Exalted Cham Heshbeh

As a youth, Cham sometimes wondered at why it was that so few people ever sailed out from Pearlsedge. Certainly, there were some fishing boats, or small merchant vessels which hugged the coast on their way towards other small ports along the Hadashi coast, and even a few which made it as far as the settlements clinging to the coast of the Great Desert. He saw this, and he saw the ships that sailed in from the Cornucopian Realms with their abundance of fine cargo, and he wondered at why Hadashis didn't sail that way themselves. He was told it was because they couldn't, but it was not a lesson that ever stuck. He had watched his older brother, Anath, set off on journeys already, and had every intention of following suit.

In 628, after some persistence on Cham's part, the house assented to funding the construction of a fine ship and finding crew for it. So began Cham's voyages, on each of which he was accompanied by Anath. First, he tried to go east. The ship was sailing steadily east, then the crew found that time had passed and they were sailing west again, with no memory of the in-between. They tried again. Then they tried again. The result was the same each time.

Cham's next voyage was to attempt to find a viable way to head southward. The Labyrinth means there is no safe port along the Salthosian coast. They made it a long way south, and the Labyrinth seemed endless, so, frustrated, Cham ordered the ship to turn back north. They barely had supplies to make it back.

Through all this, Cham revealed an unusual talent for navigation and seafaring. The experiences did not dampen his spirits in the least. He did accept that he probably needs to look elsewhere to see more of the sea, and so he has since made his way far from home. To his general relief, other places across Salthos and Elthos do have rather more of a maritime tradition. The sheer number of different people and vessels visiting Sanctuary make it an appealing place to operate from, although he has also made no small number of visits to Benetta.

Cham is more curious than is altogether good for him. Some might regard it as fluke that he has survived his expeditions to date, though in truth he is a fine mariner. The sea calls to him and always has to some extent. He doesn't need to make grand voyages of discovery to be at sea, though; he will take other opportunities and reasons. Sailing from Salthos to Elthos has some satisfaction in itself, and he enjoys the major ports of the empire, whether at Sanctuary or Benetta, or across the Great Green.

He is good at holding a crew together. He expects them to do their jobs as he has assigned, and they tend to trust him because he is good at what he does - he's a good speaker, too.

Ashore, he is disposed to seek any mode of lively entertainment that can be found.

Cham is a seafarer of surpassing ability, and is an able leader.