A Sailor’s Tale

And This is No Fish Story Either

Gunners Mate Crow’s crew log, 12th of Grekar, 113th year, 8 bells end of first watch.

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I have just come off of first watch and I witnessed something eerie and strange concerning the newest member of CrIsis. He is a strange fellow. When it comes to skills of the sail he is an absolute oaf, but he is strong as a Kraken. When we loaded supplies he carried 4 fold the rest of us. Of course he has the appetite to match. Morning meal consists of at least one whole pig, and I mean whole, bones, guts and all. Even the hoofs, I have never seen the like. I don’t know if we will have the rations to keep up with him.

He replaces the great Quingia Raulf Bozkurtlar. I shall miss him the most I believe. Not because we were friends, on the contrary he was quite the task master, especially when it came to the newly installed ballista on board, and the training a few of us received. But, that adherence to discipline and regiment made us learn quicker; and we are more accurate and efficient with it. That Military manner of him reminds me of my days in the Lopanic Navy. That is why I will miss him the most.



Ursus is anything but disciplined. Most of the time he walks around entirely naked; and he is quite impressive. The first time the women of the crew saw him walking around it was like they were a couple of teenagers seeing their first main mast. I swear their jaws dropped to the deck. Even a couple of the men aboard seemed to be staring a little; I even caught myself takin’ a peek. He didn’t seem to care a whip, like he normally travels around like this.



When first aboard CrIsis and Ursus warned us that he changes at sundown. He becomes an animal, not all that strange since I have seen the beautiful and graceful Caminata transform into many a beast. Well they didn’t fully prepare us for what he does. The first few nights as the sun started going down he would retire to his cabin, with a pig under each arm and we wouldn’t seem him till sunup. This past night, I saw him come from below about half an hour glass before sundown. He was naked again, but he had a long stare about him and was headed for the foredeck. When he got up there he stood for what seemed like an eternity. Then the exact moment the sun dropped below the waves, he began to shudder and shake like a madman. His hair grew at an alarming rate, his height shot up so high I thought he was going to hit the foresail. Then his arms, legs, chest, back, and belly began to bubble and balloon. I thought he was going to explode; then his entire being transformed into that of a massive dark brown bear. At the instant the transformation was complete he slammed his front…hands?…paws?…claws? whatever they were, onto the deck of the ship. I felt the blow up on the wheelhouse it was so massive. It was like he has four short swords coming out of each paw. Then it got really strange. He just sat down, on his rump like any man would and started conversing with an entity that was not there, just staring up at the new crescent moon.



While the winds were blowing in a way from me to hear him, I didn’t get everything he was saying. He was speaking a strange tongue, but for some odd reason I could understand most of it. Here is most of what he had to say.

”Mighty Khonsu, I am glad to be chosen for this task. I realize that those that want to take advantage of lesser beings are more prevalent then I thought. So to make this very clear: ‘I hereby pledge my faith and allegiance to you Khonsu, god of the night and of the moon. The great moon that is the fabled source of my kindred’s power. I will serve at your bidding until I can no longer physically able to serve or until you release from this pledge.’ Now that is over with, I have a few things to discuss with you. First, I am having an issue with, oh what do they call it, oh yes cOmooniCatingg. The small oxen looking one, Zercksees, has helped me, I think, with some of his magey stuff, and all of a sudden I understand them and they understand me. It only lasts for a few arcs of the Sun and moon though. It gets frustrating. I won…”

I didn’t get several moments of what he was saying here;

”…Oh the wonders of such a large city. I have never seen the like. And the food. At first I was disappointed. Tiny little eggs, my man sacks are bigger than these eggs. They were good though, needed about 100 of them just to get any satisfaction. But then came the PIGS, AH THE PIGS! I happened to sit with a Lady named Odminmeomia, very pretty, too bad though. Anyway, I was sitting with here and she was telling me all about the deliciousies they had to offer. Then came out these large, well largish, platters of pigs. She said that I could go get what I wanted now. So I did. I grab a whole platter and brought it back to my place. And it was soooweeet. I have had plenty of wild Boar, but nothing like this. The meat was sweet and tangy, and the bones were like kindling they were so soft. After I finished the first, I went back and ended up grubbing down about 8 or 9 of those lovely, delicious creatures. I ate just a little too much though. I have never been that full, even after a couple of large kalrucks. I should be careful, though I could get a little too used to such easy kill. I will have to endeavor to hunt as much as possible. Now, I was supposed to tal…”

”…Now the one you sent for me, Opus?…Apes?…Oh wait, Apis. She was something else. My instinct, ALMOST CAME OVER ME WITH THAT ONE! You know what I’m saying. Of course you do. She was delicious looking in more ways than one. Wow. I was just kinda curious why you didn’t come yourself? Ah, you have your reasons or some shite like that. Well thanks for listening to me babble on like this. I hope to hear back someday. Oh, one last thing, what’s everyone’s deal with the clothes. I mean I am naked right now; just a little bit more fur that is all. Oh well. They are ones who seem to have a problem with it. Good morn Great Khonsu, may you always chase the sun.”

With that he got to all fours and paced around the ship like a sentry, ever vigilante. The only time he stopped was when he walked to the main mast stood up and rubbed his back vigorously up against it. He groaned, growled and moaned. I know that feeling; I get this spot right in the middle of my back that I can never reach. Rogtilda let out a bit of a shudder while he was scratching. He seemed to be enjoying it too, or maybe he had an unscratchable itch?

A very strange night indeed,
Gunners Mate Crow of Rogtilda

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Roast pig picture from Chef Amy Glaze
 
Fallen Hero drawing by Jesse Phillips
 
Naked Bear picture from Fine Art America, censored by LURCH6571
 
Credia drawing from Can Stock Photo
 
Bear Scratching picture from Doowans News & Events
 
All other pictures have been referenced previously within this web portal