Back to the previous chapter: Porto Vicenza Sprawled

First Draft

There were forty minutes left before the Sky Wind was scheduled to depart. Haraldur and Enzo had been very efficient and quick in procuring what was needed for the next leg of the trip, and they had been back on board for some time. The crew had worked hard and had loaded the ship in about half the time they had estimated. The charts were ready for the next leg of their journey, there was absolutely nothing left to be done beyond maintenance tasks. The crew was mending sails and nets as they sat waiting.

Khiyara watched the crew work, debating whether she should join in the maintenance, when she hear Marius's voice in her head.

"Khiyara, don't be alarmed. This is Marius."

Khiyara snatched her liberated blue hat from her head and stared inside it.

"I'm in town and need to wait for a contact. I can be there in one hour. Please wait if possible. If you're not in the harbor when I get back, I will try to contact you again like this."

Khiyara stared into her hat, and growled, "Another hour? You want us to wait another hour? We're ready now!"

Realizing that she was talking to her hat, and not Marius, she pulled the hat back down on her head angrily and went to find dei Sciotti. Iain was at the railing, staring wistfully at Porto Vicenza. He turned to her as she stormed up to him.

She relayed Marius's message. "I just had a message from Marius in my head. He says he's waiting on a contact, but that he should make it back here in another hour. Another hour he says! Waiting for a contact, he says. I swear by all the gods that if he's in a tavern with a wench and makin' us wait, then he deserves a swim!"

Iain chuckled. "Lass, ye shouldn't be getting so excited with your shirt so loose. Although I'm sure your crew enjoys it. In your head, you say? That's interesting. I doubt he is waiting in a tavern. Are we going to wait, or are you wanting to sail now? The tides are favorable enough."

"Loose? My shirt?" Khiyara glanced down at the lacings on her shirt. She could feel the heat start to rise to her face when she realized what her crew had been staring at for the past few hours. "Ah, bloody hell. Well that explains a lot." She glared at a passing crewman and pulled the lacings tight and retied them. "Ya know, you coulda said somethin' sooner, aye? They're never gonna let me live this down now."

"It'll make you a popular captain, though. Not many who are willing to share that much with her crew. What about Marius, though?"

" I should make him swim, but we will wait for now. If he's not here by our assigned time to leave, then we'll have to head a little ways out. The harbor pilot will be a knockin' on the deck to get us outta port or they'll prolly charge us for another day." Khiyara glared at the crew "All right, all right, let's get this fine lady ship prepped for sailin'. I still see sheets that are a disgrace and line in need of tightening!"

After a half an hour of bustle, the Sky Wind was ready to depart. Khiyara wandered down the plank to the dock, swinging a small jug as she strolled. With a bit of charcoal, she scrawled "MARIUS" on the jar. Wrapping strands of Heka into the jar, she formed a mental message of her own: "You're late. Swim for it."

She tied the jug to the post on the pier closest to the Sky Wind's berth, where she hoped he'd see it. She smirked as she stomped back up the plank.

Some time passed before a servant rapped on the door to the library. The servant opened the door and stood aside to allow Mage ibn Haziik to enter. The mage wore white robes and no headdress. His head was bald, and the skin leathery from years exposed to the harsh weather of his homelands. Dark splotches on his skin and wrinkles showed his age, although his eyes remained dark and piercing.

In a refined, lightly-accented Italic, the mage stated, "You are a former student. You have questions for me, yes? I have a few minutes before my next student arrives."

Marius showed ibn Haziik the rubbing of Iain's coin. "Do you recognize this rubbing?"

The mage took the paper from Marius and studied it. "No. Should I?"

"It's minted on coins."

"I can recommend some sages at the Caliph's Library who may identify it, if you travel to al-Rhayidh. If anyone could identify the minting, it would be the sages at the Library. Or perhaps the scholars at the Academy in Hellenas, if they could stop enjoying themselves long enough to do some serious work."

Marius decided to try another question. "Mage ibn Haziik, are you familiar with a land called 'Leng'?"

The mage's eyes narrowed. "Where did you hear that name?"

"From some merchants."

