Levee Skiffraider

The raider stood on a skiff barely wider than his boots. A hooked pole rested under one arm. His other hand trailed a blade through the brown water. Packed-earth plates sat inside rope frames, with one high shoulder built like a floodwall.

He struck our tow line and stepped onto it before the vessels settled. Across he came. One cut freed the cargo. A backward pole plant returned him to his own wake.

Some appear human, some once-human; others may only have spent too many seasons fighting the river. What they share is knowledge of the ground under the water. They know the bank that holds and the shallow field an ordinary boat can't cross. They know the apparent exit that ends at a hidden wall.

A raid starts by testing convoy speed and cutting a trailing line to isolate a vessel. Hooks let them board and retreat along rope. They disable or bleed a target, then leave before the exchange traps them. Crews signal with oar taps and hymn fragments. Bargaining is possible before the first tow line is cut.