His nearly eternal life gave the Skeleton King plenty of time to do as he pleased, such as pursue knowledge. But unlike a Lich, he had not become a prisoner of knowledge after his emotions faded.
He could still feel curiosity and desire, and he retained some physical senses.
Both the Oddities and the Magic Mirror had piqued the Skeleton King's curiosity.
Seeing that the Skeleton King could hardly wait to return to his tomb and study them, Annan took charge. "Then let's ask the locals about the Sphinx Wreck first."
The Oddities caught a few unlucky Gold Prospectors. These vultures were neither particularly good nor particularly bad. Annan told them he would let them go if they answered his questions. As for anyone who did especially well...
"I'll give you a respectable job."
They could forget about getting Annan to take money out of his pocket.
But none of the Gold Prospectors were locals, and they knew nothing about it. Annan sent them back to Camp to ask around.
Perhaps they could not believe that someone who commanded Oddities had simply let them go, but two Gold Prospectors actually came back with information.
The Sphinx was a large ship. Unlike the ferries commonly seen on Swan Lake, it was a merchant vessel that carried wealthy people and prominent figures around the lake, an early sort of passenger ship... During the crisis in Strange Tales City, it had set out with a group of rich passengers aboard, only to meet with an accident. A few survivors had climbed out of the lake, but no one had seen the ship since. It had presumably sunk in Swan Lake.
Now that they had confirmed the Sphinx Wreck existed, they had to find where it lay.
Then Annan noticed the two Gold Prospectors