Chapter 1: Battered Down & Run Aground
The journey so far had occurred with little incident and a considerable amount of favor from Selune, who’d blessed The Swanmay with a map of crystalline stars against black velvet sky. By day, the crew cleaned the decks, and managed the daily tasks of maintaining a merchant ship. By night, they also worked, following a route illuminated by guiding stars, while a select few maintained the night watch. Their trade route began in Corymyr, ending in the wealthy nation of Sembia.
Captain Amara McKeel ran The Swanmay with an exacting attention to detail, and no reluctant to wield a tongue as sharp as any rapier when the sailors bungled a task. However, her tongue was commensurately as honeyed when they performed their jobs well. Perhaps one day brought groans and bickering, but there were more times when laughter and song was heard. Amara hired only men and women that she trusted, even if not always liked. Among their number were a motley collection of travelers who either joined for a short-lived job, or needed passage by ship for reasons of their own: Azatch the Half-Orc, Cela the Tabaxi, Grog the Minotaur, Lenelle the Half-Elf, and three humans named Simon, Sundos, & Moonsong.
Shortly before the third week, the good luck of The Swanmay reached a cacophonous end. Gone was Selune’s grace, as Umberlee unleashed her wrath upon the ship! Darkened clouds portended troubles, as a hurricane soon slammed The Swanmay close to an undesirable region known as “The Vast Swamp”. Furious winds buffeted the ship, as Captain and crew desperately fought to save it and themselves from Umberlee’s rapacious embrace! Only a last-minute act of steering toward an estuary saved them all from death.
The Swanmay and her crew would live to sail again...but not any day soon. The ship suffered considerable damage to the hull and sails, and ran aground on a marshy bank facing what surely must have been an endless stretch of swamp...