The company reaches the Traveling Docks beneath a bright coastal sky. Saadia, Lydia, Lioran, and Oskar still bear the visible scars of the ruined inn, but all walk under their own strength.
A broad Vumpreh waits beside the pier, its timber hull painted in faded blue and ochre. Dock handlers carry provisions aboard while gulls wheel over the salt water.
Traveling Dock Handlers
Aurythia-bound passage is open. Keep your cargo together, declare anything dangerous, and board before the tide turns.
Lioran notices a sealed cargo manifest resting beneath a coil of rope. Its wax bears a sharp cipher mark matching the notation from Veyra’s duplicate ledger.
Lioran
That mark is not ordinary dock script. Whoever arranged this cargo may recognize the ledger’s trail, or be following it.
Saadia
Then boarding may expose us, but refusing the crossing leaves Amar farther away. We should decide what we can safely reveal.
The handlers secure the gangplank and call for final passengers. The manifest remains sealed on the pier, close enough to inspect before anyone commits the company to the Vumpreh.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure passage to Aurythia
“I tell Saadia and Lioran that this cannot be Veyra’s duplicate ledger, for Veil, Oskar and Lydia already went to look for it. I’m pretty sure Veil could somewhat sense its location, or at least the zone where it was. So this cannot be it. Let’s enter the Vumpreh.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled -2)
Elion Draemnor
This cannot be Veyra’s duplicate ledger. Veil, Oskar, and Lydia are already searching for it, and Veil could sense its location, or at least the zone. Let’s enter the Vumpreh.
Saadia
That reasoning holds. This mark may belong to the same network, but it is unlikely to be the ledger itself.
Lioran
Agreed. If Veil sensed the ledger elsewhere, this manifest is more likely another shipment or a deliberate parallel trail. We should keep it in mind without delaying our passage.
Elion leaves the sealed manifest beneath its rope and moves for the gangplank. The Traveling Dock Handlers wave the company forward, satisfied that no dangerous cargo has been exposed or abandoned.
The gangplank shifts beneath Elion’s weight. His boot slips on salt damp, and he catches the rail hard enough to scrape his palm, but he keeps moving and steps safely onto the broad Vumpreh.
Traveling Dock Handlers
Mind the footing. Aurythia-bound passengers, aboard now. We cast off with the turning tide.
Saadia and Lioran board behind him as the handlers haul the gangplank up. Ropes groan, the blue-and-ochre hull eases from the pier, and the Traveling Docks begin to recede behind them.
Quest Complete
Secure passage to Aurythia
✓ Quest Accepted
Reach Aurythia
“As we install ourselves on the Vumpreh, the captain announces that we’ll be departing now. Then, a sigil illuminates in the middle of the Vumpreh. It starts building itself, building walls and putting a roof, but it has an aerodynamical shape. Then The Sigil illuminates a different colour and we’re suddenly violently propulsed in the sky. Then, the Vumpreh stabilizes. We’re up the clouds, we’re flying. I’m in awe”
SUCCESS (Fair Perception, rolled -1)
The company settles aboard the Vumpreh as the last ropes are gathered. A broad-shouldered middle-aged man with wind-burned skin, a braided gray beard, and a weathered blue coat, with a brass compass pinned at his throat takes the helm.
the Vumpreh captain
All aboard. I am Captain Arven. We depart now.
A sigil flares beneath the deck. Lines of light assemble into enclosing walls and a curved roof, reshaping the Vumpreh into a sealed, aerodynamic vessel while the handlers leap clear.
The sigil changes from blue to fierce white. The Vumpreh launches violently skyward, throwing everyone against the new walls before its enchantment catches the vessel and steadies the ascent.
Elion Draemnor
The cloud sea is beneath us. The sigil made the vessel fly, but I cannot yet tell how.
The Vumpreh levels above the clouds. Sunlight floods the curved interior, and the distant coast shrinks into a silver line while Elion stares upward in open awe.
the Vumpreh captain
Keep clear of the central sigil until we reach cruising height. The first launch always unsettles passengers.
“As i am in Awe, i see someone familiar in the Vumpreh. Isn’t that… Corven??”
SUCCESS (Fair Perception, rolled +0)
Elion Draemnor
Isn’t that Corven?
Elion turns from the cloud sea and searches the passengers along the curved cabin. After a careful second look, he identifies Corven near the rear wall, seated apart from the others with a travel pack at his feet.
Elion Draemnor
It is Corven. I did not expect to find him aboard this Vumpreh.
The search costs Elion several moments of the captain’s instructions. By the time he looks back, Captain Arven is pointing toward a bank of dark clouds ahead, and the explanation has already passed.
Corven
Elion? I thought I recognized you staring across the cabin. You are alive, then.
Corven rises and steadies himself against the sealed wall as the Vumpreh shifts beneath them. Saadia and Lioran turn toward him, their attention sharpening at the familiar name.
Corven
I was hoping never to cross paths with Haldvar’s enemies again. But I have news about the route into Aurythia, and it concerns the cipher mark.
