Thursday, May 22, 2014

Hapless Hadar and the Port of Grivendale

(Click to enlarge)

There is a story among the Tovarr near Grivendale that on the nights when the lighthouse fire burns blue under the three moons of Agon, a ghost ship can be seen putting into the eastern port.

The tale of the ethereal black sails of the ship, emblazoned with the symbol of the First Shield Battalion, is spoken with hushed awe by those who claim to have seen it. The vessel is said to be the brigantine of the ill-fated Tovarr captain Hadar Stonewater, often called Hadar the Hapless in Tovarr tales.

As the story goes, Hadar put together a crew of seventeen Tovarr sailors and set off to find the rumored treasure of the temple of Ahutil on the northern coast of Yssam. Whispers in Tovarr pubs from hunters and explorers claimed to have seen mountains of selentine within the temple but could not return with proof because of restless guardians amid the temple grounds. The hearsay of the locals of Gulgrumir promised endless wealth to the crew who could brave those haunted halls and live to tell the tale.

Those who penned the earliest known recordings of this voyage remark in their accounts, with great detail, the grandiose farewell and the yearning of good tides from starry-eyed onlookers. Children wore eye patches over closed eyes and wielded wooden scimitars. Women wore aprons with fresh stains of the days festivities and waved towels before them. Some men wore workers clothes and shared tales of what might be. Other men donned worn battle regalia of wars long past and lined the gangway as the crew boarded the vessel. The docks of Grivendale were littered with iron dust and rice by night's end.

There exists no account of their return.

1 comment:

  1. This was once a beautiful Dwarf port named Ringfain.

    http://www.axiomfiles.com/Files/420163/Darkfall_Ringfain-Dwarf_city4.jpg

    ReplyDelete