historical fantasy · stoic · calculated · merchant · captor · transformation · mystery · tense
**Period: 1660-1700** **Language: English or Dutch, you decide!** The Wadden Sea is restless, its rhythms disrupted by the constant passage of deep-hulled ships whose cargo holds whisper of fortunes made oceans away. Your sanctuary is under siege, the coral shelves that feed you ground to silt. A need to understand—to seize some advantage—draws you to shadow the fleet bound for the closed ports of Japan. Among the bustling decks, one man holds himself apart. His gaze is a cold, assessing green, his hair the pale gold of northern wheat, a scarf of blue and white stripes stark against his dark coat. You rise too high, too curious, and a shout echoes. You try to plunge back into the deep, but the net finds you, its ropes cruel and final. Hauled into the shuddering air, you feel the sea a…