Arlonue Crystaldawn stood at the helm of her vessel, eyeing with concern the massive thunderhead the covered the eastern horizon. Though it was many leagues distant, rapid flashes of light from within the clouds testified to the might of the storm, and the low rumble of thunder could be heard even over the creaking of timbers and the snapping of the sails. Arlonue knew that she would not reach her destination in the islands of Darkisle until sometime after midnight, assuming the winds stayed favorable. Those same winds that her vessel was tacking were bringing in that killer storm. Taking one more worried look at the horizon, Arlonue uttered a silent prayer to Sildaneveya and retreated to her cabin belowdecks.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Arlonue awoke to the sound of crashing timber and a massive shaking in the decks around her. She had apparently dozed off at her desk while writing in her log. She tried to stand, but was instantly thrown to the floor as a massive wave lifted the ship and then let it crash back down into the water, causing the timbers to scream with the stress of the impact. Bracing herself against her bunk, Arlonue carefully pulled herself to her feet, nursing an ankle slightly twisted in her fall. She grabbed her pea coat, shrugged it on, and stumbled out of her cabin. She could feel the ship rising again on the crest of another wave, but this one seemed to be much smaller than the last. Arlonue reached the end of the hall and climbed slowly onto the deck.

Chaos greeted Arlonue as soon as she reached deck level. Rain was falling so hard that she could barely see ten feet in any direction. All the lamps had been doused at sunset to avoid detection by any Arkandite ships that might be patrolling the area, but even had they been left burning, Arlonue doubted they would help pierce the darkness and spray. Navigating more by familiarity with the layout of her ship than by sight, Arlonue made her way toward the wheel, which she hoped her first mate would still be manning despite the storm. About halfway to her destination, Arlonue discovered the cause of the crash that had awoken her. One of the masts had been splintered and had fallen to the deck. Arlonue groaned in despair; it would be difficult to steer her ship through the storm if it were in prime condition, but with one of the sails down, there was little hope of being able to get to safety until the storm had cleared. Arlonue uttered a vehement curse, and as if in answer, one of the two remaining masts gave a groan before snapping halfway up its height and crashing to the deck, only a few yards away from Arlonue. Resolving to save her curses for a later date, Arlonue continued to grope her way through the rain and spray toward the wheel.

Arlonue breathed a sigh of relief to see that her first mate, Bosek Stormraven, still struggling with the wheel of the vessel. Bosek was a capable sailor and a good friend. Best of all, he seemed to be touched by the gods, as he seemed to have uncanny luck in surviving trials that would leave a lesser person dead or worse. Truly, Bosek was a godsend, and if anyone could find a way to pull through a mess like this, it would be him.

"Bosek!" Arlonue yelled, trying to shout through the storm, "How's the ship handling?"

"Not too well!" he boomed in reply, "We've lost two of the main sails and I think we're taking on water! I sent Phekras and Rhiksic to man the pumps, but I think one of them washed overboard!"

"Damn," muttered Arlonue as she took over the wheel. They had only a skeleton crew to begin with, since this was a volunteers only mission, and she couldn't really afford to lose anyone.

"How much further do you think the temple is?" she asked her first mate.

"We were just in sight of the island when the rain started!" he yelled, "If we had all three sails, I'd say an hour, maybe less. But with only one sail and no way to navigate, it might as well be a week away!"

"Look on the bright side Bosek, at least we still have one sail! We'll just have to weather this storm and try to find the temple when the rain stops!"

Just as Arlonue finished her sentence, she heard a sickening crack and the last remaining mast fell to the deck in three pieces. Arlonue felt her limbs go slack and the strength drain out of her. She gave up fighting the wheel and sank to her knees on the deck, feeling the chill of the rain deep in the core of her bones. With no sails and no masts, even assuming her ship somehow managed to stay afloat, they'd be sitting ducks for any ship that happened along. While the resistance fighters had a fair number of ships, they tried to avoid this particular area as much as possible to avoid drawing Arkandite attention to it and the secrets it held. If any ship was likely to find them, it would be an Arkandite, and they would certainly be interested in the valuable cargo Arlonue was transporting.

Arlonue noticed that Bosek had grappled the wheel and was trying to keep it steady, but it was a losing battle. Arlonue reached up to grab his arm.

"Don't bother, Bo. We must be meant to die here tonight. Maybe the gods want Arkand to win after all. Just give up. You knew your luck would run out someday, old friend," she said.

"My luck might run out someday, but that day has not yet come," Bosek said with conviction. He released the wheel from his strong grip and knelt down on the deck next to Arlonue. He started praying to Sildaneveya, which gave Arlonue cause to smile. More out of habit that actual conviction, Arlonue joined in the prayer, begging the Goddess of the Seas for surcease from her fury.

A few moments later, Arlonue heard a strange noise over the wind and rain and thunder, something akin to the tinkling of many tiny bells. Leaving Bosek kneeling on the deck, she rose to her feet to see what else on her ship could be falling apart.

The view that greeted her chilled the last remaining warmth right out of her body. To the starboard side of the ship, a glowing figure was emerging from the waves. As more and more of it cleared the waves, Arlonue could see that the figure, definitely a female, was covered with some kind of garment made of scales, containing every color she had ever seen and more, absolutely radiant and pulsing with power and inner light. Arlonue grabbed the deck railing to keep herself from falling over as the goddess Sildaneveya rose from the waves and hovered over her ship. The goddess was massive, easily as big as the ship, and despite her aura of power, she seemed frail and graceful. The goddess spread her arms wide, causing a brilliant wave of crystalline light to wash over the damaged vessel. Then the goddess turned in the air and began to leisurely float away, with the ship seeming to follow of its own accord. Arlonue noticed then that the savagery of the storm seemed to have abated somewhat. The ship was still bucking on the waves, but not with the same furious savagery it had exhibited only minutes earlier.

The radiant glow of the goddess flared briefly, enough to reveal to Arlonue that they had reached their destination, more or less intact and alive. They had apparently drifted into the sheltered harbor near the temple. The figure of the goddess abruptly plunged back beneath the waves, and Arlonue collapsed from exhaustion, after saying one final prayer of thanks.