By the time the goblin man came over the sun had started to rise, casting a mesmerizing glow onto the now awakening city. And as people awoke and started going about their business a curious and scared crowd had gathered, soldiers, peasants, sailors, all looking at our vessel and us. But also at the rest of our fleet that is stationed outside, there is a visible worry and a fear in the air, their reactions are expected. But I ignore them, ignore the soldiers, ignore the curious glances for they do not interest me. I notice someone walking through the crowd, making their way slowly towards us, it must be Broolk and it is confirmed as he breaks out from the crowd, his small stature does make me snicker a little as he fixes his robes. I notice another figure beside him, that must be his apprentice he was talking about. I can't see their face well, they  hide it from us, by their stature I can see nervousness, reluctances and a hint of fear. He is stopped though by someone, they look of higher status judging by their clothes. They seem to be arguing, but soon it stops and the higher status one stares at me with wariness and untrustworthiness. Broolk smiles as he climbs on the ramp to climb aboard the Graf Spee, soon followed by his poor apprentice who is forced to carry a massive backpack, scrolls and other things sticking out.

Broolk: I must say, you gathered quite a crowd. I must presume you like the attention.

Klaus: Not really sir, I am glad that you had come. How about we head inside?

Broolk: Let us do that, a good deal of quiet wouldn't be a bad thing. 

I turn around to my soldiers and nod at them whilst pointing to the massive backpack on his apprentices back and they take the hint. Offering to take it, at first she seems reluctant but eventually, after getting a approving nod from Broolk let's them take it off of her. They seemed surprised at the weight as it falls onto the deck, laughing, then the two of them pick it up and carry it with us. As we head deep into the ship we stay silent, Broolk and his apprentice looking all around in pure curiosity, checking every nook and cranny, until we reach the navigation room, filled with empty sheets of paper that will be filled out, so far, we have only marked the islands and ship traps as that was the only thing we found out. We sit down, Tobias and me with the two of them. A sailor bringing us some tea and a couple biscuits. 

Broolk: I must say, this isn't a ship, this is a floating fortress. What is her name?

Klaus: Her name is TRNG Graf Spee and she is something I must admit. A beauty and a marvel. 

Broolk: I noticed a behemoth of a thing standing outside, actually multiple of them, are those with you.

Klaus: Yes. Bismarck is the biggest one, followed by Admiral Hipper and Blucher, the smaller ones being the T 22, Z 23 and Z 24. Plus a couple cargo ships.

Broolk: What are they made out of? They don't appear to be made out of wood.

Klaus: They are made out of thick steel and of course some wood for the decks.

Broolk: Steel?! Young man, how are they able to float and go forward, I don't see any sails or anything.

Klaus: That is a secret for now. Now, shall we get back to what is important right now, to the terms of our agreement. 

Broolk: Ah yes, of course, I see you have a lot of empty papers laying around here, I am guessing that is where you want me explain everything.

I nod in agreement, my men already with pencils in hand to listen carefully and draw what needs to be drawn.

Broolk: I am quite old so most of it won't be up to date or the most detailed thing.

Klaus: That is alright, we just need a approximate look at our world, the rest we can handle. Details aren't as important right now. 

Broolk nods and start talking, the men draw every detail he speaks of, correcting only when they tell him. While they talk I take a quick glance at his apprentice who is keeping quiet. I notice red skin, bright red eyes, like the sunset on a dusty day and a lot of markings on her face and neck but I presume there is more on the body. They look like tribal like patterns , a small nose, with a shallow bridge, pointy eyebrows, raven black hair. She doesn't have horns and doesn't have the same shade of skin as do the others, hers is darker. Her gaze is sharp and weary of us, she doesn't trust us, but she trusts her teacher I guess. She hasn't even taken a sip of her tea whilst her master has already downed two cups and eaten quite a lot of biscuits. I guess talking a lot does drain someone, especially one of his age. I take a glance at how the progress is going and we had already filled out two sheets of large paper with vague lands, vague is the correct way to describe it but it will do. There seems to be many continents which is good, a lot of land mass and many kingdoms. Some good, some passive and some inherently evil, but we shall approach every single one of them with equal temperament. To me, they are all the same.  After about an hour and a couple papers later we have finished with all that he could give us.     

Broolk: There, that is what I know, now I don't how to precise it is all, or how much it has changed but the territories should be there at least. 

Klaus: We are really grateful for you assistance Sir Broolk. 

Broolk: Oh don't worry, this is nothing. I will be getting to visit you place, but when will you be heading back home?

Klaus: Well, considering it had been a month or more since we left we are thinking of heading back right now. 

Broolk: Excellent, I have brought all of my things with me so I am ready and so is my apprentice.

Klaus: Great, well, first we will have to jump onto the Bismarck as it is my ship, you can stay on this one if you want. 

Broolk: Of course not, we will be joining you.

Klaus: Very well, then off we go. I hope you won't regret it.

We head up to the bridge, the old man now looks more like a excited child than an old man. He is surprised as smoke starts to rise up from the funnel and the sound of engines echoes out.

