Eya takes the blanket and pillow from Kiven then goes to check up one last time on Grumblejack to make sure he is ready to leave. She goes to his room and sees that he has all of his new toys, "Hey Grumblejack, what do you think of your new stuff? Do you like it all? I just wanted to let you know that we are leaving on a mission soon and that there will probably be bad people, like the blue men, who are going to try and hurt me. Do you want to come with and hit them with your new big spiky hammer? I hope you don't mind helping me carry some things too."

 She walks over to the large backpack and begins placing some of the heavier (to her anyway) items in it, along with a couple of blankets and a pillow. Then, she turns to Grumblejack and says, "Let's grab the blanket in this room for you too. We are probably going to be camping outside tonight. Have you ever been on a boat before Grumblejack?"

Respar nods to Jesla, "Me too, I am sure.  But I'm used to it."  Once Jesla changes appearance again and asks his opinion he looks her up and down with a professional eye.  "Yes, they'll dismiss you as far as fighting, as long as you carry nothing more threatening than a dagger.  Your larger weapons will periodically show through the illusion."  He pauses, obviously searching for just the right words.  "On the other hand, you will draw the attention of some of the sailors, due to the, er, attractive nature.  Maybe make her a little less pretty, less clean.  Older, perhaps.  Make the hands look worn and dirty, hair held back and in need of a wash.  I hate to say this, but look either like a woman tagging along with someone as a girlfriend, or as a servant.  That's the most likely way to be dismissed."  He alters his own appearance to look about 15 years older, still with longer hair and clothes.  "My rapier will be obvious, but I hope they figure, " and here he alters his voice in pitch, "these old bones are a bit too slow, eh?"

Kiven pulls his bow from his back, revealing it to be painted completely white with light blue swirls and elven runes added.  "I detest having to hide ourselves, but if we must, this will have to do.  It is not easy to disguise Dun' Valkar without illusory magics as she is...special."  The elf looks at his bow with great pride, despite the alterations.

  Frowning she glances at Kiven.  " That is truly a marvelous looking bow Kiven.  I would not want to hide it either.  " 

  " So Respar...that does make sense.   I might just go as myself.  They will know better than to try anything foolish with me.  What would it hurt for me to be open about my appearance?  I want to carry my weapons on me.  It is quite difficult to not have a great sword break the disguise however.  " She shrugs in frustration. 

Grumblejack has donned the armor purchased for him, he looks even more formidable than he normally does. The massive maul made for him has a wicked looking head to it. On hearing Eya's query, he grins, "Grumblejack ready to crush some heads, much better than counting toes here where I can't hit anyone."

A moment later, the grin leaves his face, and he asks, "Boat? What boat?"

---

Soon enough the last of the supplies are gathered up, and the group sets out from the manor. Rather than making you walk the whole way, A couple of servants drive a wagon for you, though Tiadora makes it clear to Kiven that they will be returning to her afterwards and will not be porters for him.

It is late evening by the time you reach the mentioned meeting point, a shallow cove on the eastern shore of Tallingarde. You're not very far from Branderskar prison, it is likely just over the horizon to the north.

There is a likely camping spot nearby, a small nook in the side of a hill providing shelter from the sea winds. It has been used for such before, a space for a nice fire has been dug into the earth and lined with stones, but it doesn't look like a fire has been lit here in several weeks at least.

The servants help unload the last of your gear from the wagon, then turn it around and begin making the trip back to the manor. Odenkirk should arrive by dawn tomorrow morning.

"So where is this encampment?   I do not see any such villa."

"So what is our story again, for the captain of this galleon?  Who are we?  Who is the leader?  What is our purpose?"

Respar replies to Jesla, "Yes, for the voyage, going as yourself should be fine.  If things go as planned, they won't be able to tell the Mitrans that we were on the journey.  But you will definitely need to disguise when we get to the town and keep we need to compromise."

Once at the camp, he bites his tongue at Kiven's initial remarks about the camp site.  He does say, "Our story is we are the ones taking the shipment up north.  He is being well paid and doesn't need to know more.  I'm not even sure we need to tell him one of us is the leader."  He pauses, then grins, "Though telling him he always need to go through Grumblejack to communicate with us might be amusing.  Now, if our kindly ogre is willing, I would gladly help him with gathering a bit of firewood for the evening."

