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| - While Drindell and Anita did their best to avert direct conflict, the captain was briefing all those soldiers not trained in the art of bows (Only a small fraction of the inquisitors, since they had incentives to train in every form of combat) on what was going to happen, soon. Hobenrûd was between them. The captain paced around, explaining that this was the classic Sardinian "Fresh From the Hook" tactic. They would launch ballista projectiles specially designed to destroy little, and still hold the ship tightly. Then they would reel the ship in with it, board the ship with superior troops and take control of it. All the while they would shoot arrows at the deck, trying to stop the ship's crew from obtaining a strong foothold. If the crew didn't leave the lower decks, they simply locked them in and used the wheel to steer the ship to a port, where many more soldiers would be waiting. "I don't understand this!" said an inquisitor with plate armour, "Why are the Sardinian attacking us? We were allies just a day ago!" Another one stood, insulted the captain, and said he would not be pushed around by a low-rank. The captain, visibly angry with him, shouted: "You may be of higher ranking on land, but as long as you're on this ship, and you can't even steer a lifeboat...I'm the superior here! And you'll do as I tell if you don't want to meet Sallund a lot sooner than you expected!" After venting his anger, the captain started explaining his battle plan to the soldiers below deck. Meanwhile, Anita had reached the mast, despite protests from the ignorant men in armour below, and making a swipe of her fan, sent a whirlwind, falling from the suddenly clouded sky and streaking into the water. Within moments the waterspout had turned its characteristic bluish, watery touch, and it spun in the direction of the Sardinians, some of whom leapt overboard at this point. The small waterspout passed over the enemy deck, and most, if not all of the crossbowmen that didn't jump in the sea were forcefully thrown out of it. Two of the four masts of the enemy galleon were ripped apart, and the enemy mantlets made some physical damage on the ship. But the threat was not over. And as if to emphasize it, two other projectiles hurled through the air and hit the "Eastern Light," and the ship started to be reeled him even faster, despite Drindell's efforts to cut the ropes. As the ships reached close enough, a drawbridge was lowered on the "Eastern Light" deck, and a stream of plate armoured soldiers poured out of the hatches to the lower decks from both ships. Most Sardinian soldiers were equipped with broadswords and brigandines, standard-issue equipment of Sardinian army, while some of the richer ones had poleaxes and full plate armour. While the inquisitors were equipped with most varied white-painted armour, differing from rank to rank and various weapons, including morning stars, longswords and spears. The two groups faced each other. One waiting for the other to make the first move. Until Drindell took a foul-smelling thing that looked like it was taken from inside some animal and mumbled something, jumping on one foot and rotating. Now, no one until today has ever found reference to any spell cast like this. But the various sources I consulted on the event, all make mention of this. So I have no other thing to do, but to assume that this was merely a ploy that he used to give confidence to the inquisitors. And I daresay it must've worked. What followed was one of the greatest battles of our history. Even though there not nearly as many soldiers involved than in Pulti, the battle was no less bloody, nor less remembered. Spearmen and poleaxemen charged with abandon, closely followed by the ferocious close-combat divisions. Hobenrûd's undulating blade met many bellies, arms, heads and legs that day. As did Marin's, compensating with sheer enthusiasm the relatively lower level of skill. Anita decided to use the lighting rod, since the fan could hurt her own allies in such a small space. She wished she was with her loyal soldiers this time. Drindell threw enemies out of the ship, whacking them with his quarterstaff, or he simply quickly darted his kris from his clothes and slit their throats. But the inquisitors, even with their morale elevated by Drindell's "magics" and their faith in Sallund, were losing ground to the better equipped Sardinians. And, somewhere along the line where the two groups collided, their attention was drawn to a single enemy. A man with red hair that parried their slashes and avoided their thrusts as if they were nothing. A man that killed three high-ranking inquisitors with only two thrusts of his sabre. A man that forced the inquisitors to retreat to the larboard side of the ship, and regroup, waiting. The red-haired man twirled his own moustache, and not properly shouted, but rather, spoke with a loud voice: "I know the people responsible for the recent attack on a Sardinian camp near Pulti are aboard this ship! I have permission from the gran-mayor of Sardina to attack and apprehend ships transporting criminals! But don't worry, I am a reasonable man! Did you hear!? Ruann Rovias is a reasonable man! If you give the criminals, and the ship, to me...you will all be spared!" He paused, as if waiting for an answer. Receiving none, he made a wide gesture with his hand, and his soldiers advanced a little more, among them, a man with only one hand. Then he continued talking: "It appears you are much more foolish than I previously thought. I am looking for two women and two men! One of the women is blond, one of the men is dark-haired! Ring any bells!?" The inquisitors began mumbling among themselves, and the members of the Freedom Army thought it was over, they were done. They thought that this was the farthest they would make, and, at the time, it seemed they were right, as the inquisitors, one by one, turned toward them. But then the captain of the ship screamed back to the red-haired man: "This ship belongs to the Holy Order of Sallund! And, as dictated by the divine law of sanctuary, only members of the Order may persecute criminals here! Leave now, and Sallund may forgive your sacrilege!" The red-haired man didn't actually laugh, it was more a chuckle, according to accounts, but he couldn't have angered the inquisitors more, even if he had. And as the inquisitors charged, paying no heed to safety, followed closely by the party of hitch-hikers, except for Drindell, who decided he would be of more use giving magical support. He took a strange black, furry smaller bag from his bag, and poured a strange purple powder from it on the deck. Forming a pentagon-like symbol. He then took a small gem bound by a thin thread from his pocket, and made strange movements with it. All the people that ran to the front lines felt something different then. It was neither a feeling of euphoria, nor one of "strength," but rather, a mixture of those. And thus, the inquisitors fought as they never fought before. Their strength and resistance heightened. The inquisitors nearly trampled the first line of Sardinians, while Rovias retreated to the back. Shields collided, as the Sardinians tried to stop the onslaught of the magically enhanced defenders. But the inquisitor spearmen poked their spears between the shields, until another line fell. The Sardinians, seeing the inquisitors killing line after line, fell on disarray and fled as they could. Rovias tried to rally the scattered troops and counter-attack, but Hobenrûd ran toward him, from the mass of victorious inquisitors, brandishing his sword. Rovias avoided his every strike, until he was cornered on the starboard of the Sardinian ship. Hobenrûd slashed mightily, aiming for his foe's chest, but Rovias, without any space to avoid it, parried the attack and kicked Hobenrûd's chest, throwing him on the ground. Smiling, Rovias looked at his fallen foe, prepared to finish him off, and saw a piece of metal beside him. Startled, he looked at his own sabre, it was broken. A large chunk of metal, near the tip, had broken off. Then he felt something hit his chest, hard. An arrow, shot by Gilbert, the legends say, although no hard evidence of that exists. Ruann Rovias fell over the starboard of the ship, still holding his broken sword, into the sea below.
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![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)