The White Apple Campaign 3 - The Investigation

When the spell was finished, Vasher found himself in a place dark as pitch. Feeling his companions release their grips, he quickly hummed two pitches at once using his talent and the tip of his spear vibrated into light. The resulting glow revealed a room totally consumed by the pulsing green vines. His companions horrified faces looked especially eerie with only the single light from above casting deep and trailing shadows.

Where his lit spear pointed, the vines parted and writhed in seeming pain at its presence. So, slowly, he lowered the spear to point at more sections of the room. When the point drew close to the floorboards, Vasher noticed a pile of neatly folded elven clothes. Raising his spear to the opposite wall, he finally found Uru.

The elf boy was totally naked and emerald vines erupted from the remains of his stomach – some held him into the air while others suspended him from the ceiling, allowing him to hang in space and gaze down at the people before him. Air hissed between his teeth and then Vasher heard:

“Whacta doin?”

Eyes wide, Vasher and everyone else in the room slowly turned towards Jr. who stood there smiling up at Uru, curiosity coloring her tiny tan face. Then, everyone slowly turned to look at Uru again, mouths open with discomfort and shock.

The form above them continued to hiss in breath until it was able to speak. “I am returning the ship to mother. All is love in the green wood. Soon you will be part of the greenwood as well.”

“That doesn’t sound very good.” Vasher said in the dark, scanning the room for signs of where the door might be.

“It won’t be long now.” Uru went on. “Soon all will become clear.”

Around him, Vasher saw his companions draw their weapons hesitantly. As he moved his spear, however, he continued to watch the vines wriggle away from the light it held. So, as they readied themselves, he decided to try one last idea.

Slowly, Vasher leveled the spear tip at Urus pale green face. The elf immediately moaned in discomfort and pain, twisting his body anyway he could to get away from the light. But he made no attempt to strike back. No fell spell or defense of any kind came in response to the threatening spear.

Vasher’s companions noticed this as well and stopped readying their weapons. Instead, they glanced back and forth to one another with concern. We’ve been in every room on this boat but one. And this boy seems to have already accomplished whatever it was he was trying to do. No one knows what to do next. Vasher thought as he watched his companions shift from foot to foot.

“You mentioned that the crew had no idea what was going on either, eh Jr.?” Vasher asked to break the silence. Uru still groaning on above them.

“Sure thing.” She replied.

“That means they have nothing to do with this either.” Vasher went on. “Maybe our next step is to get them involved. At the very least they can be more bodies in a fight if we are going to some fell place.”

“I’ll get us back out!” Said Johnathan who was still a bit in shock and unable to take his eyes off Uru’s tangled body.

This seemed to be enough convincing for Lenny as well, so In a few moments they were all in a ring again. With another unsettling snap, they were back into the guttering candle light of the ship’s storage level. Jr. and Lenny immediately darted to the stairs to start informing the crew and Vasher followed. It wasn’t long before they were pounding on the captain’s door.

It was First Mate Nobuo who finally stuck his head out. Noting Jr., he shot a particularly burning look at her that seemed to say “I’m not dealing with you again!”. But before he could refuse them, Lenny and Jr. both began talking rapidly.

“Your boats got vines all over it.” Lenny said.

“Yeah, and you guys better let us in because we’ve got big news.” Jr. interjected.

“We had to find the Constable, Uru’s someplace you won’t believe…” Lenny went on as Vasher stared at his two companions, slack jawed at how fast they were throwing information at this man. Then, from inside the chambers, Vasher heard the captain speak.

“Looks like the gig is up Nobuo, let them in.” His voice was like nearly every sailor Vahser had ever heard, seasoned with pipe smoke and dehydration and bearing a deep common accent.

Begrudgingly, Nobuo stepped aside to let Vasher and his friends in, though he never took his eyes off Jr. Given her tiny size, Vasher thought it looked a bit like a king having to watch a toddler.

Inside, the rooms were incredibly opulent. All hard wood furniture filled the space comfortably making it seem like a manor in the middle of the sea. Oddly, Rat of all people was occupying the regal four post bed in the corner and had no concern for the congress of her fellow crew members. Her usually dirty face was speckled with colored light from the stain glass window adjacent from the bed. It depicted a gorgeous mermaid.

