The next task is deciding what to do now. One possibility is helping a scatterbrained elf find some kind of bird in the jungle; Ritha is the only one willing to go, so nix that idea. Sine runs into a shady character who is peddling rare and possibly valuable maps. Someone hears about a far-off tower where everyone who travels there gets items of power (but at what price?). Then, Agace finds out about a blood-charm that lets people survive for a very long time under water, which is EXACTLY what he's been looking for all this time; he insists that they go to a place where he can get one of these charms. So the four adepts sign on as mercenaries to help protect a T'skrang ship from pirates.

Once the voyage is under way, the T'skrang crew want some entertainment, so they ask our heroes to tell some stories about their adventures. The Adepts immediately launch into a hilarious rendition of the Story So Far: Ritha sometimes tries to be all serious and dramatic but it never lasts long, everyone jumps in with random remarks, and the whole mess turns into an extended episode of Non-Sequitur Theatre. "The plain was totally flat." "Featureless, absolutely featureless." "Except for the giant hill right in the middle." "The horror reared up and screamed, sounding like a child being tortured." "Yeah, that's EXACTLY what it sounded like!" "And it was orange." "I have low light vision!" Even though the T'skrang crew doesn't believe a single word of it, they are marvellously entertained.

After travelling along the river for a while, the ship comes across a riverside town that seems to have been attacked. Our heroes and the crew get out to explore. They search through various buildings, collect some food, and manage to find a bit of cash. Someone investigates a dark root cellar. Someone finds a hidden box full of goodies containing various gems and a message written in elvish.

There are no bodies or skeletons in the village; however, there are signs of large numbers of people moving inland. Most likely, the inhabitants of the village were all captured and forced into slavery. Instead of investigating further, the Adepts get back on the ship and leave the slavers for another day.

A while later, the ship's lookout spots another ship approaching from behind; it seems to be a pirate ship. Latke flies off towards the pirate ship and tries to sneak into it, but her wings accidentally get wet, making her unable to fly. This is a big problem. She is forced to magically stick herself to the hull in order to keep from drowning, for hours on end. Everyone is worried when she shows no sign of returning.

Then, through a freak accident of chance, the pirate ship's engine explodes, utterly destroying the ship. Latke, still stuck to a piece of flotsam, is soon rescued. Everyone half-believes that she destroyed the pirate ship all by herself, and she doesn't disabuse them of this notion. The T'skrang are concerned that she might have gotten a good look at the workings of a ship's engine, a closely guarded T'skrang secret. However, after a while they are convinced that she doesn't actually know anything about their ships. Also, for the next few days, Latke wakes up magically stuck to her bed.

While sailing through a narrow canyon, rocks and fire are thrown down onto the ship. An eerie magical darkness descends. The ship is then boarded by collared slaves; from prior experience, Agace, Sine, and Latke know that these slaves will NEVER retreat, they will attack until they die.

Our heroes and many crew members stand belowdecks, behind a hatch that is being forced open by the slaves. Ritha realizes something, and shouts out, "Someone guard the other hatches!" Her charisma value is just high enough for some of the crewmembers to obey her -- and just in time, as it turns out. The GM is disappointed that he won't get to attack his players from behind.

There is a lot of attacking and a lot of dying, on both sides. Sine jumps over to the pirate ship in order to attack the wizard there, but she is swarmed by collared slaves, and dies. Agace follows her by Airdancing across the gap between the ships. He wreaks havoc on the pirate ship, shattering its steering wheel, and brings Sine's body back to be resurrected.

Even though the wizard and the pirates are eventually defeated, the T'skrang are not impressed at all with the four Adepts. The ship is badly damaged, and huge numbers of crewmembers, including the captain, are dead. (Not enough last-chance salve for everybody, it seems.) The first mate takes over; unfortunately, our heroes' employment deal was made with the now-deceased captain....

The ship eventually limps into port. Our heroes try to collect their promised pay; however, the new captain refuses to pay our heroes anything. A decision is made: from now on, whenever a deal is made, get it down in writing! The city they're in now is pretty neat. It consists of sixteen interconnected towers sitting in the middle of the water. Each tower has a particular specialty or commodity for sale, for example weapons, vegetables, or fish. One tower, the Adepts are happy to find out, is devoted to the selling of information; they buy some knowledge and are able to take their complaint about the captain to court. After a brief trial, the captain is forced to give our heroes their promised wages, as well as a share of whatever profits come from the sale of the cargo. Individual T'skrang might not be honest in their dealings, but T'skrang courts, it seems, are fair.

The group spends some time in the city, healing, buying stuff (Agace gets his water-breathing charm and is well pleased), and further upgrading their weapons. Finally they are called back to port; it turns out that the ship repairs actually cost more than the cargo sold for, so there is no profit, and the Adepts get no extra cash. Nuts.

Next: Search for a Smelly Guy
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© Megan Jones 2002. This story wouldn't be possible if not for my endlessly entertaining friends, and the Earthdawn RPG originally by FASA.