It only took Graden a few hours of a leisured pace to get him to the shores of Isenstar. No wind disturbed the surface of the lake, which was placid and smooth as glass. Several small huts dotted the shore, many of which had a boat near on the edge of the lake. Graden walked over to the nearest hut, one with a dilapidated dock jutting into the waters, but with a nice, fair-sized, seemingly nice conditioned, canoe tied to the end. He approached the door and knocked lightly on it. A few seconds passed, and Graden thought of knocking again, but someone had approached from behind him.
"What d'you want?" an old man asked him in a hoarse voice.
"Good morning sir," Graden said politely, removing his hat, "I need to get across the lake and I was wondering if you would sell your canoe to me."
"What would ya need to be goin' 'cross that lake fer?"
"I am on a quest to get to UrĂ»'baen, but I need to get across this lake, and I was wondering if you would be so kind as to sell me your canoe."
"Son," the man said, taking a few steps closer, "do I look like I'm in any state to be usin' that canoe?"
Graden looked up and noticed that the man's eyes were a milky white. "No sir, so what do you want for it?"
"What do I want for it? Hell, you'd be doin' me a favor just takin' it."
"For truth? Thank you very much sir!" Graden replied shaking the old man's hand with fervor. The old man patted him on the shoulder and stumbled off mumbling something under his breath.
Graden couldn't believe his fortune! Every piece of gold was still in his wallet, and he was given a canoe. He walked over to the dock and his spirits sank a bit. The dock was so rotten that he didn't know if the boards would hold his weight. He set his pack down as well as his hat, unbuckled his sword and dagger, and set out on his little side quest of getting the canoe. The first few boards gave protesting groans at each tentative step he took. Halfway out, the boards stopped making noise, and Graden took more confident steps. Near the end, by the canoe, the boards were completely rotten, but Graden was not watching the boards, he was excited at his proximity to the canoe. At his next step, his leg broke through up to the knee. He struggled to pull it out, and once again, his attention snapped back to the boards. The next step was risky, as the board groaned and creaked threateningly, and once the noises stopped, he let out his breath. He tried taking another step, but his resting foot broke through, and his body fell forward, breaking through the rest of the boards.
It was repulsive under the dock, slime and algae clung to the posts, and all sorts of bugs and spiders made the underside their home. Graden surfaced, spitting mouthfuls of water out and treading. It took him a few seconds to get his bearings, then, he swam over to the canoe, his face getting entangled in a spider web and a big hairy spider. Graden just about lost his cool, but he calmly flicked the spider off and rubbed the web off of his face. He wasn't a big fan of spiders since when he was a small boy trying to go to sleep, and a large hairy spider started crawling on his face and put several legs in his mouth. His parents were amazed at how loud he could scream, and it was a blood curdling one at that.
The rope holding the canoe to the dock was in good a shape as the dock itself. When Graden tried to untie the rope, the fibers disintegrated in his hands. Holding the remains of the rope in his hand, he swam back to shore with the canoe in tow. After beaching the canoe, he pulled a paddle out of the bottom and set his pack in the front. It was just about one rod long, and amazingly, it was made out of aluminum. Another stroke of luck. He got a little worried though, as his father once told him that with good luck, somewhere along the line, bad luck is there to balance out. Graden was a superstitious fellow, and he took that concept to heart. Setting his sword and dagger in the center of the canoe, he peered up at the sun, directly overhead. He was just about to heat up some of the hare meat, when the blind man came back out and asked him if wanted some lunch before he set out. Graden complied graciously, and ate a stew of vegetables and some sort of fowl. By the time he was ready to go, his clothes were completely dry. He set his hat firmly upon his head, thanked the man for the food, and walked over to the canoe.
