"And so it begins…"<br/><br/>The silken voice echoed from the shadowed bowels of an unsuspecting ship. Its sound held depth that one with any kind of wisdom couldn't overlook. In part it was due to his draconic origin, but despite the air of superiority that naturally gave him there was something earned in that depth as well. It was unsettling to some and left others fearful, but even in the utter silence his power was palpable. The voice belonged to Ajagora, the self-proclaimed prophet of freedom. The pirate who would end slavery… And some might say it was going rather poorly at the moment, but all was going fairly according to plan.<br/><br/>Ajagora found himself in need of a ship once again after having his last vessel destroyed by the godforsaken Idrean navy. So he decided to kill two birds with one stone. Well, in this case liberate a slaver's ship by freeing the slaves and overthrowing the useless riffraff that composed the slaver crew. It was only practical after all. It wasn't hard to twist the loyalty of the guard that watched him. Ajagora quickly took advantage of the slaver's greed with false promises and delusions of grandiosity, but the slaver didn't need to know that they were false now did he? Besides, Ajagora would be sure to reward him promptly for his traitorous services…<br/><br/>Thudding footsteps came from the stairwell and light came flooding into the barren chamber. All that could be seen was a well-dressed human standing chained to the floor, the ceiling, and all four walls. The eerily calm prisoner was practically suspended in the center of the room by the bondage. "I did it!" Ajagora found it almost adorable how excited the slaver was. "I left the key close to one of the cages and the slaves got out! They're making a right mess right now."<br/><br/>"Very good!" Ajagora chuckled deep in his chest. "My new friend is quite a clever one isn't he?"<br/><br/>"Yes he is!" The look of smug self-idolization made Ajagora almost giddy for what was about to happen. "I think I quite deserve that little…" The slaver paused to really emphasize the next words. "Reward we spoke of." He smiled, brown teeth looking mottled and moldy in the torchlight, trying oh-so desperately to look intimidating.<br/><br/>"Oh, and you will surely have it my friend!" Ajagora took a silent moment to speculate on the stupidity of some humans. "But I can't very well do anything with these damned chains on now can I?"<br/><br/>The slaver smiled again, though it was more out of excitement than intimidation. "I suppose not. Let me help you out of that contraption." He began unlocking the intricate chains of iron that contained Ajagora. "I don't really know why the captain thought you needed to be bound like this anyway." The slaver paused looking the captured man up and down. "You don't look quite dangerous to me."<br/><br/>Again Ajagora speculated on the sheer idiocy of some creatures. "You are both clever and observant my friend. Of course I'm not dangerous! Look at me, I'm just one man!"<br/><br/>What this brown toothed imbecile, as well as the rest of these slavers, didn't know was that Ajagora was a dragon shaped as a man using fay magic. He didn't want to ruin the surprise and give his true identity away at the particular moment of his capture, so the secret remained his for the time being. Another thing this fool of a slaver apparently didn't know was that he killed five men with his bare hands before he was captured. Their captain had labeled him "high risk property" and decided to chain him up in this contraption. They didn't even bother stripping him of equipment assuming he was unable to do anything in his bindings. Of course they forgot to bind his mouth to their misfortune.  How this guard didn't hear about his actions was beyond Ajagora, but he wouldn't complain over his feeble minded good fortune. The slaver captain wanted to try and sell him to the Idreans for a bounty and it wasn't a bad plan on their part, but Ajagora wasn't much in the mood to be cashed in for a reward. Besides, these cretins didn't deserve the amount of gold that was actually on his head.<br/><br/>"That's all of them." The last of the chains binding him fell to the floor. "From the sound of it the slaves are giving the crew a good fight."<br/><br/>Ajagora stretched his limbs in the dimly lit roo, looking more like a panther than a man, and feeling entirely at ease. "They fight for freedom my friend! Desperation is the aphrodisiac of war." He finished his stretching as he spoke and stood straight. He gave the noises above him a fair listen for the first time. "It does truly sound as if hell has broken loose doesn't it?"