Congratulations! By using your ability, Will, combined with your Telepathy Skill, you and your bonded have learned the language Free Script (Asylum Dialect).
Total willpower points remaining: 17/25.
“So that’s how ye learned Dwarfen so slagging fast!” Krazzik laughed in his native language as they led their new acquaintance to the main cabin. Kedryn had run ahead a few minutes prior to hide the gold and other items prior to their arrival. No sense in showing a prince’s ransom if they didn’t need to.
Crixus followed Glade and Krazzik, with Riya and Gent taking up the rear of the group, the last of their party holding his loaded double shot crossbow at the ready. There were other dwarven guards who were close at hand in case they were needed.
Anyone who could escape from knots he had tied himself and break out of a brig was someone he didn’t want to underestimate in the slightest.
Croon was left on the deck to dry out with strict instructions to not utter a single word. Glade didn’t know if what Crixus said was true about the Kraken, but he welcomed any excuse to keep the Verser from singing.
After the incident, both Riya and Bragden had begun translating for them as they asked Crixus questions. At first, it had worked really well. The ship was indeed owned by one of the faction house’s within the Free Cities slavers guild and was berthed out of the city of Asylum. The Gnolls themselves were a growing faction within the guild, backed by some of the more powerful families for reasons that either Crixus wasn’t privy to or didn’t want to share.
However, shortly after that, things became… difficult. Not because Crixus was being difficult or unclear, at least Glade didn’t think so. No, the real issue was that Riya and Bragden had begun their scholarly bickering again. This time it was on the finer points of translated Free Script colloquialisms from Free Script to Dwarfen.
Glade had been sorely tempted to throw both of them overboard.
Knowing he should have done it sooner so they could have avoided the entire fiasco, Glade telepathically linked with the Navigator and used his will ability to learn the language. He had even splurged by using two additional willpoints to teach Free Script to both Kedryn and Krazzik as well.
“Thank you for your patience and understanding, Navigator Crixus,” Glade said in flawless Free Script as he motioned for the larger man to take the other seat in the main cabin as he sat in the other. “I find the ability to openly communicate to be far more beneficial.”
“Agreed,” Crixus said, giving Glade a peculiar look before glancing around the room, analyzing every minute detail in moments as he slowly worked his massive frame into the chair. His eyes lingered on the blood-stained sheets for a hair longer than was necessary, a flicker of emotion flashing through the man’s eyes that was there and gone before Glade could get a solid read on what it was.
Anger perhaps? Or was it something deeper? He could try and use his telepathy to understand what was happening in the man’s mind, but he would need far more practice to be able monitor someone else’s emotions without being detected. While he hated to admit it, telepathy wasn’t the answer to this scenario. At least not yet.
If Boon were here, he wouldn’t have worried. The man was a silver-tongued master. Instead, they had… him. Somehow, he needed to learn the sailors’ disposition and loyalties while simultaneously building up his credibility. The last thing Glade wanted to do was release a bunch of unknown men free only to have their throats cut at night while they slept.
Yes, this was likely going to be a very long, complicated discussion.
After a moment of overtly studying the cabin and those inside it, Crixus turned his full attention back to Glade.
“Did you cast a spell of some sort that allows us to understand one another?” the Navigator asked.
“Something like that,” Glade said, not willing to go into too much detail. Best to keep him guessing.
“Figures that we’d be caught up in an inter faction take over,” Crixus said with a look of disgust, his coastal accent resonating loudly within the cabin walls as he folded his arms and tried to lean back in the small chair. “It was only a matter of time until the rag coats went and scuttled themselves, the bloody Gretchas! So, what house do you represent? The Belviews or Velfaines?”
Glade briefly wondered what a Gretcha was, but figured it was a pretty safe bet it was something intensely derogatory. He was more curious why Crixus thought they were from another house.
“Gretchas are short sighted island birds that never leave the shoreline,” Riya leaned down to whisper in Elvish. “They usually eat dead fish carcasses that wash up on shore and are considered a the lowest of the low throughout the Free Cities. Relating someone to a Gretcha is calling them a bottom feeder.”
“Ye’ve got the metaphor wrong,” Bragden hissed, also in Elvish. “Gretchas are scared birds that make lots of noise but are useless things, he’s inferring that the Gnoll’s are nothing but useless…”
“Thanks,” Glade replied in Free Script, trying very hard not to roll his eyes. “I think I get what he was trying to say.”
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
“You know what? Forget I asked. None of my business,” Crixus said with a guarded look. “Suppose I should thank you for not sending us down to the last embrace like you did the rag coats. So… thanks, I guess? Beyond that, what terms did your faction house want to set?”
Doing his best to not show his surprise, Glade was about to respond when Bragden leaned down to whisper in his ear in Dwarfen.
“In this here situation, terms be discussed when the losing party be trying their best to keep whatever they can. When dealing with masters, factionist houses, or wealthy merchants, pirates can hold ‘em for ransom. Course, if’n the masters are smart, they sign the goods over to the slaves for safe keeping and let them deliver the goods without ‘em. The slave collars will ensure the ship’s Navigator sails true while minimizing the risk o’ being ransomed. That way, if’n they are ever robbed, the slaves are charged for the goods lost and not the masters. The slaves themselves can also be sold back to the slaver’s guild for 2 silver per sailor and 5 silver per Navigator. It’ll increase the slaves’ debt to the guild and extend their time, but it be better than being thrown overboard.”
