15[20:06] Back in the trading post, beyond the chaos inland and before the mostly-vacant ships at anchor, the hearth prepares their next move. Dryas leads them, on horseback, her blood running hot with a broken idol under her arm. Out here, the only sign of what they left behind is palm trees swaying madly beneath rust-colored stormclouds. Clean rain washes the blood away. [20:07] 14Are we in formation? We should be in formation-- [20:07] 07Dryas positively beams. "Can we do it again? That's the most fun I've had in weeks." 15[20:07] That's a question for the hearth, and their commander. [20:08] 14Piu: "I'd rather not be disrupting orgies. Well, not like that. What's our formation?" [20:09] 6Zhangyu is impassive. [20:10] "Honorable brothers?" 07Dryas asks the Immaculates. 15[20:11] Salim: "I am not a trained godslayer, nor am I an exorcist." [20:14] 14Piu: "Don't think I haven't noted which one of those you put 'trained' on." 15[20:15] Salim shrugs. "Anything can be killed. To slay a spirit permanently requires special techniques that I lack." [20:15] 14Mmmm. [20:15] "So you don't know them...but you know of them." [20:15] "Useful." [20:16] "We'll take five minutes here." 07Dryas smoothly dismounts. "But if this thing wrecked the settlement and all the ships, we can't just leave it unleashed like this." 15[20:17] The settlement and the ships, it must be noted, are not wrecked. Merely abandoned. [20:18] 14They're not inlaid with jade, so, perhaps a Cynis can't spot the difference. [20:18] 07Damn, you people live like this...? 15[20:18] Not anymore. [20:18] "I don't think we need to mete out some final death. Perhaps just scare it off. For our purposes, at least." [20:19] 14More to Daizo than the others: "We can task a team of god-botherers to come back and finish the job, right?" [20:20] 10Daizo finishes writing in a military-issue field journal, claps it shut, and wraps tthe oilskin jacket around the small book. They're designed for when it's less important that what you write looks pretty and more important that you get it written down for someone at all.  [20:21] 6Zhangyu just continues to frown; this is a problem he cannot grapple with. Literally. Which is a part of the problem. [20:21] 10Daizo: "Salim's right. The techniques exist, but… In a fight, I would be able to hurt this Carmine Road. Very badly, I suspect, enough to send it back to its lair licking its wounds. But not destroy it." [20:23] "Other options, then? What about this thing?" 07Dryas holds aloft the idol. "Can we use this to bargain with it, then? Or seal it up again? I don't want it flinging those bolts at the Defiant, or anyone else, for that matter." [20:26] 4Piu: "We could always listen to it! And compromise!" [20:27] 07Dryas: "Are you volunteering to be a maroon, V'Neef Piu?" [20:27] 10To Piu: "An exorcist would be able to finish the job permanently, but… we're not exactly out here on an official mission." 10To Dryas: "If it's possible to recreate the seal with our abilities. Perhaps Caxi could consult with us." 15[20:28] Salim: "Any plan to kill the spirit will require some means of dragging it to earth. Unless you propose to shoot it alone." [20:28] 10To Piu again, Daizo says nothing, but just raises an eyebrow. 10You kidding? [20:29] 4She grins. [20:30] 14Without changing facial expression: "If you don't learn what it wants you can't learn its weaknesses. If we can't kill it directly we can at least bully it." [20:30] 14Without changing facial expression: "If you don't learn what it wants you can't learn its weaknesses. If we can't kill it directly we can at least bully it." [20:30] 6Zhangyu is nodding now. [20:31] 6Finally, something he understands and has experience in. [20:32] 07Dryas sighs, and pulls a small flask from her saddlebag. "We have the idol, which it values enough to kill. Its followers were totally useless, as far as I can tell." [20:32] 10Daizo: "If it could be tricked into attacking me directly, and not just with thunderbolts… I can teach it humility. Perhaps easier said than done, though." [20:33] "Humility? You could teach it humility?" 