Log

Hauer had a small dhow, the Inconvenience Hornet, with a crew. Lork and I boarded and Hauer introduced me to his first mate, Wymouth, who seemed a bit more... well, seasoned, than himself. We set sail for Innsmouth, the port where the shipments were supposed to be received. We followed the coast north and made Innsmouth shortly before nightfall. We turned east, and then anchored for the night.

The crew bedded down and Hauer, Lork, and I took watch. As we chatted around the helm, Lork noticed something at the bow -- a Lizardfolk warrior. Before we knew it, the deck was swarming with Lizardfolk. They must have spotted us traveling up the coast and seen an opportunity. All they got was pain.

When the fight turned against them, a couple of them went over the side, and we subdued the rest of them and bound them to the mast. In the battle, Lork was badly hurt, but Hauer had some "consumables" with magical properties that revived him. Unfortunately, there was no shared language, and we were unable to question them. It was also impractical for us to hold them until they could be turned over to the authorities -- we were about to go into battle. We let them go and they went over the side to join their comrades.

In the morning, we continued our path East, towards the Shire, and before long we spotted a ship flying a blue flag with a white diamond: The Eleven Seas. It was big -- a carrack. Hauer said, "I didn't think we were tracking a carrack. That's a much taller ship than the Inconvenienced Hornet." As we got closer, we could see hobbits armed with spears and bows standing on the castles. Hauer, not exactly one for planning, scratched his head.

Lork had a thought, though. He and I would stand at the top of the mast, and as we came alongside, we would run across the spar and jump onto the aft castle. That would be enough of a distraction that Hauer's crew could ascend from our deck to theirs. Hauer and Wymund decided to hide below decks during the approach, as the crew of the Eleven Seas launched volleys of arrows at us.

Lork's plan worked. We leapt onto the aft castle and took them completely by surprise, drawing their attention (and fire). The crew weren't warriors and weren't much trouble. But a special company of warriors emerged and fought us on the main deck. The warriors put up a substantial fight, but when we knocked them unconscious, the rest of the crew, seeing them beaten, and realizing we were using non-lethal force, surrendered. We bound the warriors, but didn't revive them.

The skipper expressed ignorance as to the contents of his cargo. A bit surprising, really. But apparently he was being paid an incredible sum not to ask questions. He genuinely seemed afraid to look. Probably nothing mundane, then. Imagine our surprise when the cargo was pigs' heads on ice: maybe 120. Perplexing. For Hauer, distressing. "My crew is gonna be pissed," he told me. He had expected to pay them out of the spoils. My purse was able to pay the crew handsomely, though. My sense was Lady Aethelflaed would approve the expenditure, given the cargo was destined for Cnut.

We discussed what to do about the Eleven Seas, and I ultimately decided we'd reseal the cargo crates and let them on their way. I paid the crew a bit for their silence, but I got the feeling they didn't need a lot of convincing. The soldiers, who weren't part of the crew, would be told we had finally been fought off after fire had started on the deck of our ship. The captain was afraid, too, of them.

Without further ado, we set sail for our port of departure.