15[20:39] The burning man dismounts his burning horse to pull a red-hot lance from the burning earth. Cathak Budokan leaves ash-black footprints in the sallow mud behind the rampart, and even as his anima settles the flames continue to cling to his scalp and brow. 15[20:41] It's not easy to tell exactly where his eyes are pointing, with all the visual distraction, but there's no mistaking is trajectory as he strides straight for Dryas. 15[20:41] "Ma'am, where is your commanding officer?" [20:45] "Commodore Peleps Ratel is anchored offshore, although we are not with the Fleet," 07she replies. [20:45] 14How the hell is she going to get this guy alone? 15[20:46] "She didn't come herself? BAH! Typical of a Navy woman. Bubble loves to delegate." 15[20:48] The man's nostrils flare. It's very hard to guess his age, just looking at him, though if what Piu's heard is true he must have centuries to him. "How strong are your numbers?" 15[20:48] "We are in a state of total war." [20:48] 10Daizo, arms and face smarting from the sharp-smelling burn ointment: "It was our decision to come ashore to scout. And Cousin, er, Tepet Zhangyu is in charge of our scouting party." [20:49] 6Zhangyu seems a bit out of sorts, but nods anyway. He is, after all. 15[20:50] If you squint past the general, you see a camp sprung to life with activity as soldiers stagger into tents, lean against their spears for support, are rushed to by nurses and brought clay bowls to eat from. It's definitely a military installation - all you can see are adults, and everyone's either healthy enough to fight or support an army, or clearly injured doing the same. [20:51] 14What in Creation have these Cathaks been getting up that has managed to provoke an...elemental revolt? [20:53] 10How much do we want to tell Budokan about our actual situation? Anything to keep from him? [20:53] "What the hell happened here?" 07she asks, reasonably enough. 15[20:53] "TEPET ZHANGYU! You and your kin are bringing fresh earth to fetid soil! As soon as the rest of your ship is brought behind our lines, our swollen ranks will be unmatchable!" 15[20:53] To Dryas: "TREASON!" [20:53] 10Well. Never mind the status report. [20:54] 6Dumbly: "What?" 15[20:55] "How far away is your command? How many do they number? The seas are treacherous, Tepet Zhangyu, and the shores moreso!" [20:59] 6Zhangyu: "Close enough, and around 30. We manage." [20:59] 4Sadly: "We're not really reinforcements." [21:01] 07Dryas: "What is the location and strength of your enemy?" 15[21:04] "Thirty?! Where are the reinforcements? Where is the Navy? Where is Furia?" [21:05] 10Funny story. [21:07] 10Daizo: "Frankly, sir, I wouldn't count on assistance from the Water Fleet. They're MIA." 15[21:09] Budokan came in flanked by two adjutants, a woman in white jade and a man in blue. The man in blue followed Budokan, and manages to step far enough past his corona to be visible. "MIA? Has something happened?" [21:10] 4Piu: "It's a long story! But yes." 15[21:11] Budokan: "If you aren't reinforcements then why are you here?" [21:11] "Our own vessel was lost in the search, which is why our numbers are so reduced. It's only by a series of… highly improbable events that we located a replacement and made it here." [21:11] 07Dryas: "What is the composition and disposition of your enemy?" [21:12] 10Daizo will gladly hand that particular bit of why-are-we-here explaining to the others. 15[21:16] The blue jade man pipes up again. "My lord-- there will be time to exchange information while they recuperate. The field is quiet for the moment. Might we... lower the temperature a bit." 15[21:16] Budokan: "Pfui!" 15[21:17] "The heat is on until the deal is done, or until everything is ash." [21:17] 14Piu was really hoping for a debauched manor-on-the-cliffs situation here, something she could slip into with an evening death, maybe fuck the old man to death on the veranda. That's clearly not happening now. [21:18] 14Is the manor even still standing? [21:18] *14evening dress 15[21:20] If Piu looks up the road she'll see the scorched fields that are meant to feed this island. Past them, in the distance, she can see about two and a half white stone towers poking up from behind a gentle rise of what should ordinarily be wheat fields and sheep land. 15[21:21] One of the towers is partially collapsed. 15[21:21] She's no architect, but it doesn't look demolished from here. 15[21:22] The blue jade man: "...very well, my lord." [21:23] 07Dryas: "We haven't had the pleasure...?" 