A prisoner no more

After explaining what’s happening to the crew, you lead Malar below deck. Finding a quiet spot, you sit him down with some food and water, and sit down yourself, joined by Ferra and Alex. After eating for a while, Malar begins to explain what he knows.

Athkalla is unknown. A blank spot on every map. A barrier of magic surrounds it, and anything entering simply finds themselves turned around, headed back the other direction. While the barrier is not completely enclosing, it’s too far at sea to be flown over by anything but the most powerful of creatures; dragons. Anything else would tire and fall to the ocean long before reaching land.

Malar has no idea how you passed through the barrier, and you can do nothing to enlighten him, although you have a suspicion that your talent has something to do with it.

As far as the Order, by sailing north you’ve headed directly into the heart of their territory. According to Malar, they overthrew the existing government about two decades ago. They won over the people at first with talk of peace and lawfulness. Instead, once in power, what they offered was terror. There was peace, because any resistance is brutally suppressed. There was lawfulness, because the slightest crime is harshly punished, with little regard for the innocence of the accused.

The prison ships are an example. Violent crimes, seditious individuals, protesters, those sorts are punished with immediate execution. For the rest, the lesser crimes, there are a few options. Women are generally sold into indentured servitude. Young and healthy men are sent to ships, to serve as crew for the length of their sentence. In practice, this was for the rest of their lives. No one survived a full term on a prison ship.

To keep order, the captain of a ship was also the warden, and any ship returning to port without the captain was presumed a mutiny. Mutineers were executed.

At this point, Malar looks at you. “Our captain died in a scuffle with some rebels. The Order calls them pirates as propaganda, but everyone knows what they really are. So there we are, stuck. We tried to follow the charts to the supposed pirate base, but…none of us are sailors. We got lost, supplies ran low. When we glimpsed your ship, we were desperate. We assumed any ship not running as a prison was an Order vessel, so, we attacked. We used the last of our magic suppressors to cripple your mages, and…you know the rest.”

He looks to Alex. “I am sorry for what was done to you. The Order uses spirits as fuel for their ships, and none of us could free you. If I had known what was happening…”

You sigh. “Rest up. I’m sure there’s more to tell, but we have time. I’m going to tell Captain Ben to chart a course for that pirate base.”

You stand, and look at Alex. “He wasn’t responsible for your suffering. I hope you can forgive his inability to help.”

The efreet nods. “I am mad, but I will not lash out at someone who is also a victim.”

You smile, satisfied. Looking back to Malar, you pause. “One more question before I go. What was your supposed crime?”

He sighs, and you can see the pain in his eyes. “I…I fell in love with a noblewoman, and she with me. When we were discovered, I was sentenced for manipulating a noble.”

You nod. “I’m sorry. What happened to her?”

He looks down. “Execution. Conduct that brings shame to a noble family.”

There’s nothing you can say to that. Instead, you leave him be, heading out to find the captain.