(Moon 13, Afternoon, Foredeck) Watchful {Phoenix Clan}

[Agasha Qian-Fan]

Sandwiched between O-Washi and the mast at least made Qian-Fan feel an awful lot safer. Didn't do much for the young priest's growing dislike of heights. Once the rope Naomi was lowering reached him, he took a deep breath and set off again. This time making it to the crows nest without any further trouble, where he sat trying to ignore both the unsettling seas and the embarrassment of having to be helped.

[Shiba Naomi]

"You alright, Agasha-san?" The Shiba instincts were kicking in again to make sure that the shugenja was safe and sound.

[Agasha Qian-Fan]

A shy forced smile.

"The sea is very unsettling here, Shiba-san. It is bad enough listening to the tortured water kami without adding in the embarrassment of failing at the climb to here."

He looked down, which did nothing for his mood or his stomach. He clamped down on that thought, being ill at this height would be unpleasant for more than just himself.

[Isawa O-Washi]

O-washi, for his part, simply slid back down, ready to help the final priest up if needed.

[Shiba Nozomi]

Nozomi watches everyone from on deck, making a small mental note of where Qi-Fan got caught up. She'd made this climb a few times already, but never under pressure. While she doesn't manage it quite as fast as Naomi, she navigates all the ropes fairly easily.

Once she pulls herself up onto the platform, she glances down around them. Quickly, she decides that it wasn't the greatest of ideas, those contorted shapes were still visible, even from here... so instead she plants her gaze on the planks beneath her feet.

[Isawa O-Washi]

Pleased he hadn't been needed, O-washi went back up, having a bit of a difficult time as his muscles protested the repeated strain but managing nonetheless.

Settling himself on the spar so the others could have as much room as possible, he said, softly, "Now. Take a look around at the other ships in the flotilla and tell me what sort of things you make out from here."

{{Investigation/PER, Raises matter}}

[Shiba Naomi]

Standing in the crow's nest, Naomi stretches herself up on her tip-topes to get a 'slightly better' vantage point to look out.
While she found their surroundings disturbing, she focused herself fully on her task with an intensity that was often seen in the Shiba.

(30 with 1 raise)

[Agasha Qian-Fan]

Qian-Fan peered out at the other ships which only reminded him of the water and where they where. he grimaced but kept looking.

Perception roll.

[Shiba Naomi]

"We're sailing in tight formation with the flotilla along a narrow path..." She turned her head as she observed the rest of the ships.
"The supply ship has some sort of mark of warding put up on their sail..."

[Shiba Nozomi]

Valiantly trying to ignore the faces that keep rising with the waves, Nozomi attempts to spot anything of interest. It's unlikely she sees much more than Naomi (38, 1 raise called), but instead of focusing on the ships around them, she braves looking further out... to where the waters becomes less forgiving.

Quickly she spins to face the mast, eyes snapping shut, and her hands get placed over top of them. "Uh... I... ano... N-n-n-nao, er Sh-Shiba-san got m-m-m-most of it." Her voice is simply terrified, but she's doing her best to report as requested. Inside she's fighting the urge to cry. It had obviously not been one of her best ideas...

Suitengu-no-kami... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry... oh kami...

[Isawa O-Washi]

"Don't look at the water. I've seen it call sailors into falling from this height."

O-washi's voice was soft, full of empathy. He, tensai of water, knew why it was the tiny Phoenix was so distressed. Trying to ignore the call himself, he cleared his throat and tried for businesslike. "One of the problems is that though the scout can see far and wide, telling those on deck is at times tricky. Over time, a code was developed for use with a whistle."

He pulled his out and held it out.

"There are some thirty calls or so. These should be second-nature to you by the time we get back to port because you'll be drilled on them. If you have problems with them at first, you just come ask me and I'll work you through them as much as is needed."

With that, the big man began to work his Clanmates through the assorted calls for useful things like 'man overboard', the cardinal directions, and potential hazards like storms, reefs, or enemy ships. Once he'd demonstrated them all a few times, he set the whistle down again. "Any questions?"

[Shiba Nozomi]

Nodding mutely, she focuses on the calls with an overwhelmingly intense zeal. Something... anything to hold her attention.

[Agasha Qian-Fan]

Having not seen anything more than the other two, in fact less than they had, Qian-Fan listened to the Isawa's lessons.

A mark of warding, should have looked more closely to recognise that.

He didn't look down. The sounds were bad enough without looking at the water.

[Isawa O-Washi]

Assuming Naomi had no questions, O-washi got to the last bit of the lesson.

"As you might expect, during a battle it gets dangerous up here...storms, too. Who thinks they know a good way to get down in a hurry without ending up injured at the bottom?"

[Agasha Qian-Fan]

The Agasha looked quite pale at the thought of a rapid descent and he couldn't think of any that did not involve hitting the deck at speed.

[Shiba Naomi]

"Could maybe swing down as long as you don't crash into armored Crabs on the way..." Naomi mused as she contemplated a rapid descent that didn't involve merely climbing fast. She had never had to descend fast, and the sailors on the merchant vessels haven't done it that much when she had been around.

[Isawa O-Washi]

"Swinging down is rather problematic, given that we're the highest point and the ropes don't have much give."

Reaching up, he took ahold of one of the ropes that supported the mast. "You could, however, slide down this one, if you protected your hands and took your weight right at the bottom. You could also rappel with the rope we used to get Agasha-san up, though that's a bit slow."

The big Isawa studied them all. "There's one more..anyone want to take a guess?"

[Shiba Naomi]

Naomi thought for a moment, then shook her head.
She wondered what her kinsmen would suggest though.

[Shiba Nozomi]

"Jump into the water." Any other day and the thought might have been thrilling.

[Isawa O-Washi]

Approval brought a brief smile to the gunso's lips. "Exactly so. Safest and swiftest when done correctly but possibly deadly if not. One has only to run the spar and dive off the end."

His gaze turned that way and then he dragged it back to his kin. "Do any of you have further questions, be it on things covered today or other questions in general? If not, you are dismissed for the day."