Day 1: Arrival

Much to my surprise I had not awoken in the bed that I had paid for, or for that matter the ship that I had chartered. I awoke in a cell, bound and with my head covered along with Estall and Hendrik. They were also awake or waking up. Again, to my surprise Hendrik of all people seemed to have his head on straight. I do wonder if he has been kidnapped before. I could tell Kino was nearby and at least some of the original crew who I had spoken too, but where were we? Obviously, we were still on a ship, and for that I am grateful. I do promise that one of these people will be given the opportunity to flee thanks to that kindness. As it turns out we were on board another ship, prisoners to slavers.
 
As we worked together to remove our head covers and see to the ropes, which bound us we discovered a great many things. The slavers used uncommon tattoos that can cause severe disabilities and injuries. They will regret that when I get my hands on them. They also used some sort of fruit which Hendrik was able to identify as slavers delight. It makes you docile, a good slave. We had been split into two different cells and while we tried to work out a means to extricate ourselves more prisoners were brought in, interesting people. One man had an arm he could simply take off. I must say, a true missed opportunity to offer us a hand. The other was a rather attractive woman who turned out to be a wonderful addition to our little escape party as she could heal our wounds. The other was their leader that much is certain, but what he was capable of was not evident.
 
After they facilitated our escape from the cell, they went on to offer us their party member in exchange for keeping her safe. They had been here to steal something from the captain and decided to blow a hole in the ship in order to get to the captain's cabin easier. Though the man with the fake arm seemed intelligent, I do question whether we could not have simply taken the stairs to accomplish the same task and not ruin the very thing that was keeping us from an agonizing death. We took the stairs being the ones with some brains and fought our way up several floors to the deck of the ship where we found chaos. Cannons were turned toward the middle of the ship, and there were dozens of pirates. We entered into the fray. It was perhaps a bit more than our tired and weakened bodies should have attempted to take on, but we managed well enough.
 
It probably would have gone a touch more smoothly had the captain taken kindlier to our new friends. Apparently, they didn't manage to kill the man and he decided to try and blow the ship and everyone on it up. Luckily for us the lady who was sent along to help dashed off so secure our lifeboat. I must make sure to tell her that she did well next time I see her and try and remember her name. Anyway, we took the lifeboat with the two pirates who we needed to have a conversation with and attempted to steer it to shore. Asora was not a destination we could reach but thankfully the Azune region was close enough and we were able to make land. We settled a grudge or two and ran into a very interesting individual who seemed to mistake us for pirates. I'm beginning to wonder if this land is completely inhabited by those with little in the way of brains. Perhaps it wasn't the inhabitant's fault. Maybe the land or perhaps even the local flora and fauna were causing some sort of neural decay. It's something I need to be aware of. I will need to do periodic checks with Kino to make sure we do not fall victim. Hopefully with time I will be able to aid these poor people.
 
After a roundabout conversation directed by our local strongman Estall we had come to the conclusion that neither this new man or our party were pirates or slavers. He gave us some information and sideways threats that I found amusing before he dashed off to find his friends who had been the ones to help us escape our cell. We had finally made it back to land. I am rather annoyed we have not reached our goal as this detour will likely take weeks to correct but land is good. From here, I should be able to begin my search.
 
Final note, these pirates better have saved all of my luggage for if I have lost any mementos of my dear Kino I'm not sure what I will do. Surely, they must have. Its lucky that our new friends seem to be working on a plot to infiltrate their base. I must make sure to make myself available to them when they do.