A hearty meal was a welcome start to the day. They were up and prepared for battle. This battle was one with their squads using mixed unit tactics against a group of straw dummies for opponents, the strategies were still valid. Alice used an earthen wall spell to create cover for Vivian and her squad. Alice used a mix of suppressing fire illusionary allies to toughen up the front ranks. Martin had the crusaders move forwards, David's group flanked from the left and Alice's group held the left supporting with thrown spears.
They ran through a few more scenarios, a little more practice sparing. Alice healed a few injures and they were ready to take on other opponents. Martin was getting the hang of a sword, the parrying of it anyway. His general melee skills helped him, but defensive fighting was something he would have to learn. His focus doge skills helped him move about, he had a few ways to survive an attack.
It was funny how the battle against the hidden hand started to turn in their favour, when they stopped targeting the hidden hand directly. The hand were only effective when there support network of lackey’s spies and intermediaries were in working order. As it was dismantled piece by bloody piece, then they got step by step closer to wrecking the gang and claiming the duchess reward.
They headed over to the guard’s barracks, they left their squads outside by the fire, there usual contact was absent. A reluctant Sargent explained that the deputy sheriff was on a mission, then led them to the sheriff’s office and knocked. The sheriff was into her paperwork not her cups, she looked frustrated annoyed she was used to delegating such tasks, now she had to act.
She sighed, “I had a little chat with the leader of the crimson lotus. Deadly blossom pretentious name, what a daft tart. She told me about a little enterprise that nets the hidden hand hundreds of silver a day. There is a fighting arena under a couple of old warehouses. They have exotic fighter from distant lands squaring off. local muscle heads with a grudge to settle, beating each other to a pulp. Tamers setting one creature against another, tests of skill and strength. The crimson lotus used to provide some entertainment, now there are just expensive drinks on offer. From this cosy set up they collect silver and information every day”.
David held a hint of scepticism in his voice, “I heard that there were arena's in the capital and the forest city close to the border, is this sort of thing illegal, I thought competitions were legal”.
The sheriff looked at him incredulously, “It’s illegal to run this sort of thing if you’re a crime syndicate. Don't tell me the law, competitions are legal and regulated this is not”.
She went to reach for a bottle and stopped herself, she checked points off to David in much the same way his instructors drilled him when he was a mercenary recruit. “They import animals without permit and precaution. Imagine if something big due for this arena go lose. They pay no tax the odds and the fights are fixed. There are no safety's in place, people die for a bit of coin, idiots and thugs mostly, but it should not be allowed”. She ran a hand over a stack of papers, “also I remember a report of the hidden hand releasing a bunch of animals against you. Where do you think they got them from”?
The sheriff handed a piece of paper with a wine stain on the back of it to Vivian. “This is the address; the place is called the circle of sand. I leave it to you to disrupt the place permanently, we want the master of ceremonies one Andrew 'the black' Cole and their accounts books. The place is run by a group of animal handlers called Turin's Tamers; I don't really want to have to house their animals. So, unless they do something suspicious, they get let off with a warning and a one-way ticket out of my town”.
There orders were clear, Vivian called everyone over, “there is an illegal fighting ring the circle of sand by the harbour. The Hidden hand get the profits, so we shut it down we grab their paperwork follow the leads. We get the ringmaster Andrew the black, the fighters and monster tamers we have no interest in unless they give us trouble. Everyone follow our lead this could be as simple as walking in grabbing a few books and the ringmaster”.
The guards and militia had heard rumours about the arena. Two types of people went there, people with more money than sense and those who wanted to try their luck beating the shit out of each other. The front of house had the appearance of a small trading company, there were a few thugs about to keep an eye on things. Smartly dressed thugs who would ask politely before beating you senseless, but thugs none the less.
The doorman looked through the slot and saw a man in a large hat and cloak, he went through his usual lines. “Entrance is 50 bronze pennies’; bar is over to the left see the stewards for bets”. The door shook ominously and opened from the wrong side in the wrong direction. There were four people the other side they were well armed. Behind them were another dozen who were well armed and moved in formation. A sixth sense a survival instinct kicked in as comprehension filled his mind and it began to work overtime. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest like a hammer. He was looking at Malice and the zealot “oh fuck”.
