NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Haraash Saan" data-source="post: 3342202" data-attributes="member: 46615">We only rowed for an hour before we emerged from the shelter of the cliffs. Argonne ordered oars up and unfurled the sails. Thank Mühbelung that our toil was over. My gloves were ruined and my blistered hands ached. The Swift was true to its name, setting a cracking pace now that the sails were full. Mortec occasionally yelled course adjustments, as indicated by our fishy companion. As daylight appeared over the starboard rail, we could see our destination clearly ahead of us. It was a massive wall of fog that rose on the horizon. It took us six hours to get to that mist, and it was not a pleasant time for me. I was ill, very ill for most of the trip. Thankfully I was not alone, Moxadder’s stomach also felt the waves that rolled underneath us. Inside the fog, visibility was terrible. I could not see Mortec on the bow . A few minutes after we entered the fog we stopped, becalmed. The wind that had proved a wonderful ally could not penetrate the mists. It meant that my poor hands had only had six hours to recover before being forced once more to pull an oar. I hated boats!Propelled by our rhythmic strokes, our sturdy little vessel journeyed for another half hour or so before we heard a distant splashing accompanied by a horn. The fog befuddled my ears, I could not tell from which direction the noise was coming. “Silence!” bellowed Argonne. And he called me a fool? They were practically upon us before we actually realised they approached from the bow of the Swift. We quickly congregated at the front of the boat, crossbows hastily loaded, where we waited for the unknown travellers of the mist. The first thing we saw the heads of four creatures, bobbing in and out of the water as they approached us. Beyond them was a barge adorned with shells and seaweed that they seemed to be  towing. It was as if it were sculpted out of the waves themselves such was its form. There was no doubt that we were dealing with Tritons. Their elfish, narrow features and pointed ears were just like the pictures I had seen at Leathes Abbey.A voice from the barge addressed us in a strange and melodious language unknown to my companions or I. I answered in my own native tongue, Guernean, but only received more gibberish. I nudged Mortec and suggest he try Arcanum, the language of magic. He had been teaching me it, but I did not yet have the vocabulary to converse capably. Mortec took my advice and shouted a greeting.One of the Tritons responded in kind and several communications flew rapidly between them before Mortec told us they wished to search the Swift.“Not a chance!” yelled Argonne in Guernean, confirming that the man often did not think. We had already discovered they did not understand that language.I hushed him and told Mortec that we had nothing to hide so they were welcome to come aboard. He relayed the message and their barge drew alongside our ship. Now that it was nearer I could see that there were four more Tritons on it. Two of the fish men that towed the barge spoke quietly in their native tongue to the one which had been speaking with Mortec, their leader presumably. It responded and the two Tritons water swam up to him. He passed them each a small object and then the pair swam to the Swift and hauled themselves aboard. Their torso and arms were essentially that of a man, but from the stomach down they were covered entirely in scales, just like a fish. Whilst they did not have tails, like mermaids were said to have, their legs ended in flippers or fins not feet.Both had pushed themselves up, with straight arms so that their chests were raised off the deck and their legs and flippers trailed behind them. Then, each spoke a strange word and suddenly they began to change. Their flippers became more rigid and a pronounced joint formed. Then the ends of their flippers seemed to tear and split apart forming toes. Their flippers had transformed into scaled feet.Sorcerer’s coins! The objects that their leader had given them must have been Sorcerer’s coins enabling them to transform their bodies so that they could more easily search our boat.  If they had access to the magical coins then it was obvious that they had access to a mage who knew how to create them. Mortec leapt to the same conclusion and started vigorously questioning the leader whilst its two lackeys scoured our boat for whatever it was that they were looking for. They did not find it and jumped disappointedly back into the water. Mortec addressed the leader once more in the language of magic.The Tritons had been looking for pirates, the gnome explained, and had taken us for such. He also told us there was a mage called Quickling who was known to create Sorcerer’s Coins. He lived in the Port of the Warlock. As way of thanks for the information, Mortec offered them our shells . They were delighted, especially with the shell that Argonne had found. In appreciation of our gift they gave each of us a small white cockleshell with a strange symbol etched into it and then let us go on our way. They did not explain what the cockleshell’s were for, but I pocketed mine assuming that if I met a Triton again it may prove to be a useful symbol of friendship.It was another hour before Elwing guided the Swift through the fog and into the natural bay that housed the Port of the Warlock.</blockquote>

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