Dungeons & Dragons/Saltmarsh
Episode 21
"Who is the captain?" Ruanea asked. They all looked at one another in confusion, then slowly turned to Fitzmina. She bobbed up and down with her jaw set in a skeletal grin.
"It can't be," Elgoth muttered.
"Try folding the boat again, Elgoth," Triton suggested. Elgoth widened his stance and attempted to repeat whatever words had come out of him earlier, but it was to no avail. Then his eyes went white, and he muttered something. The boat folded, then folded, then folded again, until nothing remained but a wooden box in the shallows.
"It looks like Fitzmina is the captain," Elgoth admitted. "Or at least the boat is attuned to her," he turned to Rev. "Whatever you do, do not give her your hat. It would go straight to her skull."
Rev slumped down in the sand, dejected and defeated, only mildly certain they would not be eaten by a baby kraken on the beach.
"How long do you think this has been here, hmmmm, Elgoth?" Merantha taunted. "You searched this whole island for a way to get off, did ya?"
"I'm glad my twenty years of torture and torment on this island are amusing to you, Merantha." His voice took on a sharp and deadly edge.
"I think we are all a bit tired," Triton interjected in a very diplomatic manner. "Do you think this ship has someplace to rest? I am a bit weary of being outside," he admitted.
"It's built like the Northwind. There's probably only one cabin," Borassos assessed.
"I shall try to open it." Elgoth splayed his hand out and said "Open," in a very commanding voice, but nothing happened. Fitzmina plunked down on the top of the box, looking smug for an skull with a fixed expression.
"Whatever we do, we cannot let Rev take charge," Merantha said as she crossed her arms.
Red flashed behind Rev's eyes and she gritted her teeth. She had shed enough blood on this island, and didn't wish to shed more.
"I put my foot down right now," she insisted, and threw her hair over her shoulder. "She does not get to be the captain."
Rev was tempted to take her dagger and pin it through the warlock's boot, then laugh as she watched Merantha try to pick up that foot she just put down.
"Why?" Elgoth asked.
"I do not like being mutinied."
Funny, she was sounding a lot like a mutineer. Rev slowly got to her feet, keeping her hand on the hilt of her rapier.
Rev had had enough of all of them. She wandered over to the edge of the water and looked out through the cave to the bright light beyond. She put her fingers to her lips and let out an ear-shattering whistle. After a few minutes of Elgoth messing with the boat, determined to protect it at all costs, Bastard came flying in through the sea cove. He barreled into Rev's chest, his wide wings splayed across her chest in a strange sort of bird-like hug.
She wrapped her arms around him tucking in his wings, then he climbed up her shirt to her shoulder and preened her hair. "Glad to have my friend back," Rev whispered to him.
"Love you," he said softly in her ear, then shook out his feathers.
Merantha didn't know it, but she probably owed Bastard her life in that moment.
Triton joined her and looked out at the cliffs protecting the cove. Only a narrow gap, that wouldn't be easily spotted from the shore, gave the location away. "This beach is very isolated." He turned back to Elgoth. "I can understand why you didn't find it. There's only one way in, and one way out."
Rev watched Triton. He looked as if he had just been shredded by quaggoths near to death, with no time to recover. And yet, here he was, still being noble and trying to mend harm done, even if it was only offense. She told him once that she thought she might like him. Now she knew she did, in a friendly way at least. She was glad she could help save him in the cave.
"Yes, this cove is well hidden," Elgoth agreed. "But my inability to find it had more to do with my madness than anything else," Elgoth said in a hallow voice. "I thought that I had explored more… and I did… but I also wasn't aware of it. I do not know. The memories are coming back to me, but it is clear I was not a master of my faculties at the time."
Triton clapped a hand on his shoulder and gave it a shake. "So why are we still on this island? We have a means of escape. Shouldn't we make use of it?"
"Yes, how are we going to sail the boat though?" Merantha asked.
