The Expedition Embarks

On the day the expedition set sail, I discovered what Isabella had used in her negotiation. It was shackled below decks of the Santa María de la Consolación – a dirty, hunched man, with a great beard and eyes like embers in the hollows of his face. His wrists and ankles were clapped in irons, though there was nowhere for him to run… lest he sought to plunge over the side and drown, perhaps. She had freed the Heretic from his church cell. This… man… barely human at all, was to be our guide – if I had known, I would never have come aboard, and now I fear where the words of this man will take us – to the bottom of the sea, or worse, to hell, I do not know, but it is some place far from God's grace, of that I am certain. I was to learn later on, the Red Sign had sought to extract the knowledge of the isle of Azoth from the madman many times, but the only one he said he would show was Isabella… she must be the captain, he said. Do this, and I shall show you the way to Vitae Aeternum. It is a devil's price, and Isabella has paid it. - F.