After leaving the gnome´s office, buying the wand and a handful of potions is no problem for you, armed with the sack of shiny new coins you get from the banker. Healing items are demanded enough by impatient individuals that they become relatively mundane, so you don´t even have for them to be made. By the end of the day you are the keepers of five curing potions and a healing stick, time also spent looking for a ship that could get you to Gotian.
As the merchants predicted there´s little problem finding a ship willing to take you as passengers for 6 gold coins each, counting food. It´s a small merchant ship that carries coal and wool to the southern ports, where they expect to change it for luxury wood, furs, ivory and copper. Centainly nothing too exotic or exciting. That, allied with the calm weather, conspires to make a boring trip. You have nothing to do but to spend hours watching the coast slide lazily while the captain and the crew carefully guide the ship through the shallow waters of the Elbereth bay.
The third day on the ship someone makes his appearance. It´s a fair-skinned man whose loose robes don´t hide a slim constitution; his falling hair makes him older at first sight than he really is . He climbs to the deck with sings of either being ill or sea sickness and nods feebly to you. If he can´t stand the ship´s gentle swinging, you wonder if he´ll survive a storm.
“Most sincere greetings” says. “I´m Beldard, monk and scholar. I take you´re travellers? If so, we may be together for some time, if you like me are heading to the south.”