"Indeed they want us to show up, but at least I would not do that. Vors might be behind this, to find us. We must keep a low profile for now, and retrieve the money later, if it's worth the trouble." She takes her backpack and turns to the lawyer. "Mr. Massys, how long do you think we have to show up and retrieve the money? Would it be an easy task to prove who we are?"
"...stupor?"
Regaining her presence, Arean reminds, "Our necklaces, sisters, are to guard against collars. Keep them in mind."
"My apologies if I didn't make it clear, the money and other items were seized and put into a trust fund for the 12 of you, upon the day of the professor's death, by a specific and to my knowledge unique Edict issued and signed by the Emperor himself. The money is absolutely held in trust for you but the condition or conditions needed to release the items are a complete mystery. I've been blocked at every turn to discover any more information." says Massys.
"As for proving who you are, your signet rings now will prove your identity beyond all doubt in any Imperial Court"
"Oh, thank you Vigar." Tassira says as he takes the backpack from her.
After setting it down on a nearby chair, she starts picking through the backpack's contents.
"Well, I think I can safely say that I already have most of these things." She says, indicating the bedroll, belt pouch, waterskin, rations, flint & steel, and the dagger.
"Is there somewhere I can store the excess equipment, sir?" She asks Mr. Massys. She looks over at Kariel with a sympathetic look as she does so.
"Huh? Gambling? Why do I not have a hunting lodge or something of that sort?"
"Huh? Gambling? Why do I not have a hunting lodge or something of that sort?"
"Because he didn't have a hunting lodge? Because you can make a lodge that meets your needs with a knife and a stout rock?", Arean grins at Marrovak. "Besides, for the sort of hunting we'll be needing, you might prefer what you got."
Krag signs the documents.
"Though I am starting to wonder what Crispin knew of me, half a tavern?... We must consider that these locations are being watched. If we choose to approached them we should take care in revealing who we are and our business."
A storm is brewing and the crows begin to circle.
"Crispin certainly had enemies I believe they are now ours, surely left to us as these deeds were."
"It will not present a problem to store any items you wish. As to why these items and not others? Well there are at least a trio of hunting lodges among the properties seized and placed into the trust as for you Master Bloodshield, I believe that you'll find The Singing Frog Sanctuary to not be your typical tavern. I'm certain the Professor meant it to be a surprise but I can see no harm in telling you that it has the reputation of being something of an adventurer's club."
"I'm afraid as to the rest of these businesses," he says with a faint blush arising on his checks, "I'm afraid I have no personal knowledge."
Rowan almost catches the embarrassment on his face, but is too distracted by other things to notice it.
"Well we have a plan of action. Unless anyone has any objections, we should leave in the morning."
Tassira looks Mr. Massys in the eyes.
"Is something wrong with those businesses? I doubt you could say anything that will shock us for now."
She has an understanding, compassionate look on her face.
"Perhaps Mr. Massys' example can serve us all, in that we too might find some truths... need no sharing.", Arean says gently, her eyes only flicking toward Massys.
Mr Massys turns as red as a tomato. "I... err... may not have been entirely accurate before. Now understand I've not been back to the capital in over 20 years. So no doubt my information is not accurate, but when I was a much, much younger man The Longtooth Lounge, and The House of Infinite Dreams, had the reputation as places, were wealthy gentlemen might find female companionship for the evening, or the night. A gentlemen might even, for a price, see a show featuring only female entertainers."
"Ah." Is all that Tassira says.
She nods. "Understandable."
"Bwah ha ha ha ha!!!"
Marcos bursts out into a loud, obvious belly laugh for several moments.
"That's just perfect! I wonder if they have a good cook and brewmaster on staff at the House yet..."
He grabs up the backpack with a surprised grunt at the weight inside, and flashes another ear-to-ear grin.
"So, transportation, supplies, and we head out? Or do we need to do some more research beforehand?"
