conversations.from: system
conversations.value: Maybe it came with a rat, or maybe somebody caught it at the last stop,  it doesn't matter anymore. The plague is on the ship, and the crew and passengers are on their own, beyond help: no port will have them, no ship will approach them. 
  
  ***
  
  This game is a test of the rotating narrator feature, with the simple premise above. Non-specific place and time, but technology would be sail and gunpowder & long distance shipping. The idea is to have a dream-like narration, straight realism or low fantasy if one wishes, but in any case not linked to a particular place or time.
  
  Becalmed seas, vast expanses of rotting seaweed, scurvy, paranoia,  doom - that's the kind of stuff that should be in.  Obviously it shouldn't end well for the characters.
   
  I created cards because one has to, but obviously they are mostly placeholders. To enforce the atmosphere, we  did away with character names so just use their function or a distinctive sign instead (the Doctor, the Lascar, etc.).
  
  
  
  
  
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Tanned, tattooed, swearing in several languages, gold earring, scars, missing teeth. 
  
conversations.prefix: Sailor:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Learned, well-traveled, poor, celibate.
  
conversations.prefix: Doctor:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Older, dignified, risk-taker, responsible.
  
conversations.prefix: Captain:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Curious, naive, worried, uncomfortable.
conversations.prefix: Passenger:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Clever, loyal, skilled.
conversations.prefix: Pilot:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Having seen it all, they won't be easily disturbed.
conversations.prefix: Unflappable:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Wouldn't be here if they didn't survive many hardships before.
  
conversations.prefix: Enduring:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Sharp, observant, and able to read motives and patterns.
conversations.prefix: Penetrating:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Of little physical or mental strength.
conversations.prefix: Weak:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: General inattentiveness and self-denial.
  
conversations.prefix: Oblivious:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Inured to suffering.
conversations.prefix: Callous:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Made it so far, will make it through.
conversations.prefix: Survival:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Order and discipline kept the ship afloat as much as wood and nails.
conversations.prefix: Discipline:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Pallid, stiff and covered in pustules. Once the carpenter's mate, now just a nasty sight. 
  
conversations.prefix: The body:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: A ship was s a small, crowded society in the middle of nowhere. Few things remained secret.
conversations.prefix: Rumours:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Long faced and pessimistic, with an unnerving habit of playing melancholic tunes on the flute in the evenings. 
  
  That said, cheap, sober and reasonably competent.
conversations.prefix: the Surgeon:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The body was lying on a plank while the Captain was droning about the brevity of life on earth and the necessity to be prepared.
  
  It was then dumped into the sea, and soon disappeared in the waves.
conversations.prefix: The funeral:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The Cat-O-Nine Tails is a standard instrument of shipboard discipline.  All sailors are on their best behavior once "the cat's out of the bag."
conversations.prefix: the Cat:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Sailors are superstitious, talkative, contentious, and given to rumor-mongering.  
  That being so, it's small wonder that some of them have decided that the plague is the result of having that gentleman's corpse in the hold...
conversations.prefix: The Foremast Jacks:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: A ship as lightly armed as a fluyt has to make the most of the few guns she has.  Periodic exercising of "the great guns" is not only important for improving both accuracy of fire and reloading speed...it can also be a marvelous distraction!
conversations.prefix: Exercising the Great Guns:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The Jonah. The dead gentleman. Some say, the source of the plague. And now his wife - some say a Jonah herself - draws nigh to it. In the gloom of *Sarspell's* hold, will reason or old beliefs prevail?
conversations.prefix: The Governor's Coffin:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: A small spot of cultured normalcy so far from home.
conversations.prefix: Dining with the Captain:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The squall is severe and dangerous. The crew must react quickly and work together to prepare the ship, and themselves, to ride out the storm.
conversations.prefix: React to the storm:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: A sharp blow to the noggin has left your wits dimmed.
conversations.prefix: Head Injury:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The damage to the rigging must be addressed.
conversations.prefix: Repair the ship:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Although only a small group thus far, the impromptu protest is likely to grow larger.
conversations.prefix: The Mob:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Some air, some light and even a little space for each patient.  
  