The mage took a seat on another couch. To his servant, he said, "If Young Lord Escolio is actually on time this week, keep him in the classroom. I doubt he will be disturbed by a late start to his session." The servant nodded and left. To Marius, ibn Haziik said, "Leng is a fabled land few have heard of. The darker works of magick are said to have been written there. I have perused a few of these tomes myself. They are written in an odd tongue. No sage has found a map that shows where this land is. I know of a sage in the Library who devoted his entire life to collecting references to Leng. Despite the holdings of the Library, and the libraries of the Hellenic Academy, he was never able to ascertain where Leng is. He theorized that it was a lost land, possibly on Phaeree, or perhaps on the Morning Star or the Evening Star. Another theory is that Leng doesn't exist in this universe, but it is in another one that has touched ours in some way. What did these merchants want?"

"These 'merchants'," Marius said, miming quotes in the air, "stopped me in town only hours ago stating that they wanted me to complete a task. They didn't appear to be human, and when I touched one of them I had the strangest visions. I'm not sure if I was seeing Leng or what, but it was like there was a completely different city right here in Porto Vicenza, but it was all different, with buildings of crystal. Perhaps another universe, to use one of your words. Anyway, they mentioned the Codex, which prompted a memory of mine from a talk you once gave on the Codex. It would seem that someone is trying to reunite the parts of the Codex. The rubbing, and this coin," Marius pulled out the coin to show Mage Ibn Haziik, "are some kind of clue to who might be behind this."

The mage leaned forward, his voice conspiratorial. "You saw Merchants from Leng? In Porto Vicenza? And you touched them? Ah, Sage bin Dokh would have loved to meet you. It is a shame he has left our world. Perhaps his apprentice, Sage Lin, would meet with you. You aren't traveling to al-Rhayidh any time soon, are you? I would write you a letter of recommendation to meet with Sage Lin to discuss your experiences."

Ibn Haziik took the coin to study it closer. "Unusual minting. And this, see this?" He pointed at the writing on the back face of the coin. "The writing is flowing, like elven, but it has some strange properties to it. Perhaps this is dark elven? Their tongue is storied to sound like a cruel, dissonant elven dialect, with writing that matches their twisted shadow-elf nature. Why they would have a creature like this on the face, I can not say. I would expect a minting with a likeness of the current drow-queen, or a local duchess or baroness, not a monster. The dark elves are as vain as their lighter faerie kin, after all."

Marius asked, "Mage Ibn Haziik, why didn't the druids just destroy the parts of the Codex?"

"A good question. We can't truly ask them, and they left us no records of their reasons. There are two popular theories, and perhaps both are true. The Codex is an ancient book, one that may well predate our very Oerth. Things from those Eras long past may have a different understanding of reality, and perhaps the book did not allow itself to be destroyed. Or perhaps it is because the mages realized that they had not completed the prison's magicks successfully. The Caliph they were entrapping was a powerful mage in his own right, and many believed he was using magicks from the Codex himself. Perhaps the two forces of magick interfered with the prison's castings, and left it incomplete. The druids knew the prison would need to be replaced, and there are few magicks that can compete with the Caliph's. Perhaps they knew the Codex would be needed again." The mage shrugged. "Who can say?"

"Have you ever heard of a Lady Edralve? I think she has something to do with the coin as well?"

The mage pondered for a moment. "No, I do not know this name. The coin is an unusual minting. Hmmm." Marius felt a weaving of Heka from Mage ibn Haziik into the coin. "Yes, the writing reads 'Ereleh Erelhei Cinlu a Inmihek' - 'glory to glorious city and great one'. A curious thing to mint on a coin. Perhaps a sage at the Library will know this coin better. Again, I can write a letter of recommendation that will give you access to the sages without having to pay the customary fees."

The mage offered the coin back to Marius. As the Italic man pocked the coin, he asked, "Oh, one more thing, Mage. I ask because you have studied and seen a great deal in your life. These merchants that I saw today and again in my visions, they always seemed to stand in groups of three. I couldn't really see if they were connected or not, but always in groups of three." He described their faces and hands. "They couldn't be human. Do you have any ideas what they were?"

