15[20:56] Well... you've got a ship now. The Prolix & Terse is low and sleek in the water, and the process of pulling the crew of the old Defiance onboard is slow-going, as the deck looks slick and many of the crew are superstitious about jade vessels. So over the several hours it takes for Samperson to get people on board, (and peel them away from massage parlors and buffets, make sure 15[20:56] they're only stealing things that won't draw the proprietor's wrath, etc) the Commodore spreads a weirdly outdated map of Creation on the work table in her new ready room, with a series of pins already stuck in. 15[20:57] Whatever. You get it. "So where to?" Ratel is soliciting suggestions, views, etc. [21:02] 14Piu: "Ordinarily I'd say Abalone...but there's no chance sneaking ashore in this bad boy, is there." 15[21:04] Ratel shrugs. "It's a big island. We could find a spot. Might be a hike to civilization from there, and then what? What are we doing underground in Abalone?" 15[21:04] "Did the Falen thing go so bad you think we're fugitives now?" [21:05] 07Dryas: "We need one or two things before we make Abalone." 07She stabs a point on the map. Puto-On-Neck. [21:05] 14Piu: "Oh, I'm not thinking about Falen. I'm thinking about Nn Tloc." 15[21:05] Ratel: "With the big stupid baby head?" 15[21:05] "We don't need to hide from him, do we?" [21:06] 07Dryas: "Only long enough to put one of these moonsilver arrows in his forehead." [21:06] 14...Piu thought they'd discussed this with her? They're certainly not keeping secrets from Ratel. Well, not secrets the whole hearth knows, like the deal with the master of the Keystone. 15[21:07] She knows about your feud with the Guild, but apparently it's not obvious to her what sneaking around accomplishes given that. [21:07] 14Oh. [21:07] 14Piu: "Well, there's some things we'd like to accomplish before kicking off crime war in the streets." [21:08] 07Dryas: "Once that happens, his trade in flesh, jade, and unholy magic falls to me by right of conquest. I'm trying to get the pirate-lords staying here on board with the plan. We've got the Red Fraction to strike the Lintha that Nn Tloc is using to move around his cargo." [21:08] 07Dryas: "Because unlike half the other Dynasts in this direction, I'm not selling Onyx the blades to slit our own throats." [21:10] 07Dryas: "We could go straight back. We would have surprise on our side. But we might be so weak afterwards that the Eel picks us off." [21:10] 14Piu: "Those can wait, I suppose. I say we head to Putu-on-Neck, yes...but make a detour first. Here. Jiewei. A bit of a cruise, but recall the description from Daizo's notes: Shogunate-era ruins with black jade spires. We're in the market for more Shogunate-era boons, given that we control the local dreaded outpost. [21:11] 07Dryas runs her hand along the glowing jade. Prolix & Terse is a strange ship. [21:12] 07Dryas: "We should make our last appointment here at least. There's one crew we haven't met, right? Plus those weirdos following me around." 07They aren't here, are they? 15[21:12] On your ship? Absolutely not. 15[21:12] There is one standing on the dock outside, though. [21:12] 4Piu sighs. "Right." [21:13] 6As much as Zhangyu wants to head back to Abalone, they both make good points. "Jiewei, then Putu-on-Neck, then Abalone? Bit of a roundabout trip, but suppose it can't be helped. [21:13] 4Piu: "I'll also go around to the captains we befriended and let them know we have a new ship!" 15[21:13] Ratel takes in a deep breath. "Governor Budokan will have resources for us, and plenty, if we can bring him in on what we're doing. It's also an ideal staging point for any incursion into Principality waters." 15[21:14] "If Furia's to be believed... they've got the Empress." 15[21:14] "Which means if and when she's ready to fight, she'll want to stop there too." [21:15] 14Piu stays silent. [21:17] 07Dryas: "I've begun drafting more plans for Abalone. You remember the forest where we acquired our namesake?" [21:19] 07Dryas unfurls some parchments detailing figures and plans. "Even if it is Wyld-touched, I recall it was good timber. And rich soil beneath. Wyld taints notwithstanding. Timber makes ships, soil makes food." 15[21:19] Ratel: "A Wyld jungle fortress?" 