Chapter 1

Vennoa took in a deep breath. The warm salty air of Saltmarsh definitely felt different from the dry air of Waterdeep where she grew up. Sure, the port of Waterdeep had salty air too, but this, this was different. It almost felt like she could have a new beginning here.

Vennoa stepped off the ship she had arrived in. Honestly, she had no idea what she was doing here, other than heeding the instructions of the voice in her head. After Tensia, Vennoa had wandered aimlessly in the region for weeks, spending most of the time in taverns. She had not caught wind of her previous party, nor did she want to, after what they had done to her. Vennoa had been abandoned, as always, and her only companion was the ever-present voice in her head. Yes. I am the only one on your side. The voice almost never engaged her in conversation, only preferring to say cryptic remarks, or compelling her to do certain things.

Vennoa shook her head and looked around the docks. It was early in the day, and there was a lot of buzz in the area. People were scuttling back and forth, loading and unloading ships. Most of them were human, although Vennoa noticed a few elves and half-elves amongst them. Vennoa walked along the docks, unsure of where to go. She could do with an ale again, but first she needed to figure out where the local tavern was.

Vennoa paused in front of a boat docked nearby, and wrinkled her nose. It was a fishing boat, based on the fishy smell emanating from it. The fishing boat must have had a good haul, since there was a fair number of people carrying boxes of fish out of it. Vennoa considered asking one of them about the tavern, but they looked rather busy with their work.

Someone bumped into her from behind. A child, from the looks of it. Vennoa immediately reached down, and grabbed the child’s hand, which was wrapped around her coin purse.

“Not so fast, little one,” Vennoa said evenly. She had been a child of the streets long enough to know their tricks.

“Please, ma’am,” the little girl said with pleading eyes. “I’m sorry.”

Although Vennoa knew that the girl’s expression was one that was well-practised, she couldn’t help but feel her heart soften. Still holding onto the child’s hand, Vennoa reached into her purse and took out a silver coin. The girl’s eyes sparkled.

“Show me where the tavern is,” Vennoa said.

“Of course! Whatever you wish,” the girl said excitedly. “This way!” The girl pointed down the street with her other hand, and tried to pull Vennoa along with the hand that was being held.

Vennoa gave a small smile, and followed along.

“What’s new in these parts?” Vennoa asked the girl as they walked along the streets. Vennoa had released the girl’s hand by now, knowing that the girl would dutifully show her the way to get the promised silver piece.

The girl glanced at Vennoa, and replied, “I’ve heard that if you see someone at the docks after dark wearing a red cloak, you can slip them a copper coin, and they’ll bring you to people that can sell you anything you want.”

“Huh,” Vennoa said noncommittally. “Anything I want?”

“Yeah! They can get anything, for the right price, of course,” the girl said. “Or, you can give me the money, and I’ll get it for you from them!”

Vennoa nodded, as if she was considering the girl’s offer.

Before long, they arrived at the tavern.

“This is the Wicker Goat,” the girl declared. “Travelers like you tend to end up here.” She stuck out her arm with an open palm.

Vennoa dropped two copper coins on her hand. The girl stared at the coins.

“You said you’d give me the silver coin!” the girl protested.

“I never said that,” Vennoa said coolly. She patted the girl’s hand, and continued in a softer voice, “I was once like you. You can make more out of your life.”

The girl cursed Vennoa, something about fishes and salt, from what Vennoa could tell. The girl then turned and ran off. Vennoa picked up the silver coin she had wedged between her belt and clothes, and replaced it into her coin purse. It was a pity the girl had not noticed that coin, perhaps she wouldn’t be able to survive on the streets as long as Vennoa had.

Vennoa shrugged, and stepped into the Wicker Goat. By all accounts, it looked like every other tavern Vennoa had visited in recent weeks. Even though it was still morning, there was a large number of people scattered around the tavern drinking ale and sharing stories. From their clothes and snippets of conversations that Vennoa could pick up, they were most likely fishers. Did everything around here revolve around fishing?

“Can I help you?” the bartender called out to Vennoa. He was a burly man, with brown and grey hair.

Vennoa walked over to the bartender and said, “I’ll have an ale, please.”

While she was sipping her ale, Vennoa noticed that the ale had a strange smell to it, but she couldn’t quite place it. Vennoa tried to get into a conversation with the bartender, and as always, his tongue became looser the more she spent on ale. She learned that his name was Lankus, and he used to work in the Keoish army.

Lankus eyed Vennoa up and down, and said, “You don’t look like a regular traveler. You’re an adventurer, aren’t you?”

