X (Captain Ruik's Adventure

By Aegelis

Thrill of the chase is on! Join Captain Lanna Ruik with her fearless crew aboard the majestic tall ship, Eagle's Claw, embarking on a daring, nail-biting endeavour across treacherous seas to reclaim stolen treasure from violent thieves.

Bra

• Language: English
• Publisher: Aegelis
• Release date: Dec 27, 2022
• ISBN: 9798869317438

Book preview

For Alexandra and Jessica.  A story of faith and doubt, trust and betrayal, right decisions and wrong, as well as other challenges of the human spirit.  May God bless your voyages wherever they may lead, shield you from storms, then return you safely to harbour. 

Novella by

Aegelis

Nautique Edition

Available also in Paperback and Hardcover at Amazon.com

Here thar be fiction!  Characters, events, and dialogue are products of the author’s self-generated brain soup.  Any resemblance to events, actual persons living on earth or who are now in the afterlife, is coincidental.

Copyright © 2003, 2022.  Please seek author’s permission for any unaccredited or profitable use.

Chapter 1: Another World

    During an age of great kings and horse-drawn carts there were individuals who relentlessly searched for their place in the world by hoisting sails on the wooden tall ships of vast seas.  Seas were the only places not completely owned by any nation nor noble, for any attempt to do so would be like trying to grip tight a fistful of sand hoping no grains would fall.  Three large kingdoms did however lay claim to sea zones near their shores, offering reasonable protection outside their guarded lands.  Nations called Aris, Masoria, and Surria were the greatest known in their region, establishing what was considered by most as civilization.

    Aris was the nation best characterized by its high regard for nobility.  Historically this could be considered both their strength as well as their weakness.  Better than any nation was their sense of justice, however overconfidence left some doors open for attack.  Overall the quality of life was good, rule had been benevolent under most monarchs and the people had the ability to live comfortably by farming, trade skills, or military service.  Banner for the Aris nation was a queen’s golden crown on a purple field.  Purple was the dye most expensive to produce, reflecting the lineage of the monarch, as only the royal family could afford such colored garbs most of the time.  Many outsiders mistook the golden queen's crown emblem as the nation being a matriarchy, however the crown symbolized the motherland itself, whereas the king was said to be the caretaker of Lady Aris first and foremost. The literal queen as a person was seen as the king's helper in this role. 

    To the East of Aris nestled the trading nation of Masoria.  Positioned equidistant from most other countries, Masoria served as a hub for goods of all sorts from jewelry to weaponry.  Diversity allowed them to create allies and trade partners alike.  Masoria was the first to standardize currency.  Base units were called Lodes, made of a black metal commonly found throughout all regions.  If it weren't for two physical properties, these Lodes would be valueless.  First, like all coins, they had to be mined, weighed properly then stamped with TW on one side.  TW stood for Trade Weight, whereas the other side could have any depiction the national minter would choose to place on it.  Second, Lodes were unique because of their magnetic attraction to one another.  Coins were easy to stack, carry, and could be broken up and used for devices such as compasses.  Masoria set the next highest currency as the rarer silver coins called a Vantz (Vantzes in plural), which was worth twenty Lodes.  Making change to higher currency was comically called lightening the Lodes as wordplay for exchanging the heavy stacks for a single coin.  Finally, there was the trade weight Gold Piece, just called Gold or GP for short as gold was only seen by miners and their overseers in its pure form.  The Gold Piece, which was worth ten silver Vantzes, used to have its own name but because of confusion or translation it went back to the single word Gold in its capital letter case sense.  On the Masorian banner, a Gold Piece is centered upon a green backdrop as a symbol of wealth.  Green represented growth, opulence, and prosperity.  Since the lands had its fair share of barren deserts, mountains, and dry plains, it was the plants and trees that represented life. 

    In the southern region sat militant Surria.  Though realizing power alone doesn’t make a great nation, Surrians believed complete control was the foundation for maintaining the order of law and economics.  Military service was required for men ages fifteen to twenty-five, then thereafter men have an option to join civilian life or continuing service under five year terms.    Young women of the same age were called the nation builders, responsible for all other roles in perpetuating society.  For the Surrian banner, a white sword in front of a white round shield was prominently displayed on a red backdrop.  White represented peace (but only through a unified empire of course), as well as absolution and brilliance.  Red was to never forget the price paid by their forefathers to achieve the strong dominion.

Expansive water between these nations was known as the Empire Sea.  Called such by Masoria originally, the great nations were built by trading and fishing in these waters.  Sparsely occupying the waters were mostly trading vessels with military escort but typically not gunships alone. Winds of war had been calmed by trading in recent years. 

    Westward of the Empire Sea were waters unknown.  It bore no name other than Infinitum. No one truly knew what lay beyond with ocean seeming to go on forever.  Navigating such waters took a special kind of skill and bravery.  Rarely did the nations travel Infinitum because of the many explorer vessels which had disappeared in attempts to answer the unsolved question of where Infinitum ended.  Large explorer vessels were rarely all that traveled there, filled with decks of food and other supplies for the long journey.  Infinitum made a perfect haven for such raiders who were willing to try overtaking pioneering craft.

On the ocean Infinitum floated one ship of particular interest headed back to familiar waters…     

Map of X

Chapter 2: Victory and the Storm

    Laughter spread across the deck.  She walked up to the instigator, grabbed him by the scruff of his burlap shirt, then threw him overboard.  Staring at the flailing sea-dog as the ship drifted