Verik was the first to arrive at the West Docks an hour after sunrise. Like he said, he managed to meet with a friend in Old Korvosa and arranged for the group to have a decent-sized rowboat that was large enough for six people. Verik had to row the boat by himself to a spot reserved by the West Docks but he didn't complain at his predicament.

Having to get the boat into position wasn't the worst part of yesterday as he briefly recalled being turned away by someone else before securing the boat. Verik figured that Meliya was busy with something and that he would have a chance to see her again soon.

The reason why Verik woke up early to get to the docks was so that he could prove to his new friends that he was on their side. He had made good progress in convincing Alexander and Viera but he felt that Griffin and Falenas still had their doubts about him. The archer understood that they knew him best as the man who abandoned his post but there was more to his history than that. Before doing what he could to feed the people of Korvosa during a time of crisis, he had ascended through the ranks of the Korvosan Guard. He had even abandoned Riddleport because he was tired of his father's criminal ways.

There were a few times Verik considered revealing to the group that deserting his post wasn't his idea but he didn't think it mattered at this point. Giving free meat to the citizens of Korvosa had already been enough to secure the Temple of Sarenrae's aid and he was going to do his best to show that the temple made the right choice.

When a few minutes passed by without the others showing up, Verik pulled his spear out and examined his weapon thoroughly. He always thought that he could better fight with a bow from a distance but he still needed a way to defend himself if someone got close to him. After his inspection, he decided that his spear was still in good condition and holstered it. With his longbow and chainmail armor back at Alexander's house, he was good as ever for fighting underwater.

The first to arrive after Verik were Viera and Ishani, who talked quietly to one another on their way to the docks. Much like Verik, the priestess decided not to wear heavy armor and instead wore plain common clothes even though her longsword was still in a sheath held behind her back. When the two approached Verik, he noticed that something about Viera's appearance was off. It took him only a few moments to realize that she applied foundation over her face. It seemed off to him that she was wearing make-up when it would be washed up by the water but he thought better than to bring it up.

"Good morning, Verik," Viera greeted.

"Morning, Vee, Ani," Verik said, pronouncing 'Ani' as 'ah-nee.' He liked coming up with nicknames for others, and seeing the smile on Ishani's face, figured that the priest had no problem with having one.

"Good work with finding us a boat," Viera said and looked over the rowboat. "It looks like it can hold all of us."

"That it will?" Verik nodded and looked at Ishani. "So, you can help us with your magic, right?"

"Indeed I can," Ishani answered. "I've prepared two spells of Water Breathing so that you'll have plenty of time to search the Jeggare River."

"Griffin said that he would try to help narrow down the search but I haven't had a chance to meet him since he said that," Viera turned back to face the two men. "I trust that he'll come through for us though."

"I'm sure he will," Verik said. "We'll have to wait to see if he shows up."

Verik stood off to the side, letting Viera and Ishani resume their conversation. When he realized that they were talking about their respective religions, he toned the conversation out of his mind. Instead, he turned to the Jeggare River and crossed his arms. The water was dark and muddy and it occurred to Verik that they didn't have a way to see through the water. He hoped that someone else in the group had an idea because he didn't like their odds of finding a ship without being able to see clearly.

A few minutes later, Viera gasped and Verik looked down the street that she was focused on. He wasn't too surprised that Griffin had come in his Indigo disguise. While he hadn't known the noble for long, he knew that he wanted to keep his direct actions in helping the group a secret. Griffin was clear that he would be joining the group in diving below the Jeggare River, and since Ishani didn't know his secrets, he had to assume his secret identity.

What did come as a surprise was that Takota walked alongside Griffin to the docks. Although it was revealed that he was on mission, it must not have taken him too long now that he was back. Of the group, Verik hadn't spent much time with Takota. The Shoanti didn't talk much when they first met and was gone afterwards. Verik figured that today was his best day to get on his good side, and after some thought, decided against coming up with a nickname. It was hard enough coming up with something that sounded good and Takota didn't seem to be the kind of man to appreciate having a nickname.

