Port Etruria

[Zet]

An average-sized port city in Etruria where one can take the time to restock or rest during a journey. It is a busy city full of sailors and travelers. Most travelers can usually find what they are looking for in one of the shops and sometimes find something they never knew existed.

[Deebkal of Thunder]

Deebkal and Amy dash into the area,stopping quickly and looking around.

"Okay,so...if we wish to get anywhere,this would likely be the best area to get started in our travels,am I right?" the mage asked.

Instead of merely agreeing,Amy taped the side of her head lightly with her staff,pondering in the process.

"Maybe...but isn't there more land beyond the fields?"

"Quite true...but anyway,for now,let's just wait for Rain and Thor..." Deebkal suggested,checking his items to make sure he didn't lose anything.

[Thor]

Thor caught back up with the group, thinking over Rain's words. He had said they needed a boat, so they were either going to have to rent one or something. Either way, their first course of movement was relatively obvious. They could either supply up before they left or they could just leave....given they needed to pay for the boat after all.

"Get whatever you think you might need, if you need anything, and then meet up at the docks. Ask around for anything you might want to know too like recent rumors or happenings."

[Rain]

'Rain came in just in time to hear Thor's words, nodding in agreement. That was all they could say for it really. If they were going to get a boat, he was already as ready as could be here. He knew that given this was just the start of the magician and cleric's journey, that of course they were eager to see all of the sights they possibly could see.'

"Don't have to add much else to what he said."

[Phantom]

A short time after the arrival of the full quartet a man dressed in the robes of a priest made his way into the port. He was rather tall and moved quickly for a priest, but he still held a staff in his left hand. His hair was a light brown and his eyes a matching brown that held no fear. Once he saw the 4 he grinned to himself and made his way towards the group. His demeanor changed slightly as he walked, the fearless eyes no longer so fearless and a charismatic smile went to the man's face.

"Hello. I was wondering where you four might be headed. I could use a group to travel with as I research some Holy Relics, as I can't really defend myself too well." The priest says to the group, his voice only somewhat deep. Various thoughts ran through this priest's mind, and he hoped they would be headed somewhere he planned to go, if not willing to follow him.

[Rain]

'A priest? Of course he couldn't really defend himself then. At least he didn't sound meek like most priests would. It was kind of annoying trying to hear them under all of that. He'd be kind of wrong to abandon a priest to wander the lands for his research of 'Holy Relics', but he didn't really feel that he had the time for it. That and a priest doing research struck him as odd. Sure, it probably shouldn't, but usually that was up to the sages and the like to do. Instead of answering, he merely raised an eyebrow. He figured that he would have to go with the decision of the others more than likely anyway if it was a majority vote leading the 'aye' scale to rise ever higher.'

[Thor]

Seemed like it was becoming somewhat used to others coming up and needing a sort of escort. From either the journey being too perilous or this being their first time taking a hike across the world. A priest couldn't defend themselves unlike a mage or a cavalier, Amy being a cleric so she obviously couldn't defend herself outside of mending their wounds.

"We're headed across sea actually, to a place that Rain here knows. He's in a hurry, but I don't think he'll mind a short detour perhaps if we all agree."

[Deebkal of Thunder]

'Hm...are all healers these days so...outgoing?' he pondered to himself. First Amy and now this guy...

Deebkal listened as Thor spoke to the priest,then spoke as well.

"Hm...I guess it'd be ok to take a detour. Though...mind if I ask what kind of 'Holy Relics' you are searching for-?"

Amy watched the man closely,looking him up and down as if studying him.

'A holy man doing...research? That's new...' the cleric thought internally. She was preparing to say something,but decided to let it wait. For now,if this man was going to travel with them,they'd have to be particularly wary...

