The Mercenaries - Ed Greenwood [2]
"Addle-wits yourself, Rulgor-it's full of compliments y'are this night, aye? Ill grant that could mean war… but then, the whole Coast seems always close to war: we ship no swords anywhere, now do we, anymore?"
"Aye, but there's always food for our holds-even when they hate each other or march to war on each other, folk need to eat."
"Living folk, aye," another voice joined in hoarsely, as a gaunt-cheeked salt bent over the table with a dripping tankard in his hand. "But I've seen-and fought-ghost warriors!"
There was a general chorus of rude sounds and good-natured curses, but the new arrival added hotly, "Some of yell laugh a little less some dark watch, when they rise dripping out of the sea-and reach for thee!"
"Get you gone!" Rulgor said sharply, waving a half-eaten wheel of mottled green cheese in the gaunt pirate's face, but the damage was done.
Already another seaman was muttering, "I've never seen no deader rise out of the waves, but I've seen one of the ghost ships, to be sure!"
"Ghost ships," Rulgor snarled derisively, voice rising, "ghost ships!"
Half a dozen rough voices echoed his ridicule as the lammers came, shook their heads silently, and dragged the last of the drunks away. New arrivals who'd been leaning against the walls nursing their tankards crowded in to take the table.
"Ghost ships," whispered one straggle-bearded, one-eyed old pirate, in a hoarse, breathless bark that carried clearly up and down the room. "They rise from the depths on moonlit nights-I've seen 'em, more'n once!-and wallow along, mastless… and unhelmed."
"Aye? Have less to drink while ye're on watch, and theyll go away," one laconic voice observed, and there was a general roar of laughter. Undaunted, the one-eyed pirate went on.
"Rise, they do, to ram luckless vessels-if the gods think it's your time."
"It's your time, all right-sit and stow it!" someone roared.
The tale-teller glared down the room with the one eye he had left, made the whirlpool sign of the sea goddess, and added, "Sometimes-not often-Umberlee smiles, and a ghost ship runs aground somewhere… to make some lucky shoresmen rich with long-sodden gold and gems!"
"Oh, give off and get gone!" a handsomely-dressed man said scornfully. Charms of golden wire were wound into the small, jutting beard that curled from the point of his chin, and they bobbed as he sneered. The lamplight gleamed back from the rich brocade of his vest, but the shirt of fine white silk he wore beneath it was sticking to him in six places from sweat. "In every port I hear such tales. They're good for little more than to make women scream."
"Before or after they look at you?" someone said sarcastically, and the man in the vest swung around with eyes ablaze, trying to identify who'd spoken. His snarls were lost in a babble of other voices, wanting to tell everyone in the room of ships of the dead that loomed out of dark nights, scraped past terrified pirates, and plunged as quickly back into the endless darkness, or rammed and sank rivals just before a sea battle, or…
"Enough of ghosts, you loosetongues," the sarcastic pirate said, cutting through all the legends. "I've real news. You noticed, I'm sure, Orim Redbeard's Black Dragon at anchor out by the Jaws. And none of his crew here, tonight? Well, that's because a select few of 'em are skulking about us now. Hunting the last of Ralingor's crew-before those last few hunt them."
There was a sudden, tense silence, broken by someone asking, "What was that?" and someone else grunting, "Ralingor? By Umberlee's wettest kisses, what happened?"
Men made warding signs at the mention of the sea-goddess. Others, less fearful, snapped, "Aye: tell!"
Blackfingers Ralingor, for all his fabled stormy temper, was one of the most popular-and feared-pirates plying the Utter Coast. His deeds were legends, and he seemed one of the everpresent forces of life in Faerun-not something that could or should be swept away overnight.
The seaman with the sarcastic voice looked around, and then without further delay said flatly, "Orim Red-beard chased