A single row of sweeps, open-decked. A war-galley, lateen-rigged, the sail reefed now in the dead air. Bars searched the waters at the bow for any hint of a ram but saw no wake or frothing. Strange that, usually any war-galley would have a ram. Shields lined the sides of the vessel...What Bars could now see was that what he had taken for shields were that, but oddly shaped, each painted to resemble a mask.