15[21:20] "That... makes sense, I suppose." [21:20] 07Dryas: "Maybe that new little god in Hamoji can help us out, somehow." 15[21:21] Ratel: "Daizo can butter him up." 15[21:21] About the route: "I wish I knew what they were actually digging up out near the Pole. It could be an earthshaking discovery, but it could be a waste of time. Takoye's track record is not spotless." [21:25] 07Dryas: "Did you know, I met him at Nn Tloc's mansion? He was quite pleased with himself when I saw him there." 15[21:25] Ratel: "You should see some of the shit he's tried to foist on the Navy." [21:26] 14Piu: "We're still getting ahead of the game; it's still the rainy season. We've time to spend." 15[21:27] Ratel: "Though in this ship, we don't give a shit about weather or currents anymore. Have you been down to the engine room? It's a marvel. Caxi says it's pre-Shogunate." [21:29] 14Piu: "Another point in checking out those ruins. Old works like old works. At the very least it'll pique Takoye's curiosity." [21:30] *in favor of 15[21:31] Ratel looks to Dryas. "What do you think?" [21:33] 07Dryas: "It works for me. Whatever we deny Skullstone now is something they don't throw at us later, right? Although I'm concerned about the possibility they'd use Her Supreme Majesty as a hostage. Why haven't they done so already?" 15[21:33] Ratel: "I don't know. It worries me too." 15[21:33] "You don't think..." 15[21:33] She trails off. [21:34] 14Piu: "Furia could always be wrong." [21:34] "She doesn't seem to be in the fullest control of her faculties." 15[21:34] Ratel: "Yeah. She might not be there at all. Or... she might not be a prisoner." [21:35] 07Dryas: "What would you have to do to someone like Garnet to get her to do that?" 15[21:37] Ratel: "I don't know. But Garnet's very different from the Empress. She's hot-headed, sulky. Braver than she is confident. So if she is a past echo of the Empress, then Her Imperial Majesty changed a lot even before she vanished. Who knows what she's like now." 15[21:38] Ratel lefts her head. "Daimon?" 15[21:38] The lights pulse gently, and that high, hoarse voice comes in. "Yeees?" 15[21:39] Ratel: "How fast can you get us to Jiewei?" 15[21:39] She taps the pin in the map. "You can see this, right?" 15[21:39] The daimon: "Of course. One moment, let me calculate." 15[21:40] The lights pulse again, green-white, then white-blue, then blue-green and back. "I'm joking. I worked it out instantly. 74 hours." 15[21:41] Ratel: "Not much of a detour, then." 15[21:42] To the others: "We have an itinerary, and a heading. How much more time do you need here?" [21:42] 4Piu: "Enough time to meet one mysterious broker-captain-guy and collect Rinca." 15[21:44] Ratel: "Is he going to be mad about the detour? You promised him passage to Abalone, right?" [21:46] 4Piu: "I'll find a way to get him over it." 15[21:49] Ratel chews her lip thoughtfully. "Very good. You're all dismissed. I'll see to the crew and make sure we're stocked as best as this tourist trap can do for us. I doubt that unctuous little shit kept a full larder." 15[21:50] "We'll reconvene for departure in three hours." [21:50] 4Piu: "Sounds good!" 15[21:53] So there's the little crewmember of the Petrel, yellow eyes peeking out from beneath that carmine hood, waiting to take you to the meeting you arranged. Rinca's still on the Saucer somewhere. What's priority one? [21:55] 07Dryas draws herself up and looks down on - him, it, them, her: "Who are you?" [21:55] 14Sounds like the Petrel is. 15[21:57] Him, it, them, her: "From the Petrel. You wished to speak with us." 15[21:58] The voice is hard to place. Could be any gender; sort of damp and throaty. The rheumy voice mortals who love tobacco sometimes get. [22:00] 07Dryas: "You? Well, alright. Yes. We did. We need ships and skilled captains for what's coming next. Do you want to speak in my suite before we check out?" 15[22:01] The voice: "The Captain is awaiting your return." [22:04] 4Piu: "We shouldn't keep...them waiting!" 