Bilgewater, Part 8a

Mida yawned and stretched as she slowly woke up. For the first time in a long time, she didn't immediately have to bolt up from unconsciousness for safety, so she made sure to take her sweet time rolling around on the bed. As her eyes opened, she saw that the curtain was still drawn in front of her; while to her left were a barrels and her right the wall of books, all providing a perfect place of privacy. The boat rocked back and forth much more gently now, and the only rumbling that could be heard was far off in the distance. The storm had likely subsided. Mida could feel the ship moving forward as well; back on its unknown heading. She reached up and rubbed her face groggily, wiping her mouth, rubbing her eyes and scratching her nose.  She stretched out again, tensing and releasing each muscle in her body, and peacefully laid awake on the mattress.
"Just a little while longer." She thought to herself with another yawn.
She could hear some slight commotion outside her little bubble of existence. Goblins were shuffling around and chattering unintelligibly. The hold did seem to be slightly better lit than the night before, as the few, tiny port holes on the walls were shining in natural light. The over all mood was vastly improved from the night before as well, and this made Mida smile a little.
There was a quiet rustling all of the sudden from above her. Mida looked up to see a set of yellow eyes peering down from atop the wall of unevenly piled books. Taken aback, Mida squinted to make out what the dark creature was. When it poked its head up higher, she saw that there was an imp standing over her, looking down. Mida didn't know much about demons; such matters of magic and monsters were really more of Bowie's specialty, but she knew enough. Where there was an imp there was surely a warlock. Mida sat up on her knees to see the imp face-to-face. Even still, the imp only continued to stare awkwardly at her. Even when Mida's face was just an inch away, her eyes curiously wide and slightly annoyed frown on across her lips, the imp just stared.
Mida gazed at it for several seconds before finally whispering, "What do you want?"
The imp jumped, as if she had somehow startled him.
"Jumpad?" A little girl's voice called, "Where have you gone?"
The imp's head looked back behind him and down into the pile of books from where the voice had called. The imp then looked back to Mida, distraught, and whimpered, "Help me."
Mida's eyebrow rose in confusion.
"Jumpad." The voice called again, "There you are."
Two little goblin hands reached up from inside the stack of books and pulled the imp down like a stuffed animal off a dresser. Mida was a bit shocked at first. She thought it was just a solid square of books, but apparently not. She stood up and looked down to see that it was in fact a fortress of them, with a little interior in which someone could hide; just like the kind children make when they're playing. Inside, there was a young goblin girl. At least, a goblin that appeared to be a young goblin girl. She had a tiny bed hidden inside the wall of books, and one little crate of belongings. The little girl was quite frazzled; red hair a mess, very emaciated, and for just a brief second Mida could swear her left eye moved independent of her right as the little girl looked up to her. She curiously tilted her head and gawked, somewhat rudely, at Mida.
"Hello." The little girl said. "Did Jumpad bother you?"
"Jump-pad?" Mida asked curiously, "Your imp is named Jump-pad?"
The girl grinned freakishly and pulled her imp violently closer like a limp rag doll, "Yes. And my name is Plumley."
"Plumely?" Mida asked. A distant boom echoed still, but Mida dismissed it as thunder and nothing more. She was far too pre-occupied with the curious little girl. Plumely took Jumpad and held him close to her like a teddy bear. The imp looked back up to Mida with straining, desperate eyes, as Plumely began stroking his head gently as she stared blankly at the wall of literature. Mida looked up from the hiding place and scanned the surrounding area. There were no goblins, and no parents, nearby. Mida looked back to the little girl and asked, "Plumely, are you here by yourself?"
Plumely shook her head so hard her whole body shook, "No. My brother is here."
"Okay, well, Plumely, may I ask your last name?"
Plumely suddenly moaned, pressed her imp even closer to her body and almost curled into a fetal position, "No. Don't have one."
"Don't have one?" Mida asked, confused. Another rumble came from outside, closer now. It drew Mida's attention for half a second. Was the storm getting closer again?
"No." Plumely continued whining as if she were in physical pain. "No. Don't have one. A demon stole it."
"A… demon… stole it?" Mida asked uncomfortably. She thought she surely misunderstood her.
