Luke smiles before vaulting over the railing to the deck below. He sees that Nimby and Fritz are already waiting on the escape raft. Luke takes a cautious step onto the simple craft and signals for the sailors to start lowering them into the river. His stomach lurches almost immediately after the current starts to pull the raft towards the wreck. A hard gulp keeps Luke from throwing up and he takes one of the long poles that were strapped to the floor. Fritz steers with the rudder while Luke and Nimby stand ready to push them to safety with the long poles. A simple shove is all it takes for them to keep the raft a safe distance away from the muddy coast.
“Keep up the good work, guys,” Fritz says as the raft comes around the side of the River Scout. “The current is on our side, so we should be there in a minute.”
“This is just what I needed after Hero’s Gate. I can finally stretch my legs and get some abandoned loot,” Nimby announces, his face beaming.
“I think I’m going to vomit,” Luke groans. He leans over the edge of the raft, putting his face a few inches from the water. Luke’s face is drenched as the water suddenly rises up to hit him.
“You’re helpless on the water, Luke. After all this time, I would have thought that your stomach would have adapted to the motion of the river,” Nimby claims. He pushes the raft away from a tree with all of his strength. “Have you been taking the ginger pills?”
“Yes, but this kind of travel is a lot rougher when on a small raft. How close are-” starts Luke.
Luke tumbles into the water as the raft is suddenly washed against the capsized ship. He splashes about and sputters while his friends go about securing the raft. A heavy stone with a chain tied around it is quickly shoved into the water. The other end of the chain is securely fastened to a bolt on the side of the craft, which Luke grabs before the current can drag him under the wreck. Fritz takes his time picking up the oil bags and Nimby helps him hop to the shipwreck. They carefully climb their way to the hole in the side of the shipwreck and are about to enter when they stop for a second as if they forgot something.
“What happened to Luke?” Nimby asks, looking around.
“I thought he went on ahead as soon as we landed,” Fritz replies, adjusting the oil bags on his back.
“I don’t think he went ahead of us,” the halfling contends.
Fritz scratches his head and sighs. “I stopped the raft, tossed over the anchor, and he was gone when I turned back around. He usually leaps in without waiting for the rest of us. Still, he would normally say something.”
“True. I wonder where he went,” Nimby nervously mutters.
“He could have fallen off the raft because nobody warned him that we would be hitting the broken ship,” grumbles a voice from behind them.
“I doubt that, Fritz,” Nimby says with a friendly laugh. “Luke is too agile to fall off the raft. He might be a little sick right now, but that would just be embarrassing for him to tumble into the water because of a minor jostle.”
“I didn’t suggest that scenario,” Fritz admits.
“I did,” Luke growls. Both of them turn around to see the half-elf standing behind them on the raft. He is drenched and looking very angry. Nimby gulps while Fritz tries hard not to laugh.
“We’re sorry,” they say together.
“I’m sure you are,” Luke snaps, joining them on the wreck. “I want both of you to prepare the ship for burning while I will search the ship for survivors. Maybe I can find a clue as to what happened here. Captain Higgs thinks it might have been an attack.”
Fritz nods and makes a swift salute. “We’ll call for you when we’re ready. Myilia told me that I have to set up a path of oil to this hole. This way we can light it and not have to run out of the ship.”
Three feet of cold water meets them when they drop through the hole into a room fringed with dense shadows. Scraps of wood and various articles of clothing are floating on the surface of the still water. All of them feel the slight incline of the room as they wade their way to the door. The hallway is even darker than the room with no torches or lanterns to provide light. As their eyes adjust, they can see a few pale bodies floating facedown in the water at the lower end of the hallway. Luke is about to light a torch when Fritz pinches his leg. The gnome points at his nose in order to get Luke to sniff the air.
“I smell oil,” Luke whispers.
“Does this mean we should light it up and leave now?” Nimby asks, disappointed that his looting was stopped.
“We should check the ship for survivors just in case,” Luke says, letting his eyes adjust to the gloom of the hallway. “You two go back out to the raft and move it away in case the oil ignites by accident. Only one of us should stay in here because it will be very hard for us to escape in a group. I want to be able to get out of here as soon as possible if things go wrong.”
Fritz begins throwing the oil bags out of the ship. “Why do you have to go?”
Luke sighs as he turns to his friends. “There are many reasons. Most importantly, I don’t need a rope to get through that hole in the hull like you two. Just get moving and I will tell you the others later.”
“I hate it when he uses our height against us,” Nimby grumbles. He uncoils a rope from his shoulder and ties on a grapnel. With little effort, the halfling throws and hooks the grapnel to the hall.
Nimby and Fritz head back to the raft as Luke makes his way down the watery hall. The smell of oil becomes stronger as he reaches the far end of the ship. He gingerly moves around one of the bodies before stumbling away from a quick moving form hiding underneath the corpse. The river shark disappears into another room as Luke allows his heart to calm down. He bends down to examine the body and finds that the sailor’s tight face is stuck in a horrified scream.
“That’s strange. It looks like he was paralyzed and then he drowned where he stood without putting up a fight,” Luke whispers, standing up and scanning the hallway. “Captain Higgs was right. This was an attack.”
