The Journal of the Pride of Boeruine.
This is the Journal of an exploration vessel sent out from
Boeruine by the Boeruine Trading Guild. It mission was to chart the eastern coast of
Aduria, and return with its findings. The ship was a roundship, the pride of the guilds
fleet. It carried 2 units of troops and was escorted by another guild vessel, a caravel.
The Roundship is commanded by Captain Gaelin Harold, while Captain Malik runs the Caravel.
Keltier 1:
The ships set out from Seasedge in early winter, although
this is not the best time to travel we have been assured that the weather south of Mieres
will be fine for the journey. We are carrying with us enough food to last for two months
and a cargo load of trade goods in case we find anyone to sell to on the way. Guildmaster
Arien Borthein has also loaned us the use of some of his troops, over three hundred in
all. Although we hope not to encounter any dangers they will be welcome on the journey.
Keltier 7:
After nearly a weeks travelling through some rough weather we
have arrived in Seaward province, Mieres. We will only be here for a couple of days to do
some refitting and gather some new supplies. Next we leave Anuire and set out down the
southern shore of Aduria. Soon after we arrived in Seaward we were approached by a member
of the temple of Eloele who warned us not to travel south or we would be killed by the
evil southerners. The priestess refused to say how she knew this though, and would not
tell us about what to expect south of the colony. While in port we also picked up a new
crew member, Arien the magician. Hopefully he will turn out to be useful, although I have
always been wary of spell casters. As soon as finish loading the new goods I want to be
out of this port, too many pirates from my liking.
Keltier 11:
We have encountered a new land, know as Suakien after it's
capital city. To our surprise the small empire is run by the priestesses of Eloele, the
same priestesses that warned us not to travel southwards. This is the first I have heard
of people living south of Mieres so they must have been keeping the place fairly quiet.
The people speak Anuirean as well as another language which I have been told is Adurian. I
am arranging to hire a translator for the trip south.
Keltier 12:
Despite the warning we received in Mieres the people of
Suakien seem friendly enough. I have now discovered how the priestesses of Eloele came to
rule the land. It seems that they sent an expedition south from Mieres over a decade ago
and conquered the land by force. From what I have heard their influence extends from the
southern border of Mieres and a much as a hundred miles south of here. I have also heard
talk of another kingdom south of here, known as Bir-Warqa.
I have sold the few trade goods we had with us and purchased
some barrels of a local wine, which I have been assured is very popular in the south.
Keltier 13:
My men and I have now had a chance to look around the city a
bit more. It is dominated by a large temple and palace to Eloele near the harbour. It
seems though that the people worship Eloele as goddess of the night, rather than as
goddess of thieves as she in known in Anuire. The night is now a very special time for
these people and magical lights are used to light up the city all night long. We have
hired a guide, a well dress merchant known as Augustus. He speaks both Anuirean and
Adurian so will be able to translate for us. I certainly hope he is worth the price we are
paying him. We will be leaving port tomorrow and journeying further south.
Keltier 16:
We have encountered our first hostile Adurians. Off the coast
of a kingdom known as Bir-Warqa we encountered a small fleet of large galleys. They
appeared to be some sort of large warship and were each armed with several heavy
catapults. Fortunately for our vessels the wind was blowing strongly today and we were
able to avoid the galleys with engaging them. They did give chase for a while but our
superior speed eventually enabled us to pull away from their vessels, which appeared to
rely on oars for movement. Our guide has advised that we set sail for the city of Lindos
where we will receive a better reception than that of the pirates of Bir-Warqa.
Keltier 20:
We have arrived at the large trading city of Lindos, the
capital of the principality of the same name. It appears to be a large port with many
vessels of all kinds, although I was shocked to see a serpent galley tied up at the dock.
After asking around after landing I learned that the Serpent Isle regularly sends ships to
Lindos where they off load goods for transport inland. It is not known where these goods
are taken, although I have heard some speak of a tribe of serpent people who live
somewhere in the wastelands towards the centre of Aduria.