Rev turned and glared at her. "That's a good question. Too bad there's a sailor here that you just insulted."
"It wasn't intended as an insult," she insisted, though she didn't look guilty at the offense. "I just don't like being mutinied."
"YOU DON'T LIKE BEING MUTINIED?!" Rev shouted. "You weren't the one who was mutinied."
"You were the captain." She dug in her heels. "You got us all mutinied."
"No, Milo got us all mutinied." Rev pointed at her. Merantha tried to interrupt, but Rev kept going. "Let's be really clear about that. And I have plans for him." It wouldn't have mattered who was captain of the Sea Ghost. Milo would have stabbed any one of them in the back, Merantha especially since he didn't know her. And it wasn't as if Merantha suspected anything at that little breakfast. She never said anything, so the mutiny was as much her fault as it was any of theirs. But it did pain Rev, a cut that drove particularly deep, that her crew was not more loyal to her. She hadn't had the time to properly earn their faith because they had to turn around so quickly to find Milo.
The backstabbing little–
"Who you calling a bastard, Bastard!" Her parrot called for no particular reason then whistled to himself. Sometimes she thought he could read her mind.
"For all intents and purposes," Elgoth said. "It seems like Fitzmina is the captain for now, though I don't know what would happen should she die…again. Would the boat attune itself to another?"
"This captain and crew business does beg the question…" Rev said to herself.
"It does, doesn't it," Merantha interjected. "How do we sail a ship?"
Rev gave her a dirty look. The next time Merantha was bleeding on the floor of a cave somewhere, Rev felt like she would have a hard time finding the motivation to risk her own life to save the spellcaster. "It begs the question," Rev clarified, "What are we?"
Ruanea and Borassos came up to join their little circle.
Rev continued. "We are not a captain and a crew, so what are we?"
"We're a team of adventurers!" Merantha said a little too brightly, and Rev wondered why she was along on this entire misadventure in the first place.
"What does that mean?" Rev snapped. She was in no mood to be jovial, and sometimes it felt as if they were all strangers to one another shoved together around a table and forced to play in some strange game. "Are we strangers? Are we friends?"
"It means that we have a job to do in these waters," Elgoth said as the sun passed behind a cloud and the cove dimmed.
"Do we?" Rev was finding it hard to muster any sense of motivation when there didn't seem to be any payoff except more misery. What were they fighting for, really? She did not want to be reduced to nothing more than a cheap hired blade for someone else's machinations. She had nothing now; no ship, no crew, no one that deserved her loyalty except maybe, maybe some of the people standing before her. Aside from Merantha. But what were they to her? What was she to them?
"Well I think so," Merantha said. "I think it's a good idea to go after that kraken baby. We don't want a grown kraken roaming the earth."
That sounded like a death wish to Rev. If Merantha wanted that task, she could have it.
"I am tied to this creature in some way," Elgoth said, turning to Rev. He was serious, solemn, and his voice lost its dark edge for a single soft moment. "And I am compelled to investigate as necessary. If you do not feel this is in line with your goals, Rev. I understand. Though I wish you would join us."
Rev felt like there should have been a pull on her heart. It was the most personal thing Elgoth had ever said to her, but all she felt was broken.
"Yes, I want you here too," Merantha said. "Though only because I like your bird."
Bastard growled and flicked his wings.
Elgoth took another step closer to her, close enough that it pushed that unseen boundary that made her want to take a step back, but she held her ground. He looked down at her hand on the hilt of her sword, then drew his gaze back up. "I think by now, we have all proven ourselves to one another. Even you, short-tips." Then he moved on beyond her to pick up the boat-box with Fitzmina still sitting on it.
"I can say this," she said, if only to herself. "As it stands right now, you are the only people that I trust."
"Trustworthy is good," Merantha said, turning away from Rev. "I trust you, Rev. I just don't want to be mutinied."
