Hoist The Colours! [Mass Guild Intro Event]

Throughout the seas of Earthland a dark storm that stretches for miles has been spotted. Pirates from all coasts speak of how this storm is unlike any other storm. Tales of sailors speak of how the storm would block out the sun plunging the sky and sea into darkness. This storm’s clouds were black like smoke, the storm's winds howling as if it was the screams of the dead. Pillars of blood red lightning bolts would strike down from it’s blackened skies, thunder rumbling like the growl of the kraken. Many who have seen the storm from afar have talked about how the storm could appear in the clearest of weather almost instantly. Tales also speak of how the storm could vanish in a matter of seconds as if it was never there to begin with. The unfortunate souls who got caught up in the storm spoke about how their compasses and navigational devices would cease to work in this cursed storm making it impossible to navigate the storm… However the most terrifying thing is not the storm itself… there are whispers of a ghost ship in the heart of the storm…

Eventually a large fleet of pirates that dominated the eastern seas of Earthland had gone to investigate the storm to see if the rumors were true…. For weeks there were no sightings of the fleet, not even a single ship. Until one day the flagship of the fleet returned battered and beaten. The ship’s condition was so terrible it was said it was on the verge of sinking. Aboard the ship many of its crew were missing along with their captain. All of the survivors were shaken and driven mad with fear. Each of the survivors whispered and rambled the same thing: “She came from the abyss…” however, the first mate of the ship said something different from the others, he whispered…. “She’s going to hunt us all down… unless we join her fleet…. She’s coming..”

Before the words of the survivors could be brushed off as some ghost story, the storm began appearing more frequently. Many of the ships lost in the black storm were sent down to Davy Jones’ locker, and the few who survived said the same thing as the first survivors… The message was clear to all pirates of the seas: no one was safe from the storm, no one was safe from the abyss…

Pirates of all backgrounds soon received a mysterious black letter sealed in red wax with the emblem of a kraken and spear, inside the letter were the coordinates to shadow island. Many speculate the letter came from the ghost ship thus many pirates have set sail to the coordinates to find out what’s waiting for them there on shadow island....

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461 Words

Extraordinarily bored of waiting, Shiva leaned back on the beach without a care for the dirty staining her garments and stared up at the dying sun as she popped a cherry into her mouth. Immediately afterwards, she spit it out onto the rocky sand. "That's absolutely disgusting," she grumbled as she hacked and coughed as the taste leaked across her tongue, down her throat, and into her stomach. "I'm sick of waiting for people, can we just pirate or kill then pirate them all and call it a day?" Shiva asked loudly and rhetorically to the quite literally nonexistent crowd around her. The island was empty aside from several mystical monsters, which she quite approved of. Oh, and Jack was going to be coming soon, but he wasn't here yet. And as for his sister, Avantika... She was also somewhere on the Shadow Island, but Shiva had to admit she wasn't sure exactly where. Probably chilling with her ship and being all cool and stuff while they both waited for her slowpoke of a brother to arrive. Shiva had just popped in as per their previous agreement, and she had to admit this set up was pretty cool.

The Shadow Isles were honestly a great place to stay. Freedom and independence were the main concerns of most of the denizens of this island, and there were little human residents to the point where she could avoid them altogether if it so pleased her. Shiva rubbed her fingers in the sand as she mumbled to Aegir through their mental link and sat up slightly. Responding in kind, the orca dropped to the beach from where he had been hovering over her shoulder and slowly shrunk down until he was barely the size of a fifth of his ordinary mass. Aegir curled his lower body and tail around the back of her neck. Pulling her sun hat off of her head, Shiva playfully placed it on Aegir's own noggin before she telepathically sent him a sleepy thank you, 'for being her temporary sleep cushion.' Then she leaned back onto him and fell asleep. If some murderous or frightened people arrived, she assumed she would hear them. Or be awoken in some way or another. If not, well, guess she would die.

