Before anything else happened, Ozzy carefully removed the glass spheres from the smoke. One by one he swam over to them and pushed them closer to shore. After that he dug a hole for each one in the turf, nestling them into the salad so they wouldn't roll around. It was stressful, being that close to so many fragile bombs. Which reminded him about the one he'd naively brought back to the Splinter. Hopefully, his idea of how to use the deadly bombs would placate Woodrat when he found out that Ozzy had brought one aboard. He needed to get that globe off the ship, but he already saw how useful they could be.

They needed to clear one hell of a lot of the sargasso weed to free the ship, and using sails and muscle to pull it that far was both a lot of work, and not guaranteed to work. It was Mariah who had argued against trying the sails and a narrow trough. "Whether it works, or doesn't work, you're putting stress on the mast, on the hull, on the ribs, and who knows what other parts of the ship. And what about the auric? That's not something you can just blow some smoke on and reshape as you do with wood." Eventually, it was agreed that cutting down deep into the salad to clear a passage would have to be done.

Ozzy had considered the use of rollers to move the ship. He knew that historically, the Vikings had moved their longships on rollers. This ship was a lot bigger and heavier than a longship. He'd need to drag back a lot of masts to turn into rollers and then get the ship under them and lean it to one side. But that line of thought immediately failed because he didn't have a hard enough surface for the rollers. The dried vegetation would just crush under the weight. So, they were back to the huge task of clearing an unknown depth of vegetation until the channel was deep enough to float the ship.

The task of clearing that much dead weed was a lot easier if you had a mist that ate anything it touched. The ammunition from the warship was going to solve a couple of Ozzy's problems. But first, he had a sparkling treasure chest to deal with. But why not share the fun with his Captain? The thought put a big grin on his face.

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Woodrat was below decks repairing damage to the ship. He'd found unsound wood in a half dozen of the ribs and several timbers. Using good wood brought back by Ozzy from other wrecks, he was working for hours each day to improve his ship. Woodrat had sailed with many different captains. Some insisted on using the best wood. They bought extra supplies of it in port and employed several wood wrights on their ships. Such ships had hulls that were black and shiny, full of imbued smoke. That was Woodrat's goal with the Splinter. He was working to make all parts of the ship as good as its golden hull.

Mariah dropped down into the hold, not worried in the least about the fall, landing on her toes. "You need to come up top. Your Mate got into some trouble and he's on his way back." She seemed more amused than alarmed.

"I notice you aren't running to help out your fellow crewmember, so what is it you're hinting at woman?"

Mariah ignored his question and leaped back up to the deck. Winds picked up Woodrat and deposited the captain there as well. He stood up, scowling, and went to the poop deck. He saw Ozzy in the distance, dragging something back as usual. The man was more packrat than most cargo masters he'd served under. Using the spyglass, he brought the image of his mate closer to him. Behind Ozzy, towed by his Trammelian Chain, Woodrat saw the skull and hide of an immense lizard, over ten yards long. "Dear god, what sort of trophy did he dig up?". Then he zoomed in on the chest his Mate was carrying. It was obviously a treasure chest, made of dark wood and golden metal, the whole thing glowing. "How the hell did he kill that damn thing?"

Mariah laughed at him. "Best close your mouth before something flies into it."

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Woodrat, Mariah, and their new lookout were waiting for Ozzy as he walked up to the ship. "Sorry for taking my time, captain. I ran into a few critters that wanted to play. This one had a nice hide so I brought it back for you. And it had a little chest as well."

Mariah put her hand on the skull and shuddered. "This beast was a monstrous thing, and above your level. It had over 25,000 smoke!" Woodrat was measuring the hide, wondering where he could display such a trophy. It was longer than his cabin. And too hard to make a good rug.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Ozzy quickly ran over to the ship and jumped aboard. "Excuse me, captain, need to take care of something before I tell you the whole story." Woodrat was still staring at the skull and hide of the creature. Would the skull work as a figurehead for the ship? Mariah saw Ozzy jump into the hold, and then back out, carrying a large sack. He jumped off the far side of the ship and ran to the edge of the smoke. Curious, she followed.

"And what has you in such a hurry?" She saw him push a glass glove into a hole he dug in the turf.

Ozzy actually looked embarrassed. "Well, I might have done something potentially bad and I'm fixing the problem. Let's head back."

Mariah touched the top of the globe and froze for a moment. Ozzy was fifty feet away and walking fast. She ran after him, her voice raised. "You brought a globe of Acidic Void Mist into the ship?! And tossed it into the hold like it was some trinket? Do you know how deadly that can be.?!"

Ozzy kept walking. "I just might have an inkling of what they can do. As I said, I have a small story to tell."

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Ozzie opened up the chest and started pulling out items one by one.

Monstrous Ironhide Treasure Chest: After opening, this small chest will disappear, but a tattoo will appear on the owner’s bicep. Once a day it may be summoned and dismissed, along with what is held inside. Some forms of imprisonment or some places may prevent this effect. Size: 1' deep x 2' long x 1.5' high.

-Needle tooth Dagger. Made from the sharp tooth of the Imperator. This dagger does double damage to any opponent who is not protected by plate armor, or an armored hull.

-Sealion Vest: A heavy vest commonly worn by sailors for protection in battle. Made from the quality pelt of a an adult Sealion it gives no hindrance to swimming, and actually increases the wearers speed. It provides protection equal to a Heavy Hull. (+30 mitigation.)

-Golden Beard’s Comb: One of many magical golden combs commissioned by Captain Goldenbeard. The stylish mariner valued his looks greatly. These combs were enchanted to keep him well-groomed and styled. After a day’s use a captain will not only look their best but gain +1 Aura and +2 CHA.

-Lustrous Pearls of the Queen of Iskaria: The islands of Iskaria are known for their large, man-eating oysters. These pearls are often purchased at the cost of the divers' lives. This double strand of over 100 flawless pearls was worn by Queen Lemoria, whose ship was lost at sea to the attack of a Diluvian Kraken.

-1000 golden shellcoins.

Ozzy looked at the items and then handed the comb to Woodrat, the dagger to Mariah, and the vest to a flabbergasted Derek.

"I don't deserve this, sir. I've only been a member of the crew for two days! I haven't earned any shares."

Normally, a ship would distribute treasure by shares. Each man or woman on the ship started with one share. Seniority counted, with additional shares being granted at seven and twenty years on the ship. Mates gained extra shares, as would many of the specialists aboard. Officers and the Captain would normally have more than half of the shares of the ship. A 60/40 split was common. The Splinter was anything but normal.

Ozzy insisted he take it. "It's yours. We have a saying in the conjunction, 'Need before Greed'. Now, this isn't an adventuring group like we have down there, but mighty close to it. I'd rather you wear that vest than we stuff it in a treasure chest and it helps no one."

Mariah slid the dagger up her sleeve and simply said, "My thanks."

Woodrat was already combing out his beard and hair. "Did I mention how much I've enjoyed sailing with you, Mr. Ozzy? If not, remind me tomorrow to say it again."

Ozzy held up the string of pearls. "Now these I'm keeping and taking home." He put the coins and pearls back into the chest, which promptly disappeared. It felt like someone poked a thousand needles into his bicep over the next ten seconds. "Damn! That stings." A small tattoo of a chest appeared on his arm.

Mariah had produced a bottle from somewhere and was pouring alcohol into four flagons. "Shares are distributed, now I want to hear a story, and make sure to embellish and lie about things like a proper sailor."