“Master Galehand, put the longboat in the water,” Geran said. “Keep the crew at the sweeps and be ready to slip the cable and make for the open sea if anything goes amiss. Hamil and I are going ashore to see what we can learn. Kara, take command here.”
Kara nodded.
“What of me?” Sarth asked.
“I’d like you to come with Hamil and me,” Geran told the tiefling. “Your talents may prove useful ashore.”
Half an hour later, six of Seadrake’s sailors rowed the ship’s boat up to the quay along the south side of the harbor and tied up. Geran, Hamil, and Sarth clambered out of the boat and climbed the short flight of stone steps leading up to the street by the harborside. Choosing a direction more or less at random, Geran set off into the dank, foggy streets. It was still early enough that they passed many people, most of them laborers and workmen still engaged in the business of the day, but they also encountered men and women dressed for the evening’s revels and the occasional patrol of watchful soldiers.
They visited several different tradeyards and countinghouses near the waterfront, asking about Kraken Queen and spreading coin discreetly to help loosen tongues. Few of the Mulmasterites seemed inclined to be helpful, but in a wineshop across from the city’s chief customshouse, Hamil discovered a handful of touts and clerks from the Moonsea’s larger trading houses drinking after a long day in the merchant yards. The halfling brought a dour, gray-haired man in a House Jannarsk tunic to the table where Geran and Sarth sat, and set a flagon of good Sembian wine in front of him.
“This is Master Narm, a senior clerk who works for House Jannarsk,” Hamil said. “He’s on the Jannarsk wharves pretty much every day and deals with the Mulmasterite harbormasters. He’s not averse to supplementing his salary by answering a few harmless questions.”
Narm shrugged. “The Jannarsks care not, so long as I keep their business to myself. I’ll not speak of Jannarsk cargoes.”
Most likely that meant that Narm wouldn’t speak of Jannarsk cargoes without a more substantial bribe, but that didn’t bother Geran. He didn’t really care what House Jannarsk was sending into or out of Mulmaster. “I understand,” he said. “Have you ever seen a good-sized war galley-a ship with a black hull and the figurehead of a mermaid with a kraken’s tentacles on her bow-in the harbor here?”
The Jannarsk man shook his head. “No, no such ship’s called in Mulmaster so long as I’ve been posted here, and that’s two years now. But I’ve heard a tale about a ship like that. She’s a pirate.”
Geran allowed himself a small sigh of relief. He’d been a little afraid that Kraken Queen might be anchoring openly in Mulmaster and sailing under a letter of marque from the High Blade. If the pirates harrying Hulburg’s shipping were under Mulmaster’s protection, that would have been a daunting challenge to say the least; Hulburg had no hope of forcing the rulers of the larger city to give up the practice. “Go on,” he said.
“A merchant I did business with was ruined by a ship with a kraken figurehead. He owns a couple of cogs that ply the route between Hillsfar and Mulmaster, importing Dalelands grain, cheese, fruit, and such-a decent trade for a small shipowner. But his biggest cog was taken by two pirate ships a few miles off the Lis back before Midsummer. Both pirates flew the same banner-a black field with a crescent moon and a cutlass.” Narm lowered his voice. “The banner of the Black Moon Brotherhood.”
“The Black Moon Brotherhood?” Sarth asked.
“I’m afraid that it’s little more than a story to frighten children into good behavior,” Geran answered. “There have always been rumors of a pirate league in the Moonsea, and any time pirates appear in these waters, people begin to tell those stories again.”
Narm scowled. “It might’ve been little more than a fable a year or two ago, but it’s true enough now. I spoke with a man who survived the attack-an armsman paid to defend the cog-and he told me what he saw.”
“Pirates don’t often leave witnesses behind,” Hamil observed.
“The armsman went over the side during the fight, but was lucky enough to find a bit of flotsam to cling to until another ship picked him up.” Narm shrugged. “Believe me or not, as you will. The shipowner’s cog was certainly taken, of that I have no doubt.”
“I don’t doubt you about the pirate attack on the cog. It’s the pirate league I wonder about.” Geran rubbed his jaw, thinking. “You’re certain you haven’t seen the black galley with the kraken-maid under her bowsprit here? You haven’t heard anyone speaking of a ship named Kraken Queen?”
“No, she’s never called in Mulmaster.” The clerk shook his head. He hesitated a moment then offered, “However, I might know of someone who would know more about such matters.”
Geran nodded to Hamil, who paid off the man with a half-dozen gold crowns. Narm quickly scooped the coins into his pouch. “Sometimes we find it useful to avoid the formalities of customs,” he said in a low voice. “There’s a man named Harask who helps us arrange matters. You can find him in the storehouse across from the Bitter End, a taphouse on the southwest wharves. Be warned that he’s not above robbing a couple of strangers and dumping their bodies in the harbor.” The clerk gave the three companions a shallow bow and withdrew.
Geran waited until the man was out of earshot and leaned in close to speak to Sarth and Hamil. “What do you make of it?” he asked them.
“We could seek out the armsman who survived the attack,” Sarth said.
“I doubt that it’s worth the effort,” Hamil said. “After all, Geran’s seen Kraken Queen. What else would we learn from the armsman?”
“I don’t recall a standard on Kraken Queen when I saw her,” said Geran. “But my attention was fixed on Nimessa Sokol and the danger she was in. I might have missed it.”
Hamil smirked at him. “You mean you were distracted by the beautiful, half-naked woman tied up on the beach? Honestly, Geran, a hero of your quality should be able to keep his mind on business.”
Geran remembered Nimessa’s bare shoulders and the feel of her slim body before him in the saddle. He quickly pushed the idle thought aside. “I’ll ask Nimessa if she recalls a moon-and-cutlass standard the next time we call at Hulburg,” he said. If Narm’s secondhand story was accurate, then Seadrake might be hunting a flotilla instead of a single ship. And the fact that Narm had told them about an attack on a Mulman ship suggested corsairs who were preying on any Moonsea traffic they happened across, instead of waylaying Hulburg’s trade alone. “I say we pay a visit to this Harask and see what he can tell us about Black Moon pirates.”
They left the wineshop and headed back down toward the wharves, where the taphouses and taverns were filled with a rougher crowd. “It’s possible that we’ve just missed Kraken Queen so far,” Hamil pointed out as the three companions strolled down the center of the street, avoiding the filthy gutters. “If she was on the north shore while we were on the south shore, we could easily have passed her by. For that matter, she might be lurking near Hulburg again by now.”
Sarth snorted. “Best not to dwell on that possibility. We could chase the pirate ship around the Moonsea for tendays, if that’s the case.”
They made their way toward the poorer side of the city, passing a series of progressively more disreputable and dangerous establishments. The night grew clammy and cool, and a foul-smelling fog settled over the city’s waterside districts. It took them the better part of an hour to find the Bitter End. From the darkened street outside, they heard the muffled sound of voices, the clinking of tin cups, and the occasional shout or harsh bark of laughter. Across the street a dilapidated storehouse loomed in the fog.
Sarth frowned. “After hours of searching, I believe we have found the foulest establishment in this dismal city. Our prospects can only improve after this.”