Everwake (Tim)

[Tikobe]

"Crestrise? You're saying that Crestrise awakened the Wyldun?" Kiele asks, before giving out orders in her native tongue. As a response the harpies flew past the ropes and dropped their supplies on the bridge before unsheathing their weapons and circling around the ship.

"Admiral Therinean, you have just made claims that an enemy nation that couldn't have gotten to this location has awakened an ancient god that endangers them just as much as it endangers you," Kiele proclaims, before her displeasure shows on her face. "In the first place, you, a commanding officer, have taken to responding to this situation not by flying west towards Chasre but north which has no seemingly important motivations. How do you wish to explain this?"

[Bannanachair]

"I'm headed towards Backwater," I say. "I sent a messenger to deliver some information to the guards in that shrine town, specifically in regards to the potential danger that they may be in. I may have also given her a signet ring, which can be used to identify me. The others on this ship, especially Captain Bayod Eses and our ship's engineer, Enoise, will be able to confirm my story, if you doubt me."

[Tikobe]

The expression on Kiele's lips reads suspicion, but she goes and issue more orders. Three swoop by and grabs a few of the supplies and begin to fly south towards Saffur.

"I have sent my men to conduct an investigation on the area around the Wyldun Shrine, but those who remain, including myself, will stay with you. I will have interrogations done for every member on board, and I will stick with you until you find that messenger," Kiele says, her face getting close enough to where you could almost see her eye. "This will be done by the power invested in me by your nobility, do you understand?"

[Bannanachair]

"I understand fully," I say. Even if she's lying, I'm heavily outnumbered and do not want to deal with the political fallout of being in a fight with a Harpy general. "Would you like to begin your interrogation of me now, so that you know that I have no time to coordinate a false story? It's clear that you don't trust me."

[Tikobe]

"Indeed. The rest of my men will find and interrogate these 'Bayod' and 'Enoise' individuals you speak of. And one will be in charge of immediately interrogating this individual," Kiele says, glaring at Duck.

"Answer the following questions, Admiral Therinean," Kiele begins as she drags you into a private area. Most of them were on your background and your career history. It was half an hour after Kiele had mapped out your profile that she began to dig into the nitty gritty details.

"To begin, how did Crestrise find it's way into Saffur?

"Why would Crestrise awake the Wyldun?

"What actions did you take to prevent this?

"How did all of this lead you to where you are now, in an unmarked airship loaded with the people your kind enslaved?"

[Bannanachair]

"The Crestrisen agents were disguised as soldiers from Everwrath, and were seemingly led by a man named Lester, who was a turncoat. I had not met him prior to his betrayal, though the guardsmen I was working with evidently had. I have no clue as to their motivations; I can only speculate. My best guess is that they thought freeing a Wyldun would lead to a threat to us and not to them, which would turn to their advantage, given our historical animosities - but again, that is just speculation on my part. I took every action I possibly could to prevent this; that is why I gave my ring to Listene to begin with. Ultimately, there was a skirmish inside of the shrine, and the Crestrisen forces succeeded in their goal. Afterwards, I attempted to kill Gen Saeyi, though it didn't work. She destroyed my airship, the Guimar Garnier Origin, slaughtering those on-board - you will be able to find its wreckage near Saffur. I somehow found myself on the property of Duke Thibaud Larchont and, after some fights against wisps and Tocthani, opted to commandeer this airship given the state of emergency we currently find ourselves in. The Amarzi on this ship were Larchont's property; had I left them, they almost certainly would have been killed."

[Tikobe]

"...I see," Kiele says, standing up and walking away. "The rest of the interrogations will be carried out in due course. But for now, I will need to cross examine your testimony with the testimonies of those we've already interrogated. Ah."

A red winged harpy comes up to Kiele and mutters some things.

"Your friend Enoise would like to see you, Admiral. She'll meet you at the engines," Kiele relays before walking away.

[Bannanachair]

"Thank you for notifying me, General," I say, as I head towards the engine room.

[Tikobe]

You head down to the engine, where you see an anxious Enoise and Bayod.

"Admiral, well it's been quite a morning," Bayod says as he sees you.

"Frankly speaking, I would say a lot more than just 'quite' a morning, Bayod. Therinean, I'm a little concerned with what's going on. Why are there harpies here?"

[Bannanachair]

"They're conducting an investigation," I say. "They received word about Gen Saeyi's release, and determined that it's an international incident that warrants an independent investigation on their part. They haven't given much else away, but I think they suspect that we were somehow involved."

