"It's bad luck to set sail at night," said Adonica. "You do know that, don't you?"

Gunnar, raising his hands to cup his mouth, shouted, "Hey, be careful with those supplies!"

The recipient of this sentiment was a beanpole of a man wearing overalls, visible within the lantern light of the dock. He and another man-an even more accurate caricature of a farmer than the first-were doing their best to haul a crate into the open cargo hold of the Gryphon II. In response to Gunnar's ...