“Sit down, I’ll be ready in a moment,” Eliana said.
Mana, Cobal and Cassandra sat down on the pillows in the main tent. This was where Eliana had set up her things and where she led the search efforts from. Right now she was going through some maps with Kenar and Bolar. “So, with these areas scouted, I think it’s time to move into the jungle proper. We need to go region by region and make sure we’re incredibly thorough before writing off a part of the map.” She looked at both men. “I’m counting on you, if we miss something here we might be searching pointless areas for weeks if not months because of it.”
“We’re on it, boss,” Bolar said. He patted Cobal on the shoulder before leaving the tent with Kenar in tow.
“So, what did you two want to discuss?”
“I have an idea that will help us make the search underwater much more convenient and safe.”
“By all means, what is it?”
“It’s called a diving bell in my old world. It’s basically a large bucket, held upside down, to which air is fed through a tube from above the water.”
“Explain that again but more slowly.”
“Imagine a bucket.”
“I got that far,” Eliana replied, annoyed.
“But did you grasp the upside down part?” Cassandra said with a grin.
“Don’t test me, child.”
“From there on out, you basically cut a hole in the top and connect a long tube to it. Through this tube you feed air into the diving bell from above, allowing the people in there to spend a decent amount of time under water.”
“How do you keep it from going up, since air will push up.”
“I’m thinking of connecting large weights to it.”
“How will you do that?”
“A classic from our world, sandbags.”
“Sandbags?”
“Just like the word itself implies, get some linen bags, fill them with sand, hang them from the diving bell.”
Eliana scratched her chin. “You know what, that could actually work. But how are you going to make something like that here?”
“We’re not,” Cassandra said. “We’ll sail back to Ravadier. Our local blacksmith as well as a leatherworker can help out with the designs that Mana made and with my limitless talent it should be easy enough to make something like this. It will just take a bit of time and some resources.”
“So how are you going to get those resources?”
“I will ask Diana Vadier to provide them.” Cobal replied.
Eliana smiled. “Look at you kids, figuring this all out by yourselves, mom’s proud of you.”
“I’m in my thirties,” Mana replied.
“That’s a baby compared to her,” Cobal said, quickly ducking down for the fist that came towards him at a rapid pace. Although he managed to dodge the immediate punch, Eliana then quickly wrapped her arm around his neck and pushed his head down towards the ground. “What did we discuss about mentioning a lady’s age?”
“So now you consider yourself a lady,” was all Cobal could get out before getting a mouthful of sand as she pushed him into the ground. “Alright, alright, I’m sorry.” Although it was barely audible, she did let him go.
“Well, if you believe in this plan, then let’s go for it. I’ll send Fareh alongside some of the crew with you to Ravadier and we’ll continue the search while the three of you build the bell thing.”
“I’m actually staying here,” Mana commented.
“Why, isn’t it your invention?”
“First of all, I don’t like calling it ‘my invention’ when I just took someone else’s idea from my old world. But second of all and more important, I don’t really understand it any better than Cassandra does now that I’ve explained it to her. Once we’ve drawn up the schematics there’s really no reason for me to go along. And while they are building this, I want to take some time investigating this tower and figuring out an alternative way in. It might be a fruitless endeavor, but I would feel really silly if I found out after several weeks of searching that the door on the ceiling is breachable.”
“Looks like you’ve thought it all through,” Eliana said. “I’m not even needed here anymore.”
“No pouting,” Cobal said, still spitting out some of the sand from his mouth, “you can’t be the savior of everyone all the time.”
“Bah, I’m no one’s savior. There better be some serious treasure in that tower.”
“Have you learned nothing from the failures that the Justavir crew told us about?” Cobal replied, shocked at her intent.
Eliana laughed. “Just because some amateurs got burned, doesn’t mean the treasure isn’t ready to be plundered. I’ve made my way in and out of some pretty dangerous places before, my experience and theirs cannot even be compared.”
Cobal shook his head in disbelief. “As long as you wait with your stupidity until the villagers are safe and out of the way.”
“I’ll think about it.”
