Beyond the South

The following is an exerpt from the ship's log of *El Peregrino*, a Calamaran vessel which travelled south past Last Light, in order to chart the southern seas. It is one of the few vessels to survive such an expedition, and provided the most detailed account of their travels. *El Peregrino* set sail from Ticaretto on the 1st of Seaward, 19.55

### Log Entry: 24/02/55

*It has been over two weeks since we passed Last Light, and there has been no land since. I am beginning to understand why nobody has charted these southern seas, there is simply nothing here. The scholar, Señor Araphos, states that there are records of islands somewhere down here, but he can never tell me how far, or even which salting direction to go!*

*Araphos came recommended by the Harbourmaster at Ticaretto, though I have my doubts. The man clearly has spent too much time at The Academica, and not enough time at sea. He barely leaves his cabin, and looks pale as a fantasma! The sea hasn't even been that rough so far, I don't dare to think how he'd react in a storm.*

*I am glad we supplied ourselves well at Ticaretto. Barring any major incidents we should be able to survive for many more weeks, perhaps more, if our trusty priest, Sevil, continues to summon us fresh fish every day. Nevertheless, I hope we can find some dry land soon, perhaps with fruit-bearing trees. There is only so long a crew can survive on ship's biscuit and tuna.*

*- Captain Cassyon Calicos*

### Log Entry: 30/02/55

*Thank the Sea God!* *Land at last! Just as I was beginning to give up hope! This afternoon, Erkan, up on the crow's nest, spotted land on the horizon, and we enthusiastically made our way towards it. As we came closer, it became clear that we had reached a large island, with a thriving jungle upon it.*

*We dropped anchor a short distance from the beach, and the First Mate, Bellandini, lead an expedition ashore. He returned with some unique and unusual fruits and berries, and reported that the island seemed to be a fairly ordinary tropical isle, much like any back in the Shattered Sea. He did note that there appeared to be the remnants of ancient structures on the shore, which seemed man-made.*

*Señor Araphos demanded that he examine the fruits before we eat any, to test if they're poison. Bellandini suggested a much more practical solution, and gave one of the fruits to a slave to eat. The slave survived, and stated that it was delicious.*

*Night is falling now, so we will have to continue our expedition tomorrow. I think I'll wait to see if the slave survives the night before I touch anything from this strange new land.*

*- Captain Cassyon Calicos*

### Log Entry: 31/02/55

*By the Abyss! It seems we have had a sudden and terrible change in fortune!*

*This morning we sent an expedition ashore, including Araphos, who wished to study these ancient ruins (and was no doubt glad to get back onto dry land), and First Mate Bellandini, who promised to gather us plenty of fruit.*

*It was only after they left that the slave, that one who ate the fruit, went insane. According to the other slaves, he was in the middle of scrubbing the deck when he suddenly howled, and bit another slave in the throat. The slavemaster Haybaz was forced to kill the insane slave before he did any more damage. We scrambled to act, we identified the other members of the crew who had consumed the fruit, tied them up, and sent a messenger to tell the expedition party.*

*Hours later, the messenger returned with fewer crew than we sent out. Araphos and Bellandini were with them, but apparently two crew members had killed each other in an abrupt fit of rage. One man, Valer, had walked into the dark open doorway of an ancient ruin, and never returned.*

*Brother Sevil states that the island is cursed, and so we left immediately. Currently those members of the crew who we tied up are shrieking incoherently and straining against their bonds. I hope they recover from this madness.*

*- Captain Cassyon Calicos*

### Log Entry: 37/02/55

*After many more long days of sailing aimlessly southwards, we encountered another island. We approached this one with suspicion, given our last encounter, but it did seem notably different. A mountain juts up from the centre of this island, and its coastline is mostly sheer cliffs. There appeared to be plenty of good hunting and foraging on the island too, so we considered staying a while. This time, I personally went on the expedition ashore, and left Bellandini behind to look after the ship.*

