How I had longed to sail the seas! Eagerly had I embraced the opportunity to sail eastwards, on the frigate Rebecca, and as a full crew member at that. A simple, rather dreary trip, or so it seemed, but even my first voyage was cut short by unforeseen circumstances. It was near the northern coast of the infamous Torath-Ka, as I was minding my duties below deck, when our ship collided with some enormous unseen obstacle, or behemoth, of unknown provenience, and was promptly set ablaze by misfortune.
Our stalwart crew succeeded in dousing the flames and beaching the crippled ship, and from solid ground, our Captain ascertained the damage and planned the repairs. While most of the more seasoned crewmen went about mending her hull, I was assigned to a small group that would explore the surroundings and gather edibles and fresh water. Our quintet was led by First Mate Cortés, and comprised our Ship's Mage Krastus, a Scurillian and a somewhat communicative, if slightly cynical, representative of his kind, a local swashbuckler named Sira Saran, Carlton Grey, a marksman and another visitor from Earth, and finally myself.
Closeby, we discovered the abandoned carcass of a sloop resting on the shore, a curious find, but one that would have to await further inspection, as the priority lay with our assigned task. We pressed on into the jungle, with its disquieting noises, until the rushing sound of a waterfall led us to a pictoresque lake, with all manner of edible fruits growing nearby. We welcomed this opportunity to cool and wash our weary bodies, but the peace was abruptly broken when a fearsome scaled beast broke through the undergrowth, quite certainly intent on devouring the lot of us! I tried to hinder it with the techniques I knew, having its own bodily fluids turn against its onslaught, but I felt powerless against its massive physique. However, my companions - calm and seasoned as they were - engaged the beast, and to the deafening noise of pistol shots, it fell.
Before it fell, though, it severely injured Master Krastus, the Ship's Mage. Driven by the shame of having been rather inconsequential during our defense, I endeavoured to foist my aid on the distrustful crab. The others watched as I performed the Ritual, long minutes of pouring fresh lake water over the wound, but it remained defiantly unaffected, providing a rather awkward scene, with Master Krastus' disapproving eyestalks gazing at me. Master Grey commented on my competence, or my mental state, perhaps rightfully so. Still, we were all alive; We had prevailed and obtained plenty of provisions, so we headed back towards the beach, in order to spread tales of our triumph to the rest of the crew.
Alas, fate would not grant us the opportunity, for when we approached the ship, we saw a column of dark smoke rising skywards, indicating something was terribly amiss. A fire had reduced the Rebecca to a smouldering carcass. The whole area was profusely marked with spilt blood, and the rest of the crew and most of the provisions had been taken. Since on the exposed beach, the perpetrators could descend on us just as well, we decided to follow their tracks inland. After maybe a thousand paces into the jungle, we heard a distant, guttural chanting. Master Cortés, scouting ahead, returned with the alarming report that a group of vile Red Men were sacrificing the lives of our fellow crewmen, one by one, in some sinister ritual, just as in the darkest of legends.
Rushing towards the ritual site, we found we were too late to save our dear Captain. We stood against almost a dozen of the Red Men, their leader presumably a shaman, a frightening perspective by itself. Yet in addition, answering their summons, a monstrous ape-like abomination rose from a pool of caustic blood and charged at us! I do not particularly enjoy recollecting the gruesome scenes that followed. Suffice it to say, we managed to overcome the ritualists. The ape was a terrifying opponent, even more so than the reptile was, but serendipitously, my spell affected it, and it fell quickly to Mistress Sira's deadly aim. Most of the Red Men succumbed to Master Krastus' authority over the Four Winds, while Master Cortés rushed ahead with exemplary bravery. In the end, every single one of the opponents lay dead, and we had been able to rescue four of our crew, shaken but alive.
With the Rebecca burned beyond repair, the decision was made to render the beached sloop seaworthy again, and so the rest of the day was spent with vexing manual labour, under the Mage's supervision. It appears that our new, reborn ship will be seaworthy by nightfall, and we can be on our way back to civilisation soon.
All things considered, it had been quite a ghastly day, with so many senselessly lost lives to be mourned, but also a day of adventure and triumph. I am lucky to have survived the ordeal, and for that I owe my comrades dearly. The least I can do is to consider them my new crew. I will sail with them for as long as they desire. What wondrous places will we journey to? And what stories will we tell of them?
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