21st November 221 BNM

Late Evening

Glaceland, Raykjevick city

Lady Athalie's Lodge and Tavern

The unofficial centre of Raykjevick, its biggest tavern and place of musical entertainment.

It was also its only brothel, as there was plenty of business in that from sailors on long voyages stopping in the town during the Muttlantic passage.

It wasn't like the Gronnland colony on the Muttlantic passage was very equipped, it was pretty much a whaling station if anything. So it was Raykjevick that was the stopgap hub of the ocean.

Lady Athalie, a middle aged Gryphon female, had a virtual monopoly on business in Raykjevick, and nothing occurred or arrived, person or event, in the large port town without her at least being able to find out about it.

Main tavern floor

The music and dancing played on the small makeshift stage, as chatter between sailors and the fewer locals rumbled in the tavern's main hall. As one new round of music started up, one of the more drunk crew members from the Scurvy Blythe recognised the tune somewhat, as the burly Shetland Pony raised his mug and began a slurred song, with more eventually joining.

In the boozer

you're a loser

if the dice you're shaking.

You'll get hurt

and lose your shirt,

sit there cold and quaking.

Lady Luck, your gifts are bad,

you trick us, then you make us mad,

make us gamble, make us fight,

and sit out in the cold all night.

Staring around, Starswirl took in the atmosphere and the actions of those around him. Lady Athalie had summoned Captain Blythe, knowing he was here, as well as Irvin. But the Grey Wizard had noticed a few things.

He saw a pair of Gryphons, travellers in more official Gryphon naval uniforms of some kind, who had followed the Gryphon captain with some interested eyes. Starswirl's mental magic detected no recognition, but there was a hint of thinking brewing in their minds.

'Brrr!' The naked loser moans,

when he's cold and left alone,

shakes and shivers as he groans:

'I wish I could be

asleep under a tree

With a hot sunshine warming my bones.'

Nearby, Siral was sat at the bar, deep in his own thoughts with a mug of strong potato cider half drained by his hoof. The Black Unicorn saw one of the Pegasi mares who worked here, one of Lady Athalie's 'escorts' of many, giving him an alluring, inviting gaze.

Blinking, Siral shook his head at the Pegasus mare, who turned away slightly puzzled, but wandered over to one of the Shetland Ponies from the Scurvy Blythe's crew, while the small Fox boy who acted as lookout on the crew ogled her slightly. Little Max as they called him, had a liking for ponies over his own Fox kind for some odd reason.

But now let's roll the dice again

and win some drinking money!

Who thinks about November's rain

while it's still warm and sunny?

The cheers went up as the drinking song ended, but it wasn't long before an encore was called up.

As the music began to start up again, and a few new ponies and even a few elk from a different ship entered the tavern, a sharp whistle came from an upstairs balcony:

"Oi, you two, Athalie wants you with us!"

Snapping their gazes up, Starswirl and Siral saw Irvin leaning over an upper banister, his busy tail wagging as he pointed at the two Unicorns. With a slight groan, Siral got up to walk up with Starswirl, noticing another 'escort', this one a Faroench Horse mare who was being groped more than she liked, her faroench accented protests somewhat clear as the music got ready to start again.

All of a sudden, a howl of pain went up, and the Faroench mare leapt back as the Gryphon male from the Scurvy Blythe crew grasped at the small throwing dagger in his lower leg, not a truly bad wound, but painful:

"NO PAY, NO PLEASURE!"

A grating voice bellowed from the balcony, as the throwing dagger's owner was a middle aged female Gryphon, scowled down at the crewmember who yanked the small dagger from his leg, beginning to tear rags off to bind it.

A few laughs at his expense resumed the tavern/brothel's atmosphere, as Lady Athalie returned back to her office. Clearly she'd heard the noise when Irvin came out to get the Wizards.

10 minutes later

Athalie's office

Suffice to say that Lady Athalie was impressed, or surprised, by their plans. But she knew having two wizards in their midst gave them some much lesser risks to their plans.

"Well gentlemen, I'd not recommend the Neighverlands silver convoys, not with Equestria tightening escorts on them in recent months. I can say this from what I've been hearing, now that my mind has been refreshed slightly."

She patted the drawer in her desk, which now held a small pouch of silver Captain Blythe had given her to 'loosen her tongue' as her usual rate of information trade.

Stood around the office, Irvin absentmindedly scratched his neck with a forepaw, while Siral impassively listened in, the Black Unicorn now more focused. Starswirl asked the obvious:

"Why tighter security on the convoys?"

"Pirates raiding valuable trade between Equestria and them. Equestria's been importing a lot recently, a lot of strong dynasties in the big pony nation have a lot of power to do so for a while, though they seem to be more active now in trade, and military."

