Journal One
I suppose I should start at the beginning, and although it was only months ago, it seems much longer. I never written more than a note, a reminder, one or two sentences at a time much less a journal, but so be it. I suppose I should start on how I got to Castille...
It all started with news of a Castillian merchantman sitting low in the water off one of the docks in Frieburg. It really wasn't news worthy of too much suspicion, but Berrin thought it so. He had been eyeing the ship all its time in dock and its lower waterline... I suppose I should explain who Berrin is, I suppose that he could be considered my boss. He's the one I explain myself to, or asks me to do 'things' for him. Most of the things I'm quite good at, some I'm not. He heads up one of the many criminal guilds in Frieburg. Not the most profitable one, and not the most penniless one, either. Thieving is one of his many traits, or skills, although he has a well rounded education in such. Not a worthy man in Theus' eyes, but his heart is not all that corrupt... Perhaps that is why he is not in charge of one of the more profitable guilds. He has passed up many opportunities, some that were too 'dirty' in his mind, but profitable in the extreme. His dealings with the city guard throw his many enemies far off the mark. For he doesn't always deal with the bad or bought ones. He has been known to work willingly with the guard on more than one occasion. For no profit. Charese tells him endlessly that it will get him killed, and he agrees with her completely. A patriot. Although, he would never call himself such. A larcenous one, but a patriot, nonetheless. I could see the amused grin on his face should I ever share this with him. A kind of smile that I couldn't help but share... But anyway, the ship... In time, he found out that the ship would be staying docked for sometime, although not for normal reasons. The bosun and the first mate were going through the bars and docking harbors looking for sailors... That in itself wasn't terribly suspicious, but the fact that the two were actually selecting honest men, instead of the run of the mill sailor, was. Frieburg has quite a few sailors, but as for honest men, they are hard to come by. The old crew was paid handsomely, and with the exception of a few of the higher ups, few resigned for another tour. And although he tried, Berrin could get very little from the previous crew, which I found odd, because Berrin can be fairly persuasive. The captain, if the ship had one, was never seen. Some of the crew that the first mate and the bosun had gathered had rarely been sailors, but were mostly hired from under the harbor masters whose chief experience was manning long boats and guiding the myriad ships that came to Frieburg to port. It became somewhat of an obsession with Berrin and he stayed at the harbor and never tired of watching the ship. Its name was somewhat unimaginative, but it crossed his lips more times than I could count. The 'Beautiful Lady'. It was as close as I could render the name from those who read Castille at the dock. More often called 'The Beautiful' from the crew. It was far from the description, however... Hasty or ill conceived repairs bandaged the hull, the main mast was new and the sails were patchworked. But it was sturdy, if worn, and its beam did not list... Berrin stepped on the deck on one or two occasions, in the confusion that came with more munitions or not enough ale... But he could never get past the doors to the hold. He left that up to me.Return to Uncommon Valor