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First Draft

As Khiyara walked happily towards the door of the captain's house, she started making her mental list of supplies and gear they'd need for the Wind. She stepped out into the bright afternoon light and nearly choked when she saw who was waiting at the bottom of the stairs.

She muttered to herself, "By all the gods, not even cap'n for an hour and I gotta be a worryin' about being pig sticked by a new member of my crew." She did a quick mental inventory of her weaponry, decided her wrist sheath was the closest, and flipped its little latch under her shirt sleeve's cuff so that the knife would drop quickly into her hand if she needed it. She made the gesture look like nothing more than straightening her cuff and switching her apple to the other hand. She placed herself in the center of the stairway to have a good vantage point and continued down the stairs to walk past the one called Haraldur.

Haraldur must have seen her tense. His hand eased towards his cutlass for a moment before he conspicuously moved it away, looking as non-threatening as he could. Khiyara continued down the stairs. As she moved to pass Haraldur, Haraldur stood stiffly.

"Good afternoon mum," Haraldur began, speaking in the formal tones of a naval officer. "There be a few items of note that we should be discussin' before we set sail under your command, Captain."

She smiled with a slight nod trying to put the larger man at ease. "I see ya be taking your post as Sailing Master already, aye? Let's see if ye be worth yer height in salt and see how our lists match as we walk along." Khiyara turned on her heel, mocking the precision with which she had seen Haraldur snap too. She realized that Marius was standing five paces away.

The Italic man cleared his throat. "Captain Khiyara, Master Haraldur, don't mind me. I don't mean to interrupt your conversation. Captain, when you have a moment I'd like but a few words."

Khiyara nodded and walked down the road with Marius trailing behind. Haraldur stepped up behind Khiyara and to her left, taking in the sights of the robust pirate port as they walked towards the markets. It was a vibrant city, as if the entire town was one big bustling seafront. Haraldur smiled slightly, imagining that this is what his old home Londoun may have been like many centuries ago before the rise of Uther.

Khiyara led the men to the center of town and the market square. She finished her absconded apple and tossed the core to a stray that had been following them.

Haraldur addressed Khiyara. "Well mum, the first thing ya need to be decidin' is to which direction to point our keel. While there will be a set of standard provisions for a vessel of this type, what we will need in addition to this will depend greatly on where we are going."

As they entered they passed a fruit stand, Haraldur paused. "A moment Cap'n," he stated before buying a large basket of limes from the man. The merchant had both the smaller green and the larger yellow varieties. It was said that no Kelltic sailor would dream of setting sail without a bucket of limes to call his own.

She shrugged at the larger man and said, "Ye can never find the citrussy at better prices and, well, I always find that no matter how much I love the sea, I crave a bit of the land too." Khiyara hefted her own basket full of orange fruits and walked on.

"Thank ye' mum," Haraldur said, touching his cap and taking his place at her side again as they continued their walk. "From the time I spent on the Malignant Parrot, I know that unless in a battle a pirate crew is amazingly democratic - even more so than the famed Hellene Republic. This is quite the opposite from what I am used to, where the Captain of a vessel is a virtual dictator. No offence to be taken to ya' personally mum."

Khiyara laughed mirthlessly, "You'll have to be sayin' much worse to be offending me, Navigator."

"Perhaps," he ventured, "you wish to put the choice of where best to capture this ship to a crew vote?"

"Ye be right. The crew always votes on the direction to head, but this go round, we have a specific mission, aye, and while most of our crew have good heads on about them, the officers will be making the general decision, and then we'll put it to the vote. If we be givin' the crew a choice, it may keep the peace and keep 'em from mutiny, and, well, I'll take any advantage I can get at the moment." Khiyara stopped in front of the rooming house where she had been staying.

"Brenan! Brenan!" she called. A young boy scurried out of the door of a rooming house. Khiyara placed her basket on the stoop and flipped the boy a copper. "Ah, there ye be, my fine little laddie! Take this basket down to the Sky Wind on the southernmost pier, tell whoever is there that it belongs to the Cap'n. Do yer job well, and ye'll be rewarded, but lose any of those luscious oranges..." She scowled at the boy and punched the boy lightly on the arm. "Be gone with ye!" The little boy picked up the basket and trotted down the road towards an alley that would lead him quickly to the piers.

