Tearlach shakes his head, chuckling. "I'm no wizard, laddie, but from dealing with old Memnos, I know ye don't work cheap. And have little use for gold, either, but take payment in the stuff you wizards use. Something called 'wheeze', if I recall rightly. I'd not be able to pay ye for your work. Fresh out of this 'wheeze' stuff, except after climbing the mast on a cold morning." His mouth twists as he looks up at the crow's nest. The last time he went up there, he'd had to use the 'lubber's hole' instead of climbing over the edge like a real sailor, and that doesn't sit too well with him.
(( Aodhan may know the name Tearlach just mentioned. Memnos is a reasonably-famous Verditius from the Theban tribunal, as well as being someone Talia has studied under.))
Aodhan leans in. "Aye, I'm not cheap, but I just learned some secrets I'm just achin' to try! Tell you what, ye seem like ye travel a fair bit. I'll make one for ye and wherever ye go, whoever asks about it, ye might pass on my name. Ye done me a solid while ye are all tied up and kept a civil tongue about ye...most ways. I'd return the favor. Sound good?" he holds out his hand to shak and then pauses as he looks at his bonds again, finally reaching to shake one of his manaceled hands.
((Looking for a reason to make an Item of Quality. What might go good in Tearlach's line of work?))
Tearlach chuckles. "I got out of the habit of performing mouth inspections on gift horses a long, long time ago. If you're so bound and determined to return the favor, who am I to stop ye? Ye have a deal, Aodhan."
The scrawny Paolo crawls down from the crows nest during his midwatch break, after Aodhan and Tearlach have had their little discussion. A few minutes later, Talia comes from below decks.
"Release the captain." she calls out, and goes back below deck. After several minutes, more than enough time than is the length of his break Paolo still hasn't returned to his station in the crow's nest.
Tearlach will have observed that when in the crow's nest Paolo always has some scraps of parchment, or even a wax tablet if the day isn't too hot, or something to write with/on.
Tearlach mutters, hollers at the first mate "Whitlow, you have the deck", and heads below to find Paolo. Ideally, he'd've sent Whitlow to find the sailor and bring him up, but his legs are all pins-and-needles from standing in one place, and he wants to stretch them.
Paolo isn't in his bunk, or anywhere else below decks, except the places Tearlach can't easily check. He can probably reasonably eliminate being with Aodhan's or Tintavius's quarters, so that leaves Talia's...
Tearlach rolls his eyes. I thought he was just boxing the bald monk -- looks like he decided to give it some exercise instead. He grits his teeth and goes knocking on Talia's door.
Muffled voices can be heard as Tealarch knocks, which stop abruptly. The door opens and Talia can be seen behind her desk. Paolo can't be seen, but it's easy to tell he's trapped behind the open door and the massive desk in this part of Talia's quarters. Several pieces of parchment can be seen on Talia's desk. "Yes, captain?"
Tearlach leans back on his heels. "I'm missing my crow's nest lookout. Paolo. He's on afternoon watch, and it's just struck six bells. Was wondering when you were going to be finished with him."
"Paolo is a bit more of a crow's nest lookout, captain. He's primarily my Loremaster. He just enjoys the crow's nest. One of his long standing orders from me, is to keep an eye out for sources of Arcane interest. When we get out of the pleasantly calm waters of the Mediterranean and into the Atlantic, I'm asking him to keep an eye out for anything that might match the accounts of Himilco, a Carthaginian explorer of antiquity. It occurred to me that we will essentially be following his course. Carthaginian explorers navigated by the stars, much as we do, or should I say Paolo does, and we have little fear of leaving sight of land and not knowing where we are, much like the Carthagininans and Phoenicians of antiquity."
The air between Tearlach and Talia grows thick. Talia arches her eyebrows a and stares back at the captain, with just a hint of a smile appearing at the corner of her mouth.
Tearlach nods slowly. "All right. I'll rearrange the watch bills to give him time for his observations." He turns and takes a step away, only to swing right back around. "Wait a moment. Navigate by the stars, ye said. Can yer magic clear the sky when it's overcast?"
"No, not as a rule. But it's not cloudy every day now, is it? And we're fully provisioned, with water and food, so being out of sight of land isn't that dangerous. If we lose sight of stars and land both, we drop anchor for the night, or a few nights." Talia takes a deep breath. "Captain, we're going to do our best to avoid the Bay of Biscay. The weather is too unpredictable this time of year and the numerous shallows coupled with the propensity for June weather to be foggy all make it a place best to avoid. So, once we reach the Northern part of the Iberian peninsula, we're going to sail due more or less north by northwest. You've wanted to see what your crew can do, well, soon it will be time for them to show you."
((I'm assuming Talia meant north by northeast, since we're not going to Greenland. ))
Tearlach hmmms, chewing thoughtfully on his beard. "Just cut straight across till we sight Ushant or Land's End, and then swing into the Channel? Doable. I'd not want to do it with a normal ship, mind, but with this one, ye can do all sorts of fun tricks." He considers. "I'll likely need to request yer presence on deck to control the winds as we're passing Dover. The Straits are a cast-iron bitch even in the best of weather."
"True, but I'm a tougher bitch." She smiles at Tearlach, and continues, "My goal is to enchant a ship, but I might have to, in the meantime, enchant parts of the ship that will let you have similar capabilities. If you had your druthers, I'm sure you'd pick the ability control the wind, am I right?"
Tearlach leans one shoulder against the doorframe, and considers for a few seconds. "Control the wind. Smooth out the waves: if we don't have to deal with the cross-chop from yer wind meeting the real ones, I could get another two knots out of her, easy. Mebbe make the yards stay dry in all weather, so it's not so hellish easy to slip? Make the ropes easier to haul on so the sailors don't rupture themselves playing pulley-hauley? Mine arse on a bandbox, commodore, I could give ye a list as long as me co... arm."
))