Across the Aegean Ocean, a freighter makes way. Or rather, it's a merchant ship. The company that runs it flies the flag of the Turkmens.
Aboard, many sea-faring foreigners play chess in a chess hall. Here, they also drink Turkish coffee. On weather decks, they smoke hookahs.
At one certain chessboard, Kletos Primikynos, a Greek passenger, plays chess with himself. He's winning. And, he's losing. Essentially, he's mad. Alas, he's one of the stealthiest sleuths who's ever come out of a Greek man's balls. Frankly, though, a lot of Turks prefer to think that he's the accidental product of a Greek fire experiment gone wrong.
On the surface, Kletos is just a Greek Sherlock Holmes. Alas, in the grand scheme of things...that might actually be exactly what he is.
He darts back and forth, between chairs on both sides of the board, each time a side needs to move. This gets easier as the game gets older. Alas, he's also hogging one chessboard. Gradually throughout the voyage, though, the other passengers have become more and more forgiving.
Unless, of course, they're plotting an assault... Kletos would call it a mutiny, if he was the captain of this ship...
Moments later, it comes...in the form of three gorgeous harem pebbles. One's a Turk, one's an Azeri, and the third's a Turkmen. They come. They flaunt their DDs. They flirt with Kletos, and laugh. He falls for them...although he's not sure why.
Below deck, they present him with a treat: bootleg liquor. In the Turkmen lands, ALL liquor is bootleg...and it's got something to do with a certain non-existent man named Allah.
They fill him up with it. They do this by challenging him to a drinking contest...and then leaving, just as he's getting too drunk to stay focused. Bottle after bottle of bootleg he drinks...until he passes out. By then, the evidence surrounds him.
Later in the evening, the masters-at-arms find him. They find the evidence, too. His papers say he's Greek. Most of the crew is either Turkish, or as good as. They tie poor Kletos to a raft, and jettison him.
And now, Kletos is alone at sea. Lucky for him, he'll sleep through most of this. By the time he wakes, though, he'll likely wish that a shark ate him.
Ah, the coasts of Chile... They never change...except when there's an earthquake. They're very underrated. And the few people who live here are very quirky...even for redfolk.
Here, there are many straits...because there are many inshore islands. Ships have wrecked here. Somewhere nearby, a raft is about to.
Kletos lies on the raft...still tied to it, and still knocked out. A female sea lion has joined him...and is making out with him. Either that, or she's just giving him a lot of kisses. Funny; she seems to be one of the few women on Sfaíra who LIKES the smell of booze on a man's breath...
As Kletos wakes, he thinks he's being loved-on by the harem chicks. Enthralled, he tries to reach out for her huge body...only to find that his arms are tied. He reacts, of course, by opening his eyes...and seeing that he's been violated by an otary...if not an ovary.
He rocks the raft...and barely manages to spook the cow back into the water. He rocks it a bit too much, and capsizes the raft.
Now, he's underwater. Down here, he opens his eyes.
There's not much down there. Here, the shallows are just as much a desert as the Atacama. Or rather, that's how it starts...
Kletos is initially confused...when a red mermaid comes to his aid. She's gorgeous. For a moment, Kletos is lost in her seductive gaze...
She pulls a bone knife from her bikini top. Kletos passes out.
These shores, far from most land, are where a colony of red merfolk call home. Most sailors who pass by mistake them for sea lions.
Every now and then, one dives into the lagoon and swims around. Depending on which ones they are, they're a sight to behold. Few humans have ever been here. Even fewer have wanted to leave.
In a sea cave, Kletos starts to come to. His eyes crack.
He sees...a Rapa Nui mermaid. She looks down on him with a grin. She's got a huge rack. Kletos would feel like he was in paradise...if he wasn't a nihilist.
She flaps her flowing raven hair. It's still wet. She's got a cactus blossom in it. "Kletos Navidad?"
He scoffs. "Kletos Primikynos," he corrects her. "How do you know, and who's asking?"
"We know that you are a detector," she tells him. She reaches over, and slides a small chest full of doubloons towards him. "We need you to help us."
He blinks. "It's detective. And just for the sake of curiosity...what trouble dares deform your bubble?"