For this time of year, it was rather smooth sailing. Faline only hurled her lunch over the side of the ship three times since they departed.
In all seriousness, this really was a easy trip for what it was, the orcish scientist admitted as she plotted out the journey on one of her numerous charts, and she could not have been happier to be on a proper scientific expedition. Sure to the crew that her boss had hired this was an enterprising venture, an attempt to set up a profitable sugar farm on a fertile island or two, but for Faline the real value to be had was always with the volcano's in the region. Growing up in blasted taiga far from any ocean, Faline still remembered listening with rapt attention as her uncle, a fascinating adventurer who escaped from slavery and trekked halfway across the world to return home, described the mountains that belched fire and molten rock into the skies. He called them the smithies of the gods, the engines that the divine used to create the world around us, and ever since then Faline wanted more then anything to see and understand these engines for herself. Going so far as to run away from home to enroll in a university (thanks to 'donations' from some unprotected travelers, Faline shamefully recalled), Faline went against every instinct she had to dedicate her mind and body to the pursuit of science, in the hopes that someday, somehow, she could observe one of these engines of the world for herself.
"Land ho!" came a reedy voice from above deck. Moving so fast she nearly sent her equipment flying across her work bench, Faline dashed above deck, heart fluttering.
There it was, a black triangular wedge on the horizon, smoke drifting lazily from its peak. Faline felt weak from happiness, leaning against the railing of the deck to catch herself.
"Ay, lass, a fine sight to behold..." An old man chuckled as he hobbled up to the side, ancient but still powerfully built, even if he was missing a leg. An odd choice to captain this vessel, but her bosses seemed to have picked the right man for the job regardless.
"Mount Hedrak, at last," Faline nearly whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek.
"Hedrak? Ain't that Mount Kardon, love?"
"The name's interchangeable, Kardon's the common tongue name, Hedrak was the native word for the volcano," Faline explained, somewhat annoyed that she had to cover for some doofus named after a polearm who really needs to remember to proofread.
"All's fair, love," the captain said dismissively. "We be touching down on the largest of the Deadshoals to set up camp and stake claims, I'll have Malphy take ye to the mountain proper in the dinghy, if that be suitin' ya."
"Happily so!"
Coming aground on shallow shores that would make for an excellent harbor space, the crew dismounted from the vessel and went straight to work, carrying off lumber and rigging to help set up huts and houses for the crew that would be building the sugar farm properly in the coming days. The crew remarked with delight at the ashen soil, a far more amiable surface then the dead rocky kind that used to blanket the island, as Faline wandered off into the center of the island, far from any prying eyes as her own eyes dilated, turning a dark shade of purple. Moving like she was sleepwalking, she looked at her own hand, seeing a strange rune etched in lights on the palm. Knowing what had to be done she slowly came to a stop and pressed her hand into the ashen soil. From the point of contact, the rune etched itself into the sand, glowing with the arcane power of the Codex as its magic seeped into the Earth and the surrounding islands' fertile soil.
And then it vanished, and immediately Faline's eyes returned to normal, blinking in confusion.
"I...what am I doing here?" she wondered. Giving it some thought, she decided she must have been seasick and wandered inland to get away from the pitching oceans. Shrugging, she turned and went back to the camp, blissfully unaware of what dark magic she inflicted on the island.
--
Option A: Elizabeth receives word sometime later: The plantation is a success, and the first deliveries of sugar arrive in Bitemarsh!
Option B: Elizabeth receives word that something is amiss; sugar cane was planted, but something...strange seems to be growing there instead.
Option C: Actually, Faline finds something of note at her precious volcano.
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