Sir Kage took the illness of his son badly. When none of the local doctors were able to cure Yoy or even assess his continuing weakness, Sir Kage sought the help of alchemists from the neighboring country of Glantri. Only after weeks of traveling did he learn that the alchemists would not even take a look at his son without 1,000 gold pieces. Sir Kage did not have the kind of money needed for these specialists. He had asked the king to lend him the money but the king had said it was bad times and that he was already in a trade debt. But Kage did have one thing. A map. The map of the Isle of Dread had been passed down through his family, though he did not know who had originally wrote it or had ventured to the isle.
The map told of a temple in the northern mountains that held a great black pearl of innumerable value. It also warned of great lizards that inhabited the island. But the legendary pearl would be worth the trip, and with the money, he could not only hire alchemists to help his son, he would probably have a lot of gold left over.
Greegan agreed to join immediately. He was a friend of Kage’s if it could be said Greegan had a friend. He was a greedy man who was always trying to find a way to screw people out of their possessions. He was a man of light build who wore a red kerchief over his short blonde hair, and skilled with the dagger. It was bad custom for a knight to associate with his kind, but Kage had known him since childhood.
After word was passed around in the mercenary community, Billard Greenhand and Kirby joined. Billard was a young man, new to the mercenary business, but still opted for the highest reward presentable. He had short brown hair and wore his father’s chain mail. Kirby had followed him, saying he had been kicked out of the home. Sir Kage agreed to let Kirby tag along until Specularum, but no further.
Everett, Marina, and Stalfor then joined, an elf, a human, and a dwarf traveling as a group. Everett, like his kin, was tall and pale, and he had long blonde hair. Stalfor, likewise for a dwarf, was short and stocky, and fitted a full brown beard. Marina was a beautiful blonde with a large bust. Everett and Stalfor were best friends. Marina and Everett were lovers. Kage had never met a cross-racial couple before. All wore plate armor and it also surprised Kage that Marina knew white magic and Everett knew black magic. It was commonly believed amongst knights that one could not cast spells in armor, but they proved otherwise.
Then Viper joined. Viper was a quiet man, tanned and muscular, with a shaved baldhead. He was a former barbarian from of one of the mainland tribes far from Kelven, trained in combat since birth. He later traded his elk skins for plate mail and his spear for a steel sword to became a local mercenary.
Then Denier Spellbook. Denier was a well-spoken young man with short black hair. He wore a short black robe tied at the chest and an enchanted dagger on his belt. He had attended a school for black magic in Glantri and had recently graduated.
Then Furball, an elf from Silverglade village. But he quickly left after an unintelligible dispute over who stood where while traveling.
Kage promised each of the mercenaries an equal share of the profits, for those who survived…..
The party quickly made it’s way to the nearest port city, Specularum. At first, Sir Kage planned to have the party all put in money to buy a ship. But more than one claimed to have nothing to spare and the rest were unwilling to put in large sums of gold to make up for it. They rented an inn room and Kage consulted with Greegan, Everett, and Stalfor on how to steal a boat. They devised a plan, but kept Marina, Billard, Kirby, and Denier out of it since they were the most likely to go against the decision.
A week later, they had a sailing ship. Kage told Marina and the others that he was able to sell a deed of land to make the money. Marina offered to pay her part for the ride at this but Kage refused. Kage sent Kirby away, but the boy stowed away on the ship. Kage was suspicious of Billard having been involved in the stowaway after Billard promised to look after him. Stalfor had been the most objectionable towards Kirby being there and opted to have him locked up in the ship’s basement for the remainder of the trip.
It wasn’t until they were out to sea when they learned how slow the ship actually was. Kage calculated that it would take six new moons at the rate they were going. Everett looked at the calculations and corrected him- eight new moons.
Not two days out to sea and towards their prize, Greegan visited Kage in the captain’s bedroom and began talking to him about killing Everett and taking the enormous amount of magical items he owned. Kage had also noticed Everett’s expensive attire and weaponry, most of which he kept in his backpack, and had silently wondered if the money he needed for Yoy’s cure had been sitting right beside him in the ditch two nights ago waiting for a private sailing ship to come in from the same nightly rendezvous it had been partaking the past week.
Kage told Greegan no. There wasn’t going to be any double crossing. Greegan tried to convince him, but to no avail.
Later that day, Kage found out from Denier that Greegan had foolishly consulted the magician on the same idea and had been turned down by him as well. Kage felt lucky Denier said nothing about it to Everett and scolded Greegan for his actions. Greegan cared little.
Two new moons later, a merchant ship appeared on the starboard bow. Kage ordered Billard to lift a white flag and then go below deck and check the rations. Billard knew a diversion order when he heard one but he complied. Kage then began to consult with Greegan, Everett, and Stalfor.
The S.S. Assailant rode up to party’s sailing ship and bridges were tied. The merchants were at first happy to find a possible clientele, but when they boarded they found only two people, a man who introduced himself as the captain of the ship and a dwarf. They had barely introduced themselves when suddenly a red dragon swooped out of nowhere, issuing a deafening roar. It quickly hovered over the merchant ship and breathed a cone of flame, setting the ship on fire.
Marina was pleading for an explanation after Greegan had suddenly popped into her room ordering her to get what she could and meet in the hall immediately, but Greegan ignored her and instead had continued down the hall telling everyone else to gather their bare essentials and meet in the hall. Marina grabbed the repulsive man and demanded for him to tell her what was going on. A demonic roar echoed throughout the hall. “No time.”, he replied, pushing her along.
Kage stared surprisingly at the dragon and then shouted to get everyone on their boat before they burned to death.
Screaming and hollering had already begun to resonate throughout the ship and the invitation was quickly taken. Stalfor helped usher the group of merchants that scurried like insects over the bridges as the flames continued to consume the Assailant. The stolen sailboat soon began to get crowded. Someone asked where the captain was.
An axe quickly cut the ropes to one of the bridges. The red dragon gave an incomprehensible “Shooby Dooby Doo” before disappearing along with its flames as Everett dispelled the illusion and jumped to the merchant ship. Kage and Greegan cut the other two bridges free. Kage quickly took the helm while Greegan ran downstairs to take command of the slave rowers. The merchants looked back to see their very un-ignited ship sailing away with a dwarf waving and shouting goodbye to them. Stalfor was laughing at the stunt they pulled while Everett and Marina were arguing. Kage took a grimmer view towards the trade off than Stalfor, but that was because he was the only who knew there was not enough food on the sailing ship to get the merchants back to shore alive.