"Sage bin Dokh spoke that the Merchants from Leng were not human, but they tried to pass themselves off as human. He also mentioned that they were always seen in groups of three, but he never knew why. Young lord, this is a subject outside of my expertise. But I will caution you this: if you are involved with Merchants from Leng, you best be wary. They are not human, and their intrigues may be far more complex than you realize. Sage bin Dokh associated the Merchants with dreams and visions, but you have seen them in Porto Vicenza. You truly should visit the Caliph's Library."

"Thank you, wise Mage ibn Haziik. You have been most helpful. I wish to learn more and will gratefully accept your letters of recommendation. I regret that I cannot stay and converse with you longer, but I have to get back immediately."

The mage prepared a letter for Marius. Once Marius had secured it, he thanked Mage ibn Haziik again. "I will let you get back to your lessons. I can show myself out. I remember many of your lessons." With some complex weavings of Heka, Marius disappeared from the mage's house.

The Sky Wind left dock under the watchful hand of a harbor pilot. The wind quickly filled its sail as the pilot steered it towards the eastern harbor entrance. The small ship splashed along, passing larger ships that waited at anchor in the vast Porto Vicenza harbor. Within twenty minutes, the ship had cleared the hazards of the harbor, and the harbor pilot took his leave on a fast skiff that had pulled alongside the Sky Wind.

Once clear of the harbor, the ship made haste, following the Italic coast towards the distant port of Brallian.

The crew kept busy, but Khiyara overheard some mutterings about leaving an officer behind for missing the scheduled departure. There was a hushed respect, tinged with nervousness, at her stern response to a tardy crewmember - and an officer, at that.

Khiyara stayed by the wheel of the ship, splitting her attention between the crew working the sails and the clouds above. The sky was starting to dim as the sun settled towards the horizon behind the ship, and the clouds told of a fair night ahead. Despite the lingering irritation at Marius, Khiyara had relaxed as the Sky Wind parted the sea.

There was a thump behind her followed by a man's voice. "Captain, you left this on the docks. I figured you wouldn't want to leave precious supplies behind."

Khiyara whirled to face Marius. He stood on the deck of her ship, flashing a big smile.

Khiyara grinned widely back at the wayward Marius. "Glad ye could join us, Marius. How was the swim?"

Khiyara's puzzled look turned suspicious as she realized that Marius was dry. She looked to her other officers, and to the crew, trying to see who got the joke on her this time. Seeing no one snickering, she brought her attention back to Marius.

Chuckling quietly to himself, Marius enjoyed the puzzled expression she bore. "Swim? Well, you did leave a few minutes early, but I didn't have to swim. Luckily, I arrived just in time." Marius flashed a grin and winked at her. "Shoot, you probably thought I was hanging out in a bar with some wench didn't you!"

Still puzzled, Khiyara replied, "Aye, well the harbor pilot boarded a little early as well. You weren't on board when we set sail. I'm positive of that. So how did ye get here so quickly? We didn't see any swimmers, and we didn't see any other small boats trailin' in our wake. That's a nice trick Marius, and one you'll have to tell me about a little later. In the meantime, I think ye better be tellin' us what ye found that did not involve a bar and a wench." Khiyara crossed her arms.

Erasing the smile from his face, Marius said, "I promise you this captain: when I'm on a mission for my captain, I'm all business. And speakin' of business, have I got some information to share. As soon as the ship is well on her way, I think the officers should meet below deck to discuss some of the things I found out."

Khiyara glanced around. "Aye, ye've a point there. Too many ears. Fine. As soon as we're under way, we'll meet in the galley." Khiyara grinned and pulled her hat out of her pocket and pulled it down over her hair. "In the meantime, I think ye've some explainin' to do, leavin' messages in a girl's hat."

Marius smiled. "Ah, good! I wasn't sure if you got that message, especially when I saw the ship was leavin' early. That's a little trick my mom taught me when I was younger. I knew there was no way I'd get back on time, so it was worth a shot. Lucky thing, too, because you would have been 20 minutes gone had I not sent you a message." He paused. "Look, I told you up front from the first day we met. I specialize in getting into places and out again, when I'm in a hurry to say... hmmmm… catch a ship, I can move pretty fast. I was extra quiet because my mom always used to say, 'a job worth doing is a job worth doing right'. Besides that, I won't get any better by being sloppy. I like to keep my skills in tip-top shape. Surely as a captain, you'll want yer crew to be ready for any mission that needs carryin' out, right?"

