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August 25 - Our last day in civilization. Poor Marcus spent the day as a
rat. Tamara went shopping and came back with a repeating crossbow and
enough bolts to wipe out all the pirates in the ocean, assuming she learns
to hit with the thing any time soon. Alfredus squired Greta and Ludo
around town. I gave my message concerning the lycanthrope-slaver for the
tribune at Viridicum to the military courier, and turned Gaius loose while
I went to the bathhouse. He came back promptly to time and quite
presentable, if a trifle damp, and I forebore to ask him what he'd found
to do with himself. Decimus and Robyn went to the library to find
traveler's tales or other references that might assist us at our
destination, and sent word to me that they had found an indication that
there was a superior cure for lycanthropy available in the local cathedral
library, so I immediately went to find it. The librarian wasn't sure, but
his stacks were in good order and we found it soon enough. Alas, it was
much too complex and difficult to copy in the time available, and I doubt
I could cast it reliably; however, the librarian agreed to send a copy to
the Archbishop in Brigantium and also to Viridicum, so I have done my best
on that score and may put it out of my mind for the moment. Tomorrow we
venture onto the broad ocean. I find the thought quite thrilling.
August 29 - Thrilling is perhaps not the best word for the ocean. I was
abominably seasick for the past three days, but we all seem recovered and
in possession of our sea legs now. I had hoped that having Marcus in his
own form on board would provide some healthy companionship for Gaius, but
he has put his tough street mask on again. I suppose it's the only way he
knows how to behave toward others of his own age. I had feared that, all
danger of being turned in as a public health hazard left behind, Artos's
treatment of Marcus would deteriorate, but I see nothing to object to,
beyond the obvious.
Tamara is practicing with her new crossbow, which I find tolerably
terrifying, but say nothing about. We must all have our amusements.
Decimus shuts himself up writing scrolls a good deal. This morning he
came up at last, and refreshed himself by altering himself into a dolphin
and leaping off the bow of the ship. This looked like fun, but frightened
the sailors, who cried "man overboard" and rushed to launch the boats.
August 31 - Ocean storms make those of Mare Nostrum seem like summer
showers! For a day and a night we were tossed about like herbs being
mixed for a dressing, except that we were immersed in water rather than
oil. I spent most of my time trying to assist the seasick, in which Artos
and Marcus assisted me. We sprang a few leaks, but Decimus ran about with
mending spells, and Robyn, Alfredus, Tamara, and the servants ran about
assisting with caulking, or pumping, or whatever the sailors told them to
do, and now we have sun again, and a great hammering, and the stove is lit
in the galley, and the captain is telling us how that was scarcely a storm
at all, compared to this or that one he suffered through in his youth.
Somehow Tamara and Decimus have gotten thick as thieves, which after what
happened I wouldn't have regarded as possible, but under the circumstances
it's all to the good.
September 1 - Alfredus was wishing, casually, that we would encounter
pirates, or possibly sea monsters, to break up the monotony, when we heard
a sailor cry that he saw a sail. This being a great event by the scale of
our present days, we all rushed up to the poop to take a look. They flew
no flag, which was odd, and a great many men were on deck, all armed, and
with buckets that seemed to smoke a bit, as if they held hot coals, which
was even odder. Of course we all thought "pirates," and the captain
ordered his crew to attempt to outsail them, but they gained on us. We
were not idle, but brought up coals from the galley, and oil to soak rags,
and Alfredus and Robyn began making arrows that could be set alight. I
sent all the servants but the Sunshine Boys over to the lifeboat, and saw
that it was stocked. Robyn has finished Alfredus's bow, and he and Tamara
were quite pleased at the idea of using their new toys in earnest. I
brought out my own crossbow, without any particular enthusiasm, but after
all one must be prepared. In the same spirit, we had buckets of sand and
water all over the ship, and some of us even put on our armor.