Khiyara looked up at the tall Kellt beside her. "And this be where we part ways for the time being, Navigator. Given the size of our ship and the limited crew, it'd be foolish to try a deep sea journey, whichever direction the crew decides. We'll be keepin' a little closer to shores so we can re-provision as we need. Be sure that the ship is provisioned as needed for close in sailin'."

Haraldur bowed his head, "Aye, Mum," and he strode off briskly into the crowd.

Marius still waited. "What can I be helpin' ye with, Master Marius?"

Marius replied, "Captain, I don't want to waste your time, but I would like to know what role you have in mind for me?" Marius paused briefly. "I know that you do not yet know me well, but know this: I am loyal and skilled at many things. I know my way around a ship, and even better around back alleys. If you need anything, I can get it. My blade is your blade to command. Use me as you see fit. I only ask one thing. Let us go on some grand adventures so that I have stories to tell when I am old."

Khiyara smiled. "Adventure and spoils are the only reason we pirate, Master Marius! I think our mission will be quite the tale to tell when we're all old and holding down bar stools more than the lines and sheets. You're right though, I don't know you, I don't know your abilities. On Cap'n Stariat's ships, all new hands have to prove their worth and their loyalty through their actions, not just their pretty words. Since the Wind is a smaller ship, we'll have a smaller crew. Everyone will have work, and we'll all be pullin' jobs we wouldn't normally take, aye. If ye see work that ye can do, then jump in and be doin' it. There'll be time enough for assigned duties once we get under way a bit." Khiyara looked up at the sky to judge the time and added with a huge grin on her face, "And now we both must make ready to leave this pit! I'll see ye on board the Sky Wind. By the looks of the sun in the sky, ye haven't much time left for any other preparations ye be needing to make!"

Marius nodded to himself. "Aye, Cap'n. I'll see you on the Sky Wind."

After Marius left, Khiyara grinned and ran up the stairs into the rooming house, "Katie! I be checkin' out. How much do I owe ye for the room?"

The docks at Khosinga's Port were always a bustle of activity. Several ships waited in the harbor for one of the handful of piers to free up, while boats shuttled supplies and personnel to other ships that could not wait. Along the sandy shore near the piers were crates, some so weather-aged that they were good for little more than kindling. Sea gulls perched on the crates, or flew lazily overhead in the stiff breeze that now blew from the west, across the island and through the town. The cacophony of the birds competed with the creaks of the wooden ships and the shouts of the shoremen who wrestled with cargo along the piers and on the stone-paved roads nearest the docks.

Iain dei Sciotti picked his way through the traffic at the docks, heading for the southernmost of the six piers. A pair of young boys, hired for a copper coin apiece, followed Iain, carrying his bulky sea chest. Iain had a large bundle, caringly wrapped, slung over one shoulder. He had not been to sea for a while, and it was difficult for him to travel lightly. A proper Italic gentleman must maintain proper appearances, even amongst pirates.

Iain glanced skywards. The sun was nearing its apex above, its warming rays diluted by the streaks of clouds racing ahead of the incoming storm. The ride on the Sky Wind was going to be exciting if the ship was caught in open waters when that storm blew in.

"Good day, Master dei Sciotti!" a pirate sailor called out.

"Good day," Iain replied with a smile. He could not remember the name of the sailor. It was one of the several al-Rhayidhian pirates that Khiyara had picked out, but not one of the officers. None of the Captain Stariat's officers were going to be aboard the Sky Wind, other than Khiyara.

Iain followed the sailor to the last pier. A xebec, similar to the Crimson Sail, was just tying to the south side of the pier, hoping to get supplies loaded before the storm blew in. On the north side of the pier was the diminutive Sky Wind, scarcely twenty paces long, with crew and shoremen bustling around it, hoisting crates of supplies aboard. A quick glance up the row of piers showed that the other ships were likewise rushing to finish loading and unloading. No one wanted a ship tied to a pier with a storm coming. The harbor was deep and wide enough that all the ships could ride out the storm in fair shelter, but the risk of damage to a ship or pier was not worth keeping a ship close to shore.

