Jacob continues to look angry and patient at the same time. He continually casts prestidigitation to clean away minute particles of dust and grim or to make small objects float around in no particular order. "I hope so."
"If you keep making faces as sour as that, Jacob, you'll find that the lines of age will find you more quickly. Although, maybe you're going for the wizened old wizard look? Who am I to judge." Yazmine flipped a long braid over her shoulder and gave her handmaid a sly grin, then said something in her native tongue before they both broke broke out into a small fit of giggles.
"I think we are ready to go," Yazmine said as she regained her composure. "Unless Chester there is still busy trying to chat up the shipmaster."
"I am not vain enough to care about such minor details." The sour look remains but it is not as predominant as before.
An older, though still vigorous, man steps out from the keelboat's small cabin, and returns Chester's greeting with a stoic nod. "Dumas Arter, captain. You planning to bring along all that?"
He casually spits into the river.
"That we are, if you've the room aboard your ship," Chester replies as he steps forward to offer the man a firm handshake. First impressions are always so important, after all. "I believe you spoke with my associate there, though there seems to be a bit of discrepancy regarding the price. May I ask why you feel that it ought to be so high?"
Arter's right eyebrow arcs up, "You from around here? The Shudderwood ain't a fancy park you can just row your boat down."
His voice takes on a reverent tone, "There are worse things in those woods than I reckon creep in the hearts of men. Beasts and spirits all ripe to end your live and mine, and if you want to take my boat, you'll pay my price."
Nodding with an expression of sincere understanding and sympathy, or so he hopes, Chester listens to Dumas's concerns. Naturally, a captain would be concerned for the safety of himself and his ship, as it is his livelihood. "Of course, and I have no illusions that it is anything less than a thoroughly dangerous forest that none should think of frequenting. If I and my companions were to be able to guarantee your safety for the duration of the voyage, would that sway your opinion?"
"Guarantee it? How so?"
"Well, my associates are something of a group of wandering adventurers that are quite practiced in this sort of thing. While I myself am a faith healer, the rather burly gentleman," he says as he gestures across to Aldric, "there is much more of the muscle. Between the two of us and the rest of our extraordinarily versatile companions, I've no doubt you'll be in good hands."
The old captain looks Chester and Aldric over, then the rest of the group. "Yeah, you do have quite a crew with you. Tell you what, I'll set the price to 20 gold a head, plus 40 gold per each horse an' carriage. If we arrive in one piece, that will be that, but if harm comes to me, or my boat, you'll pay for damages. Is that a deal?"
"Outstanding! You're a gentleman and a scholar, Captain Arter. Would you rather your gold up front or shall we pay upon arrival?" Chester half-turned to beckon the group over without looking away from the captain, clearly delighted with this turn of events.
"Upfront, as you board." Arter quickly retrieves a wooden box from the cabin, he opens it expectantly next to the landing ramp. "Each of you count your twenty, or what have you, as you board. I've got time for an accurate accounting."
Yazmine, who had been listening in on Chester's bartering, gave him an approving look. She hadn't pegged him as much of a businessman, but perhaps he was a little more keen than she had initially thought. With a click of her tongue, Yazmine edged her own horse forward with her handmaid following close behind. She pressed her platinum into the captain's hand with a smile before boarding.
"Never been fond of boats," she mumbled as she stepped near Aldric. "Always gives me a touch of vertigo."
Chester smiles warmly back to his companions as he carefully counts out twelve platinum for the good captain, clearly in high spirits. Just behind Yazmine, his valet drives the carriage and horse aboard before dismounting to tend to the animals. "Certainly, sir. And fear not, no harm shall come to either you or your ship. Isn't that right, Aldric?" He calls out the last question theatrically, so that all of the group can hear the arrangements made. No sense in paying more than they absolutely needed to.
Jacob rolls his eyes at the bartering. Now it was their job to protect the boat and the crew? He'd rather pay the extra coin and watch them face whatever so-called horrors lived in the Shudderwood. He sighs resignation though and hands over 2 platinum as well. Whatever got them there. He flicks more dirt off with magic as he boards. e would rather be on a ship than behind a horse any day.
Kiara follows the others onto the boat, quietly handing over 20 gold without a fuss, still slightly bemused at the lengths some of er allies were going to in order to get their horses and carriage onto the boat. Deciding that if they did indeed need to protect the ship from scary horrors, familiarity would be a good starting point, Kiara explores the ship so that in a time of stress, she could locate what she needed quickly and easily.
Marris cocks his head and smiles at Capt. Arter as he pays the man his coin, then steps on the keelboat. "If you gentlemen and ladies don't mind, I prefer the views at the fore," indicating with his cane, "I'll be available for Towers, or what have you, to pass the time."
After entertaining the replies of his comrades, he carefully makes for the front of the boat, and sets up a small spot for himself, setting up his backpack as makeshift backrest.
