Hmmm, so like the ship sees this weird-looking tent (a fabric lifepod) with parachutes floating down from the sky to splash down near them. When they send a boat over, inside they find this strange little man who speaks some strange tongue very rapidly, then a weird disembodied voice talks to them, then the same strange voice speaks rapidly back to the man. Apparently, he wants to be taken to your leader?

He manages to snatch up a survival kit - and either the contents are lost during the shipwreck, or what he found inside was a pen and a bunch of order forms for each item that was supposed to be in the kit?

Or perhaps I could play a half-human / half-elf rogue, thief brand on her hand, still pallid from her recent release from a prison. She was knocked unconscious and shanghaied aboard the ship to be released at their next port of call. (someone really didn't want her going home)