| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| boddynock |
Posted - 25 Mar 2007 : 18:49:39
Good evening to you all.
My players are making a travel from Luskan to Waterdeep by sea while followed by 2 black-sailed ships who want to capture their ship. (saison = early autumn). I was wondering how the coastal region between the 2 regions look like? Is it relative save or are there icebergs, maelstroms or dangerous, hidden clifs in the vicinity? Secondly is it a high trafic zone or are there very few ships between the 2 cities? |
| 3 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Thauramarth |
Posted - 26 Mar 2007 : 14:14:41
Dear Boddy,
I do not know exactly how you define "early autumn", but I believe that the seas between Waterdeep and Luskan should be essentially ice-free. The "Events of the Year" section in FR5 notes that in the exceptionally severe winter of 1358 DR, ports north of Leilon were iced in by the months of Uktar; I can only assume that in normal winters, those ports would remain open a bit longer. In any event, the harbour of Neverwinter stays ice-free year-round, on account of the hot springs feeding the river.
FR5's chapter on sea travel notes that icebergs do not pose much of a threat to shipping, since "experienced captains" know to avoid them.
Whether your players will see much traffic depends on the exact route they are taking. I am speculating that there is frequent sea travel to Luskan, since it is one of the main export routes (if not the only export route) for the ore and finished products from Mirabar. It is written in the Events of the Years (1357 DR, I think) that usually by Uktar Mirabar closes its doors to the outside. I am assuming that its traders will have returned by then, so the months of Elesias and Marpenoth are probably the last opportunities for merchants to buy Mirabarran products in Luskan. This coincides with early autumn, so there's probably a lot of ships (relatively speaking) going back and forth, including traders (probably with a lot of Amnite and Calishite ships, trying to avoid enriching Waterdeep by trading there, instead of Luskan). There will probably be a commensurate activity by pirates and Northmen (if there's a way to distinguish these…) preying on merchant ships.
As for other dangers (maelstroms, reefs, cliffs)… If your players' ship is following the usual shipping lane, there probably are not too many – a usual trading route would probably avoid areas which has such dangers on a regular basis. Of course, if you're the DM, what you say goes  - but if they are on the normal shipping lanes, and something unusual happens, I'd have the experienced sailors aboard their ship comment on the fact that such events are quite unusual.
As for shallows – according to the material quoted above, there are shallows on the coast off Leilon.
Hope this helps.
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| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 26 Mar 2007 : 02:31:17
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
You'll find that parts of Volo's Guide to the North and The North boxed set provide brief tidbits on the coastal regions themselves.
And the tomes in question can be obtained for free from the Wizards downloads page. 
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| The Sage |
Posted - 26 Mar 2007 : 01:00:28
You'll find that parts of Volo's Guide to the North and The North boxed set provide brief tidbits on the coastal regions themselves.
There's bits in Volo's Guide to the Sword Coast too, that may prove useful.
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