The door was thick and heavy the man in plate armour behind it gently propped it down against the wall. The archer looked at him, he could feel himself sweating as her golem eye focused upon him. Looking him up and down, he anticipated his fate as he was being measured. “We are just having a little stroll about the docks and we heard that there was entertainment hear, we came to catch the show”.
A brief look around the room showed it was quite large, stands of seats constructed around a circular arena. A bar at the side serving the most exotic flavours for fools to spend their money on. There were various doors and grills and bars blocking entrances to the arena. Which had been sunk into the ground. A good fifteen feet below the audience to give them a degree of safety. From whatever was inside the area at the time. It even had a fence to stop a drunken spectator from falling in as they watched the spectacle.
Andrew 'the black' Cole was rapidly reviewing his choices. He had a dozen men to keep order above ground and more fighters and tamers below. An entire trope of monster wranglers and their pets with Turin’s tamers. He didn't like the odds against the four masters and a dozen guards. They were there for him he was sure, perhaps they could be bribed, though he doubted it. Cole wore black from hat to toe he carried a broach of voice amplification and a tall hat to denote his position as master of ceremonies.
He could see the lack of a front door, several of the more awake patrons of his establishment had already started to edge out. A few of the low ranked fighters’ members of one gang or another or just petty thugs and arm twisters took a look at the group and tried to leave by the back way. Only to find Alice had used the earthen wall spell again and again to deposit a hard layer of compacted dirt up against the walls that would take picks and shovels to penetrate.
The guards and Vivian remained at the door a cork in the bottle, David looked around soaking up the atmosphere of anticipation. “I have a marvellous idea I enter myself, I bet on myself we break their bank”. He spoke low and quiet, “then we reveal we are agents and throw them out”. Vivian was sceptical to say the least, “you never win in games of chance”. David was sure of himself, “true but I am far more likely to win this. I am a level 93 fighter in a closed ring where nothing is going to get some range on me”.
Vivian handed a purse to him Alice and Martin flanked him as David walked up to Cole, “we want to fight in the ring”. He jumped back as if David drew a knife on him, “no one is mad enough to go up against the four of you, especially in there”. David adjusted his proposition, “sorry I mean, I want to fight”, he held out the coin purse emptying twenty silver into the palm of his hand.
The ringmaster thought for a second, “ok let’s see where this goes a little warm up match to see how you handle yourself. Against someone like yourself I can't offer you good odds. 1 to 2 for every two coin you put down I pay one, it is just against some low-level monsters”. David nodded taking the bet. Cole gestured to some stairs going down. David went to the bottom and turned right standing behind a barred gate.
Cole cleared his throat, “ladies and gentlemen, my good patrons we have an interesting event, the shield of the bay will be performing against our usual starting round, I am sure it will be no more than a warm up for him, would you care to place your bets”.
David stood anticipating as the announcer shouted, “Round 1” he had bet 20 silver on himself making an easy ten silver for slaughtering whatever was about to enter the circle of sand! The door opened and David strode in confidently, he felt the sand beneath his boots he prepared his footing gauging how the sand would react.
It was a different view from down here, everyone was focused on him. They open several trap doors and funnel in giant rats into the area. Five dread rats with an alpha leading them. He remembered fighting such creatures a long time ago when he was far weaker and ill equipped.
The rats charged forwards and David did the same, he landed two stabbing strikes then an adrenalin cut that bisected the rat in half. The rest of the giant rodents squeaked in fear and tried to get around him. The alpha tried to charge at him David's shield battered against its skull cracking bone stunning the creature and leaving it lying in the sand. The edge of David's shield fell on the rodent’s skull cracking it further a second blow and the skull deformed, and the rat stopped struggling. David turned to the rest of the rodents as they moved around the arena with a quick flurry of strikes, he cut them apart, showing just how fast he could move in his armour.
The ringmaster Cole looked down on him, “for round 2 we pit you against some tougher creatures a little more exotic, it’s a better pay-out of 3:2 for every three silver you bet I pay you two”. David nodded betting 30 silver letting it ride on himself. There were a few minutes as people dragged the dead rats away and further bets were taken. A barrier was put behind the grill he walked in from. A hatch was opened, and some sort of funnel was pointed into the arena.