“Now what’s this I hear about vines in my ship?” Barked the Captain once all were inside. His keen eyes shone through the smoke that swirled around his tall form and he was clean shaven, though his beard was starting to grow back in patches.

Lenny and Jr. babbled over each other for a moment, then looked at each other with open mouths, shut them, and then each looked at Vasher.

“You just want me to tell him?” Vasher asked.

They both nodded.

“Ok, Captain. I take it you can already tell that the ship is moving on its own.” Vasher began.

“Aye, it started last night. Something turned us the very opposite direction of our intended course. Nobuo tried all he could to turn the wheel and the very handles broke off before it even budged. I was just about to send the twins to check the rudder.” The Captain explained, packing a fresh lot of tobacco into his clay pipe.

“I’ll save you the trouble captain. We think Uru has something to do with our course, and your rudder.” explained Vasher. “It seems he’s working some dark magic involving vies in the passenger storage. They’ve already bound up two doors. Might be binding your rudder too.”

“Why didn’t you idiots search the passenger storage?” The Captain barked at the identical boys in the corner, only acknowledging Vasher’s words with immediate chastising.

They fumbled over each other trying to reply, much in the same way as Lenny and Jr. just had, but the Captain had no patience for them. With a scowl at their fumbling, he turned back to Vasher.

“You will show me what is going on down below immediately!” He said, a fresh wave of pipe smoke accompanying his words. “Nobuo, with me. The rest of you, stay here till I need you.”

“I’ll catch you up to speed as we walk Captain.” Vasher agreed as the now expanded team made their way back below decks.

The Captain puffed pensively along listening to Vasher’s recap. When he mentioned the white apple, Vasher produced the vial of fluid he had collected from the table to show to the Captain, who barely gave it a cursory glance. Johnathan however, perked up at seeing the vial again and said “May I have a look at that?” Vasher obliged and gingerly placed the vial on Johnathans open notebook, as the wizard’s hands were already full of quill and paper, and Johnathan kept scribbling away.

The Captain continued silently listening to Vasher once he resumed his story. It wasn’t until Vasher made it to the parts regarding breaking locks that the Captain actually responded.

“I don’t abide property damage on my ship! Let alone breaking into passenger’s quarters!” He said, stopping short just when Vasher was going to lead him downstairs. This seemed as good a segue as could be to Vasher, so he decided to jump ahead in the story.

“You want to see property damage Captain?!” asked Vasher, incredulously. “Let me show you the Constable’s quarters.”

The Captain didn’t even curse as he took in the room when they arrived. Instead, he just walked over to the gaping hole in the floorboards and emptied the final embers of his pipe into it. Vasher followed, leaving his companions in the hall, and watched the embers go out before they hit the storage floor.

“We jumped through this hole he made because the cellar trap door was blocked at the time.” Vasher explained.

“At the time?” asked the Captain with a raised eyebrow.

But before Vasher could explain, there was a scream from the hallway and the terrible sound of a sword finding it target.

“Johnathan!” came Lenny’s voice in defiance. Then, everyone was shouting.

Before he could even see who his foe was, Vasher began humming life into the rope that Lenny had given him this very day. If he could manage this right, no one else would have to be hurt. So, with all his focus, Vasher hummed one final chord and the rope quivered to life in his fingers and he made his way to the door.

There, already bloody with protruding throwing knives (probably Jr.’s work) was Constable Hemswick. His eyes were enraged and unfocused and Vasher arrived just in time to watch him pull his sword out of Johnathan’s shoulder. As the color drained from the wizards face and he started to fall, he placed a hand on the Constable’s own shoulder and something crackled to life. In an instant, the Constable was howling in pain from whatever Johnathan had accomplished. Smoke and embers rose from the Constables burning shoulder and Vasher noticed a wry smile through Johnathan’s bloody teeth. He had bought Vasher time. Using the precious moment, Vasher threw the now writhing rope at the Constable.

Before he knew what happened, Vasher hit ground. Hard. His head spun and lights flashed at the edges of his vision. Before he could blink back into focus he heard Lenny’s voice:

“I thought you knew how to use a fucking rope!”

Jr.’s tiny tinkling laughter could be heard from behind a nearby door. An odd sound to head with violence all around.

