Below deck, Skraper was slumped inside the forcecage , coming to terms with his new existence. “I can show you the world, Skraper,” Bob said, sitting outside patiently. “Just you wait.” Skraper grunted. Erwen was curled up in one of Markosian’s overstuffed chairs like a cat, sleeping after his ordeal. The fey wolf slept next to him like a loyal hound. Siegfried turned his attentions to the trio of ships in a bottle on the sideboard. He cast identify on the objects and recognized the aura of illusion and conjuration magic that suffused the objects. “A sort of simulacrum, then?” he murmured. “If they’re mere novelties, they’re in extremely poor taste.” He surmised that there was indeed a limited sort of extradimensional space within the bottle, and if he uncorked the vessel and spoke the command word, he might be transported into the simulacrum. “They somehow recorded a memory of these ships’ final moments and created a three-dimensional representation of it to play out these moments again and again,” Siegfried said. “Shades of The Malediction of Mormesk , perhaps?” Siegfried figured that the simulacrum itself was incredibly detailed, but was not in fact the actual ship. “A moment of triumph for these despicable pirates. I suppose there’s no saving those poor devils inside,” Siegfried said to himself. He picked up the Redwater Jewel bottle and clearly made out a miniature Chauncy the Chull waving his claws about as he menaced the sailors on board. “Berrick, these have no monetary value, however they do serve as a record of the terrible crimes of the St. Asmod’s Hope , and are thus worth their weight in gold.” “Very good, sir,” Berrick said, and then did a double-take. “Did you say the Redwater Jewel? ” “Yes,” Siegfried said. “These bastards killed them and recorded the battle.” Berrick sagged back in his chair. “I knew folk who sailed on the Jewel .” “This might be difficult for you, but could you identify some of the people here on the deck?” Siegfried said. “I won’t force the issue, if it’s too much.” “I can’t look,” Berrick said. “I won’t blame you,” Siegfried. “In fact, I would think less of a man who could look unflinchingly at this.” “But…they were docked in Neverwinter less than three weeks ago,” Berrick said. “That recently?” Siegfried asked. “You know how scuttlebutt travels,” Berrick said, shrugging. “I think we should call in the Two Captains for this,” Siegfried said. Laurel and Ironclaw soon arrived in Markosian’s former quarters. “The Sinking of the Golden Coral ,” Siegfried read aloud from the inscriptions on the three bottles. “The Burning of the Penitent Lady ,” and “The Taking of the Redwater Jewel . Do these names ring a bell?” The Captains nodded. “We have rounded up a handful of survivors from this pirate vessel and have pressed them into service, but they had a hand in the fates of these three ships,” Siegfried explained. “There’s no pressing need for your crews to know any of this at this juncture. I don’t want those who know the intricacies of this terrible, yet impressive, warship to be murdered in their sleep in some half-baked idea of revenge.” Captain Ironclaw nodded gravely. “I knew Morland Paddley, Captain of the Redwater Jewel . I had no idea that they had met an ill fate on the high seas. Last I heard they were sailing for Neverwinter.” “Should I call the captured crew in here?” Siegfried asked. “We might want a question or two answered, yes,” Ironclaw said. “Belaeryn!” Siegfried called. “Gather all of your previous comrades that are now under my employ and return within five minutes. It’s time to discuss your continued employment.” “Aye-aye, Captain,” the drow said. He returned a few moments later with three disheveled pirates. “May I present Two-Teeth Spaulding, the ship’s former bosun, and deckhands Rustin Cheeks and Roderick Quay. We are reporting as ordered, sir.” The men looked as though they had been worked over by fist, staff and foot, and Rustin and Roderick moved stiffly, as though recovering from a bout of paralysis. Siegfried stood behind the table, which now had the Taking of the Redwater Jewel prominently displayed. “Gentlmen, it would appear that we have a human resources problem on our hands, a bit of a conflict of interest, you might say,” Siegfried began. “You couldn’t have known that the Captains who will be deciding your ultimate fate were in fact