It's Time...

Darkness. Pounding. Pain. The moment before you open your eyes in the morning. These were the sensations Darvin was experiencing. He opened his eyes and looked around the room. Moonlight was pouring in through the cabin window. His head hurt. He noticed an empty bottle of rum lying on the ground. And then he noticed another one. This was a typical morning for Darvin Amblecrown, formerly mighty pirate, these days.

Darvin remembered setting off with his friends for Candlekeep three years ago. He even recalled fighting a battle, however, he could never remember how it turned out. He ended up in Baldur's Gate. He wasn't sure how he got back there either. His friends were nowhere to be found. Based on all of this, he had assumed that the ending of that battle had not gone well. That had weighed on the half-elf tremendously. He had never been as close to a group of people as he had been with his fellow adventuring friends. Slowly though, it all unraveled. First, with the death of Thjdolf five years ago. Then the Candlekeep disaster, as it came to be known in his head. And finally, with the dissolution with his ill-conceived marriage two years ago. It had lasted for 3 days and then she left him for a bard. Darvin had always hated bards. (For the record, my real life marriage is going great. No need to worry.)

The culmination of these three event had led him into a life of depression and alcohol. He had spent the last two years drinking the nights away on the Lady Narath. Slowly but surely the crew had disappeared. Either embarrassed for their captain or upset that they weren't getting paid. The only one who remained was Guybrush, his monkey First Mate. Darvin noticed his friend sleeping in his small cot in the corner of the room. It was also at this point that Darvin noticed the Wood Elf in bed next to him. This had become more and more frequent lately. Baldur's Gate had many seedy establishments. Darvin had discovered one called "The Naughty Wood Elf" which employed those very beings. He spent many nights drinking there and then bringing a random elf-maiden home. He looked at the woman laying next to him. 

"What the hell is her name again?" He thought to himself.

"Nefertari? Nefertiti?" In the end it didn't matter. She would be gone right after sun-up. They always were. It was probably better that way. 

He got out of bed and made his way to the deck. The moon was low in the sky and sunrise would be soon. Darvin made his way to the rail and looked out of the harbor toward the open ocean. He started to reminisce on his times with his old friends. How he had met Talathel in a bar in Secomber. Two lost souls who found purpose through each other at just the right time. He thought of his large cleric friend, Beranhond, who was as bumbling as he was righteous. He sadly and fondly remembered his friend Thjdolf, who had died under mysterious circumstances. He thought of Nym as well. The half-elf maid they had discovered in a sewer. He shook his head when he thought about his ill-fated and ill-advised romance with her. He wondered what had become of them. He missed them terribly. It made his head hurt even more.

He heard the cabin door open behind him and Guybrush climbed up onto the rail beside him.

"Morning Cap'n." Said the monkey.

"We can't keep doing this, Guybrush," Darvin sighed as he looked out over the sea before them, "I wish our friends were still alive..."

"Aye Cap'n." The monkey nodded sadly.

"We can't do this anymore," Darvin said again, "It's time...it's time we move on. It's time we find out what happened to them and where they are. It's just time..." 

"It tis, Cap'n, it truly is." They both continued to stare over the vast Sea of Swords in front of them.

All right. Your guys' move.