Corsair

was literate; he’d never heard of a gnoll who could read-but found nothing there. With a sinking feeling, he realized he’d have to seriously search the cabin.

It took him a quarter hour, but he finally found the leather pouch underneath Narsk’s mattress. Hoping that the master of the ship was going to be tied up in his business ashore for a while longer, Geran sat down at the desk and carefully drew out the pouch’s contents: two letters on parchment, one short, the other long. He looked at the short letter first. It read:

Narsk:

Proceed to Mulmaster, making port no later than the 5th of Marpenoth. Go to the concession of the Red Wizards and ask for Iomauld. Tell Iomauld that you have come for the starry compass and that the High Captain will arrange payment as is customary. Iomauld will explain the device’s operation to you. Install the compass and proceed to the rendezvous. If the Red Wizards desire immediate payment, pay them whatever they ask for the compass. I will compensate you. If the starry compass is not available or you run into some other difficulty, then do not linger in Mulmaster. You must be at the rendezvous without fail.

Kamoth

“‘Starry compass’? What is that?” Geran wondered. Some sort of magical device, it seemed. The Red Wizards were known as purveyors of enchanted items. Their fortresslike concessions were scattered throughout the cities of the Inner Sea, forbidding places where the mysterious expatriates of old Thay wove their sinister spells for anyone who could afford their services. In any event, that was likely what Narsk was doing this very moment ashore.

Geran set that letter aside and picked up the second letter. He’d just unfolded it when he heard Hamil’s voice in his mind: Narsk is returning, Geran! You’d better hurry up in there.

“Damn it all,” Geran muttered to himself. Quickly he skimmed the second letter:

Narsk:

No later than three hours after sunset on the 7th of Marpenoth, bring Moonshark to a point three miles south of the ruins of Seawave, on the shoreline twenty-five miles west of Hulburg. There will be a large bonfire ashore to aid in navigating to the rendezvous. Do not arrive too early, since we do not want the fleet to be spotted as it assembles. Stand off well out to sea until after dark if you need to. Once the Black Moon is gathered together, we will proceed to Hulburg and attack the city in the early hours of the 8th. Your assignment is to land Moonshark’s crew on the wharves by the House Sokol concession. This is the westernmost of the merchant tradeyards in the city, hard by the bluffs of Keldon Head. Wyvern will make her landing on the Double Moon wharves immediately to your right.

Your crew is to burn the Council Hall, where Hulburg’s Merchant Council meets. After that, they are free to slay, pillage, or burn as they please. There will be Black Moon men posted in front of places that are not to be harmed; make sure that your crew knows to listen to any man wearing a black armband. The rest of the town and its folk are yours to do with as you please.

All Black Moon ships will withdraw together at sunrise, unless the High Captain personally instructs you otherwise. Make sure your crew understands that stragglers will be left behind. If you are in possession of the starry compass, you will accompany Kraken Queen to Neshuldaar-it is the eleventh islet. Otherwise, you are to make for the River Lis and the Inner Sea.

No pirate has ever assembled a five-ship raid in the Moonsea. Strike hard, strike fast, and the harmach’s men will never know what hit them.

Kamoth

“Merciful Ilmater,” Geran breathed. The Black Moon intended to attack Hulburg, and only four days from now! With five ships they could easily carry five or six hundred men. Given the advantage of surprise, they could cause unimaginable damage. Somehow he had to find a way to warn Harmach Grigor. The corsairs expected to strike a sleeping town without any idea that danger approached from the sea, but if the harmach called out the Spearmeet and mustered the merchant company armsmen to meet the pirate attack on the wharves, Hulburg might drive off the Black Moon with little harm.

Geran, Narsk is coming up the gangplank! Hamil shouted in his mind. You have to get out of there now!

Geran stuffed the two letters back into the pouch and then put the pouch back under the mattress where he’d found it. He could hear Narsk’s snarling voice just outside the cabin door. He took one quick look around the cabin to make sure he hadn’t left anything obviously out of place, then jammed the coin with the light spell back into his pocket and cleared his mind. The key rattled in the lock as he closed his eyes and whispered, “Seiroch!”

There was an instant of icy blackness, and then he stumbled as he appeared in the darkness of the hold beneath Narsk’s cabin. Sarth reached out to catch him by the arm and steady him. “I’m here, Geran,” the tiefling whispered. “Did you find Kamoth’s instructions?”

“I did.” Geran started to say more, but then he heard the door in the cabin above creak open and Narsk’s footsteps overhead. The gnoll’s harness jingled, and he heard the muffled sounds of something heavy tossed onto the bunk, followed by a cloak dropped to the floor. Then Narsk paused and snarled low in his throat like an angry wolf. Quick footsteps crisscrossed the cabin several times, then they heard the gnoll hurry back out to the deck.

“Did you leave something behind?” Sarth asked Geran.

“I don’t think so. But I must have left something out of place.” He grimaced. It couldn’t be helped now. All they could do was rejoin the crew and try to behave innocently.

They picked up casks of salted pork from the storeroom and carried them through the midships crew quarters-where they passed several of their crewmates-forward to the galley. Tao Zhe was not there; Geran breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn’t really come up with a good reason why he and Sarth would bring the Shou cook something he hadn’t asked for yet, but they had to have some reason for being in the storeroom under the captain’s quarters.

They climbed back up onto the main deck and found Hamil waiting for them there. “Trouble,” Hamil said quietly. I think Narsk has got your scent.

“My scent?” Geran looked back toward the captain’s cabin. Narsk was standing just outside the door, sniffing the air. Geran had no idea how keen a gnoll’s sense of smell was, but given Narsk’s hyena-like muzzle, he had to believe it was sharper than his own. The question was, did he have enough of Geran’s scent to identify him or not?

“If you found what you needed in Narsk’s cabin, this may be the right time to jump ship,” Sarth murmured. “What more do we have to gain by remaining on board?”

Geran thought quickly. He needed to find a way to warn Hulburg about what was coming. That was the foremost consideration. He’d like to find out more about the starry compass and what it was for, or continue his corsair career and see what more he could learn about the Black Moon Brotherhood, but those were secondary goals. He looked over to Hamil and asked, “Did Narsk bring anything aboard when he returned? Maybe a parcel of some kind?”

“Yes, something about the size of a hatbox. I thought it strange that he carried it instead of giving it to one of the men who went with him. Why, what is it?”

“I think it’s something called a starry compass. It may be important.” Geran turned to Sarth next. “Do you know any sending spells?” he asked.

“I do not have my tomes with me,” the tiefling answered. “They are still aboard Seadrake.”

“Then we have to remain aboard Moonshark. The Black Moon ships are gathering to attack Hulburg two days from now. We won’t find any vessel that will get us to Hulburg faster than that. Somehow we will have to find a way to warn the harmach that the Black Moon is coming.”

Hamil winced. “That’s not much of a warning. Won’t we get to Hulburg at the same time that the other Black Moon ships do?”

“We might find some way to warn Hulburg of our presence,” Geran said. “If nothing else, Sarth might be able to go ahead and provide at least a few minutes’ warning.”

“In that event, it seems that we’re continuing as corsairs for a little longer,” Sarth said. “And that means we have to throw off Narsk’s suspicions. We have to hide your scent somehow, Geran. How, I don’t know.”