Session 23 - The Port City and the Sea
General Summary
From Laura's Journal
XXX Martius, AUC MMCIII
Onboard the Kingfish Unhappy cat! Oof, I knew he was not going to like it, but I don’t know how else we would have gotten passage on a ship if I had not let them put Mkali in a cage. Sigh. It does make the voyage seem longer, although above decks it has been quite fine so far. I think he is going to fuss the entire time that he is not sleeping on this trip. So far, his grumblings have been muted but if he starts to howl, I don’t know how to keep the crew calm. At least the cage is not locked. However, this voyage so far is still much nicer than the crossing to Silaxia when I was little. I should backtrack: we left Nemasus on the XXVI Martius and had an uneventful journey to Port Voltur. It is a big city, so based on Hassan’s explanation, Mkali went to find a good forest outside the walls near the low district for ease of approaching a ship without city entanglements when the time came. I know Rome must be much larger, but I have not seen such a gathering of the peoples of Rome, or seen them so settled before. Cities are odd. I prefer more trees! Or at least grassland with open sky. We headed across town to the tavern where Hassan used to perform with his Eris; I think he was planning on having us stay there or nearby, but it seems to be an area for dens of iniquity. I suspect it does not look so disreputable when one calls it home. I wonder what Hassan would think of our home-hole under tree; he probably would have trouble seeing it, most humans do. Entering the inn was interesting as Bandua spotted an old comrade at arms and bee-lined towards her. We have not crossed paths with his old companions before, so this rather startled me. In retrospect I don’t suppose I should wonder at this as I have come to know the oldster’s loyalty and gruff care these last 5 years or more, and it is not as if we have been in cities bigger than Nemasus. Anyhow, we met Tertia and she seemed rather disoriented. I guess my friends and I can be a bit of a crowd and a surprise, especially if you have sat down for a quiet drink where you think you don’t know anyone. I have gotten used to traveling with a Human, Dwarf and Aarakocra so didn’t think about what kind of impression we might cause. Or how overwhelming it might be to be descended on by 2, 3 then 5 people, 5 thanks to Hassan. But I get ahead of myself again. Of course, we were not in much of an order ourselves, not like it feels sometimes when we get into combat! Hassan had made a mark of an old friend of his and gone to the other side of the room and Kleeck was standing lost in the doorway until Bandua called him over. Just then Hassan noticed we had not followed him and set to dragging his friend, and his friend’s table across the room. This caught the barkeep's attention and we soon had wine and a joined table for the 6 of us. Introductions, though cursory, were made all round, the barkeep and owner of the tavern is Masaharta and, Qunitus is a sailor and Hassan’s old friend. Discussion of adventures was fun until we got to the parts where we just don’t know what is safe to say. Not that much of it is believable anyway. At least I would have thought folks were yarning if I had not lived it! I was pretty sure that Tertia did not believe one word in three, and the ones she believes are bound to be the ones that tell too much of our story. Her ears pricked up and I could see the gears tuning as Kleeck stumbled in his tale and Hassan tried to rush in too fast about sailors’ yarns being true. However, the oldster seems to trust her even if he does not know her that well. We will see. Hassan asked Quintus to ask around and see if any ships were going our way as his vessel was headed towards Troichtir and not towards the Myrkyr isles. And then Hassan brought up Eris again. This set off quite a stir as Quintus, spluttered and said, "you have not heard?" -- then dropped the bad news that she had set sail on a ship that vanished at sea. I have not seen this kind of destress expressed in humans before. Hassan promptly seemed to shut down and then tried to get very drunk. So, I asked Bandua to make sure I was following things. I know Hassan has a head for wine normally, but this was almost scary and was impressive, especially in that he was not so drunk even with all that wine. Guess Tertia was slipping as much or more water into his cup as wine. Quintus left about his business and we started to look to our own slightly travel-weary and in the case of Hassan grief-shocked needs. Tertia said she was staying at a much nicer inn in the east quarter of town before shipping out to the Myrkyr Isles, and that we might be able to both stay at the inn and book passage on the same ship. So, we trooped over across town to the inn and got rooms for the night. Hassan went to see about his old apartment, I wondered if it was wise to let him head off on his own in that state but there seemed to be no good reason to stop him in his home haunts. I think the walk to the inn cleared his head a bit as well. He came back grumbling about locks being changed on apartments and needing to change money from aurei to silver so that he could pay the rent without showing too much wealth. Apparently, like as for the rest of us (except for Bandua?), gold is a novel thing. We had dinner and exchanged more detailed stories with Tertia. She seems like an honest solid soldier, with a penchant for neatness. She offered again to introduce us to the caption of the Kingfish in the morning. We started the next morning