(Historical RP for the Expansion of the Limboese Republic)
Fragment translated from the travel diary of Captain Grigore Pătlăgeanu during his journey on the Royal Ship “Maria I”
7 January 1777
"I still remember the moments spent in the port of Iasonvil, before setting off on this crazy journey. The wine stronger than that from the vineyards near Corova, the warm pies that sold from stalls faster than firewood in the mountains and the temple bells that rang out throughout the town.
I hoped that, through some absurdity, I would discover a new land, but I didn’t get it. Even Lapideu had more luck with his bold ideas than I had so far. But, just when I wanted to announce the ship’s return to Iasonvil, a young man from the crew shouted as loudly as he could “Shore ahead!”, although the rest of the crew could not see anything because of the fog.
I ran to the bow, trying to figure out with my own eyes whether it was really land or just a young man’s bad imagination. Although I didn’t see anything at first, as the ship continued to move, I could see the shore beyond the fog. Even now, more than five hours after what happened, I can’t realize how close I was to giving up and turning the ship around if it weren’t for that young man. It was probably a lesson to me from the world to keep fighting until I succeeded."
Corova and Iasonvil are the Limboese names of the cities of Corr and Jasonville respectively. During that period, Corova wine was known as the most refined in the entire Great Limboese Kingdom, which led to its mass export to Salovia.
The young man who reported seeing the shore, before the captain made the decision to turn the ship, was named Ion Hălmăciuc, who was actually three years younger than Captain Pătlăgeanu. According to written accounts from the following years and legal documents now in the possession of the National Archives, the two became closer and were married in 1783.
The larger of the two islands was named in honor of Ion Hălmăciuc, who died of medical causes in 1790 (according to the wishes of Captain Grigore Pătlăgeanu), and the town of Grigorești was named in honor of the captain.