Massive walls rose up in the distance as they approached Eagle’s Bay. Impressive as they were, Anna’s attention was currently elsewhere. She could smell a briny scent in the air as well as hear the call of sea birds in the distance. There were also strange whooshing sounds. All these things combined sent her anticipation over the edge, causing her to shiver with excitement.

The sea is right over there! Oh, I can’t wait to see it! They’ll have fresh fish too! I haven’t had fresh fish in years! I wonder if I’ll be able to find a place serving fish stew? I bet there’s going to be all kinds of ships in port! Everyone keeps telling me this place is like a hundred Fishports, and that people from all over the great inland sea stop here! I hope I get to see warships! The sailors always used to talk about them!

They reached the gate after waiting in a short line. The guards were wearing full plate armor and holding polearms. One of them had his visor up and was checking passes and taking tolls. They showed their guild badges to him, and he nodded and waved them through without saying a word. They walked through the gate, and the smell of the city smacked her in the face so hard she took a step back when it hit her.

“Damn,” she said, waving her hand in front of her face.

One of the guards laughed.

“You get used to it,” he said.

“I hope so,” she replied.

“Just remember, if you breathe through your mouth, you’ll taste it!” the guard said.

The moment he said something about breathing through her mouth, she did, causing her to make a face and spit. This caused the guard to laugh even harder. She was tempted to flip him a rude gesture but knew that was a quick way to spend the night in a cell.

That’s what all the other adventurers told me anyway.

Ignoring the laughter directed at her, she walked away from the gate.

The city wasn’t like any other she’d been to. The layout of its streets didn’t make any sense, and the buildings were tightly packed into every available space. Unlike the uniformity of Oldforge and the capital, no two buildings were exactly the same.

She was busy examining the unique architecture when Thokri tapped her on the shoulder. She turned to look at him, and he just pointed. When she looked where he was pointing, she stopped walking. There were ships bobbing up and down, tied to the largest docks she’d ever seen, but that wasn’t what caught her attention. What had her mesmerized was the seemingly endless expanse of water that stretched out to the horizon.

She walked forward and looked to her right, seeing the mouth of the great river. It was so large that ships sailing up it seemed to be as small as toys. When she turned her head to the left, she saw hundreds of ships tied to hundreds of docks. There were swarms of men loading and unloading the ships while countless seabirds circled above, crying out as they did.

She stood there for a few moments until someone tugged on her arm. Thokri grinned at her when she looked over at him.

“Come on, lass. We got to get to the dock master’s office,” he said.

She nodded, and they started to walk along the docks. She looked at the ships as they passed. Each one was bigger than anything that had ever pulled into Fishport when she’d lived there.

I hope we can find a small one ‘cause none of these will be going there.

After passing a few ships, she looked to her left at the many tightly packed buildings that faced the piers. The buildings were mostly taverns, inns, and brothels, just what one would expect from a city filled with sailors.

They walked for a few minutes until they spotted the dock master’s office. It was plain compared to the surrounding buildings, painted a dull tan color with a simple sign that merely stated what the building was.

Inside was calm compared to the busy street. Only a few well-dressed ship’s officers stood at a counter near the back of the room. Each was busy with piles of paperwork while clerks examined the documents as the men finished.

The party wasn’t there for any of the dock master’s services. Instead, they headed to a small office on the right-hand side of the room where one could book passage on one of the many vessels with an open berth.

They entered the office and found a gnarled old man sitting behind a desk with piles of papers surrounding him. He looked up at them, his eyes glancing at each of them, and lingering on her chest, before returning to Voekeer.

“Where you folks heading?” he asked.

“Fishport. It’s a small town on the eastern frontier river,” Voekeer replied.

The man thought about it for a moment before pulling a rolled-up piece of paper from the pile next to him and setting it on his desk. He flattened it out, revealing a map of the coast, then gestured for Voekeer to come over.

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“Show me,” he said.

Voekeer leaned over and pointed at a tiny dot near the edge of the map. The old man nodded and then started to rifle though the papers. Several minutes later, he pulled a paper from one of the stacks and placed it on the desk facing the party.

“The Potent Puffin is going to stop there. They cost five silver a head and leave in three days,” he said.

“Works for us,” Voekeer replied.

“Good, let me write up your boarding passes,” the old man said.

The man took small pieces of paper from another pile. He took his quill from its stand and dipped it into an ink well.

“Name?” he asked, looking up at the Voekeer.

“Voekeer,” he replied.

The man grumbled something about elves while he wrote on the paper. When he finished, he set it aside and looked over at Lyreen.

“Lyreen,” she said.

The man sighed again but started to fill out a fresh paper. He did this one by one until he finished their passes. Once each of them gave him the five silver, he lit a sealing candle and dripped wax onto the bottom of each one before pressing a stamp into it. He rolled up the passes and handed them to their owners.

“We send a runner to inform the ship, but if I were you, I’d go and let the captain know you’ve booked passage on his ship after you leave here. Mix ups happen from time to time, and I’d hate for you to show up and find out she’s already full. They will also tell you what time they are setting sail. Don’t be late. They won’t wait, and we don’t give refunds,” the old man said.