Khiyara grinned a bit. "Funny how parents where ever ye be from always come up with the same words of wisdom, aye? My poppy says the same thing." Khiyara winked at Marius as she continued. "Sharp skills and sharp wits might prove useful, aye." She turned her attention back to the ship. They were starting to pick up more speed as the wind caught the sail. "Navigator! What be our heading as soon as we pass this shaol? Now that our crew is ALL aboard we can be a might more aggressive! Get us on heading, aye!"

As Iain headed belowdecks, Marius caught his arm. "Master dei Sciotti, I found some things out about your coin and amulet, but I can not report about them to the captain without telling her that you have them."

Iain nodded. "I've mentioned the coin and amulet to the captain, so she is already aware of them. If you think it is important, and you found something, you can discuss it with the rest of the officers."

Later that evening, just as the crew changed shifts and settled into their duties for the night, Khiyara entered her quarters and rummaged under her bunk for the basket of oranges she had stashed there. She placed the oranges on the table, spread out the map they had been using for the journey thus far, and waited for her officers.

Humming to herself, she opened the door of the cabin widely and propped it open to allow the air to flow through. Khiyara grabbed her hair brush from its shelf and sat down on the only chair. She undid the laces binding her hair and started brushing the unruly mass.

"Oh! My apologies Khi....I mean, umm..Captain.." the voice at the door blurted.

Khiyara whirled around to face the intruder with a glare, only to find Peeper standing at the door, his face turning red. Khiyara took a deep breath and laughed, turning her chair to face the door. "Oy, me laddie! You been peepin' around again dearie?"

Peeper stammered, "No! I was only, it's just..."

Khiyara laughed as she continued brushing out her hair. "No harm, no foul. I just be tidyin' up a notch. It's been a long day, and it serves to be a longer evenin' as well. Do me a favor aye? Would you carry a message to the officers for me, please? Tell them all we meet here in ten minutes' time."

"Aye, aye, Cappy!" Peeper saluted her with a fist to his heart and grinned widely as he turned to leave.

"Oh, and Peeper!" The young man stopped just a couple steps away from the door and turned. "I miss ye, too." Khiyara winked at her friend, and tossed an orange at his head. He deftly caught the orange. She smiled as Peeper grinned even more widely at her.

Most of the officers arrived on time. Enzo sauntered in five minutes later.

Iain nodded at Enzo as the fellow Italic man approached the captain's table. "I'm glad you could join us," Iain said in Italic, grinning as he spoke. "And, of course, joining us five minutes late, at that. Is that the latest fashion in Porto Vicenza? Just five minutes?" He chuckled before switching to Islander. "Cappy, the officers are here. It is a little odd for us to meet now, but I think I already have an idea why we're here." He looked significantly at Marius.

Enzo grinned. "There's nowhere else for me to go, and no other pretty ladies aboard to keep my attention! As for this meeting, the intrigue lies thick in the air - someone fill me in."

Marius obliged. "The captain asked me to do a little recon work in Porto Vicenzo, and I found out more than I bargained for."

He took a deep breath. "Now, I know that what we're doin' is supposed to be a secret, and only those on this fine ship and Captain Stariat are supposed to know about it, but that doesn't seem to be the case." Turning to look Iain in the eye, Marius nodded before he continued. "While walking through town, I was stopped by three strange merchants who seemed to know an awful lot about where we were headed and what we were going to get. I was speakin with Master dei Sciotti before I left and he had a similar encounter."

"It was one merchant I met," Iain clarified. "A rough looking man. One I would not entrust to honest trade, or even some of the finer dishonest trades."

Marius described his exchange with the Merchants from Leng, skipping past the disturbing visions he had after touching one of the Merchant's hands.

He concluded his narrative. "The way I figure it, we either got a traitor in our midst, or someone, or something, is a-readin' our minds, or maybe our dreams to be more precise. If that's the case, we're in for a world of hurt if we don't figure out their true intentions. And worse, the coin," Marius held up the silver coin the Merchant had given him, "that I was given and the coin and amulet that Master dei Sciotti has all seem to be linked to Dark Elves, a nasty evil race of elves if there ever was. If the book that Master dei Sciotti and I were asked to retrieve is truly one of the thirteen missing parts of the Codex, its value would be immeasurable. In the wrong hands it could also be disastrous."