15[22:04] Upon Dryas and Piu's return, they see two ranks of the little yellow-eyed Petrel-people, maybe a dozen in all, in various veils, hoods, and cowls formed up in the foyer of the high-end suites. Their leader is maybe half-again as big, and their height plays up because of theiir tall flax-colored hat. Golden eyes are barely visible beneath its enormous brim. "Lady-Dryas. Lady-Piu." 15[22:05] Hard to tell if they're bowing or if the brim of the hat is just slipping down a bit. 15[22:05] This one sounds more clearly feminine, as well. 15[22:08] Inside the suite, should Dryas invite them, she'll find that maids have already been in, and made a good effort of rendering the suite available for the next customer without disturbing any of Dryas's things. The only clear spot of mess remaining is the big, sleek, dark mouse gnawing through a loaf of bread on a table, crumbs spraying everywhere like dust from a working saw. 15[22:09] "My name is Vivi," the captain says. "The Petrel is my family." 15[22:09] Lintha Od Vivi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8u9L3xHDrk&t=94s - Такого как ты не должно быть рядом когда мы единым идём отрядом. // Move in time with us or stand aside. [22:09] 07Dryas gasps in audible disgust, as one does when one sees a mouse in your hotel room. [22:10] 4Piu gives Dryas a look. [22:11] 4Rude! [22:11] 4I mean yes it is disgusting. But we're diplomats for the moment! [22:12] 07Dryas: "Please, step into the study. Drink?" 15[22:12] Vivi follows. "Saltwater?" [22:13] 4Piu: "...We can have some sent in!" 15[22:13] Vivi: "Thank you!" Vivi's entourage seem content to wait outside. 15[22:15] She picks a flying crumb off the brim of her hat. "Cynis-Dryas of the Drifting Leaf, yes?" [22:15] 4Piu will happily update that register, but she gets the feeling Dryas will want to herself. [22:15] 07Dryas: "I am that ship's mistress, yes. Are you kin to Kowai Lintha Meretine?" [22:15] 4Boo. 15[22:17] Vivi: "Yes. She spoke of you as a fair dealer." [22:22] 07Dryas: "I do my best. Tell me, are you of another House?" 15[22:23] Vivi: "We are not like your Dynasty, Cynis-Dryas. The Lintha are one family." 15[22:23] "Did she say otherwise?" [22:27] 4Piu wasn't there for that conversation, so she'll mostly just play hostess here. [22:28] 07Dryas: "We did not have too much time for conversation about our respective families. Mostly a discussion of our mutual source of employment." 15[22:29] Vivi: "The Factors." [22:31] 07Dryas nods. "Do you have experience with them as well?" 15[22:31] Vivi: "Of course. They buy and sell in every port." 15[22:31] "Not preferred. Chiselers. But mostly they pay." [22:34] 07Dryas leans in. "Our bread-loving guest also met Meretine, perhaps. Or someone in her business. Do you know about that?" 15[22:34] The mouse stops chewing. 15[22:35] Vivi: "Peripherally. We're not kitted for live cargo." 15[22:35] "Is that safe?" The tip of the hat bobs in the direction of the mouse on the table. [22:37] 07Dryas leans back. "Ask my sister. Anyway. The Factor of Abalone offends me, and his business offends me. That said, I don't want to offend your kin, of course." [22:37] 4Piu: "He's fine, he's just being a chore." [22:37] 4To the rat: "I'm going out to the balcony. And then, maybe, to the baths." 15[22:37] The mouse's tail twitches. 15[22:38] Vivi: "You don't have the standing to give offense. But are you not in the same business?" [22:38] 4She heads out to the balcony. Not much to talk about with Vivi, anyhow. 15[22:40] The mouse scurries off as well. Piu's joined on the balcony in short order. "What're you doing with these Lintha freaks?" 15[22:40] The tone is less hostile than the phrasing. 15[22:40] As if you might have a perfectly reasonable thing to be doing with these Lintha freaks, actually. [22:41] 07Dryas smiles cryptically. "An ancient proverb: 'If thine eye offends thee, pluck it out.'" 15[22:42] Vivi: "We have no love for the Factors. There will always be buying and selling. And you've been vouchsafed." 