Upon arriving in Jhelom,  Merrick found he had no money.  “This way,” he called. “That bar keep won’t let me have a tab anymore.  Claims I caused a bar fight… And didn’t pay for the damage…” Merrick paused “Well… I kind of did…”
Laughing we followed him back to the meeting house.  Merrick stopped in surprise. “Hello Anette?”

” I apologize for breaking anonymity, Merrick,  but it was urgent. Anette said.

“Urgent, well we have nothing else to do. He replied.  It is fine, everyone here can be trusted, what is wrong?”

Pirates have been gathering outside the city to the North of here. They snuck in, anchored offshore, unloaded some men and then the ship sailed off.” explained Anette.

“You said Pirates? How many did you see? asked Merrick? ”
It was hard to tell, they swam to shore with weapons tied to their backs.  I was going to warn the Town Guard, but thought you should know first.  Anette said frowning in worry.

“So they hit us while we are distracted… ”   Merrick reassured her. “No need, we will handle the situation ourselves.  Thank you Anette.  You did Jhelom a service that won’t be forgotten, not by the city, or me.”
Looking at us, smiling Merrick said, “I’m in the mood to kill some pirates. Who is with me?”

Looking for a fight, we all agreed and set off to find the pirates.  But when we found them, we couldn’t help but notice that Blood Flagon pirates had …White Wyrms.   That didn’t stop us.  Our tamers knew that they were no match for their Greater Dragons.

 

 

 

At last the pirates and the White Wyrms were defeated.  “Is that the last of them?” Merrick asked as he looked around.

“Seems so,” Dregg replied.

“Yes sir,” agreed Savannah Rose.

“Hurry, I know what they were after.  To the Meeting hall.” Merrick shouted as he ran.  When we arrived, Jahajx Jov reached out, touching the
invisible wall.

Merrick sighed in relief, “Good, the magic hasn’t been disturbed. It doesn’t make sense. What were they after, all we found were blank maps? He thought for a minute. ” What if the maps aren’t important.  Hum Two maps… cypher parts and a red jewel?”  Merrick went into the secret room and picked up the Shimmering Sea of Eshia.   He continued,  “What if the maps, were just a clue, and the Cypher needed two maps to be decoded. But that maps… weren’t maps… the jewels were the maps. I wonder what would happen if I held the gems up to a light?”

“Try it, ” encouraged Zeke Terra, and Merrick did.  As we watched him hold up first the Shimmering Sea of Eshia and then the red gem, black dots appeared on the walls.

“Wow! nicely done.” exclaimed Richard Cranium.

With a grin, Merrick said, “Guess what? Whitebeard isn’t one step ahead of us anymore. I wager that if we fix the Cypher, we can get to the key first and open that door south of Occllo.”

“Woot,” shouted Zeke Terra, “Let’s do it.”

“here is the rub… the Cypher is broken.” Merrick suddenly smiled, “I know just the person who can fix it.  Anyone remember Calin the Blind?”

“No,” replied JINX.

“Funny old man, lives on an island alone in the ocean, but he is good at fixing things and solving magical puzzles.” explained Merrick. “So Whitebeard wants the magical dust, I’m willing to bet we don’t need it anymore.” He might have the key we need to open the door, but I bet he doesn’t even know it.” Merrick smiled. “So if we give him the dust… he’ll hand over what needs decoding, without knowing it” Laughing  Merrick continued, “so Whitebeard thinks he put one over me. After Calin fixes the cypher, We’re going to find us a magical key and treasure.”   Jingling his gold pouch, Merrick jumped up.  “Anyone for a drink?”  Once we all had drinks, Merrick told us of his adventures with Whitebeard.about the time he sailed on Whitebeard’s ship, and how Whitebeard had figured him out, used him to help him steal something valuable and then marooned Merrick with a tiny boat on an island in the ocean.  No wonder, Merrick’s dislike of pirates and his mistrust of Whitebeard.  All to soon it was time to say goodnight.  I thought about the adventures we had that day and what we had learned.  Singing as I went home, I couldn’t help but wonder, what adventures would be next.