Welcome to the Blue Duck Company

Written by Coffeenut

Anxious to peer beyond the veil of your menial life, you have hired on with a commercial outfit named The Blue Duck (you've learned the hard way that the boss does not appreciate jokes about his choice of a name). The company has supplied you with starting gear and some silver. Carrigan, the Duck's principal owner, and his investors have financed the building of new settlement on the bank of a large lake. You have never actually met Carrigan but you have heard rumors that he is an underboss in the Ferry Docks outfit, a trading company with tendrils that spread into some nefarious activities. Despite, or perhaps because of, that reputation, you signed your mark to the work ledger under the column titled 'Explorer'.
The hammering of a forge and the sawing of wood greet you as you climb from the rowboat onto the rocky shore. Workers scamper atop half finished buildings, singing vulgar lyrics as they pound nails into freshly cut timbers. A foreman greets you with a brisk nod. He introduces himself as Skiff, Carrigan's point man and nods at a longhouse with barely a quarter of the roof completed, explaining that you get a bunk, a pack and a waterskin as part of your deal.
"Grab a meal at the kitchen and settle in for the night. You move out tomorrow first light. And let's get one thing straight." He glares at each of you for a long moment before continuing. "No one gives a shite why you're here or what you might be running from. But cross the Blue Duck and you'll wish you never left your momma's teat." Before you can say a word, the man stomps off toward another rowboat sliding up to the shore.
As you slosh through the foamy water onto the rocky sand, you seen another group climb from a boat onto the beach. Three orcs, all heavily muscled and and armed, trudge up the beach toward the makeshift village. The female, a large spiked club strapped to her back, holds the end of long iron chain in her beefy hand. The other end is attached to a thick collar around the neck of a tall grey haired elf. The elf keeps his eyes to the ground in front of his feet and he moves in step with the orcs without any prodding from the chain. The orcs and their 'companion' head straight to the chow hall and disappear within.

Skiff, captain of the Blue Duck Company