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ximilialog2023-08-07 07:03 pm
MISSION: GOLD SAILS, RED SKIES
● ● ● M I S S I O N 1 6 . 1
As the day draws to a close, the Orbers will hear the tell-tale ping of their earpieces, alerting them to a new mission file — just a few days after their arrival back on the station, just as Viveca and Degar promised.
With the relatively short time frame to familiarize yourself with the available information and gather all supplies you need, a suitable set of clothing included, the night may prove a little bit harried for you… or perhaps you’re one of those who makes it a regular habit of having everything ready to and can thus have a decent night’s rest regardless.
Whatever the case may be, as soon as the morning arrives you’ll be expected to join your fellow crewmates at the teleportation platform. And when you get there, Viveca and Degar will be standing by already, the latter handing out humanoid potions for those needing them.
The hum of the platform will finally grow almost too loud enough to make out the last of Degar’s words but they sound optimistic at least. Soon enough you’ll feel a familiar tug at the pit of your stomach and be whisked away from the station and towards your destination. But for a moment that seems to take no time at all while also seeming to stretch out into the forever, you hear it: whispers, echoes, voices that speak to you in several tenors at once, all providing you with a goal in exchange for their help.
Before you have a chance to answer, your surroundings clear and you notice that perhaps someone who had been standing next to you on the platform isn’t there anymore. Whichever of the three ships you’ve been sent to … that’s where you’ll be.
Welcome to Hhial.
You find yourself instantly land-bound, on your way to boarding one of the three ships — The Blue Dawn, The Hawking or The Silent Plunder. The first mate of the ship never pauses in their explanation of what you ought to expect from life as a pirate; indeed, it seems as if some magic is at play, and they will treat you as if you had always been there about to join the crew. Maybe it’s best not to ask too many questions though, to avoid giving anyone a bad impression right off the bat.
1.0 On The Blue Dawn, Jilleh Rahtar seems like more of a force of nature than a woman in her thirties; the crew’s feelings towards her range from gratitude to admiration, as all of the women on board have her to thank for their current favourable change in life circumstances. Among the crew, asking someone what they used to do or who they used to be is taboo — “let your old life die and your new one start” is a phrase often heard from the captain’s mouth, or echoed by her first mate, Lai. Everyone on the crew receives equal treatment, and no one is mocked if they don’t know how to do something. Jilleh herself is frequently seen showing the ropes to the newer arrivals.
Meanwhile, Bess and Bowin run The Hawking with a firm yet gentle hand: those on the crew all share a love for knowledge, history, and what they all call “the truth”: searching for whatever exists in history that the current world may be trying to hide. It seems as though the twins have ended up with a career in piracy less because of a love for working outside the law, and more because what they are searching for seems to be easiest to obtain while working as a pirate; this is reflected in the crew members that they choose, and strategy games and philosophical discussions are a more common form of entertainment over drinking and dancing during the evenings. This isn’t to say that Bess hasn’t been known to play a sparkling tune on her violin every now and then, with Bowin’s deep singing voice accompanying her, but it isn’t a frequent event.
If life on The Hawking is nearly free of violence and attacks on other crews, that hardly seems to be the case on The Silent Plunder. Greybeard is an imposing figure and an unforgiving captain, but he inspires confidence in his crew, and often leads them through successful attacks on other ships, pirate and merchant alike. The crew often enjoys the spoils of these skirmishes, wine and fresh food and gold for everyone to share. Pulling your weight has its merits, too, as you often receive more, the more work you put in.
2.0 Once you’ve been indoctrinated onto the ship Viveca has assigned you to, you’ll be shown the ropes as it were: where to eat, where to sleep, the rooms in which you have no access to (the captain’s private quarters, for one), as well the rooms that you do. You’ll be given clean water to drink and stale bread and dried fruit to eat, and you’ll be set to work almost immediately. This may include: ship maintenance, scrubbing the decks, hoisting the sails, preparing meals, and tending to the washing. After all, no matter what ship you find yourself on, every person on the crew is vital in keeping the craft running.
But there is some downtime too. When the wind picks up and fills the sails of your ship, there are moments in which you can rest and admire the scenery that moves past you. The cloud cover is cool and a little wet and refreshing; you can make out the very tops of the tallest towers and darkest lakes. The tops of the trees if you sail over a forest are deep green and lush and feel impossibly small from where you stand. The days are predictable and filled with hard work and laborious tasks, but the sunsets are unspeakably beautiful, and depending on which ship you’re on, the nights are often filled with drinking and singing and maybe a little dancing.
