Session 18 - Family Matters

Previously, across the Horizon… The ruined nation-state of Alterna held many treasures for our heroes, though none so dangerous as the strange shadowy guardians that attempted to end the party’s existence in the ancient castle, released after Bast solved the mystery of the Great Crystal pedestal by throwing something at it and then taking cover. After successfully defeating the shadows and descending the stairs, our heroes discovered another great treasure — a mysterious airship, lying right where Cid Tantalus told them it would be, the day they met and their lives veered wildly off course. For once, they did not rush off into immediate danger by immediately flying the ship out of the hidden waterfall cave and into Ducorde. Instead, they rushed into potential danger by splitting up and poking their heads into every nook and cranny of the ship that they could find. Fortunately, the ship was not infested with strange monsters lying in wait for hundreds of years, and was instead empty, abandoned after its completion, three hundred years on the landing pad, waiting for its maiden flight. Our heroes returned to compare notes in the War Room, located just off of the bridge, with each member of the party bringing their own unique expertise to the debriefing. We join Isa Osler, Linnet Leveche, Bast, Yves Mjrwin, Orrey Alyon, and Cassiat Alyon just as the ship breakdown has finished, and another question hangs overhead…
Isa holds her gaze for a moment, then leans back again. “We have two groups we could hand this ship over to. Tantalus has offered a lot of money and vague promises of truth. Forty thousand gil each isn’t something to ignore. Aramog hasn’t made any promises, but her good will could go a long way to sorting out any problems we might be having in Saron. Or,” she says, as casually as describing dinner options, “we keep it, and damn them all.”
“I do not trust either of them.” Orrey looks vaguely uncomfortable sitting at the table, still not quite able to relax in the newly acquired airship.
“I mean, was there an explicit /time limit/ on any of those offers? Because we, uh, some of us have stuff to do,” Yves says, with a sidelong glance at Orrey, “where an airship would be really handy, and we could take a look at things, and then if it seems like we’re in a little over our heads, there’s always going back to one of those offers. Maybe. Probably?”
“I can’t imagine anyone is going to be happy with you giving them the ship only after you use it for whatever you want,” Cassiat says, her voice oddly flat. “Whatever you decide here is probably final.”
“If they only want a /new/ airship, they should specify in the offer,” Yves says.
Bast takes some time before replying. “What do you think Tantalus wants this ship for? And why involve us?”
Isa points at Cassiat. “One way or another, once we agree we’re bound to it.”
Cassiat does what any little sister does, and that’s throw Orrey into the street. “What do you want to do?” she asks him.
“I don’t know. None of the three options are all that great. There’s a fourth option, of course: leave this thing here and drop the key into the ocean and never talk about this again.” Orrey squinches his face up, not meeting anyone else’s gaze.
Cassiat purses her lips, but says nothing.
“Pretty sure option four still has Tantalus and his crew out to get us, minus this airship on our side,” Bast says.
“At the end of the day, this ship represents power. It’s up to us who gets that power, and ‘no one’ isn’t an option,” Isa says.
“We should do something good,” Yves says abruptly. “If we can’t figure out at least one way to help someone who needs it, with an airship, we shouldn’t have it.”
“I can think of at least three,” Isa says.
“Something good does not involve giving this to anyone else. If that’s something we want to do, then we have to keep it and we have to…I dunno, set up some sort of charter or something to govern our little band here so that we don’t end up doing something we don’t approve of with it.” Orrey jots down a few notes.
Yves considers. “…I mean, I just figured we could go rescue your dad, and celebrate, and then do other good stuff as the situations presented themselves, but forming a government works too, sure.”
Isa gives Orrey a careful look, verging on approving. “It’s traditional,” she allows.
“We don’t necessarily need to be pirates, but they do have quite a few examples of how to divide up profits equitably. They’re a bit more democratic than most, though…” He taps his pencil against his chin as he thinks back to a few of the more radical governments he remembers reading about.
“Profits already?” Bast seems amused. “I think figuring out how to defend this ship will need to happen much sooner than profits.”
