“It was a good day for me today” said Brisa with a smile as she handed the boys the dinner she had purchased. If they wanted the meat-pies hot they had better eat fast. “The more people start piling up in town the more people need scribe work.” Since Brisa was paid by the job, not by the day or the hour like the boys were, it wasn't hard to see why she liked busy days “I need to test out my new spell later, if one of you don't mind, I think it will help us. I remember how those frog men were invisible, only they weren't, they were just camouflaged by the terrain, and I think I can mimic that effect on one of us now. Later anyway.”

“A shipwright came in today needing some scribing done and said that trade ships were going to start heading south soon, maybe as soon as another moon cycle if the weather holds this nicely. You are right we should start preparing.” She took a big mouthful of the meat pie. “um, I ot sue but I ink we eed os” she continued around her mouthful of pie.

Seeing the boy's odd look she blushed and swallowed hastily. She rarely got to eat anything for the midday, usually just a bit of goatsmilk and honey or a cooked egg if she was really lucky, thats all her Scribe employer ever ate during the day, she was just grateful he shared it so willingly. Hector often had sweets he called “hard candy” on hand, like sucking on a sweet rock, good but not very filling. When dinner came she was famished and that often overwhelmed her manners.

“Sorry” she said. “I mean I'm not sure but I think we need a horse, or a donkey, or something like that. I know we can book passage for them on the larger ships too. I'm a bit sturdier than I was...was it only half a year ago?” a far away look came and went as she remembered her family and her teacher, the whole reason she was trekking to the strange land of Chult. “I still can't carry very much though. And I have my books and scribes tools I need to look after.”

She continued to munch on her dinner as she thought about what they might need.

“We will need food and water of course, and some way to keep it safe from the elements, and bedding, clothing, good boots, rainproof cloaks, hmm what else. I've been reading a lot about Chult now that Hector helped me translate that book of maps we have.” Hector had indeed taught her the Chultean language and he had let her look through his library on the subject. She felt she almost knew what to expect. Almost. “There's lots of weird animals down there, strange man-eating cats, winged snakes, giant boars as big as a horse, and strange peoples too. It's also very hot and very wet, rains all the time and lots of mud, the plants grow thicker than even the marshes here. What will we need to bring to help with all that? Hang on let me grab a parchment.”

She swallowed the last of her pie, licked her fingers clean, and ran to her bed to grab her scribes kit.

“Goats!” she exclaimed enthusiastically as she set herself up to take notes. She had been thinking about how much better meat pies were than goats milk and it dawned on her. “What about taking some goats? One for each of us? They can travel easily on almost any terrain, eat almost anything so we won't have to worry too much about feeding them, carry reasonable loads, the females provide milk which will help our food supplies, and the bucks are feisty bastards willing to protect their does.”

She liked goats, she had tended her family's goat and when they first started out she had even taken one of the goats with them. She had lost the poor girl rather quickly but she was smarter now, and better able to take care of herself and others.

“So what should we bring? I'll watch for the proper merchants to register with the city clerk so we can be among the first to know and shop before the wares get picked over.”

***Nearly 2 months later****

Brisa forced her bleary eyes open and looked around in the dark room. It took her a minute to remember where she was then the smell hit her...salt air, wet wood, damp hay, chamber pot, goat, slightly mildewy canvass cloth. Still on the damn boat.

With a groan she rolled out of her hammock and plopped to the floor landing on the damp hay between their three goats. She was the only female on the boat as such she got the luxury of having a berth to herself. Only not really. She shared the small stall where their goats were quartered. She had learned quickly that goats, if not kept in the fresh open air, stunk. She was so ready to be off the boat, even if it was going to be in some strange new world she didn't know and barely spoke the language of.

Traveling by ship might be convenient, and about the only way to get where they were going but it was pretty awful. Not to mention that despite what she had heard it had taken the better part of the month to actually find a ship heading all the way to Chult.

Her berth was with the goats which wasn't the freshest smelling spot on the ship but she had space because the goats were rather well tended but small enough they didn't take their whole stall. The boys had to berth together in hammocks strung in a space that seemed about the size of a broom closet. That had to get annoying. To make matters worse a recent storm had given all three children a chance to experience true sea sickness first hand. Brisa still wasn't entirely over it and for the last three days had nothing to eat but hard tack soaked in a little goat milk. She was sick of it but there was no way she could keep much else down.

