Dungeon of Doors

~ Billy, Tengku Basin ~

We're seated around one of the biggest tables in Salty's. Cups filled with a strange fishy smelling drink rest upon the table alongside plates set with smoked fish and strange looking fruit. Ruke, the one eyed tengku who barely managed to beat Drist, sits at the head of the table. She sips the drink—she called it tea earlier—before fixing Leah with a friendly smile.

"So yer looking for the key?"

"Is that what it's called? Mayor Tekel was really quiet on the details," Leah asks.

Ruke tips her beak forward in a nodding motion.

"Anyone worth their salt knows the key. Some ah the most influential figures in the basin own ah piece as ah mark of honor. Ye'll find it difficult to track 'em down, much less pry them from the greedy talons ah those who hoard 'em."

Well that's not good. Mayor Tekel mentioned the key would be our way forward into the dungeon, but not how we'd retrieve each of the fragments. If each one is held by a tengku with a significant amount of power in the city then this isn't so much a test of combat, but of diplomacy.

"Can you tell us anything more? Perhaps who you think might own a fragment?" I question.

Ruke gives me a less than enthusiastic nod. It is clear she isn't fond of anyone in our group besides Leah, as we were content to watch her die. She offers us a clue to the location of a fragment.

"As ah matter ah fact, I know one man who owns ah piece."

"You know them personally?"

"Aye. Captain Buruk."

When none of us give any reaction to the name she utters with cautious reverence, she scoffs. With a shake of her head and a quick gulp of her tea she gestures toward a window cut into the wall of the inn. Through it we have a view of the dock we arrived at, and at a vaguely familiar vessel. It's the largest of the boats in the city's unique port. Crewmen work to scrub and polish the wooden boat as a single tengku oversees them from atop the ship's cabin.

"That man there is Captain Buruk. He ain't to be trifled with."

A voice none of us are expecting to hear speaks up next.

"Why not? He looks old and frail."

Drist has been unconscious, held upright by Miss Hawthorne as he was sleeping off his healing potion healed injuries. Clearly he wasn't as asleep as we thought—as now he's leaning forward over the table with narrowed eyes directed at Ruke. The tengku returns his glare with one of her own.

"Captain Buruk is said to have survived an encounter with ah sea dragon."

Some of the chatter around us quiets in reverence at the mention of the tale. What is a sea dragon? The closest thing we've seen to something like that were those sea serpents in the strange mirrored sea we visited. Are those sea dragons?

"How do we approach him?" Leah asks Ruke.

"I can handle that, lass. He owes me ah favor, you see."

With Ruke's help we have a way to meet with a holder of a key fragment. We finish our discussion and those of us with food and drink either scarf it down or leave it behind in favor of saving our stomachs. The fish oil tea is not for me.

Ruke and her two friends lead us out of Salty's and down the walkway. Several tengku greet Ruke as she passes them, most of them sailors and the like. I can't help but notice the sailors lack the strange accent Ruke has—it's something unique to her. When we come to the dock itself things get slightly tense. Those tengku crewing the vessel under Captain Buruk give narrow eyed glares at Ruke and her buddies.

"What do you want, one eye?" A tengku crewman snaps.

"Tell Buruk I'm here ah settle our little debt!"

There's a loud bang of wood on wood as the door to the ship's cabin slides open with a concerning amount of force. The smack of webbed feet on the deck of the boat precedes a particularly tall tengku as he steps out from the cabin. His grey and white feathers form a striking pattern of stripes along his wings and body. His beak is shorter than most tengku, as if it stopped growing partway. His clothes are made with practical fabric and ornamental shiny buttons. His head is adorned with a headband marked with a crude depiction of a fish in ink of some kind.

"No need. I heard you loud and clear, Ruke."

"Then ye'll know why ah came!"

"It's got something to do with these adventurers, I'll bet."

Ruke nods her beak. Captain Buruk barks a few orders at his men, urging them to resume their duties. He then motions for us to follow him aboard his ship. Ruke and her boys get plenty of mumbled insults as Captain Buruk leads us across the ship's deck and into the cabin. Within the cabin things are rather striking. An old skeleton of some fish I don't recognize hangs from the back wall over the window. Shelves laden with various trinkets decorate the walls. The whole chamber is bathed in light from the orange lanterns hanging from the ceiling.

The captain steps behind his broad wooden desk before turning to face us. He taps a talon along the wooden counter before fixing us with a harsh glare. He's not looking at Ruke, but at the humans in the room. Captain Buruk's scrutinizing gaze passes over each of us before finally settling on me.

"You're here for the key, aren't you?"

"Aye! They seek the key!"

A harsh glare from Captain Buruk shuts Ruke up. He turns to his desk and pulls open a drawer. Several objects rattle around in the drawer as he sifts through it with his talon. A look of satisfaction glimmers in his eyes as he pulls out a piece of parchment. It is marked with ink, an 'x' marking a particular spot.

"Since Ruke is owed a favor, I'm willing to hear you adventurers out."

"So you'll help us?"

