I'm afraid all the puzzles are different; at least, my stage 2 was totally different from Gooly's. It didn't take me too long to get through mine...but TNT might have read me defending the Acara portion of the redraw and thus blessed me with an easier puzzle. ;) Sorry to those of you who are having troubles! I found it helped to get the larger thing (anchors and mops) placed near an edge and get them all blocked together, and then go from there. Your mileage may vary. (I found no way at all to rotate the objects.)

As to the plot, the art looks great (IMO) and the setting is interesting. With the possible exception of the captain, all the characters seem to be utter stereotypes at this point--the professor and his daughter (complete with naysayers), the sly adventurer, the wide-eyed stowaway, etc. But it's interesting to see a Xweetok with glasses.

I was very worried about the lack of female characters and characterization in the first chapter of the Tale of Woe and the story turned out to have some depth, aside from the usual weak ending, so I'll withhold judgment on the story here, for now.

(Was that a Jacques cameo in the tavern, BTW?

)