Krastus: Water water everywhere - and who wants to drink it? We need that.

Well, the ship had barrels on with the water we needed from earth. We refreshed the seals to make sure they didn't get contaminated and carried them aboard our ship. And no-one praised Krastus for his clever idea. No. They never do. Ah well. Such is life with these inferior beings.

With this extra key in hand, we realised what we needed now was support. We needed to build ourselves up so we could take on the hags - one ship will not be sufficient, and is easily torn asunder. What we need are lots of 'friends' who can be torn asunder first, thus saving us from that fate while we do the important stuff. Yes. Yes. Very important.

Everyone chitters how we mustn't commit piracy but the captain stays quiet on this. I think he will make sure we do what is necessary rather than what is simply 'nice'. Just like that regrettable incident with the murderous choral singers...

Cortez: Out of the Flotsam Sea

We found water. Earth Water most likely. That abandoned ship, well, Octopon-filled ship, had some on it. I can only assume it will be useful for whatever magic spell will summon  the Hags and stop the flow of water into this world.

We left the Flotsam Sea after that. We are not yet ready to face the Hags. We may never be. But the day is coming, just as surely as the sun approaches the dawn horizon. On our way back to New Madrid we had smooth sailing, coming up on some charred ship filled with fire beasts. I decided to steer clear of them. Few things ruin our day as much as fire.

We've begun recruiting sailors again. We'll spend some time in New Madrid, but we're going to need more ships. That's going to be piracy. Maybe piracy against pirates. I doubt the crew will want to do anything else.

Hélène: Back on course

Of course, when faced with the decision whether to stay for once and face the results of our mistakes or just run away, the majority opted for the latter. I resented the decision somewhat, but in all fairness, whatever we could accomplish here would bring us no closer to a solution to the Caribdus water level problem. Hence, I was pleased when the Captain announced we would focus our attention on this.

Our next step would be to recover undiluted fresh water from Earth, and we could best obtain that from the water reserves of a ship that had recently arrived. We planned a voyage towards the maelstrom that lay in the centre of the Flotsam Sea, figuring that amongst the shipwrecks there, we might find what we were looking for. But first, we needed to offload some cargo and obtain supplies for that voyage.

A first stop at Calib's Rock proved unsuccessful, as this small waystation had no reliable demand for the gunpowder we could offer, so we decided to journey towards the larger settlement of Daiking. We figured that although we had made rivals among the families there, we could be fairly safe when restricting ourselves to the harbour area. Indeed, after a few days travel we arrived and were able to trade cargoes without incident, and stockpile several weeks of supplies for the voyage ahead.

The trip towards the Flotsam Sea started out just as uneventful, although when the hills of Cuwayo disappeared astern, even one so attuned to Water as I was could not help but feel a bit uneasy. After some more days we had passed the Whip Islands, and the sea current increased steadily. But our Captain and Archmage were able to keep everything well under control until from the lookout, Carlton spotted another ship. It was a vessel displaying the Kieran flag, nominally an enemy, but obviously in distress.

Fortunately everybody involved felt that rendering immediate aid was the right and honorable thing to do, and after quickly considering our options, we came up with the outlandish plan to launch our anchor chain across with a cannon. On the first attempt, we missed and had to reel the chain back in quickly, but the second shot struck true, and with skillful seamanship and the aid of the Zephyr, we could haul the ship to safety. Their captain and crew were sincerely thankful. They presented us with a steering wheel that was said to be enchanted, and we went our separate ways in peace.

Even closer to the vortex we came upon another ship, apparently a derelict one, and closed in for further inspection. Alas, when we went alongside, we found that the ship still had passengers, a group of octopons, with a warlock among them who summoned up a giant octopus to attack our crew as they were crossing the ropes. Our Archmage, being very fond of pincer movements, decided to glide across to the other ship, to engage them from behind, and I sent over an elemental effigy to assist him. Still, it turned out to be a fierce battle, but in the end, we prevailed against the foul beasts and could explore the hulk further.

Cortez: Law of the Sea

We made a few stops along the way, but we're now heading into the midst of it. I still remember the brutality of the Flotsam Sea when I first came to this world. I am more confident now, not just in my own skills as a captain, but my new body seems better suited to this world. I probably should look into what's necessary to return to my human form. Maybe a potion. Maybe a mage. I'd ask Krastus, but I somehow think he doesn't know. He'd likely have told me if he knew. Probably as a joke. But he did turn into a little human girl once. So perhaps he does know.

But back to the sea. It feels good to sail out and hunt the seas for what we need. A strange task to find a ship recently through a portal. We found a Kieran vessel trapped in a whirlpool. We risked ourselves to save them, and we were successful. They were very grateful, the captain gifted me with a new steering wheel. Enchanted he says. It does seem to glide easy during storms and calm quite the same.

Well, we've found our ship. We killed some octomen. Now we need to see if this ship contains the water we need.

We Sail The Sees, We Ignore The Krastus

So we finally set out away from the burning jungle - it felt like it had been an age. We had some things in our hold, and it seemed best to offload them as we considered what to do next.

There was a debate over what we needed to do and well, we argued for some time over destination as well - it was a normal discussion in that regard. We finally got ourselves into port - but they had no demand for our goods. So we had to go find something bigger. And we also set upon a mission - to head out to find a wreck that would have some drinkable water in its water barrel. A suggestion form Krastus. That people listened to. I did nearly die in shock.

As we made our way deep into the Flotsom Sea, we came across a ship stuck in a whirlpool. We had to help them out by shooting them with an anchor, I then used my magic to give us the speed to pull them clear. They were very thankful - for Kierans. They pointed us to a wreck, and gave us a new ship's wheel. Which was a weird gift to have lying around, but people are weird.

As we headed to this abandoned ship, we made ready to board across to it. Unfortunately ocotopods were on the ship as we tried to board it, so we had to fight them off. I helpfully made my way off the edge of the boat after a slight encounter with some of them. I must have knocked my head on the way down, I don't fully remember the rest....maybe Helene will tell us. She is always standing back and observing things from a distance. Sometimes tied up to a mast. I like those times.