Her body clock was telling her it was time to get up and start her daily routine. This meant clean up the goat's bedding and lay down new hay, take the old bedding up top along with her chamber pot and dump it overboard, fetch her old clothing along with that of the boys and mend anything that needed mending then magick it clean. Then back to the goats to milk them and take the milk up to the galley. There she joined the cook and set to prepping the food for the day.

It was a routine that had her below deck almost all day, she hated it but part of their passage was paid in work...and her work was the galley which was sort of an all day thing between prepping food and cleaning up. Argurios and Aiden had work above deck, hard labor intensive work, but at least it was fresh air and they had long breaks followed by spurts of intensely busy work. With her sea sickness she really wished she had more time to spend in the fresh air. She didn't see much of the boys; she couldn't even join them for meals since she was expected to eat with the cook after all sailors and captain had already eaten.

Only at the end of the day, when her chores were done, could she find a place to study. Since candles, lanterns, and other sources of fire were not allowed willy nilly on ship that meant if she wanted to see she had to do so on deck near one of the regular night lanterns.

After the long day was over she wearily climbed above deck, her precious spell book tucked under her arm. There was a massive coil of rope near the upper deck and it was situated just below one of the very few lanterns allowed on the ship. Since lanterns were fire and fire and boats didn't mix the Captain was very careful about where the night time running lanterns were placed and you just had to accommodate that. Brisa had taken to crawling into the middle of the coil of rope and sitting there, cross legged, held in place by the heavy hemp coils around her. She wondered if either, or both off the boys would have any time off from their duties to come over and chat but for now she set to studying. Every free moment she could scrap together she studied, spells, maps, languages, everything she could to help them prepare for their arrival in Chult. After all it was only supposed to be another 10-day before they made port.

Argurious Agreed with Brisa that it would be great if they had a pack animal to carry the bags. " I think it would be better to save up on the money and buy one when we arrive. if the weather is really so much different there and it is here, i think it be better if we buy an animal that is better suited to the environment there."

"Also i think i can make us a cart. I've been thinking and talking to teh farmer i work with. He said that smaller carts can be made so that they can be easier to disassemble and transfer across bodies of water. They also require one person and little tools to be assembled on the spot. So i think our best bet is to make one and than make the harness there depending on which pack animal we get. The goats we can still have as additional pack animals and a constant food supply. although the farmer warned me that the bigger the convoy we appear the more chances are that bandits will try to attack us."

" About the tools i think we should get all teh basic tools of each of our crafts. that way upkeep is allot easier also on days when we will rest or out wait the storms and such, we could make items to be sold." Argurious was silent for a moment before he thought about weapons. "Aiden is it possible for you to ask your mentor to make a maintenance check on our weapons and tools. It think teh knives are rusted, my axe is chipped, also i think we should spend some money on some proper shield spear and sword for you." Argurious thought for a moment and looked at his money bag. he got up took it and dropped it on the table. " There. that's all teh money i got. use it as possible. Ill stay at teh leather shop late for the next few days and make us some proper leather armour with the help of my mentor. And ask farmer if he could make us some bows and arrows." Argurious at first didn't want to share his money, because he spent some of it on the women in the brothel and told for his crafts. He wanted to tell the other kids about it, but couldn't because he was afraid they would be cross with him.

-------------

The weeks in the ship were long and hard. Argurious hated the it. Although he had no problem with the motion sickness the idea that they are trapped on a wooden boat on a body of water made him uneasy. He knew that if he would fall into the water he would probably drown. He did know how to swim, but in these waters the waves and currents are a completely different story than the ones he is used to.

His daily routine started with getting woken up by the quarter master with the rest of teh ship, and then working to the bone till the sun set. Because of how much he pushed himself over the winter the schedule was easy. What bothered him was the treatment he and Aiden got from teh crew. They all acted towards them like they knew nothing and were in everyone's way. The fact that the treatment didn't change once Argurious helped allot by repairing teh ship from the storm and saving everyone allot of energy and time. Except for a few people Argurious hated most of them. One thing he was glad about was the fact he shared his sleeping quarters only with Aiden, the boys were already so used to each other that sharing a small space was of no problem to Argurious.

