Ghost Ship (5) - Where Were They Going?

Writers: Suzee, Eimi
Date Posted: 15th October 2017

Characters: Bryvin, Kiomo
Description: Kiomo gives Bryvin the report from the healer and Naton's findings
Location: Sunstone Seahold
Date: month 13, day 6 of Turn 8
Notes: Meniotns: Naton, Fymer

Notes: 5 in a series

Bryvin

Kiomo walked into the Lord Holder's office carrying a sheet covered in
scribbled notes. "I received the report from the healers and Master
Naton, the salvage specialist."

Bryvin lifted his chin. "What does it say?"

"You'll never guess." Kiomo took the chair opposite the Lord Holder,
leaning back comfortably as he looked over his notes once more. "It
wasn't an illness or even poison that killed the crew. Well, not
ingested poison at least. The healers think that this ship was
sailing too close to the volcano before it erupted and that some of
the gases being released actually suffocated the crew."

"Really," he said holding his hand out for the report. He shook his
head. "I'm beginning to wonder why we didn't know about this sooner."

He assistant leaned over to hand him the sheet. That dolphineer
really had terrible handwriting. "Didn't know what?"

"The name of the ship," he said as he read more of the report. "This
is one of the north/south traders. "He lifted the front page. "Is
there an inventory?"

"'The Evergreen' is out of Carnelian Coast Hold." It was Hold name that Kiomo had heard, but had to look at a map to find. "It's on the south eastern edge of the Sea of Azov in Rising Moons territory. They have a trade route with the east coast of the Northern Continent. It seems they were on their way back."

"Yes," Bryvin nodded. "They sometimes stop here to resupply on their
way north. Too bad really, their Captain was a good man."

"Yeah," Kiomo said, leaning back in his chair once more and folding
his hands over his middle thoughtfully. "Doesn't that strike you as a
little odd?"

"Yes," Bryvin said slowly as the permutations sank in. "Where were
they going this far west?" He smiled at his assistant. "Good catch
Kiomo."

"Exactly," his assistant nodded. "They have to be going somewhere
other than Sunstone. We have no trade agreement with Carnelian Coast
made by you, or Lord Morin, either. They don't come to this port to
trade, but to resupply only. Why would they go west to buy supplies
just to go east to reach their trade port in the North. Coral Bay
would be a much more logical choice, or any of the eastern seaholds.
They have to have a reason to go west, but if they had a trade partner
in the area, why don't they resupply at _their_ port?"

"Sounds to me as if you're going somewhere with this," Bryvin smiled.
"Do you know or just suspect something?"

"I don't know anything yet," Kiomo admitted with a shrug. "But I
suspect a lot. Did the Evergreen come in for a resupply recently?"

"You'd have to check with the Dock Master," Bryvin said, "I know they
were here recently, but not exactly how long ago."

"The Evergreen's last reported port of call of was on the east coast
of the Northern Continent according to it's ship log. It would be
interesting to see." The volcano was far out of the way of their
route if that was the absolute truth. "As far as the cargo on board,
they did seem to be well supplied for the journey back to Carnelian
Coast, but as far as what they had in their hold, their log does seem
to be correct. Master Naton couldn't do a full inventory by himself,
but it did seem to be all goods from the North."

"Now, my seamanship is just a bit out of date. But if I remember
correctly there is a cold current that runs down the east coast of the
northern continent and right towards the mouth of that river. Then it
warms and that warm current runs clockwise from the mouth of the
river up the coast past Jade Harbor, River bluff and here." He tapped
his teeth for a moment. "A full hold means they did take the leg
toward the north but then they must have allowed the Westward current
to carry them past the volcano and right into our arms. But why would
they have passed the river instead of taking their cargo home?"

"Unless they return to the river from the east. I would be very
curious to know when they were last spotted in the area." Kiomo would
definitely be paying the docks a visit soon. He also needed to learn
a bit more about this Carnelian Coast Hold. Perhaps a Harper
could help him out there... "These are definite questions, but the
immediate question is what do you want to do with the ship, it's
cargo, and it's crew."

"Well, I'd expect that regular maritime rules apply and we salvage the
ship." He said. "Then we contact Carnelian with the roster and logs of
the official contents. Since we'd have to transport the cargo to them
they can decide if they want to pay us a 50 percent transport fee.
Anything not in the official roster we keep. How's that for a start?"

Kiomo knew nothing of maritime rules. He would have to track down
Fymer to help answer a few questions for him. "What about the crew's
personal effects? Will we claim salvage on any of that?"

Bryvin's gaze hardened slightly. "The personal effects of the crew
belong to their families and will be returned to them with our
condolences."

The holder could see Bryvin's mood change, so he held up a hand to pacify
him. "I wasn't suggesting we do otherwise. I am still learning what
all salvage entails. I will personally see to cataloging their
belongings to be sure nothing goes astray." Besides, with so many
questions surrounding the circumstances, Kiomo was very interested in
taking a peek at what the crew might have picked up along the way. It
might give him some hint about what they were up to.

Bryvin looked at him a moment longer then nodded. "Alright then, why
don't you go get started." He made a shooing motion. For some reason
his mood had soured.

Last updated on the November 2nd 2017

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Ghost Ship (5) - Where Were They Going?