"Yeah, that makes sense. It's a little creepy over there right now," Robert says as the group nods and heads back to the captain's quarters. After sending the other three back into his Arbor Sanctum, Sydra lays back down on his bed.
'Man, today was another long one. Hopefully, tomorrow will go more smoothly,' Sydra thinks as he closes his eyes and falls asleep. The next morning Sydra is woken up by a clattering sound coming from outside his room. Groggily getting up, Sydra opens the door and looks out to the deck, where he finds several men looking around.
Pulling out a dagger and activating his lightning aura, Sydra flashes over to the youngest-looking person and puts the dagger up against his neck. "Don't move and tell me who you are, or I will kill him!" Sydra says as everyone stops moving and stares at him in shock.
"Wait, I think there has been a misunderstanding, as we mean you no harm. We saw your ship here this morning, and it seemed empty so we came to investigate. We are people from the island, and we didn't mean to trespass. So please let my son go..." A tall man with a scraggly red beard explains as the rest of the group nods their heads in agreement. Confused, Sydra looks over at the island, only to find it covered in people who are coming and going aboard ships. There are also multiple smoke lines drifting off into the sky, and a loud clanging sound as hammers pound against anvils.
"I see," Sydra says as he lets the boy go. "I am sorry for attacking without asking what was going on first, but I was worried you were pirates. If you don't mind me asking, but can you help us dock in the harbor. We've never been here before, you see," Sydra says as the men look around in confusion. The man with the red beard pats his son on the shoulder before turning to Sydra.
"Sure, my name is Colt, and we'd be happy to show you around the island as apologies for our intrusion. But where is the rest of your crew?" Colt asks as Sydra realizes he hasn't brought the others out yet.
"Hold on a second, I'll grab them," Sydra says as he heads back into his room and pulls the group out of the Arbor Sanctum. Sydra believed it would be better to keep the fact that he can hide people in a separate area secret, as he was still suspicious of the people on the island.
"So people are actually living on the island? But then, why was it so quiet last night?" Erich asks after Sydra explains the situation to them.
"I'm not sure, but we should try to find that out today. However, the first thing we should do is get someone to upgrade our ship, as well as stock up on more supplies. We should split up and travel the island separately, before meeting back up an hour before sunset," Sydra says as the others nod and they head out onto the deck.
"Alright, these are my men. Their names are Erich, Cidre, Robert, and my name is Sydra. We were hoping to upgrade our ship and trade for supplies, so we were wondering if you could tell us where we could do these things," Sydra says as he introduces each member in his group.
"It's nice to meet you all, my name is Colt, and this is my son David. Those three are the Dilion brothers, and they work at my shipyard. If you want to fix up your ship, I would be happy to help you out at a discount," Colt says as each of the men behind him bows their heads in greeting.
"Sounds good, I have a lot of lumber and metal that I'd be willing to trade for your services. Of course, we also have a few other things, such as spice, silk, and precious stones if you would rather trade in those," Sydra says as Colt's eyes widen.
"Spices and precious gems have the most value on our island, as we don't get much of those here. While wood and metal are the more common items that are traded here, but we accept both. Let us get this ship back to the shipyard and you can tell me what you would like done to it, then I will tell you how much it will cost you. If you decide to let us work on your ship, I can have my son show you around the island until it is finished," Colt says as Sydra nods. Following Colt's directions, Sydra sails the ship into a private harbor, where men tie ropes to it and pull it up onto some wooden beams for work.
"Here is a list of what I need done to the ship, let me know how much it will cost when we come back and I'll give you the items," Sydra says as he hands Colt a list of things that were necessary for the group to travel a long distance across the sea without worry. Looking down at the list, Colt's face lights up.
"We can definitely fix the ship up to match your desired result, but it may cost you a bit. Are you sure you have enough items to trade for it?" Colt asks as Sydra frown and holds out his hand. A second later and a chest appears on the ground next to Colt.
"Those are crystals that can increase someone's aura, and they should be quite valuable. The crystal in that crate can be used to increase water-based powers, which should be the power that most people on this island have," Sydra says as Colt opens the chest and pulls out a deep blue crystal. Holding it in his hand, Colt begins to feel his aura rising as the color of the crystal fades away.
"Wow, this will definitely work as payment. Heck, this one chest already covers the entire cost of the ship, and we'll have to give you a box of pearls. By the way, pearls are what we use to buy and sell most things on the island," Colt explains as he waves towards his group of men to get to work, and tells his son to get a medium-sized box of pearls out of the office.
"Awesome, then we will head out now. We should be back before the sun sets," Sydra says as David comes back from the office with a box of pearls in his hands.
"I'll lead the four of you to the center of our island, where we keep maps of the island for visitors. Since our island is so large, and we have a different way of building our homes, our island attracts a lot of tourists here," David says the group walks through the cobbled road, with large upside boats that act as homes on either side of them. The homes are vibrantly colored with blues and greens, and each house has a small yard around it. When the group gets to the center of the island, they are even more amazed by the humongous buildings.
"I can't believe that they even have a three-story building, and it's still in the shape of a ship. I wonder how they did it," Cidre says as David walks over to a small stand and grabs four maps. After handing the four maps out to the group, David explains what the main points of interest on the island are, and where the group can go to get certain items.
"Also, if you head to the forging section of our town, you might be able to get some weapons that have been crafted with the materials of sea creatures that live around here. I heard that Gail has recently gotten ahold of an entire Deepjaw Shark and he is looking for people who wish for weapons made. Although he is charging a high price, his work is usually good," David said as he pointed towards an area in the western part of the island.
'I could get some daggers made here,' Sydra thinks to himself as he looks at the part David is pointing at. "By the way, are there any fun things to do here at night?" Sydra asks, trying to probe some information out of David. However, David freezes at the mention of the night, and his face goes completely blank.
A few seconds later, Davids's eyes flicker and he smiles as he looks around at the group. "So do you guys have any questions?" David asks as the group just silently stares at him.
"No, I think you told us all we need to know, thanks," Sydra says as David nods his head and leaves the group to head back to the shipyard. "Well, that was odd," Sydra says as soon as David gets far enough away.
"Yeah, I wonder why he froze. We should probably ask around during our search today, and see if anyone else acts weird at the mention of the night," Erich says as the group nods in agreement.
"Well, I know where I'm headed first, so I'll get going now," Sydra says as he leaves the group and heads in the direction of the forges.