“Well before we get into that, i am glad to see you my friend, i say, dapping him up”
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled +2)
Elion Draemnor
I’m glad to see you, my friend.
Elion closes the distance and daps Corven’s hand, the familiar gesture steady despite the Vumpreh’s gentle sway. Corven returns it with a relieved grin.
Corven
I am glad to see you too, Elion. After the wayhouse, I wondered whether the road would ever let us meet again.
Saadia watches the reunion with a softened expression, while Lioran keeps one hand on the cabin rail and studies Corven’s travel pack.
Saadia
It is good to see a friend aboard, Corven. But your news about the cipher mark sounds troubling.
Corven
It is troubling. The mark appears on cargo bound for Aurythia, but the shipment was rerouted before dawn. Someone wanted the trail to look ordinary.
“Hmm Interesting. We will keep that in mind. Anything else?”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +2)
Elion Draemnor
Hmm, interesting. We will keep that in mind. Is there anything else you learned?
Corven
Yes. The rerouting order carried a second mark beneath the cipher, a small crescent crossed by three lines. Veyra used it to identify urgent transfers.
Corven reaches into his travel pack and produces a folded scrap of manifest paper. The ink is faded, but the crossed crescent remains visible beside the altered destination.
Corven
The cargo was diverted to Aurythia’s old river warehouses, not the main harbor. It is due to arrive before the next sunset.
Saadia
Then the mark is a warning and a timetable. If the shipment reaches those warehouses, whoever arranged it expects someone to collect it quickly.
Lioran
Did you learn what the cargo contained, Corven? Even a guess could tell us whether it relates to the sealed object or Veyra’s network.
Corven
I could not see inside, but the handlers treated the crates as fragile and kept them under armed watch. The manifest called them archival instruments, though that wording felt deliberately vague.
The Vumpreh glides above the clouds toward Aurythia. Corven folds the scrap away, and the river warehouses become their first concrete lead upon arrival.
“Hmmm alright, thank you for your Aid, Corven. It is much appreciated. What are you doing in life now? You gained muscle mass, you seem more fulfilled. What happened?”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +0)
Elion Draemnor
Thank you for your aid, Corven. It is much appreciated. What are you doing with your life now? You seem stronger, and more fulfilled. What happened?
Corven studies Elion for a moment, then glances toward the cloud-bright windows. The guarded tension he once carried eases from his shoulders.
Corven
After you freed me, I spent weeks expecting Haldvar’s people to find me. They never did. That gave me enough quiet to decide what I wanted instead of merely surviving the next day.
He flexes one hand, showing calluses across his palm and the firmer shape of his forearm. His travel clothes fit a body built through steady labor rather than battlefield display.
Corven
I found work with a caravan yard outside Zahareen. I load cargo, repair wagons, and help guard shipments when the roads turn uncertain. The work is honest, and I train before dawn so I never feel helpless again.
Corven
Maelin found similar work farther west. We write when we can. I still fear what Haldvar built, but now I have a life worth protecting, not only a past I am running from.
“As Corven is saying this, A Lady calls for him: “Corven, Honey! I found the green apples you were searching for!” She enters the room. She’s a young lady with a curvy shape, blond hair with freckles. She has plumpy lips and her eyes are of amber colour. I look at Corven with a Smirk. It seems like you found love too, i say smiling ears to ears”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled -1)
Elara
Corven, honey! I found the green apples you were searching for!
A young adult woman, wearing a russet wool dress beneath a cream apron and sturdy brown shoes, enters the cabin carrying a small basket of green apples. She has a curvy figure, blond hair, freckles, plump lips, and bright amber eyes.
Corven turns sharply, then his guarded expression melts into open affection. He reaches for the basket while Saadia and Lioran exchange amused glances.
Elion Draemnor
It seems like you found love too.
Elion’s broad grin makes the teasing unmistakable. Corven freezes with one apple in hand, while the young woman’s amber eyes widen before she laughs.
Corven
You always did notice more than was convenient, Elion. This is Elara, and yes, she is someone very important to me.
Elara
A pleasure to meet you. Corven has told me about the people who gave him his life back.
“It is our pleasure to meet you too. Even tho the start of our relationship was questionnable, Corven is now a true friend of mine. Please take care of him, i say as i bow.”
SUCCESS (Good Willpower, rolled +2)
Elion Draemnor
It is our pleasure to meet you too. Though the start of our relationship was questionable, Corven is now a true friend of mine. Please take care of him.
Elion bows formally to Elara, his broad frame lowering in sincere respect. The gesture draws a surprised blink from Corven and a warm smile from her.
Elara
I will. Corven has told me enough to understand what you did for him, and I know how much your friendship means to him.
Corven
Elara, you make it sound as though I spend every evening recounting my entire troubled history.
Elara laughs softly and slips her arm through Corven’s. His embarrassment fades into an easy affection, the guarded survivor replaced by someone who has found a life beyond Haldvar.
Elara
Only the important parts. Besides, anyone who gave Corven his life back has earned my gratitude. You and your companions are welcome to join us for the crossing.