Chapter 2 Part 5

Ultrecht and Armegon arrived at the Blue Griffon to find Avery waiting for them. Ultrecht noticed the bloody sleeve and Avery told them of his trip to the docks as they ordered meals.
“You should have taken some money with you,” lectured Armegon after Avery finished his tale.
Avery sipped his wine. “I rarely need it, and when I do, you two are usually nearby.”
“But had you taken some you could have at least paid the gnome.”
“I think he prefers things as they stand. He’s a rare individual and a keen judge of character.”
Ultrecht smiled as he took a bite of his baked salmon. “We’ll find some interesting way to repay him then.”
“I’m more interested in this ship captain,” Armegon said. “What kind of a name is ‘Tusk’?”
“Perhaps a tough sounding pseudonym to keep a rough crew in line?” asked Ultrecht.
“Whatever the reason, they are our only offer right now.”
They sat and talked and waited. They discussed the broken sword in detail, but eventually left it for another time. Finally, around ten minutes after eight, the young man Avery had met earlier arrived. He looked around the room, spotted Avery and nodded. Instead of coming over to the table he motioned to someone outside and a hulking man in a hooded oilcloth cloak entered.
The two of them came and sat down. The large man pulled back his hood. His non-human lineage was plain to see, he had dark grayish skin, a flat animal-like nose, and his lower canine teeth protruded nearly half an inch above his lower lip.
Armegon leaned back with his tankard in hand. “Well I guess that explains the name.”
Captain Tusk smiled an unfriendly smile. “I hear you want to charter a ship,” he said in a deep gravelly voice.
“Yes,” Avery answered. “These two mages wish to travel to the deepest part of the ocean.”
Tusk snorted. “For what? And do you have any idea where that would be?”
Ultrecht leaned forward. “As a matter of fact we do know where it is, and our purpose is to collect some water from that location.”
Tusk blinked. “You really know where the deepest point of the ocean is?”
“Yes.”
Tusk shrugged. “Ok. But you still have to get there. I can take you there, but my ship needs repairs, and repairs cost money I don’t have.”
“We would be willing to help with repairs. Do you have any objections to using magic to fix your ship?”
“Will the fixes turn to fairy dust when you leave?”
Armegon bristled, but Ultrecht laid a hand on his arm. “No Captain Tusk. We will leave your ship in better shape when we part ways than when we got on board.”
Tusk scratched his chin. “All right. Here’re my terms. You get my ship fixed, provide supplies and one hundred gold coins, then you have a ship.”
“Done,” Ultrecht agreed as he ignored Armegon’s apoplectic stare.
“Oh one more thing,” Tusk added. “You work as crew. I don’t have enough men anymore.”
Ultrecht grimaced but said, “I’m in.”
“I’m in as well,” Avery said quietly.
“I ought to beat the two of you senseless,” roared Armegon. “Don’t you two idiots remember the last time we worked a passage? It was miserable! Now you want to drag me in again?”
“You can always wait here,” offered Ultrecht.
“What, and let you two blunder about the world unsupervised? Next thing you know the planet would be inside out! I’m in, but don’t think you’ve heard the last of this.”
“Never doubted it,” said Ultrecht. Turning to Captain Tusk he went on, “We’ll meet you in the morning Captain. Where would be good for you?”
Tusk grinned one of the ugliest grins the three of them had ever seen. “There’s a sleazy bar on the waterfront. I’ll meet you there an hour after daybreak.”

The next morning the three friends went looking for Tusk’s sleazy inn. They had no trouble finding it. Ultrecht marveled that a building could be so trashed out and still be called a building. Sometime in the past the sign on the front had read “Seabreeze Bar & Inn”, but someone had painted over the word “Seabreeze” and made it read “Sleeze”.
It took an effort of will to walk in the front door. The stench of rotted fish, old ale, and all manner of assorted filth assaulted their noses. The common room had ten large tables made from heavy rough timbers that were apparently nailed to the floor. The tables all had a bench on each side, many with passed-out bodies lying underneath them. From the far side of the room Captain Tusk called out and waved them over. As they approached, Armegon and Avery both blanched. Whatever it was that he was eating could be smelled over the pervading stench of the room. Ultrecht wrinkled his nose and leaned over to inspect the plate.
“What are you eating?” the mage asked.
Tusk smiled, “I’m friends with the barmaid, so she fixed me up some eggs and fish. Want some?”
Armegon looked a little green and Avery was steadfastly looking at a wall. Ultrecht glanced at the greasy discolored mass and managed to say, “Uh, no thanks.” One thing he was sure of, he did not want to meet any woman who would work in this place.
“Suit yourself,” Tusk said as he took another huge forkful.
Ultrecht sat down across from him and said, “You enjoy your breakfast. I’ll wait.”
Avery piped up, “We’ll wait for you outside.” And he and Armegon went back out.
“You know,” said Tusk with his mouth full of nauseating goo, “That’s the same reaction I get from Kip.” He shrugged. “I guess some folks just don’t appreciate home cookin’.”
