Episode 1: The Salvaged Job

After several minutes, you feel the ship set sail and can hear the vessel slip across the waves. The sea is relatively calm at this hour and there is a favorable wind.

A deckhand arrives and hands over folded sheets of canvas, enough to set up 4 hammocks in your room. Much of the time, the captain and crew leave you to your business while they conduct theirs, and they do not ask you for any assistance at this time.

Travel across the water is uneventful and you make good time to The Tower of the Fallen. As you approach the city, it is readily apparent that it is expansive and bustling due to being one of the only public ports on the mainland in the area. Seabirds hover over the many merchant ships crowding the many docks, almost shadowing the number of people along the docks.

The Fortune Star is guided to her berth and settles in-between two smaller vessels. Once moored, Captain Udutai approaches you and says with a smile, "Here we are, The Tower of the Fallen. I do hope you've enjoyed your trip." The gangplank is lowered, and the captain descends to speak to a harbor official waiting for him below.

Captain Udutai walks over to a red dragonborn dressed in a crimson robe, underneath a black vest and long black cloak. Udutai hands over a rolled-up scroll and a gold coin, which the official takes without really looking. The dragonborn watches as each of you descend the gangplank to the dock.

When the last of you disembark, the dragonborn turns to Udutai and begins to speak. The captain replies, making small gestures with his hands before jerking a thumb over to where you are. The official huffs, swirls of black smoke escaping from its reptilian snout, and stares in your direction. With a final nod, the dragonborn turns and walks further up the pier toward the main area of the harbor, heading to a two-story stone building fronted with a gigantic banner bearing the crest of Caer Tan.

From your group's vantage point you easily deduce the main roads leading from the harbor. The closest path to your left is made of densely-packed earth interspersed with wooden planks and beams to provide strength, and curves along the coast through bleak and practical warehouses. Much of the cargo that has been offloaded are carted down this road, but there appears to be a traffic jam that has begun to back up near your vicinity, with a rising chorus of unhappy shouts and yells that are difficult to comprehend from this distance.

To your right is a wide thoroughfare that heads on a straight line through a mercantile district rife with shops and restaurants toward a large castle in the distance. Along this road are branching paths that spiderweb through the city. While as crowded as you'd expect this city to be, the flow of carts and people progresses smoothly.

It is morning, and you are free to choose your path.

General stores and armorers can easily be found along the main road leading through the city. Pack animals, on the other hand, would likely be near the outskirts; a simple question provides directions to a place of husbandry on the eastern side of the city.

Sling Bullets (40) - 8 cp | Ration (1) - 5 sp | Bedroll - 1 gp
**Single Whistle - 5 cp | Waterskin - 2 sp | Rations (2) - 1 gp
Sling Bullets (20) - 4 cp | Parchment - 1 sp | Donkey pool - 2 gp (If we decide on that.)
*********Candle - 1 cp |
**********Soap - 2 cp |

Total: 5 gp

Your purchases are made with no difficulty, as the merchants are glad for the business even in such a busy city as this one. Settling your new gear amongst your belongings, you make your way to the eastern edge where you pass through a gate in a thick stone wall that encircles the city, with battlements reaching for the sky.

As you leave, your eyes are drawn to the large banners with the open-mawed crest of Caer Tan, highly visible in bright crimson and constant reminder of the city's governance. You are then roughly moved to the side with other travelers as the local guard make way for two companies of plate-armored soldiers on the march into the city. Each soldier appears armed with longsword and spear, and all are dragon-like humanoids spanning the chromatic spectrum.

From the gate, the close-pressed buildings of brick and stone within the city transition into a wider spread of low-level homes and open fields. You find the stable and, pooling your resources, have enough to purchase a pack mule. There are three to choose from, all of which are touted by the stablemaster as young and able-bodied.