Having an Hireling as your VIP is a great idea ! I really like that it works well as an hireling on its own but becomes way more important when you play it with this faction.
The barrel economy makes it very versatile, what would your starting turns look like ? I feel like getting more barrels is the top priority, so soaking should be avoided, and the first turn could be store water on the drakkar -> store water in the other clearing -> resupply to drakkar-> store water in the same clearing-> resupply to the drakkar -> store water in the same clearing -> resupply to the drakkar. And start doing this again the following turns until you are pretty much maxed out on barrels.
What does "ignoring path and linking rivers" mean for the Sail action ? Could I go from a river corner to another river corner ?
Would love to see this faction in action !