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No more stallin', no excuses,
Berthel's ink is almost dry.
I've seen wars--awe and terror,
Now it's time to say goodbye.

Goodbye, cool waters!
Adieu, rocky shores!
I'll leave you with the friends you've made.
I'm off to brave
The narrow straits
In search of a world in which to trade.

Where am I leaving?

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2 Answers 2

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You are leaving

Europe

Several of the lines contain hidden references to Europe or cities in Europe:

No more stallin', no excuses, (Thanks, question_asker)
Berthel's ink is almost dry.
I've seen wars--awe and terror,
...
Adieu, rocky shores!

There may be others that I've missed.

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  • $\begingroup$ Good work on the clues you found! I'm expecting a more specific location though (with the note that one reference you found was a happy accident) $\endgroup$
    – Mark Peters
    Commented May 20, 2016 at 20:15
  • $\begingroup$ @MarkPeters Are there more hidden references that I haven't found? I can't find much that links these three cities specifically, aside from what's given in my answer already. $\endgroup$
    – GentlePurpleRain
    Commented May 20, 2016 at 20:27
  • $\begingroup$ You've got the hidden clues, although a bit of the language works on a couple of levels. Some lines might have more direct meaning. The cities do have something else in common with the answer. $\endgroup$
    – Mark Peters
    Commented May 20, 2016 at 20:45
  • $\begingroup$ @MarkPeters I was going to say - these seemed rather clustered together, but I didn't know if there was more to it or not. $\endgroup$
    – question_asker
    Commented May 20, 2016 at 22:03
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    $\begingroup$ @paste, that's why it's "stallin'" rather than "stalling". $\endgroup$
    – Gareth McCaughan ♦
    Commented May 21, 2016 at 1:06
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I think this riddle has garnered as much attention as it is going to, so I figured I'd fill some of the gaps "for the record" with a stanza-by-stanza answer.

Where am I leaving?

The Baltic Sea

No more stallin', no excuses,
Berthel's ink is almost dry.
I've seen wars--awe and terror,

Contains Tallinn, Helsinki, and Warsaw--all capitals of countries which border the Baltic Sea. Berthel, according to Ancestry.com, is a Swedish/German name, two more countries which border the Baltic Sea. "Stallin'" is additionally a reference to Josef Stalin, the leader of another nation with Baltic Sea shoreline (USSR/Russia).

Now it's time to say goodbye.

Goodbye, cool waters!
Adieu, rocky shores!

These are just literal and were meant to point you in the direction of a body of water.

I'll leave you with the friends you've made.

Obscure and a bit morose, but this refers to the Baltic Sea being a mass grave due to naval warfare during World War 2 (couple this with Stalin and "I've seen wars" for a deliberate WWII theme). Typified by the largest maritime disaster in history (by loss of life) with the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff.

I'm off to brave
The narrow straits
In search of a world in which to trade.

Refers to navigating the Danish Straits to reach open ocean, and thus "the world".

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