15[21:24] To Dryas, the blue jade man says: "Infidels have seized the mine and our people. Innocents are being held hostage and indoctrinated into a perverted cult, one that spoils the land, strangles our industry, and leaves us bare for Skullstone's embrace." [21:24] 10Even in the medical tent there's fine soot particles suspended in the air. And Budokan already appears to be well on his way to embodying the Eternal Truth of Hesiesh: when there's nothing left to burn, you must set yourself on fire. 15[21:24] "Peleps Grenseal, my lady." [21:24] 14Why doesn't she ever get the 'be his pampered concubine at his palatial estate for eight months then kill him in his sleep after the treaty signing' jobs? Why is it 'go to the remote archipelago of volcanos and undeath and kill the Fire Lord of the West?' 15[21:24] Maybe she should've thought of that before she became Iselsi's best killer. [21:25] 14She's also Iselsi's best concubine plant! This is an unfair bias towards one of her many skills! 15[21:25] The Immortal gives his scariest targets to his spookiest assassins. [21:25] 07Dryas: "...Cult? Skullstone?" 15[21:26] Grenseal nods gravely. "They were Immaculates, once. They're led by--" 15[21:26] Budokan: "MY AWFUL SON!" [21:26] 14If the field is quiet enough, Piu will--ahahahaha. 15[21:26] Grenseal winces. "My own brother is among them, yes." 15[21:26] Peleps Grenseal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YpcwNIfwno&t=14s - This is just a momentary ripple in the stream. [21:27] 6Well that's something. [21:27] 14If the field is quiet enough, Piu will offer to go walk Ratel in. 4As such: "If things are quiet enough out there, I can go get the Commodore!" 4This is directed mainly at Zhangyu, who is in charge. [21:28] 6He nods. Go for her. 15[21:28] Grenseal: "We... don't have anywhere for your vessel to safely dock, and the cultists move along the coastline with impunity. There is a powerful magician among them. Firstborn of a matriarch." [21:28] 4Piu will flounce off. 14Who knows, maybe she can still salvage something out of the concubine bit. Doesn't look like it'll be very comfortable though. 15[21:29] He looks uneasily at the departing Piu. [21:29] 14Ah...but he did look. [21:29] 14Anyway. Once she clears the pickets, she'll be looking for Rinca. [21:29] 07Dryas: "And they've taken hostages?" 15[21:30] Grenseal turns back. "Yes. Civilians. Miners, mothers and fathers. All the children." [21:30] 07Dryas scowls: "What do they want?" 15[21:34] Grenseal: "Mos is the only one who spoke to him at length. Right now, all they seem to want is our destruction. The complete collapse of the colony, and unchallenged rule for their cult." [21:35] 10Daizo: "Does their cult venerate a specific figure, or is it just a poorly-reasoned general heresy?" 15[21:35] Rinca climbs out of Piu's top once they're a safe distance from the rampart. [21:36] 14Piu, while moving: "How'd you like the general?" 15[21:36] Rinca covers his tiny mouse face with his tiny forepaws. 15[21:36] Grenseal: "I'm... theology is very abstract to me. I don't really understand what they go on about." 15[21:37] "Something about cosmic injustice." [21:37] 14Piu: "Yeah, me too. At least I probably won't have to fuck him." [21:37] "Seems pretty active for his age, though." 15[21:38] Budokan: "As if it MATTERS! Will you debate theology with perverts and infidels?" [21:38] 6I'm pretty sure we have at least one of those with us right now. [21:38] "Look, I don't think you're gonna have much fun on this one hanging out doing the politics thing or fighting the elementals. You wanna just go do your own thing for awhile, maybe check in on that cult if it's not too dangerous and see if the Fire Lord's story lines up?" [21:38] 10Daizo, looking resigned: "Abstract principle cults. Worst kind. At least if there's a god or an elemental behind it you can beat them up." [21:39] 14Self-satisfied smile: "I mean if you want to keep riding along, that's fine too." [21:39] "And if they're in a state of armed insurrection, they're not listening to debates." [21:40] 07Dryas: "A sorcerer and a demagogue. Any other leaders?" 15[21:40] The mouse climbs delicately onto Piu's shoulder. "I'll go check em out. If they've got the kids..." [21:41] 14The smile hardens. "Yeah." [21:41] "Thanks." 