Back to the Noose by Swashbuckle<\/a><\/iframe><\/p>\nExploding pain in my eyes. I can\u2019t keep them open. Even the red curtain through my eyelids is unbearable. It\u2019s so bright, too bright. Someone turn off the lights and take this fucking icepick out of my head. It feels like squatters just vacated my brain. I try to sit up. Wrong move. I flop on my side and vomit. Three times, maybe four. Not much is coming out anymore but I\u2019m still retching. That feels a little better.<\/p>\n
I sit up, successfully this time. I\u2019m on a dock, it seems. Wooden crates are stacked high, covered in netting and intermixed with barrels of various shapes and sizes. Why can\u2019t any of these be blocking the godforsaken sun? I hear footsteps approaching, thunderous, heavy. Cuffed black boots fade in through my tightly squinted eyes. Dark billowy pants stretch up to a frilled, white, long-sleeved blouse accented by a black cloth vest. A round, thickly-bearded face peers down at me from under a tan tri-corner hat.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, aye. Alestorm. Another \u2018un. BART!\u201d he commands. I raise my hands to shield my vision as much as possible. A much smaller man in similar garb saunters up from behind. He kneels in close, only an inch or two between me and heavily yellowed teeth like corn kernels, at least half are dead. His breath lands hot on my neck and smells of rotten roadkill. I gag.<\/p>\n
\u201cAye. Aye. Get \u2018im t\u2019 the bonfire,\u201d he whispers, concerned. The taller man gingerly touches my shoulder with great trepidation as if I am a breathing small pox blanket. We fast travel. It is even brighter here. And blazing hot. Fire, a big one. The smell of smoke is overwhelming. It burns my throat as much as my eyes. I couldn\u2019t open them even if I wanted.<\/p>\n
\u201cHold still,\u201d I hear a brusque voice say. I feel hands over me, in my clothes, on my person. An arm reaches down my throat and travels down, down, down, up to mid-bicep. I don\u2019t know what is happening (or how). Rhythmic chanting whispers all around me from somewhere in my head and yet miles away, the language unrecognizable, ancient, forgotten. Time swirls and dives. My flesh melts, separates into component parts. I see it as molecules and ether taken up into the wind, a tornado of elements extending to the sky. Everything burns, is cleansed. Then silence and stillness.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2019Tis done. Thankee, shaman.\u201d It\u2019s the smaller man. He is standing next to a gaunt skeleton of a man, his boot-leather skin draped over bone, sinew rising in small mounds. He stares through me and says nothing. A pile of Alestorm merchandise lies at my feet. A large, barrel-chested man dexterously scoops the heap with a shovel and deposits it into the raging fire. The shirts and hats (so many of them!) scream in pain as they are quickly carbonized and released into the sky. Did I see a face? No. No. Not possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cCursed, \u2018twas,\u201d said the small man, eyes cast downward. \u201cMany a man be less lucky than ye. Empty husks wash ashore every moon. Zombie men say naught but \u2018Alestorm.\u2019\u201d He pauses, recalling some unspeakable horror, his eyes boring into the earth\u2019s core. He shakes himself and shivers. \u201cBut fear ye not fer ye are wit\u2019 Swashbuckle now. Follow me.\u201d He proceeds down a small corridor protruding from the incinerator.<\/p>\n
I stop. \u201cWait, please. I don\u2019t know if I can keep doing this. It can\u2019t be worth it,\u201d I stand resolute, shaking my head.<\/p>\n
\u201cAye,\u201d he says slowly and softly. \u201cAye. I understand. Ye don’t needs t’ come but I reckon ye will be happy if ye did.\u201d He continues down the corridor and disappears.<\/p>\n
I collect myself and exhale. Fine. I\u2019m already here and these guys saved me from some hellish state of being. I owe them. I proceed down the hallway.<\/p>\n
The passage curves right and empties into a cavern lit with torches. A towering galleon stands amidst a pool of water three sizes too small for it. There is a sizeable crowd gathered in front, mostly crust punks. Interesting. Doom, Disrupt, and Infest patches decorate the black, safety-pinned attire. It really stinks in here.<\/p>\n
Doors crash open on the ship\u2019s hull, cannon fire flashes and thunders, echoing through the cavern. Rock shards rain down on the crowd from behind us. One of the shards buries itself in my shoulder and I lose 10 HP. Holy shit, those cannons are real. I look back and see a wall pockmarked with cannonballs. Hundreds of them.<\/p>\n
The galleon illuminates with rising bonfires on each side while an acoustic intro rings out. A few death-thrash riffs later and we\u2019re into a full-blown song, \u201cScurvy Back.\u201d Galloping and driving with fast time changes, growly crust vocals, gang choruses. Hey, this isn\u2019t bad! Not really sure why they want to bring scurvy back. Easily preventable disease these days. But whatever. Fun tune. It\u2019s quickly followed by title track, \u201cBack to the Noose,\u201d another enjoyable crustcore take on death-thrash. The crowd is into it. A pit churns in the middle with more than a few windmills and spin kicks.<\/p>\n
But as good a time as this is, the problems start mounting. After two proper tracks, the band breaks out another acoustic number, which quiets the audience and kills the pit. A couple more good tracks, including a blasting crust-grind Infest-esque \u201cWe Sunk Your Battleship,\u201d get the crowd engaged again only for another acoustic stop. This time, it\u2019s even worse. The acoustic interlude stops and the band members start performing a skit rife with falsetto yelling and repeating a line from National Lampoon\u2019s Christmas Vacation I suppose as some form of humor. This is embarrassing. The audience is uncomfortable.<\/p>\n
The couple-songs-then-interlude pattern continues for the remainder of the set. Another eye-rolling skit. Some boos. A few bottles are thrown, smashing on the side of the galleon. \u201cPlay some fucking metal!\u201d \u201cShut the fuck up and play!\u201d Can\u2019t say I disagree. Musicians, these guys are. Comedians, they are not.<\/p>\n
After the show is over, I find the small man and thank him for inviting me. I ask about all the acoustic bits and the horrific skits. He shrugs. \u201cPart of the show, it be. Would ye have come if naught fer t\u2019 gimmick?\u201d Well, I wouldn\u2019t have come without the promise of quest rewards but I see his point. There are thousands of bands playing music like Swashbuckle and they just needed a hook to get some attention. Who can blame them.<\/p>\n
I say my goodbyes and fast travel to the awaiting Owlkind standing in front of the gangplank. He examines me carefully. \u201cYe look healthy. D\u2019ye visit t\u2019 shaman?\u201d I nod. He responds in kind. \u201cYe may board.\u201d He stands to the side.<\/p>\n
Cut scene.<\/p>\n
[LOADING\u2026.]<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
If you made it this far, I’m sorry. You probably should have been one of the smart ones and not made that decision. But don’t worry. The second (and last) part is coming soon so you have another chance to make better choices in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My fellow Toileteers, Great Sitters on the Porcelain Throne, esteemed ladies and gentlemen of The Bowl, I apologize to all of you for everything you will read below and in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":96748,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Only Black(bearded) Metal Porkins was siqq enuff to listen to Pirate Metal nonstop for an entire week.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6280],"tags":[583,15191,3837,6406],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/fd47f-p1018551_710x350.jpg?fit=710%2C350&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96747"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96747"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96750,"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96747\/revisions\/96750"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}