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Of Ships and Shaleven

"In this world, there is an uneasy order to things. The galleons roar across the estuary around the clock, disturbing my sleep. Daylight just barely reaches the floor, but enough to annoy me. The caves stretch endlessly, but not enough for me to get away. These things stay consistent.

"But you. You are not consistent. Nothing about you is consistent. You are erratic. You are incomplete. You have disturbed far more than you have helped. You're a mystery to me, and I'm sure to everyone who's ever looked at you.

"Stand."

> Do as the voice says and stand up.

You stand. There's a sense that you're not fully here. You hear rumbling, but feel nothing. Your feet are numb to the ground. You can make out almost nothing of your surroundings.

Bright eyes pointed sharply swivel around you, studying you before returning to a spot far above your head. The beast, at least what you can make of it, is far bigger than you anticipated, though slender, and shines slickly in the little light there is.

"Filthy. Underfed. Weak, yet capable of so much damage." The voice grows frustrated. "What—are you?"

> "H-How rude! I'm a Thylacine! And... Who are you?"

"...Hademar. Son of Ottmar." He studies you more. "Thylacine...you're not from here, are you?"

> "Where is here..?" Take a look at surroundings.

Looks to be an endless void...at least, that's the feeling you get. There's a ghostly ambience on every word Hademar says, and a bit on yours too.

As far as "here", you're very much not sure. Does he mean Elinar...?

> "Uh... Hademar, sir? Where am I??"

He only stares. "Outside the order, thylacine. Outside the order..."

You come to, lying on your hard, uncomfortable bed under the deck of the ship. Surprisingly, you're not dead.

You are, however, dazed and vaguely ill, and good luck finding some privacy to figure out what just happened. Do you even remember your name?

> Weakly sit up and stretch, looking about the room. Looks like whatever just happened was just a figment of your imagination. A dream. "What in the world... Ugh I feel awful. What's my name again? Sophius.. Brick? No, Brink! Right? Right."

Yeah, yeah. Whatever your name is, you rise from your quarters, which you share with two of the other crewmen, one of whom is asleep in the bed next to you. You don't have much, just a bed and a small dresser, but it's also far more than you could've anticipated when you somehow convinced the captain to let you come along.

Judging by the amount of light filtering through the water (which is about none), it looks to be night out, but you have free reign of the ship otherwise.

> Get your ass outta bed and look in the dresser. Maybe there's clothes in there or something.

Indeed, there's a spare blue and silver embroidered tunic folded up nicely in there. Given that you were previously naked, it's a good find.

A stick sits alongside the dresser.

> Put some clothes on you stinky, specifically the tunic you just found. Also, you might as well take the stick with you as well. Just incase you need to poke something from a distance.

You equip the tunic and take the stick. You look good as a sailor.

The other crewman, a norwegian forest cat, retires to the quarters as you cover up your disgustingly fluffy figure. "Oh, hello, Sophius," he says quietly, in a northern accent you can't place, not being native. "Feeling better?"

> "I.. I suppose so?"

He gives you a puzzled look. "Well, you either are or you aren't. And after your spill earlier, I'd expect not, but...mmm." He pulls his hat and shoes off and starts getting ready for bed.

> "My spill?" Attempt to recall what happened earlier.

"My word, worse than expected then. You don't remember, falling off the forecastle?"

> "I'm.. afraid I don't. I fell? How?"

"Ach. Slippery out there, especially given the storms. Good thing she's got railings, yeah?"

> "Well.. I guess that's something. Could've fallen right into the sea had those not been there."

"Just be careful out there." He returns to undressing.

> Check your inventory. Whatcha got?

Your satchel's been stuffed under your bed. In it, you find:

> Put on your satchel and leave the quarters. Maybe some fresh air'll help you feel better.

In the fog of the wee hours of the morning, you surface. Pretty much everyone else has gone to bed, and you have free reign of the deck of the ship.

You don't remember being so far out in the middle of nowhere, though. Not one bit of land is visible, in any direction you peek down.

> Anything on the deck?

Couple bags and barrels scattered about, probably containing stuff being shipped from the Isles into Elinar. Beyond that, not a whole lot. I guess if you wanted to climb up the watchtower, you could, but it's pretty high up.

> Try to climb up the watchtower to see if you can see anything in the distance. Don't die though.

You grab ahold of the rope ladder and start climbing. The further up you get, the closer you feel to death itself. No reason to—it's a sturdy enough ladder and you're not a bad climber, but...death seems a captive audience at the bottom.

> Maybe this was a bad idea. Try and look into the distance from your new found height?

Nope, still nothing in the distance! You are out to sea, my friend.

> Its time you very carefully got down from the rope ladder.

Very good idea.

