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Splintered Light Chapter 1.1: As The Sun Rises

Alistair first considered the job set before him by the Ilysean admiralty a "mundane cartographical expedition" but he couldn't present it to his crew in that manner for two main reasons. First, the task he was presented with involved uncovering a small, rarely seen (and never explored) archipelago that lay far east of the east most maritime trade lanes with Jiuyan. Second, and probably even more important: a mundane cartographical expedition simply wouldn't have been any fun. Both explanations made perfect sense to him but not all of his officers agreed.

Willem Zuider, the ship's Foreman was a level-headed and down-to-earth Goat; both were reasons why Alistair liked having him aboard but there were also times when the old Foreman's limited imagination and lack of appreciation for adventure stunted the crew's buy-in. "Apologies, Captain... but for a task like this they pay they're offering'll hardly even cover the cost of supplies, let alone--"

Captain Jacksoni was ready for the objection and beat him to the punch. "Supplies are already provided. Ilyse's admiralty is covering the cost of the expedition and the pay is ours to keep."

The ship's Gunner, a no-nonsense Rottweiler from Wyra by the name of Karl Jak was quick to clarify. "Less crew wages, sir."

The Tiger laughed. "Of course, man-- we can't very well NOT pay the crew. And before you say anything else, Lieutenant, you will all also be paid."

The comment hadn't needed to be said; none of his officers would have expected to sail without their fair wages, but Alistair felt it important to remind them that, despite his manic good spirits he didn't always fail to look before jumping. Using the ex-military Dog's ranking in the Wyarnese navy was just an added friendly jibe.

Thankfully the ship's Bosun came to Alistair's defense. "We've been stuck in port for a week. Hell, boys-- just a day and a half ago I can't think of anyone here who wasn't moping around on deck just PRAYING that something'd come along to get us back out to sea. Well? Here it is! The Captain's found us a crackin' new opportunity to get out there beyond the reach of kith and kin-- I'd say we'd best seize the day!"

The ship's Master-at-Arms, a pale-gray-furred Lynx from Trevosse nodded in agreement; Jacques seemed the sort to look at the bright side of everything so it wasn't exactly unanticipated that he join in with optimism. "Speaking of kin, I suppose if we're out exploring uncharted islands it may actually be useful to have your brother along. The 'lubber'll be useful for something OTHER than keeping the deck swabs busy."

The Bosun and Master-at-Arms had a friendly series of shoulder-punches and shoves before the First Mate spoke. The moment the Tribal Jackal started talking everyone fell silent, and the silence only grew once he had said his piece. "Did they say if there will be people on the islands, Captain?"

It was a sensitive subject considering the Jackal came from the frontier lands of a relatively unsettled nation; he very well could feel kinship with the savage people of an undiscovered tribe. Alistair smiled inward; Ash-Moon didn't feel kinship with ANYONE, but stranger things had happened. Still, he respected the hesitance of the rest of the officers and replied tactfully. "They haven't ruled out the possibility, no... although all the more reason to have men of god and a friendly disposition along with us--"

Karl grunted. "And a few good sized cannons."

Jacques' face scrunched up in displeasure. "The Captain would never give the order to use artillery on a camp of primitives."

The Rottweiler didn't seem to agree. "It would depend. There's lots of good reason for bombardment."

The Lynx scowled. "Name one."

The Gunner scoffed. "Show of force. Prove you can destroy em and they won't fight."

Although Alistair had no problem letting his crewmen and officers settle disputes between themselves the Tiger didn't want the meeting to dissolve into an argument so he cleared his throat, clicking closed the pocket watch that he'd been holding in a paw. The sound drew everyone's attention back to him and put an end to the discussion of using cannons on anyone. "I have no plans on subjugating, conquering, or so much as firing on natives at this time. If the need to make a decision to that end should come to pass in the future then I suppose I will consider it, but for now let us consider the point moot."

He received around of respectful and conforming "Sir"s. From there the discussion moved forward to reviewing navigation charts and planning out the trip. Between the Foreman's understanding of seamanship, the Bosun's familiar with the sea, and the Gunner's experience on the ocean the three were able to chart an effective and efficient course that would take them somewhere around four to five weeks, assuming the wind was in their favor. In a worst case scenario their time frame for hitting the archipelago was close to 7 weeks.