conversations.prefix: The sick bay:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The plague had already claimed some victims. They couldn't be left there to rot, but nobody would volunteer to dispose of the bodies.
conversations.prefix: bodies:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Some could recover, maybe, if helped. The Surgeon saw it happen, but not very often.
conversations.prefix: Plague victims:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The sun, the stars and unreliable timepieces. That was not much to chart a trip of thousands of miles.
conversations.prefix: Lost?:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Even though the ship was a merchant vessel, the officers were proud and touchy.
conversations.prefix: The gentlemen:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: An Ordinary Lad, neither popular not disliked, he might have picked the wrong side at the wrong time. The wound was disturbing, a well placed blow to kill, not a random strike in anger.
conversations.prefix: The victim:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Well, the question is out there, and the world of the Apprentice, dangerous as it is already, is in danger of unravelling entirely!
conversations.prefix: Kids Say the Darndest Things!:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The longer the ship drifts aimlessly on the calm sea, the more restless the men become. One wrong misstep could send them all into open conflict.
conversations.prefix: Keep Order:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Where did that vessel come from? *What* is it?
  
  Something must be done at once, lest horror destroy the already weakened crew.
conversations.prefix: The Ghost Ship:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The Captain may have restored order for now... but what has his plague-ridden gambit yielded? Who, or *what,* is aboard that mysterious vessel?
conversations.prefix: The Moment of Reckoning:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The Old Man was right. This ship is no phantom -- it is crewed by living men! 
  
  But are they friend or foe: fellow lost souls upon the seven seas, or merciless pirates?
conversations.prefix: Salt and Blood:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: God and all His Angels preserve us! The Captain was wrong... that ship _is_ something not of this world! 
conversations.prefix: Salt and Brimstone:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The Royal Navy men flounder about in the wreckage. Does the crew of the *Sarspell* come to the rescue, or do they leave the survivors to drown?
conversations.prefix: Choices:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: These men are healthier than the passengers and crew of *Sarspell*...and far more treacherous.  Not only is there a danger of them trying to seize *this* ship as well...the passengers themselves are not safe.
conversations.prefix: Mutineers:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: There, on the western horizon, just at sunset.
  
  Is that *land?*
conversations.prefix: Land Ho ???:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Honor is not a thing to be given up lightly.  A lady will fight to retain it.  A gentleman will fight to uphold it.  Scoundrels will do neither.
conversations.prefix: A Woman's Honor:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: One shot, accurate only at close range. 
  
  Make your one shot count!
conversations.prefix: Pistol:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The Widow had been hurt, and one of the perpetrators was there, knife in hand.
conversations.prefix: The Aftermath:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The woman did not appear mortally wounded, the bullet having mostly grazed her skull, but did she have the will to live?
conversations.prefix: The Widow:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: An opportunity, a threat for some, a moment of decision.
conversations.prefix: The Island:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: You put to sea when when you were only twelve.  You took to the sea, and now it's in your blood, through and through.
conversations.prefix: At home in His Element:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: *The Devil take this plague, Sir, and you along with it, if you fail to carry out my orders!*
  
