I left the Bloated cup and dipped into an alley to transform. Now a seagull I flew to The Ill Hand. I will stay there a while and search for Alyson. In the show, she didn’t want to interact with the Nein at all. I’d say that by not interacting with Beau she indirectly causes her and Nott to sneak onto the Squalleater and steal Avantika's journal. If she had met with Beau she might have changed the Nein’s path a bit.

I found the ship easy enough. It was what I have learned to call a Man O’ War. It has three decks that I can see. The lower two have rows of gunports about 10 each. There are two main masts and two smaller ones at the front and back. The front is equipped with a massive ram. It makes sense Alyson would have something this beefy. She supposedly didn’t target civilians. I think she is a lot more selective with her targets. To be that selective you need power and she has it.

I flew in and sat on one of the ropes between the sails. The Ill Hand has a crew of about a hundred. They are moving back and forth either cleaning, chatting, or moving boxes on and off the ship. They seemed to like each other so thats good. I spotted the blond-haired woman. She was ordering some deckhand to scrub harder. She seemed in a bad mood. That might just be how she acts though. I am hoping for tsundere instead of just a bitch. I swoop down and land on the railing next to her. She turns to look at me confused.

“Fuck off bird. If you shit on my deck I will kill, cook, and eat you,” she said.

“I promise you I won't shit on your ship,” I said. A few people were looking at the captain before. It's not often a bird just lands near people but the second I began to speak a lot of them paid a lot of attention. Alyson herself looked stunned then quickly moved to a more defensive stance.

“Whatever the fuck you are get off my ship,” she commanded.

“I can do that but the Plank King said I should find you,” I said.

Her scarred eye twitched at the name. Before she could respond I did fly off the ship to the docks next to it. I turned back into a person and sat on a barrel. She moved to the railing and looked at me.

“I am off your ship. Can we speak now or should I come back on? “ I asked.

“No. Fuck off,” She yelled.

“All right but the Plank King said there were only two women on this island crazy enough to handle my request. Guess that means I am speaking to Avantika.” I yelled back.

She stopped. She made a face that I couldn’t describe. It seemed some combination of anger, disgust, annoyance, and jealousy. Not sure entirely but she turned around and said,” FUCK YOU! Fuck the Plank King! And fuck Avantika!”

“Does this mean you don’t want to hear about the job?” I asked. I don’t know if this is going well. I was hoping that by mentioning Avantika I would make her interested just so she could make sure Avantika didn’t get the work.

“Fine! Get up here and make it quick,” she yelled. Oww plan successful. How nice.

I walked aboard the Ill Hand. The crew had stopped whatever they were doing and fully focused on me now. I had been irritating their captain after all. I heard whispers of ‘she will kill him’ and ‘will she still kill and eat him?’

“All right explain what the fuck you are talking about,” she said. She was tapping her foot and I could hear a knuckle pop from how hard she had clenched her fist.

“Allow me to introduce myself. I am Edsom Lewis, a new arrival to Darktow and an adventurer. I met with the Plant King earlier today and asked him who in Darktow had the skills and the bravery to help me with hunting a Roc,” I said.

“You are hunting a Roc. What for? And what is this about the cunt Avantika,” she asked.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

“The Plant King told me to either speak with you or Avantika. I found her at the bar but decided to search for you first. As you saw I can shapeshift. Now as for why, it has to do with the unique way I can shapeshift. If I kill and eat an animal or some things that are more than animals I can become them. If I kill the Roc and eat some of it, I will be able to become one. I don’t need to explain why I would want that,” I said.

The crew was whispering amongst themselves. ‘Wow really,’ ‘That's cool,’ ‘Can we beat a Roc.’ Alyson seemed to have calmed down enough and was considering what I was saying. “Hunting a Roc is a big task. You are right that me and mine can help you with it but I need to know why I should,” she said.

“Of course. Let me tell you about the target. The Roc I know about is located in the Gravid Archipelago. Its nest is there but that also includes other harpies and other large birds. I am unsure if this bird theme has some kind of important connection but it doesn’t matter. I want the Roc for its power. Now I have yet to confirm but I know Rocs feast on large prey and that includes the various ships well within its reach. I can confirm once I see the nest but there might be treasure it has kept. I can also assist in searching the various harpy nests and looking for treasure they have kept. There is also the bird itself. I am sure the feathers of such a creature are important for magical enchanting. You could sell them or use them yourself,” I said.

