Dog Days

[El'the Ellie]

It's been close to a month since you left the northern coast of Colombia. A month of brutally hot, sunny days where breezes were hard to come by. Saying goodbye to your failing beast shop was difficult, but necessary: managing the store was hard on top of the difficulties of breeding the animals. And besides, the people of Colombia were growing uneasy, beginning to fight for independence from Spain. Perhaps you could have stayed long enough to equip one or both sides of the conflict with war dogs, but... down that path raised many difficult questions.

No, life on the sea was simpler. Just you, Asp, and the handful of crew on the caraval that you now call home. The Sleeping Monk is a merchant ship, laden down with goods from Colombia and headed for Haiti. Your captain, Bautista Velazques, is a clever man and more concerned about his bottom line than playing fair. His plan to use the impending revolution as an excuse to upcharge your cargo is certainly shrewd.

It leaves the Sleeping Monk with little time to dally though. The wind's haven't been favorable getting to Haiti, and Captain is quick to remind his crew of the financial consequences of wasting time. Finally though, after many weeks in the open sea, you can see the shore of Haiti. And along with it, Santo Domingo: a port to rest, sell and buy wares, and whatever else you may want to do on solid ground. No one has been looking forward to this more than the Sleeping Monk's full time crew.

Your duties aboard the ship have been fairly easy until now. Mostly keeping the crew safe from sunstroke and dehydration, ensure the food you've all eaten hasn't spoiled, and your run-of-the-mill deckhand duties. But as one of the only other merchants aboard, Velazques expects you to make yourself useful when they arrive in Santo Domingo and help find buyers.

Spoiler

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Welcome! Feel free to mention what Kaspur and Asp have been doing this near month on the ship, and possibly what things were like leaving Colombia and joining with the Sleeping Monk. Things will pick up with actual plot after.

[Tjallen]

Closing the shop down had a few upsides, Kaspur was able to branch out! Having no real responsibilities and plenty of time, he spent some time training up a parrot, and through an unlucky accident with aiming a charm animal, a bat as well.
A few days and he had the parrot singing a sailors song, much to the delight of several crewmembers of the sleeping monk.
Spending time with the sailors he eventually ran into Captain Velazques. Offering his services aboard the ship in return for passage and permission to keep and train some animals, Kaspur was accepted as a deckhand, with only a small bribe of the parrot and daily castings of Endure Elements.

Establishing himself by tending to cuts, purifying spoiled food, conjuring water and generally being helpful outside of manual labor, Kaspur enjoyed a somewhat relaxing trip. Most of his free time spent with training the growing bat and keeping Asp's training up to par. As well as acquiring a brand new companion: a seagull lured in with a combination of stale bread and a dose of charm animal. Some . Offering his services aboard the ship in return for passage and permission to keep and train some animals, Kaspur was accepted as a deckhand, with only a small bribe of the parrot and daily castings of Endure Elements.

Establishing himself by tending to cuts, purifying spoiled food, conjuring water and generally being helpful outside of manual labor, Kaspur enjoyed a somewhat relaxing trip. Most of his free time spent with training the growing bat and keeping Asp's training up to par. As well as acquiring a brand new companion: a seagull lured in with a combination of stale bread and a dose of charm animal. Some good-natured teasing had followed for a few days until it had gotten trained up for rat-hunting, nobody liked rats.

[El'the Ellie]

The addition of a dog and a trio of birds (well, two birds and a flying mammal) does a lot to liven the journey. Even sailors can't resist the unconditional joy that a dog brings. Eventually, the sounds of dock bells and the chatter of strangers pull you out of your thoughts. You've arrived at Santo Domingo and the Sleeping Monk will be docking soon.

The island before you is large enough to be taken for a continent. Beyond the city, you can see the untamed forest of the land stretch off into the horizon. The docks themselves are crowded: dozens of merchant ships of varying sizes and qualities sit in the bay, anchored to the end of long wooden piers. People from all over are hard at work loading, unloading, docking, or making repairs to their vessels, and the Sleeping Monk joins them as an anchor is cast overboard and the gangplank is drawn out.

Humans may dominate the scene, but they're far from the only creatures here. Trumpetfish and Goatfish dodge around in the bay in a few large schools. Seagulls overhead, too many to count, perch on masts, sails, and docks, keeping a wary eye out for unattended food. A few horses and dogs walk along the docks with their human masters.

Captain Velazques claps his hand on your back, appearing almost out of nowhere. His parrot, as you well trained it, sits happily on his shoulder and flutters its wings a bit. "Master Oak. We made sh*t time getting here, but we made it. My men will be unloading until late afternoon, and time is of the essence. I want you to use your merchant mind to find buyers: shouldn't be too hard here. I doubt we can sell of all our cargo, so ask around about other islands we can stop at as well. After we've sold and you get your share, you're welcome to come back aboard with us, or go your own way." The large man gives you another pat on the back, and turns away: he has never been a man of many words or pleasantries, but no doubt the possibility of finally turning goods into coin has put him in a better-than-usual mood.

From the many days aboard the Sleeping Monk, you're familiar with what she carries: coffee beans, ground cane sugar, nuts, and bananas, mostly. Woven blankets, several hundred pounds of iron and pewter, and a smaller sample of alchemical goods used for the more mystical artificery and potion crafts. Along the busy street that runs parallel with the coast, you see plenty of buildings: a few taverns and inns, a guardhouse, a church, what seems to be an apothecary, a mystic advertising fate- and future-telling services, and a courtyard filled with market stalls.

[Tjallen]

Nodding at the captain as he prepares to set out into Santo Domingo he replies:
"Will do Captain. This may be my last stop for a while, nothing to do with you, but Asp is getting fat and lazy from all this sailing. A ship is no place for a hunting dog I am afraid."
With that Kaspur sets off towards the apothecary and market stalls 'hopefully this will be over with quickly, those forests look real interesting'. Whistling at Asp as he leaves the Sleeping Monk.