The air was crisp, but the sun was warm. It seemed to be mid-morning, and it was hard to make out the scene at first, but it seemed the Countess was exactly right. The mine led straight to the nearest village... To the south... Where the group had fled from...

Just to the north was The Town of Grhinat. Just to the east were some voices; a ship was being loaded with something, perhaps something not quite legal given that they were some ways away from the city docks. A human man ordered the crew around, he was a familiar face to those who had been in the group for some time; an independent fence and black market merchant by the name of Captain Quicksail. He looks at the group, somewhat taken aback at an outside presence, then waves enthusiastically, easily recognizing the odd team.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:40, Wed 12 Aug 2015.

"Ahoy Friends! My, you all look... uhhm" He cleared his throat. "SO, what bring you out these ways? Did you smell a deal? Well, sorry to say that I don't have much of a stock now, but I'd be glad to trade coin for whatever goods you might have liberated on your travels." Behing him a pair of sailors drop a crate, causing the merchant to spin around and shout in an uncharacteristic grunt. "'Ey ya lubber! There's 50 jars in each of those, I'm going to count it again an' dock your share by 5 percent for each one broken on the way to Galdcavern." The ship seemed to be heading right onward the group's next stop, carrying jars of something.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:57, Wed 12 Aug 2015.

In light of the trip over, Feliph had gotten barely any rest at all, and she was feeling haggard. When they finally saw sunlight, she summoned her strength to get out of this loud, tiresome, bumpy cart, only to topple over the edge and land on her butt. "Urk," she vocalized, tired and sore. She was halfway tempted to just stretch out and go to sleep right there.

It took her a few moments to realize there was someone speaking to the group, and then a while longer to realize that no one else was answering him. So she replied without getting up from the dirt for now, her dignity impaired even more when Hamilton walked over and flopped his giant bulk into her lap. "Ahoy, sir. My guess is that we got lost and went in a circle. Seeing as I don't think we intended to be here again..." She yawned, then said "I don't think we've met, my name is Feliph. Do you know my fellow travelers here?"

Lan seemed discouraged at the notion of going the wrong way, but brightened slightly at the sight of Quicksail's boat.  Lan had a soft spot for sailing, especially on boats of the... entrepreneurial sort.  "Yes, he does," Lan answered for the Captain, stepping forward and offering Feliph a wry grin, also briefly chuckling as the dog took his place.  The half-elf offered Feliph a hand, turning halfway to face Quicksail,  "I heard you say you are going to Galdcavern?  I think that's on our way, Cap'n, if you've got room for a few more."  He turned back to Feliph, shooing the dog out of the way so the girl could stand.

The captain gave the haggard group a look a of pity. "Aye! There's always room for friends, go ahead and get on board before the rest of ya collapse. Plenty o' free bunks below deck, and don't worry, I know you folks are good for it, and if not, I offer very good interest rates on debts." At least one crew member with a crate jeered at him from the ship, apparently disagreeing. "Ahaha... er, anyhow, we'll cast off as soon as the last of the cargo is aboard."

The ship was large and sturdy looking. A large plank led up from the sand to the side. The deck seemed to be clean, except for a small sticky red puddle of something that a  sailor was mopping up near the storage hold. Below deck there were plenty of hammocks suspended securely against the rafters. Blankets were piled to the side, a few had a few odds and ends inside, indicating someone was using them, but most to the back seemed to be unused. The lower deck was dark, but oil lanterns were hung to the walls.

The captain was truly a sight for sore eyes, and the catfolk offered him a large grin, genuine even though the underlying fatigue showed on her expression. Though generally. . .opposed. . .to any sort of sea-related experience, after their harrowing adventure she was willing to sleep just about anywhere.

The hedonistic cat caught sight of Feliph and winked. Well, maybe not just anywhere.

As they were led inside, Tath found herself a hammock near one of the corners, unshouldering her pack and her gear, a sheathed knife the only weapon on her by the time she was finished. Easing into the cat's cradle with feline grace, she glanced at each of her companions.

"So, my friends! Time to actually rest, yeah?" Another shameless wink towards the newest of the group.

Lan took a hammock next to Tath's and got comfortable, laying his bow with his things.  "'Rest' is a relative term," the half-elf mused bitterly, offering the catfolk a wry smile, having noticed the way she regarded Feliph.  Glancing over the rest of the group, Lan drew in a deep breath and stretched his arms and shoulders.

