Oliver stared out over the black waves at the island chain- and honestly felt that calling it a 'chain' didn't do it justice at all. Dozens of islands ranged out from the north-east to the south-west, in a myriad of sizes and shapes... And, behind those islands, he could see even more in staggered rows.

Gray sand, black sand, towering mountains, rolling hills, lush jungles, barren dunes... each island was a marvel in its own right. But, taken as a whole, he lacked the words to even begin to describe it.

"How many islands did you say there are?"

"At current count, there are a little over fifty thousand. Most are uninhabited, thanks to the storms that pass through here regularly and how difficult it is to navigate..." Hands folded behind his back, Captain Sterling's voice took on a lecturing tone. "There are only three large cities throughout the entire chain, though there are a number of smaller villages scattered around. Most of the settlements are on the older islands to the northeast, but a few can be found scattered about- though the number of villages drops the further southwest you go, due to the increase in volcanic activity and earthquakes..."

Oliver's jaw dropped in shock at the number of islands; just judging from what he could see in front of him, the island chain had to stretch on... he couldn't even imagine how far. From what he could see in front of him, the smallest islands were only around a mile across, while some of the larger ones... it was too hard to judge, though, from Sterling's estimates, a hundred miles across sounded about right for the bigger islands.

"Damn..." He whistled softly. "That's... incredible. I guess it makes sense that we didn't just sail around them..."

"It's not just a matter of distance." Sterling grimaced. "Pirates are more likely to be active near the ends of the chain, preying on merchants sailing between Strus'den and Olam'den..."

"I'm guessing there is a reason the merchants don't just sail wide around the chain... or between the islands, for that matter." Oliver stated, eyes still on the distant islands.

Sterling sighed softly, shaking his head. "Navigating in open water is a challenge, especially if the nights are dark or overcast. It's easy to end up going off course- and there are some areas that are dangerous to sail through for a number of reasons. Using the islands as a common marker makes it a lot easier."

"What, you guys don't have compasses here?" Oliver chuckled.

Sterling looked at him like he was an idiot. "Compasses are expensive. I've only seen them in the hands of an admiral... or a few extremely wealthy nobles."

"Ah." Oliver grunted- he knew very little of the history around compasses, or their use. But, he supposed, it made sense. The people here didn't have access to the level of industrialization and production he was used to; everything they had was hand crafted. With a flip of his hand, he pulled a compass from the warehouse and tossed it to Sterling. "Well, now you have a compass of your own. I hope it helps."

Heart racing, Captain Sterling nearly panic for a moment as he bobbled the thrown item- this madman had a compass, and was just throwing it around! Gently clasping the surprisingly small compass in his hands, he turned with a furious glare. "What the hell was that!? Do you have any idea how precious a compass is? What if I had dropped it?"

"I've got like a dozen of them." Oliver shrugged. "They may be rare and precious here, but, where I'm from, I can buy one for less than the cost of dinner. A cheap dinner, at that."

With a cheeky grin firmly in place, he pulled another compass from the warehouse and held it out to Ram. "There, now the ship has a backup compass as well." Glancing back and forth between their gobsmacked expressions, he chuckled softly. "Now, I don't expect that has changed our plans any. Trying to sail around at this point would be ridiculous... So that leaves my other question: why don't the merchants just sail between the islands? I'm guessing there is some danger or other that makes it impractical."

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Pulling his stunned gaze from the pair of compasses, Sterling blinked dumbly at Oliver for a moment before slowly gathering himself. "Er... Yes. Yes, there are some dangers to take into account."

"For starters, there are reefs and rock formations scattered about just under the surface." He spoke, slowly regaining his bearing. "Most have yet to be mapped out, and they sometimes shift due to the earthquakes- that is also why they are called the Maze Islands: traveling through them is like traversing a maze."

"And you know a route through." Oliver nodded, quickly forming a picture of the situation. "Ok. So, what about this situation calls for my attention? I mean, no offense, but I won't be much help with sailing through there... Well, I could probably scout ahead in a raft or something, but I imagine you have people that could manage the same if needed."

"We're worried about the possibility of pirates waiting in ambush." Ram jumped into the conversation, and straight to the point. "While the route we're taking is supposed to be secret-"

"So was the mission, and they found out anyway." Oliver finished for him with a nod of understanding.

"Exactly." Ram folded his arms across his broad chest, a worried frown marring his features. "In the open water, we have more options. But here... If they are waiting, there won't be the option to run- and things could get nasty."

"That's why we wanted you on deck and ready for a fight; if they are well hidden, we may not see them until it's too late."

"Why not just scout ahead then?" Oliver asked, already formulating a plan.

"That just guarantees we'll lose men. Good men." Sterling snapped at what he considered an idiotic question. "Any boat we sent ahead would just be blown out of the water, and we likely still wouldn't be able to avoid the fight- we would just have a little warning-"

"That's not what I'm suggesting at all." Oliver interrupted the growing tirade, his eyes scanning from island to island. "Who else on the ship knows the route we're taking?"

With the Captain silently seething, Ram stepped in to answer. "Most of the officers, actually- though me and James know it the best."

"Perfect!" Oliver grinned, before hesitating for a second as he turned to look at Polina. "Though... my idea would kinda mean me and you separating for a bit. I'm not sure how I feel about that..."

"I know you're thinking of using the raft..." Poli said slowly, as she tried to work out what his plan could be. "But that just runs the same risk the Captain mention. Even if the motor makes it faster..." Seeing the small, amused smirk on Oliver's face, her eyes narrowed. "What am I forgetting?"

Trying not to sound smug- especially since he wasn't completely sold on the plan, even if it was his idea- Oliver answered simply. "The Scrambler... and the radios, of course."

"Oh! Island hopping!" Poli's eyes it up. "Yeah, that could work! You would have a lot more cover that way- and I doubt the pirates would expect it, seeing as that approach would be way too slow for most people here."

Ram shared a confused look with the Captain, neither able to follow what the two were talking about beyond them planning to take a boat to the island... Not that they could see how that would help. "I'm... not following. It's certainly possible to take a skiff to the island, but how does that help? Crossing the islands on foot to scout? It would take us weeks just to-"

"The short version..." Poli interrupted him with a smile. "Is that Oliver has a small, but very fast, boat that can move between islands quickly... And a way to cross even the bigger islands in a couple hours, instead of days- and that couple hours is the long estimate, and assumes he has to slow down because of terrain or other dangers."

While Ram was growing accustomed to these two repeatedly doing things he would have previously called crazy or impossible, the Captain was visibly stunned and filled with disbelief.

"Ok." Ram sighed, already resigned to being a part of it. "Just... walk me through this. How are you going to manage it? And what do we need to do?"

"Well, first I've got to inflate the raft and attach the outboard motor." Oliver snorted a laugh, knowing they didn't understand what he was saying- but soon would. "Then, me and you go for a ride, Ram. Though, I don't have a helmet that will fit you... Sorry about that, but we'll make it work."

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