The Great Swamp at Night
Nights in Sylvania are particularly dark, due to the nearly constant overcast blocking the light of the Procession. This tends to make noises stand out more sharply to travelers, or sound closer than they are. The low hanging vines from the trees seem like sinister, grasping tentacles, and bioluminescent plants and creatures can often lead one astray, both above and below the water. Fog clings to the water as well, making obstacles hard to see.

The lantern doesn't do much against the gloom, but does at least cause the fog to glow a bit. It allows for a small pocket of brightness around the skiff. At least it isn't cold, which is a small blessing for the Lapi, who has probably never felt so wet and slimy since the day he was born. The two Akwavi are slightly better off, since their fur is more naturally waterproof. Not that it helps the smell any. Everything smells of rot at the moment.

At the rear of the skiff, Trilup poles them along through the swamp. "I wonder if I can get my night-navigation Otter Scouts badge for this," she ponders out loud. "Unless I'm going in circles.."

Lin's tummy produces a rather startling grumble. "I don' think I've eaten anythin' since..." She counts off on her fingers, loses track, and looks sheepish.

"Do you think there are edible fish out at night?" Trilup asks, looking over the side of the skiff. There's a green glow that moves past under the water.

"Prolly, but we were hurrying to avoid those froggies. Didn' you have a buckets of clams or are ye bein' shellfish?" Linyala winks at Trillup.

"An Otter Scout Is Always Prepared.. to Steal Something To Eat," Trilup recites, then sighs. "Those are my good bait clams though.."

Aviri slicks water and slime from his arm. "No fishing," he says. "Aren't there any less-good clams in there?"

Off in the distance, there's a light. It looks like a lantern.. but winks on and off, as if moving behind trees or other obstacles. "Fine.. you can have two clams," Trilup relents. "But you'll owe me!"

"Then I'll owe ya few two clams. Good-uns at that. I'm guessin' ye'll not want me ta tell anyone 'bout this little favor incase it involves my masterful sneakyness?" Lin grins and reaches around under the bench for the bucket.

Aviri peers at the light in the distance. "Who else would be out here?" he asks absently.

Linyala looks up at Trilup quizically, "Isn't that the one where ya know something the other person doesn't want you or anyone to know so you kin use it to make em do stuff? 'Trillup lent me two clams.' doesn' sound like tha most terrible secret."

"Well.. it shows I was.. uh.. more Scouty," Trilup claims, sticking her nose up.

"Only one I knows comes out this late is maybe Silas," Trilup tells Aviri. "He comes out looking for Swampy."

Aviri shivers and attempts to cover it up by his arms again. "Why would anybody look for that thing willingly?" he asks.

After rubbing her nose, Trilup says, "Well.. he's crazy I guess. He wears a fishing net for clothes! Waste of a good net."

Aviri looks away from the light. "Maybe he wants to catch fish when he goes swimming."

"He does smell like bait a bit," Trilup considers. "Should we try to catch 'im? He'd know the way back in the dark for sure."

Wobbling precariously over her seat, Lin grabs a pair of clams and sits up. "I could swim over an ask him. But didn't Avery say he had some kinda' magic monster repellant?"

Aviri looks at Trilup pointedly and says, "Wouldn't a scout know how to get home without asking directions?"

Jasper says, "Does it only reppel magic monsters? Or the repellant is magic an it repells all monsters, but then how does it know what is and isn't a monster?" Lin muses to herself."

"Night stuff is advanced," Trilup says. "I'm still a junior scout. I like landmarks I can see."

Aviri checks to make sure the talisman is still around his neck. "Probably a placebo," he says softly. To Trilup, "Do you think we need directions?"

"Well.. uh.. couldn't hurt?" Trilup admits. "Silas might want to know about the Frog Prince and stuff too."

Linyala nods and slurps the meat out of a clam. "Holdis." She chirps, passing the second to Aviri and sliping over the side of the boat into the water. "Should I tell'im where ta find that laire then?"