"Yes and no, adventurer. I require something of value if I'm to give you my key."

The party exchanges looks of uncertainty. What do we trade him in this scenario? We can't give away our weapons, and we've got limited supplies to offer him. Leah already used her potion to save Ruke, Miss Hawthorne used hers to save Drist, so that leaves us with only two of the life saving tonics. We've got some food supplies, but nothing unique.

"Give us just a moment…"

We huddle together, Drist looking irritated with the whole affair. Each of us opens our bags to rifle through them in search of something worth trading. We've got our coins—coins these tengku seem completely uninterested in—some primitive maps of the dungeon level's we've explored thus far, and mundane supplies meant to ensure our survival.

"I don't see why we can't just… take it from him?" Drist whispers.

"And how did that go last time, Teacher?"

Miss Hawthorne's retort shuts him up. I frantically dig into my bag, brushing aside my potion, some fire starting items, and a loaf of dry bread. The loaf nearly falls from my bag. I grab it just in time before moving to put it back in the bag, but I'm interrupted.

"Wait. What is that?" Captain Buruk snaps, his eyes trained on the loaf of crusty bread.

I pause my movement and hesitantly bring the loaf of bread up for Captain Buruk to see. His dark beady eyes twinkle with fascination. Confusion knits my brow as I carefully place the loaf of bread upon his desk.

"This is a loaf of bread, Captain."

"May I?"

Captain Buruk's talon hovers over the loaf of stale bread like He's resisting grabbing a precious gemstone. I nod my head slightly and he snatches it up with the eagerness of a child tasting something sweet for the first time. The four of us watch, dumbfounded, as he pecks at the dry loaf fervently.

Nearly half the loaf of bread is in pieces strewn across the desk in a matter of moments. Small crumbs dust Captain Buruk's beak as well as his jacket. He pauses his destruction of the loaf of bread to glance up at me with a sheepish look.

"Ahem. I believe we have a deal."

"So you'll give us the key?" Drist presses.

Captain Buruk tilts his head left and right with a slight gap forming in his open beak. He taps his talon on the crude map he pulled from his drawer earlier.

"I will take you to where I lost the key."

Drist snarls, looking ready to fight again, and Miss Hawthorne grabs his arm hard enough to get him to turn his gaze on her. The man shakes off her grip whilst schooling his expression. I do the talking, gesturing to the bread Captain Buruk has eaten nearly half of.

"We've clearly pleased you with our trade. Will you promise us safe passage and protection in finding this key? I'm sure it won't be that dangerous, but it would set our nerves at ease."

Captain Buruk's expression falters. His gaze slips from me back down to the crude map dusted with breadcrumbs. He reaches up and carefully unties his headband, letting the fabric slip aside to reveal a nasty looking scar in the center of his forehead. The feathers aren't growing in that particular spot. It looks deep, as though something stabbed him in the head with enough force to nearly kill him.

"I cannot promise safety. Where we're going is beyond my ability to protect you, much less myself."

"What do you mean?"

I watch as he turns away and grabs something from the back wall. It is a wooden carving, one so large it takes both his talons to lift it up to place it on the desk. It is a magnificent work of art. Long and winding, it takes a shape akin to a snake. Scales are etched into the wooden creature and great big teeth are carved into its gaping mouth. Its eyes reflect an eerie malice even in wood.

"Is this some kind of creature we will need to-"

Captain Buruk silently places a miniature wooden boat on the desk beside this carving. It appears to be identical to the boat we're currently standing on, and the entire thing can fit inside the monstrous carving's mouth. Cold sweat beads upon the nap of my neck as I realize what this carving is of.

"The sea dragon, Levithan, guards the key."

"You expect us to believe that?!" Drist shouts.

Miss Hawthorne isn't able to stop Drist as he steps past and shoves me aside to slam his fists upon the desk. The wooden carvings rattle, falling over with a soft clatter. Captain Buruk silently listens as Drist yells at him angrily.

"You're not that sneaky, you old bird! Where are you hiding the key?!"

"I told you I lost it at sea—there is no trick."

Drist slams on hand palm down on the desk while leaning over it, scooping Captain Buruk's jacket into his hand and pulling him close by the collar. Ruke and her two buddies suddenly move, a beak around Drist's neck and harpoons hovering near his sides. Drist scoffs, not moving under the threat of death.

"Ye attack Buruk outside ah duel and you'll not walk out alive!"

Slowly, Drist releases Captain Buruk. The short beaked bird smooths out his jacket as he's freed from Drist's grip. Ruke and her buddies back off as Miss Hawthorne pulls Drist back by the hand. She pulls him outside, and the sound of her shouting profanities at him can be heard through the closed door.

"We'd be grateful if you could take us to the last place you saw the key, Captain."

"So long as I get to finish the rest of this here bread."

A wry smile splits my face as I see the old tengku eyeing the half eaten loaf. I wonder how ecstatic Captain Buruk would be if I brought him a loaf of fresh bread rather than this crusty dry one.

"Of course. We owe you at least that much."