Plumely squeezed her imp so tight he let out a choking hack as she began to slowly rock back and forth. She looked around frantically, checking over her shoulder, almost as if to make sure no one was watching her. Barely whispering, she stared at the floor and mumbled, "Yes. Demon took it. He needed something. He had to take something, he said, to save me. Something of mine. Something personal. Yes. He took it."
Mida found herself getting extremely disturbed by this little girl. Out of morbid curiosity, though, she could not help these next words come from her mouth, "Plumely, who is he?"
Plumely slammed her eyes shut and whined loudly. She hung her head down and grabbed her gut out of a sudden queasiness. The imp was released and fell into her lap, but struggled to catch his breath. Mida took a step back, but also began to notice the titles of the books that were around her. Plumely couldn't have been any older than a young adolescent, at best, yet the towers and stacks of books were hardly for someone her age. Advanced books of demonology, fel and dark magic, necromancy, college-level textbooks of history, theology, math, science, politics and other subjects surrounded and towered over the little girl. One book was even open on her bed, just in front of her. Plumely flailed her feet as she whined more, kicking the book down and shutting it, revealing its title; Deals With Devils – How to enter a pact with a dark being and prevent the master from becoming the servant and visa versa.
When Jumpad saw Mida reading the book's title, he gasped and hopped out of his master's lap. Plumely cried more and laid back as Jumpad struggled to lift the book bigger than him and messily tuck it back into the tower of books somewhere.
Just as quickly as she started crying, Plumely suddenly stopped and lurched forward. Mida jumped, frightened by the little girl. Plumely's awkward eye drifted down while her right eye looked right up at Mida. The three seconds of silence felt like an eternity for Mida.
"You know we're not going anywhere." Plumely said, her left eye then turning up at Mida as well. There was a loud boom from outside the ship, closer still, but also a good distance away. Mida stepped back and tried to look out the portholes high above her and far away. It was still bright and shining outside. Plumely stood up and looked down at her tiny chest of toys. "We're not going anywhere. We're just lost. We have no heading. We're running out of supplies. We're probably all going to die."
Mida turned back to Plumely and stared, growing scared of her, not of the mysterious booming in the distance. Then, the little girl looked up, left eye still delayed behind her right and said with a smile, "But not me. I won't. He promised me he'd get me out, and until I do what he says he won't let me die. He won't let me die, but I'm his. He needs me to do stuff for him in this world." There was another boom, followed by sharp whistling. "So he needs me. But he owns me. He has my last name. He uses it against me. Makes me do things. Hurt people."
Plumley reached down without taking her eyes of Mida and grabbed Jumpad by the wrist and held him up almost triumphantly.
"I may be here forever." Plumely said, eyes bulging out of their sockets, terrified, ecstatic grin on her face. "But that's why I've got Jumpad! He'll keep me company, even after this world is destroyed and I'm still here."
Plumely bent over, threw Jumpad on the ground and pulled something out of her chest.
"No!" The imp's high-pitched voice screamed. "Please no!"
All Mida could hear was fabric tearing violently and see the silhouette of scissors and knitting needles flying. It was like seeing the shadow of some mad Forsaken scientist cast on the wall of a laboratory as he constructed a new plagued abomination to release unto the world. Red fabric shot up like streams of blood as the gangly shadow of Plumely swiped her hands and tools over the screaming imp.
"NO!" Jumpad shouted, "Oh GOD NO!"
Mida covered her face and looked away. She tried to tip-toe away, when suddenly Plumely erupted back up out the top of the books, her hands tucked under Jumpad's armpits like a puppy.
"ISN'T HE CUTE?!" Plumely screeched as the mad scientist completed her work. Jumpad re-emerged in a very plush, adorable, light-brown teddy bear costume, complete with ears, stubby tail and giant red bowtie. His face sticking out a head slot was the only imp part visible about him.
Another boom, whistle and loud splash echoed off in the distance. The booming grew more frequent and was accompanied by other noises now as well. It was most certainly not thunder, and Mida feared that she did in fact know what the noise was. She gave one last glance to the demented little girl that she wished she'd never met only to see the teddy bear version of Jumpad mouth the words "kill me" before she took off running for the exit.
"Where are you going?" Plumely whined, completely clueless to her own awkwardness.
