A Venture on Fortune's Winds
Thirtieth Day of the Eleventh Month 293 AC
The sight of soldiers, sailors and stranger folk bustling over the northern docks, the creak of wooden boxes being loaded, shouts of the bosun dispensing encouragement, advice and abuse with equal fervor, recalls a scene you had taken part of not so long ago. Two years perhaps, a little more than you had first left Braavos aboard the
Wave Dancer to sail into unknown southern waters in search of your fortune. Of course, the middling trade galleon could not hold a candle to the
Basilisk's Fang that towers over the other ships of her company, the flagship of a Myrish Merchant Venturer meant to dare perilous waters and far off shores and return with the prize.
When you had first heard of the expedition about a fortnight ago you had been surprised and more than a little weary of where it would all go. There was a considerable portion of Myr's wealth and some from other shores bound up in the venture of Baelon Dortaris and the jungles of Sothoryos had swallowed up more than their share of silver and gold over the ages. Yet, the more you see all around you the more confident you are that the venture has a decent chance of wringing out the fortune its backers hope for from those unforgiving lands.
"Glad to see not
all of those are being glorified garden ornaments for some magister with more gold than sense," Dany says, motioning towards the deck of the flagship. There glints the motionless and watchful form of a glass golem leaning slightly forward onto its blade like arms, giving it an almost insectile appearance at odds with the idealized human forms the Glassmakers Guild prefers to endow their creations with, yet as impressive as the obvious arcane creation was that was not what engendered the most confidence. Glass shatters, magic comes undone, but the warriors boarding the ships of the expedition had the look of veterans forged in the cauldron of the Disputed Lands and perhaps further afield. The Legion took many, of course, but not everyone was looking for stead pay and a piece of land when they mustered out.
Some were still on the lookout for that one big job that would catapult them to wealth and glory both, the prudent putting their coin towards buying a simple enchanted weapon of the sort the ritualists of Sorcerer's Deep could craft for a merely high price as opposed to ruinous, while others put their trust in weight of hardened steel, two-handed swords and war axes heavy enough to chop through a bar of iron. And if that is not strength enough, well you happen to know of a company of Inquisition soldiers who have also taken ship yesterday. Though they are less concerned with profits and more with ensuring no ruins are disturbed carelessly to the ruin of all, you're sure the expedition's backers doubtlessly appreciate the help.
Of course, not every weapon was of steel either. You spot the robes of a Scholarum sorcerer among the group gathered by the quayside, out of the way of the worst of the bustle. Besides you Dany murmurs a spell of second sight, curious to see the group for more than what they show to the morning light. "There's another mage..."
"Yes, Investigator Baedar technically hired on, that must have been an unexpected offer," you chuckle a bit at the thought of Baelon and his fellow magisters' reaction to the offer.
"No, I mean the older fellow on the left there with the spell-steel blade, there's a tang of
old magic to him from before the Awakening and its not just the blade, though he may have been picking up new tricks in Myr since," your sister replies.
Interesting... men like the last of the Windward Society were not common in the old days by any stretch of the imagination, but they were not unique either and people who actually lived long enough to be successful at it now were all the more valued for their experience in this age of reawakened magic. Baelon Dortaris was either quite skilled, lucky or both to have been able to acquire the aid. His luck was about to get a lot better with you placing your hand on the scales.
What aid do you give the expedition?
[] Write in
OOC: I re-read the omake series to make sure I got things right before witting this, but there is one thing I'm not certain of. @Crake is Investigator Tobyis coming along with Baedar and if so is he bringing Lilly? That would have been an interesting meeting here but I was not sure if she would actually be here. 