The gangplank to the Sky Wind descended from the pier to the low deck of the caravel redunda. Much of the crew was already aboard, stowing supplies and performing last minute checks before the ship put to sea. The ship had a small poopdeck, with a long steering tiller to move the rudder. Below the poopdeck were the officers' quarters, accessed from a pair of doors that bracketed the ladder up to the rear deck of the ship. Iain led his young porters to the door on the left side. Larboard? Port? Which name was it these pirates preferred? Iain wondered idly to himself.

There were two bunks in the cramped room, and a door that led to the other of the officers' rooms. Iain had the boys wrestle the sea chest next to one of the beds before he gave each a second copper for a job well done. The boys bowed gratefully, then ran back out on the deck to watch the pirates making ready to sail. Iain dropped his heavy bundle on the deck and shoved it under the bed that he had claimed. With everything stowed, Iain went back onto the deck to watch preparations and await the rest of the officers to arrive.

In the adjoining cabin, Khiyara flung her pack and crossbow onto the box bed, and bent to unlock her trunk. She pulled a thread of Heka from her surroundings and pushed it carefully into the lock on her trunk. The lock opened with a quiet click. The key had been lost years ago, but Heka worked just as well. Out of the trunk came her sexton, a compass, and a map she had been working on for the last four years while sailing with Captain Jak. It was a map of the Vasmar. She had marked the places she had been and made notes regarding the sea's temperament.

She carefully pinned the map to her wall so she could add to it as she went to new places in the sea. She pushed unopened letters from her mother aside with a "harrumph" so she could dig a blue officer's jacket out of her trunk. She had taken the jacket off the lieutenant of another ship as her first prize. She had saved it for just such a special occasion. Once at sea she would don her first captain's jacket. She straightened her hair, grabbed her new blue sash out of the orange basket, and tied it smartly around her waist. She thrust her two favorite knives in the sash, before heading out the door and back on the deck, just barely missing two young boys shoving each other and scrambling to get off her ship.

Marius stood aside as the two boys raced up the gangplank to the deck. The Sky Wind was a small ship, short enough that the planks of the pier were above the ship's main deck. Khiyara was already aboard the ship, shouting orders across the breezy deck at a crewman.

"Oy! Manna, be sure ye tie that sheet securely, we don't wanna be slippin' in the wind!"

The young man nodded towards her before retying the knot. Marius approached the young captain, overhearing her grumble quietly, "We'll have to be moving the ship out into the harbor here shortly if we're going to avoid being slammed by that beast." She shut her eyes as she faced the westerly wind.

When she opened her eyes, Marius said, "Captain, Marius D' Oro, reporting for duty."

Khiyara regarded the man. He stood at attention, his arms stiff against his side.

"Oy! Marius, the rest of the cargo will be arriving shortly. Help the lads get it stowed."

"Aye, aye, cap'n."

Iain emerged from his cabin. Khiyara spotted her first mate and slipped over to join him.

"It's lookin' like a fine stormy day is a brewin'," she said. "I'm of the mind that we need to get this beauty headed out at least as far as the port mouth so we avoid being crushed by the rocks and the pier. I'd rather we knew which direction we're headed as well."

"A good plan, Captain," Iain said.

"Can you gather those who were present with Cap'n Jak earlier today in the captain's, um, I mean in my quarters? The navigator's table is set up there. It might be a tight squeeze, but I think we'll be most comfortable there."

Khiyara turned towards her quarters, hoping no one could see the nervousness she felt. My stomach is flippin' around like a landed flounder. How will the crew react to me as captain? They still see me as a child. She shrugged to herself. I have a ship to run, and by all the gods, I will do what I need to in order to accomplish this task! A flying Ship! To be the first pirates of the air!

Haraldur had been busy directing the last cart of supplies to the dock. Once he boarded the ship, he looked around at the activities. Iain dei Sciotti and Marius were on deck, talking. The rest of the crew scrambled to stow the crates that piled up on deck. Haraldur looked into the cramped hold.

"No damn you," the Navigator cursed. "The heaviest on the bottom along the keel! Ye don't want this bulk shifting during a storm and rolling us over do you?"

Haraldur scowled at the storm clouds brewing to the west. He glanced around at the other docks. Some of the larger vessels were already pulling away to the safety of the open harbor. Some were having a tough time of it, slipping hard to leeward as they clawed their way out from the docks. That would be less of a problem on this vessel, but Haraldur still made note to measure her slippage as they left harbor to better adjust his navigational calculations later on.