Keltier 21:
We have had to rely on our guide, Augustus for much of the
translation here, as the people of Lindos all speak Adurian. Some of the crew have started
to pick up a little of the language, myself included, but our skills are basic at best. It
appears to be a very complex language, much more so than our own and the Adurian seem to
have several names for everything. Hopefully we will learn more as we continue on this
journey. I have sent captain Malik, who commands the Caravel that is accompanying us
ashore with Augustus and some of the crew. Hopefully they will learn something about the
city. The rest of the crew is going to busy for the next two days doing some minor repairs
to the Pride.
Keltier 22:
We have sold much of the cargo we purchased in Suakien, for a
very good price too. I have put the money in a safe aboard ship in case it is needed later
on our journey. Captain Malik has reported what he can about the city. Apparently it is
the shipping port for many of the farms and mines further inland to transport their goods
south to a large city that is said to be in that direction. Most of the ships in the
harbour are owned by southern merchants who have travelled north to buy Lindos's goods.
Wine and grain seem to be the main exports although this kingdom also appears to sell its
people as slaves also. Augustus has assured us that this is most common in the south and
all free citizens have the right to keep slaves. He did not seem to understand our
northern ideas about freedom for all the people of a land. As there is little to be
discovered here in Lindos we have decided to set sail once more for the south. Augustus
tells us that there are another two nations south of us before we reach Aduria, although
he also warns that it has been many years since he has travelled south of Lindos.
Keltier 26:
Our vessels have arrived in a magical land, known as Kiskum.
Everywhere we look we see beautiful building and happy people. Everything appears to have
been made of the finest materials and crafted to the highest quality. Arien the magician
does not seem to have taken well to the city though and is sick aboard ship. The rest of
the crew and myself are going ashore tonight to meet with the leaders of this nation. The
only thing I do not understand so far is the lack of other vessels in the harbour. When we
arrived it appeared that we where the only vessel, this is despite the excellent city
docks and the extremely cheap prices of all goods here. I have today traded in only a
small portion of my gold for two chests full of gems. One of the local merchants explained
that wealth means little in this kingdom.
Keltier 27:
The people of this land seem most friendly and not at all put
off by our strange dress of lack of language skills. Everywhere we go we are treated well
and invited into their homes for a meal and games. I am facing a small problem though,
several of my crew seem to have liked this land so much that they have deserted. If I
could bring myself to leave such luxury I would leave now, but something keeps bringing me
back to the shore.
Keltier 28:
Arien has freed us from these illusions that were cloaking
our minds and with what crew we have left we have fled the city. Arien has told me that
apparently the whole city is nothing more than an illusion. The beautiful building are in
fact nothing more than crumbling shacks and the gems I bought just rocks. We do not known
what is causing these illusions but they are very powerful. Only Arien among us was able
to see through them and was able to free us from their grip. We are now sailing as fast as
we can away from the land. Should we make it back and another expedition follow us I would
advise against visiting this land.
Keltier 30:
Arien has told me a little more about what he saw in Kiskum.
It seems that the people are enchanted into believing the illusions created all around
them and that the grip they have over you grows stronger each day. Had we stayed for many
more days we would have been unable to ever leave. As it was we lost nearly thirty crew
members to the city. There did appear to be one building that was what it appeared though,
a giant fortress in the centre of the city. It looked as though it was made of solid
metal, it appeared to be silver, although that may have just been another illusion. Arien
says that the source of the illusions is inside that building. I had no wish however to
risk the rest of this mission and investigate it further.
Faniele 7:
We are sailing south this week towards the empire of Aduria.
Two days ago we where to put in at the Grand Empire of Solontara, but the sight of burning
buildings and fighting in the streets forced us to avoid this land. From what we could
tell from our position the capital, Solon is under attack by the Adurian empire. Thousands
of soldiers from both sides were fighting a bloody house to house battle when we arrived
and the sight of several units of well equipped infantry on the wharves also did not
encourage us to land. Instead we have avoid the entire empire and turned towards the
south-east instead, bound for a city called Udine which is said to lie at the northern tip
of the Adurian empire.
