[Mermquis has no intention of avoiding the ship; it looks as though it might contain valuable things or manipulable people, and therefore must be approached. He circles it twice cautiously, then reverses direction and circles three times with obvious curiosity.]

[During these slow circles, he gets closer and closer, peering into windows as he passes. It takes a while, but he also begins to attend to those who are leaving the ship to explore. Some he watches, some he watches and follows, and some he watches, follows, and provides with one of the following:]

No sooner spoken than broken. What is it?

At night they come without being fetched, and by day they are lost without being stolen. What are they?

I never was, am always to be,
No one ever saw me, nor ever will,
And yet I am the confidence of all
To live and breathe on this terrestrial ball.
What am I?


( ooc; this is a choose your own adventure basically. find him anytime as he's circling, as he's stalking ya, or pick any of the three riddles :> )

Oh, I see now. This is a reward, not a punishment. You're all here to entertain me in the afterlife, and I'd like to let you know at the outset that I do appreciate it.

Since we're all speaking on one subject - incidentally, did I miss a meeting? You're all so effortlessly on the same page - there's an important one that's been missed. Old, but important. Of course there's Sol Invictus [ slight, slight stress ] on the twenty-fifth, but everyone forgets about Saturnalia. [ Tsk, tsk. ] Old traditions are the best traditions, or so they say.

[ He never got a chance to visit those Roman soldiers, but he imagines they'd agree. ]

[ spam literally anywhere on the barge for people who want to harass/hug him (FREAKIN' MISTLETOE) ]