So that was it. We waved farewell to our master and confidant. The Frosthamar was a single-masted knarr with a square sail. Similar to a Viking longship but wider and with a deeper hull better suited to carry cargo. Loaded the Frosthamar was. Sitting heavy in the water, the ugly ship held twenty four tons of weaponry, arrows and shields emblazoned with a flaming axe. The captain was a grizzled north-man with a wiry beard, pale blonde hair and countless scars. His name was Kargeld Odenkirk and he was, as promised, a ruthless mercenary with little thought of anyone but himself. His crew consisted of a half dozen grim sailors who spoke little of the common Talirean tongue.
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| The Frosthamar |
We met Kargeld and all he asked was “You will guard our boat all the way north, yes?” Maldrake nodded and sat down on a crate. We all loaded aboard and the ship started to make our way north. The air was musty and humid but crisp enough to sleep under the stars with out much grief. We had to sleep shoulder to shoulder with his crew and the cargo. Thankfully, Kargeld's crew took the first shift of what I assume will be many shifts to come.
10:30 A.M - Day 99, Arodus 31, 3042 AP (After Peace)
We traveled a day and half down the river Varnyn and out into the open ocean. It was a fairly boring few hours. We passed by countless farming communities and fishing villages. Kargeld would smile smugly and give a big ol' cheerful wave to everyone. Citing to us that "Wouldm't want'em getting suspicious eh?"
6:00 P.M - Day 103, Rova 3, 3042 AP (After Peace)
Three days have passed. We can see the bustling city of Daveryn to the west, we make small chat about it. Kargeld quickly quashes our small talk. “This is no pleasure cruise. Besides, I won’t get our cargo within a mile of a Talirean harbormaster.” Praise Asmodeus to give me the strength not to murder this pompous asshole. I cannot wait to watch his pitiful little ship burn and his ignorant crew get fed to the fresh water beast.
5:00 P.M - Day 104, Rova 4, 3042 AP (After Peace)
The Blade of St. Martius
Not more than a day later, just when we were certain this trip could not get more boring the unexpected happened. Some action! We spotted a patrol ship coming from the west. Kargeld shouted “She’s seen us, sure as damnation. And there is no way the ‘Frosthamar’ will outrun her loaded like this. One look at our cargo and they’ll know us for exactly what we are – weapon smugglers.”
Maldrake, keeping his composure are the incompetence of this dwarf said "Be easy friend. Be soft. Lets not make a ruckus unless we need to. "
Kargeld, replied "What did ya have in mind?"
Maldrake, "Leave that to me and Urgeon, you just have you men ready in case this goes south." Kargeld nodded. Maldrake and the rest of us Grumblejack excluded activated our circlets we had received before the Nine Knots. Since they are hats of disguise in magical properties, we made our selves look like knights similar to Sir Balin. We tied up Grumblejack so that it looked like he was a prisoner and positioned the rest of the crew around him. Kargeld stood at the front of the ship.
After about ten minutes the ship finally pulled aside The Frosthamar. The crew of this ship yell out “Heave to in the name of the king!” Heave we did. The captain of the patrol boat spoke "Who is the leader of this ship!"
Maldrake, seeing that Kargeld was seconds away from blowing our master plan said with a booming baritone of a voice, "Solider stand down! Do you know who you are addressing? Do you have any idea the kind of shit you and I both are going to get from the Watch Wall if we don't get this prisoner north!"
Captain Sambryl retorted, "I am Captain Sambryl and this is my ship The Blade of St. Martius. We are tasked solely with patrolling these waters and not one damn person from the Watch Wall has informed us of any prisoner transfer, explain yourself right now!"
Maldrake, "Classified."
Captain Sambryl was so taken back by this he quite literally stepped back two steps. "What do you mean classified? Branderscar Prison is to the south, you are going north. This doesn't make sense!"
Urgeon stepped up and gently moved Maldrake aside, "Sir, if I may. Captain, you clearly have not been paying attention to your ravens. There has already been at least 8 escapees in the last few months. We can't have that. Those drunkards down at Branderscar have sealed their fate. Those idiots allows 6 prisoners at once to get the best of them, this ogre is one of them."
Captain Sambryl pondered for a moment and said "Just doesn't make sense, we are suppose to be running the Watch Wall priorities."
Maldrake said, "Well, we have our orders like you have your orders. I imagine they didn't want to leave an opening for smugglers just to transport one stupid ogre to his death north."
