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"Fine, take the Purser to ensure the money's alright."

"Thank you Captain. We will be back shortly."


The Purser and the Surgeon are back in few hours.

"I've procured all the supplies I have needed and then some, Captain. We're more than equipped to handle anything but a ship-wide plague."

"Good. We're off to Pointas then!"

The topmen set the sails, the navigator steers the ship out of the harbor. Soon, Santa Julia takes to the seas once more!


Early in your sleep, you're shaken away. First thing you see if the First Mate's face.

And then you hear it:
"What in all devils was that?"

"A sea demon! A demon of the waves, Captain! Come see or you will not believe it!"
Wide-eyed, you put on your jacket and follow the First Mate out of your cabin, who then ducks as to not be seen.

You glance to your right, noticing silhouettes of crewmen hiding behind the starboard rails, and then you not only hear it, but also see it.

A black hump on the line between the dark waters and deep blue night sky, its silhouette illuminated by the half moon at the horizon. An elongated tentacle, a large gaping maw upon its end. Flabby fins the size of your ship, on its back, on its sides, splashing waters as the watery devil is making its way parallel to the Santa Julia.
It has no eyes, for which you are thankful, but somehow you feel that it can sense the fear of your crew, and your own.

And then, with utter terror, you realize - it is getting closer.

_{"What is that thing!?"
"A mermaid, Captain. Mermaid of the Karibs!"} Says the Navigator, sitting on the deck and huddling the shaft of the steering wheel.

_{"It's getting closer!"
"We know, Captain, and we dread it! If we continue on this course, we will bump against it, and then we're all dead!"} Explains the First Mate, making the sign of the goddess on his head and kissing his thumb.

<sub>"Then change course!"

"It can hear creak of steering of the rudder and furling of the sails, they say!"

"Drop the anchor, halt the ship!"

"If it can hear wood and cloth, then it will surely hear the rattle of metal chains! We're doomed anyway!"</sub>

A) _{"Drop the anchor, we must avoid collision at all cost!!"}
B) _{"Change course, we must avoid collision at all cost!"}
C) _{"Then keep steady and pray to Goddess we miss it!"}
D) _{"Load cannons, prepare to fire! We shall scare it away!"}

"We're done here, let's go back to Santa Julia."

"Of course, sir." You and the Purser walk back to the Santa Julia.

When you board it, you spot six unfamiliar sailors, seated on their sacks and talking with the others from your ship. They notice you and stand up, and the Navigator quickly approaches.

"Captain Finley! The First Mate wanted to present you these six sailors he picked up at local taverns."

"Where is he?"

"I am here, Captain!" Says the First Mate, venturing up from below deck. He approaches you and presents you the six.

"Joao Brava, Edmundo Talavera, Miguel Costoria, Alberto de Ultagrado, Arsenio Sanchez, Erico Esquavito." The six new sailors stand at attention.

"And they're willing to work for company wage?"

"All six, Captain." You look at the men in question; twenty or thirty-something old, with builds of either muscle or endurance. They're probably ones with several voyages here and there under their belts.

"Good. Good! Have them go with the Purser to get them written into the book of accounting."

"Aye, sir!" The First Mate whistles at the six sailors and they walk away.


The First Mate, the Navigator and the Purser all enter your cabin early in the morning.

"Captain, our sailors with help of those from the Lion have finished repairing the sails and timberwork. We've already dismissed the Zeelanders. The Santa Julia is ready to set sail."

"The question is, where do we go next?"

"Somewhere profitable, yes?" The Purser clears his throat. "Considering our finances."

A) "We set sail to... (insert port name here)!"
B) "First of all, I have a question about... (insert topic here)?"

Briefly forgot this is not atheist run, hold on

You order the Suiso delegation in. They wear linen, brightly colored, and fur caps on their heads. Their hands and fingers, long and thin, are adorned with bone rings and bracelets.

"Greetings, King Syrus of Surinthomus! We have come to warn you of a great calamity that is lurking to befall you and your peoples!" The courtiers gathered in the room immediately start murmuring, whispering and grumbling.

"And what would that be?" The Advisor says as the delegates bow their heads.

"A great calamity!" Says their leader, then takes his hat off, exposing his sparse, messy, dark blonde hair. "You see, ours is the faith of the Waters, and we have oracles - shellsingers - who venture into the depths to procure shells of specific kind, and then they listen to their murmur, discerning prophecies of both great and mundane import. Our King, Tuomas, has recently asked the greatest of Shellsingers, to advise him on the future. Imagine his surprise when he was told a prophecy that would affect not his kingdom, but someone's else!"

"What's the prophecy?" You ask loudly, and silence enters the place, as your courtiers are, of course, very interested in it as well.

"Here it is, our King ordered us to memorize the lines. It goes like this: When the young star rises in the east, a bloated, old one falls. When the trees resume moving west, the ice giant rages. When the young star loses part of its luster, it crashes upon its domain in voracious flames, causing great stress, and famine, and death." Your courtiers resume their murmuring, but the Advisor silences them with his staff.

"Let me elaborate, what our King and his advisors believe this means." The leader of the delegation says. "The first part, is about you. You, a rising star, have cast down the bloated, corrupt Usurper - the old star. Few years after your peoples started sending lumber down the river - to the west - there was one winter of terrible blizzards that even our people struggled against. And recently, as our King has learned, you have lost your son in terrible tragedy - you have lost part of your luster."

"And the crashing part?" The leader of the delegation shakes his head.