When his vision returned, Vasher saw his own rope craning over him like the tail of a cat - bobbing and jolting all directions. A good length of it was still wrapped around his legs. The cause of his face plant and Jr.’s mirth.

“You two are worthless!” Lenny roared as she slammed her shield into the Constable, forcing him away from the bleeding Johnathan while getting in a quick slash with her rapier. “Take your blessed shot Captain! I don’t have all day!”

A loud bang went off just behind Vasher that made his ears ring. Looking back at it source, Vasher saw the shocked face of the captain all blackened with burnt powder. A ruddy misfire! Vasher thought as he continued to wrangle his rope, and Jr. only laughed harder at the whole affair.

Using the distraction to his own advantage, the frothing Constable immediately rallied from Lenny’s shove and dove into attacking her as Johnathan slumped and did his best to cover his would, but it was too dire. One last shot to end this right! Vasher thought, finally able to get his hands on the mutinous rope.

Then it burned him.

The very moment Vahser was able to stand upright and get his hands closed on the rope, it shot fast through his hands, burning them and causing him to lose his grip yet again. Then to add insult to injury, the rope tripped him again and continued its cat like torture.

“Are you fucking serious?!” Lenny yelled at Vasher as she parried blows from the Constable, her shield and Jr.’s flying knives the only apparent wards against the Constables mad fury.

“You gave me this fucking rope!” Vasher retorted from his coiling hempen cocoon. “I swear this has never happened before!”

Bang! Another shot from the Captain deafened Vasher yet again and blotted out Lenny’s retort. This time the bullet flew true and Constable grunted as the lump of lead pierced his side, bringing him to a knee.

Pride fully and utterly smashed, Vasher saw the Constable start to rise one final time. Knives stuck from his neck and thigh. His gunshot wound gushed dark blood from his strain. In a moment, either he or someone else would die. So, fully humbled, Vasher pushed his will one final time against the rope.

It let him go.

As if it had been rehearsing the prior two times, the rope suddenly flashed out at the Constable like a coachman’s whip, catching the hand he rose to ward it off and pulling it behind his back. Then, like a snake with its prey, the rope coiled around the constable and bound him tight.

“Finally!” Lenny said, lowering her shield and heading straight for Johnathan. The aging wizard’s eyes were already growing misty as Lenny sheathed her rapier and began praying with her hands together. Then, her palms began to glow and she laid them on Johnathan. With that, his bleeding stopped but his wound still looked gruesome.

With a sigh, Vasher stood up, dusted himself off and began humming again – drawing vibrational power into his hands this time. Drawing close, Vasher smelled something rank. No, he thought, the constable had poison on his blade. But Vasher was relieved to find that the smell was coming from the white liquid pooling on the ground. The cut had broken the vial with the apple ooze. With a sigh of relief, Vasher too placed his palm on Johnathan’s shoulder sealing the wound the rest of the way up. Only a puffy scar was visible through the cut that remained in Johnathan’s robes. That seemed to bring the wizard back into focus and, with a gasp, Johnathan grabbed a final handful of powder to blow into the Constable’s face yet again, knocking him out cold in his living bindings.

His quarry good and knocked out, Vasher cut off the remaining half of rope not needed to bind the again-unconscious Constable and stuffed it into his pack mumbling “I told you I knew how to use a fucking rope.” Under his breath as Lenny stood over the Constable as well. Eventually, Jr. was there, wiping tears from her eyes.

“We forgot he was passed out in storage. It only took us five minutes but we totally forgot!” She said, pulling her knives out of him with a chuckle.

“Well I won’t let that happen again.” Came the Captains voice. “Nobuo! Get the planks this bustard already tore up. We’re locking him in one of the empty rooms.”

With a silent nod of his shaggy head, Nobuo set off to retrieve boards while Lenny started dragging the Constable to the nearest room that still had a solid floor. Jr. tried to help, but was just too small and Johnathan still had not risen from his spot against the wall.

“Are you alright Johnathan?” Vasher asked as Lenny worked.

“I am now.” Johnathan replied and then looked down at the gash through his shirt. “Though I think I am going to sit out for a while. Awful lot of excitement already, eh?

“Too much!” Vasher agreed, and then helped Johnathan to his room.