[Tikobe]

"A harpy cares about the situation that much? They normally wouldn't give a damn," Enoise mutters, trying to think. "I can only reason that logic would be true if it was related to Straak."

"Straak?"

"Mm, at the heights of harpy society lies two colors: White and black. The black are the royalty, the ones who command the entire harpy race, and the darkest of them is their queen. By contrast, the white are their priests, who give religious and moral guidance to the harpies. Of them, Straak has one of the purest white feathers in the entire race. By consequence she's considered as being one of the High Priestesses of the harpies."

"What would that have to do with all of this?" Bayod wonders.

"Well, I don't know too much, I'm afraid. Marquis Aralours has maintained correspondence with me, but my knowledge is limited. I can only give you second hand info."

"But don't... Hah, I wish I had stayed behind to listen to your story," Bayod mutters.

"Trust me, you don't," Enoise replies, before turning to you. "Straak is an irregularity among the harpies, everything she does directly defies their traditional beliefs. In particular, she tends to have regular meetings with other races. Her right hand is named Kiele, a one winged harpy, and a renowned warrior. Did we see any sign of her?"

[Bannanachair]

"She is on board this ship now, and interrogated me several minutes ago," I say. "She doesn't seem to be particularly fond of Duck, from what I can tell. I also should mention, I didn't mention your last name, Enoise; I figured it should be up to you whether you want them to know who you are."

[Tikobe]

"Good, that was a wise move Therinean. And you Bayod?"

"I did mention the name Vorlault, but they had no response to it. After that, nothing else was shared."

"That's fine. Harpies do understand some houses share the same last name. They probably wrote it off as just a coincidence. I, for my part, completely lied about my background."

"But there's something I don't quite understand: If Kiele is so important, then why is she on board?" Bayod ponders.

"That's just how harpies do things. Their commanding officers don't stay behind lines but instead they lead the fight on the front. If Straak really did decide to get involved, it only makes sense that Kiele goes in to spearhead the investigation. Well, there isn't much we can do now. We need to find Listene and get them off of us. It's too easy to offend a harpy."

[Bannanachair]

"Agreed. I offered to cooperate fully with their investigation, until the point when they can determine that we're not enemies. Kiele had mentioned wanting to remain at least until we find Listene; presumably so that she can be sure that I'm not lying about what I said."

[Tikobe]

"Understandable. Let's do our best to keep on her good side," Enoise declares.

"Is the situation really that bad?" Bayod wonders.

"Harpies are... difficult to work with, at best. They tend to dislike types such as Duck and myself, they find being crafty to be dishonorable. And with their ego growing higher than they can fly, it'll be tough to not offend them even if you were honorable. And as for Kiele," Enoise mutters. "Once a great beast had terrorized the landscape along the north of Sunreach, and Straak had offered to provide Kiele's assistance in stopping the beast. She used three spells of Air and gained another two spells of Air in that one expedition. After that, Marquis Aralours would constantly write letters of her skill, claiming her to be an expert marksman and, while there were surely some better than her, still she was definitely skilled with a sword. According to what Straak once told him when he asked where such talent came from, Kiele has never done anything in her spare time but practice her combat skill. She stands as a complete opposite of her master in how she's fully devoted to the traditions of the harpies. But what really stands out above all is her propensity to earn the approval of Air spells. Marquis Aralours often claimed it was like she was blessed by the wind."

Enoise closes her eye, before looking straight at Bayod.

"If it was just us three versus her, we may very well win. But she has soldiers with her. We've lost in terms of numbers, and if Kiele is that harsh on herself then I don't want to how well trained her soldiers are. Do you think we could win, Therinean?"

[Bannanachair]

"The three of us against her? I think we'd win that. The three of us against her and a dozen other harpies would be suicide."

[Tikobe]

"Exactly. So Bayod, that's why we must sit back and accommodate these harpies," Enoise replies.

"Hah, I understand. I'll make sure to play nice," Bayod says as he walks away.

"He acts like that, though unfortunately for me he's the type that the harpies tend to get along with," Enoise lightly chuckles. "Still, for them to be able to investigate us formally, Straak must have really twisted Marquis Aralours' arm. I worry for how she did it. Though, it's not like it's anything I can check up. What do you think, Therinean?"

[Bannanachair]

"She probably threatened a souring of relations if the Marquis didn't agree to an investigation," I suggest. "Given the fact that there's a Wyldun loose and these hostile actions from Crestrise, any sane person would prefer two powerful enemies to three."

