A New Beginning (17 of The Melting)

[Kara Winters]

Far, far south where the cold of winter never touched the land was a small fishing village of Istara. The people there lived off of the land and sea, taking advantage of the constant warm weather, the village never went hungry. A bountiful resource meant they rarely in conflict with the territories that belonged to the local coven of wood elves. But what made the village special, despite it's size, was that it was the perfect stopping point for any vessels wishing to travel further north. The nearest city was only a five day journey by cart, allowing for merchants to stop by the bustling city for some last minute trade before taking the rest of their goods to Istara, and the thriving farming community allowed shipping vessels to at least have some fresh rations (and plenty of preserved rations) before going on their way.

It was also perfect place for those who wanted to leave. Whether it was to go on a great adventure, make a pilgrimage, or just get really far away, this was the place to do it. Especially when there were people like Captain Miklos. A cooper Dragonborn who had been captain of the Wave Eater for over ten years had a tradition to buy a bit of 'cheap' insurance for his crew. If the guest rooms in his ship were empty, he would post out for any adventurer wishing to travel to his next destination. They would get a free trip, food and 10 gold pieces a piece. Not much, but traveling wasn't cheap. His ship would be traveling north to Saltmarsh, a town that, while wasn't really that much further north, as his surgeon put it, the place wasn't going to make your hair frizz in the summer.

He had accepted five adventurers for this trip, and had asked them to meet him at the Fiery Grog near the docks close to mid-noon. This was primarily because they weren't a single party, but a group of two parties and one individual. This meant, he would like to introduce them all to each other, and pray to Tymora that they would all get along. So he offered to buy everyone lunch.

Honestly, what could go wrong with three elves, one human and a tiefling?

[Nara-pyon]

Ara Caelynn Nailo did not hesitate to brush her way past strangers in her hurry to get to the Fiery Grog with her younger sister, Ana. Neither of them were used to towns in general, having grown up within the borders of the forest that they called home, but while Ana wanted to go slowly and take in as much of it as she could, Caelynn took her by the shoulder and hurried her along. They had an appointment to keep, and it would not do to keep the captain waiting.

"Why sailing?" Ana asked as she stepped quickly to keep up with her older sister. "What's wrong with adventuring on dry land?"

Caelynn had little patience for her sister's protests. "If for no other reason than because it's about as far from your comfort zone as we can get while still so close to home. You need to grow, and the fastest way to grow is to be put into situations that are new to you. And as I've been put in charge of your furthering education, this is the decision I have made."

She turned to Ana and smiled warmly, though her eyes were filled with amusement. "Don't be surprised, little sister, if you end up enjoying this more than you think you will."

Ana's expression was one of doubt, but before she could say anything more in protest, Caelynn looked up at the building they were about to pass. "Ah, here we are."

Releasing Ana's shoulder, she opened the door and held it open, allowing her sister to enter first.

If the girls had worried about seeming out of place in the tavern, they saw immediately upon entry that their fears were unfounded. True, there were none who looked just like them, with their chocolate hair pulled back in long braids, their complexions of smooth copper, mostly natural but partly from their life in the sun; but there were so many different races, pure and mixed, with so many different appearances that it would be difficult for almost anyone to stand out in here. They didn't even have to worry about the way they were dressed: it seemed most everyone carried weapons in here - sheathed of course.

Caelynn spotted Captain Miklos after only a few seconds and nodded a greeting to him before nudging Ana in the Dragonborn's direction. It seemed their haste had been unnecessary. Far from being late, they seemed to be the first to arrive (after the Captain of course) to meet the rest of their traveling group.

[Kara Winters]

The captain raised a clawed hand towards the women, "Ah! Greetings Ms. Caelynn and Ms. Ana. Glad you can make it, the cook is making us the catch of the day, which... I think I saw some very large ones being brought in this morning. Don't recognize the type though."

He shrugged, but fish was fish and he was use to eating such things in all forms (mainly stewed when on the ship). At first, it didn't seem like there was anyone else, until Caelynn and Ana got to the table, and then a voice spoke behind them.

