Difference between revisions of "Summary:Tress of the Emerald Sea"

Fort., Ann, and Salay discuss what to do next. Tress is present, but exhausted, and uncertain if mutiny is the right course. She asks if it wouldn't be better for the crew if she were traded to the dragon, and down the line Tress might escape or buy her freedom. Healed of the spores, the captain might be less desperate. Fort points out they must not follow Crow, knowing she's willing to kill. Tress senses a luhelLuhel bond nearby and finds a midnightMidnight essenceEssence spying on them for Crow.

Laggart meets the officers with pistol in hand. He shoots Salay in the thigh to show he’she's serious. On the deck, Crow challenges them, placing their weapons on a table. If they can shoot Laggart, she’llshe'll step down. (She threatens Laggart to keep put.). Fort is dealt with first with a bone -crunching blow to the face. Tress is immobilized with one gut punch. Salay finally understands Tress is not a KingsKing's Mask. Ann fires one shot but misses by half a shipsship's length. Salay even reaches for a gun but is neutralized. The narrator describes her as a sadist and practiced killer. Lest any argue Crow did nothing wrong, she destroys FortsFort's communication device.

Crow orders a halt, saying she told them longer due to suspected mutiny. She throws a letter to the dragon into the spores. A tunnel opens, and she takes Tress to go see the dragon.

As they walk to the seafloor, Tress wonders if the spores forming the tunnel wall would still react to water and thinks of licking them. She thinks about her impending servitude and not only how she failed Charlie, but how she will miss the sky and the moon.

They arrive in a great chamber, and the dragon approaches. Crow formally requests the pact of promise. Tress recalls Hoid's statement that she has everything she needs. Drawing up her courage (and whimsy) she likewise declares Crow to be an offering.

The dragon and Crow are both sayastonished, "What?" Andand Tress explains that Crow is strong and unafraid of spores. Crow moves to silence her, but the dragon says whichever is staying, he does not want them damagedintervenes. Crow asserts her authority, and Tress points out that this only makes Crow appear the greater prize. Crow says that Tress is young,; Tress says that Crow is a challenge. The dragon does not favor a challenge. Crow adds in Tress's accomplishments with spores. Tress tries to be humble, which the Captain also marks for an advantage. Crow announces that her crew hates her, and how Tress considered offering herself freely for the crew. Tress appeals to his magnanimity with Crow's need for healing. Crow says she'd take the healing as a boon and go free.

The Tress that boarded Crow's ship would have accepted this fate, but Tress now announced she'd never stop trying to leave. He'd have to kill her to stop her. She is determined to face the Sorceress. The Dragon says he should keep Tress to spare her this fate, but he can see she will not make a good servant. When Crow tries to pipe up, he has her gagged by magic cloths. He decides on keeping Crow, since he needs a new floor scrubber. He asks Tress her boon. At first she doesn't want to accept payment for a slave. He says his cure for the spores would only be temporary so by selling Crow, Tress is saving her life. Tress asks three small things rather than a great one.

Tress emerges from the tunnel. Laggart is alarmed, then backs away. She has 3three wrapped items. The first is corrective glasses to help Ann. The second is a new communication board for Fort. The third is a letter with the location of Salay's father.

Tress tries to persuade Salay to be captain, and then to not follow Tress to the sorceress. Salay says part of the helm's job is to stop the captain from making bad decisions. Salay asks if they will set out for the midnightMidnight seaSea now, or in the morning. Tress acknowledges this is what she wants. She then says not to wake her except forif Death "nails in hisshows eyes"up, and maybe not even then.

The ''Crow's Song'' continues toward the Midnight Sea. Tress reveals Huck to Ann, Salay, and Fort. She tells them why she left home, and that she wants to rescue Charlie from the Sorceress. She tries to come up with ideas for how to protect the ship in the Midnight Sea, howeverbut she is too tired to come up with anything. Ann, Salay, and Fort enter her quarters and tell her about their ideas they had. Fort suggests that they modify the spore gun Tress had created into a spore cannonball so that they can immobilize the machine men. He also says that while the window at the top of the tower is too small for humans, Huck would be able to fit through by climbing up a verdant vine. However, Huck reveals that this wouldn't work, as the tower is coated in silver. But he says that there is a way he can get her through the door. He then points out that they still need a way to survive the Midnight Sea, and Tress gets an idea.

