[Rowe tsks.]

Such an ungrateful lot of piglets.

Sandrath, loose lips sink ships, lovey. Keep your hands to yourself and your nose out of my business, or we'll have to have ourselves a chat.

[papers rustle]

Samuel, [she purrs his name] fetch me long tom. Hound! You're needed in the aviary. Get to it! The rest of you get back to your duties. Heads are already rolling and it's making a terrible mess.

When the seventh day dawns, the sky darkens, the clouds an ominous shade of grey. The thunderous clap that had once sounded so very far away now rattles the Black Tide with every boom. The sea surges angrily, swelling around the boat and threatening to breach the top deck. Wind howls, like a train's whistle. The top deck becomes almost impossible to navigate.

The gentle tap of rain becomes heavy and incessant. The ship rocks with the waves, but determinedly continues to cut through the choppy water.

[Geralt has spent the past hour fiddling with the comm device on his bed. He still doesn't understand it, but it seems to be a portable sort of witching glass. You can talk to other people through it, that much he has figured out. The purpose of these comms is for sharing knowledge, which is pretty convenient if you don't read. Most people Geralt encounters on his world can't read, and it looks like there's a lot of women and peasants on board, so it seems thoughtful of Rowe to look out for the illiterate.

Geralt looks into the comm and he blinks his yellow eyes slowly. In his mind, he pretends he's addressing a crowd of people.]

My name is Geralt of Rivia, and I'm a witcher. I'm unsure what I did to deserve the honour of Lady Rowe's attention, much like you all. I'm interested in where I can buy a weapon and some supplies. Also--

[Geralt turns his comm around to show a Nameless emptying his trash can with a stupified look on its face. Its features are so blurred its gender can't really be determined and there's an ashiness to the Nameless' skin. After a moment, Geralt turns the comm back around. He grimaces.]

This boat is infested with shades.