Haraldur noticed that Iain and Marius were looking at the storm clouds. Haraldur approached the two men.

"Going to be a rough night I'm afraid," spoke the Navigator. "Have ye much experience on the open water?"

Marius replied in perfectly accented Kelltic, "Master Haraldur, I'm looking forward to going out to face that lovely lady. You're right though, she's in a bit of a mood." Turning slightly to face Haraldur, Marius continued, "To answer your question, I've always loved the sea, but I haven't been sailing on it more than a couple of years. I'm no stranger to hard work though, and the life of a sailor keeps me in tip-top shape, which the ladies appreciate." Marius smiled and winked. "I look forward to getting out there and seeing how a master navigator such as yourself handles this fine ship, and I mean that with all respect to you."

Iain interjected, "The Captain is ready to put to sea. She is in her quarters, and requests that her officers meet her there." He looked out along the piers. Crews were scrambling to put to sea. "I'll be along momentarily. I need to remind the harbor master that we should be the next ship out." Smiling, Iain jingled his coin purse. He was sure the young Captain had been overwhelmed with far too many other things to think of that small detail.

Iain jogged towards the gangplank, searching for the the harbor master with his writing plank and list of ships. A couple of other captains were already converging on the harbor master. Good thing Jak gave me some extra coin. We're looking to have a bidding war here, Iain thought. The harbor master's going to have a profitable day.

Iain reached the captain's cabin ten minutes later. Enzo and Rhiannon had already joined Khiyara, Marius, and Haraldur.

"Pardon the interruption, Captain," Iain blurted as he entered Khiyara's room. He nodded a greeting to his fellow officers. "A harbor pilot is boarding now, and we are ready to cast off. I told the harbor pilot to take us towards the north harbor passage, past the Crimson Sail. We should beat the storm to sea with room to spare. Judging from the winds, I think we may still catch the north edge of the storm, as long as we're heading north. If we're heading south... Well, it'll be a wet start to the journey."

Khiyara nodded. "Very Good Master Dei Sciotti."

Khiyara had spread out a map on the navigator's table. Several weights on the corners of the map held it flat. She glanced down at the map to study it briefly before she looked around at her officers. "Well me hearties. We be having a choice to make and one that needs to be made right smartly. There be a storm a brewin' to the south of us, and I'd rather not be a crashin' against the docks and rocks." She traced a line up the islands of the Gates of Heracles towards the Italic Duchies. "Given what the captain… Captain Jak told us earlier I be thinkin' our luck will run us well to go north." She trailed her finger east from the Italic lands to Brallian before tapping the map. With a grin and a twinkle in her eye she continued, "Besides, I be wanting an adventure in places I haven't visited before. What say the rest of you?"

The officers nodded.

"If we can ride past the storm going north, then I say north," Enzo offered.

No one offered dissent. "North it is," Khiyara announced. "Haraldur, make it so."

"Aye, aye Captain," Haraldur replied before stepping out of the low-ceilinged cabin.

He stopped briefly at his bunk to collect a ragged foul-weather greatcoat from his sea chest. He also delicately unwrapped an Eirsudian fiddle, a gift from the last pirate crew he sailed with. Smiling to himself, the Kellt made his way up to the aft-deck, pleased to see that he had beaten the captain there.

With the wind whipping the sheets and turning the water of the bay into a frothing stew, Haraldur picked up the small navigational chalkboard and wiped the slate clean. Jotting down the ship's current position, he set the board back into its cradle just as the captain and the other officers were making their way up toward the tiller.

"Navigation ready, Mum," Haraldur stated. "Ye jus' need to give the word."

Khiyara couldn't help the grin spreading across her face as she approached the tiller of the ship. Haraldur stood in her normal navigational position. She took the captain's position to the right of Master Dei Sciotti.

She said softly to her first mate, "Well now we shall see how the crew takes to their new captain, aye?" With one hand on the large tiller of the ship, she bellowed out to the crew, "Look sharp, me laddies! Cast those lines, and we shall see just where our fortunes take us!"

She murmured under her breath a prayer to the sea gods that her father had taught her years before. "And may the gods of the deep send steady wind and good fortune to us all." She added silently and even more reverently, "And maybe a little guidance for the new captain, aye?" She tossed a bronze token into the frothing sea in the hopes that her offering and thus her prayer would be heard since those of the deep were known to like shiny things.

