A shared "enemy" could always bring strangers closer in no time. This former pirate chief might not have been able to formulate that social rule into a written theory like a scholar, but practice came before theory.
Over drinks, Barnaby and the two crewmen from the Pickle Barrel raised their cups and stood united, hurling abuse at unscrupulous shipowners who docked their wages on a whim. With spit flying, fists pounding tables, and feet stamping, he won their trust in less than a day.
Once the two crewmen had drunk themselves red in the face, there was no shutting them up. They grabbed Barnaby's arms and poured out their grievances, from the Merchants' Guild's greed to maggot-ridden "ship's biscuits" at sea, and all the strange things about the Pickle Barrel.
As Barnaby relayed these scraps gleaned from the Pickle Barrel crewmen's complaints, Renato gradually pieced together the whole affair and acquired quite a bit of crucial information.
Renato sat across the low stone table, shifted his stone stool back, and settled into a more comfortable position as he listened to Barnaby list the details one by one.
For instance, the Pickle Barrel's captain had yet to make an official appearance and had only left a signature at the dock registry; no one knew what the captain looked like. The old crew were forbidden from leaving the ship, and only the second mate went ashore each day to buy provisions, returning immediately afterward. Meanwhile, the skilled crewmen newly recruited by the Merchants' Guild were forbidden from boarding and could only wait idly in White Harbor's inns. They were not even allowed aboard to stow their personal belongings in advance...
If these circumstances struck even Renato, a complete novice at seafaring, as strange, the unusual condition of the Pickle Barrel's old crew