This is your home for the next little while, and you may find that even during the times when your ship has docked on land for a job, you’re welcome to spend the days in the city and return to the ship at night – it’s completely up to you. The only caveat they will reiterate here is that you’ll be sworn to secrecy on the exact docking place of the ship as their way of life is and must remain separate from that of the regular land-loving folk.
Once you settle into daily life onboard the ship and crew you’ve been assigned to, you’ll be immediately whisked into the world of what makes each ship and crew tick. Whether you’re on the hunt for new artifacts and tidbits of history, or more riches to share amongst your crew in the midst of your captain’s ultimate goal to look for Dracness, eventually your travels will take you in and through the three countries of Hhial. You might look forward to the destination, but the journey to get there makes up a large portion of the adventure and it’s best to embrace the routine and the travel.
3.0 Your captain may send you to Kellir on the hunt for a specific treasure, a clue that may have ties to a source with knowledge of Dracness or a direct lead to the mythical island in the sky. Either way, you’ve been assigned a task and allowed to leave the ship with some of your fellow crewmates, you will enter Kellir and be allowed to explore the country as part of your job. But before you leave the ship, you’ll be warned by some of the captain’s crew that you’ll need to exercise discretion and to keep your role quiet. Revealing the exact whereabouts of the ship will get you into some real trouble with the captain, or get you banned from the ship. There is no point in asking ‘why’ but you’ll quickly learn that Kellir has an especially unfavourable opinion on pirates and may even find ways to arrest you simply because you’re a pirate.
For centuries, Kellir has evolved its identity into a country of creative freedom and innovation, with its population largely made up of artists and writers, scientists and engineers in the arts and sciences. It begins with the architecture and the planning of the city: everything here is beautiful and intentional, each street and planter and building cohesively tied into the cityscape to lead its citizens and tourists in and out past its doors. The dead-ends have purpose; all roads lead somewhere. There are small parks and well-manicured trees and flowers that offer a picturesque snapshot of the building behind it. The fashionable are encouraged to look their best here with Couture Houses that encourage creativity and pushing limits in design made from all manner of fabrics available: from cotton and linen to chiffon and netting, leather and lace, and silk. Kellir’s regent, Lady Catryn Spiertower, is a large supporter of the fashion houses across the country and is always up to date on the latest trends.
There are advanced technological ‘factories’, and laboratories where the most intelligent minds are praised and celebrated, each sponsored by patrons that encourage them to run with their ideas to invent new technologies, and to enhance the lives of Kellirans on a day to day basis. These buildings are often situated near the schools and libraries (where the entire cataloguing system runs on steam-power and electricity, and the retrieval of a book itself becomes something of a performance) for easier access to resource material. Seeking knowledge, after all, is a thing to be celebrated and is accessible to all citizens of Kellir without restriction.
Some say that the best culinary experts get their education from Kellir before they move on to other parts of Hhial. Here you may find an abundance of test kitchens and eager chefs trying to work their latest dish on the locals. Try your luck with the latest spice, or sit down and dine on the latest fine wine. This is a country that bursts with innovation and redefining itself on a near constant basis.
4.0 Past the warm sands and the temperate country of Kellir, the clean whites and golds of the buildings barely visible through the fluffy cloud cover, your captain may steer you and their crew further towards the north where the weather is a little more brisk.The reason for this becomes immediately clear when you spot the looming snow-capped mountain range just behind the country of Muchter, where the colour of the cities is darker and heavier, more stone and lumber and warm glowing lights greet you before you land. Much like its regent, Lord Barrett Caron, Muchter is a country with a strong work ethic, and the abundance of natural, raw resources which allows the people to really put their determination and endurance to the test. While the people here seem a little rougher around the edges, they are wealthy and want for nothing and their disciplined manner means that they know full well that they reap what they sow.
Muchter isn’t all work and no play, however, and there are numerous venues across the cities to spend one’s hard-earned coin. While not as delicate and even intricate in its design, Muchterites have cultivated a pastime in whittling wood and stone into statues and carvings of various sizes. They love to drink in Muchter (but do so responsibly), and have alehouses established almost as frequently as they do factories and lumber yards, and the clothing here is thicker and made from simpler fabrics: there is more use of cotton and wool and leather.
