15[20:20] The Prolix & Terse slices through storm-tossed seas, taking a conservative route that avoids the most hostile and Wyld-tainted waters by arcing through the Wavecrest Archipelago back into the open sea before turning north, to the Neck. The journey takes five days and five nights. 15[20:20] How do the Four Fangs spend it? [20:21] 4Piu does her usual, flitting between Caedus and Rinca as the mood takes her and them. Lots of rest and preparation. [20:21] 4The next bit isn't going to be very fun. [20:23] 4It would be nice if Cathak Budokan just keeled over dead due to an acute case of horniness upon seeing her...but it's likely going to be more involved than that. [20:24] 07Examining maps, calculations, and ledgers. Estimating the square malms of forest, the sheer number of trunks, the timber it would take to build a flotilla... to surpass V'Neef... to rebuild the Water Fleet... [20:25] 10Daizo is spoiled for choice when it comes to things to keep him busy. He's fairly certain he can complete the ritual to summon and bind a lesser demon, but opts to wait until they reach dry land before actually doing so. And then there's the mid-sized hill of notes and journals to sort through. Anything interesting in there, or is it just Takoye jerking himself off about how smart he is?  [20:26] 14Sadly with that sort of mind, the two will be intertwined wherever interesting. 15[20:29] It's not... *just* that. There's a lot of that, though - and it takes Daizo a lot of work (and presumably a lot of eyerolling) to find useful stuff, like plans for a portable implosion bow, correspondence with great artificers in the region like Elbarada of Danguro, or the note written in cipher and signed with a three-clawed slash mark. [20:29] 10Oh, and he congratulates Seiri on absolutely killing it with the armor ordeal. They're a little short of proper training weapons on the P&T, so her next few lessons will use a sawn-off oar in place of a warclub. [20:30] 10Oho, a cipher! Is it any good? 15[20:30] Seiri participates enthusiastically, once Sadako's started to heal up from her terrible burns she watches every lesson, expressionless. 15[20:36] Dryas is deep in the books... the amount of timber it'd take to build an armada to rival the great blue-water fleets, from V'neef to the Principality to the mightiest pirate lords and the Lintha Family... it's a lot, and shipworthy timber is scarce. Most of it comes from the Blessed Isle. But there is one large, untapped source of timber Dryas has seen personally - the Wyld-tainted 15[20:36] jungles of western Abalone. [20:40] 07But could it be enough...?! Fertile soil beneath is a good sign... 15[20:40] The cipher is really good... too good. Daizo thinks he's got it but then he realizes he had made one tiny error that made the whole thing look a lot simpler than it was. Hours of work wasted... except! In his backtracking, he realizes that there is a second, simpler coded message, that seems to follow a different scheme entirely, and this he can decipher without too much trouble. 15[20:40] It says, Fuck you. Pay me. Love, Alasya. 15[20:41] If she's willing to manage the risk to labor of clear-cutting Wyld-infested jungles, and can secure the deals to make the work happen, there's definitely enough wood there to float a navy. [20:42] 14Deals... [20:42] 10Daizo crumples the note in annoyance, then smooths it out again and puts it on the pile of "business matters for Dryas.' 15[20:45] Piu's bunked up between Caedus's cabin (beyond which lay the crew quarters) and Rinca's, uh, room (a lounge he seems to have successfully warned anyone else from using). After a couple nights of using the corridors, the Piu finds that the walls between their rooms have grown new, irising doors in their sleep. [20:45] 4Helpful, if a bit judgmental! [20:46] 4Hopefully the boys don't take it the wrong way or, if they do, feel obligated to work it out in bed. 15[20:46] Caedus is happier than Rinca for the R&R. Not that Rinca's unhappy, but Caedus has been in a well-hidden but quite sour mood ever since that conversation with Dryas. [20:48] 10And another one goes on the pile of "engineering mysteries of the 10Prolix & Terse10."  [20:49] 4Piu will attempt to do damage control there. They're never going to like each other, but she can't be fleeing to the bathroom when her lover and her sister get into a possibly-physical fight. [20:50] 07Dryas leans back in her cabin from her ledgers and calculations. Upon what else could one spend an empire's ransom, the wealth of the world? A place to protect it? It does no good sitting in a vault, on the Neck or in Abalone or on the Prolix himself. [20:52] 10How's Garnet holding up during the voyage? It's not likely he'll make much in the way of progress, but she did ask to see if he had any ideas about how to get her last set of traveling clothes back out of the jar.  15[21:00] Caedus is very quick to reassure Piu that there won't be any more arguments, and that he and Dryas reached an understanding. It's just... heavy, committing to defiance of (and war with?) Iselsi. For all his daddy issues, he's always been more comfortable in the Ninth House than Piu has. 15[21:01] Garnet spends a lot of time with the Seiri and Sadako. They all seem to be getting along better than they were a few weeks ago. 15[21:02] Daizo's having trouble pulling any more from the jar she's bound to while avoiding any really risky experiments, which suits her fine. Plenty else to be getting on with. [21:02] 14Piu does not believe they're actually committing to that, but it's possible she's just very good at deploying sophistry on herself. 15[21:03] It's also possible Caedus is distortingly pessimistic. Only one way to find out - keep doing what they're doing. 15[21:04] The morning of the fifth day, senior staff gets an urgent summons to the bridge, from Ratel via the Daimon. At this point, despite the Dynasts onboard, 'senior staff' is well-understood to mean the Fangs, rather than the Fangs plus Caxi plus the Cathaks etc. [21:04] 14Unfortunate, or fortunate, for them. Depending if they all get caught and tried for treason. [21:05] 07Dryas rushes to the bridge. [21:07] 14Piu, sufficiently fresh from a dip in the ocean the usual way (tether), and having rinsed off, will file in after Dryas but before Zhangyu. 15[21:08] Probably the first hint of the issue comes when the sky visible through the bridge's viewport is a smoke-choked, sunless brick red. Piu noticed the haze when she was swimming, but the sky above the ship was iron-grey from it. [21:08] 14Piu: "Oh." 15[21:10] Ratel's face is stony. "The daimon says it's smoke in the upper firmament. It takes huge, long-burning fires to tint the sky like this." [21:11] 07Dryas's face pales. 15[21:11] "That's correct," affirms the daimon. [21:13] 14Piu: "Are we going in loud or quiet?" [21:14] 14It's a question for the full staff...but basically Ratel and Dryas, in practice. [21:15] 10Daizo arrives late, but all it takes is one look to get a grasp on the situation. [21:15] 07Dryas: "Depends on whether we missed all of what happened here, or just the most important part." [21:16] "Prolix & Terse, do you have any capabilities to run silent? Anything we might enhance with Essence?" 15[21:18] The daimon: "Not at the ready. Protocols for retooling towards [4suprise party] applications are locked behind my ethical geas." 15[21:18] The daimon: "Not at the ready. Protocols for retooling towards [4surprise party] applications are locked behind my ethical geas." 15[21:19] Ratel: "We need to go in, but we need to defend the ship." [21:20] 07Dryas: "Sounds like something for another time. Let's get in closer." [21:20] 07Dryas, a half-heartbeat later: "That's what I think, anyway." [21:20] 14We've heard that explanation before. Piu's still not quite sure what it means. 15[21:21] Ratel: "...right. Are the four of you prepared to form an away team? Get in fast, get the lay of the land, report back?" [21:21] 14Does it want blood sacrifices on the main deck? Too bad we don't have Suris handy. 