The speech isn't a problem.,

No one gets to leave the ship until I have their updates. I still need at least 2.

Also keep in mind that stopping for 16 hours a day will triple your food expenses. And you could always have an encounter during that period, so folks will need to be on watch, anyhow. I'm not sure there will be much of a difference, other than travel time being extended.

“Will do Master Glass.” Ayamba seemed cheered by the prospect of shore leave. “We should all talk more about shifts later. Brian was my vote for Captain so I would say she would be best for first mate. No-one else was interested in leading it seemed and it should be someone that can helm.”

Brian yawns, not because she's tired. Well mostly because she's tired,"Mmh, if we have shore leave, then I'd like to take my time napping really. This must be some sort of side-effect for working with the Helm for too long" she said with another yawn, though looked at Ayamba with a raised eyebrow,"Sure, I can take first mate."

"I will second that nomination," Jediah chimes in.  It seems a bit of a surprise to see him up on deck, and not in the galley.

Keira would offer, "I know nothing of the responsibility of leadership, ships, nor navigation. While helping make smart decisions is a passion I know when I am unfit to take charge. My talents are better suited to damage control than morale. Brian as first mate seems excellent.

I thought that with nearly three weeks and no reason to fire a ballista as yet I would like us to consider applying enhancements to trade ability rather than military might. I can adjust a jug I have to let us call up a number of different substances, though only one each day. This might help cut down on water costs for us or add a small amount of variety of goods as we travel."

"Keira, does that mean we should invest in more barrels for the cargo hold?"

"I think we use enough water for that to not be an issue. Some might even say that we are due for a reason to use ballistae and should keep the infusion active there. I wanted us to think about it for a day or two. It is an option," she replies softly.

Ayamba returned to the ship after wandering around the dock area for the day. "I found a hiring hall, mostly labour, trades, that kind of thing. Shipyard work. Lots of taverns and boarding places. I was thinking of us getting a passenger or two on board, but couldn't find anyone. At least in the places I looked. Did anyone else find anything interesting?"

As day 2 of 3 in port wraps up Glass shows up with your two replacements: An Astral Elf (and we all remember how much you enjoyed meeting Astral Elves last week) and a little Ayamba sized lizard thing.

OOC:
New folks, you get to share room 9 on the map (the deck plan is posted as Game Map 0), steerage. It has 3 hammocks and a spot for a fourth, but barely room for two of you to stand up at the same time.

I assume watch duties will be assigned soon, after the ship sets back out for...well, I have no idea where, yet.

Back on ship maindeck Ayamba greets the new crew and addressed the gathering. “Seems to me we need more time to properly explore this small port. But likely our new crew can tell is all we would find anyway. So how about we leave and pick a new big place to visit, with a decent sized city with greater potential and plan to spend a week there finding a job or cargo to haul.”

Jediah introduces himself.  "Jediah Deimos, of Atlantis on Earth.  I am the ship's cook, and can almost always be found in the galley if I'm needed."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:50, Thu 15 Dec 2022.

Brian steps out of her room carrying a bunch of flasks and a lot of leaves and strange items. From the smell, you think those are herbs,"Oh no, please don't give me a hand everyone. I'm only here to save your butts." she says, giving Glass two more healing potions,"Distribute them for the love of God." she says, then looks to the newcomers,"Hey, I'm Brian O'Brien. The first mate and doctor."

Inspired by the ancestors Ayamba had a suggestion. “Well we could put the potions in a white box with a red symbol on it. For emergencies. At key points about the ship. Here on main deck would be a good spot for instance.” He shuddered.

 The little lizard-thing barely seems tall enough to come up to mid-thigh on the average member of the crew but he(?) has a look of keen, biting intelligence about him for all that he's dressed in dockside sailor clothes - light and battered, but well-fitted to keep from getting caught in ropes or pullies - and his kit includes a number of tightly fastened scroll tubes and a couple of hefty looking leatherbound books...

 ...which are the first clue to his profession, the second being his calm voicing (in accented common speech) of "Torkaghsinishkabepres, of Thricsvaklar thaczil Shaninthaczil.", the monstrously tongue-twisting recitation flowing off his inhuman tongue with ease and hanging in the air for a moment before he sighs and adds "Most humans call me Tor. I'm a capable pilot and celestial navigator, although I'll need to secure tools for the latter."

 "Mr Glass was, while persuasive a little light on detail about the contract too. Crew share or wages, duration... things like that." the tiny spellcaster (presumably) adds, bright-gold eyes moving from crewmember to crewmember in turn.

The Astral Elf looked around slowly as he walked up. The only potential clue as to a 'profession' possibly was the lute strapped to the pack on his back.

He then gave a small bow to the crew present, and flashed a brilliant and charming smile. "Greetings! I am Xanadry Kaltrhis. Hired to help helm, among other things."

He glanced down at the other new arrival and then gave a small nod. "I suppose that would be good information to have."

“I am Ayamba from…Earth. It is good to have another admirable-sized crew on board.”

He then looked at Xanadyr. “Just so you know, we were recently invaded by elves from a military looking ship. They were not particularly pleasant. I hope you are different.”

And day 3 wraps up with little more done.

AAs one or two of you have already determined, most downtime projects take a week or more.

So... slip fees have been exhausted,, and it's time to move on.

Where to?

Glass says, after the newcomers have made the rounds, "And now we have a full crew again. Once we have a destination, we can get underway. Any suggestions?"