Lady Athalie's statement was well founded, as for many decades now Equestria's military had been building up steadily as its economies also did, of the separate provinces and overall kingdom grew in power, the Alicorns catalysing that growth with their influence, direct or otherwise.

Captain Blythe dismissed this, as he asked: "Anything ye can say on the other venture WE proposed?" Blythe nodded to Irvin, who suddenly played a slightly innocent look. The Fox was acting until he saw how this was going with her.

"Any time I heard anyone talking about the Bay of Grolstrom treasure was the last time I ever saw them."

"Yes, but I don't think those poor fools had wizards in their employ, did they?" Irvin stressed, gesturing with a grin towards Siral, who merely grunted, and Starswirl, who gave a politer tip of his, in Lady Athalie's opinion, ridiculous pointed hat. Not that Siral was much better, he was riddled with scars that made him look like a walking mosaic.

Leaning back, Lady Athalie heard the faint music outside her office as ambience, while she turned to Captain Blythe, remarking: "I'm surprised Equestrians are working so well with Gryphons, especially if they're powerful enough to be called Wizards among Unicorns."

"They be humbler than what you hear of others of their kind." Captain Blythe remarked honestly, to which Lady Athalie gave a slight laugh of contempt as she remarked:

"Well they must be, the last Unicorns I had in here caused a fight with some Gryphons from the New Gryphon Empire, and the Pegasi and Earth ponies didn't exactly get on well with Unicorns or each other either."

"Enough of this, what of the Grolstrom treasure, what is it?" Siral said impatiently, to which Starswirl had to nod. Despite how interesting, or maybe disheartening the news of Equestrian behaviour among each other and with Gryphons was, they had some important business.

Searching for treasure may be a way to see a display of generosity from Irvin as he was supposedly destined for.

"The Grolstrom fjord holds the treasure, a treasure supposed to be the collected wealth of a Viking Warlord of centuries old, as strong as Thor, as cunning as Loki, and as quick to anger as Odin. He hid the treasure in a fjord blocked by ice and snow mountains in all places on land, and treacherous to enter up from the sea. What makes the waters so treacherous is unknown, and likely very treacherous given that's where everyone who dared sail to it decided to travel up."

"I'm certain our two wizard mates here can help with that. What else?"

At Irvin's request, Athalie began to talk more about the fjord's little known details. Specifically, the environment that was known. It was November, and winter was high upon Glaceland after all.

Lower tavern levels

A few drunken crew from the Blythe hollered as the song ended, as they noticed a particular Equestrian Pegasus sat at the bar with an Earth pony mare 'escort', recognising something on his coat:

"Hey I know that mark, that Nagger rig we chased from the Neighverlands to Elkland back in March had it! They sure were lucky they got a bit o' wind in their sails before we got em', I bet they're still sailing now!"

A loud roar of laughter from the Scurvy Blythe crew went up, but at this, the Equstrian Pegasus roughly stood up, shoving the escort mare aside. A few other Equestrians stood up too, among those of the ship crew that had recently come in:

"That was you!? I thought I recognized that blasted hunk of rotten wood out in the docks!"

A slight hush fell over the tavern as the drunken Fox, bigger than the others, approached the Pegasus, getting up in the stallion's face:

"Oh so your lot were on that rig then? You must've run a long way then to get back here so quickly!"

"Yeah, well it'll be a long way for you to run to whatever mudhole you crawled out of you bush tailed RAT!"

CRASH!

A glass bottle smashed over the stallion's head as the Fox charged him, and behind and around the brawl, while the bartender ducked behind the drinks desk, the Scurvy Blythe's crew and the Equestrian merchant ship's crew were very quickly exchanging blows.

The musicians continued to play, knowing they were out of the line of fighting so to speak, though grunts and sounds of Ponies, Gryphons and Foxes clashing with the mostly Earth Pony and handful of Pegasus Equestrian crew.

The 2 Gryphons who had been watching ducked away, as they saw one of the Blythe's crew members get quickly wounded. In a bid of kindness, they took the burly Shetland Pony stallion, Nayrington, into a calmer corner, away from the brawl, talking to him and presenting a few documents that began to wake the stallion from his drunk, beaten stupor.

Meanwhile, the tavern descended into a form of anarchy that wasn't exactly unheard of in this establishment.

Athelie's office

"That is it. Any other knowledge to help you would be known only to those who died trying to get the treasure, and never retur-."

Lady Athalie paused as she now heard the brawl going on outside, while Irvin strode to the door in curiosity to peer outside. Sounds of a few glass shatters and the odd smashing of a wooden stool surged in with the noises of the inter crew brawl.

