Aboard the Red Horizon part 2

Life, Relocation

20CA
7/1 20:00

20CA
15/1 11:00

After a fight with The Heron Captain, everyone was on edge. Dinner was late, and quiet - exhaustion and shock were still taking hold. Jasper and Captain Knotley met briefly to make the hard decision as to who would be taking nighttime responsibilities. The few tired sailors finished their meal and prepared for their shift as the rest of the crew and passengers retired to their bunks.

Night Five

In the middle of the night, young Adeline woke up. She noticed that no one was in the crew quarters. As she adjusted, she also realized that the only light coming in was the moonlight through the windows - even the braziers were doused. Only the gentle crashing of the waves against the hull, could be heard. Quietly, she donned her equipment and began quietly making her way upstairs. As she moved, step by step, she heard nothing. All braziers were doused. All areas were empty. As she surfaced she found that the sails were full, but no one was steering the ship. She looked around, but the only stimulus was the sound of the waves.

-- Until the voice. --

Adeline.
— ████

The voice sounded as if it was coming from everywhere at once: even from inside her own head. She turned, scanning for whomever was calling for her. As she spun her head, a horrifying face filled her vision. She shot up in her bunk, sweating and out of breath. Shaken, she slowly got dressed. She was only slightly comforted by the loud snoring of Aurum only a few beds away. She knew, at least, that this was right. The crew was asleep, Ryz and Aurum were nearby, and lights were lit. She quietly headed upstairs, trying not to wake anyone. As she reached the top deck she noticed Jasper at the helm. She went to him offering to help. Jasper noted that Archie was especially exhausted and could use the rest. She looked over to see the sailor fighting sleep while standing up, rope in hand. She happily relieved the tired sailor who retired below deck to get some much needed sleep. She spent the rest of the night on the night crew. Though she couldn't sleep, she could feel the exhaustion setting in.

Ready to Pop

The next morning, as the sun rose, Aurum, Ryz, and the rest of the crew woke up and slowly got ready for a new day. Aurum donned his armor, weary of relaxing like he did before. Ryz noticed that Adeline was already up and out of her cot. As everyone ate their breakfast, it was clear that the tension had not dissipated. The morning routine was quiet and sluggish, but accomplished with no serious impediments. While working, the adjutant ambassador came up to the top deck. Scanning for something, as she and Ryz made eye contact she began to beeline it to them. Slightly worried, they braced for what may come. As she came up, in a straightforward tone she said "thank you for saving my daughter." Tension immediately melted.

Ryz

"She spoke of seeing pink chains and then waking up to see you. I don't think she fully understands what happened -" "Good, let's hope it stays that way." "I agree. But Sincerely, thank you. I weren't expecting anyone besides ourselves and the crew aboard, and we are lucky you were here. If you don't mind me asking, how did you come to end up on this ambassador ship?" Ryz, thinking quickly, quipped "We're just out to see the world and this ship happened to be leaving." She nodded, seeming to agree with them. "There is much to see. Well, thank you again." "Off course." They nodded graciously. "Oh, uh, I'm Ryz by the way." They stuck out their hand to shake. "Lyndis." She returned the shake in a warmer manner than expected. As she finished, she turned her head, scanning for another. Adeline, who had been paying attention from a little ways away, locked eyes with her, and Lyndis beelined it to her.

Adeline

"I wanted to say thank you for saving my daughter. She wouldn't stop talking about the satyr who saved her and noted she caught a glimpse of you, drenched, making your way down the stairs to continue the fight." "It was no problem." "We are fortunate that you were aboard. We weren't expecting anyone else to be on this journey. If you don't mind me asking, what brought you aboard the ship?" Thinking quickly, Adeline returned "Been travelling a lot lately." Lyndis gave an understanding nod and said, "that's good. Whatever the reason, I'm just glad this happened to be the ship to bring you there." Awkwardly, and abruptly, Adeline asked, "And are there more like you out there?" Lyndis did not know how to respond besides a returned quizzical look. "Can you... rephrase the question? I don't follow." "Have you come across other cultures with your views? Political or otherwise." "So far we've been agreeable with everyo- well, there are two governments we have disagreed with... but otherwise we have been building good relationships. So far we haven't been signing treaties or brokering agreements so it has been easy to build positive relationships." "Oh. Ok." Adeline found busy work to do to fend off the awkwardness. She shook Adeline's hand and began to make her way back down. As she did, she noticed the armor Aurum was wearing, and curiosity took hold.

