After a restless night spent contemplating the mission you have vowed to complete, you rise shortly before dawn and meet with Lord Zinair in the courtyard of the stables that adjoin the Dessian consulate. A horse-drawn carriage is waiting to take you both to the harbour where a sleek Suhnese clipper called The Azaktana is ready to set sail. This magnificent ship is one of the fastest vessels ever to have plied the southern seas, and Lord Zinair has commissioned it for your voyage to Sheasu. He and you will be the only passengers aboard.
The Azaktana is stocked with sufficient fresh water and provisions to enable her to complete the voyage without unnecessary delays. The weather is Zinair’s main concern for the southern seas are notorious for the occurrence of sudden storms and squalls. Yet, despite his fears, the weather proves to be uncommonly mild. Aided by a strong easterly trade wind, the long voyage across the Mythenian and Vaduz seas is completed in record time.
Shortly after sunset on the twentieth day of your voyage, the twinkling harbour lights of Mydnight are sighted by the lookout. The captain shouts an order and hurriedly his crew lower the sails to allow The Azaktana to glide silently into the harbour of Sheasu’s solitary port. As the crewmen secure the ship to the quayside, the scudding clouds part and the decks are bathed by the ashen light of a full moon.
‘In thirty days’ time the moon will be full once more,’ says Lord Zinair, thoughtfully. ‘It will then be the moon of Harvestmas. I pray that you and Prince Karvas shall be in Seroa to see that.’
The parting clouds have also revealed a smaller globe of light in the night sky, above the port’s eastern quarter. At first you assume it to be just a star, but when you magnify your vision you see it is the stern lantern of a flying ship which is hovering 100 feet above the rooftops.
‘See, there, my lord,’ you say, and point to the orb of light.
‘Ah, yes,’ replies Zinair, smiling. ‘It would appear that Wizard Acraban has arrived before us.’
Lord Zinair’s pronouncement is proved to be correct when a young man, attired in the blue and silver robes of a Brotherhood magician, comes striding along the quayside towards your ship. He has a neatly trimmed beard and long, flowing ginger hair, and his chiselled features are distinctly Sommlending.
If you have ever visited the city of Caeno (in a previous Lone Wolf New Order adventure), turn to 165.
If you have never visited the city of Caeno, turn to 299.