“And don’t think for a minute we’re not going to have to defend it,” Isa points out.
The table makes a terrible sound, and then Cassiat meekly fixes her telescoping staff. “Sorry sorry I was fiddling with it sorry.”
“The charter would have to delineate responsibilities as well as divvy up the booty,” Orrey says.
“And the authority to enact those responsibilities,” Isa says.
“Or we could just do everything as a vote and leave the details out completely. Might make it hard to plan ahead, but then again, look who we’ve got sitting at the table.” Orrey half smiles as he glances around at the crew.
Linnet emerges from an aft cabin, dust in her wings and a huge grin on her face. “Sorry, did I miss anything? I think I found the map room. And I promise I put everything back where I found it. So, are we adventuring yet?”
“I think we’re trying to form a system of government before we go rescue people,” Yves says.
Linnet quirks a skeptical eyebrow at the party. “…that’s an option. Do we actually need a government to be a ship’s crew? Weren’t we aiming for more of a Musketeers-type thing?”
Isa tilts her head. “What type of thing?”
“All for one and one for all? Am I the only one who read that? I have got to stop making references that only make sense in my head. Sorry, carry on,” Linnet waves.
“Maybe now’s not the right time to work all of this out. We do have other priorities currently. Finding my father being the one most important to me and Cassiat,” Orrey says.
“Right. Here’s the thing.” Isa leans forward. “One way or another, whatever we choose, there’s going to be a lot of weight coming at us. Unless we’re all working together, it’s going to break us. So we can go back and forth for a bit but I want to make this very, very clear. Once we decide what we’re doing, that’s your one chance to bow out. If we can’t depend on each other after that point, then we’re doomed. Clear?”
“We need swords. Someone has to have stashed a rapier or two on this thing. Yes, Isa! I’m paying attention! Let’s go do good and look good doing it!” Linnet declares.
“I mean, when you look at the big picture and the long run, everyone is inevitably doo—” Yves pauses, and reconsiders. “Yeah, clear, Isa.”
Bast looks vaguely pained at Linnet. “…so is the library back home going to be okay with a delay on their books and an indefinite leave of absence for-” he makes a vague, ship-encompassing wave “-this?”
“Extended inter-library loan. I’ll find a library somewhere to be on the other end of that. I did telegraph the director for confirmation, but she knows acquisitions take a while. And I’m pretty sure the board of trustees would prefer to be rid of me at least until they can say my name without shuddering. I’m already on indefinite hiatus. Now I’m just doing something interesting with it.” Linnet drapes a wing around Bast’s shoulders. “What’s troubling you?”
“Treating this as a vacation when we might have a couple of armadas on our tail soon after we leave this place. Everyone who doesn’t want it for themselves will want to keep others away from it.” He looks back at her. “Are you ready for something like that?”
“Show me how the weapons work and convince me that the people on the other end of them deserve to be fired at. Then stand back.”
Orrey looks thoughtfully at his sketch of the ship. “Technically the ship is ours. I think even legally, we’d have some sort of salvage rights over it, wouldn’t we? No one owns Alterna, and anyone can brave the ruins to bring back whatever they can find. So…we’d own the ship, right?”
“If we can keep it,” Isa says.
“If you need help running a ship,” Cassiat says, a little tension creeping into her voice, “ask Galley. He can give you advice.”
“Is there space to attach the Slim Reaper to the side or something? Maybe parking space in the hold?” Linnet asks. (She doesn’t really understand how ships work yet.)
“I dunno that ‘legally’ is gonna matter to the kind of people who’d want this ship. And with enough money and connections, anything is ‘legal’ anyway.” Yves frowns down at the table.
“I trust that we’ll be able to defend the ship, together. I’ve seen you all in action. And even I have started to be able to contribute. I don’t know if you all have felt it, but my Crystal has…changed, grown. I can do things now I couldn’t only a short time ago,” Orrey says.
“Sounds to me like we’re keeping it, then. But I need to hear it. We all need to hear it from each other. All in favor?” Isa raises her hand.
Linnet raises both wings, as her hands are currently busy poking through cabinets for swords.
