As the sun finally touched the horizon, a rusty sky began to dye the world a burnt shade, burning-fleshed Helios' duty transferring to the void-touched Breksta with his last bitter touch. Their celestial chase was greatly appreciated by the many souls of the Taldian Barony, both local and visiting, the cooling air soothing the stifled mood of the summer heat. The day's work could be washed away, the skyline was warm with the promise of another clear day and the stars of distant Prima, the realm of the Pantheon, would soon reveal themselves to delight the mortal eyes.
The bright disc shone across a vast lake, where Cole had finally managed to soak his road-stained hooves after the last hour's travel. The day's 'work' had replaced the half-minotaur's clothes with earth-speckled limbs and a thin layer of Ooze essence that coated his neck to groin, but a pouch of electrum could easily fix that as well as calm any anti-nudist locals he might disturb. The last village had hardly been friendly before he walked in nude and taken his pay for dealing with their monster problem. They'd just kept screaming at him when all he wanted was some loose pants, but hey, maybe the next town would be better. Fortunately, the edges of the lake was nothing but the spotty edges of a nearby forest, leaving few villagers to spot him. The lake was another by-product of the former Taldian Baron, her geomantic prowess and disinterest in its side-effects having formed a channel to the ocean and a mighty basin by pure coincidence and indifference. That didn't explain the enormous ship that stood in the middle of it however. Probably someone who got caught along for the ride.
It sat between Cole and the glare of the sinking sun, which he appreciated after the last mile of shadeless marching. He peered at the oddly placed vessel as he splashed his hooves absent-mindedly. Its sails were tattered with age and a large opening was in the port or stern or whatever-the-backs-of-ships-are-called from the below the water to where he assumed the captain's cabin sat. But aside from the odd weather damage, it seemed a remarkably well made vessel. 'I wonder if it was a pirate's ship?' he pondered as he scooted a little further into the cool water, soothing his calves. 'Or maybe an enemy of the Baron?' As a tourist of these strangely shaped lands, curiosity crept into Cole's mind. He didn't want to just ignore this broken, yet floating ship. There could be pirate gold, or magical treasure even inside! He shook the thought from his head, what did he need to haul around all that for anyway? He didn't even have pockets . . . . but a different kind of treasure would provide them. Cole untied his pouch of magnetic coins from his tail, burying them in the soft earth with his planted axe as a marker. With a pivot towards the ship, he dived bodily into the lake. It was time to go clothes-shopping.
* * * * *
Despite its time wasting away inland, the sea was still soaked into the very being of the galleon, salt pervading the surrounding air. As Cole swam closer, he could see the outline of a large earth mound beneath the vessel, holding it up in the illusion of buoyancy. 'I guess the Baron wanted a centre-piece,' he realised as the shapes below the lake grew fainter in the dimming rays. Wading around the shattered 'ass' of the ship, something echoed out to him from inside the water-filled cargo hold. It sounded like a splash, but in the shadowed insides, he couldn't see anyone moving around. He held his breath a few moments, bobbing in the water until it didn't look like anything was going to keep splashing. 'Old plank fell, probably.' The interior was a shade cooler than the evening air of the lake, light piercing through the cracks of the hull to shed a little light inside. The dry quarters deck was thankfully a few inches above the water level, Cole testing its strength with few tender pushes.
The wood began to groan slightly, but it wasn't from him but from above. Cole's wet-furred ears could here it growing closer, as two sets of thumping steps approached him, the sound channelled down a set of stairs upward. It sounded like two trolls, hopping along the upper deck and dragging a large club each with them afterwards. Thump, scssh, Thump, scssh. The half-minotaur sank a little into the water with sinking in his gut, trying to hide himself. He'd drown hiding under the deck and he's make too much noise if he swam away. Why couldn't he just do something on his holiday without any trouble?
"Is this meant to be a joker or a jack?" A woman spoke in high, bubbly tones, unlike any troll Cole had met. The heavy thuds still followed her cheerful voice, maybe an adventurer with a haul of goods, dragging it around in leaps?
"I think its a joker, they are fornicating with a odd sceptre after all. Unless its a queen? The pigment on their crowns looks a bit deteriorated. I do not understand why the craftsmen wasted a perfectly good opportunity to build a deck with unclear artistry." The second female voice was more stern, but slightly musical in its inflections despite her efforts. A bard or a wizard, perhaps? Looking towards the stairs, Cole caught the shadow of a full-haired figure turning to come down. He looked a little nervously at his odds. He didn't have anything to steal, but he was also naked amongst humans and they might think the worst. At least with his axe and coins, he could try and pass for some eccentric foreign warrior. Now he was just a nude weirdo and an easy target.
