Admiral's Story

"I’d have been just as dead without the rest of you as you would have been without me," Admiral replies, cheerfully. "And I’m not being soppy about that. That’s just how boats work. Anyway, it was a terrible plan. Really awful. Club hauling’s a risky manoeuvre at the best of times and in conditions like that, with a crew who’ve never sailed before… I was almost certain it wasn’t going to work. But we pulled it off! Incredible! You should all consider careers as pi- er, sailors after this."

The human crew misses your near slip of the tongue. Looks of relief and gratitude remain on their faces even as you try to persuade them that clubhauling was a bad idea. They are oblivious that you nearly told them they should consider a career of piracy, all but Briya, who acknowledges the slip with a smirk.

"Still," she says "luck has it that your plan kept us alive.

As the ship continues on slightly less turbulent waters, Taresh remains at the front of the ship keeping a sharp look ahead. Skeev takes to hurling his daggers into a the side of an ammunition box. He happily and intently compares his accuracy with The Wounding Shiv to that of his other mundane dagger.

Briya and the rest of the crew fall back into monitoring the rigging and sails and steering the ship through another couple turns under Briya's directions.

Eventually, there is some daylight ahead; not just beams of light filtering in through the high barred archway windows, but a clear light at the end of this massive sea tunnel.

You can feel everyone's spirits rise when the ship finally sails out of the tunnel into a vast open gorge between two large rocky cliffs that have arches and pillars carved into them. The smell of ocean air is much stronger in the gorge, but high large sewer pipes still spill waste in to sea water below them.

As the ship glides through the gorge, Admiral hums a sea shanty to himself and helps the crew keep the sails in trim, contentedly losing himself in the familiar rhythm of the work, the rocking of the ship, the smell of the sea. He daydreams about the Whisker — or the Whisper, as she had once been — and those long, peaceful days on the open ocean when there was little to do but sit and wait for some unlucky merchant vessel to cross their path. The chase was fun too, and the fighting, and divvying up the spoils after, but he always secretly loved the waiting. Those were the days when the crew played dice and cards, when Dharzal taught him how to swim and Ebzer taught him how to fight. Lost in reverie, he pays little attention to his surroundings except to notice when the wind changes and adjust the sails accordingly.

"Umm...Captain?...Captain Admiral." says Skeev as he tugs on your sleeve to get you attention. "Someone is calling to us from that pipe up there. He points up to a sewer pipe dropping waist into the gorge, about 40 feet ahead and 60 feet up. Along, oddly, along with sewer water dropping out of it there's a strong-looking porcelain-skinned human woman with light hair and pink highlights popping out of it. She seems to be defying gravity, as all but her legs looks to be hovering just beyond the pipe opening.

"Hm?" Admiral glances down at Skeev and then up at the pipe he’s pointing at. Sure enough, there appears to be a teenager hanging out of it. "So there is! Isn’t that peculiar?"

"Ahoy there!" he calls up to the young woman in greeting.

When you call up to her, something grab's Skeev's attention and he moves to the edge of the deck, peering into the water.

The woman responds, "Could you assist us?! We've reached the end of our rope and terrible men are after us!"

"I’ll see what I can do!" Admiral shouts back. He begins calling for the crew to lower the sails and slow down the ship. He looks over his shoulder at Skeev. "What’s caught your eye, Skeev?"