The sun was descending, making its way towards the waterline by the time Light and his crewmates return with the food supplies the ship needs.  Whatever business they each had out there was now done... and the end of the day was nearing.  As the sky turned orange and red, repairs continued, and Rosa's ship was fully prepared to leave.

The 'High Light' ship was a big, burdensome thing.  It was on the other end of the harbor, surprisingly deep in the water.  Men scurried across the top, working on the sails, working down the back of the ship (the rudder?)  And they were ditching materials.  Night fell.  It was hours yet before the next high tide.  That's when a handful of figures appeared out on the beach... with wheelbarrows full of sacks - apparently some had managed to acquire goods after all.  The small group were wearing orange and gray tunics and something akin to toolbelts and shoulder-straps, hurriedly bringing the supplies in, and taking on the red robes in a hurry.

As the group boards, there was a faint rumble from the ship.  There was silence, and then the people were scurrying around quicker, getting aboard fast.  Others were tying up the sails... keeping them lowered.

Rosa knows there are ships out there that use trickery and magic to move.  Such methods aren't cheap.  She's seen one or two from a distance that were reputed to 'move the wind', or were propelled by force somehow through the water.

This one belched out a cloud of smoke and slowly began to drift... sliding back a little on the water at a weird angle, as if pulled by the back of the craft.  It tilted, but it was too wide to flip over.  Slowly it pushed against the water, moving backwards... and turning to the side.  Was it damaged, or going to crash?

It slowed, lurching, and tilted again.  It slowed... stopped... and reversed.  Now moving straight, parallel to the shore, it turned for the sea beyond.  Moving on the high tide.
This message was last updated by the GM at 03:31, Fri 03 Feb 2023.

Rosa helps Light and the lads stow away the goods that they bought, though since they didn't buy much her help is little more than saying, "Put that there, and that over there." She then goes around and makes sure everything is ship-shape before settling down in a hammock on the poop deck and waiting for the call for dinner.

She stands up when she hears the rumbling from the priests' ship. She gets out her spyglass and watches as the ship lurches and belches smoke and bizarrely backs out of the harbour. As it leaves she ducks into her cabin and grabs her sextant, then she swiftly climbs up into the crows nest and watches the ship until it's out of sight. She uses the sextant to check its angle of departure. Afterwards she goes into her cabin and checks her charts and tries to figure out where they might be heading.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:37, Fri 31 Dec 2021.

After a refreshing nap, Tylluan makes his way up on deck to look at the setting sun. Aaaah, I really needed that. It's wonderful how one's mood improves after a good sleep. He swivels his head around, watching the crew and Captain go about their business. I'm in the mood for a good meal now. Should I ask the Captain where such can be had? She looks... preoccupied by that other ship. Noisy, smelly thing. Fouling the good air. Why make such a horrible thing?

Though his people's sense of smell was rudimentary, it was still there. As their intelligence grew, their choice of food became more refined, and so their senses of taste and smell followed. While not as sensitive as that of canines, felines, or even primates, having ANY sense of smell or taste was an improvement.

Seeing nothing of immediate interest, and since the Captain was busy, Tylluan put his sense of smell to use and followed it across the deck to the galley. Lifting one leg, he used his talon to open the door and step inside. "Hello? Is someone here?"

In reply to Tylluan (msg # 3):

Light poked his head around a door to see who had been calling then found himself face to face with a humanoid bird person.

.
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'Oh! You're that passenger we picked up that Rosa mentioned. I'm Light, ship's Chef and sometimes lookout.' he resumed putting jars of preservatives he'd bought in Faqu to one side on the shelf in an orderly row, before pausing briefly to look at the owl man properly.

Tylluan blinks his eyes at this new face. "Yes. I am Tylluan. I've just awoken and am wanting food. This would be the place for that, yes?" Unlike most of his people, his plumage is glossy black instead of the duller, more natural shades of brown, dun, and grey.

Rosa watched the ship go.  High tide on sunrise felt like an eternity as the odd ship moved its way through the waters, away from shore.

In the dimming light, she was sure it was heading south-and-east... its heading was weird, towards nothing.  But as she watched it as twilight swallowed it among the grey ocean, the ship had begun to turn... northward.

Northward?

And it waited for darkness and distance before it began changing direction.  It was pulling a full turn-about, lost in the night and towards an unknown heading.

Above, stars lit up the night sky, the moon bright enough to see.  But not enough to see the ship on the water.  The distant sound of wind on the town whistles quietly... leaving Rosa with little to work with.

Rosa relaxes in the crows-nest. Now and then she trains her spyglass on the priests' ship, but she spends most of the time just enjoying the sunset, aided by a few sips from the bottle of rum. She feels a tingle of satisfaction when she sees their ship change course. She might have followed them if she didn't have a paying passenger, but as it is her curiosity has to remain unsated. She did end up with a curious trinket though. She fishes it out from one of her pouches and holds it up to the dusky sky and lets it twirl around on its chain.

Afterwards, Rosa gets a brief rush as she swiftly slides down the rope. She heads into the galley and takes her customary seat. "I knew those priests were up to something fishy. They started out heading south-east, but just when it was going dark they turned north. It seems they might be heading to … what's the name of that big island? Anyway, there, or one of a hundred other islands up north. They've also got some sort of magical ship – it doesn't need sails. That would be good, but it farts black smoke and it's noisy. It's an ugly thing."

"Also, I seem to have acquired this," she says as she places the trinket on the table. "Have either of you ever seen anything like it before? It's most curious."

The trinket has an octahedron frame. Inside the frame is a blue glass sphere, and inside the sphere are a series of small mirrors.

In reply to Tylluan (msg # 5):

'Oh, you were in that street fight or whatever at Faqu, right?' says Light, stopping to greet Tylluan.