The Bosun shook his horned head. "I don't like it, Sir. We have just over 14 weeks of supplies aboard. If it takes us almost 50 days to hit the islands-- and that's a BIG if since it could take us a few days of scouring the area to find em-- then that means we won't have any real time to graph the cart."

The First Mate's ears rose and he turned to stare at Rolf. "Graph the cart? What does that mean?"

It took a moment for Alistair to catch the wordplay and the humor in the Bosun's statement and he was more than willing to share the joke with Ash-Moon but a much more playful tone. "It's a play on words, Ash-Moon. Cartography means to produce a map, but Mr. Severna said graph the--"

Ash-Moon had apparently received enough of an explanation. "Oh."

Allistair brought the discussion back to the perfectly reasonable point his Bosun had made. "Assuming we find the archipelago the current consensus is that there is jungle and if there is jungle then there is a good chance that there is food and water. In a worst case scenario we have twice as many supplies as we should need to find it and any crew not working on mapping can spend the time resupplying on the islands themselves."

The series of nods coming from the officers around him finally gave Alistair the encouragement he felt was necessary before continuing onward. "Besides... in the worst of all worst case scenarios it should only be a few weeks to Jiuyan from that area so, if we are particularly down on our luck we can always head there to resupply."

Jacques smirked. "One contingency just isn't enough for you, eh Captain?"

The Tiger smiled in response, winking. "I may be a dare devil, Monsieur le Blanc, but I don't take chances with my crew's life."

Once the travel plans were discussed the officers moved on to covering the intricacies of the trip; shift rotations, crew assignments, rationing, and all the various systems involved with running a ship were discussed next. The entire process was tedious for Alistair but he also knew that anything worth doing was worth doing right. The responsibility for the ship was his and, as he had learned during the years he'd worked with and for his father, the Tiger wasn't about to overlook something just because it was boring.

As for Alistair, he headed out of his cabin and ascended the stairs to the poop deck; Rolf was at the wheel and the Prong Horn Bosun was as good as any to join for passing the time. What the Captain hadn't expected was that Mr. Severna would already be engaged in conversation; the Bosun's younger brother was already with him. The Tiger nodded to each before strolling over to stand beside the railing looking back in the direction from which they came. "I take it your stomach has settled, Master Severna?"

Aboard his ship Alistair always preferred to use business terminology when it came to courtesy; with two brothers on board it made even more sense. Shipmates were referred to by their title or with the honorific of "Mister". Considering the younger of the Severna brothers was technically as much a passenger as he was a contracted scientist it was easier to differentiate between them by using "Master". The Tiger continued gazing out over the ocean waiting for the scholar to reply; Alistair smirked when he heard the sound of an elbow touching ribs and the answer finally came. "Hey! What? ...oh.

The brief exchange of questions and realizations made the Captain realize that Tobias had likely received a physical indication that the question had been directed toward him. Alistair repeated the inquiry. "You're feeling better, are you, man?"

The Prong Horn scholar cleared his throat. "Uh... yes-- yes Captain. Thank you. I've never spent much time with my hooves on deck. The movement takes getting used to."

Rolf chuckled at that. "Which means you can look forward to being on land again."

Alistair laughed and the long pause from Tobias was eventually broken by the younger Prong Horn asking hesitantly "What's that supposed to mean?"

The tiger opened the traveling satchel on his belt and pulled out a collection of leather straps and a lens framed in brass. "It means, Master Severna, that you are now used to the way a ship moves. When we get back to land you'll have the joy of relearning that the ground doesn't. At least half of men who suffer from sea sickness usually get land sick for a day after a long voyage."

Tobias' groan was humorous in a sense, but also one that could certainly garner sympathy from the Tiger; it had taken Alistair over a year coming-and-going aboard the Wave Rider before he'd gained the constitution to avoid the dizziness, discomfort, and nausea that the beginning and ending of sea travel brought with it. The Captain turned back to the two brothers just at Rolf slapped Tobias on the back. "Hang in there. We're weeks away from that."

A new voice joined the conversation. Dr. Brownell ascended the stairs to the poop deck, calling out just as she reached the top. "Just how long ARE we expecting to be adrift?"

