By the time they had finished the contracts it was still early afternoon, so the family split up. Kolur went to rent a horse and wagon while Jia and the children went back to the inn to pack up their belongings.
Once Kolur came back they loaded the wagon and drove to the warehouse where the remainder of their belongings had been stored. Two hours later they were back at the refit yard. As before the Sergeant-Major escorted them to the ship. Kolur drove to the stern while Jia made her way to the bow.
She climbed the stairs and rang the ship's bell three times, paused, and rang it three more times, then waited patiently. A couple of minutes later saw the Archmage climbing the stairs.
"Ah, my lady! Well met. I assume you're done retrieving your possessions?" he asked, beaming.
"We are," the woman replied, nodding. "Kolur and the children are waiting at the stern to transfer them aboard."
"Excellent!" the elf replied. "Come with me and I'll lower the ramp to let you move your belongings in more easily."
They descended to the lower cargo deck. She watched as the elf peered through a small window at the very stern of the hold. Satisfied by what he saw he untied a rope from its cleat, and then with quick sure movements wound it around a winch, triggering it by covering a glowing arrow with a finger.
Smoothly a section of the wall began to lower until the top of the ramp touched the ground.
"Sea angels don't have a rear ramp," Jia commented, "to prevent accidental flooding. I can see how useful it will be, however."
"Oh yes," the elf chuckled. "Just as useful as her folding derricks for loading and unloading the aft hold."
"Dove used removable flooring to reach the lower hold directly underneath the cargo doors," Jia replied as they walked down the ramp. "You can imagine how much fun it was to load and unload livestock."
The elf chuckled. "I can indeed. This is why I prefer cargo barges, much less messy! Hello, Kolur, children."
"Archmage," Kolur nodded.
"Please, we're all shipmates now, and will be for years," the elf protested, "just call me Doven, that's what my previous crew did."
Kolur shrugged.
"Well enough. Give us a couple of hours to settle in and we'll be ready to start familiarizing ourselves with the ship."
"No hurry," the elf demurred, "but if I could borrow Jia I'd like to take a look at your tracking device. If it's as useful as I think it's going to be I'll arrange payment immediately."
"Of course," Jia replied graciously.
ooOoo
The Snoop, as Eleniel called it, sat innocently on the petty helm console, in a bare space next to the same kind of compass the Dove used.
The four stones sat next to it, their lanyards drooping off the console's edge.
"Until you put the stone next to your skin it doesn't register," Jia explained, picking up a stone. Immediately a yellow spark appeared in the center of the glass globe.
"Each stone shows up as a different color," she continued. "If you touch the glass and concentrate, you can make the globe show either more or less area. For example, this is the least area the globe can show, about ten feet across."
The numbers on the graduated marks changed as she concentrated, changing to show 1 thru 10 with feet following the numbers.
"And here's the most it will show," she said as the numbers rapidly changed, ranging from 1/10 to 1 mile."
"Fascinating. What happens when you show the minimum area but the stone moves beyond it?" the elf asked, peering at the glass, touching it. As he concentrated the numbers changed back to the ten foot range.
"Watch," Jia said as she moved to the far side of the bridge. The spark in the glass moved in concert with her motion until it settled beyond the 10 foot mark and began to flash slowly.
"Of course once the stone moves beyond the one mile mark," she explained, "it changes to an empty circle where the stone left its range and stays there. It stops tracking the stone after that. Once the stone comes within a mile again the spark turns back to normal and is tracked again."
"What happens if the person carrying the stone removes it?" the elf asked, eyes narrowed in thought.
"The spark disappears," Jia replied.
"So, should someone be captured, for example, and the stone taken from them the tracker loses them?"
"Yes," Jia said, nodding. "Unfortunately, no device is perfect."
"This is true," the elf nodded. "Would it work under armor, for example?"
"As long as the armor was less than an inch thick," Jia replied. "Assuming metal, of course."
"What about glassteel?" he asked.
"I honestly do not know," she replied. "Does glassteel count as metal?"
