It soon passes as does the night. Redknop wakes up when his body tells him it's morning, but being in a cabin below decks, it's hard to tell.

Redknop yawnes and stretches. He gets out of bed and starts dressing himself. He quickly rinses his mouth and face with water. Then he sits down for a while, praying to Gond for his blessing. He gets up again, ready to face a new day. He opens his cabin doors and walks up on the deck, hoping to find Bromley somewhere.

Once up on deck he sees that it is just morning, the sun barely above the eastern horizon. A quick look around the deck spots Bromley at the bow of the ship, gazing ahead. As he looks around, he notices that the river is now winding its way through swampland.

Redknop smiles and smells the air. He walks over to Bromley and whistles a tune in the meantime. He finds a spot beside him.

-Good morning and how do you do? It’s a mighty fine weather.

Redknop looks at where Bromley is staring, trying to see what he’s looking at.

Bromley turns to greet Redknop when he calls out to him.

-Ahhh, good morning to you master Redknop. I am feeling very fine myself, how is the morning treating you so far?

Bromley appears to have just been staring out in the distance, for there is only the murky green swampland that meets the eye, when Redknops stares over to where Bromley was looking.

-It’s fine day today. How about some breakfast? After all, one can’t start a day without a healthy share of bread and butter and maybe some juice to drink.

Redknop starts walking towards the dining hall. There he finds a suitable table and sits down, waiting for the waiter to come and take his order.

-Ahhh, a fine idea. Breakfast it is then.

Bromley follows him to the upper deck dining area and takes a seat. The place is fairly busy, but not crowded. A couple of minutes later a server comes to their table to take their order.

-Yes, I would like to have a lumb of bread, some butter and cheese if you have it, some juice, I don’t mind which kind, eggs and some fruits. After the breakfast I would like some tea with sugar.

Redknop looks at Bromley.

-What will you have?

Bromley nods in agreement with your order.

-I believe I'll have some of the same as well please. Thank you very much.

The server returns in a few minutes with the beginnings of it.

-So, we will arrive in Selgaunt by late morning tomorrow. Is there someplace in town you wish to visit or should we head straight to your former outpost?

-Well, we could use some mounts but I don’t think that I have enough money to buy one. But there are other means of transportation.

Redknop scratched his head and thinks for a moment.

-I don’t think that there’s anything that I’ll need, nothing in particular. But maybe I could sell some of my inventions. And yes, we must pay a visit to the House of Wonders. Maybe there we’ll get some help and maybe they’ve found out something about the raid.

Redknop lookes up at Bromley.

-What about you, friend? I haven’t even asked if you want to join me on my voyage. Would you like to help me investigate these horrible wrong-doings?

Bromley sets his drink down and smiles.

-Why certainly my gnomish cousin. Never let it be said that Bromley Q Flangerhanger stood idly by while there was a wrong needing to be righted.

He raises his glass in a salute.

-To the righting of horrible wrongs.

-I´ll drink to that. Your health, friend Bromley!

Redknop says and raises his glass to salute Bromley.

-To your health as well friend.

Bromley downs the drink then grimaces.

-Ach, juice. And unfermented at that.

He sets his glass down and begins to eat.

-So, now perhaps you can tell me the whole story. The abbreviated account was enough to peak my interest, but I'll need to know all of it if I am going to be able to help you in any way.

Redknop pauses for a moment, as if he was collecting his thoughts. He takes a sip from his glass and dries his mouth with his napkin.

-Well, you see, when me and my brother were young, we were very interested in building things, marvellous things. Our father worked as a royal gardener and he made us help him. Did we like it? No, it was a hard work but soon we discovered that we had a gift. We could put together things that made our work easy, practically from nothing. Thus began our story as the workers of wonders

Redknop takes a moment to take another bite from his breakfast.

-Soon our inventions were discovered by some travelling cleric. He told us that there was a greater being that had blessed us, Gond, and that we must work to further his glory. Well, he left but a few months later there came a letter, from the High Artificer in Urmlaspyr, inviting us to work in their temple. We were quite happy and few days later we said good-bye to our parents.

Redknop finishes the juice from his glass and signals the waiter to bring him another one.

-We worked there for three, or was it four years, I can’t remember how long it was. But anyway, what came to our surprise when we arrived was that all the priests were working on somekind of weaponry. The travelling cleric that had taught us about Gond never mentioned this, for we weren’t really violent and quite frankly, we’ve never like violence at all. But soon weapons of terrific magnitude became casual and days went past. Until one day, until one dark day.

Shadow crosses over Redknops face and his eyes darken.

All I remember from that day, was when the guards came rushing into the dining hall, screaming that the temple was under attack. After that everything is kinda hazy. But somehow I managed to hide from the assailants, but my brother wasn’t so fortunate. When I found him, he was dead. But this I know, the attackers were clad in black and were armed to the teeth and very skilled in dealing death. For many of our guards were skilled warriors, but the attackers killed them, some even with just flick of their sword.