Tress places two midnight spores on the table. She explains to the officers how they work and drops water with an eyedropper on toonto them. The midnightMidnight essenceEssence bonds to Fort, but Tress offers it more water as a bribe. The midnight essenceIt then bonds to her, and she dismisses it. She thinks that she'll be able to do this to the midnightMidnight essenceEssence in the midnightMidnight seaSea. Laggart then shows up and asks to speak with Tress in private. Tress agrees, and Laggart demands that she shoot him. He thinks that the reason she hasn't killed him yet is because she's waiting until he's comfortable in order to kill him when he doesn't expect it. So he asks for her to get it over with and just shoot him. Tress tells him that she isn't going to shoot him, but if he wants she can throw him in the brig. Laggart realizes that there are generous people in the world, and he stumbles out the room, shocked.

Tress feels relief due to the fact that they had a solution to all the major problems involved with defeating The Sorceress. This feeling doesn't last long, however, due to the fact that Hoid hadhas been throwing the food and water overboard, leaving them with only enough to make it to the Verdant Sea. Hoid accidentally reveals that Huck told him to do it. Tress confronts Huck, and he tells her that he had to do it for her own good. This causes Hoid to remember [[shattering|when he said those words to 16sixteen other people.]]. Tress finds a cage for Huck and worries about what she'll do next. She wonders if the'llthey will be able to restock and how she would pay the Dougs. However, the Dougs agree to keep going and to eat Verdant vines. Huck realizes that in the end his betrayal didn't affect anything.

Tress realizes that her plan hitched on Huck letting her into the Sorceresses tower. Now that that is no longer an option, she starts to doubt if her plan ever could work. Tress asks Salay if she'd ever heard of a ship coming back from the midnightMidnight seaSea. Salay says that she hadn't. Tress goes to Ulaam and tells him that she can't defeat the Sorceress, and that she is worried about disappointing everyone who expects her too. Ulaam jokes that no one expects her to beat the Sorceress, so they won't be disappointed when she loosesloses and the Sorceress kills them all. Tress snaps at him and asks how he can not care. Ulaam then apologizes and eases her worries about whether or not she's forcing the crew to join her. Ulaam tells her that they want to help her because they blame themselves for the deaths Crow caused, and that she's offering them a chance at redemption. Ulaam tells her that her best chance at beating the Sorceress is Hoid. Tress asks how the Sorceress cursed him if he was so powerful, and Ulaam responds that he thinks he got cursed on purpose. Tress decides to get Hoid to defeat the Sorceress, and tells Salay to prepare a shipboat for her to go alone in.

The officers all object to letting Tress go on her own. Tress explains that she wants to test whether or not she can take control of the Midnight Essence, and she tells them that she cannot make more hardship for them. Salay suggests that they lure a Midnight Essence to the edge of the crimsonCrimson sea,Sea and test it that way. But Tress refuses, as it would put the crew in danger. Salay says that the crew wants to help her and asks Tress to let them do it. Tress refuses and asks for a shipboat. Huck asks for her to take him with her and something in his voice convinces her to do so. Tress rows out into the Midnight Sea, and after a few hours a Midnight Essence that looks like a giant snake approaches her. Tress tries to take control of it, but fails. Just when the creature looks as it is about to attack her, Huck tells it to stop and take him to the Sorceress. The Midnight Essence obeys, and the narrator says that "Huck the rat had returned to the place where he’d been created, as instructed by the Sorceress."

Tress arrives at the Sorceress's island, and Huck refuses to answer why the midnightMidnight essenceEssence listened to him. Tress pushes him, and he admits that he belonged to the Sorceress. Tress sees the [[awakening|Awakened]] metal men on the island. As she stares up at the tower, she notes that it has more silver than she'd ever seen before. Huck asks for the door to open saying that he has brought a captive for the Sorceress, and it does. Tress walks in, and the door locks behind her.

