I was too drunk to argue with the witch, and we had to keep quiet on the boat. I separated myself from the group as they headed back to the tavern as I usually do. No need to pay for a room when I have old contacts. Saltmarsh has always had a smuggler safehouse. Besides, I prefer to sleep without the company of others. An old friend once burned me badly for my carelessness. That was a long time ago, across the sea. I wonder if he’s still out there somewhere. If he is, he must be very unhappy with me.
I’m rambling. I apologize. I’m drunk.
I heard some guards talking about undead appearing near the walls of Saltmarsh’s gate. Undead are a particular dislike of mine. Oh yes, they’re real my friends. Though rarer than the stories make them seem. There’s hardly a time when undead aren’t the subject of a night guards tale. Perhaps it’s the drink, but I’m not so sure this one is just a tale. The world seems to get stranger and stranger the older I get. The more of the world I see, the more uncertain I become about the security of civilisation. Good thing I’m a pirate. Lots of security there. Captain Nahelim used to say “the acquisition of enemies is the mark of a true pirate. If you die by any hand other than one who has sworn against your name, you have died an unworthy death.” I wonder if he’s right. He died a worthy death, so he must have been doing something right. At least by his own measure. No, it wasn’t me. I sometimes wonder if there’s more
—
My apologies dear reader, I seem to have fallen asleep quill in hand. You may want to pick up the skill of disregarding long-winded self-indulgent passages, it will prove useful anytime I’m near drink.
We spent the morning gathering news. Looking for work. Requests to kill alligators, deliver hides, all sorts of dreary work. Some of those strange pointy-eared pale fellows from the woods had requested the slaying of a dragon. I’m not sure if it’s cultural difference or simple stupidity that led them to asking in Saltmarsh of all places.
Sett gathered us in The Snapping Line, a fish-scented tavern, to discuss our findings. The innkeep’s wife served us with Lobster Wine, a special beverage made with the carapace of a lobster. An apparently the rest of the lobster too. It was more of a stew than a wine. It remained largely untouched except by Crack McCaw, the silent grey-dwarf’s parrot.
“We’re better than this.” I complained.
“Aye, but our ship is shit and we need money.” the captain replied.
“Nothing wrong with a good hunt. Lot’s of game in the swamp. Tough game.” said Hafdan, enthused
“You feel like fighting a dragon?” I asked. Hafdan looked at me with an inquisitive grin.
“To even study a dragons movement would be a rare opportunity.” He often caught me off guard with the insight locked behind that brutish face. He was about to elaborate when Zekia intervened.
“Well you do have a ship. You must be able to do something with it.”
“Not big enough for smuggling. Not fast enough either.” I informed.
“Well you must be able to transport something in it. There must be something both small and high in value?”
Sett chimed in, “Not unless it was very valuable. We don’t have the space after the 8 of us. And we can’t afford anything worth that much-” he paused, apparently struck by a thought. Then a wide grin came across his face. “Unless we make it worth something.”
Ugh. Merchantry. Economics, some call it. Cheap and artless, as I call it. I wish I wasn’t so good at it.
“Where are we going to find something in Saltmarsh that could be conceived of as valuable, even to clueless foreigners?” I asked Sett.
That had us stumped.
“What about our ship!? It’s just sitting out there in the harbor? Can’t we take that!?” inquired ravenous Julez. He’d taken to the lobster wine.
Sett answered. “You saw that sail. Torn to shreds. Can’t sail at all, let alone fast enough to outrun anyone that might come looking.”
“Well then… how about the one it’s tied to!? She looks like a mighty vessel.”
The table fell silent for a moment.
“You know…” I said “that’s not entirely a terrible idea actually.”
“Yeah, until the owners come after us.” retorted Zekia
Sett leaned forward. “What if they couldn’t? The dockmaster said they’re somewhere out in the marsh, right? What if they met with an unfortunate accident out there and we had the paperwork saying the boat could be transferred into our hands?”
“They could be anywhere in the marsh by now. We can’t comb the entire country side looking for them.” I said. Hafdan piped up.
“Actually there are only a select few navigable channels in the marsh. If they’re heading over the riverswallow they’ll have to take the east or west trail. If they’re on a simple delivery they’ll want to avoid hotseep region and celdmen’s grove, those are dangerous for civilised folks. Of course, from what we’ve heard they’re capable fighters, meaning they might be able to risk traversing the sinkswallow ravine path, but most likely they’ll just follow the river like any normal trader might.”
We were stunned. I’d forgotten Hafdan spent a lot of his life in the marsh.
“Well, that’s easy then.” said Sett, “We take our boat up the river, find the lizards, kill them, and coast back to Saltmarsh to claim the boat.”
We glanced at each other and nodded in agreement.
“Of course, it can’t hurt to have some valuable cargo anyway. Rohoyo, see if you can’t sweet talk Hannah at the bar for some cheap lobster wine. Take the electrum bars. We’ll go investigate the ship to see what they found in there and if they know more about the lizards who own it.”
