2017-05-17: The Landlocked Empress
- Log: The Landlocked Empress
- Cast: Layna Manydays, Talise Gianfair, Ida Everstead-Rey, Noah Hawthorne
- Where: Silver Coast, The Ruby Empress
- Date: 5-17-17
- Summary: After hearing rumors of a ship mysteriously appearing in the Silver Coast region, Talise and Ida go to investigate. Noah happened to be doing the same, and together, they meet its Captain...
==============================<* Silver Coast *>============================== The Silver Coast is the name given to the northeastern coastline of Ignas. The origins of the name are lost to history, but residents of the area tend to assume it reflects either the famous white-sand beaches northeast of Lacour, or the region's distance from the desertification slowly spreading out from the continent's heart. The Coast and its surrounding territories are claimed by the Kingdom of Lacour, and contain a wide assortment of biomes, from plains to rocky hills and mountains to rolling beaches. Major roads between Lacour and its next two largest settlements - the Port City of Hilton and the Academy City of Linga - are heavily patrolled by the kingdom's soldiers, and are generally safe. The hinterlands, however, are plagued by monsters of all types; researchers in Linga can find a variety of uses for the body parts of monsters, and do a brisk trade with Adventurers seeking to protect the population and make a little coin to boot. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYbFnoRSW6M
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
The Ruby Empress stood out against her dull, rocky surroundings, her masts reaching into the sky. Something had been done to the wood that made it up, giving it a faint red sheen - especially now, when the sun was shining right on top of it.
In other words, hiding this thing was next to impossible. They could've always tried to dismantle it and reassemble it somewhere else, of course, but Layna couldn't bring herself to do that to her precious ship.
No, for now, it would stay here. They would have to find a way to get it into the sea at some point - which according to research did still exist here, so that was a plus - but for now, it made a decent base of operations in this relatively remote area.
At the moment, Layna was returning from a scouting mission she had assigned herself. This mission had ended in a rather amusing fashion, though she hadn't actually learned anything except that bars here were far more exciting than they were back home.
This was mostly by virtue of still existing, but there were other reasons too.
These days, the gangplank was mostly kept down until night came around, with some of the crew assigned near it and all around the ship to keep an eye on things and make sure no one unwelcome found their way onboard.
One of the men at the gangplank stood at attention from where he was sitting at the sight of Layna approaching.
"Welcome back, Captain? Did it go well?" He asked. He was a little taken aback when she responded with a laugh.
"Aye, it was great! A total failure, but it was great! Go fetch the Quartermaster! And maybe the First Mate, while you're at it." She says.
With a nod of understanding the man ran off up the gangplank, while Layna started following him at a more leisurely pace.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
"Who would build a ship of that description in the middle of the desert," Talise had asked Ida over drinks upon overhearing some chatter at the Starfire Saloon.
Now, quite a bit of time later, a horse carries a tall woman towards the distant shape of the vessel. Talise has fixed the damage to her big seafarer's coat; keeping her hands on Dragon's reins, she lets the horse carry her through the sand and stone at a brisk trot. Off in the distance, she can see something; shielding her eyes with one hand, she squints.
And then she widens her eyes, opening her mouth slightly as it comes into view.
"Ida," she says with obvious wonder, "that's a ship -- no, that's a Lunarian ship. I've seen that ship before, I know I have!"
Giving her reins a quick jerk, the half-Beastwoman, smiling widely, urges Dragon forward at a brisk run, galloping towards the ship sitting conspicuously in the middle of dry land, looking every bit like what she knows it is: An artifact from another world. As she grows closes, she can spot figures moving around near the gangplank.
With a look back towards Ida, she grins, then tugs the reins and begins to slow down. As Dragon eases off his pace, Talise rises in her stirrups and waves one hand broadly in the air.
"Hellooooooo the ship!!" she shouts across the distance - and boy does her voice carry.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida has been kind of morose. If Talise asked--which, let's face it, she probably did--Ida explained that Kalve had to return to Arctica to help his family, and if anyone's returned from Arctica for the past year or so, they've been quiet about it. Between that and the frenetic preparations for the Exposition's much-advertised banner days, she hasn't gotten much of a break. It's almost a relief when Talise suggests they go take a ride.
Grey Lady is a little older than Dragon, but has easily kept pace the entire time. Ida squints into the distance, and pulls out some sort of small spyglass from a pocket--Grey Lady slows to a trot as she inspects the thing in the distance, and then eases back into a canter. "Why is it here?" she asks, as if Talise had an explanation.
Talise hails the (hilariously grounded) ship, in proper naval protocol. Ida's face settles into a look of calm curiosity, as if this thing were just kind of an amusement to her.
<Pose Tracker> Noah Hawthorne has posed.
Word gets around fast, particularly when one considers that word in eastern Ignas often has to traverse inhospitable stretches of scorching desert to do so. Gossip and rumor are as much a currency to people like Noah as gella, not least because the one often leads to the other.
To make a long story short: he heard about the ship, and he wants to know more.
This requires traversing those aforementioned inhospitable stretches of scorching desert, but he's well-equipped for that. A massive paint destrier equipped with generous saddlebags, a number of additional canteens with water in them, enough food for the trip out and back -- there's too much to do in Adlehyde not to return quickly, but his curiosity has needs -- and a ferret.
Granted, the ferret isn't a necessary item, but it keeps the long trip lively by doing its level best to irritate him as much as possible on the way there. As the red vessel becomes visible through shimmering heat rising off of the sand, he's engaged in trying to keep it from chewing through the pommel of the saddle.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna's passage up the gangplank is halted when a voice reaches the ship. It was a rather loud voice, to make it all the way here. She looks back, and when she sees the other man at the gangplank start to stand, she extends a hand to halt him.
