Zell didn't even know where Cormanthor was...just that is was to the east far far away. He'd never even met his mother's side of the family before and was kind of scared to do so. He heard tales that full bloods really don't like half-breeds and when his father gave him the tabard, Zell wondered if he was just going to be a target for the elves to shoot at. He didn't put it on yet because Zell knew he'd be sick traveling the rest of the way to Waterdeep, but smiled and thanked his father for the gift. When Yacob asked the Captain for embarrassing tales of Zell's childhood, Zell just shook his head...

"Oh, here we go."

The captain looked at the priest with a smile. "My family have been saling for 5 generations....these maps are my legacy, and one day one of my kids...." He looked at Zell with a smile. "Don't worry boy, i always knew you weren't cut out to sail.  Perhaps your half sister."

He then looked at the priest. "I'd focus on the navagation charts of teh lake and the maps of west faern.....if it's silverymoon ye set for."

The human then looked at Yacob with a smile. "You be Al's nephew...damn me! Never met him, but heard stories about him. His purse may be tight, but legend has it his quality is top, even among ye kind. Once heard a tale he talked a band of goblins out of turning over an elf woman....they even paid him to take her." The human laughed and shook his head.

"As fer stories of my boy, you can eitehr hear them from him, or get me drunk....for now i'll spare him too mush embarrassment. His sea sickness when his family are sailors is probably one of his bigger secrets!"

 "It was hobgoblin's and she was oh so grateful to good ol Alastain. Almost found out what a half-elf half-dwarf was if he wasn't already married that was. And yeah they paid him to take her she had a terrible singing voice and would sing at the top of her voice to annoy the crap out of them." he jokes.

The embrace of the sea was grand. And her magical boots - which she had left on - protected her from the cold. To move with the sea, instead of the stilted actions of the boat, was so refreshing.

If Oler was fishing by net, she'd herd some fish into it for him - at least, before he pulled it up.

It might be odd to those watching but she doesn't actually bother to come up for air. But it's as clear as the water is that she's not in any distress.

Kell asks Nym "a family coat of arms and important relatives? What is Zell that such things are of import?"

Rivka, having more than anfew embarrassing tales in her past, didn't really need to hear any about Zell for the purposes of her own entertainment, though she was hungry for stories about this man she'd found herself growing so close to.
Perhaps later this evening, she reasoned, when the activities calmed down and the drinks began to flow.
In the meantime, she held Zell's arm in hers, supportively.

Corvis looked at Yacob with a straight face for a moment, then slapped the table with a huge guffaw. He looked zell while pointing at Yacob. "Keep him around son....he has a sharp mind and my sorta sense if humor."

He looked as Yale's returned and spoke. "Bring me a cask of the special!" the priest raised his eyebrows but left returning with a small cask of rum.

Caramel stood and walked over to Rivka, touching her shoulder. She smiled and indicated her to follow.

The elf opened a small door off the side, noting her husband's looks.

In reply to Kell (msg # 275):

Nym explains the answer to Kell in a very quiet voice.  Listening to the others at the same time.

The elves Lady Aranel comes from will be more inclined to help us both directly and indirectly because of it.  The various races of elves have a very long of history of disagreeing like cousins, but in times of trouble those disagreements are generally set aside and they become tighter than brothers of the same family.  Even if they only help us indirectly, which we will never know that they have, it will be a great help to us on our quest.  Lady Aranel and her sister are something close to elven royalty in the land they come from.  We will be travelling to elven lands that I have heard about in stories but have never been to.  Some of those stories are true, some lore, and some legend.  What's true, what's lore and legend, I don't know exactly.  We will find that out together.  One thing that is true, Zell's and my presence will help make our quest easier in that we are elves.  No he isn't a full elf and no I'm not a wood elf from the area, but being elves and not being drow will at least let us explain to those elves in charge of a given town or area.  Otherwise we might find ourselves on the wrong end of a volley of arrows from a group of elven archers.  Trust me on that, elven archers are among the deadliest group of peoples in the world when they are defending their home.

Nym pauses a moment before continuing as he watches Zell and Rivka.

Half Elves are generally treated as third class citizens by the races of both their parents.  Those who overcome such prejudice find that they make great friends and sometimes more.  Part of the prejudice comes from the fact that Half Elves grow up faster than elves, but more slowly than humans.  Thus they have trouble fitting in with others in either society.  For example, I'm a 130 but if you didn't know that I was an elf and thought I was a human you would guess that I am about 18.

In reply to Aranel (msg # 278):

Rivka took the letter from the woman with an air of importance one reserved for royalty
"You have my word, ma'am, that I'll do everything in my power to do both.  Zell is very special to me, and I'll protect him with my life."

The majority of the day goes by smoothly.

Oler, Quinn and Nino fish off the side of the boat, with a few small catches of small ocean fish. After a time, the small form of Sonori comes up, only to eat and read, but disappears under the waves again. The sailors whisper about the gnome, and by evening the rumour is she is at least part mermaid.

The rest of the group spend their tine on the boat of Corvius and Aranel.  Yacob spends time between trading stories about himself and his uncle with the captain, and talking magic with the half elf who poped in and out, Argen....a old friend of Corvus and wizard.  He was partictularly interested in the tales of what you had been up to, the stone and Yacob's new staff....in fact the two spoke theories on it's magical properties.

Zell and Rivka, neither too far from each other, spent most of their time talking to Aranel, hearing stories of when he was a boy as well as tales from the ranger.

Johnathan rarely spoke other than to the captain or Yalez, and most between inscribing maps and notes.