Today, Shiva had dressed particularly casually because Aegir had lauded the importance of "looking cute," which was a stupid thing for him to say as a currently bright red and white orca who always was adorable, but. Such was the advantage animals had over humans. Now, as she was sleeping soundly, Shiva appeared to be something of a common beach goer, with blue shorts and a thick grey belt paired on the top with a flowy, summery half dress in white and gradient blue. The small red stripes across her bodice and the hem of her off the shoulder sleeves were reminiscent details of the sailors she had killed a while ago in the past. Shiva had no idea if people still considered this color set nautical, but, well, she had tried her best to evoke that feeling. Red tinted sunglasses completed the look, and now as she lay on the beach with her eyes closed, she appeared to be a regular girl suntanning. Well, suntanning in the dim sun of the Shadow Isles, with random mythical monsters roaming about nearby. Since Shiva was so pale at the moment, perhaps it made sense that if she always tried to tan herself here, her attempts to naturally attain a darker skin tone would be utterly useless.

594 Words, 3376 Total

You can click here to get a rough idea of what Shiva is wearing for this 'beach party.'

Nothing had felt the same since her godly partner had ripped herself away from her. It felt like there was a hold inside her, which refused to be filled, no matter what she did. For all the blood she spilled, the lives she took, the heated encounters that she got herself in, nothing changed. It angered her beyond belief and ever since then, the six foot slayer had simply given into her rage completely. Her body count had skyrocketed and there was barely a thought that passed her head anymore. All she saw and thought about was violence, filling her dreams as well as her waking thoughts. There was nowhere she could go that would truly accept her at this point but that had always been the case with her. She had attempted to play nice with groups before but the result had always been the same. They had just pissed her off more and Sarisha had been as likely to lash out at them as she had her opposition. Would these pirates be any different? She doubted it but the letter she had received had attracted her attention enough for her to simply jump into the sea and travel across the ocean. Travelling through water was no issue for the slayer of krakens and for the majority of the journey, not a lot happened.

It was only when the waters darkened and storms began to appear overhead that she was approached by an enormous shark that seemed to desire her death. Unfortunately for the beast, it had chosen the wrong prey and as it came towards her, Sarisha would turn around in the water, a pair of poisonous claws ripping through the skin of her hands and she would lash out, catching it with an almighty slash across the face that caused the water to turn red with blood. Angered, it would spin around and charge again, its eyes fuelled with fury, only to be caught once more by the claws of the god, this time slashing all the way down its flank. Sensing weakness, the red haired woman would dart towards it and force her claw straight into its mouth, before sending it upwards, straight through the shark’s head and skull, ending the fight then and there.

Irritated but also somewhat admiring the shark, Sarisha would proceed to take the carcass along with her, until she eventually reached the shore, walking out of the water with the body of the creature behind her. She was uncertain as to whether she was on the right island or anything like that but it mattered not to her, the slayer would explore for a while and if all else failed, she would simply return to the sea and search elsewhere. For the moment, she would simply start slicing up the body of the beast, fully intent on devouring it. It had been a long trip, after all and she could do with a bite to eat. The clouds above her were completely black but she cared not. A little storm never hurt anyone and it would sure as hell take more than that to inspire any fear in her.

(529 Words)
(3905 TWC)

Rumors. It was said that every rumor, no matter how tall the tale, had at least a sliver of truth buried somewhere within. She had heard people speak of "the Storm" in hushed whispers, afraid that by openly invoking the storm, it would come for them and claim them for its own. She wasn't surprised; sailors were a very superstitious bunch... but in a world where people could pull comets down from the skies, and others boasted of powers akin to the old gods, most things were possible. And as far as the sea, the mother of mysteries, was involved, that "most" quickly became "any".

