>>335495
Your money is
>175 copper coins
>50 discs of pressed spice
>10 pearls

Your cargo is
>1 full barrel of honey
>1 almost full barrel of honey
>20 rocks of iron ore
>1 spool of white thread
>3 metres of rope

You owe five copper coins to a boy for guarding your sailraft.

Rolled 18, 4 = 22 (2d20)

>Recapping from last thread:

"Right," says the smith, placing the machete back into its hoop. "I have a fine sword here." He takes a short sword from the wall and presents it you: its blade is about 1 foot and a third, which is set in a wooden hilt. It, too, bears the intiials G.SW. You look over the blade carefully for any cracks, colour disturbances or rust and find none.

Weighing the blade in your hand, you find it to be light enough to be swung comfortably in a slow arc. Luckily, pulling ropes for much of your working time both before and after becoming a tradesman has earnt you a strong pair of biceps.

"If you want, I can wrap any of these hilts in leather pretty cheaply," the smith offers.

"I don't think I'll need a leather hilt. My hands are tough. If sweat becomes a problem, I can always wrap some cloth around it. Considering the temperature now, though, I think I'll be fine."

The smith's ginger eyebrows bob up and down as he nods his head.

"I have a budget of 175 coppers," you continue, "but I also have pearls, spice and 2 barrels of honey, as well as 20 rocks of iron ore."

"I see. If you cared enough to walk all the way out here from the village alone in the middle of the night, in this weather, then I'd not like to send you away with nothing. I don't really need many coppers - I actually minted quite a few of the copper coins in this village. Now and again, I buy copper pitchforks and shinguards and that sort of thing, melt them down and make them into new coins. And sometimes I make cheap tools or new coppers out of rusty old copper coins. I could sell you this sword for 100 coppers; that's the market price. But I will accept other goods in place of coin."

>You decided to haggle, starting at 50 coppers and 1 pearl. Roll me 2d20+2 for the strength of your haggling.

Rolled 12, 12 + 2 = 26 (2d20 + 2)

>>335536
Haggle hard.

Your possessions are:
>A compass
>A serrated iron knife
>A spare sail
>Fishing gear
>An oar
>An anchor
>A patched, nearly empty flask of drinking water
>A small amount of beer

>>335538
"Haggle hard," you command yourself.

"Hmmmmm...."

You inspect the sword again, weighing it up and down in your hand, turn it over a few times, examine the base of the hilt, press the edge of the blade.

"Did you forge this yourself?"
>"I forge all my own products. They're engraved with my initials: G.SW for Gerald Sailworth."

"It's quite nice," you say offhandedly. "Have you tested it at all?"
>"Thankfully, I haven't had the opportunity to run through any bandits lately. I thought it suited you very well, though, and it was an appealing weight, wasn't it?"

"It has a good weight, I admit... but I would hate to clutter your fine forge with so many coppers which you confess you have no use for. I expect they would only get in the way. Would it not be better to take a few pearls? They're always popular with the ladies, you know."

>"I would gladly take your entire payment in pearls if that's what you're offering."

"Not exactly. I offer you a payment of 50 coppers and a pearl. How does that sound?"

>"50 coppers isn't enough. I make all these tools and weapons, even instruments, all by own hand and hammer. I oversee every stage of their production and I check them all to ensure they all reach my standard of excellent quality, the standard of craftmanship that marks the products of the Sailworth forge. I can hand you the sword right now, with an absolutely free whetstone straight from my forge, for the cheap price of just 80 coppers and three pearls."

"That is still too much, I'm afraid. I'll tell you what I'll do - I'll throw in some spice. Ginger, pepper, mustard, lemon rind - I've got any of them, in reasonable amounts. I didn't see any spice at the inn - I expect all they ever get is sorrel. I'll offer you 50 coppers - no, 60 coppers - two pearls (enough to make a very small necklace), and five discs of pressed spice from the south. That's final offer. Shake my hand?"

>"Sounds good to me."

You proffer your hand and the blacksmith shakes it vigorously with his own surprisingly clean hand.

+ Iron shortword

- 60 coppers = 110
- 2 pearls = 8
- 5 spice discs = 45

[Reasonable write-ins are always welcome in this quest.]

