Crustis of the Sea People

I will never forget that fateful day during the monsoon season. It was the kind of day that looms large in a man’s memory. The sort of day that makes one realize that Erenth is a much larger place and home to many more creatures than most can imagine.


In those days, I had not yet gotten back to my feet after the death of my first liege lord. I was still spending time in a small backwater outside of the metropolis of Shu called Hokia province. I had attached myself as a man of arms to a lesser noble of a minor house. The baroness of the province held court by renting out a local tavern by day and hearing the concerns of her peasants and freeholders alike.

Rumors said that Fung Lee Mai Nan was among the wealthiest of the petty nobility in Shu, but if that was so, her accommodations in those days didn't show it. The hangers on of her court often said behind her back that her ladyship was able to squeeze a wonjen coin between her muscled thighs and turn it into three hunjen. I never knew if that was a statement about the general impenetrability of her treasury or of her womanhood.

They said also that it was she and her companions which slew the Krakentoa, I don’t hide the fact that was a defining reason why I sought her out. I will admit I saw little in those days from her which suggested she had the ability to pull such a feat off. The Mai I knew was a bureaucrat and administrator, perhaps her greatest skill was in surrounding herself with able company.

Regardless, when I attached myself to her court, I did not expect what I would find. It was Spartan, at best. What accoutrement and dignity it did afford was brought in with servants at dawn and boxed to be taken out by noon. I recall that the room often smelled of spilt wine and shed blood from the previous night. More than once, I spied a sleeping drunk in a darkened corner when discussions were had about matters of state. Then there is the matter of those which tried repeatedly to kill her – but that is another tale. Perhaps such rawness was the attraction for me.

Perhaps she was the attraction for me. Sealed thighs or not, she was a noble woman. A first generation member of the gentry, such as myself, would have done very well to marry up. I might have put a seed or two in her and my children could have known a good life. Noble woman or not, however, the truth be told she was little more than a Daizu Wanga with a finer title. Her mismatched jewelry, her strange manner of dress, her odd assortment of weapons and armor from across all the known Lands – these things conspired to make her look like a barbarian plunderer more than a civilized Nan.

As a Jae Shi with no living lord, I frequented many such places as Hokia. I went to find what work I could and to press myself into service, one lord after another, one cause after another. I still have little patience for the backstabbing and whispers of most nobility, so however savage her court, I felt more at home there than in many more lavish accommodations. Alas, I have a tale to tell, and I will return to it.

The monsoon season was hard upon us and on that particular day the rain seemed to come sideways for hours. Most her subjects took shelter from the wind and wet. Only the most stubborn of Hokia sought the judgement of their Nan. So that fateful morning, her docket was light and most of us were bored.

Suddenly, the door burst open and in came the largest man I have ever seen. Man? Some called him a giant, whether that be his race, or not, there is no doubt that he stood 25' if he stood a hand. I know not what sort of behemoth he was – I leave that to the learned men. I will say that I had not seen his like and I was already well-traveled in all three cities. This man or giant, came in like a wet rag. His hair was bedraggled and filled with seaweed. He himself smelled of salt and fish. He stooped to enter and uncurled himself as he stepped through the door. We saw him dressed in only a gauzelike loin cloth and sporting earrings made from shells. He was girt with a slender blade (still huge by our standards). In his right hand he held a trident that could not have been borne by three men. Its cruel points gleamed sharp and shiny.In his left hand was a great bag, a net actually, doubled back on itself as if to hold a great haul. I could not see what it held, turtles maybe, for it was irregularly woven with sea vines and thick sheaves of rushes. It was green and bulging – that’s all I could determine.

When he came in, the Nan’s court went silent and still. I recall a knight of Westrun who kept Mai’s company in those days. He was the only one who dared move. I saw him cross to the window and peer out into the morning rain, perhaps to assure himself that no more of this visitor’s ilk would be entering. The rest of her court, myself included, was in awe.

There, in the flickering light of the fire, we watched him. Her bodyguards unmoving, but with blades drawn. It’s perhaps inconceivable to imagine that they did not attack at once, but had you seen this specimen yourself, you might have recognized the futility of it. For a moment, all we could hear was the dripping water as it fell off his massive muscled frame and poured from the bottom of the bag he carried.

The visitor carefully lay his trident on the floor and almost ceremoniously stepped over it. He ungirt his sword and handed it to the speechless door ward, then still having to bow his head even in the high ceiling of the public house; he stepped forward, bag still in hand. The Nan’s bodyguard’s surged forward then, and I felt my hand on my own sword. I considered that we held no chance against him – even when he was unarmed.

When he spoke, his voice carried a quality not unlike the crashing surf from which he obviously sprang. His first words were in a tongue I did not know. None answered him, and when next he spoke it was in the trade dialect of Sushao.

“I have come from the Reef People to seek audience with the queen of the Land People,” he explained. His tone was tight as if there was anger in his chest and his eyes were bright and shining.