"Nay, I'll handle this. Why not show a little courtesy while I'm here, aye?" She says with a smirk. The man nods and returns to his seat.
She turns, walking back down the gangplank and looking into the distance. There, on the horizon, several figures mounted on horseback.
"Ahoy there! Who goes?" Layna calls back, folding her arms in front of her. She manages to match the volume of the voice that had reached her - an important skill to have when you needed to shout orders, potentially even in the think of battle. Her stance, as well as the look on her face, exudes confidence.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
"I wish I knew," Talise answers Ida with a shrug, holding her hands out at about shoulder level and smiling. "Maybe someone took a wrong turn." Pausing, she coughs once. "A really, really wrong turn."
The figure riding off in the distance is spotted; Talise moues her lips and nods to Ida. "Hopefully that's not anyone here to cause us trouble," she murmurs before Dragon carries her forward; she slides out of the saddle, landing with a thump of heavy boots in the sand.
The one calling to her is a woman - and she's loud. It's a familiar kind of loudness. Talise's eyes brighten ever so slightly.
"A friend," she calls back, voice lowering in volume to a more conversational volume as she approaches the gangplank, holding her hands out at her sides. "We heard about your ship being out here and I decided to bring a friend and take a look. Imagine my surprise when it turned out that I used to see this ship sometimes. It's the Ruby Empress out of Larpa, ain't it?"
Her hand comes to rest at her hip. She doesn't seem all that threatening; in fact she doesn't look like most people from Filgaia. Blame the cheekstripes and the ears.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida nods. She doesn't do anything dumb, like indicate she's got ARMs on her person, but she does become aware of Devil's Due, resting at the small of her back. The weapon's presence has become oddly reassuring, and Ida's not sure what to make of it. As Talise gets out of the saddle, so does she, swinging one thin leg out and landing with a soft thump. She rolls her shoulders a little, puts on her cheeriest smile, and waves to the woman Talise is speaking to.
<Pose Tracker> Noah Hawthorne has posed.
The destrier is slower than the horses ahead of him, sheerly on account of his size. Hooves like dinner plates make for comfortable traveling over the sand, but his default gait conserves energy. It's some moments before Noah's even close enough to make out details of the ship, and moments more after that before the figures on and around it resolve into individuals with features he can differentiate.
Once he's close enough for them to do the same, he will indicate that he has ARMs on his person. Not deliberately, mind; they're just openly visible in holsters to either side of his hips, and he's made no effort to conceal that.
Not that he seems interested in using them. Some safe distance out from the crash site (?) he dismounts, strips the reins over the paint horse's ears and drops them to the ground, effectively ground-tying the animal for the forseeable future, and decides to approach on foot. He's unhurried about it: he's studying the craft with curious hazel eyes, squinted into the sun.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
A friend, was it? And what's more, this 'friend' - beastwoman, by the look of her, and a tall one at that - brought with her some interesting news. No one from Filgaia would know anything that specific. Layna's smirk widens into a grin. Ordinarily she would be somewhat hesitant to announce that yes, she's a wanted criminal, when she was trying to keep her head down so they could get their bearings, but...she was getting a good feeling from this one. That coat of hers helped - while it was possible she'd just picked it up somewhere, that was the coat of someone who knew her way around the seas. A kindred spirit, then.
"Aye, friend! Warms my heart to see someone recognize the Empress in these lands." She confirms with a nod, and a second nod of acknowledgment towards the smaller woman accompanying her.
A hand reaches up towards her hat and removes it.
"And I am her Captain..." The hat is swished dramatically as Layna bows, half out of politeness, and half for the sheer theatrics of it. "Layna Manydays. What of yourselves?" She asks, placing the hat back atop her head.
In the distance, she sees a man a slowly approaching them and nods in his direction.
"He with you lasses, as well?"
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
It's alright. Talise is technically a wanted criminal too. Thanks a lot, Fei.
As the woman at the end of the gangplank beams like that, Talise's smile widens all the more, that wide grin of hers flashing the pointed incisors her heritage has blessed her with. For lack of a hat, she just brings one hand up to her forehead and gives it a flick, not even close to a salute, but a gesture of respect. "Nice to meet you, Captain Manydays. I'm Talise Gianfair. Used to sail on the Lunabelle."
The name may be familiar to anyone who's heard old stories out of Dalton, but Talise doesn't go into too much detail. "Nice to know someone else with an eye for the sea made it here. We'll have to figure out how to get you to water, maybe."
Gesturing to the side, she nods to the woman who came in with her. "This is Ida, a good friend of mine who's taught me a lot about this place. I don't know who the big guy on the horse is."
She says 'big guy' but Talise is his height, maybe taller.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida raises a hand to shade her eyes, and peers back over her shoulder. She sees the glint of metal off something that's probably an ARM in a hip holster, and notes it. As Noah comes closer, she seems to recognize something about him--something that only comes into clarity now. "He was there at Lahan," Ida says to Talise, her voice barely a whisper. She turns around, and gives Noah a demure wave.
"Good day, sir!" Ida says. "We seem to have had the same idea, yes?"
<Pose Tracker> Noah Hawthorne has posed.
The look on Noah's face certainly isn't threatening -- for whatever that means, on a continent as rough-and-tumble as Ignas. When he's noticed he tips his chin upward in silent indication that he's noticed them back, though he doesn't speak until he's close enough to do so without having to yell.
"Well, it's not every day you hear about a sea-going vessel going aground this far inland, and I'm the curious type."
He has an accent. It is difficult to place, and sounds more like an aggregate of many different accents than the remnants of just one language.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
There's recognition in Layna's eyes when Talise mentions the Lunabelle. She'd heard of it before, certainly. But Talise doesn't dwell on the ship, and neither does Layna.