Aviri says, "Hey, stay in the boat. We can simply paddle over to him if we need to."

"Wait.. uh.. we can do both," Trilup notes. "Lin leads, we follow.. and hopefully the light from the lantern will keep away any monsters that'd bite her."

"Why do we need her to lead?" Aviri asks. "We can see the light right there, and I'd like everyone in the boat."

"Okay, just as long as there aren't any roots or things," Trilup says. "That light was passing behind stuff. Straight line may not work."

"So paddle slowly," Aviri says. "The our lamp can light the way for us. You're in the boat, Linyala." He flicks more stuff off himself into the water.

Lin pulls herself quietly back into the boat and sits next to Aviri to retrieve her clam, depositing some small amount of water on the Lapi in the process.

"Is that you Silas?" Trilup calls out into the mist, steering towards the light. Of course, that's when the light vanishes behind a tree.. and doesn't come back!

"Good call Aviri." Lin brushes some water off the Lapi, "Now bein' in there seems like a less good idea."

"Maybe he was surprised and dropped the lantern?" Trilup suggests, a bit nervously.

Aviri shivers again, though not from the extra water. "You sure we need directions? The town is that way." He points off into the swamp.

Jasper says, "Surprised by what?" Lin asks nobody in particular and lets the thought hang in the air."

"Hear something? Like the town? No, but I remember where it is, mostly. Those tunnels might've gotten me a bit off...." Aviri says. "But I don't like lights that vanish when you say 'hello' to them." He tilts his head and strains his ears to hear what might be coming from the direction of said vanished light.

There are the usual swam noises: blurps, blorps, hisses, chitters and splashes. Trilup does start poling a little faster though, in the direction Aviri points. Which is where another lantern light appears, closer this time but still far enough that the mist hides any details.

Aviri nearly jumps at the appearance of the light. "Don't like," he said. "Trillup, can you get this one to vanish, too?"

"Hey! We.. we taste lousy!" Trilup improvises. The light comes closer.. and rises higher. It's definitely not on a boat.

Aviri tries to shine the light at the other light. "Can we go around," he asks, one hand once again making sure the he still has the talisman.

"Around! Right! Undead stuff doesn't glow does it?" Trilup notes, and starts to turn the skiff in something of a panic.

The foreign light bobs, then blinks out when Aviri's lantern beam nearly catches it.. only to appear again some distance off to the side and higher up. The light from it is actually illuminating dangling willow branches, so they must be near a tree.

Aviri says to Trillup "Calm down; we'll be best if we don't capsize." He finds the new source of light. "No, not a boat...."

"It might be a bog fairy," Trilup whispers, holding her pole against her chest now instead of keeping it in the water. "I thought you hadda be drunk to see those!"

Aviri says, "Keep paddling toward home." He angles the light toward the new light.

"Yeah.. but.. it's got me turned around a bit.." Trilup admits as she tries to get them around the tree. "It should be leading us home, right?"

Aviri once again points into the swamp. "That way," he says. "And it's a light. We don't need to go about making up stories about what it may or may not be." He shines his lanter on the light.

It vanishes again, but this time something can be heard disturbing the dangling willow branches. "Doctor Pike has a big reward for anyone who can bring her a bog fairy," Trilup notes.. a bit loudly, as if trying to scare off the will-o-wisp.

Aviri looks around for the new light. "Only catch it if it gets too close," he says loudly. "Other wise just make for home."

"Is there a scout badge for that?" Lin asks, "I'm sure we could get a bunch of scouts together'n chase them down."

Trilup poles away, probably a bit faster than she should. Lights wink on and off around them still, but seem to keep their distance. Up ahead is a different sound from the usual swamp noise: the creak of something wooden and hollow floating. "I think there's just the thing where you go out alone and find a fairy when you're old enough," Trilup says. "Granny says they're the Akwavi gods of luck and stuff."