 With no-one really interested in answering his questions, Tor glances at the other new hire, shrugs and heads down to set up his sleeping arrangements - hooking up his hammock on the lower level available and stowing his equipment before going to find out what the watch schedule is - knowing when you're set up to sleep being a rather important part of being awake when you should be after all.

 That puts him in place to hear Master Glass's inquiry, which in turn leads to the natural question "Well... What is it that you're trying to accomplish?"

“Interesting question Tor.” Ayamba nodded approvingly. “Trouble is we are in the process of working that out. We were kicked from our initial contract job on Earth and have been looking for purpose ever since. And answering your earlier question, equal share, equal vote for as long as your are part of the crew. Leave when you choose, but no guarantee on welcome return depending on manner of your leaving of course. Master Glass was voted Captain and so has the lead. But we all get to choose our direction.”

He took a deep breath. “So what can you offer?”

 "Methodical Intelligence." the diminutive reptile answers dryly, although without a particularly biting tone, "You're looking for employment for yourselves and the ship after failing a job and losing your contract? Then the first thing you do is assess your resources. What languages do you have access to - that will impact what ports you can freely expect to seek employment at. What skills do you possess? - that will determine how well you can fulfil a contract if you take it."

 "For my part I am, as mentioned a navigator as well as a qualified arcanist. I'm fluent in the trade tongue and draconic." he then proceeds to list, plainly willing to start the ball rolling.

Jediah shrugs.  "I am a skilled cook and brewer, and also trained in arms, and a skilled pugilist."  He paises a moment, then continues.  I also speak the elemental tongues.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:37, Fri 16 Dec 2022.

Glass a little stridently corrects the new crewmate's interpretation: "We did NOT fail our job - we completed it with swiftness and fully, providing direct access to the new markets that Trident contracted us to do. They, however, chose to terminate our contract when we landed, without even establishing a rapport with the new clients! We were cast aside like petty cashiers, even after we had arrived with a ship ten times larger than the row boat the sent us out in! In only a couple of weeks, we showed our excellence, and they did not even have the courtesy to close our contracts with an official, just some low-end flunky! It was an insult!"
Calming down a bit, he continues, "We have both Navigator's and cartographer's tools onboard for use, and I myself am skilled in Navigation, albeit space is a new terrain to my skills. I have some talent with magic and healing and I also speak Celestial and Primordial. As others have said, we are a profit crew, sharing the gained wealth each time we reach port. Your duties are suited to your skills, so your talents with the Helm will be welcome, as we have lost two Helm operators, during our short time in space, that chose to leave the ship in various ways. One of our members even turned out to be some kind of spy and jumped ship after misrepresenting themselves as a person of influence. That was not a fun negotiation. We are looking for trade of profitability, something that would make use of our speed and ability to not have to stop during a trade route. That is a primary reason we wanted a full compliment of Helmsmen - to change pilots mid-flight and arrive that much faster."
     To Brian, he says "Thank you for these. We need to put them handy at every point on the ship, so if you could find a safe way to fasten them throughout, it would be appreciated. Marking them in some way as Ayamba mentioned would be ideal."

Keira climbed up from below decks with a wooden box under one arm. She looks pleased to see the captain and started towards him with purpose, ostensibly business regarding the box as she shifted it from under one arm to both hands as if to present it to him.

A few steps into this journey she paused noticing so many gathered and decided to go forward with it, "Captain, I present a fairly commonplace jewelry box... but with enough doors for us to enspell with Alarm so it can be left by the helm and with a mere rub of a hand, a few combinations of casters with that spell can be alerted without having to leave the helm. I was expecting us to pick up one more helm capable but couldn't be sure... So an extra compartment or two lets us keep a few more odds and ends though as yet we haven't had issues in that department... I figured one for myself, one for you and one for both. The doors being more important than compartments"

She turned to the others, "I'm Keira, resident tinker, woodworker, smith, and part time healer. If either or both of you can cast Alarm then you are welcome to choose an emblem for me to ink on a door so we don't have anyone alerted accidentally. I'm also open to further ideas of course!

If we are headed out, we might take folks looking for work out to Ceres then collect food and directions to a mine or some such further out."

 "A familiarity with foodstuffs could represent a path to profit and a facility with elemental languages opens up a wider range of possible trade partners. I'm in no way familiar with this syste..." Tor begins to reply when Master Glass detonates and indulges in his long-form denunciation of their prior employers and all the many ways that the fai... negation of their previous contract was not, in fact in any way their fault, all of which and a copper penny will get someone a rat-onna-stick at a voidfront dock stand. At the end of it, Tor assesses it with a modest "Quite."

 And then moves swiftly on, blinking just the once before noting - delicately - "There are few points of commonality between surface and void navigation but you must have managed well enough to have arrived safely here and we can compare notes at a later point."

 That takes him back to moneymaking, and the diminutive spellcaster notes "All Spelljammers have approximately the same speed, absent the presence of another large mass but with sufficient helmsmen to maintain a constant watch we could serve as a courier or exploration vessel - in the former case, our high proximity speed would be an excellent selling point. This might also apply in the case of small-quantity, high-value deliveries such as rare foodstuffs."

 Keira's arrival earns her a speculative look and a nod of the head "I do not. My studies were focussed upon martial application as a matter of necessity, but I would be willing to study the spell if there is an opportunity to do so. I do not think this vessel suited for serious passenger transport but with two healers it may make a serviceable medical ship. What steps have you taken to advertise your services?"