Chapter 52

"Pirates," I shouted a few minutes later, lowering my spy glass and handing it to Tagus as I did. My friend took it from me and had a look.

There were four canoe-like craft slipping away from the ship that we were approaching. The canoes were low in the water and they were shooting across the sea towards a distant island at a good pace. From what I could see there were three men in the bow of each craft paddling like crazy and there were three men in the stern of each craft doing the same. In the middle there was what looked to be cargo. In total there looked to be twenty-four men in the group.

They were out of range and moving away from us at a good pace. We might be able to catch up to them if we struck towards them right then and there, but I doubted it. The island that they were heading for was close by and I figured that they'd make it before we could overtake them. The island was small but it was covered with tall trees and heavy vegetation and I knew instinctively that the men in the canoes knew that they would be safe there once they made the shore. Reluctantly I told Tagus and his helmsman to maintain their course.

A half hour later we were tied up along side the other craft. It was a simple open deck boat that ran twenty-six feet from bow to stern. It had a mast that could be raised into place or removed depending on the winds and five rowing stations where two men could side comfortably side by side. What we found washed the colour from the faces of Kessler and his men. The crew of the vessel had been slain. There were twelve men in the craft and all of them had been struck by arrows. Those that had not died immediately had been put down with blows to the head. There were several corpses that show signs of this treatment.

There was little left in the craft. Whatever it had been carrying had been taken by the pirates. They had also taken anything that hadn't been pegged down. The sail was missing as was any foodstuff that should have been aboard to fed the crew and at a glance I could tell that even the pockets of the crew had been gone through. It was a very disheartening sight.

"We'll transfer the bodies to the Windrunner," I told Kessler once we'd inspected the craft for seaworthiness, "and then we'll put a prize crew aboard the craft and take her into Ingrid's Reach. I'll be putting you and your men in charge of it. You might as well get your feet wet straight away."

I put half dozen men off of the Windrunner aboard the craft with Kessler and his men. Once they were settled I ordered our lines to be slipped. With that done we pushed off and got underway. We kept our speed down considering the fact that the other craft was being rowed and it took us time to reach the main port of Ingrid's Reach. My intelligence told me it was called Olaf's Berth and that it was named after Ingrid Olafsdatter's father. The place was a community of roughly two thousand men, women, and children.

The village stood on the western shore of the island. There was no real port, just three long wooden jetties jutting out into the waters and the village lay open to any who landed there. To the south of the village lay a swamp where a nearby river emptied through it into the sea. The village was a humble affair with most of the dwellings in it built from local trees. Almost all had thatched roofs and only a few of the structures were made of stone. As for the lanes and alleys that crisscrossed the place, all of them were dirt or hard packed earth and they were heavily rutted. There were no real defences present in the village. The only true fortifications that existed were a stone and wooden stockade. The stockade stood upon a hill that overlooked the village and it housed Lady Ingrid and her personal bodyguard and all her servants and retainers. Within the stockade was her home, a defensive tower made of stone and mortar, and several outbuildings that included stables, a forge, and a granary.

Our arrival in the waters before Olaf's Berth caused quite a disturbance. Out of caution I had Tagus drop anchor well away from the shore and when Kessler and his craft came along side us, I had him drop anchor as well. Then we waited and watched. I stood in the bow of the Windrunner and spied upon the people hurrying about the jetties and the shores. I watched while a man ran on foot up the path that led to the stockade on the hill and I watched a group of people exit the stockade half an hour later, headed down from it towards the village and the waterfront. Amongst them I spotted a tall woman with long blonde hair and I smiled knowingly in response and then I told Kessler to prepare to row to shore.

I went with him as did Kola, Caitlin, and Nimue. The three of them insisted that they come with me and being the smart husband that I was, I didn't argue with them. When the party from the stockade reached the waterfront, I gave the command and the men in the small craft struck for shore. It took us only ten minutes to reach it. When we did, we brought the craft alongside one of the jetties and then tied it up.

"Greetings Ingrid Olafsdatter," I said loudly as I led my party down the jetty to meet the people waiting us at its end.