The Nan stood up and motioned for her retinue to stand down. “I am ruler of this province,” she said to her visitor.

“Then I come bringing this gift and a matter of diplomacy,” he said. “I am Crustis and I come bearing word of my King.”

The Nan nodded.

He continued, “You and all your people may bow before my King and escape death by becoming his thralls, or you may resist and feel the true wrath of the Lord of the Deep.”

I looked at the noble lady and expected her to flash anger, but she chose a more reasoned approach.

“To what do I owe the honor of this offer?” the Nan asked, choosing her words slowly.

“My lord has judged you a murderous people and a thief of children. He would be pleased to see to your destruction, but if you humble yourself and beg forgiveness, he will only assign to you a lifetime of misery and servitude.”

With that, the giant guest heaved his parcel onto the floor where it fell with a liquid thump and slid forward to the center of the hall. We could see that it left a trail of bright blood behind it, as if it were a giant sponge passing over the wooden boards. When it came to a stop, the net opened and its contents spilled out across the floor. There must have been two score human heads exposed, tongues lolling, eyes wide in fear, and fixed in death. They rolled haphazardly toward the Nan’s feet.

My sword found its way into my hand, at last. I still recognized we had no chance against one such as this, but I meant to go down swinging, not running.

The Nan still didn’t move, she studied the faces of the heads that spilled from the bag. It seemed she recognized some of them. When she spoke it was with surprising calm, “We are not murderers nor thieves as you describe. You have us confused.”

The giant’s eyes narrowed in fury.

“I took these heads from your people by the water. Do you think I took them lightly? A fortnight ago, your ship of war, cast a net into the deep and snatched from the hand of my queen, her only son, our prince, and dragged him off.”

“We have not,” the Nan assured. “I have no ships of war to speak of.”

The giant roared then, as if the denials of the Nan were too much for him to hear. He leapt forward and crossed the space between him and her ladyship with astonishing speed. Even those with swords drawn could not strike before the massive visitor had one meaty hand around her throat. He swung her around like a rag doll, tightening his grip and attempting to pummel all comers with his free hand.

The Westrun knight flew to attack at once, striking blow after blow and by some divine power avoiding all damage to himself. The Nan had strange folk in her court in those days. A Westrun priest was also on hand, chanting his strange imprecations in the name of his god. An elf was there too, along with a warrior who looked more beast than man. The three joined the fray, along with the rest of the room. The Westrun knight drew attack after attack and somehow avoided being hit. Though we struck furiously, I could see the light going out of the Nan’s eyes. It might have been certain death, but just when we thought all was lost, the giant finally succumbed to our assault and falling unconscious, released his prey.

When she could regain her feet, and her wind, Mai stayed the hand of all her retinue and ordered her gargantuan attacker bound. When his massive frame was well-secured and trussed like a pig on the floor of the tavern, she ordered his wounds tended to. The room was cleared of all non-essential persons and only the stoutest of us remained. Unbelievably, her ladyship meant to question this Crustis when he had his wits about him.

Finally, all was done and the Nan bent down to stare at him. “We are not murderers and thieves of children,” she repeated her assurances.

Crustis glared and strained against his bonds, “I have a witness.”

“Go on,” she prompted.

“The queen – the swiftest of her guards gave chase and saw them come ashore here – in this very land. The men aboard those ships then hoisted their net and held aloft my prince as a great prize. When they tired of their sport, they sent him dashing to the ground. There, they treated his body to more cruelties before putting it on a wagon like a piece of meat. Were it not for the fatigue of he that followed your ship of war, many would have died that day. Instead, he returned to my lord and made full report of it. So I am come with war in one hand, and enslavement in the other. Do you deny it?”

“I do deny it,” the Nan answered. “Though it might be that I am ignorant of the facts. I will find out the truth of the matter and be back to deal with you.”

Crustis ceased his writhing. “What manner of devilry is this? You seek to beguile me from my wrath? What sort of trickery do murderers and thieves of children employ? Cut me free from these ropes, return me to my weapons, and I will either have my revenge or accept my death. Mercy from the likes of you is a curse to me.”

“No,” said the Nan. “I will determine the truth of your claims.”

Silence again returned to the court. The gargantuan man of the sea finally ceased his struggle and something like remorse crossed his face.

“No matter,” Crustis said softly, “I have failed my king, betrayed his offering of peace with my anger, and spilled blood under his banner of parley and been defeated. Do with me as you will. I have no will left to live.”

The Westrun knight spoke and said, "I find no evil in him."

Then, to the surprise of all of us watching, the Nan and her trusted companions, untied the giant visitor. They charged him by his solemn word to remain there while she went to the fishing village and determined what she could. I personally remained behind to make inquiries of this creature and to find out all I could about his people.

It was many hours before the Nan returned. When she did, she was filled with sadness. I can scarcely believe what happened next, but that is a tale for another sitting.