The Ebb and Flood of Focus

[Pyrre Ej'qy]

90 Vhalar 722

Port Diablo

Following the inconvenient discovery of water within the hold of his ship upon his rising, Pyrre had spent the day dealing with the immediate effects - all the while toiling over the larger ramifications and how to go about avoiding them.

Suspecting the water to be coming from a breach in the hull, he took his time to do a slow round along the perimeter of his cabin and the adjoining space that made up the rest of the hold of his ship, looking for any visible signs of a leak. He had chosen to forgo his peg leg and it made the task all the more challenging as his hops caused a huge disruption in the water; he found himself having to pause for a period of time to let the water settle before he could study the surface for any other movement that could indicate a leak. More arduous was the bending he did to reach down into the water, using the tips of his fingers to feel along the rough walls and floor of the hull, seeking anything that felt like a breach or a push of water.

He eventually felt what he thought were two separate inconsistencies in the wood as well as a small hint of flowing water pushing from the areas. However, given his mental and physical exhaustion at the time of the discovery, it could have been an imagined sensation. He went with it anyway, allowing it to justify his theory that the water was caused by leaks in the hull brought on by Chrien’s curse - because, at any rate, he couldn’t think of any other logical reason for the water to be where it was since the sloop had been moored all season.

From there, he had decided he would need to get the Shiver to shallower waters in order to careen it, since he lacked the means of getting it professionally hauled-out. He had considered stealing a wooden bucket he had spotted on the same pier his sloop was moored at, but, given he was already fatigued, he knew he had no hope of bailing the water out any quicker than it was coming in. The effort would be futile.

Instead, he had opted to use what energy he had left to climb up and down from the hold to the deck and back again to keep track of the changing tide.

Having never done any solid data collection outside the odd findings he kept in his head, the Biqaj struggled to figure out how he would go about making sense of what he was after. Rakahi had no written form, after all, and his understanding of Common was average, at best. However, he knew the tides moved at intervals, influenced by Tried’s moons, but he also knew they definitely didn’t give a wet arse about the mortal concept of time. Pyrre was vaguely aware that they moved at a natural undulation, with seas rising and falling from low to high and back again, but he had never paid attention to the specifics as he had always had others with more experience to lean on and turn to. It was a harrowing thing, the weight of his situation not only hammering home his multitude of shortcomings but also how utterly and truly alone he was.

[Pyrre Ej'qy]

While he had considered sinking into a chair to hold his head and let his nightmare continue to unfold, to allow the worst to happen and for everything to finally come undone, he, instead, felt driven to see this through - to save this dilapidated and sad little ship that had become such a reflection of himself. It was a fire he hadn’t felt in seasons and it flickered. Unsteady as the flame was, it was burning, and that was all that mattered.

So, he had made a point to visually note where the wrack line was on the nearest pillars and did his best to use that as a point of reference, assuming that to be a good enough indicator of the highest point the sea had been. From there, he could see where the waterline was in relation to that line. He made a mental note and lingered above deck until he heard a ship’s bell in the distance, sounding as an indication of watch time for the ship’s crew. He strained to hear how many times it rang, familiar enough with them that he knew they rang every half break, and listened as it tolled seven times.

All he could glean from that was that whatever watch it was had a halfbreak left before changeover - and that it wasn’t the shorter dogwatch. His gaze flicked up to the sky, seeking the lone sun, but he was clueless as to how to actually gauge an accurate time based on its position. Seeing that it was nearly directly above him, he hazarded that it would be close to midtrial and decided to go off of that for future referencing.

Dipping back below deck, he sloshed awkwardly about, gaze stumbling over his surroundings as if something might grab him and tell him what to do. He needed to make a note of the information he found - but how?

His pale blue eyes snagged on an eating knife that he had left on his table.

Abandoning his crutch, he dropped to the adjacent chair, took up the knife, and then began to crudely carve into the tabletop. At first, he attempted a circle as an indication of the sun but found that far too much of a challenge, so he opted for an ‘x’ instead. It took a great deal of dragging the blade of the knife backwards and forwards just to leave a legible mark and quickly became cumbersome work but he persevered, near fanatical in his need to try and record whatever he had in his mind’s eye onto something solid.

He added seven single vertical lines beneath the ‘x’ and attempted to make it so the ‘x’ was centred above the other lines - indicating the sun’s place in the sky and the seven bells he had heard. Following that, he made one single horizontal line under the seven vertical ones and then attempted to describe the position of the tide by making another small horizontal mark above, below and then even with the original horizontal mark. It showed his prediction that the tide was somewhere in between its ebb and flood.

He shook his hand out as the near imperceptible eight bells rang from that faraway ship. Glancing down at his work, he hoped that he’d be able to use this as a starting point and that his next observation would show the waterline had either risen or fallen. From there, he’d be able to have an idea of when he should set sail.

But where would he go?

That - among many other questions - would be what he tackled next. For now, he once more returned to the deck to check the waterline and the placement of the sun but, as far as he could see, little had changed. He frowned and returned below deck.

[Pyrre Ej'qy]

The water within the hull had risen slightly and, although nerve wracking in and of itself, did not seem to be rising at a rapid rate. It was a lazy rise. As if the sea - or, moreso Chrien - was toying with him. Making him suffer as the inevitable approached.