Ruanea came up beside Rev and crossed her arms. "How long before you kill her in her sleep?" The elf whispered as she leaned in closer.
Rev chuckled under her breath, and for the moment, her anger eased.
"For my part, I am what I have always been, an agent of my king." Triton said. Rev tried really hard not to be disappointed in his fealty. She supposed that's what noble people did. "I am on a mission and that remains. You are my allies now, and I will help you in any way, but I know what I must do next."
"Which is?" Merantha asked.
"I must inform my king about what I have learned in this place." He inspected one of his wounds.
"About the kraken?" Merantha pushed.
"Yes, the kraken, the shards, how it is all connected, and the danger we are all in." He sat in the sand.
"Will he help us?" Merantha sat down too. "Because I'll admit it, the idea of battling a kraken scares me to death."
"Yes, the king has resources that will outmatch any of us. I would suggest, that should be our next course of action. I know I was not the only one he sent out on these missions. He might have more information that will be of use to us."
"So, you don't want to go back to Saltmarsh?" Rev asked also taking a seat in the sand. The cool grit under her palms felt reassuring, and she dug her fingers into it. The only thing driving her now was seeking her vengeance on Milo.
"What awaits us there?" Triton asked her.
"The council awaits us," Ruanea said very plainly.
"Do we have any outstanding business with them?" Triton asked.
"Well they are not as trustworthy as I would have hoped," Merantha stated.
"The situation with the seal under the bridge seems more complicated than I initially realized." Triton admitted. "It might be best if we return with more information, such that my king could provide." Triton crossed his legs and rested his forearms on his knees.
Rev pulled a small wooden box out of her sack. The lock looked like a typical lock, except there was no keyhole. "And what should we make of this?"
"Milo told us that the shard was hidden here on the island, but that we needed a key to acquire it, the blood of some creature," Ruanea said. "Then the tree told us that the way to the kraken could be found within Elgoth's cave. That the blood opens the box. Do you think the shard could be in this box?"
"That is plausible," Rev said. "The tree definitely said, "the blood opens the box. The only reason we were here to begin with is for the memory of Callie. And I'm fine being loyal to Callie's memory. It's her husband I have a problem with."
"Well, you have my word, Rev," Elgoth began as he found his place in the circle in the sand and sat with the rest of them. "If we find Milo's ship, we shall burn it, and dance to the sound of screams in the moonlight."
"That is not my plan," Rev insisted.
"Naked!" Elgoth continued. "When it comes to sacrificial burning, clothing is always optional."
"That really won't be necessary," Rev insisted as she felt the blood rise in her cheeks, and secretly wished to see Elgoth avenge her in such a way. She had her own plan, but now, all she could think about was Elgoth striding down the burning deck of the Sea Ghost with the flames behind him, and nothing else hiding the form of his body.
Merantha picked up the mysterious box. "Do you think any blood will do?" She asked. Merantha took a knife, pricked her finger and placed it on the lock, but it did not open.
Elgoth stared at the lock. "I am connected to this thing, perhaps my blood will open it."
"I didn't want to offer it on your behalf," Triton said, "but now that you mention it, perhaps it is a good idea."
Elgoth slowly stripped off his coat and shirt, exposing is intricately scarred and tattooed body. Rev once again found the hitch rising in her chest until she couldn't breathe. "Pick a scar," he said, offering the dark, roped scars on his bare arms to Triton.
Triton drew his knife and sliced down one of the dark pink lines on Elgoth's arms. He didn't even flinch. His blood flowed over his forearm like a red river over pale flesh. It fell on the blank plate of the lock.
But it did not open.
"It seems only the blood of a kraken will open this," Ruanea said. "That is, if it contains a shard."
"Then there's nothing more we should do with it until we consult my king," Triton stated.
Ruanea snapped her fingers and the purple dome formed above them. Fitzmina looked content sitting on top of the boat-box. One by one they settled in for the night. Rev pulled out her sewing.