Once the Constable was sufficiently stored, Nobuo and the others began boarding up the door. Then, Vasher heard Cornelius’ voice from the end of the hall, apparently drawn from all of the commotion.

“What in the name of Pelor happened here?” He said, fully taken aback by the state of his usually immaculate hallway.

“Had to subdue a passenger.” The Captain answered wiping gun powder from his face with a surprisingly nice handkerchief. “You are going to stand watch to be sure he don’t try the same ambush again.”

“I am?”

“Aye! We still need to find the elf and I don’t want any more surprises. You’ll keep your post till I come get you.”

“Aye, sir.” Cornelius replied with a salute. Then he turned and looked apologetically at the other people in the hall and said, “Lunch will be salt cod and other dried travel food. I trust you can manage as I keep my post?”

Then he turned solemnly and took his post, all the butlerian softness fading from him. What stood in the hall now was a military man on duty. A side Vasher knew was there but had yet to see. Finally, grizzly business done, he led the Captain down the deck to see Uru.

“How did you get in in the first place?” The Captain asked as he strained against the door to passenger storage. His key had worked, but even unlocked, the mass of vines Vasher had seen on the other side of the door where quite solid.

“Before, we had Johnathan teleport us in.” Lenny replied.

“It seems that the vines we found have fully encased this room.” Vasher added.

While they talked, Vasher saw Jr. walk over to the wall. Look at the door. Then take a few steps to the right. Then she started prying off boards just as she had in the room above.

“Look here you slack jawed seagull! I told you no more damage to my ship!” The Captain roared as he saw her begin her cheery work.

By the time he made it too her, she already had a board off. Apparently the morning was plenty practice for her to get the knack of it. So, when the Captain leaned down to be eye-level with the diminutive Halfling, he could plainly see the writhing green mass where the board had been. When he leaned in to inspect it, the glow from his pipe caused the vines to part away, ever so slightly. This seemed to give him Vasher’s same idea from before.

“Brikbats!” He barked. Apparently he had forgotten that he left them in his quarters. When no reply came, he grumbled, rose to his feet and turned to Lenny, as she was the only one close to his eye level.

“You lot seem eager to pull as many nails out of my boat as you can. Well, get on with it!”

“Excuse me?” Lenny asked in confusion.

“We need to get in that room! I will not be denied entry on my own ship. Get these boards out of the way while I get the twins to bring some light down here.” The Captain said, turning on his heal and heading upstairs.

Vasher watched him go, but when he turned around, instead of seeing Lenny get to work, her and Jr. shared a knowing look and sauntered over to the general storage area.

With a sigh, Vasher rolled his eyes and followed his two, apparently very opportunistic, companions towards storage.

“This is where I got your rope from before!” Lenny chirruped as she rummaged through boxes and canvass bags.

“No wonder it wouldn’t listen!” Vasher replied, leaning against the doorway, spear still in hand, It was stolen rope!”

“That shouldn’t matter.” Lenny said, easing open another crate.

“Well it does. Clearly. By the way aren’t you supposed to be a holy woman?”

Vasher heard a tiny snort from Jr. before Lenny replied.

“I sure am! And stuff like this is the best kind of praying to my god.” Lenny said as her eyes grew wide in the dark. “And this time it looks like they answered!”

Vasher could hear the tinkling of glass as Lenny used her arm to spill the contents of the chest into her magic bag. One of the items bounced off the lip of the bag and rolled towards Vasher, and he stopped it with the toe of his boot. It was a potion. Certainly useful. No sooner did he lean down to pick up the bottle than he heard boots coming from the stairs behind.

“What are you doing in the storage room? That there is company property!” The Captain said, face bright and fierce from the twin torches the Brikbats held on either side of him.

Vasher was about to try to cover up for his new friends, but Lenny turned out to be a true pro after all.

“I wasn’t about to scuff up my rapier Captain!” Her voice said from behind. “It’s a relic of my faith after all and I am the only one as tall as you on this ship! Naturally, I had to come find an alternative.”

When Vasher turned to look, in her hand was one of the crowbars used to open the ships crates. A perfect bluff he thought. Maybe there is more to this half-elf than I thought!

The Captain grunted and made some comment about paying for the crowbar, but soon set to working on the boards. Lenny joined him for the high boards and Jr. happily worked from the bottom up. In mere moments, they had made an opening as tall and wide as a normal door frame. Green vines still wriggled tightly within the space. Lastly, the twins thrust forth their torches and the vines parted into a gaping maw of darkness.

