Day
1 on the BoatCeely, having arrived their earlier, is already standing on the deck, and waves to the party. She then joins Graasz the leader of the gnomes as he goes onto the dock to greet the party and meet with Lady Tessarin, who has also just arrived.
"A fine day to start a journey" Tessarin says as she greets the party. "Or perhaps I should say continue a journey!" she laughs. She looks up at the clear sky and smiles. "Lathander must be looking down on you today!" she says.
Graasz stamps his foot and frowns, obviously impatient to be off. Graasz could be said to be a typical gnome. He is just over three foot tall, shorter by Larz by virtually a foot, and his nose is huge and rounded. On a human it would definitely be classed as abnormal, but on him, it somehow looks just right. As he frowns at Tessarin however, the party try hard not to look, as his fierce expression comes across as simply comical.
"Comeoncomeoncomeon!" he exclaims in the typical fast paced speech of the gnome.
"Themultigaspowergeneratorcombusterunitisatoptimumperformancelevelsandwereallyshouldnotwastetimeandgonow!"
he says, appearing not to need to breath whilst talking.
"Pardon?" says Tessarin, her forehead frowning as she tries to interpret what the gnome had just said.
"I*said*engine*ready*we*go*now*Yes?" said Graasz slowly and deliberately as if explaining something to a two year old.
Tessarin smiles and nods her head at Graasz, perhaps a little patronising, but he seems not to notice. She turns to the party.
"Well, not a lot of time for farewells I guess!" she says briskly. She looks around till she spots Yvandel, "Here you are Puppetmaster!" she says handing him a scroll bound with ribbon. "Make sure you let your fellow mages have a good look too eh?" she adds with a wink at Merrell and Blondung. Merrell actually blushes for a moment, and suddenly takes his glasses off to polish them. "Err.. thanks" he replies. Blondung nods his appreciation as well, his eyes hungrily looking at the scroll in Yvandel's hands.
An impatient "Hrumph!" from Graasz is heard as he turns and stomps his way up the gangplank. A loud clang is heard and the horses start for a moment, as a panel on the side of the boat opens down onto the dock, leading into the largest hold. One of the other gnomes rushes out and starts to tug at the nearest horses bridle. "Comeweloadhorsesandcargonow!" he says breathlessly.
"You'd better go" says Tessarin. "Graasz can get very impatient if things don't go according to plan!"
She smiles at the party one last time. "I've communicated with Lady Alustriel, and she is expecting you in 4/5 days. Have a safe journey, and please do hurry back to Nesme. I'd certainly like to see you here again! Now I have to go to!" With that, she winks, and then with a slight popping noise, suddenly vanishes, making everyone jump in surprise.
The gnomes load the boat quickly, the hold is large and roomy, and has been covered with straw. The noise of the engine makes the horses nervous to start with, but after a fairly short while, they settle down. There are separate sleeping quarters for the party, and by the time everyone is loaded aboard, the boat has loosed it's moorings and lurches into motion. With a belch of oily smoke, and a hiss of escaping steam, the boat starts to chug it's way up the river. Children and quite a few curious adults as well, look down and wave from the bridge as the boat leaves the safety of Nesme and starts it's journey to Silverymoon.
The other three gnomes finally introduce themselves to the party. Rolfr, Nardl and Gilkjr could almost be brothers to Graasz, and almost everyone finds it difficult to tell them apart at first. All of them speak in the characteristic rapid fire speech of the Gnome, and it takes a while to get used to it. Soon, the town of Nesme and it's cultivated lands fades into the west, the Evermoors return to their normal bleak self on the south bank and the Surbrin valley spreads its open land to the north. For the most part, the river is smooth and slow flowing, and the boat's movement is gentle in the water. Lucretia's fears of sea sickness proved groundless.
The day progresses slowly, and quickly the group become almost bored by the lack of activity on the boat. The gnomes try to explain some of the workings of the boat, but they often use technical terms which defy translation, and after a while give up. Some of it is fairly similar to a normal sailing boat. There is a ships wheel - for turning the rudder - and there is an anchor for stopping. There is also a vast array of dials and levers, connected to wires and pipes, which the gnomes appear to constantly tweak and adjust.
Twice the boat steams past patrols of the Riders of Nesmé on the moor bank of the Surbrin. And frequently it passes the ashy remains of fires, with large bones often protruding from the ashes. Toward sunset on the first day, you finally spot a band of trolls on the moor. There are nine of them 100 yards or so from the bank. One of the gnomes, Nardl, prepares the barrel of the intriguing deck mounted flamethrower, but the trolls need only a quick glance at the smoke-belching boat, and they're convinced to hightail it for the interior of the moor.
At last, with the boat still chugging away, night falls. Graasz declares that the gnomes will be continuing to drive the boat through the night, taking it in turns to sleep, but that the passengers are welcome to sleep. Since there is little else to do, the Unknowns all head for their cabins and get some shut eye. For some, it is difficult to get to sleep with the vibration of the engine coming through the boat, but eventually, the slap-slap of water against the hull and the gentle rocking in the water combine to lull even the still excited Ceely into sleep.