At the mention of Towers, Yazmine shoots Marris a cold look from her own spot on the boat. "Not with a harrow deck, of course," she asked in a way that made it more a statement than an actual question. "A harrow deck is a thing to be respected."
He pulls a well-worn deck of cards from his jacket, "No worries my dear, it's an imitation deck I bought off a swindler in Caliphas." He winks at Yazmine, then carefully removes an ornate box from his pack.
"Now, if you'd like your fortune told, this Harrowing ensemble might serve in some humble capacity." He opens the box to reveal an exquisite Harrow deck and divinatory accoutrement.
At the mention of Harrowing, Yasmine perked up. In a rather ungraceful manner (she was not very experienced on water-faring vessels and even the slight movement of the river seemed to be throwing her off), she got up and wobbled over to Marris. "That is a lovely deck," she exclaimed as she inspected it from a respectful distance; Harrow decks were a personal thing, in her opinion. "I dabble in such things myself, though I am far from a being a true master of the art," she explained as she produced her own Harrow deck from a pouch she had Hidden away in the voluminous folds of fabric she was so fond of wearing. "We shall have to give each other a reading some time. But perhaps, for now, you could explain the game of Towers to me?"
As he directs his valet to store the entirety of his things within the carriage, Chester glances across to Marris and Yazmine. A harrowing could either bode very well for the group or very poorly, depending upon what their fortune says. Results aside, it should pose an amusing distraction to take up at least a fraction of the time they will be spending together. Hopefully, they reach their destination before driving one another mad.
"I've not played Towers in far too long. Deal me in whenever you begin, won't you? I suspect we shall be playing quite a bit of it to pass the time in transit."
Marris puts away his Harrow deck, and begins to sort through the imitation deck, pulling out all of the True Neutral cards and setting them on the keelboat's deck in a row. "We are each dealt three cards and our purpose is to place each card so that it's symbol is touching the one of these neutrally aligned cards, or towers, arrayed before you, and adjacent to another card if there are already cards on that tower. If you match symbols with the first card you play, you may play another after. If you cannot play any of your cards, they are set aside, and become your debt. If you complete a tower so that no other cards can be placed on it, you give each other player a card from the tower and they add it to each of their debt piles. The object of the game is to be the player with the least amount of debt."
Marris deals three cards to each interested person, and continues, "I think it might be best to play with the 'poor-man's' rules, and leave the gambling for another time, in the interest of fellowship."
Captain Arter kicks the keelboat from it's moorings, then hurriedly takes to the cabin, from which he steers. The river runs smoothly north, and soon the desolate docks of Ardis are a distance away, and soon out of sight. The river is a busy place, and there are often other boats in sight, either being pulled up-stream near the banks by oxen or horses, or drifting forward, borne by the winds or the work of rowers.
Feigr, Jacob's familiar flaps over to the table and lands on the edge. "Could you possibly deal me in? Master Jacob enjoys such games but my intellect is not yet enough to challenge him."
For his part, Jacob sighs and rolls his eyes.
Yazmine looks tentatively from person to person before picking up her three cards.
"Do I look at the car---Ack!" As the boat slowly begins to move, Yazmine give's a lurch and quite nearly topples right over onto where the cards were dealt. Her cheeks flush in embarrassment as she scrambles to get into a secure sitting position, smoothing out her outfit around her unnecessarily while she avoids eye contact with anyone. Anyone listening would hear her grumbling about wild captains, unlucky vessels, and rough waters.
"Do I look at my cards? Which way do I place them?" she repeated with an uneasy tone. She was looking a touch green in the face.
A gleam in his eye, Marris answers, "Certainly, knowing your carts is an important part of the game. And you may place them any way you like, just so long as the alignment symbol is touching the tower and not overlapping the symbols of any other cards. The cards are placed face up, or upside down, depending on which side of the table you are, no cards are placed facing the right or the left of the tower cards."
The day is passes with card games and conversation. Early in the evening a ramshackle city begins to float by on the west bank of the river.
Captain Arter calls out, "This is Chastel, for you who don't know it, we can stop here for the night, or move along, but we'll need one or two of your group to steer while I get some rest!"
Chester takes a look around at his companions with a slight shrug in response to the captain's question. "I fear I am not as practiced as I could be in the arts of boating, but I can take up the charge if I must. If the option is available, though, I shall defer to those more skilled than I."
Jacob looks up for only a moment at the "city". Not likely to be a place to sleep not rife with bugs, insects, or disease. "Pass."
Kiara looks up from eying the dark waters as they slipped through them, addressing the captains question. "Unfortunately, I haven't had much experience piloting large unwieldy boats down scary unfamiliar rivers, so unless its easier than it looks, I believe stopping is the only option that remains to us".
Yazmine peers longingly at the river banks where they could bring the ship in to dry land. "I think spending the night is a fine idea!" she said with a little more enthusiasm than strictly necessary. "I mean, none of us can pilot such a vessel, the captain needs rest, so, it's the only logical course of action. Even if the exceptionally bitter and sour Mister Romero prefers to press on. Remember what I said about the wrinkles?"