'We have a modest assortment of ingredients on board, if you have any particular fancies, we might be able to make it or something similar...' he replied, hinting that the ship wasn't likely to get something they didn't have in stock for some time unless they came across the right merchant ship or arrived at a decent port once more if the owl folk wanted something super specific.

Here aboard ship, Light wore his chef hat, a white jacket that barely fit his massive frame and his tea towel over a short sarong and Japanese-style wooden sandals.

As he didn't know the Owl man well, he normally wore something to cover his other eye, but had taken off to sort the shelves as well as because he was in his Galley, where he wasn't expecting anyone bar the crew to enter anytime soon.

Realizing Ty had now seen his cyborg eye, he froze, uncertain as to what to expect.

Tylluan blinks at Light. He does not look like other humans.Well, all humans look different from one another, but they all share some common traits. He is different from even those. He mentally shrugs. Well, that is of no consequence to me. I hope he can serve me food. That IS of consequence. Aloud he answers, "Yes. I suppose I was the one who put a stop to that foolishness. But that is not important. I want food." He fluffs up his feathers and shakes from head to tail. "Other than the fish and fruit I ate in town, I have had nothing to eat. Now I am hungry and want to eat. As long as it tastes good and there is meat, that will suffice."

When Rosa enters, Tylluan swivels his head around to watch her. The glint of the bauble catches his eye as she places it on the table and addresses them. "I have never seen a trinket like that before. My people's aesthetics run more to chimes and wind-song sculptures."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:22, Thu 06 Jan 2022.

In reply to Tylluan (msg # 9):

'Captain.' nods Light as she enters the Galley and takes her usual seat.

He took a break from the shelf stacking and started up the oven, careful to measure just the right amount of consumables to keep it going while he started prepping various ingredients, everything from what spices to a mix of vegetables including spring onion, red onion, capsicum and corn before pulling out various bits of meat to cut up and feed into a wok he had put oil into sitting on the stovetop,

'We'll try a stir fry dish using a mix of meats and vegetables, I can give you more meat than vegetables if that suits your tastes. Eventually I should start to learn your palate and tailor things more to your fancy.'

When Rosa mentions the priests and the trinket, Light frowns and stops stirring to lock eyes with the Captain.

'Acquired, huh?' he didn't need psychic powers to figure out that the Captain had plans to mess with the people who might be interested in Light's other nature.

'If that thing's responsible for what happened in the market then maybe it belongs someplace far far away from us.'

Rosa gives Tylluan a sideways glance when he orders his food. After Light describes the menu, she says, "That sounds wonderful, thank you. We should keep an eye out for shoals of fish once we clear the headlands and maybe do a spot of fishing."

She picks up the trinket, twirls it in her fingers for a few seconds before putting it away. After dinner she will lock it away in one of the chests in the secret hold underneath her bed. She's disappointed by the reaction of her two dinner companions. She can understand Light's desire to be safe, but where is his sense of curiosity? And the bird seems to be interested in little else except himself. Maybe she should put up a mirror in his room? Anyway, she only has to put up with him for a few days until they get to Doghelm.

She says, "I'm sure they'll find it interesting back at the covenant. It's precisely the sort of thing they want us to find. But I'll talk to some scholars in Doghelm about it just to make sure it is safe."

Tylluan clicks his beak in anticipation of food. "More meat, by all means. To keep us warm and give us strength to fly, meat and fish are needed, although fruit and vegetables can be tasty."

He swivels his head around to stare at Rosa. "What is this covenant you speak of, Captain? Is it some sort of place that collects such... curiosities?"

Rosa says, "The Covenant of the Four Winds is located south of here, on the Isle of Elsinbel. It's built on a rocky cliff that overlooks a circular bay and the town of Kariarta. The covenant is primarily a school for young ladies. Aristocrats and wealthy merchants send their daughters there to be given a basic education and taught how to be proper ladies, but if they show promise, and their fathers' let them, they can also educated in the arts and natural philosophy, as well as other, some might say, less lady-like pursuits. It's where I learnt how to box, fence and shoot a gun, as well as how dance, sing, and dissect a frog."

"They do collect curiosities like this trinket, and that's where this will most likely end up, but first I'd like to know a little more about it. There are some scholars there that might know something about it, and they also might have some books they're willing to sell or have transcribed. I also need to get myself a handmaiden...but not from them, of course."

"Ah. A place of learning, yes?" Tylluan says, bobbing his head. "Some of my people seek employment in such places, both to learn and to teach." He preens himself with his beak. "I am not one for dusty books, nor quiet halls. I sing and play music for a living. I prefer travel over a sedentary life."

Light still gave Rosa a look of disdain when she referred to the amulet again.

'How the heck did they forget about that thing? You don't find that a bit suspicious that they didn't start turning the village upside down and inside out looking for it?'

He points to it.
'It wouldn't surprise me if they had some kind of spell on it that lets them find it again or listen in or something.'

Rosa is momentarily shocked as she looks up at Light, but then she grins and scratches her head. "Yes, I was wonder why they didn't look for it. Maybe they really didn't want to keep it?" She lets out a laugh and says, "Well, it should be interesting to find out why, but in the meantime I shall keep it safely stashed away."

Rosa says to Tylluan, "You're a bard? I'd like to hear you sing sometime. But what instruments do you play? ... Bells?"
This message was last edited by the player at 04:28, Sun 09 Jan 2022.

Tylluan bobs his head in an affirmative. "Yes, I can use bells. They are used in conjunction with certain dances," he explains. "But there are other instruments. Chimes, drums, a stringed instrument called a shinwyrr. The strings are plucked with the talons. I was also quite skilled with a xylophone type of instrument called a peckawynn."