Kell spent his time aiding the dwarven engineer fixing the balasta, and having a drink and enjoying their banter.

Nym flittered from group to group, sometimes adding or listening to the two mages, sometimes talking alone to Aranel, or with the group as a whole.

Turbalio, still sick from his 'big night', was quiet at first, but listened to the tales of the pirate with interest, as well as looked over Johnathan's shoulder at the maps.

Evening came and a bell rang.  Aranel and corvus led you to the deck where several tables were layed out with a wide array of food from cooked pork and venison, a stew of meat and vegetables, fruit, cheeses and bread as well as casks of ale, wine and whiskey

Eventually night fell, and Montgomery stated it was time to leave. The group said their farewells, with Zell being last to say his goodbyes.

The group climbed aboard the small boat and all waved farewells as Montgomery and Kell rowed back to the Phoenix dawn.

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

Dawn broke clear and warm, with lots of action on deck.  The group come up slowly, noting that the other ship left earlier than the Phoenix Dawn - no more than a speck on the horizon heading north.

The Ship, though in rough shape, sailed true and the rest of the trip was uneventful (Other than Zell again being sick)

It was on the fifth day from the cove that you spot the port town of waterdeep, and though luskan was about as far from silverymoon as waterdeep, the trip from the costal port was easier and less dangerous.

The docking of the ship went smooth, and by mid afternoon, the group are unload and ready to go.

Alstadin had you all in the inn of the Sleepy dwarf, ran by a human named Tobias. Rooms were paid for three nights enough for four rooms. The innkeeper also said that a meeting had been scheduled for you with the master of the blackstaff tower in the morning.

<OOC: Alteration of plans.  You are all going to stop off at Blackstaff tower, home of the fabled Khelben blackstaff. You are scheduled to see him in the morning so if you want to do something tonight, post please.>
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:37, Fri 13 Mar 2020.

Oler and Fineli are happy to be on solid ground again. While the sea was part of nature they had bot decided they liked land better. Oler and Fineli were eager to be on their way on the road and out of the bustling city. After the days at sea and this they'll be happy to see trees. They will visit a place to get a drink and some food.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:45, Fri 13 Mar 2020.

Sonori felt so much better after hours in the water, instead of on a boat on top of it. She enjoyed swimming, seeing what animals were around, the seafloor, and just the embrace of the water.

It seemed to stabilize her. She wasn't as sick the rest of the way, though still somewhat queasy.

And so, as much as she had thought for as long as she could remember that maybe she should try her hand sometime at being a ship healer, she was glad to get to solid land again. She had spent most of her life in rural areas, be it the wilderness or small farming communities. She had visited some larger cities now and then, but never spent much time in them.

"Well, as we have an afternoon and evening, and I'm not sure what else to do, I'd like to explore the city. Would anyone care to join me?"

"I'd be interested Sonori, must watch out for thieves though."

Excited once more to be in the City of Splendors, once the work of getting all the group's gear unloaded and settled at the inn, Turbalio made his way to the Red Gauntlet Inn in the south ward.  He hoped to be able to perform for the night before moving on to the business at hand.

Recalling his last night in Miribar, he chose to abstain from spirits so that he would be fresh in the morn.

"That would be great, Quinn! We haven't had a chance to talk much. Do you have a preferred place to go? Or shall we let the wind be our guide?"

"Let the wind be our guide! I've never been here before, looks like a big city!"

Sonori grinned. The wind was an aspect of Shaundakul, and so unless there was something they needed to do, that was her general philosophy. She followed the direction of the wind, every once in a while licking a finger, holding her hand up, and checking to see if the wind had changed to follow it.

"I'd love to hear more about you, Quinn! What made you choose the path of an adventurer? It's not a normal path to take."

"It is the path Kelemvor has led me on, seeking out the undead and the irretrievably evil. No more, no less. Fight it where I find it. What makes you and adventurer?
"

"When I was little more than a toddler crossing a bridge with my nomadic family, the bridge partly collapsed. I was swept away with the spring-melt fast river, and couldn't fight the water. Then suddenly I found that I could breathe water. I was carried far, far away before the river flattened and slowed, then I was deposited on the bank of the river. Two hybsil clerics of Shaundakul found me and from then on raised me, looking for my family when they didn't have other things to do - so obviously breathing water had to have been a blessing from the Wind Rider. Eventually, we found my family. But I'm not a normal gnome, and not really a hybsil, so haven't really found a place that I feel like is really home. So I adventure." She shrugged. "So I understand that you are following Kelemvor, but what made you start following him? What made you, for example, choose him over the other gods? I mean, I chose Shaundakul because obviously he chose me. Did Kelemvor as clearly chose you?"

"He chose me. I can even detect undead, which helps me fight them. Kelemvor has given me great blessings."

"Yes, yes, I'm certain you were chosen. But when did you know it? How did you feel his chosing?"

"Hmmmm, I don't really know. I was with the church starting at age 12 and I've been in training ever since. I was orphaned by a plague disease that took my parents."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Sonori said, pausing and looking up into Quinn's eyes.

Then she was off again. She was happy to do any exploring that Quinn wanted, including any diversions. And she was interested in going into any interesting looking shops - and certainly if there happened to be one a Temple to Shaundakul. "Will you tell me more about Kelemvor? I know the basics - most clerics know the basics of other religions. But it's always interesting to hear the perspective of a devotee."

Quinn goes into great detail describing the tenets and beliefs of Kelemvor, their rights and holy days. Quinn, being a warrior, and not a priest, has trouble conveying his thoughts at times, but overall he does well.