>Thank him and return to the inn. Sleep, buy some food and return to the ocean
>Ask him to come to the inn with you to drink until the morning. This ends like the previous option but with a hangover.
>Ask about his other goods
>Check on your raft, being guarded by a young woodworker.

I'll be eating dinner now.

>>335673
>>Check on your raft, being guarded by a young woodworker.

>>335673
>>Check on your raft, being guarded by a young woodworker.

>>335673

>>335688
>>335699
You thank the smith and, now having a sword, also buy a leather belt and sheath from the blacksmith at the discount price of 10 coppers. Walking back from the forge, it seems that the wind has dropped slightly. You can hear a few bird-calls from the thick pine forest to your left as you stroll along the pebble beach to the inn. Though the sun's first rays have only just begun to appear over the ocean's horizon, you feel quite safe and optimistic with a shiny new shortsword in your hand. You stop by the inn briefly to check on your cargo, then head out to the pebble street by the harbour's mouth, where your raft - tied up to a garden fence - is still being guarded by a young teenage boy. He leans out of the window of the pine-wood house.

>"Hello!"
"Is everything as I left it?"
>"Absolutely. No-one's touched anything."
"Uh-huh."

You check the raft to make sure, and find all your possessions still there and undamaged.

"Good work. Here's the rest of the money - but only if you don't slack off until I and my raft leave town." You pass the boy 5 coppers. He thanks you and offers to show you the wood models he claims to carve for a living, but you politely refuse and walk back to the inn, sleeping on a mattress in the store-room.

The inn is fairly quiet when you awake. You redress and enter the pub. Time to

>Buy breakfast
>Approach that boy about his wooden models
>Buy some food and get back on the water

>>335779
- 15 coppers = 95

Or
>Buy commercial goods from the inn, such as perry or fruit wine.

>>335779
Buy breakfast while striking a conversation with the inkeeper or the girl that works there. Topics being, are they willing to sell any of their wares and any relevant events happening nearby.


I was tracking the last thread on my phone for the past days, but it seems you have created a new one without linking it. Glad I randomly browsed the /qst/ catalog.

>>335827
I didn't think anyone was bothered about the old thread any more; thanks for alerting me. I'll make a post there now.

>>335827
Seconded

>>335779
>>335787

>>335827
You stroll over to the bar through the entirely empty pub. The hanging lanterns are all unlit and sunlight is streaming in through the window. There is nobody staffing the bar, so you take the opportunity to peer over it, seeing several barrels. You knock a few times on the bar and the barwoman, Irina, emerges from a plain wooden door in front of you, wearing... a pink shirt and trousers?

"Good morning."
>"Good morning! Did you sleep well?"

"Just fine. Thanks for asking. I'll be leaving this morning."
>"I see. Good for you the weather's improved."

"Yeah; you're right. Before I leave, I was wondering if there was anything worth stopping to see here. Anything unusual? Or whether anything strange has been happening lately."
>"Hmmmm... that storm was pretty strange. We don't usually have weather like that in spring. We've also been getting some miners coming down from the mountains up north. trying to sell us ore. Sounds like there's been some odd stuff going on up there, something to do with volcanoes. They're worried about an eruption."

"I bumped into two of them and heard all about it. They can't seem to agree about the... details."
>"Hopefully, they'll be alright on the road. Can't be too careful about bandits."

Funny all you've yet to see a bandit, yet you hear about them all the time.

>"As for anything unusual... We have a hot spring with lots of minerals. You can tell the minerals are there because of the well slimes. It's a lovely place to relax on a cold day."

>"That sounds nice. Could you tell me some more?"
>"That sounds nice, but I'm more interested in any peculiar happenings. Incidents and things."
>"That sounds nice. But could you tell me a bit about your stocks? Is there anything you'd like to sell?"

>>335898
>"That sounds nice. Could you tell me some more?"
I dont think she is allowed to sell the inn's stock. But might give it a try I guess.
>Could you tell me a bit about your stocks? Is there anything you'd like to sell?"

>>335898
>"That sounds nice. But could you tell me a bit about your stocks? Is there anything you'd like to sell?"

always worth trying

>>335898

>>335906
>>335922
"That sounds nice. Could you tell me some more?"

>"It's a natural hot spring in a clearing in the forest. You just head east out of the village and there's a sign, then you go along a path that takes you right there. It's really nice and warm."

