Despite Michelle’s assurances that both items were sturdy, Luna had wrapped them into some wool cloth before putting them between some of her clothes in her backpack. Better safe than sorry, as both items would be way too useful for her in the future to risk careless damage.

Luna had spent the previous day reading more about monsters and dungeons, but without any firsthand experience the concepts and explanations went straight over her head. She packed them away in her travel trunk, tightly wrapped in oil paper and sealed with wax to protect from possible water damage.

Today on the other hand was her last day staying at the Pathfinder Guild in the capital. Early the next morning she and Parrot would travel with 4 coaches filled to the brim with equipment and supplies towards Middingfurt. There they would board one of the waiting ships and hopefully all the people who were to join them had already arrived before them.

Parrot had been grumbling about cutting it very close, but what were they going to do? Sail without their Navigator? Luna spent the day fussing over every little detail, unpacking and repacking her backpack several times until she was sure she had the important bits on top. Her travel trunk had already been loaded on a coach and strapped down. Someone had put a wax seal on it with a crest that marked it as Pathfinder possessions. They had even added a big ‘E’ as her initial. Thanks to that Luna was sure she would be able to find it again later.

At first she had not wanted to be separated from her bow, but Parrot had put a quick end to that. The material of both the bows, arrows and strings were not made for the rough conditions at sea. If she had to shoot something, she would have to make do with one of the crossbows on board of the ship. The sensitive items had been packed in her travel trunk as well, to give them the best possible protection from the elements.

With nothing else to do Luna had decided to tackle the lockpicking part of the obstacle course one last time and check her status before they left. She immediately regretted the decision as she was woefully out of practice, but she did manage to make it through.

Greetings Emiluna

Your gains since your last visit at a Class Tablet.

General Experience [Experience gained by performing Class actions]

Pathfinder: 251 XP

Stalker: 103 XP

Additional Experience [Noteworthy Achievements]

None

Name: Emilia Lunare Sylvanlake

Level: 18

Race: Sylvan

Age: 16

Class 1: Sylvan Pathfinder - Level 9

Experience: 11858/16200

Class 2: Sylvan Stalker - Level 9

Experience: 12225/16200

Class 3: N/A (Requires a total level of 45)

Health: 231/231 [(Vitality x 10 + Strength x 2.5 + Dexterity x 2.5) x 1.1]

Stamina: 208/247 [((Vitality + Strength + Dexterity) x 5) x 1.1]

Mana: 172/173 [(Wisdom x10 + Intelligence x 2.5 + Charisma x 2.5) x 1.1]

Regeneration - Per Minute

1.83% Stamina [1% base x Body/Mind x 1.1)]

0.66% Mana [1% base x Mind/Body x 1.1)]

1.1% Life [1% base x 1.1]

Stats - Body

Strength: 14

Vitality: 13

Dexterity: 18

Stats - Mind

Wisdom: 12

Intelligence: 8

Charisma: 7

Available Points

Stats: 0

Skills: 0

Skills - Personal

[Athleticism] - Level 17 (Level Up)

[Languages] - Level 7

[Dodge] - Level 4

Skills - Race

[Dryad's Body]

[Natural Insight]

[Ancestral Memories]

[Nature’s Bounty]

[Young Roots] - Physical Trait

[Dryad Eyes] - Physical Trait

Skills - Crafting

[Cooking] - Level 4

[Sewing] - Level 2

[Field Dressing] - Level 6

Skills - Combat

[Bows] - Level 16

[Crossbows] - Level 3

[Thrown Weapons] - Level 2

[Small Weapons] - Level 7

[Small Shields] - Level 7

Skills - Utility

[Tracking] - Level 7

[Stealth] - Level 6

[Survival] - Level 5

[Field Craft] - Level 5

[First Aid] - Level 4

[Lock Picking] - Level 5

[Traps Disarmament] - Level 4

Skill - Magic

[Purify Water] - Level N/A

[Spark] - Level N/A

[Conceal Presence] - Level 5

[Seal Wound] - Level 2

Skills - Class

[First]

[At home in the wilds]

[Silent Observer]

[Stalker's Precision]

[Sneak Attack]

[Windwalk]

[Silent Shot]

[Double Jump]

As expected her gains were meager over the past days and the significantly greater amount of Experience for Pathfinder came from her four days of rapid travel. The two levels in Athleticism were a nice surprise, but well earned in her opinion. The new racial traits had been sorted into her Racial Skill section, which made sense, they were basically Skills granted by her race. Even if the glowing eyes were pretty useless right now.