"Aye? It does sadden the heart, to see the Empress landlocked. To see her back on the seas once more would be a dream." She comments, with a glance back to her ship.
It is around this time that the man arrives, and her gaze is drawn to the recognizable sight of an ARM - something she hadn't seen much before, but had an interest in.
"Curious, aye? In that case, why not come aboard? Be better than standing out here in the heat, don't you think? What do you say, Talise? Ida? ...You?" She says, looking between the two women and the man who had yet to introduce himself.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
"Was he?" Talise murmurs back to Ida with a blink, blushing as she realized she'd barely noticed a lot of the others during the fight with the Trial Knight. Had she been focusing on the Knight that much?
Raking a hand through her hair, Talise gives Noah a considering look. Her eyes dance down his body (and it is a nice body, she decides right away) and then back up, taking in his features and his accent. Whatever conclusions she reaches, she betrays only in a little smile and an arch of an eyebrow. "Curious always gets you to nice places," she agrees. "C'mon over. I'm Tal and this is Ida. You look like you healed up good."
As Layna makes the invitations, Talise steps forward easily, nodding. "You're telling me. And hey, she may be landlocked, but at least she got here in one piece, right? We'd love to see her. And to get out of the desert." Fanning herself with one hand, she grins wolfishly. "Reminds me of the Salyan back home!"
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
"Indeed," Ida says. Mostly, she remembers Rose tending to a bunch of people, including her. Some bits stick out, while others are a blur, but she remembers Noah. She is very good to see him recovered from his gut wound.
"Of course," the young naturalist says, brightly. "Far be it from me to turn down an invitation, and I've never seen a sailing vessel like this that looks so unique!"
<Pose Tracker> Noah Hawthorne has posed.
"Noah," provides the same. "Hawthorne." He flicks a glance between the other two, affixes each one with the names he's just heard the Captain say. At least, he assumes she's the Captain; he was a little too far away to hear that initial round of introductions. Still, though: coat and hat. Stands to reason.
He cocks a brow at the taller woman's arch remark, and allows himself a wry look in return. "And some not so nice places, I suppose. Like Lahan, for instance." Memory of that fight and mention of his healing prompts him to place a splayed hand over the place he'd been run through. "Mmm. The Baskar are good at what they do."
Once he draws up properly beside the others he tips his head back to look up to where Layna is standing and gestures loosely at the gunbelts keeping his ARMs on. "These gonna be a problem, Cap?"
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna nods. Well, mostly one piece - it was hard to tell what had happened to the part of the ship that had apparently fused into the hillside, but the fact remained.
"Aye, this is true!" She agrees, both to her comment about the ship's condition and about the Salyan Desert.
The man - Noah, according to him - then gestures to his ARMs.
"Way I see it, that depends on you." She turns to face him properly, arms folding in front of her. "Don't fire on their own, aye? So if you're not a problem, they aren't." It was hard to tell if her stance on this was due to confidence or just a lack of knowledge.
Either way, she turns back around. "Right then. Follow me!" She turns to walk back up the gangplank, but stops once they reach the very top.
The man she had sent off before had returned, along with two others - a short, stern-faced woman and a tall, skinny fellow.
"Ah, good timing! We've got guests. Get the meeting room ready! And, Dahlia - bring out the good stuff!" She says cheerily.
The shorter woman - Dahlia, pauses. She glances behind Layna at the three who were presumably following her up the gangplank, and nods.
"...Right away, Captain." She replies, then turns to head back the way she came, followed by the tall fellow.
"Quartermaster and the First Mate." Layna explains, nodding back to her new acquaintances.
She then continues leading them into the ship itself.
While the interiors of the ship were of a plainer wood than the gleaming red outside, there were designs of a similar red all throughout that served to liven them up a bit. The fact that they were still in good condition spoke to the craftsmanship that went into it, considering the rowdy sort that went through the place.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
"No, those aren't as nice as some of the alternatives," Talise concedes with a sigh, shaking her head and grimacing. "Though I try to balance out the ugly places like that by following my curiosity to more fun places when the time comes." As Noah indicates his healed wound, she smiles a little more easily. "Yeah... yeah, they are."
She'd been cut badly in more than a few places during the fighting. The injuries are merely an unpleasant memory, now.
She reaches out and gives Ida a pat on the shoulder, casting her a smile. "This is how ships look on Lunar," she explains as she follows Layna up the gangplank. Her eyes dance with barely-restrained joy. This feels like old times to her - like fond memories of her childhood.
"Oho, the good stuff. Can't fault your hospitality, Captain!" She grins slyly, easing through the corridors with a practiced step. The fact that the ship isn't rolling gently on the water right now throws her slightly, but she manages.
"So how'd you end up here with your entire ship?" Talise asks Layna. "For me I just fell down a hole of some kind in a cave, but fitting a ship into a cave would be kind of... tough."
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida nods as Noah indicates that his stomach is, in fact, back to its ideal condition. "I'm glad you're all right," she says. They were lucky no one was killed--extremely lucky. Once the matter of Noah's ARMs is out of the way, Ida ascends the gangplank after Talise, inspecting the ship with no small degree of wide-eyed curiosity. This is the first time she's been aboard a wind-powered sailing ship. It all seems to quaint--there's no machinery, no stacks, nothing but wood and fabric and nails and lacqueur.
"I see," Ida says, to Talise. "You've probably seen some that look a little like this at Timney, but most of the vessels back home are steam-powered. Some of the newer ones even have hulls that are mostly metal."
<Pose Tracker> Noah Hawthorne has posed.
