Clear Skies and Shining Seas 5_The Worldforge: Warlock Rising

Aboard the ship one day blended into the next and Mar began to settle into a simple routine. It hadn’t been a week yet, though it felt like longer. He was still assigned to Thamos, but Mar could do most of the jobs on the ship by now. He was beginning to wish he’d taken a greater interest in the stars back during his days in the library, after Thamos told him a good navigator might make as much as ten shares on a long voyage.

He was on lookout with Thamos when he caught sight of Crabhaven. It was a small town, really not much bigger than a village, though it’s docks were extensive enough to put minor cities to shame. The water was littered with floating cylinders of wood with ropes tied to them. Buoys, Thamos called them. Apparently they were used to mark the fish and crab traps that were located out in the deeper waters.

Anyone could tell that Crabhaven was a fishmongers bastion. Boats varied wildly in size and design but were generally of a solid construction. Two of the fishing ships at Moore were nearly as big as The Hidden Gem.

Figures in smaller hand-rowed boats turned at the approach of the smuggler vessel. Captain Rollie eventually ordered the sails to be brought down and the anchors to be dropped. They sat in the water for nearly an hour before they were approached by two smaller ships. Captain Rollie stepped out of his cabin. Mar had only seen passing glances of the Captain before, since usually he was either steering the ship or in his quarters, but he appeared now to have a word with the locals. Captain Rollie was a short man who compensated by wearing boots with a thick sole. He also had a wide brimmed hat covering his head and a scarf wrapped around most of his face, obscuring his features. Between that and the fact that he often kept to himself he was a very mysterious figure aboard the ship.

On the Captain's orders a ladder was lowered so some of the villagers could climb aboard The Hidden Gem. Three rough looking fisherman types climbed aboard, one of them much bigger than the rest. The big one clasped Captain Rollie’s hand hand shook it firmly. They exchanged pleasantries for a short while, and then the Captain gave the order to raise the anchor. The Hidden Gem’s crew passed off the hawser lines, the strongest, thickest ropes on the ship, to the locals who returned to their boats to row ashore.

When they made it the short distance to their docks there were others waiting for them, all of whom helped pull the hawser lines. Many fishing vessels had returned in the hour they’d been waiting and all those people, along with more than a few women and children from the houses, helped pull the The Hidden Gem closer to the biggest docking area the village had.

It took some delicate maneuvering on the part of the people of Crabhaven to pull in a large sailing vessel like this, but Mar had been a dock hand for long enough to be able to tell that the locals knew what they were doing. When they’d at last found themselves at port, Mar descended the ladder leading the the lookout tower. Thamos had fallen asleep while waiting and even shaking his shoulder Mar couldn’t wake him up.

Mar made his way to the port side of the ship and helped toss the lines overboard so the ship could be tied to the docks. It was interesting to be on the other side of this job for a change.

A cheer erupted from the crew of the smuggler’s ship when the gang plank was lowered. Dry land! While Mar had stopped getting sea sick at night, the queasy feeling still hadn’t completely gone away. He glanced up at Thamos, who was still asleep up in the lookout post. He was supposed to stick by Thamos until the older sailor said he’d learned the ins and outs of sailing, but Mar didn’t think that applied to time on dry land.

He went with many of the other sailors below deck, grabbing their coin pouches so they could buy alcohol or a night’s sleep on dry land. He too grabbed his coin purse, as well as Jinn, and the little bundle of crystals. He hadn’t been able to practice magic since that first night on the ship, and he was still very eager to learn more.

It seemed the villagers had done a lot to prepare for their arrival in the hour that the ship's crew had been waiting to be pulled into port. Crabhaven wasn’t big enough to support a proper inn, but they had an alehouse, one that seemed to also serve as a private home. Seats and tables had been put out over an open area, five barrels of the local brew were brought out for the sailors to spend their coin on.

Mar sat with the other sailors for a while, but Thamos was still the only one he knew well, and Mar remembered his constant warnings about spending all your coin on women and booze. After several minutes, Mar decided that he should head off to the outskirts of town with Jinn for some more practice. Several locals glanced at him as he walked away from the gathering, but Mar figured they would simply think he was off the relieve himself in the woods.

Crabhaven was located on a small piece of land between the forest and the sea, so it didn’t take too long to get some tree and between him and the settlement. Luckily the the locals had cleared most of the smaller plants so they could walk through the forest, so there were paths through the thorns, but still enough privacy that Mar could remain unobserved. He pulled the gray stone out of his pocket.

“Jinn! Wake up.”

The stone slowly took on it’s dim crimson glow. Jinn commented.

“No we’re on land for the time being. I’m ready for another lesson.”

Mar gave the demonic spirit the mana it needed. Unlike before, he only needed to spend a couple of seconds concentrating, rather than minutes, and the mana he gave now was just a drop in the bucket. His aura had swelled dramatically as it filled over the last few days.

“Okay. What’s today's lesson? I don’t have any cups or buckets of water, but I can get one if need be.”

Mar picked a short stubby weed with a base three times as thick around as his largest amethyst. Trying to stick the gemstone into the plant was difficult work. The plant was actually quite tough. He had to grab a rock he’d found nearby and bash up the base of the plant a bit. Mar was beginning to wish he’d bought that knife.

Eventually he got the amethyst inside, though the plant was a bit worse for wear.

“Okay. I think I’ve got it… does this look good?” Mar made two loops, right next to each other.

It was exactly like making a single control loop, except now there were two of them, which made Mar’s job four times as hard. It took him several attempts, but eventually he created a stable weaving.

Mar concentrated. It took him another minute, but he realized that he could sense something there. It was dim and fading fast, but it was there.

“I sense it! But it’s weak, and getting weaker. Why?”

There was an audible hissing sound buzzing in the air, like hot oil sizzling in a pan or air being blown through a long tube.

“How do I know when I’ve put in enough?” Mar grunted out, proud of the fact that he could speak and maintain the connection and active flow of mana simultaneously.

Pop!

A cracking sound echoed through the small clearing as the weed exploded into pieces.

“You could have warned me.” Mar said with a glare as he picked plant fibers out of his hair. Streaks of green ran across his tunic, and would likely be impossible to wash out.

Mar jumped back in surprise. There was indeed a scarab at his feet. It was a giant beetle, as big as Mar’s hand with a deep golden brown colored chitin exoskeleton. It started slowly lumbering over towards Mar.

“I don’t know, it’s actually quite a nice looking bug…” Mar leaned over to feel the smooth golden brown carapace. Just then the But moved like lightning and snapped it’s pincers. It managed to grab the very tip of Mar’s finger, sending a Wave of pain through his entire arm as he quickly yanked his hand away.