Dead Run

[Marino Oceangem]

88th of Spring, 520 A.V.

After a cloudy morning with sheets of rain, the weather was starting too look rather nice. The sun was coming out now, and it was a good deal dryer as Marino waited to meet his next passenger. There was even a fair bit of wind which felt pleasantly cool off of the sea. Back towards Syka is where his charge had disappeared off to. Just a few chimes ago, a oddly colored and quite muscular man had come up to him asking him to wait a tick while he went to get some supplies. Of course, Marino obliged. He had just dropped off a passenger, and was in the mood to pick up a new one as soon as possible. A part from the weather, his morning had been a sour one because he’d spied some Oceangem’s slipping off from the beach. If that hadn’t been enough to temper his spirits, Twist had gone with them, and had yet to come back. So, he was keeping busy to avoid thinking about all of that noise.

Fortunately, the man was intriguing enough that he didn’t think he would have that hard of a time in that regard. The man was blue. Certainly he had some interesting stories to tell, or mission to go on. So long as the destination wasn’t the Swine swells, they’d get along well. He still had a gnawing dread about that place, and whenever he passed it he felt his skin crawl. Which was unfortunate because he passed it often going up to the sawmill. It occurred to him then that he was avoiding facing a lot of feelings right now right when Jenson Alavarth showed up with a full pack.

“Thanks for waiting” The man said as he smoothly boarded the ship, and Marino had to look up to meet his eyes as he extended a hand. “It was nothing, all set?” Smiling, the Akalak shook his head. “No, I think I have everything. I’m Jenson Alavarth by the way.” “Pleasure to meet you Jenson. I’m Marino Oceangem. Where are we heading today?” He asked. Jenson had a strong grip as he took Marnio’s hand and gave it a warm shake. “I need to meet someone by the Sawmill. Do you know where that is?”

Marino nodded, and glanced in the direction they would be headed. “Of course. It is no problem. A pleasure to have you today. You can stow your bag down below if you want while I get things ready.” Jenson seemed grateful for this and headed for the bunk Marino had gestured. With his passenger attended to, Marino went to get the Seasilk ready to sail. He started how he always did, prepping the lines to swing into action once he’d gotten them away from where they were moored. Next, he drew up the head of his main and secondary sail, pulling down the boom afterward. Then, with that finished, he pulled up the anchor before giving them a firm push off the dock out into the water.


WC: 506

[Marino Oceangem]

Jenson walked up from the cabin then but didn’t say anything as Marino ran about drawing the leech, and giving tension to the foot. The tide was in, the breeze light. He wanted to catch all the air he could so he drew the luft taut as well. Then he did the same for the secondary sail. With both sails blown out tight with the breeze, he skipped back to the wheel, and worked on turning them about to sail past the left side of the island. A route he was quickly becoming familiar with. The waves were a bit choppy today, but so long as he kept to the center, he didn’t foresee any problems sailing between the island and beech. The water was up about as high as it would go, an he’d sailed this way over a dozen times now. Looking over at the Akalak, he allowed himself to relax a little. “Ever been on a ship like this?”

“No. Its nice though, being so close to the water.” Jenson said, walking up to stand beside him as he steered. The Akalak leaned against the railing as he looked back towards Syka. “I really get a sense for how spread out everything is from out here.” Marino nodded, agreeing with the sentiment as he glanced over port towards the dock and settlement beyond. Having tried walking the beach before, he knew just how true that sentiment was. He’d barely made it to the Ranchos before turning back. Sailing was much quicker, even if he still had to do some walking once he got to where he needed. Out on the open sea, he had never really appreciated speed before unless it was to race one of his cousins. There was never anywhere pressing for him to get to so he hadn’t really concerned himself with keeping good time. With this new position at Syka though, he was growing to quickly enjoy making good time. It gave him a sense of accomplishment he’d been lacking on the open sea.

