ohhh let uss read it!

((keep in mind it was a legitimate assignment. i had to mention lots of economic goods and locations around the Indian Ocean and technologies and ‘allude to my background’ so yeah sorry))

((also none of this is technically canon since most of it is the assignment part and not the fic part))

Hello Journal,

I’ve finally found some quiet time in the late night confines of my cabin. I’d been watching the lamplight shift as the junk swayed and, seeing as my last journal entry was months ago when we were first setting off on the monsoon winds to Africa, decided I could devote more of my scant leisure time to your pages.

Aye, I’m still in the same docks. We’ve been stocking up on ivory and gold, in return for the so-familiar gunpowder and porcelain from my home country of China, but soon we’ll have to leave. We’re a bit behind schedule due to the bout of illness on deck, but no fatalities have arisen yet. Which, I suppose, is good. I’ll need as much of my crew as possible to maneuver this treasure junk through the monsoon winds. They’ve been a bit rough lately. When we’d first come from India with some new barrels of cotton and spices, we ran into a huge run of giant waves. The traders, Hindu merchants, warned us of changing climate but I didn’t think it’d come this soon. They were nice enough about it, though.

Low mortality rate on that voyage, nothing I could avoid. Though, if I’m honest, this is one of the more competent crews I’ve come across in my day. It’s hard running a ship as a female without mutinies around every corner.

Though as I was getting to earlier before my mental track was swayed, it is imperative that we leave soon. The monsoon winds are starting to reverse and so we could get stuck here for months if we’re not careful. We’ll dock in the Middle East (maybe acquiring some perfumes while we’re at it) for a day or two for last minute prep before making our way back east.

And if the seas are as rough as I’m predicting, I’ll dock the ship in South Asia and trade something for wood. It’s been a good season: we can afford to trade for wood to repair things. We should end up home within a month or so, hopefully. Can’t wait to see familiar docks again. I hope my sister is doing well. Knowing her, she’s probably gotten into a whole heap of new trouble since my last landfall. Hope to be home soon.

-Lavender