The Unknown Sea

"But surely someone has sailed out to the east? What lies out there?" asked Sigourney.

The captain shook his head. He answered, "Miss, this is as far east as I have e'er gone. If there is land out there, it is probably full of pirates or Hespan, as they try to claim every bit of land that might give them eight bits. I would not take my chances there."

One of the captain's men spoke up. "Par'un me, suh, but I ha' seen t'e Hespan ship cummin' back wit' jool'z an' sweet spices an' otter dear t'ings. I also heard of the name Blacksan'. Supposin' t'at its true. We could make a king's ransom in one season."

Another man spoke, "You don't wanna be goin' there! The east sea is full of seasnakes and whirlpools that will crush the par ship befar' we get thar. As a matta of fact, t'e sea is the safe part. T'e Eastlan' is full of cruel men and wild and nasty animals. T'ey have big, dark men wit' a wrist t'icker t'en my leg, and t'at's no lie. T'ey have dragoons t'at creep in t'e trees, and wolves as big as b'ars. T'ey's also got men with no heads wit' their faces in t'eir bellies ..."

The first man broke in, "Bullwash. Next yer gonna be tellin' me t'at t'ey got wimmin that have t'e wings of birds flyin' 'round, and fish that can ta'k. Don't give us no tall tales. I ta'ked with people who been t'ere."

"You talk wit' no better people t'an me! Don' put on airs, Hobie. Jus' caus' you take one trip sout' when you wuz young, don' make you no expert."

The captain shouted, "Barthol, Hobie! Quiet! Let's not talk rumours. We have to deal in fact, and the fact is that we need to find land, preferably that not occupied by Hespan. Ghizak, where is the nearest land?"

A man with leathery skin and bleached hair stepped forward. "Sir, it depends. The nearest land is the archipeligo, but those lands are thick with Hespanmen. Acqualaria is too far away, and the Ice Kingdoms are too risky. However, the charts do have some spots of land that were charted by Captain Shirk."

"Captain Shirk?! Where the 'ell did you get those charts? Why have you been keeping this secret?"

"I traded three pair of sea finches to the guy that runs the Seacap Tavern in Hurricane Shoals. He gave me some old books. They were in bad shape, but the thing that I saw was the paper in the spine looked like the coasta ole Havnheim. I unwrapped these the day before yesterday. We have been kinda busy preparing to shove off and taking care o' the girls, so I didn't wanna bother you with it until things got slack. But if the sextant readings are right, we are within a day and half's good sailing of

1. the Desolation Islands."
2. Paradise Island."
3. the Emerald Coast, which lies to the north of Blacksand."

Add New Option

Go Back

View Forward Story Tree
View Back Story Tree