Eya smiles at Grumblejack. He is quite endearing for an ogre. She replies, "Do you not like boats, Grumblejack? Is it the water that worries you? We'll be on it for a few days to make a delivery. We could surely use your help, but you have a choice if you really don't want to go. If you don't like the water, we can arrange for you to guard the shipment below deck. We might be able to fish you up some tasty treats to eat too."

--

When they reach the campsite, still in her human disguise, Eya can't help but snort a little bit as Kiven mentions a villa, "It's a beautiful villa though, can't you see Master Aloro? It just needs a bit of renovating." She laughs.

After that bit of entertainment, she addresses the larger group, "Anyway, my name is Martha Rose, specialist in the arcane arts in the name of our radiant Mitra." She almost gags at that last bit, but continues, "Jesla, perhaps you could just disguise your face, skin tone, and hair? Make yourself still look like a warrior woman with a greatsword, but just different enough to not show your real self. There's no downside to being careful I don't think. And I agree with Respar, all the captain needs to know is that we are making a shipment up North. He knows we are smuggling something, he just doesn't know why and that's part of our arrangement. If we do run into Mitrans on the boat however, we should have some sort of excuse. Perhaps we are on a top secret Mitran mission or some such under orders from...someone important? Hmm." She ponders this for a bit.

Then, in front of the others, "Martha" pulls out what appears to be a strange-looking, rod-like item and simply says, "Hammer." Suddenly, the rod transforms into a very well-made looking hammer. "Here," she says, handing the item to Jesla. "This will help with setting up the tents and hammock. Just say the name of any tool you need and it can transform to match it. I made it a couple of days ago at the manor and figured it could come in handy. I'll need it back in a bit though. I need a tea pot to boil some water."

Once the firewood has been gathered, Eya snaps her fingers to light it then begins setting up a small alchemy set a few feet away from the fire.

"Yes Respar if you'd like to tell them to only speak with me via Grumblejack, or not at all, you may just win my favor after all."

Kiven looks around at the campsite.  "You're not joking, are you?  This is it?"  He sighs.  "Very well, I suppose this is my new life for now.  All the more reason to be aggressive in completing our tasks in the name of Asmodeus.  Please have Grumblejack set up my bed in the driest place possible, and out of the wind.  How much coin is in that box anyhow, Respar?  I have quite a few expenses ahead to get this spell book up to par and return Dun' Valkar to her previous stature."  He once again looks lovingly at the bow, despite the paint job.

"With regard to disguises, this will have to do for Her."  He gestures towards his painted bow once again.  "For myself, I was thinking of this.  I need to be able to account for the arcane nature of my archery."  At that Kiven transforms into a dirty blonde half-elf with a 5 o'clock shadow and attire akin to a ranger, thus not quite as fine as the noble's traveling clothes he obtained at the mansion.  "I am muscle for hire, here only for security purposes in exchange for coin, and have a surly disposition.  I don't want to have to talk to these sailors after all, although I do hate to deny you three my wit and charm for long."

   Jesla shakes her head at Kiven's obvious disapproval of their campsite.  She is brought out of this by Eya speaking. " I suppose i  should disguise myself after all.  I do not wish to be captured again. I will not be captured again. " She uses the circlet again and now she appears to be a dusky haired woman with the wrinkles of age evident.  " Is this better? " She has her great sword and composite short bow strapped to  her back.  Her chain shirt is hidden under her Brown travelers clothes.  

 Afterwards she takes the hammer with distaste.  " This is most....unusual. " She begins the work of setting up the campsite. 

Respar says to Eya, "Since they know the Mitrans want to know more about us, they probably will not buy that you're a Mitran yourself.  But I confess I know so little about the various religions that maybe there would be a reason for it."

To Kiven he says, "It would be funny, but I don't think any of us are quite ready to trust Grumblejack to not spill the beans if spoken to.  So I think for the moment we should stick with him also being hired muscle.  Eya, since you know more about the land the groups involved than I, as far as the crew is concerned, I think you should be the main point of contact.  I can be your second.  Uh, Blaine Rickard will be my name."  When the time comes to meet the ship he plans on being in his guise as a darker-skinned, longer-haired version of himself.

