The top floor of the Blackstone Hand Merchant Guild.
Hector sat behind a mahogany desk, holding an exquisite silver file. A human skull lay before him, its bone as white as jade, clearly subjected to an extraordinarily elaborate treatment.
"You're saying another one has vanished?"
Hector did not look up. The silver file scraped gently along the edge of the skull's eye socket with a faint rasp, sending powder drifting down.
The guild steward standing before the desk was rigid all over. Cold sweat trickled down his temples into his collar, soaking a large patch of his expensive silk shirt.
"Yes, Lord Marquis." The steward's voice trembled. "This is the third ship this week. The Black Narcissus was carrying refined iron and magical potion ingredients traded from the north. According to its sailing schedule, it should have reached Blackstone Harbor yesterday, but even now..."
"Not even a plank has washed back?" Hector blew the powder off the bone and raised it to the light, examining it as though admiring a treasure.
"N-no. The patrol ships searched the designated waters and found nothing. It was as though the sea had swallowed it."
"Swallowed it?"
Hector finally set down the skull.
He rose and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window. Outside lay bustling Blackstone Harbor, a port city that a friendly Count had leased to the Blackstone Hand Merchant Guild.
Countless masts crowded the harbor district, where workers hauled cargo like ants.
"The wild dogs on the open seas have certainly been driven mad by hunger lately." Hector chuckled. "That fool Graham sealed the border, leaving those smugglers with no way to feed themselves. Naturally, they turned their attention to the sea."
"You mean... pirates, my lord?" the steward asked cautiously.
"Who besides those brainless creatures would dare touch my ships?" Hector turned