Date: Twenty Fifth of March, year 810 Post Seminal War (810 PSW)

Job Arseoth shook his head, “Thanks for the offer Enra, but I think I’ll draw less attention on a merchant ship. I just need passage from here to Sapphire, the rest of the way I will be on foot in any case. I have at least one stop to make before heading to Glacierheart, and I don’t know how long it would take me. Better that I travel without deadlines or tying up a royal asset.”

Enra shrugged, “suit yourself. You could buy a teleport to Sapphire then…”

“nah, I’d like to save the gold that I have.”

“Fine, suit yourself. By the way, do you still have The Deck?”

Job patted his pockets, “actually, yes. Did you want it back?”

Enra started to respond, then pursed her lips and shook her head.

“No, better you keep it. If we want to keep it hidden from those in power, then better I not have it right under their noses while my life is getting pulled in several different directions. Just… don’t lose it, alright?”

“Job nodded, “I understand. I’ll bring it back when I come back.”

“If you come back.”

“I will come back to Trebor. It’s my after all.”

“You slipped into draconian there. What did you say?”

“Hofkiin? It means ‘home’.”

Baar’Miin’s eyebrows leapt upwards at Job’s choice of words, but she said nothing.

Enra shook her head, “alright, I guess I just have to trust you, don’t I ‘dragon-master’.”

“I think I’ve given you enough reasons to trust me, haven’t I? Besides, what are good friends for? I’ll keep The Deck safe and out of the eyes of Althiem Nobles and the like while I’m away and bring it back when I return to my .”

Enra stepped around the table and gave Job a hug, “Safe travels then.”

Job gently hugged her back, “be well yourself.”

He let go of Enra, turned, and walked out of the Guild’s Trebor office in search of a merchant ship heading north to Sapphire.

Job perched atop a warehouse and stared out over the bustle of the harbor. The 'Trebor' half of the harbor was packed with the expected RAN ships and their auxiliaries, but the older 'Cencin' half of the harbor frankly bustles with merchant ships coming and going. Tall plumes of white steam rose into the air and were pulled into streamers by the wind. Forests of masts still protruded, draped with flags and signals, and here and there the occasional silksteel-white sail still stretched proudly in the wind.

Job stretched, cracked his back, and picked out three ships that looked like likely transports, then headed down to chat up the dockworkers and confirm their destination.

The first was visibly wooden-hulled and decked, with the older three-masted barque sail plan, with huge square sails on the forward two masts and fore-and-aft sails on the sternmost mast. A stubby funnel pierced the center of her deck and spilled a lazy plume of steam between her second and third masts. The name SS Agamemnon was sprawled in red paint over her black bows. Her crew was hauling crats aboard by the animal-load, hand-moving crates marked 'fragile' and 'delicate'. Word on the docks had her pegged as a tea and spice hauler, specializing in long-distance hauls of delicate goods. A chat with an idling crewman let Job know that the Agamemnon was headed to Sapphire by the town of Chedal, a voyage that was expected to take two weeks. She had no passenger space aboard, but there was always room for 'temps', working in exchange for passage to or from a place.

The next looked for all the world like a throwback to the sailing ships of old, three-masted with broad, square sails stretched to the heavens. But a closer look at her hull showed a major difference: red rust seeped from between black-painted hull plates. SS Great Britannia was the first fully iron-hulled (though wooden decked and beamed) ships afloat, launched out of Ebony as a combination passenger liner and cargo ship. She sailed a great circular route, and could carry Job to Sapphire by way of Ebony and Ruby. The whole trip would take nearly a month, but the 'economy class' quarters were cheap. Job could get passage for twenty-four gold, though that price came with the warning that pirates were not unknown near Ebony or Ruby. They had been broken and driven off often enough, but kept creeping back in like driftwood on the waves.

The third ship was the most modern-looking of the three, an uncompromisingly slab-sided, sharp prowed, flat-sterned box of iron, with a pair of the new steam-cranes mounted fore and aft instead of the usual masts. A large funnel pierced the blocky accommodations in the center of the deck, and she cared the name SS Red Oak in white on her grey hull. Westmarch-flagged, she was a pure cargo carrier, headed right for Sapphire on an express route, expected to take only ten days. The crew looked battered and weary, and gave out little when prodded. But Job managed to piece together why they were so downtrodden. The Red Oak's captain was taking a fast but risky route, bypassing the traditional stop at Chedal and skirting the coast of Armageddon Reef. It was considered an ill-omened place, and at least one batch of pirates was known to haunt the area. With a cargo of fine silksteel, freshly-enchanted mageweave, and similarly valuable goods, it was almost certain that they would be attacked. Job figured he could get a discount on his passage fee, pushing the price down from twelve gold to eight if he offered his services against pirates on the journey.