There was, however, one round when we didn't go down to the ship-city.
Cin had been waiting for me on the top of our large briar of vines to go down when I joined her. She was surveying the Assembly with her glasses.
'Something's up,' she said, handing me the glasses. 'The stands are all closed and what appears to be delegates from each of the ships have gathered in the amphitheater. There's not a fine-feathered to be seen however.'
'This must be their "Heritage" ceremonial that we've been hearing about. I've only heard the term. Do you have any idea what it refers to?' I asked, as I surveyed the amphitheater with Cin's glasses.
'Some sort of tribute to their ancestors, I believe. Half a dozen of each ships' crew have been bearing boxes to the amphitheater. They could contain the remains of the honored dead. But given the great variety in their sizes, I'm thinking the boxes might contain ship's surplus loot,' she said, flashing me a rather wicked grin. 'Let's watch and see where they go. This might be Treasure Island as well as Dagger Island.'
'Makes sense. They seem to be old-fashioned enough to collect their trinkets and consider them treasures.'
We didn't have to wait long for the ships' delegates, a thousand strong, led by the Clan-king to emerge from the amphitheater carrying their treasure. They formed a long procession that wound its way through the ship-city to the edge of the island and then over the edge and out of sight.
'Let's follow them,' exclaimed a bright eyed Cin. And before I could object, which I would've, she was off, skillfully cutting across the rough folds and gullies of the mountainside, leaving me no option but to follow.
We cut around the rough foothills, reaching the other side as the long line slowly disappeared into the jungle. Cin cursed softly, afraid the ultimate destination would remain hidden in the jungle, but unwilling to abandon our vantage point for the thickets of the jungle. Patience rewarded - the procession emerged from the jungle and filed into a deep canyon less than a kilometer from our hiding place. We waited for them to reappear at some point further up the slope, but the long procession was swallowed up by the canyon and did not reappear.
'Let's have a look,' said Cin, patience exhausted She set off. I followed.
We made our way towards the canyon, crawling through vines and bush until we were in a position to view what proved to be a cave entrance. There were guards at the entrance to prevent us from getting a closer look.
'Oh, how I miss night,' Cin sighed as she lowered the survey glasses. 'At night I could've walked right by them. Can you imagine what it's like in there if they haul treasure into it every assembly? Think of the treasure it must hold. They've been around for hundreds of thousands of rounds.'
'It still could just be a cemetery, you know.'
'Ha. Not likely. Pirates are pirates. Imagine the loot of two hundred boats over who knows how many centuries - it must be a treasure cave out of fantasy fiction.'
'It might be worth a look, at that. We can have a nice long look after they leave.'
She brightened up, 'True. And we will. It would be nice to start our new life in the Saraime wealthy.'
We waited for hours until they emerged once more, without boxes. Cin carefully noting what the after-guard did to lock, conceal, and booby-trap the entrance.