by successfully booking passage on the Kingfish. It seems like a good solid boat, but I was not looking forward to explaining the cage to Mkali. Not sure how else I could do it. Hassan, Bandua and I went to the bank. I had not been in one before so was glad to have the oldster’s instructions. It does seem safer to have one’s aurei in multiple places. Kleeck had gone off to do some other shopping and Hassan and I headed back towards the low district; he went to settle up with his land lady, and I went out the gate to find Mkali and discuss travel plans. Seeing Hassan paying rent for his apartment does make me wonder if I will return to the Westwood for good at some point. With my folks gone and the likelihood that Crispus will have moved on I think I would be more likely to head back to the Last Healing Hearth and see what the Company is up to. We spent the afternoon resting and rearranging gear in preparation for a dawn departure on the Kingfish. Hassan is in quite the denial over Eris, and wants to hunt up all sorts of unlikely phenomena, including great, moving, traveling, unpredictable boat eating whirlpools… Bandua keeps putting his head in his hands and shaking it almost in despair whenever we talk of our adventures and leave awkward holes in the story. We will really have to take some time on this voyage and figure out a coherent legal way to say things. Onboard Kleeck cast a spell of water breathing on all of us including Tertia and Mkali. I thought at first that our travel at sea was lovely except for the kitty grumbles from below, until I realized that Kleeck was trying to stay aloft to reduce seasickness and Bandua was very green and hanging over the rails. Not sure why it did not impact me at all, I had much of that trouble on the trip the Silaxia. Ah well they survived the day, and a night’s rest seemed to settle their sea legs and wings. (I suppose Aarakocra have sea wings???) We continue to dance around what to tell Tertia although I think she will have it all out of Kleeck or Hassan before this voyage is over. Not sure that I am any better about not leaving gaping holes in the story if I try to tell it and the oldster continues to sit there and shake his head at all of us… Tertia does seem to think we might find good information at one of the scholars’ colleges or elven libraries so perhaps we can go digging through scrolls rather than asking questions out loud. Not sure if that is safer but it surely is worth a try. Each day Hassan seems even more obsessed with his Eris and her fate.
XXX Martius, AUC MMCIII
Onboard the Kingfish Unhappy cat! Oof, I knew he was not going to like it, but I don’t know how else we would have gotten passage on a ship if I had not let them put Mkali in a cage. Sigh. It does make the voyage seem longer, although above decks it has been quite fine so far. I think he is going to fuss the entire time that he is not sleeping on this trip. So far, his grumblings have been muted but if he starts to howl, I don’t know how to keep the crew calm. At least the cage is not locked. However, this voyage so far is still much nicer than the crossing to Silaxia when I was little. I should backtrack: we left Nemasus on the XXVI Martius and had an uneventful journey to Port Voltur. It is a big city, so based on Hassan’s explanation, Mkali went to find a good forest outside the walls near the low district for ease of approaching a ship without city entanglements when the time came. I know Rome must be much larger, but I have not seen such a gathering of the peoples of Rome, or seen them so settled before. Cities are odd. I prefer more trees! Or at least grassland with open sky. We headed across town to the tavern where Hassan used to perform with his Eris; I think he was planning on having us stay there or nearby, but it seems to be an area for dens of iniquity. I suspect it does not look so disreputable when one calls it home. I wonder what Hassan would think of our home-hole under tree; he probably would have trouble seeing it, most humans do. Entering the inn was interesting as Bandua spotted an old comrade at arms and bee-lined towards her. We have not crossed paths with his old companions before, so this rather startled me. In retrospect I don’t suppose I should wonder at this as I have come to know the oldster’s loyalty and gruff care these last 5 years or more, and it is not as if we have been in cities bigger than Nemasus. Anyhow, we met Tertia and she seemed rather disoriented. I guess my friends and I can be a bit of a crowd and a surprise, especially if you have sat down for a quiet drink where you think you don’t know anyone. I have gotten used to traveling with a Human, Dwarf and Aarakocra so didn’t think about what kind of impression we might cause. Or how overwhelming it might be to be descended on by 2, 3 then 5 people, 5 thanks to Hassan. But I get ahead of myself again. Of course, we were not in much of an order ourselves, not like it feels sometimes when we get into combat! Hassan had made a mark of an old friend of his and gone to the other side of the room and Kleeck was standing lost in the doorway until Bandua called him over. Just then Hassan noticed we had not followed him and set to dragging his friend, and his friend’s table across the room. This caught the barkeep's attention and we soon had wine and a joined table for the 6 of us. Introductions, though cursory, were made all round, the barkeep and owner of the tavern is Masaharta and, Qunitus is a sailor and Hassan’s old friend. Discussion of adventures was fun until we got to the parts where we