Yves raises a hand.
Orrey nods and raises his pencil.
Bast raises his hand halfway, then hesitates. “We may want to think twice about writing off Tantalus. If he has connections for this kind of leads, we want him on our side, or at least not out for our blood. Not saying we give him the ship – if he wants the ship itself and not whatever Truth he’s chasing for. But we should try to work something out.”
“Happy to hear him out, but we’ve already seen how low he’s pricing us.” Isa looks over at Cassiat. “And you?”
Cassiat blinks. “I’m just here to find Papa.”
“We find him, your whole family will need protection. And we have lots of room here,” Bast says.
“Whatever it is you’re doing with this,” she twirls a finger around to indicate Airships in general, “has nothing to do with me.” Something in Bast’s tone rankles her. “We don’t need protection,” she says hotly. “And we’re not leaving Saron.”
Isa nods. “I said anyone could get off, and I meant it. But your father’s one of my top priorities.”
“So your Ma will fight off the next set of uninvited guests by herself?” Bast replies evenly.
“When we pick him up, I expect he and your mom will be the ones to decide about where the family goes next. Or doesn’t go,” Yves says.
“No, because Orrey and I will be there to protect them,” Cassiat replies, half out of her chair.
Bast looks over at Orrey, eyebrows raised.
“Cass, sit down. Bast, stop scaring the kid. Look, we all know this isn’t a pleasure cruise, but we’re not taking people into protective custody without them being the ones to make that decision. We’re not friggin’ kidnapping people.” Linnet huffs. “We will learn how the ship’s defenses work on the way to rescue Papa Alyon, then use them as our best judgment dictates, which probably means as Isa’s judgment dictates.”
“We’re not kidnapping anyone, sure. That’s not the same as nobody ending up kidnapped.” Bast shrugs slightly.
Orrey drops a sentence onto the table. “Cassiat, I’m not coming home after this.”
Orrey has her full attention. “What?”
“After everything we’ve been through lately, I don’t have much in the way of prospects in Saron right now. I dropped out of college and have been working to get Papa out since then. I don’t see myself working in the shop. This is my opportunity to make my fortune, or whatever they’re calling it these days.” Orrey leans back, happy he said it, finally, but worried about how Cass will react.
Cassiat opens and closes her mouth a few times. “What, exactly, have you been doing to get Papa out, Orrey?”
Bast gives Cassiat a tiny wave, one corner of his mouth crooking up.
“Making friends and influencing people,” Linnet answers helpfully.
“Working to put a ransom together to release our father.” Orrey sighs. “Working for the ones who took him.”
Cassiat gets to her feet, her fingernails too short to scrape along the top of the table like she really wants them to, but she tries nonetheless. “Because I know you’ve been running little errands for people, but I’m the one who got the lead, I’m the one who got training, I’m the one who secured passage here, and I’m the one who was going to come out here and actually rescue him because you were off riding a luxury train.”
“That was one of the jobs…” Orrey trails off.
“If by ‘training’ you mean ‘two crystals of questionable provenance…’” Linnet mutters almost under her breath.
Cassiat continues on, undaunted. “You found good friends. I’m glad. But you’re sure interested in running around with them now, even when our family is still in trouble, and after we rescue Papa you’re just going to take off? That’s enough for you? Everyone else is home, everyone else is working, everyone else is part of the family and you’re just… gone?”
“Once you’re all safe. Yes,” Orrey says.
“Getting your family out of trouble is on the table,” Isa notes.
“And you will note that I am not storming out of here and slamming the door despite it very much being my sort of thing right now,” Cassiat says. “Rescuing Papa is what I am here for. When it is over, I am going home with him to make sure my family is safe. I would prefer not to do that alone.” Every word is clipped.
“How long ago was he taken?” Bast asks.
“Where’s Galley? Does he get a voice in this conversation?” Linnet asks.
Cassiat’s jaw is too stiff, her posture too forced. But she still turns to Isa. “I would like my crystals back, please. I will defer to your wisdom and not use them unless you give me the all-clear, but I want to carry them.”