The inability to see Brisa and check up on her was driving Argurious mad for the most of the days. The crew kept making inappropriate jokes about her, and deep down Argurious was worried about his friend. Even after teh storm calmed, he could not get to see her. The fact there was no other woman on board made things only worse For Argurious. The images that grew in his nightmares were sometimes almost too much for him to bare. Couple of times he almost forced his way to Brisa.

This night he woke up shortly after he fell asleep. The images in his head were focused on dark skeletal beings that were slowly stalking teh children. Argurious tried to warn the other to but they made fun of him for believing so and laughed and mocked him. As they laughed teh creatures kept sneaking closer. Argurious tried to warn the two but they bought laughed like they were in some kind of trans. then one of the creatures leapt into Aiden, and Argurious awoke with a start.
He slowly made his way to teh deck to get some fresh air and relax his mind. First he checked no one else was there looking at him, and once he was positive, he started to do and exercise he thought of to keep him in shape.

NPC post:

Orange reptilian eyes watched from the warehouses as the children boarded the ship and set off to the south on their sea voyage. The naked, bald, woman had watched them all winter, skulking about in various shapes to best keep an eye on them without being noticed herself. It fascinated her how much her enemy simply ignored their presence, the tenacity of the children also fascinated her. By all rights they should be dead by now.

She knew something of the value of being underestimated. She herself was once considered nothing more than a trash caste among her own kind. A lesser being and worth very little to the ancient ones and the leaders of her clan. But despite that, or perhaps because of that, the god S'seth had shown her great favor. She rose steadily and quickly through the ranks of his priests until she became one of his favorites, one of his Chosen, and blessed with a touch of his divine power.

Her natural abilities of shapeshifting, between her human form and snake, had been augmented by her god and now any and all reptilian forms were available to her. Through meditation she could commune with her god almost at will, and drift in and out of her body. Through prayer she was granted a variety of useful, and powerful spells. Her kinfolk had come to look up to her, admire her devotion, and respect the powers she now possessed. Her dedication was why she had undertaken this dangerous journey from Chult to this unknown land to chase down this threat to her god. And now she had found...not allies precisely...but tools. These children had so much potential and could be used to take down the dark god if she handled things right.

The fool god Ubtao had refused to even notice the danger, he'd probably perish sleeping. The thought brought a sneer to the woman's face. Her god, however, was adept at dealing in secrets and deceptions and when the dark god Eshowdow made his move to take over this strange land of Faerun she was ready to follow, hinder, and stop him in any way she could.

Hairlissa watched the ship sail out of sight before she slipped down the wall of the warehouse, a small brown snake ignored by the people who bustled about. She would need to move fast to follow the ship but she wasn't too worried even if she lost them. She knew well where they were headed.

Once the children had arrived in Chult she would make her move. She sensed the goodness in them, that could be problematic, but she also sensed conflict and a desire for revenge. Those were the attitudes she could nurture.

No one on the docks noticed the tiny brown snake slip into the water, no one noticed it disappear beneath the waves, and no one noticed the huge lizard like shape cruising quickly along under the water, powerful tail carrying the great salt water crocodile out into the ocean in the wake of the children's ship.

********

Hairlissa wasn't entirely correct in assuming Ubtao was ignoring the spreading threat of the dark god Eshowdow. In fact one of his priests also watched the children take off on the ship and had noticed the same thing she had. The children were unnoticed, considered to be no threat, while every other being who might potentially have halted Eshowdow's spread had been swiftly dealt with by the dark priests the children were ignored as nothing.

Kief was an outcast among his priesthood, and among his kinfolk. He let his anger get the best of him once, and killed in a fit of rage. Ubtao's priests didn't kick him out, but he was quickly demoted. His kinfolk had shunned him, disowned him completely. Killing in rage was, to them, uncivilized and a mark of a bestial nature. The only being that hadn't condemned him for his brash actions was his god Ubtao. He was still granted spells, albeit it different ones than the ranking priests. He was not denied his communion with Ubtao, the god still heard his prayers. Kief clung to that knowledge...not quite a priest and not quite not a priest. He teetered on a strange invisible line. It was because of this he was able to notice the threat the dark god posed. Eshowdow was a part of Ubtao, a shadow of the great creator god. How often do you notice your own shadow? It was only because Kief wasn't fully a priest of Ubtao that he even saw the threat.

