A Distant Voyage

It is the New World Alliance, moreso than any of the others, who realizes exactly what the fall of the Quarantine around Yamato could mean. So it is no surprise that they are the first to gather support for an expedition into the distant ocean, searching for whatever lands may lie beyond.

The Ninetails Dominion, having the strongest connections with the Alliance, and the most to gain, was chosen. The Merchant Blades had provided a single ship and supplies, docked and ready to depart from their port in Shimonoseki. The area is built more like a fort, complete with guards and soldiers. The Crew seem to have been taken from Lander volunteers from throughout the region.

There is a level of tense excitement that lingers amongst the crew, even as the last of the supplies are secured. No one has made this journey before, and there seems to be a real possibility that this is little more than a fool's errand. The last of the Adventurers are waved aboard before the ship prepares to set sail.

Mikage stands at one edge of the ship, drinking down a potion and then wiping her sleeve across her mouth. It's well known that the Were Fang suffers from sea sickness, and this isn't the first time she's had to depend on potions to get by.

The captain seems to have already been informed of their heading, setting a course to the North-West, into the seemingly endless ocean.

    Akatsuki is here.
    The miniscule ninja is currently helping deal with some of logistics of the trip.
    Mostly boring paper pushing that no one except Shiroe likes to do. Except Shiroe isn't here right now, so it falls on her to help out with it.
    Are there enough supplies? Check.
    Does the crew seem trustworthy and not a mutinous lot? Most likely.
    Be there enough grog? Aye.
    She's sitting with her legs hanging off the side of the ship, checking off a checklist as the last supplies are brought on board, mostly.

    Merek looks along from the ship to land while he begins to pack what he can onto it, taking the time to speak into his chimlink, "Alright. Well, it looks like we're in for a journey." The man wears the dark attire he often does with the beltcape about the waist, a sword along the back. He takes a look to the pieces that he keeps with him, from the dungeon. "Well, on to a new world it looks like!"

After having helped get very aspects of their journey prepared Shiruba walks over and rests a hand on Mikage's shoulder for a bit of comfort. Then with the other hand holds a rolled parchment in front of her fellow hunter. "If you need something to help keep your mind off... things, this would be a great time to work on your navigation lessons," she says with a smile and a wag of her tail. She wasn't going to be Mikage's primary teacher but she was here to support her efforts and help the exploration spirits within the Alliance. She herself was really excited, but was doing her best to keep a calm, properly 'leader' composure for the expedition.

Yeowang is helping with logistics, with every impression of being interested in it. Or at least experienced and skilled at it, and has her checklist completed and filed early. She'll offer to help Akatsuki, if she likes, but the ninja is proud, so she won't be surprised if her help is declined. The paperwork may be boring, but it's essential, lets we find ourselves 2 weeks from port and out of rum. =That= would be a tragedy, at least among the Landers.

Cyrus may or may not have prepared for this particular mission by working with Sassaral and getting as many pieces of dried jerky they could make before all of this. Along with a gathering of fruit. Not that scurvy really was magically fixed by the addition of 'an orange', but one hears things.

Cyrus flicks Mikage another potion after she drinks down the first. "I made a batch that should last us three weeks if needed. So keep that in mind." He tells Mikage. "I don't know how long we will be out there. I don't even have a spyglass to spy across the horizon with." The Cait Sith points out to her.

He then touches a hand to her shoulder and smiles at her.

"Excited?" He inquires.

    Miyako is excited to be here! The first trip outside of Yamato proper, for anyone that she knows. So many new things to see. Perhaps new people to meet. Yes, definitely worth taking the time for the trip. She's spent the past few hours scrambling up and down the ratlines and along the spars, helping the sailors get the ship ready to put to sea.

    With preparations just about complete, however, an officer has asked her to step aside, so she's settled herself somewhere out of the way and hauled out her guitar. Time for some music.

    Rizadoman steps onto the boat and already feels a bit unsteady. He wasn't a fan of voyages like this however he does remind himself that his mother's ancestors use to be sea faring people. Walking across the deck of the ship he stops at the bow of the ship and looks out. Checking his inventory he takes a moment , " Ok I have Primer on magic, Guide on the spiritual plane , Astronima Nova, and Vedic in the classical Sanskrit. " Taking a moment and then smiles as he looks at the others. " So everyone ready to go?"

Erufu was excited to go sailing on an adventure like this. She also wished she could have dragged Orcbalg along but such are how thing go. She would be on the bow of the ship at least for some of it seeming to be quite happy and she's been singing from time to time various sea chanties. The Elf had also got a banda form somewhere which matched the greens used in her outfit. She seemed to just be bubbling with energy and life at this trip.

Jazz, of course, had been characteristically quiet-ish since the fall of the Quatantine. Indeed, those who have interacted with her since it might have noticed her mixed feelings. She certainly is eager for the chance to explore new horizons but there is a certain concern towards the potential consequences that one could conceivably lay at her feet.

That said, the Undine Sea Witch is absolutely present and ready to go, star charts bundled under one arm, brass astrolabe tucked into her coat, fresh parchment and inks for mapping stored properly.

She looks across the ocean, more than a little trepidation visible as the time of departure nears.

Mikage lifts her head at the touch to her shoulder, offering a small, shy smile to Shiruba. One that turns slightly rueful as the rolled parchment is handed out. "Right. Probably a good idea." To Cyrus, she gives a greatful nod, "Hopefully we won't need that much, I'm not sure our supplies would hold out that long." The question of if she's excited? Well, that is met with a grin. "Aye. Though Rama isn't." The cat is currently ducked between some crates, obviously not enjoying the prospect of what is to come.

