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.