*After finding a safe place to beach our dinghies, and making our way up the slope onto the island, we found what appeared to be a pathway. I must say, I was both excited and wary by the prospect of encountering some kind of intelligent society, and so we followed the path until we reached a squat stone structure. As we were about to attempt to enter it, we were suddenly alarmed by the emergence of an enormous scaled serpent. As my crew and I drew our weapons, and prepared to retreat, we were even more surprised to hear the creature speak, in perfect Calamaran.*

*The beast entreated us to put away our weapons, and asked where we had come from. I was reluctant to reveal anything more than necessary, but this creature was salting huge and its mouth was filled with fangs as sharp as cutlasses, so it was all I could do to answer its questions. When I said we were Calamarans, the serpent laughed, strangely. "Greedy northerners" it called us, and said it had encountered men like us before.*

*The serpent then demanded that we come with it to something that it called the "meeting place", so we hesitantly followed it along more forest pathways. We eventually reached a grand clearing, filled with more of these cursed beasts, tangled around one another, and coiled around ancient stone structures and statues. I heard several members of the crew making desperate prayers, and I have to agree, it was terrifying. The serpents spoke to us, but the hungry look in their eyes told me that they did not merely wish to have a chat.*

*The serpents began by inviting us to stay on the island, stating that these seas are too dangerous for men like us. I said that we were proud Calamaran Sailors, and could endure any hardships, which made them laugh. One mentioned that if we left this island, the "spawn of the skies" would soon destroy us. They then began to discuss our fate with each other, seemingly ignoring us.*

*As soon as I saw a good escape route, I encouraged my crew to flee. The serpents roared and gave chase. They were fast it must be said, but I was able to surprise them by firing my pistol into the throng. Though the shot barely damaged their thickly scaled hides, I predicted rightly that they had never encountered gunpowder weapons before, and their shock gave us a chance to escape. Erkan was not fast enough though, and was swiftly devoured.*

*I don't care how much food is on the island, we're leaving this salting place as fast as possible!*

*- Captain Cassyon Calicos*

### Log Entry: 07/03/55

*It has been well over a month now since we left Ticaretto, and things have been getting steadily worse. We have been beset by rain and storms for the past week, our supplies are beginning to run low, and Brother Sevil has not been able to bring us as many fish as he used to. Whenever I see the boatswain checking the supplies, he seems to be muttering something about this being a "doomed voyage", and the look he gives me is almost accusatory. I know what he's thinking; even if we turn back now, we may not have enough food to survive the trip back to civilisation. We need to find somewhere to resupply, but I am beginning to believe that there are no safe islands in this ocean.*

*The strange encounters, the bad luck, the deaths, and the storms, have all contributed to thoroughly disheartening the crew. Not to mention, some of the slaves have died in the storms, so many of the crew have been having to perform the more menial jobs, which is aggravating. I've managed to keep them in line so far, but if they decide to mutiny there's nothing I can do.*

*The rough seas have kept Señor Araphos bedridden for the entire week. I took this opportunity to procure some of his documents when I last checked in on him, the fabled records of the Southern Seas, by previous sailors. I must say, Araphos greatly exaggerated the validity of these documents, they appear to be mostly crazed ramblings. One of these documents speaks about an island of savage tribesmen, who drink blood and pray to the moons. Well I have seen no evidence of any humans living in these seas, not even savages. Another document just states that "the stars are wrong", over and over.*

*Perhaps this journey truly was doomed from the beginning. I can only pray to the Green-Blooded God that we find some sanctuary soon.*

*- Captain Cassyon Calicos*

### Log Entry: 11/03/55

*Perhaps the Sea God does favour us after all, for today we have found the solution to all of our problems, and made an incredible discovery too! There are native humans in the far south!*

*After days of storms, we had begun to lose our bearings. When the sky finally cleared one night, I could see by the stars that we were far off course. We were in luck though, because we soon caught sight of fires on a nearby island! I dared to hope they were man-made fires, and we decided to wait until morning to dock, and find out.*

