A Path of Moonlight Spun
Sixth Day of the Twelfth Month 293 AC
Breaking it down to its constituent parts you know well the innovations and design philosophy that went into the
Moonchaser, you had looked over her plans before the first steel plate was poured and looked over the proposed ordering of its crew before there was even a whisper of a rumor regarding its existence. If the current meeting requires more from the ship than just impressing the wyrm, Althazi, with its artifice you are confident in knowing all its weapons and wards, but that does not tell the whole story.
Walking along its hallways, peering out portholes through crew quarters and mess hall outside of formal inspection another
Moonchaser emerges. To its crew the
Moonchaser is more than a flying ship as a dragon is more than a winged-lizard that spits fire. For many it is the pinnacle of dreams and hopes, the confirmation of their own excellence, the best and brightest in the fleet, the common phrase you learn is 'sailors so fine their feet don't touch water'. There are quite a few azer among the petty officers, former slaves looking to pay the Brazen Throne back for decades of hardship and indignity, valued not merely for some abstract knowledge of the Spheres, but for the confidence their solid though often loud presence inspires in the crew working under them, a role they take on with them bringing the same diligence as to a smith's anvil or a shieldwall in lockstep.
Then there are those who take their commission aboard the
Moonchaser under a fey captain, not terribly concerned with precise regulations as a opportunity to exercise creativity, like the tinker-fey engineer who turned his cabin into a small library accessible to anyone with free time on their hands... as long as they follow the schedule. The place is much in demand and little wonder, unlike on most of the ships of your fleet it is not just the officers and petty officers who are literate but the entire crew. It had not specifically been a part of the selection process, but with rigorous criteria in so many other often eclectic fields nine in ten of the crew could read and write by the time of the ship's maiden voyage and Moonsong had decided to encourage the rest to pick up the skill, possibly for bragging rights, though you do not exclude a more pragmatic reasoning.
Perhaps the most extraordinary aspect of the ship's developing microcosm, and the one you suspect is most owed to Moonsong herself, is the fact that when you let it be known that you are just looking around for your own curiosity and the crew should not feel troubled or uneasy by your comings and goings, most of them take you at your word. These men and women would die for the realm and the crown you bear if battle is to be joined of that you have no doubt, but they are also entirely more willing to jest and trade tall tales more than any sailors you have spoken to under your own banners since you left Braavos on the
Wave Dancer some three years past.
By some odd twist of chance you actually meet one of those sailors who takes a moment out of oiling the hinges in the mess hall to recount the tale of the one fool on the crew who thought it would be sensible to try to rob a wizard's sea chest. Ironically, the fellow had served with distinction and courage in actions against the Tyroshi fleet and retired to shore with a decent nest egg to marry a former Myrish slave and move out to the colonies, with an interesting tale for his future grandchildren to scoff at.
The time to explore and reminisce quickly runs out as such moments are wont to do, the pale bulk of the Bonecrab Reef visible like some ghostly rampart up ahead. After confirming your identity to the maridar garrison with a series coded clicks enchanted into a single use talisman in Vialesk you are greeted by the unsurprisingly wary, but courteous commander. The
Moonchaser had made good time from the city, Althazi had not yet arrived, though he is expected within the next few hours.
How do you greet the Brine Dragon?
[] Write in
OOC: You guys can include an opening offer if you like. 
