The Nectar and Necessities was a place as normal as if it had been plucked directly from a sleepy town on the coast and brought to the Fulcrum, inventory, and everything. Shoddy wooden tables and chairs, all kinds of curios and oddities on the walls and the ceiling. A bar with a portly, bearded barkeeper sweeping a rug through mugs and over the countertop. People sitting around in subdued conversations. The patrons of the inn were way less colorful than it had been the case outside. I assumed that it was a place people liked to visit who had in reality a fondness for shoddy inns. That meant humans most likely. There were other much more exotic places around for the more exotic visitors of the Fulcrum.
I went straight to the barkeep and told him that I was looking for the quest giver for the Shattered Sea job. He didn’t stop wiping his glass or even more than glanced in my direction, but he grunted and pointed with his beard to a table in the corner. And on this table sat a captain. No way around that fact. With a long mantel in deep blue with a high and stiff collar, a tricorn hat, he even had one hand replaced with a wicked hook. He had both arms stretched out over the back of the bench, he was sprawling out on. He watched the inn with thinly-veiled interest and a good amount of boredom on top of it. In front of him, on the table, were a mess of bottles and earthenware mugs. His face, human and crusted with the salt of the ocean, turned to me as I approached.
"May I?“ I said, putting my hand on a chair opposite to him.
"That depends.“ He retorted. "You here for the job? Or do you want to make trouble?“
"The job.“ I pulled the chair back.
"I hate people in masks.“ He said with a little bit of vitriol in his voice and leaned forward, his hook pointing at me. "I do not like this cloak and dagger shit.“
"I am just being careful. I am Raven.“
"Take off your mask or get lost. I don‘t talk to wood.“
I had not much to hide. I was a nobody for these people. I did not even have a fine reason for the mask, beyond basic carefulness. I willed it away and it sank back into the shadows of my hood.
His clouded expression softened somewhat and fine lines of laughter appeared in the crusted skin around his eyes. "Well damn, If I had known how ugly you are under that thing, I would not have made you put the mask away.“
I bit my cheek, trying to hold myself together in front of him. "I told you my name. Who are you?“
He opened his arms and grinned. "No secrets here. You can call me Bones. Captain of the Hammerhead. Some people say I am the Admiral of the Scarlet Tide, but they don‘t know what they are talking about.“
"Sorry, I never heard of you. I am more of a mountain kind of guy.“
He harrumphed. "Well, that is why I am telling you now. A little lesson free of charge: Names, Fame and Infamy are currencies almost as important as Shards around these waters. And it is hard to stand out in a hood and a mask.“ He grinned again, seemingly having forgiven my lacking knowledge of sea-related matters.
"So, about that job?“
"Yeah, it is a cursed thing. I want them gone. They have not only pissed me off on multiple occasions, they draw unwanted attention to the area. And the most cursed thing of all is that they have a safe haven I am unable to reach. The Shattered Sea is a wild place, and I would not fear it for the sea itself, but there is a force at work that changes peoples and minds. I lost good crewmen to madness and ... mutations. I have not found a way to the haven of the Shattered Sea Slavers.“
I nodded, thinking. "Why now?“
"Have you heard about the Fall of the Empire of the Sun? Ships are fleeing these shores in droves. All kinds of sharks are coming to the buffet. And I have a problem with a lot of these bloodthirsty bastards, but taking the refugees and bringing them right back to the hell they fled from? That is just cruel and bad for business. Just a matter of time until the biggest navies around smell the opportunity. And what is now a buffet and a free for all will become a dinner for one or a slaughter. Depending on the interested parties. No one can enter the Shattered Sea, as far as I know, so the slavers would evade my wrath forever, with a proper navy between them and me. So the question is. Can you do it?“ His eyes were glistening in longing and anticipation.
"I cannot make any promises, I’ll be honest with you. But I have related interests and I might be able to find a way or die trying. What if I happen upon those slavers?“
"Take them out. Take their hideout from the map. Drive them to the open sea, where I can get them, and cut off their retreat path to the hidey-hole. All fine with me. And bring me the head of Barak bloody Bloodbraid, and I will reward you handsomely. I would reward you like a king if you can give me the secret to navigate the Shattered Sea.“
I nodded. "That sounds good to me. How would I make such a deal?“
"My word is worth more than any vow, I can promise you that. But I can respect you being cautious. What it is you want? Shards? Riches? Promises? We can get it in writing and even get the Consortium to bear witness.“
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"It is not meant to be disrespectful to you, but I would prefer a contract. But we do not have to get the Consortium involved, it doesn‘t make sense to me to pay for someone to witness an agreement I cannot in good consciousness promise to hold up.“ That was not the only thing. The Consortium was a nebulous body of more than one entity. If secrecy was something to consider, then involving the Consortium was off the table. What if one of them had an interest in slave trade? Better to keep things between me and the Captain, which I found myself liking quite a bit.
"I understand. A vow then. Something simple for a simple shared goal.“ He thought for a good long moment. "I, Bones of the Hammerhead and Scarlet Tide, hereby vow to pay Raven one thousand Shards if he delivers the Shattered Sea Slavers and the head of Barak Bloodbraid to me.“
I thought about it. It was a long shot anyway. And a thousand Shards as a bonus? That sounded damn good.
"I accept.“ And in blue letters, the quest text and the accepted vow appeared in the corner of my vision, thanks to Lily.
