The crew arrived shortly after, in dribs and drabs. They weren't a unified crew, but the port master took charge, and soon after, a loud man with a scarred face in his 40's. Some of the scars looked fairly fresh. They were an odd, dispirate bunch.
After the gear began to be readied and divied out, the coated man approached the dock and the boat.

"Any of you the captain of this fine vessel?"

His voice was surprisingly pleasant, despite the fact he was the image of the grizzled, crusty naval man. His coat was of good quality, but it had obviously been stitched up recently here and there, and some of those scars on his face looked deep.

He was pretty sure it wasn't the howler or... whatever the pretty young thing in the absurdly short skirt was, but he didn't want to presume. He'd been told this was a strange one, and to take it in stride.

  Gaja inclines her head toward Increase.

  "Mister Scholar.  He built the boat."

"Very good, ma'am. And a fine Job to you, Captain. I'm Carna M'add, former skipper of a fishing vessel till a particularly bad run of luck. At your service."

He bowed to them all, a little stiffly, doffing his slick leather hat.

"If the Captain agrees, I'm to be your bosun and, I've been told, effectively a first mate aboard this ship for your experiments, and that I'm to treat you all as keel plate owners and agents of the house, and extend to you every courtesy.

Essentially, it'll be my job to turn your orders into action.

I'm afraid the crew's.. a little dodgy, but they aren't green, thank goodness. With your permission, I'll get rid of the worst of the idiots and start preparing for the voyage."

He motioned to Gaja and Claire.

"I'm afraid there's no proper cabins aboard this class.. if it's anything like the style of boat I'm used to. I'll whip the piss out of any of the crew who give you trouble.

I'd recommend some slickers, pants and hats for the voyage if you don't want to catch your death."

  Gaja laughs and kicks her feet up, leaning back over a railing.

  "Leave one idiot, and it'll take care of itself.  Claire can make him piss himself just fine.  We're not here as decorations."

Claire nodded to the man and gave him a slight smile. One of the first to treat her as a human, really. "Welcome aboard. I'm Claire, navigator and lookout. I don't suffer from cold and wet like humans do, but thank you for your concern for my health."

She grinned at Gaja's words and gave her a thumbs-up gesture. "And yes, the three of us are all trained fighters. And I've had to deal with handsy fans before in the Republic." Even if her memories of doing so were a bit hazy.

Increase strode forever when Gaja introduced him as the captain of Fishing Vessel.

"Well meet Carna. As my associate has said I am the captain of this vessel. You may refer to me as Captain Scholar."

He then listened to the man speak on his own skills and nodded amicably at his suggestions even as his associates lodged their counter proposals.

"Yes I believe taking you on as my bosun will be most advantageous, welcome aboard. As for removing the idiots from among our ranks I must agree. Better to have a more efficient operation than waste needless time making examples of people. Please see to their removal as you deem fit."

Increase was a wanderer and intellectual and both of those had taught him to heed the council of those more experienced than himself. It had kept him alive. Beyond that it benefited Carna to impress his employer and humans often worked to the their own advantage whenever possible.

"Once that matter has been resolved gather the crew. I want to set sail within before noon."

Carna took in their words carefully before replying.

"As you will Captain, ma'am's" he hid a light grin, though it was unmistakable for those as observant as the three gathered.

"Very well then. I'll make we are ready to go then."

And, though it was a near thing, they departed just before noon. Carna gave a status report on the vessel's supplies and crew situation. He only ended up removing a few people as idiots - some who already had been blacklisted for gross inexcusable crimes.

The weather, despite being a bit rainy, is cool but not windy enough to interfere with ship functions. There are a few minor disciplinary matters, but Carna is quick to take action to them.

By the end of the first evening, the boat is well clear of the cove, and the endless blue sea stretches before them, waves lightly tossing the boat. It's a different experience than the arc, which was so large that it practically nullified the motion of the waves beneath them. With this tiny vessel, you feel every pitch of the waves, and there's virtually no where one can go on the ship where one isn't surrounded by the crew.

"It'll be at least another day before we can start fishing - the crew has to acclimate to the ship and we've got gear to set up, but honestly, the areas right by the shore aren't set up for our type of fishing, anyway.

Don't expect miracles from this crew, Captain. They aren't used to working with each other, and that takes some time to work through. Still, we'll try and get as many fish as we can."

The food is packed from the city, and is of decent quality. It's the last meal that's not made of preserved foods or fresh fish the party is likely to enjoy for a while. Other crews might have a concertina or other instruments playing in the evening, but this time the crew just mutters a bit and brags about their experience fishing. At least, you think they are talking about fishing. The stories are rather thick with double entendres.