"Oh, and I have not opened the chest yet.  I don't intend to until we meet the crew and show it to Odenkirk.  I will unlock it without him seeing, reveal the contents, then lock it back up.  I should make sure to add a little flourish when activating the lock, to really sell it, in case he is as superstitious as Thorn said."

"You know, Tigress, physical strength has its limits but many have only begun to scratch the surface of the arcane.  Eya and I could help make you even stronger, for the glory of Gorum, of course.  Even the greatest of dragons, despite all of their impressive physical attributes, still rely on magic.  It is something to consider."

Eya continues fiddling with various vials and herbs as the conversation continues. Replying to Respar, she says, "Ah sorry, I was unclear before. This Mitran disguise is not really for our captain friend and his crew. He should already assume that we are disguised in some manner. No, this disguise is for if we run into any Mitran patrol ships or the like. I don't expect him to try and turn us in until he gets paid at the very least, though we should be prepared for any scenario. Besides, I might as well practice Martha's mannerisms and devotion to...Mitra. Gross. At any rate, I don't mind being the point person for the group though I was going to suggest you do it. I've gotten good at lying over the years, but I suspect you have too, Mr. Rickard." 

She holds one vial closer to the flame and looks at it with a puzzled expression, "Well that doesn't look right, the color is a bit off. How odd." Then, still paying the bulk of her attention to her alchemy, she continues along with the conversation, "There are other things to worry about on this mission such as icebergs, great white sharks, the legendary kraken, and the kuotoa." At the mention of the kuotoa, Eya casts a spell and a whispering echo is heard around the fire for a creepy, dramatic effect that just goes, "Kuotoaaaa." She continues, "Sorry couldn't help myself. Anyway, I hope we see a bunyip. They are cute. It's like a walrus except it tries to kill you."

When Kiven mentions enhancing Jesla with magic, she says, "That reminds me Jesla, I've been meaning to ask, what happened to you to allow you to turn into a tiger? Are you cursed?" 

Kiven smirks and adds "...or into a humanoid, as the case may be."

Grumblejack seems anxious as he helps set up the camp, "Grumblejack never been on a boat before, will it sink?"

Eya's cold heart almost breaks at Grumblejack's question. It's a feeling she hasn't really felt in a long time. She replies to the nervous ogre, "It won't sink Grumblejack. But it might feel a bit weird in your stomach for awhile."

"If Grumblejack not get on boat, Grumblejack has to stay in manor with Tiadora and miss out on all the merry murder ahead?"

"These galleons can haul many tons of cargo, my astute friend, you will be just fine.  That is unless Respar here overburdens her with too large a mass of inconsequential questions for the captain and crew, that is."

"Yes Grumblejack, you would miss out on the merry murders if you stayed behind. You would have to stay in the manor all alone with Tiadora and her puppets, so I thought it would be more fun for you on a murder boat. Tiadora is no good for you Grumblejack. She is no good for anybody."

After some time, Eya appears satisfied with the concoction she is brewing. "Finally!" she exclaims, as if a great weight has been lifted. "Grumblejack, I have your antidote here. Drink this and you should start feeling better soon."

Grumblejack thinks about this for a while, frowning. eventually he thumps the head of his maul into the dirt and declares, grinning, "Then boats not so bad!"

On being handed the vial, he frowns at it, and sniffs it suspiciously, eventually when encouraged he gulps it down. Still frowning, he says, "I don't feel anything."

Eventually, if with some consternation and bickering on the prince's part, a camp is set up, a fire is lit and the Nessus Knot settles down to rest. Grumblejack is pacing about for a while, and eventually declares himself as strong as ever, he celebrates this recovery by ripping  a tree out of the ground with his bare hands and flinging it into the ocean, much to the dismay of the squirrel that had been sleeping in it.

In the short hours of the morning, those on watch hear the creak of a sailing vessel approaching. Even just navigating by dim moonlight, it slips easily into the small and shallow bay.  It is a single masted ship, with a shallow draft. It rides low in the water at the moment, burdened by the weight of a great deal of cargo piled up in the center. The keel slides its way up the shoreline, and a big man leaps off of the prow. He stalks his way up to the campsite, stopping just outside of the edge, or when addressed. He calls out, "You lot the ones going north I take it. You have my money?"