Maiden's Mercy

"Black." Scarm sat down near them, and from the very first look at his face Bastian could tell that the man carried a heavy heart.

"Scarm," Bastian said, trying to sound friendly. "Are you doing alright?"

"No," the man said curtly. "I am not well. And I don't think I will ever be again. Can I join you for the duration of a drink or two?"

It would have been horrifyingly early in the morning for that, had they been anything else, but they were pirates, and this made it more understandable. Bastian refused an offer of grog and decided to just listen, while being as sober as he could be while surrounded by beautiful women who adored him.

He kept on glancing towards their chests. The assets moved gently with their breathing. It was a soothing sight and they looked like they didn't mind his eyes wandering.

"It's about him," Captain Scarm said, and he did not need to specify, to name the man. It was clearly about Gorgo.

Bastian sighed.

"I know that he is trouble, and that you have already suffered enough," Captain Scarm continued. "But to beat him, you must get out of here immediately."

"Will no one else take a stand?"

"Not unless you have at least five Gem Books, no. We are all terrified of him. If you had the power of, say, the Book of Peridot, the Book of Sapphire, and in addition to that, three lesser Gem Books, you might have a chance of gathering enough support to affect his position."

Bastian knew what the Gem Books were, he just had not been willing to accept that he had a legitimate chance of using them or even acquiring them in the first place.

Most magic did not work. Not in this world, not in any world, but the books that had been later renamed as the Gem Books were the ones that were guaranteed to work. Some of the books gave the power to summon beasts and tame them. Some of them were simple tools for seduction or financial progress, but one should not have overlooked them, for some of the richest people in this world had once owned one of those, such as the well named Book of Gold. Whether the cause and the effect were that simple remained to be seen.

"Has anyone actually heard of the rest of the books?" Bastian asked warily. "Last time I heard anything about them, no one could say for sure if there were any others left. Or if ten was the correct number of the books. It all seems like a castle in the clouds."

"Oh, I assure you that the monster is not the only wizard left in this world," Captain Scarm said mysteriously. "There are more than rumors about that. I know someone who lives in Port Obsidian, and he might be willing to help you, but I cannot name his price. Best to focus on one book at a time."

Bastian made some mental notes.

Quest 1

Objective: find and claim the Book of Peridot

Issues: I might die

Solution: never fear death

"So, I need to get out now. Why?" Bastian asked. "Is he planning something especially heinous?"

"He is…"

Scarm didn't seem entirely comfortable discussing the matter openly like this. He bent closer to Bastian and muttered in his ear.

"He is going to sack the Red Horse House. That will cause a collapse…an econom…economy…money collapse. You know I am not good with such words. But the whole port will be ruined after that. It will be a dog eat dog world. You need to get out right now, and do what you are currently doing. Keep women by your side if you cannot keep men."

"I don't have enough women," Bastian confessed.

"Then warn them in the Red Horse House. They will be glad that you gave them a heads up. And some will most likely join you."

Bastian was not, for some reason, too excited to see the madame again. She gave him chills with her sharp mind and her unquenchable desire for his flesh. Still, the idea was worth consideration.

Then the other captain decided that it was time for him to vanish, and they were left contemplating their choice.

"You know what," Lia sighed. "I will go. Try to avoid Captain Gor- well, try to avoid the monster. I will go back to the Red Horse House alone, and bring back as many girls as I can. I think the experienced ones who already make a lot of money will just move to another brothel, but we have plenty of women who have never opened their legs for money. They were just trying to find a place to stay and the madame does have a soft heart."

Somehow, Bastian doubted that, but then again, he couldn't really complain about getting his crew together.

He did not mind the profession of the prostitutes at all, but he considered women who didn't accept payment for their most precious goods to be more prestigious in the eyes of the likes of Captain Gorgo. The humiliation would be so much deeper if he'd have a crew of somewhat virtuous women to march over that man and trod him into the dirt that was far more expensive to Bastian than Roy's blood had been in years.

They left the inn to go wait in the harbor district. Captain Bastian Black saw his ship for the first time.

Or, technically, he had seen the Maiden's Mercy many times before. But not with his own eyes, no. This girl was a beauty. She stole his heart, even with her white sails at rest, even with barnacles clinging onto her wooden skin and the mermaid statue decorating her bow having only one hand - he made a mental note to fix her up, as soon as possible, sparing no expense.

The ship was his ticket to a better life. A life with a pirate harem. A life of freedom and lust on the high seas, financial woes be damned, the feeling of the salt spray wind was all he ever needed to be happy.