Aviri tilts his head a bit. "Angle left a mite," he says, indicating the direction of the floating object while simultaneously trying to keep an eye on all the wisps. "Gods of luck and 'stuff'?"

"Those're different fairies though, I don' think I'd want a Bog Sprite followin' me 'round all the time." Lin cracks open her other clam.

"Yeah, stuff.. like.. stuff," Trilup says as she turns the boat slightly. "Akwavi stuff."

Up ahead, something dark blocks the mist. Soon enough the hull of a large boat is caught in the lantern light. It's not an Oggton barge, either, but an actual boat, the deck at least three feet above the water.

Lin tosses the last shell fragment in the water and looks up. "In the middle of the night, away from town, with no lights on? Some boat. I'm guessin' pirates!"

There aren't any markings, and the wood is black (with bits of tar forming blobs in the seams). It's also quiet, as if abandoned.

"We must steal it.. I mean salvage it," Trilup notes. "A boat like that.. I bet we could sell it to the Wingnuts or something."

Linyala nods vigorously. "Rope!" She holds out her hand and starts sizing up the boat for the best place to board.

Aviri sighs, but does nothing to prevent the boarding action. He keeps the light along the hull, searching for a safe port.

There's some rope left in the boat, and it doesn't take long to find a mooring tie to secure the skiff to the larger hull. "There could be treasure in there, Aviri," Trilup notes. "Or zombies! Or ghosts! Or zombie ghosts! Or CANDY!"

The deck is silent but cluttered. There is a lot of rope.. and rope netting.. and heavy fabric too. There's a big ceramic oven of sorts in the middle of the deck, and a cabin at the rear, if the fabric can be cleared away. Broken masts extend out from the sides of the hull as well.

"This looks like one of those... Flying boats that Zahnrad talks about all the time." Lin notes, holding up some of the fabric. "Should we sell it or try to get it working?"

"Get it working?" Aviri asks, looking around. "And who would come way out here in the swamp to buy this wreck?" He picks up a piece of fabric.

Lin makes for the cabin and tries the door. "Zahn would probably go nuts for something like this." We must capture this vessel inna name of the Scouts!"

"Maybe the fabric is worth something?" Trilup suggests, as she tries stretching a piece.. as well as trying to tear it with her teeth. "It must have crashed. They always crash over Sylvania."

Not accepting deffeat by superior door technology, Lin throws her shoulder against it.

Aviri says, "If you're wanting to fix it up, why are you breaking it down?" He drops the cloth and moves toward the fore end of the ship.

The door is sturdy! It's also got some lichen growing on it already, so the wreck must have been here for awhile, just drifting around in the swamp currents.

"Doesn't need locks to work." Linyala grumbles. "I really need ta get some o those lockpicks." She starts digging through the wood around the lock with her knife, if the bolt has nothing to be locked against then the door should open.

Despite the waterproofing of the hull, the doorframe and cabin aren't similarly treated. Bits of wood start to peel away. At the front of the boat, there's another broken mast, and a small figurehead that might have been a Skeek or Skreek at some time, only with feathered wings.

Aviri peers intently at the figurehead for a moment before plodding back down the deck, stepping around the fabric and cloth on his way. He stops at the oven and says, "You really think this thing flew?"

"Hot air goes up, bag fills with air, bag lifts boat... Or that's what I overear'd anyways." Lin repplies in parts as she works through the wood around the lock.

Aviri crosses over to the door and looks closely at the lichen. "Be interesting to see it happen again," he says, his ears twitching in a peculiar manner.

"It's kinda small," Trilup notes, showing off a sarong made from the envelope. "Big ones use magic gas or something. So this is maybe.. uh.. from like, Tursdi? I bet Zany would know. Or maybe it from before the Upheaval!"

The wooden hinges groan, but the door pushes inward a bit.. plowing through more garbage on the other side.

