It has come to my attention that several crews have been losing members lately and I've noticed that many of the smaller crews that have formed haven't responded to my earlier call to action. My own crew has lost vital members and is now no longer large enough to easily sail a ship of the size we are currently traveling on. We either need new crew (which, ideally, should be drawn from those who are traveling with inadequate numbers already) or our crew needs to be absorbed into a larger one.

If any of the Howling Sabers wish to discuss this with me, you may do so here. I'm not available to discuss things in person at the moment.

As for the summit I've proposed, there is enough interest to move forward with it, so I have tentatively scheduled it for early December, before new arrivals appear. If there are any objections to this, voice them here. I am planning to hold the meeting on Breakneck Cay. It is an uninhabited island to the north of Isla Empieza and is notorious for being difficult to moor at. If you don't think your crew has the skill to land there, arrangements for your representatives can be made with other crews. If there are any further things that need to be planned for, again, this is the place to tell me so that it can be taken care of.

If we continue to pursue our own agendas with no dialogue with other crews, we're going to continue being directionless and unsuccessful in achieving any ends we've set ourselves. What needs to happen is a meeting to discuss going forward or we won't go forward at all.

I propose that each crew send a representative or representatives to a location to be determined at a time we will discuss. Replies can be set to private if you would prefer, but this needs to be arranged if progress is to be made.

I know others have voiced frustration over a lack of progress towards finding a way home. I'm taking a calculated risk in saying this, but it is my intent to stay here in this place if I can figure out the mechanism by which people are brought here and find out how it can be controlled. If anyone has any research they've done on this topic, let me know.

[Private to L-Elf]

I have some product for your crew. Since it's the first batch, I figure we can negotiate on terms. Hit me up.

WANTED: Someone who can drive- sail? a boat! Or at least is willing to teach two idiots how to!

Seriously. I'm gonna offer a tentative 30% of all takings, to be renegotiated based on the addition of each new crew member (30 is under a third, yeah, but the extra 3% is ours because the boat is gonna be ours- it all works out to be fair, seriously). Contract can be voided at any time, yada yada yada et cetera,

Bonuses to you besides 30% take- my bodyguarding skills, which are top rate (natch) and my partner's science skills, which make him like, a super medic, yo. You'd be our navigator and sailor, or just teacher if that's your deal. Contract is probably negotiable but my partner is a hardass, and I haven't run any of this by him, so fingers crossed, 'kay?

Oh- and personality interviews are gonna be real important. For your safety, not ours.

To those who've swapped bodies:

If this condition isn't permanent, you need to pay attention to your condition after you return to your body. If there are any differences in your mental capacity, memory, physical ability or regenerative ability, use this post to report what you've observed.



[He may be cut off from the ongoing research at home, but that doesn't mean he can't continue it here. The conditions that brought about the transfer of consciousness are completely different, but still something worth monitoring.]

As much as this competition has pit us against each other, I would ask that we not all lose sight of the fact that we're still being used by others for another purpose. We are still all better off as allies than as enemies.

[This has been your daily soapbox moment.]


[action on the sea princess]

[Itachi hasn't forgotten what day it is. His brother had honored his birthday, so it's only right that he do the same. A cake is out of the question, as he knows Sasuke doesn't like sweet things. That doesn't mean he can't cook him something else, however. With all the supplies (and still edible vegetables) they have on the ship right now, it shouldn't be a problem.

Shouldn't.

None of the training he'd gone through in becoming the best ninja he could had involved cooking. Putting together a simple meal for the road is one thing. Making something nice for a family member is something else entirely. He believes he should be able to do it - he's gotten a hold of a decent cookbook - so he's going to give it a shot. It can't be too difficult.

Anyone who nears the kitchen this evening might be privy to the smell of burnt vegetables or the disgruntled noises of one young ninja.]

[He's not playing.]

All crew on deck, now.

I don't care if it's magic or your bare hands, we're not taking damage from vegetables.

[There's a pause while he goes away to catch some of said vegetables, then his voice continues a little more thoughtfully:] If you have the means to save some of the food, do so.

((OOC: There has been a post about preliminary plotting for the race in the crew comm over here! Please go indicate your character's preference if you haven't already.))

Good day, Sabers. With a few details of the "Great Ghost Race" revealed to us, it is time to begin discussing our intended course of action.

The Sabers shall be participating in the race, though details beyond that are still up in the air. I would say that our primary goal needs to be ensuring that the Corpse King cannot get a hold of the grand prize. And if he does... Well, we steal it from him. But we are going to make sure that does not happen, aren't we?

Regardless, it is time to start sharing and discussing any initial thoughts or developing strategies as the race date draws nearer. Your input is, as always, appreciated.

[The name of the Howling Sabers' new ship is actually one L-Elf approves of, though he's kept that to himself. However, he does feel that a ship with a name like the Sea Princess needs an appropriate figurehead and he's been sketching some ideas of what he'd like to propose to have commissioned.

The art isn't particularly skilled and there's a definite lack of style, but the pictures are immediately recognizable as mermaids of some sort in various poses. Or rather one mermaid, because all of them are clearly drawn from the same model.]

Are there any nautical superstitions about figurehead designs? I don't want to waste time arguing with the artists if the crew agrees to have this made.

