I sit in the soft candlelight writing, as the ship rocks and creaks around me. My quarters are the cargo hold, while not a captain's cabin they are comfortable enough, with a straw bed in the corner and a crate for a table. It's been a few days into the journey and we should be arriving in Drökkburg the day after tomorrow, weather permitting. I'm not too sure what to expect when I arrive, Talos told me to be careful in the big cities. 'Stick to the main thoroughfares and don't be noseying down the backstreets', he told me slipping some gold into my hand for the journey.
Something causes me to turn, a feeling, a sound, I'm unsure. Behind me a figure, dressed head to toe in dark leather, stands in the dim light of the cargo hold. I pull back against the crate and ask who they are. There is no reply, but I know that under the dark hood hiding their face, they watch me intently. Suddenly and silently, they move, crossing the space between us in seconds.
A dagger seems to appear from nowhere and is pressed to my throat. 'A change is coming,' they whisper. 'Did you miss me?'. I peer into the hood and see a clean-shaven face, a scar running from eye to mouth. I see..... me.
With a jolt, I sit up in bed, hardly able to catch my breath. I have become accustomed to the random, disjointed nightmares, but this was something else. It felt real and the fear is still there, pinning me to the bed, like the shadows themselves would swallow me if I moved. Slowly I reach out for my lantern and light the candle, bringing the hold into soft focus, I am alone.
I blink and squint in the sunlight, as I make my way onto the deck. The crew busy themselves with the various preparations of coming into port, I head over to a quiet part of the bow, so not to get in the way. In the distance a sprawling harbour hugs imposing stone walls, behind which, I can barely see tall, Gothic buildings and dark towers looking down on the people busying themselves on the docks below.
We have finally arrived in Drökkburg.
Something causes me to turn, a feeling, a sound, I'm unsure. Behind me a figure, dressed head to toe in dark leather, stands in the dim light of the cargo hold. I pull back against the crate and ask who they are. There is no reply, but I know that under the dark hood hiding their face, they watch me intently. Suddenly and silently, they move, crossing the space between us in seconds.
A dagger seems to appear from nowhere and is pressed to my throat. 'A change is coming,' they whisper. 'Did you miss me?'. I peer into the hood and see a clean-shaven face, a scar running from eye to mouth. I see..... me.
With a jolt, I sit up in bed, hardly able to catch my breath. I have become accustomed to the random, disjointed nightmares, but this was something else. It felt real and the fear is still there, pinning me to the bed, like the shadows themselves would swallow me if I moved. Slowly I reach out for my lantern and light the candle, bringing the hold into soft focus, I am alone.
I blink and squint in the sunlight, as I make my way onto the deck. The crew busy themselves with the various preparations of coming into port, I head over to a quiet part of the bow, so not to get in the way. In the distance a sprawling harbour hugs imposing stone walls, behind which, I can barely see tall, Gothic buildings and dark towers looking down on the people busying themselves on the docks below.
We have finally arrived in Drökkburg.