In Muchter, the people don’t care either way for the pirates that often visit, preferring to maintain a distance from their dealings and to avoid them when they can. They may not be open to letting a loud-and-proud pirate into their place of business but they will not turn someone affiliated with a pirate away so long as they remain respectful.
5.0 Unlike Kellir and Muchter, Zefindam almost appears to be a country whose only purpose is seeking personal pleasure. As any local might tell you, Zefindam (before it was called Zefindam) was believed to have once been the glorious, and affluent capital of Hhial when it had been united as one kingdom under the High Queen. The nobles and their families made their homes here and while most of the architecture has been built on and replaced, new buildings sitting on the structure of the old ones hacked away, there are numerous traces of its complicated origins in the bones of the infrastructure.
Old, crumbled statues of noblemen and women fill the corners and crevices of several buildings that are badly in need of repair, some that may seem familiar to those who have rifled through the history books and studied the portraits depicting Kalain-like features. That said, its tumultuous history as a network for the most powerful politicians has been smudged away into the indulgent lifestyle of the country’s present-day citizens and is a sure escapist paradise for those who want to forget about their responsibilities for a day or two … or three. Zefindam’s regent, Lord Orwen Deeplake, only has a mild hand in the political affairs of the country, preferring that his citizens live with as much freedom as they desire.
Zefindam is truly the city that never sleeps with a myriad of activities to indulge oneself in. Much of its economy relies on its restaurants and pubs, serving some of the absolute heavenly foods and alcohols; but the backbone of Zefindam’s rocky wealth sits on the gambling parlours, substance dens, and brothels. The establishments here have mild opinions on pirates and piracy and so long as there is coin to be made, most will turn a blind eye on one’s affairs. The same can be said of anyone with magical abilities, of which the judgments seem to be lax here for more reason than the easy-going nature of the people who live here. While those with magic are not encouraged to flaunt their powers, they may be seen just a little more frequently in the streets of Zefindam’s cities. People may offer you a knowing glance or offer congratulations for ‘surviving death’ and ‘coming out of it the other end’ – whatever that means.
The place that you’ll find your crew looking forward to the most, however, lies beyond the continent of Hhial — and perhaps you do, too, for that is where you will find it the easiest to rendez-vous with your friends from other crews.
6.0 When a hard day’s piracy is at an end, your captain may direct the ship towards the Golden Haven, an island just past the southernmost shores of Hhial. It’s the sight of the single dormant volcano that marks its presence before you note the lush, hilly landscape that surrounds it. Each ship will land by air, or if your captain has decided to sail across the ocean, it will dock by way of the water and then you’ll be welcomed to roam the island until your next assignment. Walking along the path of wood planks elevated over swampy trenches and deceptively deep swales, you’re led into the main town where there are several low-storey structures that surround an open square. Here there are temporary residences for pirate-folk just like you, and trading posts for those leftover trinkets you may have managed to pilfer along the way. At the centre of all things are the drinking holes serving up all manner of cheap alcohol that’ll do nothing more than get the job done, and surprisingly fresh, clean water. And if you have a little bit of excess treasure, you can always join a group of other like-minded pirates in the gambling dens to boost your fortune – or lose it all in one poorly timed hand.
The Golden Haven is generally a little more quiet during the day, but at night it feels like an all-hours party. There is dancing and singing and copious amounts of drinking. Down by the beach you may come across bonfires, with lit torches stuck into the sand to light your way while also welcoming any pirates arriving late.
There is an assumed agreement, the moment you step onto the sands of the Haven, that so long as you’re here you abide by the pirate’s code: you respect everyone else here, you keep to yourself, and under no circumstances do you sell anyone else out. There is no killing in the city (duels can be had on the beach), and there are no discussions on Hhialian politics; every pirate here is seen as an equal and your wealth is what you bring with you, and is yours to do with as you please. Anyone caught breaking a rule will meet a violent (and bloody) end to serve as both punishment for a betrayal and an example of the seriousness of these codes.
7.0 Though discussion of politics is forbidden, you will find that pirates love a good story, and there is one story above the rest: the story of the Kalain line, the High Queens who used to rule over the once-unified continent of Hhial. If you show your ignorance, you will find an abundance of people willing to regale you with the tale.
