"That sounds like a great idea!" he said commandingly, "Go make it happen. Then we will address the matter of my...our hunger."
"And do a little fact finding" added Erme.
The party made their way down towards the docks. They were impressive indeed. The dock network was a vast array of planks and ropes spread out to allow upwards of a dozen or more ships, depending on size, to be docked simultaneously. However, only a few of the docks closest to the core of the town were well maintained. Much like everything else in this town, only what was being used was maintained and the rest was either used to patch up the parts being used, or left to wither away.
The group made their way to the individual they were about to discuss business with. On the docks beside him, there were some barrels and crates of varying sizes. Tied up to the dock post was a moderate sized boat with some faded and flaked paint on the transom that read; Tymor's Luck with Uskarn underneath it. The boat itself looked like it could handle a crew of about a half dozen and a modest amount of cargo as well. The half-Ork individual looked up at their coming approach. While his form was very slender, he was still very fit. Unlike most Orks, or half-Orks, it was his slender build that set him apart from his kin. His gaze was that of curiosity and intrigue. It clearly wasn't often that new comers were in town, and he seemed generally interested about the approaching party.
"Good morning friends! Raserhill's the name. What brings you to our little slice of life?" the half-Ork inquired.
"Are you headed to Firewatch Island? If so, we're looking to book passage." replied Erme.
"Aye, I'm just loading up my shipment for the island. It'll be five silver a head if you're looking to go."
"Agreed." Erme replied as she reached out a hand to shake on the deal. Raserhill took her hand and gave it a firm shake.
"We have some business to attend to in town before we go. Will you be able to wait for us?" inquired Erme.
"It'll take me about an hour or so to load up. But I won't be waiting much longer than that." Raserhill replied.
"Yes, yes. That will be fine." Interjected Finn. "Now, Merrick said something about a cheese shop near by. Do you know anything about it?"
Raserhill chuckled a bit and pointed off past the Frog and Fog to a rather exquisite looking store front a few buildings down. It almost seems as though the store was a vision of what Urskarn used to be like at its peak. With a prideful tone he said;
"You'll never find a better selection of cheeses. Vortamin imports only the best quality product. He even just recently received a shipment of Morandinilith Dark just a few days ago. Top shelf stuff that is."
Finn's stomach growled at the thought. Without another word, he turned on his heel and started walking for the shop. The rest of the group began to follow with Erme mouthing the word Thanks with a wink and a smile to Raserhill as they made for the cheese store. Raserhill watched them move away for a moment, then shook his head and began to continue loading his cargo onto the ship.
***
A little bell rang as the front door of Vortamin's shop swung open to admit a rather curios group of four travelers. The older gentlemen stood behind his counter and greeted the new arrivals with an upbeat tone;
"Greetings! Greetings! Welcome to my shop. I am Vortamin, and you'll never find a better selection of cheeses! What may I help you with on this fine day?"
Most of the group of four started to fan out through the shop, except the one who had the most gleaming of armor. The little goblin Vortamin took the most note of, as it seemed to be surrounded by flies. As it drew closer to his product, the flies would land on everything. The other human and elf just seemed to be checking out what was on the shelves. The one in gleaming armor spoke first;
"Yes, yes. We're here for some of your cheese. I've heard that you might have some Morandinilith Dark?"
Vortamin moved out from behind his counter and began to wave the flies off from some of his products. Then he gestured towards a table near the entrance and replied;
"You have an excellent taste for cheese my friend! We just got that shipment in three days ago. It's still very fresh. Would you like to try a sample?"
"Why yes, I, Finn, do have excellent taste in all things! Thank you!" replied Finn, flashing Vortamin a perfect smile while nodding in agreement. "A sample would be lovely!"
Vortamin navigated past some display tables, picking up a small cheese knife along the way. Once he arrived at the table in front of Finn, he cut a small piece off the wheel and presented it to him expectantly. Finn took the offered piece and popped it in his mouth. He was instantly hit by its smooth texture and smokey notes. It was quite possibly the best cheese he had ever tasted. The rest of the group moved towards the table and Vortamin gave them each a little sample. Finn signaled that he would like to purchase some and indicated a few others as well. Vortamin then busied himself preparing the order.
Plague meanwhile, held his sample for a moment, examining it. He then looked up to Erme and asked;
"Do you think bats like cheese?"
Erme wrinkled her brow for a moment, bringing her finger to her chin to ponder the question.
"I don't think so." She replied, in a bit of a mocking tone that went over Plague's head.
"How about rats?" offered Plague.
"Oh yes! Rats definitely do." Erme said as she released her finger from her chin in a gesture of eureka.