"We're here! And not late, wonderful!"

Behind them were two people more people. The speaker was a tiefling, with dusty pink skin, long light pink hair kept back by gray ribbons and gold eyes. Her horns were curled at the sides of her face like a ram's horns, pretty typical of a the race, though the fluff of pink fur at the end of her tail was a bit more unusual. She was petite in size which made her companion standout. Next to her stood a 6'3 human, he was striking with his well tanned skin and dark hair. Where the tiefling smiled joyfully at the group, the human at her side just gave a small nod and a smile.

"Ms. Beloved and Mr. Jahi, glad you could join as well," Miklos smiled back.

[Nara-pyon]

At 5'4" and 5' flat, the human seemed enormous to the Nailo sisters, though the tiefling was about their size.

"Hello," they echoed together, reaching across the space to shake hands with the new acquaintances.

As the group was meeting each other, another figure sidled into the tavern. at 5'8" he was more or less average in height, albeit a bit on the tall side for an elf. His storm-cloud gray hair fell to his shoulders, his skin light beneath a deep sun-tan. He looked as if he had just stepped in from an alley, which wasn't far off from the truth. He wore a black and gray mottled cloak that covered most of his clothes and possessions, though there was a bag slung around his shoulder and across his chest that was slightly visible when he walked. His eyes, one a pale gray, the other light blue, took in the sights around him before he made his way to where the captain, the elves, the tiefling and the human were gathering.

When he joined them, he nodded a warm greeting to each of them, murmuring a soft, almost shy-sounding hello as he did so.

[Kara Winters]

"Ah, Mr. Sai, the final one in our merry lot," Miklos greeted in turn, "That should be all of you then."

Beloved leaned over and waved happily at Sai before turning her attention back to Miklos. The captain introduced them all to each other before they sat down for their meal.

"Now then, the five of you have agreed to escort as it were, me and my crew to Saltmarsh. I don't except any trouble, but... always better safe than sorry. In fact, I expect this trip to be safer seeing as the Crown of Keoland finally got off their arses and is patrolling the seas around Saltmarsh a little better."

The sea captain seemed to roll his eyes at this, as if he found the whole thing ridiculous to begin with.

"Has there been trouble in the seas around that area? I'm... unfamiliar with it," Jahi commented.

"A pirate confederacy of sorts that call themselves the Sea Princes are around those parts," Miklos admitted wryly, "Been around longer than I've been captain. Not that I've been sailing about these parts for very long mind you... I come from a bit further north."

The human of the group looked thoughtful, as he was thinking of something, and then he finally spoke.

"Ah... I see," Jahi replied with a nod, "Makes sense..."

[Nara-pyon]

"And when we arrive in Saltmarsh?" Caelynn asked, straight to business as always. Then again, she was used to defending things. The idea of pirates didn't bother her.

Ana was less confident, but she let her sister take charge, as she usually did.

Sai just nodded. Having spent much of his life in a harbor city, he was familiar enough with pirates and ships. He enjoyed ships, truth be told, though he hadn't been able to spend as much time with them as he'd wanted as he had grown up.

"Safer than what?" he asked, referring to the captain's comment about expecting the trip to be safer. "And how much safer is safer? What are the risks?"

[Kara Winters]

"I won't lie, there are always a risk of pirates," Miklos told Sai, "But, with the navy patrolling the area, it's safer than before. At worse, whatever might come at us, is more likely to come from the sea or sky."

"What Captain Miklos means is that before, the area wasn't even patrolled," Jahi explained, "Up until a few years ago, Keoland was at war... well not quite war... perse. Keoland has had a history of trying invade the north where the free cities on the Sword Coast exist. This meant a lot of their military was dedicated to... war, instead of other things like keeping their seas secure. Rumour has it, the Lord's Alliance fought off Keoland, with the help from the Dragon Lord's Kingdom."

"Pretty much, I'm a Waterdavian myself, so I don't have fond feelings for that crown, but I have no hard feelings towards the Keoland people themselves, two of my best officers are from that area," Miklos admitted, "One of them is actually from Saltmarsh and the town apparently has suffered for the crown's neglect of the area."