"Could you tell me a bit about your stocks? Is there anything you'd like to sell?"
>"You know what's in the store-room, and you sold us that barrel of mead."

You recall the contents of the store-room, described in >>324775:

[There are 11 barrels and two wooden crates:

- 3 of the barrels contain cider
- 1 is filled with perry
- 1 holds apple brandy
- 1 has a small amount of raspberry wine
- 1 is half full of strawberry wine
- 1 is full of an alcoholic beverage made of fermented gooseberries sweetened with honey
-three barrels are empty. Irina tells you that all the barrels are oak and have been aged holding alcohol.

Inside the two crates are some large ceramic jars of pickled fruit, pickled vegetables, honey, honeycomb, candlewax and a small volume of salt.]

>"I have two other barrels behind the bar: a barrel of cider and a barrel of perry. I don't mind selling a barrel of cider; it's popular, but we can get it cheaply from local orchards."

>I'd like to buy ______. How does ________ sound?
>I don't think I'll need anything, but thank you for a place to sleep last night.
>I'll just buy some food and drink and get onto the water, thanks.

>>335983
>I'd like to buy a barrel of cider. How does 20 copper and 2 pearls sound?

>>335996
+1 to this, also

> "Could you tell me some more about the well slimes"

>>335983

>>335996
>>336023
"I'd like to buy some cider. But first, let's talk about those well slimes you mentioned. They're like translucent little dumplings, right? Live in wells?"
>"That's right. They can also live in mineral pools. Our hot spring's well slimes are larger than the ones in wells, though. They have more space, and more minerals to eat. They probably like the warmth as well. It's a bit of a sight for a newcomer to see them all floating around, the size of your fist, with the water being so clear."

"That sounds interesting. Now, as I was saying, I'd like to buy some cider."
>"Let me wake up my husband. He doesn't like to be left out of these things - marriage is a team game, you know."

She disappears through the door you wait while imagining being on the sea on your raft, making good pace with an ocean wind filling your sails. After a few minutes, she re-emerges - carrying the barman on her shoulders?! He's got no legs!

>Say "Good morning."
>Gape at them
>Make a forced smile

>>336113
>If that is the cost of finding a great woman I might just stay single!
>I was asking your wife if you'd part with a barrel of cider for a fair price?

>>336113

>>336229

"If that is the cost of finding a great woman I might just stay single! I was asking your wife if you'd part with a barrel of cider for a fair price?"

The barman Why have I still not named him?! laughs.
>"I don't mind selling some cider. We get it all locally. It doesn't look it from the coast, but there are cider and perry orchards behind the pine trees, sheltered from the wind. I bet the farmers had a job on their hands when they began the orchards, 'cause all the soil would've needed to be changed. Nowadays, though, they just gather the pine needles off the grass and the leaves of the trees fertilise the ground."

"How does 20 coppers and 2 pearls sound?"
>"That's a decent offer, but a little too low for me. I can't go below 30 coppers and 2 pearls."

"25."
>"28 and breakfast. You've a lot less chance of turning it up again in today's weather.
"35 coppers and 2 pearls for the barrel of cider, breakfast, and food and drink for my journey."

He looks to his wife.
>"'How's that sound to you, 'Rina?"
>"Sounds good to me. It's the best price for cider we'll get around here."

He turns to you.
>"Deal."
You shake hands with both of them and soon Irina presents you with a breakfast of thin-sliced pickled vegetables, buttered bread, cheese and an apple.

>Buy something else
>Ask about the geography of the area
>Leave the town

>>336342
Take a quick look around the town. With daylight and the storm gone something might catch our eye.


Going to sleep now, thanks for QMing .

>>336398
Goodnight.

>>336342
>Leave the town

>>336342

>>336398
"It's a sunny day today. I think I'll take a stroll, have a look around."
>"By all means, take a walk around! Is there anything particular you're looking for?"

"Not really. But anything old, or unusual, or pretty would be interesting."
>"We have an ice cellar inland to store ice brought down from the mountains. We also store some drinks there for summer, as well as butter and fruit. If you want to get in to it and have a look around, you'll need to ask the ice-keeper to unlock it.