"Does it make you feel any better that we have another ship?" Ruanea asked her. She stabbed the silk harder.
"A ship is nothing but planks in the water," Rev stated. "Do you know the reason a captain goes down with the ship?" she asked the elf, remembering their first days together aboard the Northwind.
Ruanea shook her head.
"A captain does not go down with the ship out of love of the ship," Rev explained. "A captain chooses to remain, because that is one more place on a lifeboat for one of her crew. A good captain sacrifices her life for her crew. My crew was taken from me through betrayal of someone I considered a friend." Rev told herself she would never sacrifice her life for anything, but if she were looking into the eyes of someone she had sworn to herself to protect, and abandoned them to death, she could never forgive herself.
Ruanea nodded thoughtfully. "Your ship is your home. Your crew is your family." She looked thoughtful. "But that's not why your mother choose to stay with her ship as it sank, was it?" the elf asked.
Rev jabbed her finger with the needle and flinched. "No, it was not." There was no crew to save in that moment. They were all already dead. There was only her terrified daughter, clinging to a sinking rail, before Silvey tossed her into the waves. Rev wiped her eye with the corner of the silk in her hand.
Ruanea didn't say anything more, and Rev passed the night quietly, continuing to pull a thread through red silk, as if the thin thread could pull the rags of her life into something meaningful.
The night passed quietly, though Rev never lost the feeling that they all were being watched. Still, they were able to deploy the box-boat without much trouble, and Rev expertly steered it through the narrow cliff passage out into the open water.
Bastard contented himself by attempting to chew through the rigging, but there was an air of magic about this ship. He didn't manage to fray a single rope.
Since Triton's kingdom beneath the waters was closer to their current location than Saltmarsh, they collectively decided that they should visit the king first. Rev didn't mind either way so long as they eventually ended up in Saltmarsh. In fact, this would allow her to broaden her plans, so long as the sea elves were amicable. She would do her best to convince them to her way of thinking, and thankfully, she was very persuasive.
About mid-morning, Triton had a familiar visitor. The octopus clung to the bow of the small ship. Triton smiled and went to greet the creature. The octopus waved its legs, and Triton dutifully translated the message as they all gathered at the bow of the ship.
"Allow me to translate. The octopus is saying, Excuse me, Mr. Secret-mission-awesome-man." Triton's voice sounded bland as he translated, and the octopus, indeed, did not wave its tentacles with any particular fervor or enthusiasm. "I have been sent by King Neptune… to tell you…" The Octopus slumped as if letting out a sigh. "That I am not supposed to call you any names."
"That is very courteous of you," Triton responded. "Though perhaps it would be wise not to mention the secret mission, if you will. That will be your next lesson."
"You have been summoned." Triton translated.
"Anything else?" he asked. "No other message?"
The octopus shrugged. "The king says information, give."
Rev scratched Bastard's head as she tried not to smile. The octopus was obviously being subdued in a way that was not genuine, and so its politeness came off as even more condescending.
"Thank you for the message," Triton said to the squishy creature. "I will tell the king you have been most professional, this time."
"Thank… you… your powers are most wonderful." Then the octopus raised one tentacle and pointed behind them.
Rev turned to see several sahuagin climbing over the rail at the aft.
A familiar voice called, "I knew if we followed that octopus, it would lead us to our prey."
Rev pulled her blades. It was the same sahuagin that had attacked the Sea Ghost.
Ruanea immediately splattered the entire back of the ship with sticky webs. They caught all four of the fish-men and they struggled in the gray mass.
Rev ran across the deck and slashed the closest sahuagin in the bulbous eye. It let out a high-pitched squeal. Merantha blasted them. Fitzmina flew by and then swooped up into the rigging, while Elgoth sent a sheet of ice at the sahuagin.