"Not usually," he said. "But magic sometimes has strange rules. I'll have to test it. Still, this device could be invaluable. Are you certain you wish to sell it?"
Jia shrugged. "It would do us no good sitting in the hold. Selling it to you profits everyone."
"Very well." He wrote a note. "Tarsa! I need you to run an errand for me," the elf spoke loudly.
A soft meow sounded as the winged cat appeared.
"Please take this to the Sergeant-Major," he instructed the cat as he folded the paper and handed it over. The cat grabbed it with both front paws and flew out the open bridge door. Jia's eyes followed it and she sighed.
"I imagine having a familiar is very useful," she noted.
"Absolutely," the elf agreed. "Every wizard should have one. You said you can cast wizard rituals, didn't you?"
"Yes," Jia nodded. "In fact I have that particular ritual but I never cast it."
"Why ever not?" Umbardoven asked curiously.
"Before we bought Dove our lives were terribly unsafe. I didn't want to endanger a living creature merely to use it for my own ends. You must admit a familiar is no match for many of the creatures adventurers face. Afterward, well, I never felt the need. Unseen servant sufficed for the tasks I needed done."
Umbardoven stared at her, clearly bewildered.
"Um…" he began, and then paused.
"Yes?" Jia asked, tilting her head.
"How did you acquire the ritual?" he finally asked.
"We found an abandoned wizard's lair," she explained. "He must have died on an adventure several years before. The dust was thick over everything. I traded his spell book to a wizard I trusted in exchange for a pair of rituals he knew. Why?"
"So he gave you just the ritual? Nothing else? There were no notes included?"
"No, nothing except the steps of the ritual," Jia confirmed. "I take it there should have been? Warnings, perhaps?"
"Well, yes," the elf admitted reluctantly. "To start with, a familiar is not a living creature. It is a spirit. In your case I suspect it would be a celestial, given your connection with that realm."
"So Tarsa isn't an animal? What is he?" Jia asked.
"A fey spirit," the elf replied, "in the shape of a tressym—a type of magical flying cat native to the continent of Faerûn on Toril."
"A fey spirit? How does such a nature spirit endure the Flow?" Jia asked, surprised.
"He tends to curl up under a skylight and watch the interplay of colors," the elf confided. "Personally, I think it's his version of catnip. He stares for hours with half-lidded eyes."
"I noticed he stays invisible most of the time. Tressym are able to turn invisible?" Jia asked. "That sounds like the gods' gift to mischief."
The elf chuckled. "Not normally, no. Tarsa learned how to dismiss and summon himself at will. I have no idea how he does that, to be honest. When I ask he just looks smug and refuses to answer."
"Typical cat," Jia observed, smiling.
"Very much so. If you like I can loan you the treatise on familiars I wrote in preparation for summoning Tarsa."
Jia's eyes widened. "I would like that very much, please!"
"Come this way," he invited her. She followed him into what on the Dove would have been their quarters. Here it was obviously his quarters, but richly and tastefully decorated in elven style, just like the rest of his ship.
Leading her further forward, through another door their quarters hadn't had, revealed a small room with a chair in front of an odd tube with a half globe on its end, mounted in a gimbaled framework. Another tube snaked around the chamber, ending just above the half-globe. There was a large clear window in front of the weird assembly that Jia was sure hadn't been visible from the outside.
Yet another magical wonder this ship possessed.
Seeing her interest, he said "This is the accelerator. Be extremely careful not to put anything you want to keep in the bowl. It will shoot out the barrel at extreme speed. You could easily lose a hand if you were careless."
Jia swallowed.
"I will warn the others," she assured him quickly.
Nodding he opened a door to the left of the weird contraption, a door, Jia felt, that should have led into open air as they were in the very bow of the ship. Instead, it revealed a large room filled with shelves.
"Yes," he said, noting her surprise, "another extra-dimensional hold. Not available in the Flow, but tremendously useful in Wildspace. Let me see, where did I shelve that? Ah, here we are."