Enzo scoffed, "As if such a thing as elves could be evil. A stranger tale I've not heard cross your lips, my friend. Are you sure you weren't dreaming them, while your head on a book or," he nodded towards Haraldur, "a wench's bosom? More than one? Why, I've forgotten a few nights -ahh, never mind, not the time."

Iain added, "Enzo is right, Marius. Are you sure you're not dreaming of these things? I've seen them in dreams. They always are hiding in a corner, listening to me or watching me." He took out the sinister gold coin, studying the tentacle-faced monstrosity on it. "Now that I think of it, I've only seen them in dreams since we left Khosinga's Port."

Marius bristled. "Twas no dream that handed me this coin, Master dei Sciotti. Twas no dream when I shook the lead merchant's hand and felt woozy. Tell me that you don't feel weary of the amulet you carry, and I'll not mention this again, but I think you do and I think we all need to be concerned about how the merchant you met and the ones I met seem to know so much about our plans."

"Aye, sorry, Marius," Iain replied. "I thought those things were just monsters hiding in my dreams. To hear you tell of meeting them in Porto Vicenza, and to hear that they talked to you of our plans." Iain frowned. "When I've seen them in my dreams, one of them was always talking. He was making a narrative of what was happening in the dream. And the dream was always about where we were going, or what we were doing."

Marius asked, "Are they telling you where to go in your dreams, or maybe giving you hints on how to proceed with getting a sky ship? Or is it more of a random gibberish type thing?"

"It's more like they're commenting on where we're going. I remember a dream the first night out to sea. In the dream, I was in a tavern, looking at the gold coin. I was curious about how the merchant knew about our plan, and how the coin related to the medallion I have. I heard this strange man - these merchants, as you call them - standing over by the bar saying things like 'He has doubts. He is not sure.' It then said, 'They go to Porto Vicenza.'"

"You don't think when they appear in your dreams that its them searching your unconscious to discern your plans, do you? Maybe that's how they seem to know so much."

Iain considered the question. "I remember reading about dreams when I was at the Academy in Hellenas. There were stories of people who were able to enter another's dreams. There were also stories of another world that can only be visited by dreams, although that world is in many ways as real as ours. Perhaps these merchants are visiting my dreams to find out what we're doing. I don't know how they found me. Surely it was not happenstance."

Khiyara took a long sip out of her tankard of water, listening intently to the conversation going on around her. When there seemed to be a lull in the conversation, she said, "What I'd like to be knowin' is if these 'merchants' are evesdroppin' on ye both, are they evesdropping on all of us too? And how is it possible? If its magick, could it tied to the coins and maybe the amulet themselves? And do ye think are they after the sky ship, or are they just interested in their wee book?"

"Well Captain, they haven't been in my dreams yet, but I've yet to sleep since meeting them." replied Marius.

Khiyara grinned and said teasingly, "Aye well, that's what ye'd like us to believe anyway." She held up her hand before Marius protested. "Teasin', Marius. I believe ye. However dei Sciotti has said he's seen similar folk in his dreams lately, and ye've both said they knew things they shouldn't, so how do they know these things if they're not sneakin' around in your subconscious?"

Marius shrugged. "I don't know how we can figure that out, but I might know of who we could talk to. After my encounter with these strangers, I went to an old teacher of mine and asked if he knew of these strangers from Leng. That's where they said they were from. He knew very little but he said that he knew of a sage in al-Rhayidh who had studied Leng his entire life and whose apprentice, Sage Lin, had carried on his work. If anyone could tell us more about the capabilities of these strangers it would probably be him. I have a letter of recommendation that would allow us free access to this sage at the Caliph's Library in the city of al-Qayir."

Khiyara leaned forward against the table and peered thoughtfully at the map spread out there. She traced a line with her finger from Porto Vicenza to Brallian. Then she traced another line from Porto Vicenza to al-Rhayidh. "It could be worth a trip to see this Sage Lin to puzzle out these 'merchants of Leng'. From what we've heard here, they are only concerned with their wee book. So what makes this book so important that they're willing to track a rowdy bunch like us? It must be extremely valuable for the prices they're willing to pay, but is it worth more than the money? We've got a mission already ahead of us: steal the sky ship. But is this book more important? We also have to keep in mind that the heading we follow now takes us a fairly long distance to the north of al-Rhayidh. Provisioning a ship of this size for that kind of journey could pose a challenge, aye. What say the rest of you?"

