The rune seemed to thrum faintly at your touch - almost as though the safe were purring - though the sensation was so very faint and had disappeared so very quickly that you might almost wonder if you hadn’t imagined it. Unfortunately that was all that happened, the smooth surface of the safe not reacting in any way at all.

And yet…

Something had changed. As you withdrew your hand, taking two quick steps backwards, there was a subtle shift but suddenly you felt almost as though you were being watched. It was as though you’d trodden on a sleeping lion's tail and, though it hadn’t stirred - hadn’t yet even opened its eyes - it was now waiting, all menacing anticipation, for you to approach once more. Your abrupt retreat seemed only to intensify the sudden prickling pressure and you found yourself frozen in a silent stare-off with the treacherous trove, some animal instinct warning you that to further retreat would be almost as dangerous as advancing. Sweat trickling down your back, a dull throbbing pain slowly building in your calves as the uncomfortable half-crouch you’d frozen in slowly grew harder and harder to ignore.
Slowly, piece by prickling piece, the pressure started to ease, lessening as whatever hair-raising enchantment had been woven into the cube gradually lapsed back into dormancy once more.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

It was as you finally relaxed, releasing the breath you’d been unknowingly holding all this time, that there came a heavy pounding from the door, causing the very next breath to catch in your throat. The knocker was apparently not very patient because they only waited a moment before-

Thump! Thump! Thump!

“You in, Thaddeus? It’s me.”

It was a low, rumbling voice, and an all too familiar one at that. You’d never seen its owner before but it was hard to forget given that one of the first things you’d ever heard it say had been an offer to have you stored, ‘free of charge’, in the ship's hold, bound into some unknown but doubtless cruel metal frame.

The first mate.

You’d not taken two steps when there came the faint click of a lock, followed by the faint creak of a door swinging open. Yet, when you spun to face the door, it was to find it still closed.

“Hello there, Bos’n”

It was as the new voice spoke up that realization - and sweet sweeping relief - came washing through you. The speaker - and the door - were coming from the neighboring cabin, the one whose balcony door you’d spotted earlier.

“And what brings you here on this fine evening?”

The unknown voice- Thaddeus’, presumably - had a reedy, somewhat nasally quality to it, one which suggested somehow that he was sneering. The exaggerated educated accent - at least slightly put-on to your ear - completed a picture of casual arrogance. Here was a man who held himself apart - either out of conceit or possibly just a personal distaste for the first mate. Either way, when the first mate responded, he gave no sign that he’d picked up on any rudeness.

“Just been down the Throat to see the lads. Got some more messages. Need them deciphered.”



“I see.” Thaddeus replied shortly “Well I’ll take them off your hands then. Since you’re here, would you care to join me for a drink? I’m pleased to say I was able to… acquire a rather fine tawny port whilst we were in Al-Djaharr. Port from the port, one might say, hahaha~”

The reedy voice broke into a thin chuckle, one which the first mate joined, though only for a moment.

“Ha… ‘Fraid I’ll have to decline this time. Not got the time. Speaking of… the Captain did say he wanted any messages from Al-Djaharr as quickly as possible so-”

“Yes, yes, he’ll have his messages soon enough, never fear.” Thaddeus interrupted dismissively “but we’re to be at sea for the foreseeable future in any case so I really don’t see why we should run around like so many chickens on their way to the ax. Undue haste creates mistakes, you know.”

The first mate only grunted doubtfully.

“Alrigh’ then. Well, I’ll leave you to it then.” There came a couple of muffled footfalls and then a pause. “You know your business, I’m sure but… well let me jus’ suggest at leas’ a little haste, ‘less you find yourself learnin’ exactly what that ‘chicken haste’ feels like.”

The foot treads resumed. There was another brief pause, then a muttered vicious curse, quite at odds with the previous pompous tone, and the sound of a door being slammed shut, perhaps a little harder than it needed to be. Even with the door closed, you could hear the angry tread as the man stomped across his room. A moment later, you heard the all-too-clear sound of his rear door opening as he stepped out onto the balcony. The reason for the perfect clarity became clear after just a moment as you realized that the magitek workshops own rear door was still hanging ever so slightly ajar. For one heartstopping moment, it seemed as though Thaddeus must surely be about to see it, to come and check in on the room. After several chest pounding seconds however, it became clear he’d not noticed it.

“The treatment I put up with, honestly it’s just…”

You could just about make out the sound of a furious diatribe coming from without. A quick glance, snuck through the window in the door revealed the sight of a spindly man, all knees and elbows, standing out by the parapet.

No… not just standing… leaning. He was leaning out, over the parapet, doing… what?

It took a long moment to realize exactly what was going on. The man - Thaddeus - was leaning out, over the parapet with a long staff of some kind and poking at the great hanging chandelier. Against the background of his bitter complaints about the unfairness of his treatment, the great thing began to swing gently. You couldn’t hear the faint patter of wax as it rained down upon the women below but you could hear their sudden moans and whimpers. The wretched man’s muttered curses subsided, mollified slightly by the slave’s suffering and he seemed to fall into an almost hypnotized daze as he kept prodding the chandelier, keeping it swinging gently back and forth.