  The ship, and all aboard her, are your responsibility.  You may be beset by doubts, but you dare not let the others know.
conversations.prefix: My Ship.  My Command.  My Decision!:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Older, dignified, risk-taker, responsible.  Know how merciless and unforgiving the sea can be...yet he wouldn't give her up for all the spices in the Dutch East Indies!
conversations.prefix: The Captain:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Wife of a late Governor. Handsome, stately, a bastion of civilized grace in a nest of growing horror. 
conversations.prefix: The Widow:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Schooled in the ways of the gentry, fine and devious alike, you have a way with people and situations - that sometimes cannot be credited entirely to your sex.
conversations.prefix: Womanly Wiles:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: High society ill-prepares one for the dark side of the sea. The travails therein may fell the nerve of even the most resolute lady. 
conversations.prefix: Out of Depth:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Survive the voyage. Do your duty as a wife. Return your husband to the soil of home.
conversations.prefix: Bring Him Home:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Officially the attendant of the Captain, but generally the go-fer for all the ship's officers.
conversations.prefix: The Cabin Boy:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Your youth grants a certain resilience despite the rigors of sea life.
conversations.prefix: Hardy:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: You have the unfortunate tendency to complain, wheedle and otherwise annoy those around you. 
conversations.prefix: Whiny:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: It's the only thing on your mind...as it's the only way to improve your station in life.
conversations.prefix: Impress the Captain:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: To the Captain, the crew, the ship, unquestioning loyalty.
conversations.prefix: Loyal:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: You seek out and devour new information with startling rapaciousness. 
conversations.prefix: Inquisitive:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Decades of life at sea have given you the ability to read the wind, the waves, the sky...and men.  More often than not, this allows for your better judgment to prevail. 
conversations.prefix: Experienced Leader:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: They say that in the absence of sight, one senses much. Being the only woman on a man's ship has the same effect. 
conversations.prefix: Intuition:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: A dull pain in the back, the knees, the neck, everywhere in fact.
  
conversations.prefix: Aching:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: There are times when remaining above the fray is the proper thing for the Captain to do...but sometimes intervention is called for.  This may be one of those latter instances, but you choose to remain aloof nonetheless...
  
conversations.prefix: Aloof:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Lots of things happened outside his field of vision.
conversations.prefix: Blindsided:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Your authority, temporal and moral, is absolute.  On the deck of his own ship, a Captain has the moral authority of the Pope, the mandate to rule equal to the King...and of course he is Judge, Jury and--if need be--executioner.
conversations.prefix: Judge, Jury, King, and Pope:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: As a woman of means and good breeding, you were taught to never bow your head in the face of adversity. Time and again, when all seems lost, you return to this simple precept.
conversations.prefix: Resilient:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Rushing about makes you careless...you should stop and smell the roses. Or at least pay more attention to the task at hand
conversations.prefix: Hurried:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: To become a doctor is a noble profession. Your apprenticeship was purchased just before sailing, and you are an eager pupil, for many reasons.
conversations.prefix: The Apprentice Medic:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: You're not who or what people think you are, and the revelation of the truth would put you in grave danger.
conversations.prefix: Hide your true identity:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: It can go both ways:  sometimes the sense is knocked *into* you; other times the sense is knocked *out* of you.
  
  This, alas, is the latter circumstance.
conversations.prefix: Knocked on the Head:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: The present is all there is.
conversations.prefix: Carpe Diem:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Doctoring is a noble profession with roots going back hundreds of years. Help the sick. Do no harm. You believe in this directive and try to live up to it.
conversations.prefix: A Noble Profession:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Alas that the vagaries of birth may make of one a victim of the times: women are, in *this* time, simply not held equal to the patriarchy of the day. 
conversations.prefix: The Fairer Sex:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Noblesse oblige is all well and good, until lives and honor are at stake. 
conversations.prefix: Selfish:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: As Captain, you are doomed to be forever isolated, forever aloof, and friendless on your own ship.
conversations.prefix: The Burden of Command:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: The sea is a cruel mistress.  Men only survive by virtue of the harshest discipline.  You, as Captain, are the arbiter of that discipline.
conversations.prefix: Disciplinarian:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: You have the plague. It must be kept secret. Who knows what the Captain and crew would do if they found out?
conversations.prefix: Concealment:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Survive the voyage. Do your duty as a wife. Return your husband to the soil of home.    
conversations.prefix: Bring Him Home:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: Rarely, what must be done would be unclear. Most times, it was obvious.
conversations.prefix: Duty:
conversations.from: human
conversations.prefix: Wild:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value: A steady hand and practiced familiarity...this won't work out well for whoever's at the receiving end of the Captain's attention.
conversations.prefix: Marksman:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Me, give up? No way.
conversations.prefix: Struggle: