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By Scott Kujawa
Part 13
Date: 16th day of the 2nd tenday of Mirtul in the year 1375 - The Year of Risen Elfkin
Time: Morning to Evening
Location:The Moonsea on the way to Shadowdale.
Weather: Temperate and clear.The days continued to grow warmer as the spring advanced towards summer. After everyone woke, Addoc started to cook again while Caerlin and Auy prayed to their deities but in Auy’s case, she needed to regain the spells she used for healing and to keep her wizard lover active through the night. Caerlin prayed to Mielikki because she held that deities’ tenets close to her heart and soul.
After a well cooked dawnfry, Ragnar continued his lessons with the swashbuckler and Auren stood nearby and watched with interest and surprise while she smiled.
Following the morning meal, the Gondsman settled down with his back to a crate and his feet rested on a coil of rope. He spent most of the day closely studying the book on poisons that had been found on board the pirate ship and he saw that about ten to twenty different types are detailed. Some of them could paralyze, some could kill, others could put someone to sleep, and others could make someone unconscious. The Gondsman took out his notebook and began to jot things down as he read; as a healer, knowing the symptoms of different toxins and their treatments could prove invaluable.
Caerlin washed herself and her clothes from one of the rain barrels before she went through her backpack and saddle bags, reorganizing them and taking inventory of what she may need to purchase once the caravan reached Shadowdale.
A few hours into this days sailing, the mercenaries noticed about five or six three-foot tall elf-like beings that are green skinned, webbed fingered and toed, with wide silver eyes. The beings stopped their playing in the water and they watched the barges pass while they spoke in a fast high-pitched language to each other.
Without his trust worthy box, Luie jumped onto the rail to wave at them and the hin was heedless of falling off the rail. In a blink he composed himself before he turned a bit green and hopped to the deck. “I knew I forgot to bring something.”
When Caer saw them, she stood and hailed them in Elven. Some of the creatures giggled and disappeared into the waves while some of them replied back in Elven that was quiet and had a liquid-like accent. Caer walked over to the railing and leaned over it as she continued to speak to them.
Caerlin greeted them respectfully and she introduced herself before she told them about the capture of the pirate ship, which made them giggle and whisper amongst themselves again before they turned their attention back to her. The scout asked them about the shark that has been seen twice and she learned that they were afraid of it because it is a shark that isn’t a shark. She asked about what the group could expect from now until landfall and they answered to stay away from the barren isle to the east because it is filled with lesser undead. She respectfully thanked them for their information and once they answered in Elven that they were glad to help a follower of Mielikki they returned to their playing in the water. Caerlin smiled at them and she watched them play until she could no longer see them.
Ragnar frowned and thumbed his ear before he smiled and walked up to the railing. He waved to the departing elf-like beings and shouted out a "My thanks" in Elven. With another giggle, one of them waved back and then returned to their chaotic teasing and splashing.
Aris finally stopped the wizard that has kept Auy’s interest, for now, and the two wizards exchanged words and after a moment, Aris was handed a bottle of ink and a dark brown pen. He sat near the back of the barge, where it was a bit quieter, and he started to scribe the spell that is on the scroll into his spellbook. As the magic transferred from the scroll and into his mind, he saw that the spell disappeared from the scroll, making the scroll worthless, before he burned it into his spellbook.
Auy headed to a part of the barge where she could lean on the railing and watch the Moonsea pass her by.
Caerlin looked through the supply wagon and after she saw that there was enough wood to make some arrows, she found Jelitha and asked if she could use the wood to craft arrows. Once Caerlin got permission, she got the wood and sat down near the front of the barge and worked on the arrows.
Addoc cooked a good, and unburned, eveningfast for the group, letting the main husband and wife cooks could get a break.
After everyone was finished eating, Caerlin cleared her throat and smiled. "Thank you for dinner Addoc, it was good." She turned to the rest of the group. "When I was talking with the fey this morning, they were kind enough to answer some of my questions. First, they told me that the shark we saw was 'a shark that isn't a shark' and when I asked more about it they said it once was human and now it’s a shark that isn't a shark, and that they are afraid of it. When I asked what we can expect ahead of us, they warned me about an isle that is full of lesser undead and that we should stay away from it." Caer shrugged, "Which sounds to me like a good idea. And," she smiled again, "they giggled when I told them that we had taken the pirate ship."
“I think I can add a little to that as well. While Caerlin was shouting with the fey, some of them held a little discussion with me in a more private manner,” Ragnar told the others, looking rather smug. “For one thing they told me about a way to make the journey back to the settlement a lot shorter, provided we can get ourselves some daises and roses. And secondly they told me a little about the mound where those pillars are. Apparently it’s a sort of gate that leads into the land of Faerie. The mound that is, not the pillars. All they said about the pillars was that they were raised by some being.”
Caer gave Ragnar a perturbed look. "I was not shouting at the fey." She smiled. "Aye, and one told me about a settlement 'southish' from where we land and that we should take extreme caution if we chance to go through it."
Addoc hrmed. "I appreciated their advice on where t'avoid, but we may want to think twice about takin' a fae road. If tales I heard in the taverns are right, they may take ye where y'want t'go, but may take ye places ye don't first."
The giant took some time to mix up a batch of thin cookies using a bit of the ginger from the pirate loot and then he set them aside to cool. Luie mediated after the meal before he practiced his forms. When the ginger crisps were cooled, Addoc sacked them up and took them over to where the hin practiced.
"Here, lad," Addoc rumbled quietly, trying not to attract too much attention as he held out the sack. "I saw ye gettin' green about gills earlier. Happens again, just eat one or two of those... one or two, mind. The ginger in 'em should settle down the churnin' in your belly, if not the spinnin' in your head."
Luie gave the large man a nod of appreciation. The hin opened the sack and proceeded to empty the contents into various folds of his outfit. Once finished, he placed the sack near Addoc’s cooking supplies and Luie momentarily thought about eating every single last one of them but he decided against it.
The content of Champions of the Silver Wyrm is the property and copyright of Scott Kujawa and is not to be published or redistributed without permission.