Uzca, Bezben, and Thad set up camp for the night once they got the boat back onto shore and hidden away. Thad took the captain's sword and the ship's propulsion stone. They left everything else on the ship or buried with the man.

They had some minor provisions in their packs and some extra clothes so they could eat and change. They burned the clothes ruined by the monster. They didn't talk about it but knew they would be on high alert in the morning. It was something that no one had mentioned to them but something they should have known. The world was dangerous. Uzca and Bezben forgot because they rarely left the village and hadn't been in the lowlands long. Thad forgot because he usually worked in towns and stuck to the main roads. They were still relatively close to the Meglemen Swamp, all things considered, and the extra magic in the area was bound to create monsters all over the region. They understood that. They just took it for granted that they usually traveled on well-used paths.

In the morning, they left the campsite behind, giving the sea one long final look. They decided to retrace their steps. It would take them back past the area they had fought in, but they knew it was relatively close to Dreggs, and at least one powerful and dangerous monster that had been there was cleared out. It was unlikely they'd run into anything else.

Silent prayers were answered as they emerged from the jungle to see a massive hill before them. It led straight up toward Dreggs, and there seemed to be a small campsite just outside the walls.

"What do we think that's about?" Uzca asked.

Thad adjusted his pack to make it a little more comfortable and peered up at the walls where Uzca was looking.

"Who knows. Given they're apparently charging exorbitant fees for passage, people might be waiting for the price to come back down."

"Why not just head back up to Brightwater? It's what, about a day's walk?"

"Roughly, I think, but it's different depending on what side of the river you're on. We should probably remember that when it comes time to leave. Either way, the fees might be close to the same now; it was always cheaper to cross in Dreggs, so the price increase might have evened them out. Besides, there's a reason the city is lucrative. If the only reason people traveled two extra days was to save a little coin, Dreggs wouldn't get nearly the number of people it does passing through."

"Smugglers?" Uzca guessed.

Thad nodded his head noncommittally. "Yes, but you'd see those at either crossing, really. Dreggs might be a little more lax on inspections, I suppose, but the real answer is criminals in general. People with a reputation for being a criminal or are actively wanted simply can't cross in Brightwater. They'd be arrested or detained for questioning, at the least. If the choice is between camping outside Dreggs and hoping the prices come down in a couple days and hiking a day north to deal with the constables? Well, you could see why people might be camped out."

Uzca was a little surprised Thad thought most of the people crossing here might be criminals. Or at least most of the people content to wait. Uzca didn't know there were so many in the empire.

"Didn't Captain Jones say they were in charge of policing this part of the river? Why don't they have a more stringent checkpoint here?"

"Probably some kind of political agreement. I don't know enough about Dreggs to say for certain. It's one of the things I'd like to figure out while we're here, however."

The climb uphill wasn't anything the highlanders couldn't handle. Half the village was on a hill just as steep. Thad was working hard and sweating by the time they made it to the outskirts of the camp.

"We should try to get some information out here. Bez, stick with Thad. I'll make my way around the other direction."

His companions nodded and approached a group lounging around outside a big tent. Uzca spotted a man whittling a piece of wood and made his way over.

"Good morning. Working on something in particular?" he sat down next to the man and pulled out his unfinished duck and knife. He had brought them since he didn't know what kind of downtime they would have, and he had always liked to keep his hands busy.

The man frowned at first, but his mood noticeably changed when he saw Uzca's duck.

"I reckon it'll be a formless blob when I'm done with it. Say, might I have a look at your duck?"

Uzca passed it over.

"I'm just about done shaping it. I'll be going in for finer details next," Uzca said, guessing the man was new to the hobby and looking to learn.

"Fine work so far! How long have you been carving?"

"My pa taught me as soon as he thought I was old enough to hold a knife. He was a blacksmith, so that meant I was nearly cutting my fingers off by four."

The man laughed and eyed a new scab on his own thumb. "Brave man! You seem to have all your fingers, though, so I guess he knew what he was doing."

"He did. It'll be another decade before I'm as good as he is, but I'm getting there. You been carving long?"

"Na, just picked it up when the camp was set up."

Perfect.

"Really? I think you have the touch. Good cuts, solid angling. You keep your finger out of the way, and you'll have something soon."

The man grinned at him and held out a hand. "Thanks, fella. Name's Bill. Pleasure to meet a guy with some proper manners."

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"Thanks, Bill. I'm Uzca. My pa would be happy to know people appreciate how he raised me. Say, how long has the camp been up anyway? I just got in and was wondering why everyone was camped out instead of crossing already."

"Well," the man said, leaning conspiratorially and lowering his voice, "I heard the city's been taken over by the Blackwater Crew. They've tripled the crossing fee, and I heard if you have anything really valuable, they'll 'buy it off you' if you catch my meaning."

"Ahh. Take what you have and give you a pittance. I can see why so many don't want to cross under those conditions."

"Aye. It's bad business. We figure sooner or later, the folks from Brightwater are going to come bring the hammer down, or we'll get enough people here that they can't stop us from crossing. We can protect each other."

That seemed like a fantastically bad idea, but Uzca didn't want to put the man off by telling him so.

"Can you tell me anything about this crew? I'm actually stopping in the city for a bit, not crossing, so I might just take the hit to my coin purse. Don't think camping out here is for me."

"Well, I can't say I blame ya, Uzca. If you keep it between us, some of the folks in this camp are worse than anyone you'll find in the Blackwater Crew. Not much, of course, but still. Anyway, the Blackwater Crew are pirates. Not sure why they've decided to come into Dreggs. They usually harass ships before they get close to Telestria. Maybe the city finally upped the port security like they always say they will and have sent out patrols. But I guess they have their ships in a cove just south of here. Two big ones, I heard. Don't know much about them other than that, though. Don't make a habit of associating with pirates. That's the kind of person that won't think twice about throwing a fella overboard if you catch my meaning."