This is not the most hospitable time of year for a sea voyage, but the ocean does tend to a more steady temperature. Even so, a chill breeze seems to blow, driving even the most intrepid souls to raise their collars or bundle into jackets.

Not long after they reach deeper water, there is a resounding -thunk- and the sailors seem to still as a moment of fear grips them. "To your stations! Defend the ship!" The captain calls, likely having experienced something like this many times before.

Soon enough, the ship gets dragged to a halt, a sudden lurching feeling as if they were being held in place by some sort of force catching at the hull. That is when a group of sea monsters start making their way onboard. They have wrapped sea weed around the ship in places, likely holding it from making any further progress. The tentacled monsters almost seem to slither as they approach, their tendril-like legs clinging to anything they can wrap around.

Most unusual about these creatures is the two, bulbous, mis-sized eyes that stare at the Adventurers as they make strange noises, that sound threatening. "Cut those lines they've got on us! Get those monsters off our ship!" The captain shouts.

    Akatsuki may be proud, this is true. But if there is one thing the ninja is not?
    Inefficient.
    It stimply stands to reason that two people working on the same goal will complete it faster than one, so she does not turn away Yeowang's aid.
    So when it's time for the ship to set sail... By Akatsuki's records, everything is ship-shape.
    Up until the sea monsters attack.
    Several shuriken are flung in quick array, but Akatsuki's DPS seems to be a little low today.

    Merek takes a look to the monsters that begin to climb into the boat, "I don't like that," he will note, then he begins to take fire magic into both hands, while he swings them into the creatures with a fireball each. "You know, giving this a little bit of thought, I wonder if we'll meet a Leviathan!"

Shiruba on the other hand turns her face into the breeze, letting it blow through her hair and fluff collar. It feels nice and crisp... And it also helps her get a feel for othe things in the salty sea environment around them. "An explorer learns to take in EVERY aspect of what's around them," she muses over her shoulder. "But I am pretty sure that part you know already."

Of course things can not be smooth sailing forever, as the ship is brought to a sudden halt by some... force grabbing onto it. She turns to look over the deck, and lets out a huffing sigh as eyeball monsters slink onto the shift. "Well these are a sight for sore eyes..."

With practiced motion she draws her magic longbow with one hand, and grabs arrows from her quiver in the other. Nocks one and it starts to shimmer with a murky aura as she draws it an aims. Fires.

It *shnk* right into one of the Odd-Eye's eyeballs, then erupts in a burst of darkness to overwhelm it and several others nearby, leaving them easy prey for others.

In her experience eye monsters tend to have either a weakness to bright light, or not being able to see at all. She chose the latter and seems to have done correctly in doing so.

    Rizadoman looks up confused about the call for defense as he looks over his book edge and doesn't see anything. Then suddenly the lizardman is jolted from where he choose to satand the book he had just started to begin to read was thrown from his hands the moment the boat comes to a sudden halt. " Of all the things? " Standing up Rizadoman looks about again and finally sees the tentacle creatures as his claws gleam , charging forward to slash at the monsters. " This is suppose to be a relaxing cruise. Get the hell off this ship."

Cyrus looks to the feline hiding between the crates, and snickers. "At least we've got ourselves a mouser who will ensure the rat and bun-bun populations are kept at bay." He proposes to Mikage, before he returns to his duties.

When they reach deeper waters, and they spot the first monster, Cyrus is glad to see it is in fact not a Leviathan rearing its head. "So far, the crystal seems to be working." The Cait Sith calls out as he grabs a set of potions and tries to throw them at the nearest eye of the floating thing, trying to blind it! He's the support. He heals. And most of his offensive standard potions tend to be on the fire side of things. Which he is not going to risk on a ship like this.

"I don't know about this being a relaxing cruise, Rizadoman. But this certainly is about on par with what we were expecting!"

Yeowang is glad to help with the paperwork, and is walking the deck, enjoying the sea breeze when the monsters attack. She doesn't have a problem with sea monsters, really. But when a particularly rubbery one attacks her, it turns out her skills are not as strong as she'd expected. Her punches and kicks, brutal against people, are not really magically enhanced to penetrate the lobster-like armor of the one she's facing. She manages to stay out of its claws, luckily, but she's fighting on the defensive as her punches and kicks aren't, individually, hard enough to injure it through it's hard shell.

She would look over to Mikage for a moment and is about to say something as the monster come. She's doesn't have time to go for her bow, what she does have time for? Is her dagger. Always have a backup right? Well, she does and the short Elf gets to work at fighting these monsters in a way Goblin Slayer would hopefully approve of she darts in and out. She'll take down a few monsters before Mikage calls out to go for the line. She shifts tactics and starts cutting them.

"Riza now might be a good time for your friends!"

    Hours away from dockside, Miyako has long since put her guitar away, relaxing and watching the sea go by. (And really wishing that Kotono hadn't been busy with other things.) "Every ship has a cat," she comments to Cyrus, "It's not like there are any that /don't/ get rats." She shrugs and leans against the rail, looking up at the sails and spars.

    "Getting on towards dinnertime," she muses, and then -- something whacks her upside the head, sending her sprawling onto the deck!

    The Spriggan rolls and hops to her feet in an instant, yanking the paired daggers from her beld, slashing out at the sea-monster that crawls over the rail. Stabbing at the monster over and over again until she can shove it back over the rail with a swift kick.

