by Allan Joyal
“Well, didn’t the legends say that the Empire had managed to give everyone a common language? If her people once spoke the same language, its possible we still have words in common,” Ushcail said.
“Wow,” Panalope said. “But why try to learn if she has a friend who can cast a spell to allow her to speak to us.”
“Spell wears off,” Lenoir said with a shrug.
Ushcail smiled. “Well, I’m glad you felt safe enough to come along. Hopefully…”
“I can see the stone slab,” Jessop called out.
“How has the fishing been?” I asked.
“We only caught a couple,” Jessop said. “The current has us moving quickly.”
“It will still be a nice gift,” Ushcail said. “Let’s get the rods put away and get back on the sails. We need to turn upriver.”
“I’ll take the bow ropes,” I called out.
I pushed off from the railing and ran past Panalope. The bow lines for the fore sail were slack in the light wind. I quickly untied them and then ducked under the sail as I crossed to the starboard side.
“You’re early!” Culax shouted angrily.
“No,” Jessop called. “We need to start turning now. The current will push us past the mouth of the river if we don’t start cutting across the current. I’m starting the turn now.”
Gypsy tilted alarmingly to starboard. A wave slammed into me. I threw my arm around the railng and held on as the sails fluttered.
When the ship started to roll back to the left I heard the sail snap. The line I had brought over was lashing around the deck. I dove for it, and grabbed it.
The sail snapped again. The rope ripped at my hand. I held on and leaned away from the sail. Lucis ran over and grabbed the rope.
“You could have lost a hand,” he growled.
“I’m fine,” I replied as I dragged the rope over to the railing and started to secure it.
Lucis helped me finish tying the sail down and then grabbed my hands. He examined them carefully. A frown covered his face. I looked down and could see angry lines crossing my palms.
“You’re lucky,” he said. “I’ve seen men lose hands to a rope that was flopping around like that.”
“What about Gypsy? Are we on the right heading?” I asked.
“The wind has shifted to be coming out of the north. Without the current we would not have been moving,” Jessop said. “We’re making good progress up the river. I just have to be careful on the turn to shore. The wind is going to want to push us onto the riverbank.”
“I see a couple people standing on the dock,” Panalope called out. “Lenoir is waving to them, so it looks like there is no problem.”
I looked over at the dock. I recognized Shaylin and Yveney. They were accompanied by a woman with long blond hair. She seemed to be asking Yveney a question as we moved past the dock.
"Who's that?" Panalope asked.
"Heather," Lenoir said.
The blonde looked up and waved to Lenoir. She then turned away and walked up the dock.
"I want her," Culax muttered.
"No bothering the ladies," Ushcail called. "Jessop, are we ready to turn?"
"I want a few more boat lengths," Jessop replied. "The current isn't fast, but its going to push us as we turn. I'd like to be sure we don't end up missing the dock at the end of the turn."
I left the railing, one again ducking under the foresail. "Should I bring the foresail in?" I asked.
"Go ahead," Jessop called back. "We shouldn't need it while heading down river, and we're about to start the turn."
"Tie off on the port side?" I asked.
"Yes," Ushcail replied for Jessop as the ship started to lean to starboard.
I slid a little as I reached out to grab the rope. The change of direction had taken a lot of the tension off the sail and I was able to untie the ropes. I held them and waited for the ship to right itself before ducking across the bow to resecure the sail. This time I secured it so only a thin strip of sail was visible.
"Good job!" Jessop shouted. "Now get some ropes ready. We'll have to secure Gypsy to the dock before the current pulls us away."
"Won't the current just pull the dock from the shore?' Panalope asked worriedly. "It doesn't look that strong."
"We'll definitely want to make a better dock someday," Jessop said. "But it should hold. Culax, Hadlor, be ready to bring the mainsail down. We won't want it catching a breeze."
"On it," Hadlor said.
