Swamped

You can't think of anything you need to do outside your quarters, or at least nothing where your current condition can't get you out of it.

But you do need to take a quick inventory. Someone left that package in Rebecca's quarters, and you've got no idea who it was, or what they wanted. What if they also made a move for your maps?

So you start walking. And unfortunately, you don't get far before Cookie catches sight of you.

"Chip! What's the meaning of this? I gave you a job to do!"

"Yeah, and I got a face full of gas for my trouble," you grumble. "So Donnie says I need to rest."

"Hmmph! You really think I'm going to buy a story about being sick? You look fine to me. Have to admit, gas is a new one."

Great. They're being difficult. You doubt they'll actually think of checking with Donnie. Hells, they'll probably just lecture you harder if you suggest it.

So what can you say to get them off your back, even if only for the moment?

Tell him that Rebecca was hit with it too, and that he should be more concerned about that anyways.

"Maybe you'd like to tell that to Ms. Rebecca once she wakes up. She was still out when I left the infirmary."

Cookie's expression doesn't seem to change, but you can tell they're not nearly as confident. Their whole job is telling people what to do, and that means they need the higher-ups to approve of what they're saying. So a little name-dropping can be quite effective.

"How could you let that happen to her?" they suddenly start sputtering. Yeah, figures they'd look for a way to blame you.

"It's not like either of us was expecting it," you grumble. Only... didn't she seem to expect something from the box? Maybe she just knew she hadn't put it in there. She seemed pretty panicked, though.

"I'll go check on her. Make sure she knows exactly what happened," Cookie says, somewhat threateningly. You resist the urge to smirk. You know full well Donnie's not going to stand for that.

Anyhow, it's time to head to your quarters. Fortunately, you don't have any other unpleasant run-ins on the way.

The first thing you do is check the shelf where you keep all the charts. Every one of them is still in place. It was a longshot that any would be missing, you suppose, but better to be sure than not.

Wait, hold on. On a second glance, you spot something strange. It looks like there's something very thin in between two of the charts. You carefully pick one of them up so you can see what it is.

Its a thin layer of paper that is falling off the chart.

Concealing... treacherous sunken shoals and a small island?

The thin object turns out to be on the chart you picked up. A very thin strip of paper, almost perfectly blending in. It seems to be stuck there, but a corner's come loose.

You start pulling on the corner and the paper comes off, revealing an island. There's markings around it indicating rough shoals.

This is very strange. This chart's been in here for months! Why is this island hidden at all, and why is this paper only showing up now? You glance at the paper itself to see if there's any clue.

Well. There's a word. You can't identify the language clearly, but it's in Aedran script so the letters are obvious enough.

It says, CALASKATHA. Is that the name of the island? Or does it mean something else?

Where is this even a chart of? It's not one you've been using lately, after all, and it's not labeled in Graelandic, so it takes you a moment to recognize what it's showing you.

Strangely enough, it's a meteorological map of a desert continent. Makes it even stranger that it would depict an "island" on dry land...

Part of the reason it takes you a while is that this isn't even a sea chart. It's a map of the damned desert. It's just that so much of it is empty that it looks like ocean.

Which makes the island all the stranger. And what are the shoals around it if this is all land? Why do you even have a map of the desert, it's not like you can sail there...

Wait... no, hold on, now you remember. This is a map of weather patterns. It's mainly a reference so you know the symbols when you have to put down weather notes on your own maps... which, come to think of it, is something you ought to get around to. The "shoals" are actually strong winds.

Thing is, you only know what it is because you had a quick talk with the retiring navigator before taking over. Most of these maps are his, barring a few you bought before the ship left. He didn't mention anything about how he came by them.

Could he have made this map himself? But then why would he leave it on the ship, and risk this secret being discovered? You wouldn't have thought anything of it if he'd taken this particular map with him.

Suppose he did, though. Maybe he was confident enough that the paper would hold for the entire voyage. Then how would it get loose?

Maybe by someone poking at it. But that would be even stranger. Whoever it was would have to know about the map... and yet, aside from the Captain and two of the other officers, this is supposed to be an entirely new crew. So who would even know this map was here?

You're left with a lot of questions. At the same time, is it really your job to answer them? Your head still hurts a bit, and you've got maps that need taking care of. You still need to figure out what to do about the crow's nest issue, too...

You get over to the bed and lie down. No sense stressing yourself too much. Yeah, there's work to be done, but it should be fine to hold off on it for a day or so while you recover...

...Oh. Except for that matter you just remembered.

Take deep breaths. Head to the crow's nest.

You can't waste any more time. Even if you are still dizzy. You've got to take care of this.

You get up, grab your partial chart, and head to the main deck. The skies are clear now, just as you figured.

And the wizard is standing by the main mast, looking real impatient.

"The storm ended fifteen minutes ago. Where have you been?"

"Sorry, Wiz. Got knocked out by some gas, just got out of the infirmary. Donnie gave me orders to rest."

The captain was clear on one point when you signed on: the wizard never gets called by name. Supposed to be bad luck on a voyage, or something. So, everyone just calls him Wiz. He doesn't seem to mind.

