A Game Of Swans

Chpt 1 - Myths

1736

"And you are sure of this, da?"

Captain Ivan Braginsky was standing in his Captain's Quarters, behind his large oak desk, with four rather terrified crew members standing in front of him.

It amused him; their fear. It wasn't unusual for people to be afraid of him, for many reasons, although the one that was likely the culprit of their fear at this moment was the fact that the last time Ivan had been lied to by a crew member, he had shot him.

Without hesitation.

"D-da, Captain," answered one of the men, "We are as certain as we can be."

Ivan raised an eyebrow. He unfolded himself from where he had been hunched over a map of the world until he stood tall, causing three of the men to start shaking as Ivan's gaze pierced into them.

"As certain as you can be?" He slammed his hands on the desk in front of him, causing all but one man to jump. "And how certain is that?"

The man who hadn't jumped in fear raised his line of sight, although he still didn't look the Russian Captain directly in the eye. Clearly he had composed himself, but still didn't dare to risk meeting the eyes of his Captain.

Lev Chaykovsky. His First Mate. I suppose his lack of fear is to be expected at this stage, mused Ivan, he has seen me much angrier and much scarier than this.

"Very certain, Captain," replied Lev, "We are not, however, certain as to the language that the diaries and logs are written in. No one on The Prizrak has seen it before."

"So it is obviously not a Slavic language," concluded the Captain.

He stared over the logs, diaries and maps that were scattered on his desk.

A map was of little use if they couldn't decipher where they were supposed to be heading or what they were looking for.

Except that we know what we are looking for. We just don't know where to look.

"And the myths of the Amuleto Dos Sete Oceanos are true, da?"

"From what little information we could glean from the village folk, da, they are true."

"And what, exactly, did you glean from them, Chaykovsky?"

There was a threatening undertone to his voice that caused the other three men in the room flinch, but Lev's only acknowledgement that his Captain has spoken was to move forward in order to flip through the pages of one of the stolen log books. Despite his confidence, however, Ivan could see his hand shaking slightly.

"We were told that the Amulet was a gift from a King, but it is unknown which King, so we therefore have no links in that area of speculation. The ship itself was large, and could carry vasts amount of treasure, but there were no logs about where the ship was built, so we will likely have to explore elsewhere should we wish to find anything in regards to that. In terms of the mythology and rumours surrounding the Amulet, everyone we... spoke to... believes it to be true, regardless of the fact that no one has seen it in person."

'Spoke to'. The hesitation in his phrasing was enough to give away the real meaning. Ivan was, at the very least, mildly glad that his First Mate had followed through on his original orders and had not simply had a pleasant conversation with the townsfolk.

In the Russian's mind, talking didn't work. Especially if you were a pirate.

Torture of one form or another...

Well. That was a different story.

"But they recognised the drawings, da?"

"Da, Captain. Everyone we showed the drawings to said that it was the Amuleto Dos Sete Oceanos."