text: [Themes: nautical, pirates, treasure hunt, anthropomorphised animals]
  
  > Go down
  It's too late to go back down now. The deck below is completely flooded.
  
  > wait for a while
  Time passes.
  
  The rising waves climb up to your waist.
  
  > Wait
  Time passes.
  
  The water is up to your chest.
  
  > wait a while
  Time passes.
  
  The waves close over your shoulders.
  
  > Wait
  Time passes.
  
  The water reaches your chin. You're having trouble keeping your footing.
  
  > wait awhile
  Time passes.
  
  The water is in your mouth now.
  
  > Wait
  Time passes.
  
  You're struggling to keep your head above water.
  
  > wait awhile
  Time passes.
  
  You can barely see where you're going, squeezing your eyes to keep out the salt water. Unfortunately, there isn't really anywhere to go from here.
  
  > Drink bottle
  There's nothing suitable to drink here.
  
  The water closes over your head. What would your like for the final action in your life to be?
  
  > check your inventory
  You are carrying:
  a fid
  a silk handkerchief
  a musky grey lump
  a piece of hardtack
  an iron key
  a commodious sack
  a pearl necklace
  a tiny brass crown
  a hand mirror
  a nautilus shell
  an oil lamp
  a green glass bottle
  a flintlock pistol
  
  > open the bottle
  That's not something you can open.
  
  You can't hold your breath any longer, and now water rushes into your mouth and nostrils. You're able to struggle for a little while, but it's no use.
  
  > Aft
  This end of the deck is home to the capstan. The crew's quarters are fore and the mainmast is aft. Up a short flight of stairs is the fo'c'sle.
  
  The life boat, still connected to the davits, is also floating on the rising water.
  
  You're struggling to keep your head above water.
  
  The captain darts ahead to take stock of the situation.
  
  > enter the boat
  Are you sure you want to abandon ship? [y/n]
  
  > Y.
  You shove off with all due haste.
  
   I feel like this is probably the best you could have done. So relax! Pull up a chair!"
  
  There is only one chair in the apartment, however, and Captain Verdeterre is sitting in it, so you nod politely and continue to stand as he curls up and drifts off to sleep.
  
  > examine the hole
  You would have thought the hull was too strong to be busted up so much by a reef, but on the other hand you did hit that reef pretty hard.
  
  > examine the gun
  This, your trusty pistol, may still technically belong to the captain. Sometimes he says he gave it to you, and sometimes he says he's loaning it to you.
  
  > put the sack in the hole
  You can't let go of the sack. You're under orders to fill it with treasure.
  
  Now the water is lapping at your shins.
  
  > Aft
  A lot of the things kept in the hold are just ballast, but there are a few items of interest. Fore from here is the rest of the hold, and stairs lead up to the lower deck.
  
  Roughly in the center of the space is an iron strongbox.
  
  An ornate vase stands nearby.
  
  A crystal ball is rolling around on the floor.
  
  Now the water is lapping at your shins.
  
  The captain scurries along after you.
  
  > shoot strongbox
  You shoot at the strongbox. Your bullet, the only bullet you have, bounces off harmlessly and disappears.
  
  Your knees are covered by the rising waves.
  
  {This game includes Nautical Vocabulary Notes for your
  edification. If you would like to enable Nautical Vocabulary Notes, please enter the command "ENABLE NAUTICAL VOCABULARY NOTES". Thank you.}
  
  > Up
  The lower deck is quite a bit homier than the hold, and in fact actually smells somewhat pleasant. The galley is fore, and the map room is aft. Stairs lead down to the hold and up to the main deck.
  
  A portrait of your captain hangs on one wall.
  
  Lying on the floor is a wooden doll.
  
  There's a large wooden crate here, because there was no room for it anywhere else.
  
  {This game includes Nautical Vocabulary Notes for your
  edification. If you would like to enable Nautical Vocabulary Notes, please enter the command "ENABLE NAUTICAL VOCABULARY NOTES". Thank you.}
  
  The captain scurries along after you.
  
  > Aft
  This was the map room originally, and then it became a kind of general storage space, and then it was picked almost clean by various deserters.
  
  The flag box stands nearby.
  
  In the center of the room is the map table; sitting on top is a sextant.
  
  There's a barrel over in the corner.
  
  The captain darts ahead to take stock of the situation.
  
  > examine the flag box
  The flag box contains, or used to contain, all of the flags a pirate ship could ever need. Over the course of your many voyages, a lot of the flags were ripped up angrily, or destroyed in the course of hilarious pranks.
  
  Right now it's closed.
  
  > open the flag box
  You open the flag box, revealing a red and yellow flag.
  
  > get the flag
  You pull the flag out of the box and unfold it: the design is a yellow cross on a red field. "Whose flag is this?" you ask your captain.
  
  "I dunno. I think Denmark? Anyway, it's useless. Toss it."
  
  You nod, and throw the flag somewhere where it won't get in the way.
  
  The flag that was underneath is striped.
  
  > get striped
  You unfold the striped flag to see the entire design. It's a blue stripe, a white stripe, a red stripe, a white stripe, and a blue stripe.
  
  "That's the Russian flag," Verdeterre explains. "You're holding it upside down."
  
  It's just a Russian flag anyway, so you toss it. The next flag in the box has a red X on it.
  
  > get X
  This flag has a red X on a white field. "That's the Swiss flag," Verdeterre says, but then he stops himself: "No, wait. The Swiss flag is a white cross on red. So this one, I guess, is for... the Swiss navy."
  
  The captain seems put off a bit at himself, so you throw away the offending flag.
  
  At the bottom of the flag box is an old tapestry.
  
  > get the tapestry
  You pull out the tapestry and unfold it. It depicts a rat in clerical garb lying on his back, his stomach pierced by the spear of a human paladin. The rat's fingers are either raised in pious benediction or twisted in pain.
  
  "Hey, that's the Martyrdom of Saint Incertus!" says Verdeterre. "He's the patron saint of the pursued, I think. Too bad he's not the patron saint of shipwrecks. Better take it along."
  
  You fold it up carefully. "Why did they martyr him?" you ask.
  
  "Well, between the Human Catholic Church and the Rat Catholic Church there are some differences in the rules—such as, according to the human church, you're not allowed to declare yourself a saint. It's considered presumptuous. But we did get a tapestry out of it."
  
  You stuff the tapestry of Saint Incertus into the sack.
  
  > Fore
  The lower deck is quite a bit homier than the hold, and in fact actually smells somewhat pleasant. The galley is fore, and the map room is aft. Stairs lead down to the hold and up to the main deck.
  
  A portrait of your captain hangs on one wall.
  
  Lying on the floor is a wooden doll.
  
  There's a large wooden crate here, because there was no room for it anywhere else.
  
  The captain scurries along after you.