The beginning of the second round was announced as they poured several slimes into the arena. The amorphous blogs were around a yard in diameter and three to four feet high, they ranged from a light green the colour of a scummy pond to a dark brown. The blobs of barely feeling goo could strip a man to the bone in minutes. They were not fast but in a confined area deadly. Armour was not a significant defence unless it was continuous, only a sort of corrosion resistance enchantment or ability would do the trick of defeating their tactic of envelop and dissolve. David's sword had a fire enchantment for dealing with monsters.
It worked wonders slicing into each of the four slimes, it was almost trivial as they lit up bubbled and boiled from the inside. Against normal slashing crushing and cutting weapons the slimes were superior, against any form of enchantment they fell apart. Normal iron was ineffective against the blobs, most had to resort to oil and fire or vast measures of salt, to deal with them. Not David his enchanted blade made them melt away into charred bubbling goo.
David looked around in anticipation. He checked each one of the slimes they were definitely dead. It was a surprisingly easy win, he only had to defend a few times against them. Then the ringmaster shouted about a second wave. It was not over by a long shot. Something that looked like a giant wine vat was wheeled over and emptied into the ring once release a really big slime slowly emerged. This one was considerably more dangerous with the appearance of a dozen cores inside it. The creature was a greater slime with some rudimentary thinking abilities.
David could see its dull yellow slime, the yellow tint seemed to be sand, it had picked up from the arena. The colour of a slime was related to the area it came from also probably a useful low-level camouflage. As it blended in part of whatever was around it picking up the environment. He could see remains floating inside it a dog’s skull. What looked like a flint arrowhead even a goblet that someone might have dropped down into the arena. Martin and Alice looked down at the greater slime. It would have been more impressive if they had encountered something like this earlier in their career, now it was just a pretentious puddle.
The slime had some sense of its departed relatives, it was massive by comparison four yards across two yards high. It sprouted a dozen tentacles made of the same gooey flesh and attacked David. Whipping the limbs forwards he cut them off and blocked them. His blades enchantment doing the work easily. It ran forwards, trying to absorb him, his sword sliced off chucks which cooked and bubbled. The mass retreated and sprouted more tentacles trying to whip him again, he blocked and cut at the unfamiliar creature.
It was starting to lose mass but not brain power, it got desperate rearing up it surged forwards to try and overwhelm David to engulf him. He stepped to the side and delivered a strike with his shield that sent it spinning around the area. David immediately started to stab and cut at the beast; its flesh tried to group back up, but he was methodical in its destruction. Very soon it was at a third of its mass, the slime started to try and crawl up the side of the wall and out of the arena.
Its primitive mind told it that losing two thirds of its mass, without even damaging its opponent was a bad position to be in. The builders of the ring were smart enough to coat the top with a chemical repellent the slime twitched and fell back down. Landing next to David, he put his blade through it and stirred it around like a man stirring a pot of boiling soup. The slime tried to break apart splitting in two its limited number of cores ineffective one half of it was destroyed immediately. The other half got a few yards before David caught up with it. With that he won the round.
Replacing the giant slime was as easy as getting one of the regular ones and feeding it the remains of the dead rats and enough fish scraps to bulk it up and then he would have another attraction. The giant rats would get large quick with a supply of fish from the docks, the stuff most people wouldn't touch.
Cole looked at David people could see his mithril shield his armour. They were betting against the circle of sand; the house might not win today. He put on his best voice and most charming smile. “Round 3 will be a test of skill not just strength. The odds are 1 to 1 for every silver you put down I pay out 1 silver, you double your money if you win”. David nodded without hesitation.
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For round 3 David had his accumulated bet of 50 silver riding on himself, the announcer continued with the pomp. They laid a white rope around the arena creating a smaller inner circle. “you face a fight against three brothers, to knock out or knock down each one. A kill equals disqualification, this is a battle of skill. Stepping out of the inner circle before the end of the round also equals disqualification”. David nodded, there was a cheer from Vivian.
There was a brief pause while bets were taken. The opponents for David entered the ring. They were veteran bandits with chainmail and a bit of iron place. They looked the same give or take a few scars. Two were armed with halberds. One with a short beaked hammer. A gong sounded and the fight began. They tried to knock David out of the circle, or to hook onto his armour and drag him out of the circle.
They had a very solid defence with their longer weapons, and they were not limited to staying in the inner circle, much to David's consternation. David took his time to find a gap in the defences, he was not showing them how fast he could move. Rapidly he closed the distance before the first brother could get out of his way. He knocked the man clean out of the inner ring with a good dent in his helmet from the pommel of his sword. One brother was out for the count, two remained one with a hammer and one with a halberd.