Stepping inside, the scene was identical from before, though better lit. Uru still hung in the air in his net of vines, chanting quietly to himself. Most of the crew simply stared in disbelief, but the Captain immediately drew his gun and pointed it straight at Uru.

“What have you done to my ship?” He bellowed at the barely conscious elf.

Uru continued to mumble on as if nothing else existed in the world.

Vasher heard the Captain pull back the hammer of his gun.

“Captain!” Vasher piped up. “Did you say we are heading the opposite direction intended?”

“Aye.” He replied, keeping a bead on Uru.

“What are we heading towards then?”

“Nothing.” He replied. Still ready to take his shot.

“Do you have a map?” Vasher said, still grasping.

Then the Captain looked at Vasher from the corner of his eye, looked back at Uru, and then lowered his gun with a heavy sigh.

“Nobuo! Show them the map.”

Nodding silently, Nobuo reached into his messenger bag on his shoulder and produced a vellum scroll. Then he placed it on one of the storage chests and unrolled it. The document depicted a large system of archipelagos. Vasher knew there was more to the world than this map, but no one had ever returned to chart beyond its edges. After years of sea travel, Vasher was able to at least spot the island they had disembarked from before Nobuo’s calloused finger fell on the map. Instead of pointing to the east of the island, which headed towards Port Arbor, Nobuo’s finger fell on the Westward side. Then his finger traced a line from that point off the map, crossing no land as it went.

After a moment of sobering silence, Lenny asked, “What’s with the Mermaids?”

At the corner of the map, three mermaids were depicted in a triangular formation. When Vasher took the time to really look, they indeed seemed familiar.

“Hey!” proclaimed Jr.’s tiny voice. “Wasn’t there a mermaid in the captain’s window?”

“That’s right!” Lenny replied. “Nobuo! Bring that map with you we have to investigate!”

Nobuo looked from person to person, and Vasher noticed that some of the lines in the dwarf’s hard face had disappeared. I think he’s starting to trust us a bit, Vasher thought.

“I’ll stay here with the Captain while you all go check. Catch him up a bit more” Vasher said while the group made moves to go. Truth be told he was starting to worry about the Captains nerves after the events of the last half hour.

“Back in a tick!” Lenny said and then led the way up the decks.

The Captain wasn’t much for conversation as it turned out but Vasher took the time to catch him up on the final details. Johnathan’s ignorance of the plants. The putrid apple. The Captain mostly responded by threatening Uru or barking about “no land where we’re going”. So, Vasher was very relieved when he heard the rest of the group returning down the stairs. He could tell by their faces that the map matched the stain glass.

“Found what you were looking for then?” He asked as they entered the room, but they simply nodded and stormed right past him to root around in the vines behind Uru. Confused, Vasher followed them and watched Nobuo raise a torch to the vines covering the back storage wall. As the vines parted, a mermaid stared back at them. It matched the map as well.

“That’s two.” Lenny said. “The one on the right and the one on the left.”

“Didn’t we see a third one someplace?” Jr. asked.

“The figurehead!” Lenny said. “It’s facing forward like the top mermaid!”

“So we’ve found all three.” Vasher pointed out, “But what does it have to do with our current heading?”

“Only one way to find out!” said Jr. from a shadow and then she clambered on top of some storage crates, drew a dagger and scrapped a line through the intricate artwork.

Always knives with that one! Vasher thought, however, the path her knife cut left a thread of emerald green behind it. The same green as the vines in the room.

“Ha!” Jr. laughed triumphantly. “My knives have marked just about every level of this ship and none of the wood was green like this!”

Nobuo stomped towards Jr. at this, but instead of glaring at her, he inspected the green line, rubbing his beard. Apparently he hadn’t noticed this before either. Why would he? He was not one to purposefully damage his own ship like Jr.

“Hey plant man!” Lenny shouted up at Uru, “Are your vines responsible for this?”

Uru simply continued chanting. No longer responsive as he had been when they first found him.

Another dead end. Vasher thought as Uru droned on. We’ve been in every room. Found every passenger. Found all the mermaids, whatever that was for. All that and we are still racing towards some unknown destination. Around him, others seemed to be just as restless and dissatisfied.