Jazz has spent the time since launch preparing her maps for map making! Well, that and checking navigational details with her astrolabe.
     Still, she is laying on the deck, concentrating intensely on the parchment, tongue sticking out the corner of her mouth as charcoal lines are carefully made. As the ship halts, there is an audible (and adorable) sigh from her but she doesn't let it stop her.

Instead, it is only as the first creature near to her vaults over the rail of ship and she finds herself staring at its tentacles that she stops what she's doing, looks up,raises a hand, and allows two bloated, ethereal, sea-weed covered ghosts to grab hold of the monster and pull it back overboard.

"No," she says.

Akatsuki's DPS may not be as high as usual, but luckily there are others to make up for it. Merek's fireballs knock a few of the odd-eyes off of the ship, while another screams from Shiruba's dark arrow blinding it. Tendrils lash at the creature's eyes as it tries to clear the effect, only to find it falling overboard. One grapples with Rizadoman as he tries to slash at it, a tendril latching around his book and threatening to drag it into the murky deep.

Cyrus' blinding potions miss their mark intially, one of them caught by an odd-eye who looks at it, then chucks the bottle overboard. Yeowang's strikes work aren't as effective as one might expect, if only because they keep getting caught in those flailing tendrils of the monster. Mikayo's quick response sends yet another over the edge, splashing into the sea with tendrils like limp noodles, while Jazuhanzu's ghosts drag another back down, flailing the entire way.

Mikage joins Erufu and focuses her attention on trying to cut the ship free from the sea weed ropes that hold it, slashing at it with her sword.

After a time, the strange monsters are dispatched or sent back into the deeper ocean. It is not the last attack that the ship comes under during the voyage, though. There are many smaller attacks over the next few hours as they get further and further from the safety of mainland Yamato.

However, the larger danger seems to be some dark clouds that are lingering on the horizon. Even under the best of circumstances, there is no real way to out run or avoid a storm forming this close to them at sea. "Secure life lines! Makes sure our supplies are tied down." The captain calls out.

Soon enough, the ship begins rocking with the rougher waves. The sails are stowed to avoid them being damaged, even as winds whip up and lightning arcs in the sky nearby. Rain and hail begins to pelt down, beating against Adventurers and Sailors alike.

It is up to the Adventurers to try to protect their Lander counterparts in the crew, monitor the lifelines so no one gets thrown overboard, and repair the ship where the heavy winds might damage the woodwork.

    Merek looks around a bit while he begins to secure himself. Then he tries to bring a little shield of magic about upon the boat edge. It doesn't look like he can manage it in that weather. "Ah, come on!" Then comes that all important thing to ask, will he need to take the dive into the ocean to protect a Lander. This, is widely regarded as a Merek move, and he's been told not to do any of those anymore. What a maverick.

Yeowang is brave and able in a fight, even if it doesn't go her way. But she has no seamanship skills. This was supposed to be done by someone else. But when the Landers need help, she's not capable at coming through. She grabs on to a line that's paying out, and acks at ropeburn. So that wasn't the right plan. Luckily a Lander knows how to stop a rope that's paying out. She'll head over to try and help someone else, but she's more in the way than helpful, and finally she just steps back and lets the others handle things. Organization is apparently more her speed.

    Monsters handled... But the skies darken. That can't be good.
    When the storm to rival all storms rolls in, Akatsuki quickly ties her lifeline...
    And is then promptly lifted from the deck by a powerful wind.
    ...
    Causing her to flap in the wind at the end of her line before she can help anyone else, looking about as pleased as a wet cat.

    Miyako runs about the deck, holding a curved wall of magical energy above her head, keeping it between herself and the wind - and herself around the working sailors, covering them as well as she can. It works for a while, until a wave breaches over the bow and washes both her and the work party halfway down the deck of the ship. She grabs on to two of the sailors before they can be washed overboard, getting wedged in the railing as she clings to their hands. "Come on, lads! Climb!"

    Watching the clouds growing ever closer Rizadoman does his best to prepare for the worse.However what comes is beyond his imagination as he does his best to protect those around him from the hail and rain. In the end as the hail strikes him and then the lightning all he can do is blow out a cartoonish puff of smoke as he feels it all taking a toll on his health. " I don't think we can take much more of this captain. " He shouts and throws himself infront of another lightning bolt, nothing but his own body feeling the pain of electricity.

Though the initial battle may go unlucky for Cyrus - what with his blinding potion getting thrown overboard by the monster - he ends up putting in his best work during the continued occassional assault. Making use of his prepared healing potions from time to time, but also actually _casting spells_ from time to time. Showing that the potion using Alchemist in fact is indeed a mage.

He just prefers to maintain mana in different ways.

This leads to Cyrus being less than well rested by the time the skies start to turn dark. Roused from a slumber by the Lynx, Cyrus rises once more, rubbing at his face. Rain hitting his face. Not physically sturdy enough to go and tie ropes, he runs to the front of the ship instead.

Once there, be starts laying in quick markings at the bow, using pieces of crystals to etch into the wood, before placing his hand to the wood, and begins to enchant the entire ship with a Shield spell, quickly taking a mana potion to try and reinforce the magic to give the others precious more moments.

At least the attacks aren't constant, giving them a chance to catch their breath and regroup in between.

It's the darkening skies and rising winds that are getting worrisome. Remember what Shiruba said earlier about being aware of the environment. Her connection to storms and weathers picks up on almost subtle changes in the air blowing around her almost before it becomes visible that the storm is brewing. Her ears stiffing, her tail bristling up both from concern and from the faint charge building in the air. "Brace yourselves and the ship, we've got a big one coming in!"

