The shorter activation ritual is five minutes of calling the four corners by their element and position, declaring that it is my purpose to work magic... It's actually easier to write this out. Yes this is based on about four different Pagan traditions and includs some innovation of my own. I told you I was eclectic. It works for me.
"Hail to the guardians of the watchtowers of the east. Keepers of water, the rolling ocean, I call to you.
Hail to the guardians of the watchtowers of the south. Keepers of air, the rushing gales, I call to you.
Hail to the guardians of the watchtowers of the west. Keepers of earth, the eternal mountains, I call to you.
Hail to the guardians of the watchtowers of the north. Keepers of fire, the glory of dawn, I call to you.
It is my purpose in this space to work magic. I humbly ask that I be allowed to use this gift, given me by the gods and shaped by my will and theirs.
Odin, my patron, grant me wisdom, that I be rightly guided in this space.
Freya, queen of all sorcerers, grant me power, your will and mine be one.
Njordr, lord of the sea, keep steady this holy space, and look favorably on us as we go."
It includes turning to each corner in turn, then standing with hands hip-height, palms open while I declare my purpose (more likely sitting since I consecrated my bed), then standing with arms open as I invoke the gods.
I usually say words at the end, too, thanking the gods for their indulgence, but that's not genuine magic per se, it's more like cleansing the space of anything left over from the ritual, cleaning out any residual energies.
On the night before we arrive, then, I will prime my circle, sit in it, and there use my Influence Luck magical ability, enhanced by the sacred space, to improve the Captain's luck for the following day.
Two things seem to be important to discuss.
The lesser is what skill ability level you would claim for the activation of the existing holy ground skill. I've currently listed it the same as the creation of holy ground, but I can see an argument that it should be higher. (However, I can also see an argument that the other ought to be lower--you hardly have the experience to qualify as an above average amateur on normal use terms.)
The greater is, what impact does performing a spell on holy ground have if the skill does not require that it be performed on holy ground? That is, if you design a skill so that it must be performed on holy ground or it will not work at all, then there is a bonus on that skill. However, if you design the skill such that it does not need to be performed on holy ground, but then you do perform it on holy ground in order to get a benefit, the benefit ought to be less (since it is not a requirement of the skill, which will work whether or not the holy ground is activated) but not non-existent. My inclination is that it would create an RS/20 bonus, the maximum bonus for an amateur then being +5 (but a professional doubling that and an expert doubling it again). I am interested in your thoughts on the subject, however.
--M. J. Young
I would say, put the activation ritual at the same above-average amateur as the dedication ritual, since they're both based on the same underlying principle, and are similar enough that they're almost the same skill, except by a matter of degree.
As for the latter question, that's really a function of the skills, not of the holy ground itself. I would say that my amateur-created holy ground would be sufficient to give the amateur-level bonus to spells designed not to NEED it but to be bonused by it. I haven't created any spells that needed holy ground yet, because I didn't have a holy ground to use. Now that I have one, I might design spells that need it, and thus take advantage of the needing-holy-ground bonus on those. Obviously my amateur-created holy ground isn't very holy ground, but it's enough to work the way you described. I don't see why the circle itself would care one way or the other, and would work just as well either way, the difference lying in the spell, not the circle.
Done.
You cast your luck spell.
The next day, pilot commander Stanis talks you through the process of docking the ship in New Tempest, and then offers to let you go ashore. "Not much for pilots to do aboard ship when we're moored to the dock," he says. "We'll be leaving with the morning light, I expect, so as long as you're back before dawn no one will complain."
New Tempest is definitely a manufacturing town.
--M. J. Young
I'm going ashore as briefly as possible. I'm going to try to find a gun shop, preferably the best one in town - if there's one with a reputation enough to be known to the crew or dock workers.
I want to try to explain to the gunsmith the concept of the rifled barrel, how a series of many long, slow spirals inside the barrel - for my gun about one full spiral every ten inches, so probably only about one spiral over its whole length - improve accuracy, and ask if he can do this on the spot, either carving them into my gun or forging a new barrel with it done. If he understands what I'm telling him and will make me a rifled gun barrel in one day - before we have to leave port - by either modifying my gun or one of his or simply hammering a new one - I will pay him an exceptional premium. Whatever his normal price is, enough to make him gasp. I do have over 5,000 gold on me, so, I can afford it.