07Dryas' interest is piqued. "Servitude?" [20:34] 14Now she grimaces. "Dryas..." [20:35] 6Zhangyu: "Too dangerous," 6he grumbles. [20:36] 10Daizo: "Pfftt. Here, let's have another look at that heart. I barely got to inspect it at all before I had to start throwing it around." [20:36] "We can't very well have a hostile, treacherous god hypnotizing people into doing whatever it wants, in our strategic rear," 07Dryas points out. "But a humble... friendly... spirit...?" [20:36] 07Dryas hands over the idol and takes a swig from her flask. [20:38] "Enslaved doesn't mean friendly. Nor does it mean humble." [20:39] 10Daizo squeezes his eyes shut for a moment. "Perhaps I should put it in less poetic speech. The Earth Dragon style has a technique to briefly lock a spirit into a corporeal form. So we can all beat the shit out of it." 15[20:47] Daizo examines the idol closely. He can't tell what it's made of, or how it was broken, but since it's been shaped to resemble a living human heart clearly some kind of canopic or burial object. It has no natural aperture, so whatever was inside probably wasn't intended to get out. From the extra layer of protection, its residence in some kind of ancient religious site, and the reaction 15[20:47] of the spirit, he deduces that the Carmine Road cult, or whatever makes decisions for the Carmine Road cult, perceives it as a threat. [20:51] 10Daizo: "Anyway, this is the best I can do based on the resources at my disposal. I can't help but feeling I've read something that might be relevant in the Mnemon library, but…" [20:53] 10Daizo: "But I don't think it's the entity Carmine Road is worshipping. Perhaps we should try to bring the leader around. Now that we've moved her out of the sphere of influence, we might be able to get more useful information out of her." [20:54] 4Piu: "I'm willing to try." [20:54] 6Zhangyu: "We can always go back and crush them," 6he agrees. [20:55] "Interrogating her wasn't very productive the first time," 07Dryas observes. "But try and try again, why not?" 15[20:56] Salim: "She's stable, after the spirit moved her. Should I go back and get her?" [20:57] 07Dryas: "Make it so." 15[20:57] Salim bows. "As you please." 15[20:58] He backs into the shadows and he's gone. [20:58] 4Piu: "Hehe. I'm not going to interrogate her." [20:59] 10Daizo: "You trust him to go by himself, Dryas? Bold." [20:59] "Let's turn this into something more suitable and defensible," 07Dryas suggests after Salim disappears into the shadows. [20:59] "What's he going to do?" 07she asks Daizo - "Leave?" [21:01] "Don't tempt fate," 6Zhangyu growls. [21:02] 14Piu: "He could just kill her." [21:02] 10Daizo: "Maybe. I don't think he's placed half his pieces yet." 15[21:03] Most of the buildings here are made of woods and grasses, but the pier office and the Guild outpost are both walled with large, rough stone blocks. The outpost is larger, but the pier is further from the jungle. [21:05] "We should take the Guild outpost," 07suggests Dryas. "But we'll need to recover the harbormaster log to see if there's any other insights we can get on what happened." [21:06] 4Piu: "Okay. I'm going to see if there's still a bedroom in working order. For reasons." [21:08] 6Subtle. [21:08] 10Daizo: "Dragons preserve us. I'll see what we can make some barricades out of?" [21:09] "Unless you'd prefer me to go digging in the harbormaster's office and let Zhangyu do the hauling." 15[21:09] As Dryas moves to occupy the Guild outpost, she finds traces all around of life in progress. Stacks of jade scrip are held under a very fine-looking obsidian paperweight on the front desk, and a glass (a real, clear glass, not the kind of rough mugs people out here typically drink from) of rum ripples with each step inside they take. The ledger should be right behind the counter... 15[21:09] and there it is. [21:09] 6Zhangyu: "Could do it." 6His grin is upsetting. [21:09] 4It's that or pulling fingernails, and you can always pull her fingernails if it doesn't work. Piu won't be party to it though. [21:10] "Zhangyu, you're on the piers. Stay out of trouble." 07Dryas heaves the ledger forth and cracks it open. 15[21:10] Piu has her pick of empty residences with cots, hammocks, and beds - over a dozen, some surprisingly large. What's she looking for? [21:10] 6Blandly: "Always do." 6What trouble could he find, anyway? [21:12] 4Something with sheets and heat. Fireplace preferably, but even a way to build a safe fire pit would be good. This is necessary not just for heating the room but for helping to draw off/use her anima if she needs it. 15[21:12] Daizo, meanwhile, finds a smattering of wagons and stalls he could drag or dismantle to form impromptu barricades... and a disembarked shipment of lumber, lashed to the docks beneath animal skins, snug against the rain. [21:12] 4Ideally she can just compile the best bed situation in a room with a flue. [21:13] 10Beats demolishing these shacks. 