(G68 16/10/09 OR - Graham GM)
DAY 118 cont...
(Journal note : While I am on the Nixie I will also collect notes from what I hear
about the goings on onboard the Wyvern. These I hereby present below.)
Mathmos and Urol dissected the carrion crawler heads today as well.
Captain Amelia hunted out everyone that didn't look busy enough for her and said
'Right you scurvy dogs! We want to leave first thing in the morning. We'll have a good
tide and I don't want to miss it. I'm busy getting the barky shipshape and I can't
manage everything by meself. I've got Shlump putting up rigging, Nobby's boyfriend
going over the charts, Avner trying not to pee his pants up in the tops, Kelech
on sail making, Intingi helping Tare turning the spars.
Oi still have three jobs and three spare bodies so it works out real nice. The three
spare bodies being Shifty, Nobby and Mathmoss and the three jobs which I will now
describe to ye :
1. A complete inventory - we've used up a lot of stuff. I want one of ye's to go
over all the food, supplies, canvas and wood and tell me what we've got and what
we've not. Its no use crying that that's Lavina's job. She's not here and you are
and since that sissy druid has gone do you really think she wants to be here
counting the ships biscuits when she could be bumping anchor chains with him?
2. The crew roster - One of ye's sit down with a bit of paper and draw up a
day and a night crew. Ye know the rules, seven on each. A captain on each.
Make sure that them's that are on the crew know it too.
3. The prisoners - One of ye's better get 'em pirates out of the hold one way
or the other. Hang 'em, maroon 'em, bully 'em into the crew. I don't care, but
at the moment they are eating our food and drinking our grog and that's all
they are doing!
Get to it. We sail at dawn!'
Nobby went to talk to the prisoners while Mathmoss and Shifty palmed their jobs
onto Avner and Devilia respectively and spent their time going through the loot
and making plans.
Nobby had quite a long chat with Captain 'Crispy' Nicholas and came to an agreement
whereby he and the other pirates would work as crew in return for their lives
and possibly some loot.
In the evening, a funeral was held for Solomon, Wabenga and Tulu which I attended
as well as Meree, Shlump, Moss, Lirith and Nobby who did the service.
I noticed Moss and Lirith talking together.
During that time Shifty got some sleep, or tried to, the scream that he let out
when he woke from a nightmare carried clear across the water to the beach!
DAY 119
First thing in the morning Shlump was sent, with suitable magic spells on him,
down to the wreck of the 'Sea Bitch' to retrieve some treasure chests that Crispy
had told Nobby about in their negotiations.
During that time Shifty went over to the Nixie once more to talk to me and Monen.
I like Monen a lot, he is very bookish and dislikes violence and we have spent a lot
of time talking.
Anyway, he managed to identify the mark on Shifty's head as a 'Death Mark of the Fey'
although by the time Shifty got back to the Wyvern he had garbled it to a 'Death
Mark of Faith' and with that he thoroughly confused all the spell casters onboard!
In the evening, Moss and Shifty were skulking at the front of the ship, most likely
taking an unsanctioned break, when they spied a corpse bobbing in the water up ahead.
Shifty called to Crispy who was at the rudder, then with a hook and rope, grappled it
onto the deck.
Shifty found a rope attached to the body, but when he saw that the body was well
preserved, almost like a mummy, he panicked and kicked it over the side again.
As it went past the stern though, Crispy scooped it up once more.
Shifty pulled on the rope and reeled in a large wooden chest. The corpses pockets
were searched and revealed a letter and a key. The letter read,
'Dearest brother,
How I am wracked by this infernal chest! After our last correspondence I have decided to
send my servant with the wretched thing for you to deal with.
This puzzle chest of fathers will be the undoing of this family I am sure, we have spent
our entire fortune after all trying to get it open, so far without success.
As you know, there are five key holes to the chest. They key will fit any of them, but
only one is the correct hole. Turning the key in the key hole will open the chest and
reveal whatever it was that father had decided to hide within. The wrong hole however will
not only destroy the contents of the box, but also do something extremely nasty to the
unwitting key turner!
As I mentioned in the last letter I sent father left clues as to which key hole to put the
key in around the house and estate before he died and here within I enclose what I have
found.
The holes are labelled with the following numbers 10, 53, 97, 37 and 45.
The clues I have so far collected are :
1. The number of Henry's wives
2. The number of pennies in a shilling
3. The number of rings in a Wagnerian cycle
4. The number of webs built by Bruce's spider.
5. The number of corners on a brick.
But just because I have only found five clues does not necessarily mean I have found them
all. Five clues though, and five key holes? Perhaps that is a match?
I thought I had it one night and resolved to turn the key and although I had it in a hole
(I will not mention which one) my courage faltered and I gave up.
Perhaps you will have more courage or more means than I, dear brother. As for me I wash
my hands of the damned thing it has brought me nothing but misery.
My only hope is that you are able to open it and restore our families fortunes.
Good luck,
Your loving brother
Nathaniel'
As they poured over this mysterious message, there was a low, subsea 'Boooom...' and they
whole sea shuddered like a bowl of water tapped on its side. We heard this on the Nixie
as well but did not know what to make of it.
Panic ensued on the Wyvern however and Crispy managed to convince some of the more gullible
crew members that the Kraken was awake and that the best way to appease it was to throw
gold into the sea!
Moth, Shifty, Nobby and some of the others grudgingly threw a few handfuls of coppers into
the water.
The kraken seemingly appeased, they then spent the rest of the night puzzling out the riddle
in the letter and after a very long time plucked up the courage to turn the key in the
hole marked '37'.
This turned out to be the correct one and the much relieved crew retrieved the treasure
within. Someone also figured out that the puzzle chest itself was worth something.
DAY 120
First thing in the morning Nobby cast a detect evil spell on Shifty. He was about as
evil as she expected, she did not detect anything else.
He was cackling and laughing all the time though as he has done several times before
and this went on all day apparently much to the general annoyance of everyone else.
Again at dusk, several members of the crew noticed something strange happening on
a nearby atoll.
A man with black and white skin stumbled out of the tree line with a spear in his
chest and collapsed onto the beach.
Moth, Shlump and Lirith decided to take one of the row boats out to take a look.
As Shlump approached the man, he said with his last breath,
'The booty! It's all in the temple, but watch out for the...arrrrhrhhhhhggggggggg!'
Although still alive he died as soon as Shlump pulled the spear from his body.
They then went inland a little and found a chest in a ruined temple, but whatever
had happened hadn't left much treasure so they filled it up with coconuts and fruit
before returning to the ship.
We heard Amelia cursing at them all the way over in the Nixie as she saw Moth
and Shlump mucking about on the beach, hurling coconuts at each other!
DAY 121
Falah had a terrible nightmare through the night and woke everyone with her screaming.
In the morning Moth and Nobby persuaded Skald to meditate again and when he did
he saw a terrible visage and instantly leapt up out of his trance.
He was badly shaken and much weakened and it was a long time before he would speak
of anything at all.
While this was going on, Shifty had came across to the Nixie to ask me about
this mark on his forehead. Myself and Monen corrected his mistake about the name
and although we did not know how he could get rid of it, we assured him that
there surely must be some means of removing it.
If the bugger hadn't shot me in the leg with a ballista three weeks ago I'd
almost be feeling sorry for him about now!