friends and allies with one of the ships you recently sacked, the Redwater Jewel. ” He indicated the bottled ship in front of him. Belaeryn’s expression was impassive. Two-Teeth crossed his arms in front of his chest, and Roderick and Rustin traded uneasy glances as they considered the ramifications. “Now, there are two conflicting schools of thought to be considered at this moment. One, is that you have value perhaps as residents of this ship, and as sources of information, and your worth serving House Thann outweighs the harm you have done to House Thann already, considering you were only following orders.” He tapped at the image of Chauncy devouring sailors on the deck of the stricken sailing ship. “The other school of thought is that you participated in the butchery of close associates of your new Captains, and they would be well within their rights to hang you from the yardarms this very minute. I will allow you an opportunity to argue your case as to why you should not be hanged from the yardarm for the acts of butchery you carried out against our allies.” Two-Teeth stood firm. “Captain points at prey, we do our thing. Now, if there’s stuff you want to know, that’s where our utility comes in.” Behind him, Roderick muttered, “we are pirates after all.” “You argue that you are sources of knowledge,” Seigfried said. “Do we need all four of you, I wonder? Perhaps I should hand two of you over to the captains here.” Belaeryn took a step away from his colleagues and nodded knowingly at Siegfried. Siegfried did not respond. The drow cleared his throat. “Master Thann, these deckhands and swabbies know nothing. I, on the other hand, would be better suited to exchanging information than having my neck wrung, if you were to ask me.” Two-Teeth spun around and pointed an accusatory finger at the drow. “That’s just like you to turn on us the very minute things go sideways, you cowardly swine!” “I see much from my vantage point, Spaulding,” Belaeryn shot back. “What do you see? Nothing but bilge water below deck, I reckon.” “Unbelievable!” Spaulding spluttered. “No! No! Listen to me, I saw the whole thing!” pleaded Rustin Cheeks as a chorus of accusations and recriminations filled the chamber, the three pirates eager to sell their comrades out if it meant saving his own skin. “You did nothing of the kind, fool!” Roderick shouted. “You were below deck the whole time!” Belaeryn stayed icily above the fray. Siegfried made a show of rubbing one of his bullet wounds. The drow noticed. “Of course, it was nothing personal,” Belaeryn said uncomfortably. “We were just defending ourselves, you understand.” Siegfried took another look at the bottle and watched as a miniature Chauncy tore a man limb from limb. “Captain Ironclaw, after today’s events, would you be comfortable taking in these survivors as members of your crew, knowing what they had participated in?” Ironclaw shook her head gravely. “Professionals or not, there’s an amount of trust that we would not be able to truly give these pirates. We’d always be looking over our shoulders.” “Captain Laurel, after what you’ve seen today, would you be comfortable taking these men under your employ?” Siegfried asked the newly-minted Captain. Above her veil, Captain Laurel’s eyes flashed with cold light. “The drow’s a good shot. I don’t know about the other three. But somebody needs to pay for the Redwater Jewel. ” Siegfried made a decision. “Spaulding, Belaeryn, take five steps to the right.” The two pirates uneasily obeyed. Siegfried pulled out the two fiendish longswords, considered them, and threw one of them down at Rustin and Roderick’s feet. “Decide amongst yourselves who needs to pay the price for what was done,” he said, handing the other sword to Captain Ironclaw. “Or the Captain here will decide for you.” Rustin and Roderick needed no further encouragement. They fell onto the sword in a desperate struggle to gain the advantage. Rustin elbowed Roderick in the face, knocking him back as he scrambled for the sword. Roderick kicked Rustin’s legs out from under him, and then grasped the hilt of the fiendish blade. Belaeryn kept his eyes focused ahead of him while Two-Teeth looked away. Siegfried watched the melee, his expression unreadable, until a sword punctured flesh with finality. The, he stood up from his chair, walked around the table and pulled the bloody blade