With a bit of brain-wracking, Merigar realizes that Slim (the tiefling) was once your ship's cabin boy... you didn't recognize him at first thanks to the passage of time turning the boy into a man. It seems that he really took to the pirate life, but as the saying goes "live by the sword, die by the sword." The two humans you do not recognize... it is entirely possible that they were once Hailstorm's men as well, but if that is the case then they were on other ships and you either never crossed paths with them or they simply didn't leave an impression (remember, Hailstorm had an entire fleet, not just one boat).

Is there anything that anyone wants to do or say before heading to the docks with the Constable?

Out talked by a merchant....a commoner merchant....your losing your touch, Old Girl... Sayyida thought to herself.  She came about and followed the others to the dock.

With another sigh, the Constable waves you along towards the docks. It takes you guys about half an hour to reach your destination as you are all on foot, but there are no major roadblocks along the way.

As you arrive, you see a tall elf woman dressed in fine clothing directing several workers who are busy loading crates onto a ship. Meanwhile, a more familiar half-elf is standing a few feet away chatting with a crewman. Alana looks up as you arrive and smiles.

"Hello there! I wasn't expecting you to arrive for another hour... we haven't finished loading..."

She trails off as she catches sight of the two officers of the law.

"...Um, can I help you, officer?" she asks the Constable.

For Emrys:

Sayyida is surly and stewing on their impressive list of failures so far in so short a time.....she wouldn't be suprised if the Admiral decides they are not worth the effort.

Emrys nodded accepting the words of the constable then put back the Admiral’s letter and followed the group to the docks. On his mind he reenacted the conversation, searching for moments when he could have spoken better. Maybe I shouldn’t have used “displease”. If he was too uptight he could have answered that they follow the law no matter who could be displeased by it. A more experienced merchant would have avoided the risk.

They arrived at the port before Goldenleaf could think of a better speech. It was the elven woman that brought him back to reality and rather shockingly. Holy shit! When he mentioned Lady Hartford he didn’t expect to actually meet her. Instinct made the halfling look around for Governor Spence. Are we actually going to report to them?

“Good day, my lady.” He said with a small bow. “An unforeseen situation happened by our lodgings. Pirates attacked us on land. The good constable agreed to accompany us here as to guarantee we will report what happened to the Admiral. He is a practical and efficient man, I must add.” Enough flattery to ensure the man wouldn’t be angry because of his answer, or so he hoped. “Forgive my lack manners. I’m Emrys Goldenleaf with the Ivory Guild. It is a pleasure to speak with you and I hope we can continue to work together in the future.”

Lady Hartford glances in your direction, and her brow furrows as she sees the guards. She quickly tells the workmen to keep going, before she steps towards your party. Standing next to Alana, you all may notice a striking resemblance between the two of them. The half-elf takes a step back, allowing Lady Hartford to resolve the situation.

"Attacked by pirates on land?" she says. "Well, Mr. Goldenleaf, that is quite unfortunate. I assume that you and your crew dispatched them, as you were hired by Admiral North to safeguard this shipment..."

She makes a gesture towards the crates being loaded onto the ship.

"...and as the leader of the Merchants' Guild, it is certainly in my best interests to make sure that the merchandise is in good hands. The last thing we would want is for those brutes to seize the goods. But now, judging by the presence of the Constable, I am going to assume that there are some legalities that need to be sorted out and verified as a result of your heroics. Come, the Admiral is in the boathouse. I believe that he is signing off on the last of the authorizations for this excursion as we speak."

Sayyida nodded to Lady Hartford, finding it rather strange to be in noble company after being so long removed from it.....though she wondered if she would be welcomed back if she did return home...

'Naut half-raises their hand, and fumbles about a bit, before pausing. "I'm not entirely sure which finger I'm meant to raise in order to signify positivity, but imagine I'm raising that one. I would rather not guess incorrectly and offend our present company. Fingers are hard."

The Goliath guard chuckle's at 'Naut's fumbling, but a glance from the Constable shuts him up.

"Well then, it seems that you lot were telling the truth after all," the Constable says to you all. "Though if you don't mind, Milady, I will go speak with Admiral North briefly to get a statement for the records."

The Constable tips his head to Lady Hartford, before making his way to the boathouse to speak to the Admiral. The situation with the guards has more or less been resolved at this point and you are not being detained. You now have another hour or so to make any preparations, chat amongst yourselves, talk to the NPCs, etc. before setting sail.

Sayyida checks her blade over again, not for damage...it would take more than a few pirates to harm her familys sword...but any blood or ichor she had missed that would mar the surface.

She hopes that....Jack was it...escaping wasn't going to throw an even more massive griffon into the dovecote....

“Our team proved to be more than the pirates could handle.” Emrys answered glancing and his new acquaintances, as if to kindly say that it was not his crew, but everyone’s. His voice was a soft and there was a smile upon his lips. One would be hard pressed to say if it was honest or just a merchant’s tool. “And in most places it is the thumb.”