He pulled down a slender leather-bound volume and handed it to her. She eagerly opened it, only to stiffen with disappointment as she discovered it was written in elven script.
"I'm sorry," she said, shaking her head. "While I speak some Elven, I can't read this."
"Use comprehend languages," he suggested. "You have that ritual, right?"
"I have the tongues spell," she disagreed, "but not the comprehend languages ritual."
"Oh, well now that just won't do," he tut-tutted, turning back to the shelves running his eyes up and down. "Aha! Useful Rituals for Non-Wizards by Agron the Old." He handed her a much thicker book with beige covers and the title in bland but legible lettering.
"I'll warn you now he's a dreadful bore," the elf confided. "The style is as dry as desert sand, but at least he lays things out in detail. Excruciating detail, but you'll definitely have no trouble following the instructions. Feel free to copy whichever rituals you like, by the way."
"Truly?" she asked incredulously. "That is amazingly generous of you! Most wizards would never do this. They hoard their knowledge like a dragon hoards their gold."
The elf's normally cheerful face turned solemn.
"As you said when selling me the tracker," he replied quietly, "these rituals do no one any good sitting on a shelf. We are shipmates, my lady. Sharing these rituals isn't generous; it's enhancing the ship's capabilities. Who knows when comprehend languages might save us all? Or one of the other rituals? The more you know, the safer we all are. Do you see?"
"I do," Jia said, nodding. "I'm just surprised a wizard thinks that way. No offense."
The elf's solemn expression turned merry.
"None taken. I am a sage and a researcher before all else, my lady. Wizardry simply allows me to satisfy my never-ending curiosity. Spreading knowledge to those I trust allows me to live longer so I can keep satisfying my curiosity."
Just then the ship's bell rang three times, followed by a pause and three more peals.
"Ah, that must be the good Sergeant-Major," he said in satisfaction. "Shall we?"
ooOoo
On deck the golden-skinned giff was indeed waiting, along with two more grey-skinned giff.
"Good morning, Archmage," the giff said, saluting. "Reporting as ordered. What may we do for you?"
"I need you to escort Jia and myself to the Mercantile Depository," the elf said. "We will be transferring a large quantity of gold—or rather platinum—back to the ship. Unless," he turned to Jia, "you would prefer an Arcane Letter of Credit?"
"I would prefer coin," she demurred. "Letters of Credit are too easily lost to mishaps."
"As you wish," the elf nodded. "Sergeant-Major?"
"Yes, sir!" The giff saluted again and the group set out.
ooOoo
The Depository was, like all things related to the port, not far from the refit yard so it only took about fifteen minutes to reach the fortified stone building. Jia had never been to Ansbury before, but most towns had Depositories of greater or lesser stature. Most small settlements combined the Depository with the chandlery; it was usually just a sturdy room with reinforced door.
Ansbury, being a major town, housed the Depository in a purpose-built almost castle, complete with heavily armed guards patrolling the battlements.
The part of Jia that had been an adventurer automatically cataloged the building's defenses; glad she wouldn't have to attack it. It was formidable, in that you don't even want to think about it kind of way.
Once through the open doors—which she noted had a short tunnel and second set of open doors, the next room was large with a back wall of barred windows, behind which several uniformed people of different species waited on customers. She noted the customers included elves, dwarves, halflings and humans mingling freely.
After a short wait in the queue a young human woman motioned them forward.
"How can I help you today?" she asked with a bright chipper smile.
"I'd like to see Kryll'Zith'Kril, please," Umbardoven said pleasantly, not stumbling over the pair of clicking noises embedded in the name.
"Certainly, sir," she said, nodding. "If you'd care to have a seat I'll inform him immediately."
"Thank you," the elf said, nodded his head.
He and Jia had barely taken a seat, the three giff mercenaries remaining standing when an insect-centaur came out of a side door.
"A pleasure to see you, Archmage. What can I do for you today?" the rastipede spoke in unaccented common.
"I want to make a withdrawal," the elf replied in a low voice.
