From: Bones Date is about D2Hot [ day 34 ] (to be confirmed) I am in Furness. Jethro's coach has arrived. The Kipper captured successfully. The Kipper now branded. Full report to follow later.

	Amelio Broachcask Bounty Hunter Supreme "Your felon is my pleasure"         To: Bones Well done Bones! You see, my trust in you was not misplaced. There comes a point in every mission when the planning stops and the action begins. Red Rikor (in one of his more poetic moods) The rest of the job (the trip to Scabport), while not trivial, is nevertheless essentially routine.

On M2Hot [ day 32 ]
From: Zelda the Self-Acquired

Zelda's on-boat report:

"Success! Burnt Sienna is captured!

Dagwood forged a letter from the Remarkable Ruler herself to Burnt Sienna in Druiseville Klib (letter included in mail drop) claiming that Azure (her daughter) was about to undergo a "remarkable heliotransposition".

Burnt Sienna AWOLed herself and brought Simon!

She of course had to pass through Caveton, and it was here that myself, Bones, Gloria and Sharlene struck.

Burnt Sienna hired a room in the "Carnal Nymph" and retired for the night with Simon.

In the middle of the night (G1Hot [day 26]), I slept the barkeep, stole his passkey and entered her room invisibly.

Bones cast a Hold Person on her. Frozen and helpless she was blindfolded and bound Shield-Maiden-style by Sharlene and Gloria who were crudely dressed as Shield Maidens. They spirited her off into the darkness being careful to be seen by a passer-by and the bound barkeep.

Out on the plains, I then "rescued" Burnt Sienna and Charmed her. It worked a treat, she believed everything hook, line and sinker.

Escorted by Bones, we made our way to the coast and myself, Burnt Sienna and Simon whisked down the flying fox (getting thoroughly soaked) and eventually onto the boat. Bones took care of the mechanism on the cliff top.

You, Captain Cornelious, Pete Hallet (the new hire), Dagwood, Arnold, Pitt, Uma, Simon, Burnt Sienna and myself (Georgina is still in Hackerton), sailed down the coast in "The Silver Star" to Furness. It was a totally uneventful journey. No sign of the FCN at all. Good weather too.

At Furness, Burnt Sienna realized something was up. This was confirmed when she was chained to the wheel and branded on the thigh. This trauma broke my Charm, but nevermind, she won't be getting far in chains as a slave around these parts.

During the voyage, Dagwood made up some slave papers. When I presented these to the authorities, they accepted them. I then hired a pension and we waited two or three days for Jethro and your black coach.

Zelda the Self-Acquired

Burnt Sienna is, at all times, to be kept: bound, gagged, blindfolded, earplugged, noseplugged. Hands laced tightly in thick leather mittens, manacled at her wrists behind her back. Chain her in the bilge. Two guards at all times.

Zelda shall strip her naked and put her in a tunic made from a hessian sack. (available from good stores everywhere). Shave all her hair off.

Let her starve for two days. And the bilge is filthy anyway. And the worse she looks and smells the better.

Anyone who has any kind of sex with Burnt Sienna will be castrated. Capice?

Zelda asked "Do you expect that there will be problems enroute to Scabport, then? How will her compatriots ever get down this far that quickly, if at all? Can they move faster than your coach?

Amelio said "Never underestimate your opponent. Burnt Sienna's mates are numerous, devoted and extremely dangerous. And they probably have more money that you think. They could use various spells to locate Burnt Sienna and catch up with us.

"Let's put the boot on the other foot. Suppose we were in Zibrost, and Zelda disappeared. If I knew Zelda was wanted in Porn City, I would write (Gnomepost) to every friend I ever had asking them to keep a lookout for Zelda. I would ask a friend in Porn City to get up a relief force. I would pay for this through the Bank Of Specularum. And when Zelda got to Porn City, she would be rescued.

"As far as we know, Burnt Sienna's friends are doing just this even as we speak.

"So do not imagine that it is all over.

"We must be prepared for any of the following:

• An ambush prepared by Burnt Sienna's friends
• An ambush prepared by the Free Coast Militia
• An ambush prepared by the Shield Maidens
• An ambush prepared by Red Rikor
• An ambush by local bandits anywhere on our route
• An ambush by ambitious bounty hunters who would snatch the prize at the last minute, e.g. outside the gates of Scabport.

"Burnt Sienna must be kept bound, gagged, blindfolded, earplugged, noseplugged and out of sight.

"I am considering buying another black coach to match my magic one. At a critical juncture, the two coaches will go off in different directions, to the ruin of our foes.

"But Zelda is right in one thing - our head-start is too good an advantage to waste. Direct pursuit, particularly over the seasonal roads, will be very difficult. So we must press on with all possible speed.

"And hold your tongues. There is no reason as yet why anyone should be looking for Burnt Sienna in Furness. Let's keep it that way.

Amelio Broachcask pulled the gag strap out of the corners of Burnt Sienna's mouth and slipped out the sodden leather ball-gag. Burnt Sienna focussed on Amelio and gasped for air, then worked her sore jaw.

"Please please please let me go! They'll torture and kill me in Scabport."

Amelio just muttered "Unfortunate."