Dia did not disbelieve the existence of the rogue storm that could rage unceasing for weeks on end, then suddenly vanish without a trace of grey cloud. What she did not know was how accurate the stories were. People said the clouds were like smoke. Others said they could hear the voices of the dead on the howling winds. Still there were others that said that the storm was alive, carrying out some unknown infernal purpose on Earthland. But what was one of two things that were most interesting to Dia Izuna was the talk of a ghost ship... a ship which wrapped the storm about itself like a shadowy cocoon, and the talk of navigational systems going completely haywire in the storm.

The idea appealed to her the moment she heard of it. Having a mobile base, which was untrackable, as well as unassailable was a very powerful advantage in today's world. And while most people prayed and invoked protective charms over themselves so as not to be "noticed" by this ghost storm, Dia couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to find out more about it. Perhaps this power could be harnessed by her; such a thing was definitely what a woman like her needed, or even if that was not the case, she would not mind getting close enough to understand how it worked, and thus figure how to replicate such a powerful cloaking spell.

She heard of the fleet of ships that had bravely sought the storm, but she was not too surprised at the outcome. At least, it told her that she would have to be very prudent in her dealings with this magical weather anomaly. She actually didn't expect any ship to return, but the mere fact that it was the flagship that came back meant that an intelligent entity controlled this storm, and it was not just some freak force of nature. The message the survivors brought back was... intriguing, if anything, but even with the first mate's further exposition on the matter, Dia was not convinced that anyone who approached the Storm of the Abyss (as she decided to call it from that time on) would not disappear or return in a similar frame of mind as these poor sods.

It would soon seem, over the next few days, that the Storm of the Abyss was hunting down pirates. Until Dia could figure out exactly what its motives were, and the requisites for being targeted by it, she would have to tread carefully. She already had her hands full, avoiding certain aspects of her past. She decided that her priority would be to find out who exactly was on the Storm's hit list, and she already had a clue, from the words of the first mate of the ship that had been allowed to escape: she, the Storm, or the ship within the storm, would hunt them all down. Okay, that was a little disconcerting.

Dia was a little flustered to find the black letter. Its seal was an exquisite work of art, depicting a kraken with a spear. She frowned at the letter, unwilling to pick it up until she had determined how her room had been broken into. What was confusing was how there were no signs of any presence, yet the letter sat there, as real as the annoying screaming sea gulls outside. After contemplating various explanations, all of which did not yield satisfying answers, she finally picked up the strange item. Idly, she rubbed her fingers along the paper, noting mentally that the material seemed to be of good quality. Breaking the wax seal, she opened the letter, expecting to see a bounty, indicating to her how many days she had left to wander free, or something else similarly dramatic. She would have actually taken a twisted sense of fulfilment in seeing that she was at least worth something to someone. But the contents were different.

"Directions? she couldn't help but wonder aloud. This was not a countdown of doom, but an invitation. The letter did not say further than that, though. Why had she been chosen? Her heart lifted a bit as she considered that she might have been one of the few in all of Earthland selected to visit the Shadow Island. That elated feeling quickly sank when she noticed quite a number of pirates in the shanty town poring over similar letters. It was either of three things: the ship in the Storm was inviting them to join its army, it was inviting them for a mass pirate pogrom, or this was a well played prank. She supposed it couldn't hurt to visit the island. She knew she wouldn't be the only one going. If it was indeed a massacre, there would surely be powerful pirates there, who would fight back. She would use that opportunity to make good her escape.

And so it was, that on this day, she selected a normal merchant vessel whose route would take them closest to the storm. She could have gone along with other pirates, but pirates were a rowdy bunch, and she expected that a fight was sure to break out, with her at the center, while aboard their ship. Yes, she liked attention, but there were times it did not do well to stand out. And until she knew exactly what she was getting into, this was one of those times. So, she had tagged along with the merchants, keeping to herself for most of the journey. Already, though, she had turned not a few heads, not because she was strutting about or anything, but because she had requested for an extra lifeboat to be brought aboard the ship. And once the ship made to turn away from the storm, Dia had her boat lowered into the sea. At least, she knew how to paddle, and she was a natural swimmer, better than most, even.

