At the docks of Shriekpot...
Niklas, rather than do anything rash, asks the mages some questions.
"I've just adopted him. What was he doing?"
"Near as we can tell, the thing is some kind of bloody magic werewolf."
"Came to us as a weird, hairy, mangy man and tried to bite our faces off, but we fended him off and hit him with some magic."
"Was pretty weird, though - we hit him with magic, but it just didn't seem to work right on occasion. Not like a werewolf at all."
"Used illusions against us as well - made some kind of gimped abomination out of the blue to scare us off, but it was pretty easy to see through."
"Not for all of us, though."
"Yes, not for you."
"Way to get him with magic is to not target him directly, we've found. For instance, make minions to kill him."
"Or stab and kick him, forgoing magic at all. A pretty funny weakness, that. I kicked him in the face and broke his bloody jaw. Best I've felt since retirement."
"Wait, what did he call himself? 'I'm a bloody fey', I think he said."
"But then he turned into a giant dog all of a sudden. That's a strange thing for a fey to do, I think. Don't they usually frolic in the woods or something?"
"Though that, in retrospect, might also have been an illusion."
"On another note, would you mind if I killed that rabbit of yours to cook a meal? It looks nice and plump."
"We'd really rather you didn't."
"It's made entirely of silver, after all. Would be a bit difficult to cut."
Sigmund, meanwhile, watches the dog and bunny free-for-all, since the night is still young and he's got nothing better to do. Rubun's doing pretty good - hasn't taken a scratch yet!
On the deck of a strange ship...
Morton takes a careful look around to see where the voice is coming from.
"Oh, ah, pardon me, but I don't believe I can see you, good sir or madam."
~Actually, you are not supposed to see me. I am conversing with you on a purely telepathic basis on my part.~
"Yes, well, thank you for the greetings, a good day to you as well. I was wondering if this ship was possibly up for a voyage with a few passengers? Oh..." Carter pauses for a moment, mentally tallying up everyone. "...Ah, about, hm... Eleven or so people? Around there. I was sent by my master to seek a ship to voyage to... to... Ah, by all that is tea, he didn't tell me where he wanted to go. Apologies for the interruption, but could I get a general price range if you're accepting passengers? I'm afraid I know not where we're to head, but I believe it must be a good distances if we're not simply walking, or going by horse."
~I can take passengers to a variety of destinations, and I have adequate supplies and lodgings for up to 20 passengers. I will set sail in three days' time when all of my cargo has been reappropriated, and will accept passengers until that time. The rate depends on how far you need to go, with short length coastal trips costing 1 gold coin, trips over the nearby Sea of Approaching Gloom costing 2 gold coins, trips to anywhere farther costing 3 gold coins. Trips beyond the Doom Strait and into the Sea of Death go at a special rate of 4 gold coins due to the inherent dangers of such travel and must have at least six passengers to be considered a valid destination.~