“Let’s eat.” Vasher said. “I don’t think there is anything more we can do here.”

“That’s your best idea yet.” Lenny agreed and the confused companions made their way back upstairs.

As they left however, Vasher noticed that the Captain made no move to follow them. Instead he was still as a statue watching Uru, flanked by his crew. Up until now, Vasher had been doing everything he could to prevent death on the ship, but this was the Captain’s duty after all. So, with a feeling of deep resignation, Vasher turned away from the scene to join his friends upstairs.

Johnathan was already at a table, apparently eager to eat and regain his strength. His cut was mostly healed from the earlier ministrations, but his robes still had a new fashionable slit down the middle. Cornelius had kept his word and the bar was stacked with salted travel foods and dried fruit. Cornelius himself dutifully held his post at the Constables improvised brig. Lenny and Jr. grabbed what food the needed and joined Johnathan at his table. Vasher however, made his way to the bar to take on the role of server. Someone had to make tea in Cornelius’ absence.

Sure enough, the tea leaves were in a tight metal canister underneath the bar. As he placed his hand on the lid, Vasher heard a single gunshot from below. You knew what you were doing leaving him alone like that, Vasher thought with a stab of guilt in his heart. Now it’s time to comfort the living. So, he filled a pot with water and took it over to the stoves to boil. A brief moment later, the Captain emerged from the trap door and made his silent way up to the top deck – devoted crew trailing behind.

When the tea was ready, Vasher joined Jr. Lenny and Johnathan at the table with steaming mugs. Apparently they had been regaling Johnathan with what he had missed because his eyes were wide with interest.

“Having a good day are we?” Vasher asked placing Johnathan’s tea in front of him.

“Oh yes! Aside from this I suppose.” Johnathan replied, fingering his torn robes. “My new friends were just telling me all about what is going on downstairs! I would love to investigate myself.”

Vasher, Lenny and Jr. looked at each other, the knowledge of what the gunshot was for fresh in their eyes.

“Let’s give it some time and finish our tea.” Vasher said trying his best not to sound solemn.

“That is a good idea I suppose.” Johnathan agreed, blowing on his tea. “We have already been through an awful lot together for such new friends.”

“Agreed.” Said Lenny, raising her glass and downing it.

Vasher almost told her to wait, but the woman could eat an entire raw onion. Who was he to worry about her eating habits?

When they were all fed and warm from their tea, Vasher could tell Johnathan was nearly jumping out of his skin to investigate the vine room. So, the group collectively made their way back down into the cellar. From the stairs, Vasher could already see that the vines were no longer moving. No extra torchlight would be needed to get in this time. Oddly, a thin trail of white ichor ran from the hole in the wall into the darkened bowels of deep storage. Vasher noted that for now and continued to lead Johnathan into the darkened chamber with Lenny and Jr. trailing to guard the group.

Guttering candle light sown weekly through the vine maw illuminating a ghastly sight. Where Uru’s body had hung, now only ripped clots of white flesh dangled in the vines, swaying back and forth with the still racing ship. It’s getting faster now. Vasher thought, covering his mouth against the sight and smell.

“These vines are fascinating! You say they were moving earlier?” Johnathan broke in, “Where is Uru?”

Vasher gestured vaguely at the white flesh with his spear.

“Ah.” Johnathan sobered slightly. “You know it smells an awful lot like that apple our fair cleric had earlier.” He eventually said, perking up again.

“Tell me about it.” Came Jr’s voice from an unexpected direction, as usual.

Then she kicked open a chest just barely visible from the light outside. When the lid swung back, it revealed three white apples identical to Lenny’s from before. Each had a large bite missing. The smell that washed out of the box on top of the scene before him made the entire room swim and Vasher could hear the sounds of people being sick all around him. Through it all he barely heard Lenny curse softly to herself.

She was bent over, hands on knees and staring at her own pool of vomit. Then she reached down gingerly, and her silhouette lifted a black seed into the weak light.

“How many.” Asked Jr., closing the rancid box.

“Three that I can see. Olidammara's lies I could have sworn there were no seeds on my finger!”

“Maybe there didn’t even have to be. Lets just hope you got them all out.” Jr. said as she walked over to put a hand on Lenny’s thigh.