15[21:14] There's a tavern-like area recessed into the ground level of the outpost, a few tables and a (cold) firepit. Rough but warm animal skins carpet the floor - and you could always lug bedding from another residence. What does Piu set up? [21:16] 4Fashion a blanket, pillow, and cusion layout atop whatever mattress arrangement is easiest to drag down and is dry, and then set up the fire. Keep the bedding far enough from the fire for safety, but try to pad windows and creaky doors to encourage insulation. Then set up the fire and get it burning. [21:16] 4Is it too much to ask that there's actual liquor about? [21:17] 07Rum in here, darling 15[21:17] The glass of rum on the counter suggests there is, and a search confirms at least three bottles, two open, one about half-drunk. 15[21:19] On his patrol of the piers, Zhangyu is the first to see Salim return, a limp form in his arms. Her head lolled back, most of the flowers fallen away... this is the leader of the cult. Zhangyu notices subtle but telltale markings around her neck as he gets closer - the sign of an expert sleeper hold. [21:19] 4That'll do. She'll place the bottles adjacent enough to the fire to warm them a bit and hopefully refract the firelight enticingly. [21:21] 6Is it one Zhangyu has been taught? There are a lot of ways to apply a sleeper hold, and only some of them are exclusive to the Mantis Style. Or, rather, only some of them can be applied well enough to be called Mantis Style. 15[21:22] You know... that does look like a Mantis hold. [21:22] 6That mother fucker. [21:22] 14Well, this will make things more difficult. [21:22] 14To Salim: "How badly did you hurt her?" [21:23] 6Zhangyu: "Good work! Solid choke." [21:23] 10Blocking off an un-walled town like this isn't going to happen. Best to just establish as secure a perimeter around the Guild outpost as possible. The least sturdy constructions get broken down for their boards and nails. The heaviest of the wagons, in a rough semi-circle facing the jungle. And although it would probably take him a few tries to make a chair, nailing together boards and beams into a rough fence to cover the other [21:23] 10 sides is easy enough. 15[21:23] Salim lays her down on the bed. "Her demeanor changed dramatically when I pulled her a ways away from the center of the storm. She became very aggressive." [21:23] 14Great. 15[21:24] "She is of enlightened Essence, though I couldn't guess what kind from her brief struggle. Perhaps she is of the Blood." [21:25] 14Piu: "That would help. Let me take her inside and...do my thing. If it doesn't work, well. The rest of you can have at her." [21:26] 6Zhangyu: "That's fine. I need to ask Salim about technique, anyway." 15[21:26] Salim glances at Dryas. Does Dryas approve? [21:27] 07Dryas nods. "Don't let her... overcome you," 07she orders, drily. 15[21:28] Salim makes the handoff. [21:28] 4Piu: "Teehee!" [21:29] 4She carries her back to the room, drops her gently on the fur/sheet/cushion pile, and steps away while loosening her sash. How inviting has she been able to make this place? [21:29] 10Outside, Daizo's even setting up a couple of small shielded platforms that Dryas can potentially shoot from. He's getting into this. 15[21:29] It's quite cozy! Especially compared to a jungle raining blood and peopled by a mad god and its cultists. 15[21:31] What is Dryas looking for in the ledger? 15[21:31] Salim steps out into the rain to watch Daizo work. [21:31] 4Hopefully there's some food she can heat up too...? She wouldn't have taken anything, but would have pestered the others for saddlebag access. [21:31] 6Zhangyu's right behind him. "Where'd you learn, anyway?" 15[21:32] Salim doesn't turn to look back. "Hmm?" [21:33] 6Zhangyu: "The hold. Mantis style. So. Who taught you?" [21:33] 6He's being fairly quiet, trying to keep this between himself and Salim, though an attentive listener could hear him. [21:33] 07Dryas is looking for any indication of why this outpost, the town, and the ships in the harbor became abandoned. Any mention of an expedition into the jungle, or an attempted excavation of the idol they have come to possess. She'll also keep an eye out, incidentally, for anything about Nn Tloc and his smuggling operation. [21:36] 10Daizo's doing all of this stuff while still armored up, too. Not too shabby. Although after Master Stormwind's lead-weighted training outfits, the attuned jade might as well not even be there. 