Aurum

"Excuse me, if you don't mind me asking, are you from Amana?" Aurum gave back a jovial, "Why yes I am." "I thought I recognized that purple. I was a part of the unification process all those years ago. That purple was a common sight. The color of the people. Say is there a... oh what is the name he chose for himself... Justinus? Justiness? Justin-something?" Aurum guardedly replied "Justinian?" "That's the one. Of course he did. I never understood why latin but whatever. I hope he's doing well. He chose to stay on Amana. Hopefully time has tempered him a little, though I doubt it." The two chuckled lightly. "Thank you for being here. I understand you had a significant role in repelling the encounter we had yesterday. We are fortunate that you and your friends were on board to help us. This is an ambassador ship, so we weren't expecting anyone else to be on board for this journey. If you don't mind me asking, what brought you here?" In keeping with appearances, respecting the apparent rank of the person before him, he cautiously replied "Amana is in need of assistance. There are some problems currently at hand and I am trying to bring support." She nodded, "That is unfortunate. I will see if there is any aid we can muster when we return to Ilengal." Aurum thought for a moment, calculating. He handed her a copy of the call for help. She read it and rolled it up. "It would be a week or so after your departure, but hopefully there is something we can do to help." They shook hands and she returned to the Embassy suite.

Let's Get to Know Each Other

After Lyndis left they gathered to chat. Partly to go over what they all felt about Lyndis, but also to get better acquainted. They hadn't taken much time to get to know each other, but they were sort of starting to trust each other. They spoke of their motivations and some of their activities. Pirate ships, civic duty, circus shenanigans... no longer strangers to each other, they were beginning to bond. As Ryz was talking to Adeline, they noticed that while Adeline was flicking her tail around as a nervous tick, periodically her tail would grab a dagger. Absent mindedly she was unsheathing and sheathing a dagger. They tried to hide it, but Adeline eventually caught on to their minor discomfort. As she turned her head she realized what she was doing. She hurriedly sheathed her dagger and wrapped her tail around her tightly. She continued to hold, sit, or stand on her tail for the rest of the day. To help focus her nervous energy, Ryz also started reaching Adeline how to juggle. Aurum was interest, too, amd joined in the juggling fun. While not as nimble,, coordination from training helped him a little.. Ryz and Aurum seemed to get along well enough, as well. The hardest part was Ryz dealing with their distrust of authority figures. They didn't fully trust him yet, but he also didn't act like the problematic ones.

Let it All Out

As everyone made their way to the dining hall for lunch, Ryz, Adeline, and Aurum met up. "How about the Lyndis." Ryz started. They three chatted for as they descended to the recreation deck. Josh appeared from below deck and approached them. "Are you guys alright? That was scary last night. I wanted to help but I froze and couldn't climb those stairs. I wanted to check in last night but I was ashamed and couldn't bare to approach anyone so I just went to the carriage to sleep. I'm glad to see you're alive but I just wanted to make sure you're ok." The three appeased him and let him know that they were ok. Ryz exclaimed, "But it was freaky as hell!" People began letting it rip.

"I know right?!"

"Seriously!"

"Fuuuuuuuck!"

The balloon that was ready to pop got a steady release. Lunch was loud and communal. Everyone let loose the stress and anxiety that had been weighing on them since the prior evening. While eating, Ryz asked "what was that thing?" As he walked by, Orin over heard and said "It's quite interesting." He gestured to them, requesting a seat. Ryz nodded and scooted over a little to make even more space for the towering firbolg. As he sat, people on the bench bounced a little. "The sailors call it a Spirit of the Sea. They're protectors of the oceans. This one in particular was apparently out of season. They said that it was very unexpected since he wasn't supposed to be active for another few weeks." "Why was that?" Adeline asked. "Well, no one seems to know for sure. The odd thing the four of us" he gestured to his fellow Satellitite clerics "noticed while we were trying to send him back was that something seemed to be simultaneously pulling him in and pushing him away from the ship. Whatever it was, we've decided to change up the rituals we're doing to cleanse the ship in the hopes that it will help keep him away for the rest of the journey." As lunch finished, Aurum offered to train Josh. They decended to the cargo hold where they had the most space to train, and began teaching him some tosses, throws, and redirects. Josh loved the training and it exhausted him for the rest of the day. Dinner came and went, more of the crew were intermingled and chatting, and the day concluded much better than the day before. Ryz saw the kids trying to juggle fruit on their plates. They approached the kids and received an approving smile and nod from Lyndis. While helping the kids juggle they weren't bad, but on their own they were going to need a lot of practice. The kids were excited to keep trying.

Night Six

Ryz awoke in the middle of the night. As they looked around, unable to fall back asleep for a moment, they noticed a pulsing pink light emanating from the cargo hold. They quietly got ready and approached, trying not to wake anyone. As they descended into the cargo hold, they could see that the chest at the back of the carriage was the source of the glow. Worries building, they went straight for their bag. Their fears were found true, as it was their little rubber duck that was the source of the pulsing pink glow. As they picked it up, they felt a connection reestablish with it. For a long while, it didn't send anything but a periodic hunger of sorts when it needed to swim. Now, it was sending sadness and resentment. As they held it, they could make our three, very faint, pink lines leading from the duck, through the back of the ship in the direction they came from. Then, two more lines seemed to begin coming from the top of the duck. With each pulse of light, the lines grew longer, eventually going through the ceiling above them. After a few more pulses, they felt new connections establish. They brought the duck along, quietly making their way back to the cots. As they followed these two new lines, they found that they now connected to Adeline and Aurum. Terror set in. As they made their way back down, they paused at the top of the stairs when they caught a small figure out of the corner of their eye. There sat a little boy from the envoy. "Couldn't sleep?" Ryz asked. "No. I like your duck." The sleepy boy replied. He seemed to only look at them and the duck. "Thanks. I think you should go back to bed." The sleepy child nodded and made his way back upstairs. Relieved, Ryz quickly and quietly returned the duck to their bag. They mimicked sleep for the rest of the night, but wasn't able to fall back asleep. Exhaustion continued to set in as the morning sun rose.

Digging deeper

As everyone began getting up with the morning sun, Ryz played along, barely hiding the sleeplessness in their eyes. The day progressed normally through breakfast and the morning routine. Before lunch, Ryz approached Orin as he enjoyed a nice stroll on the deck. In a somewhat hushed tone, Ryz asked, "Do you know anything about cursed objects?" Respecting the sensitive nature of the subject, "I can't say that I do. I've seen a lot in my many years but I have little experience with handling cursed objects. Galina is rather enthusiastic about the occult and spiritual things. Let me introduce you." The two made their way to Galina who found it hard to contain her excitement. Introductions and pleasantries finished, Ryz brought them down to the cargo hold. As Ryz presented their duck, Galina gave an almost insulted this is it? Ryz nodded and Galina put out her hand, gently, to request the duck. Galina sat on the floor, lit her candle, and held her orb above the flame. As soot deposited on the bottom of the orb, she turned it, looking at the duck through it. Her eyes widened after a short glance and looked up. "It's a Spirit of the Sea." Orin sighed with a what have I gotten myself into expression. "I cannot tell exactly which one in this vessel, but even in this form it is clear to me that this is exactly like what we saw the other day." Ryz asked "do you know what to do with this?" "That I'm afraid is beyond me. I have studied shamanism, divination, miracles, and druidism, but this is far greater than I'm used to." "Do you know who might?" "Not specifically, but anyone who deals with weird magics may. Occultists, strange bog people... someone like that might." They thanked her and began to put the duck away as the noticed a coat tail hanging from the stairwell. After a beat, the coat tail disappeared from view and they heard footsteps heading towards the stairs above them. Ryz raced after them to see who it was. As they got to the top of the stairs, they saw boots ascending. Ryz called out "wait!" and the boots stopped. "Who are you?" The person stop, slowly turned, and descended the stairs. It was Lyndis.

Not Out of Obligation

Ryz asked, worriedly "How much of that did you hear?" Coldly, and frankly, Lyndis replied, "All of it." "Please, don't tell anyone. Let's make a deal." As Ryz said that, Lyndis sat on the stairs in a ready position, stroking her chin. She was clearly in negotiation mode. Galina and Orin came up the stairs to see what was going on. As they did, Lyndis ushered Ryz to the rear of the crew quarters to speak in private while Orin and Galina awkwardly returned to the upper decks. Lyndis opened the door to the crew storage and said "We can speak in private here." Lyndis shut the door, sat on a footlocker, and again assumed a posture ready to listen and negotiate. Ryz pleaded their case. "Don't tell anyone. I saved your daughter's life, you owe me this." Lyndis thought, smiled, and replied "I won't keep this secret out of obligation. I don't like to owe anyone. I will, however, keep it out of mutual respect. I will tell you that I am not just an ambassador. I am also a spy. I have been tasked with traveling with the ambassador in order to make reports and threat assessments on the world at large. Ilengal can't afford to be as isolationist as it was before. You seem young, and might not remember the calamity that happened 20 years ago, but everyone was caught off guard. Even with the world trying to piece together everything that happened, no one seems to have the full picture." Ryz relaxed a little and continued to listen intently. "I will tell you that there are only two people who receive my reports, and I have an obligation to tell them. This is too significant to keep quiet and I cannot, in good conscious, leave this out. So long as you don't let this become a problem, I promise that I will keep them from delivering a response." Ryz experienced emotional whiplash as each sentence seemed to switch between relieving and threatening. But, given the information, Ryz thought it was a good agreement. "I can agree to that." Lyndis stood and gave Ryz a firm, very business-like handshake, and approached the door to let them out. As they did, Ryz said "I'm finding out a lot is my fault lately and I don't know what I'd do if this got out." Lyndis, seeing Ryz's distress, closed the door quickly and gently. "None of this is your fault. Even the maniac with the skull mask and candel who tried to board while we were in port. I assume he was related to you, but even he is not your fault. The world is still a chaotic place and we are all figuring out our lives. You're doing great." She turned to open the door again. As she did, she said, reassuredly, "You can trust that if this information does get out, that it wasn't because of me." She bowed slightly and gestured for Ryz to leave. "Thank you." Ryz said as they stepped out of the crew storage. As they left, Aurum, Adeline, and Josh were heading below deck to train. They thought nothing of the two talking and continued on. Realizing what time it was, the two made their way to the dining hall. The food was gone, but Lyndis made her way to the kitchen door. She firmly knocked twice, and the chef opened the door. They had a brief aside, seemingly well acquainted. The chef nodded and disappeared into the kitchen. Not long after, he appeared with two portions and set them down for the duo to eat. They enjoyed pleasant chit chat as they ate. Once they were done, Lyndis delivered their dishes to the chef and once again held the door for Ryz to exit. As they did, Mialli saw them and ran, joyfully, to her mom. Lyndis relaxed into a more motherly demeanor and embraced her daughter. The two trotted off to play and Ryz went above deck to try to enjoy the rest of the day.

