We pick up Valerie's story on the road just outside of Arras...

 The travelers have the services of a coach wagon, to take them into Belgica.  It is a cool and slightly drizzly gray spring morning, but then, a lot of spring days are gray and drizzly here.

They have a few days of travel ahead, across a gentle, flat, wet, green land known primarily form the quantity and quality of sheep.  Every village is surrounded by a ring of meadows and sheep.

They've been duly warned... things can be a little tricky around here, as the area suffered a lot of damage in the war six months ago.  Some villages were virtually wiped out, and here and there, the Huns left stragglers behind.  But the coachman has made 2 runs over the past month, and though he's heard reports, he hasn't seen anything.  Still... he plans to stick to his route precisely.  No deviating.  Or if you do.. not with the coach!

Elmer suggests they pass the time by telling each other about themselves.

"~~And with that, I got my graduation, got transportation to where my family's currently at, and managed to get on the coach on the way in too!"  Valerie finished off her grand story, clapping her hands softly together as she leaned back in her seat.

"It's all been really convienent timing so far...  How about you two?"

Elmer, having made the suggestion, and also being a native of this region, goes first.

He talks a lot of about his family; evidently his family history and status are important to him.  Like Valerie, his ancestors have Roman roots, and reached this area centuries ago.  But the Romans have not ruled Belgica in over a century now, since the Franks took over.  Many of the Roman aristocracy fled to other parts of the Empire, then, and the Franks took over their properties and positions.  But Elmer's family stayed, and by virtue of their wealth and managerial talent managed to get themselves integrated into the new Frankish system.

Elmer's father, aside from managing a range of family businesses and real estate, is the Treasurer to the Duke of Anteverpia.

Since Elmer has an older brother who is already being groomed for the position of successor to the head of the household, Elmer was view, sort of like Valerie, as "excess".  Smart, scholarly, and not needed for the continuity of the dynasty:  potential wizard material.

He arrived at the Academy a year before Valerie did, and has been waiting for a good opportunity to go home again.  He hasn't been home in four years.

Belgica, he explains, has recently been through a lot.  When the kings of Gaul accepted the Emperor's Peace Treaty, the Dukes of Belgica refused, and war was inevitable.  It might not be over yet, but if that's the case, Elmer has already decided he'd rather being doing what he can for his people, rather than hiding in the Academy.

He is also confident that the Belgicans will rebuild, and turn back any future attempts by the Emperor.  They are an odd, proud mix, a cultural blend of Roman, Celtic, and Germanic influences, with a little bit borrowed from the neighboring Halflings and Elves.  (He notes that he's actually seen quite a few Halflings, since many live in Anteverpia now.)

***

When it is her turn, Cassandra quietly and politely passes the buck.

"Aww, that's a shame"  Valerie pouts, but accepts the buck-passing with good grace, curling up on her seat and looking outside a bit absently, now that the immediate bits of discussion were over and done with.

It really was pretty country, even if all the sheep were probably a little...  Well, excessive--the silly things were supposed to be as close to brainless as it really gets.

Elmer looks non-plussed.  Neither of the women seems talkative.  So much for that plan.

So as they travel, he goes on to talk about his homeland.

"Belgica is divided into six Duchies.  The Duchy we are passing through now, the western border duchy, is one of the two led by a Duchess at the moment.  This is the Duchy of Ganda, and its capital is Ganda.  That's where we'll part company.  I'm going further east.  Ganda is all about sheep, you can see that by now.  I wouldn't make fun of them here, they're proud of their sheep.  And it's wet, and cool and grassy, so the wool they get is excellent."

"Is there anything particular you want to know?" Elmer asks.

The countryside is very low, and almost dead flat- what hills there are are barely noticeable.  As they travel on, they see signs of recent destruction.  Some villages were hit so hard in the war they were not resettled.  All that remains are empty shells.  But in other locations, there are signs of rebuilding.

When they stop in one town, Viroviacum, they here that the Hun army left Orc stragglers behind.  The Huns were defeated, but it was humiliating for some of the Orcs who escaped to go home empty handed.  So they are still hiding, here and there, trying to pillage what they can before fleeing home with their "war booty".  They are in small groups, disorganized, and have been an ongoing plague for the little towns of western Ganda.

(You're almost there, and the rest of the party will soon be there as well.  Just a leeeetle more story....)

