Pseron and I Take A Romantic Sea Jaunt! My druid Bamoo was very fortunate in taking up Diplomacy just as the big guildhall land boom started. Because the new guild buildings required huge quantities of very rare diplomacy rewards, I opted to spend several days as a young diplomat talking to hundreds and hundreds of soldiers and craftsmen and nobility and scholars, anyone I could stop on the streets and engage in a little discussion of local politics, poetry, folklore and local gossip scandals. Well worth the time spent, as after loading up the brokers with the highly sought parley rewards, Bamoo walked away from the grueling talk-a-thon weekend with pockets bulging with heavy gold that might have otherwise taken weeks or even months to earn. This meant Pseron and I could pick up a couple of side by side land plots on a beautiful Kojani island before all the plots were sold. It's a beautiful coastal area loaded with cherry blossom trees, sheer mountain cliffs and breathtaking scenery. The only drawback -- it rains a lot. And I mean .. a lot.
I had enough gold left over after the land purchase to also invest in a small sloop,christianed the Brash Endeavors. Pseron decided to take up the Carpentry tradeskill and learn to build his own boat, plus the house for his land, but I was able to talk him into taking a jaunt with me away from the rainy isles of Kojan until he could build a boat of his own. We jumped aboard the Brash Endeavors in search of sun-filled lands.
The arabic flavored continent of Qalia fits the bill perfectly for gorgeous sailing weather, so we started down the river from the port city of Khal
Now THIS is sailing weather! We puttered south past a lot of interesting desert rock formations until a large city appeared off the starboard bow
Ahgram is a beautiful port capital, but today we were in no mood for tourist shopping, so we passed up a visit there for another day
and kept heading south down the river (I wish I could tell you its name ...)
I stopped off at one point to give my diplomatic courier horse a run. It was feeling a bit frisky after being cooped up in my backpack so long
One of the Qalia riverfront housing areas. Very pretty, but I love the asian themed Kojani islands better. Pictures of our homeland another day
Had a brief issue with a river crocodile trying to follow me back onboard, but I was able to stuff my horse back into my saddlebags and sail off
Sunsets can be beautiful and so romantic! At least ... I hope that's a sunset. It does seem rather ... red ...
Hoping that the "red skies at night, sailors delight" saying would hold true, we continue south into strange new lands
As we are both still very young adventurers, we vote against going ashore to investigate the strange red fog blanketing the isles
Sailing on, the skies gradually take on a more friendly hue. It's very pretty! I wonder which way we are going?
I had opted to put the map aside for the trip and just sail wherever the boat took us, trusting MAYBE we could find our way back
Heading West. Or is it .. north? I don't think it's south.
Well, as long as we keep the shoreline off our starboard, I guess we can't get too lost! Right?
Sneaking under the cover of night past some very interesting desert fortifications. Too dark even by moonlight to see if they look friendly or not
There's someting ahead that looks interesting
... and a little creepy. Again we decide not to stop
We can always come back when we are bigger and stronger. Say, 20 or 30 or 40 levels from now ...
A few spooky areas made me wish my little Qalain sloop came with a motor ... or at least that the wind was behind us a bit more
Some type of sunken palace or something. Pseron likes swimming so maybe he'll come back some day and check it out
Meantime I am just glad we are making this voyage by sea rather than land.
Finally we start to leave the creepy areas behind us, and hope for friendlier landscapes ahead
Now this is more relaxing
although it might be nice if we knew which way we were going
That must be ... East.
Yes, definately East!
Sailing by moonlight is wonderful, but sailing into the early dawn is even nicer!
After many many miles more by sea, we start recognizing some landmarks. Port of Khal, ahoy!
Hmm, not many free docking slots, so we opt to disembark south of the city
Our long trip covered only western Qalia, someday we'll try the east coast. And after that -- two more large continents to explore by river and by sea. There are still the outer shores of Thestra and Kojan, and many inland waterways to fully explore on our little sloop. But that's for another day. Or rather, for the many weeks and months still ahead. |