“He’s balanced on the edge of a building and our first stop once we leave this cave.” Isa looks at Cassiat and studies her for a long moment. “We’ll talk when we’re done here. Just you and me. If you don’t like what I have to say then, I’ll give them back.”
She sniffs. “I can respect that,” she allows. Cassiat then calmly yet methodically leaves the room.
“Don’t punch anything until you know what it does,” Linnet yells after her.
Orrey wilts into his chair, looking down at the table.
“Did our plan for forming a government involve teenagers? Can it not?” Linnet attempts to rub her temples with her wings. All this does is mess up her hair.
“Shows up for nothing but the presentation and takes credit for the whole group project,” Yves mutters.
“She’s removed herself from that level of things,” Isa says. “Next order of business. Do we know how to get this thing in the air?”
“Is this the point where I volunteer to distract Yves and rope him into my rapier hunt?” Linnet asks.
Bast thinks. “I’ve had some experience with ships. Might need time to sort out what this one does in particular.”
“Hey! I already said I wouldn’t mess with the engines on this ship. They’re too good,” Yves protests.
“Alright. Bast, take Yves with you to the engines anyway, now that he’s promised to behave. I’m going to head to the bridge and see if it has anything I recognize from modern designs. You two,” Isa says to Orrey and Linnet, “are welcome to volunteer, or keep exploring, but please be careful until we’re flying steady.”
Orrey raises an eyebrow. “We definitely need a clause in the charter about when Isa gets to boss us around.”
“Right! Off to hunt for swords. And maybe distract Cass with them once I find them.” Linnet hesitates by the door, but only for a second. “Orrey, that would be ‘when the rest of us are far enough in the academic weeds to not accomplish anything for the foreseeable future.’ C’mon, loosen up a bit. We have an experienced soldier onboard, might as well listen to her.”
“Soldiers are great in combat. I defer to your experience when it comes to a fight, Isa,” Orrey says diplomatically.
“I’m happy to restrict my authority to the areas of my expertise. Specifically combat, airships, and airship combat,” Isa replies calmly.
Orrey nods. “Sorry, Isa, I’m in a shit mood now. This is coming out all wrong. I’m going to take a walk up on deck. I’ll see if I can help somehow.” He wanders off in the general direction of an upwards leading ladder.
Fifteen minutes later, Cassiat clears her throat on the bridge to announce her presence, and then walks up to Isa, arms folded, a scowl carved in stone on a face that hasn’t quite filled out all the way. “You wanted to talk to me,” she says.
Isa nods, and turns away from the control panels she was attempting to decipher. “I did. Best we have this conversation without anyone else to perform for.”
Cassiat leans against something that might be a set of navigation dials but might also be a temperature control and waits.
“It’s not my place to tell you how to sort things out with Orrey. If you got between me and my sister while we were at odds, you’d be lucky to keep both your hands. So we’re just going to leave that whole thing somewhere off to the side.”
Cassiat nods, as if she’d be equally capable at being that dangerous when pressed.
“But those crystals aren’t as useful as you think they are. In Saron, I fought two people using them. And it wasn’t enough. And I am nowhere near the best Fighter you’ll meet.” You can hear the job title; Isa is old-school.
“I know,” Cassiat says patiently. “I know I’m not going to be an expert with them. But it’s more than I have now, and I have to do the best I can with what I have available to me. Papa’s important.”
“Or,” Isa suggests, “I make you a Fighter, and you follow that path in earnest.”
“You have a ship to fly,” she says, a sudden torrent of anguish pouring through her voice. “So you can’t.”
“I can give you the basics. Less than you’d get through training, but enough to set you on the path. It’ll be harder, sure. But it’ll be yours.”
“I’d like that. I know it’s harder. I know it’d be more rewarding. I know it would be better for me. I know it’s a better experience and a better outcome for me, personally.” She drums her fingers on her jacket sleeve. “Personal’s not the same as important.”
“No, it’s not. I’d have a very different life if it was. But sometimes, they overlap.” She pulls her pendant out of her shirt, slips it over her head. It takes a second to negotiate the braid. “Let me tell you what it means to be a Fighter.”
