Day Four Hundred Seventy Three #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

We are hopeful that the danger from pirates is past. The Captain thinks this likely as we are now headed towards the seat of the world government.

It is not our destination. Indeed, we shall not be heading into the gulf off of which it is being built. But we assume there will a strong naval presence, and hence a deterrent to piratical activity.

I am still pulling extra watches.

During the afternoon one I split my attention between the sea around us and the shoreline on our port. At one point some movement alarmed me – among the dun-colored rocky hills shoreward, streams of white dots were swarming.

An amused Elijah told me they were only flocks of goats.

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Day Four Hundred Forty Nine #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

Heavy rains moved in today. The Captain’s concern grew when the wind picked up. He ordered the ship underway after a thorough checking of the lashings. In charge of that detail, Tomas had some of them doubled.

I watched from the bridge as the shoreline slid by. Elijah pointed out the rickety staircase by which we climbed up off the beach. The wind then died and a mist settled in along the coast of the island.

We were no sooner into the channel between the island and the mainland when the wind freshened. And within seconds day turned to blackened night and the wind mounted in ferocity.

The Captain commanded the ship about and we sailed away from our destination.

Day Four Hundred Thirty #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

Well, we almost ruled out ever returning to the area south of the city.

It was the next logical step as we set out this morning. To our surprise we encountered no villages or even farms in that direction. At least until we realized there was no arable soil due to omnipresent rocks. A reality that increased as we went along.

That is until we made our way back along the rugged shoreline. There we ran into a tiny fishing village clinging to the sides of a perfect little cove. The fishing fleet was then out according to those left behind. And indeed we could make out small craft dotting the ocean between here and the city.

We shall return.

Day Three Hundred Forty Nine #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

Permission was granted us to go ashore. The Captain stayed behind to supervise loading. I believe he would have come himself, if he had any notion of what to do next about his problem.

We found some Hamashiachites in the poor quarter of the city near a small fish market. Elijah took the morning to instruct their gathering in deeper things of the Spirit. Afterwards we set out to chase down rumors of another group meeting elsewhere in the city.

The whole metropolis crowds the shoreline, being pressed to it by the surrounding high hills. It is more intact than any city we have thus far visited, yet for all that, emptier.

We shall return to search these hills tomorrow.