Khiyara bellowed out to the crew, "Look sharp me laddies! Cast those lines, and we shall see just where our fortunes take us!"

Haraldur put his bronze Bosun's pipe to his lips. He expertly trilled forth the Captain's command. The pirate crew were staring at him, slack-jawed.

Haraldur flushed with embarrassment. With two long strides, he reached the railing overlooking the maindeck. "It means to cast off and move your arses up them ratlines!" he bellowed. "Last man to his post in the riggin' gets a lick from the cat! Now move!"

Haraldur had not seen a crew move so quickly, nor so expertly.

"Good crew you have here Cap'n," he stated as he stepped back from the rail.

"Aye, they can be," Khiyara agreed, her voice trailing off as she watched the crew jump to their tasks.

Stepping to the side, and pulling up his fiddle, Haraldur nodded to Khiyara. "With your permission mum?"

"Huh?" Khiyara's eyes focused on her sailing master. She looked at the fiddle. "Oh, aye, by all means. Have at it."

With a genuinely pleased grin, Haraldur shouted to the assorted middies and general crew, "Any of you lollygagging scallywags with any measure of musical talent go fetch your noisemakers and get your arses to the foredeck!" With that he lit into his fiddle, beginning a slow procession to the fore-deck. Several crew assembled on the foredeck with a motley collection of wind and string instruments, trying to play along with the Kelltic fiddler. He was playing an unfamiliar tune, a favorite of the Kingdom of the Five Crown's Navy, "To Glory We Sail".

A red-headed Eiresudian Kelltic lad with pink freckled skin enthusiastically tried to play along on a battered tin-whistle that could barely keep pitch. As the tune wrapped up, he eyed the Kelltic officer warily.

"Good master, begging pardon, but do my eyes see truly? Is that lass standing in the Cap'n's post? I haven't seen Captain Stariat, but isn't she being presumptuous taking his post?"

The ship was clawing hard to windward, dashing those assembled on the fore-deck with spray every time she hit a large wave. Looking back across the line of the ship, Haraldur could see Khiyara manning the tiller with the assistance of the harbor pilot.

"Your eyes see truly lad," the Sailing Master responded. "Cap'n Jak has given command of this wee little foray to one of his trusted officers. You mind to treat her with the same respect as you would him, aye?"

"Aye, aye, sir!" the young ruffian responded enthusiastically.

"Off with ye then, and spread the work about the new captain. If ye hear any grumblings," he added, "you make sure to sneak off and tell me first aye? There may be a larger share of the swag in it for ye."

With that, Haraldur, carefully wrapped up his fiddle to stow it below decks.

The red-headed lad paused and turned back to the Kelltic officer. "Sir, me pap always told me that women on a ship were bad luck. Growing up in Brallian, I believed him until I got older. That was when I realized that Eiresudian sailors said that because they didn't want to get trapped on board a ship with an Eiresudian woman. Their tempers are as flaming hot as their red hair, you see, and at sea is the only place an Eiresudian man could escape his woman." The lad hastened to add, "Like I said, I don't believe the stories any more. I've served with women at sea. I was just surprised to see someone barely older than me commanding a ship. She can't have seen more than one winter more than I have." He shrugged. "As long as the Captain steers us true, I won't be a problem, sir." He hurried away to tend to his duties.

A short while later, the Sky Wind entered the north passage out of the harbor. The harbor pilot had already left the tiller to the young captain as he made his way to the starboard railing of the ship. "I was told to bring the Crimson Sail in close to port, so she can grab a pier as soon as the storm blows over. Captain Stariat's little fleet be making busy today," the harbor master explained to Iain as he waited for the town's harbor-boat to pull alongside.

Although the wind was still howling, and the sea was a sullen gray, the waves at sea north of Khosinga's Port were not as angry as the whitecaps visible south of the island. The harbor pilot squinted towards the dark clouds to the west. "The storm be passing south of the town. Ye'll be catching some good winds."

One of the pirates near the bow called out "Crimson Sail, ahoy!" as the Sky Wind passed a couple hundred paces from Captain Stariat's ship. The rest of the crew aboard the Sky Wind repeated the call, followed by catcalls and whistles at the skeleton crew aboard the Crimson Sail, a traditional mocking of those pirates who were still in port.