Despite Carna's warnings, none of the crew are stupid enough to try anything with the crew.

The next day, the boat is far enough out that the fishing begins, though it's somewhat of a disaster, as the crew are new, and so is the gear, and a significant amount of time is spent setting things up and basic communication failures slow things down immeasurably

Without skill in the arts of mechanics, it's difficult to know where the crew is screwing up (Captain Scholar, of course, figures it out instantly), but some of the mistakes leave Carna nearly apoleptic in rage or in the time honoured traditional position of placing his face in his hands.

Very little fishing is done on day two.

"Sorry, Captain. I know there's no excuse for shoddy performance, but I'd say this is honestly as good as you could expect with new gear, a new crew and a new boat.
By the end of this voyage, this crew will be halfway to decent, but it takes time to put people into a rythym and work out the kinks in new gear.

We're ready to start tomorrow, properly."

Increase allowed his bosun to handle the duties assigned to him. When there were no issues with the crew on the first day he silently congratulated himself for making the wise choice of listening to the bosun. He hadn't wanted anything to derail his efforts and the more flawless this venture went the greater his renown would be.

He doubted it would ultimately be effortless or even without bloodshed but the less the better. All the same they were not nearly as fruitful in their fishing attempts and Increase accepted the bosun's explanation.

"I understand Carna. You have worked diligently within your position but you cannot make happen what cannot. They will learn and improve with time and we shall reap that benefit. Dedicate yourself to the task and results shall follow."

Placing a reassuring hand on the man's shoulder he adjourned to his quarters. On a normal ship these might be non-existent but he was the craftsman of this vessel and would never not have a private area for himself. Inside he would hold council with his allies.

"I believe it is time that we talk strategy. Carna will likely have the crew ready to begin fishing in earnest within the next two days. I believe we will experience whatever has taken hold of the previous ships in that time. I have no leads as to what being or force has been capturing the vessels but it is likely not mundane in nature."

  "Not on their own, they're not," said Gaja.  She'd spent a fair portion of the day swimming on a dragline, and most of the rest watching the crew work.  She watched them relax, now, with the same sort of expression.  "You've got three different groups who don't like each other's way of doing things, and they're fighting each other on the big tasks.  if rhythm's all you need, consider it done.  Give me the work pace tomorrow, and I'll keep them on it.  But I think you should be talking to Claire about morale."

  She followed behind Increase then, with only a moment's pause  "And if you have any gloryhounds and showoffs, let us know, would you?  Thanks."

---

  "So are we trying to actually get fish or not?" Gaja asked.  "I mean, obviously it's just bait.  But is it bait worth doing well, or too little to matter if we succeed?"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:06, Mon 12 Nov 2018.

Increase considered the question for a moment.

"Obtaining the fish is secondary to uncovering what is attacking ships but I suppose anything worth doing is worth doing well. You have my permission to act in accordance with your better judgement should it involve the crew, organization or otherwise. However know that the crew has already laid claim to a portion of the haul to sell or keep for themselves in addition to their pay."

"Bosun, do you think that it would help if I spent my non-navigating time working with you and the crew? I understand that naval tradition doesn't have officers personally work, but I think I can sand the rough edges off their attitudes if I set a strong example."

"Ma'am, I don't know what you are capable of, though I was told to treat you as an owner, and that you may be able to perform some impressive feats, so you may do as you will.

The netting is a little complicated and needs a bit of training to use... normally."

Claire was pretty confident she'd already figured it out. The physics and mechanical configuration were not complicated for someone of her staggering intellect.

Claire nodded and went to help teach the crewmen to set the nets appropriately. The teaching itself wasn't the point, though; "what to do" could be taught by anyone. It was a little complex by mortal standards, sure, but the physical and intellectual difficulty wasn't the problem. The problem was the crewmen's attitude, and that Claire felt an urge to fix.

It may have seemed like just Claire's example and leadership, but a can-do attitude and a certain sense of ease settled over the hearts of the crew. Even the more recalcitrant crew felt the change in the air. When Claire showed them how to set the nets and directed them in doing it themselves, it seemed easy in retrospect. And hey, what's a little hard work?

Heart of the Lion used to help drive people over the "it's hard" cliff. Beyond that, being bound to the Passion Word, Claire instinctively understands how to set an example through leadership and Charisma.

The nets and the fish aren't important. What's important is getting the crew off their asses and working together.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:20, Wed 14 Nov 2018.