Broolk: Is there a fire on the ship?

Klaus: Hahaha, of course not, that is normal.

As we remove the ropes of the docks and free ourselves we put her in reverse, this does confuse him. How is a ship able to move in reverse without any wind or help. We revers out of the port and turn around and head towards the Bismarck. Once there I thank Tobias for letting me on his ship and help Broolk and his apprentice board onto the Bismarck. He takes a long moment to take it all in, examining it's size and might, running his hand against the cold metal. 

Broolk: This isn't a ship, this is a leviathan, a floating city. Such size, even the most skilled nations could not hope to build a ship of this size out of wood, let alone metal. 

Klaus: Don't worry, she isn't the biggest we have. We have bigger ships at sea already and building a couple massive ones that are meant to test our boundaries. 

Broolk: I will have to see it with my very own old eyes to believe that. 

His reaction does instill me with confidence, his words only cemented it. We might be the most advanced here, maybe we are the strongest, but I still can't tell what this magic is capable of. So I will not be overconfident. We head up to the bridge and give out an order that we will be heading back home. Our ships engines hum into life, vibrations coursing through the hull, large smoke clouds leaving our funnels as our propellers start turning and we had back home. The journey will be long and rather boring, at least for us as it will be what we have already experienced. But something tells me that for our two new passengers this might be the most anticipated voyage ever. On our long voyage back home we do learn a lot, mostly from the stories of the old man and his travels and about his apprentice. Her name is Heliesh and from what I understood she is a demon, but some rare breed. She was a slave and he bought her and took her in, he took care of her as if she was his child but her fear of people never left as she did experience a lot of abuse and trauma. That would explain her behavior around us so we, in the future would give her more space. They were rather surprised by the quality of food we served on the ship, he expected more of Hardtack and grog, sprinkled in with some bland grool and on the rare occasion some salted meat. But we hade mostly either canned full dishes or we made some on our ships, we even slowed down at times to throw out nets so we would catch fish that we would make and eat it ourselves. A long voyage and moral of men is kept in good spirits by a good meal that would fill them both spiritually and nutritiously. I always advocated that all the branches be well feed, navy and ground especially. 

On our journey we did encounter a Siren, her tempting and song nearly took one of our men but we used that to capture her and bring her aboard our ship and put her in a large water tanks. Like the old tales told, they are beautiful, their song mesmerizing and hypnotic. Her skin is a pale grey color, like that of a corpse, yet there is a beauty that cannot be explained, her eyes dark and reflecting, able to see yourself in them, the color is as if you are staring at the depths of the sea itself. There do appear to be gills on the side of her neck, a petite figure, you can see her ribs on her chest, a long tail on her lower body. Her hands do end in sharp nails but are surprisingly soft at the touch. Her ear does resemble a fin of a fish, but also has a human side to it. We did give her some clothes that she would wear, it was a pain to make her wear it but she did eventually agree to wear it. She does boast a remarkable amount of intelligence and despite her initial aggressiveness,  she had calmed down after a certain period. She did expose her fangs multiple times, Sirens are truly deceiving, who knew she hid those sharp teeth under that beauty. She, her name we learned was Ephedia, had grown fond of our lead chef, Dario Camozzi, his people are known for being quite charming which did play a role in there. At first we were skeptical of her, we all thought she was probably waiting to kill and eat him but after he had joined her many times in the tank we couldn't believe what we saw. Especially Broolk, he said that Sirens almost never fall in love, but this one seems did do just that. The loving pair often ate together, swam and spent a lot of time together, he even moved in the same room to sleep there. This will surely make it to the headlines of the news and I can't help but smile. They genuinely seem to be in love. He, without my permission even let her back into the sea once but she returned to us. She had every chance to escape but she didn't, of course, he was punished by having to break the spaghetti in half every time he cooked which broke his heart but did give us a good laugh. 

We finally reached Terra, the large land mass on the horizon, we sent out a message that we have come back and quickly, they all prepared a celebration. Planes came in to intercept us, colored smoke following after them in the colors of our division. Broolk and Heliesh had such humorous reactions once the planes flew over us.

Broolk: What beasts are those?

Klaus: Those, my dear friend are things we call planes. With them we control the skies. 

Broolk: They fly without flapping their wings, emit a roaring noise and spout colored smoke behind them. What others mysteries does your nation hold?

Klaus: Many, many my friend. 

He notices the many other ships around and particularly interested in our aircraft carriers.

Broolk: What kind of ship is that? It looks so large and lumbering.

Klaus: An aircraft carrier, they carry the planes around. You can think of them like a mobile nest that dispatches planes when needed. Don't worry, you can learn more about all of our things through your stay here. 

As we sail into the harbor, the cheering, the display of joy before me makes me smile. This was an important mission that ended quite nicely. And for me, I will become an admiral that will grant me more authority. I can't think of what the future has in store for us. Maybe Ephedia and Dario's relationship might be just the beginning as we come across the many races along the way. It will be interesting that is for sure. For now, celebrations are in order and I expect a lot of alcohol to be consumed and maybe a couple children to be made.