“We need to follow that trail.” Vasher said once everyone was recovered.

“Oh goodie, what trail?” Johnathan asked while taking notes.

“Just follow us.” Lenny said, wiping her hands and mouth on a golden cloth and stepping into the hallway.

When Vasher joined her in the hallway he could see that the ichor trail traced deep into the darkest hull of the ship. With a sigh, he hummed some of his last energy into his spear, making it shimmerant with light yet again. Ahead was barrel after barrel. Some were broken and had clearly contained water in them before spilling their contents to the deck. Many more stacked layers deep into the darkness and vines, now lifeless and rustling only from the movement of the boat, created a forest of dark green beyond the light of the spear.

Johnathan joined with his notes, Lenny and Jr. joined Vasher gazing into the darkness. Then, a scratching came. Larger than a mouse to be sure but indistinct and scrabbling. Then it was gone.

“Throw something over there.” Lenny whispered at Jr. and the tiny halfling shot over to a broken barrel, and deftly lobbed a piece of it right at where the sound had come from. It clattered behind the barrels and all was still.

“What was that?” Asked Johnathan, looking up from his notes.

“We heard something.” Lenny replied.

“Yes, yes, not that, just now. Listen!”

Sure enough the scratching returned, closer to Vasher’s corner of barrels.

“Uru?” Lenny asked, voice strong in the dark.

Again, stillness. Vasher raised his glowing spear the direction of the sounds. And from the shadows crept a green skeleton. It shambled to its feet with a sound like a toddler playing with blocks. Wooden Vasher noted as it stepped towards them, bare feet clacking on the floorboards. A hole with charcoal on its edges gazed out from the creature’s skull making it look as if it had three eyes.

“You are Uru aren’t you.” Lenny asked the creature softly.

It nodded its head.

“Can you talk?” She asked.

Uru shook his head.

“Looks like his vocabulary has been drastically reduced.” Vasher said, pondering what to do with this new development. Uru wasn’t dead after all, but this still didn’t improve the situation.

“Do you know where the ship is going?” Lenny asked on.

Uru nodded.

“To mother he said before.” Jr. pointed out.

Uru nodded again.

“Is it safe where were going?” Vasher asked this time.

Uru shook his head.

The party all shared a look before asking more.

“Can you keep us safe when we get there?” Lenny asked when she was ready.

Uru nodded.

“What’s his version of safe?” Jr. chided.

Uru looked at her with his three hollow holes and then looked back at the rest of them.

“… Do I still have some of those seeds inside me?” Lenny asked with a gulp.

Uru fixed his gaze on Lenny cocked his wood grained skull to the side and approached her with a single palm outstretched. Gently, he placed it on her belly and paused. Then he turned his sockets to meet her eyes, and nodded.

Lenny went quiet, and Uru retreated to the edge of the spears light.

Noticing her friend was in shock, Jr. stepped forward this time, “The Captain will do worse if he finds you again.”

Uru nodded.

“Can you get off this boat unnoticed and join us when we land?”

Uru nodded.

“Good. Well get hiding again and you better actually help us when we land.” With that she grabbed Lenny’s hand to go, but Lenny resisted.

Without looking up from her stomach she asked, “Are you mother?”

At the edge of the light, Uru nodded.

“Come on, lets get ready.” Jr. said, successfully pulling Lenny along this time and heading back up out of the dark hold.

Vasher stared at Uru for a moment and said, “I’ll come and tell you when we see land.”

When he made it to the bright upper decks Vasher found the crew removing the sails and other rigging. Even they had reserved entirely to the final destination. Memories of all the other times he had been carted away somewhere against his will began to bubble and swell in Vasher's mind as he gave into the old sensation. So, well-rehearsed as he was, he pulled his lute from its pocket in the air and played a song of sailors for the crew at the prow of the ship, letting his trepidation inspire the truth in the words he sang. The wind buffeted his face and carried his melody through the ship as he watched for the horizon’s end.

Credits:

Matt Holden - World Builder and Head of Story, Cornelius, Johnathan, Hemswick, Crew

Gabriel Durham - Author and Historian, Vasher, dialog polisher

Sarah Durham - Ashlyn "Lenny"

Ruth Tully - Jr.