Transferring the harbor pilot to his boat was tense in the choppy waves. The Sky Wind used a hoist to swing him over to the boat, and the small crew of that sailing boat scrambled to free the pilot from the hoist sling before a wave could tip the hoist into the sea or into the boat. Once the pilot was off ship, the Sky Wind was finally officially at sea, through the north channel of the sandbars that shielded Khosinga's Port from the ravages of the open sea.

Haraldur gripped the bobbing rail and filled his lungs with the crisp tang of the salt spray. It felt good to have a deck under his feet again. In the north it was said that sailors had salt-water in their veins instead of blood and hearts of creaking oak - they were not meant for long stays upon the solid earth. The Kelltic navigator grinned menacingly at the approaching storm, willing to believe the stories to be true.

The ship was pulling out from the bay now, running hard before the gale. The bobbing of the ship as it cut through the harbor ebbed. The bow dipped down ever so slowly, and the vessel raced into the trough of her first ocean roller. Up she slid, propelled by the canvas, and down she rode. Haraldur smiled to himself, feeling the heave and sigh in the planks like the familiar breathing of a long-time lover. Haraldur flipped a small coin off the side and whispered a small prayer to Llyr. With one last deep breath of salt-air, the Sailing Master strode purposefully to the aft deck to confirm the course with the Captain.

On the aft deck of the ship, Khiyara stood near the railing watching the storm gather behind them. The sea was choppy and the winds still howled menacingly through the rigging, but the dark clouds and the rain were clustered further south of the ship. They would keep a weather eye out in case the storm changed direction, but in the meantime, the young captain needed to address her crew. Haraldur had just climbed onto the aft deck of the ship.

Khiyara approached him, grinning wickedly, "It seems the gods favor us for the moment. What say we go address this crew, aye?" Without waiting for a reply, she approached the railing on the front of the rear deck.

Khiyara bellowed out at the crew as she had heard Cap'n Jak yell far too many times to count. "Oy, ye sea rats! It be time to make a choice!" She waited until she was sure she had the crew's undivided attention. "I've seen the glances and the outright stares as you all have noticed the position I'm standin' in. I can't say as I wouldn't be a starin' the same in your shoes, but hear me out, aye." She took a deep breath as she watched the crew's reactions. Some of them folded their arms and nod. Others looked like they were ignoring her.

"Most of you have sailed with me on board the Crimson Sail for the last four years. Not once in all those years that I served as navigator have I steered ya wrong where it counted." She paused for the briefest of moments to let that sink in for a moment before continuing. "I have no intention of doing so now. Cap'n Jak's reasons for granting me this position are his own. I don't know them completely. What I do know is that I handpicked every member of this crew because I know what you are all capable of. Most of you are tried and true members of Captain Jak's crews, and I couldn't ask for any better for the task we face!" She looked about the deck for Enzo and Marius. Spotting them, she nodded slightly in their direction. She glanced briefly at Haraldur before she continued, "There are new faces here as well, chosen by Captain Stariat himself, for they've proved themselves honorable men who fought for a cause they didn't need to fight."

Khiyara glanced at Peeper, standing down on the deck by the mast with his bandaged shoulder. "Some of us fought in the Pits today for the glory of the Crimson Sail. Some of the rest of you scallywags were still ta bed when Rhiannon and Peeper came to roust you afterward. Let me tell you Cap'n Jak was none too pleased to see his crew gone soft, but I see more in you. I know you'd'a been there if you'd'a been able and I'd hope that none of us would be caught with our skinnys hangin' out when it comes time to defend the honor of the Sky Wind. She's a good solid ship, and will serve us well in the adventures to come.

"So what's to come you ask? Let me tell you what we're up against. You know as well as I do that we've heard rumor and seen signs all over the seas that a new age has crept up on us. There are ships that fly skies instead of the seas." Her eyebrow shot up in question as she continued, "So what kind of bounty are these wealthy chits takin' out of our grasp, aye? What glories and adventures are they having that we are not when we are tied to only sailing the seas?"