He was laughed away when he tried to bring it to the attention of the priesthood of Ubtao. And so, on his own, with only a few simple spells, he headed to the strange lands of Faerun to find out Eshowdow's plan, to find proof to rally the Ubtao and his priests to fight the spreading shadow threat. He had seen S'seth's servant watching the children as well, knew she would be as poisonous as the god she served, but for now there was nothing he could do to stop her. Eshowdow was the greater threat.

He didn't like this land, but he had learned much. None of it good. These children though, there was something special about them. They could be allies, if he could muster up the courage to speak to them, and if he could figure out the best way to approach them. He could offer them help, strength and guidance, and they seemed to be the ONLY people still able to stop Eshowdow's spreading power. He knew where they were going, he would just have to figure out how to beat them there.

After teh Exercise. Argurious stood sweating at teh deck, his chest heaving from the exertion. His fingers were twitching and small muscle spasm moved through his body. Argurous loved thsi feeling. The exhausten and pain after a hard workout, teh ringing in the ears and teh sudden pigheadedness when teh pressure get back to normal. Once he managed to calm down to a degree he got into a cross siting position and slowly slipped into mediation.

As he was meditation, some kind of a vision forced itself into his mind. All of a sudden Argurious was standing in a strange place. the scene seemed like a large plain in summer, Flowers everywhere and grass greener than anywhere else. Yet as Argurious started to move he noticed that everything was still. As he looked closer he saw that everything was cover with a thin layer of ice. Intrigued by this Argurious tried to pick some of teh greens up but teh moment he broke them and lifted them off teh ground, the plants turned into pure crystal dust, which as it fell turned to ash.
From the left he heard soft steps and whining slowly coming closer. As he looked at what it is, he saw A Large boar moving through the grass. The animal was trying to eat. It manically bit everything in its reach, trying to get anything into its mouth. Argurious watched it for a moment and felt pity for it. For the animal didn't understand the situation and teh magic. Suddenly from teh right, a giant wyrm like snake rose from the grass. it seemed teh snake was waiting for the boar to come close enough for it to strike. The boar felt teh snakes presence and eyed it carefully. The poor animal was so starved it considered the snake a food source. for a few seconds the beast stood looking at each other. then in a split second teh snake lashed at the boar, and teh boar charged in return. Argurious looked amazed at teh two creatures fighting. After a few minutes it was clear teh snake was wining. It managed to wrap itself around the board skinny frail body. Argurious looked around himself and found nothing that could be used as a weapon. He thought for a moment then , with a set mind and heart, he rushed in to help the boar. He rammed teh snake with his knee into the its head. The creature was dazed for the moment, and teh boar manged to get enough room to twist its body and bite into teh snake a little bellow its head. The snake twisted in pain trying to free itself from the boars grip. in its attempt it broke one of the boars tusks. Argurious saw teh tusk fall to the ground. He leaped at the tusk and grabbed it. It was in the size of a dagger. crouched he twisted and attacked the snakes body. Trying to force it to let the boar go. stabbing at the exposed belly where possible. The snake now on defensive let go of teh boar and retreat to asses teh new situation. The boar tried to get back on its feet but couldn't because its limbs and body were already to broken from teh snakes deathly grip. Argurious did not feel any fatigue and was ready for teh next round. The snake dismissed teh boar as a threat and focused on Argurious instead. Slowly she wound up her body ike a spring ready to attack fat and fast. Argurious was unsure what to do. He knew that if he tries to help the boar and take his eyes of the snake he will die in an instant, yet if he doesn't help the boar it will die surely. He took a deep breath and screamed from teh top of his voice and rushed the snake.

Argurious awoke from his trance with a yell and jumped to his feet, looking around frantically searching for the enemy. Everything was silent and still. Then a little to his left he heard a noise and as he looked in teh direction he saw something slightly move. Realizing hes back on the ship he relaxed a bit, but then why would someone be sneaking around. Argurious slowly crept closer, and saw a small being trying to cut the ropes. he tensed his muscles. teh fatigue from teh training was back, but Argurious could not let this slip. He steadied his movement, leaped at teh target and pinned it down.