Despite our sailors' best efforts, the strange ship came within hailing
distance, and called over to the Captain demanding Artos, claiming that he
had something of theirs. He denied any knowledge of who they were or what
they wanted, though he presumed they were merely hoping to rob him of his
jewels, or persuade the captain that they had a legitimate grievance with
him in order to be allowed to get near. The captain being disinclined to
turn over a paid passenger without something better than a few words
shouted across the waves, they made visible preparations to attack us.
The moment the captain said to fire, we did so. Robyn set their sails
afire with his first shot, and we shot at their captain and the archers
who aimed flaming arrows at us. Our markmanship was much the better -
even I got a bolt into the captain, I think, but I was happy enough to put
down the crossbow and heal those who were struck. Decimus had volunteered
to put lightning bolts through their hull, but the captain agreed with us
that, if we could drive them off without sinking them outright, it would
be better, so he put a flaming sphere down on the deck, instead. It was
at this point that we discovered they had a mage, but he was unable to
quench the sphere, and soon the sailors were much too busy saving their
ship to trouble with pursuing us, and we got clean away.
Alfredus thinks we should have waited about to pick up survivors; but the
captain was of the opinion that they weren't particularly likely to sink.
He was irritable - by which I mean, irritable by Alfredus standards; by
Decimus standards he was mild indeed - and when I attempted to point out
the folly of setting them afire in order to run away from them, and then
hanging about to see whether they put the fire out, he actually accused me
of being less ethical than practical. I wonder if he had too much of that
rum that captain distributed in celebration? It was very strong stuff and
I could barely get through a sip of it. He is suspicious of the captain,
and of Artos, and trying to talk Robyn into getting the magic pouch off of
Marcus and seeing if it contains anything it should not, that the pirates
may have been after, but I don't fear Robyn will do so. Tomorrow we'll
have a little talk, but trying to reason with him tonight would probably
be counterproductive.
I believe he's cross because he's worried about the pirates, more than
anything, though he was eager enough to fight them at first. The
captain's voice was a little high-pitched, so people are wondering if it
might have been a woman, or an elf, and I don't think he likes being
pitched against someone he regards as frailer than himself. It's hard for
me to believe he used to go cattle raiding. He's much too tenderhearted
for a life of warfare.
September 4 - Freeport; "a wretched hive of scum and villainy," as we were
warned back home. It's loud, and it's dirty, and all sorts of peculiar
people are walking about by broad daylight, goblins and pirates and I
don't know what all - literally, for there were beings I couldn't have put
a name to. Poor Gaius; he was chafing at the bit to be gone, and I told
him I might allow him to go off on his own tomorrow, but for today I would
rather he stayed with me so I'd have someone to advise me how to behave if
anything untoward happened. The worst of it is, I'm unsure myself how
much that was flattery and how much good sense, for I've demonstrated
before that my people skills go awry in unfamiliar surroundings.
As it turned out, I could have set him free without any inconvenience to
myself, for I discovered a store where the pirates, who have no sense
whatever of literary values, regularly fence such bibliographic spoils as
survive their voyage home, and it contained a bizarre assortment of texts.
They didn't have anything about our destination, but they did have (snip).
I spent all afternoon there and emerged in late afternoon all dusty to
find Gaius and Thor playing knucklebones and looking excruciatingly bored.
Fortunately, since there are so many ransoms &c paid here, a former major
domo to some patrician house, who left the Empire under a cloud, has set
up a villa on the edge of town specifically to cater to people of
substance who must stop here. Apparently the sea captains and pirates
don't like him much, for he won't tolerate anyone in his place who doesn't
know the proper forms. It was well out on the edge of town, away from the
smell (which to be truthful is only somewhat worse than some portions of
Tarantium), but worth the walk, for they had a proper bath. I had it all
to myself, due to the awkwardness of the hour, and I washed my hair three
times just for the fun of it.
Rather than leaving Gaius and Thor to twiddle their thumbs again, I
instructed them to find out what they could about the current patrons.