<br/><br/>"Indeed it does." The slaver's voice grew hoarse and Ajagora smiled broadly as the man raised his gun to his chest. "So I believe we discussed a reward…"<br/><br/>"Ahhh, yes we did. Unfortunately…" Ajagora feigned sorrow and brought a hand to his forehead. "I forgot to mention. There is no reward."<br/><br/>"What?!" The slaver looked dumbfounded and raised his rifle. "What do you mean there ain't no reward?!"<br/><br/>"I mean I lied to you. Gods! Why can't you people understand things the first time they're said to you?" He shrugged and crossed his arms. "Anyhow, I think it was quite brilliant. Getting you to cause a slave uprising and all. So thanks for being part of that little scheme." It was silent as he began to walk around the slaver and toward the stairwell. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a ship to commandeer."<br/><br/>The slaver swung the rifle and slammed it into the back of the now released captive. "I'm going to kill you and all of those damned slaves you piece of merfolk shit!"<br/><br/>Ajagora sighed in annoyance. "I was even going to let you live." The words sounded rhetorical, but he said them more to himself than the slaver. "No." He turned to face the ragged man. "I fear you will not be killing anyone."<br/><br/>"We'll see abou-" Before the man could even raise the rifle to firing position Ajagora had him by the throat and off of the ground. "Le- Let me go you fucki-"<br/><br/>"Oh my." Ajagora's grip tightened as the man cursed. "Your mouth is filthy. Perhaps you should learn some manners!" With all of his might he threw the man at the wall, and through it. Water began rushing in through the man sized hole, as well as one of the slaver's boots. "Well… That was unfortunate." Ajagora than shrugged and headed toward the upper decks of the ship. "I should most likely find someone to patch that up."<br/><br/>As he mused the sounds of combat and bloodletting began to fill his ears. Even the middle decks of the ship were flooded with gore. Approaching a door leading to the upper decks proved tricky as it was slippery with blood.. Upon making the top of the stairwell the door swung open. A flayed body flew out of the opening and Ajagora just narrowly avoided getting thrown down the stairs himself. Beyond the open door a freed slave stood proudly with a sword in hand.<br/><br/>"Who do you serve?" The slave asked with sword's point at Ajagora's throat.<br/><br/>Ajagora smiled at the question. "I serve freedom my friend. Whom do you serve?"<br/><br/>The freed slave lowered his sword. "That was a good answer stranger." A grin came to his face. "I guess I would gladly serve the man that would bring freedom."<br/><br/>"Well." Ajagora stepped forward and retrieved the fallen slaver's sword. "As luck would have it, you're looking at the wonderful being that orchestrated your freedom." His voice was silken and full of power. "It seems our unfortunate enslavers underestimated the traitorous tendencies of their own men." His words were filled with sardonic humor as he made for the top deck. "And the guard seemed to underestimate the power of false promises from a captive's tongue." He turned back to face the freed slave. "With their faults to my advantage, their ship belongs to me."<br/><br/>Ajagora didn't wait for any answer and danced up to the outside air. The door was broken open and blood was streaked in brilliant artistry across the wooden panels of the ship. Battle still carried on around him, but the storm that raged had calmed substantially. The slaves had taken their freedom back and it was beautiful. Ajagora made his way to the roof of the cabin where he could look on everything and everyone. A slaver that still found some fight within himself tried to confront him, but that was a poor choice. Swords clashed and sparks lit up the night before him. With a quick parry the fight was over. The defeated slaver crumpled to the ground before him and with an easy leap Ajagora found himself atop the cabin.<br/><br/>Ajagora's eyes scanned the faces before him, so many different creatures banded together for the simple idea of freedom. Simple freedom might be, but how tragic it is when it's lost. He mused as he observed the fighting end and he knew the moment drew near to speak. A fay had made an interesting spectacle using a cannon as a water compression gun. The fay sat upon his weapon and watched as Ajagora did. This brought him back to the scene before him and he decided now was the time. Ajagora stepped to the very edge of his platform and stood with decisive purpose. "Good evening everyone. May I have but a moment of your time?" His voice was booming, but it remained calm as it echoed over the open ocean. He waited patiently for what he hoped would be his new crew to give him their attention.