Mida ran to the ladders, scaled the cargo hold and got to the exit. The whistling, roaring and booming continued in the distance as she raced up the stairs and flew open the make-shift door that replaced the one taken by the storm. It was daytime, and the sun shone brightly in the sky. There were few, white clouds still hanging high above, but that was it. There was, in fact, no storm, and no thunder. Standing on the deck were several of Maldy's men, including Maldy himself and Commander Flagg. Mida gulped as she suddenly remembered her last encounter with Flagg. She shrank back into the ship for a moment, but right when she turned around, there came rushing up the stairs behind her over a dozen goblins she had met the previous night. One of them was Brumely.
"What is it my Tallest?" Brumely asked. "You look worried."
There was a whistling and a boom in the distance. Mida did not need to answer the question then. Every self-respecting goblin knew the noise. It was cannon fire. The goblins fell silent and looked at one another, confused and worried. One of them crept forward and looked out onto the deck, still littered with Maldy's men, but none of them were doing anything. There was the huddle of Flagg, Maldy and two other guards hunched over a barrel with some papers on it, but nothing else. No one seemed concerned about the canon fire at all.
Mida exhaled loudly and said, "What's going on? Can't they hear it?"
"You would think so." Brumley said, "Only a few of the guards look like they may be concerned, but it's so damn hard to tell with those helmets on."
"We've got to check it out." Mida said. She gulped as she then realized again what she was up against. A whole deck full of guards stood between her and any sort of position to see out beyond the ship. There was another boom, this one much closer; so close they could hear the splash afterward. The frantic ringing of a ship bell was heard in the distance, signaling mayday.
Mida turned to the goblins behind her for just a moment. She stared at all of them, meeting each of their eyes with her own for just a second. That look, that single transfer of passion, was all it took.
"We're right behind you, My Tallest." A goblin said.
"Me too!" another chimed in, and another, and another.
Mida smirked, "Alright then. Just stay behind me, and keep it cool." Mida began stepping onto the deck, slowly. "I know goblin nature may say otherwise, but try to avoid any violent theatrics… or theatric violence… okay?"
The goblins chuckled, stepping together behind her. Mida picked up speed and was soon in a sprint to the starboard railing of the lower deck – the same deck on which Maldy and Flagg stood. Right behind her was her own loyal army, grinning, pumped up with adrenalin and prepared for anything – even mutiny.  
Mida reached the side of the deck. Most guards were taken aback and shocked by the rush of goblins all huddled together, and were too confused to stop them. The group all stopped just behind her, all clumping around her protectively and looking out at the horizon. At first they saw nothing, but, far, far off in the distance, two small dots became visible to the north-northwest. Clouds of smoke and red flashes could be seen flying from them as the wind carried the noise of battle to their ears.
From behind their backs, though, a pompous, sharp voice hissed, "What is all of this? What are you all doing?"
Mida turned to face him, already knowing who it was.
Maldy's eyes met Mida's once again. His face changed from green to red in an instant and he grinded his teeth together. At first, he spoke in a low growl, but built to a high-pitched scream as he said, "Why is it, that every time I turn around, Ms. Silvertongue is not in custody!"
Flagg, emotionless as always, takes two steps forward and stares at Mida. She twitched briefly as she remembered their last encounter.
But then a surprise. "I have no idea sir." Flagg stoically said, and he did nothing but stand there. Mida was taken aback by his lack action, and then came to half of a realization as she noticed a key dangling around his neck.
"You step back pal." Felix, a goblin bruiser on Her Tallest's side, said as he stepped forward, meeting Flagg.
Flagg squinted harshly, "I could kill you with a rusty spork."
Felix scoffed, "Who can't these days?"
Flagg pounded the hilt of his spear on the deck, and all guards immediately fell into ranks behind him and around Maldy, just as the other goblins huddled around Mida.
"Oooooo" Jobana, another of Mida's warriors, mocked, "Real scary. Thanks to your class warfare we've already been fighting your guards for months now, Maldy, and know how to bust 'em up."
"Yeah really." Roulette, the warlock, chimed in, "It'd be an awful shame if that metal armor of yours suddenly got too hot to wear." Two small green flames lit up the palms of her hands and expanded rapidly. In a flash, they then shrank back down as quickly as they had appeared.