*By the morning light, we could clearly see a small village on the shore, with people milling about! many of them had gathered on the shore, likely amazed by the sight of a mighty Calamaran frigate. Their little settlement reminded me of those Savage Islander villages in the Shattered Sea.*

*We struck before the savages understood what we were doing. My crew have experience raiding, and this time was surprisingly no different. I was half expecting something terrible to come from the Island, but there was nothing defending the islanders. A few of them picked up crude spears, as if they would help. The islanders had a large store of food, which should keep us going for the rest of the voyage. If not, we can always come back here.*

*But the most valuable treasure that we have claimed is the slaves. A dozen more deckhand slaves to alleviate the work, and many female slaves to keep the crew happy. Once they were brought on deck, and we got a better look at them, I noted that they certainly seem unique. Their skin and hair is pale as snow, but they also bear many colourful markings that we first assumed were tattoos, but seem not to be. Señor Araphos made some notes about their unique appearance, nattering on about something about "anthropology".*

*Brother Sevil does seem to be slightly disturbed though, about something that happened before we left the island. An old native woman was yelling at us from the shore as we loaded our spoils onto the boats, in a language none of us understood. I think he's just being superstitious.*

*- Captain Cassyon Calicos*

### Log Entry: 15/03/55

*Brother Sevil is gone.*

*It happened this morning, while I was going over charts with First Mate Bellandini. We were interrupted by a terrible commotion, Brother Sevil was running across the deck holding his head and yelling. I don't remember exactly what he said, but it seemed to be prayers. Then he just... jumped overboard. We dropped anchor and waited for what must have been over and hour, hoping for him to resurface, but he never did.*

*Oh Sevil! I had known him so long, he was as much a part of El Peregrino as the timbers themselves! What are we supposed to do without him? Without the blessings of the Sea God, this voyage is Maldito! We do not even have another priest on board to perform the proper funerary rites!*

*I am making plans for the journey back to Ticaretto. If we return home now, we can still call this voyage successful. We have made some great discoveries. There is only one problem.*

*We are lost.*

*The skies have been too cloudy to navigate by the stars. We've begun to head vaguely north, but since those storms last week we've lost our bearings. I've long since given up trying to create an accurate chart of these seas.*

*The crew are uneasy. I haven't let them know that we're lost, but the death of our priest has disturbed them. Not to mention the ominous chanting from those slaves. They keep repeating one phrase in unison, until we force them to stop.*

*Without a priest, it's up to me to pray to the Sea God for good fortune.*

*- Captain Cassyon Calicos*

### The Navicistic Prayer

*Oh Green-Blooded King of the Seas, your reach is infinite, your presence is indomitable, and your wrath is terrible.*

*By Blood and Salt, I am bound to my ship, bound to the sea, and bound to your service. In life and death I am pledged to you. I will fill oceans with the blood and tears of your enemies. Those who deny you will live shackled, so that the faithful can live free.*

*I pray that you grant us fair winds and calm seas. Guide us true to a safe port, so we can rest our weary bones before setting forth again.*

*And when my body dies, my soul shall return to your embrace, and continue to serve.*

### Log Entry: 17/03/55

*Last night was the first clear night in a while, and upon examining the star charts, we've realised that we are terribly off course. With adjustments made to our bearings, things are looking a little more hopeful. Just a few more weeks of sailing, and we should reach the Shattered Sea.*

*A strange thing has started happening though. Yesterday one of the deck slaves, one of the savages that we recently acquired, stopped in the middle of his duties, and calmly stepped off the edge of the ship, chanting that phrase. We didn't stop to check if he resurfaced, but we're so far from land that there's no way he could survive. Today, another slave did the same, just as calmly. I've since told the Slavemaster Haybaz to find some way to shackle them to the deck, and to keep a more vigilant eye on them.*

*Señor Araphos has been spending a bit more time among the deckhands recently, especially the slaves, and always looks confused. Whenever I ask, he stammers something about trying to learn more about the natives, then goes back to scrawling notes. I'm fine with it as long as he doesn't interrupt their duties.*