15[21:41] The mouse on Piu's shoulder leaps off, and the blue jay he becomes manages to just avoid skirting the ground before catching enough lift to fly off in the direction of the distant plateaus. [21:43] 14She'll up the pace back to the ship. 15[21:43] Grenseal: "Lady Shiroi will have the most accurate tactical assessment, I'll go get--" 15[21:43] The woman in red jade: "No need. I'm right behind you." 15[21:43] Grenseal looks chagrined. 15[21:44] Budokan: "You KEEP falling for that!" 15[21:45] Shiroi: "My lord, you need to rest. You are the bulwark upon which this colony - this Direction - depends. We need you at full strength. Go. Let us handle this." 15[21:46] Budokan: "SO BE IT! I hereby relieve myself." 15[21:47] Once the general has retreated to his own fired-clay hut, the woman in red turns smartly to face Dryas, Daizo, and Zhangyu. "Lords and Lady. Cathak Shiroi, The Governor's second in command." 15[21:49] Grenseal looks chagrined again. 15[21:51] Shiroi continues: "Several weeks ago there was a schism in the local Immaculate leadership. Our Abbot his cadre, a kinship of our most powerful monks, broke away, heaping scorn and violence upon the loyal. Very florid language. Puppets and death, as I understand it. But they were our most senior and, aside from the Governor himself, our strongest. When they rose up, we couldn't quell 15[21:51] them easily. And it got worse when the people joined them." [21:51] 07Dryas: "Immaculates and sorcerers, working hand-in-glove?" 15[21:52] Shiroi: "Lord Rikai is monk and magician both. Very strong in the blood, like his mother." 15[21:52] Grenseal: "Is that going to be a problem, do you think? V'neefs are quite close, I understand." [21:54] 07Dryas: "And who is Mos?" 15[21:55] Piu makes her way back to where the vessel berthed. By now it's late afternoon, and she faces east, towards the encroaching night. There is no sign of the vessel among the debris and the wreckage. [21:55] 14Well, fuck. [21:55] 14None of the wreckage or debris looks like black jade, presumably. 15[21:55] Grenseal: "Mnemon Mos is the new Abbess. She's the most senior monk who -- who stayed." 15[21:56] Shiroi: "She's very young for her new station. But her heart's in the right place." [21:56] 14Oh, we can fix that. 15[21:57] No black jade. Some red, though, embedded in dark stones that scar the beach. [21:57] 07Dryas: "And they embrace Skullstone?" [21:58] 10Daizo: "I might have a few questions for her about the circumstances of the schism." 15[21:59] Shiroi's lips curl ever so slightly. "Yes. In effect if not intent. Anything that undermines us at this critical border with the Principality invites our destruction. Not just ours here, but an open wound the Skullstone infection can seep through. A new foothold in the direction, a bounty of resources for the to claim... they are doing the Prince's work, no matter what they've got 15[21:59] spinning in their crippled heads." [21:59] 14Well, the Prolix & Terse does have some kind of stealth or run-silent capability. But if its ethical gates were unlocked while the Fangs were away from ship... [22:02] 10Daizo: "The elementals that are participating in these attacks—are they bound or free-willed? Lord Rikai may be strong, but even he should be hard-pressed to summon an army on this scale." [22:03] "Or has he taught a ritual to the heretics?" 15[22:03] Shiroi: "Honestly, your guess is at least as good as mine. Whenever I had a question about this sort of thing I would just ask him. Now..." 15[22:06] Grenseal: "There are two others, besides the Abbot and Rikai. Lady Temida and Lady Szalony. The four of them have been sworn for years. As long as I've known them." 15[22:06] "Perhaps they've picked up some magic? I can only speculate." 15[22:09] Piu picks over the battlefield and she thinks she's able to work backwards a bit. First, she surmises that the ship has quit the field, either retreating to the deeper ocean or circling the shore. There is no sign the vessel came to any harm, and there are no corpses to be found. [22:10] 14Thankful, though not particularly surprising. [22:12] 07Dryas: "And how many hostages? Miners, and their families? Peasants?" [22:14] 10Daizo comes up with a lot of guesses, giving each of them a proper mental chew while Dryas makes her own inquiries. 15[22:16] With some more mostly-figurative digging, Piu is able to determine that the attack was very sudden - elementals literally sprung up from the earth, having burrowed beneath it. It's blind luck that the Fangs weren't there when the attack happened... or was it? It occurs to her that the facts are consistent with an ambush. Perhaps the jadeclad was spotted? 