"Certainly. Please come this way," the insect gestured with one arm, and led them back to the door he'd come through.
After a short corridor he turned left and they walked past several doors, coming at last to a door with a brass plaque reading Depository Manager.
The manager ushered them in and offered Jia and the elf seats in upholstered chairs and moved behind his desk.
"How large a withdrawal and in what coinage?" he asked, voice turning professional.
"One thousand platinum pieces," the elf replied promptly. The rastipede tilted his head.
"That is a considerable amount," he noted, posture indicating surprise. "Normally we would issue a Letter of Credit for such a large sum. May I ask why you require it in coin?"
"I prefer coin," Jia said coolly, watching the rastipede with a neutral expression. "It travels well."
"If you are concerned about being able to redeem it at your destination rest assured it is backed by the Arcane trading cartel," the rastipede was quick to assure her. "It can be redeemed anywhere across the Known Spheres."
"I still prefer coin," she insisted.
"Archmage?" the rastipede inquired.
"Yes, one thousand platinum, in coin," the elf nodded.
"Very well, it will take some time to prepare," the rastipede said. "How do you wish it packaged?"
"One chest," he decided.
"As you wish," the rastipede nodded. "Give us half an hour."
ooOoo
After being shown back to the main chamber they spent the time in idle conversation where Jia asked which spheres Doven had discovered. He talked about several, including one bizarre sphere where the only planet was a gigantic cube circled by a small sun.
"The cube was thousands of miles across," he chuckled. "Gravity swung at right angles when you moved from one face to another. Nearly caused us to crash the first time it happened."
"Didn't your ship just keep going straight up?" Jia asked in surprise.
"We were running the petty helm," he explained. "It didn't have enough power to gracefully handle the abrupt change. It acted as if a large ship crossed our gravity plane at right angles. I don't think it would have mattered had we been running the major helm, come to think of it."
"That could not have been pleasant," Jia noted. "In training we had to do that, as both the smaller ship and the larger. It is not pleasant to be the smaller ship."
Just then the manager returned, accompanied by a pair of human guards, one carrying a small chest.
"Your coin, madam," the manager said, politely. One of the grey skinned giff stepped forward and accepted the chest.
"A pleasure seeing you again, Kryll'Zith'Kril. Alas, it may be some years before we meet again."
"I had heard you were finished with your refit, Archmage," the insect nodded his head. "I wish you a safe and profitable voyage."
"May your vault overflow," the elf replied, bowing.
With that the party returned to the Pterolycus.
ooOoo
The Pterolycus proved to have yet another trick up its sleeve. The elf showed Jia a secret compartment built into the bed in their quarters which acted as a safe. He explained his previous captain had used this cabin and kept his own valuables there. Jia thanked him and stowed the heavy chest before heading to the upper deck where Kolur and the children were examining the rigging.
ooOoo
"All done?" Kolur asked his wife cheerfully, giving her a quick kiss. "Jia, you have got to check this out." He led her over to the main sheet, handing her the end.
"This is silk," she said, surprised.
"I know! All the rigging, both standing and running, is. Wonder how it handles wear and tear, though?"
"Doven said the rigging regenerates," Jia reminded her husband. "That would eliminate chaffing and abrasion issues."
"Huh. You're right," Kolur looked at the sheet pensively. "Isn't silk like twice as strong and half the weight?"
"Not to mention more comfortable to handle than hemp," she agreed. "The children will be pleased. Any other surprises?"
"Pretty standard layout," Kolur shook his head. "Everything is unbelievably high quality, though. I could definitely get used to this."
"I suspect you'll have plenty of time," Jia said dryly. "It's very possible this will be the last ship we ever fly, given what the Archmage has said."
"Let's hope it's a long voyage, then," Kolur laughed.
"Have you noticed the ship's spirit yet?" Jia asked.
"Hmm. Now that you mention it, I've gotten the impression of being watched," Kolur replied. "But the longer I poke around the more it feels like reserving judgment."