*There was a storm today. It didn't last long, but it was violent enough to damage one of the masts. The shipwright reckons he can fix it while we're at sea, but I'd rather find some dry land first.*

*- Captain Cassyon Calicos*

### Log Entry: 23/03/55

*The Sea God has favoured us, and brought us to another island. We dropped anchor close to shore, and we plan to stay here some time while we fix the ship. First Mate Bellandini went ashore with some crew, and noted that the fruit that grows here is the same as from the island of savages, so we know it's safe. This will be a good chance to resupply and recuperate.*

*Haybaz says that one of the native slaves escaped from the bilge soon after we docked. When I admonished him for his incompetence, he says the slave was fully chained and couldn't possibly escape. I think he's just trying to cover up his mistake.*

*Boatswain claims to have seen figures on the shore, but Bellandini didn't see anyone while he was on the island. It is a large island though and unfortunately would be impossible to fully explore with the limited time we have.*

*- Captain Cassyon Calicos*

### Log Entry: 24/03/55

*By the Abyss, this voyage is really starting to wear down my resolve. I thought the island of talking serpents would be the most disturbing thing we'd find, but I have been proven wrong.*

*This morning, we noted that the shipwright was missing. A few of the savage slaves seemed to have escaped their confinement too. Before we could investigate this further, some of the crew started yelling from portside, saying they'd seen something on the shore.*

*The shipwright - by God this is a horrible sentence to write - the shipwright's dead body was on the beach, impaled upon a wooden stake, like some kind of gruesome decoration. Or a warning.*

*I am tired of running. This was clearly done by those strange savage slaves to hinder our repairs, and I need to let it be known that I will not tolerate such a terrible thing. I sent Haybaz and some of my best warriors ashore, to bring back those slaves. They were able to find tracks, but night fell before they could get any further. Tomorrow, we will mount a more determined expedition. Tonight, all the slaves are being put under the most secure captivity possible. I won't allow any more deaths aboard my vessel.*

*- Captain Cassyon Calicos*

### Log Entry: 25/03/55

*I do not understand how it is possible, but we have been to that island before! It is the island of the savages!*

*I myself lead the expedition ashore in order to track down our errant slaves and bring then justice. We followed the tracks around the beach, until we reached a small wooden village. Upon sighting it, I thought it looked familiar, and when we reached it we knew it was exactly the same village that we had previously raided! Except this time it was empty.*

*I do not understand how we can sail north so long, only to arrive where we started. Once I got over this shock, we began a thorough search of the village. There was only one person in the village, who I found in a dim hut. He had pale skin and hair, and colourful markings, just like the other savages, except I could have sworn I recognised him from somewhere. He looked into my eyes and spoke that strange language. I couldn't understand the words, but he seemed to speak in strangely friendly tones. I remember noting that his markings were in colours of blue and green, and seemed to show sea waves and grasping tentacles, almost like Navicistic symbology. Before I could act on this, I began to hear a thunderous roaring sound from the ocean.*

*An enormous wave was approaching the island, out of nowhere. Tall as the walls of Calavierus, and wider than the island itself, it approached with a terrifying inevitability. We fled further inland desperately, but when the wave hit, it was salting chaos. I barely remember what happened after I was struck by the rush of water. My body was battered about, struck by wreckage and slammed into everything. I couldn't breathe for so long. Somehow, by the grace of the Sea God, I survived. When the wave subsided, I found myself clinging desperately to a tree, with no idea how I got there.*

*I had brought ten men ashore, and only three survived. Me, Haybaz, and deckhand Adilo. I can only hope that the rest find solace in the embrace of the Sea God.*

*We quickly attempted to retreat to El Peregrino, but our dinghies had been washed away. We had to swim back to the ship. It wasn't far, but my battered and bruised body did not enjoy it. I can barely write this log entry.*

*El Peregrino survived the wave, but the damaged mast is now completely wrecked, and the tiller isn't looking good. Also, more of the captured native slaves escaped. There's only three left now.*

*We leave, due directly north. I don't care about revenge anymore.*

*- Captain Cassyon Calicos*

### Log Entry: 28/03/55

*I don't know if this was a dream or if it actually happened.*

*I was out walking on deck in the middle of the night. It was a calm sea, and the wandering moon was bright in the sky. I was examining the sky, trying to pick out familiar constellations, and for some reason I was concerned. Suddenly I heard a splash on the starboard side of the ship, and went to investigate.*

*An enormous serpent was swimming alongside the ship. It lifted its head from the water and began speaking to me. I do not remember exactly what it said, but I remember a piece of the conversation.*

*It was afraid. I remember that. It told me that I should also be afraid. It asked me if I knew about trade, and of course I said I did. It told me that I can't take anything without giving something in return. I asked what the price was. It was silent for a moment. It then said that I wouldn't be able to understand the price, because I didn't understand what I'd taken. Before I could question it further, it suddenly retreated back into the sea. I returned to bed, suddenly tired.*

*I remember it so vividly, but nobody else on the crew has mentioned seeing such a creature.*

*- Captain*

### Log Entry: 31/03/55

*Why can't we just go home? What have I done to displease you, great green-blooded god of the seas?*

*I am desperately trying to direct us north, but we keep losing our bearings inexplicably! Every night I examine the star charts, and find us wildly off course! Every time I check my compass, our bearing is wrong! I am losing sleep over this!*

*This must be those strange savages! They're doing something! Their chanting drove Sevil insane, they can escape from chains like it's no obstacle, they summoned a salting tidal wave! And why did I recognise the man in the hut? Salting stregas, the lot of them!*

*Unless, this is the souls of my fallen crewmen, haunting me? I am so sorry, you know I tried to protect you all! But this voyage was doomed from the start, you were right! I am sorry! We should never have come here! Your blood is on my hands! Sevil, Erkan, Valer, Angelo, Ettor, all of you! I am so sorry!*

*- Captain*

### Log Entry: 32/03/55

*Am I already dead? Is this the Abyss? Did we all die already? These pale savages, are they demons sent to torment our souls? Spawn of the Skies indeed!*

*No, surely not. I cannot believe that. Whatever is going on, I have a responsibility to my surviving crewmen, I must deliver them safely home. But how can I do that, when all my attempts to navigate are confounded!? The Sea God himself opposes us, surely!*

*The wind is against us! There is no salting land to be seen anywhere on the horizon! Our compasses contradict each other! The sun rises in the wrong place!*

*The Stars are wrong!*

*What can I do to make this right? What pledge must I make? What sacrifice must I make?*

*What sacrifice*

*I*

*I know what must be done.*

*In life and death I am pledged to you*

*And when my body dies, my soul shall return to your embrace, and continue to serve.*

*- Captain.*

### Log Entry: 33/03/55

*This is First Mate Bartolem Bellandini. Although I suppose now it's Captain Bartolem Bellandini.*

*Captain Calicos is dead. He emerged from his cabin in the middle of the night and chained himself to a bloody crate of cannonballs, all the while muttering prayers under his breath. He walked to the edge of the deck, and spent several minutes just staring at the moons. He then muttered something, I think it was "I understand the price". We had no idea what to do. Before anyone could stop him, he shoved the crate off the side of the ship without a word, and was pulled into the sea.*

*It's probably for the best, he was starting to go a bit mad. We'll miss him of course, he's been captain as long as I can remember, but now I can take command, and start making some changes.*

*For a start, Captain Calicos never allowed us to perform executions on the ship. That changes now, I'm going to have those four remaining pale savages killed, they're clearly stregas.*

*Here's to a new era of leadership for El Peregrino!*

*- Captain Bartolem Bellandini.*

### Log Entry: 34/03/55

*There is a traitor on board.*

*Today we executed the last four of those stregas. I had a brief argument with Haybaz, because he seemed to think we should only have three. I know Haybaz is stupid, but I assumed he could at least count. Maybe I shouldn't trust him with anything too important anymore, and leave him to just beating up the slaves.*