15[21:36] The cult leader stirs after only a couple of minutes - like you'd expect from a strong person briefly choked out - and her eyes flutter open to stare directly at Piu watching over her. 15[21:36] "..where am I?" Ah, now she knows High Realm. [21:36] 4Piu: "Guild House. Away from the blood rains. Near a fire." 15[21:38] She shakes her head as if confused, but says nothing. She tries to sit up, fighting the sudden swimming of her head, and squares her shoulders when she does. "Who are you?" 15[21:39] Salim: "I simply derived the techniques independently by studying the movements of mantises." 15[21:42] Dryas pokes through the Guild books with a canny eye... the ledger's entries stop dead about six weeks ago, with the last entries being a deposit of lumber from native traders further up the Archipelago, a trade of molasses for rum from a private vessel registered as the Keystone, and a bulk purchase order first for six hundred bags of grain and six hundred barrels of fresh water, 15[21:42] hastily rubbed out and replaced with 514 bags of grain and 411 barrels of freshwater. [21:43] 4Piu: "I'm V'neef Piu! Serving under Peleps Ratel and in her fleet. We're on assignment, across the sea. We ah...happened across your island. Like this." [21:43] 6Zhangyu snorts. "Right. For self-taught, you're remarkably orthodox. Except for some - minor touches. Placement of the bruises." [21:44] 6He's not wrong, but he is fishing, here. [21:44] 07That's a big order. [21:45] "We had concerns. There was a cult. You were..." 4She shrugs. "Clearly having an orgy, with flowers in your hair." 15[21:45] The woman's eyes widen in naked shock that hardens, word by word, into hate. "Liar. Killer. Tempter! Do what you will, I will die before I betray my command." [21:47] "Grrrreat." 15[21:47] Dryas notes that the Keystone is a ship under Guild banner, one of Nn Tloc's. The trade, molasses for rum... it's code. This vessel was on the same labor-brokerage runs that Dryas herself was offered. As for the staples, the deduction is simple - someone came in looking to place a fleet-feeding requisition, and was forced to sail away only with what the Guild had to spare - or was 15[21:47] willing to part with. [21:47] 4Piu points. "You know you've...still got some of those flowers in your hair, right?" 15[21:49] The woman pushes back with her feet until she's braced against the wall, never taking her eyes off Piu. Slowly she reaches to her hair, coming away with blood-stained petals. 15[21:49] "What... what..." 15[21:49] "What have you done to me?" [21:49] 07Dryas' heart leaps into her throat for a moment. "I think - I think they were here!" 07she marvels. 15[21:49] "What are you?!" 15[21:49] Salim: "Perhaps you could help me refine my technique. I do so love to learn." 15[21:51] Satisfied with his work, Daizo's ready to head inside, or pursue some other goal. [21:52] 4Piu's eyes flash with fire, the sweat on her gleams and the fire in the hearth flares. "I told you who I was. I am V'Neef Piu. I am the privileged blood of Dragons made manifest, and I am servant to them." 4The fire wisps away. "I didn't choke you out though, that was our idiot monk friend Salim. It seems you tried to kill him when dragged away from the orgy." [21:52] 6Zhangyu: "Always do love to learn from a different school." 6He glances around. "No wandering eyes. First to the ground? I was told to stay out of trouble, but I figure a quick spar doesn't count." [21:54] "I would prefer you told me what your name was, and we talked about this like people. Could also drink while we did it. I could bring the others in, or it could be just us." 15[21:57] Salim actually cracks a smile. "I had no idea your cabin fever was so pronounced." [21:59] 10Daizo dusts his hands off, passing Zhangyu as he heads back towards the main outpost. "I thought I heard someone yelling in there. I take it the investigation's going well?" [21:59] 6Zhangyu, dryly: "It's been a trying time." 15[22:00] Salim: "Another time. We should keep sharp in case the situation changes." [22:00] 6Boring. But also, what are you hiding... [22:00] 10He winds up inside just in time to hear Dryas' announcement.  [22:03] 10Daizo: "You found some actual intel? Nice. Commodore's gonna be happy." [22:04] 14Piu: "We haven't killed anyone. We've done a lot of running away, which...isn't in our nature, but we're not mass murderers. I apologize for our setup here. The last time you talked to us, you tried to get us to fuck you. Well. The 'you' that was wearing your face." [22:04] 07Dryas: "Five hundred fourteen bags of grain, four hundred eleven freshwater barrels. It's the last entry in the ledger..." [22:05] "The liquor isn't poisoned. I can drink first. Or we can go outside and walk around if you want the air." 15[22:08] The woman looks from Piu down to the bloody flowers falling through her fingers, drying rapidly this close to the fire. 15[22:08] "...tell me again the name of your commanding officer, please." [22:08] "Peleps Ratel." [22:08] 14On the flowers: "The fire will burn those." [22:08] "There might be other clothes upstairs if you want something less...well." 15[22:09] The woman breathes a quiet laugh, blinking rapidly. "And you... found me by accident?" [22:10] 14Piu: "I...wouldn't say accident. We made a calculated decision to land and then it was all very obvious." [22:11] 10Daizo: "Definitely enough to keep them going until they found another port. Any other notes in the logbook that might be relevant?" [22:13] 07Dryas: "The last three entries were six weeks ago. One, of the fleet. Another, a private trader. And the third, a lumber shipment from the archipelago." [22:13] 10Daizo consults his mental map. Once Once they're done here he can talk with one of the Cathak boys and get them to plot out some possible destinations based on the range of those provisions.  15[22:13] The woman wrings her hands on the slowly drying white robes pooling in her lap. "My name... is Leftenant Peleps Catela. I hold commission to Triumph's Arc, of the Northwestern Armada. My commanding officer is Rear Admiral Peleps Duran." [22:14] 6... [22:14] 14Piu: "Well. That changes things." [22:14] "Want me to get word immediately?" 15[22:14] "Word?" [22:14] 10Daizo: "Found the limber shipment, at least. All wrapped up and protected. I used some of it to build the barricades. Guess we'll have to send a letter of credit to the Guild." [22:15] "To Ratel." 15[22:15] "I--" 15[22:15] Catela hesitates. [22:15] 14Piu: "You don't have to say no. I'll take responsibility." 15[22:15] "I am... not presentable." [22:15] "Go change." [22:16] 4Well this is going swimmingly. 15[22:16] Catela braces against the wall, standing slowly, shaking the flowers from her hair. She passes Dryas, Daizo and the others as she crosses the foyer of the outpost. [22:17] 14Piu will step out afterwards. "Let her be." [22:17] 10Daizo: "Mm. She barely looks like the same woman." [22:18] "The fleet was here!" 07Dryas exclaims, gesturing at the ledger. "Right before whatever happened," 07she adds. [22:19] 14Piu sighs. 15[22:19] Something in the way she moves... Piu only notices it in profile, backlit by the fire. The shape of the jaw, the set of her eyes... 15[22:19] Peleps Catela: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxT9v8reXB0 - We don’t bleed when we don’t fight... 15[22:20] Catela stares briefly at Dryas but hurries into a back room. [22:20] 6Zhangyu is just leaning against the wall at this point. Beating people up, that's easy. Making people do what you want, that's easy too. And yet. 15[22:22] Salim: "She regained lucidity quite quickly." [22:22] 14Piu: "All of the cultists are off limits." [22:22] "She's Blooded." [22:22] "They might be our sailors." [22:23] 07Dryas: "A lost egg? Wait a second, our what?" [22:23] 14Piu: "I told her I'd let her explain. So I will." [22:23] 14She didn't, not quite. But it was what she meant. [22:24] "We could head inside by the fire." [22:24] "Unless you all like this weather." 15[22:26] "None of the vessels in the harbor are flying naval colors," Salim notes. 15[22:26] "If they are Imperial sailors... where are their vessels?" [22:27] 14Did any of those vessels actually look like naval vessels? Because Peleps Duran might have stopped flying those colors. [22:27] 10Daizo: "Perhaps some deserted, and others went after them, and when no one returned, the fleet sailed on." 15[22:27] Hard to say. Piu's not an expert by any means and it's not like she had the chance to study them. 15[22:28] It's dark now, and raining. It'd be hard to confirm either way until morning. [22:28] 14Piu: "They could be in port, not flying naval colors due to desertion. Unless you're an expert Salim...?" 15[22:28] "I am no expert," concedes Salim. [22:29] 10Daizo's going to look for a teakettle. He's got a small pouch of leaves wrapped up with his field journal. 15[22:30] Catela emerges, her hair pulled back, wearing a buff jacket over... a silk gown. "It was the the only thing I could find in any of the packages back there that fit me," she offers by way of explanation. 