"Goblins of the Hulking Hippo," Flagg barked, "your words are directly threatening the Trade Prince of the Bilgewater Cartel, and your actions inciting mutiny. If you know what is best for you, I would stop now."
"Make us!" A random goblin voice shouted. A roar of cheering came up from the rest of those defending Mida. Flagg waved his spear upward, and all the red-armor clad goblins lowered their spears and pointed them forward in an offensive stance, making one loud, unified clang noise. Maldy jumped from the noise that erupted all around him, but Mida stood unwavering. The goblins around Mida all began shouting, grabbing weapons from their sheaths and belts, arming their magical might in their palms, and stared down Maldy's men, who began to respond in kind. They tightened the grips on their spears and even began shouting themselves; mongrels, scum, filth, separatists, rebels, traitors, and many more insults. Some were just growling, hissing and yelling only to make noise. The anger bubbled up between the two sides of the ship with more yelling, threatening, fake thrusting and rushing. Maldy trembled, so not wanting to be on deck for this, while Mida grew distracted herself as she looked out to see the fighting ships drawing closer and closer as the Hulking Hippo sailed on.
No one knew who did it, but someone landed the first hit. One of Mida's goblins pulled a half-rotted tomato from his or her pocket that she smuggled out of the mess hall from breakfast and hurled it directly at Commander Flagg. It smashed into his helmetless face and soiled his short, black hair. The force of the impact turned his head to the side and his death gaze off Mida for just a second. Some goblins gasped and fell silent, others erupted even more loudly, and Flagg himself brought his stare back around to the goblins across the deck from him. For the first time, Flagg showed a hint of emotion on his face as a furious scowl grew from behind the red-orange mush covering his head. No words were spoken, but Flagg raised his spear and prepared to thrust it into the first unarmed goblin he saw.
"Stop!" A high-pitched, panicked voice shouted. Every single goblin froze, even Flagg, whose spear was now two inches away from the very distraught face of Romey Skidrow, the most innocent-looking goblin girl you'd ever seen.
All the goblins, except Flagg, turned to the one that had shouted. Flagg's breath fell heavily and loudly upon all the goblins in front of him as he struggled to return to his usual high levels of self-control. In one swift motion, his face went blank, he pulled back and pivoted perfectly to face Trade Prince Maldy.
The Trade Prince's hands were high in the air and he was breathing rapidly. It had been him that called for everyone to stop. Some people were confused by this seemingly peaceful act, including Mida. She stared at Maldy intently, with distrust and cynicism.
Maldy looked around frantically, still breathing heavily, and spoke in his usual squeaky voice when panicked, "Mida? See me in my chambers please?"
He pointed over at the captain's cabin, and began to take slow, creaky steps towards it. Mida looked at the goblins around her for some vote of confidence, but they were all just as confused as she, and often only met her questioning eyes with a shrug. Equally as slowly, Mida took reluctant steps forward through the groups of goblins. Her goblins didn't take their eyes off of Maldy, and Maldy's goblins didn't take their eyes off of Mida, the whole slow, short trip up the stairs to the captain's cabin.
Maldy opened the door for Mida and quickly stepped in behind her, latching the door shut and completely shutting out the noise outside his room. His quarters were amazing. For a single goblin, he had nearly a third of the room of the entire cargo hold that now seated hundreds, if not thousands. It was packed with many crates of supplies, hoarded away for his personal use. Boxes of food and wine, fine examples of art that had been saved before Kezan sank were all boxed up or decorating the walls, while sculptures, vases and other rich items filled the room enough to decorate a mansion twice over.
With a clap of his hands, Maldy began to speak, "Mida… Mida, Mida, Mida, Mida…" He began to stroll past her to a nearby desk. He turned and stared at her, realizing she was not dropping her defenses mentally or physically, and spoke, "Congratulations! You've gotten what you wanted." Maldy chuckled nervously and sarcastically, "Mutiny!"
"That's not what I…" Mida started, but was interrupted.
"I'll admit, I thought I could out smart you and keep you locked up! But apparently Flagg and his guards are more incompetent than I thought. I highly overestimated them. First they couldn't keep you imprisoned if our lives depended on it, which now it turns out, they just might! Hah-hah! But now it turns out they couldn't keep you away from the cargo hold and the other goblins, an easier task to which I still gave them too much credit in their ability to handle, and now they can't contain this little mutiny you've built. Well done on your part, as time and time again my men appear to be more and more incapable of doing their bloody jobs!"
