwing me out of my home. That is what the Fellowship is trying to do on a larger scale.”

“Other groups perform charity. That isn’t new.”

“But they haven’t done enough! For too long, the powers in the gilded houses and castles have made promises, but those at the bottom have only gotten poorer.”

“You are giving up everything, your whole life here.”

“I already lost it. Lily and the twins. Ever since I lost them to the pox, there have been many times I didn’t think I could go on. When I met the Fellowship envoy, I was in the darkest place I had ever been. She talked me back from the edge.”

“I didn’t know things had gotten so bad. I would have helped.”

“I didn’t want help. I wanted a reason to go on. I needed a purpose again, beyond living another day. I believe in the Fellowship’s work. For the first time in so long, I feel hope.”

*****

With the Pirate Guild wanting him dead, it cost Mole all his gold to bribe a sailor to let him stowaway in the ship’s hold. It was a week of worry and claustrophobia, followed by a month of sickness, alone in the dark. He arrived in Britain nearly dead.

Those unloading the ship found him when they moved the stacked crates that had been his cell. The sailors drew lots to see who would move him to a convenient alley. The docker with the short straw was surprised Mole was still alive. He helped the wretched stowaway get to the Fellowship House.

For a week, members of the Fellowship brought potions to his bedside and helped him eat. Mole soon regained enough strength to sit by the window and listen to Batlin speak to the people of Britain.

At the end of the week, they came to him with a job. They brought him to a warehouse where people from Paws and refugees from the pirate conflict were working for the Fellowship. A stern woman named Brita showed him how to wrap powder charges for a ship’s cannons. Mole didn’t let on that he had done it before.

Settling down to work, Mole looked at the child next to him who was counting out grapeshot pellets, and muttered, “Better than starving.”

As we close out the chapter on Rising Tide, a new chapter begins with Forgotten Treasures.  We invite you to sit back and enjoy, Worthiness Precedes Reward.

By EM Malachi

The tavern smelled of fish guts and dry rot. The barkeep refilled the tumbler of the irate pirate lord, his sole patron. Hook was drunk and swearing when the man and woman entered. Both were finely dressed and had the shared features of siblings; the woman stood a few inches taller than her kin. Seeing them, Hook dropped a handful of doubloons on the counter and motioned for the bartender to scram.

Hook grabbed a bottle and filled two mugs, but the siblings declined. Hook shrugged and drank from one of the mugs. When Hook didn’t say anything, the man asked, “Why have you requested this meeting?”

“I need gold, lots of it. The Royal Navy is building ships faster than I can sink them.”

The man sat in a chair against the back wall. “So Britannia has the will to win the war you started?”

His sister sat on a stool on the other side of the pirate. “We have already given so much. What of the other allies we introduced you to?”

Hook replied, “I haven’t seen the gargoyle since the last job I sent him on, and our mutual friend Rankin is dead.”

The man’s face darkened, and he closed his eyes for a moment. “How did it happen?”

Hook shrugged. “His dark rituals versus an angry contingent of the Royal Guard, I think. I don’t know. I wasn’t there.”

The woman looked over to her brother. “I’m sorry. I know he was a dear friend. Do you need a moment outside?”

The man gave a sad smile. “I’ll be fine. At least Rankin died as he lived. If we could all be that lucky.”

Hook slammed down his mug in annoyance. “Can we get back to my problem? My fleets have suffered heavy losses. Some of my captains are in full revolt. Others just left in the night. Without resources, more will leave my side. Even the bloody orcs are grumbling.”

The man shook his head. “This is disappointing. You even admit you are not worthy of the trust we placed in you.”

Hook looked startled. “I thought we were here to discuss how you could help our mutual cause?”

The woman laughed. “Our causes were never the same. This was a test. We expected so much more, for you to earn your place in our leadership.”

The man pulled out a small crossbow and aimed it at Hook. “You must have known the price of failure, but you got greedy and expanded your war too far. Now your recklessness will be your end. We will do this without you.”

Hook slowly raised his hands, one still holding a liquor bottle. “We can discuss this.”

“There is nothing to discuss.”

“I guess there isn’t.” The pirate brought the bottle down hard on a lantern on the counter. There was a flash as the liquor ignited.

Dazzled by the sudden flames, the woman hurled her blades at Hook’s head, missing his eye, but slashing across his ear. Hook jumped over the bar as a bolt smashed into bottles behind it.

The woman drew more knives and walked behind the burning bar. “He’s gone.”

The man reloaded his crossbow and looked as well. There was an open hatch leading down to darkness. “Shall we follow?”

Motioning at the growing blaze, she shook her head. “No, these old crimp tunnels are a maze that run to every wharf and pier. I have no desire to be trapped underground for days. We will get someone else to kill him. Trust your sister.”

As we prepare to conclude Rising Tide and begin our journey to Forgotten Treasures we invite you to sit back and enjoy, Strive for Unity.

By EM Malachi

 Town Cryer transcript of Lord Batlin’s Speech to the Royal Council

 “We are the Fellowship”

“King Blackthorn, Governors, and distinguished guests: I, Batlin, stand before you as a humble petitioner for my people. We of the Fellowship wish to be allowed to do our important work out in the world. I hear you ask, ‘Why does Britannia need the Fellowship? What is one more philosophical society or charity?’ I thank you for giving me a chance to answer.

We, Britannians, have struggled in our long history, plagued by wars, invasion, and disaster. With the disappearance of one king and the death of a queen, even the Crown has faced hardship. When people struggle for so long, they focus on the burden they carry, and not the road before them. They also miss the suffering of those around them. The Fellowship wishes to lighten these burdens, to help people walk with their eyes on the horizon.

The Pirate’s Guild took advantage of our distraction and disunity. They are a discord that should never have been allowed. The Fellowship will help protect and unify our people and merchant fleets against this menace. We wish to help bring peace to our world.

Still, the pirates of Buccaneer’s Den are merely today’s problem. What of tomorrow? We must strive for unity all of the time, not just during crisis. Too many distractions and new ideas fill our cities. With the Shrines to the Virtues so distant, the Fellowship houses we will build will provide places of meditation and respite.

We will also serve the poor and vulnerable of Britannia. Some may balk at our approach to charity, where those in need earn their alms. However, if we are to heal Sosaria, the Fellowship cannot simply treat the symptoms of poverty. We must help those in need regain their self-worth, as worthiness precedes reward.

Members of the Fellowship come from all over Britannia. We are your brothers and sisters, your children and parents. We are the same people. Trust your brother, trust your sister. Please let me and my people go out and spread the word of Fellowship.”