15[22:30] There's a kettle hanging over the firepit. 15[22:31] The lieutenant looks around the room. "Who is in charge here?" [22:31] 14To Catela: "Do you have any memory of your time gone...well. Gone?" [22:31] 14Piu nods towards Dryas. 15[22:32] Catela, to Dryas: "May I ask your name and rank?" [22:32] 10Oh, this is going to get awkward vety quickly. [22:33] 07Dryas: "Cynis Dryas. Providing special assistance to the Merchant Fleet. You... are a Dynast?!" [22:34] 14Helpfully: "Appointed directly by Peleps Ratel as leader of this expedition." 15[22:34] Catela: "I don't understand. An officer of the navy commanding the Merchant Fleet?" 15[22:35] Her eyes narrow slightly. "It's war, isn't it?" [22:36] 14This one's all Dryas. [22:36] 07Dryas: "Not that I know, thank the Dragons. We stopped here to investigate what happened to this island, before continuing on. Who are you? What happened here?" [22:37] 07Dryas: "Were you with the Guild? Investigating those ruins?" 15[22:39] Catela looks around the room, giving everyone a long glance, before turning back to Dryas. "I don't know," she says. "I remember... dropping anchor. Coming ashore to arrange a resupply. I-- the seas were rough, I don't..." She shakes her head. "Nothing. I remember being dragged through the jungle, held by my throat... waking up here." 15[22:40] "I'm not with the Guild. I don't know anything about ruins." [22:40] 14Piu: "Tell them who your commanding admiral was." 15[22:42] Catela: "I'm a leftenant aboard Triumph's Arc, under the command of Rear Admiral Peleps Duran, in the Northwestern Armada, commanded by Vice Admiral Peleps Furia." [22:43] 10Daizo: "Ah." [22:43] 07Dryas purses her lips for a moment. "I nearly shot you," 07Dryas says as she breaks open her saddlebags for some food to give to Catela, "Just a few hours ago. You were babbling in Seatongue about a Carmine Road. You and about a hundred others. You've been here for six weeks." [22:43] 14Piu: "We need to disrupt whatever is controlling the 'cultists' and recover them." 15[22:45] Catela blanches. "Six weeks??" 15[22:46] "No, that- that can't be. They would have sent someone." [22:46] 14Piu: "Perhaps that's a conversation to have with Ratel." 15[22:46] "Where is the Commodore?" [22:49] 10Daizo: "Onboard the Danaa'd's Defiance, maintaining a safe distance from the island. I—we detected a strange Essence phenomenon in the sky above the island." [22:49] "Aboard our ship, the Da'naad's Defiance. Once we've taken care of whatever's happened here, you'll need to speak with her." 07Dryas glances at Piu for a moment. "What was the mission of Triumph's Arc?" [22:50] 10Daizo can't keep from trying to answer the question and breaks protocol. Whoops. 15[22:51] Catela: "...I'm sorry, that's classified." [22:51] 10Sounds about right. [22:53] 14Piu: "We should take her back to report and arm herself. Then we can assess the situation, plan a way to recover whoever else is out there in the woods." [22:53] "That's my take anyway." [22:54] "...Oh. Just because mind control is a thing here. You're a Dynast, right?" [22:54] "Show us." [22:56] 07Dryas leans back. She never much relished the idea of being torn limb from limb by a sneaky lunar anathema, but doesn't quite expect it now. Better opportunity was before. Then again... death is everywhere. [22:56] "I showed you." 15[22:57] Catela frowns, but she pulls the ladle from the nearby water barrel and tips it onto the floor. A gentle breath, and the falling stream splits into two, then four, then eight before splattering onto the ground. 15[22:57] "Satisfied?" [22:58] 14Piu: "Yep. Let's get her back." [22:59] "I don't know if we can risk splitting up," 07Dryas observes. 15[23:00] Catela: "Why would we split up?" [23:00] 10Daizo: "I'd prefer not to leave the heart unguarded or bring it anywhere near the ship, in case it bears any unknown influences. Perhaps we can build a signal fire?" [23:01] 14Piu: "Agree with Catela and Daizo. There's no reason not to move in numbers, and meet inland. [23:01] " [23:03] "Alright. Let's do it," 07Dryas responds. [23:04] "I can scout." [23:09] 10Daizo: "I found a couple jars of black turpentine in one of the wagons. Ought to burn well even in this." [23:12] 07Dryas leads the way, and with some assistance, sets a great fire to catch the attention of the Defiance. 15[23:13] The fire goes up, burning red in defiance of the storm. A few minutes pass, and a single gout of white flame rises from deep in the dark of the harbor. A response. 