She grinned wickedly while she let the last question ring in the wind. "We intend to find out. Capn' Jak has asked that we see what we can do to acquire one of these new flying ships, and I for one do not intend to disappoint him. The officers and a couple of the crew have met, and we have agreed to head north to the Italic Duchies to see what we discover there, but ultimately I believe our best luck to obtain this ship is going to be in a small inland town known as Ithell's Town. It'll mean a long over land journey for some of us, but think, men! These people won't expect a pirate raid that far inland. They'll have no protections magical or otherwise, aye? It is risky, very risky! But it will also open the doors to more bounty for us. So if you choose to stay with us and head out for this adventure under my command, then by all means, I ask ya to stay and man your chosen post. If not, then I shall be putting ya to shore at the nearest port we come to, and ye can find your own way back to Khosinga's Port, or on to other things as ye see fit." She bowed her head towards her navigator before she continued, "Master Haraldur will have the nav charts set up shortly for any who wish to see the course. Good Sailing to us all."

Khiyara tossed her braid back over her shoulder, and pulled her jacket down. She turned toward Haraldur, "I don't think I missed anything, but if something is amiss, I'm trusting you to bring it to my attention, aye." She turned to dei Sciotti with a slight grin on her face and an eyebrow slightly raised. "I guess we'll see where we go from here."

"A fine speech, lass. Jak would be proud." Iain grinned. "You're sure he's not your pa?"

Khiyara flushed a nice shade of crimson and grinned broadly, "Aye, well my pa would violently beg to differ, but ya just never know when you spend all your time to sea!"

The threatening storm turned away from the Sky Wind, passing south of Khosinga's Port. The strong tail wind pushed the Sky Wind along crisply as it rushed northwards towards the distant Italic Duchies. By late afternoon, the sky had cleared and the wind had relaxed to a strong westerly breeze.

The Sky Wind progressed along the leeward sides of the islands of the Gates of Heracles, enjoying agreeable winds and fair weather, for a several days. The crew worked hard, keeping the small ship on course towards the grand Porto Vicenza, jewel of the Italic Duchies. Outside of a few curious glances at the young captain, none of the crew protested their situation, and none had requested to leave the ship. The promise of a grand adventure, and the chance to be the first pirate crew of an al-Rhayidhian sky ship were too much to pass up. Besides, even though Khiyara still busied herself like a crewman, her ship's master kept a stern, strong hand on discipline.

The jungles of the Gates' islands soon turned to deciduous forests, and the air picked up distinct hints of the chill of an Avillonian winter that refused to surrender completely to spring. Iain dei Sciotti leaned against the aft rail of the ship, watching the sun glinting off of the wake of the Sky Wind. His brows were furrowed, lost in troubled thoughts. The glint of gold reflected from a coin he held in his left hand.

Enzo found his way to the side of the ship, leaning against the rail and looking at Iain's coin. He had studiously avoided the heavy labor involved in sailing the ship, and some idle time with Iain would help him avoid some more.

When Iain noticed Enzo, Enzo asked, "Is that one for me, then, or might you have another purpose for it? I'll wager the latter since I carry nothin' worth buyin' at present..."

Iain glanced up at Enzo. "Aye, it would be the latter," he said in the Islander's flavor of the trade tongue.

Iain glanced around at the crew. Most of them were Maly or al-Rhayidhian, but a few of the fairer-skinned Italics and Kellts were visible. A number of the crew slept on the deck, choosing the warmth of the deck over the dark, cool hold. The ship was too small for crew quarters, other than the two small cabins below the poopdeck, so sleeping arrangements were improvised.

The crew, including the young captain at the helm, were all busy or sleeping. Iain slipped into Italic to maintain a semblance of privacy. Even so, he lowered his voice. "Enzo, my friend, this is an unusual coin, yes?" He flipped it over to show the face of the coin to Enzo. A horrendous visage glared from the coin at Enzo, a face with a tangled knot of tentacles hiding a mouth, and scowling eyes that bespoke inhuman cruelty, even in the relief of a gold coin. "I don't recognize the minting of the coin…" Enzo picked out the lie in Iain's voice.

Iain explained. "An odd merchant approached me in Khosinga's Port while I was on my way to the Sky Wind. He wished me luck on the trip. He may have guessed I was heading to sea since I had lads hauling a sea chest, and I had a bundle on my back as well. But he stopped me to ask if I would be interested in earning some coin on the side. He gave me this coin, and promised nine more like it if I made sure to pick up something from Duke Firetta."

