The wounded sailor groans as the painful spell begins to revive him. The man starts scratching and scrubbing at himself, as if trying to cleanse himself of something horrible.

The captured man cringes and starts talking, "Balentyne? Why would? Um, what do you want to know? I mean, its the best path to the north for our patrols. There's a strong garrison there, led by Sir Thomas Havelyn."

Eya looks at the man impatiently as she replies, "First, what's your name and what was your role? Why did your patrol change? Are there any more patrol ships in the area? How many patrols are out right now? What have you heard of the prisoner escape from Branderskar? Regarding Balentyne, what do you know about this Sir Thomas Havelyn and do you know of any other high ranking people there? Do you or your ship have a map of it or the area around it? What notable defenses does it have? Answer truthfully or else..."

She points to the ogre.

"Name's Timeon, I'm just a sailor, nothin' special. The higher ups wanted extra ships in the water because of some kind of prisoner escape, that's why we're out here. There are some other ships out here, but I don't know their orders. At Balentyne, Sir Havelyn's the leader. I can name a couple of the captains under him, Eddarly and Mott, but I don't know much about the lot of them."

"We don't have no maps of Balentyne. Um, I remember there's a big catapult up there, and a rookery to pass along messages in a hurry. Oh, and there's a pair o' battle mages there, they're supposed to be pretty good at that stuff. Um... I can't remember anythin' else."

He looks to the ogre and gulps,  "Oh, oh right, there was one other thing. Don't know if its anythin' more than a rumor, but you know the inn in Aldencross? The Lord's Dalliance? I heard once that in the old days, before Markadian the first, it was a brothel. The old lord would often sneak down to have his way with the girls. If the rumor can be believed, there's a secret passage of some sort out of the keep somewhere."

The search of the Blade of St Martius doesn't turn up much, some basic supplies, nondescript gear and sailor's uniforms, etc. The Captain's longsword and shield are both of fine make, and his personal quarters had a small sunburst holy symbol made of real gold, it could probably be sold for a fair bit.

Kiven stands, bow over his shoulder and arms crossed, and listens to Timeon tell all that he knows in a desperate attempt to save his own life.  He raises an eyebrow at mention of the secret passage and looks at Eya.  After a few seconds he looks to Respar and back to Eya before asking "well, are you done with him?"

Respar shrugs.  "Nothing more from me."  He goes back to bringing their loot onto the Frosthamar.  He looks at the longsword wistfully.  It's much bigger and heavier than he is used to.  Perhaps Kiven has had some training, as the son of a lord.  Or maybe Jesla will find it useful.  Otherwise, it is probably best to simply keep for the cause at this time.

"Nope I'm done. Jesla, we're done. You can kill him," Eya says coldly. 

"Wait!" calls out Kiven.  He strides over to Jesla, Eya, and their prisoner.  He looks down at the man to see the expression on his face, whether it be fear, hope or something else.  He then looks Jesla right in the eye and says "let me do it."  The Prince pulls out a dagger.

  Jesla nods at Eya   She brings her great sword over her head and is about to remove the captives head when Kiven calls out.  She frowns at the elf but shrugs   " Suit yourself.  " She stands back to watch.  

Kiven nods at Jesla and moves to stand facing the man dead on.  He kneels and looks at the dagger in his hand, then the man's face.  He reaches up and grips Timeon's hair and then pauses for several seconds, just staring coldly at the prisoner.  Finally The Prince pulls the man's head close and whispers into whichever of his ears is further from Captain Odenkirk.  "I am sorry you cannot be spared to witness the rise of Talingarde that is soon to come, but at least, in a sense, you are the first among many to kneel before your new Lord, Kiven Aloro."  As he finishes his last word he jabs the dagger straight into the man's throat, pushing hard against it and pulling on the Timeon's hair as the blood begins to flow.  He continues to force the dagger in for far longer than is necessary to kill the man, all the while grimacing awkwardly.  Eventually The Prince lets go of the man and stands, staring at the bloody dagger in his dark red hands.

The bound man struggles and pleads for his life, but in the end is helpless. He twitches fitfully as the blade tears a hole in his throat, and blood fills his lungs.

The crew of the Frosthamar are quiet as they watch the murder of the bound man. Eventually Odenkirk speaks, "The waters around here are quite deep. Knock a hole in the bottom and that ship will never be seen again."

Eya was turning away to leave before Kiven interrupted Jesla. Instead, she stops and smiles to herself when he asks to kill the man himself. She even stays to observe. 

Once the deed is done, Eya goes up to Grumblejack, points to Timeon's dead body, and says, "There's your dinner, big guy. Enjoy." To Odenkirk she simply replies, "Can't you and your men at the very least handle the creation of a simple hole?"

