The sea becomes a lonely place after 3 days of looking at nothing but water in every direction. The motley looking crew doesn’t seem to mind all that much, but the many groups of passengers on board are starting to grow restless. After breakfast this morning, the captain spoke of another 2 days minimum before reaching dry land again. That did not sit well with the folks who were already getting rather sick of the oceans motion.
It was initially said that the trip would take only 3 days total, but something is clearly amiss with the good captain and his suspicious actions as of late. Though you are not exactly a sea faring expert, it soon becomes rather obvious that the ship is not taking the most direct approach to its destination. The ship seems to be zig-zagging back and forth a lot, as if those at the wheel were searching for something out here in the middle of nowhere. What is even more strange is that the captain himself is spending a lot of time manning the crow’s nest, a job generally reserved for a lesser crewman. He spends hours at a time up there peering through a long, shiny metallic tube, mumbling something to himself about finding "it". You remember seeing a few other ships on the first 2 days of this voyage, but now that you think about it, you haven't seen another craft on the horizon in a long while now.
The deck is filled of all sorts of folks traveling across the sea. There is a group of gnomes spread out on the forecastle, constantly looking over old papers and maps as they discuss their business privately amongst themselves. They struggle to keep their delicate items out of the spray of salty water that regularly splashes up onto the ship. One of them doesn't really seem to fit in with the group. He keeps looking around the deck suspiciously at any other travelers that appear to be fellow adventurers.
You see a wide variety of humans on board as well, separated into groups according to their social standings. The wealthy merchant types are all comfortably positioned towards the center of the deck to stay out of the sun and spray, but there are plenty of commoners on board as well. Most of them are often seen barfing over the side rails, much to the delight of the gnarly looking sailors who laugh and mock the "lubbers" incessantly.
A rather homely looking female, clearly of half-orc stock, huddles near to the commoners. She seems to also be having trouble keeping meals down as the ships sways this way and that. If you had to guess, she seems like a warrior type, possibly sailing off to fight long forgotten wars in distant lands. She isn’t the only passenger on board dressed in the garb of an adventurer though, as several others nearby also seem to fit the bill. A strong looking dwarf is there, dressed in chain armor and carrying a large, shiny ax. He stares at a half elven priest of Frey that sits on the crate across from him. She just smiles back at him blankly, maybe a little too thrilled about the current boring situation.
Possibly one of the saddest things you see on board is an old man sitting crossed legged on the deck, all by himself near the gnomes. He has long grey hair that is damp from the salty spray and a long beard to match. His long grey robes are equally moist and he holds in his hand a thin pole that must be nearly 10 feet long. He tries to keep the lengthy tool out of the way of the crew as they work, and every once in a while he uses it to pin down one of the gnomes loose pages that flutters away from their circle.
Barely tolerating the long boredom that is sea travel, there is much discussion about the delay in the crafts arrival, most of it steered towards the captain and his strange behavior as of late……