Baanom had been surprised when the foreigners had invited him onto their ship, and even more so when master Eehhanan agreed. He couldn't complain, though, and if he had to admit, he had been utterly fascinated when he saw the great beasts of wood and cloth crawl from the horizon, between the stone teeth of the island and onto the soft sand of the beach. The strangers inside those ships were no less intriguing, and Baanom found himself stretching the boundaries of the tasks his master let him observe them as much as possible.

It was several days later when Baanom finally did come aboard. It was fascinating, to travel its decks. He spent the day with strange fellows, unable to understand their language and likewise unable to speak it, but finding comfort in the rhythm and texture of the chatter that surrounded him. He ate supper with the crew, and to his surprise, one kind crew member offered him their cot to sleep in, which in a moderately drunken stupor Baanom accepted.

Awaking the next day with a splitting headache was expected. Awaking to the ship rocking to and fro, already set sail and with the Island just a shining pool of light on the horizon, the upper deck drenched in the froth and ice-cold rain of the perpetual storm, was most assuredly not.

He was rather panicked at first. But over that day he came to realize that this was in fact a great opportunity. As Eehhanan's servant, he would never become anything more than a footnote to a footnote. But out in the strange world beyond the storm, as perhaps the first of the great clans of the island, even before the royals, to go among their people? He could earn back his worth and so much more!