15[21:21] "What do you need from the rest of us?" [21:21] 14Piu: "Don't get shot by any long canon or artillery sorcery they might have on offer, I surmise." [21:22] 07Dryas: "I'll get Diamond Weapon ready." [21:25] 10Daizo: "Have a second boat prepared to back us up—the twins, Caxi, Sadako, whichever mortals we've got left who are willing to fight. We'll send an all-clear or a distress." 15[21:26] Ratel: "I'll take him in quiet. Maybe nobody's watching... but you can't be too careful." [21:28] 07Dryas makes her way to wherever on this boat she's keeping the great charger, and begins harnessing and tacking him. She strokes his mane affectionately once or twice. [21:28] 14Piu: "Permission to bring Rinca with the advance team?" 15[21:30] Ratel: "Take who you need. But be careful. There are a lot of Immaculates here." She looks back out the viewport at the burning sky. "At least, there were." [21:30] 14That's why you bring the Lunar. [21:30] 14Piu: "Understood." 14Time to find a rat to shove in my tits. 15[21:31] Somehow this happens very easily. 15[21:32] The reinforcements are told to prepare, and the Commodore takes the Prolix & Terse in for a delicate landing away from any of the marked ports. The Fangs and the mouse are let off, and the gangplank is withdrawn as soon as the last of them touches down. How are they equipped? [21:34] 07Dryas shrugs her way into her chainmail. withdraws Harrow from its mounting on the wall of the impromptu stable. The Earned Nemesis is too large to use while mounted, so she keeps it slung over her back. No shield. Quiver at her side. Her original clothes went down with the Defiant so she's got a cloak she can pull up to her mouth if needed. 15[21:34] In addition to weapons and armor, are they wearing any identifying marks, carrying any banners, anything like that? [21:34] 07Her personal mons dangles from Harrow as a little pennant. [21:35] 14Piu is in her usual garb, so comfortable fighting clothes and wraps on hands and feet. She hasn't worn V'neef insignia since coming out here and obviously isn't wearing anything Iselsi. [21:35] 10Banners? We don't need no stinkin' banners.  [21:35] 07Dryas resolves: we need a banner. [21:36] 07Dryas: "We should have something to signal the ship and any other survivors. What do we have that's appropriate?" [21:37] 10This is intended to be a raid, not a stand-up brawl, so Daizo's traveling light, his wargear safely stashed away Elsewhere, ready to retrieve from any large body of water. [21:37] 14Piu: "Surely you can shoot a burning arrow or something that explodes in a flash?" [21:38] "Just put a firework on the end or something." [21:40] 10Daizo: "Who needs fireworks?" 10A flame ignites in his palm, growing to the size of a shortspear. 15[21:40] Once they've disembarked, the smell is heavy and acrid, and every breath scrapes their throats. It's impossible to tell what time of day it is. The beach they landed on is rocky, but reasonably well-hidden by high white cliffs holding back the dark and churning sea. [21:40] 14Piu: "Fair." [21:41] 14She lets Rinca out. The two of them are probably best suited for advance scouting. 15[21:42] The way inclines upward quite quickly; most of the island, the Fangs know, is hills and mountains. [21:42] 07Diamond Weapon canters forward. It feels good to be back on solid earth after so long at sea (or places stranger than the sea). 15[21:44] Rinca tumbles from Piu's top to the dirt, and the mouse lands as a squat mustelid with a broad whtie back and black fur everywhere else. He smiles up at Piu with a lot of very sharp teeth. [21:45] 14Piu grins back before muting it when turing towards the others. [21:47] 10Great. A skunk. It's a good thing Daizo already has a wrap for his face to keep the soot and ash out of his mouth.  15[21:49] What's the play? 15[21:49] Everyone moving together? People scouting? [21:50] 14Rinca can do his thing unencumbered, just report back. Piu will run ahead unless Dryas or Daizo have gotten uncommonly good at stealth. [21:50] 14She suspects they have not. [21:50] 14Given the horse and all. [21:50] 10Nope. Go wild.  [21:50] 07Who needs stealth when you can outrun anyone on the island? [21:51] 14Who needs a pillow when you have a knife? [21:54] 14Is there even a treeline to advance through, or is Piu moving boulder to boulder here? 15[21:55] No trees this close. Once you get into the hills, you can see where the trees begin because they're on fire. [21:55] 14Oh, great. [21:56] 07Dryas: "I think we can try a more expeditious approach, under the circumstances." [21:58] 10Any signs that a large force has recently occupied the area? Barricades, dugouts, camp detritus? 15[22:04] There are the signs of movement... but no barricades, no camps, nothing like that. The ground is scored and trampled, but there's none of the telltale signs that anyone needed to eat, rest, or bunker up. Also, for all the traffic, there's no sign of bootprints or horseshoe prints or emas tracks or anything like that. The ground's just chewed up. 15[22:08] Daizo can go further: things that move in and of the earth chew it up like this. It wasn't an army of people that came through here, but elementals. A lot of earth elementals. [22:09] 07Dryas: "I don't get it. Something came through here, but it was no men or beasts I can tell." [22:12] 14When Piu hits the treeline, she becomes both fireproof and invisible. The Essence provides. Cast no shadow; hide with the fire in their eyes. [22:13] 10Daizo: "Right. Nothing human passed this way. But a lot of very angry elementals did. I'm going to speculate here: whatever hold the Order maintained over the elemental courts in this region suddenly collapsed." [22:14] "Or, the satraps broke their agreements and delved, as they say, too greedily and too deep." [22:15] *satrapy [22:15] 07Dryas: "Would earth elementals burn the place down like this?" 15[22:15] Piu is up in the trees, and Rinca the honey badger is somewhere in the sooty undergrowth. Daizo and Zhangyu keep rough pace with the trotting Diamond Weapon as Dryas finds the road through the burning wood, where fortifications have been set up, and shattered, hastily-erected wood and earthworks burnt to cinders and coated in burning black tar. 15[22:21] This isn't exactly an answer to Dryas's question, but she spots the glittering flecks in the burning tar and the ashes - loose flecks that she recognizes by sight as unrefined jade. Red, by the looks of it. It won't ignite on its own... but once exposed to fires like this, it'll keep burning hot for a long, long time. [22:22] 10Daizo: "Mrm. Probably not. But you know who might? The miners." [22:23] 14Piu, meanwhile, is feverishly trying to recalculate what their goals are here, and how she can bend them to serve Cathak Budokan's death. [22:23] 14If this is an insurrection, it has a leader. Maybe an Anathema leader. We might want to hook up with them. 4She might want to hook up with them. [22:24] 07Dryas: "Whatever happened here, I think we missed it. Burning flakes of unrefined jade everywhere." [22:25] 14Either way, Piu slinks ahead. [22:27] 07Dryas: "Red jade like this is what they mine here. Who would do this?" [22:28] 10Daizo: "Famous mining accident out in the Corin boonies—burned for nigh on fifty years… hm." 15[22:29] Once she finds a stable burning tree to climb, Piu has trouble seeing past the smoke and the haze... but up here, the sound carries on the air, and that helps. A couple malms ahead, in an area where the trees have already burned down, she sees the earth at war with itself. [22:29] 14Whoa. [22:30] "But that just left smoking cracks in the ground. Nothing like this. Whoever set these knew what they were doing." 15[22:30] A tide of ink-black stone glitters in the light of sweeping fires, crashing again and again against ramparts of solid, rough-hewn white stone. Behind the ramparts masses an army with burning arrows, siege weapons... the ramparts have cracked and reformed multiple times, from the looks of them. It's happening again right now, before her eyes. The wall comes down. The dark floods in. 15[22:34] The ramparts shudder. She can just make out the anarchy of battle in motion as the black earth breaches the perimeter, but then that is overwhelmed by the pillar of fire that rises behind the rampart, sending the black earth backwards in glittering ripples as the flame rushes out to fill the abandoned space