"Ah, fantastic to have you along, then! I'm sure the crew will be happy to have a guest who has experience with ship-borne life as well; I'm sure my presence has been somewhat trying.

Did you happen to see the Beast of Dechaine? I know there were quite a few onlookers around when we managed to quell the beast. It was a very interesting specimen."

In reply to Vasily Pavlychenko (msg # 311):

Alessandra raises her eyebrow. She's heard legends of the terrible beast, and she does not think that she wishes to see it. She laughs at the man's comment. "Oh, I'm happy to be of help."

Vasily saw the raised eyebrow at the mention of the Beast, but assumed that the lady wasn't too interested in that topic, so he kept on the conversation about sailing. Of course, lacking any real skill in the area, he simply had to flounder about with what he'd gathered on this voyage: "Do you know all of the songs that the sailors sing while going about their work? Some of them are quite entertaining, but a lot of them I've been having a hard time understanding the words well enough to commit to memory. I end up just sort of mumbling during those parts."

In reply to Vasily Pavlychenko (msg # 313):

"I've heard only snatches of those songs aboard my father's ship." Alessandra replies.

"Oh, well, perhaps on this ship you can hear them more closely."

In reply to Vasily Pavlychenko (msg # 315):

"That sounds good." Alessandra replies.

At this time of year, the seas of the Maw aren't that rough, so it's reasonably smooth sailing to Vendel. The Iphigenia was supposedly heading to Rurik and then Vendel, and it could even have stopped at Posen.

After consulting with Valentino, the captain chose to sail for Vendel first because you weren't sure how far behind the Iphigenia you were. The thought here was that if it hadn't made it to Vendel yet, you could turn and sail southeast to Rurik and you might spot it on the open sea.


As you approach Vendel, you easily spot a dozen ships, most in port, one just sailing in and two just sailing out. The ones under sail aren't the Iphigenia but you can't tell about the ones docked.

"Perhaps we should sail into port, but refrain from docking until we determine if the docked vessels are the Iphigenia. That way if one is, and they are about to sail, we can keep up. If not, then we could dock and go ashore to get supplies and ask around a bit, I suppose?"

"Yes, we could simply drop anchor in the harbor rather than tie up at a dock," Valentino agrees.

"I'm a bit concerned about those two ships under sail. Normally, you put into port when the tide comes in and leave port when the tide goes out. We seem to be in the middle somewhere, which means it is only the wind moving those ships."

"Not too unusual, really, but it does make me wonder what's prompting their actions."

"You don't suppose either of those ships has changed its name? Or has the Black Pearl aboard? We have no way of knowing if the sailor still has it in his possession."

"I was under the impression that one could identify a ship by more than just the name painted on the side? Is it not?

We could simply signal them, using the flags, and see what they're up to. Perhaps one has even seen the Iphigenia."

"Yes, that is often true, Vasily," Marcelo responds. "It really depends on how well you know the ship. You can identify the type and class of ship by sight, and usually the country where it was built, but even that depends on the architect and builder."

"Then there's whatever custom changes the latest captain has made, how well the damage has been repaired, and so forth."

"None of us have encountered this Iphigenia before, so we have only a superficial description of it. If the captain is totally honest, then he'll fly the flag of his country. If not, he can fly any flag he chooses."

"It's not likely that the ships in harbor are standing a watch that could respond to our signal flags. In any case, they are not designed to carry on lengthy or involved conversations."

"Our options are to put into port ourselves and pay the harborage fee or to drop anchor beyond the breakwater and row ashore in a dinghy. After what happened to my last ship back in Dechaine, I'd rather stay outside the harbor."

The captain has spoken, and the dinghy is lowered over the side of the ship.

Anyone that's going ashore, climb down into the dinghy. The captain assigns two rowers for you.

Vasily climbs down into the dinghy. Might as well get on some dry land for a moment!

"All ashore what's going ashore!" Valentino called out cheerily as he, too, climbed down the rope ladder to the dinghy.

"A good call by the captain. I wouldn't want my ship sunk like the other one. Marcelo knows the drill now anyway. He's not going to wait for any ship to get in position for a broadside... at least not without being able to fire back... maybe even fire first!"

"I'm thinking maybe we should avoid the harbormaster. They can always be bribed. We can just look for a few supplies. A couple kegs of water at a minimum."