15[22:18] Shiroi: "Who knows at this point? They had hundreds of survivors and rebels and their families when the fighting broke out. They're holed up in the mines now, doing gods-know-what with all those people. Maybe they're being sacrificed. Maybe they're being bred. You know what heretics are like." 15[22:19] "What brought you up here? You said Furia's indisposed, so this isn't a military operation. Does somebody owe you a shipment of jade?" 15[22:20] "You must have really needed it to brave the strait in the rainy season." [22:20] 14Any idea when the attack happened? [22:21] 14How long has it been since the Fangs left? 15[22:21] Less than an hour after you left, which was about six hours ago at this point. 15[22:22] Not a huge amount of time! But enough to get reasonably far away. [22:23] 07Dryas: "Our reasons are myriad; we have much business in the West. But stymying the Silver Prince is among them; we ruined the wedding of the Knight of Ghosts and Shadows at Brightwork - and we ruined the Knight, too." [22:25] 14Hrm. Surely Ratel and the others would know they'd return to this point... [22:25] 14Smartest thing to do, really, is wait around a bit to see if they send a signal. 15[22:25] That would be logical. [22:25] 14She won't do it out in the open, though. 15[22:26] Shiroi: "Big, if true. But you made it this far." 15[22:26] "Saaaaaay." 15[22:27] "If you girls took down a real deathknight, you must be strong. Fast. Clever. Am I wrong?" 15[22:27] "An elite group." [22:31] 10Daizo: "Also very fortunate." [22:31] 07Dryas: "I think we qualify as 'elite,' I think that is fair. Those who underestimate us have fared pretty poorly, all things considered." 15[22:32] Shiroi: "And, as your entrance demonstrated, you like diplomacy." 15[22:32] Grenseal looks askance at Shiroi. [22:33] 14She settles in where she can see the beach, and the beach can't see her. [22:33] 14Not without looking real hard, anyway. [22:35] 07Dryas: "Doesn't seem like your lord's style, but we can talk as well fight, yes." 15[22:36] Shiroi: "You let me worry about Lord Budokan. In principle, how do you feel about being a diplomatic envoy? Again? I know it didn't go very well last time." [22:38] 10Daizo: "I'm not opposed. If we can resolve any part of this conflict without unnecessary bloodshed, so much the better. Because he really will burn all of Putu-on-Neck down before he yields, am I correct in my assessment of Lord Budokan's character?" 15[22:39] Piu settles into the deepening darkness and waits. And waits. The sun's just about set, and a soft rain begun to fall, when something moves in the sky above. A fat white little cloud, and a dark-haired woman peeking over the edge, scanning the ground below. 15[22:40] Piu can see Caxi, but she's pretty sure Caxi can't see Piu. [22:40] 14She will pop up somewhere appropriately cheeky, and difficult to see from any vantage but Caxi's. And wave! [22:40] 14The trees are all blasted away so it's likely a rock formation. 15[22:40] Shiroi nudges Grenseal. "Follow this guy around. Lord Daizo's his name. He doesn't need the obvious explained to him. You could learn a thing or two." 15[22:41] Grenseal, deadpan: "What's the advantage of not needing the obvious explained to you?" 15[22:41] Shiroi wags her finger at him. 15[22:42] "Anyway, I guess we have to wait for your sister to get back." 15[22:42] "She's Piu, right? Five Day Fight Piu?" 15[22:43] Caxi's eyes glitter in the dark and the skiff descends slowly. "You're in high spirits. I take it the earth did not swallow you four up?" [22:43] 10Daizo: "None other. You've heard of her?" [22:43] 14Piu: "Yep! Guessing you meant the elementals. There's apparently a whole cult." [22:44] "The mines have been taken, or something. The local Cathaks are on war footing. Something smells wrong about it." 15[22:44] Shiroi: "I like the fights! The match reports are about the only entertainment we get out here." [22:45] 07Dryas: "We enjoyed the Hinokuni on Abalone quite a bit." [22:47] 10Daizo: "Ringside seats all around when we get out of this one." 15[22:47] Caxi: "The ship was not happy. Apparently jade shot stings. I think he's malingering, there was no damage I could see. Ratel is circling the island at range looking for a stable port or some other sign of civilization. It sounds like the Realm's banner still flies? How fares the illustrious Governor?" 