Martial Arts and Meditation

Adeline joined in on the training, seeing that it was techniques she was not very accustomed to. It took her a while to start getting the hang of it. It was especially hard as she tried to remain cognizant of her movements, making extra sure that she was not subconsciously doing anything. In one particular moment in training, Aurum was practicing a redirect with her. As she froze for a split second, unable to determine what to do, Aurum accidentally bowled her over. They were able to reset and continue on. Leading into dinner, it was clear that training was helpful for all of them. Aurum was being given chances to help people, Josh was loving learning new skills, and Adeline was continuing to round out her skill set. As dinner arrived, the ship was in relatively high spirits. The meal finished, the night crew took over, and the rest went to bed. Aurum found it difficult to get sleep. As he sat on his cot, he began to feel secondary emotions shifting inside him. It felt as if he was communing with Nepi. As he focused on that, he began to smell fresh baked bread and the dull rumble of conversations in a banquet hall. As he listened in, he noticed shifts and changes in these two different sensations. It felt as if he was listening in to a conversation through a door. He casted detect good and evil and was able to sense that these were celestial, though their location was hard to figure out exactly. He noticed that the feather he had seemed to be the part of one of these entities. He meditated, trying to focus on the conversation. As he did, he seemed to appear at a banquet hall in a void. There, he saw a lavish meal set out on a long table. At the far end was a place setting with a purple napkin. Around the table were ephemeral people. On the table were three different dishes. As the ephemeral people at them it seemed to empower them and bring a great amount of joy. This made the other entity fill with pride. As the conversation between the two entities concluded, the people vanished. Aurum could feel the entity leave. All that remained were the table and the purple place setting. In the blink of an eye, at the center of the table, appeared three feathers in three stands. Each stand seemed almost like a quill holder. In each sat one feather that looked just like the one Aurum had. The feathers were ever so gently floating on a cushion of air within the holders. Aurum approached and cautiously placed his feather next to them. It popped back into the place he kept it. The first feather then gently lifted and vanished. He could feel the presence expecting a response. Trying to decipher the inscrutable, he said "I don't know the question." The low rumble of the chuckle of a banquet hall where an amusing anecdote was just heard filled the room for a moment. Aurum then felt the presence focused on him, as if listening intently. "Am I on the right path?" Aurum asked. As he did, a door appeared at the back of the hall, through which a procession of waiters with appetizers came out. It smelled incredible. As each dish was set at each place at the table, the dish and waiter would vanish. When the last dish was set, the door vanished with the dish and waiter. The second feather then gently lifted from its holder and vanished. "What caused the spirit to attack?" A short banquet chuckle could be heard again. The door appeared, and this time a procession of waiters came out with roast duck. Again, as each dish was placed, waiter and dish would vanish, and finally the door as well at the last dish. The third feather then gently lifted and vanished. Feeling a little insulted at the laughing, he asked, "Why is this so indirect?" Again, there was a banquet chuckle. A very ornate door appeared. This time, the waiters promenaded in a very precise and ceremonial manner. The plates were very ostentatious - exotic, expensive metals and gem encrusted. On them were golden statues of Saemus' head. This time, when the last dish was placed, the waiter, dish, door, purple place setting, and table all vanished. Aurum opened his eyes to the light of a warm sunrise. He got up and prepared for the day with everyone else, attempting to decipher what he just experienced.

Blockade at Seaside

As the trip continued, things went smoothly. The trio stuck together in training and tasks. Adeline even managed to slip in a good hip toss during training. Everyone had a good laugh, though Josh definitely had a slightly rougher time training that day. As Seaside came into view, a blockade was visible. Everyone came topside, save the ambassador, to see what was going on. Aurum could see that all of the ships were Amani navy. Lyndis placed her hand on his shoulder. "It is now a case of when, not if. It will be a week, maybe more, until we are able to send aid. Clearly things have progressed more than anticipated." "Thank you." Aurum replied, with a hint of joy. He felt incredibly proud of the support he was able to muster in such a short time frame. When they reached the blockade, a small boat approached them. Aurum made his presence known, which was a welcome sight for the trodden sailor. Barnaby stayed behind to handle the offloading of the EmeraldCrest while the rest of the passengers said their goodbyes to the envoy and the crew of the Red Horizon, then off loaded to Amana. On the short boat ride over, the sailor said, "I didn't know any knights were sent away, who are these folks?" Aurum replied "I was tasked with bringing aid. The people have volunteered their aid." The sailor, uplifted, said "that's a relief. The only places outside of quarantine now are the capital and Seaside. I hope you can find someone at the outpost in Seaside. Everyone's been spread thin, especially the Armory and the army." At the docks, they waited for Barnaby and the EmeraldCrest. They were not far behind. This was only the beginning.

Welcome to Amana...