The Locals...

Hogenbrand's Landing

---

Well, I finally made it. First time on a boat—and I'll be honest; it was awful. Much too long to be rocking back and forth. The vessel groaned and creaked without end, so sleeping was a real challenge. Nothing like my little hovel back home. Stepping foot on Hogenbrand's Landing was a thrill and relief all in one. I should be free of my pursuers. I'm finally off that bloody boat. And I'm in a New World!
 
First thing I did when I showed up was find a place to stay. It didn't take too long to find the Sleepy Deer Inn. Spoke to the barkeep—bloody man asked where my parents were—and he didn't give me any good information. I did overhear him speaking to a giant fellow. That man was like... seven feet tall! Apparently someone's paying money to go defend a port settlement. Or... an almost-port settlement. The barkeep handed the big guy a piece of paper with some information on it. So, naturally, I stole away to where he'd gotten the paper from when he wasn't looking.
 
West Seas Trading Company. Paying to wipe out a threat to that port place. For thirty-five pieces of silver! THIRTY-FIVE! And promise of future jobs!
 
Naturally, I showed up to join.
 

On the Ship

---

Thankfully, the captain didn't ask where my parents were. Must-a seen the whipcrank and figured I knew how to hold my own! He told me the name of the ship (ugh, ships again...) but... I forgot what it was called. Should just be a six hour voyage and we'll arrive at our destination. Apparently you can just mosey right on up to the port place and the brigands won't bug you. So says the captain, anyways.
 
I asked the captain about the sailors and whether or not they had issues sharing the Crows' Nest. He said some did, but probably not Andril, who had been up there when I'd arrived. I... oh. I guess it might be good to speak to the others that arrived about the time I did. Bunch of strange folk.
 
There was a fair-skinned man in some fancy chain mail and dark hair. He carried a shield and axe. Odd thing to take onto a boat. A bright blue-eyed fellow that toted around a flute seemed to follow him around. He might even be younger than me! Then came the not-so-normal looking people. That big guy from the Sleepy Deer Inn was here. So was this lady with green skin, long mossy-colored braided hair, eyes of a green I've never seen in eyes before... She was barefoot, too. And had like... fish fins sticking out of her arms and legs. Odd lady. She carried a staff. Then there was this hooded person. They kinda freaked me out. I could sometimes catch orange-y yellow eyes glint from underneath that hood... Finally, there was this little fellow with a beard. He wore furs, had a shield, and wore two strange-looking axes on loops on his belt.
 
Oh! I also had to come up with a name so... if my pursuers ever did show up here on my trail, they wouldn't know where Archer Hastings went. I guess for now I'll be known as Daron Esmerian.
 
Anyways. Back to the fun part. Andril and I had a shooting contest blasting some seagulls out of the air. I destroyed Andril. I guess that's what you get when you ask me if I can handle the weapon I'm carrying. Of course I'm good at it. I'm bloody wearing it chained to myself. It was a lot of fun, until the kill-joy quartermaster chewed us out for wasting bolts. Like missing four is going to be an issue.
 

The Storm

---

Things went well for about two or three hours. Then some of those folks I mentioned earlier pointed out the clouds. The captain appeared a bit surprise; he thought we should have a clear shot to the port place. Turns out... he was wrong.
 
I stowed away beneath deck and made sure all my gear was sealed and locked up tight. Then I prayed. I prayed harder than I ever had. Feeling the ocean move our boat like that... Makes a man feel small, you know? Here there's this massive boat made by so much wood a team of horses couldn't even move it. And the ocean is making it seem like a toy boat in a raging river... I swear we capsized. Twice. I may or may not have left my lunch in someone's spare boots...
 
The worst of it was when we rammed into rocks. Twice. Each time it sounded the crash of thunder. Then it was followed by the terrible sound of rushing water... And before we knew it, we were sloshing around in knee-high water. Thankfully, that short fellow with the weird axes knew his way around boats and how to fix them when they leaked. He told me to get tar, so I did. Then I used it to seal the patch. The weird fish-lady had somehow managed to fix the other hole almost by herself. She froze the water somehow. So that hole was easy to fix. Then we spent what felt like hours bailing out water. Fish lady, again, managed to move a bunch more water than everyone else. She didn't even need a bucket; she just gathered it into a big floating bubble and then tossed the whole thing out. I ain't never seen such strange things as I have today.
 
After the crew determined we were safe and sound, they broke course and sailed to the island to give the hull a real fix. While they did their things, they asked us to keep an eye out. Apparently these islands are super hostile. Makes you wonder why folks came to live here in the first place...
 

While the Ship Repairs

---

So keep watch we did. Apparently it was a good thing we did. For not an hour into waiting in this dreadful rain did things start to fly out of the treeline and explode. Three of the sailors were caught by the odd projectiles. Seemed like whatever it was exploded on impact and turned into a bunch of wicked splinters. Eventually, the creatures that threw... hurled... I dunno what they did with them, but eventually they showed their faces. If I'd seen weird things before this today, this beat them all. They were... frog people? Made out of wood? With weird bamboo shoots sticking out of their backs? I dunno, they were weird. Thankfully, they weren't as resilient as a tree. A few bolts and axe cuts seemed to be enough to fell them.
 
We dealth with the first group okay. Though... I think I remember someone falling unconscious. I can't remember who it was though. The fish lady went to the sailors that had been injured and saw to their wounds. I still can't get over the fact that she's a fish-lady.
 
Anyways. Three guys chased down the frog people. When they didn't show up after a few minutes, the few of us who'd held back at the beach decided it might best if someone could go check on them. I'm a quiet sort and quite the shot, so I figured I could do okay on my own. On my way to see them, though, I ran into the catman. Oh, yeah. There was a catman, too. He's all white and spotted. Anyways, catman ran by and said they'd made the others mad... And his friends were coming, too, just not as fast.
 
So I returned with catman to the beach and climbed a tree, where I laid in wait to snipe whatever stupid woodfrog-person decided to come out into the open...