[kenty191]

Confessions of a Sailor ~ Karn's Memoirs

Prologue

Living aboard a ship since birth can give you a slightly skewed view on things, especially when
you are suddenly left 'cast-away’ on land for the first time. This is the experience of a
young Karn who had until recently never spent more than one night on land.

Since his
birth, Karn’s family had been his crew-mates together with his elven mother, Lilaa. The
crew had been together for much of their lives and many of the ship’s crew were elven,
despite the tolerance of other races, they rarely if ever chose to spend the whole of their
lives on the ocean waves.

Karn grew up on the Euryalus and spent almost all of his time there. He was a valued crew
member who by day would work hard above deck, doing whatever was needed of him,
despite his meagre strength. By night however, Karn’s job was to entertain the crew, and
that he did.

As a child Karn’s mother gave him a flute and taught him well how to play it, yet he would
soon surpass her playing abilities. During his childhood and on into his adulthood Karn
became well known aboard the Euryalus as the ship's entertainer, a role he revelled in
given that most of the crew were Xeenite, and highly regarded those who could bring
others pleasure.

The nights of revelry and drinking continued for many years, and over time Karn caught the
attention of the ships captain, a strong and well-travelled elf by the name of Erion. One
evening Karn played in the ships galley, where the crew would gather after their evening
meal. Before a crowd of drunken sailors, Karn played the small flute his mother had given
him as a child. Within moments the crew stood in awe of the melodious sounds of the
flute Karn stood playing. Most enthralled of all, Erion the ships captain later met with
Karn after his performance.

Thus began a long relationship between the ships chief entertainer and its captain, the pair
were often seen together, and while the crew thought it unusual, the crew’s motto of 'live
and let live’ ensured the pair were able to solidify the special bond they enjoyed for many
years.

While the captain saw a great enthusiasm for life and love in Karn, the young bard also saw
the emotional strength and courage within the captain. The pair were almost direct
opposites in every way, Karn being so naïve to the world outside the ship, and Erion,
being all too wise to its horrors. While Karn was intrigued by his captain’s experience and
tales of battle, the captain was almost envious of the simplicity of the sheltered life Karn
had led.

As the pair grew older, their relationship developed and the pair became well
known as partners among the crew.Erion would tell Karn tales of his battles and the creatures
he had fought before he became captain of the Euryalus, and Karn
would sit for hours listening to his lover enthralled by tales of
far off lands and deep underground caverns.

Yet Karn’s life was set to change. Their relationship lasted fifteen long years, merely a blink of
an eye for an elf, but the pair were to be separated under the most unusual of
circumstances.
As Karn slept in Erion’s arms early one morning, outside a storm was brewing in the seas near
Leilon. As many of the crew slept the waves came rushing at the hull of the Euryalus, and
the ship began to rock violently in the wake of the storm. Far worse than any of the crew
had ever weathered, all crew members were called upon to steer the Euryalus safely.

This was to be the final night Karn would spend in his beloved home. The waves encroached
harder and more frequently, the sky darker than ever before, the morning had not come and
a dark mist covered the sun.

Erion gave his lover one brief last kiss before he left to take the helm. This was the last time
Karn ever saw him, moments after he left the room the whole ship shook. Hardened sailors
with years of experience screamed out as the ship crashed into a group of rocks near the
port town of Leilon.

Much of what happened after the crash Karn can no longer remember, and it has been four
months now since the darkness and the storm came and the Euryalus was destroyed. A
vague recollection of being washed up on Leilon docks still haunts him, yet anything more,
or the survival of any other crew members remains a mystery to him.

Today Karn still mourns the loss of his partner, and will do so for the rest of his life. Yet
adapting to a life on land, which Karn has never been exposed to, is by far his greatest
challenge for the moment.

Lost, alone and in a strange new society outside of the friends
he has known all his life, Karn wonders his way to the small town of Hlint...

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Karn's Latest Portrait! (Updated April 2007)