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Endless Isles: Tales from the Fringe
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==The Spine of the North== In the east, the feathered moon wanes. In the west, the sun peaks above the horizon. While in the north, a tower remains as dark as the night. The Spine of the North rises from the sea and overlooks all sailors bound for its walls. A thousand men, it took, to build the tower. And one stroke from the sky to turn its men to dust and its walls to black. "twas the child o' on' mister Bold Ben. 'n all the time 'fore two-dagger's leg'ndary trick, there was ne'er a scheme er plot 'e 'adn't stuck 'is grimy nose in. Why, e' gave 'imself that name, 'swell, tha slimy git. A coward 'nd a fool, eh was, but 'e 'ad the currency to keep on foolin' the fools. now 'old Ben was a conman. an ev'ryday crook, he was. Git lucky once 'nd your set fer life! 'T least tha's the way it 'appened ta him. 'Nyways, he took'on a thousand men, from e'ery port in tha known w'rld, as I sees it. He c'ld always count on a succer er two in e'ery town, he says. Now, eh n'ver shared tha purpose o' that tower ta nob'dy, always kipt it fer 'imself. W'll, secrets ne'er sit w'll with tha crew. So tha rumors spread, as ye c'n imagine. The wildest O' such bein' tha 'e was tryin to steal tha clouds righ' outta the sky. 'Nd 'e may jus' as well, cause no'un e'er found out. 'Nyway, twice a fortnight ou' 'nd he yells fer 'em ta stop. 'E call fer the res' o' tha fleet to unload 'nd set up camp, while 'E 'as a look around. W'll, this was it, 'e figured. So they took tha wood outta the ships 'nd awaited fer the order ta build. "Men," says he," today we begin our quest towards the sky. So, without hesitation, let us start!" He was ne'er one fer speeches er nonesuch, bu' the men beg'n work all that same. Twas wood, they dump'd by tha tons, wood w's plenty way b'ck when, 'nd they started ther trek straight ta tha sky. W'll, they worked day 'nd night, buildin' ever higher. 'Nd as 'Ol ben was sleepin' in 'is bunk, he did tha' a lo' ye see, never did a day o' work in 'is life, I reckon. But 'nyways, a boy wen' up ta 'im, why, a boy barely old'r then yerself, saplin, 'nd 'e tol' him they was outta wood. This didn' sit well wi' tha ol' man 'nd 'e 'ad the boy flogged, 'e did. Fer tha bes', i reckon, bu tha's no 'till later. Ye' ne'er see rage boil o'er a man like tha' 'fore. 'Is face turned tha deep'st red 'nd e order'd tha men ter tear apart tha ships. I reckon he thought 'e woulda reached tha sky by then, with wood ta spare. So tha men start'd takin apart tha ships, bit by bit, 'nd they kept 'er goin 'till on'y tha flagship wa' left. An island o' fools, indeed, boy, as they took 'er too. Well' mos' a 'er 'nyways. Well, by th's time a storm wa' brewin' up somethin fierce, 'nd tha men were ready ta quit. But ol' Ben cracked 'is whip 'nd the men kept workin through tha rain. Tha on'y hands not on tha tower then was tha boy who'd been flogged, lay bleedin' in a dingy, 'e was. As the flagship, tha right 'nd mighty Cutlass, was bein torn plank by plank, (figured 'e could sail 'ome on clouds, eh!) 'Ol Ben saw 'is dream slip away. 'E ran up ta tha top a tha tower, shoutin' curses 'nd all kinds of none sense up a tha clouds. Tha way i sees it, tha clou's jus' didn' like 'im much, weren' many tha' did, so they stayed out 'is reach. Bu' tha man was half a piece short o' a haul, if ye catch ma drift, at tha point. Clouds 'ave pity, I figure, they sit up ther' all day 'nd watch us silly people fightin' 'nd 'cussin 'nd all they do is float 'n by, they mus' feel somethin', ya know. Well, these clouds weren't no different, 'nd they struck tha man down 'as 'e yelled 'imself silly. Ye ever see lightnin', boy? well' i's why ye ne'er want to git them clouds on yer bad side. Tha bolt ran straight down that tower, down tha spine, nd straight through e'ery man 'swell. Tha tower burned fer days 'fter that, 'nd was still burnin' when tha supply ship 'e sent fer arrived ta find a boy sittin among tha food piles wi' a story ta tell. 'Nd, well, tha rest is 'istory." ''Captain Blood''
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