Iain glanced towards the other people on the rear deck. Khiyara was still manning the tiller, but Marius was approaching, eyes fixed on the glint of gold.

Marius smiled to his fellow Italic men. In Italic, he said, "Good day, officers. I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. Mind if I take a look at that coin? I might be able to recognize it."

Iain offered him the coin for a closer inspection.

"Hmm..." Marius hummed as he examined the coin. "Unfortunately I don't recognize it... Very intriguing. If you think it would help, I can inquire around quietly when we get to Porto Vicenza. I've got numerous connections there, including, as I heard his name mentioned, some with connections to the Duke Firetta."

Iain's expression clouded at the mention of the Duke's name. Keeping the conversation in Italic, Iain replied, "You are welcome to inquire." He took the coin back from Marius and held it up, letting the sun reflect off of the hideous face on the golden coin. "It's an unusual minting, not one I've ever seen on a coin anywhere in the Brythomar. I asked the merchant where he got the coin, and he evaded answering me. I asked him because of this." He put the coin into his small coin purse and drew out a black medallion dangling from a fine black chain. One side of the medallion bore the same malevolent face as the coin, etched in greater detail, with unusual flowing text etched around the edge of the medallion.

"I got this medallion from the captain of a ship Jak took five years ago, about a year before Jak captured Captain Hadeel. It's adamantine, very strong and light, and the workmanship is like nothing I've ever seen. Adamantine has to be worked with Heka, and it is very difficult for even the best heka-forgers to do this fine of work. Look at this chain. Not even the best Azirian smiths have wrought anything like this.

"I asked the captain where he got this medallion. He claimed it was a favor of a `Lady Edralve' for his faithful service. That was about time Jak came out of the hold and killed the captain in a bloody rage. It turns out that the ship was a slave-ship, and the hold was full of men, women, and children taken from a Maly village. They had been starved and beaten, and there were dead in the hold, but there was no way to remove the bodies without letting live slaves on deck. Jak took the slaves back to their village, killed the rest of the slaver crew, and scuttled the ship. He doesn't have qualms keeping prisoners for prizes, and making them work, but the conditions of those slaves were too cruel even for him. I kept this medallion as a reminder of that ship." He put the medallion back into his pouch.

"Here is what worries me: before you came with me to Jak's home, Jak and I were the only people who knew we were going after a sky ship. Until we set sail, you two, Captain Hadeel, Rhiannon, and Haraldur were the only others who knew about our plans, and even then, no one knew we were sailing through Porto Vicenza."

Iain sighed and stared at the sunlight reflecting off of the wake of the ship. "The merchant was very specific about what he wanted me to obtain. There are some antiquities at the Duke's Vine Country mansion. Amongst those antiquities is part of a very old book. The merchant claimed that he had a book collector who wanted this antique book, and the client would pay ten gold coins for it." He glanced at Enzo. "Enzo, even you would be hard pressed to find a buyer that would pay ten gold coins for a whole book, even if that book was written by the gods themselves. Ten gold coins for part of a book?

"When Captain Stariat and I had concocted this plan to steal a sky ship, we had talked about what we would do with it. Jak wanted to do something spectacular, so I suggested to him that we raid Duke Firetta's mansion in the Vine Country. I know it well, since I was raised in that mansion, before the Duke claimed my family's lands and vineyards." Darkly, he muttered, "The Duke holds a special place in my heart, and I will see to it personally that he makes it to the Nine Hells much sooner than old age would permit." Returning to his narrative, Iain said, "Jak liked the idea of raiding an inland mansion, so we agreed that once the sky ship made it back to Khosinga's Port, we would pick up Jak and pay a visit to the Vine Country. Jak and I haven't discussed those plans with anyone else until now."

He looked at his two companions. "Here I am, putting to sea on a mission that seven people knew about, and a merchant stopped me to offer ten gold coins for a book that happens to be somewhere that Jak and I decided to raid once we had the sky ship. And the coin the merchant gave me to pique my interest has a face identical to a medallion I took from a slave captain five years ago. I've wondered who this Lady Edralve is who mints medallions in adamantine, and now I must wonder what is so special about this book that is worth ten gold coins." Iain looked back at his fellow Italics. "This will be an interesting trip."

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Original Draft 16 March 2006

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