"Those are great ideas, Sterling... a universal translator, if such is possible, would be a great boon. You are truly gifted for even thinking of it. I will leave you to your work then... Do let me know when you are done, I would love to see this in action. As for research, that is a fine idea as well... learning what they know of Rantherus, if anything, would be good to know as well."
She sighs and nods... puts a gentle hand on Sterling's arm for a moment as she says, "Please try not to think ill of me Sterling... I'd like to remain your friend... " Knowing he does not feel the same at present, she doesn't push the issue any further though and slips out and up to her own quarters, where she has a brief meltdown and a good old fashioned cry.
When she's recovered, she dries her eyes, shakes her head... You could probably be more help here too, yanno. Not a good time to be so silent.
She straightens her clothing, and goes looking for Harry.
Harry is working diligently to transmute his carried wealth into inebriation.
Harry rapidly works his way through various alcohols while eating spicy fish and chicken. He finds they have a very potent plum wine, the rice based alcohol similar to saki, and an extremely potent and fiery drink that's made from fermented hot peppers.
However, as long as he keeps handing out gold coins, the serving girls continue to bring him food and drink.
After a bit, the alcohol has his head swimming strongly. One of the serving girls, the one that has brought the most alcohol, becomes rather friendly. There's a language barrier, but it becomes obvious that she's more than willing to be very friendly for some more gold. From the gestures, it's becoming obvious the place has rooms for rent upstairs.
Harry, being properly plotzed and never overloaded with wisdom accedes to the girls offer and allows himself to be led upstairs.
Finding that Harry left the vessel, Luna frets for his safety, but returns to the main deck, sitting and waiting for the mate to return... If he doesn't return in a reasonable amount of time, she will start to doubt him a bit, and bite her lip, chastising herself for doubting him even while doing so... she starts pacing nervously.
Harry has fuzzy memories of the rest of the night, largely thank to the alcohol. When he awakens, he finds himself in a large, rather comfortable bed (mattress is stuffed with sea sponges and cloth tatters). He's alone, but has some alcohol blurred memories of spending some 'quality time' with the waitress from last night.
His coin purse is lighter by 5 gold, 8 silver, and 4 copper. He isn't sure, but he doesn't think anyone robbed him, he doesn't remember spending that much, but, he isn't sure exactly what he spent. He is sure he has a splitting headache and that someone is shoving ice picks in his eyes when he opens them.
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On the ship, the mate comes back late into the night watch, his breath smelling of some strange alcohol, but his steps are steady. He awakens Luna, and explains that he is sorry, but there is an art to negotiations, and this particular person is easier to negotiate with over a local rice alcohol. "However, it was worth the four gold in alcohol I spent, I have pro... procur... obtained his service for us. He will begin locating proper candidates for us. Unfortunately, due to how many we need, it will take him at least two weeks to bring us up to full crew." He grimaces. "I'm afraid the crew who left have been spending gold in the taverns and tales of our ship have spread, making it somewhat more difficult to find crew. Were it not so dangerous to ship undercrewed, I'd suggest waiting for the next port."
"Too much undercrewed could be mighty dangerous, I agree... let's give him the couple of weeks then and see how many we can recruit. Surely there will be some adventurous souls who are willing to sail with us. Perhaps we should post extra watch to prevent the overly curious from taking TOO close a look? Let me know what you think. And thank you so much for dealing with this matter for me. Can I reimburse you for the coin you spent this evening? You shouldn't have to absorb the cost from your own pay."
Harry gets up and stumbles back to the ship hoping that maybe something will kill him on the way back to end the pain.
When Harry returns to the ship, Luna will meet him and look at him with compassion. "You poor man, you look like you've been through the ringer... " she says softly, so as not to make his head hurt any more than it does... "The only cure I know is a fresh egg in WOrcestershire sauce. I don't know that they have an equivalent here, but perhaps the cook might know of one. Other than that, maybe best take to your bed til you recover... and if you learned anything of interest during the night, perhaps, when you're feeling better, we can discuss it?"
Once he hears the suggestion of the egg in Worcestershire sauce, he rushes to the rail, and heaves up his excesses from the night before.
"Right. Bed. Talk later. Ow. " and he stumbles back to his bunk in hope of oblivion.
Over the next two weeks, new crew begins to trickle in.
The new First Mate begins to integrate the new crew with the existing crew, working on getting them up to speed. There are some grumbling and scrapes and a couple of fights, but nothing serious. The new First Mate seems to have a much harder hand on the crew, not hesitating to beat someone down if they cause too much trouble. "Don't worry, I'll have them whipped into shape... or walked off the side, whichever comes first."
Luna is intrigued with the new crewmembers and will make an attempt to at least familiarize herself with their names and positions as assigned by the first mate and bosun.
At some point in time, she'll ask the first mate to meet with her in private and have a little chat with him about the crew, new and old. "How are things going, integrating the new crew with the old? Any particular problems or troublemakers we need to keep a close eye on?"
She won't question his authority or leadership style in front of the crew, but she does want to be kept in the loop as to what is going on.
"Things go well, Captain Navigator Luna. The crew is coming together. We can sail for the next port in a day or two if you like. We'll be light handed, but we'll be sailing the coast, not the maelstrom, so it should be fine. We might have issues if we get hit by pirates, but... I suspect they won't bother, given our lack of cargo. We ride to high on the waves to be a choice target."
"Ready to go when you are!" Luna makes sure Harry is on board and relatively sober and that Sterling is ready to go as well... She advises them of the first mate's assessment of the next leg of our travels, so all are informed.