The Pinnacle of the Winged Serpent: Voyage of the Sailing Soul: The Pinnacle of the Winged Serpent, #2

By S. C. Coleman

Following the events of the Glass Empires, Age of the Third Arcon, and Populla's Shadow, and Dawn of the Sun Panther, the Pinnacle of the Winged Serpent follows the exploits of four ships; seeking to make their mark on the coasts of the Greater Continent, and beyond. In these seafaring tales of danger and intrigue, many will succumb to shadow, while others might survive. In the voyage of the Sailing Soul, a roving ship with a secret nature, will be sent on a mysterious and dangerous mission; what will her crew uncover?

• Language: English
• Publisher: S. C. Coleman
• Release date: Jan 5, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215242377

Book preview

Summary:

Following the events of the Glass Empires, Age of the Third Arcon, and Populla’s Shadow, and Dawn of the Sun Panther, the Pinnacle of the Winged Serpent follows the exploits of four ships; seeking to make their mark on the coasts of the Greater Continent, and beyond. In these seafaring tales of danger and intrigue, many will succumb to shadow, while others might survive. In the voyage of the Sailing Soul, a roving ship with a secret nature, will be sent on a mysterious and dangerous mission; what will her crew uncover?

Chapter One

Oil from the Flouro’s Fin

This summer day was like any other, along the eastern coast of the Greater Continent. Here, a storied ship docked among similar vessels at the coastal port of Laene. This old vessel was called the Sailing Soul, and her current captain had won her in a wager; during a game of cards. In fact, the last commander of the ship was deceased, being added to a long line of sailors that had met a similar fate. Now, the ship’s current commander, Otovono, had become aware of the Sailing Soul’s believed curse, before he had taken command. Still, he was not fearful of the likely fate that woud befall him, which had effected all the other captains. It was expected, at this point, that whomever gave up command of the Sailing Soul would not live long after. She did not like to have previous captains still breathing under sunlight, it seemed; much like the black widow prefers to remove her last husbands from the land of the living. Otovono was certain that he would leave the Sailing Soul, one day, and become like one of the black widows passed husbands; but he hoped it would not be too soon. He was one of the few Molinese mariners and he was probably more famous now, after the great signaling of the Sailing Spirit’s last captain. However, the Sailing Soul was a merchant ship, and was now docked among a sea of others; applying their trade in one of the most famous ports of the Greater Continent.

The port of Laene was not so much a port. It was a temporary place for mooring. During the first summer moons, before the truly vengeful summer monsoons arrived, a large number of ships would gather beneath Laene’s watchful protection. Laene had no docks, and disembarking along the coast was a difficult ordeal. Before, when this floating, ship-made, market was not present, most vessels would simply anchor off the coast; or they would dock at the exceedingly dangerous port of the falls; which just a small distance south. Once docked at the falls, a ferry boat would be used, in order to reach Laene. Unfortunately, the docked ship was unlikely to still be docked upon the return trip. These circumstances, among others, had illicited the creative response of the many sea merchants of the continent; to build a floating market under Laene’s shadow. Laene’s river provided passage, from the market and into the city itself. In the past Laene had a docking system built into their harbor. Yet, after the repeated changing of occupation forces, attacks, blockades, and devastating storms, every attempt to build a large enough docking system was met with destruction and ruin. Only the merchants of Laene had the funds to build such a system, and they had given up; after many of their number had lost fortunes in the attempt. Therefore, under these circumstances, the strange situation of Laene was found; where it had a perfectly good and solid harbor beach, but ships had to anchor themselves off the coast.

At this moment, the entire harbor of Laene was full of ships; stretching from one end of the horizon to the other. It was the largest fleet in existence, and had formed its own sort of internal systems and culture. Some had come to refer to the market as Laene’s harbor city. Perhaps, eventually, the large market might even come to dominate the city proper; Laene herself. Such a thing would happen far in the future, and with Laene’s history of constant conflict and turmoil, it was unlikely this large harbor market would persist long. It was allowed to remain because of good will with the Bandit King, Ardel, and for the commerce that such a gathering brought; which greatly bolstered the resources of the Bandit King’s empire. Of course, all knew that Ardel was residing at Xelma for the time being, after easily conquering the city under a single moon. None knew what exactly had taken place at Xelma, but their navy had been captured. Yet, somehow, the Xelmese scourge of the coast continued; as Xelmese pirates easily docked and launched from different bays. This meant that any ships that were aligned with the Bandit King could expect retribution from the Xelmese. Their Xebecs and murder fleets constantly harassed ships across every area of the Greater Continent’s coast; mostly for personal gain, but they would usually sight the searching of vessels for enemy contraband as a pretext. Naturally, if a captain was found to be harboring an agent of Ardel, or provide assistance of any kind to Ardel, the Xelmese would leave none alive. This had made the situation of the seas more desperate and dangerous, but it had also brought higher profits and less competition. These higher profits met at Laene’s harbor, and no Xelmese ships would dare attack such a large gathering. In fact, many Xelmese ships could be found among those moored at the market. Business was business, and free bottoms make free goods, but fights would often break-out among the inhabitants of the floating city. There were many reasons why fights would start, perhaps a drunken argument would turn ugly, or someone felt cheated during a wager. However, the most common factor that begun a fight was the surprise meeting of a Xelmese captain, encountering one of their victims among the market rabble. Such an event was unavoidable, in this place, and the Sailing Soul had its own experiences with the interprising Xelmese pirates.

However, the Sailing Soul had an advantage that other ships did not; otherwise it might’ve had its catapults confiscated. The Xelmese were among the few independent crafts to carry guns aboard. It was ironic that the Xelmese presented the strongest fleet, now, because of their Hohen guns. Yet, the Hohen were weak on the seas, because of rampant internal strife. Apart from a Xelmese pirates boarding unarmed merchant vessels, battles between rival Hohen ships had become among the most common sights along the coast. Fortunately, the Sailing Soul’s captain had acquired his own collection of Hohen armaments; the still secret close quarter spread shot guns. These were less well-known artillery pieces, and few possessed them. Therefor, the Sailing Soul had taken on a curious series of contracts over the past moons. The ship had become the antithesis to the Xelmese pirate. Posing as an unarmed merchantman, the Sailing Soul would wait for a Xelmese ship to hail her for boarding, and then fire its raking projectiles onto the enemy Xelmese deck; which would devastate the Xelmese crew, killing many. Then, the Sailing Soul would remove the acquired goods, and either sell them back to the original owners, with interest of course, or the goods would be delivered to the contractor. Interestingly, the Sailing Soul was not the only vessel to provide this service, but had become the most successful at it; because of their secret Hohen weapons. Of course, these high seas had always been known for being chaotic, and this trait had only become more common over recent moons. It almost seemed like some unseen force was instigating all of this meaningless conflict and rampant anarchy. Of course, a humble merchant ship captain had more important matters to attend to, rather than concerning himself with the intriguing forces of the continent, and beyond. Otovono was special among the Molinese, as he presented the most beautiful pair of violet eyes; considered a mark of royalty among the Molinese. These beautiful eyes contrasted to his mouth of mismatched,