Iain studied the chart in silence. "If we go to al-Rhayidh now, it will add a month or more to our travels. These Merchants must know we're after the sky ship. How else would they know about the raid Captain Stariat wants to do on the Duke's holdings? They approached Marius, and they must have been involved with the man who approached me in Khosinga's Port. What if they talk to others? What if someone else finds out our plan, and the town watch in Ithell's Town decides to lie in wait for us to show up?" He rubbed his forehead. "Besides, do you intend on keeping the crew on the ship after a two week jaunt to al-Qayir? Or will you let them have some time ashore, where they can talk to al-Rhayidhians who would care if a pirate crew were planning to steal a sky ship?"

Iain chuckled. "However, going there after we have liberated the sky ship... That would be a height of arrogance that even Jak wouldn't contemplate. Sailing their own stolen sky ship into the harbor..." He shook his head. "No, that may be suicide." Iain shrugged. "Sorry, Captain. I have no good advice. If we go to al-Rhayidh, we risk our plans getting discovered. If we wait until after Ithell's Town, we would have to find a way to sneak into al-Rhayidh, or we would have to change ships."

Enzo had been listening quietly. "Captain, I might be in the minority here, but I don't know that I'm all that worried about these merchant men, er, things. Everybody knows there's forces at work in the world around us that most are utterly ignorant about. So, we've happened upon what looks like some secret thing brewing. Why should we let it concern us now, or force us to make long journeys nowhere near our intended prey?"

He shrugged. "No, I say, let's for now pretend we've heard nothing at all. I mean, at this point, what do we know? Just that they want something. And they call themselves merchants. Seems to me kind of interesting that they let on all they did, considering they're part of something that no one's heard of before - or at least, none of our stature.

"That makes me curious as to what deal they're eyeing. We're all in this to get ridiculously rich, right? And these guys are just looking for some book or something, and they're talking a lot of coin for it. What do we care what they're doin' with it? Let's just assume it's some kind of high purpose that us low-lifes will never know a thing about and let's try to profit from it, that's what I say. Let's get something, or a whole sea's load of somethings, for our trouble and sail from there. And who knows, maybe one deal with these merchants might lead to vastly bigger ones afterwards."

Khiyara studied the map in silence, listening as her officers weighed in. After a long pause, she leaned back in her chair with her arms folded across her chest. She studied Enzo's expression and then Iain's as well. "Aye, ye've both got verra valid points there. As curious as I am about these Merchants and their plan, Cap'n Jak already put a mission on us, and one I am more than a little excited to see succeed. If these Merchants are tryin' to distract us from that mission with nothin' more than a bit of gold and some musty old paper, then I think we be headed in the wrong direction if we go for their bait first."

Khiyara looked at Marius. "I'm sorry Marius. I think we head for Brallian, and from there this Ithell's Town to see about our new ship. After that mission is complete, we may find a way to follow up on this other mystery from there."

Marius shrugged. "Well, Captain, I think I agree. Visiting the sage would take us way off course. I didn't sense any urgency from the merchants, and it would seem that we'll need a flying ship no matter what. When I spoke to the Baron's head chamberlain, he told me that the Baron is sending a trading delegation to Ithell's Town this summer. Apparently the lord of the town is a famous general who led an army to reinforce the Dark One's prison a few years back and the aky ship port was built as a favor to him. I've also heard that the Caliph of al-Rhayidh has chosen Ithell's Town as a favored trade route. Not sure if that means extra forces protecting it, but we should keep that in mind."

Khiyara beamed at Marius, "Aye, well, we knew it wasn't going to be an easy trek. Besides, where's the adventure in an easy target anyway?"

With the meeting concluded, the officers returned to their duties. The Sky Wind plied its way towards the Eiresudian port city of Brallian.

Back to the previous chapter: Porto Vicenza Sprawled

Continue to the next chapter: Brallian's Harbor

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Original Draft 2 May 2006

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