When they reach Ganda, Elmer parts company.

Although normally the coach would keep going to Anteverpia, leaving Cassandra and Valerie to get to Bryggia via other arrangements, Elmer is too chivalrous to allow it.  He tells the coachman to head north to Bryggia, without him.

With Elmer gone, Cassandra is a little more open.

In her time at the Academy, Valerie- like many of the students- knew there was something a bit odd about Cassandra.  The girl was almost a wizard when she arrived, and that wasn't too long ago.  She'd been trained the "old fashioned way", by a single mentor.

There were various rumors about who that mentor was.  One thing was certain:  Cassandra knew far too much about the dark side of magic.  Demons, the awful powers of the Infernal Planes... Most wizards avoided that, and for good reason.  Demonology tapped parts of the mind you didn't want to use too frequently.

One of the lead wizards had once likened it to obscene words.  Every language had them.  But why?  Surely, the meaning of the word was not obscene, because there were always clinical, technical, dignified terms for things like excrement and various body parts and their sexual functions, and no one ever thought those words were obscene.  But somehow, some words were.  They simply conjured unwholesome mental images, they were words of attack and humiliation, not because of what they were... the simply were.

Demonologists had to study the Infernal Script, the written language used by Demons and their followers.  They said that every word felt like an obscenity.  Sometimes, a Demonologist could read a few paragraphs and be shaken and moved to tears, and all it was, was a description of a river in the underworld.

That was just the written word.  They said the spoken word, the Infernal Tongue, was much worse.  And neither was anything like contact with an actual Demon.

No one studied it and avoided effect.  Cassandra had studied it.  She didn't seem the type.  But they said she did.

"Elmer thinks Belgica is through the worst of it," Cassandra says.  "But if the emperor's armies were beaten, he'll want revenge.  What he can't take, he'll want to hurt.  He's a Demon-Shaman, maybe the most powerful there is.  He'll use them, if his armies have failed him.  I know it."

She keeps her voice down.  She doesn't want the coachman to hear.  No use burdening an ordinary mind with this.

"I'm going here because I know the Emperor will do something, she continues.  "when he does, Bulwyf will fight to protect people.  That's what he does."

Everyone knew that.  Whenever Cassandra talked about the man it was about how great and noble and heroic and brave Bulwyf was.  It drove everyone nuts.

"But fighters alone... without magic, and the training.. .they don't know enough.  Not with Demons.  They need magic."

There are, at the Academy, some wizards who do not shy away from danger.  Some live for it.  In fact, just about every wizard can use some potent magic in a battle.  But just because they can does not mean they have any desire to do so. Quite a few wizards are skilled with magic but wouldn't dream of facing danger.   Just as, anyone without magic can pick up an ax and swing it- but that does not mean they would be of any value in a fight.

Valerie gets the feeling Cassandra is fishing for a response- if Belgica is faced with some supernatural evil... does Valerie want to hide from it.. or help?

The coach lets them off in the main square of Bryggia.

It's a pretty enough looking town, densely built, with stone and brick buildings, a wide canal encircling the town, and several small ones cutting through it, so there are numerous little bridges.

The coachman has figured out by now that the two passengers are Wizards.  Most people are respectful and a little cautious around wizards, and he is eager to get back on his way again.

Cassandra looks around with a worried and slightly confused expression.  It's busy here, with shops and important looking "official" buildings.  She hadn't really made plans for what to do when she got here.  The High Priestess had said to go here, if she wanted to find her beloved Bulwyf, so she did.  But now what?

The coachman points out a building on the main square.  It has carvings above the main entrance, and anyone with any knowledge of the deities (certainly, both wizards) would recognize the emblems as those of Mars, god of war.

"Most travelers of means go there," the coachman says.  "Don't mind the name Mars House, that's just history, it's a travelers place.  Food and rooms, good quality and safe.  There are places with rooms by the harbor, too, but... well, I wouldn't send my daughter there."

Valerie, of course, already has living arrangements with her sister and the wealthy Connicus family, but the Coachman would not know that.

"Well, obviously I'd be trying to help out, War Magic isn't my primary specialty, but I Am an accomplished Elementalist, and my artificing is respectable too"  Valerie shrugged, as though this were just little more then the nature of things.  "If that so-called Emperor tries poking his head in where I'm around, I'll...  Well, probably freak out and panic initially, I haven't exactly made a habit of fighting so far, and I was more then a little sheltered while I was a girl--but After that I'll probably start throwing stuff in their general direction.  Fireball is a grand equalizer when dealing with an army after all... Or so I hear, I haven't actually used it in anger at this time."