"I'm innocent." Burnt Sienna sobbed, tugging at her manacled wrists joined behind her back. "It was Roger who killed the guard. Let me go, please!"

"The Scabport Thieves Guild can do Detect Lie as well as anyone," Amelio replied succinctly. "If you really are innocent you have nothing to fear."

Nonplussed, Burnt Sienna continued: "My baby needs me."

Amelio waved her to silence.

"Here you touch a sore point," he said. "Two sore points.

1. It grieves me more that you can know to separate a mother from her child.
2. Perhaps you have forgotten, but you and your merry men have killed a great many of my people, whom I love as my children. And they too, had families."

"You may write a letter to your child. Indeed, as many letters as you wish. These will be posted to Zibrost the day after I am paid your bounty."

Burnt Sienna's eyes brightened up.

"I've got money." she shouted. [ She had 1145gp on her person when captured ]

Amelio interrupted her again: "The money you had on you is legitimate spoils and has already been pocketed by my people.

"However, I give you my word that a sum equal to the amount taken from you, plus the money you left in Honkeysville, will be paid from my own pocket into a trust account to be given to Azure at any age you may care to name. The traditional age is twenty-one.

"In addition, I know where Valeria is being held, and your friends could ransom her for a trifling 300 gold pieces or so."

Amelio showed her her the letter from Draser.

"I will write and tell them the day after I am paid."

Burnt Sienna continued, pleading: "I'll pay you lots. I'll double what Scabport are paying."

To which Amelio replied: "I am listening. How will you pay me 15,000 gps?"

Burnt Sienna bit her lip and looked at the floor.

"Please let me go! Please!" she moaned weakly.

"You may be thinking of suicide," continued Amelio. "You'll find it difficult, I assure you, but if really desperate, you might perhaps succeed.

"If you do manage to kill yourself, I won't post those letters to your daughter. Nor send her the money. I'll probably kill her. And Valeria will rot in the Draser sex pits for the rest of her life.

"But cheer up. Scabport is many weeks away, and your friends could rescue you or ransom you long before we get there.

"And if you really can pay me 15,000 gps, you'll be on the next boat back to Zibrost.

"And, now, perhaps you'd like to fill in a few details.

"Why did you kill Red Ochre?
Were you lovers, like the poster says?"

"Fuck no! I'm no dyke!"

Burnt Sienna went angry and tugged at her chains.

"That bitch sold me up the river to the Queen," she said. "And all I did was let Roger rape her.

"Then Alicia put me through lots of sickening ordeals before they banished me forever from the clan."

Amelio interrupted: "Do you really mean Alicia? Explain. How can a sword put you through sickening ordeals?"

"No. Alicia the Queen, stupid. Not the sword. And Red Ochre deserved to die."

"And you don't, I suppose."

Burnt Sienna added, on another tack: "Also, I can get you the sword Alicia if you let me go. It's magic and is worth a lot more than 7500gp. I know where it is hidden."

Amelio sneered: "What? ME go back to the Free Coast and face the wrath of the FCM?" he said. "Do I look crazy to you, Miss?

He paused dramatically and let the rhetorical question linger.

"But...You could tell your mates where the Sword is. They could take it to the Shield Maidens and get the reward. They could then put the money in my Bank of Specularum account. And I could let you go."

"Or...You could write down the details and testify under Detect Lie. I could then sell the treasure map. And you'd be on your way. I'm open to suggestions."

He paused.

"The first step," said Amelio. "Would be for you to testify under Detect Lie that you know where the sword is and that noone else does."

"Um...okay"

Amelio paused. And then said quickly: "And how much did you get for the sword?"

"5000gp. I used it to train me an..." She cut short.

"If you sold it, how can offer it to me now?" Amelio gloated. "My sources say the sword is in the hands of the FCM."

Burnt Sienna sulked and yanked at her chains.

Amelio continued: "Finally, what is the truth about Shield Maidens and Dwarves?"

"Huh?"

	Amelio Broachcask Bounty Hunter Supreme "Your felon is my pleasure"         To: Bones and co, D. Klib Uma Treacle, Zibrost Georgina, Zibrost Anyone else left behind on the Free Coast, at their last known location. But not Renee - she'll just have to stick it out in the FCM. Head for Poger. I'll write to you there. No further point in you hanging around on the Free Coast.

Jethro soon came back with: " For a start, we have picked the right time of the year. The Trundle road is indeed very seasonal and is closed for most of the year by snow. The viable window is only a few weeks in Hot season when it is open. Those few weeks are right now.

However, I also spoke to the Gnomes and they don't operate the Post down the Trundle Pass road at all. They normally take the Draser/Fenster route, but with the war there right now, they currently go by sea around the Horn.

"This is disturbing news. Fools rush in where Gnomes fear to tread...

Jethro continued: "Also, where the Trundle road leaves the mountains onto the Wild Coast, it passes into Ferranti Stevens' lands - he has claimed that region for Highport. We will have to drop off or hide all our women somehow when we get there. And as you know, Ferranti Stevens, the mage ruler, has gone a bit ...uh... eccentric (some say "insane") and has ordered that the only women allowed in his demesne are slaves. (Evidently, a prophesy proclaims that he will be slain by the hand of a woman - a free woman.)"

