The Travels of a Hairy Hermit

Soren brings the verified papers and prize claims into Nordhaven’s largest counting house, with Nilsar and Tomas beside him. Edda, Bram, and the fleet crews remain aboard the ships, guarding prisoners and cargo.

Hadrik directs the counting-house clerks toward the delivery ledgers, while Selka separates Nordhaven’s premium from the goods claimed as road prizes. Account tablets, seals, and weighed silver cover the long table.

Tomas finds a sealed instruction tucked beneath the account tablets. Its wax bears the former harbor office mark, and its wording orders Nordhaven to delay payment pending Caldus Merrow’s approval.

Soren’s hand settles over the prize claims while Hadrik waits beside the open ledger case. Selka keeps the premium tablets apart, and the sealed instruction lies between the papers that could challenge it.

Soren studies the proposal while Nilsar lays the Coastmere ledgers beside the Harbor Ledgers and Rell Family Papers. Identifies Authority separates Soren’s command from each sailor’s claim; Keeps Reliable Accounts matches shares to cargo, and the ledgers confirm the goods’ lawful origins.

The records show enough saleable cargo for four shares without confusing the Nordhaven delivery or the separate prize claim. Soren’s authority covers the division, while the unresolved Merrow instruction cannot touch this private settlement.

Soren marks the chosen cargo against their shares and records the ship’s transfer before the counting-house clerks. The Coastmere ledgers, Harbor Ledgers, and Rell papers remain attached to the tally, preserving the distinction between delivery, prize, and personal allotment.

The cost is clear: Nilsar gains his ship, goods, and crew, but loses Soren’s standing as a shield and future claim on his service. Edda, Bram, and Tomas begin preparing the departure under the new tally.

Before departure, Nilsar clears the captured trade ship’s deck and marks a new name across the stern: Wolf Wind. The hull will serve as a broad knarr, with room for twenty crew and cargo.

His Skilled Craftsman eye finds sound grain beneath the old paint. Using the Two-Handed Axe to remove warped boards and trim fresh fittings, he reshapes the rails, mast supports, and cargo braces without weakening the hull.

Nilsar mixes deep green pigment and works it into the hull, stern, rails, and raised nameboard. The captured ship becomes a clean, hard-sided trading vessel, its new color visible across the harbor.

He cuts a black sail from sound canvas, reinforces every corner, and paints a green flag bearing a black mule. The flag rises above the mast, clearly marking Wolf Wind as Rognvald Blackmule’s vessel.

Nilsar checks the compartment, sail, mast, and cargo space once more. The work leaves Wolf Wind seaworthy, recognizable, and fitted with concealed dry storage that the original ship never advertised.

Soren receives the farewell without mockery. Around them, Wolf Wind’s green hull and black mule flag rise against Nordhaven’s gray water, while the counting house records the transfer into Nilsar’s name.

Soren’s hand settles on Nilsar’s shoulder, brief and firm. Identifies Authority makes the meaning plain: this is not a captain’s order, but a senior captain publicly recognizing an independent one.

The praise is secured, but so is the cost: Soren’s testimony will strengthen Nilsar’s standing while making his raiding record known beyond the northern ports. Their parting is respectful, and final.

Nilsar places the Patrol Documents, Harbor Ledgers, and Rell Family Papers before Soren. Identifies Authority distinguishes the adopted name from Nilsar’s private identity, while Keeps Reliable Accounts matches the name to the ship, shares, and cargo.

Hadrik compares the ship transfer against the Patrol Documents, Selka checks the cargo division against the Harbor Ledgers, and the Rell Family Papers preserve the lawful chain behind the delivery.

The counting clerks enter the name into the port register and mark it on the ship’s account. The cost is immediate: every future dispute, debt, and accusation connected to Wolf Wind will be summoned under Rognvald Blackmule’s public name.

Nilsar Yarb leaves Nordhaven counting house behind and arrives at the open sea.

Open sea surrounds Wolf Wind beneath a clean western wind. Her green hull rides smoothly, black sail full, while Edda, Bram, Tomas, and the fleet crews work the decks.

Wolf Wind cuts across the swell with impressive speed. Nilsar shifts the helm through a sudden crosscurrent, and the vessel clears a jagged shoal without losing her course.

Beyond the convoy, a low island appears through the haze, marked by a ruined stone beacon and a sheltered inlet. It offers fresh water, concealment, and a chance to watch the merchant route.

Nilsar Yarb leaves the open sea behind and arrives at the small port just north of Anuncagra.

Wolf Wind enters the small port north of Anuncagra beneath a pale afternoon sky. Low warehouses, fish racks, and a busy ironworker’s yard crowd the sheltered inlet.

