After a harrowing evening fighting a crazed construct from a mysterious island that materialized off the coast the day before, our generational hero convinced the city’s mayor to let him investigate further With the man’s blessing our hero located his sailor friend, who promised him one of the fastest and most reliable ships available The next morning, our hero found his boat, which looked anything but reliable A fishing boat, mostly, it was only big enough for a crew of about seven Worse, there was no crew Thankfully, it was about that time that a halfling walked up, interested in joining our hero’s crew “I’ll man the crow’s nest,” the winged ranger stated happily, “what with the wings and the bow and all.” Our hero pointed to the boat, which of course didn’t have a crow’s nest Still, the halfling stated he wanted to get back to the island after they shot at him the day before As he explained that he was investigating the island when one of their constructs chased him back to land, a young boy with yellow tattoos approached cautiously “I’m trying to get to the island, so I can find a way back to my reality,” the boy responded when asked why he wanted to risk his life against potential hostiles It helped that he was also packing a sword and a special crossbow in which he seemed particularly well trained Still in need of a couple more hands to sail the boat, our hero welcomed him aboard “Are you the ferry headed to the island this morning?” a feminine voice called out just before the three adventurers were finally ready to take off Naturally, it was a beautiful woman, dressed in fancy clothes with very well-made boots and a couple potions at her belt She introduced herself as Katrina, an heiress hoping to prove her skill with alchemy She was accompanied by a large, draconic centaur carrying what could only be a falchion at each of his hips The pair were keen to get to the island and see what it offered by way of trade and allies While our hero wasn’t sure they’d find what they were looking for, he agreed that the larger one at least could be of some help Sensing the heiress’ misunderstanding of the situation, the halfling held out his hand, “It’s gold apiece if you’re sailing with us.” The woman gladly paid 15, accounting for her friend’s larger size There was the question of why he got the gold when it was our hero’s boat, but the halfling brushed it off and the party left for the distant shore “I’m Gideon, by the way,” the young man finally told his new companions, but the rest of them were too preoccupied to reply 27