"At least its a full set! We can finally play Scuttle-Sail again, even if its only here."
'Maybe they'll understand? One sounds friendly.' Cole tried to relax as naturally on the wooden planks as possible, short of ideas on how to meet the approaching ladies.
"Here? This vessel is condemned and destroyed. It was a waste of a journey, if you ask me." They were sliding down the stairs now, something slapping slightly against the steps.
'That one sounds less friendly.' Cole's perspiration was well-hidden by the trickling lake water, as doubt began to gnaw at his plan.
"Oh, don't be so down. With a little love and some local help, we could make it like a special club house here, like those nobles. For you, me and Aurora and Namis and-"
The more friendly sounding one 'stepped' out first, as she slid her scaled lower body onto the deck. An indented tail fin as wide as Cole's chest patted cheerfully against the floor, tipping the silvery-blue scales that glitter in the remaining light. After about five feet of tail, her human navel marked the start of her upper half, a bronzed summer tan and a pair of pert, handful-sized breasts exposed without shame. Her hair was golden in a short pixie cut and her smile was bright, even as she noticed the awkwardly posing Cole leaning out of the water. The mermaid laughed without malice at him, gesturing at him with a hand holding a deck of cards. "Hahaha, I thought I saw someone on the shore. You trying to pose as a merman? Hey, Glori, I think a minotaur's come to visit!" She moved across the deck with heavy hops, throwing herself almost bodily towards Cole as the other figure stepped down.
"Where is he?" Her hair was dark, like a bottomless abyss, covering half of her sharp features and cascading down her pale frame to cover her chest. She also seemed to be using some kind of seaweed bind across her ample breasts, a fairly simple top but one that covered her enough to not give anything away she didn't want to. Between the three of them, she was practically dressed to the nines. Her scales were pure silver, reflecting the sun sharply into Cole's eyes enough to make him see spots. She glared a little, raising her eyebrow at him when they made eye-contact. "He's not a pure-blood,Yule. Without an extra hundred pounds on him and horns like those, he could be more human than you think."
Mer-people and minotaurs enjoyed a slight bond between their people as one of the few 'uplifted races' in the world. Unlike demons and dragons which were formed in fabric of creation, or the proud 'first-born' races like humans, elves and orcs, the uplifted races were all once an entirely separate species that a god or gods had gifted with humanoid forms and higher intellect. This brought a mixture of awe and distaste for such races as they had enjoyed a god's favour but were also left without nations of their own and sometimes seen as little more than divine experiments by the pre-existing races.
Cole frowned back at Glori, touching his humble head-nubs before finally pushing himself out of the water. Clothing for mer-people was fortunately more of a quirk than an expectation. He was glad that the soak had also washed the worse of the ooze and mud off, leaving him with a little oily trace of his furred thighs. That could be anything. "This proof enough?" He grunted as he shook a hoofed leg dry, rolling onto his front to whip his wet tail in the air. Yule batted at the swaying appendage a little, chuckling whilst Glori turned to examine a bit of the salty wall, folding her arms against her bound chest. "I just came here for trousers, okay? Name is Cole and I am not a badly equipped slaver. Just here on holiday."
"Minotaurs are never badly equipped," Yule quipped with a wink. "Ain't that right, Baron Beefy-Balls?" She laughed again, easy and light as her friend hissed.
"Yule!" Glori let out a sigh and uncrossed her arms, turning back to the pair at edge of the deck. "I apologise. I have been idle for too long in this dilapidated wreck and its gotten a little on my nerves." Her cold eyes briefly glanced at both of Cole's swinging appendages as he stood up. "My friend and I came through the Baroness' Channel. She though that dragging ourselves around a beached ship would be something of an 'adventure'. Though, you look like you've had an unfortunate incident yourself."
"I was doing an odd job for some vacation funds. Bit of field work."
"It must have been very odd if your employer felt it was clothing optional." Cole shrugged, the floorboards creaking slightly.
"Oozes just get through everything."
"Whoa," Yule chimed, " Lucky for some, its been boring as watching coral grow on this ship. Not even a cute rodent of unusual size to find. Whole place was probably already been looted by adventurers ages ago. Every chest busted open, every weapon or piece of cutlery pinched. But you could help us if you wanted to?" She gave a wide smile as she scooted closer.