[Phantom]

"Ah, across the sea. Perfect then, there is no other relic that I know of here in Etruria so that's why I came to port. I appreciate the help then. My name is Len, and the Holy Relics I am researching are old items of astounding holy power. I am documenting them for the church, there were few free to do it so that's why I was sent." The priest told the group. "I have one with me I was allowed to take so that I may be sure of the other relics. They react to each other, after all. I will show you once we reach a private place if you desire, but for now let us make haste. I doubt your friend would like to dawdle too long with escorting me. I can secure a ship if you wish, I had a friend ready one but he's a lone man and escorts would be helpful."

Len smiled and turned towards the docks, multiple boats within the waters and a few starting to set sail. "Unless, you have one already then my lazy friend wouldn't mind sitting around doing nothing for the day."

[Rain]

'Not wanting to dawdle was right. He didn't particularly care for escorting anyone else around, but what could he say to free traveling? Not having to pay for the boat would be a boon he wasn't expecting, plus he didn't have to escort the man all over the place. Just one or two relics maybe and then they could call it a day and kick this guy to the curb.'

"You can show us the relic if you want, it doesn't particularly matter. We can use your ship then and your friend to save time and money."

'May as well put it out there plainly. He felt that secrets should only be kept if they were important ones. Expressing that you'd be getting a free ride while saving the time to search for one and pay for one was something he felt wasn't much of a secret. Plus the friend was lazy anyway apparently, may as well use him and give him something to do.'

[Thor]

Rain was the blunt type, as he had so plainly put out in the open now. He supposed it helped when getting to the point though it could be rude at the same time. They would probably run into some issues because of it but for now they could move along just fine...hopefully. He'd push that thought to the side for now.

"It's nice to meet you, Len. I'm Thor, while the one who just spoke is Rain. The one in robes is Deebkal while this is Amy."

Thor motioned to each as he mentioned them. Given that Deebkal himself had asked what the relic was, it wouldn't just do if they didn't get to see it because Rain didn't care for it. While trusting the man was fine and all, it was interesting to see whatever Etruria would be interested in researching.

"We'll wait for somewhere private then, possibly the boat at that. It will be nice traveling with you."

[Deebkal of Thunder]

"Old relics of astounding power,you say? Quite interesting..." Deebkal said thoughtfully.

"We appreciate your helping us with a ship,Len. Waiting shouldn't be a problem,I'm sure." Amy replied with a smile. "Good things come to those who wait,they say.,right?"

Deebkal glanced at her and smirked to himself. Something seemed odd about a priestly man doing research on powerful relics...or maybe he just found Len suspicious...at least a tiny bit.

[Phantom]

Len's smile broadened and he turned his gaze towards the ships looming nearby. "Yes, patience will get you to many places they say. Very well then, I hope we will have an...interesting trip to say the least. I'll be at the ship then inform my friend of your arrival. If you need to stock on anything this will be the chance, I'll be waiting aboard the Alriest. Floating just right there." The priest replied, the first sentence to Amy and the rest to the group as a whole. As he mentioned the ship he pointed his staff towards a decently sized boat floating at the center of the docks, though it seemed empty. This only reinforced the fact that it was a one man ship so far and probably could use a crew. That's where Len came in after all, though he hoped the idea of possible work wouldn't deter the group. It usually didn't come down to needing a crew in the end anyways, they had some serious luck for quite a while.

Len gave a nod to the group and then set off swiftly across the port to the boat, determination in his step. An odd sight for a priest but that didn't mean it never happened, right?

[Rain]

'Patience was not one of his many virtues then in all actuality. He was good to go so he didn't have anything else to worry about save for the actual passage to the Alriest. Interesting name for a ship really. Though it was odd for his friend to have a ship of that size and no crew, obviously being off. Either the crew wasn't there, the crew was in hiding for something else or something else. He was more willing to bet on a combination of his first and second thoughts on it.'

"Figures that something would come up eventually."

'Letting Len walk off across the port to the boat and waiting for him to be out of range, Rain walked over to Deebkal, whispering lowly to the mage in passing so it looked more like he had just walked by as he was heading for the port.'

"Don't worry about trusting him. Better to keep our guard up after all."

'Heading off to the port and boarding the ship, his goal and plans still set at the least.'

