"So we're supposed to attack [i]that[/i]?" Markus asked, vexation in his voice. He had entertained this plan as they trekked, but having watched the ghoul infested port enough to find very little ways they could comfortably slip in and out with the supposed idol, the prospect was obviously very dubious to the pirate if anyone bothered to look at him. "And none of your scaled friends can help?" 

"Forbiddennnnnsss" Sss'Tomek croaked, cowed as if its very god watched him. Markus believed the little blighter wasn't lying, but it still sounded like a pile of Stirland wheat. Markus glanced back at his men, awkwardly clumped together to keep away from the ambidexterous eyed lizardmen that knelt and hopped. One struck a huge insect with its elongated tongue like a sticky missile and ate the thing before their eyes. Bartholomew cringed at the sight while Gorman tried to keep his rations down. Halfdan looked at another bug appraisingly, as if he too should try to eat one.  

"Who's up for a swim?" Markus grinned. 

"Swim!?" Emmaline blurted. Sketti seemed in a soft agreement with her. Markus ignored the dwarf and glanced at Emmaline with annoyance. 

"Not [b]you[/b]," He growled. Emmaline's face colored, the buxom woman both offended yet relieved. She was a coward, but he couldn't blame her. If it was not for the small lizardman he would have kept her back at the ship. For his part, Sss'Tomek blinked and tilted its head a bit too far for human anatomy, likely in curiosity. Markus snapped his fingers and ordered Halfdan to put the powder down. The big man had carried a small barrel of powder in his pack in case of emergencies. He slung it over his shoulder and set the large sack down, pulling out the barrel. He had to shoo away one of the skinks who wanted to examine it. 

"Sketti, you and a pair of lads, probably Halfdan and Gorman, stay here with the lizards and Emma. Me and the rest of the boys will swim round and come up from the docks. Steiner's second while we're out. Sketti, I need you to make a small distraction. Maybe a delayed fuse to get the things running off in a direction that leads nowhere. We'll come in from behind and nab the idol before slipping out. Emma? Don't fuck any of this up." 

"But Suss'Tomek said I was vital fo-" She began, but Markus placed a rough finger on her plump lips. 

"Don't argue with me." He ordered, but sighed a moment later. "If you have to mess things up, do it in a useful way. And stay alive." 

"How romantic," She deadpanned, but Markus already had his coat off, stripping his upper body of apparel and placing his guns on the ground with the rest. With a curt gesture of his head, the pirates followed him, bleeding into the jungle foliage as the distant growls and screeches of the ghouls gave an eerie ambiance to an already forsaken land.