Giving Captain Blythe a slight scowl, Athalie remarked with a sigh: "You'd best hope you find that treasure, you can use some of it to repay me for the damages."

Not waiting up, Irvin's busy tail disappeared with a passing call back into the office:

"I'll see what I can do to get them settled!"

As Irvin vanished through the doorway, Lady Athalie gestured to the door too, remarking to the two Wizards:

"Gentlecolts, I bid you good luck. I have just a few more matters to discuss with Captian Blythe before he re-joins you later tonight."

At her expectant look, Starswirl and Siral soundlessly left the office, out into the much noisier main tavern's upper deck.

Leaning forwards over her desk, Athalie gently fondled Blythe's feathery beard with her gryphon forepaw talons, asking bluntly: "Now, my Scurvy sea mongrel, the usual discount on the incense cargo you brought with you?

"If the service given for said discount is as good as always."

"Charming as usual… My quarters, where your rabble isn't smashing either my tavern or another crew to pieces."

As Lady Athalie strode up from her desk, she slipped off her overcoat to the hook outside her more private quarters linked to the office, while Blythe got up wordlessly, leaving his own sailing overcoat behind on the office guest chair, beginning to undo his trouser belt as he entered Athalie's quarters.

The usual arrangement for discounted prices from Blythe, though he knew he wasn't the only ship captain she had this arrangement with. She used any means she could to get ahead financially.

Tavern main hall

A few glasses flew as drunken brawls raged in the bar, and Irvin ducked and weaved to avoid getting hit by anything. As he slipped between the brawls, his paws flew out to the pockets of those forming the Equestrian crew, well-practiced, sticky paws going to work.

As Starswirl watched however, Irvin was merely one sober blur among many drunken brawls going on. Siral walked down the steps nearby to head down through, paying no heed to the brawls going on, though a glass bottle shattered against a bubble shaped grey shield he had invisibly put up.

Ducking back from a thrown Fox crew member, Starswirl shuffled towards a corner of the tavern to await the captain. Nearby, incredibly, Starswirl saw Siral magically float some silver to the hiding bartender as he pulled out a bottle of wine from the bar, his shield protecting him from any brawl made projectiles or hurled smaller foxes, gryphons or stallions.

Taking out his pipe, Starswirl lit up the weed pipe with his magic as he shifted his head slightly, a glass smashing against the wooden post nearby to splatter some beer over his faint blue magic shield. Puffing on the pipe, Starswirl merely waited out their next move.

It would be about 2 hours before Captain Blythe emerged, but the brawl would last only a few more minutes, with the Scurvy Blythe chasing out the Equestrian crew.

As the crew left, Starswirl saw Siral, still sat at the bar, give the Equestrian symbols on their now torn coats, a coat of arms of an unknown nobility family, a long hard look.

The coat of arms held a series of bluebell flowers on a diamond shaped shield, with an Alicorn silhouette in the centre.

Starswirl felt his own curiosity towards this symbol of the home country, but dismissed it for now. They had a quest to do.

The only satisfied ones would be the Scurvy Blythe crew, beaten but satisfied. One Shetland Pony, Nayrington, a sort of third in command, the highest ranking non-'officer' among the crew, had cast a pair of Gryphons a flashed smile as they left, though Starswirl could not read the Shetland Pony's mind too well in its drunken state, like trying to read a smudged written letter.

Irvin was likely very pleased, as his coat pockets were slightly laden with the odd stolen trinkets here and there from the Equestrian merchant crew, mostly a handful of lightly loaded money pouches.

The Fox at least hadn't stolen from the crew, and the others wouldn't know until it was too late.

22nd November, 221 BNM

Early Afternoon

Glaceland, Grolstrom Fjord mouth

Sunset was already near this far north, but it was still bright enough to make out the hazards they encountered, expected and not.

The Scurvy Blythe sailed slowly up the ice infested waters, oars being extended in lieu of sails. Mini icebergs littered the waters, and up ahead, the ice choked mountain slopes, some sheer cliff faces, marked the Fjord's rim. The only way in was by sea.

And the channel was pock marked with icebergs big and small, a few odd bumps always stirring up a tension in the crew. If they hit one too hard, it would end their adventure very quickly.

But as Starswirl had cast a reinforcement spell on the hull, the icebergs were not an issue for damage. Now the concern was ice blocking their way in full stop.

Up at the front, as he brushed some snow from his scar laden black muzzle, Siral saw the mouth of the Fjord, a narrow channel choked between 2 large fortresses of ice that seemed to loom over each other in an incomplete wall, like a gateway between them.

