As the last of you arrive, Stoneflow walks out on deck.
‘This the lot? Good, good.’
He turns, and shouts vaguely down the stairs to the cabins, down which Ironwrit just passed.
A moment later an echoing shout rings back, and an elderly dwarf waddles onto the deck. Seemingly oblivious to your presence, he walks directly to the metal circle set in the floor, and pulls a long stick of chalk from inside his robes. He then bends down to the plate, and begins to draw. First a long sweeping line, followed by two diagonal crosspieces. Between them, a cross.
As he finishes the rune (B3*) he steps back, and narrowing his eyes, the plate starts to glow. in seconds a roaring fire bursts into being, and a whistling emerges from the cylinder mounted above it. Soon steam begins to emerge from the rearward spout, first slowly, then at an ever increasing rate, and you can hear cogs creaking below decks as the ship lurches out of harbour.
‘Anyway, welcome to the Windsmith. Plenty of spare cabins down below, if it’s not locked feel free to claim it or to remind the occupant to do so. Apart from that, you’re free to do pretty much as you wish, long as you don’t get in the way and come when called. Though we should be good for the first week or so of the trip. Not many pirates in the deep sea we’re sailing.’
((*Note: from now on this is how I’ll signify any runes you can clearly see. You’ll probably want to keep a list of ones you have seen and their suspected meanings, as this’ll let you learn many more than otherwise.))
((Please submit an action to do over the week (or smaller interval), even if it does equate to nothing.))