Amelio replied "I assume you mean 'drop all our women ops off before we get to Highport?'".

Then added: "Ferranti Stevens. Ferranti bloody Stevens! Bloody hell! If he takes a liking to Burnt Sienna he'll swipe her right off. And probably kill us for our pains. I wonder if FS would like to buy her. Could be. Might even get a better price. Nah. It is too risky."

"The road along the Wild Coast, I am told, is excellent," Jethro said.

"Good."

"What is the procedure for sacking mercenaries?" Amelio asked.

"You normally give them a week's notice. But you have been known to kill them out of hand."

Amelio briefly thought to himself "And henchmen - do I kill them too?"

"If I sack the mercs who are still on the Free Coast, they'll likely feel free to blab."

"You are not on the Free Coast no more. It officially stops at Hackerton."

"I know that! But Uma Treacle (for instance) is still on the Free Coast, and costing me money and doing nothing to earn it. Yet if she blabs, that might be a nuisance."

"Estimate the total cost of the journey," said Amelio. "With even the lowliest mercenary taking 5gps per day, this cost could be in the thousands."

Don't send any letter from Burnt Sienna to anyone until I say so. And that goes for notes, UGW telemessages or any form of communication.

Noone is to speak to Burnt Sienna save in my presence. Burnt Sienna is to be gagged and earplugged save in my presence, or for feeding. Anyone feeding Burnt Sienna is to wear earplugs.

Anyone know Silence, 5m Radius or Continual Dark?

Amelio went down into the bilge to confront Burnt Sienna. He pulled off her blindfold and loosened her gag.

Burnt Sienna gasped and said "My thigh, the brand, it hurts!"

Amelio waved her to silence.

"Ok, Sienna," he intoned. "I'm going to call my crew in case of trouble. Your hands, in leather mittens, are manacled behind your back. Zelda is going to chain your left hand to the bulkhead, and then release your right hand. Your feet will still be manacled to the hull. You are going to write a letter. Zelda will give you pen and parchment. Write it any way you feel fit. While you are at it, you'd better write a letter to Azure. Just in case your friends don't come up with the money. When you've finished, you'll be chained back up again.

"If you make any attempt at escape, I'll cut your fingers off, won't contact your friends, and you'll never write another letter. Right?"

Burnt Sienna moaned: "I can't read or write. My last letter was dictated."

"Can you sign your name?" Amelio asked.

Burnt Sienna nodded slowly: "Yes."

A wicked thought crossed Amelio's mind.

"Interesting," he thought. "So we could get her to dictate but write down something else, which she would sign. Ho ho ho!"

"I know," snickered Amelio wickedly. "I'll enclose your entire head of hair."

"No, please!" sobbed Burnt Sienna.

"You get no say in the matter, baldy!"

"Do your mates know where the sword is now?"

"Yes."

"Then it will do no good to tell me, will it."

"But the Shield Maidens might be very keen to learn that the 'Dirty Squad' knows where the sword is," crowed Amelio. "Ho ho ho!" he gloated as we walked out of the bilge.

Burnt Sienna lay back in the filth miserably.

"We will get her to dictate two letters, which you will write down on parchment.

"The first letter is the one to her daughter Azure 'just in case the ransom money doesn't arrive in time'. You will take this down just as dictated and give it to Burnt Sienna to make her scribble.

"Burnt Sienna can't read. (ho ho ho). So when she dictates the second letter, (her ransom demand) don't write what she says. Instead, write a letter just saying :

		To: "The Dirty Squad", c/o Free Coast Militia, Zibrost I have been captured by Shield Maidens. They'll kill me in nine days. Tell Roger I love him. Help me, please! Burnt Sienna

"You've heard enough of her babble by now. Burnt Sienna will sign this too. No time like the present, so let's to it."

Amelio continued: "We'll send it to someone in Zibrost. Georgina might still be there. Gnome post goes in batches, doesn't it? And this letter will arrive in the same batch as her recall instructions.

"What Georgina has to do is get the letter into the hands of the FCM in such a way as to let them believe that Burnt Sienna has a Shield Maiden friend who risked life and limb to get the letter to Zibrost.

1. The obvious solution is for Georgina to dress up as Shield Maiden, but the FCM would be sure to detain her and we don't want that to happen. Yet, if Georgina goes to the FCM office, hands the letter to the receptionist and runs away, that would probably be safe enough.
2. Another possibility is that the letter could be planted on someone recently returned from Shield Maiden territory. The FCM would reason that some Shield Maiden friend of Burnt Sienna managed to slip the letter into some tourist's baggage.
3. Yet another idea would be for Georgina to impersonate an Shield Maiden and accost someone on the road from Zibrost to Honkeysville and give them the letter. On the whole, this looks best.

1. go along the Honkeysville road,
2. wait for the road to clear,
3. slip into her Shield Maiden gear,
4. accost the first bunch who are going to Zibrost,
5. run away towards Honkeysville,
6. change back into her real clothes again.

"How's that?"