"Cap'n! The Fjord channel's clear o' bergs once we get between the ice walls!"

Up above, the crow's nest fox boy hollered down, pointing ahead. At the wheel, checking the map he had of the area, though this part was uncharted once in the Fjord, Captain Blythe brushed some ice off his coat, while the helmsman warmed his hooves against the gas oil lamp hung on a railing nearby with one hoof still on the wheel. The Captain called out across the deck:

"All hands keep steadfast! In there be uncharted waters!"

"Cap'n, shipwreck ahead to port, pokin' out the ice!"

A Shetland pony deckhand pointed to the left, where an icicle laden ship mast top now stuck out from underwater, near where the icebergs suddenly began to clear before the channel between the ice walls. The water was shallowing as they drew in to the Fjord channel, likely only a hundred and fifty feet at most in the channel itself.

Stood at the edge of the ship's rear railing, Irvin asked Captain Blythe sceptically:

"You think any other ships actually made it closer than that one, or us?"

"We're about to find out." Blythe remarked.

Up front, Starswirl suddenly noticed Siral grow alert, as he eyed something in the water.

"TURN AROUND!"

"What is it?" Blythe yelled from the back, while all around the crew saw Siral bellow: "The current is going to pull us into the channel! Look at the ice we just pushed through!"

Sure enough, the few mini ice bergs they'd pushed into the more open channel mouth had begun to be sucked into the channel as if in a river, faster than normal. Noticing this, Blythe made a judgement, calling out:

"Belay that! Keep the oars goin', we stay the course and avoid any crashes!"

"Captain Blythe I must protest!" Starswirl yelled, to which Irvin then pointed out loudly as the crew made calls down for the rowers to make sure they kept clear of the massive ice walls they were now moving between.

"The current has us, we can't do more than ride it in!"

Up front, Siral made the call to Starswirl: "But what is causing it? It's a Fjord, not a river!"

Up all around the ship, while the rowers lower in the deck for the most part simply made sure not to hit the massive ice walls rearing up on both sides 200 feet high, the massive ice walls closed in, the ship moving faster than the rowers had ever been doing in the ice field. There was no ice in the water flowing slowly with them, just black clear water glowing blue from the sea ice below and rising high above, like two glaciers coming to crash slowly into each other, divided only by the 150-foot-wide channel between them.

As the channel turned slightly, the sounds of faint creaking ice were the only noise, the crew were utterly silent as the sun streamed in only from the narrow crack of the channel's upper opening.

As they came to the channel's widening mouth, into the Fjord itself, the current slowing ever so slightly, they saw what exactly was causing the current.

Something was sucking the water down into a large unseen underwater tunnel to who knows where. A massive whirlpool, visible as a large series of white swirling ripples on the surface, far from the tornadic shape many would think of.

But it was powerful enough to actually create a current INTO a Fjord.

Seeing it, some crew members began yelling in despair, but Starswirl actually gave a sigh of relief as he yelled out:

"Keep to the ice wall, we'll be fine!"

Sure enough, the rowers had an easier time steering in the massive, bowl shaped fjord bay, the current sucking towards the whirlpool in the centre of the bay not strong enough to overpower them once they got going around the ice wall rim.

Staring out at the spectacle, the mini icebergs bubbling and vanishing underwater by the sheer force of suction in the center of the bay, Captain Blythe cursed aloud:

"How might we escape the bay with that monstrous current in the only way out?"

"Let's focus on mooring first. I see a shore up ahead." Irvin reasoned, the fox pointing a clawed paw towards the Fjord's shoreline up ahead, where the ice walls were gone, and where the shore was not a steep hill or rock face.

"All hands, we moor as close to shore as possible, make sure the anchor and lines are strong!"

As Captain Blythe's yell went out, Irvin leapt down to the main deck, towards the front of the ship, the rowers driving the ship around the southern rim of the fjord bay 'bowl', towards the snow coated beach.

Up front, the Fox saw the 2 Wizards staring out into the bay, mystified by the current, and he made a dismissive remark to both of them.

"What are you two so mesmerized by? It's just a whirlpool."

As Irvin scrambled backwards to head below deck to check on some much needed supplies for their venture ashore to make their next step in the search, Siral gave Starswirl an odd look. Starswirl agreed, as he murmured aloud:

"Whirlpools form out in seas or in lakes going downstream, not dragging water back inland. This is not normal."

1 hour later

Glaceland, Grolstrom Fjord shores

Moored Scurvy Blythe

They'd moored as close as possible, until the Scurvy Blythe scraped ever so gently across rocks and sand at its bow, about 100 feet from shore. Out in the middle of the ice wall surrounded bay, a half mile from them, the whirlpool's suction was minimal here, as the worst of it was from the other side where the sea was dragged back in.