"A problem -- me? No." Noah has a smile that puts the desert sun to shame when he cares to use it, wide and white, sharp as a knife. Weaponized charm that he lays on thick enough that most people tend to instantly roll their eyes and write him off, which may or may not be an intended result. "I wouldn't dream of starting trouble before I'd had a good look around, at least." There's a wink tacked onto the end of that rather daring joke, considering he's depending on the Captain's good graces to allow him to board her ship in the first place. Ida's well-wishing gets her a smaller but more appreciative smile and tip of the head. "Likewise." Not that he remembers much about the fight, given the quantity of drugs the Baskar shaman had pumped into his system.
He trails along behind the other two and is content to remain quiet, particularly when Talise asks the question they all, no doubt, want to ask. As they move through the ship, though, he does pitch his voice down to a volume intended to avoid disrupting the rest of the conversation and poses a question to the tall woman with the stripes on her skin: "You said Lunar? Don't suppose you've got a line on any materials about Lunar languages?"
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
"Aye! Courtesy goes a long way, I say. Won't have anyone saying I'm a poor host, see?" Layna agrees with a nod and a grin, looking back at Talise. She takes note of how excited she seemed to be here. Definitely a kindred spirit, then. That look, and the way she moved through the ship as if she'd done it a hundred times before...that couldn't be faked.
While Ida seems just as interested, she also doesn't seem as familiar with the interior. For that, Layna makes sure to go at a pace she can keep up with while also still allowing her to see what she wanted.
"Metal hulls, aye? Now, that sure sounds like something." She comments. "Wouldn't change the Empress for the world, though, save her current location."
Noah's response does get a chuckle out of her though. "Can't fault you for that. Started a fair amount of trouble myself. In fact..."
It was a good lead-in to Talise's question.
"So, we were sailing along, aye? Under fire from enemy vessels, trying desperately to catch up to us. The Empress is a speedy ol' gal, but somehow one of 'em finally managed to close in. Not a problem for us, of course. But, right when I was about to break out my secret weapon...everything stopped, and all of a sudden..." She waves a hand for emphasis. "We found ourselves here, in the middle o' nowhere! Like the Goddess herself just reached down and plucked us outta the sea."
What she doesn't mention is that she had been knocked out for a good few minutes by the collision from the sudden stop. They...didn't need to know that.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
"I've seen a couple at Port Timney, but the design's all wrong," Talise answers Ida, scratching at the back of her neck. "Most of 'em are fishmen or cargo haulers. A good corsair or a galleon is something else completely." She smiles lopsidedly and admits, "The steam ones always make me want to go down below decks and figure out how they're doing that. The closest we've got back home is the Guard's Dragonship, and I think that's magic."
Noah leans in and whispers something that surprises Talise a little. She furrows her brows. "Languages? I'm... not sure," she murmurs, keeping her voice very low. Ida might catch it. "I understood Filgaians just fine when I got here so maybe there's not much difference."
The woman straightens, hands dipping to adjust her tunic hem as she listens to Layna tell her tale.
Something strikes her oddly. She bites down to her bottom lip. "That's odd... just plucked out of the sea, just like that? No warning at all?"
Talise gives Ida a curious look. Then it's back to Layna. "How long ago was that? Just recently?"
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
"The first ones were warships, of course," Ida says, "but as they refined the technique, they started building freighters, passenger ships. You've seen the paddles at the back of them, right?" She's primarily talking to Talise, now, but if Noah and Layna want to listen, she's not stopping them. "There's a great furnace in the belly of the ship, and sailors shovel coal or wood into it. The furnace heats a tank of water, which turns to steam, which moves through a turbine, which causes the paddles to move. It's how they can move even when there's no wind at all."
"Though I suppose you have your own solutions," Ida adds, brightly. "If we're being open about this whole matter, I would greatly like to see Lunar sometime."
<Pose Tracker> Noah Hawthorne has posed.
"Ah." Disappointment finds a temporary foothold on Noah's face over Talise's answer, but it's quickly swept away as his attention wanders elsewhere, active eyes roving everything in sight, taking it all in with the kind of unmanufactured interest that says he wasn't kidding about his reason for being here: he was curious.
It's a curiosity only fanned to a more substantial flame by the story of how the ship got here in the first place. He tugs his gaze back from the particulars of the vessel, a thin chip of shadow appearing between almost-knitted brows. "What, that's it? Just...one minute ocean, next minute sand? No, I don't know..." He lifts and gestures vaguely with one hand, little rattles sounding from the bracelets around that wrist. "Bang, no flash of light, or..." The sentence hangs, the rest of it implied.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna listens in to Talise discussing types of ships with Ida. She makes a mental note to go out some time and take a good study of Filgaian water-craft. Might be able to learn something useful that she could take back home.
It isn't long before she returns to Talise and Noah's question, though.
"Well, I was a bit distracted, see. If there was a warning, I didn't catch it. Asked the crew what they saw, and couldn't get a good answer out anyone." Layna shrugs. "As for when...that was about a good week or so ago, by my reckoning. Haven't been here all that long, though long enough to learn that Filgaian bars are something else!" The last bit is accompanied by a chuckle. Fortunately, it was still relatively easy to keep time here.
It's around this time that they've found their way to the meeting room. It was as fancy as it could be without having anything excess that'd just be a liability at sea. There was a long table in the middle and two small ones off to the side - the latter two stocked with various drinks that Talise might recognize, as well as some glasses.
"Figure you'd appreciate a bit of a taste of home, aye? Got a few Filgaian beverages too, if your friends would rather stick to something a bit more familiar. Take a seat anywhere, folks!" She says.
The two crewmembers from before were present, too, and Layna is quick to introduce them. She'd mentioned them before, but now was time for a more proper introduction.
"Quartermaster Dahlia and First Mate Roche. You can thank Dahlia for the drinks - she's got an eye for 'em that I lack." Layna says with a nod and a chuckle.
"These are Talise - a fellow sailor, she is - Ida, and Noah."
The two of them nod.