You'd think that the crew would be a little irked by some ridiculously young woman telling them how to do their jobs, but no one complained once it was clear that she knew what she was doing. Ironing out kinks in a net was childs play compared to the calculations Claire did with weather and weapons trajectory, after all.

Though it did make a somewhat absurd vision of the Bright Republic Idol, complete in outfit, teaching a bunch of grizzled heavy coated fishermen.

Pretty soon, they get over working with a new crew and gear, and are competently hauling up fish in the huge net while others fish with poles over the side. The scarred bosun smiles "Well done Ma'am. They weren't kidding about you three. Ship's working like clockwork."

It's a fairly regular day, but the ship takes in a good haul. The nets are carefully selected for content. A few are removed for immediate cooking, and a fish stew is served along with biscuits and a ration of fortified wine. The night goes by fairly uneventfully.

Increase occupies his time by keeping diligent record of the day and the haul of the fish. Not one to shy away from such matters he inspected the fish, categorizing what fish were present in the region and their relative abundance given the ratio of they were obtained in relation to the total quantity of fish he approximated were present.

All in all it was busy work and a part of the facade to appear as the intellectual captain. In reality he was most perturbed by the absence of anything of note throughout the day. Still as night fell he gathered his companions once more.

"We should give the night our due diligence. I'll have a few men assigned to a rotation of night watches but I believe it prudent that at least one of us remain awake in turn with the guards. Nothing in my investigations said that they would appear during the day."

  "At least one," Gaja agreed.  The sound of her fiddle had guided the hauling all day, even when no fiddle was clear.  She'd been up the mast, anyway, said it was something about feeling the motion better.  She hadn't been much calmer on the ark, though.  She looked cramped.

  "But why not all the men?  Even the polite ones... They would stay up to dance with me.  They just need an excuse."  She reached toward a low table and rolled out a tattoo on the drum that appeared there.  The sound was hard and hollow.  "And then no one is caught asleep.  Or at least you would, Increase—I've seen the way you look at me.  Your thoughts aren't hard to guess."

Increase was about to interject but when his own emotions were called into play his mask of reserved neutrality broke and he stammered silently for a moment. Realizing what was happening he forced himself back into a neutral stance and expression before coughing to clear his mind.

"I will not deny that my gaze has been found to linger. For that I apologize. I have just never seen a woman....quite like yourself. My restfulness aside however I do not wish for the men to be caught fatigued from a hard day's labor. Rest would be preferred to overt vigilance; especially if we are not to come upon the threat tonight."

  All the fussing just makes Gaja grin triumphantly.  She places both hands on the drum, and her fingertips sound like a heavy rain.  It's suspenseful, with no apparent outlet.

  "Why, Captain Scholar.  You think I'm so irresponsible as that?  I've learned a bit about what we've become, you know.  They give us power when they perform our rituals, and we can give it back.  Stay up with me and see for yourself if you're worried about fatigue."  It is suddenly clear that neither Increase nor Claire had ever seen her hungry before; she definitely looks it now, though.  She glances over her shoulder at the door to the main deck.

"Or, I suppose I could just watch the night alone."

Claire nodded to the Bosun's compliment, then turned to Gaja. "I intend to stand the night watch as well," she said simply. Then again, the other ship owners knew that she was a machine, so there was no particular virtue in that. "We can let the men sleep. As for whatever it is, I ask you - do we want the men to fight?" She looked back at the bosun. "I mean no disrespect to you or the men, but this part's our job, and I don't want the sailors hurt by it."

The Bosun raised a finger to his lips.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." He lied, badly.

"Though if the boat were attacked, we'd defend outselves the best we can. We got a few real fighters on the screw, and almost all of us can hold our own in a scrap. We have enough bill hooks to go around, and those will go through a man as readily as a steelhead."

Assuming what they encountered was something they could actually fight and be killed by a metal spear.

"Myself, I'm not much of one, though apparently I'm not so easily killed."

He motioned to his scarred face and jacket.

"Of course, we shouldn't talk too much about potential attack from 'pirates', either. Might give the crew the wrong idea of why we are out here, right sirs and ma'ams?"

Despite precautions, the first night goes relatively uneventfully.

The second day is filled with fishing. Everyone is in a rythym, and the oceans are teaming with fish (probably due to the issues other boats have been having). By the end of the day, the boat is nearly loaded. The crew treat Claire as a valued member of the crew.. "and damned easier on the eyes than the bosun" which gets a few laughs.

The Bosun approaches Scholar.