The other brothers took note of their concussed sibling, as he lent against the wall of the arena. They approached far more carefully. David judged his position and moved. A second brother was down his shield flattening their face, he was still in the ring his shield was not.
The third brother was getting desperate, he rapidly drank down three discounted alchemical potions. They would boost his strength and stamina now but make him pay the price later. He charged towards David who weathered the attacks, potions like that only gave a temporary boost. He could quite easily put too much power behind a blow and disqualify himself. A few minutes of continual blocking and the bandit began to get tired of smacking his Warhammer against David's armour a boot to the knee then a kick to the stomach and the final brother flew out of the circle.
The ring master mopped his brow it was getting very expensive, those three were some of his best men. “Right for Round 4 you want to bet it all 100 silver”? David didn't even bother thinking, the betting on himself continued. Cole grinned, “the odds are 2:3 against you, when you face our champion you win, and the pay-out will be two and a half times your initial stake”. The ringmaster made sure that the betting was short. It was mostly on David though he had high hopes for his champion.
The gate opened and it was the first dwarf David had ever seen on the field of battle. He wore very heavy steel plate. “The current champion – The Valiant will battle David, until one submits.” David judged that the man was a marauder from his equipment, probably an exalted master based on strength and the weapon, an enchanted Damascus axe with a mithril edge on it.
For a moment David was worried, but the blade was not strong enough to penetrate his tower shield, especially as he kept closing the distance not giving his opponent the room to get a good solid swing in. They soon found themselves stuck at impasse with the dwarf’s axe bouncing off the human’s shield. David remembered Dwarves had a bit more endurance and less agility. Out manoeuvring him would be more likely than tiring him out. The valiant tried to hook the shield away with the edge of his axe. He was not strong enough and it turned into a different impasse, neither side had got good enough leverage to move the other.
David delivered a pommel strike to the dwarf’s head once twice then he began hitting for all he was worth. Until there was blood running from under the dwarf’s helmet. He swayed then down he went, with a deafening clank as he hit the ground, his plate armour bouncing. David put his sword away and offered the dwarf his hand.
The dwarf accepted it and got up a little shakily. He shook David's hand then took off his own helmet. A true dwarf more worried about the dent in the metal than the blood staining his beard. The dwarf nonchalantly walked out of the arena his helmet under one hand and his axe over his shoulder. He looked at coal, “I won't be back, got to do a bit more training got to see a bit more of the world”, they parted to let the battered dwarf through.
Cole looked at the book’s things were not going his way; people were betting heavily against the house he sighed. “The 5th Round we are calling the creature feature”. Someone banged on the side of the arena and beneath their feet something large bellowed for dramatic effect. He spoke to David some strain appearing in his voice. “It’s a troll quite a big one, do you want to bet 250 silver you have so far on yourself. The odds are five to eight for every five silver you put down I will pay out eight if you win”. David nodded Cole tried to limit the bets, he was not confident on the troll considering David's string of victories.
There was a rattle as a large wooden gate was opened, the troll was quite large. Though David had fought trolls a lot larger before that was as part of a big group of adventures and then they had ambushed the monster. This creature was somewhere near level 35. It was still big and fat for a troll. Its stupid face registered a target its big fists clenched, it was ready to leap and pound.
The troll charged forwards all primal ferocity and ignorance. David charged like a battering ram. He wrecked its charge with an adrenalin block knocking it off balance. He sliced through flesh and shattered bone with an adrenalin strike. He let loose with all his power all his strength, one deep cut after another.
His adrenalin strikes did far too much damage for the troll to regenerate. It kept fighting dropping blows onto David's shield. He stepped out of the way blocked some, he kept cutting the troll went down to its knees and kept swinging, it lost most of one arm and kept swinging. In the end it was just able to make an aggressive growl before David Killed it. He held his sword up in triumph. The troll was Dragged out of the arena with a hook and a winch, when they were sure that it was dead.
The leader of the group Turin's tamers, Turin himself approached Coal. He was a small man with a big leather bag full of what was probably veterinary supplies he didn't look happy. He gestured accusingly his small frame ready to spring into action against Cole. “That troll was a pain to find, it cost us a mint to feed it. You said because of its healing abilities he would last a long time; this was his third battle I have overheads to cover”. Cole scratched under his hat, “look the merchants guild alchemist will pay good silver for the trolls remains. Good for healing potions and medicines you can make most of your money back ok”. Turin didn't look happy, but he walked away”.