Thankfully, with a few scares and a bit of ladder swinging, you manage to make your way down. The wood deck under your feet has never been so comforting.

> Now quick. Take a peek inside one of the bags. Hurry! Before people notice!

You peek inside one of the bags.

It's fruit. Specifically apricots.

> That's cool. 'st possible to peek inside one of the barrels too? If so do that thing.

Looks like some kinda berry in this one. Nothing native to Brisury, so you don't recognize it. Looks tasty, though.

> The temptation is too strong for your hungry thylacine stomach... Take a couple berries and close the lid. Need to have some self control here.

Self control is not the first thing that comes to mind when I think of you, Sophius.

(Added to inventory: strange berries)

> Quick! Make sure no one just saw you do that.

No one just saw you do that.

> Cool. B) Try one of the berries you just took.

You try a berry. Slight tang, but also enough sweetness to balance it out. Not bad.

Something uwus around a corner.

> Oh god were you just caught? Make sure the berries are hidden!

Hehehe...worth it. The look on your face? Worth it. There's no one there.

Maybe. >:3c

> Sneak up and peek around the corner in question. Gotta be thorough.

Nothing on close inspection...aside from a blur turning the corner as you do.

> The narrator has to be messing with you. Or perhaps its a hint. Narrators aren't very specific about this stuff. Either way, continue your pursuit with curiosity in mind.

You turn the corner and come face-to-face with a ginger badger in an oversized purple robe and matching flower crown. He does not look very sailor-y.

He uwus.

And then pushes you off the ship.

> Oh shoot oh shoot! Quick! Doggy Paddle! Keep yourself from drowning! SWIM YOU BEAUTIFUL CREATURE YOU!

You swim, but where to? There's no land for miles, and even if there was, the water is stingingly, bitterly cold. You'll lose feeling in your extremities before long.

> "Help!! HeLP!!" KEEP PADDLING. YOU'RE IN EMERGENCY MODE. PADDLE LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDED ON IT...Because it does uwu

The forest cat runs out of the quarters and leans over the side of the ship. "SOPHIUS, WHAT DID YOU DO?"

> "HELP NOW, TALK LATER!"

Unfortunately, there's nothing he can do for you. A man overboard is a dead man. Really, this is why none of them can swim. Speeds up the whole death thing.

Quickly, you exhaust and go under the freezing, icy, late evening drink, but something strange follows: you feel yourself pulled down by a burst of suction.

> Suction? Something is pulling you down.

Strong suction. Something is indeed pulling you down, and with a force enough to make your ears pop, you fall into a tiny, suspended vacuum under the water. Whatever it is, you can breathe again.

> *insert various coughing noises here* Take a look around. Where in the heck have you just ended up at?

It's still very dark and painfully cold, and you press up against the walls of your bubble and feel them squish oddly around you. At this depth, the pressure is something awful, and it's doing similarly awful things to your head.

> "Gh..." Continue to lean up against the wall of the bubble you've found yourself in and stare down your surroundings. What now? You might as well be trapped.

You stare down the blankness and feel your head grow dizzy and numb. You're not drowning, but you're not sure what's happening is any better. Oh well...

Stillness. You're curled up on the dirty, silty floor of a poorly-lit sea cave, with the faintly-shimmering waves off to your left. The craggy walls and ceiling are slick with mineral growth. You're dry again.

> Get up from off the floor. Your head still feels like a rock was placed on it, but you have to get moving.

You're not the only thing that stirs, it seems. As you get up, something shuffles out from behind a rock on all fours. It's—not a beast, but a Furbearer. An otter, though he's not moving anything like an otter, more like a ferret if anything. He's in a very old, tattered waistcoat too, far more destroyed than even anything you've ever worn.

"Oh, you're awake!" is all he says.

> Your wimpy ass just jumped in fright in response to an otter. "AH- O-Oh. H-Hello?"

"I sure am glad to meet another Furbearer, even this far down."

> "Who are you?"

"I am..." He looks around scared for a moment. "...F-Flungey? Flungey the Great!"

> That's... an interesting name. It'd be rude and hypocritical of you to judge it though. "I-I'm Sophius. Sophius Brink. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Oh, Sophius? That's an old—Kuras name. You're not Kuras, are you?"

> "H-Huh? O-Of course I am..." Oh god does he know? Calm down, Sophius. Calm down. Everything will be just fine.

He's stopped dead in his tracks. "That's impossible. You don't look like a Kuras."

> Oh god oh god "Um. W-Well, that's because..."

Flungey grows agitated, and his form starts to distort. Before you can see anything truly strange, he drops to all fours and darts deeper into the cave, away from you.

> That was... unusual and somewhat frightening. Look around you. Is there anywhere else to go except deeper into the cave where he went?

Not really.