Plague then made a motion with his hands and produced a rat from somewhere under the cloud of flies that made up a sort of cloak about his person. Holding it in his hand, he offered it his sample of cheese. The rat sniffed it briefly before consuming the morsel. A few moments after it began to chew the cheese, Plague bit it's head off and began to devour it in a gulp. Everyone else there were immediately repulsed by the action and Vortamin decided it was time for this group to leave.
"Ok. That will be quite enough! If you'll see yourselves out now, and have a good day!" Vortamin began to usher the party towards the door and corralled them out before closing the door and shaking his head. What strange travelers he thought.
The Gunnards then made their way a little further down the street before arriving at the book shop. Upon entering the store, they were greeted by bookcases that stretched from the front of the store to the back of the store. They ran right up from the floor to the ceiling and were crammed with books, scrolls, and other parchments. Every so often, there was just a stack of books on the ground, piled almost waist high compared to most of the party members. In Plague's case, these stacks were as high as him! It smelled a little musty as one would expect from this many books being exposed to the rich and salty air of the ocean. The group stood around for a moment at the entrance before a kindly old voice came from behind one of the stacks of books near the back of the store.
"Hello there dears! What kind of tales can I regale you with today?"
The voice belonged to a little old hafling woman. She was in a full length pastel blue dress that went right down to just above her shoes. She wore a small pair of reading spectacles and had a little white bonnet in her grey and silver hair. She picked up the front of her dress as she made her way out from the back, were she had been looking for something, so as to not trip on it or catch it on any of the stacks. Arriving at the front of the group, she gave them her friendliest smile. Gealyn spoke up;
"We were wondering if you knew anything about the Tammeraut. We've been sent here to find it and were told you knew much about the local tales."
Bells nodded in understanding.
"You have come to the right place dears." she replied as she pulled a loose strand of hair from her face and tucked it behind he ear.. "What would you like to know? I don't really keep many books on the subject, its mostly spoken tales."
"Anything you know would be appreciated." replied Gealyn.
She nodded again and closed her eyes. Bells reached a hand into a pocket on her dress and seemed to grab a hold of something, but kept it in her pocket. She then started to hum for a moment, speaking the odd phrase under her breath. before beginning to recall what she knew. She kept her eyes closed as she spoke;
"The Tammeraut. The Tammeraut" She muttered. "The nefarious pirate ship captained by none other than the legendary Captain Syrgaul himself. Nasty bit he was."
Bells seemed to drift deeper into a trance as she continued.
"The Tammeraut plundered along the coast of Brisirith and parts of the Vern Archipelago. It's reputation was that of a ruthless and brutal crew. There seemed to be no stopping their plunder. If the Tammeraut arrived at your port, you were lucky if they left you with anything, including your life..."
A moment went by, and a tear ran down Bells' face as if she was reliving a sad memory. After a moment, she continued.
"It was around 9, The Rotting. Warning bells had just started to be rung and sailors were running around to get to their ships. I had asked one of them on the dock what was going on. He told me that there had been a sighting of the Tammeraut near Firewatch Island. The Navy was gathering all their ships in the hopes that they could stop Syrgaul from plundering the fort on the island..."
At this point, Bells' eyes were darting around while still being closed, as if she was dreaming or maybe living in the memory.
"A few days had passed and no word of a raid at Firewatch Island. Some locals had been praying to Valkur to keep everyone safe. Then, one night, an incredible storm rolled across the sea. The winds were strong, and lightning hit the water. It only last for about an hour but it felt like an eternity. A few days after that, the Navy ships returned to port. But the crews didn't go back to their business. Instead, they had begun to pack up everything in town. They loaded their ships with as much as the could carry. There was murmur that the Gods had intervened and stopped Syrgaul from raiding the fort, or that the might of the full naval fleet scared him off. Or that his ship might have sunk some where off the coast of the island. No one seemed to know. But they had received orders to pull out from this area, and so they packed up and left..."
The store was silent for a moment. The group looked expectantly at Bells, who then opened her eyes and gave them another warm smile as she wiped the tear from her face.
"That's all I know about the Tammeraut." she said. "Is there anything else I could assist you with today?"
Most of the party were taking a moment to absorb the information. Plague, however, did have a request;
"Would like a hungry book, juicy information!" Plague gave Bells a big smile and waited patiently.
Bells gave Plague a quizzical look and inquired; "Perhaps something like the hungry caterpillar?"
"Yes! Yes!" replied Plague.
Bells shuffled off to a corner of the store near the entrance. There was a well worn sign above a colorful book case that read "Younglings". She ran her finger along a few of the books then removed one form the shelf. She brought it back over and handed it to Plague.