The rowing to the island was uneventful, though it gave her arms a lot to complain about. She was fortunate that the storm somehow did not whip the sea into a frenzy, otherwise it would be difficult for anyone to approach the island. Dia jumped into the waist high water and dragged her boat out onto the beach. She had finally made it. She could make out ships and pirates of different sorts stepping onto the island... and then she saw a woman lying in the sands. At first, she thought that this was an unfortunate soul who had been left for dead by some unscrupulous elements, of which among pirates, these were never lacking. However, as she got closer, she saw that there was nothing wrong with the woman. In fact, the woman was, for all intents and purposes, sunbathing.

Sunbathing without the sun?

Dia came a little closer, out of curiosity, but stopped and watched her. She couldn't tell if the white haired sunbather was asleep or not, and she felt it might be a bit rude to disturb her beauty nap. Still, this was not exactly the place for a snooze, was it?

Then again, pirates were a strange race of creatures, were they not?

Avantika looked at the black abyss that lay before her. The soft groan and creaking of steel echoed through the mechanical organs of the vessel. She turned away from the port hole that provided a the view of the black void of the ocean depth. "Shall we surface captain?" inquired of of Avantika's crew. She turned to her subordinate and gave a stoic nod of approval. The pirate turned to his other crew mates and relayed the captains orders. "Alright lets bring her up lads." The vessel began to rouse form it's slumber as the crew inside her began to move about and prepare the submerged behemoth to break out from the watery depths. In a matter of minutes the waters near the shore of the set venue erupted as a large submarine breached the surface. The vessel made her way towards the shore eventually docking at the sandy beach. Avantika exited out of her ship accompanied by her crew. Unlike other pirates Avantika's crew all wore matching black militaristic uniform's, not only was their appearances organized but their formation was impeccable as they followed their captain. Avantika led her men onto the beach, she noticed that there were those who were wise enough to take the hint and follow the coordinates. A smile crept upon Avantika's lips as she recognized a familiar face. Avantika raised her gloved hand signaling her crew to stay put, her men immediately obliged and turned their attention to approaching ships. there were already a handful of ships that were anchored a mile or so off shore. Avantika couldn't blame them, caution was always a wise way of approaching things. Eventually Avantika stopped by the side of the white haired woman who seemingly was tanning at the dim beach.

"I'm glad you decided to grace us with your presence Shiva. I apologize on behalf of myself and my brother.... I'm afraid Jack has a habit of making grandiose entrances..." Avantika smiled as she took off her tricorne hat and gave a graceful bow to Shiva. "Might I add you look wonderful Shiva." Avantika chuckled as she gave a nod of approval at Shiva's attire. She then turned her attention to the other two women that had arrived and smiled a the two each giving them a friendly bow towards their individual directions. Soon enough other rowboats arrived and crowd of sailors and pirates began to form. Avantika turned to her first mate and gestured for him to come to her side. The man was in his fifties, he spirted salt and pepper hair that matched his greying beard. He approached Avantika and handed her a bronze mic. Avantika hit the switch and watched the internal lacrima of the mice glow.

"Welcome my fellow pirating compatriots... it is a pleasure to meet you all." Avantika stepped away from Shiva and when she finally was a decent distance she spoked into the mic, her ship in turn amplified her voice allowing all to hear her.

"were you the one who gave us this letter?" A voice yelled from the ever growing crowd. Avantika narrowed her eyes as her introduction was interrupted. She sighed and responded to the question.

"I'm afraid not... that letter would be from The Admiral..." Avantika replied but before she could say another word she was once again interrupted by another question from the crowd.

"And who the bloody hell is the admiral?" A grizzled pirate approached Avantika, he stood about 6 feet tall, he sported a black beard adorned with clay beads and gold coins. Her had a large hat adorning his head with a bandana to somewhat keep his curly untamable black dreads. The crowd parted allowing the large man approach Avantika who was notable smaller than the man.

