4 - Teeth

"Right you lot, sit down, shut up, and pay attention!" Medari shouted.

Her 'class' watched her intently. Behind them, the rest of the ship's crew went about their business. To the sides, the Sea of Swords sailed by. It was a class of three: two sailors and one new hire. Medari'd picked the sailors after some very rigorous testing, and Sariel had recommended the third. For once, Sariel's recommendation had actually been good.

"You ladies may think you know about diving, but you don't! You've done safe, baby, coastal dives, maybe about a foot deep at best!" She shouted at them.

Despite her tone, the three prospective divers in front of Medari didn't waver. Good.

The captain continued. "Out here, in the Purple Rocks? You'll be diving in rough water, in storms! Do you think you can handle that?"

They started nodding, but she instantly interrupted them.

"No, you cannot!"

She paused for a moment. For dramatic effect, of course.

"Do you know what the biggest danger here is?

This time, they hesitated.

"It's the wildlife. You can be the best diver in the world, but if a giant octopus gets you..." She ended her sentence by mimicking being eaten.

When they didn't react, she continued. "You know, I had this friend back in Cormyr. She was a great diver. Thought she was the best of the best. Then one day, she finds this big, glowing gem. She's set for life if she can bring this up! Do you know what happened to her?"

Another pause.

"Eaten! It wasn't a gem, it was the light of a gigantic anglerfish, as big as this ship!"

The one Sariel had recommended - the Calishite girl - tilted her head, then spoke.

"Forgive me for speaking out of turn but... that doesn't seem likely."

Medari frowned, then smiled.

"Yeah? Why's that, little miss smarty-pants?" She snarled.

"Well, anglerfish are deep sea creatures. It's highly unlikely one would go as far up as we swim down." The girl replied.

Well, at least her new divers were smart.

"That's a good point! Since you're so smart, you can be the first one down today!" Medari replied, slapping her on the back.

The Calishite girl didn't have a smart come-back for that one.