There was a pause in the conversation as the meal was brought to them. Thick steak slices of fish that had been grilled and grilled vegetables were set on the table.

"As for your question Ms. Caelynn, "What you do at Saltmarsh is up to you. My crew will be having a bit of leave to give some of those local to the area sometime to relax. Now, I've been warned by my Saltmarsh officer that the new docks meant for shipping vessels are not yet done. This means that the ship cannot stay docked all day, we would have to move the ship at the end of the day to allow the fishing fleet to dock and can only dock again once the fishing fleet has left. This means if you really want to experience Saltmarsh, it's best to find a room on land, otherwise you'll be taking daily trips on a rowboat. And don't feel compelled to follow us to the next stop if you do not wish to. I know adventurers will go where the wind takes them at times."

[Nara-pyon]

Caelynn nodded, quite satisfied with this answer. She knew that she and her sister had no definite plans for once they reached Saltmarsh, but it would be up to her to decide what they would do when the time came. Who knew? Maybe sailing would agree with them. Or maybe it wouldn't provide Ana with enough opportunity to grow. Time would tell.

"And how long do you expect the trip to take?" Sai asked, leaning forward slightly as he paused cutting up his food.

[Kara Winters]

"Two tendays, provided the weather is good all the way and the winds are fair. I have asked Jaycob to make an offering on our behalf, what with him being a worshiper of Procan and all. Not really familiar with this nature god, but when the area do what the locals do," Miklos explained between bites.

"And do you have any other tasks for us while at sea?" Jahi inquired, "I don't know about anyone else here, but I have no experience at sea, but two tendays is a long time to just be sitting around."

"I'd ask if you all take watches on deck in shifts, as that is where the action is most likely to happen, but feel free to wander around up on deck or below it when you're not on watch. Ms. Beloved, it's my understanding your a cleric yourself, if needed I'd like you to help out Jaycob."

Beloved, who was making sure that Jahi was eating enough nodded and gave the captain a cheery smile, "Of course! I'm always happy to help, though a question.... uhm... this is my first time traveling and I'm wondering. Since the ship will be having a long stop over at Saltmarsh, and I'm not even sure if Jahi and I will continue on a ship journey ourselves, what is a good way to find work over there?"

"Ah... uhm... you may want to ask my Bosun, Birk Oakheart, or the Quartermaster Neil. Birk isn't a local of Saltmarsh, but has been there often enough and Neil is local."

[Nara-pyon]

So it sounded like, for the most part, they would be figuring things out as they went. That worked for Caelynn - and for Ana, of course, by extension, whether she liked it or not.

"And when do we leave?" Sai spoke up, his voice still quiet, as if he was still fighting off shyness. He had to fight the urge to glance around the tavern, though he did peek towards the door.

[Kara Winters]

"The day after tomorrow," Miklos replied, "That'll give everyone enough time to gather anything they may need before boarding. If there's any supplies you need, now would be a good time to get them."

That was assuming they had the ability to get supplies, they might not, but Miklos didn't know that and wasn't one to judge.

Once the meal was done, he got up from his seat.

"I'll be heading back to the ship now, the meal is paid for, so take this chance to get to know each other since you'll be working together. Who knows? You all might stick together later," the captain gave a small smile before giving his leave.

[Nara-pyon]

The group bade the captain farewell, and Ana sat back in her seat, satisfied with the meal.

"Kind of him to buy us lunch," she commented with a smile, looking around at the others.

"It wasn't without reason," Caelynn pointed out to her younger sister practically. "He was right, if we are going to travel together, perhaps fight alongside each other, we really ought to learn a little bit about each other. After all, our lives may be in each others' hands at some point."

Her hazel eyes moved once more to each of her companions in turn, trying to glean just a little more about them than had already been shared.

"Being the last one to arrive," Sai added, looking at the others, "I missed introductions."

"Caelynn Nailo," Caelynn introduced herself, tossing her braid over her shoulder. She gestured towards Ana. "My sister, Ana."

