the first few days together...

So far...
Day 1
four young people were driven off their family lands and rivers to seek their fortunes at sea. they were tried and tested and finally hired by a shipping cooperative. They immediately have more than they have ever had, clothes, guaranteed meals several times a day, a ration of 4 small-beer a day, and an apprenticeship under some highly skilled sailors while they make their way from the inland seaport town Lostbury on their first ship (the Scarper) and they sail west to pick up the last three crates in the port town of Ilsurian in Varisia.

Day 2.
As they make their way there they are literally shown the ropes by their crewmates whome the captain has paired them with to bring them up to speed. They impress the old hands with how fast they pick up what they are shown, and the eagerness with which they try their hands at new and difficult tasks. All is well on board their new ship, but something is not quite right just over the rail as fish are behaving very aggressively, and Greeeeer a plucky Undine bravely dives in to investigate.

Greer discovers a sea hag is causing the fish to attack the hull to little effect but is gathering bigger and bigger sea creatures as the minutes pass. They tell the crew what is happening and try on their own to kill the sea hag but fail to hit her with their harpoons. They try to borrow the ship's cook's best knives to attack her in the water with but he will not have them playing with his fine custom made equipment and stomps up to the maindeck and litterally blows her out of the water with a mini hurricane, and goes back to work, and no one but the four new sailors are surprised the least bit by this.on they sail.

Day 3.
the continue sailing the deep inland sea and tack into a deep and wide river towards Lake Syrantula and the town of Ilsurian. They arrive and get towed into dock in the late afternoon. Here they await the last crates from a caravan that has been delayed. They dont know what it is but it is the most important cargo bound to go with them to the Four Mast'er Freight vessel they will eventually serve on, which they are to meet at a the city where the Inland sea reaches out its finger to touch the ocean.

They have arrived on an auspicious night, even though the harvest has been very poor here like much of the land in this terrible drought year, there are none the less efforts to celebrate the harvest Meal with odd local traditions and exotic local food and drink. The young Sailors take their meal tickets and drink tickets, and ask for their wages so far to be forwarded them by the quartermaster of the Scarper, and buy their way into a feast and drinking game at the INN, and on their way to the INN notice posters for a Travelling Carnival starting tonight and running all week!

The Bard Stark is a talented young actor and warms up the crowd by putting on a wonderful one man show by the fireplace while the musicians tune up in the corner the the buffet carts are loaded up. the room is full of Farmers and Sailors, Blacksmiths and Shopkeepers. Our Four young heroes end up at a table with an enormous Farmer who shares his memories of last year's celebrations. then the carts come around and familiar food and strange are offered out, sweet and savory, spicy and colourful, plain and exotic. They choose the meals that suit them and learn a little more about each other in conversation and noticing their preferences and what makes their noses wrinkle.

Once the musicians have wound down their feast songs the Innkeeper waves for attention he has deck of cards with the names of a great variety of drinks on them. some are small and some are big and some have containers that can be bought for a reasonably priced souvenir. For every drink drawn from the deck one will be given to the participants at each table, they play a game and the winner of that hand chooses who will drink it. is it a wonderful health-giving Elvish refreshment, or cooks dishwater mixed with troll's armpit putty and a pill-bug on top of the scum?

One by one the Inn keeper draws a card, the table plays to get control of the glass, and the chosen drinker drinks.a song is played distinct for every drink, some are asleep from drink early on and are dragged upstairs to sleep it off, others are sober and carefull how they play their cards and last a little longer. Some drinks have odd effects like over-aiding the digestion, and Stark runs to the indoor head as a stormy wave washes out of his poop deck.   

Other drinks give boosts to health or sharpen aim or coordination for hours or days, some of the containers are parts of ships and two of the crew buy full sets to put together later.