Onestar bowed again as Teldin Moore introduced himself.
"Greetings, Captain Moore," Onestar replied. "I too have heard many things about you from a mutual friend."
Behind them men, Estress began climbing down to the landing deck. Teldin Moore looked over Onestar's shoulder to see the approaching illithid.
*Teldin! You're alive!*
"It's good to see you again, Estress," Teldin replied.
*But how? The explosion? The broken sphere? How...*
"Some other time, Estress. Let me just say that the Spelljammer has been reborn, and leave it at that."
"If I remember correctly," Onestar interrupted, "the broken sphere is very far from here. How did you manage to get here so quickly?"
"We're not really sure ourselves," Teldin replied. "The Spelljammer was trapped within The Broken Sphere, caring for it as life began again there. We thought we'd spend the rest of eternity when something...interesting happened. One day, this pinpoint of light appeared. When we investigated it, we could see through it into another part of Wildspace."
"The pinpoint grew larger. Once we were able to make out some of the constellations, we knew it was Omnispace. Something told us there was a problem, and we had to fix it. As the hole grew, we were able to pass through it, into Omnispace. Something happened. The Spelljammer sensed the weakening of dimensional barriers and that Omnispace was doomed. We decided we should come here and try to save the few innocents we could."
"What will you do now?" Onestar asked.
Teldin looked around him. "Some ships have already escaped, but there are a few back there who haven't. Hopefully, we'll be able to save them."
Onestar bowed. "Thank you for saving us."
"The Eternal Wanderer is a force for good in the spheres. She must survive. You'd better leave now, Onestar. We have a lot of work to do before we can get out of here ourselves. Oh, and please tell your helmsman I am sorry for making him come down here. He won't feel any more of the effects when he wakes."
Teldin and Onestar shook hands once more, then the samurai turned and returned to his ship. Estress stood there, looking at Teldin for a few moments.
*I must leave as well, Teldin,* Estress said.
"I thought you were going to say that," Teldin replied. "I hoped you would stay. This is a much bigger ship, and I could use an old friend."
*I found the Spelljammer once, I can find her again. Take care, Teldin Moore, The First Pilot.*
"Farewell, Estress. May you be safe."
Minutes later, everyone was onboard the Wanderer, and the ship (now being manned by Damian, since Hall was still fast asleep and snoring), lifted away from the deck. Teldin Moore watched the dreadnought leave for a few more minutes, lost in thought.
--There will be many to save.
--Many we won't be able to.
--The Spelljammer lives again.
--This is good.
Some time later, as the Eternal Wanderer reached the spherewall, it stopped for a few moments near an asteroid. Onestar had the ship stop while they laid Li T'Sing to rest. Onestar gave the assistant navigator a funeral, setting fire to the burial pyre with his own psionics. Li's body lit up the sky for hundreds of miles, a fitting end for one of the Wanderer's most valued crew.
Leaving the asteroid, the ship began to move toward the spherewall. Off in the distance, the wave of energy continued to expand. The sun, normally just a small ball of light, looked to be the size of a large planet, and it continued to grow.
"Ship ahoy!" someone called.
A battered dragonship appeared in the distance. It's markings labeled it a merchant vessel from Omni. Here was another lost ship that escaped with its life and nothing else.
The dreadnought raised the white flag and approached the dragonship. Several of the people on the other ship were injured. All were suffering from a loss that was too great to describe. Together the two ships moved toward the wall.
Onestar and Hall (who was still upset over not meeting Teldin Moore OR the Spelljammer) boarded the dragonship and approached the captain. The other captain was also an Oriental man, wearing a very expensive kimono and elaborate jewels. His face was totally ashen.
"Is there anything we can do?" Onestar whispered.
"...We need some clerical help," the other man said softly.
"Get Armas and Shauna," Onestar said to Hall. The bard turned away and called for Armas. Onestar and the other captain didn't know one another, but each knew what the other was feeling.
Hall came back, as the clerics went to see the rest of the crew.
"Where will you go now?" Onestar asked.
"Toril," the other man said. "We have some friends there. It's the only place we can go right now."
Onestar just nodded.
"Toril?" Hall whispered.
Onestar looked at him for a moment, then realized what Hall was thinking about. He then nodded.
"Do it," he whispered. At that Hall walked back to the plank and on to the Wanderer.
"Can we ask a slight favor of you?" Onestar asked the other captain.
Later, after Armas, Shauna and Meribor had finished healing the crew of the Dragonship, Onestar and Hall watched as the dragonship's cargo wench lifted a long, narrow box from the Wanderer's muster deck. It was a coffin, wrapped with one of the Wanderer's flags. Hall presented the captain with a small sack. In it were a few pieces of jewelry, a black book, an elegant silk scarf, and two letters.
"One of the letters is for her mother," Hall said quietly. "The other contains the instructions for where to take her."
"She will be returned home," the captain said, as the narrow coffin came to rest on the dragonship's deck.
At that, the crew of the Wanderer gave solemn farewells to the crew of the dragonship. Before returning to the Wanderer, Hall stopped and looked again at the coffin. He remembered the day he admitted her onboard the Wanderer. He remembered how she had wanted to make up for the frivolous life she had led on Toril by going somewhere else, and doing something good. Perhaps she succeeded.
"Sleep well, Eloiela," he whispered. He then turned away and returned to Wanderer.
A few minutes later, the two ships vanished from each other's sight.
