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.