"Very well, I believe we shall acquire lodgings for the night, Captain. You've been an exceedingly gracious host thus far and I've no doubt the trend will continue." Pushing himself up to his feet, Chester dusts himself off and smooths out the wrinkles in his clothes before offering anyone within reach a hand up.
Yazmine grabs for Chester's hand, quite appreciative of the help on such unstable footing. Well, unstable for her. No one else looked like they were having such a hard time with the movement of the boat. "Thank Desna," she muttered under her breath as the decision to spent the night on land was made.
Patience. With a deep, centering breath Jacob follows along into the dirtiest little village he had ever seen. Seriously, how hard could it be to pilot a boat. Didn't look that hard. But he was smart enough not to say that out loud. They'd make him try, he'd fail. Reputation destroyed. No thanks.
The shanty town along the river slowly transforms into a town as you go further down the river, though the proper buildings and populace are ragged at best. Great loads of lumber wait on the docks or are moved carefully onto barges.
Captain Arter steers the keelboat over to one of the sparse openings along the dock and calls for someone to tie on the moorings.
"Don't wait up for me", Kiara responds with a soft smile as she slips off the boat (when its moored). Having never heard of the town before, and being largely unfamiliar with it, Kiara wanders the shanty town (if she walks into anything I'll rp it out), learning the essentials, its strengths, its weaknesses, and so on. Worst case scenario, she decides, she learns something that might be useful if she ends up ruling the area, best case scenario, she learns something that at some point could end up saving her life. Information was cheep, but it was also power.
After wandering the town, learning what she could, Kiara returns to the boat to stay the night.
"I quite agree, my large friend. Do see that they do not leave without us, won't you? I shall send my valet with the location I'm staying, should issues arise. Will you be accompanying us, my dear?" Chester asks as he turns his gaze toward Yazmine, one hand offered out to help her off of the boat. His valet scurries to grab his master's baggage before falling into step behind the group.
Yazmine gratefully takes Chester's hand, glad for the extra stability as she steps off the rocking boat and back onto solid land. Land actually felt quite odd under her feet, as if the word was still moving beneath her. If she had been looking a touch green on the boat, she was now beginning to look like a lime.
"Thanks," she said to Chester as she continued to use him as a prop to anchor herself. "I think I ought to find some place to lay down..."
Without need for instruction, her handmaid followed off the boat silently, bringing along her and her mistress' gear and horses. She stood dutifully behind Yazmine looking like she might be ready to catch the queasy Qadiran.
Winding an arm around her waist, Chester is perfectly content to help support the seasick woman with her balance. So long as he does not have to literally carry her anywhere, of course. That would require at least a modicum of effort that he likely did not have.
"Then I suppose we will be getting you to a bed, post haste. Come along, gentlemen, ladies. Best we stick together, hmh?" With that, he was off in search of appropriate lodgings as quickly as possible. Which should not be particularly difficult, given the circumstances. Or at least, that is Chester's hope.
The night passes uneventfully, aside from the beggars...there are so many beggars here. The morning smells of lukewarm s$**, as if the city itself was pushing you back out onto the river.
The day is long, but the river is quiet. As dusk settles, Captain Arter directs to boat to a large dock on the eastern side of the river. There is a sign next to the path that leads up into the hills: "House Beumhal. Travelers Welcome!" Below the lettering is a small, freshly panted mansion, with little cartoon ghosts flying about it.
As you follow the path with your eyes, you can see the manor itself nestle into the hillside.
Yazmine relished her evening despite the seedy place that had taken rooms in. The ground didn't move and that was all that mattered.
Of course, she still had to go back in the morning and that was more than a bit of a disappointment. She once again took up a spot with her back leaning against the side of the boat for support.
As the light started to fade from the sky and they pulled up into the dock, she dared herself to kneel and peek over the side of the boat.
"House Beumhal?" she pondered as she examined the sign and its childish images. "I suppose we will be staying at this tourist spot for the evening? Shall we see a few locals dressed up in sheets with the eyes cut out, too?"
Fun houses, fake mediums, and supposedly haunted mansions were not her cup of tea, but honestly she'd rather be in there than on the boat any longer. She was looking slightly less green than the previous day, which was a sign of mild improvement.
"Well, I rather hope not. I should very much like to experience visitations by some manner of ethereal force or otherworldly haunt. I imagine that would be quite the amusing diversion, no?" Chester muses aloud as he leads the way up off of the boat, again pausing to help anyone that should wish for it. Whether or not he manages to lend a hand, he presses on with every intent to make a good impression. If nothing else, he can get the lay of the land from the locals within and perhaps learn some juicy gossip about the area.
Slightly, frustrated about her failure to learn anything about the previous town they had stayed at, Kiara attempts to do better this time, trying to learn what she could. The childish drawings did not impress her in the slightest, wondering if the people in this town were a little slower than others.