“How long are you planning on staying in Syka?” Jenson asked. “I’m not sure, for a while at least. The place has sort of grown on me.” Marino said with a smile after taking a moment to run his tongue across the front of his teeth. “How about yourself?” The Akalak’s face calmed somewhat as he looked at Marino for a few ticks. “The same really.” Then added. “I think we all come for our own reasons, but we stay for the same. Its part of the draw of this place.” Marino stared thoughtful at Jenson for a few moments before his eyes went back to guiding them where they were going. They were nearing the tip of the coast now and the wind had shifted. The change forced him to turn with it, away from the coast which drew a look from the Akalak. Neither of them said anything else however until he turned them around the point and in the direction of the sawmill.


WC: 507

[Marino Oceangem]

With the wind at their back now, Marino settled into something approaching comfort. “Will you be meeting Lars at the sawmill?” Jenson shook his head. “No, I’m meeting a woman named Indigo. Have you met her yet?” “No” The Akalak smiled slightly at that, drawing a raised eyebrow from Marino. “I don’t imagine you have then, she leaves a fairly distinct impression.” Jenson turned to look out over the deck before continuing. “I’m bringing her some supplies to trade for some herbs I need for the Panacea.”

“The Panacea?” Marino questioned, unfamiliar with the name. “Its a clinic. We’re close to the Syka commons. I’m a healer there.”

“Oh, don’t suppose you would need some sea buckthorn?” Jenson looked over at him, and appeared to consider the question for a few ticks. “I was wondering which Svefra Uta had met tagging along with our future inn keeper.” Marino blushed slightly at the mention, and started pointedly studying the coast. Jenson continued. “I don’t need it yet, Uta has that well in hand, but I’ll keep you in mind. Do you have an interest in healing?” Something about the way he said it got Marino to look back. What he saw was that calm as ever gaze that made him feel decidedly more certain of himself. “I like to see what goes into stuff, and I don’t pass on the chance to learn something new whatever it is.” Marino paused a tick, then said. “I don’t know if I’d like to pursue it beyond the odds and ends I may need in my travels. There is a lot to consider that I don’t already know.”

Jenson seemed to understand this as he nodded, and said softly. “It is not the easiest path.” Things then lapsed into silence between them for several ticks till Marino remembered something from that day with Uta. “Do you know who Rak’keli is?” The akalak brightened when he said this. “She is the goddess of healing, and health. How did her name come up?” Marino chewed over that for a tick while he steered them away from the coast again so he could catch more of the breeze. Up on the left, the Swine swells loomed though and he couldn’t take his eyes off of the water around it for more than a few moments at a time. “Uta mentioned a story about Rak’keli being responsible for the sea buckthorn up in the mountains of Lhavit” He said rather distractedly as he steered them well away from that section of coast, even to the point of taking the wind directly behind them which was suboptimal.


WC: 438

[Marino Oceangem]

Jenson either didn’t notice, or didn’t mention Marino’s preoccupation as he continued on. “That makes sense. It has a lot of medicinal uses, and has proved to be quite the boon.” Marino took a tick to tear himself away from the sight and focus instead on navigating up the coast, trying not to dwell on what might lie in the waters. It wasn’t like him to get hung up on old situations. He most certainly didn’t want to start again now. “Is that what that mark is? I noticed that it was a bit like mine in that it is clearly not a tattoo.” He asked gesturing at Jenson’s mark before pointing to his own that shimmered on his right, between his neck and shoulder. The akalak nodded. “Yes, the goddess has visited me twice. Her power is invaluable to my work at the clinic.” Marino looked at his opalescent mark thoughtfully at that, then asked. “Why are there two snakes as her symbol?”

Jenson smiled, and chuckled at that. “Those are her pets, the Rakanivas.” The akalak looked past him towards the shore, and Marino followed. There, near the jungle’s edge, a woman sat staring over at them. “Suppose that’s Indigo?” “Yes, it appears she beat me here.” There approach of the shore went quietly from there, though it took some effort to get them turned about. Marino, thinking to check with the sawmill while they were here angled the Seasilk back towards the way they would go before he brought the casinor to shore. After carefully beaching the vessel with a little help from Jenson, he made sure that everything was stowed away while Jenson left to meet with Indigo. When he finally got done with the last of his checks, he saw that neither the Akalak or the woman could be seen, but that didn’t bother him. They perhaps needed to grab something before the return journey, and Marino could kill time at the sawmill.