After thanking the captain, Feliph had scooted Hamilton off herself, then made her way onto the boat with the others. She appreciated their speed in making their way to the bunks; she was weary to the bone.

She was tired enough that she was about to sleep one way or the other, but she figured she could at least take a stab at the arrangements they'd wound up missing back at the castle. She gave Tath a slightly unsteady smile in response to her wink and her pronouncement, and said "Oh, goodness, yes... Mind if I join you?"

Kerath was looking for the kitchen, because he was starving, he prefers eat first and sleep later. He was enjoying the calm time on the ship.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:41, Thu 03 Sept 2015.

Zigor hissed at the light at the end of the tunnel. "Tch, and so the sun rises again, I had to join the one group of thieves that refuses to skulk around at a reasonable hour. Mayhaps I ought to have joined some talking bats instead." He and the few left capable of moving their weary bodies helped those who could not to the room with the cots, this time a bit more gently than sacks of flour since there were no mysterious noises of impending doom.

"Ah, I can already feel my joints seizing up. If my vessel become naught but rust by the end of this trip, please don't leave me on this ship. I don't want that smuggler to sell me as a curio."

The catfolk grinned, stretching out in her hammock and patting her chest as she looked out from her little haven towards Feliph. "It's no Noble's four-poster bed, but I think we can make do." She chuckled, shifting to make a little bit of room for Feliph. "Besides, I sleep soooo much better when I have something cute to cuddle."

Well, she didn't exactly say no.

Lan had to stop himself from chuckling mid-stretch when Tath replied to the girl.  Relaxing finally, the halfling sprawled across one of the hammocks and covered his eyes with the crook of his arm.  He wondered what awaited them in Galdcavern, simultaneously musing once again on the warnings of the fortune teller in Grhinat.

After Kerath puts Eve on a warm and soft place where she could rest and recover at all, he try to think on the next move of the group. Which road they could take,  he really don't know, and to be honest with his self, that won't be a problem, at last for the moment.

The ship is soon loaded with the mystery cargo and departs. The ship rocks gently, tempting the weary bandits to sleep. Many hours go by, and the rocking of the cloth cradling the passengers swings to a pendulum's pace. Drops of water dance between the boards above, flying down to meet the resting travelers. It's now dark, no stars nor moon, just flashes of lightning preceding the boom of its thunder. The rafters creak slightly, the floor's balance shifts, another night of storm, this time while in the middle of the sea.

The poison has cleared completely from everyone affected, around 11 hours has passed. Much of the crew is sleeping in the other bunks closer to the door.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:33, Sat 12 Sept 2015.

Lan'elli shifted in his hammock, growling in protest against the noise.  He resented how sharp his half-elven hearing was in times like these.  With a low grumble, Lan slid from his hammock and made his way through the belly of the ship.  He had no trouble seeing, another "gift" of his heritage, but he had no sea legs.  The undulating boat tossed him aside every now and then, forcing him to think harder about where he was going and how he was getting there.  He finally pressed his weight against the hull and stared blankly out of a porthole, though he could see nothing through the heavy rainfall.  It was blackness beyond the circular portal.

The half-elf heaved a sigh, glancing around briefly before returning to his vigil.

Eve sat up after hours of fitful rest. She looked around the ship and sighed. Part of her memory told her this was right yet she had no memory of stepping foot on the ship. Kerath She thought as she let a half smile creep across her lips. She could see Lan at the port hole and feel the storm moving the ship. She stood up almost silently and stretched her legs. She moved across the lower deck, past many sleeping crew members. She longed for fresh air, no matter the cost of being out in the darkened weather. "Lan," she whispered across the darkness, "coming?" She asked as she grabbed one of the crew members cloaks.

Feliph smiled at Tath's comments, but didn't manage to blush this time; she was just too tired, and the bed was too appealing for hesitation about sharing it with the feline woman. So she climbed in, resting lightly against her, and was asleep almost instantly. Hamilton curled up at the foot of the wooden column that the hammock was affixed to.