		Dear Stella & Pitt, or anybody in the Special Forces "Dirty Squad", I am now held captive and face eventual execution. Escape is impossible. My Captor wants you to put 9000gp in the Specularum Bank in Zibrost (in account RANSOM_FUND) in order to release me. He suggests that you use the reward money for the Shield Maiden sword to pay for this. I know you haven't been paid for this yet. Please can you do this as soon as possible. Tell Roger that I miss him and want to be back soon. Burnt Sienna P.S. Don't let the Shield Maidens know that the money is for my release.

To: Dagwood

Hire a female three-finger cleric merc. Preferably one hostile to Shield Maidens and favourable to bounty hunters.

1. We'll implement the Burnt Sienna letter scheme immediately.
2. Dagwood is hiring a three-finger merc priest.
3. When Jethro arrives with the coach, he, Simon, and Pitt the Halfling will buy a stunning, macromastic, long-brown-haired slave. Then they'll hire a couple of merc fighters and take the road route to Scabport in the Black Coach. Good luck!
4. The rest of us will take the boat round the Horn. Including the new priest.
5. Tell Burnt Sienna that we're taking her to the Wild Coast, but we'll stop off at Porn City or Highport to check on the ransom.
6. Wake me three days before Scabport. I want to plan the final triumphal entry.

What? Are there no objections to my plan? I wish Bones were here. He'd soon find something wrong.

But maybe transport is much easier than capture. And maybe I've hit on a workable plan right off.

A shabbily dressed, rather gaunt woman entered Amelio's cabin on the boat. She looked about 35 but her large eyes were almost childlike - deep, sad, liquid pools of experiences best not had. Her wan face was badly scarred. She was wearing dirty brown robes tied around her thin frame with a rope belt. The smell of stale sweat and urine assailed Amelio's nose.

Without speaking she reached into her robe, pulled out a grubby card and handed it to Amelio.

		Presenting Jacqueline Winthrop, Priestess of Malechai Born : Year of the Great Whip [ she is 19 ] in Frugle Hello. My name is Jacqueline Winthrop. Thank you for employing me. I am a three-finger priestess of Malechai. I cannot speak because I have no tongue. (This does not stop me from casting spells) I will be pleased to work for you in anyway I can. I am not a good fighter but I can cast my spells under fire. I have been a mercenary for four years and I do not mind dirty work. Please do not refer to me as "Jackie". Thank you.

Amelio read the card

"Welcome aboard, Ms. Winthrop," he said. "You certainly seem to have packed a lot of experience into your tender years. This cruise should be plain sailing, unless someone attacks us. We may need the odd Cure, and you'll be on hand in case the prisoner injures herself (which is unlikely as she is expecting to be ransomed)."

1. If approached by pirates (either brand), attempt evasive manouevres. If that doesn't work, attack with maximum offensive spells, projectile weapons etc. and fight to the death. They'll probably kill us anyway, all the more so when they find out the only real treasure is Burnt Sienna, and they have to go to Scabport to cash her in. Of course they might want to ransom me, but I do not think I would survive the humiliation. If cornered, I'll jump into the sea rather than face capture.
2. If the Free Coast Navy gets a chance to talk to Burnt Sienna, they'll certainly arrest us. So we'd better have a plan. Try this: If we spot the FCN and they bear down on us, we smear Burnt Sienna with pitch and throw her overboard, still bound and gagged, but bouyant. We then pretend to be tourists on a sailing holiday. When the FCN have gone, we'll have to retrieve Burnt Sienna as best we can.

Everyone had better have a new name, and identity and we'll start using them from now on.

I bags be Jeremy Craven.

Jeremy Craven, tourist, landed gentry from Specularum.

If we catch up with a slightly slower but larger ship (neutral), it might be a good idea to slow down to keep pace with it. That way, the pirates might think we were in convoy.

Please estimate probability of encounter with

• Pirates (jolly roger)
• Dread Sancho Pirates (purple flag)
• Free Coast Navy

		SANCHO and THE KINGDOM OF PANZA Of all the states/countries in The Known World, the Kingdom of Panza (also known as "Sancho" after its capital city) is the most depraved. On most intensities-of-depravity (IOD) maps, purple is used as the colour of choice. This is no coincidence, for purple is the state colour of the Kingdom of Panza. On IOD maps, Sancho is a purple blot of the darkest colour. They say that Sancho even makes Scabport, Highport and Porn City look mild in comparison. The only city in the kingdom is Sancho. All kinds of sickening rumours abound about Sancho: If you enter Sancho, you will never return. Demons run naked through the streets. Sancho is ruled by a Lich-king. When it rains, it rains blood. There are no sewers and no toilets. There is a Street of Whores where slaves of different races and sexes are held in stasis for the ravishment of the cityfolk. Coagulated vomit is a delicacy. The whole Panza countryside is "sapped" by the purges, pogroms and noyades that occur at astounding regularity at the behest of the lich king. In the centre of Sancho there is a REAL-forsaken place called The Area of Hell where wretched souls are slowly killed for the amusement of the patrons. The streets are lined with thousands of stakes, each bearing an impaled wretch. Every new batch of slaves to arrive in Sancho have their tongues removed. This is done in public Detonguing ceremonies. The slaves are then forced to eat their own tongues. Noone is sane. They have the infamous Sancho orchestras that produce "music" from dozens of slaves with different pitched screams that are tortured to death in a cacophony of chords. There is a terrible place there where unholy creatures are created out of living wretches' body parts. Not a very nice place indeed.

