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Message: <blockquote data-quote="spyscribe" data-source="post: 2730414" data-attributes="member: 5808">Part the One-Hundred Seventy-SecondIn which: passengers come aboard.The Fool’s Errand is a one-masted sailing ship, well-built and suited to travel on the high seas.  The party comes aboard and Elsuki introduces them to the crew.Elsuki’s first mate is a short, stocky Ebisite woman named Yasmine.  She and the Captain have sailed together for many years, and she looks on with some suspicion as Anvil scans her, the captain, herself,  the other ten members of the crew, and the party, for Evil and magical auras.Finding nothing unexpected, the group is nearly ready to shove-off.  The only thing to be resolved is the small matter of payment.While the party members are willing to pay for their passage, Captain Elsuki has something else in mind.“I’ll not charge to carry ye,’” he tells them.  “All I ask is a share o’ the treasure y’be findin’ on the islands…  Assuming y’survive.”The party members exchange glances.  While many of them are certainly not opposed to a little looting when it comes across their path, they are seeking an archmage, not a treasure.  On the other hand, Anvil clears his throat.  “You understand, the seeking of treasure is not our primary mission.”Captain Elsuki is unconcerned.  “From what I be hearing of those islands, there’s plenty to find.”“How much treasure would you require for your services?”Elsuki has clearly considered this matter beforehand.  He proposes splitting whatever wealth the party obtains nine ways.  One share will go to each of the seven party members.  Captain Elsuki will take one as the captain of the vessel, and the remaining lot will be split amongst his crew.The party considers.  Given that they will be the ones actually exploring these apparently dangerous and treasure-filled islands, it seems like Elsuki is getting the long end of this particular stick.Anvil tries a counter-offer.  “Then we should split the treasure ten ways, as our eighth member, Bob, will require a share.”Elsuki frowns.  “Which one of you be Bob?”Eva plants her elbow firmly in Thatch’s ribs to keep him from pointing to his horse, at that moment being lowered into the ship’s hold.Anvil doesn’t miss a beat.  “He does not stand before you, but he is vital to our mission.”Elsuki squints.  “There’ll be no silent partners on this voyage.  Bob wants his share, he can earn it like anyone else.”Anvil elects not to push the issue, and the bargain is struck for the spoils to be split nine ways.###All administrative minutiae out of the way, the ship departs and the party members settle themselves and their belongings in the cabin beneath the ship’s forecastle.  The captains’ cabin and mess are aft, as is traditional, and the crew strings their hammocks in the hold.If any of them notice that Thatch calls his mount Bob, none of them mention it to the Captain.Oddly, at the beginning of this voyage, it’s the strong-stomached Lira who has problems with sea-sickness.  But she gets over it in a few hours, and soon she joins Anvil at the ship’s rail where they stand and watch the ship’s crew swarming over the rigging.Anvil enjoys watching the order that grows out of the seeming chaos.Lira appreciates the irrepressible chaos amidst the apparent order.Over the next few days, aside from some choppy seas, the journey passes uneventfully.  Thatch and Eva both take some beginning sailing lessons from the crew, and the entire party enjoys dinner with Elsuki and Yasmine in the captain’s cabin.Whether half of Elsuki’s stories are true or not, he tells all of them well.Then, on the morning of April 9th, there’s a shout from the crow’s nest.“Ship Ahoy!”The party and crew quickly rush to the rail where, sure enough, a longboat floats in the distance.Kiara ducks out of sight of the crew, changes into swallow form, and takes wing towards the small craft.  For precaution, she doesn’t approach too closely, but gets near enough so that she can see the occupants of the boat while remaining unnoticed herself.There are four people aboard, two men and two women.One of the men, dressed in the robes of a monastic order of Kettenek, stands at the prow and waves a white piece of cloth in the direction of The Fool’s Errand.  Behind him, a strikingly beautiful woman dressed in the diaphanous gown of an Alirrian Handmaiden, waves her arms, hoping to attract the ship’s attention.  At the other end of the boat, the other man, well-dressed and showing signs of wealth and education, cradles a younger woman in his arms.  Her hair is ragged and matted, as are her clothes, and she seems to be muttering to herself. Kiara relays these observations back to Annika, while captain Elsuki orders the crew to make for the longboat.  “Are you not concerned that they might be brigands?”  Anvil asks.Elsuki fixes the Justicar with a hard stare.  “Look at the horizon.  There’s no other sails in sight.  Y’see someone without power or supplies in the open ocean, only a brigand wouldn’t pick them up.”Anvil nods.  It is Just.  Still, he also prepares to cast zone of truth on the new passengers as they come aboard.###The monk is the first of the longboat passengers to come aboard, the man who Kiara earlier saw waving the white flag.  He wears a simple black robe, and although he is clearly no longer a young man, his skin is tanned, and he moves with a certain fluidity that speaks to an active life.  His short, graying hair is pulled back into a tiny ponytail.Anvil helps him over the rail and to his feet on the deck as the rest of the crew turns their attention to the other passengers.“What happened to you?” Anvil demands.There is a moment’s pause as the other man takes in Anvil’s Justicar robes and abruptness of the question.  When he does answer he speaks, in a deep, well-measured voice.“We were passengers on another vessel, traveling together to Dar Pykos.  A ship flying a black flag approached us, and when it was clear that we were going to be attacked, the Captain put us in the longboat.”“What happened to the ship you were traveling on?”  Anvil presses him, but the monk’s response is forestalled as the woman in Handmaiden’s robes climbs onto the deck.Thatch’s eyes go wide.  After all, the woman is beautiful, with dark lustrous hair and a faintly exotic air that makes him wonder if she had ancestors from the Sovereignty. However, Thatch soon remembers his duties as an Attendant, and offers her a small bow.  “Welcome my Lady.  How may I be of service to you?”Momentarily, the woman is equally nonplussed to find an Attendant aboard.  But she gets over her surprise quickly and acknowledges him with a graceful nod.  “Thank you.  You are too kind.”The young woman comes aboard next.  She’s not yet out of her late teens, and seen up close, she is worryingly thin and pale.  She appears confused, requiring considerable help to navigate her way over the rail.  Even after she finds her feet, she merely stands—rooted to the spot where she was placed—muttering to herself and looking around with a dazed expression.Last aboard is the well-dressed young man, who rushes to her side as soon his feet touch the deck.“And who are you?” Anvil asks, still focusing on keeping all four within his zone of truth spell.“I am Brother Bradley,” the monk answers, without any apparent falsehood.  He indicates the others in turn, “The Lady Handmaiden is Sister Aurelia, and our young companions are Sakeem and his sister Ragya.”</blockquote>

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