Though the wind is blowing strongly, the sun has come fully out over the horizon as you briskly walk out of the inn and look around. The inn looks to be the centre of this community, and four pebble streets lined with light, pine-wood houses extend out from it. The west street, you know, leads to the shore. The north and south streets lead along the coast, and the east street leads inland. Making up your mind, you walk down the east street, noticing quite a few interesting gulls and terns perched on top of the low slate roofs. You pass by a square stone house - perhaps it's another forge? Or just a local willing to pay for good insulation, fireproofing and a status symbol? You stroll on through various small points of interest, a garden here, a birds' nest there, and over a bridge of carved stone blocks that spans a stream. After a refreshing journey, you arrive at a small semi-cylindrical stone building, like a huge buried lobsterpot. It has a rusty iron gate with a keyhole.

>Try to force entry
>Look around the area
>Look for the ice-keeper

I'm halting the quest here.

>>335673
if he went from 100C to 80 and three pearls, does that mean each pearl is worth about 6.6C?
that would been we sold the barrel of honey for about 72.6 coppers, a great loss. either we got ripped off by machete man or the blacksmith.

>>337574
I thought we sold a bottle of honey

>>336520
Look for the ice keeper. If he is not around, ask for him at the nearest house.

>>337574
I have to say, the economics of this quest might not be that consistent. Sometimes I wonder if there's anything going for it at all - certainly not the pacing. If you guys think that there's major inconsistencies with the pricing of goods, then tell me and I'll try to be more accurate next time the good comes up for sale. Of course, the price will depend on local supply and demand, as well as quality.

You are a pretty inexperienced merchant as well, of course. In terms of pricing, you can generally expect that goods which can be obtained locally will be worth less in the area. Thus, you bought the barrel of cider quite cheaply because there are an abundant local supply. The same would be true for local fruits and vegetables which were in season. As with anywhere you sail to, there is a small amount of local honey - though this village, being situated next to a pine forest - although with some orchards - does not produce as much of its own honey as villages in the south. The bonus, however, is that honey keeps well, unlike some fruit and vegetables.

>>337704
You did sell a bottleful of honey, but not to the inn. You sold a bottleful of honey to the miners as part of your purchase of the iron ore. You sold a barrel of honey to the inn.

>>337806
All I can say is I've continued to follow the quest and beside the pacing being slow this is a fantastic quest
Also let's go wandering the forest and see if any wildlife decides to show up

>>337806
I'll be sure to reread the threads and tally up our trades.

>>336520

>>337706

The parallel rows of houses on either side of the street ended some distance back, giving way to a lawn sprinkled with daisies, and there is only a single, one-storied stone house near to the structure. That's probably where the ice-keeper lives. You walk over to the house and knock on its unpainted wooden door. After a few moments, you hear the sound of footsteps, and an old, bald, white-bearded man answers the door, holding a copper watering can.

"Hello," you say, "I am Hilad Keenan, a travelling merchant. Are you by any chance the ice-keeper?"
>"I am. it's ice to meet you. I suppose you'll be wanting to get inside the ice-cellar and have a look around? We don't have a lot in there - mostly fruit, vegetables and butter stored by local people. And obviously a lot of ice. We get more in there in summer. A fishermen brought in an anemone a few days, ago. No-one knows what to do with it. Interested?"


>"Yes. Let me have a look through it."
>"No, but thank you for offering. I think I'll take a walk around the forest."
>"No, but thank you for offering. I should be leaving town soon."

>>336342
- 35 coppers = 60
- 2 pearls = 6

>>338131
Yes let me have a look. Irina said it was an interesting place.

I guess we will have to pay though.

>>338131

>>338164
"Yes, let me have a look. Irina - you know, she co-runs the inn? - said it was an interesting place. I guess I'll have to pay, though."

>"No, entry is totally free. The ice-cellar is owned by the people of the village - it's public property. Within reason, any villager can store any goods for as long as they want, free of charge, as long as there's enough space. I'm a sort of public official - my name's Oliver - I hold the key to prevent theft of the goods inside by people or animals, including the ice itself. As a foriegn merchant, though, I'm afraid you'll to pay a small charge if you want to store any of your wares here."

"I see. Please take me inside."
>"Righto. I'll get the key - I'll just be a minute."