[Tikobe]

"Well, that would be true, but they had no idea of Crestrise's involvement, and an investigation like this would have started before the Wyldun's release," Enoise sighs. "Well, no point worry about this now. Therinean, I think we're just a few hours to our destination. Considering Listene and her mission, she could only have gotten up to a certain point. We're closing in if my estimates are correct. Let the interrogations continue, but keep Bayod near Kiele. He's a good man, definitely doesn't have a place here in the Empire. If Kiele is perceptive enough to dislike Duck after such a short period of time, she'll pick up on that and be put in a good mood. Unless you've got anymore questions, let's act now."

[Bannanachair]

"I'll see if I can arrange it," I say, and head off to find Bayod and Kiele.

[Tikobe]

You make up to the top deck. Kiele and the remaining harpies were busy with interrogations the whole time so not much could be done but wait. Eventually, however, the ship came to a stop.

"Why are we stopping here?" Kiele asks, examining the land scape. All around you are naught but rocks and old ruins, possibly dating all the way back to the Wyldun war.

"Because if we wish to encounter our messenger, Listene, as quickly as possible, this is the best location to stop at," Enoise says as she reaches the bridge. "Considering all possibilities, I would assume that Listene was still in some way affected by the Wyldun's release. She'd be too far out to be in any immediate danger, but perhaps she noticed the commotion and tried to return. However, it's unlikely she entered the city. It's too dangerous."

"Would that really go with a girl like her though?" Bayod ponders.

"Well, the methodology that Enoise used to arrive at the conclusion and justify is flawed, but the overall answer is correct," Duck says, standing up. "What Enoise forgot to consider was the possibility of other escapees. Perhaps they ran when the Crestrisen attacked the shrine, or were close to Saffur when it awoke and turned tail. In all likely hood, Listene would either continue on or try to go back but would be unable to go against flow of the crowd, or even more that crowd would convince her to go with them. Either way, she wouldn't have returned to Saffur and would instead find herself forced to continue her mission as originally assigned. After that is a question of transportation, but did anyone have the time to load up a cart to flee the town with? I would assume only if they originally were moving on. Enoise, however, would know more than I at that."

"Mm, however, the answer would be no. Most transportation is handled via airship. It's just safer that way. And there wouldn't be an abandoned cart conveniently on the road, and if there was it wouldn't have a horse. She's on foot, alone or in a crowd. We'll meet her soon."

"This whole idea is ridiculous," Kiele argues. "If you just continued to head north from here, you'd just meet her in Dreadmud anyways, no need for contrived theories."

"That may not be a good idea," Bayod replies.

"Huh?" Kiele glares.

"We don't know where the Wyldun went after her release, and we don't know how unstable the surrounding areas will become due to her. If she doesn't meet her fate at the hands of Gen Saeyi, she could very well encounter bandits. She's a soldier, but also one of the navy. Just her against a band of thieves wouldn't end well. Besides, we need that seal as soon as we can get it so we can make that report. For her safety and to ensure a swift reaction from the Empire, we need to find Listene as early as possible," Bayod states. Kiele grimaces, but takes a deep sigh as if submitting to the argument. Bayod turns to you.

"Well, now that we're here, what are your orders?"

[Bannanachair]

"There's one other reason not to go to Dreadmud," I say, "And that's that we don't know if Gen Saeyi was the only Wyldun to have broken free from her shrine. Until we know that for certain, it's best to proceed with a certain degree of caution. Anyway, we can land down here, and wait for Listene - if the wait takes longer than an hour or so, some of us can head south, to look along the road and make sure that nothing happened."

[Tikobe]

Soon after, the rope ladder was lowered, and Bayod climbs down first, and gives you the go ahead that it's safe. However, soon after the hour passes.

"Well, looks like we should get going south then. I'll go ahead, but who else should follow?" Bayod asks.

"Me and three of my men. I won't just go around sitting here like fool," Kiele states.

"...Okay. And you Therinean?"

[Bannanachair]

"I'll go as well," I say. "It's my fault we have to do this to begin with, after all."

[Tikobe]

"You two are walking on without me?" Enoise teases.

"Eh, you seriously wanted to join?" Bayod questions.

"Of course, I do! What? You take me for some so co-"

"Cold hearted is probably too much, but cynical is a definite."

"Anyways, I'd be lonely!" Enoise says, but the looks she gives you says that she wants to monitor the situation with the harpies.