Questioning further Captain Sambryl asked, "And these crates of arms and armor?"
Maldrake explained, "Bugbear invasion was rumored."
"Awful lot of weaponry for a rumor." Captain Sambryl interrogated.
Maldrake sternly retorted, "Again, classified. I could get put in the stockades for telling you the kind of wood these crates are made of. Listen, do you question all your fellow officers this way? Look, we get it you have a job to do, great job. Maybe you'll get an accommodation some day. You know how this works, orders are orders and if you delay us any further I will be forced to inform your superiors when I get to the north. "
"Be on your way then, watch the northern seas, they are getting dangerous this time of year." warned Captain Sambryl. Captain Sambryl and his crew loaded up and the ship began to move away.
Kargeld sighed "That was close, I was ready to split the ugly mugs face with muh axe!"
Not much else happened after that until about a day and half later.
7:15 P.M - Day 106, Rova 6, 3042 AP (After Peace)
The Hope of the Haunted
We were just getting ready for a shift change. We had just awoke so the crew of the ship could rest up. It was a good thing too. We got ambushed. Out of no where four or five it was hard to count with all the crates and action, water elemental attacked us. That drew the focus of a few of us, but quickly Maldrake, Kallista, Grumblejack and Kargeld could see to the east five tritons. Grumblejack quickly dove off into the water to swim after them. We focused on dispatching the elementals but not before Urgonen was pushed off the side. Stryder let loose arrows along with Strumm.
Kallista and one of the triton began exchanged insults. It was apparent that this leader of the group was devoted to Mitra and Kallista's black blade urged her to slay him, it would be a great pleasure. She dove into the water, but it seemed like every time anyone tried to fight this being they would feel the urge to turn away, so we continued to beat down the small force until we closed in on the leader.
It wasn't hard once Kargeld's crew could focus fire him down. In this creature's dying gargling voice we heard "The shining sun has seen the wickedness you hide in hearts. And thus it will be the son who brings your doom."
"Uh huh." Kallista mocked. And that was it. Whatever the purpose of this suicide was, we couldn't figure it out. We regrouped and continued our shifts. It was over so fast it was all we could think to do.
8:00 A.M - Day 107, Rova 7, 3042 AP (After Peace)
Seal Isle
We had a good rest, the seas were calm and according to our map we should be nearing the shore with in another day. Or rather we should have. Kargeld dropped one hell of a bomb on us, “We are a little light on fresh water I think. We are passing Seal Isle and there is a stream that feeds into the bay there. We’ll take on water there. I’ll send a party to the shore. Of course, that means we’ll spend a day in some of the richest fur seal hunting grounds all along this coast. I’m thinking of organizing a hunting expedition. Interested?”
Maldrake and Urgoen were the only ones to speak out. It was nothing major but Kargeld was very adamant about going there. We were forced to go, we couldn't blow our cover. He seemed believable enough and Thorn did say he was getting to greedy for his own good. We thought it was a trap for certain but that was only our guts we had no real proof. We would have to see.
Kargeld bellowed out, “This is my boat! I’m the captain! I say we need water so we get it!” Looks like we are on our way to make some extra funds at Seal Isle. Trip will probably take a few days. It is really out of our way.
10:30 A.M - Day 99, Arodus 31, 3042 AP (After Peace)
We traveled a day and half down the river Varnyn and out into the open ocean. It was a fairly boring few hours. We passed by countless farming communities and fishing villages. Kargeld would smile smugly and give a big ol' cheerful wave to everyone. Citing to us that "Wouldm't want'em getting suspicious eh?"
6:00 P.M - Day 103, Rova 3, 3042 AP (After Peace)
Three days have passed. We can see the bustling city of Daveryn to the west, we make small chat about it. Kargeld quickly quashes our small talk. “This is no pleasure cruise. Besides, I won’t get our cargo within a mile of a Talirean harbormaster.” Praise Asmodeus to give me the strength not to murder this pompous asshole. I cannot wait to watch his pitiful little ship burn and his ignorant crew get fed to the fresh water beast.