My cry took the Ingrid Olafsdatter by surprise for I spoke in the Norse dialect that Ingrid had grown up speaking upon her own Earth. It was a tongue that she had not heard in many years.

"Who speaks to me in the tongue of the Vineland?" Ingrid demanded to know, stepping forward as she addressed me.

"I am called Charles Marcusson," I replied still speaking Norse, "and I have come in peace. Will you treat with me Lady of the Reach?"

"I will treat with you Charles Marcusson," Ingrid stated firmly, stepping towards me so that she could clasp my forearm in greetings. To my surprise Ingrid was but an inch or so shorter than what I stood and I found myself looking into her eyes. They were as blue as the sky above us.

"Before we do," I said in a lowered voice, "I must speak of ill things dear lady. The craft that brought me and my party ashore had been attacked by pirates this morning. I do not know if the vessel is known here or not, but the dead crew now lie upon my other ship awaiting their final voyage. I ask that my ship might tie up at your jetty and that the bodies be brought ashore so that they might be buried and laid to rest."

A frown formed on Ingrid's face for a moment or two while she listened to my words. Even as I spoke she looked from the craft tied up to the jetty out to where the Windrunner stood at anchor. When I was done she stepped away and called a man to her. He was an older man who had the look of an outworlder about him. She spoke to him for a moment or two and the man glanced from me to the craft and then to the Windrunner. When Ingrid was done speaking the man simply nodded his head in acknowledgement. With that Ingrid turned back to me and spoke.

"I spoke to my man," she told me in a matter of fact manner, "and he says that the craft is familiar to him, although he is not certain that it is the one that he remembers. He will need to see the crew to be certain. If it is the craft that he remembers, it is a trader out of Fort Ulysses. The craft goes from the cities of the coast and trades with places like this. Signal your ship and have it come alongside. Regardless of where the craft is from, the men will still need burial. My man will see to it. In the meantime, Charles Marcusson, come with me and bring your party and we will speak. I am interested in hearing your tales."

The walk up to the stockade didn't take us long. Kola, Caitlin, and Nimue stayed close to me and remained alert. Kessler, Danton, and Wilson trailed behind us. Their eyes were flicking to the left and right as they walked, taking in the sights offered up by Olaf's Berth. There really wasn't much to see and I was certain the three men were beginning to have doubts again as to what they'd gotten themselves into by coming to Game World. To make matters worse, the humidity was dreadful and we were all sweating by the time we reached the gate of the stockade.

Ingrid's home was a 'T' shaped longhouse that stood upon the peak of the hill. The main body of the building was a hall in which she entertained. The wing to the left at the top of the 'T' housed her servants and retainers while the wing to the right was her private quarters. It turned out that cooking took place in the great hall. It was here that Ingrid brought us to sit and talk and to drink.

Ingrid was less than happy to find out that I was not from her world and that I simply spoke her native language. Still she got over it. The woman was a pragmatist and she could easily see that I was here on important business, which she knew instinctively could profit her. Once introductions were completed I requested that our conversation be conducted in English so that everyone could understand what was going on. Ingrid agreed.

"Before I explain why I and my companions are here," I said to Ingrid, "I would like to learn from you what you know of this Earth that we are on."

"Why?" Ingrid asked casually.

"Because what I have to tell you could be startling," I responded, "and I do not wish to cause you any alarm."

"Then startle me Charles Marcusson," Ingrid declared firmly, "for I know very little about this Earth as you call it, other than it is not my Midgard."

With that command I did just that. For the next hour I spoke and Ingrid listened. I told her that she was on Game World and what it was. Thankfully her Norse background made the understanding of multiple universes and multiple Earths easy for her to accept. She was even accepting of the fact that the residents of the other Earth were kidnapping people from other Earths and dumping them helter-skelter about Game World. In a low curse Ingrid suggested bluntly that the people of the other Earth were the spawn of Loki. I didn't disagree with her. From informing her about the reality of Game World I got into my mission on the planet. Ingrid found that very interesting. I told her that I had been on Game World for six months now and that I had another six months to go and that if I succeeded, things would change on the planet, hopefully for the better. From there I got into why we were at Ingrid's Reach.

