Enter the third trial

The suddenness with which the flames surround you is accompanied by the same dizzying sensation that you’ve felt before. It’s all you can do to remain standing as the flames recede once again to reveal completely new surroundings. The first thing you notice is the smell of salt water. Then, it’s the subtle rocking of the ground beneath your feet, and the sounds of people shouting and moving around. Then, finally, your eyes take in the endless blue sky, the gentle rolling seas, and the grand sailing ship on which you stand. Sunlight is beaming down onto the deck, where you stand amid a crowd of sailors working to follow the barked orders of people wearing pointy hats. None of them look like any of the people you saw or interacted with in Hes, nor do any of them seem even the slightest bit interested in you at the moment. Behind you to either side stand Blythe and Lia, and beyond them is a door leading into a raised section at the back of the ship. You can’t help but feel like there’s a person missing, and your grip tightens on the silver {if@ sword = true}sword{elseif mace = true}mace{elseif spear = true}spear{endif} you’re still carrying. With a sinking feeling in your gut, you remind yourself that Jas was an NPC designed for the trial you just completed. Even if that’s how it is, you think as your eyes glance down at her enchanted {if@ sword = true}sword{elseif mace = true}mace{elseif spear = true}spear{endif}, I wish I could’ve brought her along instead of this thing.

The door at the back of the ship swings open, and in the doorway stands the mysterious figure that has appeared at the start of every trial so far: the person you nicknamed Blue Cloak. Your two companions quickly notice the cloaked figure as well.

“The third trial,” says Blue Cloak, “is one of water.” The hubbub of the ship and its crew is reduced to quiet background noise the moment Blue Cloak starts talking. “You stand aboard the merchant ship, Ishelle. Defeat the Elemental to complete the trial.”

The same script as before, you think.

Blue Cloak steps backwards, reaching up with a slender, dark-skinned arm to beckon you all to follow. Without thinking too hard about it, you follow the cloaked figure through the door and a small hallway before finding yourself inside what you assume to be the captain’s quarters. The room is large, by ship standards, with windows spanning the length of the back wall and doors to either side leading to a rear balcony. In the center lies a finely carved desk, behind which sits a man in a fancy naval jacket. He has platinum blonde hair, flowing straight down to his shoulders, and the long, pointed ears of an elf. A big, pointy hat rests on the edge of the desk, and the man is quietly looking over maps and ignoring you. Blue Cloak stands right in front of the desk and remains there quietly for a few moments. You stand equally still, unsure of what to do, or feel, or say now that you’ve been thrust yet again into an entirely new situation.

“The conditions for the Elemental to appear,” says Blue Cloak, “are not the same as they were in your previous trial. Do tread carefully.” With those final words, spoken in the same warm, yet matter of fact voice as always, Blue Cloak turns into mist and dissipates into thin air. After a few moments of quiet, the noise of the ship and its crew come back up to their full volume, and the elven man behind the desk notices the three of you for the first time. He doesn’t seem surprised to see you.

“I would ask that you do away with the weapons for the time being,” he says. “I understand that you must all be stressed after that ordeal, but you are in no danger here.” No shit I’m stressed. Wait, by ‘ordeal,’ does he mean the last trial? That thought almost has you paused long enough to be disrespectful of the man’s request. Luckily, you catch yourself in time to avoid such a social blunder. You nod to Blythe and Lia, then set Jas’s {if@ sword = true}sword{elseif mace = true}mace{elseif spear = true}spear{endif} against the wall behind you while the girls sheath their weapons. The elven sailor takes one last look at a section of map on his desk before standing and walking around to where Blue Cloak was a moment ago. Looking at each member of your party in turn, his gaze comes to rest on Blythe. “I said it once before, but allow me to introduce myself again. I am Captain Robert Tonaril-Witterel. I offer you my condolences for the loss of your ship and its crew. The Ishelle welcomes you three survivors as our own for the remainder of our current voyage.” Loss of ship and crew? So he doesn’t know about the last trial: he thinks we’re survivors of a shipwreck. The captain continues, “We make port in seven days. For the time being, I shall give you to the care of my surgeon. Rest and recover yourselves, and mourn whatever losses you require.”

…

The doctor’s orders are for the three of you to rest while you recover from your injuries. All three of you agree, however, not to follow those orders. For the entire day, you exhaust your mana supply as quickly as you’re able to generate it by spamming out healing spells on yourself and the girls. This strategy leaves you utterly exhausted, so you have to leave it up to Blythe and Lia to explore the ship and try to come to grips with whatever it is you’re meant to be doing in this trial. By nightfall, all three of you are reasonably healthy and you’ve recovered enough from the mana fatigue to hear the girls’ report. They deliver it to you in the lower deck, where you’ve each been given a hammock to sleep in for the remainder of the voyage.

Their report goes like this.

The Ishelle is a merchant ship that carries goods and wealthy passengers across a large stretch of ocean. It’s a three-masted sailing ship with a wooden hull, but from what they tell you about the enchantments infused into the lumber and the sails, it may as well be an ironclad warship. The outer hull has enchantments to resist cannonballs and offensive magic. The massive linen sails are equipped with the same resistances, as well as an enchantment which makes them lightweight. The ship has four decks that you can access: the main deck, where the weather greets the sailors as they manage the rigging of the sails; below that is the cannon deck, where crystal-powered cannons and shot are kept at the ready in case the crew needs to defend the ship; the upper deck is next, where ten rooms are housed for the doctor’s ward, the various officers’ quarters, and two VIP rooms used by nobles or wealthy merchants booking passage on the ship, and the lower deck is below that, where the rest of the crew eats, sleeps, and passes the time while they’re off the clock. Below the lower deck is the hold, where extra supplies are kept until they’re needed, and Blythe was expressly informed that no one is allowed in there without an officer’s permission.

Their report yields nothing about the nature or goal of this trial, but it’s good to know your bearings nonetheless. Satisfied for now, the three of you turn in for the night.

…

You jolt awake on the floor of the lower deck. You hear the roar of a storm outside, the rumble of boots on the deck, the shouting of sailors around and above you. You feel the ship swaying side to side at an alarming rate. Looking around, you see sailors running around, waking each other up, and shouting incoherently to one another. Blythe and Lia are both missing from their hammocks, and as you stand up and take in the whole lower deck you realize that they aren’t anywhere close by.

What the hell is going on?