“That is only in the cases when the pirates want the ship,” Riya hissed annoyingly in Dwarfen. “Some pirates will run a ship down and extort the master for money or goods. It actually costs a great deal less for the shipping companies to buy off the pirates and write it off as a protection expense. Of course, the pirates need to catch the ship first. If the Navigator can successfully outsail the pirates, the sailors sometimes get a credit toward their overall debt, thought I understand that is rare. Of course, if they are boarded and the master must pay a fee then the Navigator and the crews’ debt increases.”
Glade held off sighing. It seemed that Riya and Bragden were either trying to one up the other, which was unlikely given their history together, or they were trying to put on some sort of impromptu performance in front of the ship’s Navigator. The second scenario was more likely, as they might be trying to act like advisors… or something.
Then again, the two had just started bickering less than an hour ago.
Still, the information was helpful. He might as well go ahead and play along as an evil house representative. If they played this right, they could probably get the information they needed to know if the sailors could be trusted with being offered their freedom.
“You were suggesting we begin negotiating terms?” Glade asked, steepling his fingers like some poorly written James Bond villain. He tried not to cringe at the impromptu move. Boon would have been rolling on the ground by now laughing at him.
“Aye, terms,” Crixus said, eyeing him carefully. After a moment’s hesitation, the Navigator rapped his knuckles on the table and leaned forward with an earnest expression. “I can tell you straight as the trade winds that me and the crew don’t care a lick about whatever’s in the hold or in these here cabins. They weren’t entrusted to us by the guild, which means they can’t hold us responsible. That’s on the rag coats and their faction to repay to the guild coffers, not on us. So have at ‘em.”
“Oookay…” Glade said, fighting the surprise that was threating his already horrible villain vibe.
“As for the men, well, that’s a different story,” Crixus’ eyes narrowed into points. “What will you take to keep us all hale and fed until we can get back to the nearest port? Mind you, the guild will only pay you 2 silver a head ransom. Anything more than that will have to come out of our own purses, and as ye know, the guild is stingier than a back-alley whore on felling night when it comes to anything about money.”
“I’m certain we can come to some arrangements that will allow us to keep you and your men cared for and fed,” Glade responded. “About the ship…”
“Aye, I knew it was about the ship,” Crixus sighed in relief as if Glade had declared he was an angel come down from heaven itself. “Best damn ship that was ever built, the Deep take me into her embrace if it ain’t true. Every house from Asylum to Safe Haven has been after Princess Dragonling since the guild commissioned her last year.”
Glade wasn’t going to correct him if he thought this was about the ship, but he had to stop from gawking at such a horrible name for a ship.
“Yes, the… Princess Dragonling. Though, I don’t necessarily like the name myself,” Glade said carefully.
“You and every other sane person who can dress themselves without 15 maids,” Crixus snorted.
“I couldn’t agree with you more. Still, that leaves the issue of us actually getting to port…” Glade said leadingly. So far, Crixus had been fairly open, maybe he would just volunteer to take them all the way?
“So long as you have a decent crew, the Dragonling will take good care of you and yours. Now, seein as those dwarves on deck don’t know a yard arm from a quarter deck, I’m assuming you’ll be needing us to take ye to a port where you can pick yourself up a crew? Or are you planning to sell the ship back to the guild?”
Wait, that had actually worked?
“It seems like you’ve been through this before,” Glade finally said after a prolonged silence. “How do you plan to get past the restrictions on the slave collars?”
“Ha! That won’t be as difficult as you might think,” Crixus barked a laugh. “I’ve been boarded and ransomed so many times that I’ve lost count. The collars push us to resist capture and get back to the closest guild representative unless it saves the guild money for us to just surrender. It’s up to me as the Navigator to make the choice if there are no appointed masters around. Easy.”
“The guild won’t cause us any problems if we make it to port?” Glade asked with genuine surprise.
“This your first time taking on the guild?” Crixus asked.
Glade shrugged nonchalantly.
“Oh, I like you!” Crixus laughed, slapping the table. “Whichever house hired you lot to take down the Fellu family a notch didn’t pay you half of what you’re worth, I guarantee it!”
“Let me tell ye straight,” he continued, wiping a tear from his eye. “Guild masters and faction houses care about gold, themselves, and power, in that order. I’d call them all bloody sea urchins, but I’d be doing a disservice to the real pricks on the sea floor. No matter what, the guild masters get paid, faction houses and their merchants make their coin, and the bloody pirates that plague these waters, who, by the way, are all hired by other houses, get their cut as well. Then there are buggers like me and me boys. Our debt is so far in the red with the guild that the only way our collars are coming off is when we’re dead.”
“So, whenever situations like these come along, I do everything and anything to make sure that me boys come out alive on the other side. If the guild masters and faction houses take a hit along the way? Well, that’s just a little splash of sunshine that puts a smile on my face when I sleep at night. So, here’s what I suggest. The Dragonling is guild property, entrusted to the Fellu house along with all the slaves. No matter what, we are going to get pinned for our own ransoms. That’s how it works. But if you sell the ship back to the guild, not only do you get the gold, likely half of what it’s worth, the Fellu house has to pay it back to the guild! You get more gold, the Fellu has to pay more, and no one puts a bounty on your head! And, maybe, just maybe, you share the wealth with some down one their luck sailors!”
Glade sat back surprised, then briefly looked at the others in the room before turning his attention back to their guest.
“I think I have a proposal that might interest you,” he said with a genuine smile.