She nods at that.  "If he throws Demons out, then I'll see if super-fire works...  Or would ice be more effective?  I don't think I've got any spells like that listed, but I'll have to peek through my spellbook--maybe a cryogenic variant of the Fireball?  It'd be a lot of research, but demons are usually big monsters from the burning pits, right?"

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Thank you kindly for the ride sir!"  Valerie bows her head, then reaches into her purse for a bit, withdrawing a few coins.  "Here's a bit extra for the smooth trip, thank you again for the advice!"

She turned back then and yawned, stretching out after the long trip, then looking to Cassandra.  "So!  Cassie!  I've got family here, but if you want someplace to stay, I'm sure they'll be willing to put up with another person."

Cassandra had no real plan beyond "get here".  Sometimes she can be very smart.  When discussing the lore of the Infernal Powers she can wise well beyond her years.  But just as often, she acts her age, or maybe a little less.  She realizes quickly that she'd be at a disadvantage just wandering a strange town at random, and she takes up on Valerie's offer.

The Connicus estate is on the west side of the town, screened by a tall hedge of rose bushes, with an entrance through a marble arch.  The grounds go all the way from Rozehedge Road to the encircling canal, where a small boat lies on the family's private dock.

The grounds are arranged in classical Roman style.  A walkway leads through a garden, between sculptures, to the main building, a sprawling two story villa enclosing yet more gardens.  Art and gardens seems a major concern here.

With no instant communication available, Valerie was unable to send an "I will be here on this date" message, but they knew that she would be here at some point, and the servant who comes to open the front gate, a boy in his early teen years, takes only a moment to figure out who the visitor is.

"Oh," he says, "you look like your sister, please follow me."  Beyond that he doesn't speak unless spoken to- he is a young servant, and is cautious.

He leads them through the front garden- Cassandra's head swivels back and forth, taking it all in.  It is spring, and the flowers have begun to bloom.

Valerie's sister Adelaide, and quite a few members of the family- some of which Valerie recalls from the wedding some years ago- meet them in the main hall.

And they want to know.. who is the companion Valerie brought along?





* * * * * * * * * * * * *

What follows is a rough guide to Bryggia.  Your character does not know all this, but the information would be easy for her to get, and some, she would pick up just walking around.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *



Geographically, the Duchy of Ganda is an approximate rectangle 26 miles wide and 52 miles long, with the long axis oriented southwest to northeast along the North Sea coast.  Bryggia is at the north corner of this box, connected to the sea by an inlet.

A belt of higher ground, (not hilly, just higher) traverses the north side of the Duchy, from Ganda, to Bryggia, and then along the coast.  Bryggia is at a break in the this high ground, while inland of the high ground is a region of frequently flooding marshes.  The coast is marshes and sand, stabilized by the belt of high ground.

Bryggia has a small but good harbor, and is the secondary town of Ganda.   It is the second biggest town in the Duchy after Ganda, and as densely built.  The buildings are chunky affairs of brick and stone, with a central tower that affords a good view.  It has solid protective walls, with an outlet to the sea.  In fact, the walls look better than many of the towns around here they've seen- the Romans set it up as a coastal fort during that "Canenfati" war, and kept it up to guard the coast against piracy.  The wall surrounds the town completely, except where the “sea channel” passes through into the harbor, providing an outlet for the town’s canals.  A ring canal also surrounds the town completely.   As towns of the era go, Bryggia is fairly new.  Although it has an older history as an unnamed “fishing settlement”, Bryggia as a town goes back only to the third century.  After a century and a half of Roman development, it was taken over by the Franks.

To many people, Bryggia is the fun, more eclectic “trade town” of the Duchy, even though by the standards of the great port cities, it is rustic and conservative place.  Where foreign trade exists, though, there tends to be more than the average of fun, novelty, news, and exotic imports from other lands.  Here, there aren’t many ships.  Bryggia is only a minor port, not like Anteverpia.  And they are usually small.  But they still give Bryggia more of a cosmopolitan, connected, “world” feel than the other towns of the Duchy, which seem almost entirely sheet oriented.