"Takota, you're back!" Viera exclaimed with a wide smile. "You didn't tell us you were on a mission and I was worried."

"It came as a surprise to me too," Takota admitted with a small smile. "I'll talk more about it later."

"That's a good idea," Griffin nodded. "We should get moving. The sooner we find the ship the better."

"I'm sorry but I don't believe we've properly met," Ishani said, gesturing towards Griffin. "My name is Ishani Dhatri and you are?"

"Indigo," the introduction was simple. "I stick to the shadows. Griffin sent me to bring Takota here along with information on where our plague ship sank. He also has lent me some gold to pay for your spellcasting services."

"Fortunately, no gold is needed," Ishani told Griffin, unaware of who he actually was under his scarf. "According to the teachings of Abadar, I can cast spells freely without cost when acting for the sole good of the city. The field marshal did agree that searching for this missing ship counts for an act that would benefit Korvosa as it means that she doesn't have to expend her own men to do so."

"I see," Griffin said, quieter than before.

"Verik and I should be the ones to row," Viera offered and stepped toward the rowboat. "Indigo, will you be able to guide us?"

"I will."

With Indigo and Ishani walking towards the rowboat, Verik looked off to the side at Takota. "It's good to have you back. Ready to go swimming?"

Takota nodded silently and Verik wasn't sure what to make of his lack of response. He figured that it was better to let the conversation end there than to try to force his new friend to talk and the two joined the others in the rowboat. With Verik grabbing one oar and Viera the other, the group set out from the docks and onto the Jeggare River.

Under Griffin's advice, Verik and Viera row northeast. After about ten minutes, the masked noble took a moment to look around his surroundings. With a satisfied nod, he gestures for Ishani. The priest stood up, placed his hands on the back of Verik and Viera's heads, and muttered a short prayer. Although Verik didn't feel any different, Ishani quickly moved to repeat the process with Griffin and Takota.

"You should be able to breathe underwater for five hours," Ishani informed the group. "That's more than enough time but I didn't want you to worry about drowning if something happened. I'll wait for you until everyone is back."

"Thank you, Ishani," Viera smiled and bowed her head.

"Does this spell let us talk underwater?" Griffin asked.

"It does but you still might struggle to talk with each other," Ishani answered. "Hearing each other is the problem since it's not likely anyone's used to listening underwater."

"Then we'll have to rely on other ways to communicate," Griffin said, looking at the surface of the river. "If only we prepared hand codes ahead of time."

"You don't need to learn codes when you can just point," Verik shrugged. "See you all down below."

Verik took the initiative and jumped off the rowboat, diving beneath the water with his spear in hand. Although he still didn't feel any different, when he took his first under the river, he didn't swallow any water. He was relieved that he wouldn't drown and felt the splashing of his friends. Even though the water was murky, a bright light started to shine. Verik saw that the light came from Viera's sword and could clearly see her alongside Griffin and Takota. With his worries about seeing underwater dispelled, he thought that they had a good chance of finding the ship.

It only took a few minutes for the group to discover the ship and it was obvious that the wrecked vessel was what they were looking for based on the burnt wood of the hull. The ship itself had broken into two pieces on a rock cropping with the bow on one side and the larger stern of the ship on the other. Verik looked at his companions to see that Griffin's mouth was moving as though he were talking but he didn't hear any words. Instead, he pointed towards the smaller part of the ship and the group swam towards it.

Given the way the ship broke apart, there was a large enough hole for the group to swim in. Before Verik swam into the ship, he took note of a faint writing against the hull, marking the ship as the Direption. With the group exploring the bow, they discovered that it was mainly covered in debris with little hints as to what happened.

When Griffin moved one crate out of the way to go deeper into the wrecked ship, he swam backwards when the sealife finally took notice. Verik's eyes went wide at the sight of dark brown eels with spiny faces. Griffin jabbed one with his rapier, and although his movements were awkward underwater, his blade struck one of the beasts down. Verik gripped his spear tightly and swam over to aid Griffin in battle. When he thrusted his spear outward, it impaled an eel completely through.