"We do not know what that might be. But our wise men had some ideas and each is worse than previous, up tp and including the Sun herself falling down upon your kingdom. King Tuomas ordered us to sail upriver, to your Kingdom, and warn you, as the shellsingers say that if one part of the prophecy will cease to be true, so shall it will never not come to pass in full."

"Cease sending lumber down the river, to western kingdoms, is what you mean!" The Treasurer speaks up, glaring at the westerners.

"You cannot bring neither Usurper, nor your son, back to life, King Syrus." The Suiso diplomat states the obvious. "So this is the only way!"

A) "Thank you for this warning. We shall cease lumber trade immediately!"
B) "Listening to seashells and divining the future out of them is the stupidest idea I have ever heard about. Begone at once, and trouble my people no more!"
C) "You've ventured so far to warn us despite not knowing much. Your King and your people ought to be rewarded - with precious copper and lead!"
D) "Call for the Archdruid! What do the omens of the Creator and voices of the spirits have to say about this?"

Shintoist Mino
Mino warriors defend Tanba, but no enemy comes.
Mino warriors swarm over defenses of Tango! (20 > 10 Rice)
Mino conquers Tango! Tango pillaged for 5.
Mino invests 12 in Wakasa.

Shintoist Noto
Noto warriors defend Settsu, but no enemy ocmes.
Noto invests 100 in Kaga, and 8 in Yamato.
Noto merchants establish ties with Bungo!
Noto warriors execute Echigo merchants, ending the trade!

Shintoist Bungo
Bungo warriors swarm over defenses of Izumi! (20 > 10 Rice)
Bungo conquers Izumi! Izumi pillaged for 5.
Bungo warriors swarm over defenses of Buzen! (20 > 10 Rice)
Bungo conquers Buzen! Buzen pillaged for 5.
Bungo invests 60 in Satsuma.
Bungo merchants establish ties with Noto and Echigo, but are ignored by Mino!
Bungo warrior capture Nagato trade ships, ending the trade!

Shintoist Echigo
Echigo warriors defend Echigo, Shinan and Mikawa, but there's no enemies lurking nearby that could fight them.
Echigo warriors attempt to conquer Hida! 20+5 vs 10+2+10 = 25 > 22
Echigo conquers Hida! Hida pillaged for 5.
Echigo warriors attempt to conquer Kai! 20+2 vs 10+6+10 = 22 < 26
Echigo fails to conquer Kai!
Echigo warriors attempt to conquer Tōtōmi! 15+1 vs 10+5 = 16 > 15
Echigo conquers Tōtōmi! Tōtōmi pillaged for 5.
Echigo warriors attempt to conquer Kazusa! 15+2 vs 10+5 = 17 > 15
Echigo conquers Kazusa! Kazusa pillaged for 5.
Echigo invests 36 in Musashi.
Echigo merchants establish ties with Nagato and Bungo!

Shintoist Nagato
Nagato invests 48 in Nagato and 24 in Iwami.
Nagato merchants establish ties with Echigo!




Moves needed: notquitethere, a1s, The Canadian Kitten, zemaj, Magmacube_tr

You order solid metals to be sold for solid cash.


What a tumultuous year this was - and you feel glad to be at the cusp of leaving it behind.

One more thing is to be done and that starts when the Advisor brings Scrolls of Kingdom Status for you.

Happiness: 5
Population: 3
Economy: 3
Army: 3

This is looking good, you tell yourself, smiling.

"As expected the timber and metals are quick to repair the financial situation of your Kingdom, your Majesty." The Advisor says, stroking his beard thoughtfully.


Your guards arrive to mention that a delegation from the rivermouth Kingdom of Suisto has come to seek audience with you.

"Suisto?" Your ask the Advisor, who also seems a little surprised by the visit.

"I don't think even the Usurper bothered with them. Let's see, yes, they are far past Rycht, Ingar and even Murra. If my mind does not fool me, Suisto are peoples of the boat and the great waters, where fish, death and the long dark are aplenty. Rarely our people have come to do business with them."

A) "This makes me infinitely curious about their purpose in coming here. Let them in!"
B) "Fishermen from distant lands? Far beneath my notice, turn them away!"

You quickly prepare her a Five Finger Discount, the resultant mix being pinkish and cherry amongst the heap of crushed ice. 'Vanessa' takes the glass and looks into it, then sniffs at it. After a brief moment, she fishes a small black credchip from a pocket of her combat suit, and lets you scan it. (+41c)

Today Earnings: 661c
Monthly Earnings: 6011.5c

Patron ID: Vanessa M'Kezi
Occupation: Bodyguard
Conv.Style: FIERY
Liked drinks: fiery, sweet
Disliked drinks: sour, bitter

Vanessa takes a big gulp of the drink and immediately regrets her decision, grimacing at the taste. She clears her throat and puts the glass down.

"What is this swill?"

"Five Finger Discount."

"And this costed me forty one credits?"

"Yep."

"A scam!"

"I recall that you've asked for something cheap. The end result is your own fault." Mayako quips before you can, not paying attention to Vanessa's death glare, and sips some more of her bitter synthol.

"Uh, whatever..." Vanessa looks morbidly into her glass, but does lift it up for another, smaller, sip.

A) Mayako: "Are you bored of bounty hunting?"
B) Vanessa: "How's the drink, besides a 'scam' and a 'swill'?"
C) Vanessa: CHATTY: "Now that we've broken the ice in the drink, what's with your bodyguarding of the Duchess?"
D) Vanessa: CHATTY: "I've spoken with the Duchess about you before, was your family close to hers perhaps?"
E) Vanessa: FLIRTY: "Trust me, if this drink doesn't help you relax, I can do it for you instead, somewhere private of course~"