like water bursting from a dam. The fire spreads its wings to enfold the field, 15[22:34] moving as one. [22:35] 14That's not good. 15[22:36] She can see banners on the ramparts, dancing in the air thrown up in the heat - the unburnt battle standard of House Cathak. [22:36] 14She'll head back to report that there's some kind of elemental fight going on. [22:37] 07Dryas: "Who is fighting? Is it Onyx?" [22:38] 14Piu: "Not unless you mean literally made of onyx." [22:39] "Earth elemental versus fire elemental. Big boy season. Cathak's standards are still flying." [22:39] 07Dryas: "Then we should not tarry...?!" [22:41] 10Daizo whistles. "More likely to be Cathak sorcerers working that fire magic. If I'm to be frank, I believe this is well above our pay grade." [22:42] 14Piu: "Do we want to try to figure out who is running the earth elemental?" [22:42] "I assume it's gotta be sorcerers in their own right, unless they woke something bad up." [22:44] 10Daizo shakes his head. "Not necessarily. There's no shortage of free-willed elementals—they could very well be fighting for their own interests." [22:45] 14Piu: "Well, how do we want to proceed?" 14Has Rinca reported in yet? 15[22:46] Rinca returns a few minutes after Piu does, covered in soot and dirt. [22:47] 07Dryas: "We should broker a ceasefire between the sides and find out what in the Dragons' name is going on here." 15[22:47] "These woods have been burning for a while. Not far ahead there's whole stands burned to the stumps. You guys saw the fighting? Earth spirits fighting the- you guys." [22:48] 14Piu: "This level of big elemental fight doesn't really scream 'sit down and talk' to me." [22:49] 07Dryas whips the reins around her hand at Rinca's remark and hefts Harrow aloft, pointing down the scorched road. "They don't know who we are or who we've brought with us. For all they know we could be the outriders of their salvation, or destruction." 15[22:49] Rinca: "The fire army has their general out in front. It's not all elementals." [22:49] 14Piu: "Is it a weird old man?" 15[22:50] Rinca nods. "Huge. Looked like his whole head's on fire." [22:50] 14Probably too public to try and kill him now. [22:50] "That'll be Cathak Budokan." 15[22:50] "Riding a horse whose whole head is also on fire." [22:50] 10Daizo: "This is close to a worst-cese scenario. We could return to the ship report that Putu-on-Neck is fallen. We could go up into the mountains and look for survivors. Or, yes, a suicidal charge to break through to the Cathak lines." 15[22:51] Rinca: "It's definitely not fallen. Might be falling." [22:52] 07Dryas: "Impressive. We can speak with both sides under a flag of truce if we need to. Then we just bluff about what we have with us. An ancient warship of sorcerous puissance and a Commodore of the Water Fleet, before we even get to bluffing." 15[22:52] Rinca: "How do you let 'em know you're here without them bearing down on you?" [22:53] 10Daizo raises a finger. "An ancient warship with nearly all of its capabilities locked out to us." [22:53] 07Dryas: "It's all about first impressions. Wow them with a little spectacle. Show business. They don't need to know anything about our limitations." [22:54] 14Piu: "I don't know any more pick-me Realm prep school behavior than riding into an active warzone and demanding everyone sit down for peace talks because WE'VE finally shown up." [22:54] "Not saying it won't work." [22:54] "Just. Like. Come on." [22:54] 07Dryas: "Appear on a ridgeline, blow a few horns, flutter a banner triumphantly in the breeze. The loyal daughters of the Scarlet Realm are here to save the day." [22:54] 14As Piu said. 15[22:54] Rinca: "What banner?" [22:55] 14He's right; we do need an actual banner. [22:57] 10This is Dryas' branding exercise, for damn sure.  [22:58] 14Piu: "Regardless. I don't think trying to impose mediation on these two sides without making a very strong demonstration of power up front is a good idea." [22:58] "If we can get the Prolix & Terse to train mortar fire on the battlefield or something, then maybe we can step in." [23:01] 07Dryas has one last trick up her sleeve. The White Mountain Matriarch... banner. It's quite resplendent, has a nice big logo on it. "What about this?" 15[23:01] Rinca looks at it and shrugs. "Not my pig, not my farm." [23:03] 07Dryas: "It's barely a ruse, frankly. And if they are at a stalemate I doubt either side would want to risk us defecting to the other. This is a classic Spiral Academy weekend project." [23:04] 14Piu's made her argument. If Dryas wants to rush the field on this bullshit, she can't stop her. 15[23:05] Looks like Daizo's the swing vote here. [23:15] 10Daizo: "You know what, Dryas, you win. You go in on Diamond Weapon looking like ten talents and you give anyone that listens your line." [23:15] "The rest of us will offer you moral support from the rear and pull your ass out of the literal fire if things go south." [23:15] "Deal?" [23:15] 07Dryas: "Deal. All the rest of you have to do is make a lot of noise and look intimidating." [23:16] 14Piu: "That's not really my remit." [23:16] "I can handle it." 15[23:16] There's not much of a rise separating the burning wood from the burnt wood, but your animas are all dim and there is a lot going on, so it's not that hard to make the approach Dryas wants. [23:17] 07Dryas: "If you can't look intimidating, then be beautiful, beautiful!" [23:18] 14Piu rolls her eyes...as she becomes more beautiful. [23:22] 10For his part, Daizo goes full wings-out and puts on his most impassive withering stare. (He's had plenty of opportunities to watch Sadako—a real master—practice her technique over the last week.)  [23:29] 07Dryas crests the hill, blowing a long, mournful note from the hunting horn with her left hand, while raising the banner of the White Mountain Matriarch, draped ever-so-artfully through the red jade direlance, so that it flaps just-so in the flame-licked breeze. She spurs Diamond Weapon to rear and neigh dramatically, just-so. The others follow behind as the ear-swelling sonorous note rises above the tumult of battle. [23:31] 07Dryas's anima banner swells into bursting into ten thousand perfect plum petals on the firey breeze. [23:32] 14There's a beautiful, terrifying fire aspected woman on her flank, adding her luster for what its worth. Mother, this is so stupid. [23:35] 10Daizo's close behind, looking like he was carved from the rock himself—even the wrath of the earth can't split —hahahahaha Dryas is actually going to make this damnfool plan work. [23:35] 07It's not even a bluff! We are the Four Fangs! Recognize us! 15[23:47] The motion on the field doesn't stop, but there's a perceptible shift as Dryas announces them. The action slows. Hesitancy ripples through the ranks as the defending Dynasty awaits new orders and the elementals receive them. The Blooded respond with a horn of their own, the clarion signal that an ally has joined the field. The elementals choose violence. 15[23:54] Spearlike missiles of jade-flecked black stone hurtle towards them. Piu escapes, whereas Dryas and Daizo are in dire danger... but the wall of fire at the front of the Cathak line sweeps past them to intercept the attack! 15[23:54] Unfortunately, to do that it has to sweep over them. 15[23:55] Piu is able to tuck and roll into a sooty wound in the earth and merely feel it graze her back, but Daizo, Dryas, and Diamond Weapon take it full on. 15[23:56] The good news is that once they're behind the line, they're behind the line, and heavy cavalry charge up to cover their flank. [23:58] 14Piu pops up, quite bouncily. [23:58] 10Daizo's able to throw his arms up in time to protect his face, but that just means his arms get seared instead of his hair catching alight. He pats down the flames on his sleeves, cursing. 15[23:58] There's a push happening - the font of fire spreading over the field is at the point of a charge, flanked by air, wood, and water animas. There's a shape at the center of the fire, but it's hard to make out except as a large silhouette, rendered broader and fiercer by what can only be the shadow of articulated plate. 