"Need anything else, Captain?" Roche says, looking them over.
"Nah, that'll be all, but tell the crew I'll be putting together a meeting later." Layna responds, shaking her head.
With that, Dahlia and Roche depart, leaving the four of them alone.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
"Yeah, I've seen them. A furnace? That's incredible." Talise's eyebrows go up sharply. "The fact that you've got ships that set sail by building a bonfire under the deck... what'll Filgaia think up next?"
She shoots Noah a smile tinged with apology, giving her head a shake. "Maybe I can find some sort of a book for you," she murmurs an offer.
Sliding her hands into the pockets of her sea-coat, she nods along as Layna explains her story. "Fair enough," she says, though she detects a distinct whiff of someone covering her butt. She's polite enough not to call the woman on it. "And it's interesting that it was so long after most of us. For me it was quite awhile ago - on the order of several weeks. Maybe there was a delayed effect in some way. Or something else happened."
The meeting room leaves the tall woman smiling widely as a sense of familiarity washes over her. She holds out her hand and offers up handshakes for Roche and Dahlia.
"A good crew," she says once the two are gone. Turning to the table, she holds a chair out to Ida, then reaches for one of the bottles.
"Chateau Ramus," she explains to Ida and Noah. "'s a brandy from Meribia."
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
"Thank you," Ida says to Layna's two crewmembers, before they depart. She accompanies it with a discreet little bob of her head. "We do come up with the most curious things," she adds, to Talise. Like the heiress of a powerful merchant family having drinks with pirates below-decks in a pirate ship, which is half-buried in the dirt, nowhere near the ocean. "But if you've brought drinks from home, I'd very much like to sample them. Talise told me there was an--ah--proclamation issued forbidding them." Does this mean Layna is a rum-runner? My word.
"How familiar are you with the lay of the land?" she says, to Layna, as the drinks come out.
<Pose Tracker> Noah Hawthorne has posed.
"I'd owe you," Noah answers Talise gamely, with an appreciative half-smile.
But, to the matter at hand: "So there's an influx of, what...suddenly disappearing and reappearing citizens of Lunar, just..." He snaps his fingers. "Popping over to Filgaia for no reason? Really? ...You know I like to think of myself as having a finger on the pulse of things, but this is news to me. Do I have the wrong contacts in Eastern Ignas, or did I just stumble over information that most people don't have?"
He takes up a comfortable lean once they're inside of the well-appointed meeting room, bracing his weight back against the table's edge to watch the others. Offers of drinks don't go amiss, though he laughs outright when it's suggested he might want to stick to flavors closer to home. "That's a joke, right? Alcohol from another planet and you think I'd want to drink the usual?" He 'tchs' gamely, lids his eyes. "I'll try whatever you think a curious connoisseur of new experiences oughta try."
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
"That so?" Layna asks, glancing towards Talise as she takes a seat. "You said 'most of us' - just how many people's this happened to?" She asks, curiously. Having not been here long, she hadn't had a chance to meet any of them - though she had heard concerning rumors.
And then the conversation turns - partially - to alcohol. That was something she could always approve of.
"Aye, there was. Drink, songs, you name it! They had their way, every moment would be spent quietly contemplating the Goddess or doling out all your savings as donations. But I've always been something of a rebel, see." She says, chuckling. That was...putting it lightly.
She then glances towards Noah with a grin.
"That so? Well then..." She stands up and walks over to one of the tables.
"If you wanna ease yourself into it, I'd go with this one..." She tosses one of the bottles to him.
"Or, if you wanna dive right in..." She tosses another one. "They call it the 'Goddess' Breath'. Namely 'cause if you're not an experienced drinker you'll swear you're looking right at her. It's potent stuff." She says this with a chuckle.
Hopefully he wasn't a light-weight. That clearly seemed like a challenge.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
"As for your question, Ida...we haven't gone too far from this area. Mostly going between Lacour and Linga, see?" Layna replies, picking out a bottle for herself. She opens it up and takes a drink.
"Been meaning to expand our horizons a bit, now that we're settled in. Got any suggestions for places new folk should visit?" She asks with a smile.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
"You've gotta know who to talk to to get 'em now, yeah." With a grimace, Talise runs her fingers along the neck of the bottle. The expression soon passes, and she begins to pour out the drink - some for Ida, some for herself, some for Noah.
The appreciative look he gives her is met with a little smile of her own, her eyelashes dipping just a shade.
Back to the matter at hand. As she cradles her drink in her hand, Talise shifts her weight to rest her bottom on the edge of the table, stretching one leg a little. "Mhn. I don't think most of us have shouted it from the rooftops. Friends of friends might now, but I think most of us are just 'those weird foreigners' around these parts right now." Picking up one of the cups, she holds it out to Noah with a smile.
"The Horam ricewine's really good too," she suggests.
As Layna explains Althena's great big fun ban, the tall woman knits her brows into a shallow scowl, exhaling through her teeth. "I've been the same way," she says, voice lower. "I made my living by singing after I started on land... the Guard took that from me."
That hangs there for a moment, before she nods to the pirate captain. "I can think of about a dozen. The Shepherd and a princess from Glenwood are both here. A few people from the Guard. A group traveling with a girl named Lucia. A friend of mine, Sephilia. Ida and Lynnai - another friend of mine - showed me the ropes around here when I got here. Best place to start is probably the big Exhibition in Adlehyde, not far away."
The stiffer drink is offered. Talise cracks a little grin. "Oh, now you're just trying to knock him off his feet. I like you."
