As the enemy ship was almost lined up to send a volley of cannonballs right up our ship's tailpipe, I released the Spell of Frost I had been putting MP into. I shot it into the water between us and it formed a decent-sized iceberg. Step two was to target a Spell of Pulling on the headpiece of the enemy ship.

As it came broadside the spell took hold and jerked the front of the ship right into the big piece of ice I had just made. I don't think there was a person left on the ship that was still on their feet and the sound from the impact was horrendous. The ship kept moving toward us but was now pointed directly at us and was unable to hit us with its cannons as it was facing the wrong way.

I shot a few Spells of Unfastening towards the enemy ship's sails and saw the ropes nearest where my spells hit loosen. Corners of their sails flapped in the wind slowing them down considerably. I fired a couple of fireballs in their direction and saw something I wasn't expecting. A few white pieces of fabric had been tied to poles and the pirates were frantically waving them above their heads. We came about making sure that we were never broadside to the enemy just in case this was all a trap to get us back in range of their cannons.

As we got closer I heard the crew shouting over to us.

"We surrender!"

"Avast yer wizardry! We beg ye!"

"Parlay!"

I used distant utterance to tell them we would honor the parlay if they ceased hostilities and instantly heard shouts of joy and acceptance.

"They will honor their word to speak with you without inciting violence, but be careful. They are still pirates and aren't to be fully trusted," said Barry.

"Comin' aboard," I shouted as I lept over to the enemy ship. They all took a step back when I landed. I glanced around to find their leader but didn't see anyone who appeared to be in charge.

"Where be yer cap'n?" I asked still glancing around. The men all looked at each other with sideways glances as if they were too scared to answer. It was an uncomfortable minute of me staring directly into different people's eyes attempting to get someone to break the silence. Finally, a boisterous voice came from behind the men. It was so out of place that it startled me a little but I caught multiple pirates rolling their eyes at the outburst.

"I know where he went," said the mystery man.

I parted the line of pirates blocking the direction of the voice with a hand gesture and saw the source of the jovial outburst.

"Why are you tied to the mast?" I asked the man as he smiled in response. He seemed so out of place. He was fairly well-dressed and the large goofy smile on his face seemed to contradict his unfortunate circumstances.

"These pirate fellows tied me up after bringing me aboard. Also, to answer your first question, their captain is currently in a rowboat behind me," he said moving his head slightly to gesture behind him.

I walked over to the edge of the ship and looked out over the water. Sure enough, there was a single occupant in the rowboat and he was moving away from us at speed. I tried calling over but he ignored me and kept rowing. I turned back to the enemy crew with my best "I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed" face.

"Why did yer cap'n leave in that rowboat? Aren't I supposed t' be havin' a parlay with him?" I asked the abandoned crew. I felt a little bad that they had been abandoned.

None of them answered me.

"Well, I am here to talk so I am going to talk," I said out to the men speaking to no one in particular. I continued to tell them about my plan to take out the pirate lords and their king and my hope to free the North Sea of their tyranny. They didn't overtly cheer, but I definitely saw some head nods which I counted as a win.

"It sounds like these men are on board with your plan. Huzzah!" The man who was still tied to the mast startled me again when he spoke.

"They didn't say anything," I said looking over at him and wondering what to do.

"Nevertheless, they seem eager to join your cause," he said merrily.

I raised an eyebrow at him then turned back to the crew.

"Here are my terms. Let me install a new captain on this vessel. He will lead you bravely and you will be able to enjoy the sea again with newfound purpose. Otherwise, I will sink your vessel and leave you floating on bits of wood and barrels in the middle of the sea and I do require an answer this time," I said matter-of-factly.

The men glanced at each other and nodded.

"We choose the first option, but we 'ave a request. Will ye take this man wit' ye when ye depart?" Said one of the men.

I thought about it for a second and agreed to their terms. I'd have to try and figure this strange person out at some point but he seemed harmless enough.

