The Find 39.

Autumn.

The giant hole in the ground. Also called the pit. In which is the ancient city of Dalphene.
"He's definitely dead" says Greason the wizard.
"You sure?" asks his fellow wizard Lopaphil with a skeptical look upon his pudgy face.
"Definitely" says the other wizard, who continues with "Jarman saw the body, crossbow bolt through the neck".
Lopaphil, who wears green robes, grunts then says "Well, at least that's something".
He briefly pauses before adding "I guess Darmos had something to do with it?" followed by "I sensed him over that way after their airship landed".
Greason just sourly smiles, and nods his head in reply at the mention of his old acquaintance Darmos.
The short, lean looking wizard in the fiery red robes then looks away to their right, and says "Best we tell him Kilfin is dead" he continues with "And that wyvern too" Greason then adds "At least that's something".
Lopaphil nods in agreement, then the two wizards, along with a handful of the others.
Make their way into the ruins away to their right. Inside of which, is a large hole in the ground, with a number of tunnels leading out of it.
They take one that leads to an underground chamber that was dug out by treasure seekers years ago.
It's where the company has been based as they've battled Hamblett's company for the last couple of weeks.
Now that battle has been completely turned on it's head since yesterday afternoon.
When Jorkamin's company got involved in the battle. And attacked both their company, and Hamblett's.
And anyone else unlucky enough to get caught up in the battle, here a couple of miles to the north of the neutral zone.
Down in the giant hole in the ground, within which is the ancient city of Dalphene, more commonly called the City of Ruins.
The two spellcasters, who are as different in appearances and age, as they are in personalities.
Make their way across the chamber, to a table, where Jarnok is standing by himself, looking at a couple of maps.
Jarnok, a large man nearly six and half foot tall, originally from the kingdom of Girdane. Who has a large axe strapped to his back.
Looks up from the maps and watches the two wizards approach.
"Well?" asks Jarnok the mercenary leader as he looks at the two spellcasters standing on the otherside of the table.
"Something good for once" says Greason, the shorter, leaner and older of the two wizards.
"Kilfin is dead" adds the wizard in the fiery red robes.
Jarnok's eyebrows shoot up at hearing that, then he says "That is good" followed by "Hamblett too?".
Both wizards shake their heads no, then Lopaphil, who is the younger, taller, not to mention fatter of the two wizards, says "Not that we know of".
The younger wizard in the green coloured robes continues with "Jorkamin's lot had something to do with it" followed by "Darmos had a hand in things".
"Those assholes are good for something i guess" sourly says Jarnok the mercenary captain, who then adds "Apart from sticking their noses in where they shouldn't belong".
Then the large man, wearing tattered looking ringmail armour over leather sighs.
Both wizards feel like doing the same. For until yesterday afternoon when Jorkamin'company entered the fray.
They had the upper hand in the battle against Hamblett's mercenary company.
Jarnok then gestures at one of the maps of the City of Ruins, then asks "Where was he killed?".
"Here" says Greason the wizard pointing at a spot on the map, about quarter of a mile away to the east of them.
"Jarman spotted the body with some others in the old culvert that runs through there" adds the wizard in the fiery red robes.
Jarnok nods, and makes a mark on the working map beside it, then he looks up at the two spellcasters, when Lopaphil says "Something else too".
"What's that?" asks the mercenary captain originally from the kingdom of Girdane, who has been here in the City of Ruins for the past decade or so.
And though his company was relatively small when he first arrived here in the pit.
Over the last ten years or so, it has grown in numbers and strength. So that it's now one of the three largest mercenary companies operating down here in the giant hole in the ground.
"We saw that wyvern of Jorkamin's flying wildly away to the north just a little while ago" says the younger of the practitioners of magic, the taller, fatter and younger wizard then adds "There was no rider on it".
"Now that's definitely good" says Jarnok, who continues with "They've lost their spotter for their warship".
The mercenary captain who is still annoyed one of his main rivals has a pair of warships, then says "No doubt he'll bring another one up from the south" followed by "And it'll get here during the night, or in the morning".
Both wizards nod in agreement with Jarnok, who rolls up one of the maps, and stuffs it under his leather vest.
The mercenary captain then says to the wizards "Let's go, this may be the best time to do something".
He then looks away to the right, in a dark recess of the chamber, and calls out "Tunga, we're going to have a look around".
From the dark recess, something rather large moves, and gets up off the ground, and steps into the light of one of the nearby torches.
It's Tunga the troll, who has known Jarnok longer than anyone else in the company.
Tunga, like Jarnok is from the kingdom of Girdane. Where he worked in the shipbuilding yards in the capital city Oaklynn.
The near eleven foot tall troll, made friends with the young Jarnok at the time. And the two of them have been inseparable ever since.
"Gonna smash some heads in Jar?" asks Tunga the troll, who has one large bottom incisor tooth, sticking up out from his mouth, while the other one on the otherside of his mouth, is broken off.
"Maybe" says the mercenary leader, who continues on with "Let's go and find out".
Tunga, who even for a civilized troll, is quite articulate, grunts then picks up his massive hammer from the ground, and slings it across his broad back.
The troll follows behind Jarnok, and the two wizards Greason and Lopaphil.
When they exit the underground chamber, Tunga has to duck down low to follow the others through the tunnel until they get to the large hole in the ground, within the ancient ruin.
They climb out of the hole, then out of the ruins. One of the many shells of ancient buildings in this part of the City of Ruins.
Outside as they look around, Jarnok the mercenary captain quietly asks the big troll "Anyone not in the company around Tunga?".
"Nah no one" is the reply of the troll from the kingdom of Girdane, who then adds "Even those goblins who were over there, have taken off".