Cole looked round the audience and the arena, “round 6 will be the last one, our ultimate creature feature”. He turned to David, “your accumulated winnings are 400 silver, you’re going to bet on yourself”? “Of course,”. “This is two waves of creatures raised by the tamers, odds are 2 to 3 for every two silver you put down I pay out three if you win”. The bets were all taken quickly.
The contest was not announced the door behind David opened and two spears bounced off his armour. A dozen snake men with scrappy armour and weapons charged forwards. They had javelins made from flint which did almost nothing against his armour. The snake men were not high level, but they were supported by four spitters with poisonous and acidic attacks. The spitters were a physically weak lamia version. Probably hatched from the same nest scrawny arms, round belly's thick necks. Their faces had flat snouts, large keen eyes and a sort of vestigial cobra like hood.
David immediately recognised the danger the spitters represented. He cut through the snake men knocked others aside and cut the ranged attackers to pieces. A few snake men abandoned their weapons and tried to grapple him, only to be cut to pieces. He killed the lot in under twenty-five seconds. Throwing himself at the enemy, every strike pushed to the limit with the pumping adrenalin.
The last had fallen when the really big gate opened. David had assumed that it was part of the wall.
A hydra was inside an enclosed space. A long pole came through the bars and nudged the monster. It rapidly uncurled and set its eyes on David. The hydra had five heads, it was quite rare most had three, it cautiously slithered out of its box, Martin and Alice went to move but Vivian stared them down, she had more confidence in David.
The left most head spat acid that was not strong enough to penetrate his shield. The middle head spat a plume of gas. David could hold his breath and moved out of the way of the green vapours. Another head sprayed a black sticky tar onto the floor of the arena. David was strong enough to go right through it barely impeded. The other two heads sprayed a thick dark purple gas and yellow liquid. David had no intention of finding out what they did and avoided them. He closed in on the hydra and began to fight in earnest. Three sharp quick blows and all the hydras heads hissed in pain. David had delivered a good solid wound and received none in return.
The fight continued the hydra's bulk and multiple heads didn't help it very much as David was relentless. It tried to bite at him to fight to roll and crush him. Soon two heads were disabled badly wounded. It tries to strike with its tail, this only ended up with it receiving a long deep cut wounding its tail.
In its continued desperation it tried to subdue him in its coils. This attempt to constrict around David got the hydra a really bad stab wound into its middle. It pulled back in pain before he could deliver a second. He battered or sliced two more heads disabling it. A short exchange of blows and he had it down on the floor.
David was about to finish it off cutting its spine in two when there was shouting and movement behind him. The monster tamer Turin ran out he puts himself between David and his pet. “You have won there is no need to kill Tilly, please I raised her from an egg”. David looked over to Cole for clarification, “you don't need to kill his star attraction, you win collects you 600 silver. I have nothing else I can throw at you and no one else stupid enough to step into the ring, maybe I should have brought that golem they dug up a”.
David's victory over the star attraction was quite resounding, only by the barest hair’s breadth did the hydra survive, he felt his eyes glow as the level up hit. He had secured two levels from those assorted victories. He gained the fourth rank in the shining armour skill. And the same class level that Vivian had acquired.
The Profit from the circle of sand was 580 silver. he might be lousy with cards or dice. But in an arena where the enemy can't get away, he was very effective. That little adventure now made up for every loss he had ever eaten. Every time he had to fold and every bad roll of the dice or spin of the top. In the arena Turin was busy stitching up Tilly and pouring health potions into her wounds. Andrew 'the black' Cole looked beaten, “I assume you came to shut me down” David nodded the affirmative.
“My champion is gone, my star attractions are dead or in no position to fight, with the run of betting on you I don't have cash to pay out the losses”. Cole got his paperwork together. The staff helped themselves to the contents of the bar as the best severance package they could find. The customers were checked then let out. The fighters and staff given a warning then released. Then The tamers gathered up their surviving creatures and left. Cole gathered up his stuff including the books and they took him to the sheriff. Cole was quick to point out other members of the hidden hands network of business and informants.