Aviri looks away from the lichen at the newly-opened door. "If'n you kin what?" he says, mimicing the otter's tone.

Lin waves at Aviri. "Light please," and wriggles through the gap. She kicks at whatever was blocking the door and tries to open it more from the inside.

Trilup appears at Aviri's side, peeking in over Lin's shoulder. There's a crack and rattle and crumple sound as the blockage is moved aside.

Aviri shines the light through the door as he walks through, paranoidally checking both corners to ensure he's not jumped from behind as he enters.

The light shines over a heap of rags that were blocking the door.. except this heap also has bones and a pointy skull. The rest of the cabin is rather bare - there is a wooden bunk, some shelves full of moldering stuff, a small chart table and a trapdoor, presumable leading to the hold.

Lin eeps at the skeleton surprise but pushes past anyways to the trap door. "Gotta be more boat yet!"

"What is it? What was it?" Trilup asks, grabbing onto Aviri's ears from behind him. "Is it an Akwavi?"

Aviri jumps at the sudden grab, but quickly realizes he's not being attacked. "Don't ... do that," he says, shakily trying to get the otter to release his head. But his attention quickly turns to the pile of bones. "Don't have much experience with skeletons," he says.

It's got big teeth, whatever it was. It doesn't look local to the Stonebarrow races, certainly. The trapdoor.. is also stuck. It may need more muscle.

Lin gives the door a few more tugs then scampers back to Aviri. "Next door'stuck. No monsters yet, kin ya lend a hand? I promise to give it back."

Aviri continues peering at the skeleton. "You realize you kicked the remains of this poor ... fellow?" he says to her. "Wonder what his name was." He shines the light around the room carefully, looking for some kind of journal or log or something.

Anything that was paper has been reduced to goo it seems, as opposed to items with more cloth content or leather. There are a few journals, but all that's salvageable are their bindings.

Aviri peers at, but doesn't touch, the bindings. "Wet climate," he says. "Okay, I'll get your door open." He trudges over to the trap door and begins pulling.

With two of them pulling, the old swollen hinges give way and the door comes loose, causing Trilup to bark in surprise as she holds the lantern for them. The smell that comes up would indicate that some of the swamp must have gotten in below the deck. It's very dark, but at least there looks to be a ladder.

Trilup helpfully comes over to shine the lantern down. There's water at the bottom, but then the hold can't be more than five feet deep anyway.

"Seems less and less ship shape don't it." Lin remarks as she resches out a foot to test the ladder.

Aviri returns to the book bindings, trying to read their labels. "Just scream when you get attacked," he calls to Linyala.

"Just be ready to rush to my rescue with yer arcane thingumajigs when the horrible monsters jump out at me." She laughs back.

Some of the labels are still barely legible.. but Aviri doesn't recognize the alphabet being used.

"There's lots of rope," Trilup notes. "We could tie some around Lin and yank her back up."

"Good plan!" Lin retracts her foot from the ladder. "Trees, walls, ropes. Gimme a bushy tail'n call me a Kadie. We kin lower the lantern first to make sure it'll be clear of monsters."

Further study of the symbols reveals.. that they still don't make any sense to the Lapi.

Aviri turns from the books with a nod to himself and returns to the trap door. "How's the ladder?"

"I've got some cord," Trilup announces as she returns with the rope. It still trails off behind her onto the deck.

After making the first end fast around her waist, Lin asks Aviri for the lantern. "Alrighten. Lower it first or take it with me?"

"It's only a few feet down," Trilup notes. "There's a lot of slack though.. I think the end is tied to the broken rigging, I couldn't find it but it didn't give when I pulled on it!"

Lin gives the rope a tug. "Might be better to cut it and tie it off proper." She wipes the blade of her knife on a scrap of fabric.

Lin cuts the rope where Aviri is holding it and laughs. "Yes yes, and next you'll want me to tie myself up right and be yer prisoner. You kin rie a rope without the knife; an anyway, I'm the one riskin life an limb explorin' this hole."