There are three families here that could be considered “aristocracy” but the town is ruled by a council and appointed Magistrate.  The three leading families are the Rosseums- traders, who have already demonstrated their loyalty with the visit of; the Memlins, who own fields and workshops and a tavern, and the Connicus family of old Roman stock.  With three families and no noble lord of the town, politics in Bryggia can be complex, but traditionally, the town council sorts things out quietly.

There are several notable taverns.  In the main part of town is the one best known by overland travelers.   It is called the  Mars House, and it is a large and respectable looking building facing the main square.  It seems an odd name for a tavern; the god of war?  But like much of the "hospitality industry" in the world as it is, it is an adaption to the changing times:  once, when the town was a coastal fort, the building was the temporary quarters of Roman officers traveling here.  The servants who fed and kept house for Roman officers had to find alternate means of income when official support ended.  With the end of support from Rome, eventually, the servants simply declared themselves owners.  And the emblems of Mars, god of war and patron of the imperial legions, stayed in place.

Bryggia has never been a great holy center (Viroviacum served that purpose for the Duchy) but it does have a few minor temples.  Among priests it has a reputation- it’s where priests went if they didn’t want a great challenge, ministering to and serving a sleepy, peaceful coastal town.  The religion here is Roman, even though some of the inhabitants are Frankish (a Germanic people) and even more are of the old Belgican (Celtic and mixed) stock.  The Romans seem to have won this place over, spiritually- although the gods called upon here seem to be the kind a Celt might appreciate.   The temples here are pragmatic, modest, and "service oriented".   Bryggia lacks the kind of great classic cathedral so many other towns do, that serve the entire pantheon.  They have four temples, each served by a cleric and one or more assistants:  There are temples dedicated to Pan, Diana, Mercury, and Vesta.  Pan and Vesta’s temples are located near the  Atheneum in the north-central area of the town between the harbor and the main square.  Mercury’s temple is small and in the market, but off the main square, and the temple of Diana is on the main square and hosts the Watchtower.

There is also two old temples that are no longer used- one is the Temple of Mars, close to the tavern and therefore close to the main square.  It has become simply a meeting hall for the town guard.  The other is in the Atheneum.  Though Minerva is the Roman name for the goddess of Wisdom, her Greek name has come to signify institutions of knowledge, and the temple to Athena is a relatively small shrine inside what was once Bruges’s school- the large building has been unused for over a century.

On the main square, there is a town hall, and nearby, Diana’s Watchtower, which offers a view for miles around.  It makes a fine calendar as well- there are marks around the square and elsewhere indicating where the shadow will be at noon at various times of the year.  A few other taverns, and guild halls of important commercial associations surround the square as well- the guilds of the bakers, candymakers, painters and gilders, and spiciers are here.  The Fishmongers, a large group in Bryggia, have their guild a short distance away.  There were complaints about the smell.

The agrarian families of Bryggia tend to live inside the town (outside it floods too much) but along the periphery, where they are close to their fields.

Bryggia is close to circular, and although there is no formal interior structure, can be divided into the following neighborhoods- the Main Square, the Forum, and the Atheneum make up the heart of the town, and working clockwise from the top we find The Harbor, the East Crofters, the Hide Tanners, the Almhouses, the Swan Park, West Crofters and Rozehedges.

The Main Square and the nearby Forum are the social and commercial centers of the town, with the Forum (and the Harbor) taking in most of what can’t fit on the Main Square and adjoining streets.  On Market Days, both squares have booths and carts set up in the middle, and there are often street performers.

The Forum, which is usually quieter than the Main Square, is also home to the Connicus Gallery.  In the last two generations, the Connicus family has taken an active stance against what they see as the decline of advanced civilization.  To promote appreciation for art, culture, and skilled craftsmanship, they turned a row of shops into a gallery where they exhibit fine art to the public.  Much of it is from their own collection, but they also badger and cajole other wealthy families into lending their own works.

North of the Main Square and West of the Forum is the Atheneum, the old, abandoned school (including a shrine to Minerva).  Surrounding it are streets with homes.  Once, this was the place for wealthy professionals, scholars, experts, etc.  But the value of the neighborhood has dropped considerably with the school being closed and empty.

The Harbor has shops, warehouses, and a few businesses aimed at the sea-going community, and on the east side along a canal, the fish market.