"The night may take you both, I thought you would never finish.“ A bored voice interrupted our little procedure. I was startled, but Bones roared in indignant fury and punched his hook towards the person who had suddenly appeared beside us, sitting at the table as if he belonged.
"Fucking Jester.“ Bones spat, as he found his hook hitting nothing but air. The voice came from the other side now.
"Calm down. I was being polite.“ The new arrival said snickering.
"As was I.“ Bones snarled. "You do not disrespect me like that and walk away.“
"Of course I am, Bones. You know that. Now stop with that attitude. You frighten our new friend here.“
Bones sank back, anger in his face. He crossed his arms. "The table was private. You should not have been able to see us or interrupt us.“
"And yet you know that I am capable of doing what I please. Now, I don‘t care about your little business. I care about your new friend.“
"Me? Why?“ I asked staggered. "Do I know you?“
"That, Raven, is the pompous pimple on the end of my ass that likes to call himself the Moonlight fucking Jester.“ Bones interjected.
The man-made a flourishing bow in his sitting position. He wore colorful clothing, like a jester, under a dark blue cloak not unlike mine. He had a painted face, white with a crying side and a laughing side, and the cap of a jester, bells, and stripes and all.
"I know you have read about me, and that is why I came to speak to you, once that bonehead had activated the privacy of the table. It truly is private, they are proud of that here. And I am....sought after. A dearly desired guest on many a table.“
I was careful now, very careful. The notice I had read had inquired about the whereabouts of an assassin of his name. But Bones seemed to be annoyed, nothing more, nothing less.
"And you are looking for me? Why?“
"Because I have an offer for you.“ Looking in the Jesters face was distracting, to say the least, he was unreadable.
"And what would that look like?“ I asked, now mimicking Bones in leaning back in my chair and crossing my arms.
"You spoke to the Storysmith. And boy oh boy, are you about to make some interesting acquaintances.“ He laughed.
"What...“ fast as lightning he laid a white-gloved finger on my lips. I was too perplexed to move.
"Shh. You do not want to know anything. You do not want to ask too many questions. Just listen.“ He took his finger away, flicked his wrist, and suddenly a playing card was in his hands out of thin air, the Joker of course. "You will talk to the Storysmith, he will bring you to your new acquaintances. You will finish your business with them, a business I am more than bored by, no worries. You leave the place. You walk up to an advisor of the Fulcrum and say: ‚I have information regarding the Moonlight Jester’. They will hear you out. You will say that you saw me in the common area, that I asked about the Storysmith, and that I disappeared in the crowd after you told me that you are just doing business with him. And you will do all that with this little card...“ he flicked his fingers and the card danced over and around his hands in a dazzling display of dexterity. "...in your pocket.“
"And why would I do that?“
"The reward for the information about me is not enough?“ He grinned a lopsided grin, the painted frown on his face distorting the image. "I understand. How about a favor?“
"A favor to risk my relationship with the Storysmith, whatever buyers he finds and possibly the Consortium for?“
"Oh, you don’t want to know the alternative...“ The Jester began smiling, but Bones raised his hook once more, shaking it.
"Don’t you dare!“ He snarled again. "I am in business with this kid. You do not make threats at my table, Jester.“ He turned to me, while the Jester innocently raised his arms, still grinning.
"Listen, kid. It is a shark's world out there. But the word of this rotten bastard is good. If he promises you to steal the moonlight for you, you wake up with the moon fucking light in your cabin. That's how he got his name. I am not saying you should trust him. I am saying his promise is good. And my business...“ he turned to the Jester and his voice grew dangerously quiet. "Is way more important than your little games, Jester. If this kid shakes his head, you will get up politely and disappear back to the circus you crawled out of or I will make you lick Hammerhead's keel clean for the rest of your miserable life.“
"Got it, Bones.“ The Jester smiled. "Have you not had enough nectar? You are cranky today. Yes, Raven. A favor of the Moonlight Jester, the reward from the Consortium and...“ he tipped his chin in thought. "How about the key to open one lock of your choice?“
Now that was an opportunity! There was only one lock I had no means of opening in probably a radius of a couple of hundred miles around me in reality, the bonded chest of the golem-maker, but even for that, I could see this deal being well worth it. Depending a lot of the things inside that chest, of course. But the chest alone was a treasure I could not weigh up in gold. That was incentive for a little mischief, wasn’t it? Especially considering the displeasure of an entity known as an assassin, in case of my non-complying. I made my choice.
"I accept.“ Once again Lily presented me with a written form of the vow we just had made.
The Jester clapped happily and leaned over to put the card in a pocket of my cloak. Then he brushed over my left index finger. Thin, blue lines appeared in a complex pattern all over the skin.
"It is loaded. An Essence construct you can take back with you. It will take care of traps as well. If you want to unleash its mighty power, touch the lock and say: He who laughs last, didn’t get the joke.“
I raised an eyebrow and opposite me, Bones did the same. The Jester just shrugged. "You know that I indeed am a Jester, right?“ Then he smiled and stood up. "Well gentlemen, it has been a pleasure. I have some things to arrange. And do not trust that crusty pirate as far as you can throw him, little Raven.“
Bones shrugged grinning the grin of a shark. "I prefer the term freebooter. And yes, you should not trust me. But my word is good, pirate's honor and all that. We may have a common enemy and that counts for something, does it not?“