After checking our ship's papers and some final preparations to mask any discrepancies, we approached the city of Kiera. After docking, we were soon approached by a distinctively dressed harbour official. When the official warned us about a rogue ship named the Wild Monkey, a conversation with the Captain followed that nearly gave us away, but either our disguise was good enough, or they wanted to lull us into a sense of safety, for now. Anyhow, since our holds were empty except for some provisions, there was not much to check, and after paying the docking fee, we were welcomed into the city.
As usual, it was my task to secure a cargo for our holds, and so I went to the local merchants and determine the current market conditions. Iron was in short supply at the moment, but still prices were significantly better than any other place I've seen. I bought all that was on offer for the day, replenished our provisions, reluctantly purchased some lots of gunpowder to fill our remaining holds, and then headed back to the ship to oversee the loading.
In the mean time, the Proprietor had decided to leave the ship and base himself in the city, so I was to count our funds and pay out his share of our earnings. After that he took his coffers and left for the city. I suggested we paid the outstanding crew salaries as well. The Captain and the other officers agreed, and they and our long-serving crew members got their shares for the month. There were also a couple of new hires to be registered, all experienced sailors. One of them, Robert, was an Englishman, two, Sara and Kurt, were of local origin, and the last one was a rather quiet Kraken fellow, by the name of T'kumla.
I had also received a month's purse, and my official duties for the ship were done for now, so I headed to the city for some private shopping. A staff was considered a sort of status symbol for mages, I had heard, and probably also quite useful to keep enemies at bay, so I picked a visually pleasing specimen from a local vendor. I also bought a fashionable muslin dress to go with it. Late in the evening I returned to the ship, where everything was still calm and normal, and went to sleep shortly afterward.
The next day, around noon, Master Krastus, Sira and Carlton left for a tour around the local taverns, to inquire about the fire mage that we were looking for, and some other personal affairs. Meanwhile, the Captain and I stayed behind on the ship, waiting for them for a conspicuously long while. We were put on alert, however, when a detachment of guardsmen headed by an officer marched along the pier towards our ship, requesting to come aboard.
The officer told our Captain that the Kieran guard was looking for a criminal, specifically a deserter, and demanded a complete inspection of ship and crew. We were also informed that, as a security measure, there were two dinghies off the pier watching our ship, so this was apparently a rather big effort. We reckoned this was about Serene, and while the captain went down to collect the crew, I attempted to win some time by going through the ship's manifest with the officer.
When the crew assembled on deck, the Captain had attempted to disguise Serene as our blind cabin boy, dressed in loose rags and a blindfold, with her hair cut short rather crudely. The officer sternly observed as a small detachment of soldiers walked down the line to inspect the crew, one by one. I was at the very beginning of the column, and I was obviously not Serene, unless they only had a very poor description of her. However, I noticed that they at one point had me pull back my sleeve and inspected my arm rather closely.
At this point we realised that Serene might have a tattoo signifying her former service to the Kieran navy, and our subterfuge would be exposed with but one glimpse. The Captain and I exchanged glances, while the inspectors inexorably advanced along the line. We had to do something to protect our friend.
When they had inspected about two thirds of our crew, the Captain stepped forward and brazenly complained to the officer about this senseless inspection in harsh words. The official was intimidated by the Captain's anger, and the attention of his guards was momentarily broken. This gave me the opportunity to have Serene slip behind the line, hidden from view, and then reenter the line on the side where the inspection had already taken place. Taking the rather conspicuous blindfold off her, I decided to quickly put that on the yet uninspected crew member most similar to Serene.
Eventually, the Captain's mood mollified, and the inspectors continued where they were interrupted, a bit quicker but still reasonably thorough. Fortune was with us, as they didn't realise our ruse, and when the inspection was finished, the were convinced that Serene was not currently on board. It came to us as a shock, however, when we overheard the officer muttering that since she hadn't been found, the crab were in error. Was that our own Archmage who had set them on us? The Captain crossed his arms and looked at me tellingly. Some explanations would have to be made.
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