A House Beneath the Stars

"This is our abode," the black figure boomed, "from here on the Spoke, we can see into all worlds and all times. We are its keepers and practice our arts to learn from past, present and future."

"What is the Spoke?" Bromm asked. "And what are you? I have never met your like before."

Nthende clasped its hands before it, pensively. For a moment there was no sound but a soft, distant hum.

"The Spoke is what connects the worlds. It runs through the Sea Between Worlds and from places like this, we can use it to peer into the vastness of the cosmos."

Bromm only now realized that Nthende had said worlds again.

"Other worlds? What do you mean other worlds? We are on the Sea Between Worlds? Am I not then on my own world anymore? How did I get here?"

The seer raised a hand. "So many questions." Nthende paused a minute before continuing. "You passed through the veil between worlds. This is an island in the Sea Between Worlds. The Sea is neighbor to all worlds. The eldritch storms, such as the one that drove you here, rage across the surface of all worlds. These storms are portals between worlds, connections that pluck ships from one world and cast them out onto this one. Storms on this world will connect to other worlds such as yours."

Bromm's mind was spinning. Could the vastness of his own world truly be only a fraction of everything that was? Were there ports beyond his own world, filled with all manner of strange peoples and goods? What adventures and riches awaited him beyond the bounds of the only world he had ever known?

"What are these worlds? How do I get there?"

"Through the storm," Nthende answered.

"The storm nearly killed us. Another one would be the death of us."

"There are ways to make the crossing," the figure said and turned towards one of the doors on the far wall of the chamber. Through that door entered another of its kind, this one carrying a white crystal orb in its hands. It moved around the outer edge of the chamber, its robes flowing behind it in a motion that Bromm was unsure was a walk. When it reached him, he understood how much taller it was. Himself a tall man, he stood only to the figure's sternum as it extended its arms, holding out the orb to him.

Slowly, Bromm took it, looking up into the figure's impassive face. Its white eyes had no pupils and gave him the uncomfortable sense that it was looking past him, or through him. When he placed his hands on the orb, it was cold to the touch. He looked down into the orb as its giver retreated. He could see nothing within but fog.

"This stone will calm the storm, allowing you to survive the passage, though a storm is still a storm. With practice, you may learn to guide your ship to the world of your choosing."

"Will it take us home?" Topii interjected. Bromm looked at his first mate in confusion.

"Home?" he asked, "There are worlds uncharted out there, waiting for us! How can you think of home?"

Topii leaned in to speak to him. "Parash still waits for us in Torvuls. Serris may still be out there somewhere. We are short twenty crewmen. And I have friends and family I would like to see again. We should go home."

Bromm's mind was full of possibilities. Looking up to the ceiling, he saw a new set of visions play through the depths of the crystal. Fields of strange flowers waved in the wind, as people, or what he thought were people, tended to them. Enormous birds soared above the waves with riders on their backs. In what was no doubt the court of some great king, beautiful women played naked in a great pool beneath a tall roof of glass.

All of these are places I could go, things I could see, he thought to himself. Worlds to conquer, a darker voice whispered in his mind.

Bromm turned to Topii and pointed toward the ceiling. "All of that could be ours," he insisted. "You would let that slip from our grasp?"

"It will be there in a month. We need to return to port, sell our haul, make repairs, and gather new crewmen. Perhaps a larger ship to withstand these storms."

"We will put it to a vote with the crew," Bromm told him. Topii was displeased with that and turned to leave. Bromm turned back to Nthende in the center of the room.

"I have sailed the seas for nearly twenty years, and I have rarely seen such a storm and always avoided them. How can I find one again?"

"The storms come and go of their own will. You will have to chase them down. Look into the orb and it will show you the way to the storms, but you must be quick about it."

"What am I to do when I find a storm? Just sail into it?"

"Sail into it as any other storm. When you look into the orb, you will see visions of what awaits you on the far side. But the eldritch storms are ever changing and offer many possibilities. When you see the one that calls to you, fix your mind upon it and do not let it go. The stone will stabilize the path to that world when the storm abates, you will be at sea upon the world you desire."