The wolven cait sith on the other hand sprints towards the bow of the ship. She grabs one of rigging ropes and ties it around her waist to make sure she's anchored. The turns her attention upward, eyes narrowing practically at the storm itself. Just as lightning crackles and the bitter hail starts to fail.

Hair, tail and loose clothing all flutter about her as another wind whips up, this time under her control as she holds out her arms. The cyclonic energy spirals around her, helping to drive back as much of the rain and hail as she can. A bolt of lightning cracks, only to be diverted away from the ship where it could of set the wood on fire and into the water.

Erufu says "So many monsters out here, we'll have to see about making sure we develop some way to combat these things if we're going to make regular trips." She would note as the water get rougher and it looks like it's time to guard the landers and she would be more than happy to. She'd learned a few things from Shiruba which she puts to use as she works to keep the crew safe as she can. She will even grab one of the crewmen keeping him from being thrown overboard.

"I gotcha! You're going to live to get to enjoy your pay in the next port we get to if I have anything to say about it!"

Jazz, of course, is relieved as the attacks are summarily dealt with. She's involved, of course, using her mix of lightning, stormyness, and the water itself to say nothing of the occasional Drowned Spirits she calls to her aid. % r
All the same, she coiuld do without the interruptions. There are horizons to chart, you know? Not that they're too far along, yet, but there's preparation to do.

As the storm rolls in, she puts a hand to her face and just sort of nods in agreement with the others, calling upon walls of ice and bubbles of water to ensure vital ship components are protected and supported appropriately. So far so good for her part, and she's even manged to avoid making the deck too slippery. "... really need to invent the weather man," she grumbles.

If nothing else, the storm proves that many of the Adventurers are certainly not as capable as some of the more experienced crew members. Some dangle at the end of their lifelines, others get more in the way than helping. On the plus side, the Adventurers seem to be the ons taking the heaviest damage. They're immortal, right? They can take it.

Luckily, there are a few who manage to ride out the storm. Cyrus' shield spell holds, helping to ward off some of the worst of the damage to the ship's structural integrity. Shiruba's own elemental energy manages to reinforce this by warding off more of the storm, allowing a few of the others a few moments of breathing room. Erufu manages to save one of the sailors, hauling them back onboard with a look of relief as they had been dangling just above the sea, while Jazuhanzu reinforces the ship against the storm with her ice. Mikage joins with those beating back the storm, focusing her own magic. She fires an arrow into the sky above, the blast causing a brief view of the blue sky above them and offering a momentary reprieve.

In the aftermath of the storm, the ship seems to have taken a fair amount of damage. Largely, it is minor, with the crew having been smart enough to stow the sails. Even so, it's the crew, themselves that have taken the hardest hit. Almost everyone, Lander and Adventurer alike, has cuts and scrapes of some measure. There are a few, though, who seem to have more serious injuries, either from the monsters, the storm, or both.

Some have head trauma, broken bones, serious lacerations, or other injuries that could be quite bad if they were left to fester here on the open ocean. If nothing else, they need to find a way to treat those injuries, prevent infection, and lessen the pain so that the crew can get back to work at full strength.

The captain walks down amongst the crew, looking to the Adventurers in a quieter tone of voice, "See what you can do to help the injured." He recommends, likely trying not to sound worried. It is important to keep everyone's morale up.

    Miyako nods at the Captain's request. "We'll all do what we can," she assures him. And she herself does her best, following the instructions of those who actually know what they're doing..

    But, really, it's not her field. She has a hard time telling one herb from another when making poultices, and eventually is just relegated to watching over the fire in the kitchen where sailcloth is being boiled for bandages. At least she can do -something-.

    Merek looks to the party and will nod when it looks like they will need to heal people. The man will take a look about the place, then he lifts up both hands, "Bith, I call upon you to bring about your blessing. Heal the people and mend all of them," then it looks like a sigil will begin to form upon the place. It will cover the entire ship, and will bring about calmness. If anything, it will give the people a little hope to what they are doing!

    Akatsuki lands face down on the deck.
    She does not move for a long moment, before she finally peels herself from the floor.
    Considering the stars swirling around her head, it may be best for her to stay out of people's way in helping the crew.

In the aftermath of the storm, Yeowang is pressed into service helping the injured. Her experience with the Red Chain has, it seems, has got her into a triage and first aid mode, which she slips into as the injured people need to be helped in an expeditious way. People are sorted by the serverity of the injury, and the worst cases are dealt with first. She will smile and help keep the people cheered as best she can as they wait for the care they need.

After the Captains comment Shiruba turns to look over the matter. Even with their efforts defending the ship there is still a lot of injured and such. She mmms softly. There's not a lot she can do in this matter... but...

The wolfgirl briefly disappears down into the hold, to check over some of the supplies they brought with. Several minutes pass, some rummaging around can be heard, and then she comes back up holding a few handfuls of herbs. "I remember reading in Pela's guidebook these can be used to help lessen pain and bruising."

Bless the Goddesses they have resources like Merek's trade company on Yeowang's work on the Red Chain to have things like this at hand.