Getting up from the table, the others left. Hafdan, Skylar and I approached the bar.
Hannah approached, wiping down a glass.
“What can I getcha?” she asked flatly.
I put on my best smile. “Another bottle of your fine lobster wine, my dear. Simply divine, it is. Do you really make it right here? In Saltmarsh?”
She glared at me. Not a good sign. Perhaps she isn’t so deluded about the taste of her own wine. She spoke while procuring a bottle from behind the bar.
“That’ll be 60 gold. My wife makes it with the lobsters the fishermen can’t sell, but they try to cheat us out of our coin anyway. I can’t help but think you may be doing the same Rohoyo.”
She knows my name. Another bad sign. “I would never dream of it my dear Hannah.” I took the bottle and poured (with some effort) myself and my friends a drink. I knew this was coming, but it didn’t make it any easier. I took a sip.
I do not think the gods have much reason to care all that much for us mortals. But if they do, one smiled upon me, and let me swallow the wine without gagging. I even managed a smile.
“Delicious! I’ve been to many a port and had many a drink Hannah, and this truly is some of the finest. You know… in Reldenbad the aristocracy pay 100 gold for something not half as good.”
“Right.” she responded.
I find when you’re dealing with that rare sort of person who has more than a lump of raw meat inside their head it’s best to act undeterred.
“How many bottles of wine do you sell in day?”
“None usually, but we usually go through about one a night in single glasses.”
I feigned shock. “Oh Hannah that simply won’t do! Such artistry requires compensation. And I believe your wine should be tasted across the world.”
Hannah folded her arms. “To address the bush you’re beating around, I’ll sell you a crate of wine for 200 gold. Six bottles.”
This one must have had merchant experience in her past. At least it wasn’t a no.
“Two crates, and I’ll purchase the rest of this bottle for me and my friends.”
“Your friends haven’t touched their drinks.” That’s what I get for relying on other people.
“Well, for me then.”
I handed her eight of the electrum bars and let Hafdan carry the crates of wine to the boat. 400 gold of lobster slop. I started to doubt whether this plan might work.
The others met us at the boat shortly after. The BTS was crewed by a group of three dragon-born. I have no idea what dragon-born are. Hopefully they’re easy to kill. We set off upriver.
It was slow going, but we have many hands for rowing. Unfortunately the movement of our boat attracted some unsavory attention. Hafdan had forgotten to mention to vicious river alligators.
Sett, knife clenched in his teeth, dived in and started a brawl with the gators. Supporting with my crossbow, I whirled around at the sound of an alien chant.
The sea-witch was chanting. Eyes closed. Strange sounds, like the gurgling of sea-secrets. The hidden tongue of the deepest ocean. He eyes flashed open, pupils dilated.
I have long since discarded the emotion of fear. It’s usefulness ends when you decide to get out of bed and investigate the bump in the night. It clouds judgement, causes mistakes. But I felt fear again. Behind the sea-witch, a giant tentacle reached out of the water, the limb of some great beast below the water. It grasped one of the gators and began to squeeze. The gator thrashed to free itself, but the tentacle was stronger than it was. It’s gelatinous muscle tense tighter and tighter, until the gator deformed with a crack. The tentacle dropped the dead beast into the water with a great splash
My crossbow was aimed at the sea-witch now. I had forgotten about the melee behind me, now resolving. Sett was more than a match for an alligator, let alone with all of us behind him.
“So that’s how you killed that guard, sea-witch. Commanded some great beast to break his bones. Popped his head clean off.”
“I was a prisoner, Rohoyo. I would have drowned otherwise. You were killing them as well, remember?”
Something about the way she spoke so simply unnerved me. The polished tongue of noble courts can be unwoven and dismantled. The sea-witch is impenetrable. Or perhaps, she has nothing to penetrate. I don’t deal with people that have nothing to hide. She must have a secret. She cannot truly be telling the entire truth, can she?
No. She’s hiding something. I mustn’t let myself get too familiar with the feeling of self-doubt.
I gestured my crossbow at her. “Send it away.”
She looked at me, those dark eyes, too human.
“Un-spell it or something. Now!”
Slowly, the tentacle receded into the water. For a brief instant I felt a tightness in my throat. Thought of the last moments of the corpse aboard the sea-ghost. My composure breaking down in real time. The increasing speed of my heartbeat. And just like that it was over. The sea-witch broke her gaze and sat down. I realized I still had my crossbow up, my hands gripped tightly around it.
—
The “dragon-born” have been spotted. I see now why they get their names. Seven feet tall at least, their legs look to be on backwards. Their armor must have been custom made. Scaled faces, similar to the lizardfolk that live in the marsh, but they had with them more poise than even some noble kings. They exuded righteousness. It is sickening.
We move to intercept. In a matter of moments the marsh will swallow them and we will have ourselves a boat. This shore-leave has brought with it a mixture of strange emotions I had forgotten. I long to be out on the sea again.