[It is likely very early in the morning since Hachiken rises pretty early. There is no sense in delaying the inevitable.]

It seems like our Captain has disappeared. We're really too small as a crew to keep sailing on our own. I don't think we have the skills between us.

I think I need to find a new crew.

All I can really do is cook. I mean, that's my job on the Sinewave. I can look after farm animals but that's not the most useful of skills at sea.

I can learn whatever skills you need me to, I just have spent much of my time in the galley here.

Out of curiosity, has anybody figured out a...I don't know, an antidote or something to protect people from losing their damn minds every other month? By now I've seen enough bizarre behavior, it'd be nice to find some kind of immunity to that.

...not that we can predict when it happens.

Which reminds me. Ace, you ever send Luffy something like that again and I'll come over there next. You don't want me to come over there.

[some time later, he adds, scrawled on the bottom of the page as if he forgot that he can't write notes to himself on this journal...]

Needs more treasure. I need those weights.

To those who have encountered the Navy:

Any details you have to share about their armaments, tactics, manpower etc. need to be shared over the journal for the benefit of all other crews. It is especially important to share any further developments they may have made with their anti-magic armaments.

Also I need to know if there are any crews who are taking the most expedient route and killing the enemies they face.

Okay. No. Fuck this. Fuck all this bullshit!

[Alex has stormed below deck and gotten her journal. She's kind of yelling at it. Sorry everyone.]

I'm not staying on this ship!

I'm-- That's just-- It's a bad idea, okay? I need to get off this ship. Now.

I can fight. I can't sail. I get sick as hell at night, but I need off this ship.

Anyone hiring?

[She may change her mind after she cools down, but she's furious right now. And anger, hunger, and night? Are going to make a bad combination. And not even an asshole like the guy on her ship who got them banned deserves that.]

L-Elf? What ship are you on? Your captain got room for one more? Someone?


[It takes some time -- well after dark -- before Alex actually gets herself up and goes looking for someone. A particular someone, actually. Her stomach's killing her, but she walks the ship until she finds him.

Haytham Kenway.]

Sir? I-- Can I talk to you?

...hi. This is Zozo again. I know there's a lot of crap going on, but...there's something I'd like to explain. I've heard some people don't much about possession, my captain included, so I'm hoping to clear some of this stuff up since I'm a necromancer.
( Cut for images )

[He sounds tired. Frustrated. Really kind of pissed off. His voice sounds a bit more clipped than usual, and while no less blunt, a lot more dry.]

Alright, so.

This week.

It's kind of been a shitty week.

I only had one crew member lose it, and it was probably one of the worst ones to do so.

[He pauses a bit, and notes to himself - that actually might have been the case with a LOT of the members of his crew. He didn't want to see what a crazed, homicidal Tojiko or older Link would do. Or Sasuke. Or... ugh, time to stop that train of thought right there.]

We've... [Hn.] Well, our ship's in one piece. We're nearing Empieza. We're stocking up.

Then we're moving out.

I know I've been talking to at least one of you guys about coordinating things. At first, I was thinking we'd have to track this Witch down, but... hey. Got something else to hunt, now.

The most we need to do is not be tripping over each other. Cover different parts of the ocean. And do it as fast as possible. And after that comes the real deal, dealing with the Witch.

If you're a Captain, or if you're in charge of your ship now 'cause your Captain's lost their mind... I wanna talk to you. Won't change whatever we're gonna do even if no one's in with us, but... Hey. It's there.

Meanwhile, if you need a ship to hold up on while all this is going down, or are new and need someplace the go... the Murderess has a bit of room. We'll take the help where we can get it.

It has come to my attention that your crews are having difficulty with members that have been possessed by an outside influence and that you are hesitant to kill them. It is the most effective solution to the problem and you are causing unnecessary complications.

If you can't do what must be done, I offer my services.

Kill, don't be killed.

[At first he'd thought he was dazed and hallucinating from the crash, but he's learned to assess his physical condition quite accurately and, as impossible as it seems, he seems to be quite whole and well. Just not where he was. As fanciful and strange as it seems, the simplest thing to do is accept as a fact that he's somehow been pulled into some sort of alternate world and work from there.

The entries in the journal purporting to explain the situation to newcomers are lacking in much of the necessary information he needs to move forward. On top of that, there is the strange voice offering home when it outright contradicts one of the welcome posts, a post that itself says not to respond to posts that seem anomalous. There's not enough in the book yet for him to judge whether that voice is an anomaly or not, but the shocked reactions suggest it is.

Therefore, he decides that the wisest course of action is to follow the welcome post's advice and find lodging, then to write an entry in the book himself.]

I am one of the "new arrivals." Given the situation, what I require is a position on an established crew and further information about this world and my place in it. I can offer the following skills at the following levels:

- close combat (hand to hand, knives, improvised weapons): A
- ranged combat (firearms): A
- handling of explosives: A
- situational awareness: A
- wilderness survival: A
- assessment and management of personnel: A
- strategy and tactics: A

Further clarification available on request.



[It is, in fact, only a small cross section of what he is capable of, and simplified at that, but it's better to withhold some information, considering he's unsure who exactly will be reading what he writes.]