NPC: Rabenoen

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Due to multiple options when speaking, text below may not be in comprehensive order.

*A woman dressed conservatively surveys the contents of several wagons of supplies. Her actions are precise with no wasted movements. As she checks the quality of soEL-DB.comme wood, she brushes her hair from her ear and you realize she is an elf. She hears your gasp, turns and strides toward you purposefully.* Hey, are you my stripper?

Who are you?

I'm Rabenoen and as you've probably already surmised, I'm a shipwright - a ship builder.

Stripper

Do you think a shipwright builds a ship this size alone? If that's what you think, you'd be wrong, especially with the timeframe I'm looking at. It takes all kinds of carpenters, joiners, finishers, and their apprentices. And, that's only the beginning. It also takes hewers, lathers, coopers, and weather strippers. Not to mention a large supply of wood supplied by Clint. So, are you my stripper?

Sorry

Damn! Well, Fat Lou is going to get a piece of my mind. He said he would send me a stripper. Now that I think on it, some of the guys who have shown up here, when I've asked them if they were my stripper, they just smiled and started taking off their clothes. I should have guessed Fat Lou had no knowledge of shipbuilding. I have half a mind to deliver the ship without the weather stripping finished, but I can't.

Why can't you?

Hmmm... How can I help you understand this? Ahhhh.... Tell me, this assembled wooden structure behind me, what is it you see when you gaze upon it? A ship? A boat? A nearly seaworthy, ocean-going vessel? In a sense you are correct, but the part of it you cannot see is what compels me to do my job to the best of my abilities.

But you're an elf.

I know it seems an odd job for an elf. We're woodland folk who love and revere trees. How is it that I'm able to do this? Of all the elves in the community where I grew up, only my dad was not surprised.

What can't I see?

It's as though a part of my soul is transferred to the ships I build. Ask yourself, what purpose does a ship serve? It's more than just a box to carry items across the water. It has to be a living guardian to those who inhabit her, who steer her to safe harbors, who care for her. Sailors understand this about ships, I think.

Why not?

I asked him that very question and on that day everything fell into place in my life: why I felt like I didn't belong, why I felt the need to be near the ocean, why when I looked at the trees where we liveEL-DB.comd I could imagine building ships out of them. He told me that he had never married, but that he had been lonely. One day after a storm, he decided to walk along the beach to see if anything had washed up.

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He managed to find a few odds and ends, but in a clump of seaweed, he heard a noise and when he investigated it, he found me in the arms of my mother. She died saving me and he could do no less. She was an Elven woman he had never seen before who had come from the sea to bring me to him so he would not be lonely anymore, at least that's how he saw it. But he was a good man, a good father to me. He raised me

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educated me, and loved me like I was his own. When I expressed interest in the sea and in ships, he found me books about them. When I wanted to build a boat, he bought me a carving knife and brought me a thick branch so that I might carve a model of what I imagined. It took many such branches before I finally managed to succeed in making a ship that didn't tip over and sink. Then, I built them larger until

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they were big enough to hold me. When I was old enough, my dad brought me here and apprenticed me to Master Shipwright Pequod who taught me everything he knew about building ships before he died. Now this shipyard is mine and part of me goes into every ship I build. I do, however, have a deadline to beat, so, if you will kindly excuse me, I will get back to work.

Deadline

To bless the spirit of the ship, Throvnc has a ritual to perform when the moons are full. This final act performed just before we launch the ship is a tradition here. Is it vital to ship building? No, but it feels like the right thing to do. It gives me closure.

Of course.

Just a second. Do you happen to know a weather stripper? No? Very well. I may just have to do that work myself.

Throvnc

He's the shaman of the only Orchan tribe here on Seridia. He has great power that I have never experienced before. You see, the man is mute. You know... he can't speak at all. Yet, he still has a way to communicate... a strange power that is activated when he touches you. At first, I was freaked out by it, but now, it's a mystical experience that I've come to know and respect.

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Iluwen is the one who introduced me to Throvnc. I must say, she is one of my best friends. Who would have thouEL-DB.comght that an Orchan and Elf could come together to be that great of companions. It must be our common interest.

Fat Lou

Don't even get me started on that tub of lard. He's the one who commissioned me to build this ship. I couldn't even understand what he was talking about at first. If you ask me, I think he's been watching too much of the Sopranos. Talk to him if you must, but it's quite possible that your IQ will drop after that... riveting conversation. *You can tell her voice is dripping with sarcasm*

Clint

He is one of the Orchan tribe members serving under Throvnc. I don't know much about him other than the fact he is an extremely reliable and hard worker. I must say, of all the Orchan men I've seen, he has the most muscle. I'm quite surprised he isn't a fighter with that kind of build. *She smiles slightly*

Common interest

I'm sure if you sailed in on the boat from Portland, you would have come across Iluwen. She's the harbormaster for the port down in Omlinor where the Portland boat docks. Her and I can talk about ships for hours upon hours. When we first met, her Common was not that great, but I've taught her some things and she is now fluent.

Goodbye

Smooth seas and a gentle breeze at your back, my friend.