Swamped

Well. You don't think you can hit him with the staff, but it's probably not wise to hold onto it. The wizard might have left some sort of trap on it. And perhaps if you leave it on the ground, you can lure him into taking it.

So you fling the staff as far as you can. As you expect, it falls short. Unfortunately, the wizard doesn't seem interested in retrieving it, either. Perhaps it's trapped after all, and he can't take the time to disarm it; or perhaps he simply doesn't think it worth the risk. Either way, he soon rushes out of sight.

"What's going on here?" the priest asks insistently. "Who was that? And why was he after you?"

"I'm afraid I don't know any more than you do about that."

You feel the ship shake again, though not as severely. You think it might be best to deal with those gears.

That's going to limit your ability to move... but perhaps the priest here can help.

"There should be someone else on this ship with a purple uniform," you say. "I'd like you to find him and lead him to me."

The priest looks at you skeptically.

"How am I supposed to find him? I don't know my way around here."

He has a point. You should probably give him a bit more guidance than that.