The Jaeger raised both eyebrows, clearly impressed and… proud? Ivy may not have been a Heterodyne but some kindred spark deep within seemed to have lit up when pressed against the wall. He couldn't help but grin widely at her verbal assault upon the undead pirate. Even the clank hounds seemed less inclined to growl at her, and that was before her little spider clank had neatly sliced off the one dog’s foreleg! For the first time in a while, Jötz began to feel as though he was on familiar ground.

The sickly green glow in Ludd’s eyes tracked Ivy as advanced upon him. Briefly, the sockets flashed red as though in warning or in anger as the girl ranted in the way that only a true Spark might, issuing threats and blustering her own self-importance over his own. When she turned her back on the lich, he lowered the hand with the gun. And then, when Ivy hinted that she might yet be willing to help, the gun was gently placed upon the desk.

“The current Heterodyne or not,” he murmured clinically, “you seem to have the general thrust. Although you remind me far more of… someone else.” The captain paused as though lost in thought and memory before continuing the conversation.

Ludd gestured with a skeletal hand towards the remainder hounds, which slunk off down the corridor until only their glowing yellow eyes could be seen lurking about the engine room. “You are… quite right, Lady Heterodyne,” he declared louder, “The hounds have a limited range. As my crew and guardians, they can not operate beyond a set perimeter without me and I? I can not leave this room. Physically, at any rate. I do have other methods of flexing my will albeit to a limited extent. Forgive me if I do not give you the particulars regarding those ranges and limits? Suffice to say that they would be great enough to cause you and your Jaeger considerable inconvenience should you be less than inclined to be helpful. And thank you for confirming that I am not remembered upon the surface! “

That same dry chuckle filled the stale air of the cabin again. “Oh, the libraries that I will loot! The repositories that I shall raid! Universities and schools to plunder! My treasure will be increased ten fold by the time I am ready to die again!”

Sitting back into his chair, he rested one hand upon the desk. “With a few additional repairs to my barge, I can take you to nearly any town or city of note so long as the canals are not blocked or drained. Even if the engines are in less than optimal condition the clank hounds can serve to tow us along.”

“Now you could refuse this deal, yes,” Ludd conceded willingly as though in casual debate, “although anything less than a swift agreement will lead to your joining me in a watery grave.” 

The barge shuddered suddenly as the air was filled with the sounds of pressure hatches blaming shut throughout the boat, sealing them into the lower deck. “You see, if you don’t agree I will simply sink my boat. I’m dead already anyway, and since I am in no condition to make use of my treasure it is worthless to me. Not unless I get a new body. So I have nothing to lose really.”

“But! I will sweeten the deal. If you help me get a live human body to my specifications and bring me back to true life once more, you may take as many tomes from my shelves as you can carry by yourself. I assure you many of them are…. one of a kind… and most likely contain secrets that died with their authors.” Ludd hesitated and then honestly adding, “I might have had something to do with their deaths, admittedly.”

“But I will swear to you, on the heart of my lost love, that so long as you do not betray me, I will not betray you. I swear it on the name of Agnes St. Mayhew.”