I had to duck back over to the starboard side. Gypsy was approaching the dock and I could now see two large men waiting at the end. They had their hands out as if they expected us to throw ropes.
Panalope surprised me by thrusting a rope into my hands. "It's already tied off on this end."
I nodded. The rope was coiled several times. Rather than find the end I heaved the entire rope towards the dock.
The larger of the two men deftly caught the rope. He quickly looped it around his waist. With giant steps he walked backwards. Gypsy slowed down and for a moment threatened to turn toward the dock. The other man ran to the edge and reached out to snatch a line from Lucis.
He quickly retreated, pulling on the line as the two men approached a large log that appeared to be standing on its end. Both men carefully looped the ropes we had thrown them around the log several times. When they were sure the knots they had created would hold, they stepped away.
"Remember to duck under the rope," Jessop said. "That's a sloppy tie off but it will be another thing we have to fix over time."
"Shall we go and meet them?" I called out to Ushcail.
Ushcail just pointed at Lenoir. The woman had stepped from Gypsy and was standing at the end of the dock. She shouted something I could not understand.
"That sounds nothing like our language," Panalope muttered.
"I don't understand it either, but who knows what magic is involved," Ushcail said as Lenoir turned to wave to us. The woman ducked under the bow line that had been so inexpertly tied off and ran up the dock to shore.
"I guess we follow," I said as I jumped from Gypsy's deck. I stumbled a bit on the surface of the dock. Once I had my footing I ducked under the same bow line Lenoir had dodged and headed towards the shore.
Chapter 28: A Trade in Promises
Lenoir had vanished from my sight before I made my way past the strange log post. I could see Shaylin standing on the shore. The gem mounted on the strange staff she carried was glowing with a pale purple light as she watched me approach.
The light caused me to pause just before I stepped onto the shore.
"Don't worry," Yveney said, as she walked up to join us. "She's trying to slowly build up some power so she can get the translation spell to last a bit longer."
"She cast it on you?" I asked.
"And Ron," Yveney said. "Lenoir and a couple others might try to listen in, but none of us use any of the languages that descended from the old Imperial Common Tongue."
"From what?" I asked.
"Jeff came up with the name. He was talking to some of the dwarves we trade with about the language used by the Empire. He later explained that the dwarves claimed that there was a time that all citizens of the Empire spoke the same language. I doubted it, but Ron and Lydia have both said that it is possible," Yveney said. "Anyway we are sure that the lands we came from used a variant from the original Imperial. Its not what we use now."
"Why not?" Panalope asked. She put a hand on my shoulder. "Ushcail is having the men retie the ropes. He wants it to be easier to load Gypsy."
Yveney turned. "Henck!" she shouted. The rest of what she said made no sense to me, but the large man who had caught the rope I threw immediately ran over and stepped onto the dock.
"He'll help, its his fault for not asking for directions," Yveney said with a smirk.
I watched as the man strode over to the ropes. He quickly untied the bow line and then looked at Ushcail. There was a lot of pointing going on. In the end Hencktor walked back
up the dock and then along the bank until he came to a tree. He tied off the bow line around the trunk of the tree and then waved to Yveney.
“Does that work?” she asked me.
I looked back at Ushcail. He was shaking his head. “Don’t mention the lines again, please,” he pleaded.
“It sounds like the Captain is happy,” I said.
“Well, let me take you to Ron,” Yveney said.
“He’s here?” I asked.
“He just arrived. The raft we were using to bring down the trade goods got caught on a submerged deadfall, or at least that’s what everyone was saying. They sent a few of us forward while they worked to get the raft moving again. We’ve been waiting long enough to cook up a buck that Krysbain killed,” Yveney said.
“Who?” I asked.
Yveney blushed. “I forget that you don’t know everyone. I’ve lived with all of them for two years. Krysbain is our group’s main hunter. He taught Lenoir and the others who go out to hunt for us.”
“So there is something hot to eat?” Panalope asked.