By the time Viera and Takota took notice of the fight, Verik had fended off two eels to keep them from biting him. Unfortunately, Griffin was not so fortunate with one eel biting him in the shoulder and the other across his thigh. The water around the noble was tinted with red but thankfully the eels didn't appear to be electric as some breeds were. A crossbow bolt sailed harmlessly through the water with Takota struggling to aim. Viera swam over to join Griffin, cutting the eel biting into his shoulder in half and giving her friend an opportunity to stab at the eel biting into his thigh. Verik impaled one last eel to his spear as Viera swam quickly to join him, cutting down the last eel.

With the eels defeated, Verik felt a little safer and pulled the two corpses off his spear. He didn't expect that too much of the sealife would make their home in the wreck of the Direption and believed that was the last problem they had to deal with. With the bow properly searched, Griffin pointed towards the remaining part of the ship. Fortunately, the trebuchets that destroyed the Direption gave easy access to the hold. Aside from Viera's longsword, the hold was dark aside from empty crates that floated around them. Griffin pointed towards a closed door in the hold that he and Viera swam towards.

Takota remained by Verik's side with his crossbow in both hands. Although Verik thought he would be best helping the others break through the door, he felt the hairs on his arm stick up as though he were in danger. He noticed something gray dash past his peripheral vision and turned his head to get a better look.

Verik's eyes went wide at the sight of the shark and that it was looking right his way.

With fear setting him, Verik grabbed Takota's shoulder with one hand to get him to notice the shark. The Shoanti wasted no time in defending himself when the shark darted rapidly towards them, firing his crossbow. Yet, the arrow was aimed too high and missed its mark as a look of annoyance flashed across Takota's face. Verik swam in front of Takota to at least shield him from the shark's path and held his spear pointed out towards the beast. He wished that he could brace himself but his feet couldn't find solid footing while floating in the water.

The shark opened its jaws wide, trying to bite into Verik, but he thrusted his spear deep into the beast before it could clamp its teeth down on the weapon. The momentum of the shark pushed him back into Takota but he looked in relief to see that the shark was no longer alive. He pushed his boot off the shark to pull his spear free; Takota reloaded his crossbow and looked around for other threats.

Verik's mistake was to think that he was safe again when the door that Griffin and Viera tried to open slammed open. Swimming into the hold was a vile woman with sea green skin and white hair coated with seaweed. She was dressed in dark rags and carried a spear. Verik recalled tales of sea hags that sailors from his home encountered and knew what it was he faced. He braced himself for a fight but felt an overwhelming sense of dread overcome him. When he tried to strike his spear at the hag, she swam around the attack, cackling.

Fortunately, Verik wasn't alone in his fight. Griffin swam from behind, and although the hag swam clear of his rapier jab, this put her into position to be struck by Viera's longsword. The priestess' attack was a glancing blow but it was enough to draw blood. She growled at the aasimar and stabbed her with the spear she carried, piercing through her shoulder. When the noble rushed forward to aid her, the hag swept her claws across his chest and Verik could see the look of pain in his eyes. Takota finally landed a crossbow shot on a foe with the bolt tearing into the hag's back but wasn't enough to kill her.

Seeing his new friends fight to protect him was enough to inspire Verik to push through the hag's dark spell and he jabbed his spear forward. His weapon impaled the sea hag who let out a scream loud enough that it could be heard underwater. She thrashed about wildly, still alive despite the severity of her injuries. Without waiting a moment, Viera swung her sword and the sea hag's head floated from the rest of her body, leaving a trail of dark blood.

