Which meant it was in her interest to see to it the monk's crazy quest was completed successfully. Seren closed her wardrobe door.
She'd done all she could for the time being to assure the success of their voyage. By anyone's standards, that was a lot. But worry wormed through her gut anyway. Something wasn't right with Thoster.
She didn't trust the pirate. Raidon was a fool if he believed anything that fell from that man's lips.
It wasn't merely that the captain was criminal, out only for his own gain. Far more worrisome was the captain's strange behavior under Gethshemeth's isle. The man was unstable. Who knew when he'd crack next?
Seren quit her cabin and stalked across the deck toward the captain's cabin at the opposite end.
Green Siren was lit by the lantern light reflecting off the gleamtail jacks swarming around the craft. Beyond their protective embrace, the solid rock fell away on both sides, allowing the ship to sail seams of mineral and stone into the depths.
Raidon remained in the ritual circle, one hand across his chest where the Cerulean Sign burned.
Seren paused to watch the half-elf. The monk was oblivious. His wide eyes saw something beyond the deck, they reflected what the gleamtail jacks could sense. Thus Seren had crafted the ritual.
"You're doing well, monk," she murmured.
She moved on to the aftcastle that was built over the captain's quarters. Light gleamed through the porthole in the narrow door to the captain's mess where Thoster took his meals, planned raids, and smoked his odiferous weed.
She pushed into the chamber.
A miniature chandelier gleaming with magical flames provided a warm glow. Thoster was seated at a heavy table almost too big for the space. A pot of stew steamed at the table's center.
The captain looked up. "Seren! It's been some time since you joined me for supper." The captain ladled himself another serving of stew, then motioned to an empty setting.
Seren sat and allowed the captain to serve her, first a portion of stew, then a finger of rum from a glass bottle.
"So, what news?" said the captain. He motioned to the fine windows installed in the chamber. "I see we're still descending. Does Raidon require something? A rest perhaps?"
"No, the monk seems tireless. Probably drawing energy from his spellscar."
"A handy trick."
"I suppose."
Silence stretched, broken only by the sound of Thoster slurping stew. Finally the captain said, "What's on your mind, Seren?"
"You."
"Oh?" The captain winked. "After all this time, I'm flattered."
"Fm worried that you're a liability."
"Ho! You think I can't handle myself in—"
"I think you're hiding something, something to do with your past. Something that will compromise Raidon's plan to eradicate this threat we face."
Thoster frowned.
Seren said, "Remember when we fought Gethshemeth and its kuo-toa beneath the island? Of course you do. But do you recall when you started blubbering about the eidolon we found there?"
"I'm not sure—"
"You demanded that the monk not hurt it, despite that it nearly proved our end."
The captain put down his mug and spoon. He dropped his head. "I can't explain it."
"Try."
The man squared his shoulders as if coming to some decision. Seren tensed, readying hersel f in case the captain made to draw his venomous blade.
Thoster rolled back one sleeve. Tiny scales tiled his arm. Seren's stomach dropped.
"What does this mean?" she said.
"I'm changing, Seren. I don't know why. Something to do with the kuo-toa is my guess. These are growing all over me. Can you... can you stop it?" The man's face looked more vulnerable than the wizard had ever seen it.
Seren examined the scales, searching for arcane telltales of a curse or transformative magic. If this was the result of a spell or ritual, she might be able to reverse it... but no. Whatever this was, it wasn't magic's handiwork—or at least not recent magic.
"Thoster," she said, "whatever's afflicting you, it is fundamental to your nature. I can't remove it." The captain sighed.
"But I might be able to slow it down."
"Aye, that I'd welcome, Seren. How?"
She said, "Tell me everything you know about it."
"I don't know anything!"
She frowned her annoyance. "Don't be an idiot, Thoster. I've heard you talk about your 'polluted blood' on more than one occasion. You must know something."
Thoster helped himself to more rum, then said, "Well, my auntie raised me—I never knew my mother. Auntie was one for the drink, and we weren't close. She always screamed at me when she finished off her liquor, that I was 'an ungrateful little monster with unclean blood.' Never knew what she meant, but it helped my reputation when I was older. I took it as a badge of honor 'cause it made me special, especially in the rough crowd I ran with. Helped me get where I am now, in fact. I never thought it was anything more than the ravings of a drunk, until..."
"Until what?" said Seren.
"These damned scales started replacing my skin, what else?"
"Below the island—you recognized that eidolon. Or something inside you did. Try to remember exactly what you saw and what you felt."
Thoster's face was red and his breath came faster. He said, "I... it was like I knew the statue. Like it was maybe... some sorta representation of... my real mum."
Seren said, "A lobster-clawed shrine dedicated to a fish goddess reminded you of your mother? That can't be good."
"No, don't seem so," acknowledged the captain.
Seren closed her eyes. She tried to dredge up lore associated with kuo-toa deities. It seemed a good bet most kuo-toa revered Umberlee, the Queen of the Deeps, or one of Umberlee's exarchs. Probably the latter—