15[00:01] The movement of the cavalry is to herd the Fangs back towards the ramparts, where archers with burning arrows now stand vigil in the absence of direct assault. The wave of fire causes the earth to buckle and the elementals to melt into so much slag and discorporated Essence. [00:03] 07Dryas glances back towards her companions and spurs the wounded Diamond Weapon along. [00:03] 10Okay, we got off easy in comparison. [00:03] 14Great! 15[00:05] As the Fangs reach the gate, a cheer goes up. The wave is broken! The forward defenses have held another day. Past the walls, they can see heavy earthworks layered over the long-cindered remnants of what once might have been a farming village. The fields visible up the road, not burnt but brown and dead, suggest the same thing. 15[00:06] The weary, soot-smudged soldiers behind the wall regard the Four Fangs with confusion, suspicion, and relief. Someone rushes toward them, an older woman, shaved bald, in ash-stained robes of an Immaculate. "Injured to the back! Come on!" [00:08] 14Well, this is precisely what she didn't want to happen. [00:08] 14Now Cathak Budokan knows who she is. [00:08] 14Gonna be harder to kill him now. 15[00:09] Dryas takes in the sights, and her medallion hums against her chest. [00:09] 10Daizo: "Nothing, it's nothing—barely even a blister. But if you need an extra pair of hands, Sister, I can stitch and salve well enough." 15[00:09] The Last Redoubt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTZqnyUR6nM - ♫♪♬♪♩ 15[00:11] The Immaculate runs her hands over the horse's burned flank, her face pained. "Come on, come on. You're safe now. More or less." 15[00:11] Cynis Rai: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ha3IcYcdl4 - I could be the one to be your next best friend. 15[00:12] The Fangs are ushered to a tent where they can take unguents for their burns. Diamond Weapon is taken away for more serious help, if Dryas permits it. She can see the stone stables from where she's made to wait and be seen to. [00:13] 07Dryas looks about. "Thank you." 07She gives a careful look at the state of things before handing off the reins and giving the faithful steed a calming pat. [00:15] 10Daizo yields and accepts the treatment due to his station. Civilization, of a sort. It hasn't even been that long, objectively, since they left Abalone or even Brightwork, but it feels they've been wandering in the wilds for a long time. 15[00:15] The four of them are convalescing when the vanguard returns to more, wearier cheers. Another Immaculate rides a whirlwind in, followed by a pair of soldiers with heavy armor and daiklaves, one in blue jade, one in white. Behind them comes the fire. It's shrunken down to something almost man-sized, a great white horse with a burning mane, and a massive man - easily Daizo's equal - whose 15[00:15] hair and eyebrows seem to have gone up in permanent flames. [00:16] 14Here we are. 15[00:16] The blue-armored man is speaking rapidly as the horse trots past him. "...my lord, we have to be careful. Another wave like that, a quake, and it won't matter if the line holds. The island won't." 15[00:17] The man on horseback has something else on his mind. 15[00:17] "WHO COMES?!" [00:17] 14Phrasing. 15[00:17] "TELL ME OF SALVATION AND CASH BACK REWARDS!" 15[00:18] "MATRIAAAAARCH!" [00:18] 10Great job, Dryas. Phenomenal. 15[00:19] The Immaculate tending the Fangs raises her hands. "We're here! We're here. They're injured, sir. They need rest." [00:20] 07Dryas: "Cynis Dryas with the Four Fangs. We can parlay now. We have arrived under the command of Peleps Ratel, whose flagship is just offshore. The banner was what we had available." 15[00:20] The burning lord throws his red-hot spear into the earth. "There is NO REST for the righteous! We are in a state of total war against blackguards and blasphemers. Gird yourselves, Cynis Dryas and her Four Fangs! Call your bretheren for blood and battle! SPREAD YOUR TRANSCENDENT SOULS!" 15[00:21] "Or have you already reached your limits?" 15[00:21] Cathak Budokan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buYrBbwyCGE - It takes the truth to fool me — and now you've made me angry. 15[00:22] NEXT TIME: MY AWFUL SON