from Rustin’s still-twitching corpse, offering it to Laurel with a flourish. “Has the blood been shed to your satisfaction, Captain?” Loud Laurel’s eyes narrowed above the seam of her veil. “For the time being, Master Thann.” “That was highly entertaining,” Captain Ironclaw said. “Just as long as they remember what’s what when push comes to shove.” Roderick, hands on knees, breathing heavily, nodded obediently. “I’m not hearing an ‘aye-aye, Captain!” Siegfried said sharply. The three survivors stood ramrod-straight and shouted, “Aye-aye, Captain!” “Get out of my office and lend a hand in making repairs and assist with shifting the cargo up onto deck to help with the tallying,” Siegfried said. The three pirates made a move to obey. “And take out the garbage with you,” Siegfried added, the implication clear. Roderick and Two-Teeth grabbed Rustin’s body and shuffled out as Belaeryn held the door for them. “Captains,” Siegfried said to the two women. “Those hellforged blades you’re holding – I’d like you to have them to commemorate your important roles in this endeavour.” Captain Ironclaw regarded the blade with suspicion. “You’re…you’re giving us devil swords? How thoughtful.” “Say what you want about fiends, they’re well-crafted,” Siegfried said of the swords. “And if anyone asks why you’re carrying them, tell them who gave them to you and the circumstances of their acquisition.” The Captains nodded. “Right, once we’re rested up, let’s set a course for Leilon,” Siegfried said. “We’re about two days from Leilon,” Laurel ventured. “Well then, tomorrow I shall prepare for the crew an arcane feast,” Siegfried said. “If I cast the spell right, you’ll have the splendour of a royal ball, and I can prepare that on the deck of one of the ships.” “A royal ball?” Captain Ironclaw said, fluttering her eyelashes. “We’ll have to break out our formal wear, eh Laurel?” Laurel’s eyes were stone cold. “It should be good for morale,” Siegfried said. The Captains took their leave. Below deck, Theryn finished off the last of the zombies with ease. He turned his attention to the network of narrow corridors amidships. He surmised that the deck here was divided off into crypts of a sort, each one protected by a heavy door. “This ship is probably desecrated from stem to stern,” the monk said to himself. He decided to try one of the doors leading towards the bow section. He pulled out the key that he’d taken from the pirate with a keen sense of self-preservation. The key fit the lock. He opened the door to reveal a cargo hold stacked floor to ceiling with supplies, sundry items, and, judging by the golden glow, a whole pile of booty. “Oh my,” Theryn said. There were barrels held in place with netting against the curved hull, chests piled atop one another, and all sorts of goods, including bushels of winter wheat, sealed drums containing oil of kraken, and others. The crates were of varying size and provenance – no two were alike. “Piracy pays well, it would seem,” he said. His eyes narrowed as he spied a familiar coat of arms emblazoned on some casks tied off in one section of the hold. Next to some casks of black toad ale were several casks of wine bearing the mark of House Thann. They were identical to the casks he’d verified on board the Tide-Runner . “Well, that’s very strange,” Theryn said. He noticed that one of the casks had broken while the ship had been battered about, and yet there was a distinct lack of wine leaking from it. “Siegfried said the Thann wine was for selling, and not for drinking,” Theryn said, crouching down to investigate. He noticed that the interior of the barrel was in fact an hourglass-shaped vessel, leaving a void in the barrel, around which was packed around a heaping helping of dirt and straw, and several curious root vegetables that looked like swollen carrots with red rose-like flowers sprouting from their tops. “So, they were smuggling after all,” Theryn said. “And Siegfried was so insulted when I raised the possibility.” He snorted. Picking up one of the roots, he brushed the dirt off and considered it for a moment. “Bloodroot,” he said, identifying the plant. “Well, you’re a long way from home, my jungle-dwelling friend.” He knew that bloodroot only grew in the humid Mhair Jungles on the Chultan peninsula, which lay far, far to the south of Waterdeep and the Sword Coast. There were at