Lore:The Bright Blade of Captain Castatil: Scene VI

Scene 6. The High Seas. The deck of the dreaded Ash Viper. The terrifying vessel sinks slowly beneath the players' feet.

Enter King   and the mysterious gold-masked Captain Castatil

King Orgnum:
Castatil! My old nemesis! How dare you sully the deck of my most majestic vessel with your thin-heeled,   boots!

[Orgnum steps forward menacingly, drawing his poisoned blade with a sneer.]

Captain Castatil:
Ha! Brave words from the king of fishes. Look about you,  ! Your fleet sinks beneath the waves, and your sailors choke on foam and brine! Prepare to join them, you perfidious picaroon!

King Orgnum:
It is you who will do the dying, gold-skin! But before I run you through, throw down your mask. I wish to see the look of agony on your face when I skewer you upon my venomous blade!

Captain Castatil:
Very well. In truth, I have waited years for this moment!

[Castatil removes his mask to reveal his true identity: Marcivel, the aggrieved son of Eroldalin. King Orgnum gasps.]

King Orgnum:
Zounds! Marcivel? The wiry son of my old foe, Eroldalin?

Marcivel:
The same! When you slew my father all those long years ago, I swore an oath to cast your ruin into the deep! Now, at last, I slake my thirst for revenge!

[Marcivel draws his bright blade and makes ready to fight.]

King Orgnum:
Come then, son of Eroldalin! Face the serpent's bite!

[The two adversaries thrust, parry, and slash their way across the stage. Marcivel briefly gains the upper hand.]

Marcivel:
You fight like a fishmonger's wife, Orgnum! Would you rob me of a true challenge? My bloody satisfaction is too quickly won!

King Orgnum:
Har! The folly of youth! Your overconfidence shall be your downfall!

[Orgnum slams his boot down upon a loose deck-board, knocking Marcivel off his feet. Orgnum pounces as the prone Marcivel dodges and parries.]

King Orgnum:
Look how he wriggles upon the hook! Our duel reaches its savage climax!

Marcivel:
You think you've bested me? Don't you know that you cannot skewer what you cannot see?

[Marcivel takes a nearby bucket in his hands and splashes its contents upon Orgnum's face. The water washes away a thick coat of blue make-up, revealing the golden face of Marcivel's father, Eroldalin. Marcivel gasps.]

Marcivel:
Father? I ... I don't understand!

Eroldalin:
You see the truth of it, at last. Yes, Marcivel, It is I, Eroldalin! Your father! Once-admiral of the Starborne Armada! 

Marcivel:
I thought you dead! Killed at King Orgnum's hands!

Eroldalin:
Dead? Har! All that Maormer killed was an old fool's faith in  ! Faith in the falsehood and pretense that shackles the Mer of  !  Can you not see? The serpent's truth reigns supreme! All the Mer of Summerset shall learn! All shall pay homage to the great Snake-Wizard!

[Marcivel springs to his feet, deftly parrying Eroldalin's final slash. With one last thrust, he pierces his father's heart.]

Eroldalin:
Curses! I am killed!

[Eroldalin dies.]

Marcivel:
Quiet now, father. Mine is the heart that is truly pierced! Woe! Misery! He who sought to kill his father's murderer has become his father's murderer! What now will I do?

[Marcivel stands silent for a long moment, then takes up his discarded mask and dons it solemnly, thus becoming Captain Castatil once more.]

Captain Castatil:
Nay! I will not fall victim to self-pity! Marcivel is dead. Let his memory, and that of his father, sink with his shattered hulk. Here I swear upon the churning waters, there is but one Mer that wears this mask: Captain Castatil! Hero of  ! The Shield of Shimmerene! Summerset's valiant swashbuckler! And the ever-vigilant foe of the vile King Orgnum!

Mark me, Serpent-king! Soon you shall suffer Eroldalin's bloody fate! Skewered upon the shining blade of Captain Castatil!

[End scene]