Watch Your Step — Netbook

[bajamutblast]

[Early in April, a note appears in everyone's netbooks. It's written with a steady, if fanciful hand.]

In a few weeks, a number of flowers will begin to propagate within the woods. I have laid these out along the perimeter, just a few feet within the start of the trees.
These flowers will be either white or purple, I know not how they will develop. I will include a sketch below of what they will look like.
Whatever color they are, they are dangerous when consumed and deadly when applied to wounds. Take heed and do not pluck them unless you are adequately prepared.

[True to his word, Dion draws a flower below. It isn't professional by any stretch, he's no artist, but it gets the job done.]

Comments

[sailingfor]

Oh, I forgot to say — I was upside down for eight hours. Causes stomach issues.

[bajamutblast]

Dedicated to your craft then, I see. Your efforts are admirable. Truly.

[sailingfor]

Less "dedication to the craft" and more "pirates captured me".

[bajamutblast]

My mistake. From your initial phrasing, I assumed this was all intentional.
How did you manage to free yourself, then?

[sailingfor]

I was let down after I agreed to do work for them.

I wasn't pressed about my escape. Since they were unlikely to kill me, I imagined they'd free me eventually — and they did.

[bajamutblast]

How were they as employers after that? If you do not mind me asking.

[sailingfor]

Some kind, others not so much. They had wanted my help as an Alchemist to fix a "Compass" — not a normal compass that shows you north and south and all, mind, but merely a name for an object that can search for anything the wielder desires. Alchemy is quite illegal in Iberia, and not assisting would see me starving to death in our salt desert.

Long story short, the unkind and impatient section of the crew would betray most of their peers and the captain in the end, and then-captain Juana was never a particularly bad woman to follow after besides. I was quite willing to work for her. We reformed the crew ourselves with my partner and a few friends, and I took over as captain while Juana took mantle as my first mate. Now we mostly work in reconnaissance instead of piracy.

It's a shorter version of the tale that does not include several near-death experiences nor attacks from the Iberian Inquisition, but I hope that generally explains it.