The Crofters (east and west) are districts of peasant farming families, most including small lots where vegetables are grown, and the “crofts”, homes for the sheep.

The “Hide Tanners” is the industrial quarter.  It includes a tannery, and several other businesses, such as pottery kilns.  Most of what is made here is sold in the market.  On the south and east sides of this district, the two largest cemeteries can be found.  The town cemetery is an above-ground necropolis, because of the high water table.  They are overseen by the temples, each of which owns large tracts within the cemeteries, and of course, charges for burials in their tracts.  Unlike many older towns,

The  Almshouses are the homes for the poor supported by the temples of Bryggia.

Swan Park is a tree covered grassy area, fading in marsh in places, used as a picnic and play area by the town.  Some homes face the park, and others are on shady tree lined side streets.

Rozehedges is named for the walls of tall, interlocking rose bushes that surround the properties of the wealthiest families here.  It is also the street that leads to the front gates of these luxurious properties.  Aside from the three very wealthy leading families of the town, there are about a half dozen "second tier" rich families.

2. They have a “welcome to Bryggia dinner” and living arrangement are made.  They family has a guest house alongside the garden.  Currently, most of it is unused, so Cassandra can stay there.

Cassandra is quiet and evasive about questions put to her, especially those concerning wizardry and the Academy, using the stress of days of travel as an excuse.  She does admit, somewhat, to why she is here: to find her friend Bulwyf.

She describes him, and there are a few rounds of questions and answers before one of the family, one of Valerie’s brothers-in-law (she’s recently learned she has two) pieces things together after she says Bulwyf was traveling with a priest of Pluto.

“There was a priest of the Dark God here,” Opex Connicus says.  “Recently. He was here with the Duchess of Ganda herself.  But they are not here any longer.  There were others with them, I think your friend might have been one.”

Cassandra pounces on the scrap of information, eagerly.  “Do you know where he… they…  went?  Anything at all?”

“The Duchess didn't say, from what I heard.  But... there’s not much you can get to walking from here, unless you are walking back to Ganda.  Marsh and sand, all around, so they’d have to have taken a boat.  I think they did.  I don’t know where, though.”

“But they would know, I mean, the boatmen, at the harbor?”

“Yes, I think those folk must talk among themselves.”

Cassandra decides a visit to the harbor is in order.. in the morning.  She’s not going to go around talking to strangers in the evening.

"Well, this was fortuitous then!"  Valerie agrees, crossing her arms and nodding in as sage a manner as she felt she could.  "Of course, that still involves needing to go talk to the boatmen, will you need the extra company tomorrow Cassie?  Many hands makes for light work after all, and two people can get a lot more done then one after all"

She was fairly vivacious during the conversations of the day--quite a fair ways more extroverted then Cassandra was--most of her magic was relatively straightforward after all, a few Useful Wizard Tricks, and elemental evocation as a specialty, with a modest amount of other tricks--one of the things in particular that she showed off was the magical ring she forged during the final months of her study--a straightforward ring of protection, nothing too fancy, but it was well done, and certainly Looked impressive, with the garnet set in the silver band, scribed with runes of shielding in a fine hand.

There are many harbors across the north of Europa, and Bryggia’s is a good one, but it is small.  It has been overshadowed for centuries by the much, much larger Anterverpia.  This gives a slightly different character to Bryggia’s waterfront.  It does not feel as “foreign” as many other ports.  All but one of the watercraft gathered here are local, most are just small coastal fishing boats and transports.  In the “high season”, still a month away, there are usually more ships visiting from distant ports, but not yet.

But this is where Cassandra must search.  Her decision to visit the harbor in the morning is in part based on her view of harbors as rough places where men of questionable morals congregate- not the kind of place a girl feels welcome, or safe.  She imagines that in the evening, there would be more drunks, and she does not want to be around them.

There are drunks, and some of them are still there in the morning.  But they are asleep.  Cassandra walks past them with a look of disgust, and a wrinkled nose. Just in case, she’s prepared a simple spell and has it at the ready.  It doesn’t do much.  Just displays a crackling, arcane light around her arms or eyes, or wherever else she chooses.  But it lets people know, she is a wizard, and the spell is designed to be used with just a thought.

(This is a zero level spell, and is called “Show of Power” at the academy and is taught to many apprentices.  Valerie would have it too.  It is popular with female wizards, because they know, when they are in certain places, men are more likely to behave themselves when visibly reminded that the woman is a wizard.)