He walks back inside the house and re-emerges after a couple of minutes without the watering can, but with a large copper key attached to a loop of thick string, and a small cloth bag.

>"Would you like a brandy rind?" he asks, proffering the bag.

"I'm sorry, but what is a brandy rind?"
>"Orange rinds, cooked in grape brandy and then dried. A friend of mine had them ferried up from the south."

"That sounds nice. Thank you."
You take one of the pale orange rinds and put it in your mouth. It has a sweet, fruity, alcoholic taste and is a little softer than you expected. Oliver unlocks and opens the door and leads you down a set of grey stone steps, after asking to take off your shoes at the door to prevent dirtying the cellar. The cold hits you before you see the ice, which is spread over the floor and, in one place, stacked into a pile the height of a man. Looking around, you see in wooden crates and ceramic jars some fruit, vegetables and butter, as you were expecting. There are also a few wooden barrels of alcohol.

"Show me this anemone, please."
The anemone is half-buried in crushed ice. After taking it out, you see that it is a translucent green colour and its organs are visible within it. It doesn't seem to have decayed.

>Examine the anemone further
>Question Oliver about the anemone
>Question Oliver about the stocks of the ice-cellar
>There's nothing worth investigating here. You should get back to the village and set sail again.

>>338278
Question about other peculiar stocks. Free information is great and we might want to buy/leave something here next time we pass by.

>>338309
You rebury the anemone in the ice - it looked a bit like one occasionally used medicinally in The Cliff, but anemones are like mushrooms - two that look similar might have very different effects.

"Interesting. Is there anything else interesting or unusual here? Something I couldn't find at the inn?"
>"Hmmm... there are some lemons and limes. They're good for seasoning fish and oysters, so they're worth quite a bit here. Not to mention that it has to be transported from the south. If someone came up with a way to grow lemon trees, or limes or oranges for that matter, cheaply in the north then they'd be onto a real winner. There's quite a bit of trade in citruses, 'cause sailors buy them to maintain good health. They stop gum disease. They mix the juice into their booze, or into their drinking water if the booze has run out. Guess that makes the taste better as well."

Looking at the lemons and limes, none of them bear any discolouration.

>Buy the lemons and limes
>Buy the anemone
>Buy something else
>Return to the village
>'Leave the village now' pacing option

>>338404
I feel like I'm not taking good decisions because I didn't read properly the other threads. I'll stop here today OP and look back on what we did so far. Thanks for QMing.

>>338468
Thanks for playing.

>>338483
I gave a nice thorough read to the other threads and compiled a small text file for myself. http://pastebin.com/ASG2UXJK

Ignore the shitty formatting, if you have the time check the trading details, I'd like a confirmation on our current funds.

>>338404
Citrus should hold for 2 weeks-1 month. If we somehow turn the lemons into juice they can last longer. I'd like to buy some.

My current idea is to go even further North and sell those fruits and the honey. Over there we'd be looking to buy fruit wine and maybe furs. Of course all of this can easily change, but I like to aim at something.

>>339244
You're a pretty cool anon, aren't you?

>>339455
>>339244
Just one thing, though - I didn't mention ciraks at The Cliff. That's some sort of cheese, isn't it?

>>337806
the only thing that seemed strange to me so far was the 80 coins and 3 pearls being roughly 100 coins. his price seems to have gone WAY up judging by the value of pearls in other transaction

>>339471
I dunno how I managed to write ciraks instead of corals. My bad.

>>340298
I agree that if we sold a barrel of honey for 11 pearls, we should be valuing them at more than 20 cc a piece. We're new at this merchant business and we are learning I guess.

>>340626
maybe not THAT much, but certainly more than 6.6 coins per pearl

>>340636
The barrel of honey would have usually cost us 130cc. Selling it at an abandoned place to the old man, how much would you ask for it in cc? 220cc is not that greedy.

I'll probably be back later to write some more.

>>340642
im just saying that if each pearl cost 6.6 coins we basically sold the 130c barrel for 72.6 coins

>>341017
I agree in the point that, considering how easily we are giving away our pearls, the barrel of honey was sold at a ridiculous low price.

I'm going to try to think more carefully about pricing from now on. I just get carried away writing bantering haggling sequences. Sorry.

>>341070
Some of those barter sessions are like a violent exchange of witty remarks. I love it!

