Antonio's Journal Entry #2: Part 2. In which Antonio eats humble pie and gets sick.

Oh! How my head aches and my stomach turns! That is what comes of eating humble pie.

I had thought that the day could not get any worse, but alas, it did. We left the ship to go to the Cutless. There was little mishap on the way there. I talked to the guard at the bridge as Salin robbed him blind. Pellenistra, who had a free pass, was able to get all of us across without paying, though I do believe Salin paid the guard with the money he had stolen off of him. 

A side note about Pellenistra: Apparently, she is a Drow, which means she can shapeshift. This explains some things. This entire time she has been posing as a man, Shift, on the ship. The name makes sense now. But when I first saw Pellenistra as a woman, I was a little disturbed at how nice a woman Shift was able to disguise as, and thought Guile had really outdone herself. 

Once we arrived at the Cutless, I went to the bar while my companions went about spreading rumors about the two competing pirate lords. The bartender, not recognizing me as a regular, asked me what my name was. This is where I made my first mistake, though it would not be the last, for the day was still young, and I was destined to make worse ones. It suddenly occurred to me that I might not want this man spreading my name, Antonio, about the city. After all, I am, for all intents and purposes, Antonio de Delicado, and I would need to use the name. In a moment of stupidity, I gave the name Phillip. The instant it was out of my mouth, I was overcome with a sense of dread, and I looked about the tavern to make sure no one had recognized the name. It was at this moment that I locked eyes with Jasper, father’s huntsman. I reached up to pull my hat down over my face, only to realize that I was not wearing it because I had replaced it with an eyepatch in an attempt to not look like Salin. Before I could make it out the door, Jasper was at my side and had my arm in his iron grip. I could not get away from him. Pellenistra, seeing that something was wrong between the two of us, intervened. She managed to get herself between the two of us and started to march us over to a table in the corner. Meanwhile, Salin and Guile were stirring up trouble in the tavern. The commotion created enough of a distraction that I managed to grab my weapons and duck out of the tavern. 

Once outside, I breathed a breath of relief. Pellenistra’s strange mechanical creature tried following me, but I managed to give it the slip. I do not know what it is, but I did not want it spying on me. Before I left, though, I peeked through the tavern window to see if Jasper was still there. Not seeing him, I proceeded with caution.

I did not go back to the ship, not having a desire to answer uncomfortable questions and meet up with Guile and Salin so soon. Instead, I went in search of a doctor to talk to about Guile’s mental illness and Helen’s parents. I got the name of three doctors but decided on one called Nifty. I do not precisely remember what logic, or lack thereof, led to my choosing him, but to him, I went. 

He worked in a run-down infirmary, which should have been my first clue that he was not on the level. I found him extremely difficult to talk to and to understand. He would interrupt every five words and was continually giving unsolicited advice about relationships, which naturally I do not need because I am not in one. The reason Guile and I were at odds had nothing to do with the fact that we each secretly like each other and therefore quarrel. It was a ridiculous idea. 

I finally managed to buy a healing potion for forty gold pieces, which seemed like a steal when Nifty told me how much they usually cost. True, it did look a little discolored, but surely there is no expiration on magic. I also obtained two potions to help Guile, one to help with the overexposure to the sun that has impacted her and one to help her grow her hair. I am not really sure how I ended up buying that one.

After being escorted to the door rather roughly, I decided I would do a little looking into Jasper and his operation in Laskun with plans to ruin him in the future and stop the slave trade in Eversult. I did not turn up any information, nor did I have the opportunity to continue asking about, for the next thing I know, I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head, and then the world went black.

It must have been some hours before I awoke in a storage room full of barrels, tied to a chair. My head ached, though not as severely as it hurts now. Jasper came in and began gloating about how he had caught me and had the upper hand. I made it very clear that I was not afraid of him. No matter what he did to me, he could not really hurt me without invoking the wrath of my parents. When I became king one day, I could simply execute him. This seemed to make him stop and think for a moment. There was some more banter exchanged, and a challenge was mentioned, so naturally, I challenged him. After all, I could easily take him. 

