The captain of the final ship proved to have a much more sensible approach, and there was no resistance as he was boarded. He was, in fact, so helpful, that the pirates had serious doubts as to whether he was in fact hiding something.
The hold of
this vessel turned out to be filled with barrels of wine (declared in the ship's
manifest as worth 25 marks a barrel, which was probably not true) and strange
plants, carefully planted in open-topped crates. Sceptical as to how these survived
in the dark, and curious why the crew were terrified of them, the half-bloods
investigated, and after seeing the first mate consumed by them, decided to leave
them alone.
The
ship's cat chose that moment to make itself pleasant to Gilbert, who attempted
to make friends and was rather surprised at how easy it was. It seemed that
cats and qhal had a definite affinity, and he noticed as time went on that the
animal seemed quite capable of telling humans from qhal and half-qhal, hair-dye
or eye colour notwithstanding. Christening the animal 'Keelhaul', he took it
along.
Some enquiries aboard their own vessel finally turned up a Lyrval, human from Captain Culran's original crew who was qualified to operate as Cargomaster. With his aid, their loot was valued to produce the following final tally:
| Item |
|
Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2,575 silver marks |
|
|
| 62 gold royals |
|
|
| Fire opal pendant on a fine gold chain |
|
|
| A book with steel-edged, beaten-gold covers, embossed and painted in fine, intricate repeating pattern borders, having as a central scene a warrior with a long sword battling a dragon, which he is grasping by the throat |
|
|
| A golden circlet with four aquamarines |
|
|
| A ring of carved and beaten gold in curlicue designs, showing a mock beast claw holding a large spherical aquamarine |
|
|
| Broadsword with unknown matrix |
|
Engraved with the word Icefinger. Taken by Gilbert |
| Crate with cloth of gold guildmaster vestments x5 |
|
|
| Brass mug with jade inlays |
|
|
| Silver comb with moonstones |
|
|
| Bracers of Health, unpowered matrix for Vigour-4 |
|
|
| Barrels of fine wine x5 |
|
|
| A fire-blackened oak staff shod with meteoritic steel at its base, the head of the staff is carved in the shape of a fanged serpent with two rubies as eyes |
|
|
| A half-mask of black velvet backed by leather, its lower edge trimmed with tiny teardrop citrines. There are 16 small citrines and six 6 slightly larger gems |
|
|
| A tulip-shaped flagon with a heavy, bulbous base, carved of clear rock crystal polished glass-smooth, holding about one pint |
|
|
| A jeweled electrum ring |
|
|
| Wand of Dragon Breath |
|
Unpowered matrix for Dragon Breath |
| Wristband |
|
Unpowered matrix, spell unknown |
Morale
among the crew was quite high now - four prizes and no casualties - and the
commanders decided to give the crew a chance to relax. A small uninhabited island
between Vermar and Neudorn, out of the normal lanes, was located, and the raker
anchored off the coast.
The crew threw a rip-roaring party, largely fuelled by the rum stolen from the first ship. Gilbert experimented with Icefinger, sliding the blade into a tankard of wine and powering it up. Instantly, ice crystals ran down the blade like fur, and most of the water in the container froze immediately.
The wand caused some concern initially, as it appeared to have no markings to show which end was which. However, when Mehmet cautiously tried it, flame billowed out of the end pointing away from him - whether through luck or design of the item wasn't clear.
The half-qhal turned their attention to their passenger. Percinious used the Chalice to create some Goldwine, and once fed this, the full-blood recovered swiftly. His name, he said, was Avin'utherdar, and he had lived quietly as a tailor in Burdorn until recently. Then, betrayed and captured, he was bundled into a boat and shipped off to Neudorn under the most barbaric conditions.
Percinious asked him if he was able to teach sorcery, and Avin'utherdar admitted that he was. "There's no turning back, you know," he said. "Once you learn the Art, you will be forever a marked and hunted man." Percinious shrugged; he already was as far as he was concerned.
He dug out the parchment on which he'd reproduced the markings on the faces of the Chalice of Ryien, and showed it to Avin'utherdar. There was a pause, and then the qhal's pale-ice-grey eyes raised to stare into Nutbolter's.
"You've used this?" he asked, clearly quite aware what the markings were from despite Percinious' attempt to hide it. Nutbolter nodded. "You're lucky to be alive..." he commented.
For six
days, the raker remained anchored while various activities went on. Gilbert
and Mehmet sparred and practiced their weapons, and organized the smith they'd
found among Culran's crew in forging some of their plundered steel into heads
for new ballista bolts, increasing their stock to 64. Percinious carefully taught
his spirit spells to Gilbert, before disappearing into a quiet corner with Avin'utherdar
and starting his training as a sorcerer.
A week later, the raker docked at Agahir, the main port on Neudorn. Trouble started almost immediately, as a harbourmaster's flunky appeared and demanded 5 dhalven berthing fee. His misfortune was demanding it from Gilbert. The shaven Marmarkan gestured at Keelhaul, trotting quietly along beside him. "Talk to the captain," he said. Keelhaul glanced at the human, and then bit him viciously on the leg.
The
flunky booted the animal along the wharf, and with a flash Icefinger was
out and laid against his throat. "You kicked our captain, now apologize"
Gilbert grated. "He doesn't look well," managed the flunky. "Of
course not," commented Skaven, as he passed, "you just kicked him..."
A muttered apology, probably directed downwards, was the best the man could manage, and Gilbert released him as Culran arrived, to finally settle the berthing fee at 4 dhalven. The man fled, and the company of qhal disembarked.
 |
 |