Boat leaves Furness M2Hot [ day 32 ]

Pete, whose turn it was on Prisoner-watch (with Jacqueline), arrived, breathless after a sprint.

"Aning! Aning!" he yelled. "Acklin urting isner." He beckoned Amelio below. Amelio followed as quick as his hobble allowed him.

Jacqueline was there crouched down beside the prisoner, her back to the door, shielding what she was doing from the doorway. The blindfolded and gagged Burnt Sienna was thrashing about wildly in the stinking bilge water but she had additional ropes tied tightly around her waist rendering it immobile.

She was screaming into the gag and violently shaking her stubble head, obviously in great pain.

Amelio gasped and hobbled over, simultaneously yelling for Arnold and Dagwood.

Jacqueline turned around quickly, the briefest glimpse of feral hatred in her eyes, before she regained composure and the normal doleful childlike eyes returned.

Jacqueline had opened up a thumb-length cut in the prisoner's thigh (just below her brand) and appeared to have drawn blood into a ceramic cup. The cup was full and had overflowed. There was blood all over Jacqueline's robes, the boat's clinker planking, and floating threads in the bilge water.

Something that looked like a piece of wire was protruding from the wound, deeply embedded.

Burnt Sienna's filthy brand was raised and the surrounding skin a fiery red colour.

Arnold and Dagwood arrived.

"What is the meaning of this?" Amelio hissed at Jacqueline.

She reached into her robes. Arnold reached for his sword, but Amelio stayed his arm.

Jacqueline pulled out a shabby notebook and a small piece of charcoal.

She wrote something on the notebook and handed it to Amelio. Written in spidery printing was:
"Brand enfectd. I am fiking it. Need blud for spells."

Zelda arrived.

"Do you know of priestly spells that require blood?" Amelio asked her.

"No," she answered. "But I'm not a priest."

"I wish Bones was here," Amelio thought to himself. "He'd know what to do."

Arnold and Pete (the fighters) drew their swords and rushed at Jacqueline.

Dagwood disappeared into the shadows.

Jacqueline's child-like eyes went wide in alarm and then took on a hateful feral light. She gestured and mouthed something. Arnold stopped up short and fell heavily to the ground [ Command spell ].

Pete, noticed this, and hesitated in his charge.

Zelda began to mutter behind Amelio.

Jacqueline repeated the same sequence of gestures again and Pete, too, collapsed.

Zelda completed a sentence of mystic words, and Jacqueline rolled up her eyes and crumpled to the floor [ Sleep spell ].

Dagwood suddenly appeared behind her. He lifted her comatose head up by her hair exposing her emaciated throat, and placed one of his wicked keen-edged razors thereon. He then looked at Amelio for confirmation.

Amelio nodded angrily, Dagwood's razor cut, and Jacqueline's life blood hosed into the bilge.

Arnold and Pete began to stir, and then got to their feet, shaken but unharmed.

"Cut up her body into thin strips," Amelio ordered Dagwood. "Get Arnold and Pete to help you. Feed half to the sharks and let the seagulls have the rest. Throw her bones overboard. You may keep any coins, but show me anything unusual."

The others took Jacqueline's small body away while Zelda disappeared upstairs to look for something antiseptic to make into a poultice.

Amelio examined Burnt Sienna.

She was sweating and moaning softly. He took out her gag and had a good look at the wound. Despite Burnt Sienna lying in the bilge water, the area surrounding the incision had been cleaned of bilge and filth and some kind of paste had been smeared all over. The wire in the cut seemed to be a small metal tube. Pus dripped liberally from it.

Amelio gingerly touched it and Burnt Sienna screamed. The tube was in quite deep and angled upward under her skin to her brand. The brand was a real mess. It was raised and very red and swollen. The heat radiating from it was astounding. Suddenly, Amelio's musings were interrupted.

"Come up and look at this, boss." Dagwood said, his head through the hold hatch.

Amelio ventured out into the bright REALlight and there was Jacqueline's stringy body naked and pathetic on the deck. Her back, legs and buttocks were a mass of old badly-healed whip scars. Her neck, wrists, elbows, knees and ankles showed old manacle scars. She had a slave brand sunk deep into the emaciated flesh of her left thigh.

"Looks like she was a former slave," Dagwood muttered.

On the deck beside her body were her meagre possessions: There was a collection of tubes of different diameters; three vials of blood (?); two vials of water; two empty vials; a scapel; a paring knife; a length of bailing twine; a wooden heart with an ornamental silver scapel stuck in it (Malechai holy symbol); a small pig's bladder filled with paste; three pieces of dowel; a small lump of mountain crystal; a box of matches; a leather case with assorted needles; a spool of fine cotton; scissors; four candles; the notebook and charcoal pencil; a small leather bag of foul smelling clay; a silver locket and chain.

Zelda emerged from the cabin. "I've got a poultice from the First Aid kit," she said.

"Carry on, Dagwood," Amelio said and returned to the hold with Zelda following. Burnt Sienna was sobbing openly.

"How are we going to get this tube out?" he asked Zelda.

"Umm," she said. "If Bones was here, he'd just cast a Cure on the wound and the tube would pop out, painlessly."

