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Night was settling over Mother Sea when Zelana saw so rather peculiar far below There see on the surface of the water Fire and water do not mix well, and, overcoate

She drifted down through the twilight air, and as she ca very unusual At first she thought ithouse, but then she realized that it was probably an exceptionally large version of the canoes the people of her Domain used when they went out on the water to hunt fish The fire she had seen appeared to be burning in a slass box near the back of the oversized canoe

She settled quietly onto the water and tiptoed closer The floating object was obviouslythe people of Dhrall could build, but it had probably been constructed for the same reason that the people of Dhrall made canoes The outlanders were most likely fishere--long and narrow--and the outlanders had even built low-roofed houses on it to shelter them when the weather went bad For soe tree trunk in the center As Zelana approached it, she noticed that there was a distinctly unpleasant odor hanging over it

Then a couple of man-creatures with hairy faces came out of a low, flat-roofed structure near the back of the alien canoe They were both very tall andwas an odd mix of cloth and leather They also had what appeared to be weapons of some sort belted to their waists, and that aroused Zelana’s is were merely fishermen, they wouldn’t really need to carry weapons all the tiested that these teren’t out here on the face of Mother Sea looking for fish Zelana stepped back out of the light and opened herin order to make the speech of the outlanders understandable

"Looks to be a fair night, Cap’n," one of the creatures was saying

"Aye," the other rumbled in a harsh voice, "and it’s none too soon to suit me I’ve had me a belly-full of foul weather here lately"

Zelana was satisfied that she could understand these outlanders, and a bit surprised to discover that Veltan’s theory actually worked the way he’d said it would Veltan’s experiments seldom turned out exactly the way he wanted theet a lookout aloft, Ox," the one called Cap’n suggested "Now that the weather’s settled down, other ships ull out here for entertaine one called Ox replied "The Trogite vessels usually hug the coast, but the storht have swept a few of theht be able to harvest a fair a around out of sight of land"

"You’re starting to think like a real Maag, Ox," Cap’n said with an evil grin "The notion of picking Trogite vessels like apples off a tree lights a war, put the creork patching the sails and clearing away the wreckage that storh drove us under a few tied on the surface of Mother Sea considering so possibilities The two outlanders, Ox and Cap’n, had referred to their canoe as a "ship," and there were obviously other ships in the vicinity as well It was fairly clear that these s" were not out on the face of Mother Sea in search of fish Evidently they searched for the ships of other outlanders in order to take gold from them Dahlaine’s assessment of the outlanders had been correct They were very interested in gold, though Zelana could not quite understand why The Seagull, it seeood an opportunity to pass by Now that Zelana could understand the speech of the outlanders, and if things went as the one called Cap’n seemed to hope they would, Zelana would be able to observe the outlanders who called thes in action Should they prove to be suitable, their ship would s very easy A word or tith Mother Sea could produce a current which would sweep the Seagull to the west coast of the Land of Dhrall almost as fast as the wind could carry a ht about it, the ht very well be exactly what she was seeking She would need to watch and listen, though, and that suggested that she’d probably need to be soull That wouldn’t be a problenitude There ays she could make herself inconspicuous while she watched and listened Then, if these Maags proved to be suitable

THE SEAFARERS

1

Though he would deny it with his dying breath, if the truth were to be known, it was sheer coincidence that led to the discovery of the Land of Dhrall by Captain Sorgan Hook-Beak and the crew of his ship, the Seagull

As all the world knows, Sorgan Hook-Beak of the Land of Maag is the greatest sea captain of all time No man yet born can match him in the prediction of wind, weather, tides, or the probable value of the cargo of any ship unlucky enough to encounter the Seagull on the high seas

The er than the men of lands farther to the south, and they took to the sea early in their history Themarch down to the sea, and their slopes see, "Go there" Mountains are fine for hunting, but not too good for far farmed the sea instead, and her crops were bountiful Fishhooks are much easier to haer crops than scythes do Then too, the ed to spend all those tedious row The crops of the sea are always there, and they can be harvested in any season

The people of the Land of Maag developed a quaint custom early in their history They frequently used descriptions rather than na-Foots" or "Buck-Teeth" in a Maag village, along with assorted "Slieon-Toes" More conventional nas had an Hook-Beak was sort of proud of his nale, that noblest of all birds