Aviri raises an eyebrow and an ear. "Would be preferable," he muses. "But you can't be proper bait all tied up, so I think it's best if you keep your dexterity for now..." He gives her one end and makes to tie the other around one of the broken masts.

Trilup grumbles a bit, but holds onto the rope all the same to help feed it out when Lin makes her descent.

Lin hangs the lantern from her tail and descends the ladder. "Ah'm sure ye kin find someone else to tie up once ye get back to the village." Lin shoots back. "Ooh, whassat?"

There are some barely recognizable sacks in this section, along with some small water barrels (or something heavy enough that they don't float). The swamp water just covers the central plank-way over the bilge. There's another section ahead, with a wall about where the cabin above begins. The door to this one is hanging from a single splintered hinge though, and isn't properly closed as a result.

"'Nother door!" Lin reports and gives the deteriorated door a rather singular heave after the resistance of the first two.

Aviri finishes the knot and returns to the trap-door. "Did you want to tie the knot," he asks Trilup.

"I only know Kadie-restraint knots and fishing ones," Trilup notes, as there's a noise from below of the door coming free of its remaining hinge.

"Would a Kadie-restraint work on an Akwavi?" Aviri asks jokingly. He sticks his head into the hole and says, "Everything alright down there?"

"We have a spare door now." Lin calls back. She'd lost her balance when the door came loose and landed half on the center board and half in the water. Righting herself, she sets the door across the board to make a bit more to stand on.

The chamber beyond the door is larger, taking up most of the ship's hull, although their are several heavy trusses and cross beams where the masts joined together. There are many wooden chests, although several are broken open and spilling their contents.. which in the lamplight looks like.. giant teeth and bone. Lashed to the mast-root is another figure, this one dressed in a leather coat, boots, hat and gloves that have preserved it a bit better than the one in the cabin. The skin is tight to the skull, but there's still some fur left, hinting at a dark mask around the eyes. More telling is the remains of the tail, which still has some striped fur attached: a Rath'ani! It's clutching a small chest to its chest, the hands tied together to make sure it doesn't let go.

Aviri looks around at the cabin. "You know anything about ... these types of things?" he asks Trilup, indicated the whole ship.

Lin stops cold. Something about this doesn't seem right. Broken door, tied up Racoon looking captains, chests full of teeth. "I- I may have been... Right about the pirates." She says, dropping the jovial accent. Leading with her knife, Lin gives the corpse a poke.

"Uh.. I've never seen an actual airship," Trilup notes. "Just models and pictures."

The poke causes the head to roll back and the hat to fall off, so that now the skull is looking right at Linyala. The taut, fleshless skin makes it look like the creature is grinning at the otter.

"It seems kinda small though," Trilup notes. "And it's all dark.. so maybe it's for smuggling things?"

Now Linyala is used to being the thing in the dark, not so much with having things in the dark with her. But a corpse is a corpse and though she jumps back, on its continued lifelessness, she pulls the hat over with a paw and tries it on.

It's a bit of a loose fit, given the shape difference, but with a bandana or two to fill in the gaps it might fit.

Lin chortles to herself and grabs a pair of the teeth from the floor. After tucking them under her front lip and adjusting the hat, she scampers up the ladder. "I'M THE GHOST OF THE DREAD PIRATE DARKEYE! I'VE EATEN YOUR LITTLE FRIENS AND YIU'RE NEEEEEXT!" She shouts in as deep and husky a voice as she can manage.

Aviri takes a step back. "Only one of my 'friends' went down there, dread pirate darkeye," he says. "Which other one did you eat?"

"A POX ON YE WHITE TAILED LUMP. T'WAS THE PRETY 'QUAVI LASS. HER BONES SHALL FOREVER LIE IN THIS PLACE." Lin repplies, holding the lantern behind her head with her tail to cast the silouette on Aviri.

