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Kulop stares in excitement at the wall... "Wow. You were looking for wooden boards? Is this special wood? Where did it come from?"

"There is a door right here, can you not see how the grain changes slightly? I thought that it was a simple mistake.. Then I saw this." She pushes again..

"Oh... a secret door. I just love them. Sometimes as much as the secrets they hide behind them." he winks at Brax.

Kender and half-elf have no trouble opening the secret door. To their surprise, they do not find treasure but...
a small, dark, oppressively cramped area only 4' wide at the most, squeezed in between the ship's stern and the adjacent cabin,
this appears to be used as a cell, for there is a slim, human-like figure cowering in the far corner. The prisoner appears to be
chained to the hull. It is too dark to make out what race the prisoner may be, only that he/she is too tall to be a halfling.

"There is someone in here.." Brax comments as she steps a little further inside the room, switching to her infravision she checks the figure in more detail. "I am Brax. Who are you?" She asks with a concerned tone. ."The smugglers have been captured. The vessel has been seized. "

"Take care, Radiance: appearances being what they are, this one might not recognize you as one of the good guys.
"Then again, they might be one of the bad guys."

The human figure stirs as Brax speaks, but does not seem to understand her. A feeble voice asks in Elven: "Do you have some water?"

"Water? Not at hand. But I can get some." She responds in elven, Offering a warm smile she turns over to Gustas, "Could you find someone to get this man some water?" She asks Gustas in common.

"We should get him out out." She offers to the others.

Kulop looks at the elf, then at the cell... "Do you know the parrot? Did you two speak with each other. Why are you chained here? And why did they hide you? Does 'pieces of eight' means anything to you?"

"Master Halfling, I'm not sure he speaks common." Brax responds to Kulop.

The prisoner looks bewildered at the halfling, then asks Brax in elven: "Is this a child? I can't understand what he says, I'm sorry"

"Aye water" Gustas fumbles off back the way they came in search of water, picking up the empty cup from the cider table as a vessel to fill. The creaks and bumps of the ship grow fainter as the heavy man navigates his way through the ship away from the party.

His return was easily identifiable, the practise walking doing little to add to his grace at navigating corridors and doorways.

"He is a halfling, not a child but a smaller human really" Brax explains softly in Elven. "What is your name?" She asks as she grasps her holy symbol, (casts know alignment).

Gustas will have to leave the ship to get some water, there is a fountain and drinking through near the storehouses on the pier. There are fishermen and -women on the benches of the place, mending their nets. Noticing him walk over to the fountain, a little nunsteadily, one of the men jests: "Hey, Gustas, need some help in sobering up?"

"My name is Oceanus, I'm from the Manaan tribe here" the elf explains. He shows them the shackles keeping his hands close together. A chain connects them to the floorboards. "Can you get rid of this?" he asks.

Brax learns that Oceanus is of Neutral Good alignment.

"Who don't speak common? The parrot? don't be ridiculous of course it doesn't speak common. At least not fluently. But it sure speaks some words. Maybe we can teach it some more. What about pieces of twenty? Or pieces of cheese. But I was talking to your friend there, the one that mumbles in a weird language. Maybe his tongue has dried up... or maybe... OH!!! that's what you meant!" he looks at the elf with wonder and speaks very slowly, "G o o d ___ d a y ___ s i r. ___ D o ___ y o u ___ k n o w ___ t h e ___ p a r r o t ? ? ?" he mouth every syllable.