The Wrath of Kao
Amusingly enough, life aboard a liberated Realm trireme is surprisingly similar to life aboard a service Realm trireme. The vessel still needs to be rowed, order needs to be kept, and for all the oppression and tyranny that the Realm is associated with, it's also a place of order and efficiency. Much as he tries to give everyone their personal space and not bother them, he is forced to admit that the ocean is a place where everyone stands together or dies alone, so it's back under the decks and pulling on the oars whenever the wind won't oblige them. The sight of Gou shapeshifting his arms into tentacles to man half a dozen oars at once is unsettling, but nobody can fault the contribution he makes, at least.
And on the plus side, the trireme has sails at least, and when the weather favours them the crew can often be found sunning themselves or taking the wind. Such occasions are a good chance to talk with the crew, to get to know them and what they used to do and what they plan to do once they make landfall.
On his part, Gou has been exploring his powers, though he does so at night when the crew is asleep so as to avoid alarming them. He is also known for leaping overboard in his guise as a storm lizard to drive shoals of fish toward the crew.
As land draws near in the distance, Gou can sense the anticipation among the crew. The excitement is mirrored in his own heart, and he approaches Moro for advice.
"The Scent has valuable cargo, but I am no merchant. Is there anyone among us who can sell them, or better yet, make something useful of them?"
OOC: I lost the stats we agreed on for Gou's spirit totem, which is pretty much supposed to be a cross between a tyrant lizard and a sea dragon...
Also, could I use the downtime as a chance to perform sacred hunts on certain creatures? So Gou would have a smaller marine form and a bird form, let's say. I was thinking of a blue marlin/swordfish and a cormorant. I'll pull up exact stats in a bit