15[22:48] Shiroi: "Oh ho ho ho. I'm holding you to that. Once we can deal with the traitor Gu Len, I am taking so much leave." [22:50] 07Dryas: "Gu Len? I thought you said it was Rikai?" [22:50] 14Piu: "Oh, he's completely nuts. Constant bonfire nuts. Spry for an old man, but only slightly less of a monomaniac than Deled. His son's apparently the one leading the revolt. The local Immaculate Abbot, his senior staff, and said 'AWFUL SON'" 14--she does the voice-- "have fucked off to a secure location with most of the civilians. I am dubious of Budokan's characterization of [22:50] them as hostages, so Rinca's looking into it." [22:50] "Having a Lunar boyfriend is really useful, wow."? [22:50] -? 15[22:51] Shiroi: "Rikai is the sorcerer. Gu Len is the Abbot. The Governor's son." 15[22:51] Another nudge of Grenseal. "The Governor's worse son. You're moving up in the world." 15[22:51] Grenseal: "Haha," [22:52] 14Piu wasn't around for the clarification that the Abbot and the awful son are the same, alas. It will become clear eventually. [22:55] 10Daizo's heart goes out to Grenseal, it really does.  15[22:55] Caxi: "Mmmmm. I can imagine. Yes, I've never met Budokan in the flesh, but I have met the son. Ratel's uncle. He's... quite a character as well. Though not of the same genre, I don't think, as the old man." [22:56] 07Budokan is Ratel's great-uncle? 15[22:56] Grandfather! [22:56] 07She told us that! 15[22:56] She did. [22:57] 07'Bubble' is cute, as it goes [22:57] 14Hopefully Piu won't have to sleep with too much more of this family for work. They do get exhausting. [22:58] 14Piu: "Well, I don't think this will end any other way than a bunch of violence. Would be nice to be wrong about that, for once, but here we are." 15[22:59] Caxi: "You know, I will give Gu Len that. He is very respectful, which is not at all how he comes off if you talk to him." 15[22:59] "You know the type. Like it's not clear if his hand is going for your ass or your pocket? That's how Brother Gu Len comes off. But he's different than that." 15[23:00] "I don't know if it's better, but it's different." [23:01] 14Piu: "Wait, he's interested in women and has self-control around them? A cut above the usual man of the Realm." 15[23:01] Caxi: "Doubly uncommon in a monk." [23:01] 07Dryas: "You want us to ride over, under flag of truce? Are we to present terms, or demand them?" 15[23:02] Shiroi: "Good question! I think we can collaborate on strategy once the Governor's more rested and your sister comes back." 15[23:02] "I'm TIRED of resting. Report!" Budokan hasn't snuck up on the hearth or their interlocutors; that would be physically impossible. Rather, he is yelling at them from the bottom of the camp. 15[23:02] His burning head is sticking out of the hut. [23:02] 14Does the Cathak war-camp have a port or is Ratel going to have to hump it - ha ha ha -- over land to meet with the cranky old fuck? 15[23:02] It has a spot where a port used to be, before it met with a terminal case of being burned to cinders. [23:03] 14That won't be an issue for the jadeclad, though it might for the whiner that runs its systems. 15[23:04] Shiroi: "Soon, my lord!" 15[23:04] To Dryas: "You know this was a plum assignment? I had to compete for this posting." 15[23:05] "Do you guys really just, get on a boat and do whatever you want?" 15[23:05] "I'm so jealous." 15[23:06] It occurs to Piu that if the loyalists are pinned back on the (more) arable land, and the cultists and their elementals have the run of the rest, the most likely place to find a port would be in the territory the cult controls, which likely includes wherever the tribute ships roll up for their jade. [23:08] 14That's true...but then we'd have to take and hold it, wouldn't we? Snatching and grabbing any jade that's left on the docks would be nice, though. [23:08] 07Dryas: "'The sea is deep, and the world is wide.'" 15[23:08] Maybe you could ask them? 15[23:08] Seems risky, but, evidently so is trying to berth in secret. 15[23:09] Caxi: "Should I bring you back to the ship or are you returning to your kin?" [23:10] 14Piu: "Alright, clearly we're going to have to go have a chat with Gu Len anyway, so maybe I can negotiate us berthing permission, or at least a deal not to get attacked by rock boys every time the ship approaches shore. I think I'll be returning to the Cathak camp. The old man wants to speak with Ratel, so you might want to fly her over if she decides she agrees with him." 15[23:11] Caxi: "Do we want her there? I could probably sway her one way or the other." [23:13] 14Piu: "I think so. The old man has literally been on fire ever since we walked in and this seems like a normal state of affairs. We could use some mollification, and him being distracted. I don't think it's worth going super-hard if Ratel doesn't want to, though." 