Thorn had to hurry if he was going to make it to the ship on time. His fiery red hair and nearly six foot frame made him stick out in a crowd mostly made of Agrotians, who were no taller than four feet. This was the most important job he ever had, it's hard to believe that someone as powerful as a bishop would ever hire him. Thorn was still extremely nervous about traveling all the way to Kosimir though, the whole place would be better off overrun by ogres and giants.

 Thorn is suddenly pulled from his thoughts as a blunt force pushes into his ribs. A short bearded man was standing before him, conversing with several similar looking men. Thorn angrily looks down at the man whose head had made contact with the redhead's lower ribcage.

  "Watch where you are going!" Thorn shouted at the group.

 "You ran into me!" annoyingly huffed the short man that Thorn had run into.

 "Do not take that tone with me. If I were not in such a hurry, I would call the guards to have you all arrested. You know your people are not allowed to congregate in such a way."

 Thorn hurried off, pleased with how he handled those dwarves. Disgusting creatures, Kosimir was full of them. The nervousness Thorn felt for the trip only grew.

 Running down the street, the port finally coming into view, Thorn searched for the ship he was to board. Going past the docks he read the names of the ships. H.H.S. Redeemer, H.M.S. Haginir, H.M.S. Righteous II, H.M.S. Deliverance. Aha! There it is. The crew was still going to and fro getting crates of supplies on board.

 He hustled up onto the busy carrack, it's high sterncastle and forecastle making the ship look more like a floating fortress. The bright green sails were still up, but Thorn had no difficulty imagining how beautiful they will be when let down. He spotted several Agrotians up near the wheel on the sterncastle at the back of the ship. Assuming one must be the captain, he hurried off towards them. Approaching the short (none of them taller than three and a half feet), limber, and beardless men, he noticed they had maps laid out before them.

 One of the Agrotians, which was wearing a very fine navy man's broad brimmed hat and wool coat of bright blue, was speaking, "We should simply go around Kanar, there are too many sandshelves and rocks poking out of the sea between the islands."

 "You may be the captain, but I am in charge of this expedition, and I say we go the faster route between the islands," demanded one of the others, who had the muscled physique, the determined face of a true soldier, and was dressed in a guard's golden tunic. The captain looked as though he were about to continue agruing, but stopped when he saw Thorn nearing them.

 The man which was just arguing with the captain moves his eyes away from the map and proceeds to look Thorn up and down, then opens his mouth, "So our humble bard finally presents himself."

 "I know I am late, but it is not as though you are waiting for me. All the supplies has barely just got on board."

 This small man looks up at Thorn, a look of both anger and disgust on his face, "Though you are only here to document this expedition, I expect the same amount of work from you as the rest of the crew."

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

 "I suppose I am allowed to give the same amount of imput then. I side with the captain, sailing through rocks is much too dangerous. It would be much more efficient to take a long route that will not scratch the ship than take a short route that would leave us with no more than planks to float on." At that, the man's lips turn into a horrible, almost exaggerated scowl. He storms off, cursing Thorn and all he stands for.

 Thorn watched him saunter off, whole heartedly believing that he would never risk his life trudging through treacherous waters, especially not for that horrible little man.

 The captain chirps up behind him, "Bjorg's a fiesty one alrigh'. He's in charge of this trip though, so best not keep pulling his coattails or ya migh' be lookin' fer a floggin'."

 "I will keep that in mind." Thorn looked the old Agrotian up and down. His hat and coat were finely kept, the rest of him was ragged and gray stubble covered his face. "I suppose you are the captain?"

 "Aye, Cap'n Nez I am. You ever been on one a' these trips before, boy?"

 Thorn hated being called "boy", especially by this uneducated dolt, but he held his tongue. "No, I have not. I never thought I would have to travel to a land full of horrible dwarves. The sooner we get this expedition over with, the better."

 "Dwarves ain't so bad once ya get ter know 'em." The captain gave an encouraging smile.

 What a terrifyingly stupid thing to say, is everyone on this ship an idiot? This was not going to be an enjoyable trip at all. "Where are the cabins? I would like to put my things away before we set off."

 "Righ' below deck, I can have Schmott show ya." Captain Nez motions towards one of the men he was going over the map with moments earlier.

 Thoroughly displeased with the few people he had met already, Thorn was is no mood to deal with another annoyance. "No, that is quite alright. I am sure I can find my own way."

 He hurries off from the sterncastle, and quickly spots the trap door to the lower decks. The quarterdeck was the first lower deck, though it was a little difficult finding a bunk with the crew still going about preparing the ship for departure. As Thorn sat down and started to unpack some of his things, he noticed that there bright blue flowers all over the floor. Who brought flowers onto the ship? Looking around, it didn't take long to find the culprit. A human man in a long green tunic with a golden circle design on the front was walking around dropping flowers and murmuring to himself as he went. It was clear he was a cleric.

 He was coming towards Thorn, who couldn't help but wonder what he was doing. "Excuse me, but why are throwing all these flowers everywhere?"

 The man looked to Thorn with the biggest smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye, "I'm blessing the ship. We're all praying for safe passage on this journey, but actual prayer goes a long way."

 "Are you the only cleric going on this ship?"

 Still smiling, almost creepily, "No, no. Brother Neti is blessing the storage deck, and Cleric Sander is blessing the sea."

 "Right," Thorn did not believe in the power of prayer, but wasn't about to insult a government official. "I suppose I will let you get back to it." Thorn turns back to his things, pulling out a finely crafted violin.

 "If you ever need anything, I'm Adrich." He then practically skips off, spreading more flowers about.

 The list of people that annoyed Thorn was growing rapidly.

 After about half an hour of recording the day's events in his journal and tuning his violin, Thorn felt the ship lurch forward. They were finally on their way. Still holding his violin, he went out to the upper deck. Looking out at the city as it slowly shrank, he saw the dwarves that he had ran into no more than two hours earlier. He watched as they attempted to ran from and then be beaten down by city guards. Proves them right, they should have known better than congregating like they had.

 As the land of Velgheid slowly dissapears over the horizon, Thorn puts his violin over his shoulder and lets a somber melody flow over the waves before him.