Dear Dionil,
My good friend, it has been a while since our last correspondence, I hope you are doing well. Mana has been making good use of your gift, figuring out the latent magical abilities it holds with a little bit of help from a priest in Saphestan. Things are tense in the capital city. Mana’s value to the country is being put into question and people disagree on how to move forward with her. The stress and anxiety was definitely getting to Mana so when Cassandra came to us with some disturbing news from her hometown and requesting our help, we decided to go back to the Ravadier Peninsula. My father and mother are currently keeping the council from destroying itself but I am still hesitant to stay away from the capital for too long, lest decisions get made in our absence. As to what Cassandra’s request was, several villagers have been kidnapped and possessed by cursed pirates. They tried to loot the mage’s tower on Shark Tooth Island many long years ago and have been stuck ever since as ghostly figures. Our current plan is to find the key into this tower and figure out how to undo their curse. That way their spirits can move on and we can get the villagers back. Unfortunately we have no real plan besides a blanket search for this key, whatever it might look like. If you have any advice for use, we would gladly hear it. I’ve also sent a letter to Lysa Drant in Marsolin, but it might take a while to get there. If you have any knowledge that could help us, please send a letter back to Sebastian the baker in Ravadier. That way it’ll make its way to us eventually.
Best regards,
Cobal Blueyerd.
“Cobal, we’re nearing shore,” Fareh’s voice sounded from outside his cabin.
“I’ll be there shortly.” The Tidesetter had returned to Ravadier with a small crew, including Cobal and Cassandra. Mana and Eliana would lead things on the island while Cassandra would work on creating the diving bell they discussed. Cobal had some letters to send and also wanted to bring the news of what they’d found so far to the village as well as to Diana and Guthir Vadier. Cobal had questioned the fact that Mana stayed behind as the diving bell was her idea, but after giving the design of the few parts she herself understood about the complex device from her old world, she was confident that she had nothing of value to add that Cassandra couldn’t figure out herself. So Mana stayed on the island, figuring out if the tower couldn’t be entered somehow, while Cobal was here. Ravadier came into view as he left his cabin and before long they departed the ship onto the small docks. There was no one to welcome them, so they rapidly made their way to the bakery where they found Sebastian hard at work. A big smile crept onto his face when he spotted Cobal and Cassandra. “Good to see you again, I hope you bring good news.”
“We do, but something to eat would be great,” Cassandra said.
“Pick whatever you want, it’s been a slow day anyway.”
“Cas will tell you what happened so far, but I’ll head over to the Vadier estate to inform them of the situation.”
“Will you be back for dinner?”
“Depends on how things go with Diana, don’t wait too long for me.”
Cobal left the bakery behind him with a cinnamon roll for a snack as the rain outside quickly started to pick up. The peninsula looked sorrowful right now, with several of its villagers missing and the dark clouds above Cobal couldn’t help but feel a little bit sad. The servants normally working in the beautiful garden at the Vadier Estate had all gone inside as well and it took a little bit before someone came to get him from the front gate. By the time he was standing in the entryway he was completely soaked to the bone and shivering from the cold. A servant went to get him a towel but as he waited for them to return, Diana spotted him. “Cobal, you look miserable,” she commented as she walked towards him. She was wearing a beautiful emerald green dress that was simple in design but looked rather comfortable. “Here, follow me to the bath.”
“I can just dry off with a towel.”
“Nonsense, I won’t have my guests shivering.”
Cobal followed Diana to the bathroom which was rather luxurious. The water was already heated up and after getting a towel and some dry clothes that the servants sometimes used, he found himself comfortably soaking in the hot bath. It had been a while since he’d experienced this sort of comfort, the last time being before they left Saphestan. He let his mind wander for a bit, thinking about everything Mana had been saying. She seemed very stressed lately, but the idea for the diving bell had taken her mind off of the dangers they were all in for a bit. Cobal felt out of his depth again like he did when they first traveled to Milinia. It felt as if he was the least useful person in their group, but he also recognized that his position as a prince could be useful at times. He would use his connection to get the materials required for Cassandra’s project quicker than they otherwise could and help out that way. A couple of minutes passed before he realized he was slowly dozing off. Recognizing it was time to get out of the bath he stood up and went to dry himself off in front of the mirror. He hadn’t really taken the time to look at his body recently. His muscles had definitely gotten more defined over the past year, but what stood out the most was the large scar on his shoulder from where the fiery beast had bitten him a year ago. It healed pretty well on the inside, but the skin never looked the same, leaving a clear mark. He massaged it with his other hand for a bit, but there was of course no more pain. After drying off and getting dressed he stepped out of the room where a servant was awaiting him. “Please follow me to the dining room.”
Opal Kaharis 