Mida sighed, "Is this going somewhere? You didn't bring me in here just to lecture me on the clear inadequacies of those dumb enough to be loyal to you."
Maldy grudgingly hissed and flashed his mithril-green teeth, "Yes, you would be correct." He pulled open a draw in the desk and pulled out a truesilver badge. He flashed it at Mida and read the text engraved on it. "Trade Prince, says the top line. Bilgewater Cartel, the lower." He brought it closer for Mida to see, who looked closely at it. She'd never seen a badge for a Trade Prince before, but this one was beautifully crafted. Nearly the size of a small plaque, there was a beautiful engraving of Bilgewater Port at sunset in the center of it, with the words as Maldy read decorating the edges. Maldy continued, "I had this made when I became Trade Prince after my mother died. Gives me an extra boost of authority and confidence when I need it."
"You would need it." Mida mocked.
Maldy shouted, "I'm showing this to you to remind you who's in charge here! I command the military on this vessel and order where it goes and what we do, got that? You don't really want a mutiny, do you? Think of how many of your precious lower-class scumbags would get hurt, hm?"
"I don't want a mutiny!" Mida shouted, "I told them to not get violent!"
"Like I'm supposed to believe that." Maldy scoffed, putting the badge back in his desk. "Well whether you wanted it or not, it happened, and now we're at a breaking point." Maldy took a deep breath, unable to believe he was about to have to say these next words, "What do you want?"
"What?" Mida asked, confused.
"Name it. Name your price. How much money will it take to get this rebellion to end? What do you want, jewels? Resources? Business contracts? I got access to all of them. You can have any of them that you want if you can just tell your people that I'm not such a bad guy and get them not to start throwing more tomatoes!"
Mida couldn't believe her ears. Nothing was getting into his thick skull; not the naval dogfight they were sailing into, not the uncontrollable nature of this "mutiny" to which he kept referring, not the depth of the people's anger with him, not the direness of their situation, nothing. Nothing got through the bubble of delusional reality Maldy had created, and to him, money could really solve anything.
Mida stared in disbelief and asked, "Are you trying to bribe me?"
"Yes!" Maldy shouted, "Just tell me how much to give me my power back and it's yours."
Mida didn't know how to respond. How was she to talk with someone who wasn't being logical, let alone "negotiate" with him? She shook her head and said, "It's not that simple."
"It's not?" Maldy shouted, "How could it be? Are you giving them something too? Tell them I'll double it!"
"I can't believe I'm hearing this." Mida said, facepalming, "I'm not giving them anything! They've sworn loyalty to me because of my actions!"
Maldy laughed, and not sarcastically. "Oh sure, and these goblins are just acting out of the good of their hearts and…" Maldy couldn't help but laugh again, "Ethics? Hah! Like I'm supposed to believe that."
"I-" Mida started, completely lost in how to respond, "I-I just… these goblins, like myself and my own ethics, are not for sale! They never have been, and never will be! Money doesn't mean the world to all people, Maldy."
"But money does make this world go around!" Maldy barked, "Just try to argue that, will you? Why do you think Undermine let my parents get away with their scheme for the Bilgewater crown? Why do you think Stormwind has such political turmoil between the King and the House of Nobles? Why do you think the Alliance and Horde fight the most brutal wars this planet has ever seen for resources? It's about the money, Mida!"
There was a silence for a few seconds as Maldy caught his breath. Mida only stared, determined and confident, until Maldy finally spoke again, "Well, it's quite clear this is a waste of time."
"Yes it is." Mida said, "And there are far more important things, like the battlefield we're about to sail into!"
"What?" Maldy asked, "You mean those two ships fighting on the horizon?"
"Yes!" Mida shouted, "Why haven't we altered course to avoid them?"
"Altering course would take even longer for us to get to our destination." Maldy said, "Which will take long enough as it is."
"Wait, we have a heading?" Mida asked, but was ignored.