I want to get back to the ship as quckly as possible, mostly because I want to squeeze in some more practice time and studying so that I'll actually be useful when we get to Rough Passage.
You take a couple hours to identify the best gun shop in town, and then travel to it. They have a wonderful selection and good prices--but no gunsmith; they buy their guns from manufacturers locally and abroad. Nor are the particularly eager to discuss with you where you can find someone to make you a custom weapon, although they are certainly willing to take your specifications and place an order for you.
--M. J. Young
Wow that's possibly the unfriendliest thing that's happened to me since I've been here. Other than being attacked by pirates. What a jerk.
I'll show them. The guy I bought my gun from in Sardic was a genuine gunsmith, wasn't he? If all else fails I can always buy from him. Ah, well. A couple of hours of my vast eternity wasted.
Back to the ship, then, to massively cram some piloting lessons before we head for Rough Passage.
So... Sardic -> New Tempest ->Emerald by way of Rough Passage -> Durnmist -> Moon of Korg -> Back to Sardic?
I think I missed one stop between Durnmist and Moon of Korg.
Is our entire year-long loop really only Sardic and five stops? Really? Hm.
No, not really. You missed New Haven between Rough Passage and Emerald, and you missed Haven, Tempest, and Tristar on the loop between Durnmist and Sardic. Tristar is the volcanic island; Tempest is the one with the weapon restrictions; Haven is the other agricultural port. You've not yet been to New Haven, but you are informed that it is also agricultural, and that the run of fresh food to Emerald is a critical part of the trip.
More piloting practice is given, and you get a bit of sleep, and by the time you awaken the ship is underway.
--M. J. Young
Ahh, okay...
When I wake up, I'll go up on deck. No more swordsmanship practice till after Rough Passage. I need all the piloting practice I can cram in, so I'll devote my off-duty hours to studying and watching the others, using my Telescopic Vision to keep an eye on obstacles or course-corrections, that sort of thing.
Seventeen days out of New Tempest you reach Rough Passage.
"Don't expect to get enough sleep for a couple weeks," says Rob, the other pilot. "And don't expect lack of sleep to be an excuse for mistakes, because it doesn't usually work that way."
The surf is rough as you approach, and you can already see that there are visible sandbars and shoals.
"Let's hope the navigators do their part all right."
--M. J. Young
I'd like to spend those seventeen days - since I was warned in advance about this - trying to develop another spell.
Something I can cast in my bed, through my activated casting circle, full body involvement as I must be lying in my own bed at night, Alliance holy magic... Proper words spoken - quietly but such that sound matters - invoking Tyr, god of duty and valor, Thor in his aspect as god of strength, and Hugin and Munin as symbols of vigilance, with the effect being that I can get by on less sleep each night, and show no signs of fatigue until I return to bed. I'll give each casting a base time of one hour. I'll actually leave it to you whether I count as using my holy ground as a focus or a component - I don't honestly know which works better. If I were casting this in real life it would be a requirement of the spell.
Even if this is curved out, I'll try it in different versions for all seventeen nights. After all, there's no reason not to - it's not like I know it /can't/ work in character.
Once we actually reach Rough Passage, though, I'll spend all my downtime sleeping, whether I can spell-boost my sleep or not, and just hope I can keep up in between.
That suggests to me that it is an essential element of the casting, and it is thus being included.If I were casting this in real life it would be a requirement of the spell.
You activate your casting circle, and then lie in bed praying your prayer over the next hour.
At the end of the hour you find yourself fully rested, as if you had a good night's sleep.
In fact, you continue through the rest of the night, the next day, and the next night, until almost forty-eight hours later you are beginning to feel like you're coming to the end of a long day.
--M. J. Young
When it finally starts to wear off, I can't help but cackle like a madman. That was astonishing! The ultimate stim-high, better than any energy drink ever gave me. Clean, raw energy that lasted for days. My gods the power...
I'll do it again. Again and again and again. I think this just replaced normal sleep for me, and I intend to use it as such, as often as I can for as long as I can keep doing it, until it becomes so routine I can cast it easily. Until then, though, I intend to focus on it and go through the steps very carefully to ensure it goes off each time. But what a rush! I want more.
And with the extra hours in the day, it means more time to do stuff! Stuff like... like fencing with the off-duty security guards! Or practicing my flute, or my gunslinging. Maybe not my gunslinging. Don't wanna shoot holes in the ship. But flutes and fencing and piloting and all on my merry way! Muahahahahaha!