Tress enters the tower and sees an [[aon|aonic]]ic symbol on the ground. She walks up the stairs and enters a circular room with a map of [[Lumar|Lumar]] on the ground. She sees the Sorceress looking through her laptop. The Sorceress turns around and insults Tress's hair. Tress demands for her to return Charlie. The Sorceress dismisses her. Surprisingly she changes her mind offers to releases Charlie in exchange for Tress's cups. Tress is happy to have Charlie back but is suspicious of why the Sorceress changed her mind. Tress realizes that it is not actually Charlie. She runs up the stairs and realizes that the Sorceress turned Charlie into a rat, and that Huck was actually Charlie the entire time.

Tress points out that Huck stammered whenever she tried to get him to talk about the island, because he was cursed. She realizes that the only way to break the curse would be for her to come to the island, but Charlie still tried to keep her away. He tried to tell her he was Charlie, but the curse wouldn't let him. Then he tried Chuck but all that came out was Huck. Charlie apologizes for bringing her here, and he tried to stop her because he knew the Sorceress would curse her. The Sorceress then explains that the only way for the curse to be broken is for her to curse Tress. Then the ''Crow's Song'' arrives into the midnightMidnight seaSea.

The story goes back a day to the perspective of the crew of the Crows''Crow's Song''. A Doug sees the Midnight Essence capturing Tress, and Fort proposes an idea. The ship sails into the Midnight Sea, and three midnightMidnight essencesEssences slither on board. They find Fort standing in the middle of the ship surrounded by barrels of water each with a keg of spores suspended above them. Fort tells them that if they protect them through the Midnight Sea he'll give them the barrels of water. But if they don't, he'll give themthe water to the other spores instead. The Essences agree, and the Crows''Crow's Song'' sails toward the Sorceress's island. Tress sees this and manages to speak to Fort through the board (due to the fact that the Sorceress had hacked it) and warns them about the rocks surrounding the Sorceress's island. Tress realizes that if Hoid couldn't talk about the Sorceress's island, it must be because breaking the curse involves him getting there. Tress asks for the officers to get Hoid to the Sorceress's island, and they agree. The Sorceress realizes what Tress is doing, and cuts off the communication. She then traps Tress against the wall. Charlie tries to free her, but to no avail. Charlie realizes that he can open the door and leaps down to do it.

Salay sails the ship past the stones and asks Hoid why Tress thinks that he can save her,; however, the curse stops him from answering. They reach the bay, and the Sorceress sends the metal men forward to stop them. Ann shoots a spore cannonball at them and misses. Laggart then comes and gives her the positions, and they manage to hit them.

In the tower, whileWhile being held captive in the tower, Tress reflects on the fact that this is what she really expected. She never thought she would be able to defeat the Sorceress, and she had found her repeated success unnerving. Tress sees the metal men being trapped with vines through the screen, and feels pride at her design. However, Charlie is still unable to get past the cat and open the door. Charlie tells Tress to distract the Sorceress, and he runs for the pewter cup. He enters the cup and rolls down the stairs while Tress distracts the Sorceress. Tress tells the Sorceress that being captured and powerless isn't really so bad, because everyone needs help sometimes. As long as you live your life as the kind of person who deserves help, it's alright. The Sorceress tries to curse Tress, but just then Charlie opens the door and Hoid enters. He creates an investedInvested shield out of Aons to block the curse. It turns out that Hoid and the Sorceress had made a bet. She would curse him, and if he could enter the tower, the curse would be lifted and he would become an [[Elantrian]]. The Sorceress releases Tress, and Tress demands that she leavesleave the planet. The Sorceress asks who she was to demand things atof her, and in response the crew pullpulls out pistols and Hoid raises his hands. The Sorceress leaves in the tower (which was actually a spaceship), and Hoid changes the parameters of CharliesCharlie's curse.

5Five months later the crewscrew's new ship, the ''[[Two Cups]]'', arrives at [[Diggen's Point]]. Defeating the Sorceress and being able to trade through the Crimson and Midnight Seas gave the crew a lot of influence with the king. Tress used this to make it so that anyone can leave Diggen's Point whenever they want, but if they stay for 20twenty years they get a lot of money. Hoid had modified CharliesCharlie's curse so that instead of having to bring the person he loved to the Sorceress' home to be cursed, he had to bring her thereto her home to be versed. Charlie makes a poem for Tress, and he turns back into a human. The storyship endssails withaway, carrying the shipcrew sailingand awayTress' family.