Salazar fishes through the desk while everyone is talking.  Finding nothing of interest, he pulls out a silver piece and starts rolling it across his fingers, something that he does naturally enough that it seems to be habit.  It's slow at first, because he has not done it for months, but by the time that Claire finishes talking, the coin is (distractingly) dancing across his fingers.  As Claire makes such a definitive comment about not staying on the ship, Salazar raises his eyebrows, flips the coin off his thumb and catches it, a decision made.  After Birgen's comments, he says "Alright.  Birgen, congratulations, you're the future captain of this ship.  We're going to be taking off here at this cove.  We will also take the easily transportable cargo and coin, leaving you, and more importantly the former slaves, a new life.  What will you do if someone recognizes you?"

Birgen smiles nervously, fiddling with his greying ponytail again.  "I'll make something up, sir, don't you worry.  You don't get to sail on a Guild ship for years without learning a certain degree of glib tongue.  Probably take on a bunch of new crew too.  Now, do you want the rest of the slaves letting off here with you, or shall we drop them off back in more civilized waters?"

Outside the winds begin to pick up and bit and you hear the sails flapping in the morning breeze.  The more attuned of you feel the ship's deck shifting over the slightly increasing wind swell.

Vaclav looks around at the others. "I would suggest that's up to them. Judging by their actions so far I doubt many would be up for getting off on a random shore but who knows." 

Birgen nods.  "Well, if you're all ready, we can run out the longboat right away.   Well, as soon as you've had a chance to pick your way through the cargo for the bits you want, I suppose?"

(What time is it right now? Still early morning?)

"Yes.  Let's plan on us departing a bit prior to midday.  We need to pick through the cargo and talk to the slaves.  I'd also like to talk one on one with a couple of my future travelling partners.  Do any of the rest of you have anything you want to accomplish here?"

„Well... I‘d like to talk to the former prisoners one last time... to try and give them some hope or motivation,“ Claire says.  „Once we‘ve sorted what we‘re taking with us, I‘m as ready to go as anyone else.“

It is still mid morning.  Looking across the deck to the nearby landfall you can see it's got all the hall marks of a glorious spring day in northern Ibini.

Claire gathers the ex-slaves up on deck, giving them freedom and a much needed breath of fresh air.  They look upon her as some sort of salvation with hope in their eyes.

Claire faces the slaves, swallowing.  They're obviously expecting some kind of direction or motivation speech - not exactly her finest qualities, as her mother would tell her.  Still, she can't leave these people hanging on their own.  Squaring her shoulders, she addresses them, trying to find what words she can, doing her best to take on the cadence of the priests at the temple services she'd always attended, and wets her lips, before stepping forward and raising her voice.

"My friends... we've all suffered together on this ship.  We were beaten and cowed into believing that freedom was nothing more than a distant memory.  Perhaps during this trial, some of you lost your way.  You forgot the paths that had been cleared for you by your parents or loved ones, and slowly replaced those memories with the confines of this ship's hold.  You lost sight of that which separates slaves from freemen: hope.  Today, I hope that you can see that hope has returned to you.  This is your chance, to be freemen once more.  It stands before you, waiting to be grasped, but it is you who have to take the first step!  Be brave.  Remember who you were!  Reach out with your hands, and grab the freedom before you.  Own it, as you now own yourselves once more."

She pauses, eyeing each of the former prisoners, trying to meet as many of their gazes as possible.

"But never forget what happened here.  No, you have to pledge to remember the horror of your time here, pledge it to yourselves, and to others, so that it will never be repeated.  Do not think you are weak!  Even I am weak, alone.  But it isn't I alone who freed you," Claire says, gesturing to her companions.  "By working together, we defeated our captors.  And even if you didn't fight, your silence helped us accomplish that goal.  Today, we are all victors.  Savor that!"  She surveys the crowd.  "Remember that the men and women who stand next to you are your brothers and sisters now.  Bind yourselves to one another, embrace them, with all their strengths, and their flaws.  Share your strengths as well as your burdens, and together, you can be strong -- even a force to be reckoned with.  You are slaves no longer!  You will have the resources to reclaim your lives, and the freedom to do so.  But I can't lead you down this path.  You, and you alone, have the power to rediscover, or even reinvent yourselves, if you just gather the courage to take that first step.  Show me you are ready for freedom.  Let me - no, let yourselves hear what real hope sounds like!"

She raises her hand up in the air in a cheering motion, and waits, hoping that the nervousness roiling in the pit of her stomach after that speech isn't showing on her face.

There is a moment of terrifying silence as the slaves listen to Claire's impassioned speech.  Then they begin to look at each other and realize that this is it, this moment does in fact mean their freedom.  And suddenly there is a great outpouring of emotion and energy from the main deck as the score or so weakened and cowed people realise they have just been given their lives back.   They rise as one, a huge cheer renting the morning air and scaring off the few gulls who were roosting in the rigging.  Looking around you see the crew smiling, led by Birgen.  Even they appear happy with this turn of events. 

One of the slaves, the first to lead the cheer, approaches you all.  She bows respectfully.  "Please ma'am, sirs," she begins falteringly, addressing you all.  "Can we get off somewhere, safer?  None of us know where we are; this place is in the middle of nowhere.  I'm not sure that we'd survive being let off into the wilds here."

Hearing this, Birgen approaches.   "We can take you to any of the ports on the main islands, ma'am," he says, addressing the slave.  "Dun Laren in Manabas, Lucar in Ursum, or elsewhere if you require.  We'll be passing by many major towns and cities on our way to Blacksail to refit."

The woman looks at you all, seeking your approval.

For a brief moment, Nos Heliwr is swept up in Claire's impassioned speech, then he remembers...the real world.