"I think it's waiting for us to prove ourselves," Jia said quietly. She laid one hand on the rail and tried to project feelings of warm affection. "It will probably take several weeks before the ship fully accepts us," she warned her husband.
"Never served on a living ship before," Kolur said ruefully. "Hope we measure up."
"Accept her," Jia advised. "We both know our family has the skills needed to fly her well. We brought Dove home, my husband, though she was mortally wounded. This ship can heal herself, given time."
"Yeah, hope the yard can repair Dove and let her fly again," Kolur said wistfully. "Be nice to think she's still flying while we're out on the Rainbow Ocean. She deserves that."
"She does, and I am sure the yard plans to repair her. If they do they can make a tidy profit, she's fully equipped and ready to fly once the wing is replaced."
"Hope you're right," he said somberly.
ooOoo
Supper that night was onboard the ship, prepared by the Archmage with Jia's assistance. She was surprised by the elvish dishes and the preparation techniques. Her time onboard the Swallowtail had seen the crew eating lots of salads, true, but it was a naval vessel, elven or not, so the food tended toward the easily preserved and long-lasting. Or garden-grown.
Not so, tonight. The elf created no less than ten different dishes, although each dish was a smaller portion than she would have prepared for their own meal.
"This is a traditional elven feast," he explained giving her a handful of leeks to dice. "In such a feast we prepare one or two dishes per diner. Each diner will sample from each of the dishes as they prefer, but usually only a very small portion so that everyone can try it. Given the number of dishes no one will go hungry."
He grinned at her.
"Rest assured I'm quite used to meals intended to satisfy multiple species at the same time. My previous crew was a mix of halflings, dwarves, elves, humans and giff, really an eclectic bunch. I made sure to stock up on cookbooks for each species. A hundred years lets you create a marvelous culinary library.
"But to return to topic, an elven feast features a number of beverages as well as an array of cuisine. We will have a half-dozen slakes and teas to share with the children as well as a light wine to act as a palette cleanser for the adults. And, of course, a bottle of Elverquisst from my private collection. Have you ever tasted it?"
"No," Jia replied, "but I have heard of it. I look forward to trying it."
A half dozen hard boiled eggs sliced in half settled in front of the elf, seemingly of their own accord, the egg yolks clearly having been scooped out and combined with spices, then the creamy concoction placed back in the egg halves.
"This is a recipe given to me by Brugnael, the previous captain. Dwarven recipes are quite strongly flavored, with spices that tend toward the fiery. He called these Baator Eggs. I must admit to having grown quite addicted to them."
"I assume they're safe for humans to consume?" Jia asked, looking doubtfully at the bright red specks throughout the yellow yolks.
"Oh yes. Although I find ice-grape slake is helpful to sooth one's tongue after eating one."
He paused.
"And perhaps switching to a helping of salad with creamy dressing afterward is likewise prudent."
"I will keep your advice in mind," Jia said mildly.
ooOoo
The dinner was quite a hit with the children who had never tried elven cuisine. Kolur had once attended an elven feast on Losnuir in the Belemir belt and so was familiar with the style if not the individual dishes.
In spite of her warning, Balasi insisted on trying a Baator Egg, his face turning instantly bright red, his eyes watering. Doven quickly filled his glass with ice-grape slake, which seemed to help—a little. Eleniel, seeing this, decided against trying one.
Kolur ate one with every indication of pleasure, and indeed took a second one. Jia cautiously nibbled hers, having filled her glass with ice-grape first. The burn reminded her of some of the more exotic dishes from her home, but she mixed bites of her salad in between small nips of the egg.
"Kolur, would you like another?" he offered.
"No thanks, I'm good. I liked them but any more and I'll probably get heartburn tonight," he demurred.
"Eleniel?" he offered.
She shook her head violently. "No thank you! I'm not the doofus," she glared at her brother, "who insisted on eating something Mama warned him would burn his mouth."
"Eleniel," Jia scolded her daughter mildly, her eyes sparking in an otherwise neutral expression.
Doven laughed and promptly put four of the eggs on his plate.