Edda brings the sail down while Bram guides the ship between weathered piers. Tomas secures the lines, and nearby traders pause at the green hull and black mule flag.

A middle-aged woman steps from the ironworker’s yard, broad-shouldered and soot-marked, with copper hair braided beneath a leather cap and a heavy brown apron over gray wool.

Her hammer rests beside a rack of horseshoes and plow fittings. Beyond her yard, three loaded carts wait beneath a faded baronial mark, watched by nervous porters.

The port offers immediate profit through Yrsa’s connections, while the marked carts promise a more valuable opportunity. Wolf Wind is moored, her cargo secure, and the crew stands ready.

Nilsar presents the Coastmere ledgers and Rell Family Papers, keeping each shipment, owner, and authority distinct. Keeps Reliable Accounts fixes the quantities and shares, while Identifies Authority shows which claims Yrsa may lawfully represent.

Yrsa pulls a charcoal slate from her yard office and studies the ledger entries. Her knowledge of local families turns the broad shipment into separate opportunities: iron to farms, cloth to traders, and costly goods to households able to pay.

The Harbor Ledgers support the cargo descriptions, while the Rell Family Papers preserve the lawful chain behind the protected goods. Yrsa marks the brokerage terms beside each entry and accepts responsibility for selling the shipment.

Yrsa closes the yard office door and lowers her voice. Nilsar lays the Coastmere ledgers and Rell Family Papers beside the cargo list, keeping lawful goods separate from the private repairs he wants concealed.

Keeps Reliable Accounts fixes the payment as a separate, recorded service fee, while Identifies Authority makes clear that Yrsa answers to Nilsar alone for this work, not to Soren or the harbor clerks.

She studies the Coastmere ledgers against the Rell Family Papers, confirming which cargo may fund the job without touching protected deliveries. Her charcoal slate records only a private refit and its agreed fee.

Yrsa accepts the secret arrangement, the payment terms, and responsibility for the quiet shipwork. The ledgers preserve the transaction without exposing the repairs, and the Rell papers keep the cargo’s lawful chain intact.

Yrsa studies the request, then sends trusted hands to retrieve the ship’s iron cargo. She records the refit as a private service and the vessel as a trade ship under the new alias.

Nilsar’s Skilled Craftsman eye lays out the iron by thickness. The Two-Handed Axe removes warped fittings and trims the stock, while the Longsword measures the ram’s length and tests each newly shaped seam.

Yrsa’s smiths heat the iron, and Nilsar forges it into a broad reinforced ram with a heavy iron head. They brace it to Scarred Dragon’s bow without weakening the hull or fouling the steering lines.

Nilsar cuts the changeable cover, paints Scarred Dragon across it, and raises a green flag bearing a red, gold, and brown dragon. Yrsa enters the ship in her trade register.

Nilsar returns to Yrsa Kett’s yard at dusk. Scarred Dragon, still truly Wolf Wind, stands moored beside the forge with her green hull, dragon flag, and covered name plate complete.

His Skilled Craftsman eye inspects the reinforced bow, stronger rails, mast supports, and cargo braces. Every fitting is sound, balanced, and ready for hard sailing.

The Two-Handed Axe has trimmed warped boards and shaped the new bow timbers, while Nilsar’s Longsword measured the ram and tested each seam without weakening the hull.

The broad iron battering ram now projects from the bow, firmly braced above the waterline. The steering lines remain clear, and the ship answers cleanly when the yard hands cast her loose.

Yrsa hands Nilsar the completed service record and opens the yard register to his entry. Wolf Wind, under her public alias Scarred Dragon, is added to his owned ships and ready for collection.

Nilsar hands Yrsa the Service Record and the cargo terms. Identifies Authority makes his ownership and her brokerage clear, while Keeps Reliable Accounts fixes the sale, fee, and letter as separate obligations.

The arrangement is recorded plainly: Yrsa keeps Scarred Dragon and brokers the collection, Edda remains aboard, and Bram and Tomas return with Nilsar. The departure party begins gathering its tools and papers.

Nilsar reaches his forest cottage with Bram and Tomas before dusk. The familiar walls and quiet trees receive them, while their packs carry the journey’s new goods.

Inside, Nilsar clears the hearth and builds a steady fire from dry kindling and split wood. His Skilled Craftsman eye chooses sound pieces, arranging them for lasting heat.

He opens the Supply Pack and uses its stored salt, grain, dried meat, and herbs to prepare a hot meal, adding fresh water from the cottage barrel.

Tomas sets bowls near the fire while Nilsar places his new treasures along the shelves: marked papers, fine goods, useful tools, and keepsakes from the northern voyage.

The meal steams beside the hearth, the shelves hold the visible proof of Nilsar’s rise, and Bram and Tomas settle into the cottage as trusted companions.