They - or rather, Gaius, for Thor has neither his knack for listening nor
his instinctive grasp of what information is interesting - learned that,
although no one who concerns us is presently stopping there, the staff are
in daily expectation of two new visitors - a wizard whose familiar is
described as "funny," meaning unusual, and a lady with an unusual number
of bodyguards. Learning of this, I was pleased to find us ahead of our
rival, and disturbed to find us followed (if we are followed, and this is
not a coincidence) by one who has been working for V; for of course we all
thought at once of the scryer Robyn spied upon, and his "baby beholder."
At dinner we discussed our day. Alfredus had another day of family
outings with Greta - his good-humor is completely restored, and he has
apparently also given up all idea of buying Marcus, which I almost regret,
but there's no point thinking about it. Robyn primarily occupied himself
learning about gems from Artos, and purchasing some amber in hopes of
reselling it at a profit when we return to Tarantium. Decimus and Tamara
went pub-crawling in hope of hearing something about our destination, and
Tamara did in fact get a fantastic story out of an amorous ruffian rumored
to be half-demon. She could hardly take notes, and was drinking along
with him, and I find her account a little difficult to sort out in
consequence, but apparently the place is supposed to be overrun with
monsters, and the site of an ancient elven civilization, the harbor to
which is guarded by impassable rocks.
In light of the imminent advent of our rival and V's scryer, I thought it
best to hasten our departure, and it appears there is a tide that will
serve our turn at noon tomorrow. I have opened the expense chest Uncle
gave me, and given Robyn 800 solidii out of it, as well as most of my
remaining cash, to purchase mules and supplies. Tamara will return to the
pub tomorrow and hint to the supposed half-demon that the scryer is coming
here to compete with him in pursuit of some goal of which he had told her,
which I trust may lead to some inconvenience. I can't reconcile myself to
actively interfering with Giuilia, however. After all, we'd not be on
this quest had we not spied on her.
September 5 - The fresh breezes of the ocean blow over us once more. I
wonder when I'll next be able to wash my hair properly? The morning was
well-spent. Robyn has spent most of our money, and gotten good value for
it, though there are disadvantages to having a hold full of mules. The
captain and I went to a chart shop, and found a map of the island. Not,
perhaps, a very reliable one, but better and more recent than the one we
copied from Giulia. It is marked with notations such as "gyant spyders,"
"vicious-crazy elfs," and "religious nuts," is singularly lacking in
terrain features, and purports to show a way through the rockbound harbor.
If this is true, it will be a great boon, as we can leave the ship there,
protected from pirates, while we cross overland. Even if it is not true,
we are hoping that Decimus, doing his dolphin trick, can find us a way
through the rocks and accomplish the same thing.
I will ask Robyn to make a copy of the chart, which we can leave with the
captain. We can then take one with us, and fill in terrain features, and
he can refine the information about the harbor while they wait for us. I
am planning the best way to explain leaving them behind to Gaius and the
Sunshine Boys, without giving any hints about Ludo. It would be as well,
also, to devise methods of signaling the ship over distance, and to plan
contingencies, since it is possible to imagine situations in which it
would be unwise of the captain to linger, or in which he may find it
necessary to account for his presence to, say, Giulia.
Looking over the chart, I am encouraged by the thought that a notation
such as "vicious crazy elfs" or "religious nuts" may bode well for us. An
elf whose homeland is invaded by pirates may well be vicious crazy toward
them, but if we can persuade them of our peaceful intentions before they
ambush us (a logistical problem, I admit), we might find them pleasant and
valuable acquaintances. Also, the term "pagan" is not used, so the
"religious nuts" may be nothing more ominous than an extreme monastic
order of Orusians, though this is an odd place for them. Have I heard
stories of anyone retreating to the western isles, on crusade or an
evangelizing mission, or perhaps merely to withdraw from the world? It
seems to me I might have, but I recall no details whatever, and I might be
remembering a mere fairy tale at that.
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