The next couple of days passed quickly. Delde told her father who gave little in the way of a reaction, save for promising to keep her room locked while she was away. She didn’t doubt that her room would be secure, there were several private rooms that used to house some of her half-siblings that had never been opened since they left Kassen. Crazraa’s room had never been opened even after his death. She found herself occasionally wondering if her room would ever be opened.

Holgast had a more emotional farewell for her, which surprised her somewhat as she thought that her mentor wouldn’t miss her much, wrapped up in his own world as he was most of the time. It felt nice to know that her absence would be felt, even if it made her departure slightly more painful than she expected. Delde hadn’t expected to shed any tears when she prepared to leave.

Contacting Cygar had been easy enough and he was happy to take them with him. He told them that he’d arranged passage for them all on a river barge called the “Black Mist”, an ominous name for what turned out to be a rather plain looking barge waiting in the river for them.

They were all assembled at the river dock, backpacks bulging with everything they thought they would need and could carry with them. All of them were also fully equipped with all their weapons and armour on them. It led Delde to reflect on how similar it was to how they had first been brought together, although this time there were no great crowds to see them off. Indeed, it seemed that the people of Kassen seemed to be giving them all a wide bearth.

Onyx rubbed against her leg, rousing Delde from her idle thoughts.

Cygar was finishing up speaking to the captain of the vessel they were to board, a dwarven man with red hair who seemed pleased to be making more money from additional passengers. Once the Pathfinder agent handed him over a pouch of coins, he returned to organising the remaining cargo being loaded onto her ship, whistling a jaunty tune as he went. Cygar then turned towards the group and approached them, his hood still covering his head early in the morning light making the man appear more sinister than he was. Or at least Delde hoped he was.

‘This is it then. If anyone wants to change their mind now’s the time. I won’t hold it against you, but once you board the boat it’ll be weeks before you’ll be able to come back here. So only get on if you’re sure, because I’m not going to pay for a return berth’.

‘We are all fully prepared for whatever we will face in the coming days Mr Anravis. None of us would have arrived if we were not completely committed to seeing things through to the end’.

The Pathfinder agent smirked at Adrianas response.

‘I figured as much. You all look like veteran adventurers already… Well, maybe not veterans just yet. But you’re on your way’.

Delde looked over herself and the others. She could see what he meant now that he brought it up. Adriana was wearing the gleaming enchanted chainmail that they took from the remains of Azar, and Igmar had his wicked looking long sword sheathed at his belt as well. Baye had the short bow they had gotten from Kassens gifted bag of holding and Dal carried the bag itself. For her part Delde was wearing the enchanted bracers they had recovered from the body of the supposed Razmir cultist. All of them were equipped with magical items that for most people in Kassen would be treated as valuable heirlooms, if they didn’t choose to sell them for the small fortune that they were collectively worth. But to Delde and her friends they were important pieces of equipment that would all see use before they were done with their self-appointed mission.

‘Whits the plan then? Or are we no tae ken aboot that until we get tae Tamran?’.

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Igmar had tried to get Cygar to reveal what exactly he planned to have them do to investigate what happened to the keys stolen from the crypt. He had remained tight lipped about his intentions though, much to the consternation of the dwarf.

‘As I said before, I’ll let you know when we get closer to the city. There’re still some details I need to get from some of my contacts before I can be sure of what the play is. Don’t worry though, I’m not sending you out to fight dragons or demons. I’m thinking we’re going to need a more… subtle approach. But like I said, I need to hear back from my contacts’.

‘Hmm’. Was the only response Igmar gave to the man. It was apparent that he wasn’t happy about the lack of information, but he seemed to accept it. Delde wondered if it was out of trust in Cygar and the greater Pathfinder society that he represented, or if it was just his ingrained training from assisting the town guard that made him accept instructions without explanations. Everyone else seemed more focused on the imminent start of their journey.

‘How longs the ride?’.

Baye asked as her gaze ran over the rectangular barge, with its grey sails and dark wood hull.

‘About a week, give or take a couple of days depending on weather. Captain Walren runs a tight ship, we’ll get to Tamran soon enough’.

While the others spoke to Cygar about what details of their journey he would make them privy to Adriana took Delde aside to speak to her more privately.

‘How do you feel about all this Delde? Leaving the town, I mean’.

‘Hmm? Fine I suppose. I told my father and Holgast who both took it well, or well enough as I could expect from them, I suppose. It was a little difficult to work out what would be most important to take with me, but all of the rest of my things are in my room, so I’m not worried about never seeing them again. What about you, how are you finding it?’.

‘I am… somewhat… hesitant about leaving. It is not that I have come to doubt our cause! I assure you that is not the case!... It is just… I find it difficult. To leave my home. I love this town, deeply and truly, even if it does not fully understand me, it is all that I have ever known. It has made me who I am today’.

Delde could see the anguish in her eyes as Adriana fought back tears.

‘A part of me wishes that Sarenrae would split me in twin so that half of me could venture forth with all of you and half could remain here’.

‘You don’t need to come with us if it’s too much for you. Nobody’s forcing you to come along’.

‘No. I must go. And while ensuring that the perpetrators behind the desecration of the crypt of Kassen are brought to justice was my original motivation, I confess I have another… In my travels with all of you I have been forced to confront… certain inadequacies with myself. My reluctance to call upon my divine spells. Being overly focused on following what I see as the will of Sarenrae. My lack of knowledge in several areas. I admit when we first set forth from Kassen I saw myself as the leader of our band and that it would be through my guidance we would return with the Everflame… Since then, I have come to understand that I am not as competent as I thought I was. But thanks to being with all of you I have come to recognise these issues and confront them. I believe that by traveling along with everyone I will gain a greater understanding of both myself and the world as a whole. I had originally thought that when I left Kassen it would be to learn more about Sarenrae and how she fit into the greater world. Now I see that I must learn and grow as well.

‘Adriana… I feel a similar way to you. When I first left on the “Quest for the Everflame” with all of you I wasn’t interest in it. I thought I knew better than everyone else and that my magic would make every challenge trivial. And while admittedly it was more difficult than I think anyone could have imagined I am grateful for the experience because it helped me to grown in leaps and bounds that I didn’t think were possible. So, I can respect your desire to better yourself, if anything I share it. But I do think you’re doing yourself a disservice if you think you weren’t an important part of our group. It was your healing, both magical and otherwise that helped us out plenty of times. When you used it, your magic inflicted some of the worst damage to the undead we fought. And you were always willing to stand next to Igmar upfront where the fighting was thickest, even though you lacked his training. So don’t sell yourself short, because I won’t let you’.

The two of them shared a smile with each other.

‘Hey! Are you two coming or what! That’s us staring to board!’.

Dal called out to them already on the “Black Mist”, Baye and Igmar by his side.

‘Ready?’

Asked Delde, as Adriana responded with a nod. The two women, led by Onyx made their way up the gangplank and onto the barge, ready to embark on the next stage of their adventure.