They walked along the slippery wooden deck to the raised rear section of the ship, entered the door the dwarf had taken, and groped their way through the dark to the rear of the ship. The narrow passage came to a halt, with branches leading left and right, but there was a door in front of them in the centre as well, and this Nylandor knocked upon. In response, the door opened silently. Nylandor entered with Amrhost, followed by Julina, Rhia, and two officers, men from Brand who
spoke seldom.
The captain's quarters were lighted by oil lanterns set in gymbaled holders, and the large windows were covered with heavy, black covering that were fastened to the frame so as to allow no light to escape. Bix sat smoking a pipe at a large table in the center of the room. Upon the table was a map. The area east of the mountains ended in dotted lines of varying hue and thickness. Bix, using the stem of his pipe, pointed to this.
"Perhaps the young lady can improve on this," he said, indicating Rhia.
"Me?" said Rhia, "but I've never seen one of these before, except in old books that tell the tale of how my people came to Hollind."
Bix put his pipe down, clapped his hands on his thighs, got off his stool, and began to pace. "There are things I've got to know. Are there reefs? How close can I get to shore? What kind of a welcome will we be getting? How do the winds blow?"