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Volita draws out a decent chart, cross-referenced with each country based on what it exports and what it imports.
"Hmmmmm," she says, pouring over the compilation of everything they've gathered. "We've got a lot of entries on the 'exports' side, but not too much data on the 'import' side. That is, we know what a lot of countries have, but not much on what they want.
What we could do is go to Basra and sell our nuts, then buy up all the hardwood we can hold.
Then we skip south a bit, and, in the Feld Ranges, we sell off the wood for exorbitant profits.
Hmmmmm. We don't have any ready buyers for weapons, but, if things go well in the Feld, we could go to Osraga, and see if we can get a wholesale price on gems. Then go back to the Feld Ranges and see just how much they do likey the gems.
Hopefully by then we'll have found someone who wants Feld weapons. Otherwise...."
Volita goes back to charting and scribbling some notes.
It's clear that her ardor for the original mission might've been diluted.
"Anybody else have an opinion?" Connor asked openly.
Sting stabs a knife down right in the middle of Volita's chart. "How does any of that nonsense help us with finding the scum responsible for ripping my wings off and beating me nearly to death?!" He practically shouts, rage building as this girl seemed far more interested in playing cargo hauler than doing anything useful.
"Well, we have our destination, and cover story." Connor deadpanned. "Sting, enough. You've reminded us of our real mission. We'll find those lizardfolk, even if we have to chase them across the world." he persuaded.
"Now to see if we can actually get there across the ocean. The Elephant flies like a cow with wings, so I'm depending upon your sailor skills." Connor looked at the others around the table. "But we leave within the hour. Cast off!" he ordered.
Connor reminded himself to mark this city down as "Expensive but without traps." They would have to be more focused on the Southern Continent.
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"Hey!" Volita yells as her graph sprouts a dagger. "Do you have any idea how long that took to write? Good thing I made a spare....
And, I dunno, how can gobs and gobs of shiny cash money help with a thing? Gosh, I don't know. If only we lived in a world where person who knew things could be encouraged to tell us things for coins. Or other persons, of less knowledge and conversational skills, could be encouraged to join our cause with the wearing and wielding of STEEL to counter any armed thugs we encounter.
Oh, wait, we DO! Also, we don't have to worry about a cover story that we are "merchants" if ACTUALLY ARE MERCHANTS! If we just happen to make obsene profits while flying around asking every Tim, Bob and Harry about bad guys, what of it?"
That matter done, as Connor's urge to get moving, she summons a pair of constructs to pull robes and tighten down bales.
The new cargo is loaded into the ship, taking up most of the hold space.
With nothing illegal (to the best of their knowledge and research), the two smuggling compartments are empty, and the magic-ward chest is also empty.
Using the maps he has, Connor attempts to set a course for Basra, but his skills are not quite up to the task of navigating there from here.
After a couple of weeks of chugging along through the clouds, they end up coming out near the coast of...
...a land with trees and grassland, not jungles and swamps. Connor isn't sure exactly where they are on the southern continent, but it's not Basra. It could be Colmar, Selvanus, or Esara... The coast line below the ship is just cliffs and beaches, no major cities, so it could be anywhere along the coast.
dice=Prof(Sailor), Connor]1d20+6
Using the maps he has, Connor attempts to set a course for Basra, but his skills are not quite up to the task of navigating there from here.
After a couple of weeks of chugging along through the clouds, they end up coming out near the coast of...
Connor spent nearly the entire trip cursing the winds, the clouds, the random forces of nature that seemed against him, the Elephant, and any attempt to make it to anywhere in a timely manner. Gone were all thoughts of crafting a new universal item or cognizance crystal during the hectic days and nights.
When the coastline sans civilization appeared, Connor used some of the choicer swear words he had learned from Rory Reville. "All-call!" he bellowed across the main deck. "Shapers, start making fliers! Scouts, start scouting! I want to know where we are by nightfall! We're losing coin by the day! Find us some swampland, preferably to the East! A city would be nice!"
Connor flew up to the crow's nest, manifesting call item to drop a spyglass in his hands, where he scanned the shorelines to the left and right. He pointed with one hand, the other still on the spyglass, as he manifested astral construct, giving the hours-long small flyers instructions to fly until they found a humanoid, at which point they would return to the Elephant. Connor made six constructs going each cardinal direction except North, the way they had come.
Poring over the maps, Connor is fairly certain that his poor navigation has landed them either on the Cormar coastline somewhere between Ownham and Bingford, or else along the Selvanus coastline along between Birchshire and Kingstown. The coasts are similar, and seem to have similar makeup. Either way, he's a good 800 to 1400 miles off course. He is, at least, certain that he's no where near Bastra (Jungle & Swamp), Ograga Magra (Desert), Elistru Seevra (Forests), or any of the Ranges (Mountains). He could also possibly have hit Esara's coast, east of Tolte, but he would have expected to see broomtrees on the eastern horizon if he had, unless he's very very close to Tolte.
