The townsfolk were glad to help a pair of weary travelers. Of course, it probably helped that they were not as bad-looking as the regular visitors. Mariana was not in the right position to question the dignity or sincerity of her benefactors.
They ate a little and then went to sleep.
They woke up to the sound of someone horribly abusing an acoustic guitar.
"I don't understand why she even does that," Madeliene said. "But I curse the person who forced that woman to go to live a beggar's life. I wish she would just be a normal person and ask for wine. With no guitars."
"I have understood that you musicians are sensitive to the lack of…harmony," Mariana said and closed the curtains of the guest room so that they could wash themselves in peace. Someone had brought them a big bowl of water and spare clothes as well.
While the performing musician on the street was a nuisance, the miner town had proven itself to be quite a lovely place. The women used most of the water. It wasn't exactly hot anymore, but it was great to smell like something that wasn't all sea spray and tar.
Mariana made sure to thank everyone profusely. She really had nothing else to offer, so, naturally, she had to use her words.
They caught a ride on a merchant ship that seemed to be doing favors for fun and for a chance of having someone pretty entertain the crew - not in a carnal sense, no, good heavens, it was Madeliene with her skills in music who used her natural talents to talk them onto the ship. Finally, Mariana could take some time away from being the main person in every little game and adventure.
She made sure that the musician was still keeping the box of dice somewhere safe and slept a little, comforted by the movement of the waves.
The sheer repetitive and natural rocking was enough to make her sleep without dreaming. It was more refreshing than anything she had ever done before, and it required nothing from her except the act of refusing to get up and go out until she was ready to do so.
The following voyage was uneventful. While Mariana had some doubts about going back north, the only other option considering the scarcity of free voyages would have been to go to Neul, where an enraged high cor and lots of angry people in general awaited her. So, Neul was not an option anymore, and it was more likely to meet her crew in Aja Vana, especially now that Daniel had left to sail south instead.
In Aja, Mariana was reunited with Wolfe.
He was a strong man, rarely complained about anything, but there were some tears of joy on his face as he hugged his captain. Most of the crew were doing just fine, having spent the remaining gold on doctor visits and food. Roinar was also alive and willing to continue the banishments.
"Did he visit you?" The witch raised his eyebrows, pulling Mariana aside. "I did some rituals…well, mother of worms, I did so many rituals that it is a small wonder I am still alive. I was worried about you."
"But you could have usurped me," Mariana said, puzzled. "You could have arranged a proper mutiny, and you would have had access to the Potion of Life in any case…you didn't do that."
"Not everyone is horrible, dear Captain Adams. Just tell me. Did Dars the ghost visit you? Gods, how many times do I need to ask?"
Mariana glanced around, hoping that no one was eavesdropping.
"Well…"
She told the witch everything about the many-armed monster with bad fingernails.
"Oh, good gods, let me sit down for a minute. For a lifetime," Roinar said and pulled up a chair.
He did not get up, he stayed there, holding his head, and the situation got dire enough that Mariana thought he had been literal with his promise. Or threat. Sometimes it was so hard to tell which one it was.
"It's…it's very bad," Roinar finally said. "I'm going to talk about doom for a moment now. I hope you are down to listen to something very gloomy."
"Doom?"
Captain Mariana did not understand a thing about this. Sure, it was horrible to know that there was now one more abominable sea monster in the world of the living, but it wasn't like it was going to be the end of the world.
"It's the end of the world," Roinar said. "If there are more than ten of those things…they will form a coalition and gain sentience. They are…they are not demonic in origin. I don't know what they are, but…"
She found out that these beings were the first attempts of gods or similar forces to mash up features that would make for something as wise and gallant as a man. They were the prototypes, but as they had horrified every single dolphin, lion, and deer in the world, their creators had decided to never give them a single spark of intelligence, instead breaking a disembodied mind into twenty pieces and giving each of the twenty horrible creatures a little drop, just enough that they would not rebel out of insanity.
It was a devious plan; to make them smart enough that they took pride on the dollop of intelligence they had, but still too stupid enough to team up and do something about their condition as the most despised beings in the known world.
The thing was, though, that more than half of a mind could still be dangerous, and this was why it was a horrible idea to use the dice at all. If there were eleven monsters in the world of the living - or even more than eleven, gods forbid - they would realize their status as the despised and the despicable and revolt.
Mariana and Wolfe had been quite horrified during this tale of extra limbs and misplaced tongues.