"No sense in delayin'; let's be off 'n' 'ead fer the beach.  Maybe we ken see aboot yer glaive Claire; bit o' a mystery, that."

OCC What sort of small, valuable cargo is available to 'pick over'?

Cowed by the sudden outpouring of support, Claire smiles weakly and tries her best to fade into the background unobtrusively.  There's not much background to fade into on a ship, naturally, but a few sidesteps buts her squarely behind Salazar, and he seems to have enough force of presence about him to be a distracting source of cover.  She listens in as the spokeswoman for the former prisoners expresses her concerns; Birgen seems to have the matter under control, to her great relief.  She's confused when Ralfi moves towards her, seemingly with purpose, only to shove a crumpled note into her palm.  Unfolding it, she reads the name there with a look of confusion.

... Why? she thinks, still feeling a little woozy from leaving her comfort zone behind a glave a few moments earlier.

Vaclav is just sitting at the bow of the ship waiting for the others. Occasionally he's takes a peak through Chernobog's eye as the owl circles above the boat, just keeping an eye out for anything around on either the shore or the seas. 

There are enough easily portable items in the ship's cargo for you each to have 500 gold pieces in assorted gems, jewellery and coins.  Additionally you have also found the dagger, the lantern and the broken glaive.

After checking that it's fine with the others, Claire carefully collects the bits of broken glaive blade and wraps it in rags and cloth.  Then she stows it as best she can in her pack, or on her pack, and uses her own glaive as a very dangerous-looking walking stick instead.  The fancy box she leaves behind for Birgen to deal with, feeling somewhat bad about taking it when it obviously meant something to Karim, or at least his lover.  She also accepts a fair portion of the cargo for her travel expenditures.

(OOC: Guys, don't make me be the party treasurer, I am SO BAD at math... 100  500 gold each in coins and gems, however...)

(500 gp each is in the booty)

Nos Heliwr’s eyes glitter a bit as he stashes his portion of their ‘slaves wages’ and says, “Off we bes.” And heads for the long boat.

(Because of life circumstances, I'm going to try to hit a couple narrative points in the same post)

(After Claire's speech)

Salazar stands in awe of Claire's speech.  That woman, awkward as she is, has potential.  I'll sit down with her and teach her how to speak.  Girl's got spirit...

After she finishes, enjoying the cheers and awe of the former slaves, Salazar announces, "The words I have are for the formerly shackled, so everyone else needs to clear out."  After waiting for everyone who was not a slave/shackled leaves, "Right.  These words are for your ears only.  Claire here, that woman gave you iron.  I am giving you fire.  Fire burns until it is spent, and let me tell you.  You aren't even kindled yet.  I'm proud of you.  I think you have potential.  I want you to succeed.  But the world is stacked against you.  I worked for the Guild.  I know.  If I sat down and spoke to each of you, you'd tell me a different story about how the Guild wronged you.  Me too.  I have my own story.  That matters none right now.  I'm here to tell you that your only advocate is you.  Nobody cares about you but you.  And if you don't stand up for yourself, no one will.  The next most important is the one that was shackled to you.  I don't care if you hated each other.  You do what you can to make sure that person stays free.  You do what you can.  Now.  I'm going to leave you.  But I want you to know *at this point, Salazar spreads his eldritch chains around him* I wear my chains so you don't have to.  Stand up for one another.   I don't care if they have swords, you have fire.  There ain't one of them that can stand against you all.  I think this Birgen will do right by you, if by necessity over everything else.  But I need you to stand up together.  You can't let yourselves be shackled again.  Don't allow it.  Rise up if you have to.  But the greatest shame you can endure is to die a slave.  I'll be here for a couple hours yet.  We're taking a rowboat to shore.  We're leaving you.  It may be cowardly, but it's honest.  We, like you, want to make our way clear.  To know what's after slavery.  We're willing to find out.  If you're willing, I want you to find out too.. Don't begrudge us this.  I'd stay with you to guarantee your freedom, but I can't.  You have to do it for yourself.  I know you can.  Pink here, she gave you iron.  A spine.  I'm giving you fire.  A will.  Without both, you'll fail.  Stand up.  You *Salazar gestures at the strongest willed of the remainder of the remainder of the Shackled, based on his experience as one of them* I expect you to be their voice.  I'm the Captain until I set foot off this boat.  Then Birgen's captain.  I appoint you then, as First Mate, when I leave.  Your job is to make sure you fellow shackled are taken care of humanely.  Fairly.  I'm out of words, but you do what you know is right."  Salazar then steps out, followed by the rest of the PC's.

(During the distribution of wealth)

"Alright, Birgen.  I'm leaving you with the hard to move stuff.  I have no doubt that you'll be able to, but I am taking the easier stuff, like gems and coins.  Folks (the PCs) that means you get 500 gp worth apiece.  If you have problems with this, let me know.  Pink, I think you are the best carrier of the broken glaive.  Birgen, do right by the former Shackled.  I appoint *same strongwilled foreman from before* as your new first mate, once we leave.  Do you have any questions for me?"

(In the dark, alone)

"I don't know who you are.  But I thank you for my freedom.  I was unfortunately unspecific in terms of our bargain, but how can I repay our debt?"  Salazar says this into the darkness.

Nos Heliwr awaits at the longboat, patiently, as he never was much of a public speaker, seems he is as inspiring as a dead frog.

"So shall we be away?  Places to go, things to aide to Torment, Gates of Hell and all that."  He starts carving his mark into the side of the longboat with the magical blade, paying close attention to how it cuts, how the tough, sea seasoned wood resists the blade, trying to get a feel for its potential.

Vaclav takes his share in silence and moves to the boat as well. He can see that the others are doing the 'inspiring' speeches and he leaves them too it. For now he just wants to disappear off the boat.