“We will, sir,” Voekeer replied.

“Oh, and if you have any problems, come back and let me know,” the old man added.

“Of course,” Voekeer replied.

They walked out of the dock master’s office and back onto the busy street, heading to the left once more. The dock was far longer than she originally thought, and it took more than an hour to reach where The Puffin was moored.

The ship was long and sleek looking with two masts, and if she had to guess, a shallow draft, just the sort of ship that visited Fishport while she lived there. The sails were currently furled with heavy covers over the sails to protect them while not in use. A large crane was lifting crates from the dock and into the ship’s hold as they approached.

The first time I ever really showed people what I could do was when I picked that crane up to save those men. I don’t think that crane is going to fall over. It looks way bigger than the ones in Fishport.

A group of sailors were talking with the dockworkers, so the party walked over to the men.

“Excuse me, the booking agent told us to swing by and let the captain know we’ve booked passaged on your ship,” Voekeer said.

“Go let the captain know we got some passengers,” one of the men said.

A young man nodded and rushed up the gangway onto the ship, and the man looked at them.

“Where you folks heading if you don’t mind me asking?” he asked.

“Small town called Fishport. We have some business there,” Voekeer replied.

The man laughed.

“Then you must be in the fish business or running from something ‘cause there’s nothing else in that shithole,” he replied.

“That shithole is my home village,” Anna said.

The grin fell from the man’s face.

“I, uh, didn’t mean nothing by it, miss. I was just messing around,” he replied.

The man next to him slugged him on the arm and shook his head.

“Sorry about that. The only time he talks to women is when he asks them how much,” he said.

“Yeah, I can tell. So, what’s in the crates?” she asked.

“Tools, cloth, medicine, grain, basically it’s everything they can’t make themselves,” the second man replied.

“The sailors always used to tell me that an empty hold was a bad thing, so what do you carry back?” she asked.

“Salted fish, whale oil, ivory, anything we can sell quickly,” he replied.

“It’s like the captain says, we’ll carry anything, so long as it makes us a profit,” the first man said.

“And that includes curious young women,” a man added.

She turned to see a well-dressed man walking down the gangway with the young man who’d been sent to get the captain trailing behind him. He looked them over one by one before extending his hand to Voekeer who happened to be standing the closest.

“Edward and I happen to be the captain of this fine vessel,” he said.

“Voekeer, and this is Lyreen, Barika, Elaine, Anna, Rose, and Thokri,” Voekeer replied.

They each shook the captain’s hand.

“Normally, I’d invite you aboard and show you around; however, we are loading cargo, and it’s not safe, so I’m afraid you’ll have to wait for the tour,” the captain said.

“That’s alright. We need to find a place to stay anyway,” Voekeer replied.

“I’d suggest staying at the Pelican’s Perch. While it does cost a bit more than other places, I’m told that expense makes it more suitable for a group with so many women,” the captain said.

“That sounds perfect. Could you tell us how to get there?” Barika asked.

“Of course, Ma’am. Head back towards the dock master’s office and look for a blue building with gold trim. The sigh has a pelican roosting on a ship’s mast,” he replied.

“Thank you,” Barika said.

“It was my pleasure. Now if you excuse me, I have to continue my battle with an army of paperwork,” he replied.

“We’ll see you in three days then,” Voekeer said.

“Be here at dawn,” the captain replied.

“We will,” Voekeer said.

The captain turned around and walked back onto the ship, and the party walked away from the dock heading towards the inn he’d recommended.

“Hey, what did he mean by the inn would be better for a group with women in it?” Anna asked.

“He means it costs too much for sailors to bring their street whores to fuck,” Thokri replied.

“Ewwww!” Anna said.

“Do you have to be so crude?” Barika asked.

“Bah! I was just tell’n the lass how it was, that’s all,” Thokri replied.

“It may be true, but there are better ways of explaining things to her,” Barika said.

“Oh? Well then, tell me how you would have told the lass?” Thokri asked.

“Well, I would have said that sailors bring prostitutes to the less expensive inns,” Barika replied.

“Ah, and what if she’d have asked why do that when there’s a brothel right next door?” Thokri asked.

“She didn’t ask you that, so why would she have asked me?” Barika asked.

“’Cause ya didn’t let her know how much the street whores cost, so she’d have wondered,” Thokri replied.

“You didn’t say how much they cost either,” Barika said.

“Yeah, he did. He said they were street whores, and that means they are cheaper than the ones in a brothel,” Anna replied.

“That’s true, but I’m not sure how you managed to come to that conclusion, child,” Barika said.

“Oh, that’s easy. It’s because street food cost less than food from a tavern, so street whores must be cheaper, too, ‘cause it’s the same if you really think about it,” Anna replied.

Her friends looked at each other for a moment.

“You know, that actually makes sense,” Voekeer said.

“Aye, and that’s how she thinks, lad,” Thokri replied.

Barika sighed.

“Just tell her in dwarven next time then,” she said.

Thokri chuckled.

“Aye,” he replied.