Now unloading, there was a loud murmuring among the crew, as the third in command, a burly faint black and brown Shetland Pony stallion, Nayrington, spoke on behalf of some of the more nervous crew as he unloaded a crate of supplies for the small encampment on shore.

"We are stuck in this accursed bay now. We cannot row out, and what treasure we find is meaningless now!"

"Quiet yourselves, the lot of ye! The Wizards will find us a way to get out of this Fjord with the treasure, won't ye?" Blythe turned his feathered head to both Starswirl and Siral, the former of whom remarked loudly:

"Give some time, and yes. We have ways, we just must study it from afar before anything else."

Irvin then made the smart suggestion: "Maybe one wizard comes with those who go inland, the other stay behind to do that? We don't know what we'll find."

"I'll come with the team." Starswirl quickly added, wishing to remain in close proximity to Irvin for his own reasons, as Irvin only knew half the prophecy from eavesdropping, and nothing of the 6 exemplar beings he was the fifth of.

Siral surprisingly was very willing to remain behind, as he remarked aloud: "I'll see what I can find on this, strange water current."

Blythe turned to the rest of the crew as he shouted aloud: "Split up into yer groups, we need to make sure we have a ship to haul back treasure in. Those who stay behind can search the beaches nearby too while you are here, the rest come further inland, to the hoard."

Murmurs of anticipation went up, as preparations were made.

1 hour later

Mid afternoon [past sunset]

Glaceland, Grolstrom fjord shores

Scurvy Blythe mooring site

Siral stayed behind on the beach, having lit a warming fire kept alight by magic with ease. A few of the crew members on watch duty sat near the same fire, warming their paws, hooves or claws, as around half the 40-person crew, about 20, had remained with the ship.

A handful had ventured off to further along beaches, but most of the Fjord 'bowl' shores was steep hillsides or ice cliffs, not much to see.

As night fell, Siral saw the dimming sky light up slightly with eerie green northern lights. Green, ethereal ribbons slowly appearing brighter and brighter in the night sky, as the snow only gently fell now.

Despite night falling, the crew continued on, using lanterns or Starswirl's inevitable light, as despite the darkness, the short daylight meant they were still wide awake.

Staring out towards the centre of the bay, Siral had got out any artefacts or magical tools he had. A few burning incense sticks to enhance his senses, Ghung Chian's magic medallion with some residual energy in it from past uses still, and a few potions he drank to be able to sense any magical energy.

Given the nature of the whirlpool, something that was't natural was causing it. As he searched though, that was all Siral had to go on.

The crew warming their hands by Siral's enchanted fire pit watched the black wizard, hidden in his cloak, focus on the bay ahead, his grey horn shimmering in the night as he turned away from them, deep in thought.

Out in the bay, the whirlpool rumbled as usual.

And further inland, the search party pressed further in, slowed but not stopped by snowdrifts, ice walls and formations making even a potential blizzard less of a risk for them.

Siral had no desire to search for treasure, or accompany the exemplar to be of generosity. Being here on watch gave him time to think things over. Think everything he knew over.

And yet his concern over the whirlpool in the centre of the bay grew slowly with each minute he used his magical senses to examine it, probe it, find a weakness or workaround spell of its current. If anything, it seemed alive somehow.

Aware, and hungry.

Glaceland, Grolstrom Fjord inland ice labyrinth.

They had reached a point which legends hadn't spoken of. The ice labyrinth they now faced wasn't intended, as natural forces had caused ice to crumble and obscure the path. But they had time, and trial and error would find the way.

Taking a few small barrels of brown paint that they kept on hand, the 20 fox/Shetland pony/Gryphon crew marked up each and every passage they tried appropriately, and they had already found a degree of the path they needed.

Wandering in, Starswirl sensed the anticipation building in Irvin as he was the one most anxious to find the treasure, and surprisingly, so was the third in command and highest non-officer, the Shetland Pony Nayrington. All the others, Captain Blythe included, were keen, just not quite as much as those two, though Blythe was merely for the pride of captainship and getting the biggest cut.

The Wizard ventured further into the freezing ice labyrinth's depths, where somewhere the old hoard of the Viking Warlord of unknown name lay waiting.

Author's Notes:

A lot of hints dropped of Equestria's state along with New Gryphon Empire's at the moment, a sort of equivalent of the medieval Anglo-French rivalry sort of relationship is developing at the moment between the two nations, though the incursion in the bar with the Equestrian merchants and the Scurvy Blythe pursuing them months before is mere coincidence.