"Well it looks like our great grandfather has already seen fit to give us plenty of supplies. As for transportation, the only way off of this Ilse is by boat, which leaves pretty regularly. I have taken the liberty of planning out the routes. In this journal, there is information on airship schedules, mileage, etc for air or land routes. On foot it should take you two months, or about 3-4 weeks on horseback. It also has the information Tassira and I managed to procure on the locations and on the warps and twists we may start seeing. Barring no serious delays, we should be able to meet in Marthos in three to four months."
He hands this information to Arean, who seems to him best able to utilize this information.
"Works for me."
Marcos begins resorting his bags with the new pack and sacks of coins, contentedly whistling as he does so.
"Remember, I'm a soldier. Walking, or riding, someplace to stand around and wait is pretty much the job description most of the time."
A slight tightening around his eyes and a subtle shift to the tone of his voice are all that change, but anyone listening can easily tell some darker memories brew up at that statement.
"At least, most of the time."
"Hmm?", Arean half-startles, looking up from where she'd started with roping her new backpack to her old one, across a woven 'bridge' of thin rope. Her blackened hands seem nimble enough, but some of her bridge-weave is lost as she startles. "Oh, yes. I think I saw you copying that..." She takes the book and packs it away, whistling a trill that brings Bear to her (and Russ, in the wake of Bear). "Thank you, Rowan. We're only used to traveling on foot. Well, and paw."
"Sit", she says to Bear, and the largest hound does so, looking unhappily at the woven bridge...
"Adventures club you say... Well that is certainly more to my liking! Plenty of tales and some ale."
Krag grins.
"Ah! I have news of someone trying to sell a dozen horses once we reach our destination on the opposite shore, that should give a place to start once we arrive."
"Excellent! That should shorten our travel time greatly.
Eldrian signs his name to the required documents. Unsure about being part owner in a high class social club. He must have made a mistake.
Tassira looks over at Kariel, wringing her hands a bit.
"I... didn't think of that." She starts thinking.
They may be on the lookout for people like us, as well. I'll need to think of something to keep us from attracting too much attention...
Of course we can be over thinking things. If we get too paranoid, we will be too afraid to do anything.
"So, we basically have a plan. We will keep in touch as things proceed. Is everyone ready to leave? Do you have any more planning to make?"
"No more planning or preparation left. Let's go eat dinner, then leave in the morning.
Ikvvy suggests to her party that they get moving right now before the sun sets, so they could get the first boat tomorrow.
"The sooner we move the better if we wish to find things before anyone else less desirable finds them. We have light left, Ikvvy's suggestion is a good one if you are all ready to leave." he backs his half-sister up.
"We are ready to travel. It is most of what we ever do.", Arean says, framed by her hounds. The wary Sir, the eager Russ, and the backpack-burdened Bear.
Ready
Going down to the harbor in the morning, you inquire about any ships that are heading to Varde or Quiesce. Your party is directed over to a section of the harbor that shows a little less wear and tear and docked there are four big ocean going ships The Golden Princess, which is going to Quiesce, The Silver Princess, which is going to Varde, and The Ruby Princess and The Emerald Princess whose destinations you don’t know.
Four deep water ships docking at once? Must be some kind of special event.
"You're right. Perhaps we should find out what is going down here. This is definately out of the ordinary. Perhaps find out the other two ships destinations also."
"Well, I doubt that where they're bound for today was written into any of the books burned on my hands, but... No, on second thought, I suppose it might have been. What other four ladies are gathered here this day?", Arean asks with a subtle smile.
Ikvvy cannot help but smile. Destiny shone upon her in mysterious ways. She wondered if the princess should meant the four women, and which one should she be. She also was in doubt about Arean being serious about books burned in her hands, but the subject could wait a little longer.
"Ok, give me some time to ask around what's going on. I'll also check our schedule."
Ikvvy will look for employees of the place to ask for information regarding tickets, schedule and the weird fact of having the four ships here at once. If this gives no results she will speak to other people gathering their information, revealing nothing, of course.
"Let's meet back here in a few hours to see what we have found. If we split up we can cover more ground here quicker and gather more knowledge than only one of us could."