The fish men struggled in the webbing, then Triton turned around and ran forward. With his face twisted in fury, the sea elf swirled his arm and storm clouds formed above out of a clear blue sky. A bolt of lightning shot down from the cloud, striking the tallest of the sahuagin, and branching out to the others.
Again the sahuagin struggled in the webs, as Borassos moved forward and cast a spell. Bones cracked as Borassos shattered them with a single word. Three of the sahuagin fell dead to the deck, except for the largest, who still thrashed against his binding.
Rev climbed up on the rigging and swung over, slashing the sahuagin with a punishing slice of her sword, then flipped off the ropes onto the deck, landing on her feet.
The sahuagin held onto his bleeding chest as Merantha stepped forward. The air filled with the smell of rotting seaweed. She smiled at the creature as a friendly glow surrounded her. "Don't I know you?" she asked.
"Oy, you're the pretty one I remember from last time I was on this boat. Was it this boat?" he asked with a glazed expression.
"No it wasn't this boat. It was back near Saltmarsh. It's good to see you. What brings you here?" She asked.
"Well." He blinked his large eyes. "We're going to attack this boat. This boat is going to get, Get."
"Why would you do that? These people seem nice to me." Merantha didn't dare move closer, but so far, the spell held. Rev kept her hand on her sword.
"We're trying to get a shard!" He said in an excited tone.
"What shard?"
"The one that opens the portal. We're going to get them all," he said in a conspiratorial whisper.
"What happens when you open the portal?" she asked.
The sahuagin lifted his head to stare at the others behind Merantha. "Hey, are they making fun of me?"
"Don't mind them," Merantha insisted. "Come have a cup. Tell me about yourself."
"I could use a cuppa," the sahuagin said. "Well, I live under the sea, and I lead a school of warriors. And we are going to fight when the portal opens."
"How many warriors are there?" Merantha said in earnest.
"Hundreds, maybe thousands. It's great. We are spawning everywhere."
"Do you have friends other than me?" she asked.
"Yes… No…Not anymore. Those guys stunk. They all died."
Merantha whispered to their party, "What do you want to know? What should I ask him next?"
Rev responded quickly. "Ask him if the sahuagin already have any shards."
Merantha passed along her question and their prisoner thought about it.
"I think we have several by now, but as soon as I get out of these webs, I will have another," he admitted, then gaped his jaw open like a fish out of water.
"How?" Merantha pressed.
"I'm going to take it as soon as I get these guys." He pointed to the rest of them. "You'll help me right?" he asked Merantha.
"How will that get you a shard?" she asked.
"Because there's one on this boat. The magic charm from the wizard tells me so."
"Take his charm," Elgoth whispered.
"Will you give it to me?" Merantha pleaded.
"No!" The sahuagin looked appalled at the idea.
"If we kill him, we can take everything in his pockets," Triton mentioned behind Merantha.
"Do you have any allies with the sea elves or in Saltmarsh?" Merantha asked.
"Not the sea elfs, they smell."
The sky darkened, and a second bolt of lightning streaked down from the sky, hitting the fish-man. He howled as the charm spell broke, so Rev moved forward and stabbed him through the chest. He made a gurgling sound as he fell, appropriate for a fish out of water.
Merantha pulled a crystal out of his pocket. It glowed a faint aquamarine. Rev, suspecting the truth, pulled the box out of her bag. As Merantha came closer, the crystal turned black. When she backed away, the crystal turned clear again.
Rev let out a heavy breath and put the box back in her bag. It looked as though they had a target on their backs. Thankfully, the sahuagin seemed much less difficult to manage than the first time their party had seen the monsters. Their time in Brimstone and on the island had hardened them.
It also seemed clear that the sahuagin were not working alone. This one mentioned a wizard. She wasn't certain how prevalent magic study was among the fish-folk, but she couldn't help thinking about the wizard that had escaped their clutches on the night they captured the Sea Ghost.
Rev never trusted coincidences.