"Barry, could you send over a crew member who would make a decent captain for this ship? Someone brave and strong," I shouted over to Barry.

After about fifteen minutes the new captain was aboard and the former enemy crew seemed to be ready and willing to follow his orders. I trusted Barry's judgment and went over the general orders for this ship with the new captain. He seemed capable and was happy to become captain of his own ship. We shook hands and I left him to it.

As I turned to leave I heard someone clear their throat forcefully to get my attention. I looked back and saw one of the crewmen glancing comically over at the man who was still tied to the mast. Oops.

I walked over to the jolly captive and started to untie him.

"Thank you, good sir," said the man still smiling even though I had forgotten to untie him.

"We are going to have to have a discussion when we get back to my ship," I said.

"Of course. I am just a humble, completely normal fisherman and wouldn't think of betraying your trust," he said with his trademark smile.

"I didn't think you would betray my trust, but now I do a little bit," I said once again raising an eyebrow at the man.

"My apologies, Captain," he paused for a moment before continuing. "I'm afraid I don't know your name yet. Mine is Hugh Mhan with an 'h'. How would you like me to respectfully address you?"

My head was still trying to parse what he just said as we climbed back over to my ship.

"You can call me Captain Theodore," I answered. "Doesn't Hugh have two h's in it?"

I told Barry he could keep heading North as Hugh followed me to the captain's quarters where some chairs and a desk were available.

"Indeed, Captain Theodore. I was referring to the silent h in my surname," he explained.

"It seems to complicate the introduction more than needed, but we'll move on. Why did those men have you tied to the mast?" I asked.

"I'm not sure. There I was, innocently fishing like a completely normal and innocent person would and they brought me aboard their ship and tied me up," he said.

"They didn't say why? Did they think of you as a threat? Were you carrying any weapons?" I asked trying to get to the bottom of it while also trying to ignore his odd choice of words.

"As you saw, they were a tight-lipped bunch and I couldn't have possibly been seen as a threat as I didn't put up a fight in that whole encounter. I didn't have any weapons on my person at the time and I was acting in my completely normal, innocent, weaponless manner," answered the man.

"Why are you speaking so strangely? I've never heard someone talk about how innocent they are and sound so guilty," I said trying to figure out where he might be hiding weapons. I was starting to understand a little bit why he was tied up.

"This is how I've spoken my whole life. If you could've asked my average, regular parents about my garden-variety upbringing they would've confirmed my normality. Maybe I have a little bit of an accent that is throwing you off," he said.

"No, it definitely isn't an accent. You just add a lot of words that make you sound suspicious. What happened to your parents?" I asked.

"They were alive and well when I left their not-burned down, still standing home at a young age to become a normal fisherman," he said looking cool as a cucumber.

"See, that right there leads me to believe you had something to do with their house burning down," I said.

"Are you suggesting that there was an accident at my unremarkable childhood home causing it to burn down?" He asked.

"No, you suggested it when you said it was not-burned down," I said getting a little louder. He looked a little confused but kept the smile.

"I said it hadn't burned down. Even if it had mysteriously caught fire I couldn't have been at fault as I was busy legally acquiring all of my fishing gear," he said.

"Wait, so did it burn down?" I asked ignoring that he had added the word 'legally' which made it sound like he acquired the fishing gear illegally.

"I have no knowledge of my parent's home catching fire. For all you know, they are alive and well and living out the rest of their days in their peaceful, non-smoldering home," said Hugh not skipping a beat.

I rested my face in my palm and decided that this wasn't worth the effort right now. I needed to focus on the mission. I'm sure I can drop this guy off at the next port although morbid curiosity wanted to get to the bottom of his strangeness.

"You are not a prisoner on this ship, but don't try any funny business or I'll leave you on the next deserted island we pass," I threatened.

"I will be on my best behavior and am sure I will contribute to the crew's productivity. I may even make friends just like my doubtlessly still alive friends back home," he said.

I facepalmed again.

"You're dismissed."