"I'll be sure to watch out, thanks Bill."

He had been making a few superficial cuts on his duck since Bill handed it back, but he wasn't paying attention to it. He packed it up and stood up, shouldering his pack.

"Well, I better meet back up with my friends. They were going to see if they couldn't find someone with a little breakfast. It's been nice chatting with you, Bill."

"You take care, Uzca. If I'm still out here when you leave Dreggs, don't be a stranger."

He waved the man farewell and crossed the camp.

He found Bezben and Thad talking to a pair of mean-looking men who seemed moments from drawing weapons.

"You a Telestrian?" One of the men asked, resting his hand on a blade at his side. "I can hear it in your voice. We don't appreciate Telestrians, do we Grip?"

Grip hefted a big club with a broad, leatherbound grip. "Na, I don't think we do."

"Ah, ahem. Sorry. I did grow up in Telestria, but that wasn't my choice. Really, I hate the place. Give me a hearty northern down any day over the soaring towers of that place."

It seemed Thad wasn't great at fitting in with a certain variety of people. Uzca grimaced as the man with the club took a step toward Thad. If they had any hope of accomplishing their task, they absolutely couldn't get in a fight or reveal that any of them could use any magic. They'd be watched like hawks.

"Hey! Thad, Bezben!" he yelled, drawing the attention of all four people as he jogged up.

Bezben practically towered over the two men, but he didn't have a threatening build. He needed a solid few more years to fill it out. He was his father's son and would eventually look just like Menza and Renza. Of that, Uzca had no doubt. For now, the seventeen-year-old didn't intimidate the hardened men.

When Uzca ran up, a little taller than either man and twice the size of the first, they hesitated.

"Morning. Thanks for keeping my friends company. Thad, Bezben, we better get to our meeting inside. We don't want to keep the Crew waiting."

"The crew?" Grip said, letting go of his club. "You three are with Blackwater?"

Uzca narrowed his eyes at the man and let his hand rest on his own blade. "Who's asking?"

"Nobody!" the first man said quickly. "We were just leaving. Come on, Grip. Things to do."

The pair threw a dirty look at Thad but moved along without a problem.

"Thanks for the save. The first man we talked to just tried to rob us. Luckily, Bezben has much better situational awareness than I do."

"Thad doesn't blend in here," Bezben said. "At all. He's going to stick out like a sore thumb when we get inside."

"You seem like you found out some information," Thad said. "What was that you mentioned? The Crew?"

"Yeah. Talked to a guy on the other side of camp. The people running the city are a pirate crew called Blackwater or the Blackwater Crew, I guess."

"Didn't Captain Jones tell us about them? He said it was a known criminal organization," Bezben said. "I think he only said they had one hundred members, but he didn't say they were pirates."

"I'm not sure how accurate his information was. He was getting it secondhand at the best, maybe thirdhand in some cases, though. One hundred might not be a bad guess. The guy I spoke with said they have two big ships anchored in a cove south of here. He just said big, so it doesn't really tell us what kind of ships. Not that I know anything about ships, I guess."

"No, I think your hunch is right. I've heard of this Blackwater Crew. They're a nuisance in Telestria. They're probably a major headache for the Rossenal family, actually. Their ships aren't actually that big. A typical Galley might have a crew of around two hundred or more people, but they use faster, smaller ships to chase down those big cargo vessels. I'd guess their crews could be anywhere from sixty to one hundred and fifty each? I assume they would have left behind a fair number to guard the ships, so one hundred in the city isn't a bad estimate."

Uzca glanced around the camp. They were getting a few looks but not too much attention after the small scene they had caused. Still, people could probably eavesdrop easily enough. He guessed it would be harder to get much more information from anyone around as well.

"I think we've got all the information we can hope for out here. Should we head inside? Bill said they tripled the crossing fee. I assume we need to pay that whether we're entering the city or crossing?"

"Mostly likely, especially with pirates around. Why don't you take point on this, Uzca? You've done better than I have so far in dealing with the people down here."

Bezben nodded emphatically, and Uzca chuckled.

"Sure, I can take point. Feel free to jump in if I'm about to make an idiot out of myself. We can be somewhat honest that we're coming from the north and heading south and didn't know about any changes in Dreggs. We were just looking for the cheapest passage south."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Lead on, cousin."

The city wall surrounded a hill on top of the hill they had just climbed. The walls weren't overly high, but as they were situated on a reasonably steep hill, they didn't need to be. The main gates were open, and more than a few people were heading in or leaving. That was a good sign. If the pirates were being reasonably honest and just charging more, it would be easy enough to get into the city. They needed to do one better, but Uzca needed to first see what he was dealing with.

They approached the man at the podium in front of the gate. He was the one people were giving coin to, and he was the one checking documents. Overall, it seemed he was pretty professional, and no one had any issues, so Uzca decided to take a chance on a loosely formed plan.

Uzca went through the essential crossing formality with him and paid his coin. Before they moved on, he moved in for the strike.

"Before I go, is your organization looking for any muscle? We've got two big northerners, and, well, he's an ideas man."

Thad waved as though they weren't aware Uzca was talking about him.

The man looked Uzca up and down.

"You want to join the crew?"

"Let's say I'm open to discussions."

The man snorted a laugh.

"Peter, get out here. We got a guy says he's looking to join the crew!" the man called into an open doorway behind him.

After a moment, a massive man with plate armor he didn't seem to notice walked out of the open doorway. A massive battleaxe slung across his back crackled with power. He looked squarely at Uzca and issued a challenge.

"Who are you?"