    Rizadoman felt like he just got out of the washing machine, bruised and scorched from lightning strikes. His own body would recover with time though as he stumbles to the worse looking Lander he can manage to find.Kneeling beside the man and taking his hand he begins to do his best to heal him, " Ancestors of this wounded sailor and those that rule the sea. I call upon you to breath life and strength back into them so that they can continue on this voyage of discovery with us. " Add some shining light for effect and the lander seems to be doing better. The lizardman would get up slowly to continue this where he could but for a moment he wonders, which of the higher beings out there really do look out for those on the sea.

As the injuries pile up, Cyrus is already at work. Moving from person to person. He knows his pharmaceutical skills are generally without peer. But the youth is starting to run out of potions to deal with some of the issues they have. Healing potions heal wounds. Broken bones, he can't so easily heal.

The tired Cait Sith still tries his best though, amidst the others' attempts at healing. But it isn't long before the youth starts to show his exhaustion at the physical labor of it all. He's someone who keeps himself in shape, but he's running on fumes, and ends up having to sit down through a good bit of it all.

While she's no healer, Jazz does spend what time she can with the injured sailors. It doesn't amount to much, but it's clear she feels kind of bad. The only reason they're here to get hurt is because, well, this particular mission! As important as it is, she's not going to neglect the folks who don't come back from the dead.

That said, about all the light magic she can muster to tend to their injuries is her occasionally glowing self. Her scales and eyes do like to light up with Undine bioluminesence from time to time. Perhaps if she learned to channel that, it could be useful.

Today is not that day.

She pats an injured sailor on the arm, who cringes.

"My arm is BROKEN," he tells her.

"Oh," says Jazz. "UH, sorry."

Now things are calming down a but, sadly the elf has no real skill with woodworking so her doing repairs would get in the way of those who could. She has some understanding of herbs and the like. She does know how to set a bone too. Well, she used to but that life is meaningless to her now at this point anyway. She'll get to work and she causes some issues which also slow her down a heck of a lot too as she attempts to

Yeowang manages to offer comfort and keep spirits up. Merek calls upon the his relic and the powers of the goddesses to offer some area of effect healing which helps to take the edge off the worst injuries. Shiruba makes some surprisingly good treatments out of just some herbs lying around and Rizadoman utilizes a call to his ancestors to cast some healing magic.

Though some members of the Adventuring party are not exactly skilled, there is enough healing amongst them to get most of the crew resolved of the worst of their injuries, though a few still exhibit a limp, sport bandages, or seem a bit slower throughout the rest of the journey. There are a few, who had the worst injuries, who seem particularly irritated, likely blaming the Adventurers for not protecting or healing them better, but their grumblings seem quieted for now.

Over the next few days, things are quiet. The monster attacks seem to have calmed down, with most of the more common monsters just not seen this far out. Once, along the way, they do spot what looks as if it might be a Leviathan, far in the distance, but it vanishes beneath the water again almost as soon as it is seen.

The real problem comes when the winds seem to still. The skies are completely clear to an absolutely blue sky. The waves roll easily, but the winds don't even seem to have the force to flicker the sails forward.

This is also when the captain attempts to get the Adventurer's attention. He explains that the stars from last night show that the storm had taken them off-course. "Those of you who who have magic, see if you can't call us some winds to get us going again. The rest, I need you at the helm to work out a heading."

    Merek looks along to the party, he had been working with alchemy and taking the time to relax. When he's back about, he will try to draw about wind magic to assist in bringing the ship forward. It doesn't look like he will manage a lot, all the same it looks like they are successful, and well. That's what matters, the man wants to keep the people safe.

When the ship is becalmed, Yeowang isn't at first quite sure what to do. She is not a sailing person. But when reminded that wind powers this ship and sailing is meant literally, she finds that's a thing she can help with. A small ritual brings up a small zephyr, which slowly starts filling out the still sail, and the creak of masts comes to play the tune of moving slowly. But as things pick up, with the others' aid, things are starting to work back out.

With the passing of days, Cyrus manages to recover over time. Dealing with mana-exhaustion is no fun for the Alchemist, who has such low mana reserves compared to other mages due to the way he shifted his skills into his potion using abilities. After a day or two, he manages to get back up on the deck after running a bit of a fever from the exhaustion, the wet clothing, and generally just getting sick from what has happened so far on the ship.

Out on the deck, spotting a Leviathan far along the waters, he is concerned for a while. There's tension there. But after a while, nothing happens. Nothing, but a clear blue sky. Things seem almost utterly quiet. Eerily quiet.

The Cait Sith's ear twitches and his tail lashes with irritation, but as the Captain requests wind magic being put to work, that is something he can do. Especially as they are not in a rush. He takes his time, enchanting the sails themselves until they begin to billow and a wind generates between the masts.

"I can keep this up for a while." He offers to the team. "But we could use something bit go really kickstart this."

    Perhaps Akatsuki is thankful that things have quieted down. But when it gets too quiet, the ninja just appears from... Wherever she had been hiding for most of the journey. As soon as the captain says 'get some wind', the miniscule ninja is climbing the mast like a monkey.
    As soon as she gets high enough that she has access to the sails, she reaches into her inventory and pulls out a scroll...
    As soon as she opens it the scroll reads with the kanji for 'wind', and it comes to life with a sudden and powerful gust of air.

While she could assist in navigation herself, Shiruba knows they have a better option to ask. "Jazuhazu, help them get our course back on track!" Before she is once again sprinting off across the deck, this time more towards the back of the ship. She's already thinking what the Captain is suggesting.

She finds herself a good vantage point, and lifts Thundersnow Howl to take 'aim' at the sails, while others are getting the ship steered back on track. But there's no arrow in her weapon, instead using it's magic to draw more aetheric air energy into it.

