Lidarion: Chapter 28

The trip to Cela’an was uneventful until the very last day. The man in the crow’s nest called down early in the morning to warn of cloud bank It was impossibly thick and completely immobile. They changed their course to sail west of the fog bank and saw no end to it. Sailing into it was their only course. They slowed, drastically as their visibility wasn’t much further than a ship length or two. They had every potential to get lost and with no knowledge of how big the fog bank was they could come out of it anywhere, if they ever came out of it at all. It took a few hours but the crew began to whisper about the unnaturalness of what they had come across and the fate of the ship. The unease amongst the sailors grew until Dean had to forbid talk of the mystical nature of the fog and their impending doom.

By nightfall they had no come to the end of the bank nor found anything of note. They were destined to ride out the night and most likely get even more lost along the way. Dean himself took the wheel, figuring if they were to doom themselves to death then it should be by the Captain’s hand. Though they tried, neither sailor no passenger went to sleep easy.

He didn’t know when it was, the fog blocked all light from the stars and moon. But not too long into the night two yellow lights appeared. The man in the crow’s nest spotted them and called down. Dean acknowledged and steered steady for the only marked they had. As they got closer He saw that they were positively massive torches set into the side of an impressive cliff face. The further they traveled the more Torch lights appeared, leading like a trail. Dean steered she ship to follow the line until the lights got larger and brighter, and they passed a sign set into the cliff, written first in the flowering script of elvish and then in common below. “Welcome to Blind Man’s Bay.” The sign was as large, or larger than the Womamel, and inset into the cliff side and advertised to everyone within a maximum of five hundred yards.

Dean commanded a deckhand to wake their passengers, and by the time they arrived at his side they could just make out the furthest edges of Blind Man’s Bay. “How do we let them know we mean to dock?” Trent asked.

Dean pointed to another sign at the edge of visibility, there were smaller torch lights on it, and the sign cleared up as they came closer. ‘This way to port’ The sign said. He looked at Trent. “I don’t think they see many visitors.” He replied.

They followed the sign, and the two after it until Dean had steered the ship into dock and the hands had tied it down.

Trent and the others surveyed the foggy port area they could see. “Well Squints. I don’t know where we are, but you gave Dean the information he needed to get us here, so thanks for that.” He said with a smile.

Squints made a rude gesture and made his way toward the walkway that the hands had just placed between the ship and the dock. He stopped midway down the plank when a shadow appeared at the edge of the fog and was clearly making its way toward the edge of the boat. The creature was huge, it’s footsteps vibrated through the wooden dock. Squints thought better of disembarking and walked back onto the ship. He made his way to his viewing box and stepped up on top of it to see over the side of the boat.

He finally saw what the others saw. A minotaur, a large blind humanoid looking buffalo covered in shaman’s blankets, and a cloth blindfold over his eyes. He had a tree trunk strapped to his back and a large branch in one hand he used as a staff. He stopped just short of the ship and turned to face the vessel. “Ladies and gentlemen form the legendary kingdom of Lidarion. I am Haruff, of Cliffside and I am here to take you to the Library of forgotten secrets.” He completed his introduction and awkwardly bowed.

Trent’s jaw was on the floor. Squints gave him a smug smile. “Keep doubting me, see what happens.”

Trent pointed at Haruff. “Oh come on! There’s absolutely no way you knew he was here!” The others ignored him as they disembarked the boat. “Wait? How did he know we were coming? We’re just going to trust this, this –“

“Haruff.” The minotaur said again.” A smile on his face.

Trent pointed at Haruff. “How do we know we can trust you?” He yelled.

Haruff pulled a small clay trinket out of a pocket and broke it. He turned and looked directly at Trent. Even though he was blind, and could not see through the cloth over his eyes he looked straight at Trent and in Brandon’s voice he said. “Trent, you’ve got a job to do, so get your butt off the boat and do it.” Haruff closed his mouth and dropped the broken trinket.

Trent shook his head. “Now that’s just down right unsettling.” He said as he made his way toward the gang plank.