least five of six of the plants packed tightly around the smuggler’s void within the barrel. Theryn had heard rumours that bloodroot had a limited narcotic effect on humanoid races, however, the root itself acted as a seasoning to heighten the taste of meat and blood, and thus vampires were known to use it as a drug. Theryn considered the bloodroot, the crypts, and the earthen graves. “I need to get myself topside,” he murmured. Grabbing a couple of prime specimens, he started upstairs. “Now, there is a matter that needs resolving, Quartermaster,” Siegfried said to Berrick. “Yes, Master Thann?” Berrick replied. “My adventuring companions,” Siegfried said. “Clearly a portion of the plunder from this plump, preponderant prize belongs in their pockets. Could we sign them on as martial members of the crew, perhaps as adjuncts to the Chief Gunner?” “Well, we didn’t sign them up as anything other than passengers, Master Thann,” Quartermaster Berrick said, somewhat embarrassed. “With the exception of Varien Aether, who the Captain promoted to acting First Mate, much to the Bosun’s displeasure, if you’ll recall.” “Of course, would you be denying them their valour? I certainly wouldn’t be denying yours,” Siegfried said. He hefted the sanguine axe and held it out to Berrick. “At the start of this voyage, I had promised two weapons from my personal armour to the members of the crew who fought with the most valour. Don’t think your valour went unnoticed, Berrick.” Berrick blushed. “Are you familiar with Ieirithymbul?” Siegfried asked. “Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not assuming that all gnomes know each other.” “I’ve heard of the place, up in the Sword Mountains,” Berrick replied. “But I am not of their kin.” “We took this axe from a raiding party from Clan Many-Arrows who meant to do Ieirithymbul harm. This may not be a quill used in service of House Thann, but a legitimate trophy used in valour. Is this something you and your automaton would make use of?” “You flatter me, Master Thann,” Berrick said, somewhat taken aback, “but my Dockside Clockworker is already equipped with a motorized rotarized gaff.” “If not, I would speak with the Bursar in Waterdeep to see if we can make improvements upon your equipment,” Siegfried continued, “in line with your valour and expertise on the field of battle.” “Again, such flattery!” Berrick burbled. “I recognize worth,” Siegfried replied. “But I hope you recognize that you would have met the St. Asmod’s Hope in the open without forewarning and you would not have made it to Neverwinter. Your journey would have been one hundred per cent lost, a black mark in the House Thann ledger, to say nothing of the black mark ending your lives. What I’m asking is fair compensation for fair work.” Berrick looked about shiftily to make sure none of the Tide-Runner’s crew was within earshot. He pulled out the Articles of Muster and Indenture from his tome-filled rucksack. “Considering my companions as Gunnery Chiefs operating highly lethal arcane magic and skils, I believe they would be valued at one-and-one-half shares,” Siegfried pressed. “Customarily we do have appropriate nomenclature for combat specialists such as your companions,” Berrick said officiously as his quill made some quick notations on the agreement. We call them Marines. You might think of them as naval infantry. I can add here a codicil that dragoons the members of your party as a squad of Marines. He added a section of parchment and secured it with a line of bookbinder’s glue. “This is right and fair and I shall have it properly notarized within the House,” Siegfried said. “This has been a gap in my family’s operating procedures for their fleet activities, and we shall correct this going forward.” Berrick nodded knowingly. He finished the codicil, which Siegfried witnessed and signed. Siegfried wrote up a bursary of 500 gold pieces earmarked for repairs, maintenance, and upkeep for damage to the Quartermaster’s construct, knowing full well that Berrick’s construct has escaped unscathed. Berrick made the bursary disappear in a pocket of his greatcoat. “I reward valour as I see fit,” Siegfried said, “but I don’t want to give you a magical weapon you have no use for.” “Be sure to keep your receipts,” Berrick said. “I shall do all due diligence to ensure our transaction is above board,” Siegfried smiled.