She walked back to the manor and enjoyed her last luxurious hot bath. This was the one part of the city life she was really going to miss. The privacy to just take her time and relax in a tub of hot water. Given the stories Parrot had told her she was mentally preparing for the cramped quarters on the ship. She would be getting a closet sized private room, but that was it. Wooden walls and decks were not made to be soundproof, so her privacy would only go so far.

When Luna finally crawled from the bathroom and had finished drying off, she decided that her hair had to finally go. She really liked her long hair, but it had gotten out of hand recently. After returning from the mission it had been a complete and utter sticky and disgusting mess. Without the time to properly care for it the long hair was a liability and she foresaw lots and lots of time in her future where that would not be possible.

Luna set out and hunted down Peter and was pleasantly surprised when he offered to cut it to size for her. Why she was surprised by his ability to also cut hair, she did not really know. The Shadow Steward seemed to be capable in everything that went on in and around a house, the ability to do something as trivial as cutting hair really should not come as a surprise.

After a short discussion Peter reluctantly cut her hair down to pixie length, just barely long enough to cover her ears. Luna had tears in her eyes when she saw her beautiful hair on the ground, but it had been her decision, so she swallowed hard and pushed past the irritating feeling.

After a hasty lunch Luna was left with nothing to do. Everything was prepared to the best of her abilities, she had checked her status, hair was cut and she had already prepared one of her two sturdy traveling outfits for the next day. Now all she could do was sit around and wait. Since that got boring very fast, Luna decided to spend her time on training her least used weapons. The throwing knives. They had been performing one job perfectly, as makeshift utensils for cutting up food.

Luna was able to throw the weighted knives accurately enough to hit a target 2 meters away from her outstretched hand, amazingly unimpressive. And with her thoughts being everywhere but focused on the training she did not improve even a little bit. But she did manage to bridge the remaining hours until evening with the mindless task and happily packed up and went for dinner.

When she arrived everyone was already waiting for her. Parrot was sipping his customary alcoholic drink, while Peter and Michelle were talking in hushed tones. When Luna stepped into the room they all stood up, Michelle greeting her warmly. “There you are. This is the last evening you two will be staying here, so we thought it proper to host a proper farewell dinner. Peter has gone above and beyond and prepared a literal feast for us tonight. But before we start, Peter if you will?”

Peter stepped forward and pulled a grand coat from behind his back. It was made from heavy dark blue wool, waxed on the outside to protect from rain and humidity. The neck cut long to protect the neck area from wind and when Peter opened it up for Luna to try on she saw it was lined with fur on the inside.

“Your outfit was still lacking a proper overcoat for sea travel. With the constant wind you cannot wear a coat on deck, as it would just flutter around uselessly. This coat will give you protection from wind and water and should keep you warm.” Peter told her.

Luna was ecstatic. The coat was not only beautiful, but unbelievably cuddly and warm as well. She hugged Peter. “Thank you so much! It is beautiful!”

Peter coughed awkwardly. “You are welcome. Now put it away and sit down. The food is ready.” He turned around briskly and left the room, only to return seconds later with trays laden with food.

The evening was relaxed and a bit festive. Luna enjoyed herself very much and the constant anxiety that had been plaguing her for the past days was pushed into the background. They sat and ate for what felt like hours and judging by the feeling from her stomach it might just as well have been that long. But even the best evening came to an end and Luna left for her new sleeping area at the garden pavilion.

Luna woke just before first light and quickly got to her room and changed into the travel cloth. She grabbed her backpack and made her way downstairs to the entrance. After dropping her things just outside the door, she made her way back inside for breakfast. A sleepy looking Parrot was already eating and only acknowledged her arrival with a grunt. Now that she thought about it, she had never actually seen him look any different. He always looked half asleep and grumpy.

Breakfast was a quick affair, as she had to hurry to catch up with Parrot who just stood up and left when he was done. Balancing a piece of buttered bread with bacon in one hand she followed him outside, where the coach was already waiting for them. Michelle and Peter were waiting at the stairs to say their goodbyes.

“Farewell Luna. I hope to see you again and hear your tales. I am sorry that your stay with us here was cut short like this.” Michelle told her.

Peter nodded to her. “Safe travels Luna. I took the liberty to deposit your new coat inside the coach. You left it after dinner.”