5:00 P.M - Day 104, Rova 4, 3042 AP (After Peace)
The Blade of St. Martius
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| The Blade of St. Martius |
Maldrake, keeping his composure are the incompetence of this dwarf said "Be easy friend. Be soft. Lets not make a ruckus unless we need to. "
Kargeld, replied "What did ya have in mind?"
 |
| Strumm taking aim |
Maldrake, "Leave that to me and Urgeon, you just have you men ready in case this goes south." Kargeld nodded. Maldrake and the rest of us Grumblejack excluded activated our circlets we had received before the Nine Knots. Since they are hats of disguise in magical properties, we made our selves look like knights similar to Sir Balin. We tied up Grumblejack so that it looked like he was a prisoner and positioned the rest of the crew around him. Kargeld stood at the front of the ship.
After about ten minutes the ship finally pulled aside The Frosthamar. The crew of this ship yell out “Heave to in the name of the king!” Heave we did. The captain of the patrol boat spoke "Who is the leader of this ship!"
Maldrake, seeing that Kargeld was seconds away from blowing our master plan said with a booming baritone of a voice, "Solider stand down! Do you know who you are addressing? Do you have any idea the kind of shit you and I both are going to get from the Watch Wall if we don't get this prisoner north!"
Captain Sambryl retorted, "I am Captain Sambryl and this is my ship The Blade of St. Martius. We are tasked solely with patrolling these waters and not one damn person from the Watch Wall has informed us of any prisoner transfer, explain yourself right now!"
Maldrake, "Classified."
 |
| Kargeld is itching for a fight |
Urgeon stepped up and gently moved Maldrake aside, "Sir, if I may. Captain, you clearly have not been paying attention to your ravens. There has already been at least 8 escapees in the last few months. We can't have that. Those drunkards down at Branderscar have sealed their fate. Those idiots allows 6 prisoners at once to get the best of them, this ogre is one of them."
Captain Sambryl pondered for a moment and said "Just doesn't make sense, we are suppose to be running the Watch Wall priorities."
Maldrake said, "Well, we have our orders like you have your orders. I imagine they didn't want to leave an opening for smugglers just to transport one stupid ogre to his death north."
Questioning further Captain Sambryl asked, "And these crates of arms and armor?"
Maldrake explained, "Bugbear invasion was rumored."
"Awful lot of weaponry for a rumor." Captain Sambryl interrogated.
 |
| Kallista and her blade |
"Be on your way then, watch the northern seas, they are getting dangerous this time of year." warned Captain Sambryl. Captain Sambryl and his crew loaded up and the ship began to move away.
Kargeld sighed "That was close, I was ready to split the ugly mugs face with muh axe!"
Not much else happened after that until about a day and half later.
7:15 P.M - Day 106, Rova 6, 3042 AP (After Peace)
The Hope of the Haunted
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| One of the Mitra scum soliders |
Kallista and one of the triton began exchanged insults. It was apparent that this leader of the group was devoted to Mitra and Kallista's black blade urged her to slay him, it would be a great pleasure. She dove into the water, but it seemed like every time anyone tried to fight this being they would feel the urge to turn away, so we continued to beat down the small force until we closed in on the leader.
It wasn't hard once Kargeld's crew could focus fire him down. In this creature's dying gargling voice we heard "The shining sun has seen the wickedness you hide in hearts. And thus it will be the son who brings your doom."
"Uh huh." Kallista mocked. And that was it. Whatever the purpose of this suicide was, we couldn't figure it out. We regrouped and continued our shifts. It was over so fast it was all we could think to do.
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| And their worthless leader |
8:00 A.M - Day 107, Rova 7, 3042 AP (After Peace)
Seal Isle
We had a good rest, the seas were calm and according to our map we should be nearing the shore with in another day. Or rather we should have. Kargeld dropped one hell of a bomb on us, “We are a little light on fresh water I think. We are passing Seal Isle and there is a stream that feeds into the bay there. We’ll take on water there. I’ll send a party to the shore. Of course, that means we’ll spend a day in some of the richest fur seal hunting grounds all along this coast. I’m thinking of organizing a hunting expedition. Interested?”
Maldrake and Urgoen were the only ones to speak out. It was nothing major but Kargeld was very adamant about going there. We were forced to go, we couldn't blow our cover. He seemed believable enough and Thorn did say he was getting to greedy for his own good. We thought it was a trap for certain but that was only our guts we had no real proof. We would have to see.
Kargeld bellowed out, “This is my boat! I’m the captain! I say we need water so we get it!” Looks like we are on our way to make some extra funds at Seal Isle. Trip will probably take a few days. It is really out of our way.
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| Club some seals make some cash |
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