"Hello! I'm Thistle. Any help is greatly appreciated!" Thistle says, reaching up to shake Alminar's hand. She turns to Elro. "How long will our journey to Syrinlya take? Should we expect to run into troubles in the waters here? Pirates can occasionally be an issue where I'm from. I don't know if you all have similar issues here."

"Depending on your seas, it could take up to 15 days, but I'm hopeful of a shorter trip.  Your captain and pilot are both very capable.  There could be dangers, but you have the small crew with you, and it's mostly merchants in these waters," says Elro.

Alminar shakes hands with Senine, Sanjay, and Thistle. He decides not to ask Senine to elaborate on whatever she said about doghair. 

"I look forward to working with you all."

"If you'd all like to get your things on board, there's quarters for you all.  And if there's no further questions, I wish you all the best of luck.  May the tides and gods be on your side," says Elro.

"Take care, Elro." Senine says to him. "We'll get things sorted." With that she turns and heads aboard the ship.

"Goodbye, Elro. Thanks again for helping me find work." Alminar heads onto the ship. "lets hope for a short trip and calm seas."

Salem bids farewell to Elro and boards the ship, walking over to Alminar, introducing herself, "Hello, I'm Salem," she held her hand out for them to shake, "I didn't get the chance to properly greet you before.."

Thistle follows the group onto the ship. She is excited to be onboard. Though she is from a port town herself, she never had the opportunity to take a journey on a ship before.

Sanjay makes his way onto the ship, turning around to give a short bow and a smile to Elro, "We'll see you soon." Then, he boards the boat. 

"A pleasure." Alminar says to Salem, eyeing her horns. He's looking forward to having a tiefling on his side if things get dangerous on the journey.

As everybody begins boarding, Senine stands on the deck and looks around, hoping to see the Captain of the vessel, and find her quarters. ((Perception if needed:20 ))

Senine sees that it is indeed a small crew.  Five individuals are tending to the ship, preparing it for departure, and it is apparent that they are quite capable, moving seamlessly together in their tasks.  Though it wasn't easy to pick out the captain as there was no need to be barking orders, she is able to sense a variation in intention from one of them, shorter than the others, who is now strolling over to the Helm.

Suddenly, one of the crew is in front of you.  "Welcome aboard!  Elro says you're good people with an important mission.  I'm Joe.  I can show you your rooms on the lower deck if you'll follow me.  This should be a calm, uneventful trip, though we may ask of some assistance here and there," he says cheerily to you all, heading towards a ladder leading under the top deck.  "Come on."

"Thank you, Joe," Sanjay replies. "Will there be anything you need us to help with during the trip?"

"Hi, Joe." Alminar says. "Happy to help with what you need to ensure a safe voyage." He follows Joe towards the ladder. 

Senine gives a grunt of affirmation, following along toward the rear.

"No, nothing right this moment, but come supper time the Captain really likes to enforce the teamwork, which we all rather enjoy, so we might ask ya' tuh come on up to the sup room and help set places and what not.  For now just try and relax - get yourselves situated and all that.  We'll come back down later." says Joe, as he leads you below deck, heads around the ladder towards the aft, and points out a room for each of you on either side.

Senine and Salem end up on the left, Sanjay, Thistle, and Alminar are on the right.

Joe heads back up the ladder with a wave of his hand, leaving the 5 of you to settle in to your rooms.

The day is a peaceful one; the air feels particularly chilly upon the boat as you coarse through the waters with speed.  From below deck, you can hear the occasional footsteps of the crew moving about, carrying on with menial tasks.  Up on the deck, once clear of any land, the sea stretches on grey and misted, the sun rarely peaking through any clouds.  At one point later in the day, you see some sea creatures swimming along the boat just beneath the waves, but after a few minutes they disappear.

Late in the evening, Joe rounds you all up and takes you down to the Captains quarters where there is more room for a large table.  "Alright everyone, just help as you please.  That cabinet over there," he says pointing to the Northwest corner of the room "holds plates and cups, and just next to that is a bin we keep our wooden wares in.  I'll grab napkins."  he walks over to a basket on the East side of the room.

Senine begins setting out places at the table, smiling a little. "Reminds me of my family." She says quietly as she goes about the simple task.

"Well that just makes it all cozy in here," Joe replies smiling.

Once everything is set out, Joe asks you all to take a seat and leaves.  A short while later he returns with another crew member, both holding platters, and asks that you all assist laying the food out along the table.  When you've completed that and all sat down again, Joe stands next to the chair at the end of the table, waiting.

The rest of the crew enters the room, and finally the Captain, who nods at Joe and then takes his seat.  "Welp, dinner is served," is all he says, before digging into the platters.  His crew follows suit.

After settling in and helping to set the table, Alminar starts eating as the crew does. He thinks about the sea creatures from earlier as he eats, and wonders what other creatures could be beneath the surface.

Quote from Dipstick10 >>

 

The day is a peaceful one; the air feels particularly chilly upon the boat as you coarse through the waters with speed.  From below deck, you can hear the occasional footsteps of the crew moving about, carrying on with menial tasks.  Up on the deck, once clear of any land, the sea stretches on grey and misted, the sun rarely peaking through any clouds.  At one point later in the day, you see some sea creatures swimming along the boat just beneath the waves, but after a few minutes they disappear.

Seeing the sea creatures and assuming we are going to have at least one good long rest before landing at our destination, Sanjay would have cast Speak With Animals to try and make contact with the sea creatures. Really, he would have just been saying hi and trying to make some new friends. He would have asked, at some point, if there were any malevolent ships that had passed through.