She rolls her eyes and walks away disinterestedly. 

Flummoxed, the smuggler gapes at Eya for a bit, "Err... of course, uh, ma'am. Just didn't know if you had other plans. Mr Tibbs! Get it done!" This last is directed to one of his crew, who retrieves a long iron spike and a big hammer before scuttling across to the other ship, cringing away from Grumblejack, who is busy munching on the former prisoner.

Mr Tibbs is only down in the other ships hold for a minute or two before he comes scrambling back up, notably wetter than before. The Blade of St Martius lists as its hold fills with water. Soon enough, it slips under the water, headed for the cold, dark, bottom.

Kiven eventually turns and walks back to the cargo pile and sits down, saying "I saved you some dinner" to Grumblejack along the way.

The Prince looks at the thick layer of blood on his dagger and his hands.  He makes a fist with one and squeezes, watching closely as a few drops of blood seep out and hit the ship's deck.  He stares at his hands for several more minutes before finally wiping some of the excess against the cargo and then casting prestidigitation numerous times until all of the blood has been removed from himself, the dagger, the cargo, his clothing, etc.  Kiven lays his bow across his lap and pulls out one of the books he was reading about dark magics and resumes his studies, ignoring everything else that has happened in recent minutes.

  Jesla watches Kiven's shaky hands murder the sailor.  Observing his behavior afterwads, she shakes her head.  She made a mental note ro keep an eye on the elfling.  He appeared to be very emotionally unstable. " I cant use that sword myself   i prefer a larger blade myself", she responds when asked aboit the weapon.  She sat down on the bow of the ship to think of what this meant to them.  The crew would need to be watched doubly so and would probably seek to escape the fate of the murdered sailor. 

Respar watches as Kiven executes the prisoner but makes no comment.  Once the other ship begins sinking he turns to Odenkirk and says, "Get us under way, Captain.  The further and faster from here the better." 

OOC:  If we need to divvy the coins, we will do so.  Respar will even make sure a share goes to Odenkirk, and a share for the surviving crew.  After all, we'll probably get it back when we off them...

The Frosthamar resumes its journey north. Its crew seem considerably more wary around the Nessus Knot, and there is grumbling about whether or not the payment was worth this kind of trouble. Odenkirk squashes that thinking wherever he hears it, so it generally turns to grumbling about his greed after he's left earshot again.

Ice become more and more prevalent as the ship moves north, and more than once the ship is forced to cut speed as it picks its way through a field of icebergs. Odenkirk and his men more than prove their value here, skillfully slipping their way amongst obstacles that would no doubt leave a crew with less experience crushed and broken.

A few days later, and the ship enters a large bay. The captain points to the river feeding into it. "There's our path from here on. I've been told our drop point is somewhere on the shores of the lake, but not exactly where. I hope you know where we're going."

"In any case, this will in some respects be the most dangerous part of the trip. The river will limit our movements, and the denizens of these lands won't have the courtesy to announce themselves and ask for papers before trying to rip us apart."

Respar nods in acknowledgement of Odenkirk's comments.  "Once we reach the lake itself, we'll give you directions.  Depending on how long the trip to the lake is, we will all help stand watch for possible trouble."

Eya spends the next few days reading and attempting to learn some of the spells she messed up earlier. She also spends some time reading the book that Kiven let her borrow. She goes and checks up on both Grumblejack and Snowflake periodically to see if they are doing well or if they need anything. She refills her stock of alchemical grease by grabbing another one from Grumblejack's bag and putting it in hers.

At some point during the travel, she returns the book to Kiven and says, "Thanks for letting me borrow it. I liked chapter nine the most. You should reread it tonight." 

---

Eya keeps an eye out for any trouble as they go down the river, and will keep up her studies as a sailor and ship's navigator. She keeps track of their direction at all times and cross-references the positioning to the maps and geography as best as she can while keeping a log of everything in her book. 

  Jesla enjoys not having to disguise her appearance.  She pays close attention to their surroundings as they sail along.  She will offer to help the crew sail from time to time since they are now down a few members.  

Twenty minutes after Eya returns the book to Kiven, he walks by her on the boat and drops the book in her lap.  "A bit elementary, but interesting none the less."  Inside she finds acknowledgement of her puzzle and proof that it was solved.

Kiven spends the days writing in his spell book, inscribing one new spell scar via a rather gruesome procedure from his spell book, and practicing with his bow by firing arrows into an inconsequential supply crate.  Referring to another book on archery, military tactics and the like, The Prince even repairs some of the spent arrows from the previous battle and fashions a few new ones.  Lastly, Kiven finally takes an interest in the specifics of the mission, studying maps of the region and taking particular note of the area around the river they are entering, the lake they are heading to and the fort they will be targeting.