15[22:42] "What do you trade?" [22:43] 4Piu rolls her eyes. "Keeping options open." [22:43] 4The eye-rolling is at the Lintha, not at Rinca. [22:43] "I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is, we have a ship, and it's quite a good one." 15[22:44] Rinca grumbles. "That's pretty good news. The bad news must be pretty bad too." [22:47] 4Piu: "Well, I'm a woman who likes keeping her word. And my word was passage to Abalone. But since the new ship is black jadeclad that can ford any stormy weather, the rest of my heart wants to run up to Putu-on-Neck now...because there's probably a fight waiting for us when make port in Abalone." [22:47] "I can still see about running you over there and like, sailing past at night, so you can jump out and swim ashore." 15[22:50] Rinca, noncommittally: "I don't necessarily need to bail right away. If there's room." 15[22:50] He looks at her. "Is there?" [22:51] 07Dryas: "A new arrangement for a new time. We have enemies who need to be harassed. The factors, mostly. And we have cargo, not live, that needs to be moved, without too many questions being asked. For now, boring stuff. Soon, interesting stuff. You're a smuggler more than a buccaneer, is that right?" [22:53] 4Piu grins. "There is." 4She softens it slightly. "You should know I already have an...entanglement. With the Chief Petty Officer. And I don't intend to break it off, just like I don't intend to needlessly constrain you. I mean, unless you're into that. I know I am." 4A bit more seriously: "But I didn't want that coming as a surprise, or for him to end up with his arms ripped [22:53] off. He can't pop them back on." [22:54] "He'll handle it professionally." 15[22:54] Vivi: "Smuggling is a very political word. We're an import/export business." 15[22:54] "I don't like politics." 15[22:55] Rinca exhales. "I'm guessing you already had this conversation with him." [22:55] 4Piu: "I did." 15[22:57] Rinca looks out over the ocean. His nose twitches in thought. "Yeah alright. This is more fun than what I'd be doing anyway. I'm in 'till it gets weird." 15[22:58] "You want to lay odds on how long that is?" [22:58] 07Dryas: "We may have opportunities for live cargo as well. Do your Kowai kin ever deal with passengers, real passengers? I don't mean what my Cynis kin deal in." 15[22:58] Vivi: "Stowaways. Exiles. Princelings fleeing law and chaos both. They pay well." [22:59] 4Piu: "Well in bed we can go as fast or as slow or as hard as you want. If you mean in general...well, our first destination is Jiewei, to see some Shogunate ruins. And then we might be heading for round two with the bitch who destroyed our last ship." [22:59] "We're much better prepared this time around. But, she has a sky demon." [22:59] 07Dryas: "We may need their service as well. Meretine did well to give me a good recommendation, I would like to bring her business in turn. If her arrangements are not exclusive?" 15[23:01] Vivi: "You'd have to ask her. I can tell you she's a good worker when she wants to be." 15[23:03] Rinca: "I remember the sky demon. That was a bad time." A pause. "I gotta ask you: what are you all actually doing out here? I thought you were a Realm ship, but, uh. Facts don't seem to bear that out." 15[23:03] "Kinda intense for pirates, though." [23:04] 07Dryas: "As for you. What's your price? We will be in Abalone soon. Not right away, but soon. After that, you can consider it a friendly port. No more chiselers." 15[23:06] Vivi: "We don't like to make trouble. But sometimes trouble finds us. You know, business. A commitment to protection would go a long way. Mutual defense." [23:13] 07Dryas: "Well, like I said. I'm getting out of the Factor's business. It won't be a clean break. But I know who my friends are. Those I love, prosper. And those I hate come to harm." 07Well, they eventually will, ostensibly. 