When she's got word the ship is pointed in the right direction again she releases the charging shot and lets it expand, firing a powerful burst of wind energy into the ship's sails.

    Rizadoman hears the call to provide winds to the sails and so Rizadoman does his best as he begins to try to figure out where to start to craft the wind spell, " Mighty Kirin, I call upon your power. Through your power I call the winds to carry us on our way. " With the words said the spell is released and Rizadoman does his best to control it. Whether he really did call on the divine beast's power or simply had confidence in his own abilities by saying such words, Rizadoman will likely never know.

Jazz is doing her part, of course. She's a trooper, even if she's not a starship one.

Still, between the charts she's been keeping, the star charts, the astrolabe, her spyglass, and a mildly decent sense of direction, it isn't long before she's able to figure out which way they're facing. If only she'd brought a proper compass...

Anyway, she's on it and she didn't even need to be told, though it sure helped pull her from what she *was* doing.

(Okay, maybe telling her helped.)

    Miyako has done some basic navigation before. It's kind of necessary when one wanders as much as she does, and she's even done it on open water. Back in IRL, at least. So she heads back with Jazuhanzu to the ship's wheel, to take what sightings she can and try to work out where they've ended up.

    Too bad for her, it's been years since she needed to navigate at sea, and she's not as much help as one could hope.

The Adventure goes on and the Pooka wishes certain Healer she's close to was here. She however understood why though she had other things to do. She will attempt to help with the wind problem. There's One tiny issue she doesn't have much of a magic stat so all she gets from the few basic things she can try are comically small puffs of wind that don't do much and the Elf turns bright red in embarrassment. She will keep trying but it just keeps going comically bad for her.

Luckily, what the Adventurers may lack in skill with healing magics, they seem to make up for with hot air.

As Jazuhanzu is teaching her the ways of cartography, Miki's lurks behind those working with the captain, watching what they are doing and trying her best to pick up on it. However, she doesn't try to add her own opinions onto things, not wanting to make anything worse with an uneducated opinion. Instead, she simply channels some wind magic, joining with the others expending their mana to get the ship moving again.

It takes time for the winds to return, but eventually they catch the sails again, allowing the Adventurers some much needed rest to recover their mana. The problem is, that they have now gone for many days without even a sign of real land. Not only that, but they discover that some of the food supplies had been damaged in the storm, meaning that the prospect of going on rations is looming on the horizon, far closer than land.

The captain spots a nearby set of atolls and sets a heading towards them. Then, to the Adventurers, he asks: "If we go on rations, the crew's morale will get even worse than it is. We need to gather what resources we can. Anything edible. Fish, shellfish, edible plants, anything you can find. Or if you've got any clever ideas about how to make what we have last a bit longer, we'll need that too."

There is worry on the faces of the crew. People who may be doubting, just now, if they haven't been sent on a one way trip, with no chance of ever returning.

    Merek looks to the supplies, while he nods a bit. The man will wait for the people that are catching fish for the party, then he will begin to assist with cooking. He doesn't know a lot about it through the system, though he does know a bit from what he knew in the world where they all came from, which means that he is able to make basic things, enough to keep the people with things.

Yeowang can help with the hunting part of this. Spear in hand, she hangs over the railing, and with a keen eye, hurls the spear at a fish springing up in a very pretty arch. The spear is tied to the rail with a line, and she hauls in the line, and the fish, and it provides a few drops of FISH MEAT. This is dutifully handed over to the cooks, and she coils up the line, and prepares to cast the spear again.

    Rizadoman hears the captain and understands as he ties a rope around his waist and jumps into the shallow side of the atoll. Taking a deep breath he dives under water and gathers several tasty treats. As he breaks water he shouts out to the crew, "Tonight you eat well. I found many things. It will taste just like mother. " With that he climbs back up to the side of the ship and nods as he moves down to the kitchen. "Oh yes going to make you a very special dish my mother use to make." As Rizadoman begins to cook , well it smells horrible . When he is done he reveals it to the crew , sea snails and waterbugs boiled in salt water. With a smile he plucks one up and there is a crunch as the lizardman's teeth breaks the shell. There is an obvious face of it not tasting well and forces himself to smile. " Oh yes just like mother use to make. "

While it's certainly a skill set she doesn't exploit often, Jazz seemingly knows how to cook! With supplies being a little shorter than she'd like, she's actually willing to pitch in and take advantage of this for once, at least for one night. She knows her way around a kitchen, anyway.

"One maid joke," she informs the rest of them, "and everyone eats lightning instead."

Her tone is very dry.

Shiruba makes a face at the mention of going on rations. Not on this foodie's watch!

Looks like Erufu and Yeowang have Hunting some meat drops covered, so she walks over to one of the ship's edge railings, holding up her arm to point it towards the nearest atoll and resting her other hand on top of Golau Chwilio to activate the Relic's special feature. It can be seen flickering red emitions a few times. The distance makes it hard to make out immeadiate results, but Shiruba catches the glimps as the device points out which atolls actually have retrievable edibles on them. "That one, that one, and those two over there have things we can harvest for cooking," she points out, cutting down the time they'll have to spend actually canvasing the isles for what they need.

    WORRY NOT.
    Akatsuki has acquired a bit of fishing line.
    The mini-nin sits herself on the edge of the boat and casts her line.
    A progress bar pops up.
    It's a good thing Akatsuki is patient as she... Lands a fish.
    Then another progress bar.
    Another fish.
    Another progress bar.
    Another fish.
    Akatsuki will just repeat the fishing animation until she has a small pile of fish going.