He glanced at the table and deliberated but knew he couldn’t add anything further. Perhaps after another toll of the bell there would be more to note, as that would mark a full break since his initial findings, but what to do until then?

His mind jumped from one vague idea to the next until he remembered the map of Tried’s Mouth that Zarena had so thoughtfully gifted him. It was an ugly thing, barely legible and messy and of such poor quality that Pyrre was certain that was the only reason she had handed it over - both to taunt but also because it served no purpose. Maybe it could give him a rough idea of the coastline to the east?

He hobbled over to where he had it stashed and retrieved it and turned to lay it out over the table top when, suddenly, another idea flashed into his mind. He could transfer his attempt at a chart onto the map so he’d have everything in one place.

He paused and glanced towards the items on his bed, fixing his eyes on the gnarled ruler and used pieces of charcoal that sat glumly near a clump of ruined parchment bearing faded, indiscernible gridlines. He hop-stumble-sloshed to the bed and snatched the charcoal up before returning to his chair, flipping the map over once he was seated. From there, he repeated what he had previously attempted to carve into the face of the table, the ‘x’, vertical lines and then horizontal lines. The process was so much easier and quicker with charcoal and paper and he made a mental note to try and salvage what parchment he could find within the hold for future use.

The map was then flipped right-side-up and his pale blue eyes scanned the poorly drawn coastline of Tried’s Mouth, hoping to find some indication of where Almund and Port Diablo would be in relation. He hadn’t travelled much from Almund, but he was aware that Scalvoris Town rested at the centre bottom of Tried’s Mouth, with Immortal’s Tongue taking up the centre and Almund somewhere to the top left. He sighed and then cursed in Rakahi as his eyes ran along the lines of the coastline - this map would be of no use.

He’d have to rely on his wits and sight to try and pick out a good place to careen his sloop. The flame inside him flickered and sputtered.

And tools? How would he patch any holes he found? He didn’t have the supplies that had been so readily available to him aboard the Meridian’s Beacon. He regarded the items on the bed once more, taking in the very basic and worn navigational tools when he remembered he had found some other tools hidden away within the hold late last season. It seemed the Shiver’s previous owner had a habit of ferreting things away.

He contemplated using the ruined parchment to act as temporary plugs until he could get his hands on some pitch. Or, perhaps, he could remove some wood from where the railing was already ruined and layer it over? Did he have nails? He’d have to check.

His thoughts were once more interrupted by the distant ring of that ship’s bell and he rose to return to the deck, crutch in tow.

Again, he checked the water line. Again, he checked the position of the sun.

This time, he noticed a small difference. The waterline seemed closer to the wrack line than before and the sun had edged towards the west. He returned below deck and marked down his findings. Whether they were substantial enough to be actual, usable information was beyond the Biqaj, but he did his best to make the most of it anyways as he repeated the markings, this time below the original ones. He put the ‘x’ slightly off to the left, then added one vertical line, followed by the horizontal line beneath that. Only this time, the larger horizontal line sat between the top two smaller ones to show the waterlevel had risen.

For the most part, Pyrre was satisfied with his findings. He’d continue to track the rise of the tide - if it was, indeed, rising - with the help of the ship’s bell and movement of the sun until it began to recede. Then, he wagered, he could figure out a basic idea of when high tide was and, in relation, when low tide would also be and plan his leave accordingly.

continued here

[Avalon]

Review & Rewards

Name: Pyrre

Points awarded: 10
Magic xp: N/A

Knowledge:
Detection: Water movements can indicate signs of a leaky hull
Detection: Using the wrack line as a guide when reading tides
Discipline: The drive to finish what you started despite how futile it all feels
Endurance: Repeated bending and climbing is exhausting - especially with one leg
Navigation: Formulating a chart to track the ebb and flood of local tides
Seafaring: Ship’s bell rings every halfbreak during a watch for a total of eight rings - or four rings during dogwatch

Renown: N/A

Skill Review: Appropriate to level.

Notes:

My first Pyrre thread - how exciting!

First off, your writing is lovely! This could have come off as a very stale slice-of-life solo about a specific situation, but you turned it into much more than that. Allowing the reader a dynamic look inside the pc's thoughts and feelings - a tricky balance for sure - paid off. I became invested in the outcome of the thread simply by relating to what he was going through. It takes a light touch to do that and I feel you did it expertly. His thoughts and emotions didn't detract from the situation, but served to deepen it.

I appreciate how you spread out the skills and knowledge. This solo is a very good example of how many, many skills overlap and can influence others. I think that often we get in a rut of thinking something can only apply to one skill, but I like how you showed in this piece that knowledge can apply to many areas, depending on how it is used. The context used in the story is always the most important part.

I really loved this first glimpse of Pyrre and look forward to getting to know him better in the future! Great job!

Avalon

Pyrre Ej'qy

• XP: 10
• Knowledges:
  • Detection: Water movements can indicate signs of a leaky hull
  • Endurance: Repeated bending and climbing is exhausting - especially with one leg
  • Discipline: The drive to finish what you started despite how futile it all feels
  • Detection: Using the wrack line as a guide when reading tides
  • Seafaring: Ship’s bell rings every halfbreak during a watch for a total of eight rings - or four rings during dogwatch
  • Navigation: Formulating a chart to track the ebb and flood of local tides