The ship blazed across the coast as the wind turned south. Jal shouted at the idle crew to adjust the sails to harness the change, and soon the ship was throwing a wide wake and blowing white ocean spray across the bow with each swell of the sea that it carved through. Jal stood at the helm, holding the wheel firmly while the wind rushed past him, billowing through his open shirt. If the wind kept up through the day, then they would be making excellent time. Three days could become two if the wind carried through the night.<br/><br/>The "expedition" crew had seemed to find themselves things to do to occupy the time. For a time, the man, the one that had the look of experience about him... Diego, Jal remembered him calling himself, had spent some time diceing with the crew, but had eventually found himself in conversation with the elf mage. The Kossick woman and the elf girl in the leather had taken to sparring. The Kossick was able to overpower the elf, but the slim girl was quicker with her small frame than the Kossick.  It was good that they were practicing, Jal thought.  It was good that they weren't whittling away the hours with idle talk. Again, Jal felt an unsettling in his stomach. He looked left, to the coast that lined the eastern horizon, dark green and earthen beyond the glittering sea. That coast would rise with the cliffs in a day, and it would be far too soon for Jal's comfort.<br/><br/>The hours grew late as the day drew on and the sun settled itself in the west, turning the clear blue sky an ever deepening orange red. As the sun settled, so did the wind. The rag tag crew settled below decks as evening became night, and Jal departed for his cabin, leaving only two of his men above decks to keep watch.<br/><br/>Jal sat before a narrow wooden desk, a burning lamp swaying from the low ceiling with the rocking of the boat. The map was open upon the desk with an greyiron dagger holding down one edge while a half full tankard of rum sat on the other. Above the stiff hammock hanging at the back of the cabin, moonlight filtered through wooden lattice and warped glass of the three windows of the cabin. On the hammock were Jal's discarded shirt and headband. The captain stared down at the map with one propped arm holding his head up and one resting against his hip. His chair creaked with each rise of the boat.<br/><br/>It was funny how quickly ones mind can change from excitement to trepidation. They were on their way to the destination on the map, the place where Vendomur settled his horde of gold. And, if the man Jal had attained the map from was right, they were sailing to something dangerous. Jal prayed for his own good the old elf was right about the gold, and wrong about the rest. If the old elf was right... then Jal and this little misadventure would not be the first to find the gold, they would just be the first to live to tell someone about it.<br/><br/>Jal took another long drink from his tankard.<br/><br/><br/>***<br/><br/><br/>Below decks, the crew's gambling games had continued, but the casks of rum had been opened and the merriment had amplified with bawdy shouts and rampant curses. This went on for some time, each man winning and losing in equal turns - to the point where everyone ended up largely as rich as they had been when they started. After a number of hours, the dice had either clattered out of reach, or the sailors had grown bored of the game and they began talking to one another quietly, occasionally looking at Atashi or Aure with furtive glances.<br/><br/>After some time, Reshad departed from his post at the ship's wheel and approached Diego.<span style="color: DarkOrange">Diego, was it? Care to have a word?</span>He invited with a nod to the bridge deck. The invitation was stern, bordering on an order, though Reshad kept a cool smile on.<br/><br/>Reshad made sure no one else followed he and Diego, and as they approached the ship's wheel, he ordered the other sailor on watch down to the crew deck to get to drinking with the others. The crewman didn't complain or argue, leaving the two alone.<br/><br/><span style="color: DarkOrange">You're a water fond sort, that's obvious. But ye know, I think your more than that. I heard ye talkin' to the elf mage girl. Nice bit of talk. Or at least, it was a nice bit of not answering. It's the hat that gives it away.</span>Reshad looked at the skull with with its blue ribbon.<span style="color: DarkOrange">I've seen more sea than the rest of the idiots on this boat and I know the Blue Banshee's colors when I see them.</span>Reshad revealed as he held the wheel steady.<br/><br/><br/>***<br/><br/><br/>Below deck, the crewmen were joined by the man who had been relieved from watch, who joined them after he filled a tankard with rum from the cask. He questioned their quiet huddling but was hushed and something was whispered to him which made him glance quickly at Aure and Atashi then join his kin's scheming. The clatter of coins followed, and the skittering of metal on wood. A number of them drank hard from their tankards before the group stood up and wandered somewhat drunkenly toward the Kossick and Elf.<br/><br/>As they neared, one of them, a man who didn't look particularly stable on his feet, walked up, holding a significant stash of glistening and glittering coins in his hands. They were a sea of silver and copper, but a number of golds were littered among them. The group of sailors watched with vague eagerness, and curiosity from several steps back. The man representing them, holding the stash of coins looked at Atashi with drunken courage and said,<span style="color: SeaGreen">Miss, the boys and I have a question - or debate, between us.</span>His words were rehearsed, but the alcohol still strung the syllables together in a slur.<span style="color: SeaGreen">If you could answer it for us, we've got some thirty gold here that's yours. </span><div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>