*** Conversation on the 16th ***
<Serena aka Archon wrote>:
> Later that morning, as things settle down a bit,
> Serena takes the opportunity to corner Graasz and
> ask him some questions that have been bothering her
> since the magic boat ride was first suggested by Lady
> Tessarin. The warrioress drops to one knee, so she
> can look the gnome-captain in the eye while they talk.
Graasz nods is appreciation of the effort to speak to him on his own level. He appears to have calmed a lot since his impatience on the dock. Perhaps the movement of the boat beneath his feet is soothing to him.
<Serena aka Archon continued>:
> "Tell me, Graasz. We've heard that the trolls
> are dropping trees across the river in order to
> cross it. What do you intend to do if our passage
> is blocked by tree trunks in our way? What happens
> if we come upon such a barrier in the dark? Will
> you be able to turn or stop this boat quickly enough,
> before we ram into it?"
>
> "I have my battle axe, here, but it would take quite
> some time to chop through a large tree trunk. Do you
> have any tools by which to cut or otherwise remove such
> barriers?"
Graasz slaps the helm in front of him. "Wehavesepecialbowforramming!" he says in his usual rapid fire speech. Seeing Serena frowning to try to catch up with his words, he speaks again, this time more slowly, though it seems an effort for him to slow it down! "River - only - narrows - incertainplaces." he says. "We - go - slow - then - and - either - ram - log - outofway, - or - chop - or - tie - ropeandpull." He shakes his head, the concentration of trying to slow his speech down too much like hard work. "Dontworryaboutit!" he concludes.
<Serena aka Archon continued>:
> "Also, we have heard that there are shallows
> in the river farther upstream. I consider such
> places likely settings for ambushes -- by trolls,
> barbarians, or who knows what else. I assume that
> you know this river, right? Please let us know when
> we will be approaching any shallows, so that we may
> take extra precautions in those places."
Graasz grins. "Riversurveyedbymagic. Noshallows!" he grins. "Anywaywehaveflamethrowers"
he adds. "Anywhoattackusgetburnt!" An almost gleeful expression
crosses his face. Obviously the thought of using the flamethrowers
on attackers appeals to him - presumably the flamethrower is one of
his favourite inventions.
***** THAT NIGHT *****
Serena sat up late that first night on the boat. She was wrapped in her blankets, which were comfortable enough, but there was something - -- not just the endless throbbing of the gnomemade engine – something that made her restless. She tried sleeping on one side, then the other, but she just couldn't find the right spot.
Finally, she rose and stepped out onto the deck. Since her boots were off, her stockinged footfalls made no noise that could be heard over the churning engine. With her blankets hanging about her shoulders, she stood at the rail, looking out into the night. She stood there for a long time, thinking.
At last, she turned from the rail and strode along the deck. She stopped at the door to Lucretia's cabin. Quietly, she turned the handle and opened the door. She stepped inside, closing the door behind her. She waited until her eyes adjusted to the dimness, where the only illumination came from the moonlight that filtered in through a small porthole.
Then she tiptoed to Lucretia's bunk, where she knelt down and reached her arms out over his slumbering form. Her left arm went his across his chest and arms, as her right hand cupped his mouth. He awoke with a start and she clutched him tightly, whispering, "It's me." When he relaxed, she removed her right hand, replacing it with her mouth. She pressed her lips hard against his. "I couldn't sleep," she whispered. Although the bunk was made for only one person, Serena found that it could accommodate two in a pinch. She slipped in next to the warrior, and burrowed down under the covers with him.
The next morning, she slept late – very late. It wasn't until early afternoon that she opened her eyes, awakened by Luc's loud voice out on deck. "Did he say something about fishing?" Serena asked herself, as she sat up in his bunk. Wrapping herself in her blankets once again, she opened the door a crack and peered out. There she saw Luc rigging a spear, regaling the passengers and crew with boasts concerning his fishing prowess. When he walked toward the bow, the crowd followed him to watch, and Serena took the opportunity to slip out of his cabin unnoticed. She darted sternwise down the deck, and ducked into her own room.
As she dressed and suited up in her armor, Serena listened to Luc outside, splashing around with his spear, noisily dashing about on deck, and generally raising a ruckus with his ludicrous attempt at fishing. Now fully clad and presentable, she stepped out onto the deck and looked toward Luc in the bow. All hands aboard were watching his antics, and that's when it finally hit her. He was playing the buffoon for her sake. To distract the others, so she could slip unnoticed from his cabin.
Her heart swelled up and she gripped the rail to steady herself. She gazed at Lucretia from a distance, as a smile spread across her face. She knew she would not have trouble with sleeplessness again this night.
"You honor me Serena...and for that I will always be grateful. Though
I am no puppy on a string <he looks to Cleo's pup>, I will remain
loyal as far as you do, but this will not give you sway over me...as
I will not demand more of you because of our shared time." <Hoping
the warrioress understands him.> "I slept better then I have
in weeks...it must be the motion of the boat on the waves" <he
adds with a smile a hopeful shared laugh.>