"Well, at least there's still some residual ether left," Wiz grumbles. "Better than nothing, I suppose. Can you climb?"

"Not sure," you admit sheepishly.

"Lightweight," Wiz says, tapping you with his staff. It takes you a moment to realize it's a spell and not an insult. In that time, he turns around and points to his shoulders. You grab on, and he lifts you effortlessly onto his back, then starts climbing up the mast.

You still don't feel great, but at least you're not the one who has to handle the climbing. When he finally reaches the nest, he puts you down.

"Map?"

You hand it over. He begins chanting. Meanwhile, you suppose this is the time to survey the area. You turn to the scout.

"Can I have a look through the eyepiece?"

The scout shrugs and hands it over. You put it over your eye and start looking for points of interest.

It's not long before you spot one.

It's the word CALASKATHA! But on second glance, no, it's not that at all.

You put the eyepiece down and blink a few times, before putting it on again. You could swear you saw stone letters spelling the word CALASKATHA. Must still be dizzy from the gas.

You do see a rock formation that looks a lot like a C, though. That strange word must still be on your mind. You probably just saw the one formation and your weary eyes filled in the rest.

Speaking of rest, you really need some. Well, you've seen enough, at least - that C is quite distinct, and you can see a few islands near it. You're pretty sure that's the cluster you saw on Faron's chart.

And here you'd thought the C was just a note whose meaning you couldn't decipher. Evidently not.

So all you really need to do is wait for the wizard to finish. You hand the eyepiece back to the scout, then sit down. Might as well make yourself comfortable, this usually takes a while.

Then, suddenly, you hear an alarm.

"Hells!" the wizard curses, though he's still making gestures as he talks. "I knew we'd taken too long."

"Don't you worry about that, finish the ward," the scout says. He glances down at the deck. "Looks like it's only one. We might be able to avoid too much damage."

"Only one for now," Wiz mutters. "I've set up the basic circle, so we don't have to worry about any more getting into it, but it'll be two minutes before I can take care of the ones that are already inside."

The scout just nods. Then he reaches into a pot and pulls out a javelin, hurling it down below.

"Hey, Chip!" he shouts, picking up another one. "How's your aim?"

"Not too good in the best of circumstances, and even worse right now," you say, a little sheepishly. "I'm a bit dizzy. Long story."

"Don't want to hear it right now." He tosses his second javelin and picks up a third. "All right, if you can't help me with these, I've got something else you can do while you're up here."

Aim the signal light into the water. It'll reflect off the eyes of whatever I'm throwing javelins at, making it easier for me to aim.

"Grab the signal light and point it into the water. Just move it all around."

You do, but you're not really sure why. Despite not looking your way, the scout seems to grasp your confusion and starts explaining.

"It's all well and good to hit the one on the deck, but once the crew starts fighting in full-force, there's too much chance I hit one of us instead. So it's more useful for me to try and find any more that might be lurking in the water. The light reflects off their eyes, and..."

He pauses and tosses another javelin.

"...that lets me catch 'em by surprise. If they take a hit in the water, that usually just scares 'em off."

"So why's it so hard to fight them off when they reach the deck?"

"Beats me. Best guess I've got is they don't run fast, so they figure they've got better chances if they stand their ground."

You steal a quick glance at the beast. Those enormous flippers certainly don't look very good for moving on land.

"But how do they climb onto the ship so fast, then?"

"They cling, I think. Works better for moving up than on flat ground. Not that I'm an expert on that, mind." He tosses off another javelin. "It'd be real handy if we had that ward ready, you know."

Wiz doesn't say anything. But you get the sense, looking at him, that something's going wrong.

Then, suddenly, you feel everything shake.

"It's going for the mast!" someone shouts. "Stop it, quick! The wizard's up there!"

"It's too close for me to get any good hits in," the scout grumbles, glancing down. "Everything I can reach is too well-protected. Don't suppose you've got any ideas, Chip?"

Has the wiz got any fancy spells?

Toss it some food!

Chip, you kind of look like food...

"If you've got any ideas, I'd suggest trying them quickly," Wiz says. "If it climbs up high, or the mast starts falling, I'll have to interrupt the ward to blast it. Who knows how many others might sneak in if that happens?"

Right, okay. So you've got to think fast.

But hold on. By the same token, you don't need to stop the creature, just slow it down. If the ward finishes, well, you're not sure on the exact details, but at the very least Wiz should be free to deal with it.

"Don't suppose we could distract it with some food," you mumble.

"No, they don't seem to attack us because they're hungry," says the scout. "Best as I've ever been able to tell, the storm just riles them up."

Well, you're lacking in other ideas. You suppose it's time for something desperate. You grab a javelin.

"We could just drop these and hope we get lucky? We just have to stall, right?"

"They won't pierce its thick shell, and all the bits that aren't protected by the shell are right at the front. Too hard to hit at this angle."

"But there's a chance, right? Better than dropping the ward."

The scout seems skeptical, but before he can dispute the idea, the nest starts shaking again.

And this time, it's hard enough that you get flung out.

You're falling quite slowly, though. Is this something to do with that spell the wizard cast earlier?