"Underground?" asks the mercenary captain as he looks away to the east, to one of the few solid looking ancient buildings in this part of the pit.
"Yeah underground, tunnels that way" is the reply from the troll who is a former shipbuilder.
Then the three humans, and the troll look up behind them. As the lookout on the roof of the ancient building, calls down "Captain that warship is in the air again".
"Where?" asks the mercenary captain who hails from the kingdom of Girdane.
"East and south" says the lookout in reply, and the trio of humans and the troll look that way.
"There it is" quietly says Greason the wizard when he spots the warship that belongs to the mercenary leader Jorkamin.
Watching the airship, that's circling to the east as it rises higher up into the cold autumn, afternoon sky.
Jarnok the mercenary captain muses "Wonder if you two can knock it out of the sky?".
As he'd love to give Jorkamin a bloody nose so to speak. As he's run roughshod over the battle ever since he and his company entered the fight yesterday afternoon.
"Probably" says the wizard Greason, his fellow spellcaster Lopaphil nods in agreement with him.
The older, shorter and leaner wizard continues with "Though probably not if Darmos onboard".
"Your old comrade too good?" asks the mercenary captain Jarnok.
Greason slightly grimaces, then says "Hate to admit it, even though we're of similar power, Darmos is a smart bastard for sure".
Jarnok nods his head as they watch the converted vessel turn northwards over this area of the pit.
Greason and Lopaphil share a look, then the older wizard in the fiery red robes, quietly says "Want to see what's happening onboard it?".
"Might as well" says the younger wizard in the green coloured robes.
The other spellcaster nods, then Greason quietly says "I'll go first".
Lopaphil nods in understanding, then the other wizard Greason quickly senses at the warship that belongs to Jorkamin the mercenary captain.
He blinks in surprise after sensing, while next to him Lopaphil quickly senses the vessel, that's been causing havoc with it's magetubes.
The younger, taller and fatter wizard blinks in surprise too. Then the other wizard Greason voices why they're surprised "Darmos isn't onboard".
Jarnok grunts, then says "That means Jorkamin isn't onboard either" the mercenary captain continues with "Those two basically go everywhere together".
The older, more experienced practitioner of magic nods, then he says "It also means that warship isn't as well protected".
Greason the wizard continues with "There's just a conjurer onboard, who has up fairly rudimentary wards on the underside of that ship".
Lopaphil nods his head in agreement with his fellow wizard, then the younger of the two spellcasters says "That ship is ripe for the picking".
He looks at Jarnok and tells him "This might be the best chance we have of bringing it down".
"I agree captain" says Greason the wizard as he looks at the warship that's now circling westwards over the pit.
The captain of one of the largest mercenary companies operating down here in the ancient city of Dalphene.
Pauses for a moment or two as he thinks it over, then he says to the two spellcasters "See what you can do" followed by "Be quick about it though".
Greason and Lopaphil maybe different, in attitude, personality, appearance and age.
But what they do well, is work in near unison during battle, and in other stressful times. The two of them quickly and quietly confer about something.
Tunga the troll overhears them, and tells them "Behind a midships, where the stern deck, meets the rest of the ship" followed by "That's the weakest part of an airship that's been converted like that".
"Thanks Tunga" says Greason, who with Lopaphil, was just discussing where the weakest point of Jorkamin's warship could be.
"You hit the wards, and I'll hit the keel?" asks Greason looking at his fellow practitioner of magic.
"Sounds like a plan" says Lopaphil the wizard, who then adds "Wait until it turns back south again".
The older, leaner and shorter wizard in the fiery red robes nods in agreement as they've come up with a quick plan to bring down Jorkamin's airship.
They have to wait a bit before they act, as the warship fires off a few shots from it's magetubes at something on the ground.
Then it heads this way, westwards for a bit, before finally turning to port, and heading south again.
Then as the two wizards wait as Jorkamin's airship stern is facing them.
Tunga the troll points and says "What's that" the troll with his far sharper eyesight than the humans, then adds "There".
Jarnok the mercenary captain spots it next, then he quietly says "Looks like a little ball of light".
First the wizard Lopaphil sees it, then the wizard Greason spots it. Both practitioners of magic frown as they watch the small, dark red ball of light.
It looks like a pinpoint of light really as it's so small as it rises up towards the warship circling back to the south.
The only reason the the humans can see it, is because of it's colour against the clear blue afternoon sky.
"Looks like a lightball" murmurs Lopaphil the wizard, while next to him, a frowning Greason quietly says "It reminds of something".
They watch as the small, dark red ball of light, shoots up towards the underside of Jorkamin's warship.
They see it come up the underside, about five yards from the hull, move aft and come up the stern, then head straight up into the sky about a hundred feet above the converted transporter.
There it pauses for a moment, before it shoots down at speed towards the deck of the warship.
They don't see it, but it smashes down through the decking, and goes below deck, then they do see what happens next.
All of them, the mercenary captain, his friend the troll, and the two wizards.
Watch as an explosion rips through the warship, exactly where Tunga said was the weakest point of the vessel.
The keel there, is blasted apart from the inside in a fiery explosion, as is the hull on either side of it.
With a nearly fifteen foot section of the magical keel gone, and the underside of the hull closest to it gone as well.
And flames escaping from the breach in the warship, flames that are spreading along the hull of the airship, it starts to rapidly drop out of the afternoon sky above the City of Ruins.
While Tunga the troll grunts, Jarnok the mercenary captain looks at the two wizards and says to them "Looks like someone got to it first".
Both practitioners of magic nod in agreement as they watched the badly damaged, burning airship plummet towards the ground.
"Looks like it" says Greason the wizard, who along with his fellow spellcaster Lopaphil, wonder what the hell just happened . . . . . .