"And no faction would dare fire on an unarmed goblin vessel, not in this part of the world! The only ships that sail these routes are goblin traders, Alliance and Horde vessels. Undermine has a standing treaty that says no Alliance or Horde vessel will open fire upon a goblin ship of any sort, but especially cargo or trade ships."
Mida growled and slapped her forehead as she shouted, "But Undermine doesn't exist any more!"
Maldy turned his nose up and haughtily said, "Well, they don't know that, do they? And Undermine's sovereignty still exists, even if the city does not."
"How do you know they don't know? And how do you know that they would still respect a destroyed empire's sovereignty? And haven't you already heard the Alliance has already started taking goblin prisoners that work for the Horde!"
"It's a good thing we don't work for them then." Maldy responded.
"But that's the point, how are they supposed to know which goblins do and which ones don't? That's why there was such outrage over this issue in Undermine, and why relations were already beginning to degrade between the humans and goblins!"
Maldy thought he was being clever and mockingly said, "And how do you know they don't know? And isn't Undermine destroyed as you so rudely shouted earlier?"
Mida's face turned red and wrinkled up with frustration. She held back a muffled scream as she realized how futile her attempts were to negotiate. "You're going to doom us all!" Mida shouted as the booms of the fighting ships billowed louder on the horizon and the goblins on deck began to grow worried.
"Don't impugn my decision!" Maldy shouted, "I'm still the Trade Prince!"
She shook her head in disgust, and caught a glimpse of a slim nail protruding from one of the crates of art. Slyly, she reached for it and slipped it into her pocket as she quickly hatched a plan. Her people were in danger, after all, because of one goblin's stupidity. She wouldn't have that. Maldy continued barking, keeping him thoroughly distracted, as Mida began to back out the door with the nail in her pocket.
"We're staying on course, I know what I'm doing! No vessel would dare assault a goblin ship, none!" Maldy's ranting almost began to sound as if he was trying to convince himself of these things. "It's perfectly safe, it's efficient, and makes perfect sense! All my men agree with me it's the best course of action given the treaty between the people that use this route and the great distance of our destination."
Mida had forgotten he had mentioned a destination, but she was already at the door. She could always figure out later. There was an awkward silence as Mida grabbed the doorknob. Maldy was furious now, so much so that what little sense he could make was useless. He glared at Mida and only hissed, "Get out."
And so she did.
Mida stepped outside the cabin and quickly slammed the door behind her. She turned around quickly and pulled the nail out of her pocket. The lock on the cabin was right in front of Mida, so she jammed the nail into it and began to pick at it. She had always been masterful at such "sneaking arts," as goblins would occasionally call them. She was so good, as a matter of fact, she knew not only how to pick a lock open, but how to pick one shut – permanently shut. With a few clicks and a loud snapping noise, the nail broke off in the door. Mida grinned in pride as she tried to turn the doorknob, unsuccessfully. She was locked out, and Maldy locked in. She was just that good.
Still gleefully chuckling, Mida turned around and was immediately startled to find Commander Flagg right before her, only inches away. Her heart raced for a moment as she clutched her chest.
"What was that about?" Flagg stoically said.
"What was… what?" Mida innocently responded.
"What did he want to talk to you about?"
"About…" Mida thought, "keeping order."
Flagg's expression still didn't change. "Keeping order?"
"Yes!" Mida said. Confident she could fool anyone, Mida decided to take things a step further than simply keeping Maldy out of her hair. "And also making sure we stay safe. I mean, that is to say, Maldy has put me in command of protecting the lower and middle-classes of the goblins."
Flagg stared emotionlessly.
"You see," Mida started, "He did admit that there's a grave risk of mutiny now among the people onboard. He recognized me as their leader and is… was willing to negotiate."
Flagg nodded, seemingly in agreement. Besides, everything Mida had just said was the truth anyway.
"So he put me in charge of making sure my people are properly appeased, seeing as how they make up a vast majority of the goblins on the ship. None of us want a mutiny, especially you, Flagg. Imagine what that would look like on your record?"
Flagg nodded in agreement.
"So, anyway," Mida continued, "I'm taking control of the ship."
"What?" Flagg asked sharply.
