“You have one minute to explain yourself, gillcast, or you sleep on the ice tonight, gutted with the fish,” said Lord Farov Whalhem in a strong Nordgalan accent.
Bylar gulped, perhaps he’d taken his old pal’s advice a little too seriously–
“Go do something stupid.”
Standing alone, in the middle of a dark harbor warehouse, he had the full attention of every last one of Walhem’s men.
It was a testament to how pitiful he must have looked that the pirates hadn't moved to stop him yet.
He glanced at the envelope in his hand, hoping he hadn’t somehow mixed up either of the decoys inside with the real version safely hidden within his satchel.
It was a shaky hand that reached into the envelope and carefully felt for the small tear that he'd made in the first decoy.
It was now or never, no going back.
He pulled the first piece of parchment out and held it high over his head.
“This, my comrades of the black trade,” he yelled, as confidently as he could muster, “is a lead to forgotten riches, just waiting to be claimed.”
The Nordgalan boss heaved his muscular body from his chair and hulked toward Bylar. He had a metallic gray hicelmarc hanging at his hip, Bylar had never seen one in person.
“Well, you have our attention, any minute now…” he snarled, coming closer still.
Somehow, Bylar fought the urge to retreat.
“I have the best deal you have ever shaken your hand to, my lord!” he said, then nodded and glanced at the envelope.
“This parchment is an encrypted marcry map, that leads to untold treasures, long hidden on Kirin Island.”
Bylar pulled the parchment back as Lord Farov leaned in for it.
“The key to unveiling its secret has long been hidden, but this is your lucky day, because I, Bylar Tozzo, can deliver this treasure to you at no risk to you or your men!”
A few of the men howled and jeered, but the room grew tense again as Lord Farov raised a hand. The large man didn’t speak but only glared at the scrawny Nepheli, so Bylar continued.
“All I need is transportation, and half the treasure will be yours,” he said, “you have my word”.
This time it was the pirate boss who erupted with laughter, “Your word, Tozzo, I’ve heard your name, and your word is worth even less than the gold in your coin purse, I mean look at you.”
The whole room was laughing again. It was clear this man was insane.
“Your loss,” said Bylar quietly, a mischievous grin spreading across his face.
“But maybe… one of your men would be interested in this!”
The sheet of white paper he'd pulled from the envelope flashed with a glow of purple and blue. The sizzle of marcry energies twitched and twisted reality, hushing the Whalers as they looked on, mesmerized.
“Shadows have ya, look at that,” came the shocked voice of Farov.
It was time to seal the deal.
“This map is yours, Lord, if you can just get me to Kirin. From there I am afraid I’ll have to travel alone until I can return with the treasure.”
The man’s brows tightened into a glare. No matter, Bylar had known this would be a hard sell.
“That map is linked to a second one, that I will carry on me at all times," he explained reassuringly, patting his satchel.
"I don’t know if it will take me months or years to find what I'm looking for... but when I do, your parchment will lead you to me, and the two together are the key to opening the treasure.”
The room grew silent while the pirate considered, the men’s eyes on him like hungry Aria. Just as he'd begun to give up hope that he’d leave this room alive, Farov spoke.
“Aye, though I know little of marcry and this treasure, we have a deal Tozzo,” he said, proffering his hand for the map.
With one last burst of light, the first of the decoy parchments he held returned to plain white and Bylar handed it off… but not before he’d used that final distraction to replace it with the second of the two decoys, this one just a normal piece of paper.
He still couldn’t believe his ploy had worked, just a trick with some jinx-jewel dust he’d stolen from the local rune shop.
Farov had a hicelmarc, he should know better than anyone that you didn't need to be an Ancestor to make marcry work in your favor.
“The next time you see that map glowing, you’ll know it’s time to come find me, waiting for you with the treasure.”
With a whistle from Farov, the Nepheli was led off to a cot for the night, where he lay awake late in disbelief. He'd just tricked one of the most notorious men of Varrin Bay, and would be on a ship toward his destiny in the morning.
------------------------ Learn more about the Hicelmarc, the marcry firearms of Aesor, on our Wiki:
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/aesor-themadkingloktra/a/hicelmarc2C-the-firearms-of-aesor-technology