Griffin pointed at Verik then at the sea hag's corpse. Realizing his intent, he thought about arguing but figured that someone needed to do the dirty work. With the others searching the remainder of the ship, Verik swam towards the corpse with a grimace. It was dark but he was close enough to the body that he didn't need to see too much. A quick search revealed that she didn't have anything on her except for a metal rod that was most likely a wand. With no clues in sight, Verik grabbed the spear the sea hag wielded. He noted that it was finely made and that the speartip resembled a shark. It would be a useful weapon to wield especially if it was magical.

When Verik was done examining the hag's spear, the rest of the group returned from deeper in the ship marked by Viera's glowing longsword. The priestess carried her weapon in one hand while using the other to hold up a corpse in dark robes alongside Takota. Behind them was Griffin who carried a footlocker in both hands. Verik swam to take over holding the corpse from Viera, allowing her to guide the way upward with the others swimming behind.

When Verik's head broke through the water, he took several deep breaths. Between the shark and the sea hag, he had enough time in the water and swam along with Takota to the rowboat, carrying the corpse along with them. Viera and Griffin beat them to the rowboat but were able to help drag the corpse onto the rowboat when they arrived. Verik and Takota pulled themselves onto the rowboat with the former dropping the sea hag's spear next to the footlocker.

Ishani was hard at work examining the corpse. Verik could tell that it was a man who they found even with his face having been a meal for the crabs and fish of the Jeggare River. He figured that the wound on his head was what killed him but thought best to leave it to the healer to decide. Ishani's eyes grew wide when he opened the corpse's mouth.

"This is a rather disturbing find," Ishani commented and grew pale. "I'm rather concerned that it appears as though his tongue was cut out."

"Cut out, as in, not eaten by some fish?" Griffin asked with Ishani silently nodding. "That is rather suspicious."

"What about that injury?" Verik pointed out. "Did that kill him?"

"Yes and no," Ishani started to explain. "The wound isn't too deep. Blunt trauma isn't the cause of death. However, I believe that he was knocked out instead. The body's somewhat decomposed but I think that he drowned when Korvosa sank his ship."

"Any signs that he had any symptoms for blood veil?" Griffin questioned.

"He wasn't in the best of health even while alive but his face doesn't have any signs of sores," Ishani explained and shook his head. "I don't think he had blood veil."

"We should focus on the other clues we found," Griffin said. "What did everyone else find?"

"The ship is called the Direption," Verik revealed to the group. "Anyone heard about it before?"

Griffin shook his head. "Not of the name but I recognize the model of the ship. "It's a Nidalese merchant ship. It doesn't tell us much but it's a clue nonetheless."

"There were no supplies on the ship," Takota told the group and crossed his arms. "The crates were empty as if there was nothing in them anyways."

"And this was the only corpse we found," Griffin noted. "No crew and no food. Something doesn't make sense."

"Tell me about it," Verik nodded in agreement. "Why would a sea hag stick around a wreck so close to the city?"

Ishani gasped. "This isn't good at all. This… this is terrible!"

"Is it?" Verik asked, confused to see Ishani holding a silver necklace from the corpse's neck that resembled a skeletal fly. "It's disturbing but it's just a chunk of silver."

"This is the symbol of Urgathoa, goddess of diseases and the undead," Ishani answered, his hand shaking. "No one would wear something like this without realizing what it meant."

"So he must have worshiped Urgathoa," Griffin speculated.

"Viera, what's on your face?" Takota asked.

Takota's question had Verik realize that Viera had been silent throughout the conversation. Even Takota managed to speak more than her. When Verik turned to face her, it became apparent that she was silent in an attempt to hide herself in plain sight.

Viera's makeup had been washed up by the water and everyone could see the red sores on her face.

A/N: Honestly, I was worried that I wouldn't get this chapter uploaded before Saturday was over. Fortunately, my schedule changed a lot during the first part of the weekend but still left me with time to finish another chapter.

With this chapter, we're at 41,000 words (just shy of 42,000). Looking over my notes, I think the next three chapters should be enough to get me to 50,000 words, and with Thanksgiving and work behind me, I have nothing but time to write now.

Until next time.