Eldrian goes for a little walk to the local fishermen side of the dock. Where the smaller vessels are kept. Seeking out the locals in one of their small bars, he inquires about the best fishing spots, where he can find the best catches. Where to avoid the routes of the large vessels that come and go. He asks if the four ships currently at harbour are disrupting their trade or scaring too many fish away. Of course he asks what it is that brings so many large ships here at the same time, explaining that he is himself newly arrived to the island not more than a week ago.
The crews of the four ships all have a much higher percentage of women among them than normal. A normal ship’s crew is about 10% women these four ships all have crews with women making up greater than 50%. The women despite having a wide ranging collection of hair and eye color all share a sameness of features that suggest kinship with each other. While a few of the off duty men have spent a night on shore, all of the women have returned to the ship each night.
Arean waited. Her mind wandered. And it returned with a rhyme, though she couldn't say from where. She just found herself saying it...
"The four ships sat at harbor
Each one haughty and proud
Were the Silver, the Gold
Rwbigh, and Emeraude
They the Queens of the Sea
Though all Princess were named
And they swayed in the waves
And they waited
Unclaimed."
Bear opened his eyes, and looked worriedly at the backpacks. But Arean wasn't moving, so he went back to lying in the sun.
Ikvvy returns some time later, checking if her brother was there already. She shares what she learned with everyone else. "Destiny. Just that. They are departing at noon, so we should buy our tickets and move soon, unless you have something else to do?"
"We'll need no tickets...", Arean said, as though doing her maths aloud. She stood, and to the alerted Bear, said, "Guard", one hand on her bags. To Russ, she said, "Stay with Bear". Waving Ikvvy after her, Arean walked toward the nearest ship, Sir at her hand...
But in that next world over
Where the rhyme had leaked through
Was a star-eyed witch-rover
Heard, and knew what to do
She stood, worried dog guard-set
Sharpest hound to heel
And they strode up the plank
And then right to the wheel
"It's your watch-lead I'd speak with
And your captain, then, too
For it's sure, right, and written:
We'll be sailing with you."
Ikvvy looks to the others in confusion, but rushes to catch up with Arean. She doesn't ask questions, just going with it.
Seeing Arean walk on the ship, Marcos follows right behind, eyes scanning and hands just off his weapon.
Eldrian raises an eyebrow. What has gotten into her?
"Who knew we had a bard with us?" says Brad, bringing up the rear. "She's acting like she owns this ship! Come on, Eldrian." Brad heads aboard.
"What's the name of this ship, again?" he asks to no one in particular.
"And maybe she does. This is The Golden Princess, heading to Quiesce. There we will buy some horses and ride the Imperial Highway heading to Stormheim, and from there we have two options, which I would like to discuss with you once we're get to the highway. I want to make a quick stop before heading to Castellan's keep."
As Arean comes onto the deck The Golden Princess all of the sailors and marines bow or give a strange salute to her. You can tell this is not a typical merchantman or a typical crew. All the sailors are in very good health, and there are a lot more females then normal. Female sailors and marines seem to make up at least fifty percent of the crew. Also everyone is heavily armed and on alert. Every member of the crew is armed. From the ordinary sailors going armed with daggers and various long blades, to the marines in scale mail who are carrying exotic looking double crossbows everyone seems ready for conflict at a moment’s notice. Even the young girl who had bowed low to Arean with ink stains on her fingertips has a pair of throwing daggers tucked into a sash around her waist. This crew is armed to the teeth and something has them on high alert.
The girl, who must be about twelve or thirteen, has a very, very large dog sitting at her feet. The dog’s fur is starting to go grey and he is made even more distinctive by having an ivory peg leg in place of his natural right foreleg. On the collar around the dog’s neck hangs a military medal. Also at the girl's feet is an extremely large (but nowhere near as large as the dog) cat. The cat seems to be the only person on the ship not fascinated by Arean.
“No need to call for the Captain, milady Arean, I'm already here” The Captain’s a tall women in her forties with better than average looks, dark red hair and violet eyes. She carefully looks you over seemingly taking in every detail. "Captain Shari Maridun at your service, as is my ship and my crew. Your sister and cousins were here earlier and said you needed transport to Quiesce. We leave at your command."