>>338404

>>339244

You figure those lemons will last quite a while, at least long enough to transport them.

"Hmmmm..." you say, picking up a lemon and revolving it in your hand, feeling the slightly rough texture of its bright yellow rind. "These look good. I think I could offer you a price for these."
>"Sorry; these don't belong to me. They're owned by a local merchant who's storing them here to preserve them. However, I'm authorised to sell some on his behalf, at a fixed price."

A fixed price? That's something you're unused to. To be a merchant is to haggle, right?

"How many of these citruses is our absent supplier willing to sell?"
>"A third of the current stock: that's 4 lemons and 5 limes. I expect he wants to sell a lot locally to the other villagers. Anyway, he's left the prices in the price-book."

Oliver goes over to the wall by the door where the staircase begins and takes a large leather-bound book from a hook, where it hangs from a string. He opens it and flips through the pages to about halfway through.
>"Arthur Rowman. 12 lemons, 15 limes. Deposited on the 38th day of Spring, in the 7th week. 4 lemons, 5 limes available to visiting merchants at the fixed price of 5 copper coins / lemon and 4 copper coins / lime. Interested?"


>"Yes, I'll take all of them."
>"Yes, I'll take ____ of them."
>"No, that's a bit steep for me."

>>341201
>"No, that's a bit steep for me."

>>341201
seems like not the best idea to buy fruits from the north. at best you could take them farther north and sell them for a better price, but it would be best to buy some from the south and sell them in the north, since they seem to be good prices.
so i would recommend leaving this north land and travel to the south, to buy citrus and spices to sell northward.

>>341354
We are 2 weeks North of home. I'd rather check the mines now further north and only then go back south. We might fetch a good price up there for our honey, and I want to bring home some great fruit wine to repay the one dad shared with us.

I'm going to be doing some IRL stuff for a few hours.

>>341340
Seconding this.

I'm back, slightly drunk, and ready to continue our questing.

I'm afraid citrus fruit is more expensive in the north for obvious reasons.

>>341988
I have faith in our honey since bees have a hard time with cold. Unless volcanic region is somehow warm and we lug these barrels around for nothing. Which we are kinda already doing with the ores.

Also it's sleep time for me.

>>341201

>>341340

"No, that's a bit steep for me."
>"Well, I can't blame you. Five coppers is an awful lot to pay for a single fruit, pretty and yellow though it might be. The less wealthy here season their fish and mussels with vinegar made from cider or perry, or with juice from crabapples or gooseberries."

He replaces the book on the hook. You're getting used to the cold, and actually quite enjoying it. It reminds you of the chill of the ocean wind. You wonder how far north you will have to travel before you will see ice like this simply lying naturally on the ocean, sloshing and churning and crunching all through the day and night. Now it is spring, though, you might not see any ice at all on your travels until next autumn, and then only if you again sail north.

"As a matter of fact, I personally own quite a bit of cider vinegar from some of my trees in the apple orchards. I certainly wouldn't mind selling some of it to you. Surely you need something to pickle any fruit or vegetables you might have bought, to keep them sound on the journey? I hear that there is some sort of expedition on Saltspray Island - it seems to me that they would need vinegar to preserve their vegetables, unless they want to live on hardtack."

>"Could you tell me more about this expedition?"
>"That sounds interesting. I'd like to have a look for myself."
>"Thank you for offering, but I've got quite enough cargo for my journey and all will keep."
>"This would be the fee that you said you wouldn't charge?"

>>342024
Goodnight, anon. Thanks for playing.

>>342087
Pickling vegetables is pretty much adding equal parts vinegar and water, with a pinch of salt.
"I didnt plan on having such perishables with me on the journey, the sea is not as merciful as the road. But I'd still like one bottle for personal use, and maybe to show other people who might be interested in the future" My silly attempt at getting a free bottle.
"Could you tell me more about Saltspray Island and this expedition? For one, it's location. I was planning on heading North towards the mines, but if it is on the way I might make a stop."
Also, we still dont know the name of this town/place.

>>342087

>>343789

"I didnt plan on having such perishables with me on the journey, the sea is not as merciful as the road. But I'd still like one bottle for personal use, and maybe to show other people who might be interested in the future."

