On his way over to meet the merchant, the captain stops for a moment as Troth speaks to him. The captain responds in a low voice, "Yes, do what you can, then get your weapons and come back on deck. Try to look like a mean, scary barbarian," the captain adds with a twinkle in his eye.
Naomi slips her little hand into Colmarr's as they leave the deck and head into the dim cabin. When the gnome prestidigitator changes the color of her dress, she looks down and smiles. "Oh, that's pretty! How did you do that? Can you make it blue?" When Magyar mentions putting her hair in braids, Naomi starts back from him with a slightly fearful look. When he mentions hiding her as Colmarr's brother . . . "Eww, I don't want to be a boy."
Up in the bow, N'un T'Chauck handles his harpoon with casual confidence. The significance of the weapon is not lost on the oarsmen behind the merchant. Down in the hold, Grondar and Denther help each other into their armor, then high tail it back on deck. As they move up behind the captain with Malachi and Wakil, the oarsmen begin to look decidedly nervous. The merchant doesn't seem to notice the dangerous tension as he continues to argue with the captain.
"Captain Turion, you have something of mine aboard this ship. I suggest you return it immediately. I have sent my man for the Guard. If you do not return my property, your ship will be confiscated and you and your crew will be thrown into the stocks."
"Some of your property, Merchant . . . ?" The captain waits for the man to fill in a name.
"Bledsum. Karl Bledsum." The merchant has a smile on his fat face and states the name as if he expects to be recognized. And to some, the name is recognizable. The Bledsum are a family of rather unscrupulous money-lenders. They've never been particularly powerful, but anyone with the right debtors can be dangerous. Perhaps they have come up in the world and are now getting into merchanting?
The captain continues as if the name has no effect on him. "Merchant Bledsum. Just what bit of your property do you claim I have on my ship?"
"You know perfectly well, Captain Turion! You cut us off on our way to recover a small boat from the harbor. It contained certain personal effects and properties belonging to the Bledsum family."
The captain points back aft. "As you can see, Merchant, there is the craft. It is capsized. Whatever was in it is surely at the bottom of the bay by now. Good luck in your salvage operation. I hope it wasn't anything too valuable."
"Hmph. We both know you intentionally cut me off then removed items from the boat before it flipped. You capsized the boat to hide your crime."
"If any Bledsum property was removed from the boat before it capsized, I certainly don't know about it. Perhaps you could provide me with a detailed description of the items lost, and I will see if one of the crew picked them up."
"If there is any searching to do, we will be the ones the do it!" The merchant makes as if to step forward.
"No, you will not." There is steel in the captain's voice. The man seems to notice for the first time the crew gathered around their captain, weapons held casually but faces grim.
Up the street from the docks, there is a swirling in the crowd and a voice can be heard distantly calling, "Way! Make way for the Tortila Guard! Way! Give way!"
Merchant Bledsum smiles with a look of triumph. "We shall see about that!"