15[23:16] Caxi: "I'll run it up the flagpole and see if she salutes. How are the others?" [23:18] 10Daizo: "It's not all fun and games and knocking pver Skullstoner puppets, Lady Shiroi. About half the places we've visited have been complete unwashed armpits." [23:18] 14Piu: "You know Zhangyu. The august and respectable command of silence and delegation. Killing it as always. Dryas is scheming, Daizo is trying to figure out how all this elemental shit is even working. They're good." 15[23:20] Caxi: "Okay. Good. I'll send a Messenger warning you all we're coming, if we're coming." [23:20] 14Piu: "Roger roger." 15[23:21] Shiroi: "Ah! Then I can seduce you with all this opulence." 15[23:22] "Ash is a workable deodorant!" [23:24] 10Daizo: "Indeed! And if you have some of the rendered grease around from whatever animals were reduced to cinders, you can even make soap. We'll have a bathhouse in no time." [23:24] "Dryas, are you getting all this? We're going to make Putu-on-Neck a tourist destination after this." [23:24] 14Uh oh Caxi. She's going for your man. 15[23:24] Shiroi: "I am so happy you're all here." [23:24] 14Anyway, once Caxi's flown off, Piu will make the trip back to the war camp and hopefully not be fired upon. [23:24] 14Haha. [23:25] 14Fire-d upon. 15[23:27] It's dinner by the time Piu gets to the camp, and there's a bowl of fish and porridge waiting for her, same as everyone else. Despite his earlier protestations, Budokan does seem to have gone to sleep. [23:28] 14...Is he still on fire? 15[23:28] The inside of his clay dome hut is glowing. [23:28] 14Wow. [23:28] 14How bad is the food? 15[23:29] By Realm standards? Disgusting. By the standards of people under siege, forced to scrounge from off-season catches with spears and nets and old grain from before the fields were burned? Merely very bad. [23:30] 14Well. Not the worst protein she's ever etc etc where's Dryas and Daizo? [23:30] 14And Zhangyu, of course. 15[23:30] Zhangyu is eating quietly, because noise is an inefficiency that interferes with your porridge throughput. [23:31] 07Dryas pokes at it once or twice and takes a game bite before offering it to someone else who might need it. Perhaps Cynis Rai can find a use for it. 15[23:31] Shiroi's out of her armor and she's let her hair down. She's eating with or near the Fangs, while Grenseal and Rai eat with the soldiers and nurses. Shiroi: "I'd apologize for the food, but I have to eat it too." [23:31] 14Sustenance is important to keep the fire lit! Fire aspects who can't cook are always saying this for some reason. [23:33] 10Daizo is doing a very good job of pretending not to notice how terrible it is, and he's alreay finished by the time Piu returns. He'd like to have checked out the field reports of some of the earlier clashes with the elementals, but it seems like scrolls and paper aren't permitted within a certain radius of Budokan's oven.  [23:34] 14How rude does she want to be here? Hrm. 4Let's try: "So what's the deal with you and Grenseal?" [23:34] 07Dryas will spin a bit of a tale: "A few weeks ago we were shipwrecked at sea. Worse than capsized. Nights and days with nothing to drink but what Daizo and Piu and some of the others could boil up in the cookware we salvaged." 15[23:38] Shiroi: "It's just the two of us here, between the traitors and the dead, to serve as officers. We're low on the blood for sure. And Mos has an even harder job than we do, cause she has to pretend all of this means anything." [23:40] 07Dryas: "We'd lost people, but there was nothing around but the vast sea and the endless sky. At least there wasn't a storm. We took turns rowing with makeshift oars through the night, and into the next day. No sign of anyone. Even if we could get a message off, there wasn't anyone around who could answer, who we'd want to answer." [23:42] 4Piu: "I'm just saying there's an energy there. It could be the one thing, or it could be the other, much different thing. And I don't want to make any enemies on like, my first night here." 15[23:43] Shiroi: "Oh, he's all yours, believe me. If he were the last man in Creation - which he effectively is - I still don't want the mess. He's the Governor's son." 15[23:43] "I just want to relax, you know?" 15[23:43] She sees Dryas looking in her direction, and catches her eye to smile. 