Author's note: a crwth (also called a cruth or a crowd, and pronounced crooth) is a type of stringed musical instrument.

Capability Smith and the Pirate Queen of Venus

Chapter 1

Capability Evelyn Thunder-Smith walked down a bustling, sweaty street near Pahara's center, the smell of the sea in his nostrils and the sweet jangling of the crwth on his back in his ears. Cap was in no particular hurry, strolling slowly down one side of the street, examining the good for sale in the windows of the shops, and pausing occasionally to enjoy a magically-cooled breeze coming from one of the more expensive shops. Around him the commerce of Pahara seethed and boiled, the pursuit of wealth that was the city's entire reason for existence and practically its religion, going at full blast despite the ungodly heat and humidity.

Cap walked onto a brilliant turquoise bridge suspended over one of the city's numberless canals by spell and cables and stopped at the middle to pour a few drops of wine onto the alter of the small shrine to Poseidon, such as was found on every bridge in the city. He lounged for a moment, watching the traffic below in the water as the mermen and tritons who were as much a part of Pahara's life as any surface dweller passed underneath. Then he carefully adjusting the angle of his plumed hat and sauntered on his way.

Once on the other side of the canal, he began counting houses. The fifth house on the left -- just before a small temple to Isis -- has a small shop in front with a tiny sign reading "Mahoon's Magical Oddities, Curiosities, Books of all Kinds and Confectionary Shoppe". Cap blinked. Confectionary shop? But after a moment's thought he shrugged and opened the door.

The shop inside was small, neat and clean, if dimly lit. The wall to left was covered by unmarked wooden cabinets. The wall to the right was entirely covered by nine-foot tall wooden bookshelves, completely filled with books. The back of the shop contained a large glass case full of all kinds of sweets, from local seaweed candies to expensive imported chocolates. Behind the glass counter was a tall, elderly man with white hair and slightly pointed ears.

The shopkeeper frowned at Cap over a pair of half-spectacles. "Yes, may I help you?"

Cap raised his eyebrows slightly. The man did not seem particularly friendly for someone in trade. "Master Mahoon? I have an enchanted musical instrument I'd like examined."

Master Mahoon gave Cap a careful look, and nodded quickly. His frown eased, even if it did not vanish. "Let's see it, then."

Cap pulled the leather instrument case from off his back and laid it carefully on the counter. Opening it up, he gently pulled the crwth free and handed it to the old man.

Mahoon examined the musical instrument carefully from all sides, then laid it carefully by down on the counter. He strode to the shop's door, locked it and placed a closed sign in front of the door's glass panel. Then he walked briskly to one of the cabinets that lined one wall of the shop, and muttered a quick phrase. A door swung open, and he pulled out a large sheet of parchment, several pieces of curious-looking blue chalk, and four golden candlesticks out. Setting all of this down on the glass counter, he asked Cap: "What do you know about this instrument?"

Cap shrugged. "Well, it's magic. And it's a crwth – a sort of bowed lyre you find in use in Wales and in some of the British backcountry. They haven't been in style for centuries. Other than that, nothing. I haven't been able to determine where it was made or by whom. I'm not even sure what kind of woods it's made from."

Mahoon laughed quietly. "They are exotic woods, but as it happens, the wood used for the back, sides and neck came from a grove fifty miles inland from here. That's blond lionwood, and it only comes from that one particular grove in the jungles of Alph. And I believe that the soundboard is made of blood cardioc, another tree only found on Alph. This tells us at the very least that maker of this instrument had access to best materials grown on Venus and was willing to pay the cost. The workmanship tells us that he or she was a master."

Cap raised one eyebrow. "So, an expensive instrument? I only paid a handful of gold for it at a pawn shop."

Mahoon looked thoughtful. "A pawn shop? Interesting … I wonder. Well, as far as price goes, it would be at least moderately expensive. Now, to determine if it is really expensive we will have to see what, if any, enchantments have been placed upon it. That is, in addition to the obvious ones to protect it from the humidity and to keep it in tune."

Cap blinked. "Those are obvious?"

Mahoon shrugged again. "To an expert. Or someone who noticed that they only had to tune it once."

Cap mumbled something incoherent to the effect of course he had noticed … he just hadn't thought about it much.

Master Mahoon laid down the large piece of parchment on top of the glass case full of sweets, and carefully placed the crwth on top of it. He then busied himself for several minutes surrounding the instrument with arcane marks in blue chalk. Next, he placed the four golden candlesticks in a diamond around the instrument, and lit the scented beeswax candles they contained. Nodding in satisfaction, he bent down and withdrew a short staff, made of black wood bound with rings of gold, silver and copper, out from a hidden compartment under the sweets case. Raising the staff high, he shouted three, sudden, echoing words.

The crwth began to glow, then slowly rose into air until it hovered a foot above the parchment. Master Mahoon cried out another word, and suddenly blue glowing arcane symbols filled the air around the musical instrument. Nodded to himself in satisfaction, Mahoon spoke a different word, and green words in elvish were added to floating symbols. Smiling slightly now, Mahoon spoke a third word, and red draconic letters were added to the display surrounding the crwth. Mahoon and Cap studied the glowing letters for several minutes, until Mahoon nodded one more time and spoke a final word. The glowing symbols and letters blinked out, and the crwth lowered itself slowly back on to the parchment.

Cap looked at Master Mahoon expectantly. "Well, it's clearly magical -- I caught that much. I saw protective spells, some sort of spell-casting ability and something else, something strange and complicated. What did you see?"

Mahoon gave Cap a pleased look. "You have not entirely neglected your magical studies, I see. Yes, it has protective spells: in addition to the tuning and humidity protection, there is a spell against breakage. You could use it as a club without hurting it, I suspect. As for spellcasting, I will have to work out the details a bit more, but it looks to me like it is capable of converting some of your barding music ability into a casting of the Resonating Bolt sonic attack spell, which can be moderately useful. As for the third part . . ."

Master Mahoon paused thoughtfully. "The third part of the enchantment is unusual, and yes, complicated. I've only seen it a few times before in all my years. It is sometimes called a treasure compass. It's a way a leaving a guide to where someone hid something. With the right command action -- in this case the right song played on this crwth -- it will indicate a direction to, and the distance from, the hiding place."

Cap smiled. "Well, well, well, well! Now that is interesting. Do you know what the song is, and can you tell what it will lead to?"

Master Mahoon shrugged slightly. "I think we can determine the spell with some work and research. As for what it leads to, I have no idea and no real interest. That, my dear bard, is your business. Now, on to the interesting part! Let us begin our research."

To be continued ...