“Just because we are practically immortal doesn’t mean we’re free from worldly worries.” - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.

“I apologize for the delay once again,” said Rollie when he finally found a ship that would be departing soon and headed in the right direction nearly a week after their arrival in Meergant. Due to a recent storm at sea, many ships were moored at the harbor, undergoing repairs for the damages they incurred, while others refused to set sail as scheduled out of fear of another storm, as they were wont to happen repeatedly in short periods of time.

As such, it had taken Rollie most of the week before he could secure passage on a mercantile ship that was headed for southern Ur-Teros, even if not straight to Ptolodecca as they originally planned. The new route they would take stopped at the Jarldom of Gulski on the south-east of the continental landmass instead, but from there it was not too far a trip to Ptolodecca, especially since the Jarldom of Istria further west had open trade relations with the Lichdom.

“C’mon, Rollie. You know we won’t hold this against you. It’s just a happenstance of nature nobody could plan for,” said Aideen as she consoled the stricken dwarf. Despite the minority of the matter, Rollie acted as if he had just doomed the world by his failure or something, which to be fair, might not be too inaccurate an analogue given how much he seemed to idolize his mother. Her disappointment was probably more than the poor dwarf could take. “Do convey my gratitude to Ginnie, and assure her that I’ll deliver her letter to Grandpa personally.”

“Many thanks, again, Lady deVreys,” said Rollie, unconsciously falling back to a far-too-polite title usage Aideen had once told him to knock off in the past. She didn’t blame the poor dwarf, for being made to arrange things for an important guest only to learn that a natural disaster just fucked up all the carefully laid out plans must have been a stressful thing. “We wish you safe travels.”

“Not like there’s any real way for us not to be safe in our travels anyway, but appreciated still, thanks!” replied Aideen cheerfully as she bid farewell to Ginnie’s youngest son.

The ship she and Celia would travel on was honestly not something she had expected for a long-distance trade ship, much less one that would traverse around a good chunk of the southern continent’s shorelines. It was a rather small single-masted ship, with only two decks, roughly three times as long as it was wide, sitting shallowly atop the water’s surface.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

That sort of ship couldn’t be crewed by more than thirty or so people at most, not including what passengers they took with them. Most ships that took the risk of going the long way around the continent for profits tend to be larger ships, which could carry more goods and thus gain more profits per trip. That size also translated to greater security, as a ship crewed by a hundred people would be a less tempting target for pirates compared to one with only one third the crew.

Considering that this captain dared to take such a small ship around the continent, on its own, that likely meant that they were either confident and daring, or utterly reckless and probably desperate. Since the ship was one Rollie had arranged for them, Aideen defaulted to the former option, as she couldn’t see the dwarf setting them up with the latter type of ship.

When Aideen and Celia arrived at the ship, it was in the middle of loading up the last of its cargo. Some quick talk with the crew confirmed that they came to the right ship, and they also learned from the talk that they were the only passengers on board. Apparently the ship didn’t normally take passengers with them due to a lack of amenities, but Rollie had offered enough for the Captain to make an exception.

Well, probably that and the fact that the captain in question seemed rather indebted to Ginnie personally, if what Aideen heard was right.

They met said captain shortly after they boarded the ship and Aideen could instantly tell that the captain in question was another of the unliving. The man shared the same pale hue that most of the unliving had, while his hair and beard – which must have been a vibrant shade of red when he was still alive – were similarly of a rather dulled hue as well.

“Greetings to the ladies, I hear ye’d be our passengers for this trip?” asked the captain in a rather cheerful voice that still failed to hide the rather troubled notes underneath. Aideen notched up her estimation of the Captain into one who was likely new into their unlife. Such people always had quite a bit of baggage to deal with, simply due to the nature of the change they went through. “I hope ye won’t mind hammocks in the common room. ‘Fraid we ain’t geared up for fancy rooms, though I’ll make sure the boys know to keep their salty paws to themselves.”

“We’ve had worse, so there shouldn't be any problem,” replied Aideen with a reassuring smile to the captain. She knew Knallzog was one of the more openly tolerant nations when it came to the unliving, but was still somewhat surprised to see one in charge of a mercantile ship. Most unliving tended to prefer staying wherever they lived instead of going out often, and she herself was already an exception as it was. “Aideen deVreys, and this is Celia.”

“Arquivaldo da’Hock of the good ship Le Faucon Noir at your service, miladies,” replied the captain with a slightly overexaggerated flourish and bow. The name of the ship was in a language that Aideen only had passing knowledge of, but if she didn’t recall it mistakenly, it translated roughly to the “Black Falcon”. That definitely explained why the whole ship was painted black. “I hope ye’d be enjoying yer trip aboard my little beauty.”

“We’d prefer nothing less, Captain da’Hock.”