[Kara Winters]

"I'm Beloved," the tiefling spoke up, standing and leaning over the table with her hand out to shake Sai's hand, "I'm a cleric to Maya, the Kind Mother. Healing is my specialty."

She explained this with a bright smile.

The human watched the interaction between the Sai and Beloved. He threw a look to Beloved and sighed.

"I'm Jahi," he gave a warm smile, "A bard by trade, feel free to call her Luv, because some people don't realize Beloved is her name."

"People thought we were courting," Beloved explained.

[Nara-pyon]

Sai arched one eyebrow. He wasn't sure that calling her "Luv" would be that much better than calling her by her name, but whatever. It was her choice.

"It sounds like you've been together a while," Ana said, leaning forward in her chair. She had been rather quiet for most of the meal, almost as if she hadn't cared much about what was being said, or wasn't curious about much. But now that information was being offered that didn't have anything to do with the voyage, she had perked up a bit. "How long have you known each other?"

[Kara Winters]

"Hmm....." Beloved hummed a bit as she thought about it, "How long has it been since you came across the cottage? A month?"

"Probably closer to two months since we first met," Jahi supplied, "I came across her cottage and she helped me out. At some point decided to travel... I guess, it's a weird sort of thing."

Sitting back down, Beloved chuckled at Jahi's comment about it being weird and nodded.

"I'm hoping to travel up north to Dragon's Nest, but it's not completely necessary, it would be nice to go there, but if I take the long way that's fine too. It's the journey that matters," she explains, "And how about the three of you? What has driven you to travel?"

[Nara-pyon]

Ana grimaced at the question and squirmed in her seat. Laughing softly, Caelynn took it upon herself to answer the question on behalf of herself and her sister.

"Ana needs training and experience," she grinned, her eyes sparkling with amusement.

"It's not what I would prefer to do," Ana added dourly, "but hopefully on the journey I can still do what I'd really like to do."

"And what is that?" Sai asked cautiously, in case it was something personal.

She smiled wistfully. "To simply spend time in nature, with nature. Studying. Learning."

[Kara Winters]

"Oh! Are you a druid?" Beloved leaned forward and inquired excitedly about this, "I heard druids tend to like to be out in nature a lot! Jahi has a lot of good stories about druids."

"A few," the bard put two fingers together to say it wasn't a lot.

Turning his attention to Caelynn he then stated more than asked, "And I'm guessing you're her watcher."

Because it didn't sound like they were in a mentor relationship.

[Nara-pyon]

At Beloved's question, a wistful expression came over Ana's face. "Oh, I would love so much to be a druid," she murmured dreamily.

"But our parents set me in charge of her training," Caelynn said firmly, placing a hand on her sister's shoulder, "to make sure that she follows the path of a Ranger, since bow and swords are all the weapons she cares to use."

Ana frowned at Caelynn. Then, in explanation to the others, she added, "Our people don't typically approve of druids, or most magic-users, for that matter. Wood and steel is where they put their stock."

Under her breath, she added, "Even if druids can protect our forests just as well."

[Kara Winters]

Jahi could see out of the corner of his eye, Beloved's brain just trying to process that and clearly somewhere in that explanation her brain was breaking.

"Is this a hermit thing that's happening? I don't understand," she looked up at Jahi a bit worriedly, "Am I having a hermit moment?"

"No... well no... this isn't common knowledge, but I am aware there is a wood elven settlement called the Greenwood. I don't know much about it, only that clerics are the only approved magic users, and even then... I think that's if-y at best."

What Jahi didn't know, but was something Caelynn and Ana had always grown up knowing is the belief that magic was potentially unreliable. It was seen as a weakness to depend on magic, especially if there was a reasonable manual way to do the same task. Clerics only barely got by as Jahi had put it because clerics were blessed by one's deity, and one didn't throw away a gift from one's deity. However clerics were not depended on in a practical sense like many places outside of the Greenwood, though they still fulfilled a religious role. That being said there weren't many clerics in the Greenwood, the last one blessed was over a century ago.

