Voyage

The next day couldn't have come quick enough for Charlie. For starters he'd be with his family but Charlie had never left the Byron estate before. He was excited to see what this world had to offer.

On the morning of their departure, the family had gotten up early to have breakfast before fully packing up and setting out. Their mode of transport, horse-drawn carriage, confirmed Charlie's hypothesis of this world's tech level or at least in this region. Once their luggage was packed Charlie, Adrianna and William boarded the simple wooden carriage and set off on a dirt road in front of the estate. Charlie looked out the window of the carriage to look back at the Byron mansion. He had spent a little over a year there but he wouldn't miss it very much. He only needed his mother and father with him to be happy.

After leaving the sight of the mansion, Charlie gazed at wide expanses of coniferous forest that hugged the roadside. They were the same trees surrounding the mansion, with red bark and dark green needles. The canopy stretched over the carriage at some points, obscuring the sky. The view of the forest lasted for some time before it began to thin out into fields. These fields were filled with growing bright green crop and the occasional scarecrow or farmer with farmhouses spread in between them. The view of fields didn't last as long as the forest and soon became the outskirts of a town. The wood and thatch houses looked fairly stable but the smell that emanated from this area was horrid. This led Charlie to believe that sewers were not as commonplace as he might've hoped and that sewage was disposed in rather ineffective ways but he steeled his resolve and tried to breath lightly.

After moving past the outskirts, the carriage began to travel past more expensive looking buildings; some were made of stone. The smell had greatly improved for which Charlie was grateful. There were some people walking the streets in comparatively formal attire to street wear on modern earth. It wasn't that the people were wearing suits and ball gowns but they seemed more uniform and many had unnecessary layers on even though it seemed frivolous and uncomfortable. There were also some women in the streets that weren't wearing dresses but instead pants and a tunic.

Overall, this information helped Charlie to get an idea of the availability of innovation for the common people. Charlie decided that their tech level was somewhere around the beginning of the industrial revolution but he couldn't be completely sure. His access to books and knowledge of the past has been limited to what little he's been told and some story books which can't be considered reputable sources. This would be beneficial to Charlie if he ever wanted to implement ideas from Earth here since they weren't so regressed that Charlie would have trouble explaining basic topics.

As they rode over the now cobbled streets, the family begin to smell rotting seaweed. Though it was unpleasant, it meant that they were approaching their destination. Within a few minutes, the last houses left the view of the carriage window before giving way to a seemingly endless cerulean sea. The sight would be beautiful if not for the smells and sounds. First of all, the rotting seaweed was now intoxicatingly strong but what made it worse was the constant screeching of seagull-like creatures flying overhead and the people rushing around shouting. On the edge of the coast, there was a market which was selling all kinds of things. Charlie noticed stalls that sold anything from jewellery to seafood. After some time it wasn't hard to see where all this bounty had come from.

The carriage was now approaching an extensive harbour with at least dozens of ships. Among those ships was the one they'd travel on to the spirit lands. The carriage stopped abruptly at the end of the wide boardwalk and Adrianna walked out with Charlie in her arms followed by William. They were at first overwhelmed by the crowd of rushing shoppers but a familiar face brought them back. Charlie was the first to spot Giselle pushing her way through a crowd from the direction of the dock. She had her hand raised above herself and was waving while awkwardly shuffling between some sailors. Charlie pointed to her to guide the attention of his mother to Giselle.

Once Giselle had made it to them, she explained that the ship's captain would send some of his crew to carry their luggage and that they should wait here. Soon after, four bronzed sailors approached the end of the dock. They were looking around but as soon as they saw Giselle standing with the family they approached the carriage and quickly grabbed all the bags. They starting walking back to the ship and gestured for them to follow behind. They pushed their way through the occasional crowd, carving a path for Giselle and the family.

Soon, they had all arrived at a three-sailed elegant galleon. Charlie gazed in awe at the ship that looked as though it had come straight from a pirate movie. His excitement peeked at that moment.

—

Charlie had been at sea for a little over a week. At first he happily watched the land he came from inch away until it was but a dot on the horizon but after a while, the wonder had faded. When looking out, all he saw was blue, blue water, blue sky, BLUE. The sun beat down on the deck harshly and there came a point where Charlie just stayed in his family's room and slept or cultivated. He had been told that the journey would be over soon and that they would reach Craith within a day or two. Craith was a coastal town that mainly made profit through trade with the Byrons who had originally established the town. It supported over a thousand residents who were both migrants and the descendants of. Craith was also where Charlie would be staying with his family for the foreseeable so he tried to learn as much as he could about Craith and the spirit lands where it was situated.

The spirit lands were home to a diverse collection of animals that were virtually unseen anywhere else. These animals were both strange and magnitudes more powerful than normal animals because of their inborn strengths and potential for growth. Many had tried to domestic and weaponize these creatures but very very few had ever been even rumoured to be successful. Even then, some still tried occasionally or bought and slaughtered them for sport.

What was even more intriguing about the spirit lands were its native peoples. They shared many similar characteristics with regular humans but they also possessed—to a lesser degree—the same inborn strengths and potential for growth as the animals. These peoples also had varying physical traits from humans. Some had pointed ears or green skin and some were closer to beast than man. In Charlie's perception, this sounded a lot like elves and orcs but he contained his excitement so that he wouldn't be disappointed if they didn't hold up.

The native peoples generally had good relationships with the settlers but some were reclusive and/or hostile. Those who were friendly though, traded with the settlers and some even let outsiders into their communities freely. Charlie had learned from his father that his position in the spirit lands was much like an ambassador to the various peoples and that he had been working to improve relations and establish trade with the natives. They were still secretive but William was hopeful as their relationships had been improving daily.

Soon after Charlie had boarded the ship, he noticed another familiar face other than Giselle. Geralt was also there and in the following days revealed himself to be William's friend. He didn't up and say "I'm your dad's friend" but when William wasn't with his family he was usually happily talking with Geralt who was more reserved but still smiled. Charlie wondered why Geralt had been with him instead of his father all this time but he didn't put much thought into it.

On board the ship, Lord Byron had also sent along Charlie's tutors. One cordially introduced himself to be Frederick Adler and was Charlie's tutor in academics and etiquette. The other seemed tired as he introduced himself as Tom Giles, his tutor in swordsmanship, archery and horse riding. Frederick Adler was a thin middle-aged man who had the unseemly habit of pointing his nose to the skies. In physical appearance, Frederick had slicked brown hair and fair skin that quickly reddened in the sun. Tom Giles was the opposite. While Tom seemed tired as he introduced himself, he had looked into Charlie's eyes with some reverence. In physical appearance, Tom was young, appeared strong, had dark brown skin and short dark coiled hair. Charlie thought it was a bit early to send someone to teach him swordsmanship and such but he wasn't complaining since he'd prefer to learn as early as he could although he couldn't start yet. He wasn't as excited about swordsmanship or archery as he was about magic but Charlie decided it'd be good to have something to fall back on if he needed it.

After a little more than a day, land was once again visible on the horizon in front of the ship. Charlie would be in Craith shortly.