Back on dry land

After a few days of avoiding contact with other ships, we landed this morning. It was a pretty out of the way place...a nice little bay off the main shipping line. He went with us as we went ashore in one of his long boats.

"Ye be soft in the head if ye be wantin' t' go t' Highport," he said.

"We'd be even softer to let Dame Gold stay a slave," I said. "We don't have much choice."

"Aye," he said. "Ye don't, do ye."

When we reached the shore and we disembarked. "If ye ever be needin' a ride...."

"You'll be the first we contact," Audry said. "Farewell Captain Wolffe."

He waved and then gave the order to the row man to return to the Ewe. We didn't have time for lengthy good byes. If someone saw his ship anchored there he could be in real trouble. Not to mention us.

I damn near kissed the ground. The good news is that I don't get seasick anymore. The bad news is I smell like fish, and so does all my gear.

He was right about his instructions. Four leagues inland and we found the main road. We kept it in sight, but we didn't come too close to it. It would take longer, but it was better than risking being seen on the road. No doubt someone wondered what happened to the Ghoul and would be looking for it (and us).

So we spent the day making our way to Highport. If Captain Wolffe is correct, we should arrive late tomorrow or sometime early the day after. So far, we haven't had any problems. We found a creek and spent time washing ourselves. Did I mention fish smell? With that and the general lack of a shower or bath for days on end, they wouldn't need scouts to find us. They could shoot us in the dark with crossbows if they wanted. The girls stayed upstream for a ways while we stayed down stream, well out of sight. At some point underwear floated by. Getting it back to the girls (never did figure out who's it was) got tricky. Our bath done, we pressed on.

The forest is so green. I really don't know trees, so I can't tell you what kind they are. They're generally pretty tall and bladed leaves, though some have the lobed leaf. A lot of them are covered with moss. The ground has plenty of shrubs, bushes, and ferns and we see the occasional field of flowers. The forest smells like flowers, a mowed long, and a compost pile all rolled into one. The forest is alive with animal noises.

"Good thing," Saul said. "That means we're probably alone."

The canopy covers everything, hiding us from view. Every now and then we see an open area. We steer clear of these areas. Yeah, there are no helicopters or planes in this world, but there are flying creatures. The armies of the evil one have been known to use them, and if the Slavelords have any connection to them they might have access to flying mounts. Even if the Slavelords are autonomous, they still might have access to such creatures.

We found a small cave in the side of a hill. After checking for animals, we set up camp within its entrance. It's high up enough that no one can see us or our campfire from the ground (eating cold food sucks). Saul managed to catch a couple of rabbits, and I managed to scrounge up a few mushrooms and some wild berries.

"What do you think we'll find in Highport," Anna asked.

"Dame Gold and the other kidnappees," Marc said. "With luck."

"Luck is not a very useful skill," Audry said. "We need a plan."

"Not much to go on," I said. "You know, something's been bothering me."

"Oh?" Saul asked.

"How'd they catch us so unaware," I said. I rubbed the scar on my wrist. I've gotten scars as a kid and they usually went away in a few years. I wondered if these would do the same. "I mean, I remember walking to my bunk, but I don't remember getting into it."

"I was awake," Audry said, "and then I remember opening my eyes and seeing myself on that slave ship."

"They may have used some sort of magic," Marc said. "I've heard stories of an alchemical gas that can render one unconscious."

"Yeah, I lost it completely," Saul said. "That was a bit unnerving."

"No kidding." Anna came out of nowhere, scaring the hells out of me. She usually checks the perimeter whenever we make camp, and then proceeds to scare me (and only me!) when she returns. This time she just showed up, but it made me jump anyway.

"I can't recall the last time I was unconscious," Anna said. "You humans do that often?"

"Every night," I said. Like I said before, elves don't really sleep. They just kind of day dream.

"Odd," Saul said. "Well, I think when this is all over we should walk home."

"Or take the bus," I said. And that led to an explanation of mass transit for the next hour or so.

Back to the sleeping gas theory, if they have something like that then they can immobilize us at will, provided we are in an enclosed area (like an inn). In short, it gets a bit tricky from this point forward.

Right. Tricky. As if escaping from manacles on a slave ship is not tricky. Or destroying the elemental temple or fighting a giant spider or....

Well, you get the idea.

Right now we need to do some recon. None of us are familiar with Highport. It's pretty far to the south, near the Pomarj. The Pomarj is really just a large collection of humanoid tribes that have agreed not to kill each other. This little confederation is about as loose as it gets, but one day they got their act together and they managed to orchestrate a little tragedy some years ago.

(Marc is a wonderful source of information about this sort of thing. He should write a book. He could call it Encyclopedia Greyhawktica. It'll be a New York Times bestseller, I'm sure of it.)

Highport used to be a major trading port for ships going in and out of the Azure sea. Then one day the humanoid tribes poured out of the mountains of the Pomarj and laid siege to the city. Five times they repelled the humanoids. On the sixth attack, the humanoids broke through the city walls. They slaughtered everyone and took anything that wasn't nailed down.

Supposedly, the humanoid generally got a burr where the hooded lantern don't shine and said "let's reopen Highport as a trading port that we control, and we'll get rich off the taxes." A bunch of humanoids didn't agree, so the general had them "removed." The rest is history.

Elredd is a town of low-lives. Highport is a town of cutthroats, brigands, pirates, you name it. All kinds of unsavory characters wander into this town. The way Marc describes it, it's like Mos Eisley without the musicians. You will not find a more wretched hive...you get the idea.

The question is, can we blend in? If we can't, we'll probably find ourselves manacled again.