The fliers report back soon that there are fishing villages dotting the coast every 20 or 30 miles in both directions...
At some point between scouting and listening to the lamentations of his navigator, he nudges Adraniel, asking a simple "Does it always take this long to get anywhere? What'sis'name's gonna be cooled off well before he gets to us... "
Once they've landed Sting makes his way to Connor "Want me to scout the immediate area for us?"
"I think we've landed at northern Cormar or northern Salvanus at best." Connor told everyone. "Salvanus would be better in the type of inhabitants, as well. Cormar knights will shoot at non-humans on sight, from what I heard. That's why I don't want our scouts out past nightfall. Yes, scout if you will, but head back to the Elephant at the first sign of trouble!" he said to Art, Sting, and Volita.
"We go East!" Connor declared. To the humavian at the rudder he shouted "That means away from the setting sun, in case you're confused!" To the others Connor said "If we catch up to you, you can scout longer, but at dusk I want you all back on board."
"As you wish! Shouldn't be too tough to stay outta sight, anyway, I don't think, let alone get back." Art says cheerfully, happy to have a task he's actually somewhat decent at ahead of him, even if he, cocky as he is, thinks Connor is underestimating him. "They'll want to be the ones headin' back, if they start shootin' at me," he mutters shortly before takeoff, though he intends to obey Connor's words.
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"Alright, well, just don't leave me behind," Volita says as she flies off when the ship passes within close distance of a fishing village.
Her three utility constructs hang back as she lands lightly and asks the first person she sees "Um, hi there! I hate to ask, but I think our navigator has been drunk this whole time. Um what country is this?"
Volita, Art, and Elrohir fly east and within a half hour find a small village by the sea. It doesn't look like a fishing village, but there is an oversized dock next to the village.
The local land is cliffs next to the sea. Villages are built on the top of the cliffs, and heavy stairs lead down the cliff face to the beaches and docks. This particular village has a rather clever cargo lift mechanism set up at the base of the dock, a 10 by 10 ft square pallet is lifted upwards or lowered down on heavy ropes that wrap around tree trunk sized pulleys and are counter balanced by large steel buckets that look like they can be filled with weights or water or both.
Landing on the dock itself, which has only two or three people on it, Volita approaches an old man who's fishing with a pole on the dock end. Two kids, nearer to the stairs, pause to gape at the winged woman.
The old man looks up, and seems not to be shocked by her appearance. "Tha' right? Wall, Ah'd say you need ah new nahvigator then, girl." He says with a slow strong accent. "Yah be on tha Dock of Kerrl Town. If'n yah fly ah week's ride east, yah'll be in Tha King's Town. If'n yah fly ah coople ah week's ride nor'west, yah'll be in The Birch Shire instead. Last time Ah checked, this here Kerrl Town was in Salvanus... but fer all Ah know, they done had another war and we done been made part of Og'Raga Ma'Grah." The old man laughs with a snort, and throws his line back in again.
Up on the cliff face, half a dozen people are coming down the stairways, it should take them about 10 minutes to get all the way down.
No reason to go out looking for trouble. We came to the wrong place. We should leave now.
Adran comes down from the crows nest once the others are gone and finds Connor.
"Hey boss, why we hanging round here? Are we where we were trying to go?"
"We're going East!" Connor muttered back. "All those storms pushed us a hundred leagues to the West, nearly to Cormar. As soon as the others get back, or meet us on the way, we'll know more."
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"Then we'll keep hugging the coast until the others land, and continue East." Connor tells Volita. "Once everybody's back on board, we can make all speed for Bastra!"
"Know more? So your not sure where we are? I though you used the stars or something to know that. Going out looking for locals seems like trouble. Oh well I will keep an eye out. You don't need me for I told you so's. You have your little rock friend."
He walks and whistles off with a hop in his step and flies back up to the nest making sure there presence has not alerted anything.
The ship chugs east, cutting over a peninsula and eventually finds the large port city of Hansieu Eilaisa. The jungle is populated by massive Sky Broom trees, each averaging around 1500 ft high. Each massive trunk is, on average, over a hundred feet thick at the base.
The city itself is built between 300 and 800 ft off the ground, connected by massive bridges. Each tree has massive platforms around it at various levels.
