rubyrubyruby

The Hawsepipe Tavern usually caters to those that work at the Docks and ships that harbour there. It is well supplied in spirits and high caloric meals, with nothing getting too fancy. The menu is not high gastronomy but it doesn't pretend to it. The tavern and its back rooms have been rented out for a couple of days for the Pathfinder Corps. Staff has been retained and paid to slings drinks at the bar, cook up uncomplicated mass-quantity meals and keep a beady eye on the particular patronage. The tavern is usually given over to multiple scattered tables for waitstaff to rove between. Today these have been mostly pushed to the edge of the room. A set of four have been pushed together at the center and hold a large parchment map of Amber with spokes of sea routes and paths that lead (sometimes more aesthetically than accurately) to Golden Circle realms. The edges of the big parchment are weighed down by an assortment of knives and tankards. Objects sit on certain realms like monopoly pieces, and Ruby's bias towards the different GC realms is blatant.

Those entering will be welcomed by a scent of pipesmoke, alcohol and meats that have sazzle. The beams of the ceiling have been inundated by a blue haze of the aforementioned puff-puffs. There's no one to take hat or coat but plenty of places to hang or fling once out of the dockside weather. It's sporadically populated by perhaps two dozen other individuals.
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Daybreak on the Beast and there's a changing of the watch. A tarp has been thrown over the big table to protect against the elements while people catch up on some much needed sleep. Soft calls through the fleet as people muster groggily for their duties. A number of launches have occurred to ferry people back and forth between ships and Arks to facilitate repairs and transferring work crews. There's been alarming reports of feedstocks running low for the critters on Ark #2 but the shepherds haven't been permitted to break into the mass seedlings and other provisions meant for sustainability when landfall is properly made. The last shadow, a place of decay or heightened entrophy, resulted in a number of livestock being dumped over the side. Unfit for food and stinking up the joint.

A prisoner has been tied to the main mast of the Beast. She's unable to move anything but her head, but she is under watchful eyes of a guard throughout the shift changes. She has been lightly ba-donking the back of her head against the mast in rhythm and humming dryly to pass the time. Ruby's near the prow and is watching the female prisoner with a heavy-lidded gaze. As if she stared long enough something would magically happen. A weary sailor nearby calls out the fathoms while the ship is at anchor. By their tone, they are bored and don't expect a change of depth after a whole shift of such.
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Maggie stands on the foredeck of a great and terrible ship. She is decked out in her Captain's finery, complete with her tricornered hat with the glorious feather, her hair in an official looking braide down her back. "Hello, Miriam. I wonder if you would have the time to assist with a dream search? We want to find s singing Narwhal. He has been plagueing Ruby and various others for quite a while now and it is time to find out what he wants. We have reason to believe that we can find him in the Dreaming, but would greatly appreciate guideance."
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"Aye!" Sidonie calls out to Ruby in agreement. It's time to scoot. She backpedals toward where the gangplank is supposed to be, and stumbles yet again when both ships collide once more. With a grunt of surprise, she reaches to grip the railing.

Wynter whispers to herself and lifts from the deck of the saintly ship as things start to get hectic. She climbs upwards a good ten feet and turns to make sure the others are on their way across the gangplank. She starts drifting backwards at leasurely pace and to Theol and Grace she says. "Your war between yourselves has nothing to do with us. Excuse us if you please."
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The Caravel is named ~Bountiful Breeze~, though for some reason her crew was fond of calling it ~Wheezy~. It's been well-maintained, with fine sails and has a low profile in the water. One could dip their hands in the water if it turns sharply enough. The Captain has insisted that he remain aboard, which serves Ruby just fine if she can prod and harangue, and the crew will respond as swift as the vessel appears to be. That being said, they are leery of this particular mission. Ruby has promised to speak on the Captain's behalf should he seek to use these exploits to further his reputation and position with trading guilds within Minos, as well as other vessel-crafting favours. It's a healthy enough incentive to get going.
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If one were a flying thing, and flew real high and looked down, they'd see a approximately a hundred ships in a diamond formation. Three big old Arks in the center making a mobile bermuda's triangle, and the rest taking up proscribed positions according to some previously arranged pattern. There's a light rain going on and grey grumpy clouds that promise more. A dull rumble of thunder sometimes issues from somewhere like a sleepy giant moving furniture upstairs.
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Once everyone is seated on the carpet, there's an embarrassing pause while Ruby tries to remember the magical words to get it going. She rumbles a few under her breath, convinced they're wrong, and hand-in-hand with that.. nadda. It's when she takes in a lungful of air to start to curse the fabulously hot land it originates, that it rises from the decking and very slowly is passed by the ship (it not being a stationary object in mid-air).
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Lots of activity on deck. The sea is finally becoming a bit more lively. Wind is blowing across the fleet. Nearly time to go into shadow. To signify the embarkation, Ruby has had table brought up and a space cleared to share drinks and a smattering of food. A particular food group of absent, because of ~issues~, there's no bread. It's a basic spread, but seeks to offer a lot of what is there and perishable before a long voyage is done. Things like grapes, oranges and lemons. Fresh fish. Cuts of meat. Cheeses.
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