Redknop takes a moment, to dry his eyes.

There is a lot that has passed my mind in the recent months. For one, where is the high artificer? And why didn’t anyone at the House of Wonders want to hear my story? When I arrived there, they just pushed me away and didn’t care the least, if I was dead or alive. Something, somewhere deep inside me, tells me that some answers may be found there. Something is rotten in the House of Wonders and I believe that Gond has chosen me to find out what it is.

Redknop stares Bromley in the eyes for a while as if he was searching for something. But after a few second he starts eating his breakfast again.

So, how long, did you say, until we reach Selgaunt?

Bromley nods after you finish your tale.

-Well, it certainly does seem to me that there is more going on there than meets the eye. But don't worry, we will get to the bottom of this in time.

He takes a couple more bites of his breakfast.

-Oh, we should arrive in Selgaunt sometime tomorrow morning.

When Redknop finishes his meal he stands up and says.

-I think I’ll spend the day in my cabin. I’ve got some ideas that need working on. If you’ll need me, I’ll be right there.

Redknop walks down to his cabin and keeps on his work. He thinks that he’s finally found a nice solution for his black-powder arrows. Now, it’s time to draw it up and work it out.

Time passes quickly as Redknop works over his drawings. Page after page is filled with schematics, diagrams and formulas. At times he feels as if Gond himself is guiding his hand. At long last Redknop sets his quill down. Looking over his work he’s satisfied with what he sees. If he has figured everything correctly, it should work. Unfortunately, with the destruction of Redknop’s outpost, it will be difficult to test his theories.

Redknop’s reverie is broken by a loud noise. He looks around startled for a moment before he realizes it is his stomach growling. He must have been truly touched by Gond today since he realizes that he has worked straight through his mid-morning snack, lunch, and late afternoon repast. It must be late in the day indeed.

-Oh, my! Oh, my! I really must have forgotten the time.

Redknop stands up, stretches and yawns. He quickly tidies up his desk and stuffs his calculations in his scroll case. When doing so, he sees an error in them and sits down to correct it. Fifteen minutes later he gets up again and this time he manages to leave the room and get into the dining hall, where he looks for Bromley.

Once on deck he quickly realizes that he has indeed spent all day in his cabin. Redknop makes his way along the lantern lit deck and up the stairs to the dining room. One look around shows that there are no empty tables tonight, however, he spots Bromley sitting at the bar and he has managed to hold onto an empty seat.

-Ahh, dear Bromley! Excuse my absence at the dinner. I lost track of time. I just made this wonderful discovery. For months I have tried to find a way to build a grappling hook that is foldable and fits easily into any pocket. And I think that I’ve just cracked it. It’s silly that I hadn’t thought of before, but the answer is so obvious. Just a couple of spring mechanism and wholla! There you have it.

Redknop sits down and exhales.

-Right now, I could kill for a mug of ale.

He signals the bartender.

-So, tell me, how was your day?

The bartender sees Redknop and soon he has a frothy mug of ale in front of you.
Bromley gets a refill as well before answering.

-Oh, my day was quiet enough. Spent most of it on deck watching the world go by. Sat in for a few hands at the gaming tables, didn't do to badly for myself though I'll never get rich that way. Now how about we get something to eat?

-Splendid idea. I really would like to eat some smoked ham and maybe some sweetened potato’s.

Redknop finds a table and sits down. Seeing the waiter run by, he signals him to come and take their order. After he’s gone again, Redknop takes a sip from his drink and says.

-Do you know of any nice tavern or inn in Selgaunt, someplace where we can be without being questioned or even robed? A trustworthy place? For some reasons, I’ve only found two taverns in all the realms that provide this kind of protection. The Griffons talons in Arabel and the Red Boar inn in Elversult.

Bromley laughs a little.

-Aye, I know of a good place in Selgaunt to stay. I've rested there on previous occasions without any unwelcome attention drawn to me. It's called the ‘Prancing Pony’ and it's near enough the docks to be lively and interesting, but just far enough removed to not overly threaten ones well being.

The waiter arrives with their order and another round of drinks.

-That´s nice to know. For some reasons my intuition tells me that we should be careful. There might be someone out there that want me dead, because I could, cause of my past, get them in tight spot.

Redknop starts eating, realizing just then that he hadn’t eaten all day and his belly was practically empty. He and Bromley talked for a while, but when they had finished and drunken their after-the-meal ale, he stood up and yawned.

-If you don’t mind, then I’m off to bed. We’ve got a big day ahead of us tomorrow and I intend to be up and alive, not nearly as tired as I am now. Besides, I’ve got to get up early and pray for my blessings, better to be prepared tomorrow.

-Good night to you then, I'll see you in the morning.

As he is leaving Redknop sees Bromley walk over to one of the gaming tables and take a seat.