"Almost done. We should be full before noon on the morrow. I don't know if you want to stay longer for your experiment, Captain. I think we might convince them to stay another day or two anyway, morale is very good, and they know they are going to be well paid considering the haul."

The crew realizes they'll be finished well ahead of schedule, and spirits are good. One drags out a primitive version of a concertina, and another pulls a flute.

As the crew planned to start playing music, Claire visibly brightened up.

"We should have a day or two for music at sea," she suggested to the crew. "We've got plenty of fish, and I can provide accompaniment and any instruments necessary - they were built into me in the Republic. We can provide sea music, a few songs about girls..." and then she grinned, "how about some hymns?" she joked. "...Well, I'll sing a couple of those at some point. Even if they're healthy music, the melody is absolutely beautiful." She looked over at Gaja. "Would you care to join us?"

  "Sea music!"  Gaja stopped tuning her fiddle to spend a moment giggling.  "Claire, you have the most wonderful innocence.  Not the most, but the best kind.  It's so fortunate you're made of metal and not flesh.  Although..."  She gave the strings one sharp strike with the bow and seemed pleased with the unearthly shriek they made.  Then she gestured for Claire to follow and dashed up onto the prow, clutching the instrument overhead.

  "Gentlemen!" she called out, then winked theatrically.  Fishing was hardly a gentle occupation.  "You have bested our hopes, and I think your own.  I try to stay out of your way as you do it—I am a desert creature, and must be ill luck on a line.  But now I see you come into my house!"  She pointed her bow toward the fellow with the flute, then drew it through the first two bars of a rondo almost as old as Vissio's independence.  Then she waved again for Claire to come up.

  "Can you also best me?  I think not!  But come test yourselves.  The winner gets... A kiss!"  She let the immediate reaction die down a moment before continuing.  "From Captain Scholar, I think?  Surely that must be a prize!"
This message was last edited by the player at 07:07, Thu 15 Nov 2018.

The man with the flute is young and inexperienced - a few more voyages and he'll no doubt have time to get good, and he's clearing playing his heart out, but he needs more time. He's quite enthusiastic though and he's playing his heart out.  On the other hand, the quiet man with the concertina, an older sort who'd remained out of sight and mostly unobserved is a damned virtuoso, and quickly joins in a fair bit of improvisation.

What is interesting is that he's not trying to outplay Gaja, he's more focused in on improving the overall performance than dueling on her. He alters the melody a bit to make the flutists minor errors seem like a countermelody or playful improvisation. Between Gaja and the Concertia player, you cover nicely for the flutist's faults - not that the audience is particularly picky.

The singers are not well practiced enough to really gel together, but the better of them are quickly discovered and they end up singing for most of the songs. They are not musicians, but they are fairly good. Jigs are danced, and a variety of songs are sung. The men tone their song choices down a bit from raunchy to bawdy for their guests (or perhaps because of the watchful eye of their Bosun, who can say?).

[OOC] Who wins and any enthusing aftermath is up to you all, of course.

Claire joined in the rondo with abandon, her synthesizer providing the drum beat and occasionally slipping in synthesizer beats that would complement any of the instruments in use; she avoided obvious Republican electric-instrument sounds because they'd gel badly with the natural instruments. Like the concertinist, she was a master musician, and also like him, she played to complement the other musicians, striving for the best performance possible.

She mostly danced alone, showing off the performing style of the Bright Republic idol singer (though with a far more demonstrative dance - and better singing voice - than most prepackaged teenagers could pull off). It wasn't until the end, when she adroitly turned a song into a waltz, that she stepped forward and, if Gaja allowed, took her hand. While the deck was too small for proper ballroom dancing, Claire held Gaja's hand and led her in a spiral up through the air, a pathway of stars shining and fading below their feet, before bringing her back down to the deck. As the music ended, one hand was locked with Gaja's, one hand on her shoulder and a smile on her face, making the two of them look for all the world like a single, living work of art. She adroitly disengaged her hands as the music died down and took a bow to Gaja, and then the crew.

Increase leaves matters of entertainment and music to his companions. Instead he maintains a casual indifference and aloofness. While they sing and dance he inspects the ship meticulously, takes note on the hold, composition of their haul, and the expected profits his crew would be making.

Increase would not benefit directly from the excursion however as his dealings with the Lorenzi's and agreement with the crew ensured none of these fish were his own. Not that he needed the funds.

All the same he was frustrated that nothing had happened. What was it that he was missing? They had fished in the same region as the other vessels and they were the appropriate type of craft. There was something else at work and he had to figure out what. Staring out into the night with an intense expression Increase listened to the music that wafted through the air.