    Time to find some food, hmm? Well, that Miyako can try to help with. She keeps an eye out on the water around them. Shading her eyes and producing a small spyglass from her inventory to help.

    "Land ho! Island off the port bow!" she calls. "Might be some small game to be had, and maybe fresh water."

By the time it's revealed that rations are starting to run low, Cyrus has unfortunately already eaten all of the jerky that he was given by Sassaral. In his defense, it was hard to assume that food would get thrown overboard during such a heavy storm, but he really did bite himself in the tail with that one.

He tries to make himself useful with some fishing, but the fish recognize cat it would appear, and refuse to bite near him. And the cooking does not go much better.

The trip is going on longer and longer, what she can do however is go fishing to help with food. With the dishonour of her medical botches fueling her? She will end up taking to fishing with a viggor and she's doing pretty well pulling in fish after fish over the next little while. She'll start to sing after a little while and seem to be pretty pleased with how things are going for all. She singing while she fishes now and the moon's picked up a lot.

"We'll be having fish for a while!"

It is surprising what food can do to help morale, especially on a long journey like this one. Though there are a few mishaps, much of what is cooked or brought back is edible. Where their supplies had been running perilously low, the Adventurers are able to bring back enough to restock the ship, giving them a new lease on this troubled voyage. Full bellies and some extra in reserves is enough to quiet the discontent, at least for a time.

However, as the days stretch on, there are more and more whispers and secretive looks from the crew. They seem to be avoiding talking around the Adventurers or the captain. Something that has the old gnome looking a worried.

Worried enough that he gathers the Adventurers together one night, after a particularly rough day at sea. "I've been a captain long enough to sense when there is betrayal in the air. If we don't find land soon, we may very well be dealing with a crew not willing to go any further." They had enough food now, theoretically, to get them back to Yamato, though it would take some tight rationing.

"Do what you can to distract them. Lift their spirits. Ply them with whatever booze we've got left. Tell them stories. Just get them through the night." He runs a hand through his gray hair, "There has to be land out there somewhere. We just need more time."

Yeowang nods slowly to the captain, and will speak to the sailors, telling them inspiring stories of her martial arts successes in real life, of her boyfriend back in Korea, and other things that they have no connection to or understanding of. Somehow, this does not pep them up. Inexplicable.

Shiruba will help with distracting them with booze!

... Except the Cait Sith is a bit of a lightweight when it comes to alcohol, and ends up getting hammered way too fast for it to really get any distracting carousing going. ^xwx^

    RIzadoman is more then happy to sit down and tell people stories, in fact when he isn't helping that exactly what he has been doing ...for days. So when he gathers around and begins to once again talk about his ancesotrs all the other sailors get up and walk away. Only so many times someone can listen to a rerun before they can't stand it anymore.

As the group attempts to rouse the spirits of the Lander sailors, Cyrus stays away from the alcohol stories. Instead, he takes a while to tune his little recorder. Trying a bit at tuning his voice. He manages to produce a salve to serve as lubricant for his throat, as he focuses on one of the songs he picked up on recently.

Though the song isn't a sea-shanty or some kind of merry ditty, he manages to start beautifully. Trying to rouse some of the sailors into this song, even if they do not know it as well as some others might.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8tiJ8oHfao

The youth surprisingly doing an amazing job at belting the song, his mind grasping at the way the song sounded. He remembers the japanese lyrics with ease, but it's remarkable how well the unknown language parts seem to just come to him and flow from his lips.

    Merek looks like the man will try to brew, although he doesn't know a lot about it.

    Morale is running low...
    Akatsuki disappears for a while.
    Eventually she returns.
    A good story might cheer up the crew, so she gathers a few, sits them down and clears ehr throat...
    "Call me Ishmael. Some years ago?never mind how long precisely?having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world..."
    She starts reciting Herman Melville's Moby Dick to the best of her memory, as she had to read it for a course once.
    Unfortunately it is a very dry story and the fact that it's about a SHIP DESTROYING WHALE and an INSANE CAPTAIN probably does not raise morale very well.

    What shall we do with a drunken sailor, what shall we do with a drunken sailor...

    Wait, no, no, that's most certainly not it. We don't want that. We want the sailors to be settled and stop complaining, not drunken carousing. Still, song and booze is pretty much all that's available to distract them. So she does her best.

    Akatsuki's storytelling brings Miyako's palm to her face the moment she hears the opening line, having read it before. Still, she keeps her mouth shut, and focuses on her own work. ... Probably not such a good idea.

Well Elf is very proud of herself with the food and she hopes she's made things better for the crew with that. As thing goes on later one night she thinks for a moment. "Yeah, that could be a major issue we know it's there it's just a matter of reaching it."

The pooka will attempt to sing a bit to try and distract them, however, she has something go horribly wrong. She catches a frog on her throat and chokes part way through her song...

... Nope. No idea what to do here. Jazz is not singing. This is not happening. It is never happening, no matter *how* adorable she is assured people would find her voice-actresses' singing.

Instead, she tries her hand at fermenting something and using the menu to craft booze.

It ends with something exploding in her face. She emerges from the kitchen covered in foamy spirits that didn't quite ferment and she goes to clean herself off wordlessly.

Though they try their best, the Adventurers are just not entertainers at heart. There is some skeptical expressions from the crew, though most do seem to enjoy a few songs and stories. However, as they settle down to rest, there are still those secretive whispers. The crew is starting to consider forcing the party to turn back.