Ultrecht was feeling a little green himself. “Yeah, I’m sure that must be it.”
It only took about five more minutes for Tusk to finish eating, then to Ultrecht’s great relief they went outside. Armegon and Avery were sitting on the edge of the seawall waiting.
“The dinghy’s at the end of the pier,” Tusk told them, pointing.
They walked down the pier and found Kip snoozing in a medium sized rowboat. “Let’s get a move on!” Tusk hollered.
Kip awoke with a start and grabbed for the oars. “Right. Right. Uh, ok get in.”
They all got into the dinghy and Kip began rowing out into the bay.
“Now Captain, what kind of repairs does your ship need?” asked Ultrecht.
“Well, she has a cracked keel, lots o' leaks, and two torn sails. Other than that it’s only minor stuff.”
“Define minor,” Armegon demanded with a frown.
Tusk looked at him sharply. “We’re at sea boy. You can put a civil tongue in your head when you talk to me.”
Armegon’s face went very hard. “A civil tongue? Yes, Captain Tusk. However whether we are at sea or not, you will address me as Master Armegon.” With a sharp gesture, the boat rose out of the water and began picking up speed. “If you ever address me as ‘boy’ again, your tongue will never get the chance to be civil again.”
Kip was white as a sheet and gawking at the water ten feet below the boat. Ultrecht and Avery were both poised to try and avert disaster. Tusk looked ready to start a war.
Armegon and Tusk were locked in an angry stare as if daring each other to start something. Into the thick tension Avery quietly said, “Boo.”
The mood broke. Tusk threw back his head and laughed. “Ok, then. You three are something else.” He held out a thick work hardened and none to clean hand to Armegon. “Al’right then Master Armegon. What say we try it again?”
Armegon took the offered hand. “Ok, Captain.” He turned towards Avery. “You know you can be such a party pooper.”
Avery smiled lightly, “I’m not wearing my swim clothes.”
Tusk cleared his throat. “One more thing, if ya don’t mind.” He pointed a bit to the left of their course. “The ship’s thataway.”
“Oh,” said Armegon with an almost indistinguishable blush of embarrassment.
The Reckless Lady swiftly came into full view. She was a large three masted ship with a deep hull and high decks. She was also in bad shape. Both mages looked her over with Mage Sight and Avery gazed at her with his own form of enchanted vision.
After a brief consultation, Ultrecht spoke up. “Captain Tusk, your ship is only a few weeks away from sinking, but I believe we can repair her.
Tusk looked at the ship with the hopeful expression of someone told of a possible cure for a dying loved one. In a strangely soft voice he said, “She and I’d be deeply grateful to ya.”
The three of them set to work immediately. Armegon and Ultrecht both set about with greater and lesser spells of mending and cleaning, while Avery used a combination of muscle power and a few spells from his wife’s repertoire to restore and strengthen rotting wood. Captain Tusk, Kip and the remaining five crewmen all worked alongside them, and made trips to shore for supplies, wood, rope, etc. In three days the Reckless Lady was looking like a Grand Dame.
Everyone was up on deck and Armegon was just about to declare the ship complete, but Ultrecht said, “Wait a moment.”
Armegon and Avery both watched curiously as the master elementalist began summoning a large amount of power. He took nearly a full minute to shape the energies to his desire, and then released the incantation. A hazy glowing cloud formed around the ship, glowing brighter, and brighter until, in a sparkling flash, it disappeared. The Reckless Lady was now a pristine white, with black and gold trim, her masthead was a beautiful woman in flowing robes holding aloft a gleaming sword.
Tusk stood completely transfixed for many long moments. Then with a catch in his voice he said, “Gentlemen, I’d sail ya into the mouth of hell itself if ya but asked. Thank ya.”
“Captain,” said Armegon, “as much as that sounds like fun, I think the middle of the ocean will do fine.”
Tusk grinned his ugly but enthusiastic grin. “We’ll sail on the morning tide, but fer tonight let’s take her into the docks and damn the fees. She’s a Lady fit ta be stared at.”
Armegon looked slyly at Ultrecht and held up a small purse. “Allow me Captain Tusk,” he began an incantation of his own.
Fairy lights spun up out of nowhere and clung to the Lady’s masts, rails and lines. The masthead glowed and the ship, with sails furled, majestically started moving on her own.
The Reckless Lady sparkled and glowed as she approached the docks. In the early dusk she stood out in royal splendor. A harbormaster's boat came out to meet them and Armegon tossed them the docking fee and called out “Captain Tusk of the Reckless Lady wishes to dock for the night.”
By the time she was tied up at the main pier a large crowd had already gathered to gawk and stare. Armegon let his spell linger for another few minutes then canceled it with a glorious flash of multicolored light. Tusk was strutting around the decks like a proud father and Ultrecht was chuckling at Armegon.
Avery slipped up behind the two mages and said, “You two really ought to be ashamed of yourselves.”
Armegon laughed and pointed at Ultrecht. “Well he started it.”