>"I can't just give my stock away to passing merchants. Sorry. The best I can do for you is if you buy one bottle for 5 coppers, I'll sell you another one for just 2 coppers."

"Hmmm, I see. I'll think about it. It's funny, but I've been in this town since yesterday and I still don't know its name."
>"This is Pineshore. Not very imaginative, I know, but its short and simple and lets visitors know what to expect."

"Could you tell me more about Saltspray Island and this expedition? For one, it's location. I was planning on heading North towards the mines, but if it is on the way I might make a stop."
>"They're doing" - he pauses for a moment - "arkee-o-logee. Or so they call it. Every fortnight or so, merchants from our village cross the channel to the island with fresh supplies - mostly fruit, vegetables and weak cider. They say they're excavating an old shipyard on the island's coast. I've never been there myself, but they seem to be enthusiastic from what I've heard. It reminds me of the saying ' holds like a saltspray hull ', though I've always thought that meant salt-sprayed and the similar names were just a coincidence. For all I know, that phrase is that's set them off on this project. Anyway, Saltspray is a small island west-north-west from here. Watch out for the Dragon's Ribs - they're a couple of parallel rows of rock formations north of the channel. Quite a few captains have been shipwrecked crashing into them at night. The innkeeper has a map, but it's not much better than a description and much more likely to get wet."


>"Thanks for your help. I think I'll probably be heading off, now."
>"Thanks for your help. I think I'll check out that map you mentioned."
>"I'll buy that vinegar from you."
>"It's nice and cool down here, isn't it?"

File: tegaki.png (6 KB, 400x400)

6 KB PNG

>>343999
"I'm sure I can find someone interested in this vinegar here. I'll gladly take the 2 bottles for 7 coppers. Think I'll save one for myself to try it with the fish I get."
So I assume to go North near the mines we are forced to pass the Dragon's Ribs or go all the way around the island? See pic.
If there is a channel that leads to the island we can probably see it not far from the shore, would be nice to quickly pass by the inn and take a look at the map, while saying our last farewells.
"Thanks for everything Oliver, I hope one day my wares can find a place in this beautiful ice-cellar."

Buy vinegar, check map at inn, go fix that sail and let's go back to the sea.

>>344014
IRL stuff has come up but I haven't abandoned this thread; I'll be back later to write the next update.

>>344028
Take your time. This is not a roll to attack quest, so even if it takes a long time between updates it will be fine.

File: the inn_s map.png (23 KB, 500x526)

23 KB PNG

>>343999

>>344014

"I'm sure I can find someone interested in this vinegar here. I'll gladly take the 2 bottles for 7 coppers. Think I'll save one for myself to try it with the fish I get."

Oliver smiles broadly, this wrinkles deepening along his cheeks.
>"Good! If you want to send me a letter or anything, want to buy some more stock or something, I am Oliver Portway. I wish you the best of luck on your travels."

"Thank you very much!" you reply.

You return to Oliver's house, a comfy-looking place with some chairs and a table; there is some nautical equipment lying on it, along with a book. He takes a couple of bottles out of a sideboard and you buy them, after examining, smelling and tasting a small volume and determining to be at least of decent quality.

- 7 coppers = 53

"Thanks for everything Oliver, I hope one day my wares can find a place in this beautiful ice-cellar."
>"I hope you have good wind and fine weather over the next few days and that you reach your next port safely. Goodbye."

"Farewell." You pick up the vinegar and leave the house, walking back to the inn. Behind the bar is the barman and barwoman, washing and polishing tankards and glasses.

>"Hello, again," says the barman. "Back for your food? Strikes me that I never told you my name: I'm William."
"Actually, I heard that you had a map of the channel and Seaspray Island. I'd like to have a look, see where the natural harbours are, and pin down any hazards to avoid."

>"No problem."

Soon the map is on the bar and you are examining it. The geography of the local area is drawn in black ink on the paper, showing Pineshore, Seaspray Island, and, to both the north and south, a long stretch of uninhabited coastline. At the top of the map, north of a label announcing [distance of 50 miles redacted], is a small bay by the mountains, and by that is another label reading ' Springstream Mines'.

cont.