*Anyway, four clean executions. Throats slit, bodies thrown into the ocean. No chance of survival, even for black magic stregas like them. And I know the boatswain was still alive when we killed them. So when we found his body later, I knew it must be a traitor!*

*It could be more than one, perhaps a group of mutineers? I thought I could trust the crew, I've been with them so long, surely they wouldn't betray me?*

*Unless they've had their minds corrupted by the strange magic of those pale savages. Adilo hasn't been the same since he almost died in that tidal wave. Haybaz was there too, and maybe that's why he's been miscounting the slaves. It all makes sense!*

*That scholar is suspicious too. He's been staying almost entirely within his own room for weeks. He seemed far too sympathetic of the savages too, said he wanted to learn from them.*

*I must investigate this further, to keep everybody on El Peregrino safe.*

*- Captain Bartolem Bellandini.*

### Log Entry: 35/03/55

*So, for a start, I have no idea where this enormous bloody obelisk came from.*

*I awoke this morning to see a huge stone pillar on the horizon. Its unseen summit reaches high into the clouds, and it must be about half a kilometre wide at the base.*

*Given our past experience of strange things found in this sea, I decided it would be best to avoid it. Unfortunately the ship and the sea didn't seem to agree with me. The tiller's finally given up today, and with one mast damaged we're almost entirely at the mercy of the wind and tide.*

*So, as we slowly and reluctantly approached the great big bloody thing, I banged on that scholar's door, and demanded he take a look at it. Surely all that Academica training is useful somewhere. He got very excited when he saw it, and said that it could be a "skyspire". Some kind of mythical thing, created at the dawn of time or something like that.*

*Either way, the current soon took us past the pillar, and I was happy to leave it at that. Until the wind changed, and we started heading back towards it. I then focused all our efforts on trying to sail northwards and away from the pillar. We've now been steadily sailing away for hours, but we seem to be exactly the same distance from it as we started.*

*Oh, also, I've imprisoned Haybaz, and I've been trying to question him, but he claims to know nothing about the deaths. He seems to have gone mad, he claims that we're still on that first island we found, and hallucinating from eating that fruit.*

*No wonder Calicos topped himself! Running this ship is bloody insanity!*

*- Captain Bartolem Bellandini.*

### Log Entry: 36/03/55

*Things are getting a little strange. I was in the bilge earlier, getting some of the slaves to work, and I could have sworn I saw a man with pale skin and hair, covered in colourful markings, like one of those bloody savages. I spent the next hour ransacking the ship to find him.*

*There's no doubt about it, the pillar is closer today. The crew seem wary. Araphos has actually barricaded himself in his room at this point. Adilo has been going around claiming that we're all already dead, and this is the Abyss. I've thrown him in the brig with Haybaz, let the madmen rot together.*

*Both the moons are full tonight, which is odd for this time of year, I think?*

*I've had a look at Captain Calicos' log entries, to see if he wrote anything helpful. He wrote a lot of crazy things in here. He was right about navigation being difficult. The stars do seem to be in the wrong places.*

*The pillar's even closer now! I swear we haven't moved! I'm going to-*

### Log Entry: 02/04/55

*This is Nazair, a former slave upon El Peregrino.*

*It has now been over two months since this ship left Ticaretto, setting sail into uncharted lands.*

*Every member of the ship's original crew are dead.*

*I've read the earlier entries in this log. Calicos and Bellandini both made the same mistakes, and have died for it. Maybe if they'd been a bit more observant they could have lived. I feel no remorse for any of them though.*

*Nobody pays attention to the slaves, as long as we're doing what we're told. They don't look at our faces. They haven't seen what's been actually going on. For example, the fruit from the first island was actually perfectly safe.*