just don’t know what is safe to say. Not that much of it is believable anyway. At least I would have thought folks were yarning if I had not lived it! I was pretty sure that Tertia did not believe one word in three, and the ones she believes are bound to be the ones that tell too much of our story. Her ears pricked up and I could see the gears tuning as Kleeck stumbled in his tale and Hassan tried to rush in too fast about sailors’ yarns being true. However, the oldster seems to trust her even if he does not know her that well. We will see. Hassan asked Quintus to ask around and see if any ships were going our way as his vessel was headed towards Troichtir and not towards the Myrkyr isles. And then Hassan brought up Eris again. This set off quite a stir as Quintus, spluttered and said, "you have not heard?" -- then dropped the bad news that she had set sail on a ship that vanished at sea. I have not seen this kind of destress expressed in humans before. Hassan promptly seemed to shut down and then tried to get very drunk. So, I asked Bandua to make sure I was following things. I know Hassan has a head for wine normally, but this was almost scary and was impressive, especially in that he was not so drunk even with all that wine. Guess Tertia was slipping as much or more water into his cup as wine. Quintus left about his business and we started to look to our own slightly travel-weary and in the case of Hassan grief-shocked needs. Tertia said she was staying at a much nicer inn in the east quarter of town before shipping out to the Myrkyr Isles, and that we might be able to both stay at the inn and book passage on the same ship. So, we trooped over across town to the inn and got rooms for the night. Hassan went to see about his old apartment, I wondered if it was wise to let him head off on his own in that state but there seemed to be no good reason to stop him in his home haunts. I think the walk to the inn cleared his head a bit as well. He came back grumbling about locks being changed on apartments and needing to change money from aurei to silver so that he could pay the rent without showing too much wealth. Apparently, like as for the rest of us (except for Bandua?), gold is a novel thing. We had dinner and exchanged more detailed stories with Tertia. She seems like an honest solid soldier, with a penchant for neatness. She offered again to introduce us to the caption of the Kingfish in the morning. We started the next morning by successfully booking passage on the Kingfish. It seems like a good solid boat, but I was not looking forward to explaining the cage to Mkali. Not sure how else I could do it. Hassan, Bandua and I went to the bank. I had not been in one before so was glad to have the oldster’s instructions. It does seem safer to have one’s aurei in multiple places. Kleeck had gone off to do some other shopping and Hassan and I headed back towards the low district; he went to settle up with his land lady, and I went out the gate to find Mkali and discuss travel plans. Seeing Hassan paying rent for his apartment does make me wonder if I will return to the Westwood for good at some point. With my folks gone and the likelihood that Crispus will have moved on I think I would be more likely to head back to the Last Healing Hearth and see what the Company is up to. We spent the afternoon resting and rearranging gear in preparation for a dawn departure on the Kingfish. Hassan is in quite the denial over Eris, and wants to hunt up all sorts of unlikely phenomena, including great, moving, traveling, unpredictable boat eating whirlpools… Bandua keeps putting his head in his hands and shaking it almost in despair whenever we talk of our adventures and leave awkward holes in the story. We will really have to take some time on this voyage and figure out a coherent legal way to say things. Onboard Kleeck cast a spell of water breathing on all of us including Tertia and Mkali. I thought at first that our travel at sea was lovely except for the kitty grumbles from below, until I realized that Kleeck was trying to stay aloft to reduce seasickness and Bandua was very green and hanging over the rails. Not sure why it did not impact me at all, I had much of that trouble on the trip the Silaxia. Ah well they survived the day, and a night’s rest seemed to settle their sea legs and wings. (I suppose Aarakocra have sea wings???) We continue to dance around what to tell Tertia although I think she will have it all out of Kleeck or Hassan before this voyage is over. Not sure that I am any better about not leaving gaping holes in the story if I try to tell it and the oldster continues to sit there and shake his head at all of us… Tertia does seem to think we might find good information at one of the scholars’ colleges or elven libraries so perhaps we can go digging through scrolls rather than asking questions out loud. Not sure if that is safer but it surely is worth a try. Each day Hassan seems even more obsessed with his Eris and her fate.
Rewards Granted
300 experience points
Missions/Quests Completed
Minor Milestone - Contract a ship to leave Port Voltur.
Character(s) interacted with
- Masaharta Nazari - Tavern Keeper
- Quintus Catienus Pictor - Sailor, old friend of Hassan's
- Paula Saltoria - Madame of the She-Wolf's Den
- Agrippa - Innkeeper of the East Gate Inn
- Nona -- one-eyed merchant in the Low District forum (sells magical components, mostly of low quality)
- Decimus Vorenius - Captain of the Kingfish
- Intakaes Moghadam - Quartermaster of the Kingfish
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