It was obvious that Annie wasn't in Neverwinter.
So Edgin's plan to have Holga hurry off and find the supposedly most, most, most, most, most, most, most, most, most, most, most... most powerful Arcane Archmage to deal with the Red Wizards, the Black Dragon, and the terrifying threat of the "Shadow of Death" bearing down on Neverwinter was, for now, impossible.
Annie had no idea that the Red Wizards of Thay were making use of the countless corpses and Undead in the Mere of Dead Men while conspiring with a Black Dragon. They had seized Leilon and the Wayside Inn, both nominally under Neverwinter's rule, and were now sweeping toward Neverwinter. Instead, she was still leisurely wandering around an archipelago far from the city, all by herself.
If she hadn't gotten lost or gone to the wrong place, then this was undoubtedly the Whale Bone Islands, in the ocean west of Waterdeep and roughly a thousand miles southwest of Neverwinter.
And the reason Annie had come here was, of course, that incredibly delicious whale blubber she'd bought at Neverwinter's Fish Market last time!
That's right!
She wanted to eat that meat from the creature called a "wandering white whale" again—especially that little lump of fragrant, top-quality whale blubber that tasted like jelly.
But unfortunately...
That spineless whaling fleet had made a huge fortune, especially from the pile of gold Annie, Her Majesty the Queen, had paid for that lump of whale blubber. Then they'd promptly announced they wouldn't go to sea, work, or do anything else for the rest of the year?
How outrageous!
Even more infuriating, they were the only fleet in Neverwinter willing to go whaling in the open ocean. So, since she really wanted to eat it again, Annie had no better option than to come all