[Deebkal of Thunder]

Deebkal looked toward the ship after Rain whispered to him. it was true they would have to keep their guard up...unless they wanted to become someone's 'fair game'.

"Well,that's that,I guess." Deebkal said aloud as he turned to Amy. He looked left,then right as he realized she wasn't next to him at all!

'Oh darn it,where'd that girl go off to-?! Doesn't she know clerics don't go wandering off by themselves-?!' he thought to himself,whirling around as a hand placed itself on his shoulder.

"Hey,were you daydreaming? We should board too,right?" Amy spoke,having come back from one of the area's shops.

'You-! I was worried for a moment! Don't-'

Deebkal cleared his throat and then decided to speak.

"Glad to see you're rather swift,Amy." Deebkal said,looking down as a unique staff fell from Amy's array of items.

"Of course! Who knows how long this trip could be? I'm responsible for keeping you three free of harm!"

Amy then ran ahead of Deebkal,bording the Alriest,with Deebkal sighing and boarding the vessel as well.

[Thor]

A little work never particularly hurt anyone. Deebkal possibly was in his own thoughts when Amy had wandered off, but nothing bad came of it anyway. He had known of a spear here that might come in handy in case they were attacked on a boat, but it didn't quite make for a weapon he could wield efficiently. Len seemed confident enough at the very least that they were going to unearth what he was searching for, heading for the Alriest along with the others. It was an...intriguing name to say the least.

[Phantom]

The ship itself was built perhaps a few years ago yet it floated on the seas with ease. The ship gently rocked as the group got on, Len conversing with a rather rough looking fellow with a toothpick being gnawed. His clothes were, a single tight shirt over powerful muscles and some pants thankfully looser than his shirt. He wore a rather beat-up vest over his shirt, its tattered cloth brown. He leaned upon a worn axe and the wheel of the ship as he nodded to his companions words. With a shrug he turned to the group that had boarded and a grin adorned his face.

"Ah, this be them I suppose, Len? Well then, welcome aboard, I haven't had companies in a while. Perhaps you lot wouldn't mind coming to be my crew some time? No? Thought as much, same answer all the time." The man said with vigor before spitting his toothpick across the deck away from the group and turning to look across the front of the sturdy ship. The mast was large and only one, yet the cloth that adorned it was seemingly new and in great condition. At the ship's center, just in front of the mast itself, was a single cabin structure with a door into it leading down into the ship's hull and towards the living quarters. Various ropes were laying about the ship's deck for a variety of reasons so one had to look to not trip.

Len looked to the group and smiled again before giving a nod. "Well, tell the man where ya want to go. His name is Mort, but he prefers 'captain' much more than that name. I have to head to each country at some point at least so wherever you're headed is fine by me really."

[Rain]

'Thank god for the pants deal. Well then, they had a ways to go. Given that the man was a captain of a ship, even if he lacked a crew, he assumed the captain would have knowledge of a map ingrained within his mind. Otherwise they'd have to show him one and point out the way. Hopefully that wouldn't be the case here.'

"You know Fibernia right? There's a smaller piece of land near it on a map. That's where we're headed. Aledersaem. It's not marked on any known map so it's easy to miss. It'll be a bit of a bumpy ride."

[Thor]

It was a rather well-kept up ship. Captain Mort or just Captain it was then, and they would have to be the crew to get them along the safe passage then. It'd be a bit odd, given that he hadn't even known of the place before Rain mentioned it. Uncharted lands perhaps, that or people just had missed for all of this time. There were plenty of ways for how it had slipped up on the maps, but that didn't quite matter now. All they had to do was get there.

"Guess that adds another country to the list, huh, Len?"

[Deebkal of Thunder]

"Heh,sounds like you have a full-length trip planned out,Len." Deebkal said with a chuckle. He then rubbed his chin as he thought about something...

"Hm...can't say I've heard of that Aleder-place either...anything interesting about it?" the mage asked,as Amy simply listened in.

It could never hurt to ask about one's destination,after-all...