"That will be 10 copper." she said.
Plague rummaged around in his coin purse and put a silver coin in her hand. She took it and placed it in a different pocket on her dress.
Plague, again trying to find out what "juicy information" could be, promptly opened the book to a random page, which had some colorful pictures of fruit on it, ripped it out and began to chew on it. After a moment of chewing the page around in his mouth, he then swallowed it. It hadn't tasted much different from his earlier attempt at the inn.
While Plague was doing his experiment, Erme also inquired Bells for a book.
"I was wondering if you'd have something for a light read to pass the time. Maybe something a little..." and she learned in to Bells to whisper in her ear, "...a little smutty."
A smile tugged at Bells lips and she nodded in understanding.
"I've got just the thing!" She said and made her way over to another section of the store and disappeared behind a set of bookcases. After a moment of humming and some ruffling papers, Bells reemerged and handed Erme a green book with a gold stenciled sword and scabbard under the title; The Sword and The Scabbard.
"This has been a popular read here in Uskarn. It came highly recommended from a merchant from Emyf Serine."
Erme took the book, handing over payment. Bells then turned to look at the other two.
"Now what could I interest you two dears in, hm? Perhaps the latest entry by Favorez? Voyage to Verdendypt. It's his latest tale from the Davy's Defenders series. Apparently their leader Davy has to make a big sacrifice to pull the team through."
Finn and Gealyn shake their heads.
"I'm fine." said Gealyn. Finn nodded in agreement, before Gealyn then inquired;
"We could use some directions however to Valissia's guide store."
"Oh that's easy!" Bells chimed. "Just take the first turn around the block and its the second building on the right. You can't miss it my dears!"
Gealyn nodded his thanks and began to make for the door. The rest of the group nodded to Bells and followed Gealyn out the door. They made their way over to Valissia's without any problems. However, once there, they tried the door and it was locked. They knocked and waited a few minuets, but no reply. So Erme decided to write up a note and stick it to the door, letting Valissia know they had come by and might be in town later to ask her some questions.
The final task the party had left to do was make sure their horses would be looked after while they were gone and Gealyn and Erme went over to take care of it while Finn and Plague made their way towards the docks. After a short negotiation with the local blacksmith, Gealyn and Erme were able to ensure that their horses and lone donkey would be looked after. Erme realized that their supplies on the wagon they might need, so she began to store them in a unique way that had the onlooking blacksmith in awe. Erme had a magical connection to the old oil lamp she carried around with her. She was able to teleport inside of it, much like a Genie would go into it's magic lamp. Over the next while, she moved all their supplies into the lamp so that they could have them while away on Firewatch Island. Once she had loaded the lamp, the two made their way to the docks to join up with the rest of their party and set out for the hermitage.
The group met up just a few blocks from the docks to go over their plan for the next leg of their journey. While discussing their plan, Gealyn spoke up to the group;
"And to save a little money on this voyage, I propose to play dead. I'll shapeshift into the form of the dead guy from the hermitage, and you guys can just tell that half-Ork fella that your returning the body to pay respects."
"Do you think he'll buy it?" asked Erme.
"Sure he will. Just get Plague here to sit on or near my body while we travel. That swarm of flies that follow him will make me look just like a ripe corps."
Plague grinned at the idea. He would be the most important part of the plan, which didn't happen as often as he'd like. Finn looked around and grabbed a tarp hanging from one of the near by buildings.
"Ok then," Finn said as marvelously as he could. "Shift and lets get going."
Gealyn shifted into the form of old Philipert and laid down on the tarp. Finn and Erme rolled him up in it and then lifted him up onto their shoulders with Plague walking right under the middle and they made their way to the docks to board the ferry. As they approached, Raserhill put a hand up to them.
"Whoa, whoa! What are you doing?" he rasped.
"We're returning the body of one of the hermits we found washed up on shore. We figure they'll want to pay their respects." Replied Erme in a reassuring tone.
"Yea, some guy named Philipert." Finn said nodding his head to the rolled up tarp on his shoulder.
Raserhill's face looked saddened.
"I knew him. He was a good man." Raserhill took a moment, then nodded at the group. "Load him up then. What about your other group member?"
Erme jumped in with a quick reply, " He's going to stay behind to do some work for us."
Raserhill nodded and boarded his boat. The group boarded behind him and Raserhill indicated where they could place the body. Plague made sure to sit near it and stay close by. He wasn't going to let this opportunity to be the most important group member slip him by! Raserhill collected his payment for the ferry ride and then slipped the ships moors and started their voyage to Firewatch Island.
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