[Nara-pyon]

"Using an occasional spell is all right," Caelynn added to Jahi's information, "but weapons are the center of our defense. It's time Ana realized it."

It could be difficult to tell the age of elves, but the way that Ana stuck out her tongue at her sister indicated a certain level of youthfulness that seemed to imply that she might be significantly younger than Caelynn.

[Kara Winters]

"Huh...."Jahi murmured, "So... is this everyone's first time traveling outside of home territory then?"

He didn't know why, he just got this impression that it might be the case, and he wasn't sure how to feel about.

Beloved leaned over and asked Caelynn, "Sooo.... how do you feel then about having spells cast on you? And magic in a fight a in general?"

Because that was her bigger concern since they would all be working together.

[Nara-pyon]

Caelynn shrugged at Beloved's questions, an air of complete nonchalance about her. "Don't use it to hurt me, that's all I care about," she said simply. "Our people have no objection to others using it, though we don't use it ourselves."

She smiled softly. "I appreciate your asking, though."

Sai and Ana nodded at Jahi's question.

"I'd have preferred to stay in the forest," Ana admitted, "but, you know, it could be worse.We could be going off to some desert or something. The sea can't be that bad, right?"

"The sea is beautiful," Sai said quietly. A peaceful look crossed his face momentarily. "I'm looking forward to sailing, personally. I've been helping out on boats, off and on, for as far back as I can remember."

Of course, his 'helping out' had always meant more than simply 'helping', as required by his mentor, but he wasn't going to share that.

[Kara Winters]

Two days later the group were boarding the Wave Eater. Waiting at the top of the gang plank was Miklos and a human woman with black hair kept in a messy bun. She was tanned from her time outside and at sea. As each group arrived, Miklos would introduce her as Valda, his first mate.

It was Valda who would show them around, and show them to the guest quarters. There were only three rooms, which meant that only Sai (being the only person on his own) would have a room to themselves. The rooms themselves weren't large, only five feet wide and ten feet long. When she left the group to get themselves settled, Jahi had to admit.

"Had smaller, and at least it's comfy."

[Nara-pyon]

"Comfy" wasn't the word that either Ana or Caelynn would use, but they accepted their quarters without complaint. They were both used to an open forest, or at least wooden houses with enormous windows so that they felt open and free. This, by comparison, was stifling - but they said nothing. They both knew immediately that they would be spending most of their time on deck, out in the open air.

Sai, on the other hand, was quite content with the arrangement. He was used to cramped quarters - in fact, to him, this was positively spacious. And the fact that he would be quartering on his own was even better - it meant that any noises he heard in the night would mean an intruder of some kind, and he wouldn't have to worry about mistaking a roommate for a threat.

"Very comfortable," he agreed with Jahi, entering into his quarters. He closed the door behind himself, latched it, and headed to his bunk, where he sat down to think.

Within a few minutes, Caelynn and Ana were back on deck, taking in the sea air and watching the crew prepare to sail.

[Kara Winters]

"Come on!" Beloved motioned for Jahi, "I've never been on a ship before, so let's go back up deck and see what it's about!"

Up on deck, the crew were busy making last minute preparations to sail, this including bringing down cargo into the hold. So anyone passing their way to get back on deck would have passed by several crew members. On deck, Miklos and Valda were going over papers together while the crew worked around them.

At the front of the ship, a young, freckled face man was muttering a prayer over something in his hand.

Leaning against the railing on the main deck was a human man wearing a wide brim straw hat, smelling of herbs and spices. Next to him was a dwarf with dark brown hair and beads in his braided beard. The two were chatting as the crew was getting ready. Once everything was loaded and set the ship began to pull away from the docks. Beloved watched as the land became further and further away.

"Well, I guess it's official, we're off," she murmured before looking around.

She noticed the elven sisters were up on deck (she didn't see Sai though). Deciding now was a good time to have a chat, she made her way over to the sisters, with Jahi silently following her.

"Hey! Excited about this trip?" she asked the two once she got into hearing range.

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