The docks for the city are built where the Hi'Shar river lets out, the heavy river keeping the swamp washed out and water deep around it's channel, making it work well for shipping. Floating dock 'rings' surround the tree trunks, and heavy rope and windlass elevators raise and lower cargo and people from the docks.
The ship lands out to sea and eases it's way in, finding a half-empty dock. When they finally do get lashed to it, the hold is beginning to smell off, some of the food having gone rotten.
A Biegra Fashtali in a uniform with a bow slung on his back approaches the ship as the crew is tying it off. He is flanked on both sides by two Ghiera Fashtali, one female and the other male. Glancing around at the various docks, almost all the people in line of sight are either Ghiera Fashtali or Green Scale Lizardfolk. A few Biegra dot the area, and the crews on the ships seem to be humans or elves primarily.
"Hoy the skyship..." The Biegra says in passable Atalantian. "Haven't had a Skyship dock in a couple of years. Nice to see one again. I'm Customs Inspector Rospher. Dockmaster Luminessa..." He waves a hand toward the female Ghiera. "...will be in charge here during your stay, or one of her subordinates. Customs Agent Salvarn..." He indicates the male Ghiera. "...will get your names and all your papers in order." The speech, despite being in Atalantian, has the air of something often recited with just names changed to meet the current circumstances.
The female Ghiera speaks up. "Your docking fee is 1% of your purchases or sales while here, or 100 gold, whichever is greater. You pay the 100 now, and we deduct it from your tax bill before you leave dock." Her Atalantian isn't as good, but it's understandable.
The male Ghiera follows up with... "There small penalty if not already do you have passport." He is obviously struggling with Atalantian. "All ship people have must passport for ship abandonment." The female winces slightly at the mangled message.
Connor kept a eye on the sails the entire trip East, until the smell from the hold made him irritable, pacing up and down the deck. Again he wondered about rumors of wizards being able to make spoiled food healthy, even after days. He updated the ship's log as needed after Taksi, making sure the names matched the people on board. No telling what this city's Customs would be like.
Seeing the Sky Broom trees Connor wondered if tree-dwelling natives would be friendlier to people with wings.
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"Ahoy from the Vagabond Elephant out of Atalantia!" Connor greeted the three warmly. Connor manifested natural linguist with the leading tiger-man, hearing their translation difficulties. "Last port was Taksis Swamp area of the Pallandrus continent. Storms blew us all over the place the last month! Dockmaster Luminessa," he said with a bow to the female cat-woman, "I hope to pay more than your starting fee, but I've got a hold full of fruits and nuts losing their value in coin by the hour. Unless you pay top value for fertilizer!"
Connor turned to the male cat-person as black as midnight. "As for papers, good Agent Salvarn, we're an independent ship out of Atalantius. We go where our hold fetches the most money. So no, we haven't been here before, ever." He swept an arm toward the hull of the ship. "We'll need to get a few people to your marketplace as soon as we can, before I lose another stone-weight of cargo to time! But if Inspector Rospher, Dockmaster Luminessa, and yourself will come and verify my cargo - ah! My manners! Connor of McIntyre, of Atalantius." Connor said, bowing again. "The Elephant is hoping for some trade, and a little sightseeing."
Adran flies down and stands just behind Connor as he chats away. Not much help when talking with folks he just listens in.
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Across the ship, Volita looks at Salvarn in a special way, then floats over to join the small gala forming on the ship. She only has eyes for the tongue=tied customs agent, and favors him with Wide Eyes #3 and Bright Smile #2. "Oh indeed, kind sir! We are but strangers here and any assistance or aid you could render unto us would be most...appreciated." She ends with a coy wink that has a universal meaning.
Elrohir scans the their surroundings, keeping an eye for any potential trouble, especially considering what happened at their last stop
"That fruit's not gonna sell itself, though. We need to get it outta here on the double, 's long as everything is in order on your end! A little speed would be nice, if possible; delicate cargo and all!" the excitable halvavian can't help but chime in, likewise trying to speed the process along.
The Fashtali speak amongst themselves in Fashtali for a moment or two.
They discuss how to accomodate the request for speed, and the issue with the fruit going rotten.
Finally, Salvarn speaks in broken Atalantian. "Sorry, papers have must first sales required or ship leaving. Food fixed magic must be yes?"
Luminessa nods. "If you wish, I can send for an Acolyte of Bast, to cast spells to recover the rotting fruit and nuts. They will likely charge a nominal fee, but it should be less than the loss of your cargo costs."
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Just before meeting the government employees, Volita scrunches her eyebrows in concentration. The stress of being on a skyboat for an extended time wears on her and her mental fortitude almost breaks. Just before meeting the trio, they think they can hear her mumble, "You know, I'm -really- cute," but otherwise she enforces her will and maifests the power without sign.
