Seafarer's Research

To begin, talk to Noah in Camden, in the Wastelands.

Noah the Shipwright looks up from his work as you enter, a thin smile creeping over his weathered face.
Noah the Shipwright says 'Hello there Playername, it is nice to see another such as myself, so in love with the sea.'
Noah the Shipwright exclaims 'Have I told you yet, of mah idea? It would change our craft for ever, I'm sure of it!'
Noah the Shipwright wonders 'I would need help though, would you be willing to help me?'
Noah the Shipwright says 'Nod at me if so.'

You nod in agreement to him.
Noah the Shipwright's face breaks into an enormous, toothy grin.
Noah the Shipwright exclaims 'That is most excellent!'
Noah the Shipwright says 'I have had this idea for a device, which would use the stars and the sun to direct a person around.'
Noah the Shipwright says 'However, it is too intricate of a design for me to create myself.'
Noah the Shipwright says 'I have, however, made these schematics of it.'
Noah the Shipwright takes a piece of paper out from his pocket, and waves them about with his grubby hands.
Noah the Shipwright says 'If you would be willing to find someone to build it for me, I would gladly teach you how to use it.'
Noah the Shipwright asks you, 'Will you help me?'
Noah the Shipwright looks up at you, expectantly.

You say 'I will help you'
Noah the Shipwright nods his head in excitement.
Noah the Shipwright says 'Wonderful. Here are the plans.'
Noah the Shipwright gives you a set of astrolabe schematics.
Noah the Shipwright says 'I would bet a blacksmith who lives by the sea may be able to construct it for you.'

Set sail aboard the Meridia for the Isle of Eurion, there find Erneth.

Erneth stops pounding on the anvil momentarily.
Erneth wonders 'Were you the one interested in the astrolabe?'
Erneth says 'All I need to see are the astrolabe schematics...'

You give a set of astrolabe schematics to Erneth.
Erneth says 'Well, isn't this interestin'.'
Erneth takes the set of astrolabe schematics into his hands, and looks them over.
Erneth says 'These are quite the drawings here.'
Erneth says 'I could probably build this for you, but I would require some special skarn deposits.'
Erneth nods to himself, seemingly happy with his request.
Erneth says 'You would best look for those in the mines around Juargan.'
Erneth exclaims 'Those dwarves sure can dig a mine!'
Erneth says 'Bring me the ore, and I will see what I can do.'
Erneth continues his endless pounding at the anvil.

Head to the Kingdom of Juargan and dig in the mines for the ore.

You give a rock containing skarn deposits to Erneth.
Erneth looks intently at the skarn deposits, holding it up in the light to eye out the glint.
Erneth says 'I think this will do nicely, yes.'
Erneth says 'I will need some time to work on this. In the meantime I have another task for ya.'
Erneth says 'To complete the astrolabe, I will need a sea captain's dial.'
Erneth says 'I don't think I would have to tell you where to find one of those.'
Erneth grins as he begins working on the ore.
Erneth says 'I would try a sea captain.'
Erneth focuses his attention away to the task at hand.

At this point, I headed to Ocean Keep and checked out Captain Lodd. Even though there was no indication that he might have a dial, I decided to kill him anyways (can always use more jade cameos). Sure enough, he popped a dial.

Captain Lodd is DEAD!!
Captain Lodd wheezes 'The king will hear of this.  My death will be avenged.'
He mutters his last words, something in an unknown tongue.
You feel the temperature in the room rising rapidly, quickly 
becoming intolerable.  Suddenly, the heat concentrates in one 
spot and then rushes into your body, causing horrible pain.
You scream in agony as the fire burns you from the inside.
ARRRRRRRRRRGH!!!!!
(a pair of scorpion carapace gloves gets damaged)
That really did HURT!
Captain Lodd splatters blood on your armor.
You get 581176 gold coins from the corpse of Captain Lodd.
The corpse of Captain Lodd holds:
     (Glowing) a sword with the king's crest
     a sea captain's dial

Return to Erneth in Eurion.

Erneth looks up at you, smiling.
Erneth asks you, 'Did you find the dial?'

