To say it with the words of Ainslie:
This roleplay is for members of THE WESTERN ISLES ONLY. If you are not on the map, you cannot participate in this roleplay. However, if you are about to come onto the map feel free to speak up in the OOC thread (this one) but please stay out of the IC thread until you become a member.
This roleplay is for members of THE WESTERN ISLES ONLY. If you are not on the map, you cannot participate in this roleplay. However, if you are about to come onto the map feel free to speak up in the OOC thread (this one) but please stay out of the IC thread until you become a member.
Intro
28th of September 2022
Port of San Leon
Thick, grey clouds covered the sky and one could sense the imminent thunderstorm rolling in from the sea. The whole day had been an on and off of heavy rain showers, parts of the giant tropical depression system that had caused all this bad weather. Big puddles of rainwater that had formed on the asphalt of the marina, told the tale of rain that seemed to have fallen sideways, as the wind had blown it all over the place. The waves on the sea carrying white crowns of salty foam would cause even the experienced seaman to rather stay on land, instead of maneuvering his ship through the storm, being tossed around by the waves.
The "Maria Catalina" was neither an especially big ship, nor rather small. It was decent sized and was mainly used for agricultural exports. Its big corn and wheat tanks were able to hold enormous amounts of crop destined for the international market. Claudio was a simple sailor on board the "Cata", as it was named by its crew. Aboard, the ship had taken him halfway across the globe and back, his travels and his stories seemed to fill more than a lifetime despite him being just 48. He had experienced frosty blizzards and tropical sunshine, huge monster waves and times were the ocean seemed as flat as a mirror. Today was nothing new to him, but all the times in the rain still had not made him like it more. No, he still hated it.
The crew was just finishing up loading up the ship, which was set to leave in 30 minutes. This thunderstorm had already delayed their departure by almost two hours. The wheat they were carrying today, was boarded by a crane which carried a giant tube through which the crop entered into the ships belly. The tube connected a giant tank on the mainland with the ships tank, the crane was just for stability. Claudio stood on top of the ships tank and opened the heavy metal hatch that previously locked the tank. Small raindrops started to fall on his back, marking the beginning of the next rain period. When the crane swung over the tube, Claudio and one of colleagues grabbed it and pressed it on the hatch. With a metallic click the tube was locked in place and Claudio raised his thumbs to the crane driver, symbolizing to him, the ship was ready to take on the crop. With a rushing sound the crop entered the ships tank.
The rain drops started to get more frequent and the wind started to pick up. A load alarm sound alerted Claudio, the tank was now full. With the pull of a lever the tube sprung out of its locked position and the crane swung back over to the mainland side. As he looked into the open hatch, Claudio noticed small particles rising up in the air coming from the tank. Interested Claudio looked into the open hatch. From the hatch to the crop was about a meter of air left, which was standard procedure to not fill the tank to the brim. In the air between the hatch and the crop swarmed thousands of small particles. Now that he looked more closely, the crop sort of seemed kind of off. Some, Claudio could tell, had black spots all over them and the whole thing reeked of a moldering stench.
The rain and wind had picked up even more and was now gushing into Claudios face, to the point he had to wipe his beard and face every now and then to even see clearly. The horn of the ship sounded loudly, which caused Claudio to turn to the mainland. The Port Crew had thrown over the rope securities already causing the ship to drift away from the marina and into open sea. As Claudio turned to the hatch again, one of his colleagues had already closed it. Giving thumbs up to the bridge the ships horn sounded again. Dismissing his concerns, the ship headed off, straight into the dark clouds.