Aviri raises an eyebrow, but seems otherwise unafraid of the apparition. "So, what do you want from me, Ghost of the Dread Pirate Darkeye? And all-have you know, I've died my tail brown."

Lin spits out her extra teeth and tosses them at Aviri. "There's a dead captain with a box down there an' chests full'o those." Lin pushes her new hat back at a jaunty angle and calls out for Trilup's benefit. "The dread pirate Darkeye as been long vanquished an is in the hold." She descends the ladder to continue her investigation of the room.

Aviri follows after, no longer caring about the extra water. "Why the hat?" he asks.

Linyala takes a closer lookbat the box the captain is holding with the lantern, trying to make out any markings or glowing auras of evil. "It fell off an' I like it. Scared Tril right enough too."

Aviri looks around at the room and bones and teeth before examining the captain. "Surprised you ignored the box the first time," he said absently. "Rath'anis." He finds the head and looks at its teeth. "Fellow in cabin probably same ..." he gives a thoughtful look.

The little chest is about the size of a small loaf of bread, and very ornate. It's got green lacquer, and what might be actual brass trim (in need of polishing) as well as a very complicated looking puzzle-lock.

"Box is tied on and wasn't going anywhere." Lin explains as she cuts the ropes holding it. "Th'opportunity for a good scare was though."

Aviri reaches a hand to steady the box. "Might be fragile," he says. He looks at the Rath'ani a moment before methodically searching his pockets.

There isn't much in there. The remains of a pocket-watch, long broken, and what might have been a compass at one point. The fasteners on the clothing are all ivory however.. which might be a hint towards the cargo.

Lin cuts off the trailing end of the rope around her waist and secures the box with a barrel knot. "I am lacking a fancy pirate outfit." She muses and strikes a jaunty pose next to the Rath'ani. "What d'ye think Trill me old sea dog. Might'n I be a fine air-pirate?"

Aviri pockets something, stands, and says, "No taking his clothing," he says. "That's just ... " he shivers. "Any other crew?" He rummages around the ivory barrels.

"If you don't mind haunted clothes," Trilup notes, having finally come down to join them. "And.. uh.. there's no sword. Pirates have swords, don't they?" She rummages in an open chest, and pulls out.. a spiraling horn. It's too long to have come from an Aeonian though. "Ooooo," the otter coos at the find. "I thinks it's from a shelwhal," she decides.

There aren't any other corpses in the hold. But then, there could have been crew on the deck when it crashed.

Aviri stands and says again, "No taking clothes from dead people." He then walks back up to the trapdoor, muttering to himself.

"What about the ivory?" Trilup asks. "I bet mister Jack will pay big for that fancy box and the story."

Lin ponders the clothes and the way the Rath'ani is tied up. "I'm guessin' this was no crash. The ship doesn't seem t'ave fallen from the sky what with it floating around. Naw; this was the site of an epic battle with betrayal an' greed, an' love, an' swashbucklin' aplenty!" Lin thrusts and parries with her knife as though fighting off immaginary foes. "An then the captain 'ere was tied up an left to die with the forsaken treasure still clutched in 'is cold, dead, hands." By the end of this little tirade Lin is breathing down Trilup's neck and looming comicaly.

"Eeee, stoppit Lin!" Trilup squeals, and pokes at the larger otter with her shelwhal horn.

"No looting!" Aviri's voice calls from above. "Except maybe the box. Maybe." The sound of his feet crossing the deck. Aviri is staring upward through the darkness into the canopy, searching for ropes or cloth stuck in the branches.

Lin giggles and puts her knife away. "It's not like I've got pockets for loot." She sighs, "At least we can take a look and see what a rope belt kin hold." She starts opening chests and rummaging. "Shouldn't there be some kind o' fuel for that oven up top?" She asks.

Aviri's attempts soon quit as he realizes that, due to the ship's age, any sign in the canopy would have long since overgrown. Instead he begins searching the outer hull carefully.