“Just head over to where you can smell meat cooking,” Yveney said. “We even brought along Kariy to do the cooking. You are in for a treat.”
“Who?” Panalope asked.
“Another person we didn’t meet the last time,” I said. “Why don’t you go and meet her.”
“But I can’t speak with her,” Panalope said worriedly.
I was going to respond, but Lenoir ran up and grabbed Panalope’s right hand. She immediately turned and started dragging Panalope up the riverbank. My love turned in surprise.
“She wants you to meet Heather,” Yveney said. “Don’t worry, you won’t be harmed. And Ron tends to prefer no audience when negotiating trades.”
I looked over my shoulder at Ushcail and the rest of the crew. “Captain, Yveney here says Ron wants to meet just you and me. However, there should be a hot meal available just up the riverbank.”
Ushcail nodded. “Jessop, Hadlor, keep Culax in line. I’ll go with Kaven to meet Ron.”
Yveney turned and started walking towards the strange evaporation ponds we had viewed the first time we visited. I wanted to wait for Ushcail, but she moved quickly. I had to scramble to keep up with her as she strode confidently away from me.
She stopped just as we emerged from the trees that lined the riverbank. I found that Ron was standing there chatting with the second man who had helped tie Gypsy to the dock. The man was the first one I had met in these lands with a sword at his hip. He seemed a little concerned about something.
Ron’s expression made it clear that he was seriously considering the words of the second man. Finally he nodded. The second man put a fist over his chest and marched off towards a crowd of people I had just noticed on the west edge of the clearing.
Ron turned to look at us. “Welcome back,” he said. “Lenoir tells me that you spent the last day or two in the ruined harbor just south of here. I thought you wanted to sail north.”
“We found the point where we have to turn back to the east after barely a day of sailing,” I said. “And the current was strong enough that we didn’t want to continue sailing up the coast. Ushcail says we need to develop charts of the ocean and currents to help guide the ships.”
“I did not tell you that,” Ushcail said as he caught up to me. “I’m sure you learned those terms from Marrisey. But you are correct. This coastline is different from what I’m used to and there are no maps. We didn’t even find something we could use in that ruined tower.”
“Tower?” Ron asked.
“We encountered a wizard’s tower, or at least I think it was one. It was probably a day’s sail north of here. We entered and found a map that helped us determine where we’ll have to turn to the east, but that was all. It had been abandoned for a long time,” I said.
“Did you find any magical artifacts?” Ron asked. “We could always try to put them to use.”
“What we did find was crumbling, and the tower was protected by some kind of shark that could swim through sand. I think the wizard had created them long ago,” I said. “At least some notes we found contained hints that he had done so.”
“Yuck,” Yveney said. “Well, that removes visiting there. Heather would kill Ron if she heard him suggest it now.”
“Anyways,” Ron said. “I really wanted to ask about the harbor. Do you want try to revive it?”
“It would be something I’d welcome,” I admitted. “I have some friends back in the islands who need a new place to live. Also the man who made Gypsy for us would probably love to make more, but the lack of wood in the islands leaves him little opportunity to work. If we could clean up the buildings we could make that a trade port.”
“Kaven is right,” Ushcail said. “It’s an excellent harbor. And if we want to turn this one expedition into a regular trip, I need a larger ship. Gypsy isn’t big enough to carry much cargo.”
“Will you be able to get much in trade if we load you up with enough food to return here and some wood for trade?” Ron asked worriedly. “There is no way it would be enough wood to build a ship.”
“Of course,” Ushcail said. “Right now what ships we do have are all galleys. Even the small ones have thirty or more oarsmen. Oars break. The ones that can be made in the islands tend to be weak. Just the wood to make oars will be worth an equal amount or more of the metals mined in the Lava Lands. Heck, the mines will trade for staves they can use to make hammers and picks.”
Ron nodded. “Much like our neighbor dwarves requested when we started trading. We even brought a couple barrels of staves. That was Yveney’s idea.”
