A New Adventure Begins

Oh winds what a day.
 
I left the caves empty-handed; my search for the dagger turned up dust and rocks. That is, until I met a traveler, who seemed to be captured by these humanoid creatures that didn't speak the common tongue. I tried approaching them non-aggressively, but the creatures quickly turned hostile and I was forced to defend myself. To my surprise, the captured one broke out of her chains, proceeded to throw her dagger, and teleported to its destination! All that she said, when the skirmish was done, was "thanks for the dagger". The audacity! I couldn't even form words by the time she blinked away and ran.
 
I have many questions, hopefully my travels to Valvia can answer some of them. But I write this calm and collected at the end of a long day, so I must continue instead of lamenting on the dagger and asking rhetorical questions.
 
I traveled to Oakencoast by way of foot, since my boat had been raided since my party had entered the ruins. Upon reaching the entrance of the dismal and un-protected city, as will be apparent by the end of my entry, I was greeted by two simple townsfolk militia. While they may have had the title of "town guard", by my best estimate they were no more trained than a chicken (though the chicken is more frightening honestly!). One was enamored by my presence; a flaw I took advantage of later. Wet due to the rain, I convinced Romeo to hand over the umbrella in his possession, asked about the nearest establishment at which to rest at, and proceeded into town.
 
As I said, dismal and un-protected.
 
The Inn, known as the "Crusty Blossom", was more endearing than its name implied. Warmly lit with a crown of patrons, I made my way to the bar for some rest and relaxation. It is here, me dears, that I found a new group to travel with. But ah! I forgot to mention an item that I found which inexplicitly ties us all together. You see, on the bodies of the creatures I (and that windless bitch) fought off, I got a passage deed to a ship that was to leave Oakencoast in a few days time. Each of these fellow...travelers had found the same passage on the same ship. Destiny perhaps? I will introduce each of them in order that I noticed.
 
Athoz, the leonin. A druid by trade, one well adept at the shape-changing aspect, he is a walking paradox. Loud, but wishing to hide is race from others, skinny and frail, but able to turn into large, strong beasts. Athoz is very single-minded, seemingly knowing nothing of the intricate politics of speech. He says what's on his mind at the time without any thought to what might be the consequences. He's got enough of a head on him to be careful, but stands out far too much in both appearance and mannerism. From the world tree, where most beast-folk come from.
 
Easten, the human "pumper" (in his own words, and in my words - YIKES -). A talented bard, on occasion singing for the tavern to earn us room and board. He holds just as much secrets and I hold from them, all while parroting that we have become "fast friends". His name too, might only be a stage name, but for ease of reference will refer to him by his introduced namesake. A thinker and planner, wants what's best for the group of friends he insists we are.
 
Elijah, a winged tiefling wizard with some control over time itself. Mostly keeps to himself, except when spoken to; he has an arsenal of spells at his disposal, and a depth of knowledge about creatures that inhabit the land. As of this writing, I know the least amount about our arcane friend. Calm and collected, he too plans out his actions and words carefully.
 
Lastly is out old elf druid, Idramar. Also a good spellcaster, and able to, through some form of magic, turn his old and frail body into a hunkering, tall, strong...thing. I can't really describe it. However, he seems to exist for mostly comedic relief. He forgets things all the time, calls everyone the wrong names, but has his insightful moments, which makes me think it's part, if not all an act. Only time will tell.
 
We met in a tavern, Athoz being loud and Easten being friendly. Following brief introductions, and the discovery that we are all somehow destined to go on this ship, the Kalcean army has shown up. But first, some history in the making, as it seems like a lot went down in the world while I was wasting away in those ruins.
 
Tensions between Akama and Kalicos have reached a breaking point, so much so that one, or the other, have declared war. Kalicos, in their infinite wisdom, also decided to burn the world tree and declare war on the wilds. For what gain I'm not sure, but foolish nonetheless, as the wild is notoriously neutral, and this little act of aggression would surly make them think twice about allying themselves with any Kalicos ally. That all being said, the army showing up, and we found out consequently shutting down the port was a roadblock for our group of travelers. I split off to find out more, while the others went to the docks. We met back up at the tower with new information in tow; Kalicos was missing a shipment of "wood", but this was just a face for their real prize, two stolen tears of Ser'esha.
 
Trying to gain an audience with the local lord, I flashed my signet ring like I have done many times in the past. This time, however, it will prove to be more trouble than was worth, but that will come later. We saw "Lord Esperanzo", a lady actually, that has yet to earn the respect of her people. In trying to, so has gotten her little town twisted in a scheme for the greater Kalicos Kingdom, Making an airship armada. She of course did not tell us all that, this all came up much later in the day. Either way, they were missing this large tears, and had shut down the port until they could find them again. We cut a deal with the lady, to have the tears delivered to her people and not the Kalcean army lieutenant.
 
When we left her presence and made out way out of the keep, my mistake manifested itself in the form of a large contingent of Kalicos soldiers surrounding us. I told them what they wanted to hear to get them off our back as we went to search for the tears.
 
Investigating the site of the robbery, we found a dug out tunnel that let to a cave system. Here we found out that Athoz can kind of...lose himself in his animal forms, and when he tore into an enemy and gave out a large howl, undoubtedly giving away our presence to the entire clan of lizardfolk that lived down there. I digress, we fought off a number of them, both large and small, before confronting a Dodogama, a fierce rock-eating lizard. Slaying the beast, and grabbing its rock-chewing gizzard, we hauled back the tears to have the town guard "find" them, retiring to a comfortable room at the inn.