He smiles slightly. “Well I’m certainly not keeping you here - I quite like my place without everything on fire. Too many Seekers ends… interestingly, for good or ill.”

He waves dramatically at the ships.

”You have a few options. The pontoon is your friend if you want many people, and it’s the closest you’re getting to dry land. Hard to steer, though.”

“The galley’s large, powered by rowers. Simple as it gets. Might not go as fast as some of the others, but you won’t be dependent on the whims of the weather nearly so much.”

”Sailboat’s the opposite, really - wind powered. In good weather, she’s fastest on the sea. In bad? Well.”

”Steamship. She’ll take anything that can burn as fuel, but she’s hard to upkeep. Respectably fast, and more durable, but the sea’s less fond of her, and the smoke can get uncomfortable after long. Not for me, but popular with some others I’ve met.”

”I can answer any questions you have. Well, I’ll try, anyway.”

Ezra prevents himself from saying is that "actually a ship and not a patchwork of driftwood?" Honestly it looked like part of the platform at first glance.

"I guess the steamship is the safest then?"

"I think the sailboat has more aesthetic but I would hate to get stuck in dead winds. Do all of those need two people to pilot?"

“Oh, more than that. We’ll discuss crew later. Steam, then? Or galley, if it’s wind you’re worried about?

"Please, let's go with the steamship. You can attach a fake sail if we survive long enough."

"Hey, no worries. I guess the smoke sounds better than the constant need to row. So... steamship it is."

He nods.

”Right. You’re going to need help navigating. Even without things constantly shifting, it’s difficult.”

He moves over to a table, covered in various objects.

”Simplest option is the Sea Chart. Roll it up and put it back in the tube, and it’ll…” [Insert the Navigation Aids, in the form of slow speech, minus the quests].

Well... that is something, it's not like the twins didn't expect some weird magic. "May I..." Ezra says tentatively, "take a look at the ship logs while we decide? I will return them to you. I am just... curious about history and journals."

Aaron steal him a glance. "I think either the map or the Dolphin Figurehead? I think the others require too much, err, of us learning how to use them."

He nods amicably. “Well, you’d best decide that soon. Sure, feel free to the look at the book- take care not to damage the pages, though.”

"Okay, okay." He is in fact paying more attention to his surroundings than the pages themselves. But he is very careful with them.

"Alright. So, before we go to the next point. You called us Seekers, right? Is that, like, some kind of special chosen one thing? Or I guess not just one."

“Hmm. Seekers are… seeking somethin’, I suppose. Something they couldn’t find on their own world, not necessarily something that they know that they want, even. The Unstoppable Force - er, that is, the force that keeps folks from settling down in one location - will affect you more, and you’ll likely find adventures, discoveries, an’ what not. Special, maybe? Chosen? Also maybe. Frankly, I don’t know. Might be something of yourselves, might be the Ocean. Heh, maybe you’ll find out.”

"That's awesome!"

Ezra doesn't throw what he is holding at his brother, because what he is holding is an valuable artifact.

The Harbormaster, if he knew this train of thought, would appreciate his valuable artifacts staying intact! Unfortunately, he is not psychic (probably).

”Right. Made a decision on the map or dolphin, or should I give you more time to think and move on to other stuff?”

"As fun as playing around with dolphins might be, I guess the map. Just more useful on the day-to-day."

"Much more reliable," Ezra says in a tone that sounds conclusive. "Yeah, nothing against dolphins, but we should go with the map."

He keeps flipping the pages of the Ships log.

He nods, and settles into a more comfortable position for some Exposition!

”Right. There are a lot of hazards and stuff out there, so I’ll just tell you of some of the weirder, or more useful, things. You’ll find crags - be careful not to scrape your ship on ‘em, but they’ll have gulls with tasty eggs and meat, if you can climb decently. Other abandoned ships can contain useful supplies, but you won’t be the only person thinking that way, so be careful. You can get gyres, where all sorts a’ debris get swirled up into a sort of raft-thing. Stuff you find probably won’t be good quality, but anything that floats can end up there, so keep an eye out. Good source of fuel, which will be good with that ship. You might come across me again, of course. I do repairs for a quite reasonable price, if I do say so myself, and I’m also up for some tea and a chat.”

“Lots of normal animals out there, but I’ll just talk about the, er, odd ‘uns. Goldfish- I know, those little orange fish, normal things - they’re magic here. Don’t know why, so don’t ask. Put them in sea water, and they’ll turn it fresh, enough for ten folks a day. Lotta folk hold ‘em sacred, say that invites the sea’s wrath to catch ‘em, but I’ve seen no real proof of that. Just something to keep in mind.”

He takes a gulp from a canteen of something at his waist, before continuing.

”Now the nasty stuff. Drakes. Shadow of one has folks runnin’ for cover. They swoop down and grab people to eat. Blood attracts them, so they’re especially bad for more violent folks, but anyone’s at risk. They ain’t picky about their food.”

”Then, the deepwater creatures. They mostly stay, well, deep, don’t come to the surface much, and thank the gods for that. They’re big, slow, and horribly dangerous. Their meat’s poisonous, too, don’t try to eat one. If you do take one down, cut open its belly - might have gold, jewels, even magic artifacts.”

Ezra does not comment on the hygiene of using fish to make drinkable water. Maybe it is the best option available, maybe it is actually magic and not disgusting.

Flip flip. He can't help feeling fascinated by the book.

"Drakes, you say? Are you sure it isn't possible to tame one and use them as a ride?"

"Fff, Effin No! You're not the only one who has to deal with the inevitable broken bones if you survive."

"You never let me have any fun."

"It goes against keeping you alive."

He opens his mouth. Closes it. Repeats that a few times, silently. Shakes his head.

”You’re either going to go far or die young kid, and heck if I know which. Maybe both.”