For as much as the passage in was treacherous, the harbor of Tobaro was excellent. The water ran deep right to the quays and only the very largest of ships, ships which would have had difficulty making the passage through the rocks in the first place, needed to anchor rather than simply tie off to a dock. To Emmaline's suprise there were a considerable number of ships in the harbor, mostly from Tilea but with a spattering of other vessels including a sleek Araybian Galleon and one of the narrow high built teak vessels which were reputed to come from the Southlands. There was even an elven vessel, of bright white timber and large triangular sails that road close to the water and looked more like a creature of the sea than something built by mortal hands.

As the Hammer approached a gaggle of small boats began to converge on it. They were too small to threaten the ship, hardly more than row boats with sails and occasionally catamarans in the elven fashion. Men dressed in extravagant finery stood in the bows. Their clothing was of fine quality but in many cases old, and invariably festoned with rolled up scrolls of yellow parchment, as well as a bewildering array of brass instruments which Emmaline could only assume were largely ceremonial. One man, in the nearest boat, raised a brass speaking trumpet to his lips.

"You cannot enter the harbor without engaging a pilot, heave too at once!" the man yelled. Before anyone aboard the Hammer could respond a second boatman shouted through cupped hands.

"Do not do business with that swine, the Aritino family are the best pilots with the best prices!" A score of other boatmen began calling similar things, offering their services to guide the ship. Markus seemed content to ignore the barkers and so Emmaline figured she would as well. She was looking forward to getting ashore, having been more or less on the outs with the captain since their argument following her efforts to save the ship. Far from earning her the crews respect, their seemed to be a universal irritation at her that she had broken the main yard, something which had taken hours of back breaking labor to repair. Emmaline reminded herself to let them drown if a similar situation should once again arise.

"We are already in the harbor," Emmaline mused, "why would we need a pilot?" The question wasn't really directed at anyone but Klaus who was on deck and staring longingly at the approaching land, answered anyway.

"The Navigator families make their living offering passage through the rocks," he explained.

"Well that would have been a huge help on the other side of the rocks," Emmaline replied acidly. Klaus bobbed his head, clearly eager to be able to lecture somebody.

"Its the Siren's feeding season you see, that is why there were not pilots, they normally tether to the outlying rocks and guide ships in, but not during mating season because...well..." he stammered.

"Because they would all get eaten," Emmaline concluded. Klaus nodded, clearly unhappy thinking about the prospect.

"It is also why their are so many ships in harbor, they dont want to ship out before the next full moon," he explained.