"Baator eggs are an acquired taste," he said to the girl. "I'm quite obsessed with them myself. But they are a bit fierce to the uninitiated."
Eleniel's eyes widened in disbelief as he calmly ate all four, one after another, and then ate the rest of his salad with no sign of discomfort.
"How did you do that?" she asked in disbelief.
"Oh, I'm a total lightweight, young one. Brugnael would eat a dozen of these in a single sitting."
"How?" Balasi gasped. "My mouth is still on fire!"
"Dwarf," Doven shrugged. "He always grumbled about how bland they were when I made them."
Jia raised an eyebrow. "Did he ever make them?"
"Oh yes," the elf chuckled. "After the first time the crew let him keep them for himself whenever he did. They'd eat my eggs, but never his. Of course I never ate his, either!"
Everyone burst out laughing.
"Now, my shipmates, I'd like to end our feast with a tradition dating back to the maiden launch of the Pterolycus."
He snapped his fingers and a single peal of the ship's bell rang out. A slender elegant crystal bottle half full of a deep ruby liquid with small golden flecks scattered through it drifted into the room and settled in front of the elf. A large crystal goblet settled next to the bottle.
He reverently lifted the bottle, displaying it to everyone at the table.
"Nanhalya phan tiniath," he chanted.
Jia tilted her head, her grasp of Elvish just barely sufficient to translate. Reveal the white star grouping? she thought.
The sparkles reflected from the overhead light shifted, resolving into thirteen tiny stars, rays of brilliance twinkling from each star in the miniature constellation.
"Oooh, pretty," Eleniel cooed.
Solemnly, Doven nodded to the girl. He withdrew the stopper from the bottle and carefully poured some wine into the goblet. Restoppering the bottle he reverently set it aside. Picking up the goblet he bowed his head and gently swirled the contents. He then handed the goblet to Kolur, who took it carefully.
"Take a small mouthful of wine and hold it until everyone has sipped. Pass the goblet to the next person, including the children," Doven said quietly.
Once everyone had sipped and Eleniel had passed the goblet back to him, he drained the goblet's last sip, raising the goblet high above his head, and then set it on the table. Savoring the taste for a moment, he swallowed, motioning to the others to do likewise.
Speaking in a slow deep voice he said, "Correlion, gwaltha elenciryalma, gwaltha mentiëlma iquirya."
Correlion, bless our ship, bless our voyage, this we pray, Jia translated.
"The wine we have shared is Elverquisst; it is, in fact, the same wine every crew member who launched on this ship's voyages has shared, from the very same bottle. By sharing it you are joining the legacy of Pterolycus, a century long quest to discover ancient truths, to uncover that which has been lost to time, to map the Spheres of the Phlogiston. I welcome you to our home, I welcome you as shipmates. I welcome you," he paused, "as fellow travelers on the greatest road it is possible for mortal life to tread."
He bowed low to each of them.
"I am honored you have chosen to join me."
"Um, wow," Kolur said finally. "I really don't know what to say to that."
"Delya yóm," Jia said firmly. ""Delya yóm, Delya yóm."
"Thrice spoken, once sworn," the elf nodded with formal weight.
"What did that mean, Jia?" Kolur asked warily.
"We walk the road together," she replied serenely. "It is done."
"It is done," Doven agreed. "I suggest we all get a good night's sleep and depart for Adderfield in the morning."
"I will help you clean up the galley," Jia said, rising.
"No need," he said with a smile. "The unseen servants will attend to it."
"Servants?" she asked curiously. "Plural?"
"Another spell I created," he said modestly. "Unseen staff, 7th level. Creates five unseen servants that can't leave the domicile where the spell is cast but have 24-hour duration and strength of 9. Can't fight but amazingly flexible otherwise."
"I am amazed you created such a high-level spell just to do housework," Jia said after regaining her composure.
The elf grinned. "Housework was cutting into my research time," he winked. I'm surprised more wizards don't come up with it. At any rate, good night and sleep well."
The family bid him goodnight and returned to their quarters in the lower hold.