Alistair took a step forward and offered his paw to the Mouse as she stepped out onto the deck. "Technically we will be doing little or no 'drifting', Doctor-- we are powered by sail, oar, and engine."

Dr. Brownell looked down at the offered paw and placed her own on the railing, refusing the assistance. She brushed passed the Captain and approached Tobias. The Mouse pulled a glass flacon out of one of the many leather belt pouches she wore and put a placed a small ceramic cup into Tobias' waiting hand. She called over her shoulder, rephrasing her question without complaint. "How long would you anticipate us being 'at sea', Captain?"

The Tiger glanced at Rolf, who shrugged in response. Looking back to the Doctor, who was pouring what appeared to be a dark colored infused tea into the cup to combine with a few drops from whatever tincture was contained within the flacon, Alistair answered. "I anticipate anywhere between four to five weeks, weather and god willing."

The Mouse set the teapot aside and turned to regard the Captain. "I verified with the cook that you approved the extra crate of sweet peppers and twenty pounds of cedar needles."

Alistair offered a slight bow of his head to Dr. Brownell. "Of course, Doctor. I couldn't rightly ignore advice from the very woman I am paying to provide it."

She nodded, accepting the polite praise as if not even noticing it. "Most cases of scurvy aboard seagoing vessels occur after or around four weeks. Between the bottled citrus Mr. Veektur uses with the drinks and the peppers there shouldn't be an issue."

The Captain realized she was baiting him and so he let himself be led. "And the arbor vitae needles?"

He was correct. She walked past him, sliding a small pamphlet into his paws. "Once the fresh vegetables and juice runs out they can be used to brew a tea. Here-- read this. Tobias, make sure you bring the tea seat back with you when you're done up here. I'm off to make certain my tools are in order."

Alistair folded the small packet and slid it into his trousers; he'd review it later, but at the moment he was more interested in the glances the two Severna brothers were exchanging. "Is everything alright, gentlemen?"

Rolf shot the Captain a wry grin. "Just admiring the way Toby's woman has the will to boss him around and still have enough left over for you, Cap'n."

Despite the incredible reddening of Tobias' ears Alistair was more than content to laugh aloud at the comment. He also felt it necessary to come to the poor scholar's aid. "Oh come off it, Rolf... behind every successful man is a willful woman."

The elder brother didn't relent. "Well, if the willfulness of a woman is any indication of the successfulness of a man my brother here's got it made."

Another round of laughter was shared on the poop deck with poor Tobias the topic of jubilation but Alistair realized that he was also a very good segue into a much more down-to-earth discussion. "Speak of-- Master Severna... we will be doing a survey of a small archipelago. I assume we may encounter various forms of plants and animals. Would it be fair to assume that you would be capable of handling some degree of hiking?"

Returning to a much more respectable topic brought about an immediate change in the scholar. Tobias adjusted his vest and smoothed out the sleeves of his shirt beneath it. "Of course, Captain. I spent year studying the flora and fauna of Lehsunia's eastern wild lands. I would think a few days wandering around an uncharted island would be comparable... and most likely much more temperate considering it isn't known to snow this far south."

Alistair nodded with a smile. "Good... very good. Mr. Severna?"

Rolf was on point and responded quickly. "Aye, Cap'n?"

The Tiger turned back around as he fit the leather strips of his headpiece to his forehead and pulled one of the straps behind an ear to secure it on his head. "I'd like you and your brother to join me in my cabin for dinner tonight."

Both brothers made the same inquiry, though in entirely different tones. "Sir?"

Alistair fit the lens over his eye and pulled the straps tight to secure his headpiece into place. "Bring Dr. Brownell too, if you please."

Rolf was very matter of fact. "Aye, Sir."

Tobias was a little more eloquent. "Oh, thank you, Captain. That would be lovely. We will be there."

He rotated the brass setting of the lens, adjusting his view of the distant horizon. while the mainland was still within view to the naked eye he wanted to get one more good look at the port. Travel and people were alike in many ways; to know the best way to a destination it was a good idea to know the point of origin-- to better know someone it was a good idea to understand more about their past. "Then, until tonight-- dismissed."