“And I expect good value for them,” the young woman said. “I’ve watched Corwar learning how to make these. It’s not easy.”
“A couple of barrels is something we can carry,” Ushcail said. “But I need a bit more than that if we are to convince others to allow us to continue sailing. Gypsy is the first ship of her kind built in the islands in far too long. The Seres are going to want to seize her.”
“Offer them a ship in the future,” Ron said. “If you can bring your shipbuilder to the harbor, we can definitely provide the wood you will need.”
“They won’t believe me,” Ushcail said.
“Would they believe if you had Lenoir with you?” Ron asked.
“Who? Why?” Ushcail asked.
“It was an idea she came up with after talking to Krysbain. She’d ride with you as a representative, to help prove that you encountered other humans. Hopefully her presence will calm anyone thinking about seizing the ship,” Ron said.
“But we expect her to return safely,” Yveney said. “Krysbain would be quite upset if she did not return to us.”
“Others would be as well,” Ron mumbled.
“She’d have to listen to Ushcail and obey orders,” I said firmly. “And she doesn’t know the language.”
“She knows that there are challenges,” Yveney said. “But she is willing.”
“Why not a man?” Ushcail asked. “Many of the islanders think a woman on a ship is inviting evil spirits to curse the journey.”
“Lenoir is one of the better knife fighters we have,” Ron said. “Everyone felt she was the best choice to put on a ship.”
“So what will you trade us? You mentioned some wood staves. Do you have anything else?” I asked.
“We can supply finished timbers. Or we can make plywood planks,” Yveney said. “We only brought a few bundles of plywood this time and most of the planks are small. Not much bigger than a man’s chest in height and width and as thick as your thumb.”
“Those can always be used,” Ushcail said. “There are so many uses for wood.”
“We just barely got started with creating the planks,” Ron said. “We can probably do more in the future. Corwar and Piemal do most of the work when they aren’t helping with the farming.”
Yveney giggled. “They are looking forward to helping supply finished wood for rebuilding the harbo
r village. I think Corwar wants to impress someone.”
“What about food?” I asked.
“We knew you couldn’t cook anything, so we dried a lot of meat and pulled out some of the cheeses we have made. I can’t promise the cheese will be good. We’d prefer to have aged it longer,” Yveney said. “We don’t have any wine though. Verval has been working on some beer, but it might be hard to drink.”
“It definitely needs more time to mellow,” Ron said. “We can load that after you eat.”
“What about what you want?” Ushcail asked.
“Bring back any gemstones or high purity metal ingots you can,” Yveney said. “The dwarves will offer us great trades for that. Pearls will also trade well. Fish, fresh or dried will be welcome.”
"We plan on fishing from the harbor once we return and Marrisey can make some small boats," I admitted. "The harbor is well set up for that although it looks like the area set aside for drying the fish needs repair."
"You'll probably be able to borrow from us if its not during planting or harvesting season. Natalie and Verval are becoming quite adept at handling the farm the rest of the year," Yveney said. "And the herds don't really need much tending. The dogs we have are all over the herding. Although, that's something we need. If you can bring dogs that know how to herd it would help."
"Not many islands are large enough for herding," Ushcail said. "I don't know of any that use dogs."
"I'll keep talking to Shaylin. She's sure she can figure out a spell for opening a portal to Port Regal, or whatever it was called," Yveney said.
"You don't remember?" I asked.
"I lived inland in a farming village. And we didn't go to the port. We crossed the Elfwall River far upstream of the coast. So I've never been there, and I don't know what we'll find there. But eventually we need to find a way to open up trade with them," Yveney said.
Ushcail laughed. "If we're still working together after Marrisey makes a few more ships, perhaps I'll try sailing south from the harbor and seeing if we can make it to the place. But for now, we should eat and then head for home. We have a lot to do if we are going to bring back things you are looking for."