"I-Is that captain Vela Crouse? He's got a fleet large enough even the royal navy of Ca-Elum are hesitant to challenge him..." The whispers of the crowd resonated through the beach. The other captains scoffed not allowing their pride to be over shadowed by the man that approached Avantika.

"If you would be patient Captain Vela Crouse... the admiral will be here shortly..." Avantika held her ground as she looked the ruthless pirate in the eye. Avantika's men didn't budge as they watched the rival captain approach their leader.

"Ah... Captain Avantika... beautiful as ever... why don't we end this charade and how about ye tell us what the hell is going on here... better yet.... why don't you join me in quarters... perhaps we can share a drink or two... ahahaha" Vela Crouse chuckled as he reached out to brush a strand of Avantika's hair away from her face. In a blink of an eye, Avantika drew her dagger and cut the fingers off Vela Crouse's hand.

"I'm disinclined to Aquest to your request Captain Vela Crouse..." Avantika's voice was cold and unshaken. "If your monkey of a brain  was unable to understand... it means no, Captain Vela Crouse" she spoke her words in a bored tone as she watched the pirate before her yell out in pain hurling insults and vulgar curses at her.

"You damn bitch! Gun her down lads!"  Vela Crouse barked his orders and his men drew their guns and fired a volley of shots at Avantika before she and her men could retaliate. Avantika's bodies was riddled with bullets as her flesh erupted into fountains of blood. Vela Crouse laughed before wincing in pain at the pain of his injured hand. His face grew pale not because of blood loss but at the sight before him...

Avantika was still standing, although an obscene amount of blood dripped from her wounds she still stood. A soft wet gurgle left Avantika's lips as blood began to spill from her mouth due to the internal bleeding. The gurgle grew louder and more clear. Eventually it evolved to a loud amused laugh as Avantika began to walk towards the horrified Vela Crouse. The other pirates gasped, while other remained stoic staring at the horror before them.

Avantika let go of the mic and drew her saber. With both saber and dagger in hand, she slowly approached the now cowering Vela Crouse. "....I must thank you Captain Vela Crouse... you'll save me time explaining the gift the Admiral is willing to give to those who join his crew..." Avantika raised her blades, the already dark clouds began to darken even more. The winds began to howl while the waves began to churn. A storm had suddenly engulfed the Shadow Island almost instantaneously. Although the island was already dim, the storm made it dark as starless night sky. The darkness was only shattered by blast of blood red lightning in the distance.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! THIS IS THE GIFT THAT AWAITS THOSE WHO JOIN THE STORM!" Avantika's voice was loud and firm as she took her blades and plunged them into her torso. the blades pierced through her flesh until the emerged out from her back. The crowd watched in morbid curiosity and horror. All things considered everyone knew Avantika should have been dead, even so, Avantika drew the blades from her body. The blood that spilled and coated her blades ignited into a hellish flame. Like a lantern in the night, Avantika's blood and blades burned with an unnatural flame. "THOSE WHO WALK THE ABYSS WILL NEVER TASTE DEATH!" Avantika shouted as she stood before Vela Crouse. Her burning blades pointed at the man before her.

Vela Crouse frantically scrambled towards his men. "YOU IDIOTS! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! SHOOT HER AGAIN!" The men frantically drew the weapons again and fired their shots but their bullets were useless for they were incinerated before it could even reach Avantika.  She raised her blade to finish off the pathetic pirate but before she could smite them down with her ghostly flames a voice echoed through out the beach.

"Avantika... enough..." the voice echoed as if seemingly coming from everywhere and nowhere. Avantika sighed, the flames that surrounded her dimmed and died down as she sheathed her weapons.