15[23:13] Maybe twenty minutes later, a new cadre arrives, cloaked and cowled though the rain falls around rather than upon them. [23:14] 4Piu tends the fire. 15[23:14] Commodore Ratel enters the outpost first, dropping her hood and shaking her hair free. "Report," she says, looking up for Dryas and locking eyes directly with Catela. 15[23:14] Catela, stiffly: "...Commodore." 15[23:14] Ratel, stiffly: "...Leftenant." 15[23:15] Then she turns to Dryas proper. "Report." [23:18] 07Dryas does not hesitate, but nor does she salute or stand to military attention. "We made contact with a hundred or so men and women in the forest, who attempted to entice us regarding something called the Carmine Road. Pressing deeper into the jungle, we discovered a partially excavated idol and a vengeful spirit, which we evaded..." [23:20] 07Continuing: "The island was deserted about six weeks ago. The last entry in the Guild outpost ledger is for the resupply of the Northwestern Fleet. Peleps Catela here we recovered from the clutches of the cult, which indicated it was worshipping something called the Carmine Road. It had overthrown the leftenant's mind and pressed her towards its own ends. Once we got her out here, she came back to normal after a little while." 15[23:22] Ratel's eyes wander the room as she thinks, stopping everywhere but on the Leftenant. "Is she still bewitched?" she murmurs to a cowled figure beside her. 15[23:22] That figure unhoods, revealing themselves to be Caxi. [23:23] 14Piu: "Carmine Road." 15[23:23] Catela: "You--!" [23:23] "Not the Carmine Road." [23:23] "Might be important--" 15[23:23] Caxi gives her a sour smile. "My hands are right here." [23:23] 10Daizo nods. "Yeah. It was spoken as a name, not as a title—" 15[23:23] Catela meets Ratel's eyes again. She scoffs gently. [23:24] "Thank you, darlings," 07Dryas takes the correction with grace. 15[23:24] Catela: "Carry on, witch." [23:24] 10Oh. There's some history here, clearly. 15[23:25] Caxi produces a polished silver mirror and tilts it toward Catela, murmuring under her breath. "She's not being ridden," Caxi says, clapping the mirror shut. "Anymore. Your memory will come back over the next few days, I expect." [23:27] 10It's a relief to know that even the imperious Caxi doesn't have a better technique for seeing spiritual influence than Daizo does.  [23:28] 07Dryas: "We recovered an idol, which Tepet Daizo believes is of some importance to the malignant spirits of this island." [23:32] 4Piu, to Caxi: "Oh, I could have told you that." 15[23:34] Caxi: "Show me the idol." [23:34] 10Daizo has the Heart in a straw-cushioned wooden box now. "Whatever Carmine Road is, I believe it—or they—are separate from the entity which was most likely sealed in this vessel." [23:35] 10Daizo slides the box along the table. If this thing disappears into Caxi's clutches like the demon did… [23:36] "Have a look. There doesn't appear to be a presence within it at the moment, but this is why we were hesitant to merely come back aboard." 15[23:37] Caxi turns the idol over in her hands, a thin smile curling her face from edge to edge. "Beautiful..." 15[23:38] "It was damaged this way when you found it?" 15[23:38] "And the spirit is nearby?" [23:39] "That's how we found it, partially dug up. The spirit is nearby, yes," 07Dryas explains. [23:40] 10Daizo nods. "The damage was there, yes. It appears to be confined to the area of the jungle, so Dryas was able to escape its attacks on horseback. The streaks of red lightning in the sky are actually flowing along the veins of the Essence lines." [23:40] "Or perhaps the other way around." 15[23:41] Caxi: "We should leave immediately, and come back with an exorcist. A strong one." 15[23:41] Flatly, to Catela: "You should not have survived being pulled from this creature's grasp." 15[23:41] "I have no idea how you did." 15[23:41] "Certainly not strength of will." 15[23:42] Catela: "Oh, to have the ambition of a concubine." [23:42] 10Harsh. 15[23:42] Caxi's eyes flash. "You can't even begin to im--" 15[23:42] Ratel: "Enough." [23:42] 4Piu: "Please don't fight!" 15[23:42] "Enough." [23:43] 10Daizo: "That's what she said… in the jungle. Don't fight." [23:43] 10Indicating Catela.  [23:43] 4Piu: "She was right. We can resolve this without fighting the 'cultists.'" 15[23:44] Ratel: "Is the idol dangerous?" 15[23:45] Caxi: "Terribly. But it's inert, and beyond our ability to repair. The material alone is worth ten times its weight in jade, however." 