She woke up some time later feeling much better, although now she was awake and aware enough to feel a bit self-conscious about sleeping next to Tath. Two people sharing a hammock didn't exactly encourage separation. Still, she was warm enough, and comfortable, so she just smiled to herself and closed her eyes again, resting for a while longer.

For a moment, it seemed as if Lan hadn't heard Eve.  He sighed, still trying to spot something past the rain, "Couldn't sleep.  I guess you couldn't either?"  Normally, Lan couldn't have cared less what Eve thought: she was an elf, and Lan - despite his being half-elf himself - had no love for the elves.  But she was different.  She didn't carry herself like other elves did.  She didn't look down on others just because they were of a "lesser" race.  Something about that knowledge eked a begrudged respect from Lan for Eve.  He wondered exactly what her stake with this group really was.

He let his question go unanswered, as if he'd meant it rhetorically, and said, "Come on, you've been sick.  Even if you can't sleep, you ought to at least lie down.  I don't think we'll be getting much more rest once we get back on track."  He turned and ushered her back towards the hammocks, not really giving her much of a choice in the matter.  Besides, he was suddenly much more tired.

Eve sighed as she let Lan lead her. She hated being trapped below deck. If the rocking and noise was not enough to make one want to escape, the smell of the crew was. She groaned as she moved back into her hammock. There was no light to read her newest belonging- the book from the castle. She had little to do and boredom was wearing on her. She was not tired- she had decided she had slept enough. "If I must lay here in complete darkness would it be a bother if I played a sailors lullaby or a rivers tune?" She did not need light for that, playing music came almost too naturally for her. She could feel her instrument almost begging to be played under her touch. She could see a flash of lightening outside. Part of her had her mind set to play no matter what the half elf said and part of her doubted he had a true ear for music anyways. Her fingers traced her belongings in her bag gently.

Lan waved a hand in dismissal as he found his way back to his own hammock.  "Wouldn't bother me any," he murmured.  He lay in his hammock, though sleep would not find him.  He fingered the grainy texture on his unstrung bow as he lay there, reminiscing on past visits to Galdcavern, though it had been long enough ago that he was certain he wouldn't remember his way around.  Cities had a way of changing between visits.  The half-elf clicked his tongue and pulled his blanket over his shoulders.

Eve slowly played a gentle lullaby that seemed to flow with the sea. The tune was that of a traveler, the song telling her the story once more. The man traveling to find his escape from his dark prison, his captors evil spell, she drifted in and out of focus of the true story while she played the song. Greta had told it to her many times while teaching her to play. Somewhere in the middle of the song she changed almost seamlessly into the song her mother had taught her. I rarely mattered what she played- it always came back to the tale of elf. Once it had been her favorite- almost like a love story that ended tragically.

Hard ground, loose sand, a peasant's quarters, even a Noble's bed Tath had the pleasure of sleeping in. The hammock was no different than the rest, and though cramped and wobbly on the ship, it was no less comfortable with their cute new companion nestled in her arms. Light vibrations emanated from her chest - the lightest of purrs - As she slipped into slumber. Sleep was infinitely more comfortable with the warmth of a companion next to you, and Tath's smile accounted for that. It was a quaint, simple smile with the barest hint of her small fangs peeking out of her lips. One free of mischief, or flirtation, or playful teasing. She was in a state of bliss. . .or at least one of contentment.

She was able to get quite a restful slumber in when Feliph woke up. Those of the roguish quality would prefer to sleep with one eye open, though alas that was nigh impossible. Instead, Tath was a naturally light sleeper, and the idle purr emanating in her throat died out as the girl woke up. She didn't open her eyes, instead preferring other senses - sense of balance, hearing, scent - to work out what was going on, if anything. After a moment's consideration, the catfolk wrapped her arms around Feliph, giving her a squeeze of affection before relaxing once more into slumber.

A duo of sailors stepped in from above deck. Their rain-soaked oilcloth cloaks wet the steps as they took them off.
"Blimey! I've never seen a storm like that 'round these parts this time o' year. I swear it's unnatural." The elder of the two said loudly, squeezing water from his greying beard.

"Ulp- you can, urgh, say that again. N-never felt sicker, this boat's trashing around like an eel in a net." A rather large sailor mutters between gulps, obviously holding back vomiting.

"That's just 'cause you've been drinking on the job again! Hahaha!" The elder pats the large man firmly on the back, sending him stumbling drunkenly forward. "Now go wake up the next shift."

"Dun, don't- urgh... touch... blll..." The sick sailor stumbles forward in the dark room, right past the other sailors, towards the group of passengers in the back. It sounded like he was just about to throw-up.

Feliph felt Tath squeeze her affectionately as she drifted back off, and her sleepy smile widened just a little before she fell asleep again. Normally the prospect of being snuggled up to the cat girl would have been a more awakening prospect, just because the niceness of it would be mixed with social anxiety. But here, as worn out as she was, she was able to enjoy the warmth and closeness without worrying about whether she could sleep.

Some time later, Hamilton's ears pricked up as he detected a possible intruder, and he opened one eye. He'd gotten at least somewhat used to Feliph's companions, but there was a definite, unfamiliar human smell coming his way. He gave a little grumble to himself at first, but as it kept getting nearer he opened his eyes, then gave a quiet, but definite bark of warning.

"Mm-- huh?" Feliph said sleepily as she woke up. She'd trusted Hamilton's guarding instincts for too long to sleep through his warning, even though the situation seemed fairly safe. She tried to get her bearings in the dark as she said "What's up, Hammy?"

Eve's melody was cut short by the sound of the dog's bark. She set the instrument aside and slipped quietly out of her hammock. She had no reason to be alarmed- yet. She had heard the sailors come down only a few seconds before, nothing about it strange to her- seeing as they were on a ship. Not as strange as the last group they had met on this adventure. Eve smiled as she picked up the cloak she had managed to grab- what was only an hours or so ago- and slipped it on. She looked at Feliph and Hamilton, "What's going on?" She whispered through the cold dark air.

The drunk sailor stumbled back a bit upon hearing the dog bark. He then unleashed his own bellowing noise along with the contents of his stomach.

At the very least it was enough to make him vomit on the floor rather than all over the passengers, but the sound and the smell quickly woke several other sailors.
"UGH, did a landlubber heave again?"
"Someone get a mop..."
"I'm tryin ta sleep! Shut up!"

Unknown voices filled the dark until the elder sailor approached his friend with a blindingly bright lantern. The bent down and started dragging him away. "Sorry about that folks, I'll have that cleaned right quick! " The man said a bit too loud, then shouted to the other sailors. "OY, next shift get up topside already. We're getting soaked up there, and the winds are kicking up."

Afterwards the man cleaned up the mess as well he could with just a mop and the night continued on with dripping water, snoring sailors, and lingering smells.

The sun rose some hours later, and a bell rang up topside. Several sailors got up and started shuffling out. It seemed it was breakfast time for the day shift. It was still raining heavily.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:08, Thu 15 Oct 2015.

Ever the light sleeper, an eye slipped open, cat-like gaze following the dog as Feliph was roused by him. A perk of the catfolk being nightvision, the rogue merely watched the event play out, biting down on her lip in amusement. At least it wasn't her, or the girl nestled in her arms heaving up their contents (yet). Seeing no cause to alarm the others, whether they be roused or not, Tath's eyes slipped closed once more, hands. . .wandering along Feliph as she shifted very subtly, masking her movements as nothing more mid-sleep restlessness.

"I'm not sure," Feliph answered Eve sleepily, right before the sailor unexpectedly discharged the contents of his stomach. There was no mistaking that sound, and Feliph made a sickened little noise as Hamilton gave another alarmed bark.

Thankfully the other sailors handled it quickly, though. "Thank you," Feliph said to them, kind of uncertainly as to exactly where they were since it was still fairly dark. With that, she turned back to go to sleep, feeling uneasy at first with all the activity, but it seemed to subside quickly. "Okay, go back to sleep Hammy," she said drowsily.

She found herself more awake again when Tath's hands began to roam along her body, though. It was making her feel kind of self-conscious, but it was nice, too. And Tath didn't seem to be aware she was doing it (as far as Feliph could tell, anyways), so she didn't want to wake her up by reacting too strongly. Instead, she squirmed a little in the hammock under Tath's hands and tried to bite down on any giggles or the like.

The captain of the ship entered from his own cabin, looking each of them over to make sure no one had died. "Ah, sorry to interrupt you folks resting... or anything else. Breakfast is ready if anyone is hungry. We could also discuss payment as well as a very special opportunity I think you all shall like." He spoke softly and politely, quite unlike the character he played for the crew. Afterwards walked quietly away to the dinning cabin above deck
This message was last edited by the player at 14:35, Sun 18 Oct 2015.

Eve sighed, knowing that discussing payment would be a short conversation. What little money the group had was barely enough to to barter for one person's passage, not the entire group. She stood once again, fully intending on getting out of the wretched place again. Eve slipped the rain slick on again. She moved across the space to the door. She held her bag close as she stepped on deck and into the rain. She moved to the rail, out of the way of the sailors, and looked out at the storm they had faced all night.

In some way Kerath enjoyed the calm of the ship but he hates the sea. He prefers all his claws on the earth.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:40, Tue 20 Oct 2015.

The leftover crew was struggling to keep the wheel on course. The heavy rain continued on, but the lightning had stopped. The waves were choppy and the winds howled mournfully. The ship's sails had been drawn closed, lest they complete the rest of the journey without the ship, yet the journey seemed to be continuing on oddly expediently, the daunting mountains of Galdcavern were visible against the northern horizon, perhaps another five or six hours away if the pace continues. A sudden water-filled gust swept over the deck, seeming to dare the elven woman to let go for even a second and take a dip in the salty torrent.

Below the rocking continued like a pendulum, taking advantage of every upswing to tilt back the opposite way, as though attempting to gain enough momentum to roll the passengers right out of their hammocks.

Tath's hands continued to wander along Feliph's body in more and more of a risque pattern. The Catfolk's chest began to rumble lightly as she began to purr. Eyes still closed, it would have been easy to mistake her as still sleeping if not for the heavy downpour that began to buffet the ship. Though the hammock easily swayed to hold the two, Tath's eyes opened and she took a deep breath. Exhaling slowly, she deliberately wrapped her arms around Feliph snugly, squeezing affectionately as she mumbled a "G'morning." loud enough for the girl in her arms to hear.

After everything that happened in the past couple of days, from skipping town to roaming a forest teeming with evil creatures to escaping the vendetta a psychotic priest had with an innocent vampire, Tath was content to sleep in as long as possible - preferably until they came ashore, but that was likely a few days away. Not that it wouldn't stop her from trying, if she could.

"You're a wonderful cuddler, you know that?" she yawned out, smirking mischievously. Even though she'd taken to Feliph a little faster than normal playthings, it was no secret the thief liked to enjoy herself - Even if it was shamelessly in the presence of the rest of the party.

Above deck a tiny cloaked figure was standing outside by the mess hall entrance, collecting rain in a large bucket. It was clearly too heavy for her, and at the next torrent she fell and started sliding off along the deck on her back. "Eeek! Help!" She whined miserably, arms flailing about like a panicked turtle.

Eve turned at the sound of the scream. She had been holding tight to the rail being pelted by the rain. Stepping away from the rail and fighting to keep her own footing, Eve made her way to the girl. She felt her hands grip the girl's shirt and pulled her to her feet as Eve also grabbed a rope to steady herself. "Got'cha."

"Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou Thank you sooo much!" A small voice thanked Eve, barely audible over the roaring waves. Soon several others, including the captain burst out of the eating cabin with urgency suited for a royal guard coming to a regent's side.

"Argh, that be an evil storm..." One of the crew said as they got soaked.

"Come inside, please! It's so dangerous out there. Oh thank goodness you two didn't get washed away..." The captain said with strangely genuine concern in his voice, as he beckoned them to enter the eating hall with the others.

It was pretty embarrassing to be checked on by the captain while Tath's hands were on her, and Feliph was blushing as she answered him with a quiet "Okay, thanks for letting us know, Captain." Better to be embarrassed than to wake Tath up, Feliph thought. Her own enjoyment aside, as a healer she worried about the health and energy of all her new teammates.

Which wasn't to say she wasn't enjoying Tath's hands wandering on her, because she definitely was. Their starting to become more adventurous came as a surprise, though, setting Feliph to blushing again, and now she couldn't help a stifled giggle now and then. Still generously assuming Tath was still asleep, she wondered just what sort of dreams the feline girl was having.

Still blushing, she gave a slightly unsteady smile to Tath when she woke up and unexpectedly hugged her. It deepened when Tath said what a good cuddler she was. Feliph thought that was nice of her to say, and was in fact glad that Tath had enjoyed herself, but she wasn't quite sure how to reply. "Um, thank you... so are you," she said after a moment's delay. "And, good morning, I hope you slept well." She had to speak a little louder than usual to be heard over the torrential downpour. "The captain came by, he said breakfast was ready and he wanted to talk to us. About paying for passage, and also some kind of opportunity."

Eve nodded as she let them usher her into the damp space. Lanterns lit the area with an eery glow around her. She kept an eye on the passenger that she had kept from being washed away. "Be careful on deck, those waves are unforgiving." She whispered to the girl as she kept scanning the crowded room. Eve looked at the captain wondering what had drawn him and half his crew to their aid. She had heard he had left a young man to fall over and washed away.

"Come on over and have a seat at the Captain's table!" The Captain waved and pulled out a seat by his right. "Free meals and drink for the rest of the trip for you and your crew, even the hungry tiger fellow that was skulking around the kitchen yesterday." He smirked and laughed. It was odd for Quicksail to say 'free' without the words 'buy three get one' preceding it. "And what the heck, breakout the jam for our biscuits! Yarr!" This announcement was met with a cheer around the room normally reserved for liqueur or gold.

A few crew members went down to the hold, retrieving some multicolored jars for each table. The spread set out was plentiful, but not exactly luxurious, yet the crew seemed to regard the meal quite highly with the addition of the jars. "You know, these are worth their weight in silver right now." He said, picking up a blood-red jar.

"I'm sure you've heard that Galdcavern is suffering from a particularly bad frost. None of the crops are growing, and all the usual shipping routes have been having problems in every direction. Blizzards, storms, giant spiders, you name it. Right now I have a deal lined up with a connection in the dwarven armies, two jars for a sword, three for a real masterwork warhammer. Tide over the scurvy over there for awhile and in return I get enough arms to take over a small nation... Or at least someone does; I'm just in it for the gold."

He motioned towards the gnomish woman. "Our esteemed Twinklerain over here is the one making it all possible. So are you in?"

Tath was shameles - Either that, or an exhibitionist. Her hands slowed their wandering to envelope Feliph in a tight embrace as she was suddenly hugged, a moment's hesitation marking slight surprise. Feliph would be able to feel Tath nod in response as she leaned in to playfully nip at the newest party member's ear, opting to raise her voice only slightly as she spoke closer to her ear.

"We'll have to continue this some other time - Maybe in an actual bed." She spoke. "In the meantime, let's get ourselves something to fill our bellies, hrm?"

There was no easy way to get oneself out of the upper hammock, especially as entangled as the two of them were. With a sigh and what sounded like a mew of annoyance, Tath tightened her hold on Feliph as she made to roll out of their bed. Normally, her feline instincts would have kicked in, but that would have meant Feliph taking the brunt of the fall. With an "Oof!", Tath landed on her back. Sparing a moment to brush herself off and sneak a not-so-subtle feel as she got to her feet while helping Feliph do the same, her tail swished back and forth as she collected her sword-belt before heading to the kitchen. She did manage to sneak a playful glance at Feliph at the doorway before she continued, however.

Once in the kitchen, Tath licked her lips as she took a seat next Quicksail, eagerly sitting down. Trust wasn't something Tath was big on, but it was telling of this Quicksail fellow's character that she dug in without question. Perhaps they were kindred souls - Coin did make the world go 'round, after all. "Suppose the big question's what you need from us." Tath spoke between mouthfuls of drink and food. "Guardin's one thing, transport's another. 'less you want us to be the ones takin' the goods through the mountains while ya go'n'get more?"

Eve sat down across from the captain with caution. She smile dat his offer and the tale around his acts. She glanced at Taths quick notion to join but other than that remained quiet for the moment. Part of her wondered if there was more to this journey and the rest of her knew there was. Giant spiders were one thing, kill them quickly enough- blizzards were another. She noticed that Feliph was not in sight, nor Hamilton. "Of course a journey like this is not to be accepted in haste. We will need to see who in our band is willing to continue on with this or choose a new direction." She said it softly- more so for Tath I hear than anyone else.