Whether you believe the story or not … it seems that if nothing else, your captains do.
F Y I
• If you have questions about any of the prompts or the mission in general, please direct them HERE.
• To explore a specific location or speak to any of the NPCs, please submit your search request HERE.
• And finally, your soundtrack for this log: ♪ ♪ ♪
no subject
Who knows? Hopefully not get off on their suffering and my own the way you seem to.
[Because the more he repeats that the Grisha are less, that they don’t matter, the more it seems like he believes it. And he prefers it that way, because it gives him a sense of purpose.]
I do sympathize with the Grisha, you know. How they’re treated is objectively wrong. But you? You can martyr yourself from here into eternity and I won’t feel sorry for you. I’m not going to see you as noble or sadly misunderstood, no matter how much you talk. [Actually the more he talks, the less inclined Chishiya is to think well of him.] But you don’t need me to, do you? You’re so obsessed with your own tragedy that you feel more than sorry enough for yourself.
no subject
How he will change all of it, and they will all l-- thank him for it.
It sits, like a barbed hook in his throat as he flexes his hands in his lap, to hiss out the truth about what happens in Ravka, about the tragedy and the fates of saints, when
Wuxian's face swims through his memory, mouth shaped in to a sad smile and his voice, low and intimate and contained inside the embrace they're in - love fiercely, he said, eyes so alive with it, despite his own shadowy history. The dark mirror to Aleksander's own life. Teach others to make beautiful music, the enchanting notes that Aleksander himself had listened to, mind drifting with pleasant memories on the station and snowflakes melting in their hair.
The sudden shift makes him frown, eyebrows drawing together as he watches Chishiaya without seeing him, not completely. He sees...
Self-pity, he called it, and Aleksander wants to disagree, vehemently.
Half a sheet in the wind already, and he doesn't. He can almost see the choices before him, and this time, he lets it go. He's not the same man who stumbled off the platform years ago, there had been (names, faces, hands reaching for his in the dark and the warmth of them)]
You are very annoying.
[His heart isn't in it, it's still off somewhere, a little lost in brown eyes and soft hands, it's still beating in all the moments he's experienced since stepping on to the station, it thrums in the remembered silence and in the roaring heat of battle. It isn't here, watching Chishiya be so very human and so very irritating. It's with Finn, in the cooling sands of Scorpion's Bend, it's with Daisy and the garish orange outfits.
It's with Jim in a forest, his own body twisted and buckling with pain and the kindness that is offered without expectations. It beats with Peter in a hut in a world that never existed, listening to alien music, churning butter. With Yennefer, and her teasing smile and flicking chaotic light. With Wuxian, under water and dripping with it on a town square and in the soft moments in a dance.
Before, Ivan and his deadpan voice commenting on the duchess of something-or-other, Zoya and her challenging grin before she pounced in training. On and on, glimpses of memories like stars in a black sky, as he blinks back to this. To now.]
Thank you, for... that. Perhaps we should stick to talking about the weather.
no subject
I know.
[He's aware of how annoying he can be. Some of it is even by design. In any case, it doesn’t bother him to have it pointed out.
He is a little surprised that Aleksander seems willing to let the subject drop rather than continue to argue about his own righteousness. Though it is something of a relief, because Chishiya was getting annoyed, too. And being annoyed is a lot like giving a fuck, and he prefers to at least appear like he doesn’t give any of those.
So, he ends up offering this concession:]
Well, you might be right about that, at least.
no subject
[Off-handed and a little distracted, because he's still thinking about Chishiya words - he doesn't want to, because the man is irritating. He is a grain of sand in otherwise good boots, he is the first bite of an unripe apple, the small tear in a leather glove. Minuscule, yet so--]
The sunset looks lovely from the beach. Have you seen it?
no subject
I agreed with you. [More or less.] You're the one arguing about wording.
[Chishiya likes being vague and cryptic, it wasn't actually personal in this particular case.]
Sunsets usually look nice from beaches.
no subject
[Not agreeing. To any of it, because-- Chishiya and because he's already thinking back to another beach, to a time when the sunset wasn't beautiful or even peaceful.
And he snaps back with a scowl.
Saints save him, because Chishiya does not get to be right about his dramatic and self-pitying ways and Aleksander forces a smile.]
They looked pretty from the Silent Plunder, as well. Must be something about watching the light vanish, as the darkness slithers in.