Legends of Runeterra

Ah, Bilgewater.

This place is a garbage dump filled with hatred and stench, where murder and betrayal are rampant... Damn it, it feels good to be home.

I rowed across Bilgewater Bay with my back to the open ocean, so that before me lay the lights of the port city, looking from afar like a field of fool’s gold.

We've ply our trade across the Valoran landscape, visiting the City of Progress and its uglier, more decrepit sister, but things are starting to get heated. Furthermore, the prince has sent us this contract, and the price is too good to refuse.

The price is ridiculously good; I think this is a scam. It's definitely not that simple—it never is. But like I said, the money is too good to be true.

I still can't believe we're actually back. The last time we were here, things were a bit heated.

Sarah Doom played us around like a madman—me, Tristana, and Gangplank. No one dared to stand up to that madman like she did. He got his ship and his crew blown away, and all of Bilgewater watched. Tristana and I had a front-row seat to the spectacle. We only survived thanks to sheer luck. I'm certainly upset with her, but I have to admit, she's incredibly reckless to have pulled off such a stunt. I hear she's the leader now. A few captains are still missing; they either need to surrender or face the depths of Bilgewater Harbor.

"Could you please be a little more serious? We're off course."

I glared at Cui Zi. I was sweating profusely here, and this little bastard was sitting there comfortably, absentmindedly flipping through the cards with his slippery fingers. He was so skinny he couldn't even paddle, but he was lying there like a Demacia lord while criticizing me, which made me furious.

He was actually right—the current had pushed us several hundred yards south, and I had to paddle a little harder to get to where I wanted to be. That only made me even angrier.

"If you want to switch with me, just tell me anytime, master." I said viciously.

"No," he said, placing the three cards face down on the barrel in front of him. "Busy."

I turned back, indignant, to reassure myself. We were passing through a dense forest of sharp rocks, like daggers rising from the sea. Of course, the rocks that emerged from the sea weren't a problem. When sailing, it's the unseen knives that are the real killers.

The reefs, known as the "Widow Makers," have claimed dozens of ships over the years. You can still see the wreckage of ships that ran aground: broken masts wedged between the rocks, splintered planks swirling in eddies, and rotting boat nets tangled in the sharp tips of the reef.

Most of the wrecks are thanks to captains so foolish as to not spend the money to hire a Baru Wave Whisperer to guide them into port. Not very smart, saving money costs lives.

Thankfully, our foray into the Widowmaker's watertight watercraft only extended ten feet from bow to stern. This leaky little boat was called the Fearless, and I must admit, even though we'd only met a few hours earlier, I was already growing fond of her. She wasn't a pretty sight, with a bit of rust around the edges and a lot of paint chipping, but she hadn't drowned us yet, which was impressive. And she hadn't criticized my oars.

Cui Zi flipped over three cards in turn. He frowned, then shuffled his deck. He'd been tinkering with the cards since we'd drawn them from White Harbor. The result seemed to frighten him, but I didn't dwell on it. There was no gain from venturing into the bay tonight, but we had to give it our all. Thankfully, we'd already collected half the Golden Kraken.

In my opinion, we can only receive half of it, and I have no complaints.

My paddle smacked a handful of seawater into Cui Zi's face. He stopped shuffling the cards and glared at me. "Could you be more careful?" he said.

Yes, I was quite careful.

"Sorry." I shrugged and continued paddling.

He took off his hat and wiped his face. He glared at me again and put his hat back on. He pulled the brim down low, trying to appear mysterious. I looked at him, completely dumbfounded.

I suppressed a smirk and plunged one of the oars deep into the water. This time, it was incredibly satisfying, splashing him squarely on the side of his face. Wow.

"Oh, good luck," he snapped, glaring at me. He stuck a finger into his ear and dug hard. "You did this on purpose."

"I couldn't help it," I said. "It's your fault, all that fancy dressing, that expensive coat, and that weekly bath. It brought out the evil side of me."

I splashed him again, this time a bit harder. He was soaked. Furious, he stood up and thrust a finger at me, but the sheer force of the movement caused the Fearless to rock violently. He immediately sat down, holding onto the sides of the boat with both hands, the panic on his face almost comical. Even with his pretentious ways, in that moment, all of Cui Zi's cool and composed demeanor was thrown overboard.

I shook my head and laughed. It was still funny to think about it now: a River Nomad who had lived in Bilgewater for most of his life, and he still couldn't swim.

His eyes were throwing knives at me, and his once-oiled hair was now sticking to his forehead like wet seaweed. I tried to hold it in, but the sight still made me giggle.

"You fool," he said.

I continued paddling. A moment later, the third bell rang from Bilgewater's harbor.

"We're here." Cui Zi said and opened the cards again.

I looked back. Ahead, a craggy reef rose high, large enough to be an island but looking like any other.

"really?"

"It's true," he said impatiently, probably still resentful of being wet. "I've checked it over and over again. The cards always told me it was here."

Cui Zi's cards can be used in many ways. He can use them to get in and out of tight spaces, and they're quite effective when we're working. I once saw him use a card to detonate a cart, and it looked like it was filled with gunpowder. But tonight's trick is in the old-fashioned Great River Nomad tradition. It usually works, I have to say.

Under Cui Zi's command, I rowed the Fearless toward the reef, to the leeward side of the smooth rock. The sea rose and fell, as if it would smash us onto the reef at any time, but I kept her steady, waited for Cui Zi to tell me we had found the right place, and then decisively dropped anchor.

The reef in front of us stands tall.

"Then...how do we climb up?" I asked.

"No," he said. "The cards tell me the altar is inside."

"Why didn't I see the entrance to the cave?"