Bryggia’s harbor is prettier than they expected.  Much of it is a large grassy lawn, where a few fishing boats and small craft have been pulled up out of the water.  Swans float by, and across the harbor, a couple of gray herons are stalking for little fish.  There are men already at work, fishermen mostly, setting out to get their day’s catches, or tending to repairs on their boats and gear.  There are a handful of open businesses along the waterfront.

”Ends of the Earth” is a mixed “all kinds of stuff” store- the merchants here know that when ships visit, sailors often have exotic things, like artwork, crafts, or even plants and animals from distant places.  And they are in need of money, and will often sell their goods cheaply in exchange for quick coins.  They generally do so at Ends of the Earth.  One never knows what can be found on the shelves, though trade goods from the north and east, like furs, ivory, amber,

The other is the Little Lighthouse Bakery and Ale Shoppe. (It’s surprising how much business they do in baked goods, actually.)  This establishment sells a lot of pies to fishermen heading out for the day, and ale when they come back- and long into the night.  In between, it is the harbor’s waterside café.  This is where they find the drunks, sleeping off the previous night’s drinking.  They are not the local fishermen- they are likely sailors looking for a job on the next ship.

Cassandra looks around, not sure about the proper protocol for asking questions of strangers here.

Cassandra takes a deep breath and works up some courage, and asks the youngsters cleaning up at the Little Lighthouse Bakery and Ale Shoppe if they know about a boat that took out the Duchess of Ganda and her entourage.

They do not.  Which is puzzling, to Cassandra, as nobility is usually easy to spot.  But not if they were trying to be inconspicuous.

Cassandra knows Bulwyf is traveling with Seti, and of course Dagnish would be there… they can’t possibly be less than highly conspicuous.   And when she asks about them… oh, yes, of course.  Everybody saw them.

The “morning cook” at the Little Lighthouse Bakery and Ale Shoppe is an old man, who approaches when he sees Cassandra talking to the apprentices, and introduces himself:  Vigner Graff, Anglic by ancestry, an immigrant, trained in the arts of baking by the Halflings up north.  He says this in a “you’re supposed to be really impressed with that” air, but Cassandra doesn’t know much about Halflings.  Cassandra eagerly repeats her line of questioning.

“Monzeg’s boat,” the baker answers.  “They took it to Ostara, just a short trip to the west, not too long ago.  Monzeg’s came back, but he’s out clamming now.”

Cassandra decides she’ll wait, as she is closer than ever.  In the mean time, Vigner tends to the baking, and tells of the large and unusual party Monzeg took to Ostara.  And other things.

“It’s been a hard time for everyone who works the sea,” the baker says.  “The Emperor of the Huns, you know, has no navy, Orcs don’t do well with ships, I think.  So he offered bonuses to those who would sign with him to move his troops.  He attracted quite a few who were willing, or desperate, or gambling on a Hun victory and wanting to be on friendly terms with them.  The Huns wanted to take the ports, all along the coast, while their army advanced.  It didn’t work out that way, of course.  Now the ships that served the Emporer are all scattered, though some were wrecked.  And no one looks kindly on them.  A few have turned to piracy.  And a few turned to other kinds of evil.  When Monzeg came back, he told us he saw the 'Prince of Cantware'- that was the pride of Saxon merchants, once.  But he said it looked empty, not a soul on board.  And others have seen it, too.”

"Well, that's quite a shame"  Valerie frowned as the story went on.  "Greed and desperation makes villains of even the most honest men...  Still, I wonder what happened to the Prince of Cantware?  If it's a merchant ship widely considered a pride, I'm surprised nobody just took it as a prize vessel--ransoming that or selling it to another nation would leave someone set for life as long as they weren't too careless with their funds.  Just leaving it adrift in the waves is a terrible waste."

The baker is joined, by a couple of sailors.  They woke up some time ago, and have been listening to the stories.

Now they decide to intervene.

”What’s a non-sailor doing telling sea stories?” one says, approaching.  He is a red haired man with arms full of scars and tattoos.

”There’s a damn good reason why we didn’t go near the Prince of Cantware.  You don’t just take a ship out to sea for fun.  You’re going somewhere.  And when you get there, you get paid.  Anything along the way probably isn’t worth it.  So there’s a ship, a great ship, just floating out there.  Not a sign of a man aboard it.  Do we know what happened?  Does anyone?  Curse?  Sickness?  Magic?”