"So you wish to leave these three men here," Ingrid stated when I was done talking, "so that they can further your efforts to defeat the other worlders. Tell me what is in it for me."

"To begin with," I replied in earnest, "improved security. Kessler and his men will be hunting down pirates and killing them. That alone will make life easier in this region. Trade ships will be able to come and go without fear of being attacked and boarded which in turn will mean more trade amongst the various city-states. In the long term, you could become wealthier. The men will certainly need provisions to support their efforts and a place to call home besides the craft they now have. They will also have plunder to dispose of that they could trade here in Olaf's Berth. That plunder could be resold to other city or island-states and it could bring you revenue. In the best scenario, given time and success, the people backing me could help you build up your community. It is certainly something to think about."

"It is indeed," Ingrid stated bluntly, neither smiling nor frowning when she did, "and to think about it, I will need time. I have beds for you and your companions here in my hall and you are welcome to them. Tonight we will feast and then tomorrow we will talk again."

With that Ingrid left me and my company sitting by the central hearth in her hall. Servants brought us trenchers of food to eat and they refilled our cups with ale. The food was reasonably good, primarily a fish and rice dish, but the ale was weak by my standards. Still it was better than nothing. When we were done eating I suggested to everyone that we should trek back down the hill and see how things were doing at the jetty.

We found no one barring our way when we left the longhouse and strode out through the main gate of the stockade. The men who stood guard there were locals of mixed heritage. All were at least a foot shorter than me and they all were slight of build. As for weapons and armour, all of them carried heavy stone-tipped thrusting spears and stone knives and they all wore boiled leather vests. None of them carried any metal upon them.

By the time we reached the Windrunner, we found that the ship had been cleared of the dead and that Tobias had posted a guard both on the ship and at the end of the jetty. After speaking to the guard and learning from him what had gone on in our absence, my party and I walked down the jetty and went aboard the Windrunner. We stayed for a bit and chatted with Tagus and his quartermaster.

"I kept out of sight," Tagus told me in a low grumble, once we had all settled down in the stern of the Windrunner. "I wasn't happy about it but I saw your point. These people are not much better than the villagers where I first met you Charles. I'm certain they would not take well to seeing me."

"Well," I told him in a reassuring manner, "it will only be for a night. Regardless of what Ingrid tells us tomorrow, the Windrunner will sail and return to Oak Hall, and our friends here will begin their adventure. They have a craft now and we've provided them with weapons and knowledge. They will need a few more bodies to row their craft but I'm certain that they can find a few adventurous souls here in Olaf's Reach who will sign on for a piece of the action."

"We can only hope," Kessler interjected, not sounding that certain. In response, both Danton and Wilson nodded their heads in a very resigned manner.

"It's not that bad," I told them with a smile and a chuckle. "As I said you have a craft at your disposal and weapons. Before we leave we will give you supplies to last you a while and we'll make certain that you have a sail for that craft. We will also leave you some trade goods. From the look of things here about, you're going to have to barter if you want something. I doubt very much that these people have any coin on hand. From my knowledge of Trinidad, I know that this island is poor when it comes to metals. They do have other resources that are valuable, but given their population size and their level of technology they're in no position to exploit them."

When we left the Windrunner I included in our company Dork and Goiania and Angela. I figured that my slave needed a taste of how others lived on Game World. With us we took some supplies to help liven up the evening festivities. Dork and I carried back a couple of amphorae of wine each. While the other three men shifted one of ale between them. As for the women, they carried back sacks filled with root vegetables and fresh fruit. I was certain from what I had seen at lunch that these people hadn't seen a carrot in years. We carried it all back up the hill and made it just in time. The sky's opened up and it started to pour heavily as we reached the longhouse.

Ingrid was impressed with our gifts. She handed the vegetables over to her servants and had the wine opened and served up for everyone to try. A broad smile crossed her lips as she sipped the sweet white that we'd taken from Minos.