Lars was of course busy when he got there, but he did spare a tick to gesture at some lumber that needed hauling to the site of the Inn. Seeing how heavy it looked, Marino decided to wait on top of the pile till the Akalak appeared. It didn’t take longer that a few chimes before Jenson showed up coming from the trail, absent the woman he called Indigo. His pack was noticeably lighter now which Marino hoped meant he would be amiable towards lending him a hand. Standing up from his reclined position on the lumber, Marino gave Jenson his warmest smile. Looking several times from the lumber to Marino, it was apparent that he saw through the act, but Marino carried on anyways. “Get everything you needed from Indigo?” “Yes, plenty to make what I need for the clinic, thank you for asking. I suppose this is here for you?” Looking at the pile of wood rather sheepishly, Marino nodded. “Yeah, I could use some help carrying it to the casinor if you don’t mind?” Jenson sighed, and went over to the pile, grabbing the end of one of the bundles. Marino quickly grabbed the other, and off they went down the trail. Fortunately, together they were able to get over half of it in one trip, though lugging it aboard took some effort. In the end, they propped it up at an angle against the casinor and Marino pulled it aboard before securing it down below. Then they did the same with the next trip. The whole thing took less than thirty chimes but it would have taken a lot longer on his own so Marino was very thankful for Jenson’s help.


WC: 613

[Marino Oceangem]

With them all set for their return to Syka proper, Marino and Jenson gave the Seasilk a good push back out into the water. Then clambering aboard to grab his grapple pole, he pushed them the rest of the way out into deeper waters. He had to move quickly as he did the next several things. Starting with bringing up both sails, and adjusting them to take the change in wind they were getting. It was a spirited breeze they were getting now so he decided that he wouldn’t go so tight on the luft and foot. It took several ticks to get it how he wanted it though as the sails didn’t want to cooperate. At first they were too taut, then they were too loose, not getting any momentum going. Eventually he settled on manipulating the lower sail until it filled at the bottom nicely before he did the same for the upper portion. That got them going at a decent speed so he got a chance to focus on steering the ship once more.

In his efforts of setting up the sails, they’d dragged away from the coast quite a ways, but Jenson didn’t say anything about it, so Marino didn’t mind. They had a good wind for getting back that ran crosswise. Soon enough, they were picking up speed and back to hugging the coast after a few chimes. With the lull in effort at maintaining the current course, Marino spoke up. “Thanks for you help by the way. I’ll find a way to return the favor.” Jenson chuckled and continued to look out at the sea. “Here at Syka, we help each other without needing something in return. I’ll take comfort in the fact that you’ll do the same for someone in need.” “Anytime” Marino said immediately, studying the coast ahead of them. The rest of the trip passed mostly in silence as Marino steered them around the point and back towards where they had come from. Now at high tide, Marino could see how a shark could get trapped on that reef. It was a tempting hunting spot and when the water drew out, it was easy to get stranded. It certainly looked like a great spot to fish, if he could find out how to get out on it safely.

Other than that, there was not much too look at on the beach that he hadn’t already seen so he focused on giving the smoothest ride he could. The waves were still a little choppy so he avoided turning into them when he could, which meant they went a little slower because he felt a little uncertain about his maneuvers. Out on the open sea it was mostly about the wind and waves you had to worry about, but he was quickly finding out that closer to land, there were a lot of other things too be concerned with. Like where the shore jutted out under the water and the deep parts you wanted to navigate across. Also there was that island that played with the waves, wind, and current. Even after several days of doing this he still wasn’t used to all the changes the days brought. An this was with mostly easy conditions. He felt more than a little trepidation of what it would be like when a proper storm arrived. Maybe he could ask Shoal about that if the Svefra had stayed here long enough to learn something of it. If he was going to be here for the long haul, he would need to learn this and more. The last thing he wanted was to damage his Seasilk because he hadn’t prepared properly for a storm.

Marino ended up dropping off Jenson first before going to bring the building supplies over. After waving goodbye to the akalak, he brought the supplies over to the beach by the inn, and managed to find some help their unloading the lumber. With the day nearly wrapped up after that, Marino docked and found a nice little fire to smoke beside, and try to forget about all of the worries that day. Mostly notably, where was Twist?


WC: 694