The rest of their journey passed without another sign of trouble, until Triton told Rev to hold the ship in a vast and open stretch of water.
"Well, here we are," he proclaimed, holding his arms out.
"How do we get down there," Borassos asked.
"Jump," Triton said plainly.
Bastard paced on the rail. "Man overboard!" he suggested.
Rev picked up Bastard. In the distance the dark form of some sort of island broke the horizon.
"Go," she said to her bird. "Wait there. Under the sea is no place for something with feathers." She took out her last ugly fruit, and he grabbed it in his beak. He seemed anxious to leave her before he flew off toward the distant silhouette in the vast expanse of blue.
Rev braided her hair then packed her bag of holding well, taking off any excess clothing she wouldn't need, including her boots. She kept her daggers and swords as ballast and protection. She alone would be holding on to one of the shards, and it acted as a beacon for sahuagin. She couldn't be rid of it fast enough in her opinion. "Are the rest of you ready?"
"How are we going to breathe?" Elgoth asked. Fitzmina looked worried, but she was already dead. Rev wasn't sure what the skull was so concerned about
"I can help with that," Triton offered, as he tucked his head and cast a spell. They looked dubiously at one another.
"There's only one way to tell if it works," Rev concluded. She gave Merantha a hard shove, and the warlock splashed into the water. "Are you drowning?"
Merantha scowled at her, but then admitted. "No, I can breathe fine."
Rev dove over the rail, her body stretching into a graceful arc as she hit the water, but to her shock, the necklace she had found on the island glowed. Water flowed into her lungs, but instead of drowning, she found herself breathing quite easily. Air formed around her necklace, and it filled her mouth. This didn't seem to be Triton's spell, but something her necklace was doing. She blew out bubbles, but water still didn't rush in to her lungs. She broke the surface of the water and tread in the bobbing waves. One by one the others followed. Borassos didn't remove his armor, and immediately sank. He clung to a rope dangling from the ship as they all splashed into the waves.
Triton dove in as she had, then sprang up out of the water, did a flip like a dolphin, and splashed back down. It must have felt good for him to be home. Rev treaded at the surface, still uncomfortable with the idea of breathing beneath the waves. Though, when she had been little she used to fantasize about swimming with the freedom of the creatures in the ocean. The water was her playground, and she spent many hours swimming. She would long to dive deep and resented that she had to remain so close to the surface. She supposed this was her chance to explore the underwater world she played in as a child.
A shadow loomed beneath her and she swooped her arms to back away, while the boat folded into a box behind her. Elgoth tucked Fitzmina into his bag, and Rev wrestled the box into her bag of holding.
Borassos immediately began to struggle at the surface of the water, until an enormous sea turtle surfaced beneath him.
"Hold on to his shell. He will help you all swim down," Triton explained.
Rev instinctively held her breath as she clasped the edge of the turtle's shell. Ruanea seemed just as uneasy, as she held on as well. Borassos clung to the creature for dear life.
Elgoth had donned the strange marine armor they had found on the island and found he could swim as effortlessly as Triton.
Without warning, the turtle dove, and Rev found herself gliding through a strange blue world as vast and unfathomable as the sky. A shadow loomed far in the distance. As they drew closer, swells and spires of a great coral reef rose from the sea floor. The sunlight filtering through the waves danced over the forms, giving the still reef the appearance of life.
The reef continued to grow larger before them, until what first appeared to be a normal reef formed a structure the size of a vast city. Regular holes dotted the outer shells of the corals, forming doorways and windows, but not in the places that one would expect them. Some were on the top of bulbs and swells of coral and others underneath.
A blue-green light glowed from the interiors of these chambers. It didn't flicker like the comforting warmth of candlelight. Instead it diffused through the water like the luminescent lichen they had discovered in Elgoth's cave.
Rev didn't see any people swimming through the reef city, but Triton didn't seem disturbed as the turtle brought them to the heart of the sea kingdom.