Gate of Memoirs/Against the Tides

Miriam heads in search of Gortius, coming face-to-face with the pirate lord himself...
Portrait 	Dialogue
Music: "Strike! Break!"	Music: "Strike! Break!"
 	
*Upon the decks of the listing pirate ship, Gortius is engaged in fierce combat with a towering hulk of a man.
*Clad in battered black armor and wielding an impressive sword,
*the self-declared pirate lord, Morgos the Black, cuts an imposing figure.
*Gortius manages to parry his opponent's savage blade, and the resounding crack is lost in the roar of water.
 	
*Miriam: My lord!
 	
*Gortius: Miriam? Why are you—
 	
*Gortius: Gh!
 	
*Morgos' lackeys whip around at the new intruder and move to block her path.
 	
*Amid the chaos of splintering wood and metal, a massive lightning strike causes the Elysian flagship to smash straight into the pirates' ship.
Portrait	Dialogue
 	
*The Queenswrath, damaged beyond salvaging, has nevertheless managed to take down its opponent with it.
*With a deafening crash and explosion of gunpowder, the ships run aground upon a small outcropping jutting out against the sea.
Portrait 	Dialogue
 	
*Miriam: Ugh.
*Miriam: (Hope I didn't break any bones.)
 	
*Miriam stumbles to her feet and picks her way across the bodies of the fallen, brow furrowing in anger and grief.
*A glinting, broken clasp bearing the royal house insignia near the mouth of the cavern draws her attention.
 	
*Miriam: Gortius...
Music: "Dead God's Law"	Music: "Dead God's Law"
 	
*The sounds of fighting grow louder as she races through the tunnel, amplified by the echoing walls.
*Morgos the Black: Hah! You think you've won, runt?
*Morgos the Black: You don't know your tail end from your mouth, and I've been riding the seas since before you were even born.
 	
*Gortius: Give it up here. Your ship's dashed upon the rocks, and your men are dead.
 	
*Morgos the Black: And bend the knee to your empire? Never!
*Despite his injuries, Morgos manages to knee Gortius in the stomach.
*Lumbering forward with a roar, his sword is raised high above his head for a killing blow—
 	
*Gortius: ...!
 	
*Gortius looks up as a heavily cracked shield takes the brunt of the brutish blow.
 	
*Miriam was nearly draped over him, buckling from the sheer force of the pirate lord's weapon.
*If not for the faint aura of protection magic emanating from her hands, the shield would have long since shattered.
 	
*Miriam: I'll be your opponent, pirate lord.
 	
*Morgos the Black: Hmph. One skull or two, it doesn't matter.
*Morgos the Black: I'll crush you all!