The Archman

Chapter 9 - An Abnormal Employment, Part 2

The unobstructed midday sun shines down directly onto the deck of the Archman's ship, rendering the shadow of every person and object to a scrunched-up refraction of its caster.

The radiating heat and bright light were a nice change of ambiance compared to the cell Eira was constrained to for the past two days. It felt like the inside of a giant's armpit, and smelled somewhat akin to that as well.

After a few hours of manual labour under the beating sun, however, she is starting to once again yearn for the shadowed protection of the cell. Her skin is beginning to take on a reddish hue where it is exposed: her forearms, face, ears, and parts of her neck. Fortunately her long hair and dress shields her from some of the sun's intensity, though this results in a rancid sweat accumulating on her forehead, around her collarbone, and under her armpits, which are now taking on a similar state to the cell she occupied recently.

The skirt of her dress guarded her feet somewhat from the heat, a relief that was much needed, as they are starting to ache quite a bit.

Eira leans on the handle of the mop in her hands, taking a moment to breathe as she looks around the deck, surveying the work she's done thus far. The collar around her neck is currently chained to the third mast from the stern, closest to the bow. She has just finished cleaning the whole surface area of the deck, except for a select few spots which she couldn't reach with the limited range of the chain.

It was an arduous process, needing to be released and moved about the deck every time she finished a certain area, though she could understand the precaution. She would likely do the same thing if she were in the Archman's position. Unfortunately, it made any kind of exploration of the vessel effectively impossible, and as such, she was no closer to discerning a way to escape.

She looks to the stern of the ship, where the upper deck is located, waving up to it. It is quite a distance away, but close enough to facilitate some form of long-distance communication. It helps that there are only two passengers on the ship.

On the upper deck the Archman moves across the space, then starts walking down a railing onto the main deck. He is still wearing his puzzling black cloak. He walks across the deck towards Eira, the metal on his boots making their trademark dull clanking noise upon the wood.

"I've finished this part." Eira looks around the floor, still leaning on the mop handle.

The Archman looks about the deck, assessing the overall cleanliness. From his resting stolid expression it is impossible to determine if he is pleased or not.

"Alright." He walks over to the base of the mast, where the chain attached to Eira's collar is secured to a metal loop. He unlocks the padlock with the key from his belt pouch, then starts gathering the chain up in his hands.

"Quarter deck needs it next." He starts walking back in the direction he came.

"The what?" Eira hurriedly gathers the mop and bucket in her hands to keep pace with the Archman. She has come to expect him not to slow himself down for her sake.

"The upper one." The Archman looks back at Eira and points to the upper deck located at the back of the ship.

"Ah." Eira nods.

They walk across the large span of the deck, climbing the staircase to the upper deck. As they arrive upon the upper deck, Eira halts in place, looking around with curiosity.

She is clearly far from an expert when it comes to the anatomy of a ship, but even she can recognise the unusual nature of what is before her. In the center of the deck is a wooden steering wheel which seems ordinary enough, but organized in a semi-circular fashion around it are a dozen metal cranks devices: three cranks and nine levers, which are built into the woodwork of the floor. Like many other aspects of the ship, they have an obscure, almost alien feel to them, which make it impossible to compare them to anything she is familiar with. Their purpose and utility especially confused her, because they clearly didn't serve any aesthetic purpose.