15[23:46] Ratel: "If these are our sailors, we can't abandon them." 15[23:47] Caxi: "To the contrary, we must, unless whatever broke the spell over the Leftenant is repeatable." [23:47] 10Daizo: "What is it? I wasn't able to identify the substance." [23:47] 07Dryas: "I led the spirit on a merry chase through the jungle when we uprooted it. If we did it again, led it away from its thralls, could we do it again?" [23:49] 10Daizo: "Do you think it's likely to respond to provocation in the same way a second time?" [23:50] 07Dryas: "Why wouldn't it? It wanted the idol, we still have the idol." 15[23:50] Caxi: "You don't understand. The people this thing takes--" she shakes the idol for emphasis. "--are all but gone, merged into a single miasma. One mind. One spirit. No wonder they couldn't keep their hands off each other. Catela should have died when you pulled her away from the creature." [23:50] 14Is someone else going to point out that Caxi's theory of action is completely unsupported by evidence? 15[23:50] To Catela: "I'll need to examine you more about the ship." 15[23:50] Catela: "Like hell!" 15[23:50] Caxi: "If you like." [23:51] 14Because sadly Piu is fucking her. [23:52] 07Dryas: "We're going to just let this... thing... exist? Keep on doing what it's been doing?" 15[23:53] Caxi: "What do you propose? Killing the innocents?" [23:53] 10Daizo, on the other hand, is going to try and catch files with honey instead of vinegar. "You were able to deduce all that from five minutes' inspection? As one student to the other, Caxi, could I ask you to share your reasoning?" 15[23:53] Caxi: "Do you know what this is made of?" [23:54] 10Daizo: "No. Please enighten me." 15[23:58] Caxi: "Among the world's blackest necromancers there exists the art of pressing tormented souls - souls lost to Lethe, lost to the cycle of rebirth - into solid steel. This 'soulsteel' is one of the Five Classical Magical Materials, used in the creation of daiklaves, goremauls, so forth. But see how it's black inside, and charred at the crack? That's not soulsteel anymore - it's 15[23:58] practically coal." 15[23:59] "Whatever was inside this thing was eating it, drinking it dry, over a period of... I don't know. Hundreds, maybe thousands of years." [00:01] 4Piu: "So are we just gonna...sacrifice...everyone else out on the island? Like, they might be our sailors..." 15[00:01] "And you say you found a cult, enslaved by the creature once bound within... no discernible will of their own, no motivations but survival and gratifying themselves." 15[00:01] Catela scowls. [00:03] 10Daizo: "Obviously we've all heard of soulsteel, dull and useless though it may be for most purposes. But wouldn't it stand to reason that a creature feeding on deathly energies present itself in a less… festive manner?" [00:04] "The bloody rain and red lightning don't match up with the practices of the cultists. It's all very puzzling." 15[00:05] Caxi: "You could live off maggots and grubs for months and it wouldn't make you a bird. This creature - Carmine Road - was subsisting on rations. I couldn't guess what was supposed to happen when the soulsteel was bled dry. Maybe it was never supposed to remain imprisoned that long." 15[00:08] Caxi: "For the Leftenant to survive with this much of her mind intact... a subtle knife indeed must have cut the link. Or perhaps the search for the Empress has exposed her to direr things yet, and left her hardy. But then how did she succumb in the first place?" 15[00:08] Catela is stunned. [00:08] 10Daizo: "At the very least, I believe this phenomenon merits further investigation. At least until Catela's memories begin to return and we can, perhaps, get a fuller picture of what happened here." [00:10] 10Daizo: "The what-" 10He nearly chokes on his tea, splutters. "That's what the Northwestern Fleet has been doing?" 15[00:12] Caxi: "So you want to sit here and wait? No, that doesn't make any sense. We get help now, or we kill them gently ourselves - again now- and-- what?" 15[00:12] "You didn't know?" 15[00:12] She looks at Piu. "Were we not all briefed?" [00:13] 14Piu says nothing, but she gets flat eyes back. Piu isn't undersigned this. [00:13] *14undersigning [00:14] 10Daizo: "I was toldthis was a mission to locate Peleps Furia. Only that, and…" [00:16] 10Now the weight of duty feels like he's put on three lead-lined practice outfits. 15[00:17] All eyes, pair by pair, eventually turn to the Commodore for guidance. 15[00:18] NEXT TIME: Life's prime want