*The slave who was fed the fruit from that island was not from this ship. I do not know where he came from, I had never seen him before, and he seemed to appear just in time for the First Mate to feed him that fruit. He then worked among us, and the lazy slavemaster Haybaz didn't notice the extra deckhand. When I asked his name, he said to call him Seer. He suddenly and inexplicably attacked another slave, old Katia, the next day, and was killed. Both of them were thrown overboard. At the time, I didn't understand what was happening, but with what I know now, I think I'm starting to get it.*

*The islands demand a payment.*

*The crew also didn't pay attention when they arrived at the island of the painted people. They saw their strange skin, and heard their strange language, and didn't look past it. They saw what they expected to see; savages. They didn't see what we saw.*

*That old woman who yelled at the captain from the shoreline was old Katia. Her body may have changed, but her face was the same.*

*After that day, we shared our ship with the painted people. We couldn't speak with them, but that didn't stop us understanding them. We shared our food, and helped each other with our duties, and slowly began to learn about them. Expressions and tones often say more than words can. The painted people were kind, and fiercely intelligent. We quickly noted that one of them had the face of Valer, the crewman who disappeared after delving into that ruin on the first island. He was different, definitely, but still somehow the same. None of the crew ever looked closely at those colourful markings on the painted people. If they did, they may have noted that Valer's markings seemed to represent El Peregrino itself, sinking into a gaping abyss.*

*I don't know what made the priest Sevil kill himself, though I suspect he knew far more about this place than the rest of the crew. Perhaps his knowledge of magic gave him a better awareness. Perhaps he realised the heresy of his own religion, when confronted with these strange southern seas. Greenblood has no power here.*

*When the painted people began to throw themselves overboard, I think there was a deeper intention than suicide. We began to notice during that time that they changed, literally. Painted people would seemingly disappear from the boat, only to be replaced by someone new, out of nowhere. Nobody seemed to notice, except the scholar Araphos. He didn't seem inclined to tell anybody, and instead was willing to help us. I am glad for this, because the painted ones needed all of our help to return home.*

*We helped them escape their chains. We captured and killed the shipwright for them, and later the boatswain, and we were more than willing to do so. The shipwright and the boatswain were some of the worst of the crew; the things they did to the female slaves were too horrendous to commit to paper.*

*When Bellandini executed the painted ones, I knew it wouldn't really kill them. They wouldn't allow it to happen otherwise. He left one though, one who hid better than the rest. It was Seer, as a painted person. He was bringing us to the Skyspire. As we got closer, a few more painted people arrived onto the ship. There was Ettor, and Angelo, and old Katia, and even Sevil, his markings showing the sea filled with tentacles.*

*The mutiny was quick and bloodless. The crew were too busy fighting amongst each other to pay attention to the slave uprising. By the time it was over, El Peregrino was docked up against a small rock next to the Spire. The full moons granted an odd illumination to the night, and the sea was oddly calm. The crew were tied up with ropes and taken onto the rock. The painted people began chanting, that same phrase they often chant. I don't know how, but I suddenly knew the meaning: "You Have Taken, You Must Give".*

*Seer went to each of the crew individually, and touched them each once on the forehead. At his touch, they grew pale, collapsed, and were pushed into the water. One by one they went; Adilo, Haybaz, all of them. The last was Bellandini. With him, Seer did something different. He stepped to the edge of the rock, and at that moment an enormous serpent swam up from beneath the water. Seer left Bellandini on that rock and returned to our ship. As soon as he set foot aboard El Peregrino, the vessel began to move away from the Skyspire, leaving Bellandini with the serpent. I did not watch for long enough to see the former first mate devoured.*

*I remember it all so vividly, though at the same time, I don't know what happened between then and the next morning. Somehow, El Peregrino is repaired, and the Skyspire is nowhere to be seen. The only people left on the ship are me, Araphos, and a handful of other former slaves. Some of the slaves who took part in the mutiny are missing, and somehow I know they chose to go with Seer, wherever he went.*

*The wind is with us, and we seem to be making our way directly north. I do not know what we will do when we return to the Shattered Sea, but hopefully the crewless husk of El Peregrino will be enough of a warning to those who ever consider heading south, beyond Last Light.*

*- Nazair.*