Going to Commerce

Two primes after they had boarded an airship going to Waypoint Whim, Ondar, Glesni, Osric, Kaelani, Nix, and Kaikoa found themselves doing so again.  This departure was more permanent, and also less fraught with urgency and danger; 4 mounts, the wyvern, and 3 gryphon yearlings were getting installed in the stables hold of the fire elemental airship Woerlitz, captained by the Fire sagani Gatukuza.

The Woerlitz was taking on passengers and mounts, and not much else; some supplies for waypoint trading.  After a stop at Waypoint Whim, the airship was going to swing outward in an orbit to system south on an astronomy tour.  Passengers would be afforded prime viewing of The Cat in the southern sky for the new year's holiday.  Then it would head back inward, arriving on Commerce some days after.  Captain Gatukuza was of nekomata extraction, his red skin and tabbylike orange hair startling.  He was welcoming to the passengers.

Osric arrived last; he had to say good-bye to each and every animal in the Freelancers Stables, admonishing the stablemasters, and Hanno, to take good care of them.  As the Freelancers boarded, they noticed the observation deck sported 4 ballistae.

The Woerlitz seemed fast, and other than hitting several squalls, travel to Waypoint Whim was without incident.  The travel was longer; they'd left Cliffshadow at the start of Sieratag, and arrived at Whim 4 ½ days later.  The airship stayed docked for only 6 hours, during which time the passengers exercised their mounts, and Osric helped exercise the gryphon yearlings (one of which was his).  Nix checked the bar for more cordials from Sheerness.  The airship dropped off some supplies, took on food, water, alcohol, and passengers, then took off on their New Year's excursion.

As the Woerlitz cleared the waypoint's boundary, the captain and navigator worked closely together to pivot the airship a bit towards system north; the fire elemental laboured mightily, and after a short while, went back to what felt like a usual speed.  They emerged from the clouds and fog a few hours later in the bright light of the Daystar, going much faster than would be for a circular orbit, and the fire elemental laboured again.

The Woerlitz continued in such a manner for many days, the nights in the southern sky growing longer and longer as the daytime burns kept increasing the outward portion of the orbit.  Captain Gatukuza set up reflector telescopes on the observation deck, and everyone enjoyed the overnight views.  Drinks were served on deck, and Kelcorin, a Maker gnome bard with a surprisingly resonant voice, told stories of creation:  how Moana and Toka controlled the thalassae and skyliths, and how the trickster Cat became the reliable timekeeper they all could see.

After the holiday, the fire elemental started braking the Woerlitz during the day, and a slight turn starboard at dawn.  Two days later, the airship arrived at Waypoint Lark.

Lark was shaped like someone had fashioned a slingshot fork from soft clay and squished it together.  The waypoint station was on one of the tines, and seemed pretty standard with an inn/tavern, warehouses and repair shop.  The buildings were more integrated with the environment than normal, but the rest of it was covered with all kinds of greenery; outside the immediate station was a bird sanctuary.  A Children of Āhua settlement was at the junction of all three lobes.  Wild elves and Pastoral gnomes were caretakers, not only helping injured and abandoned birds recover and release, but also making sure the little skylith was friendly to migratory birds.

One docked, Woerlitz's passengers, including the Freelancers, were keen to exercise their cooped-up mounts, and that was everyone's focus initially.  Osric, exercising the yearling gryphons, didn't realize he wasn't supposed to leave the town, and with three restive predators did not see any warning signs as he joyfully headed to the inviting greenery.  A few curious birds approached, and the gryphons started play hunting.  Osric, mindful of the animals, kept the three under control using thorn whip and earth bind; good thing too as the watching Wild elf had summoned help.  By the time the other Wild elves arrived, Osric had wild shaped into chipmunk Osric and chirped a few times to get the yearlings to start "hunting" him instead of the birds.  Their alarm at three unattended young gryphons in the bird sanctuary faded when one of the gryphons actually caught chipmunk Osric, breaking the wild shape.

They asked Osric if he saw the sign, and he told them, "With three yearling gryphons?  They've been cooped up on the airship for more than a prime!"  They explained to Osric about the sanctuary as they escorted him and the gryphons back to the waypoint station.  They thanked Osric for trying to keep them from disturbing the wildlife, but Osric turned that around and told them he'd love to see more of the birds, and could help with any injuries.

Thus while the other Freelancers flew around the waypoint station or drank at the tavern, Osric got to see lots of animals.

Lark's day was rather long (the opposite of what they'd been experiencing on the airship journey) and the Woerlitz left at twilight.  As soon as they cleared the boundary the airship turned to port, pivoting its orbit to align with the Commerce/Duquesne plane.  At midnight, the airship braked again, and also the next day.  12 hours later, the round skylight with a bite out of it raced ahead of them from below, and they were docking at Ripa Daneo in short order.

Waiting for them, at the docks, was a Wind sagani, Auala, who introduced herself as a Freelancer, and also a Pastoral gnome, Glim, the Freelancers gryphon stablemaster.  Behind Glim were two stablehands, and they explained they were here to assist getting the untrained wyvern and three yearlings safely through the streets of Ripa Daneo and settled at Freelancers Tavern.  Even with their help, it was a bit of a challenge, although a wyvern wasn't as exotic for Commerce as it was for Duquesne; but finally they were at the stables, and the mounts settled in, after which Auala brought the six Freelancers to meet Damakaios, Naranjos, and the other Freelancers.

For some reason, when meeting Ondar, the other Freelancers kept giving Cathance and Ana side-eye glances.