If I were to win, I would walk away free, and Jasper would stop pursuing me. If Jasper won, I would go willingly back home with him. That was my deal. He accepted. He did add that if he won before I came home, I would hunt down a runaway slave for him and bring her back with me. He showed me the poster, which was the exact one of Nilsa that Guile and I discovered in Helen’s purse. I asked him what made him think I would not just run away and never bring the woman back to Eversult with me. He replied that he knew I was a man of honor and would keep my word. Alas, he is right.

I am ashamed to say that I never landed a blow on him. I could not seem to see straight. Jasper, though landed every single blow. Now bruised and bleeding, and my pride mostly gone, I could see how this would end if I could not keep fighting. However, I did have that healing potion, and while holding Jasper at sword length, I popped the quark and drank about a fourth of it. The potion burned from my mouth all the way down my throat and stomach, and I felt instantly sick and wanted to vomit. I kept hoping this was just some strange side effect of magic, but it was only a side effect of poison. 

To top it off, while I stood there reeling from the poison, Jasper brought the pommel of his greatsword up into my stomach, knocking me to the ground. I do not really remember after this point what was said, but I do remember trying to get up and take a swing at Jasper for a remark about making my sister disappear. After this last attempt of mine, Jasper brought his fist down into the side of my head and knocked me out cold.

And there I lay in the middle of an ally dying for all the world to see. Nothing could save me now, no title, no heroics, no skill, no amount of money or fine clothes. I could do absolutely nothing to protect myself. Any pride I had had about my superior abilities as a swordsman was gone. I am not invincible. I am just as weak and mortal as the next man. Death is the great equalizer. It does not care who or what you are. In the end, it will not matter if I was a prince or a popper. I will die just the same.

Clearly, I did not die, though; otherwise, I would not be here writing this. 

As the world began to come into focus again, I was aware of three female faces looking rather intently into mine. Someone was calling my name. It was Guile. She, Pellenistra, and Roellina had come searching for me, and Pellenistra had used some of her healing magic to bring me back from the cusp of death. I was then bombarded with questions as to what had happened. I answered, trying not to let on too much to the fact that I had never stood a chance against Jaspar. Before they took me back to the ship, I insisted on going back to the warehouse where I had been tied up so we could see if Jasper were still there. He had made a point of leaving the Nilsa poster on me before he had left, and if he were still around, I was going to let him have it. Guile explained that it was probably not the best idea to go after him until I had had some time to rest, so I relented, and the ladies took me back to the ship.

I have never been in the place of the damsel in distress, but here I was with the roles reversed, and I must say, it was uncomfortable. 

Once back at the ship, my cuts and bruises were seen to, and Pellenistra mixed up something for me to drink that would counteract the poison. Pellenistra’s mechanical device also bit me in the neck, and she said that it would make me feel better. I did not find it very consoling. I was much laughed at when I told the story of how I came to be poisoned. How was I supposed to know that Nifty was not honest? Then I explained who Jasper was and why he wanted to capture me. 

Before Guile left the cabin, I was able to talk to her and apologize for anything I might have done to upset her. She seemed to be very understanding, especially after hearing all I had said about my past and family. Everything between us is right now. She even wanted to practice tomorrow. I gave her the two potions, explaining what each was for, but told her not to take them. But I felt they served as a peace offering of sorts. 

Once Guile had left, Pellenistra accused me of intentionally lying to her and compromising the mission by not telling her about Jasper being in Laskun. I told her that if I had known he was here, I never would have come. We then tossed about some ideas, and it was concluded that we would figure out a way to throw him in disfavor with the pirate lords and do away with him. Then I came here to my cabin to get some sleep. Hopefully, this headache will be gone in the morning.