Another Boat Ride – Elemental but Not Lyrandar

Eyre – Barrakas, 1000 YK

It’s late by the time the discussion is finished so we spend the night in Wroat and hop the first train back to Sharn in the morning. Gort and Jhazaali make plans for us to get on a ship headed to the Shadow Marches for a supply drop and pickup of dragonshards. I’m am blessed to be traveling with people with the resources for this sort of travel because I know I could never afford it on my own.

It turns out to be an elemental galleon but not one owned or operated by House Lyrandar. I’d heard of the Oakwalker Trading Company (or the Vardariana Vanta, in their native elvish) but did not realize they had elemental ships. I’d met the company’s owner/president once at one of the lectures on the Umbragen. I honestly can’t say I’ve met a more beautiful and captivating creature than her. Having also witnessed her husband, Senex Oakwalker, once at the Ten Torches, I can’t for the life of me figure out how she puts up with that guy. Anyway, it turns out that the captain of this ship, the Pirate’s Bane, is another wife of that fool. She seems more the type I could see with him, but still, I’d say he’s undeserving of either of them. Captain Milla Oakwalker is a water genasi that, somehow, has the ability to pilot elemental ships. She’s also a very attractive woman but may be a tiny bit insane. Her crew has the utmost respect for her though and she does seem to know what she’s doing when it comes to her boat. Turns out she’s not a huge fan of Lyrandar, but that pales in comparison to her hatred of pirates. This becomes apparent when we hear a call from the crow’s nest stating that there are ships ahead and it turns out to be two pirate ships having just finished their attack and boarding of another large, but ordinary, ship. It would have been easy for us to go by them but Captain Milla turns right at them and proceeds at full speed. As we close it becomes apparent that we are spotted, and the pirates don’t like what they see. They can be seen quickly dropping what they’re doing and reembarking their own ships to make haste away from the Pirate’s Bane (fitting name). The captain and crew (and my companions) weapon up and proceed to run down both pirate ships (yes, this adds two extra days to our trip but it was worth it to see this crew and Gort in action). Once the ships were caught, the battle was swift, aggressive, and without remorse. The pirates were slain and the few prisoners the pirates had taken were given the Captain’s quarters and the best of the food until we reached the Shadow Marches. There’s an obvious story behind this behavior but I do not manage to get it out of Milla before we make landfall.

Once in the Marches we have to wait several days before a vessel comes that can take us to Bloodcliff Bay. I can’t imagine why since a place called Bloodcliff Bay in the Demon Wastes sounds like such a fantastic travel destination. Anyway, between the ship ride and the time we spend in Zarash’ak my orc is starting to come along. Zarash’ak is also called “the City of Stilts” since that’s exactly what it is. Using the bridges and boats to get around isn’t too different than Sharn but it’s a whole lot smaller. It’s mostly orcs and humans here and House Tharashk has a major holding as well. I get a bit of a lowdown on the dragonshard trade but mostly pass time writing and learning the orc language as much as possible so I can understand as much as possible before we get to Gaash Dar. My bar tricks go over well, and I find the orcs are less gruff than I had thought. They’re an extremely passionate and emotional people. This can manifest as aggression, but it’s just as strong when it comes to loyalty, affection, and faith. I began to learn this here, but it is only confirmed in the time that I spend with the Ghaash’kala.