Crike

From her position in the rigging, bosun Crike watched the first mate, Harlaan, as he slashed the counterweight that pulled him up to the viewing nest atop the main balloon sail. He soared upward in a swift curve as the skyship banked, and Crike lost sight of him in the fog and rigging. Something was happening, and Crike wanted to either avoid it or run headlong into it, but first, Crike needed to understand it so as to choose wisely between those options. Crike dropped to the deck below and headed aft to the main helm. The captain wasn't at the helm, but that was not unusual. Harlaan and Ariette often traded off responsibility for steering the skyship, based on the dreamguide's augury. It was unusual, however, to see Uzbecka at the helm. As a natural healer and weather artificer, the dark-skinned mage was an important part of the Runagate crew, but she would be the first to admit that she was not a natural sailor. And Crike would be the first to add that, in fact, Uzbecka was a terrible sailor.

And yet, Uzbecka stood at the helm of the Runagate, and she appeared to be quite anxious about something. The fog was thick, but they had the dreamguide to deal with that. Harlaan was preoccupied with an urgent task, a recent sighting from the nest, most likely. Perhaps they would need Crike's help. Crike could choose to slink off down to the galley and start peeling potatoes now.

But chose not to.

What was Uzbecka doing, anyway? She did not appear to be steering the skyship at all, which banked again, losing altitude. The mage was speaking into the command tubes. Actually, she appeared to be yelling into them. This was a change from Uzbecka yelling at Crike, but it was unsettling nevertheless. As Crike got closer, the young bosun could hear what the weather mage was saying.

"Captain? Harlaan? This is Uzbecka... I... I've got the helm. Kind of a tricky situation up here. Captain?"