<em>Thunder. The storms fury lashing impotently against their vessel.<br/><br/>Voices raised in prayer, the words seeming to ripple back upon themselves, flowing and echoing unnaturally. It was the sound of home, a refrain against the terrible storm. Sarah had fought for the crown, for the future of her faith. She was proud to have done so, even though they had lost. There was no sin in failure, only on failing to try. But now they were awash in the storms. Flickering beacons sometimes visible in the distance, when the ship was at the crest of waves, were all the evidence they had that any other ship in the fleet still survived. At first they had tried to lash their three vessels together, all that had chosen follow the Unity into exile, but the storms had ripped them apart. But they survived, their ships enspelled; wood offered up by the mother, and shielded by the father, and once this storm cleared they would find their brothers and sisters.<br/><br/>The sound she would probably never forget...  A resounding crackle, like someone decided to put a tall oak over their knee and snap it, and cracks appeared in the shimmering oil-slick dome that protected the vessel. A moment later the shield failed completely, and in a instant they were exposed to the full fury of the storm. The main sail ripped the mast right off the deck, the rigging snapped and the other sails went haywire, the ship was yanked against the waves.A new shield began to rise, but it shattered before it could even form.<br/><br/>A flash.<br/><br/>Flying.<br/><br/>Then plunging into the waves. Her lungs filled with water as she gasped in shock. But her flesh rippled, changing, and suddenly she could breathe just fine... it was so peaceful, just beneath the surface. So unlike the storm above. Massive shapes moved around her, but she wasnt paying any attention to them. They said her father came from the deepest, darkest places of the world's oceans... Maybe... No. Sarah shook her head, trying to throw off the daze. She needed to get back to the surface, to find the ship, find out what happened. But when she reached the surface, she saw nothing. Just massive swells on either side with no sign of the ship she had come from. So she did the only thing she could. She swam, fighting the waves, looking for any sign of others, there was no way shed survive out here...<br/><br/>There... Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit! <br/><br/>Another vessel almost right on top of her and she swam hard to avoid getting run over. But there was netting over the side. She grabbed on, and was yanked along. But she managed to hold on long enough to pull herself out of the water, about half way up she paused, hooking her arm around and through the weave... <br/><br/>Then something hit her in the head.<br/><br/>Then darkness.</em><br/><br/>=<br/><br/>Sarah returned to consciousness with a groan, of abject suffering. She felt like she spent the night with an indelicate gorilla or twenty. Her eyes opened blearily, looking looking around... the storm was gone<em>Thank the Mother and Father for that!</em>, the ocean was clear, and she could see land, arcing around the side of the boat she was clinging to so they were near land. Very good. With a small grunt she yanked her arm free of the netting and-<em>Instant Regret!</em>the most horrible case of pins-and-needles shot down her arm.<br/><br/>After<em>that</em>was dealt with, she took stock... she looked like something  youd fish off the bottom of a river and was crusted with dried on salt...but atleased shed gotten a bath out of the whole affair so that was a small mercy. She also still had her backpack, with all her stuff in it, so that was good, her armour seemed to have survived well enough, as did her pants... but her boots were gone. Not a huge deal but rather annoying.<br/><br/>That done, she slowly climbed up onto the deck, pulling herself over the railing... and landing on her ass on the other side. Looking up, she spotted not one, but<em>two</em>official looking people. A human and a half orc, both quite hansom and each with their own pretty lady in tow.<br/><br/>Odds are at leased one of them was the captain, so she gave a lazy salute to no one in particular, “Permission to come aboard?”