"Since it's always possible that the Iphigenia came and went, stop in at one or two of the taverns might be a good idea to find the man we're looking for."

"That seems like a reasonable plan. We can at least take one fresh meal while we're ashore too, I suppose. I could definitely do with some beef or mutton and maybe something with a leaf."
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:47, Sun 22 Mar 2020.

In reply to Dread Pirate Robert (msg # 322):

Alessandra follows the men, holding onto her skirt, and steps into the boat. Before long, they're on dry land.

Once ashore, the three of you walk up and down the docks for a bit, looking at the ships. None of them carry the name Iphigenia, and, unfortunately, you don't really have a description of the ship so that you could identify the ship by appearance.

As fellow sailors, you are mildly welcomed by the sailing community, so striking up a conversation with others is easy enough. Alas, that doesn't produce any positive results. You don't find anyone that is familiar with the Iphigenia and no one has seen a ship with that name in port.

Doesn't mean it wasn't here, only that none of the ones you talk to have seen it.

"Keep in mind that we don't think this fellow knows he's got the Black Pearl... even if he does," Valentino cautions Vasily and Alessandra.

"Remember, too, that word leaked out, so there are no doubt many other people looking for the Syrne artifact. People who will kill for it."

"The others were looking in pawn shops... found that this fellow was trying to pawn a black pearl. The shopkeeper already had several and didn't buy it."

"We took a short cut to get here, bypassing some of the route we expected our quarry to take. It seems likely that we beat them here. Why don't we secure provisions and take in a fresh meal? Then we can come up with a plan for how long to wait or where to go from here."

"Sounds like a plan," Valentino responded as they began strolling along the docks.

"I'm not sure I'll blend in too well in the seedier sections of town, which are the places most likely for Prad to frequent."

"Speak up if you spot a place that looks like they'll have a decent dinner."

Vasily wanders a bit, looking for somewhere that sells provisions for the ship since that is their first goal. He, of course, keeps an eye out for any promising looking restaurant, though he suspects they'll need to get inland, away from the docks, to find any place that would have a "decent" dinner. Eventually, he spots a reasonable looking chanlery.

"Ok, that place seems like they'd have reasonable prices for the ship's provisions. How about we get them to provide, then head into the city a bit to find that dinner?"

The chandlery that Vasily spotted was the Hook and Crook--a gaffer's hook crossed over a shepherd's crook.

It seems to be fairly busy, probably because it is kept clean and has a wide assortment of supplies. There seem to be only two people working; both stay behind the counter. The apparent procedure is you pick up something you want, take it to the counter and pay for it, or else you give a list to one of the clerks.

"Thanks, Tormak," one of the customers says to the older of the two men behind the counter as he pays for a coil of rope slung over his shoulder. "Remember... evening tide. We need that stuff by then or we can't sail."

"Not a problem, Skord," the other man replies. "Nobody would shop here if we didn't deliver when it was needed. Borkam here will start getting the goods together and deliver them himself."

Stepping into the shop after Alessandra, Valentino looks around at the wide assortment of gear. He tentatively handles a few things, assessing the quality. He's mostly looking for durability rather than 'silk and ribbons'.

"Anything you might need for our next voyage, M'Lady?" he asks Alessandra.

Vasily looks through the shop, wondering what supplies they may need, beyond food and drink. There's an amazing variety of things here, so he assumes that some of these things may be required. He listens to Valentino and Alessandra, in case his input could become useful, but, for now, he's pretty certain he could only add ignorance.

While waiting for Alessandra to decide what she might want, Valentino walks over to the man called Tormak.

"Tormak, is it? I'm Valentino Iocovelli, owner of the Bucephalus that just put into port. Here's a list of the supplies we need. At the moment, we're in no particular hurry to depart, so if we could get these delivered tomorrow maybe, would that be suitable?"

"Captain Marino is on board and can pay you from the ship's fund."

"Now, I have another little matter you might be able to help me with. My cousin Cicely has asked me to find her son Prad. Look out for him, really. She's family; how could I say no?"

"He's a sailor, naturally. Runs in the family. He's about so tall, dark hair, and has a tattoo of an anchor on his left arm. Yes, yes, I know... that describes the last 300 sailors who put into port here."

"Last I heard, he was a sailor on the Iphigenia which was reported heading here. I don't suppose you've seen the ship or my second cousin Prad?"