"Yes, but he's not. Only one thing for it."

Amelio regagged Burnt Sienna.

"Wrench it out as quickly as you can, Zelda," he ordered.

Amelio held Burnt Sienna's bald stubbled head while Zelda did the deed.

It was all he could do to stop Burnt Sienna from smashing her head into the floor of the bilge, as she thrashed and writhed screaming into her gag in unashamed agony.

Thankfully for all concerned, she passed out.

Zelda held up the 10cm tube in shakey hands. "Got it." She then slapped on the poultice and tied it there.

When Amelio return on deck, Dagwood and Co were washing the decks down.

"All done, boss," he said.

Up on the bow, a large flock of seagulls were fighting over a swiftly diminishing pile of meat scraps left on a tray.

"And I didn't need you after all, Bones," Amelio mused bitterly to himself.

"Hire in haste, repent at leisure," he mused.

Burnt Sienna was injured, perhaps infected, and maybe even dying. Keeping her in the bilges served no useful purpose now; they were far from the prying eyes of men and Elves.

"Clean up the prisoner and transfer her to my cabin. Give her a chamber pot and clean clothes. See that she gets proper food from now on," he ordered. "Take out her gag too, we don't want her choking on her own vomit." The crew would find a way to fasten Burnt Sienna to the cabin walls, sitting on a toilet seat with a bucket underneath.

Amelio made a mental note to check on the prisoners condition personally, every day. If her condition deteriorated, they'd have to find a priest. And that could only mean one thing - approaching another vessel.

Burnt Sienna's brand was now well and truly infected. What with being immersed in the filthy bilge, and her own wastes. Jacqueline's ointment kept her incision sterile. She now had a raging fever.

Dagwood and Zelda had manacled Burnt Sienna's wrists above her head to the cabin ceiling, her ankles were secured in wooden stocks, and her eyes were still blindfolded. She was sitting on a toilet seat with a bucket underneath. Although she was in no condition to struggle, let alone escape.

Amelio called a meeting.

Zelda : "I think she's going to die unless we get her to a priest. I say we land at Sancho. It is the last city until Scabport."

Pete : "Aning! Ancho narts tea! No go!"

Cornelious: "Aaar! I never beed to Sancho so's don't know it well."

Dagwood: "I have never been to Sancho either, but the stories I have heard about the place don't make it sound very nice. I vote we turn back to Furness."

Arnold: "Mayhaps we could land at Frugleton. Captain says it is only three and a bit days behind us."

"Or we could rendezvous with another ship," Amelio said. "How many ships have we seen since we left the coast of Furdeck?"

Cornelious: "Aaar. I be seeing 'bout one every day goin' the other way. Haint passed none, nor been passed ourselves."

"Thank you for your input, ladies and gentlemen," he crowed, "I have decided on a course of action. I will not land in Sancho for any reason. Apart from that, the health of the prisoner is my top concern. Since she was tortured by one of my hirelings, while a guest under my roof..."

Cornelious coughed, significantly.

"... my deck, I would lose face if she were to die. Bushido dictates that we turn back to Frugleton. But if we pass any ship on the way, we will try to contact them. Cornelious, can you set a row of signal flags that says we need medical assistance? If so, do it. They'll have to send the priest to us. If we send the prisoner to them, we may never get her back. If they won't cooperate, we can still carry on to Frugleton."

"Haar! I can do sig'nals, boss." sneered Captain Cornelious. "Hmmm," he muttered to himself. "Furdeck waters, that'll be the O'Riley code."

Cornelious busied himself on the deck for a while stringing together five brightly coloured pennants:

Unwell Female Require-Priest Urgent Will-pay

Amelio closed the meeting and went back to his quarters, accompanied by Zelda. "Let's see if Burnt Sienna has any explanation of this apparently senseless attack, or any suggestions of what we can do to heal her now," he said.

"We'll show her the stuff we got off Jackie. Maybe that ointment will help," Zelda ventured.

"I doubt it. But we'll try it anyway," conceded Amelio.

"Burnt Sienna may have some Shield Maiden medical training," pressed Zelda.

Amelio groaned. "She can't even write her own name! Still, you could be right."

In the cabin, Burnt Sienna was shivering and shaking like a leaf. Her clothes were soaked with sweat. The stench of sweat, fear and excrement filled the room.

Zelda went over to her.

"Do you have any Shield Maiden medical training?" she asked of the captive.

"Mon aéroglisseur est plein des anguilles," Burnt Sienna mouthed.

"Doesn't that sound like Elvish?" asked Amelio.

"'Aero-glisser'? Hardly," Zelda snorted. "I think she is delerious."

"Try the ointment then," he said.

Zelda squeezed some of the greasy paste onto her hand.

"Ow! It stings," she yipped.

Zelda bent down, lifted the captive's skirt, and removed the poultice.

"IMAG's butt!" she swore. "What a mess!"

The bitter smell of corruption and rotting meat filled the cabin. Zelda's face went white as a sheet and she rolled over to a bucket and vomitted into it.

"I think you'd better do it," she sobbed between spasms.

Amelio bent down. The brand was a dark corrupted mess. Green and grey tinged skin was peeling from it. Rivulents of stinking pus dribbled from the deep cracks and fissures on the brand.

