arias and buffy get on the ship. night 1, arias pulls out their tome of ancient knowledge. buffy asks if they can read the tome, and arias says it's private. buffy recognizes it as a warlock pact, and apologizes. arias is surprised that buffy recognizes it. they have a comfortable coexistence for a while.

alexis gets on the boat, and sulks in their corner. it looks like it's going to get back to being comfortable. even after noe gets on, everything is quiet.

then on day three, buffy lights a lantern, and alexis sees noe's face.

DRAMA GOES DOWN.

alexis accuses noe of basically ruining their life, saying those nobles ruin everything for their lust after power and status. noe rises to the occasion, and they get in each other's faces. alexis continues talking shit, noe responds in kind. buffy tries to get them to stand down, they snap at her. noe shocks alexis and mist-steps away. alexis snarls a threat, and noe stays hidden.

arias and buffy both approach noe - separately - and make sure she is alright. buffy asks for a piece of chalk, and noe gives a piece of charcoal instead.

a few days later alexis attempts to apologize. it doesn't go so well, but it doesn't end in blood. noe insists there's only one royal on board, and alexis insists that there are things that noe doesn't know about her family. unfortunately, arias is not present for this, as they are upstairs. buffy seems content to watch. this discussion ends in an agreement of silence.

during the journey, buffy approaches alexis and they bond over stories. arias watches, amused.

when the four arrive in stral, captain john escorts them to their transfer ship. not long after they arrive, haze sneaks onto the ship. the only one to notice their arrival is buffy, who proceeds to play a game of cat-and-cat with them.

enter yma. yma comes into the hold of the ship to find alexis, and makes aggressive friends with everyone (except the still-hidden haze) in short order. she gets alexis to ramble about the history of the gods - specifically maenad, eros, and orgion - and they pass a night that way.

the next day, alexis tells a story about the storm god but is unable to remember the name of the location of a given temple. noe comes out of her hiding spot, offering the name of the temple as a peace overture.

things seem relaxed. until PLOT.

one night the sailors are looking for something. noe casts darkness, letting the sailor know the jig is up.

the sailors go for backup, and bring down a spellcaster to dispel the darkness. the sailors break into the secret part of the hold, and immediately shout that they'll be taking the party to see the captain.

things heat up quickly. alexis goes full fallen angel, haze kills two sailors, noe brings down magical hell upon the sailors, and arias shows up as backup.

buffy: [yma] are you okay?
yma: I could use a snack.
buffy hops over to alexis: do you have a snack?
alexis: [unintelligible echoey snarling]
buffy: there's no reason to be rude. I see you're busy. I'll help you out.

alexis attempts to get the last sailor to surrender, but they spit in his face. it ends poorly for him.

with all resistance gone, the party takes a moment to breathe.

a hooded figure appears in the doorway. "the fates have turned against you. poor things."

buffy shoves yma's head down, and the two of them duck behind boxes.

noe attempts to push back the hooded figure, but it fails. "I understand you don't wish to be revealed. but I don't act out of sympathy. this must be done."

everyone passes out. the last words they hear are "I'm sorry".

the party wakes on the deck of the ship. arias recognizes the captain (don't worry about it).

"so I have a bunch of filthy stowaways on my ship. do you care to explain why you're here?"

the party fails to explain themselves. the captain orders the stowaways knocked out and thrown overboard.

one group hallucination later, everyone wakes up on a beach.