You give a sea captain's dial to Erneth.
Erneth smiles at the sight of the sea captain's dial.
Erneth says 'This is most excellent. It will work perfectly.'
Erneth says 'Where did you get it? Actually I'd rather not know.'
Erneth says 'I will get to work finishing off your astrolabe, it will still take a bit of time.'
Erneth says 'Why don't you come back tomorrow, and I will have it finished for you.'
Erneth bows his head slightly then hurriedly returns to his work.

After some time your astrolabe will be ready. Return to pick it up, but, oh no!

Erneth looks down at his hands, unable to meet your gaze.
Erneth says 'I am so sorry.'
Erneth says 'I had just finished your astrolabe, when someone entered my hut.'
Erneth exclaims 'I tried to tell him I was closed, but he just demanded the astrolabe, he knew all about it!'
Erneth says 'He pulled his sword on me and threatened my life.'
Erneth sighs to himself.
Erneth says 'If you find him I'm sure you will be able to get it back.'
Erneth says 'He mentioned an Island he hides out on, called Stormpoint.'
Erneth looks up, finally meeting your eyes.
Erneth says 'I have never heard of it myself.'
Erneth says 'However, I'm sure if you mention the name of the island to a ship's captain, you might be able to get a ride out to it.'
Erneth nods to himself, feeling better about the ordeal.
Erneth says 'Good luck my friend. If you get it back you should show it to Noah, I'm sure he would like to see it.'

Travel to Raven Tor and talk to Captain Henry.

You say 'stormpoint'
Captain Henry whistles to himself.
Captain Henry says 'So you be wanting to get out to Stormpoint Island, do ya.'
Captain Henry says 'That be a hard journey my friend, and my ship has seen its share of hard journeys already.'
Captain Henry rubs his chin, contemplating the situation.
Captain Henry says 'I tell ye what. You give me 5 hundred thou in coins upfront, and I can get ye there.'

You give 500,000 coins to Captain Henry.
Captain Henry smiles at the money in his hands.
Captain Henry says 'Oh this be excellent, I can be repairing a few things I have been procrastinatin' on.'
Captain Henry says 'Right this way please, we will be leaving port immediately.'
Captain Henry yells 'Ahoy, scurvy dogs! Unfurl the mains'l! Avast there, filthy sons of goats!'

Wait for the trans. Then search out and fight Crookeye_the_Pirate

You will be in a small maze, chose a random direction twice, if you chose correctly you will see this echo.

 You hear the sounds of a pirate hollering something...

Do this again. If you guess wrong on the second set of directions, start again from the beginning. The second echo is...

The sounds of the pirate grow louder... he must be close by.

Do this again. If you guess wrong on the thirdset of directions, start again from the beginning. The third echo is...

More light is shining through the nearby trees.

Now one of the exits will lead out of the maze. The echo is...

You emerge from the foliage and find yourself at a clearing.

Head north and steal the key from the sleeping pirate. Spellup and unlock the door to the east. Enter and fight Crookeye.

This is a nasty fight, with a few surprises.

Crookeye the Pirate is DEAD!!
Crookeye finally falls to the ground, dead, still clutching the astrolabe
that he was trying to protect. You spot the astrolabe on his lifeless
corpse, and you hold it up in the air for a moment, admiring it.
You also remember Noah the Shipwright telling you that he can teach you
how to use this interesting tool.
Crookeye the Pirate's eye is gouged from its socket.
You get 26377 gold coins from the corpse of Crookeye the Pirate.
The corpse of Crookeye the Pirate holds:
     the feathered hat of the sea captain
     a pirate's scimitar
     a mariner's astrolabe

Take the astrolabe to Noah in Camden, in the Wastelands.

Noah the Shipwright looks up from his work as you enter, a thin smile creeping over his weathered face.
Noah the Shipwright says 'Hello there Playername, it is nice to see another such as myself, so in love with the sea.'
Noah the Shipwright wonders 'What... you were able to obtain an astrolabe?'
Noah the Shipwright sits down and thinks deeply.
Noah the Shipwright says 'Lemme show you how to use that thing.'
Noah the Shipwright says 'Just say "train me" when you are ready.'

You say 'train me'
Noah takes your astrolabe and begins to show you the numbers on the dial that
correspond to the altitude of the sun above the horizon, allowing you to
quickly calculate how best to reach a particular position. The method comes
easily and intuitively to you, and you clutch the astrolabe tightly as you 
thank Noah for his knowledge.
Noah the Shipwright demonstrates navigate to you.  You feel more learned in this subject.