“Thank you both. Please tell Joan I am sorry for not saying goodbye in person.”

Luna thanked them both again, for the training, guidance and equipment, but most of all for welcoming her when she first arrived. Without these two she had no idea where she would have gone next. Parrot was shouting for her from the coach and Luna quickly ran over and climbed aboard. He shut the door behind her and told the driver to get moving. Luna leaned out of the window and waved back at Peter and Michelle until the coach turned a corner between the hedges and she lost sight of them.

They traveled through the streets without problems and after flashing some Pathfinder documents they could pass the city gates without a prolonged stop. After that they were back on the road west towards Middingfurt. As it turns out traveling with a grumpy and hungover Pathfinder was not very interesting. They had only just left the city gates behind and he was already snoring away.

On their third day of travel they were stopped by a detachment of army soldiers and after looking outside Luna kicked open the doors and jumped out. Joan and her three captives were with the group. A wave of relief washed through Luna, who had felt bad ever since leaving Joan behind.

Luna approached Joan and hugged the woman. “I am so glad you are ok. I was so worried about you.”

Joan sighed. “I told you not to worry, those three were no trouble. You made good time to reach the capital so quickly and that spared me from another few nights with the whining trio. But why are you here?”

Her question was answered when Parrot jumped out of the carriage and approached them, inquiring why they had been stopped. He then proceeded to tell the army sergeant in charge that ‘no, they were not going to commandeer even one of their coaches and that he could go and protest to whoever he wanted in the capital’.

“Luna, get back in the coach. We are losing daylight. Stop dallying.” He yelled over and hopped back into the coach.

Joan was looking concerned. “Luna, are you joining his expedition? Why would you do such a foolish thing?”

Luna looked around, making sure nobody was too close. “You know exactly why. Talk to Michelle when you get back, he will explain. I am just happy I could say goodbye to you in person. Stay safe Joan! I will visit you once I get back.” She hugged the woman again and was about to turn back, when Joan stopped her and retrieved Luna’s axe and machete from her backpack. “You might need these.”

Luna took them and was wondering how she had forgotten to get replacements for these. She was so used to having them, but she never even considered that she was currently lacking her only two decently sized melee weapons. Without telling anyone that she left them behind to travel faster, nobody had organized replacements for her.

With that Luna turned around and climbed back on board. She just barely managed to close the door before the coach started moving again and once again Luna had reason to lean out of the coach and wave goodbye.

It did not take long for the happiness to be able to say goodbye to turn into melancholy when Luna started thinking about the people and things she was leaving behind. When evening finally came and she rolled out her blanket away from the coach, it took her a long time to finally fall asleep.

The last leg of their six day trip was uneventful and Luna was glad to finally get down from the coach when they rolled to a stop at the commercial harbor inside the town of Middingfurt in the afternoon. The stone quay reached deep into the bay and alongside it eight unexpectedly small ships were tied down. For some reason Luna had been expecting gigantic ships to haul massive freight, but these were rather small and sleekly built.

Walking down the quay Luna took a closer look at the ships. They were between 15m and 20m long and maybe four meters wide, but judging that accurately was rather difficult with the ships tied down with their port side to the quay. Luna had learned some nautical terms, as it was important on ships that every person referred to the same area of a ship, without the way a person is facing having an impact. When facing in the direction of travel the left side of the ship was referred to as port side and the right side as starboard side.

Parrot interrupted her musing. “We were lucky to get the extra ships to have eight in total. We had to spread the crew a little thinner with only ten or eleven per ship, but more ships means more cargo without overloading them. Each ship is carrying between 20 to 25 settlers who are looking for new land to call their own and the holds are filled with seed grains, equipment to set up a settlement and even some chicken and goats.”

“Eight ships with over 30 people each? That is more people than there were in the village I came from. Are the ships going to return?”

“I am planning to beach two ships and use the wood for construction materials. That way we can start building immediately, at least if we pick a good spot to land. Five of the remaining ships will return here and I will be mapping the coastline on the remaining ship. I will not leave right away, but don’t expect me to be around much.”

By the time Parrot was done talking they had arrived at the end of the quay where the last ship was tied down. It seemed to be slightly bigger than the other ones, similar design but bulkier and with a higher main mast.

They stepped across the gangplank and were greeted by the ship's captain. He and Parrot vanished into the ship, after ordering a crew member to show Luna to her quarters.