They had a quick meal at the main guard barracks fried fish and bread, then gathered up their squads and set out after the first two leads that Cole had revealed. One was a group that sent business his way and he sometimes repaid the favour, they worked for the same bosses. The grey scarfs were a small gang that ran a little illegal gambling ring. They had silk scarf's they wore as gang colours. They were more card sharks with weighted dice than muscle men, there was a dozen of them.
The group quickly realised that there was a crackdown as the adventures and their squads surrounded the place. David sat down for a dice game Vivian's eyes narrowed she plucked up the dice and crushed them revealing the lead weights inside. Their leader was an elderly villain who styled himself the grey gentleman. A conman with not a drop of noble blood in his veins, he surrendered without a fight.
Alice quickly started going through the enchantments being used by the establishment. Many trick cards dice ensorceread boards and amulets were bagged up as evidence. The grey scarf's gang were dragged off after Alice and Vivian went to a great deal of effort to explain to their patrons exactly how they had been cheated, how much the odds were stacked against them. For a moment Martin considered leaving the Grey gent behind with the mob. But he was not going to deliberately cause a blood bath this time.
After the grey scarves were dropped off to the rapidly filling jail. They made one last stop of the day. Around the markets the smaller stools not under the merchant’s guild were plagued by a protection racket called the black thumbs. These morons were regular contributors to the circle of sands low level matches. They earned that nickname from crushing peoples thumbs who didn't pay.
They were only prepared to do this when they outnumbered their opponents two to one. There were about eighteen of them armed with clubs and fists. With the number of Levi's and militia amongst the general population they had to pick on the weakest people to be intimidating. Especially considering what was the other side of the walled harbours defences.
There little base of operations was at the back of a bakery, they were not given the option to surrender. Three adventures and a dozen others with cuddles turned up and beat them senseless. They were street level eyes and ears for the hidden hand. People who could not pay with coin sometimes paid with information.
Martin and the crusaders kept out of it they were there to stop any runners. David and Vivian could literally kill with their bare hands, and Alice had several creative uses for the kinetic strike spell. Finally, they arrested the gang, whatever information they could provide would be useful. Once Alice had healed them, beating them must have been just enough experience to push them forwards.
It gave Martin a bit of disappointment that he had missed out on the fight as the others levelled up. He was still ahead of them it was not a competition it was not a race; his allies were still growing stronger he had to remember that. And when they got to the threshold, he would do his best to help them over. Alice reached level 98 she gained the mana lance spell, sometimes called the destroying flame it would burn through a mage’s magical reserves very quickly. But it did tremendous damage to whatever it was directed against, even if the range was not excellent.
David reached level 96, he picked up the first level of a skill immovable. It allowed someone to stand their ground and make much better use of their armour. Paired with his tower shield it was an effective strategy, to weather a blow rather than avoiding it. Vivian was still a little further away from him at level 97 her stun skill moved up to level six. Her narrow focus on complementary abilities and skills made her into a truly lethal archer.
The black thumbs were soon telling the sheriff exactly what they knew. Who the hidden hand had dirt on what they were looking to steal. The cells of the jail reminded Vivian of the lobster pots stacked on the fishing boats. They had really had a good catch over the last few days.
They retreated to a tavern with their squads. The hidden hand had not shown up that day. They were either giving up of busy elsewhere. Perhaps they were running low on whatever magic they used to return again and again from every lost fight, Vivian idly wondered if they were busy trying to minimalize their losses, to grab anything they could in preparation to move out.
Her thoughts were cut off by an old sailor approaching them, he was old wrinkled and chewed on a pipe, a rarity in this day. He produced a roll of parchment. “Noble adventures I am quarter deck bill, I have in my possession a map to a vault for a buccaneers hoard. The riches of Long Tom Octium, the storm master. For the paltry sum of 50 silver I can give it to you”. David seemed suckered in as he began to converse with the conman.
Vivian could see through it, her golem eyes went up and down the man, and the map. “You did a good job on the forgery, but you only aged the paper on the front not the back”. “Ah it’s a copy of the original”. She stood up, “you’re a conman not a sailor. I can see your hands they are smooth no callouses, have you ever worked a day in your life”?
The man turned to run to find Martin standing there. “Perhaps it would be more convincing if you only had one eye or one leg”. They let Martin educate the supposed sailor why it was a bad idea to try and swindle an agent of the triune, though he stopped short of any permanent education the conman would probably not be so stupid again.