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
"Was there a change in leadership?" Ida asks. This sounds like something a new Pope would do, one who wanted to drive the flock onto a narrower path. Zera Innocentius is a decent sort, but Ida has no idea who is the head of the Church of Althena. "I'm an adherent of Granas, but, well, everything in moderation." She watches the bottles as they come out, eventually taking the brandy Talise pours for her. She takes a small, delicate swig, as if analyzing the taste. It's a little more potent than what she's used to, and the cherry flavor's a bit stronger, but... it's brandy. Good brandy, at least!
"Adlehyde has a port, as well, if you and your crew are looking to hire on while your vessel is indisposed. You may be able to find work on a ship somewhat like yours."
<Pose Tracker> Noah Hawthorne has posed.
The tossed bottles are snared out of the air with the kind of reflexes that most Drifters require just to stay alive.
Hopefully, the Captain thinks, he isn't a lightweight.
FOUR DAYS AGO:
The copious amounts of smoke leaving the tent in thick, yellow-tinged plumes has the waiting Cassidy's eyebrows lifting higher, and higher, and higher as she watches the medicine men go in and out of the tent, bringing jars, then boxes, then crates of grass - and of colors that rival a rainbow's spectrum - into the conical construct until none finally leave. Privately, she wonders whether it's because they really needed that much to keep Noah sedated, or because there was so much in there that the medicine men have gotten high themselves and passed out on the spot.
RIGHT NOW:
He shrugs broad shoulders, puts on a rueful, crooked smile, and sets down the first bottle to take the glass he's offered by Talise. The more dangerous bottle of the two remains in his other hand. "I like to live dangerously."
While he goes about the process of pouring himself a responsible amount of this potent stuff, he listens to the rest of the conversation unfold, snapping his head up once to look around as the Shepherd is mentioned. "Huh."
He closes the bottle, lifts the glass, takes a sniff of the contents, and lets himself have a small frown. "Maybe the Goddess is just as bored as everybody else over there, and she's moving people who know how to have fun before they all lose their minds." A dry joke. Probably.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna gives Talise a sympathetic look.
"They'll do that. Don't let 'em get to you, aye? Chin up, lass, and remember what's important." With a nod, Layna takes another swig of her drink.
Hm...there certainly were a lot of interesting folk brought here. The Shepherd himself, and a princess, even? And...
"Lucia, aye? Same Lucia with that ridiculous bounty on her head? Figure anyone the Guard's after can't be all that bad." She comments with a chuckle, her expression lightening up a bit.
"Change in leadership...well, they say the Goddess herself has been ordering all these things. Don't know about that, though. I'd say if she was I wouldn't still have my blessing." She explains with a shrug.
And then Noah actually accepts the bottle. She glances back at Talise and returns her grin.
"Nothing wrong with indulging one's curiosity, aye?" She says.
To Noah's supposition, she merely shrugs, smirks, and keeps an eye on him.
"Who can say, aye?"
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
A shadow passes over Talise's face. "Not quite. Althena had disappeared for hundreds of years... there hadn't even been a Dragonmaster, her champion. And then, a few years ago, she suddenly came back."
Lifting her glass, she knocks back a long drink of brandy. She needs it. This one stings. "The first thing she did was started building herself a city. Then she named a new Dragonmaster." Her eyes darken visibly.
"The Dragonmaster was a man named Ghaleon - someone who had been dead for a thousand years."
The statement is chased with a long swig of her brandy. It's like she's trying to wash the statement out of her mouth. Finally she sets the empty cup down, letting out a long rush of breath. "Then she created the Guard and told them to police the world. The year after that, she outlawed music, singing and dancing. I made most of my money singing in taverns. With one decree she ruined my life and robbed me of everything I loved to do. And now the Guard are here, and they haven't let up one bit."
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Tact has taught Ida not to comment on things that may be divisive in polite company, and Lucia is one of them. Sorey thinks she's the Lord of Calamity, a being destined to bring Malevolence to the world--a force that surfaced on Filgaia several months after Lucia did. Are the two connected? Ida knows better than to assume that correlation equals causation by default... but it's unsettling. Deeply unsettling.
"...The Goddess herself?" Ida says, arching a brow. "Is she speaking through a leader, or is this... more literal?" She knows the legends of Granas, of course, but this happened recently, and doesn't have the patina of legend around it. "Why would she do that? Is there something in the scriptures to explain, or...?"
<Pose Tracker> Noah Hawthorne has posed.
The inevitable draining of the glass must wait, because the grim story Talise has to tell stalls it partway to Noah's lips, and he's too caught up in what he hears to follow through. It is highly relevant to his interests. It describes the collapse of the spirit of a world -- sad, sure -- but then she starts talking about how the people responsible for enforcing that state of affairs are starting to cross the gap between that world and his, and that's a whole other revelation.
Because Noah is invested in this world. He lives on it. And he likes fun. Inordinate amounts of it, in fact.
None of that sits well with him. Of course, he's on the outside of most of what this is, so he's able to ask a question that someone leery of political conversation might choose not to. "I was wondering about that. I'm a--" He pauses. Hesitates. Continues anyway, though his tone suggests what he's saying is only part of the truth: "Historian. There's no mention anywhere in still-existing Filgaian record of anything like this Malevolence stuff. Granted, most of our records have been destroyed by one conflict or another, but things this big don't just randomly disappear altogether. And now, suddenly, this kid shows up, holds a meeting at an Inn and talks about the stuff as though he knows everything there is to know about it, and says things like 'where I come from,' and this is your Shepherd."
He gestures at the two from Lunar. "So what's that about? Is this stuff something from Lunar that came with you?"
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna listens to Talise's recounting of history. That was pretty much it. She remains quiet throughout, a somber expression on her face. She could tell it probably hurt to recount all that.
She then glances toward Ida...and shrugs.
"No idea, to be honest. Don't make sense to me." She says.
Then glances towards Noah with a quizzical expression.