15[23:13] Vivi: "What do you love, then?" [23:14] 4Piu: "Well, we were a Realm ship. We got accused of killing the volcano god, and my hearthsister decided she didn't like being a slaver, and my hearthbrother abandoned his vows to consort with demons, and my other hearthbrother fell in love with a man who poisonously hates the Realm, and well, when you get right down to it, I've always harbored a seething little ball of hatred for [23:14] it myself. And then our Realm ship was destroyed. And now the Realm is on the verge of civil war." [23:15] 4Piu: "So I would say that now we are, mainly, keeping our options open." 15[23:16] Rinca: "You know what I don't get? If nobody likes the Realm, why is it still like that?" [23:16] 14Piu: "But if I see Cynis Falen again, I'm going to kill her." [23:17] 4Piu: "I guess everybody just hates everybody else's idea of what it should be instead more." 15[23:17] Rinca: "You should call it the Jade Pact then." [23:17] 4Piu: "Hee hee." [23:21] 07Dryas: "I thought you hated politics?" 15[23:22] Vivi: "There's no love in politics. If you're squabbling with people you love, that's called family." [23:25] 07Dryas: "Hearth, Garden, even the House. Actually, that makes me sound almost like a peasant when I list them all out like that." 07She finds it droll, rather than scandalizing. 15[23:26] Vivi: "As long as you spend like a princess." 15[23:27] Rinca: "Well... I'll go check out the boat. Maybe I'll see you in the baths later." [23:28] 07Dryas: "That, my dear Captain Vivi, I can guarantee. We have some trade now, we will have much more soon. Ports in Abalone, and I will have people in Bittern. There are some secret coves here and there."07She dearly needs people in Bittern. "Do we have an accord?" 15[23:29] The brim of Vivi's hat bobs a couple of times. "I look forward to working with you, Cynis-Dryas of the Drifting Leaf." [23:29] 4Piu winks, which is really all the invitation he should need by now. [23:30] 4She's looking forward to having her own cabin again. Caedus will likely be put out, but it'll make directing traffic with Rinca a lot easier. Besides, he was probably getting tired of the looks the rest of the crew were giving him anyway. [23:31] 07Dryas: "Excellent." 07She sweeps back in to the main chamber, making the appropriate goodbyes. 15[23:35] The baths are pretty busy right now, but there are a couple of people leaving on the same boat she is who've managed to get one to themselves, and they'll likely be done before her. In fact, Caxi and Sadako are just getting out, leaving Seiri. The atmosphere's a bit frosty, figuratively and literally, but the steam melts Caxi's anima before long. [23:36] 4Well, if the water's too cool, Piu can just heat it up. 15[23:38] Seiri's eyes were closed, and they snap open as she feels the temperature change. "...Lady Piu." [23:40] 4Piu: "Hey! Oh, sorry. Did you like it cool? I can stop." 15[23:40] Apparently the Sunlit Thousand has already shipped out. Something about an incident at the all-you-can-eat crab buffet. But Dryas can find the Red Fraction continuing to spend away their latest take at the gaming tables. Shen, from old House Iselsi, gives her a courteous smile. Definitely a well-trained Realm boy. 15[23:41] Seiri: "No, it's fine, I like it better warm." 15[23:41] "...how are you?" [23:42] 4Piu: "Enjoying these baths for thankfully the last time. The Saucer has been the height of luxury, but I'll be glad to put it behind us." 15[23:42] Seiri: "Me too. Do we know where we're headed next?" [23:43] 4With satisfaction: "Jiewei." 15[23:43] Seiri: "Out by the Pole? I remember looking that up with Master Daizo, gosh, it feels like months ago." [23:44] 4It's probably getting close to a month now. 15[23:47] After another pause, Seiri ventures: "...I owe you an apology. I was terribly angry earlier, and I regret how I felt. I regret what I said. It wasn't fair. I'm sorry." [23:49] 07Dryas makes her way out and gives a graceful nod to the crew in turn, before checking over her shoulder just a bit conspicuously. "Good evening. Ah, one word of update. The Petrel. They, specifically, are on board. And, if you should come across captain Kowai Lintha Meretine, please do your best not to destroy her." 15[23:50] Eska looks up from her folded arms as Dryas approaches, and groans when she speaks. "We have to tell them apart now?" [23:50] 4Piu: "Huh? Oh, the pit fighting comment. Well, I already made you feel bad about it once, kinda unfairly, so I won't have you continuing to feel about it now!" [23:50] "But apology accepted. And thank you." [23:51] *feel bad about it 15[23:51] Seiri smiles weakly. [23:53] 07Dryas gestures magnanimously. "I would not ask if I did not have faith it was well within your capability." 