Well, whatever the reason, it gives you an idea. You're drifting away from the mast, which means you might be able to get a better angle to throw this javelin from. You don't have much of a throwing arm, and your aim's not great, but you don't see how you have a better choice.

From here, you can see the beast's face and its two front flippers. So what will you aim for?

Go for the face, hope for the eyes

Yeah, the flippers might get it to let go, but the face could actually put it down for good!

Perhaps if you hit it in the face, you can blind it. Its eyes are awfully big targets, after all.

You fling the javelin as best as you can. It's not very impressive, but it does strike the beast.

Unfortunately, you only seem to have made it angry. It starts thrashing wildly, and the whole ship starts shaking; worse, it keeps hitting the mast. Maybe you would have been better off going for a flipper.

Well, it's not like you're getting another shot. Even if you did have another javelin, the way it's flailing, you can't be sure you'd hit anything. So all you can do is slowly drift towards the ground and watch the crew try to deal with it.

Hmm? One of them's grabbing a rope. The thing seems a bit large to bind, though...

Wait, he's tying a loop in it. He carefully flings the loop towards the beast, and the loop lands on your javelin.

Well, it's not going to stay there, is it? And it's not like a single sailor is going to be strong enough to pull the beast...

Wait, where's the other end of that rope going?

"Drop anchor!" the sailor shouts. You glance over to the side, and see the anchor go down, rope attached.

And then it starts pulling on the javelin. Seems you got that in hard, because the whole beast is coming along with it, being dragged along the deck and flung off into the sea.

Meanwhile, you're still falling. But you think you're falling a little faster. Is the wizard's spell wearing off?

Well, you don't have time to worry about the details. Best to just get back to safety.

You can see some rigging nearby, which would probably be good enough, but it's about a foot or so out of reach. And you're not sure you have much control over your direction.

So what can you do?

Scream for a sailor to toss you a rope

Maybe that rope trick you just saw can help out here.

"Someone toss me a rope!" you shout.

You're not really prepared for how quickly you get a response. You soon find a rope looping itself around your arm. The sailor on the other end looks perplexed.

"Shouldn't you have hit the ground by now?" she asks.

"Um, I think the wizard had something to do with that. And I'm not sure how long it's going to last. Could you lead me closer to something solid? The rigging, the mast, anything really."

She pulls on the rope, and you feel yourself falling a bit faster as she does. But she does manage to pull you towards the rigging. You start climbing down as best you can.

As soon as you reach ground, you see a bright flash of light from the top of the mast. That probably means the ward is done.

And you still feel dizzy. Donnie's probably going to flip when he hears about this. The captain might, too.

But at least everything seems calm for a moment. No storm, no sea beasts, no magic. Even the boat seems to be rocking less than usual.

Which you're grateful for. You don't usually get seasick, but you think that fall has unsettled your stomach a bit.

The sailor holding the rope walks up to you.

"You okay there?"

"Not really," you mutter. "Not having the best of days here. Thanks for helping me down, though."

"You need anything?"

You're going to need to think about that.

Not now, but I could use a companion for dice games at shift end. And maybe sometime you can show me some rope tricks so I can be more useful around here.

"I think I'm fine for now. Just a little disoriented. Once that clears up, I'll go and take a rest. I was already supposed to be doing that, but I had to get the wizard a map."

"A map?" She looks a little confused.

"He needs it for the warding ritual. I think he explained the details to me the first time, but that was months ago so I've forgotten most of it. Um, I suppose he'll be handing it back, so I'll be waiting for him to come down. But I don't need anything in particular right now."

"If you're sure. You're looking a bit pale. Maybe you should see the medic?"

"I think I should talk to the wizard first. I doubt the medic can help much with anything the spell did, so it would be good to clear up what's going on there."

She nods, then glances towards the mast.

"Looks like he's heading down, so, that'll be soon enough. I suppose I might as well stick around in case he suggests fetching anything."

She stands off to one side. You appreciate the concern - a lot of the sailors here take a "deal with it yourself" approach to other people's problems.

A few minutes later, the wizard walks over. He doesn't look happy.

"Here's your map back," he says. "Next time, try not to take so long, all right?"

"I was unconscious and nobody reminded me," you grumble. "Why did I even need to be up there?"

"Didn't I explain? It's easier for me to cast the ward if the map-maker is close by. Good stroke of luck I cast that spell on you, the slow fall kept you in range for most of it."

He probably did explain. But you're not going to press the point right now.

"Speaking of that spell, what exactly did it do?"

"Oh, it reduces the effect of gravity on you. Makes you a lot easier to lift, and as a side effect, you fall slower. It should have faded to about half effect by now, and in another ten minutes you'll barely notice anything. Though it takes an hour to completely wear off, but that only matters if I were going to cast another spell that it might interfere with."

You aren't really taking that in.

"Would it make me sick? Because I don't feel so great and I can't tell how much is the spell and how much is the fall."

"It shouldn't. It's just ether. Doesn't tend to stay in your body long unless you're a wizard. Why, does something in particular feel wrong?"

Well, everything around me seems to be flickering in and out of existence.