Mida gulped, not quite sure herself how to connect those points. "Yes, you see I… represent the working goblins of the ship, yeah? And they… they make up the largest group of people on here. I mean, all of us together make at least, what, 75% of the manifest? And Maldy gave me the jurisdiction to represent them just as he does the upper-class and military aboard the ship. So, by giving me that power, and I am the leader of this group of goblins, he has, in turn… um… given the power of control of the ship to them as well."
Flagg stared, still emotionless, and said, "It makes perfect sense."
Mida gawked, "It… does?"
"Like a political mutiny." Flagg said, almost disappointingly "One without the violence, as boring as that may be. You did prevent us from eating each other alive and maintained order, which Maldy covets. Well done… Captain."
Mida was terribly confused, but she ran with it, "Thank you, Commander. And please, call me my tallest."
"But first," Flagg started, "Let me talk with the Trade Prince."
"No!" Mida shouted, covering the door with her body, "No, no, I mean, he was somewhat unnerved by this whole situation. I'm sure, having worked for him as long as you have you know how uneasy he becomes around such chaos and violence as earlier, and he just had do admit partial defeat to me in negotiations. He's worn out, and wishes to be left alone." Mida rapidly flicked the locked doorknob back and forth to show that it was very much locked, "See? Locked. No one can get in."
"OPEN THIS DOOR!" Maldy pounded from inside the cabin, but it was useless. Just before the storm hit, in order for him to get his precious undisturbed beauty sleep, Maldy had ordered his quarters be thoroughly sound-proofed. Apparently, it worked perfectly.
Mida grinned at Flagg, who then tried to open the door himself. It was in fact locked. While Flagg flipped the doorknob a few times, Mida caught a glimpse of some sort of commotion on the main deck. It was too slow and calm to be fighting, so a mutiny hadn't happened, but something certainly did. She excused herself from Flagg's presence and hopped down the stairs to see what was going on. Flagg turned from the impossible doorknob and watched Mida carefully, still reluctant to take his eyes off her in every sense of the phrase.
"What's going on?" Mida asked as a group of goblins, some her workers others Maldy's guards, were huddled around something near the edge of the ship.
"My tallest!" Brumely shouted, "Someone's just climbed aboard!"
"What?" Mida shouted. She parted the crowd to find a goblin woman, surrounded by on-lookers, sitting on the deck now with a blanket draped around her.
Before Mida could ask her anything, the new arrival looked up and asked, "Who's in charge here?"
"She is!" Every single worker cried, pointing to Mida. The guards looked up to Commander Flagg, not knowing how to respond to such a comment, only to see Flagg nod in agreement. Confused, but still loyal, Maldy's (former) guards all pointed to Mida just the same.
"Thank my lucky stars!" The woman shouted, "I've been following you guys ever since Kezan sank! Been stuck in a little rowboat I have. I just climbed aboard, and not a moment too soon!"
"What do you mean?" Mida asked. The sounds of war in the distance rang out again, drawing everyone's attention to the now visible ships. No longer were they specs on the horizon. Smoke and flame rose up off both the ships; one brown the other black. Still little detail could be made out of them, but they were clearly still in heated combat.
"It's a goblin vessel!" The woman cried, "Take a look for yourself!" She reached into the blanket around her, pulled out a telescope and handed it to Mida. She eagerly grabbed it and looked out at the ships. "Check the crow's nest! There's a flag flying from the brown ship!"
Mida looked. With a better sight, she knew the brown ship was goblin without even seeing its colors. Its model was one of Undermine specifically, and Mida even recognized the ship itself. She had seen it a couple of times before, as it was the official trade vessel for Undermine that connected to Booty Bay. The second ship, however, Mida had never seen before. It appeared to be of Alliance design, with the typical eagle, lion and griffon décor, but it was painted almost entirely black and did not fly any known Alliance flag. It did carry some sort of flag, but not one that Mida could identify. An explosion shook her slightly and her sight was temporarily lost from the quasi-Alliance vessel. She re-focused on the crow's nest as the stranded goblin had said, where she did in fact see the official flag of Undermine flying proudly, even if burnt slightly. This alone was enough to drive Mida's concern for the sinking ship's crew. They too were survivors of Kezan! Mida felt an instinctual obligation to save them, but only once she saw who was in the crow's nest did her heart skip a beat.
"Bowie!" Mida shouted, "It's my assistant Bowie!"