Jacqueline's incision made an interesting contrast. The skin around it was clean and pure.

Holding back his bile, Amelio squeezed some of the paste onto the brand and rubbed it in. It stung his hand a bit. Burnt Sienna made no move at all. Almost immediately the skin moved and tightened. The deep down stuff, however, was unchanged.

"I need medical advice," mused Amelio.

The water in the mouth of the Frugle river was an ugly brown colour. Interestingly shaped vortices formed where the brown water met the azure water from Gulf of Furndeck. Extreme polution was in evidence here as dead fish, bloated bodies of animals, floating excrement and other nasty things, most likely from the huge city of Frugle a way upstream, made their way sluggishly out to sea. Dagwood could only contemplate this for a moment before an order barked from Captain Cornelious disturbed his musings.

"Lower the mainsail, you scurvy rogue," howled Cornelious. "Hard a-port."

Three days had passed since the "request help" pennants had been flown. Two ships had been sighted, but they only veered away.

The little ketch gingerly made its way into the harbour of Frugleton. Cornelious brought the boat expertly alongside the little wharf. Arnold leapt onto its sturdy surface and lashed the rope to a bollard.

Burnt Sienna was then lifted onto the wharf. Amelio, not taking any chances, had ordered a makeshift stretcher to be constructed from two poles and some sail cloth. Burnt Sienna bound wrists, ankles, knees and elbows was cocooned into the stretcher, tightly encased in canvas, gagged and blindfolded. Dispite all the ministerings of Zelda and Amelio, and large doses of Jacqueline's ointment, her wound had steadily grown worse.

Amelio, Arnold, Zelda and Dagwood made the short trip down to the local and only temple - a temple to Malechai (and his avatar, the Furndeck state god, Put Satanachia) - and entered the dark grim place.

Amelio, Arnold and Dagwood, paying no heed to the wretches chained to the walls destined to be sacrifices to the god of Hate's more blood-thirsty avatar (seen it all before), approached the bench. Zelda looked around in wide-eyed unashamed revulsion.

A haggard priestess looked up from her work - the sewing shut of a living slave's mouth. The wretch's cheeks were distended with the foul and acrid herbs stuffed therein.

The priestess's eyes, gleaming with feral light, stared hard at Amelio, then flicked over to Zelda and Dagwood. They then rested onto the encapsulated form of Burnt Sienna, and Amelio noticed a flicker of interest.

Amelio knew full well to show no signs of fear. This was a small temple (Frugleton being a small town) and thus he trusted his operatives' abilities to keep them free from the two burly acolytes that had moved to seal off escape.

"Well?" she said. Her voice was like the tearing of cardboard.

"I wish to purchase a cure for my slave," Amelio said, his mouth dry as the dusty streets outside.

"Show me," she smiled evilly.

Dagwood and Arnold lifted the stretcher onto the bench and unrolled Burnt Sienna.

The feral light in the priestess's eyes glowed with amusement as they descended onto the corruption.

"Are you sure you want it repaired?" she asked. "The slave feels nothing at the moment. I can make it so that she will experience the full agony as the wound slowly consumes her body."

"Just fix it," Amelio said.

"Very well," the priestess spat, her voice tinged with anger and perhaps disappointment. "But it will cost you 200 pieces of gold."

"And we shall stay here to watch," Amelio added. "And NO unnecessary pain."

The priestess's eyes flashed with feral light. "Very well."

She beckoned to one of the acolytes who picked up the sewn-mouth slave and dragged it away. The other acolyte pulled Burnt Sienna into the carved body-shape depressions on the bench and belted her down with wide leather straps. Extra straps were placed around her waist and thighs.

The priestess opened a drawer and pulled out some little tubes like Jacqueline's ones, and bent down to the wound.

"Has one of my compatriots been here before?" she asked. "This looks like a Great One incision."

Zelda was about to answer but Amelio silenced her with a glare. "No," he lied.

The priestess pulled out a scapel and made an incision. Small globules of corruption oozed out. She then inserted a tube and wriggled it about. Burnt Sienna's nerves were long since destroyed so felt nothing. Pus and ooze began to pour from the tube. The priestess inserted another larger tube.

"I think you are wrong," she said. "Or lying. This operation has been attempted before."

She stared long and hard at Amelio, her eyes afire with feral light. "We now wait for the fluid to drain."

Five minutes of tense silence passed.

The swelling went down and there was a large pool of liquid corruption on the floor. The priestess then pulled the tubes out.

"Pay me now," she ordered. "I am half way."

Amelio thought for a moment and then reached into his cloak and pulled out two bags of coins. She snatched them from him and threw them at the acolyte. He emptied their contents, counted them, and nodded.

She reached down at the wound. "This is going to hurt her," she leered. "A lot. But it is part of the healing process."

"The bit!" she ordered.

The other acolyte brought across a large moist piece of dowel with many bite marks. He pulled out Burnt Sienna's sodden cloth gag and placed the bit in her mouth, hard against her back teeth.

The priestess then placed her hands hard on the wound and spoke the foul gutteral phrases (ones you have heard Bones pronounce many times when he cured your mercs). The feral light from her eyes glowed bright enough to light the bench.