In truth, I didn’t have the money to hire anyone. All I could offer was the location and the help to kill it. Alyson asked,” Do you have any idea what's even there?”

“Not yet. I held off on scouting in order to find better allies. I can create some minor poisons and I can hunt harpies without the ability to hear. Being immune to their songs makes them trivial. If I have to go alone I will spend a few days clearing out the harpies and gathering their ill-gotten gains. If they have any that is,” I said.

“You ask a lot but have only offered promises. If you don’t have anything good then you might as well go and bug the tanned cunt at the Squalleater,” she said.

"The only thing I can offer is information on Divers Grave, the secrets of a few Swavain islands, rumors on the list city of Obarra, information about the secrets of Eiselcross, or I can work off the debt once I have the Roc form. I'd rather not work with a follower of Uk'otoa," I said.

"You know of the bitches fish god," she said.

"Well yes. It's only been a couple of hundred years since he was sealed after all. Most records of him can be easily confirmed," I said.

"Oh. I am curious about what you know compared to the cult leader," she said.

"I would prefer not to speak of this in the open. She can believe what she wants. I know what I know based on my experiences. Now does any of the other information interest you? Or will I be paying with my body," I say.

A few of the crew chuckle at that and Alyson gets a small bit of red in her cheeks. "Quit fucking around. Come with me," she said. Oh my, a private discussion. I look at the crew and a few of them give coy smiles.

I enter the captain's private quarters. This one is much bigger than Three Earrings. She has the table in the middle but the walls have drapes and wardrobes. The back of the room has a nice desk with all manner of knickknacks. There is a bed with smooth silks and a lot of pillows. I miss sleeping in a bed with a bunch of pillows.

"Let's start with information. If it's sufficient we can discuss going after the Roc," she said.

"Alright, where shall I start?" I ask.

"Start with Uk'otoa. I want to know everything you can about him," she said.

It's not like there is a grand library in Darktow and most pirates aren't allowed into a cobalt reserve I bet. So her not knowing anything about the serpent is understandable. "Let's start at the beginning," I said and gave a historical retelling of Uk'otoa. I began with his involvement in the calamity to what he did after. I mentioned his worship with the Ki'Nau and the sealing done by Zehir.

"And that is all the historical stuff. I also know the location of where a seal is," I said.

Alyson leaned in closer at that information. I interrupted her before she could speak," I won't be telling you where. It's better people don't know I know."

"Fine. Tell me secrets of the islands then," she said.

"Rumblecusp has a monster on it that steals memories. If you spend more than a day there you run the risk of forgetting stuff. Stay too long and you will forget everything from before the island. It will probably be dealt with in a couple of years. There isn't anything I feel like mentioning. I don't know what Obarra is but it's said to be in the Quoraska jungle somewhere. No idea what that means. If it was a flying city I have no idea how it hasn't been found yet," I said.

"Well, that is a lot. I don't care about Eiselcross. It's too cold up there anyway. What you have provided is neat but not enough to cover the Roc. What's this about the diver's grave?" She asked.

"Dashilla the Dreadful is a sea fury. A more powerful version of a sea hag. I would help you with that but I just finished dealing with a nasty hag that was troubling the Othemoor," I said.

“It's nice to know that the myth isn't just a legend. But all of this isn't enough to pay for the Roc. Let's talk about what you can do for me if I help you," she said.

It will fuck with my timetable but that's fine. "What do you have in mind?" I asked.

"I want you to help me attack a ship," she said.

" I assume it's not a normal ship. You already have considerable firepower. Who is the target," I asked.

"That would be Vice Admiral Beckett Joy. A rather fine man who works for both the Clovis Concord and the Myriad. He has a long list of crimes including kidnapping, slavery, murder, etc. He has a rather large ship of the line that patrols from port to port smuggling cargo for the Myriad. People call us pirates but that man is the real thief. I want his head and then I want to rob and sink his ship. If we help you get this Roc form I want to use that bird to help do this," she said.

I had a few ideas on how I could destroy a ship as a Roc. "I am in then. I trust you aren't lying to me about this Admiral. I have known some right bastards and they like positions of power," I said.

"I take my privacy very seriously. This man and his crew deserve everything that's coming to them," she said.

"Well alright. So let's talk hunting plans," I said.