"'Malevolence'? Sorry, I, uh, don't know what that is." She replies with a shrug. She...didn't really have a lot of answers! It seemed like there was a lot she had missed out on, but at least they were helping to fill some things in.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
Enough controversy hovers around Lucia and Sorey that Talise has simply abandoned all hope of trying to resolve the situation. She's concluded that both are right and both are wrong and that they'll have to resolve their dispute in their own time - hopefully without one of them dying. She catches Ida's eyes and sighs, shaking her head. "No, they say it's really her. She appeared in virtually every body of water on Lunar to announce she was coming back. If it is her...." She trails off, frowning.
"...If it is her, she's not the Althena I grew up believing in," she concludes grimly.
From Noah's corner come the million-dollar questions Talise wishes she could trot Sorey out to field. "Malevolence seems to have come from us, yeah. There are Hellions who spread it around. Sorey knows more about it than me, but I've encountered a couple of the Hellions - a lot of times they're the subjects of the old ghost stories we tell each other. Like the Trial Knight... and the Pyre Witch." As she explains, her eyes turn towards Layna, bringing her into the explanation. "Most of us aren't Hellions, thank Althena. But...."
Talise shifts against the table and faces Noah again. "...Our history goes back a lot farther than the records from Filgaia that still exist," she explains. "At least four thousand years, maybe five. The old story says that Lunar people originally came from Filgaia - we call it the Blue Star. The Goddess Althena took her followers away to Lunar thousands of years ago to escape a horrible calamity. We all believed that Filgaia was a lifeless place with nothing there."
Closing her eyes, she shrugs. "Then we got here and found you."
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida listens. She hadn't heard that part, and her eyes narrow ever-so-slightly. At least Talise has the good sense to trust her gut when it's telling her something's up. Ida takes another sip of brandy, and studies Noah's reaction--she's heard this before. She hadn't heard the estimated date, though. "...Over four thousand years ago," Ida says. She looks down at the table, and then up at Talise. "You're certain? Because that would put that date..." She glances over at Noah. "Mister Hawthorne, are you at all familiar with the history of the Zeboim civilization?"
<Pose Tracker> Noah Hawthorne has posed.
The words 'Trial Knight' and 'Pyre Witch' mean absolutely nothing to Noah, who may have seen an armored figure at Lahan, but has no context for that sighting at all. To him, the figure in the armor was, and is, 'some bullet-proof wacko who stabbed me for no reason.'
"Filgaia's had a hard time of it," he murmurs, hazel eyes directed down into his glass at the purportedly wicked stuff it contains, though his thoughts are elsewhere. The tick upward and sidelong again when Ida asks him that question, and a phantom of his usual wryness ghosts into place, turning up one corner of his mouth. "Sure. Of course. We have almost as many preserved historical records from the Zeboim era as we do from the period following the Metal Demon wars. Their methods of recording and preservation were infinitely more durable than we've been able to achieve since then. Strange as that may be."
He glances back down into his glass and gives it a neat, precise little flick of the wrist, sending the contents into a whirling spiral. "I'm not about to swallow word-of-mouth history about a whole other planet on faith alone, though, and I don't think you should either." He pauses, then flashes Talise a wider, apologetic smile. "I'm not saying you're lying, don't get me wrong. Just that if I've learned anything about history...as I told a friend of mine recently, it's all stories. And you know how those are."
He finally knocks back his drink, then. The whole thing, all in one go.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Trial Knight? Pyre Witch?
"Y'know, if I hadn't suddenly found my ship and my crew here in the middle of nowhere, I'd think you were pulling my leg, talking about them like that." Layna replied, shaking her head.
"They're real, then, aye? And here, no less? Well, that's reassuring." That warranted another swig of her drink. What a world she'd found herself in. Not that she was afraid, it just showed how messed up things were.
She still didn't get 'Malevolence' or 'Hellions', but it definitely seemed to be pointing in the direction of them being dangerous things that were to be avoided.
Which probably meant she'd be dealing with them herself sooner or later because, really, that's just how these things worked.
The conversation does seem to make Ida realization something, which causes Layna to glance between her and Noah expectantly and curiously.
And then, Noah...downs the entire glass. Layna stares, with a mixture of awe and respect on her face.
The question was, would he actually stay conscious to see it?
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
"I don't have a document to provide it, but that's how far back the stories go. The calendar year is 4066, and it's said Althena arrived a few hundred years before that," explains Talise, setting her empty glass aside. She rakes her fingers through her hair and takes a couple of silent seconds to reorient her thoughts. Dwelling on Ghaleon feels like picking the scab off a sore and letting it fester again. She'd rather avoid it.
"I'm not a historian," she answers Noah with a slight lowering of her eyelids. "I'm a storyteller. But legends often come from a true place. And there's no doubt that Althena, the Dragonmasters and the Dragons are all real. All of us saw Ghaleon flying overhead on the Black Dragon." Her eyes visibly harden as she says the name. It keeps coming up. She really doesn't want to go there. "But I don't have a document for you. Maybe someday I will. But not right now. I don't even know how to get back."
Letting a sigh escape, she stretches her arms above her head, then gives Layna a sidelong look. "Yeah. Fortunately most poeple from Lunar who wound up here are good folk."
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida allows herself a moment of irritation, but it does not show on her face. "It's true that stories do change over time," she says, "but I do think it would be prudent to look into the origins of this particular legend. If it happens to be an unrelated cultural artifact, I will concede the point. If not..." Noah knows exactly what Talise told him when they boarded this ship.
Noah doesn't seem to recognize the name Talise dropped, so Ida elaborates. "K.K. is the Trial Knight. Apparently, they choose people and torment them for poorly-defined reasons."
<Pose Tracker> Noah Hawthorne has posed.