Faniele 15:
Our small fleet has finally reached the empire of Aduria, six
weeks after we left Boeruine. Early this morning we arrived at the massive port city of
Udine, which appears to be at least twice the size of the Imperial City. We had
surprisingly little trouble entering the harbour, although our vessels were watched
closely by the crews of five large galleys just outside the walled harbour. There are no
docking taxes, something which surprised us greatly, and we have docked in the west of the
harbour among a group of large merchant galleys which seem to be entering or leaving the
harbour at all times. Our vessels have attracted quite a bit of attention from the
captains of these merchants ships and several could be seen over the past few hours making
notes about and drawing our vessels. Hopefully we will be gone before they learn too much.
It appears that our ships may be the most advanced in the harbour, so these Adurians are
not a great seafaring race.
Faniele 16:
We have spent the first day in Udine wandering the markets. I
have restricted the shore party to myself, Captain Malik, our guide, and our magician
Arien. The people of Aduria seem similar to us in some way, although they have darker hair
and are generally shorter in height. It is much hotter here than Cerilia and their dress
reflects this. Most wear only light cloth clothing or a strange wrapping they call a toga.
The Adurian race seems to dominate the city, although the numerous slaves seem to be from
other races. I have not seen any Dwarves, Elves or Halflings yet, so these races may not
exist here.
The markets of Udine are very large, with many different
goods for sale. Wine and fresh fruits and vegetables are common in the north of the
market, while the southern end is dominated by the slaves market. Here slaves from a wide
variety or races are sold to the rich as servants. The slave markets are the busiest part
of the city that we saw and several thousand people were crowding the square. It was very
noisy so we decided to head back to our ships. We have purchased several items of interest
from the market that we will be taking back with us.
Faniele 17:
The owner of several merchant vessels in the harbour has
invited me to a dinner at his villa tonight. I have decided to accept, and will be taking
Arien and Augustus with me. I spent the rest of the day looking around the city and have
learned much about Aduria.
It seems that the Adurian empire is very large, much bigger
than all of Anuire and is divided into seven districts. Udine is one of these, and
controls many provinces south, west and east of the city. The city and the entire district
is ruled over by a military governor who is appointed by the Adurian Emperor. The city of
Aduria itself lies far to the south, much further than our supplies or money will enable
us to travel. Hopefully we can return one day to travel to this far off city as the
stories I have heard speak of it being the greatest city in the entire world. Given the
size of Udine I can easily believe these claims.
A large number of troops, perhaps as many as ten thousand are
stationed in the city and seem very disciplined, much more so than Anuirean soldiers. They
marched everywhere in tight groups of one or two hundred and the people are expected to
get out of their way when they are travelling along the roads. The city is patrolled by
the soldiers and seemed very safe, with no sign of crime so far during our stay. The city
was very clean, slaves swept the streets every day and the streets were pathed with stone
instead of being dirt like in Anuire. Gutters down the sides of the street channel waste
water away so it does not lie on the street and cause disease.
Faniele 18:
I have decided to spend today recovering from my meal last
night. Dining in Aduria is something I would have to get used to. I arrived at the
merchant, Clavius Grapintus's home shortly after nightfall and was immediately surprised
by the luxury I found. The villa I was told about looked more to me like a small palace.
Unlike our northern palaces however it was made up so several smaller building gathered
around a central courtyard. The whole building was surrounded by a short wall which was
decorated with carvings and flower beds.
As soon as we arrived we were shown into the buildings
bathhouse where we met the merchant Clavius. It seems that it is custom in Aduria to bathe
before meals, in fact they seem to bathe several times a day, a custom that I do not think
will catch on in the north. Several other merchants were also present, and an important
general from the army. We were treated like honour guest and they all wanted to know the
origin of our ships. I tried not to give too much away about our home, saying instead that
we have travelled from Suakien. No-one here seemed to have heard of that land though,
although I think they believed our story.
After the bath we were shown into the dining hall where we
were served a massive meal. It consisted of ten courses, and the whole table held more
food than my crew has eaten on the whole journey. We were served by young slaves, and I
have since learned that much of the work in Clavius's villa is done by his slave
workforce. In fact much of the labour throughout Aduria is done by slave, who have few
rights and are not treated as well as the free citizens. The meal lasted for three hours,
with Clavius insisting that I try each course. Wine was also common at the table, and I
found it a little unusual, used to the ales and mead's of Cerilia. After saying goodnight
to our hosts we staggered back to our ships.
