called.
“The captain just gave the order to weigh anchor,” Janik said, smiling. “I hope we haven’t forgotten anything else, because it’s too late now.”
“Dania and Mathas have claimed the starboard cabin. I guess that leaves us next door.”
“That’s fine.” Janik dropped his pack in the cabin. “I’m going up on deck while we sail out.”
“Good plan,” Mathas said. “I always like the view of Sharn as we leave it.”
“Not quite as dramatic from the sea as it is from an airship, though,” Janik said.
The four of them filed up the steps to the poop deck, trying to stay out of the crew’s way. Already the docks were slipping away behind them. Their vantage point offered an unusual view of the city—they could see glowing lines of magical energy lifting cargo and carrying passengers up the cliff side to the bases of Sharn’s towers. The towers themselves stretched high above them on one side, while a stark cliff face rose on the other. The sun glittered on the river around them.
“And goodbye again, City of Towers,” Janik said.
“Goodbye, Khorvaire,” Dania whispered.
As the sun was setting that evening,
Lyrandar Dayspring
cleared the mouth of the Dagger River and entered the open sea. The red sky turned the sea to wine in the west, which the sailors seemed to take as a good omen for the journey. When darkness settled in, the captain left the helm in the hands of his mate. Without the magic of the captain’s dragonmark, the ship’s pace slowed, moving at perhaps half her earlierspeed. Leaving the wheelhouse, Avaen invited Janik and his companions to join him in his dining room to celebrate their first day of sailing. At the captain’s request, Janik told stories of their past adventures.
“I remember our first trip to Xen’drik. We were looking back at Sharn the way we did this morning, and coming out of the mouth of the Dagger like we just did. I stood up on the prow, peering forward as if Xen’drik might come into view at any moment.” He remembered holding Maija, the feel of her, the way she laughed at him, turning in his arms and looking back, bringing her face close to his. The memory clenched in his chest.
“I was at the stern sending my lunch back into the sea,” Dania said. “That was my first time at sea. I did all right on the river, but when we came into the straits, the straits won.” They all laughed.
Janik was caught up in the memory of the jumbled whirlwind of emotions he had felt that time. “I was so excited to finally see the things I’d been studying for so many years. I was a dedicated young scholar, but I’d never been out of Sharn before—I’d hardly even seen the sky in my twenty-one years. At the same time, I was terrified. The king’s agents had painted a pretty frightening picture of what we could look forward to. I half expected the Emerald Claw to jump us as soon as we disembarked in Stormreach, if the sahuagin didn’t get us first.”
“The king sent you?” Auftane asked. “What was your mission?”
“I was a new recruit into the king’s service,” Janik said. “The war was raging, of course—this was fifteen years ago. And King Boranel got the idea that there were things in Xen’drik that would help the war effort. I think Cannith putthe idea in his head, honestly. But other spies had brought word that agents of Karrnath were exploring Xen’drik, though really they were Emerald Claw agents.”
“There’s a difference?” the captain asked.
“There is now,” Janik said. “The Emerald Claw was founded as an extension of Karrnath’s espionage agency, but King Kaius later outlawed them. They’re basically their own little government now. Nobody’s quite sure who they answer to, though it’s generally assumed it’s someone high up in Karrnath. Anyway, the presence of the Emerald Claw was enough to get the king’s brother, Lord Kor, out to the universities recruiting for the Citadel. They were hoping to find people
“The captain just gave the order to weigh anchor,” Janik said, smiling. “I hope we haven’t forgotten anything else, because it’s too late now.”
“Dania and Mathas have claimed the starboard cabin. I guess that leaves us next door.”
“That’s fine.” Janik dropped his pack in the cabin. “I’m going up on deck while we sail out.”
“Good plan,” Mathas said. “I always like the view of Sharn as we leave it.”
“Not quite as dramatic from the sea as it is from an airship, though,” Janik said.
The four of them filed up the steps to the poop deck, trying to stay out of the crew’s way. Already the docks were slipping away behind them. Their vantage point offered an unusual view of the city—they could see glowing lines of magical energy lifting cargo and carrying passengers up the cliff side to the bases of Sharn’s towers. The towers themselves stretched high above them on one side, while a stark cliff face rose on the other. The sun glittered on the river around them.
“And goodbye again, City of Towers,” Janik said.
“Goodbye, Khorvaire,” Dania whispered.
As the sun was setting that evening,
Lyrandar Dayspring
cleared the mouth of the Dagger River and entered the open sea. The red sky turned the sea to wine in the west, which the sailors seemed to take as a good omen for the journey. When darkness settled in, the captain left the helm in the hands of his mate. Without the magic of the captain’s dragonmark, the ship’s pace slowed, moving at perhaps half her earlierspeed. Leaving the wheelhouse, Avaen invited Janik and his companions to join him in his dining room to celebrate their first day of sailing. At the captain’s request, Janik told stories of their past adventures.
“I remember our first trip to Xen’drik. We were looking back at Sharn the way we did this morning, and coming out of the mouth of the Dagger like we just did. I stood up on the prow, peering forward as if Xen’drik might come into view at any moment.” He remembered holding Maija, the feel of her, the way she laughed at him, turning in his arms and looking back, bringing her face close to his. The memory clenched in his chest.
“I was at the stern sending my lunch back into the sea,” Dania said. “That was my first time at sea. I did all right on the river, but when we came into the straits, the straits won.” They all laughed.
Janik was caught up in the memory of the jumbled whirlwind of emotions he had felt that time. “I was so excited to finally see the things I’d been studying for so many years. I was a dedicated young scholar, but I’d never been out of Sharn before—I’d hardly even seen the sky in my twenty-one years. At the same time, I was terrified. The king’s agents had painted a pretty frightening picture of what we could look forward to. I half expected the Emerald Claw to jump us as soon as we disembarked in Stormreach, if the sahuagin didn’t get us first.”
“The king sent you?” Auftane asked. “What was your mission?”
“I was a new recruit into the king’s service,” Janik said. “The war was raging, of course—this was fifteen years ago. And King Boranel got the idea that there were things in Xen’drik that would help the war effort. I think Cannith putthe idea in his head, honestly. But other spies had brought word that agents of Karrnath were exploring Xen’drik, though really they were Emerald Claw agents.”
“There’s a difference?” the captain asked.
“There is now,” Janik said. “The Emerald Claw was founded as an extension of Karrnath’s espionage agency, but King Kaius later outlawed them. They’re basically their own little government now. Nobody’s quite sure who they answer to, though it’s generally assumed it’s someone high up in Karrnath. Anyway, the presence of the Emerald Claw was enough to get the king’s brother, Lord Kor, out to the universities recruiting for the Citadel. They were hoping to find people
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