Burnt Sienna screamed into the wooden bitgag, bucked and writhed. Her massive strength snapped her wrist and elbow bonds, but the table straps held.

She then mercifully passed out.

The dark ugly areas around the wound melted away. The normal healthy skin colour returned. The priestess sat down, rivulets of sweat dripping from her brow.

"It is done," she said, the feral light in her eyes fading quickly.

"I give you my thanks," said Amelio. "But one other thing. Why is it that some Malechai priests' eyes glow whereas others do not?"

"It is a gift bestowed by only Put Satanachia and only onto women priests who have not been with a man. We can use it to see in the dark like Elves."

Dagwood and Arnold resecured the sleeping Burnt Sienna and followed Amelio and Zelda from the temple.

Amelio felt sick in the bottom of his stomach.

The temple used pain and tubing, just like Jackie, but on the other hand, the temple preistess hadn't collected any blood.

"Need blood for spells," eh? It would be a cold day in Hot before he believed that.

"I don't like people operating on my prisoners without my permission," he rationalised. Besides, a reputation for haste and violence is no bad thing in a leader.

"I saw it in Dagwood's eye when we were in Frugleton," the famous bounty hunter hallucinated, "He thought I was going soft. But he doesn't think I'm so soft now!"

		Scabport and its environs by Falmor Atreides The Wild Coast is a shallow silty sea. The deepwater ports are on the major rivers there - although our little ketch could be run aground on any beach. However, the land area between Highport and Sirensville is very dangerous. In the last few decades, bands of humanoids from the wastes (just off our map to the right) have recently begun to roam around at night attacking any small groups they find. Consequently, all the towns and cities along there are now walled and fortified. Crops are only tended during the day. No sane person ever travels at night. etc Scabport, the logical and traditional defender of the area, is too embroiled in its own decadence, intrigue and internal fighting to muster any real defence. Moral: Don't go out at night. The Scab is the most polluted river in the Known World. It rivals even the filthy Frugle river. The Scab is deadly to drink. Even letting the water touch your skin is not recommended. The main form of public execution in Scabport is "the Noyade". Flinging the condemned into the Scab. Moral: Don't swim in the Scab Scabport is one of the few cities of the Known World actually run by the Thieves Guild. The main police force is the STGM (Scabport Thieves Guild Militia).

Amelio gathered the Zelda, Cornelious and Dagwood around him. "We will be landing in Scabport tomorrow evening," he gloated. "But I want to run some ideas past you. Thinking out loud, as it were."

"Now it is just about possible that Burnt Sienna's wicked mates will be there to meet us. My diversion to get her cured has cost me eight days, and the seasonal road was wide open.

"I believe that they've fallen for my Shield Maiden ruse, but best not to take chances. Therefore, let us assume that:

1. They are in Scabport
2. They know I'm coming by boat, and
3. They have a description of it.

"Do I have any wanted poster with Roger on it? If so, I use my magic pen on the day before we arrive. Roger in disguise would be a bad sign."

"No, we don't," replied Zelda. "We only have Burnt Sienna's wanted posters."

"Now, if I were in their position, I'd have a force waiting either at the docks or at the Scabport Thieves' Guild Militia station. But the STGM station would be too risky - even if Burnt Sienna were rescued, how would they escape? The docks are much better (escape by sea), and even better than that would be to sail up and down in front of Scabport and hope to take me at sea.

"Don't go out at night, eh? But sailing at night is OK. I guess there is no reliable way to navigate the estuary at night and tie up in darkness? I need to know if this is possible."

Cornelious shook his weather-worn head. "Aaar. No, sir," he swarthered. "Thar be no ship berthin' activity after dark. Too dangerous."

Amelio continued:

"Now the best way to shake off a seaborne attack would be to land somewhere up the coast. This means to the anti of Scabport, because Burnt Sienna's mates will be coming from battlewards. But the anti of Scabport is patrolled by nasty humanoids, correct?"

Nods all around.

"So that's not such a good idea," said Amelio.

"But if Burnt Sienna were unconscious (Sleep spell)," he added. "On a stretcher carried by four people ..."

Zelda interrupted.

"She is not susceptable to Sleep," she said. "Too high a level."

Amelio thought a moment.

"Well, we'll just have to gag her well," he said. "Then if the whole lot of us were invisible, it might be worth a try."

"One scheme I could use would be to try the fake Burnt Sienna routine again...: 'The boat bumps gently against the dock. As the deck hands secure the boat, a masked figure leaps ashore, dragging a manacled female prisoner with a bag over her head.

"'They leave the docks quickly, but are assailed in the street by a swarm of lusty adventurers. The masked figure pulls off the bag, and the prisoner stands revealed as ... not Burnt Sienna.

"'Meanwhile, the rest of the crew and the real Burnt Sienna (also bagged and invisible) have slipped out by a back route, and are on the way to the STGM station.'

"Any other ideas?"

"Nope," they said as one.

"In that case we will go with the Fake Burnt Sienna routine."

"Note! In case there is any room for doubt, I want Burnt Sienna still blindfolded, ear-plugged and nose-plugged. I imagine that she would recognise the stench of the Scab."

Onto Denouement