Posted on behalf of Roman:

"Goryn stood there for a moment, looking at the package without appearing to really see it. Then he spoke up, very softly about how he might as well go check on his gear before we set off. Bedge stopped him with a gentle hand on Goryn's huge arm, and smiled as he said 'Hold on friend, let's have a better look at this package... Unless the cap'n would care to tell us exactly what it is?"

Corben looked on, unspeaking, but interested in what was in the package.

The captain shrugged. "Silks, furs, tools, a few spices. Just some small examples of what we have to trade. Go ahead and look through it, by all means."

Should Bedge look through it, he'll find three packets of spices, scraps of furs from otters and wolverines, pieces of deinonychus hide and giant beetle carapace, pieces of quality paper, dried dyes, and small tools, of Drazai manufacture. Everything was labeled in a careful script, which Bedge will recognize as the third mate's.

"If you don't have anymore questions, we'll be landing in another hour. Best get prepared," the captain said. "Cook has some rations for you take with, so see him before you head out."

((Now's the time for any last minute conversation. If you're leaving anything in your inventory behind or want to grab something not in it [within reason], declare it now.))

On behalf of Garner:

"Bedge will kit himself out as previously discussed, dressing for a bit of practical flair with the magic leather on underneath his coat.

Goryn will spend every last spare second in prayer, before shouldering his glaive and waiting stoicly near the gangplank."

And on behalf of Roman

The ship soon passed over the cliffs, and then over trees. There are more trees here than most have ever seen in one place, forming a dense canopy that covered the terrain below. In the far east, gray smudges on the horizon might have been mountains.

Closer, a field presented itself. The ship began to angle itself downward, aiming for the clear ground. Sailors grabbed handholds, some looking alarmed, some looking grim, and a few trying desperately to look nonchallant about the whole thing.

There was a hard bounce as the ship touched ground, and then another, and a series of somewhat softer bounces, then the ship moved forward a bit further, and came to a stop.

"Look at that, lads," the Captain said. "All safe and sound, like the lubbers promised. Who'd have thought?" He gave a rich, full laugh, and the sailors gradually joined in.

"Lower de gangplank!" Orgul shouted. "Den secure de perimeter! Hy don' vant henny surprises komink at us from doze trees."

Sailors moved to obey. Six wrestled the gangplank into position while the others got bows and arrows out of their niches by the railing. A few pulled out swords or spears, carefully stored for this moment. Soon, the clearing was secured.

The captain looked down at the chart handed him by Thistle. "Well," he said, "It looks like any direction is as good as any." He turned to the scouts. "This is where you get off. You know your orders. Look for any likely inhabitants, try to initiate contact peacefully, make trade deals, and, if at all possible, survive. If you don't find anyone, report back here in a week. If you're not back by then, we'll have to take off without you. Understood?"

For the first time in weeks Silja realized that this might, all the excitement about airborn travel put aside, be a boring mission. What if they spent months and months just looking for people, and finding nothing than boars and foxes?

She still hoped the only clear spot in a forest that huge wasn't a holy grove, but she kept the thought to herself.

Dom, picked up his luggage without saying a word. He had gotten used to the moving and swaying of the airship in the wind and now the ground felt unfamiliar. Everything his mother and aunts had been warning about, the wild animals, the fierce barbaric tribes, the exotic diseases, came back with a thud and watching the sailors taking precautions against the very same things wasn't encouraging at all.

Still, he was in good company.

Bedge checked the straps on his armor, the buckles on his sword belt, and the clasp of his rucksack. He'd tried to keep himself busy a the ship came over the land, sketching page after page of rough drawings and scrawled notes in his spidery script.

"Sometimes," he whispered to himself, "sometimes I could almost think that there's more pleasure in crafting a new map itself than in plotting fat prizes and rich ports upon it!"

The book and his pencils and inks were safely stowed in his rucksack, along with his traveling supplies and the bottle of wine from home. Not the finest stuff, but a decent vintage and decent glasswork. He'd made all the notes he could from the air, he'd seen all he could usefully see of the clearing as they came in to land. There wasn't anything left to do for preperation. This, as they say, was it. Bedge felt the electric anticipation that always came after the watch reported a trader riding low in the water. He bounced on the balls of his feet, huming the refrain to an old chanty.

As Goyrn walked up behind him, Bedge shut his eyes and it was there... the thrill of the boarding action, the slash and charge that would take the ship... over the gang plank. It was time.

"It is time," the low, rumbling voice of the half-orc startled Bedge, who jumped visibly. "We should be going. I have all that I need." The half-orc hefted his pole arm, letting it thud into place on his shoulder. He had a large sack slung over his other shoulder, held in place by a strap across his bare chest.

"You're right, Muscles," the half-elf grinned manicly. "Truer words were never spoken!"

Corben stepped off-board, double checking that he really was back at ground level. The landing hadn't agreed with him very much, but he was happy that he still possessed his lunch.

He looked around at the surrounding trees and felt for the reassuring weight of the sword. Corben wondered which direction they would be going in, and voiced the question to his fellow scouts.

Orgul was supervising the security of the field, walking about. After barking orders at the sailors, he turns to the scouts. "Vich direction vill hyu be gon in? It'd help if Hy knew vich direction trouble might be comink from."

OOC: Yes, that's right, kiddos! The adventure is back on. But first, a direction must be declared. It actually makes a difference which way the scouts go. One direction leads to the castle, and the other leads to (boom boom boom!) Certain Doom. Wait, wrong adventure. But different directions do lead to different places, with different possibilities. Please make a decision.

Hanro looked east, towards the distant mountain range. “Might be some dwarf halls there, I reckon,” he said hopefully. “They’re bound to give us a warm and hearty hospitality.”


“Unfortunately we are much more likely to find some unfamiliar beasts in those mountains,” said Szazzkur, though he himself would not take familiar terrain amiss. “This is not a land we are familiar with, and we cannot assume that any of what we have taken for granted until now would be the same here. We would best take a path out of the woodland towards the plains, where we are more likely to find a humanoid settlement that would be suitable for our trade.”


“This, of course,” he continued, now pacing to and fro, “assuming that the people who live in this land live above ground, but as we can hardly assume that the purpose of our journey was futile altogether we shall have to do our best with what we have at hand. The northwards direction would be as good as any, and I think we should stay close to the shore. If the cliff side eventually slopes down to sea level, then we will likely find a fishing settlement.”

Silja tried to take in the landscape around her as well as her companion's mood. If one of them decided to get into trouble by startling who- or whatever they were coming across, she did not want to be too surprised by it.

"My ususal approach would be to remain as unseen as possible for a while, until we know what we are dealing with - in case we come across anybody at all. That put aside... are we going to remain in one group, at all? It would be wiser in case we come across some wild beasts, but smaller groups would be less likely to startle any natives, and we would be able to cover a wider area. I'm not for or against for either of the tactics, just a thought."