Vennoa mocked surprise. “How could you tell?”

“A single lady doesn’t just wander into a town like Saltmarsh without having some business here,” Lankus replied.

Vennoa wasn’t sure whether to treat Lankus’ use of ‘lady’ as a compliment or an insult. “I can handle myself just fine,” she said sharply.

“Of course you can,” Lankus said quickly. “You’re an adventurer.”

Before Vennoa could respond, Lankus continued, “If you’re looking for something to do, you should speak with Gellan.”

“Gellan?” Vennoa asked.

“Gellan is a noble and councilman of Saltmarsh,” Lankus elaborated. “He received an important missive earlier this morning, and he’s sure to need the help of adventurers like you.”

“How do you know all this?” Vennoa questioned.

“People talk,” Lankus said smugly. “This is the best tavern in town!”

Or the only one. Vennoa smiled and nodded. She finished her ale, and headed to the Council Hall, after getting some directions from Lankus.

The council hall was back in the direction of the docks, so Vennoa mostly kept to the same road that the little girl had previously led her on. As before, most people seemed preoccupied with fishing, talking about fish, and other sea-related activities that Vennoa had little interest in. It seemed that the recent fishing harvest was good, and there was a positive buzz in the air. Vennoa wondered what the town would be like if fishing went poorly.

Before long, Vennoa arrived outside the Council Hall. It was a large brick building set in the middle of town, with a small tower sticking out of one side of the roof. There was a horn at the top of the tower, although Vennoa had no idea when or why the horn would be blown. Overall, the building looked mostly unremarkable, except for the tower and a wooden sign hanging above the double doors. Lankus had mentioned that the Council Hall sign was a net filled with fish, and Vennoa had spotted that exact sign here. Fish, fishing, and fishers. That’s all they think about.

The buzz about the Council Hall was different than from elsewhere in Saltmarsh. Whereas there had been a positive buzz about the harvest earlier, the air seemed tense here. Vennoa caught snippets of people chatting softly outside the hall, mentioning something about weapons and lizards.

The double doors of the hall opened easily and Vennoa walked right in. In the distance, she spotted a well-dressed man speaking to a group of people — probably adventurers like her, from the way they were dressed. Other occupants of the hall stood in small groups, whispering to each other and occasionally pointing towards the adventurers.

Vennoa intended to walk close to the other adventurers to eavesdrop, but her dressing must have also yelled “adventurer”, since the well-dressed man called out, “Welcome! You must also be an adventurer. Please, join us.”

Vennoa sighed, her cover blown, and she walked over to the group. Besides the well-dressed human man, there were two elves, a human, and a halfling. Most of them were men, except the halfling and herself. The halfling nodded at Vennoa as she approached.

The well-dressed man said, “I’m Gellan, Councilman of Saltmarsh. Welcome. I was just talking to your fellow adventurers here about their last adventure.”

Vennoa nodded, preferring to draw as little attention as possible to herself.

No such luck. Gellan continued towards Vennoa, “Why don’t you introduce yourself to the others? We’re waiting on one more person before we can properly begin.”

Vennoa cursed to herself. She looked at the other adventurers, who were now staring at her. “Vennoa,” she said curtly.

The halfling woman said, “I’m Natira, but most people call me Nat. I’m a naturally lucky one, and I’m here to cleanse bad luck.”

Vennoa raised her eyebrows. Nat was dressed in chainmail armor, with a sword hanging by her side. She was also wearing a coin around her neck. To Vennoa’s eyes, Nat didn’t look any more or less lucky than anyone else.

Nat’s eye had a sparkle. “You’ll see. You’ll feel the winds of luck shift when I’m around!” she declared proudly.

Vennoa shrugged, and looked at the other people.

One of the elves spoke. He was shirtless, with a quarterstaff strapped behind his back. His overall look reminded Vennoa of Tempest, except for the deep frown on his face where Tempest was almost always smiling. Vennoa felt a tug on her heartstrings. Enough! Tempest didn’t want my help!

“I’m An’gari,” the elf said. It seemed that An’gari wasn’t fond of introductions, just like Vennoa herself.

Vennoa’s gaze shifted to the other elf. He was dressed in a cloak like her, but Vennoa could make out some sort of leather armor underneath the cloak.

“My name is Aldalome,” the second elf said. He swiftly took out a pair of daggers from his sides and twirled them, in some attempt to show off.

Vennoa rolled her eyes. While the twirling had been skillful, it wasn’t anything she hadn’t seen before in her time on the streets. Performance was one thing, being useful in an actual fight was another.