Indeed, you've managed to pull an extra fifteen hours from every forty-eight. No one notices at this point, since no one knows when you are actually supposed to sleep on a ship crewed around the clock.
I believe you were arriving at Rough Passage, and were going to be doing a bit of work to get through it.
--M. J. Young
And so it begins...
What do you need to know?
Your first day at the wheel is very rough, and they pull you off and put you on spotting for the day. Donald says it's not a big deal, that this is some of the toughest piloting anywhere in the world, and it's not the best place to learn--but he puts you back on the next day, and you do much better, although you are understandably quite nervous and uncomfortable. They give you the next day as spotter, and then on the fourth day put you back on the helm, and you do considerably better this time around. Day five, though, the wind turns against you and you have no control at all of the ship, and Donald takes over.
He puts you back on the wheel on day 6, and you manage it despite the difficulties, but are terribly stressed at the end of the shift. Day 7 you're back on spotting because you need the break, and you have trouble on day 8 and have to give the wheel to Rob. Day 9 goes better, and you stand the full shift and a bit longer to make up for not having carried your full shift on recent days, and come back to try again on day 10. This is a difficult run, but you manage it; Donald keeps you on spotting on day 11 so you can relax a bit.
Navigation confirms you are more than half way through the area.
--M. J. Young
I'll continue to take all the turns I can, despite the stress and the extra work. With more hours in the day every time my Reduce Fatigue spell goes off, I'll volunteer for extra shifts, demonstrating my lack of fatigue, even if I wind up just assistant-spotting. This I'll do especially at night, when my Night Vision and Telescopic Vision will help me be a better spotter.
Days 12 and 13 are so bad that they pull you off the wheel almost as soon as you get on it; you manage to get control of things on Day 14, and do a commendable job with it. You hold your own on day 15, but on day 16 you have to ask Rob to take over because it's too choppy for you to handle.
On the seventeenth day in Rough Passage, you are struggling to keep the ship on course when word comes that there is open water ahead. Half an hour later, you pull the ship into the calm sea beyond the rough water, and a cheer goes up from navigation and deck, all of whom have been working hard to keep the ship afloat.
Next stop: New Haven.
--M. J. Young
Huzzah!
New Haven... I don't remember New Haven. I'll have to look back at my journal from last year. Was I even here for New Haven last year? I don't remember. Good thing I declared I was keeping a journal...
Anyway, I'll see what the Captain and the others need of me, and get to it, especially if I'm able to keep leapfrogging days with my Remove Fatigue spell.
The answer is no, New Haven has been mentioned but you've not been there. You joined the ship in the Greater Syndic, and spent several months aboard before reaching Durnmist, the first port at which you stopped.
Piloting is easier for this leg of the journey; you've got maybe two weeks, plus or minus, before you reach port.
--M. J. Young
I'll spend those two weeks thusly:
Leapfrogging days with my Remove Fatigue spell.
Piloting, all the shifts I can get, for as long as they'll let me stay on duty. This is my job now, so it's my highest priority.
Sparring with the Security guys, any time they're available, and mixing in some practice with Psionic Accuracy.
Recovering from any injuries I sustain with my Repair Minor Injury spell (now enhanced with Holy Ground!).
Abusing the heck out of my psionic vision modes, pretty much all the time, especially Telescopic Vision while piloting, and Night Vision at night.
Writing in my journal daily, even though I no longer sleep daily.
Playing my flute in the galley whenever I'm awake, off duty, and have nobody to spar with.
New Haven is an agricultural port, and fresh food is being loaded. Some of it is going directly to cargo, as the next stop, Emerald, pays a premium for food--food production there is limited in the extreme, so dryed and pickled and smoked meats, dried and pickled fruits and vegetables, alcoholic beverages, and other consumables are loaded aboard to make the run to that port.
It of course means an overnight layover before leaving in the morning, and one of the advantages of being a pilot is that you're not usually needed when the ship is docked--only if there's a bad storm and it's necessary to pull out into open water to weather it, and that's not likely given the skies at present.
--M. J. Young
Would it be allowable - specifically I'll ask the Captain this since I seem to have his ear a little bit and I want to know officially - for me to spend some of my own money on some of the emeralds in Emerald, in order to do a bit of trading on the side? I think I asked this in a general way earlier but I want to ask again whilst I have a specific example coming up. Is it allowed by the company for individuals to make side-trades to make a little extra money or is that taboo?
