275
Next morning you bid farewell to Tzai and his family before accompanying Chinn to the docks. Moored at a jetty by the old harbour wall is a sleek-prowed merchant trader called the Vargas that flies a Suhnese flag. Chinn takes you aboard this vessel and you meet with Gemulkin in his cabin at the stern. He is a wiry man with a hooked nose and close-set eyes that gives him an expression of sly cunning. Yet his voice is deep and resonant and you can tell that he is someone who is used to commanding respect. By way of introduction you present him with the scroll that his cousin gave you, and he smiles as he reads it.
‘If I had a Noble for every favour I’ve done him over the years, I’d be a rich man,’ he says, jokingly. Then he furls the scroll and places it in the drawer of his chart table (erase this item from your Action Chart).
‘Welcome aboard, Journeyman. Pay no attention to my jest. I owe my cousin more favours than I care to remember. You’re welcome to sail with us to Suhn on the noon tide. All I ask is that you work your passage.’
You agree to Gemulkin’s terms and shake his hand to seal the deal. He calls for one of his crew to come and show you to your bunk, but before you go with him you bid farewell to Chinn. He thanks you again, not only for saving his life but also for curing him of his distrust of foreigners.
The Vargas sets sail on the noon tide. It is carrying a valuable cargo of silk, and Gemulkin is anxious that it should arrive safely in Suhn. He expects the voyage to last four days. During your first day aboard you help the crew with their duties and listen to their tales about the Sea of Winds. Gemulkin has ordered the crew to be especially vigilant on this voyage, for pirate raiders from northern waters have become more daring of late. The ships of the Freedom Guild patrol the Sea of Winds to deter buccaneers, yet they cannot guarantee safe passage to any ship once it passes beyond Shuri Point.
On the morning of the third day the lookout sights Shuri Point in the distance. As the Vargas swings around this rocky cape, you see a storm brewing on the horizon. A cluster of black clouds hovers menacingly over the sea, discharging bolts of lightning that arc back and forth between the shore and the surface of the ocean.
If you possess Elementalism and wish to use it, turn to 329.
If you possess Kai-alchemy and wish to use it, turn to 191.
If you possess neither of these skills, or if you choose not to use them, turn to 76.
