One of your warships encounters a canoe drifting in the open seas somewhere west of the Makarensian chain of islands. There are four men on board, dusky-hued and daubed in outlandish ways with white paint. Considering how long they must have been at sea if travelling under their own power they do not appear to be particularly malnourished. Indeed their general countenance does not inspire a great deal of confidence, especially as your captain has started to entertain nagging doubts about quite why four men would need five oars with which to paddle.
The dialect they speak is strange guttural and quite barbarous. Communication is difficult, especially when at one point during the conversation they attempted to nibble at the translator.
Eventually it becomes apparent that this party had been not been cast upon the oceans by mere chance or misfortune but rather had been dispatched westwards with deliberate intent carrying a message for the Emperor of Aryasht. The gentleman with the protruding facial decorations resembling nothing so much as the claws of a crab and who appears to be the leader of the party insists that his message cannot be divulged at this point since it specifically concerns the ears of the Emperor.