15[23:43] Cathak Shiroi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrVLexJwkmA - Pure power stripped of meaning / Sky burning / Spring cleaning [23:44] 4Piu: "Ooh, spicy. Well, yeah, I know what you mean. But stuff like this can be pretty relaxing." 15[23:45] Shiroi: "Can I ask you one, then?" [23:45] 07Dryas: "So we entered the second day. Still calm enough, we risked a makeshift sail on the raft we'd pulled together from the wreckage. A few dozen sailors, us, the Commodore and some officers, and a few civilians. A horse - my horse, the one over there, Diamond Weapon, which I prayed we didn't have to eat." [23:46] 4Piu: "Sure!" 15[23:46] Shiroi and Piu aren't talking over Dryas, who has commanded the breadth of the camp's attention. 15[23:46] Shiroi says, "How well do you know Rikai?" [23:49] 07Dryas: "We keep rowing, taking turns. The Blooded officers and us - the Fangs - we can manage, but the sailors are long spent. Some of them were wounded in the wreck, all of them are exhausted. Third day, on the horizon, we see, of all the things in Creation..." 07Dryas gestures to the rather ridiculous makeshift standard she'd ridden beneath into the camp. [23:49] 14Piu doesn't know Rikai, right? [23:51] 4Cheerily: "We've never met! He's kind of an asshole." [23:51] "'Kind of' being an understatement." [23:51] "Came out here and never calls home." [23:51] 10How. How does she keep pulling this off? Daizo could produce a point-by-point takedown of all the inaccuracies in Dryas' telling of the story, but she'd just wave a hand— argh! [23:52] 10Just effortless poetic sense. Infuriating! 15[23:54] Shiroi smiles. "Glad to hear your report matches mine." 15[23:56] "Whatever stupid shit is going on between Budokan and his boys... I was worried bringing another famous V'neef in would make even more of a mess." [23:56] 4Piu: "Still might!" 15[23:56] "Really bad luck. There's not even that many of you guys." [23:56] "Pfft. Gee, thanks. What, you've run into more than two of us?" 15[23:58] Shiroi: "I used to be in the Legion under S'thera. And obviously we got Merchant Fleet captains in and out when we had good weather, and docks, and a mine, and civilization." [23:59] 4Piu: "Ahhhh. Yeeeeah." [23:59] "Not so much of that anymore." [23:59] 07Dryas: "Anyway, we arrived, looking like a pack of drowned alynxes, and manage to talk our way aboard. Talked our way into the, well, you can see here on the banner - more of a towel or bedsheet, really. Expense account, fine dining, and wine on tap. It just goes to show, at dawn you can find yourself with fish broth straight out the sea, and find yourself snacking on flamingo tongues by bedtime. We never gave up on each [23:59] other, and we held to hope." 15[00:03] Shiroi: "I feel good about you, though. I think you're going to come down on the right side here." [00:08] 07Dryas gets a little more serious: "Things are rough now. And if you have been paying attention, you are smart to be frightened and wise to be worried. Thank you for not trying to eat Diamond Weapon! We faced tough battles today, and more will come tomorrow. But we have arrived to help, and we are going to get through this, together, if we hold fast to our hope and to each other." [00:11] 4Piu smiles. "Wellll every place we visit ends up deeply fucked. Except the Golden Saucer I guess. That was an exception!" [00:11] "But maybe that's already happened here! So nothing to be afraid of." 15[00:14] Dryas's tale of the wreck of the Defiance is transportive. People see themselves adrift at sea, struggling to stay safe and fed, with no idea when help or safety will come... but it does come, in the end, suddenly and readily and under a banner with a decadently high thread count. Not unlike these Four Fangs. 15[00:15] Shiroi: "If you can make it worse, I'd kind of like to see it. That would be a real achievement." [00:17] 4A polite but slightly unsteady laugh. "The lady who just finished giving a speech about our glorious shipwreck shot a Deathlord through the eye on his wedding day, killed him in a single shot, and then we hung his corpse -- now an actual corpse -- upside down outside the chapel as a warning. And then we set fire to the docks so that Skullstone couldn't have them." [00:17] "We're accomplished in the field." 15[00:18] Shiroi: "Well there you go. I'd very much have liked to see that." [00:19] 10Shiroi's probably going to want ringside seats to more than just Hinokuni, probably. 15[00:20] NEXT TIME: Ignition