Faniele 19: Before today we though that Udine was
without any temples, however we have discovered in the far east of the city a massive
temple, dedicated to the dead god of shadow, Azari. The people here do not seem to know
that their god is dead, and continue to worship him as though he were alive. The priests
at first seem to have little control over the people, but now that I have spent sometime
in Udine I see their influence everywhere. The second day, at the slave markets the priest
of Azari were in charge there, collecting a toll of anyone who sold goods and policing the
whole market. In fact the priests and the army seem to be the only law in the city. There
is not a city watch like back home, but on-one seems to commit crimes. I did not go inside
the temple itself as I feared being caught out by the priests. Augustus has told me that
the priests of Azari have great powers and can see into the minds of any who enter their
temples. I did not think it was worth the risk to try and enter so left the temple alone.
I did see several of the priests walking in the city. They
dress in black robes, and wear the skulls of goats and other more exotic creatures on
their heads. They all carry the same weapon, a huge black spiked mace. How they manage to
lift such a heavy looking weapon I do not know, it must be lighter than it looks.
Faniele 19:
The people of Aduria have a passion for games and even the
poor go to a massive arena in the centre of the city where each three days a kind of
festival is held. In the arena they bring in monstrous cats and other strange creatures
which they throw slaves to. I could not watch this slaughter for long and left quite
sickened. The people of Udine seem to think it was quite normal though and tens of
thousands of them packed the arena to watch the spectacle. I have been told that they all
have other arenas though out the city were various games are held, including chariot races
and the like. I have decided to leave the city tonight as our ships are starting to draw
too much notice from the local authorities and I think it would be best to leave before
they impound our vessels for study or something like that.
Faniele 25:
We have left Udine and set out along the coast to the east.
All the land south of us now belongs to the Adurian empire according to Augustus and it
stretches much, much further to the south. Much of the land south looked fertile and
occasionally your crews could see buildings and villas near the beaches.
Several small coastal towns have been passed along the way,
although none large enough to make it worth stopping.
Faniele 27:
Finally we have reached another large city, this time known
as Bari. We are having some trouble entering the harbour though and may be forced to sail
away without visiting this city. The guards on the galleys outside the harbour are
refusing us entry because they do not recognize our vessels or our port of origin. I am
just going now to attempt to talk them around again. They do not seem hostile yet and that
is good.
Faniele 28:
We were force to abandon our visit to Bari after the guards
continues to refuse us entry. We have instead headed further east along the coast with the
hope of coming across more land. Our guide has confessed that he knows little of the land
east of Udine so apart from the translations he will not be of much use to us.
The weather here is becoming very warm, and although it is
winter back home it is still quite hot here.
Faniele 32:
It is nearly night and we are fleeing north as fast as we
can. This morning we encountered a large fleet of at least thirty Adurian warships. They
gave chase and with the wind against us we have only just managed to keep ahead of them.
Captain Malik ship suffered some damage when it was hit by a catapult from one the
pursuing vessels. Our sails seem to have kept us ahead of their oars though and their
rowers are now starting to tire. I would not like to encounter such vessels again though.
If Arien had not spotted them early on they would have caught us. They nearly did anyway
closing the distance between us very quickly. Their rowers must be tiring by now and with
night falling we should be able to outdistance them. Their ships seem mainly suited to the
calmer coastal waters, and I noticed one of the galleys was almost swamped by the heavy
swell once we left the protection of the coast. Each ship was also carrying at least five
hundred soldiers as well so had they caught us we would have been lost. I have decided
that we have now seen enough and will be heading back home soon.
Pasiphiel 12:
We have left Aduria behind us and are travelling north at
full speed. The weather ahead does not look good though and it seems that we are heading
into a storm.
Pasiphiel 23:
We have arrived in Ilien and have contacted an agent of the
Boeruine People's Guild who works in the city. He has arranged for repairs and extra
supplies to be made available for us. Tomorrow we will be on our way back to Boeruine.
Pasiphiel 31:
Finally after three months of sailing we are back home. I now
look forward to a good rest and hope my master does not send me south again soon. Everyone
seemed surprised to see us back alive, and to tell the true so am I, there were certainly
some close calls in those last few days in Aduria. I think what I have learned is as good
a reason as any not to go their again.