@nimelennar @Daaksyde @Mitchell @William_George @daneel
GM SCENE
Normally, surroundings as unfamiliar as the ship might be expected to be not conducive to rest. However, after the adrenalin of the evening’s activities, all five of you rapidly drop off into a sound sleep.
You’re awakened in the morning by the footsteps and chatter of the crew around you, collecting their breakfasts from the still-lit hearth near the bow of the ship. They appear to be fairly typical sailors from a promiscuous mix of cultures; Arabic, Anglish and Aralaise words all pepper the conversation. They’re friendly enough, although there is a clear social divide aboard between crew and passengers. The crew’s responses to conversation are polite but brief.
After breakfast, you head on deck. You have made considerable progress down river during the night. Agricultural development follows the river on both sides, as do occasional small villages. The architecture on the Wazifi side is purely Islamic in style; the buildings to the south show a mix of Catholic and Islamic influence. The differences are subtle outside of the cities, however; a barn is a barn wherever it’s built.
To your surprise, you find Aronn lying spreadeagled atop a grating at the bows of the ship, apparently contentedly soaking up the sun. His appearance is still gaunt and ill, but he’s no longer quite the wreck that he was last night.
“I expect you’re curious as to where we’re headed”, he remarks. His voice is still raw and croaking, but he is no longer struggling for breath with every word. “It’s about three day’s sail from here to Hadaton and the Mare Medium, but we’ll be jumping off around halfway there.”
“My…profession, if you will…is a cross between a collector and a historian. I do this for the greater good, not merely as a hobby. There are objects in the world, that date from before the Banestorms came, that would be dangerous if they were to fall into the wrong hands. I make it my task to collect these items and carry them to safety.”
“I have reason to believe that such an item was mistakenly left behind in a Wazifi fortress near this river. This fortress has been abandoned for over a hundred years; there’s no need for it these days. This border has been peaceful ever since the Cardiens gained their independence two hundred years ago.”
“Even the existence of this fortress has fallen from the official record; it took me years to find the clues to lead me to where it was. The exact location is still somewhat vague, as a matter of fact”, he says as he looks at Thwip. “Which is in part why you were hired. I have a copy of an engineer’s sketch of the site that was made during construction. I expect that you should be able to provide some advice in regards to likely locations and the most probable entrances.”
As Thwip raises an eyebrow, Aronn adds “Oh, yes, I forgot to mention; the entire fortress is underground. Apparently it was intended as a secret arms depot and hidden barracks, not a place for a siege.”
“I do not know how much will be intact and how much will be ruins; it is hard to imagine that such mayflies as humans would bother building with the long term in mind. Therefore, you may also be required to manage a little construction or excavation once we’ve pinpointed the site.”
“As I said, this fortress is long-abandoned and long-forgotten. Once we’ve made our way in, there should be little difficulty in finding what I’m looking for and returning to the ship. But it would be best if we stayed clear of the Wazifi authorities while doing so, no? Dealing with human bureaucracy is such a tedious chore.”
“By the way, where’s Morton?”