Meanwhile, if there's anything worth doing in town, I'll do it. Agricultural towns mean the possibility of a chance encounter with some fresh-faced farmgirl, and after - what, almost a year? - in Verse, that would be nice. Me and my tanking Animal Magnetism probably have no chance in the world of actually having such an encounter, but it's certainly on my mind at the moment, so I'll give it a shot.
"It's a funny thing about Emerald," the captain says. "They have no use for money there. You could trade your entire paycheck for a single uncut rock not much bigger than my thumb--they've got gold, and don't need to import it.
"On the other hand, you can take a gamble on fresh fruit or fresh meat. Most of what we carry is preserved, because there's no certainty how long it will take to make the next run. It's been done in three days, but not by anyone I've ever known; it's taken thirty days, even forty days, sometimes. A good captain figures it will take twenty days if he's not terribly unlucky, and so he takes food that will keep in the hold for that long, so he doesn't wind up tossing his profit overboard. But a couple score of eggs, if you can get them there fresh--they're worth quite a bit on the Emerald market. Fresh berries rarely keep that long, and even peaches fetch a handsome price if they arrive not overripe.
"But you know yourself that you can't guess how long it would take to make that run. If it takes two weeks--and that's a bit shy of average--most of those things are not going to keep that long.
"Technically, you're not supposed to compete with the company; that means you can't put your money into the same goods the company is hauling and sell them at the same price or lower. But the company isn't hauling anything that won't keep three weeks, so if you want to make that gamble, no one's going to complain.
"Of course, Emerald is not a very good place to be looking for a buyer. You'll have to take what they offer when you get there, or eat your produce yourself. There's no such thing as shore leave there, as I think you'll understand when we arrive."
--M. J. Young
Hmm... Gives me an idea for a new spell.
Have we got anything that's spoiled on board? I'm going to ask down around the mess hall. Anything gone recently but obviously bad that they would throw away? If I can get my hands on something like that, I'd like to try a spell. (If I had a roommate, he probably doesn't spend any time there when I need the room.) I'll activate my Holy Ground - do the ritual more than once if need be - and then sit in it with the spoiled whatever-it-is before me. I'll spend an hour invoking Hel, goddess of death and decay, Baldur, the god of renewal, and Heimdall who waits for the end of all things, to restore that which I have brought before me. "Restore what was, for the good of all, that what once passed may all the sooner come again," and so on. Alliance Holy Magic, full body involvement, one hour casting time, Purify Food and Drink, using my activated magic circle as a required component (and OOCly banking on that "ends not the means" holy magic interpretation - I'm pretty sure this is a high-level @1 spell somewhere).
In case I didn't mention it before, by the way, using the magic circle does not necessarily discharge it, but exiting it for any reason does.
If my spell worked, I'll be more inclined to buy things like berries and eggs knowing it's only the work of a few hours to restore them all. If it doesn't work, I'll be significantly less so.
You manage to catch one of the medics as he is carting food off the ship for disposal. It's not actually bad food, it's just at the point that medical wants to replace it with fresh, particularly since it's going to be several months before it will be possible to replenish the larder.
It takes a couple tries to activate the holy ground today, but you succeed.
You then spend an hour with your on-the-cusp-of-spoilage fruit, praying your prayer--with remarkably favorable results, as the fruit reverts to completely fresh and ready to sell.
--M. J. Young
I once again cackle like a madman, and prepare for a lucrative side business as a food seller. I'll pack in as much as I'm allowed of whatever the captain says would furnish an extortionate price in Emerald. Fresh eggs? Berries? Peaches?
You can fit about two cases in your room without impinging on the space of your roommate. These are small cases, about half a meter cube; the full sized ones taken in the cargo hold would be too large for your room (and I hope it is obvious why the captain can't allow you space in the cargo hold when everyone else has to keep his luggage in his berth).
Also, if it spoils it has to go overboard. The ship can't risk carrying rotting food.
You've hit the port at a pretty good time--there are still late berries and already early peaches and citrus fruits. Eggs are plentiful, although in addition to spoilage with these you must consider the potential for breakage (they don't have styrofoam cartons). As far as relative pricing goes, the eggs are the cheapest, as this time of year they are most plentiful; berry prices are already climbing and early fruit tree prices have not yet dropped with the main harvest. You can get a case of eggs for five diktar, a typical case of berries (pick your preference) for ten, and early tree fruit for twelve. It's anyone's guess what you'll get at Emerald for these, as no one risks carrying them, usually.