15[23:53] "How do you think we're doing?" Seiri asks a bit later. "The crew. The... whatever our mission is now." 15[23:54] The Pneuman nods. "Understood. We can be chirurgical when we need to be." 15[23:54] Shen: "The competent kind, not the kind where people bleed out on the cot." [23:55] 4Piu: "The mission, to me, is to survive and thrive now. To the extent we've failed at all, it was losing people to Furia. We're gonna make sure that doesn't happen again." 15[23:55] Seiri: "Do you think that's possible?" [23:56] 4Piu: "I care a lot more about stopping the undead from taking over this archipelago than I do, like, appeasing some Realm matrons back home." 14Hard to figure out if that's technically a lie or not. [23:57] 07Dryas smiles. "Good, good. We will be putting off soon. Anything else I, or any of the Fangs, can do for you?" 15[23:58] Eska looks at the Pneuman with big mock-puppy-dog eyes. The Pneuman frowns behind his dark lenses but grunts nomcomittally. 15[23:59] Eska, immediately: "I gotta ask: what happened to Sadako? She's a lot different now. A lot healthier. Bitchier, too." 15[23:59] Seiri: "I meant... not losing anyone else." [00:00] 4Piu: "To the best of my ability. If it were up to me, we never would have steered into that flotilla. But it wasn't." [00:00] "I don't think it's possible to go through life and never lose anybody, though. No." [00:01] 07Dryas thinks back to those drowned, dead eyes; the time an assassin of Heaven itself put a garrote around her neck and pulled hard enough to strangle an ox; her arms and legs sprouting from the grave-dirt at the Witch of the Far Side's hut. She smiles a wide smile. 15[00:01] Seiri nods. "Sometimes things just happen that none of us can control." Then: "Do you remember, back in Abalone, when we went up the mountain to the Witch of the Far Side?" [00:01] "Even safe lives aren't insulated against loss." [00:01] 4Piu nods. 15[00:02] "The vision you saw, do you believe it's true?" 15[00:02] "Literally true, I mean." [00:02] 4Piu pauses. "I think that...the more time passes, the more convincing it becomes." 15[00:03] Seiri: "Yeah." 15[00:03] She sinks a little lower in the water. "Yeah." 15[00:04] Shen: "All right then. Keep your secrets." [00:04] 4She won't ask what Seiri saw. If she did, she'd be asked to reciprocate. [00:04] 07Dryas: "Her teeth are marvelous, aren't they?" [00:06] 07Dryas: "Between you and me, if you promise not to tell any monks, I think she died. But, as you saw, she's much better now. But, you tell me, who was she before she was a ward of a Princess of Earth? Daughter of a sorcerer, sickly? Sweet?" 15[00:08] Seiri, it seems, takes Piu's silence as an opening all its own. "I can't tell this to Master Daizo. I tried telling Sadako and she thought it was stupid. But if you believe in your vision..." [00:08] 4Piu: "Go on." [00:08] 4Sigh. [00:09] 4Kids. 15[00:09] Shen nods. "Sweet in the way of rotting things. Old Mushan's only daughter. She had a wasting disease. He kept sending us on jobs to get weirder and weirder things for his experiments." [00:10] 07Dryas: "What about her mother?" 15[00:12] Shen and the Pneuman exchange a glance. But it's Eska who says: "What mother? That kid was demon-made." 15[00:12] "That's why she came out wrong, I figure. Like when a cake collapses in the oven?" 15[00:13] Shen: "Hey!" 15[00:13] "One time that happened!" 15[00:13] Eska: "And then you stopped baking. So that's the standard forever." [00:16] 07Dryas shakes her head. These guys don't get it. "Enjoy your diversion." 15[00:17] Eska: "Seeya." 15[00:17] Added, sarcastic: "Boss." 15[00:18] NEXT TIME: Well, there's your problem