Quoted By:
>The man had been in the last holdout, a desperate last stand deep in the bowels of the ship, protecting his lord's family. It had been the cracking of the hull that had brought an end to the petty siege and the man’s survival was nothing short of a miracle. [Taciturn]
The fighting had been quick to turn to slaughter, young and old alike were slain with little care and no small amount of his lordships family lay slain in the feasting hall along with the lion’s share of his knights and trusted men, the old man had only been spared by the current of battle and it had not been long before the fighting had dwindled to desperate holdouts deep within the decks of the ship and it was in the lowest of these that the old man's story concluded.
The underbelly of the deck had been heavy with loot from every inch of the crownlands and now near as much death and carnage had been wrought in the near blind fighting that had ensued, the only sounds that had echoed had been the ringing of steel and the cries of anguish and panic as the scant few torches provided a glimpse of the grim butchery at play. When the fighting had abated at last none could have scarcely believed the miracle that had occurred, none saw the horror that awaited.
It had been a mighty heaving of the ship that had first driven the survivors to alarm, which had been swiftly followed by the thunderous cracking of timber as the ship had been sundered open by some unseen force and in an instant twilight was traded for the inky abyss.
The man wept openly now and despite the warmth of the morning sun you suppressed a shiver at the fate of those who had been with him, the lightless abyss you had travelled to had been a terrible thing and there was no end of terrors for one who ventured there willingly, you yourself had nearly died in such a manner and it touch still lingered upon you even now.
The old man reached for you as he finished his story, his hand shook with a fierce tremble when he passed the idol back to you you could see blood stain it, his voice had long since become a hoarse ruin and you were near strained to make out the words as you seized the idol.
‘’It was a terrible fury boy, bodies, gold and wood was all around us and to be true I couldn’t say what had been which, I dunno how I came to the sea true but a mighty feeding had begun of the carrion when I had, sharks, fish even crabs and more seemed to float like ghost in the dark, I swear I even heard women weeping and swimming like fish….... Madness I know but stranger take me it’s still clear as day, I must have lost me mind, maybe I still am’’
His voice had taken on some terrible aspect and he seized at your arm at the last with a strength that seemed unnatural, it took a great effort to not cry out in pain and shock as he did so.
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