Luckily, sometime just before dawn, there is a call out from the crow's nest. Someone had spotted a flicker of something off in the darkness. Some kind of light. Sure enough, when the sun begins to find the horizon, there is a sliver of land visible.

A cheer goes up from the wary crew, who seem all too glad to have found land in this vast ocean. As the ship grows closer, though, it becomes clear that this is very much not Yamato. It doesn't match any maps of the known kingdoms. In fact, it looks to be wilderness that stretches out, seemingly for days. So where had that light come from?

Soon enough, they find themselves weighing anchor off the shore of a new land, the initial scouting groups, including the Adventurers, loading up longboats in order to set foot onto a place that no one from Yamato has ever traveled before.

Shiruba may of gotten carried away with the drinking, but she's had long enough to sleep most of it off. So when word comes that something has been spotted she's not too hard to rouse from her stupor.

She makes it onto the deck, and immeadiately perks up more at seeing the wilderness off in the distance. A new land to explore, in every sense of the word. An experience that they would never truely get to experience back in the old world.

"We did it... We did it! We found the next region!"

Jazuhanzu has a quill between her teeth and her fingers stained with charcoal. She is already mapping the cove. She's eager to get on those longboats as soon as they're ready. It's time. This is as close to excited as anyone has seen her.

Really.

    Land. At long last, they've reached the Palace Lands. Miyako grins gleefully as she hops into one of the longboats and takes hold of the line, unhooking it from the cleat and letting it out slowly to lower the boat to the water as soon as it's loaded. Time to see what's to be seen! To meet new people, have new adventures! To boldly go where no Yamatoan has gone since the Apocalypse!

    Merek looks to the new place while he nods a bit along to it, "Alright. We did it, a new place, what will we find," he will note.

It has long been Mikage's dream to see places that no one else has explored. Now... if this really is another server, then sure... there are likely other Adventurers from the China region who have fully explored this place, but it doesn't make it hold any less wonder to her. The expression on her features is absolute elation. Rama just seems happy to be off the boat, and runs in circles along the shoreline.

"We should work on setting up some kind of camp here, someplace that others can land if they follow our charts to the Palace Lands." She looks to the Captain, "We'll pass the news that we landed safely, but we should work on setting this place up as a waystation, at least until we find some kind of settlement or people." There hadn't been signs of any settlements visible from the sea, not as far as they could see, even with a spyglass...

    Rizadoman steps off the boat and looks back at the captain, " How long until a return voyage could be made? " He knows he just got here but it took him about 3 days into the 7 day journey to realize the majority of NWA leadership was on this trip. They will have to figure out some form of rotation , and probably more proxy leadership figures as well. Stepping on to solid land though feels very good. " Doesn't have to be to long though, take your time. " Looking about at the group he then looks at towards Mikage, " What Mikage said, don't travel to far either yet. I know a lot of people are eager to dig in but lets take it a little slow. "

Yeowang has made it here. At long last, and at great effort. She takes a deep breath and sighs. "This is interesting," she observes. She nods to Mikage, "Yes, we should land and set up a camp or temporary port," she agrees. "I'm not sure what other players we will meet, but we should be prepared for anything."

Things don't go as totally wrong as she feared they barely make it through, yet they do. She's a very happy elf about this she think for a moment as she look out at the unknown land. "I can go start hunting to restock us with fresh food. Though I suggest I bring Shiruba along we don't know how strong the local animals and monsters are." She makes note of that "We could scout things out if we brought Jaz along with us."

Shiruba huffs cutely at Erufu. "I am totally capable of mapping as well you know." But it's more of a tease than anything else. "We should make sure the encampment has proper food stores though, yes. We don't know how far away an actual settlement is, we should prepare."

As Cyrus steps off of the boat, the cart follows right behind him. The young man looking at the protected cove they managed to find. "No signs of people so far. From a distance, I didn't see any smoke at all either. I think you are right, we are quite far away from any civilization." He agrees with Mikage.

As they further along, he starts using the Inventory to pull out basic things to get settled. "Let's make sure we monitor the wake of the water to see how far above land we should be. And get food gathering underway."

    Rizadoman finishes up on the chimlink for the moment as he moves towards helping to set up tents for sleep. In some way he feels weird having lefft the alliance and Yamato in the state it is in. This must be how his mother felt when he left the nest. Taking a deep breath he focuses on the here and now. Looking towards Shiruba and the others, " While you are out , look for a source of lumber. It would be good to know where we could acquire supplies for boat repairs. "

"Presuming the scale is the same between servers," remarks Jazz, thoughtfully, "yeah, I'd say we're still a good ways from the actual 'Palace Lands'," she agrees. "Still, we're going to need to do some work here anyway, to prepare the way back and to clear it for those who are going to follow us, and to make sure we don't starve, yeah." She adjusts her hat.

"I don't think I need to tell everyone that we need to be extremely careful. Presuming there are Chinese adventurers, a lot of them probably aren't going to be thrilled with a bunch of Japanese players showing up and claiming any kind of territory on any island. Let's be on our best diplomatic behavior."

Erufu says "We should get to know the local layout of the area." She grins tiling he head and her ears are wiggling, she's that excited. She also dearly wants to get back on land as well.

    Miyako nods to Erufu. "Right, stay in groups... maybe each group pick a direction, walk two hours, then turn and come back." She stretches out, wings flickering behind her, and she mutters under her breath, "Would be -so- much easier if we could fly...."