Salvarn seems to be staring at Volita for a minute, then he looks down and anywhere but at Volita. The rest of the conversation, he avoids looking anywhere near her, to the point that it seems the other two are giving him sidelong glances.
Salvarn seems to be ashamed for some reason, which has to do with Volita. The other two are finding his behaviour odd, even distasteful.
Rospher finally gives a slightly strained cough, sounding like a rumbled growl. "Given the.. strain with the language, perhaps it might be better to request a Customs Agent more versed in Atalantian?" He says to Connor, although he's looking at Salvarn when he says it.
Salvarn begins rapidly nodding his head. "Yes, can do I."
Salvarn desperately wants to get out of here, and would be thrilled to go find someone else to work with this.
Finally, Salvarn speaks in broken Atalantian. "Sorry, papers have must first sales required or ship leaving. Food fixed magic must be yes?"
Luminessa nods. "If you wish, I can send for an Acolyte of Bast, to cast spells to recover the rotting fruit and nuts. They will likely charge a nominal fee, but it should be less than the loss of your cargo costs."
Connor made himself look pained when the Customs agents mentioned magic. "M-magic?" he sputtered, taken aback. "No magic!" Connor forced himself to swallow. "At least, not on my ship!" he insisted. "Perhaps after we get the crates onto the dock..."
Rospher finally gives a slightly strained cough, sounding like a rumbled growl. "Given the.. strain with the language, perhaps it might be better to request a Customs Agent more versed in Atalantian?" He says to Connor, although he's looking at Salvarn when he says it.
Salvarn begins rapidly nodding his head. "Yes, can do I."
Connor kept his attention on the white tiger-man. "Well, if it would help your paperwork, Inspector Rospher, then by all means, if you have someone on staff more versed in Atalantian. I'll have my crew unlock the hold for you. And if I may ask for an Acolyte of Bast? Er, later this hour. Not immediately." he said. Sweeping with an arm to the ramp, Connor invited the female by saying "Dockmaster Luminessa! Please, come onboard."
Sting can sense the male Ghiera's discomfort, but says nothing. Instead he address Rospher, asking "Is there any restrictions on flying within your city?"
"Aye, someone with a better hold on the language seems it would make things a lot easier. Not to mention, somebody what might actually want to be here!"
Then, as Elrohir speaks, he keeps an ear rather open for an answer, ready to stretch his wings properly in some new airspace.
Salvarn says something in Fashtali and gives a bow and leaves with alacrity.
Inspector Rospher looks thoughtful. "I do not know of any rules specifically against flying. We don't have a lot of people that do so. Your people who visit generally use the elevators and walkways, I don't think I've ever seen one actually flying before. You would need to watch the platforms however, and the walkways leading to them. Those marked as private would be forbidden for you to land on." He rubs his temple. "You would need papers before you leave the dock."
"Please be getting said papers, as soon as convenient, I wanna be able to truly stretch my wings" Elrohir asks politely, but with a hint of fervor.
"Inspection first, papers second, salvaging the cargo third, my pouch will be nearly empty of coins by then!" Connor said loudly to the others on deck. "Step lively now, and open the hold!"
The inspection is fairly straight forward and goes quickly, other than the engines. Rospher wants to open the elemental chambers to ensure there are no contraband in them, but given the amount of elemental rage released if they are opened, the crew naturally declines to open them. Finally he settles for painting the edges of the seams with a special paint that will flake and break off in chunks if it's opened.
A new customs agent, a frilled lizardfolk arrives by the time the inspection is done. He speaks passable Atalantian, and sets about giving everyone papers. He requires everyone's thumb print on official papers, and then gives them a leather strap with a wooden slate about 3 inches by 2 inches, with their names, likenesses, and thumb print engraved on it. It involves some magic with a device that engraves the wood.
Once they get their 'papers', they are given free reign to move about. "Now you may travel around the city. Do not bypass gates with wings, or arrest will follow."
Wary about the magical device that made the "papers", Connor replied, "Ah. Very well. No curfew time? And where's your foreign district with the taverns and inns, Inspector?"
"There is no foreign district. However, most foreigners stay near the dock areas, and most of the inns that cater to foreigners are here as well. There are some others that cater to Elvish travellers, on the other side of the city. There are no curfews."
Connor nods and then after all the paper work is done, cash is handed out to the crew for payment so they can go ashore in shifts, one shift on watch, one shift down, and one shift on shore leave.
More money is handed out to the primary crew. "Ok, let's find someone to buy some fruits and nuts. Volita? I think you're more interested in that. Elrohir, Art, see what you can dig up?"