Gameplay update coming soon.
Westward Journey, Part 2
Oliveanthan strolled the deck, passing the time of the 9th day of the voyage. The initial excitement from the beginning of the voyage had petered away, and now Oliveanthan felt he was truly beginning to get to know the other important people on the ship. He had enough time; the leading Tamil mathematicians expected them to make land in a land called "Ethiopia" within the next few days. One of those mathematicians was Aekan, who was the scientist on board.
Aekan was many things: he was officially the scientist and mathematician, but he had so many other talents, such as artist, poet, musician, inventor, and orator. However, he was one of the most incompetent sailors on board. He was heaving his insides out the second the shore couldn't be seen and had some of the most inefficient habits conceivable on a ship. He used way too much water in every way and nearly fell of the mast during watch. Besides his naval ineptitude, he was an amazing asset to the crew.
Kaarmuhil was another mathematician on the ship, but he was the navigator. However, he was extremely quiet and introverted, rarely speaking up much. But behind this quiet exterior was an extremely smart and wise man, because Kaarmuhil was one of the best navigators and one of the best problem-solvers that Oliveanthan had ever met, making him an extremely valuable part of the crew.
Bavajan was not a mathematician, sailor, scientist, or practitioner of the fine arts; he was a man of the military, short and simple. He certainly was skilled in military practices, as he showed everybody during weapons training, and he was very ambitious and hard-working. However, he was quite arrogant and occasionally racist towards non-Tamils, calling them "inferior subjects" and calling Lanh, the last-minute Vietnamese addition to the crew, a "Dirty Viet spy" and other derogatory terms.
Devamithren was the diplomat of the ship, and certainly was a master of the craft. She also was a woman, and took great steps to break down the male-only barriers of higher Tamil society. She had been sent to many countries and embassies, including China, Tibet, Korea, and even Persia, and spoke 6 languages. She was also extremely clever and quick-thinking, as she managed to escape Persia alone after the rest of her diplomatic group was attacked by Seljuks.
Not everyone on board was a government person. Gajeevan was a doctor by trade, and he was the ship's official doctor and cook. Every single one of his meals were eagerly anticipated, as he was an amazingly good chef. Additionally, he was the most extroverted person on board, happily striking up a conversation with just about anyone he saw.
Lastly, there was Lanh. He was a last-minute addition, added to the crew less than a week before departure as the official second diplomat on the trip. However, everyone was secretly informed that he was sent for espionage purposes. He was even quieter than Kaarmuhil, partially because Tamil was not his first language. A native of recently conquered Vietnam, he had risen through the espionage services faster than anyone before him. When he did speak, he made his points clear with very few words.
Oliveanthan's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Kaarmuhil.
"Captain, it appears that the people who planned our voyage have made some severe miscalculations and have failed to account for strong winds. We've been blown way off course and are somewhere on the southeast coast of Africa," he said very matter-of-factly.
"Do we know how long the coastline extends for?" asked Oliveanthan.
"No, we do not. What would you like to do now?" responded Kaarmuhil.
Oliveanthan thought for a few seconds. "The coastline must round at some point," he said slowly, "we might just have to keep going around the hypothetical cape at the tip."
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