--M. J. Young
I'm going to go with one case of the berries and one case of the fruit. Let's say blackberries and apples, because blackberries are my favorite and apples tend to keep).
With the threat of the captain trashing my stash if it spoils, I'll up my spellcasting time to two hours every other day - one hour for my remove fatigue spell and one hour to refresh my stash.
Apples actually do keep well--well enough that many ships will risk keeping them in the coolness of the hold for the duration. Peaches and plums are the ones people don't carry. Tomatoes, too, have short shelf life. But if you want apples, they're easy to get. Blackberries are a good choice as well.
On that note, you'll set out again to cross the Syndic Sea for Emerald.
--M. J. Young
If the ship itself is stocking apples, I won't compete with them and will stock plums instead.
Once we're out on the Syndic I'd like to get some more piloting time in, as many shifts as I can, continuing to leapfrog days and refresh my stores.
Do you think I could consecrate the entire hold of the ship as holy ground? It's much bigger than anything I've attempted to consecrate before. Maybe I can make it a much more limited one - good only for refreshing food. That shouldn't be too complicated. If I get a good long stretch - let's say if I can get a day off after one of my Remove Fatigues so I have a whole day to myself - I'll spend fully twelve hours doing a ritual... basically the same one I used in my room, in order to consecrate the entire hold of the ship. This one will not require activation like mine does, but will also be a much more limited purpose - being useful for only two spells: Healing, and Restore Freshness.
Edit: You seem to have skipped over all the time we spent in port. Besides quickly getting those crates aboard, I did want to socialize a bit. I did specify an attempt at being seductive. After all, given the events of the past year I have good reason to be rather more self-confident than before I versed. I wasn't a telekinetic pirate-slaying cleric seafarer then. Now I am, and it feels good. So yes, I'd like to spend some of my time in port looking for a girl, and not just some cheap hooker but a girl I could look forward to seeing again next year.
I apologize. We'll assume we have not yet left port.
I remember thinking that you're not likely to find an innocent fresh-faced farm girl in a bar by the docks; even the barmaids are going to be a bit hardened to the advances of sailors. So with that in mind, how do you propose finding such a treasure?
--M. J. Young
By not going to dockside bars looking for her. Instead I'll go to the market where the farmers are, and look for the smallest stands, the ones likely from the smallest farms - the places where a farmgirl would be who had no elder brothers to pawn off the work on. If by some flight of chance she's selling the things I'm looking to stock, I'll buy from her at a premium price as a show of good will. After all, even if I take a loss on the cargo, it still proves my theory, and I'm building toward a much more important part of my future by finding her. When I do go to her, I'll be sure to bathe first, and wash away as much of the smell of the sea as I can, so as to appear a mere traveller, and so avoid the negative connotations that come with "sailor" until after first impressions are made.
If I do find her, I'll slow this down and play out meeting her in more lengthy detail. If I don't find her, then I've little enough else to do that we can skip to setting sail, at which point my plan to consecrate the entirety of the ship's hold remains. ( I remember from the day I versed in being able to walk all the way around along the outer wall - that was how I found the ladder leading out - so actually marking the holy ground shouldn't be too hard.)
You spend a diktar on a bath and laundry for one set of clothes, so you've washed off as much of the salt air as anyone in a port city can manage.
Exploring the farm market, you find quite a few women of all ages, from little girls working with their mothers to aging grandmothers sitting with their fabrics. You realize that some of the wives and mothers are surprisingly young, and it is difficult to be certain which women are actually single. However, you find a few who you believe to be single--
- A girl in her young twenties working at a fruit stand with her aging father or possibly grandfather, not gorgeous but not ugly by any stretch. She is very assertive, possibly aggressive, in her dealings with people. It is not certain whether she is single because she is caring for her father or because she is too strong a personality for the local men to consider a good wife. She does seem capable, but also quite certain of her own way of doing things, as she corrects her grandfather several times while you are watching her and takes over conversations with customers.
- A young girl sitting at an egg table. On the one hand it is difficult to imagine that she is even so old as eighteen--sixteen is more believable, and she might be as young as fourteen. On the other hand, she is fully mature, and despite her very quiet almost withdrawn demeanor she manages to handle the business of selling eggs reasonably well. She has a sweetness and innocence about her that is very appealing, and her bright blue eyes seem to contain a secret laughter hidden by her shy smile.