>>344647
You say farewell to them and transport your cargo and food from where you had been storing it in the inn's storeroom, by your mattress so as to prevent confusion, to the beach. You then untie your raft, repair it using your thread and rope, and drag it to the beach where you refill it with your cargo, both old and new. Using your new repair materials, you easily repair the ropes holding together the raft's logs and sew shut the rip in its sail.

Aaaahhhh. this, this is the feeling! This is why you chose this life! The wind has lessened but still blows strong and cold through your hair, racing north. Before you is the vast blue-green-grey ocean, small waves crashing and surging along the pebbles. You imagine again the crunching northern ice being tossed up and down on the surface of the water, whilst below swim shoals of silver-grey fish. The sun is directly above you, now, and warms your arms as you set the single white mainsail and prepare for departure.

New places - white, surf-battered cliffs, grey sand bays, new lands with new markets, new goods to buy and sell! And out on the sea is the salt, the wind, the cry of the seabirds! It's time to set sail, to skim along the water, to run before the wind, to jump from one wavecrest to the next! The landlubbers are welcome to their jolting oxcarts and their dusty roads: the sea is the only way to travel!

To travel - but to travel where?

>To the Springstream mines
>To Saltspray Island
>To the south

>>344812
>To Saltspray Island
Maybe someone there can tell us more about our shell fossil. Even if it is useless, honey is sweet and people like sweet stuff.

OP, for nautical trips, I'm assuming 3-4 miles per hour on good winds. Am I being too optimistic?

>>344812
Oh and I hope we brought water for a couple weeks atleast, like last time.

>>344832
Roll me 2d20.

Rolled 17, 9 = 26 (2d20)

>>344867
I just googled what a fortnight is, I thought it was like every other day. Boy was I wrong about the restocks they are getting!

>>344832

>>344812

To Saltspray Island! A group of men isolated on an island - an island without even reliable freshwater! What better market could there be? And just a little channel away!
...No, complacency is dangerous at sea. Though the eastern approach to the island should be sheltered from the large waves of the open ocean to the west, that doesn't mean that there won't be other hazards, such as underwater rocks or shipwrecks. Or sandbars. Can't forget about them. That said, only the Dragon's Ribs were marked as hazards on the map - hopefully, the cartographer was accurate.

You push the raft off of the beach, past the small breaking waves and into the water, load the cargo and climb aboard. The journey does not take long by your standards, as you race west, passing by a few floating clumps of dark green seaweed. You regularly check your compass and reckon yourself to be somewhere around the south-east of the island. After a while, a low-lying coastline emerges over the horizon, which as you approach you can see is a beach of grey sand rising gently to a line of low shrubs. You can hear the call of seabirds from the land ahead, gradually growing louder.


>Land here
>Sail north to the east bay
>Sail around the south of the island to the west bay

>>345092
Curse my lack of knowledge. Would one build a SY ocean side or continent side...

Ships should be more protected at east. The channel would connect it directly, assuming wood came from the mainland. At worse there would be a road to the other bay.

Oh well, I'll gamble a bit.
>Sail north to the east bay

>>345092

>>345147

Logic tells you that the old shipyard, and thus the expedition, is likely to be on the east side of the island. Altering the sail, you change direction and head north along the coast, keeping a cautious eye out for underwater hazards hidden from the inattentive eye. Saltspray Island appears to be mainly or entirely a large sandbank stabilised by the roots of the plants and small trees growing on it. The coast continues in the same character as you progress northward; after a little while, it falls back into a bay. As you draw nearer, you see a long, crude-looking wooden hut at the top of the beach, behind the shore vegetation, which a man rushes out of as you slide onto the beach. He is wearing a white boiler suit with something stuffed into the front pocker, and is chewing something.

>"Hello there!"

"Hello! Are you the shipyard expedition?"
>"We are, we are! Please, come ashore!"

"I am Hilad H. Keenan, a travelling merchant. May I ask your name?"
>"My name is Edgar Seastack; I am the head of this expedition - the expedition to uncover the great ancient shipyard of Saltspray."


>"Please, tell me more. How is the expedition going"
>"I had heard you might be in need of food and drink. You need wait no longer; I have arrived to resupply you, in a commercial capacity."
>"What are you doing in that hut over there?"

>>345350
Honestly... I choose all options

Also going to sleep, thanks for today.

>>345483
You're welcome.

I'm going to halt the quest here.