Having heard tales and stumbled across old lore about the Dawnborne, Mabel-Rae decided to leave The Lands In Between. She secured passage on the Wayfinder and set sail across the Veiled Deep. On board the ship she met many different characters, but two stood out to her and would, in the coming weeks while being confined to the ship, become companions of a sort.
A quiet dwarf named Baldor, and a human fisherman named Tormund.
The dwarf was mostly quiet, but a good drinking buddy. Seeming to hold no judgement, his calm demeanor was nice to be around. Even though he does not seem to understand music. Apparently Baldor has dreamt of a destiny. But does not know more than that… How do you follow a destiny you know nothing about?
Tormund would occasionally mutter “wisdoms of the sea”. He also spoke highly of his wife Helga and their children, and would often be seen writing letters to them that he wanted to send as we made shore. His village seer had seen a vision of him slaying a great beast in honor of their gods, which is why he had left his home and family behind.
“After being on this ship for three weeks, putting more distance behind myself and my past, we were starting to get bored. Me and Baldor spent an evening playing rollies and getting way too hammered - what else was there to do? Tormund had a good time making fun of us the next day, something about a sea otter sleeping where it lays..?
Oh, and earlier in the day I had assisted Tormund in reeling in a sizeable fish using my mage hand, which was very exciting! Too bad I don’t get to eat it. He had put it in what he thought was a barrel of fish, but turns out it was gun powder. Pretty sure it’s gone bad by now…
Suddenly, as land was approaching in the distance, we found ourselves with a bit of an interesting situation. The boredom was over! Turns out, some fancy prancy noble named Stuart had stowed away below deck this entire time. Rich, but currently without any money on him. The captain and crew agreed to throw him overboard. But... I sensed an opportunity to make some coin. If he is indeed rich, it seemed a shame that he would become shark food.
So, I once more conjured my mage hand and snatched him up from the waters and put him back on deck. Not a popular move amongst the crew and, well, it turned into a fight. I injured Charlie (one of the crewmembers) enough that he wouldn’t be a problem so we could deal with the rest. Tormund however, that big cluts, decided that wasn’t enough and kicked him - over board! Having killed one of the captains crew, things escalated quickly. Baldor didn’t care for any of this and was happy to see the noble go, but at this point we were in a pinch and he reluctantly stepped in to aid us in the fight.
With our combined power and wits, we came out victorious and struck a deal with the captain. As punishment, Stuart would be stripped of his clothing and dragged in the water behind the ship until we reached the port of Sundel. While waiting for us to reach land, I went to investigate below deck where Stuart had been hiding. In one of the crates I found peculiarly shaped rocks, that tasted like mint.
I asked Baldor about them, since dwarfs are experts in geology. However, he didn’t say much except that his destiny had brought him to these strange stones.
Once on land we followed a grateful Stuart through the bustling streets of Sundel, a port town that was once just a small fishing village. He led us to a tavern called The Oaken Respite. There we ordered food from a dark, panther looking Tabaxi named Trasha. Stuart paid for both food and ale (Baldor had too many again), even without coin it seem a royal sigil of some kind was taken note of, something was written down, the sigil stamped and that was all he needed. Interesting…
Upon discussing our reward for saving his life, Stuart said he wanted to enlist us to escort him to his home in the capitol Hearthold. Turns out his full name is Stuart Von Nabseth, and he is a nobleman of the Marchlands.
Tormund asked if beasts could be found along the way, which seemed likely and so he was pleased. Baldor could not make a decision just yet though, first we had to sneak back to the docks in the dark to investigate the strange rocks.
His destiny was calling.”
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This is sooo cool and such a great writing exercise. I’ve actually told myself at the beginning of every campaign I’ve played that I would take good enough notes to novelize our adventures, and then I never do. Love that you’re doing it to such a great effect, and I’m already hooked on your story!