Gregor cleared his throat and stepped forward, giving a deep bow to the village elder. "It's as my friend here says, I'm afraid. Greeting, honorable sir, my name is Gregor Heartway. It pains me to say, but I'm here to confirm all your worst fears."

Gregor straightened up, trying to make himself look as trustworthy and respectable as possible. It didn't really take, but he was undaunted. "There is, at this very moment, two very real problems that you face. The first is that we are undoubtedly already being tracked by the most frightful man I have ever met, and I have met some frightful men in my time. These slavers will stop at nothing to recapture us, and if any of the cargo died in that shipwreck they're going to be looking to fill some spots in the hold. So that's problem number one."

"Problem number two," he said nervously, "is the cargo itself. You see, most of it was acquired by purchasing prisoners with some" his eyes shift over to Willow for a moment. "Extra-legal acquisitions on the side. Now in this bunch you have your harmless sorts; debtors, political dissidents, fringe religious groups, but a good chunk of that is made up of pirates, gangsters, thieves, and murderers. Not a pretty picture for anyone if they get loose on the island, especially if you're already dealing with problem number one, the slavers. It's fortunate for all of us that the ship is still mostly intact."