Fumes and vapors spool up through Noah's sinuses, and the heat of the liquor socks him in the stomach in that peculiarly comforting way. His eyes water, lending brightness to irises full of forest hues, and he drags in a heavy sniff to clear his palate, but he does not immediately keel over, so that's something. He sets the glass down very carefully. "How," he says slowly, "Are you allowed to brew something like that, and not have any fun? How does that work?"
He knows it's coming. The intoxication. He's six feet and three inches tall, built to deal and endure punishment, in the prime of his youth and probably the best shape of his life. It's not easy to flatten him with...anything, really. That this is going to leave him hammered on the ride home is more than just a little bit impressive -- particularly in light of the fact that he's spent the last ten years roaming around Filgaia indulging in every last opportunity for hedonism he can.
"Anyway, I'm not saying I don't believe some of it's true. Maybe even all of it's true. I just know I can't verify that, and while it's fine to speculate about possible connections, it's dangerous to assume anything. Right now there's enough 'dangerous' going around as it is."
He gives Ida his gaze again when she begins to explain, but apparently the name 'K.K.' doesn't mean anything to him, either, because his expression remains blank. "Ah."
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
"Glad to hear it, then." Layna replies with a nod. "I'd hate to think living ghost stories and the Guard were all people had as a reference point."
And also hardened criminals, but who was counting, really? She certainly wasn't.
She then glances back to Noah who is...surprisingly still conscious! Layna grins.
"Aye, boggles the mind, don't it?" She replies with a chuckle.
He also makes her feel a bit better about not knowing too much about the situation at hand. She wasn't sure if it was intentional ignorance in regards to the Trial Knight or if the drink was just affecting him that much.
"Well, it's not too important right now. No point in worrying too much, aye? I'm sure it'll get figured out sooner or later." She comments with a shrug.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
"Hey, so long as the Guard doesn't notice, you can have all the fun you want," Talise says, shuttling her more bleak mood aside and flashing Noah a sly smile. "Just don't hit the floor on me, okay? Unless you really want me to have to give you mouth-to-mouth."
She explains, "K.K. is the big knight in white armour who summoned up that monster over in Lahan. I don't know if it's a man or a woman behind the armour, but they're an asshole and you should be wary of them."
Then the thought is thrust aside as she waves her hand and smiles again, reaching out to give Ida's shoulder a pat, then Layna's. "Nah! Enough grim talk for one day. You have a really great ship here, Captain. And I'm really happy to see more people from home. We're looking to go home eventually, most of us; we'll have to stay in touch and see if we find a way."
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Noah isn't falling over. He does look a little dazed, though, as if he just got socked between the eyes with a brick made of finely-aged lead. "More than enough 'dangerous' indeed," Ida says. Her eyebrows rise a bit as Talise mentions--that. Still so forward, Talise! "They all but confirmed they were connected to the Hollow," Ida says. "You didn't toss anything into that sacrificial pyre, did you?"
INTERSTITIAL CUT: A hellionized kraken tries to remove the angry, equally-hellionized bearcat that has, somehow, gotten glued to its tentacle.
"I agree." The change in subject is welcome. "It's a shame to see her grounded. We'll have to see what we can do about getting her seaworthy again, and then about towing her to sea. Lynnai might be able to help with that."
<Pose Tracker> Noah Hawthorne has posed.
Well, that wasn't subtle. Noah's brow makes a bid for his hairline, and he studies Talise sidelong. "That's neighborly of you, but you seem like a nice girl and I've got a terrible reputation, so I'll do the gentlemanly thing and try to spare you." Another quick wink, snuck in at the end.
To gauge from the look of realization that replaces the blank one when she more specifically explains who K.K. is, he's not being willfully ignorant -- he just legitimately did not know. Connection made, his brows dagger inward. "Oh, that prick. I didn't even look at him--" He pauses, considers. "Him?" Not sure. Doesn't matter: "--before he stuck me."
That had been a very bad day.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
So whatever Lahan was, the Trial Knight summoned a monster to fight. Interesting. And Ida mentioned a 'Hollow', as well, whatever that meant.
Layna offers Talise and Ida a grin.
"Aye? Well, in that case, if you need help with anything, let me know. My crew and I will and be there in a flash. We're a tough lot, see." She says with a nod and a laugh.
"And if this 'Lynnai' can help get the Empress back on the sea where she belongs, I'd be glad to help her out, too."
It was the least she could do.
"Cheers then, to new friends and allies!" Layna raises her bottle.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
You're only making it worse, Noah. Talise just laughs, waving a hand in the air and grinning archly. "Geez, I'd better stay away from you, then. I'd hate to play with anyone who has a bad rep. People might start to think I have fun with my life!"
She rises from the table, folding her arms under the curve of her bust and smiling easily back at Layna. "You bet. And if you ever need someone to back you up, just let me know and I'll see what I can do."
Picking up one of the more overpowering liqueurs from the table, she lifts the entire bottle and clinks it against Layna's with a warm laugh. "To new friends and allies! And a fine captain on a fine ship."
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
"Of course," Ida says, with a winning smile. She pours herself another shot of brandy, and raises her glass with the rest of them. "To knowledge, to history, and to fine companions," she says. Clink!
And to Rieseniled and Kalve, Ida thinks, but does not say, please be safe, wherever you are.
<Pose Tracker> Noah Hawthorne has posed.
Noah reaches for his empty glass and lifts it in an empty toast, but he doesn't look for a refill. The man has survived as long as he has because he has more sense than it looks like he has, and this is one of those moments where sense wins out. He's got a long ride back across the desert in the heat and a whole lot of liquor to burn through on the way.
"Cheers. And it was good to meet you, Cap, but I should start back before the sun gets too low. You make it back to civilization, feel free to look me up."
The last comment seems equally shared amongst the three, casually delivered as he sets the glass back down, and readies himself to go.