A blinding blast of red lightning struck a few meters away from Avantika and Vela Crouse.  The heat of the bolt of lighting instantly turned the sand where it struck into glass. In the center of where the bolt of lightning had stuck stood a humanoid figure.

The figure was dressed in a black over coat, the texture of the figures clothes were that of smoldering coal. It was as if it was coated in ash and perpetual ember. The bone chilling visage of a flaming phantom stood before the crowd. Instead of flesh the mans face was nothing bone. A burning skull with a perpetual grin, gazed at the crowd. Despite the flames that engulfed the skull, the skulls empty eye sockets were pitch black like the oceans abyss.

"What's the matter mates? It's like you've seen a ghost?" The figure spoke despite having not lips or tongue. He walked over to Avantika, each step he took burned with a fervent heat immediately liquidizing a thin layer of sand beneath his boots. The steps he would leave behind would rapidly cool and the super heated sand would harden and turn into black glass. "To answer you're question before Captain Vela Crouse... and to all those who maybe wondering... I am the admiral..." The admiral chuckled as storm churned as if laughing with him.

"I'll cut to the chase... Join my fleet or pay a visit to Davey Jones' locker..." The Admiral said nonchalantly as he gazed at Vela Crouse and then to the crowd...

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WC: 1,601
TWC: 6,705

So really, the unfortunate part about existing as a person in a world filled with other persons was, at certain times, those other people were around her and she was forced to notice it. Shiva had become accustomed to ignoring them for the most part, and her lack of acknowledgement often paid off in said human departing in peace. Rather than pieces, the former was preferable. She currently could sense that somebody of some kind was skulking around a bit a little ways away, watching her. Kinda weird in Shiva's opinion, but she wasn't about to judge. Opening her eyes, she pushed herself up on the sand into a sitting position. Now with a narrowed gaze she took in the stranger, then she slowly stood up. "Watching me while I sleep?" Her tone was bland but curious, as if she truly wanted to know the answer.

Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of a large vessel that was vaguely familiar to Shiva. Oh, that must be... a sedate smile made its presence known upon Shiva's face as she waved to Avantika. "Typical Jack," she scoffed, but her tone was at least slightly fond. His grandiose entrance had better be quick, otherwise Shiva had a mind to leave. "Thank you Avantika," she easily accepted the compliment on her appearance. "You're as lovely as always." It wasn't a lie, seeing as those fell easily from her lips but not when it came to Avantika. No, Shiva and really anyone else with a typical brain could see that Avantika was a stunning individual.

Now observing as her friend began to speak into some lacrima technological microphone, Shiva took a look around at those who had gathered here. She could see some interesting folks, but they weren't interesting enough at the moment to do anything besides brief acknowledgement. Yada yada, Avantika was talking... someone was objecting... what an idiot. Rolling her eyes at his audacity, her fingers swirled together a miniature cyclone before she saw that Avantika was already handling it. Honestly, that weirdo deserved his fingers to be cut off. In her expert opinion of course. But for some reason Crouse's crew had an established lack of brain cells between them which had led them to shoot Avantika. Probably, the process was somewhat painful, but Shiva wouldn't know. Either way it wasn't like that was going to do anything in terms of killing Avantika. Which the woman was using as a perfect demonstration, actually.

The chaos that Shiva was ready to sit back, tip her hat, and watch, was interrupted by the arrival of the Admiral. Always a show boat, wasn't he, but she accepted that. His over the top nature was simply another part of his sometimes-charm. More often than not, Shiva was highly annoyed by him, but the aggravation couldn't last too long. He was a decent guy at the end of everything. Oh wait, she was hearing something that she could participate in. "For those of you who want to swim with the fish, I'll be taking volunteers over here," Shiva feigned enthusiasm as she waved to the crowd and moved a few paces away from everyone. "You can just form a queue there, and I'll help you out," she gestured vaguely in front of her to a nonexistent line. If people felt like dying, that would be her job.

1155 Shiva, 7266 Total