From the journal of Maxwell Smithson

12th of Aneal, the first month of snow.

Supper was a wonderfully intimate affair in a small and unadorned dining room just off of a small kitchen. There was a local fish stew with several types of tubers and root vegetables, that while not overly spiced was full of flavor and chased away the cold. An early Aneal salad was served as a side with a wonderful herb infused oil and vinegar dressing. As for dessert, Jack served a cake. A cake of seven layers with different types of filling between each layer. With no lies of Max’s part, the cake was almost to die for.

After supper was completed, and an after-meal drink was imbibed, the trio left the cathedral, bellies full, and Love in their hearts.

13th of Aneal

We left port on the morning tide. Memories of last night’s meal will be with me for a long time. Our next port of call is Craigcoast, almost four hundred miles east by sea. Travel time is two to four days, depending on the wind.

We will keep busy with the onboard amenities as well as keeping Grendel within arm’s reach, as Brianna has decided to start teaching him. EVERYTHING. I feel sorry for the lad, but by the gods who don’t suck, I will NOT get in the way of my wife.

16th of Aneal,

Craigcoast was a nice coastal town. The fortress overlooks the town, and the walls cover all but the docks. The docks have their own protection in the way of a small naval detachment. We toured the docks and a bit of the rest of the city, but didn’t make it to the citadel due to only being in port for five hours.

Our next port of call is Ilentfront, about sixteen hours away. We will only be there for an hour or two, so not enough time to explore. Our next trip ashore will be in Cavenfore, where we will be stopping for a full day. It will take a day and a half to arrive there.

18th of Aneal,

Cavenfore is as fun as I remember it being from my candlestick making days. Sadly, our next stop isn’t Clifrontle, or I could show off the college I went to. On the other hand, it’s probably a good thing, as they would probably try to get me to give a symposium on metals again.

Our next stop is Swift Town and then Dragon. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to either of them. I’m kind of excited.

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Brandywine has found the second bar, and I just found out that Grendel has been using a forged letter saying that he has my permission to gamble at the onboard gambling parlor. I don’t know whether or not to be proud of him. If he was actually my child I would give him a whack on the backside for the forgery, but he’s not, so I will just give him a long lecture while making him do pushups. Then I will give him a real letter of permission.

At least he seems to be breaking even.

19th of Aneal,

Swift town has changed since I was last there... A Plague was present. No passengers were let off the ship, only crew who wore a mask over their mouth and nose. They worked quickly to offload the ship of trade goods and supplies. The ships cats, of which there are six,

but there is a new doctor in town who practices “Real Medicine”. She laughs at the concept of bleeding the infection out of people and uses cooking ingredients (garlic and hot onion pulp mixed with water and boiled in a copper pot, then she strained the mixture and stores it in a silver vessel for a week) to make a salve that kills the skin legions. She has also made a “pill” out of some sort of mold that kills off infections of the blood and lungs. She has a large pile of books with solid covers that are filled with pictures and exceedingly consistent block letters. I don’t think she is from our world. Perhaps the god of Healing is actually upping their game?

We leave for Dragon on the midnight tide.

21st of Aneal,

Storms. Storms are always an interesting event.

-

Maxwell stood on the forecastle deck of The Crystal Star and watched the waves crest over the bow. The storm had blown in around midday, first appearing as a black smudge on the horizon, then becoming a curtain of rain and lightning. The captain had tried to run from the storm but it was too fast, so he had struck the sails and turned on his “optional” form of propulsion and turned into the beast to ride it out.

Watching the storm blow, Max was glad of the new-fangled “strap harness” and tether that attached him to one of several eye bolts embedded every ten feet or so along the railing and around the masts. As the wind picked up in intensity, he could feel the storm shaking the deck, but he could also feel an odd thrumming as well. When he had investigated the thrum earlier, he had found it originated in the aft of the ship where something in the water churned, making a significant amount of foam. Maybe a type of sturdy fan of some sort pushing the water like a normal fan does air? He had thought before moving on.

He watched and waited on the deck as the cold rain fell, and the wind cut through his wet clothes. Waiting for the ship to enter the eye of the storm. Sadly, today was not his day and after several hours of observation he went below decks to luxuriate in a hot bath and have a hearty meal.

22nd of Anael,

The storm knocked us a good way off course. Much less than I had anticipated; I think the alternate propulsion was the reason. It took till early morning for us to leave the storm, and several more hours to find our location on the charts. Our captain kept cussing about a lack of “GPS”, whatever that is. We should arrive in Dragon tomorrow, at least that is the captains thought.

I am surprised at the lack of damage to the ship from the storm. The rigging is completely intact, as are the sails. Sure, he furled the canvas early, but still there should be some damage, and there is none. I have looked at the lines and the sails more closely now, and both seem to be made of a new material that is both lightweight and strong. When I asked the captain about it, he just smiled and said not to worry about it.

…the captain concerns me a little bit…

24th of Anael,

We have arrived in Dragon. The City is…almost gone.