Who wants to be a Wayfinder? Part 1

[SelcSilverhand]

Down at the docks, many of the ships have already sailed out with the morning tide. There are still quite a few left though and you begin the process of finding a seaworthy ship of the right size and a captain you can trust. In the midst of your interviews, you spot a familiar face. Captain Fairwright and her crew are hard at work performing maintenance on a pinnace docked nearby. Her ship looks clean and in good repair. It is large enough for open water sailing but still small and agile enough for close-shore work. Some of the crew members are busy working on a large Davit off the rear of the ship. The Davit is a cradle for carrying large objects like Rowboats or a Launch. As you approach one of the sailors calls out to the captain who turns to regard you. She nods in recognition to Seria and greets your party. "Greetings again, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

 

[Shayuri]

"We're looking into chartering a ship," Whisper says with a warm smile. "Probably a fairly short term...perhaps a week, depending on travel time. We have a specific destination in mind. Can you give us an estimate of what that might run?"

 

[Mista Collins]

"It is just as my friend here states," Seria says with a polite nod. "And the pleasure is ours."

 

[SelcSilverhand]

The Captain raises an eyebrow and regards your group for a moment. "There are a variety of factors that will affect my price. The difficulty of the journey, namely. If it is far away or takes us through dangerous waters the hazard pay increases. I would also have to bring on more crew to protect my ship in such a situation. If you can tell me more about your destination we can nail down a price"

 

[jkason]

Midian Rightson, human druid

The Captain raises an eyebrow and regards your group for a moment. "There are a variety of factors that will affect my price. The difficulty of the journey, namely. If it is far away or takes us through dangerous waters the hazard pay increases. I would also have to bring on more crew to protect my ship in such a situation. If you can tell me more about your destination we can nail down a price"

"We're looking to take a little trip out to the Tempest Straights, actually," Midian says, trying to keep his tone nonchalant.

 

[SelcSilverhand]

The captain says, "The straits are not easy sailing, but the Stalwart Mariner has safely traversed far worse. Given favorable winds, it shouldn't take us more than 20 days to get there. I'd put the price at about 100 gold per traveler for a round trip. It'll be another 2 gold a day if we need to wait for you to finish your business there."

The captain lowers her voice a little and continues. "Speaking frankly, I'll need to know what you plan to do once we get there. It'll help me plan what supplies and tools to bring. Another thing you should know, the Stalwart Mariner is not a warship or a pleasure yacht. She's a work boat and my crew are neither warriors nor servants. They're all good sailors, and I'll need to know you don't plan to put them in harms way. If you are still interested, we can talk about this more inside" She gestures towards her ship.

 

[Shayuri]

Carefully concealing her wince, Whisper nods and gestures towards the door. "Yes, by all means."

Once inside, she produces the map they bought and indicates the spot on it that corrosponds to the spot on the "secret" map.

"We'll be going here. And no, we don't expect any need for you or your crew to fight. This will be an exploratory and investigative expedition only."

 

[jkason]

Midian Rightson, human druid

[sblock=OOC]Does Eberron have equipment that could be used for exploring a seabed? If so, Midian could ask the captain about obtaining some. If not, we'll probably have to stick to the "Midian gets an aquatic companion" plan, yes?[/sblock]

 

[SelcSilverhand]

ooc
[SBLOCK]
Off hand, a water breathing potion (750gp) or water breathing scroll (375gp) are the only things in your price range. A scroll would let you divide up the breathing time among multiple people. 2/hrs a level, so it'd be 10 hours total you could divide.

For a nonmagical solution, in Stormwrack there is a diving bell with an open bottom that can be mounted to the back of the ship via the Davit. You can go in there to get a breath then swim out to explore. Since the captain's ship does salvage work, she could arrange to get one of these for the trip if you prefer.

There's also the option of speaking with either Deneith or Tharask about funding for equipment or items with some sweet talking.
[/SBLOCK]


The captain studies your map for a moment before saying, "There's no land indicated on your map, either you're headed for an unmarked atoll, or looking for something on the ocean bottom. I've got equipment that can help for the latter, and some experienced sailors I could hire on. Either way, I'll need at least two days to provision and finish maintenance on my ship before we can depart. Also, I'll need half the gold up front to pay for all the provisions."

 

[Shayuri]

Whisper nods.

"We'll go liberate the funds for you then, and return within the hour. We may also be able to help with the necessary equipment...we can discuss that when we return though."

She looks at the others.

"Shall we?"