Crawworth Expedition – Introduction

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Title: Crawworth Expedition - Introduction

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Lord CrawWorth stood staring into the cave, trying to get his eyes to adjust to the pitch black.

He was afraid to light a torch just yet, in case some of the denizens of the darkness were attracted to the light or heat. His hand strayed from the hilt of his sword to his thick mustache, and he twirled the end of it, as was his custom when he grew nervous. The silence was broken by my voice.

"How far does it go, dost thou think?" I asked. My name is Caitlin, and I insisted on coming with the expedition. CrawWorth claimed he did not care one way or the other, as long as I didn't get in the way too much.

"It leads to another land, M'lady. How far dost thou think that is?" He didn't mean to be rude, but he was deep in thought and paid no attention to the inflection of his voice. He turned to make sure the rest of our expedition was ready.

Michelle, the ranger from Skara Brae, was checking her bow and trying to peer around CrawWorth into the cave. The green cloak she wore wrapped around her chain mail muffled the noise it would have made normally. She finished with her bow and slung it over her shoulder, and then took the time to tie her long blonde hair into a ponytail.

Enas, the wizard, had come all the way from Moonglow to be part of the expedition. He kept his hair cut short and his face shaved clean. CrawWorth was worried about the long blue robes he wore, but he appeared to be able to travel with no problems. Enas would be performing a dual function for our party, as he was also an accomplished artist. Lord British had tasked him with sketching each of the new creatures the expedition encountered.

Xarot, like CrawWorth, wore his best plate armor. The savvy fighter was also versed in the healing skills, and therefore made the perfect complement to CrawWorth. The two had fought back to back many times against orcs, ettins, and trolls, and CrawWorth trusted him as though he were a brother. Xarot scratched his goatee and gave his axe a tedious examination. He glanced at me and smiled, as though to reassure me, but I didn't need his reassurance.

The last of the group was the cartographer who would send maps back from the expedition to Lord British's waiting hands. His name was Dresler, and he wore leather armor that was just a little too big for him. He was easily the smallest of the group, and his curly hair and long beard made him look the eldest, although he was probably only a few months older than CrawWorth, and probably years younger than Xarot.

He didn't pay any attention to the conversation that I was having with CrawWorth, but instead took the time to check his blank parchment and his quill and ink.

"Hand me the torch." CrawWorth finally said. He looked into my eyes, and paused. I like to think that it was occurring to him that I wasn't the little girl that he thought I was. My eyes have been known to have that effect on men before. He grew handsome somehow, there in the moonlight. Another time, another place, I thought. But that thought left my head quickly.

The torch flared with a brilliant yellow glow and the entrance to the cave lit up with a sickly radiance. I could see no end in sight. We entered carefully… The search of the map maker.

I was with CrawWorth when he started searching for a competent mapmaker. Someone who would be able to take care of themselves, as well as make legible maps for the cartographers in Britain to study. We had interviewed scores of men and women before Dresler finally arrived. He walked in calmly and sat down at the long wooden table, covered end to end in half-drawn maps and half realized ideas. He wore tattered clothes and carried a small club. He didn't have shoes or armor, or even a real weapon.

CrawWorth looked him over dubiously, then glanced at me questioningly. I shrugged my shoulders and waited for someone to say something. I didn't have to wait long before the newcomer spoke up for himself.

"I'm Dresler. I'm thy man. Aye." His voice was deep and graveled, as though he gargled with small stones. His eyes never left CrawWorth's, and I think that the grizzled fighter was a little impressed by that. Maybe more than a little. "You draw maps?" CrawWorth asked. "The best. Let me show thee."

I can only say that I was astounded. In the space of less than a minute he'd done a rough outline of not only the room we were in, but also the path he had taken from the docks to arrive at the building. His map was littered with small notations indicating a tree here or a stone there. Anyone who could see could have followed his map from here to his starting location or from there to here without so much as looking up from it.

CrawWorth wasn't done though. The one thing to him that was more important than the ability to draw a coherent map was imbedded deep in his mind.

"Canst thou defend thyself, sir? Will we be stopping every few minutes to rest thy weary feet?" He was harsher than he should have been. But Dresler paid him no mind.

"That and a lot more. I was once a soldier in Serpent's Hold. But I grew weary of the soldier's life. So I went to find my fortune." "We'll see, good sir." CrawWorth said, and he rose from his chair with a solid determination. He picked up the two practice swords that he kept behind his chair and tossed one of them to the little mapmaker.

"No thanks, I've got me own." He said, dropping the sword and twirling his club around in his hands. CrawWorth swung sharply from the left, meaning to hit him with the flat of the blade, not to hurt him. But he needn't have worried. With a deft move the man ducked under CrawWorth's attack and slammed his club down on CrawWorth's outstretched wrist.

I heard a small pop and then a clang as CrawWorth's sword hit the ground. He looked down at his hand and at the little man with the stick, smiling at him. "Sir, " CrawWorth said, "thou art hired." 'Tis Dresler's maps thou wilt be seeing here. Believe me when I tell thee that there is no finer cartographer in all the land. His maps are accurate and elegant in their simplicity. Never take for granted the many uses of a good map.