- At a baker's table there is a girl who is certainly eighteen to twenty, who looks tired, not just in an immediate sense but as one who feels more years of work than she has known. There is a simply prettiness about her, farmgirl freckles and a sweet but tired smile. In her interactions with others, she seems to be trying to befriend them but lacks the strength to make the effort and so remains distant--not cool, exactly, but unable to bring the warmth to the surface.
- It is difficult to miss the bubbling cutie selling fresh berries from baskets as she moves through the crowd. All the men flirt with her, and even as she rebuffs them she does so flirtatiously, with infectious giggling, friendly smiles, and a bit of a blush at their compliments even as she denies them. She is probably between sixteen and nineteen; many of the girls in that age group are rather obviously married already, but from her banter and suggestions that her would-be paramours need to talk to her father it is evident that she is still single.
So, the question is, did you find someone who fits your hopes?
--M. J. Young
Oh gods but the second one sounds just perfect - young but mature, shy but with a sense of humor. Before I approach her I whisper a silent prayer to the goddesses of love and wisdom, let me not screw this up.
I'll spend my time talking to her. I want to get to know her, so I start by asking about her. What is her name? Does she like the farming life? What is she interested in? And if I at all can, I'd like to try to draw out that sense of humor. If I can make her smile even once it will make my journey.
Harry, we don't have an Animal Magnetism or a Charisma score for you. Where do you see yourself falling on those? Animal Magnetism is that quality that tends to make you the center of attention, that people are attracted to you and like you immediately. Charisma is that more long-term character trait, that people tend to stick with you over time because you're the sort of person people like to be around. What's your take on you?
--M. J. Young
If I had to judge by my own perceptions, I would say I'm fairly low on both. But if I have to judge from empirical evidence, I have to say I'm somewhat higher. Unless I'm in a particularly foul mood, I rarely make a bad first impression, and people DO tend to stick with me over a long time, despite fights and arguments. I'm a good listener, solid friend, not terribly sociable or party-animal but not bad either, especially when I have a reason to be confident in myself. The weird thing is, pre-Verser me wouldn't have felt he had much to be confident about, and it probably would've limited his/my Charisma, but Verser-me has a lot going for him - a good job, magic - so yeah, he's more confident and probably thereby significantly more Charismatic. I would put Verser-me at a 1@6 or 1@7 Animal Magnetism and perhaps a 2@1 or 2@2 Charisma. I've always been much steadier at that long-term thing than first impressions.
Sorry. The girl is interested in selling eggs, but has no skill at making personal conversation with customers--her name and the details of her life are not for strangers. She will sell you four dozen eggs for a diktar, but won't give you her name or talk about her home. It's not clear whether this is part of her shyness or obedience to instructions from her family, but customers are strangers, and she does not talk to them outside of business.
--M. J. Young
Having struck out with the shy one - probably in a matter of minutes - I'll go back to the ship.
The flirty one... she reminds me too much of a girl I loved very deeply before I versed out, one I called Princess even then. I loved her with all my heart, and thinking of her hurts more than I can rightly explain.
The other one... I'm just not interested. Sigh.
So back to the ship I go, with my room now full of crates. I wonder if I can stuff another half-crate of eggs under the bed for good measure. Nah, best not try the captain's patience with my weird behavior more than I do already. As I said earlier, I now spend two hours spellcasting every other night - one for me, one for my cargo.
You have a case of blackberries and a case of plums, and a roommate who seems to think you're crazy to keep fresh fruit in your room and crazier not to eat it before it goes bad.
It takes forty days to reach Emerald this run, but you arrive with fresh blackberries and fresh plums.
As the ship is pulling into port at Emerald, early in the morning, security is mobilizing. As the gangplank drops, they move onto the dock, which is parallel to the shore, and establish a defended perimeter. The deck hands are armed as they move crates to shore. The captain tells you to wait, promises to let you talk with the buyers if they are willing, and goes ashore, and is met by several men on the dock, who are examining the goods. Officer James is standing ready on the deck.
There is abruptly a rather frightening yell from the trees, and a man dressed in leaves and skins appears and hurls a spear. Everyone inside the perimeter takes cover behind the crates, and one of the security guards fires his flintlock rifle, catching the attacker in the shoulder. The attacker flees back into the trees.
The mood is tense; the security guard is reloading his rifle.
--M. J. Young