She holds a hand up, not out. “I need to find Papa, Isa. And that means, if I want your help and Orrey’s help, the ship has to fly. So please, focus on that. Maybe later, I can learn. For now, I need to focus on what’s important, and that’s protecting them.”
“Engines are still cold. We’re not going anywhere until Bast and Yves get it spun up. Now be quiet and listen. You’re close to the right answer, anyway. Being a Fighter is about protection. Not yourself, but everyone else. Being a Fighter means you are going to get the shit kicked out of you. And you’re going to do that because you can take it. Because it’s better you than them. And because when you are done getting the shit kicked out of you, you. Kick. Back.” Isa presses on. “We don’t give an inch of ground that we don’t make them pay for. Anything they think they can afford, we double the cost.”
Cassiat crosses her arms, jaw still set, but is at least listening. She doesn’t make any move to respond to any of the lessons being quickly handed out, here, but she’s also not storming out or anything. A moderate success, Isa could say, considering the younger Alyon’s mood.
It takes about ninety minutes for the full process to finish — for the engines to spin up, the turbines to start howling, Linnet and Bast to realize with no small amount of disbelief that there are no weapons outfitted on this ship, for Orrey to finish his quite-understandable sulk on the deck, for Cassiat to finish her quite-understandable sulk below deck. A communication line is opened between the engine room and the bridge after a few minutes of trial and error, letting Isa and Yves speak to each other while the ship is in motion. Dials are clear where labeled gauges are not, but there is enough in Cardia’s airship training for Isa to see the similarities between her country and the former parent country. And so, with a few muttered prayers and wary glances between the group… the Starfall sets out on its first ever flight.
The ship slices through the waterfall and out into Alterna at large, Isa’s amateur hand still guiding the incredibly responsive ship into a tight turn to starboard, tilting 45 degrees to avoid a bit of decaying masonry. The only natural thing from here is to sail over the Slim Reaper, surely just to make sure Galley is okay, and not at all to find the only person within two hundred miles to show off to. While Orrey and Bast both spot railways coming into the city, rusted over and mangled into disrepair, Yves’ sharp eye spots a building that can only be the central station, though the moment is slightly ruined by Yves announcing it as “that looks a lot like where Orrey got blown up.” The building does bear a resemblance to Saron’s train station.
“Ooh, has anyone told Cassiat that story yet? That might cheer her up,” Linnet says.
Cassiat watches the ground whip by from the bridge. “Everything we’ve heard points to trains being used to transport people, and those reporters used a train to get here,” she says, her voice tight. “But would anyone actually set up a base of operations here?”
“Sure, if they thought no one would ever look for them here. It’s dangerous, but not completely stupid,” Isa says, most of her attention on the Starfall.
“And it’s close enough to Saron to have easy access,” Orrey says.
“Taking passengers on your secret prison train on top of that does seem to cross over into stupid, though,” Bast muses.
“Depends on the type of passengers, maybe,” Yves says.
“They might have just stowed away,” Cassiat says.
Isa frowns. “Or they have separate trains.”
“Running tours into Alterna? I think we would have heard,” Bast says.
The station building is white stone with a sloping, peaked glass roof, most of the panes destroyed, those that remain grown over with vines and moss. It’s very difficult to see much through the roof as you fly, even as Isa keeps a healthy distance for the initial scouting pass. The legs of a statue stand out front, and only a few buildings sit near it, an entire block and a half east fallen down into the sea, the raging waters visible below.
Cassiat’s mouth moves as she thinks, and then she turns back to Isa. “We can set down and go in by foot; we can’t sit this next to Galley, but we could pick Galley up and have him watch it back where we got it. Or if you think they’re going to come back, and they haven’t just… left, already, we can fly over and wait. Or we can follow the tracks southwest back toward Saron to see if we can find any trains running.” She runs a hand through her hair. “And hope that that silver ship doesn’t show up.”
She rests a hand on the window, peering down into the unknown. “I’ll save you, Papa,” she whispers. “I’ll do what’s right.”
And with that… End session.