"What awaits me on those worlds?" Bromm asked.

"That," Nthende smiled at last, "is unknowable, Bromm of Horizon. Only by going there will you find out. Will we find out."

"Then I will go to prepare my ship."

"Farewell, then, Bromm of the Horizon. We may meet again."

"But first," Bromm asked, "the other ship I sailed with, is it gone?"

"It is no more," Nthende answered solemnly.

"I understand," Bromm replied. He had lost a lot of good men on Fortune, and the ship had once been his the way that Horizon was now. He felt as if he had lost another friend.

"Will there be more trouble from those creatures outside?"

"They are our servants. They attacked you because they do not recognize you and wanted your companion for their own lairs. You have demonstrated superiority over them by fire and sword; they will trouble you no more."

"Then farewell, Nthende the Seer," Bromm said. "Thank you for your gift. Perhaps someday I will return here."

"We will await you."

Bromm turned back to his crew to discover that half his party had left with Topii, leaving only himself, Asara and eight men left in the seer's abode. His mind full of possibilities, they headed out of the seers' abode and down the mountain.

Returning to the beach as dusk fell, they found Hallas' crew had cut down a tree and pruned its branches. Already, his workers were preparing it to carry spars and ropes. Perhaps another day of work and they would be ready to sail.

Bromm signalled the longboat and soon a crew was put into the water. Onrey helmed the boat to pick up Bromm's party from the beach. Once aboard, he summoned a gathering of the crew and related the day's events.

"So now I put it to you," Bromm said as he finished, "whether we should return to port, or continue on to explore these new worlds. Endless riches and strange sights await us!"

Topii stepped forward. "We set out in search of the treasure fleet. Instead, we were caught in a storm and blown to a different world entirely. We have a prize awaiting us in Torvuls, and our crewmen aboard it. We are mourning our dead aboard Fortune. For us to launch unprepared into a new adventure is the height of rashness. Instead, we should return to Torvuls, make further repairs, take on new crew and claim our prize. Then, any who wish to follow the captain to new worlds can stay aboard, and the rest can depart."

Much of the crew nodded their agreement before Tyralf stepped forward to argue his case.

"There was a time when I would have sided with the captain," he said, "but no longer. He has acted in his own interests for this whole voyage. First by taking the fluyt captain's wench for himself, instead of sharing her with the crew, and then by thinking to charge off into whole new worlds and leave our friend Parash out of it. Captain, you would do well to remember that you cannot crew this ship alone. Had we caught that galleon, I wonder if we would have seen a share of the plunder. Or would you pile it all in your cabin and fuck your wench atop it?"

Bromm's eyes narrowed, and he took a menacing step forward, only to be stopped by Hallas. Many of the other crewmen looked away, trying not to be seen agreeing with the quartermaster. Topii waved Tyralf back to his seat and allowed the next speaker a place. It was more of the same bad news for Bromm. He sank down onto his seat and pulled Asara into his lap.

When the time came for the vote, it was hardly necessary. Topii won his way and Bromm had no choice but to acquiesce. He and Asara retired into his cabin for the night and hung a sheet over the skylight for some privacy.

In the morning, Bromm put ashore a crew to fetch more water and food, but he himself stayed aboard with Asara. The shore party returned later in the day with fresh water, fruit and three slain pig-like creatures. They butchered the animals and smoked them for preservation, along with fish that were snared on lines Topii had set up.

They had a feast on the beach beside a roaring bonfire. The mood was one of muted excitement. They had survived the storm and were going home, with endless possibilities before them thanks to the seers' gift, but all who were there spied the rift opening between Bromm and the crew.

The next night, with their new mast ready and the day's catch salted and stowed, Onrey announced that the tides were suitable for them to set sail. Bromm stood at the stern of the ship as they left the bay, Asara next to him. The seers' abode was visible from here, nestled in its cleft in the mountains with its roof glowing a pale blue. Above them, the stars shone brightly through the black velvet sky, each one offering Bromm a chance at new glory and riches, if he could claim it.