”Wasn’t pirates,” the second says.  “They’d take a fine ship like that.  Not leave it. And .. no one bragged.  No one got rich off the Prince of Cantware’s cargo.”

”But with a good harbor ahead, and payment, and of course the fine food at the Lighthouse Bakery, why would we risk all that just to satisfy curiosity, yes?  It’s probably something very bad, whatever it is.”

”Maybe it’s pirates just pretending,” the other man says.

The red haired stops, thinks, gives a “could be” expression.

Then he says, “Could be pirates.  Could be a cursed ship.  Nothing for two young ladies to worry about.”

Cassandra gives a sour expression towards Valerie.  Valerie can almost hear what she’s thinking- the expression makes it plain.  Do we tell them we’re wizards?

"The way I see it, a cursed ship is a danger to everyone around, eventually someone'll stumble upon it, and then they'd have bad things befalling them because of it"

She puffed herself up ever so slightly.  "Fortunately!  I, Valerie Meianos, am a fully trained and accredited Wizard of Aurelianorum.  I'd totally be willing to try to take a crack at breaking that curse.  It just seems like such a Waste to leave a ship like that adrift like that if there's anything that can be done to bring it back to the land of the living."

The announcement causes the conversation to come to a halt.

Most people know very little of magic.  They know what wizards are.  Wizards are people who use magic.  But beyond that... it's a vast void of superstition and ignorance, punctuated by the occasional individual who actually knows something.

None of those are present.  The baker and the two sailors look at Valerie with a "cat got their tongues" expression.

Finally, the baker says, "Well... a wizard.   Well that's a horse of a different color.  A wizard."

"I'm also a wizard," Cassandra says quietly.

"Of course," the baker says as if this only to be expected.  He looks around.  Somewhere, he recalls, something about magic and the number three.  Are there three wizards?

"Are you looking for that ship, then?"  one of the sailors asks, the shock wearing off.

"We weren't," Cassandra says.  "We were here to meet... friends.  But it sounds like something they'd be interested in."

"But anyway!  Like Cassie said, we weren't Looking for the ship, but I'm not going to let a potentially cursed ship float around all ominously if I'm in a position to try and de-curse it.  Or barring that, sink it, but that'd be a waste if we don't have to."

She points to Cassie.  "She was looking for some friends, and I'm here visiting some family, but this seems like a good public service at any rate!"
This message was last edited by the player at 23:56, Mon 30 Sept 2013.

The sailors don’t buy into the “public service” story.  Who does that?  (Although Valerie knows- Cassandra would.)  Sailors like these don't go around doing crazy things like find a ship that’s probably stinky with dark magic, just out of some sense of morality.  Morality doesn’t put coins in their pockets or feed the family.  They are very skeptical, and even more, they don’t want in.  Wizards, cursed ships… not the sort of thing most sailors want in their lives.

But some do.  They talk about the Frisians.  Cassandra presses for more information.

Into the vacuum of the post Roman economic world came the Frisians, a Germanic people living along the shores of the North Sea.  They have become skilled sailors, and adventurous traders, and now their ships travel further and further each year, seeking new opportunities.  They are, according to the sailors, a curious, glory-seeking bunch.  And they have good ship building skills.  Their ships are better able to handle rough seas than most.

The local craft keep close to Belgica, and sometimes brave the channel to Brittania.  The Frisian ships go all the way to Scandia and Baltica to the north and east, respectively.  But at the moment, there are none here.  Cassandra inquires, and learns that a Frisian ship, the White Quinotaur, spent the winter in Walacria, a nearby Belgican port.

”Leave it to the Frisians to court ill fate, naming a ship for one of those horrible sea-beasts,” one of the sailors says.  Sailors tend towards superstition.

They spend some time in the harbor, learning about who goes where, and what the ships carry (wool, of course, is the chief export of Belgica, but not the only one.  Glass and pottery is also sent abroad.) and other details of the lives of mariners.

In early afternoon, it is before the fishing and clamming boats are expected back, and a medium size sailed is approaching.  The visit of a ship always gets attention, and people gather.

Cassandra practically drags Valerie to the dock as the ship arrives.

And drags her to a new thread: The Harbor of Bryggia.