Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cerebral Paladin" data-source="post: 894054" data-attributes="member: 3448">Sorry for the update delay... I've been ridiculously busy at work.  (Longest...decision...ever....)Session 5 (cont'd):Melania heads to the tavern where they met Aral the previous night, hoping that he'll be there again.  She's in luck.  Aral is at the same corner table, with a group of shipmates.  Melania strolls over, while Ginara lurks at a comfortable distance to keep an eye on things.  Dove and Lhovrik wait somewhat further away, so Ginara can get them in case of trouble."Mind if I join you, Aral?""Melania!  It's so nice to see you again." Aral quickly motions for one of the sailors next to him to give up his chair so she can sit next to him.Melania slides in next to him, flashing him a winning smile as she does so.  They chat briefly, making smalltalk.  After a few minutes, Melania smiles at Aral.  "Know a good place where we could get a dinner around here?"Aral quickly seizes on the opportunity to get a chance to spend some time with Melania without the other sailors around.  "Sure, I know a place that makes great roasted fish.  Let's go."Melania and Aral walk along the pier, with Ginara secretly trailing them.  They walk close to each other, but without touching, much to Ginara's relief."So I bet you've been to lots of interesting places, Aral.  Have you ever sailed to the Southern Colonies?""No, my ship sticks to the coast.  But I've been from one end of the empire to the other, and even to some of the places beyond the empire." Aral begins to tell some very tall tales about the things he's seen and the places he's been.  Melania, with her wide knowledge of stories and lore, can tell that some of the stories are simply false, some are inaccurate, and a few, such as the stories about centaurs in the far west of the Empire, probably describe things Aral has actually seen."Oh, that sounds really exciting!" Melania gushes, still warming Aral up.  She smiles saucily.  "I hear that centaurs are hung like horses."The conversation takes a turn for the bawdy, as Aral shares some sailors' stories.After a few minutes, "What sort of cargo do you carry? Do you carry special things?""Sometimes.  We carry all sorts of things really.  A lot of foodstuffs and cloths, but we sometimes carry artwork, or special things as well.""Do you ever carry slaves?"Aral looks a little surprised.  "No, no.  You pretty much have to have a special ship for carrying slaves.  The trouble is, it's tough to keep slaves alive, and since you can't let the slaves die, it's a problem.  Most of the big slave ships are in the South, among the lands that don't care if slaves die." The Empire's form of slavery is significantly more restricted than the chattel slavery practiced in some other lands.  "Carrying slaves is even worse than carrying livestock, and let me tell you, once a ship's carried livestock, you wouldn't want anything else in the hold." Aral waves a hand in front of his nose suggestively.  "Sometimes we'll have a passenger on board, and sometimes they'll bring slaves.  But that's not really cargo.""Are your trips ever dangerous?""Sure, but nothing we can't handle.  There are some pirates sometimes, but we just fight 'em off.   And sometimes there will be rough storms.  But we say our prayers and make our offerings, and the storms aren't too bad.""Offerings?  To Lurdana?""No.  Only the captain and the owners worship Lurdana.  She's a god for the rich.  We ask Vergdun for mercy in His storms.  But He sends His storms when we're not at sea, because we make the right sacrifices.""Sacrifices?  You mean like goats or sheep?""Mostly..." Aral and Melania discuss the sacrifices for a while longer.  Melania seems very impressed with how rough and dangerous Aral is, and Aral tries to impress her.  He ultimately says that there is a priest who tells them when a sacrifice needs to be made, and that they brought the priest a person who no one would miss.  Bingo.They have been talking for quite some time and walking closer to each other.  Aral turns towards Melania.  "Is there anywhere we could go?"Melania thinks for a second.  "Sure, my place is this way."Ginara, who has been shadowing the pair, watches as they head towards the boarding house which she knows is Melania's home.  "No...don't...let him just be walking her home..." she mutters to herself as she watches them walk towards the building.  But she is bitterly disappointed as they walk inside.Ginara doubles-back to meet up with Lhovrik.  "Let's go home.""Where's Melania?""In her apartment.  With the sailor."Even with Lhovrik's not-so-keen social perception, he can tell Ginara is very unhappy.  "You seem upset.  I'm not really sure why, but do you want to talk about it?""I'm fine!""Look, I'm not really thrilled by the choices Melania is making, either, but you seem more upset by it.""I said I'm fine, Lhovrik." Ginara's voice belies her words.  "Let's just get home.  We can talk to Melania in the morning." When they reach their home, Ginara stomps up to her room and slams the door.</blockquote>

Verification