"Ah, well, me crew can do the heavy lifting, that's what I pay them for after all, and we won't be going too far, just through the city up to a mine at the base of the mountain. The problem is, like I said these people are desperate." The captain frowned as his 'piratey' character slowly slipped.

"Demand is good, but desperation will make a good customer turn into a thief, and not the kind that's good for business like you fine folk." He smiled wheedlingly. "I just need a few good hands to keep the shipment safe."

Feliph stifled a surprised little sound when Tath nipped at her ear, instinctively shifting away a little before she realized Tath was just playing. She'd dealt with enough wild animals to have quick reflexes where bites were concerned. She nodded to the comment about getting something to eat, then added another surprised sound when Tath unexpectedly rolled both of them out of bed, landing Feliph on top of her.

She started to move to make sure Tath was okay, but the catgirl was much faster than her, getting up herself and then helping Feliph up in a nice but embarrassing sort of way. Feliph was still blushing a little when they joined the captain. She got out some dried meat for Hamilton as they walked in and gave it to him to chew on, so he wouldn't try to grab any of the food for himself. He was usually pretty well-mannered, but neither of them tended to spend much time in civilization for him to develop good habits.

"Hello, Captain," she said politely as they sat themselves, then she was quiet for a little while as he and Tath spoke. "So we would be guarding these jars of jam?" she finally said. "That seems fair to me." Although if these people were so desperately starving, maybe Feliph could help them a little independently, too. She wasn't sure the captain would appreciate that, though.

Zigor had been standing in the corner, letting the rainwater drip out of his feet. "So are we being paid by head hired, by head taken, or perhaps by jar?" The knight casually made a rather morbid insinuation. He wasn't particularly intrigued by the job, but every debt needed to be repaid in full nonetheless.

"No no, please, please avoid killing anyone. This is all above board." The captain insisted, though he was essentially profiteering on sheer desperation as Feliph surmised. "I'll forgive your debts to this ship of course, room, transport, and meals, plus hmmm, I'm a bit short on coinage due to the bartering nature of this transaction, say 12 silver and three jars of jam each? I know it's not much, but like I said, due to the shortage you aren't likely to find much in the way of produce. You could easily trade them for a good deal of anything you need, or if you're traveling north they should keep you healthy for some time, not much forage up north."

"That's good to hear," Feliph said, mostly on the subject of not being paid by the head. She didn't really care for things like that, and certainly wasn't looking to do it for money. She looked around at the others for confirmation, especially Tath. "So we'll take the job, then?"

Tath offered a smile between mouthfuls at Feliph as she caught her eye, before nodding. Gulping down a mug, she offered a hand to Quicksail. "Seems like we've got a deal. I don't think anyone's against it." She said.

Kerath was searching for some items that could help him in the future, some medicine, food, potions... or any other object.

There was plenty of food on the ship, much of it preserved, such as sausages, hard bread, alcohol, and cheeses. The captain did agree to share his food freely, so he probably wouldn't mind if they took some. He seemed rather protective of the jam though.

As for other supplies, the ship seemed oddly bare for a well known smugglers ship. Just the essentials such as enormous cords of rope, cloth, and barrels of tar. There was also an abundance of oil cloaks to protect against the weather.

Kerath took a little of everything that he could, even the alcohol.

For a moment the windows of the cabin went white, simultaneously the thunder outside cracked with a sea shaking fury. The sound reverberated for several seconds, like the ship was a chord on a harp. It seemed that a rail outside on the deck had been blown off by a strike of lightning. The crackling hot embers along the jagged pillars were immediately doused by the raging sea in a soft hiss.

The storm was definitely getting worse.

The crew muttered and looked worried, breaking the jolly mood of festivity that had taken hold of the room just before. With an omen like that, it was easy to wonder if they would reach the port that just moment ago seemed so close.

Suddenly, the crew above deck all yelled desperately, but another kind roar and a wail drowned out the crowd as a massive wave crashed into the ship. The windows to the cabin immediately shattered, the tables and settings vanished into the sea. The ship was tilting, it was impossible to tell which direction though. There was time enough for one last gulp of air.

Darkness, salt, sea... There was no up nor down, no landmarks, no ship, no sound.

OOC: Please proceed to the Unknown Island thread once you are ready. You may post a reaction here as well if you wish.