The halflfing wouldn’t be surprised if someone somewhere in the world took offense by the gesture. There were too many cultures far too distinct to ever discount the possibility. Besides, he said with the voice of his mind, I’ve seen stranger things. Far stranger.

It took a moment for Goldenleaf to realize the resemblance shared between Alana and Hartford. An elf and half-elf. It was almost sad to think how little of their lives they would share with the human North. At least he thought Jameson was human. The words of the constable brought him back to reality.

“It was prudent of you to not accept our written invitation as indisputable proof.” Although the willingness of coming to the Tide Runner should have dispelled any doubt. Forging the Admiral’s signature was a thing, doing so in front of the man’s ship was suicide. “Ninefingers, back then you spoke of halafalen and the corruption of the term. Who taught about that?”

He asked as the soldiers left.

"Well, it seems that you've already had some excitement," Alana says with a smile.

"Indeed you have," Lady Hartford says, and her expression is hard to read. "It is rather peculiar that pirates would dare to strike here on dry land... my dear Admiral will certainly be most interested in this turn of events and may wish to speak to you all about it once he's given his statement to the Constable. Anyway, as my daughter already told you, we weren't expecting you to arrive for another hour, but now that you're here you might as well take a look around and get yourselves familiar with the ship. Alana, would you mind giving them a tour?"

"Certainly, mother," the half-elf says with a smile, then beckons for all of you to follow her. "Come on, let me introduce you to The Princess Serenity. I'm afraid she isn't a huge war ship, but I think you'll like her all the same..."

The ship looks like a fairly standard merchant's ship... nothing too big, though certainly of fine quality. The hold is well-stocked with all the supplies you could need, including food, water, and various alcoholic beverages. But perhaps the most interesting features are the ship's twin cannons, which, according to the half-elf, are powerful magical weapons that never needs to be reloaded and can unleash several different destructive magics upon your enemies. Presumably, they're mostly for show in order to make sure that the the pirates don't get suspicious about an 'important shipment's' lack of defenses.

Sayyida runs an apraising eye over the little cog, "  A tidy little package she is....and with some teeth."

" She'll do fine."

" Thankyou Alana. Lady Hartford.  How much longer before she's fully loaded do you think?"

Aerleo scoffs a little at the surface's version of a water vessel, it does not even go underwater. But deep down he is excited to start the adventure with such exciting companions. 

"Just remember that each cannon can only fire once every five minutes," Alana says. "So I would strongly suggest having backup weapons and spells. Anyway, the ship will be fully loaded within the hour and is scheduled to depart another hour after that."

She flashes you all a smile.

"Please do try to bring my mother's ship back in one piece if you can... it's a rather nice little boat. And make sure to give Captain Blackstone hell for me."

I don't think there's anything else of importance to do on shore, though if you want to stop by a shop or talk to someone before you go you do have a couple of hours.

As you prepare to set out on your voyage, you all feel a sense of greater confidence in your abilities. You are each able to advance to level 4.

“It may have been a coincidence. One of ours knew them from before.” Emrys told the ladies before Ninefingers had time to answer his question. “But it may also be that they are keeping a close eye on the Admiral, meaning that our confrontation with the crew is likely to happen soon and you may want to increase security.”

A thought that he was sure had crossed the mind of Hartford. As Alana showed them their ship his focus turned to memorizing the layout of the vessel. They time on it was likely to be short, specially taking into consideration the gnome that ran away, but knowing the surroundings would be useful during the battle to come.

“We’ll do our very best and if things go well you’ll have the captain to personally give all the Nine Hells to.” If. Such a small word, but it carried such great weight. Maybe because of his last travel, but Emrys could not help thinking that The Princess Serenity would end in the depths of the sea and they couldn’t hope for much more than making the fake Hailstorm share the same fate. “Arleo, ‘Naut, how different is this from the ships from where you come from?”

Here's the layout of the boat (conveniently divided into levels) for any who are interested. Just pretend that one set of crossbows (the two at the front of the ship) are arcane cannons, the two on the poop deck are standard heavy crossbows that are mounted to the ship for ease of use.

Sayyida walked every inch of the little cog, inspecting her from bilge to gunwale and back again.  Then she started on the lines, stays and sails.

Investigation- 3

Quote from Damian_May >>

This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.

Sayyida walked every inch of the little cog, inspecting her from bilge to gunwale and back again.  Then she started on the lines, stays and sails.

Investigation- 16

There doesn't appear to be anything unusual in or about the ship. It's just a solid merchants' ship stocked with as much food, water, and rum as you could reasonably need for this journey.

Quote from Mister_Whisker >>

Quote from Damian_May >>

This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.

Sayyida walked every inch of the little cog, inspecting her from bilge to gunwale and back again.  Then she started on the lines, stays and sails.

Investigation- 16

There doesn't appear to be anything unusual in or about the ship. It's just a solid merchants' ship stocked with as much food, water, and rum as you could reasonably need for this journey.

Happy there are no hidden cracks in the timbers or gaps in the pitch proofing Sayyida relaxed and daydreamed about her favourite thing; killing pirates.....her eyes occasionally wandered to a certain dwarf....