“Due to the inherent dangers of deep waters, most naval travel took place is relatively shallower waters, and often hugged the contours of the main continents when possible as a result. The most frequently traveled stretches of deeper waters were the routes taken by Alcidean traders at times from the south-west of the continent to the Western Isles, which saved months of travel compared to the safer route where they simply traveled south to Ur-Teros first and then hugged the shorelines west, and the route north-west between Port Serda and the Al-Shan Empire.

Other than those two, no other routes bothered to risk the deeper waters, as there were no other good trade destinations where time and money could be saved by braving the risk anyway. A few times in the past, intrepid and daring explorers attempted to search for the unknown and took their ships out into the uncharted oceans. Very few of these daring men and women ever returned, and those that did only re-emphasized the dangers of the deep seas with their reports.” - From a lecture by Garth Wainwrought, Dean of the Levain Institute of Higher Learning, circa 699 FP.

“Anchors aweigh! Unfurl the sails and let us be off on our way!” yelled the unliving captain from atop the helm of the ship. By now Cal was all too aware that the often exaggerated sailor-ish way of speaking he used was a habit he liked and adopted, rather than something the man was simply used to. Considering his often theatrical choices of appearance and outfits, she thought it was fitting in many ways.

Like that day as they raised anchor on the northern port of Gloomshine Isle, the good Captain was dressed in his finest, with a pristine while long-sleeved silken shirt that had plenty of lace on its sleeves and collar, with a dark blue jacket complete with decorative epaulletes that had skull motifs on them. He also wore a tricorn hat decorated with massive colorful feathers, and wore his eyepatch on his right eye that particular day, probably because the mood strikes him that way.

It had been nearly a week since Cal and her group met the Captain at the northern port, ahead of their scheduled meeting date, and by now, the ship had finished loading its goods, as the final shipments they had been waiting for had arrived. The cargo holds of the ship were loaded to the brim with local specialties, ranging from various preserved or hardy food items, to things like carvings and other decorative objects, all of which would likely fetch a good price in the mainlands.

Arquivaldo had also shown Cal their planned route, which would first head north-east to the port city of Xeluvo on south-western Alcidea, part of the Coalition of City-States she visited when she first arrived on the continent, then north along the coastlines to Port Serda, followed by the weeklong north-eastern trail to Shan-Hu in south-eastern Al-Shan. From Shan-Hu to Al-Shan would be another few days, and by Arquivaldo’s estimates they would arrive early in the last month of autumn even with all the stopovers, which was as planned as the date for Xain’s wedding was on the last day of autumn, roughly a month after their planned arrival.

“This is going to be a first for us,” said Vark as he approached Cal together with Krystal and Ilena. Leila was away, flying atop Lumi’s back as they circled above the ship, as while Lumi could fit on the top deck where she could lay down to rest, both favored flying freely for the time when the young Ice Drake was awake and active. On the contrary, Ida prowled behind Krystal and Ilena almost like a pet dog following its owner, while the latter scratched her chin with one hand, which the big cat definitely seemed to enjoy. “Traveling between continents by ship, that is. I just hope the routes remain safe during our travels.”

“You’ve never taken Krystal out for longer trips before?” asked Cal with some curiosity to her nephew. “Like a vacation or the likes?”

“We had several, especially when Leila was younger,” replied Krystal in the stead of her husband with a smile. “Most of them were still within the Union, though. It wasn’t exactly cheap or easy to travel afar, much less with a child in tow.”

“We’re in good hands, so there’s at least no worries on that part,” replied Cal as she gave a glance at how Arquivaldo expertly manned the helm of the ship, while the rest of the sailors tended to their own task under Aby’s commands. “He might look a bit… theatrical at times, but there’s probably no ship Captain out there more experienced than he is. Or more competent for that matter.”

“That’s a good thing to hear,” admitted Vark with a nod. Both he and his wife were people who lived their whole lives on land, and considering the inland position of the Union, they had not exactly seen the seas much either. “I have to admit that I’m not the most comfortable at sea. It was one thing to be on a ship for a couple of days in safe, shallow waters, and another altogether when it comes to week-long trips over deep waters.”

“It’s an established merchant route by now, so it ought to be safe from issues like sea monsters at least,” said Cal as she nodded with some agreement over the matter. She herself was not exactly that fond of sea travel, though neither was she prejudiced against it. Like most, she was just more used to short boat trips at most, rather than long trips over the oceans. “As for trouble of the more… civilized sort, I honestly doubt we’d have any serious trouble with, between all of us presens here.”

“I have heard and read that people of the Empire are skilled in fighting on the waters yes,” said Vark with a nod to Cal. “And I have little doubt that just your students would likely be able to obliterate a ship full of pirates on their own. This ship sure seemed to be sparsely crewed for one its size, though.”

“It’s got the technology to not need many crew members, yeah,” nodded Cal in return. “As for the crew, any sane pirate would probably be better off steering their ships away from this one.”

“After all, they got some of the most fearsome pirates in history right on board.”