Chapter 11
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Jihlem paddled for over an hour before they finally reached the island of Mystera. It was still dark, and clouds covered the moon for the most part. But they finally reached the beaches. There was an old man holding up a torch, fate or blind dumb luck had brought them to Doc. It seemed that they were not the first refugees from Faerun he had helped in this matter.
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Doc: You people from Faerun?
Jihlem: Yes, refugees from the Harpers and their, conscription program. Captain Selkath helped us. Made sure we were safe from his crew.
Doc: Knowing him he also has some clandestine meeting at this time, wants as few witnesses as possible.
Jihlem: That might be part of it.
Doc: I have some food for you, and the baby should be checked out. Most of my patients have little or no money, they pay me in fish. I imagine a few would be willing to teach you how to fish.
Share: Thank you, we can't thank you enough for helping us.
Doc: That's what doctors are for.
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As Share and Jihlem ate and Doc looked over little Tifre to make sure she was okay, they all talked.
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Jihlem: Captain Selkath said that Orks and Trogolodites keep fighting over this island.
Doc: You might be asked to train with the local militia, they trust refugees more than Trogolodites. But if you stay neutral, just fish and sell them in the marketplace, you should be okay no matter which side controls it. I've lost count of how many times in my own life this island has changed hands, let alone how many times it's happenned in the 500 years since the great war. The fighting is ridiculous, you think I'm the only one of mixed heritage? Just about every Ork has some Trogolodite blood, and every Trogolodite has some Ork blood. But Orks still kill Trogolodites, Trogolodites still kill Orks. What it's really about, noone knows why anymore. I'd like to think I'll see a real period of peace, but at my age it's unlikely.
Share: How do you know Selkath?
Doc: I knew him when he was a cabin boy. Believe it or not, I was once a pirate. They captured our ship, and needing a doctor they forced me to join. See when a pirate is sick the captain has to do everything they can to save them. That's one way to keep the crew's loyalty. Selkath came from nothing, a place where they would publicly hang pickpockets every few days. It was suppossed to be a deterent, but there was such extreme poverty that while one pickpocket was being hanged, the others were working the crowd. For most of these pickpockets, the last thing they saw in this world was their friends commiting the same crime that was getting them hanged, and would probably get their friedns hanged before long. Selkath, like most of the crew, just decided that they had nothing to lose, might as well become a pirate and try to get rich. And there was one member of the crew, Mal, who was my friend. One pirate, a real bully, would get drunk and pick fights with others for no real reason. At some point this bully figured me better off killed, but Mal protected me, killed this bully in a duel. Then Mal told me something, something only the captain knew, Mal was actually a woman. Only the captain knew the truth, and now me too. We fell in love, treasured our watches together. But our love couldn't last, the law came for us. Because I had been forced into this, I was never charged, but they made me watch as the courts sentenced the other pirates to death. Only Selkath was spared because of his young age. They put him in a workhouse, and he became a full pirate when he matured. As for Mal, she just laughed. She said "It's good you hang pirates, else cowards would clutter the sea." But she had one last card to play, she revealed that she was with child, the fruit of our love. No court would condemn the unborn, however grave the crimes of the mother. So Mal was given a temporary reprieve. After the baby came, we planned to petition the judge for leniency, so that our child wouldn't have to grow up with no mother. But then the fever came, and no court could grant a reprieve from that. Mal died, and our baby was never born at all. At that point I returned here, by this point the Trogolodites were again in charge. They were willing to overlook my Ork heritage as long as I was saving lives. Similar to how the Orks no overlook my Trogolodite heritage. And that's my story. I have no more blood family, and I'm too old to fall in love again. I'll be your doctor for however long I have left. Perhaps the baby will see me as her grandfather, other refugees do. All things considered, not a bad life.