There was likely coal at some point, since there's a sooty bin next to the big oven. The canopy, or what's left of it, is what's draping over the boat, along with the rigging. The masts that supported it all are long gone, such that the wreck is floating free instead of tangled up in something.

"A new bag, fix up the hull- And we're spendin' the night here aren't we. Lanterns don't last ferever." Lin remarks and climbs back up on deck.

Aviri leaves his search to make sure Lin's not smuggling anything out from the hold.

Besides the box and the hat, Lin is devoid of loot. Having no pockets requires a certain level of higrading when it comes to treasure.

Aviri nods. "Okay. And no, we're not spending the night here if I can help it. Trilup, are you done down there?"

Aviri pulls Lin away from the hatch. "No looting!" He says again. "We really need to be getting home if we're wanting enough light to navigate."

"It's just one crate full of ivory," Trilup claims. "It's not like money or personal stuff or.." There's a large cracking sound, and the boat begins to shift to one side. "Oops!"

"Not oops! Never oops! Bad, bad Trilup!" Lin slides down the ladder and glances around for the aforementioned otter.

Trilup is clutching a chest, which also has bits of the hull attached to it, glued there by the tar coating. There's now a chunk missing from the hull, and the swamp is pouring in. "It's not my fault!" the young otter claims. "It.. I couldn't help myself! Honest!"

"T'sall right just pass it upto Avery an' we kin swim out if'n we need to." Lin reassures Trilup and takes one end of the chest.

The girl seems to have difficulty letting go, and it shows on her face. "Grrrr!" she growls, and finally is able to let go, only to stare at her hands for a moment.

Aviri climbs back to the deck. "The only thing you'll pass up is each-other," Aviri says.

"We can take stuff when we return here in the daytime," Aviri shouts into the hole.

Lin slings it under her arm and clambers back up the ladder. She drops it on the floor and reaches down to help Trilup up, muttering under her breath the whole time, "Oops! Never say oops. Nothing good ever happens when someone says oops."

"But it's sinking now," Trilup whines, then lets Lin help pull her up. "I just wanted that horn.."

Aviri grabs the two otters and drags them out onto the deck. "We're leaving now," he says.

"It's never, 'Oops, I got a boyfriend,' or 'Oops, I just saved someone's life." Lin lifts Trilup and puts her next to the chest. "It's always something terrible

Trilup grabs the horn from the chest before being dragged off. She's not leaving without something. The boat is now only two feet above the water line instead of three.

Aviri nearly throws them into the boat, untying it from the doomed ship. "Just had to take loot," he muttered. "Just had to take something. Look what you have. You, a stupid hat. You a stupid horn. And now the rest will be gone, the ship itself unsalvagable. Was it worth it?"

"Don't yell at me," Trilup says. "I had to do it. I couldn't not do it. It made me do it! What did you take?"

Lin rights herself and helps Trilup up. "'Aside o'the part where we kin both swim and hold our breath for minutes we could 'ave easily made off with a chest or two even while it's sinkin'- What?" Lin is startled by Trilup's explanation.

Aviri climbs into the boat. "Nobody forced you to do anything." He points off in the direction of town.

"It did too make me do that," Trilup mutters, and starts poling away from the wreck.

"What?" Lin asks again but to nobody in particular. "Are you alright trilup?" She takes her by the shoulders and peers into her eyes.

The Akwavi looks ready to cry. "It just made me, like.. I dunno," she whispers to Linyala. "It was scary." The wreck sinks further, but doesn't look like it's going to submerge completely.. and then it's lost in the fog behind them.

Lin tosses her hat in the bottom of the boat and hugs Trilup. "It's alright, th'only monsters here are long dead." She comforts.

Aviri looks back through the fog, trying to get a view of the sinking ship before he returns his attention to the route home. He casts a glance at Trilup but says nothing.