Episode OneThe
Fair Maiden set sail two weeks ago on the three-week journey between the Lowland Cities and the Republic of Groan. Along with its cargo of fine tapestries and spices from the Samakhet Isles, it carries four individuals whose lives are about to take a distinct turn.
The
Maiden is a three-masted setee, built more for cargo capacity than for speed, and her bulky design reflects it. She has only limited oar-banks, and is designed to be run by a skeleton crew - which is more or less what is running her. Including Lord Physic, the owner of the ship and her nominal captain, and those four who this tale concerns, there are only a dozen crewmen aboard the Maiden. Lord Physic himself is a minor member of the influential Ligorian noble family, House Vandire, and something of a savvy merchant. The
Maiden is very lightly armed, with only a pair of ordinary medium-range ballistae, one on either side.
Of the four we are concerned with, the first is
Mila Asenov, a soldier in the employ of Lord Physic. Having been selected for her skill with the flail and trained in his lordship's service, Mila owes her skill as a warrior to House Vandire and has been repaying it for the last year by serving as Lord Physic's bodyguard and general dogsbody. It is incredibly dull work.
Varg's history is less clear. The crew know he is a religious man, and a capable fighter, but little beyond the fact that he is Lord Physic's second bodyguard. He has only signed on with Lord Physic for a couple of months. Most assume that as a Weylander he is working passage to get a ship home via the port of Arland.
Caerill Crundmail is a passenger, rather than straight crew, but he appears to be a reasonable navigator and knows his way around the ship. He takes meals with the crew and often entertains them with bawdy jokes.
Galan Morgawyn is the ship's mage. An old sorcerer whose powers never fully manifested, Galan is known to have had some training in magic in his youth; enough that combined with his natural spark he can run the ship's
wind ring, a rather expensive magic circle that helps gather and direct winds into the ship's sails - without it, the ship would be rather slower than it is now.
It is a rainy day on the open sea, with only a light breeze to push the ship. Galan is busy maintaining the wind ring, guiding the few gusts of air into the sails to push the ship on course. Visibility is fair, but it's hard to make out the horizon through the downpour. As a result, only
Caerill and
Varg spot the sail in the distance; what appears to be a single-masted corvette or sloop, moving on a course to intercept. The little ship is moving quickly, but comparably to the magic-assisted setee. They don't appear to be flying colours, and it's hard to make out details at this distance.
What do you do?