Dr. Gaventil Nimbledig's Journal
The initial year recorded is 689 AC as Nimbledig begins a journal after joining The Sunseeker out of Argil upon the Ocean of Aber. The first third of this diary contains the basic day to day life on board a ship. Most of the recordings are distantly stretched apart. The diary starts with good intentions but relatively quickly drops off to only the most austere conditions. From the changing of captains to the changing of ships, there is concrete information that is ultimately useless hundreds of years later. There are short lists of names written down of conspiracies of mutiny. Notable battles with beasts and other vessels occur but are scarce.
Entire years go by without entries before it is started again with apologies and renewed resolutions that will die again. Around 70 pages in, there is an unusually long entry that details his current vessel Carla's Foray being attacked by pirates hundreds of miles from land by The Adamant. All of the provisions of Carla's Foray were commandeered and Nimbledig was taken captive as an indentured servant functioning in the role of doctor. In time, Nimbledig was fully integrated into the crew.
The diary continues to go on about The Adamant's core members searching out items to better rig their ship for extended seafaring and more robust combat. The eventual goal was to never have to take to port for supplies or repairs. While Nimbledig's consistency of writing is better given the more exciting happenings, most entries are isolated and short.
The next large entry details a land expedition the crew took upon a larger island near Nystor's Path from of the Everstorm Sea. The largest and most lush of the islands, the crew searched the land until they found a temple within the shallow central valley. A few snippets of the section are provided below:
“The temple structure stands with no supports. Columns rise but attached to no ceiling. Along the ceiling, aqueducts bring water to drop down in sheets like walls but no solid walls exist. The staircase descending into the earth is lined in burning torches despite no attendants present to tend them.”
“Within the altar chamber below, the other crewman work to 'investigate' the altar by defacing it and shattering the base. They seek to remove the silvered rod that holds aloft a holy symbol of Kord, The Storm Lord. Behind the altar is a mosaic of crystals and glass shaped like raindrops. The central figure is silhouetted: broad shoulders, narrow hips, and down on one knee. The arms have the outlines of bracers and the head looks like a plumed helmet. One hand holds a massive hammer aloft while the other places a large spike into the ground. The ground around the spike and shooting out the top of it is made of orange and red glass”
“Upon climbing back up the stairs, we heard thunder tearing through the surroundings. Upon exiting the temple, the sky alternated between black and white as lighting continuously tore through the area. A jumbled rush back through the jungled land ended with less than half the crew making to the ship. I had splinters the size of daggers in my legs. The only reason they didn't have me bleed out was the amount of dirt thrust upon them from nearby explosions of soil. As we now sail away from the island, its entire length continues to be torn apart by streaks of lightning.”
The written accounts proceed to tell the tale of this fatal treasure being lashed to the main mast of The Adamant. The item's significance only became revealed when the pirates got themselves in deep trouble and picked a fight they couldn't win. The captain sailed the ship directly into the Everstorm. Bold sailors can skirt the hazardous waters. Talented crews are capable of temporarily maintaining themselves in the waves. No ship is capable of continuing deep in without having it's mast blown apart. As The Adamant pushed it's way through, the lighting began, but not a single strike brought damage to the ship.
The journal then continues to describe future pirating ventures deliberately using such tactics to get away or even to sail straight through to catch good-willed merchant ships completely unaware of the danger they are in. After a few more decades of voyaging with the Adamant, the crew became to bold. While they could outlive the thunderstorm, a damaged hull is still beaten by the waves. Before they could clear the Everstorm in 765 AC, the sea won. Nimbledig describes the horrors of surviving the waves but was eventually rescued by another merchant vessel after clearing troubled waters. Nimbledig then left sea life to find a quiet practice once again.
Entire years go by without entries before it is started again with apologies and renewed resolutions that will die again. Around 70 pages in, there is an unusually long entry that details his current vessel Carla's Foray being attacked by pirates hundreds of miles from land by The Adamant. All of the provisions of Carla's Foray were commandeered and Nimbledig was taken captive as an indentured servant functioning in the role of doctor. In time, Nimbledig was fully integrated into the crew.
The diary continues to go on about The Adamant's core members searching out items to better rig their ship for extended seafaring and more robust combat. The eventual goal was to never have to take to port for supplies or repairs. While Nimbledig's consistency of writing is better given the more exciting happenings, most entries are isolated and short.
The next large entry details a land expedition the crew took upon a larger island near Nystor's Path from of the Everstorm Sea. The largest and most lush of the islands, the crew searched the land until they found a temple within the shallow central valley. A few snippets of the section are provided below:
“The temple structure stands with no supports. Columns rise but attached to no ceiling. Along the ceiling, aqueducts bring water to drop down in sheets like walls but no solid walls exist. The staircase descending into the earth is lined in burning torches despite no attendants present to tend them.”
“Within the altar chamber below, the other crewman work to 'investigate' the altar by defacing it and shattering the base. They seek to remove the silvered rod that holds aloft a holy symbol of Kord, The Storm Lord. Behind the altar is a mosaic of crystals and glass shaped like raindrops. The central figure is silhouetted: broad shoulders, narrow hips, and down on one knee. The arms have the outlines of bracers and the head looks like a plumed helmet. One hand holds a massive hammer aloft while the other places a large spike into the ground. The ground around the spike and shooting out the top of it is made of orange and red glass”
“Upon climbing back up the stairs, we heard thunder tearing through the surroundings. Upon exiting the temple, the sky alternated between black and white as lighting continuously tore through the area. A jumbled rush back through the jungled land ended with less than half the crew making to the ship. I had splinters the size of daggers in my legs. The only reason they didn't have me bleed out was the amount of dirt thrust upon them from nearby explosions of soil. As we now sail away from the island, its entire length continues to be torn apart by streaks of lightning.”
The written accounts proceed to tell the tale of this fatal treasure being lashed to the main mast of The Adamant. The item's significance only became revealed when the pirates got themselves in deep trouble and picked a fight they couldn't win. The captain sailed the ship directly into the Everstorm. Bold sailors can skirt the hazardous waters. Talented crews are capable of temporarily maintaining themselves in the waves. No ship is capable of continuing deep in without having it's mast blown apart. As The Adamant pushed it's way through, the lighting began, but not a single strike brought damage to the ship.
The journal then continues to describe future pirating ventures deliberately using such tactics to get away or even to sail straight through to catch good-willed merchant ships completely unaware of the danger they are in. After a few more decades of voyaging with the Adamant, the crew became to bold. While they could outlive the thunderstorm, a damaged hull is still beaten by the waves. Before they could clear the Everstorm in 765 AC, the sea won. Nimbledig describes the horrors of surviving the waves but was eventually rescued by another merchant vessel after clearing troubled waters. Nimbledig then left sea life to find a quiet practice once again.
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