14th December 2021 - Theo Approved
Xan awakes suddenly, the ship rattling and rumbling. She draws her bow but Estor, he is no longer looming over them. In fact, he is gone. Xan looks around in a panic to see who is still standing. Most of the partyseems to either be limping about, or in Calliope’s case, fussing over a rather distressed-looking Helikaon.
There is no time to react. The boat begins to seemingly melt away, and as Xan scrambles to hold on to the wood it fades out of her vision. But now they stand on the wooden planks. It is not gone.
The wood, no longer stained dark brown, seems stable.
Xan scurries across the deck to join the party, and check people are not too injured after the battle. It takes a moment, but Xan realises that they defeated him. Estor. He is gone.
Before she can sit down a slow shuffling comes from the captain's quarters. It seems Calliope, Alke and Hippofilius do not register it, but Theo’s eyes dart over to the room. After a few small nods the two of them walk down the boat and on the count of three (or was it five?) they open the door.
ESTOR.
Or. A ghost of Estor? Not the big kind. A small pathetic-looking mirage of the previously scary dragonlord sits at the captain's chair with his feet up. “Obnoxious,” Xan thinks.
She and Theo exchange snarky words with him, and after a few back and forths, the ghost fades away, but it is clear he is not leaving this ship any time soon. At least he is harmless. They hope.
Theo plops down into the chair previously ghosted, and Xan drops her heaviest weapons on to the desk, as if she is moving in.
Trust
The party rejoins as Alke collects materials for a new sail. She asks Xan for a piece of her red robe. Instead she tears her arm from her undershirt and passes it to the medusa. There is an uneasy air between them.
As they sit and talk about the boat, the subject of names come up. Xan feels interrogated by Alke and Calliope, with Theo trying his best to play mediator. Xan honours their oath and tells them the truth about her heritage.
She was not raised to share everything about herself, it was not a smart move and some information could get you killed if the wrong person found it out.
The Messias traded in secrets and lies. Words could result in death if whispered to the wrong person. Xan learned to keep her little mouth shut when on the boat and anything she learned, she tried her hardest to forget.
Xan was not used to trusting people. She wanted to, but her nature was to assume the worst in people. The Chosen already had spoken too many bad words about the Arkelander name, and hissed curses at mentions of Acastus. She knew they could take down things much bigger than themselves, what would they think of her as an Arkelander? Oaths were broken all the time on the Island of Exiles, what was to stop someone from breaking one here.
Calliope seems to be the angriest about the secrets Xan has kept from the group. This upset Xan. She was in awe at Calliope's talent in battle, a style she had never seen before. She must earn her trust back.
A start… Xan held out the gold she had taken from the box with Theo, and the remaining coins from her trips across the bay with Captain Gold.
(cont)
Xan awakes suddenly, the ship rattling and rumbling. She draws her bow but Estor, he is no longer looming over them. In fact, he is gone. Xan looks around in a panic to see who is still standing. Most of the partyseems to either be limping about, or in Calliope’s case, fussing over a rather distressed-looking Helikaon.
There is no time to react. The boat begins to seemingly melt away, and as Xan scrambles to hold on to the wood it fades out of her vision. But now they stand on the wooden planks. It is not gone.
The wood, no longer stained dark brown, seems stable.
Xan scurries across the deck to join the party, and check people are not too injured after the battle. It takes a moment, but Xan realises that they defeated him. Estor. He is gone.
Before she can sit down a slow shuffling comes from the captain's quarters. It seems Calliope, Alke and Hippofilius do not register it, but Theo’s eyes dart over to the room. After a few small nods the two of them walk down the boat and on the count of three (or was it five?) they open the door.
ESTOR.
Or. A ghost of Estor? Not the big kind. A small pathetic-looking mirage of the previously scary dragonlord sits at the captain's chair with his feet up. “Obnoxious,” Xan thinks.
She and Theo exchange snarky words with him, and after a few back and forths, the ghost fades away, but it is clear he is not leaving this ship any time soon. At least he is harmless. They hope.
Theo plops down into the chair previously ghosted, and Xan drops her heaviest weapons on to the desk, as if she is moving in.
Trust
The party rejoins as Alke collects materials for a new sail. She asks Xan for a piece of her red robe. Instead she tears her arm from her undershirt and passes it to the medusa. There is an uneasy air between them.
As they sit and talk about the boat, the subject of names come up. Xan feels interrogated by Alke and Calliope, with Theo trying his best to play mediator. Xan honours their oath and tells them the truth about her heritage.
She was not raised to share everything about herself, it was not a smart move and some information could get you killed if the wrong person found it out.
The Messias traded in secrets and lies. Words could result in death if whispered to the wrong person. Xan learned to keep her little mouth shut when on the boat and anything she learned, she tried her hardest to forget.
Xan was not used to trusting people. She wanted to, but her nature was to assume the worst in people. The Chosen already had spoken too many bad words about the Arkelander name, and hissed curses at mentions of Acastus. She knew they could take down things much bigger than themselves, what would they think of her as an Arkelander? Oaths were broken all the time on the Island of Exiles, what was to stop someone from breaking one here.
Calliope seems to be the angriest about the secrets Xan has kept from the group. This upset Xan. She was in awe at Calliope's talent in battle, a style she had never seen before. She must earn her trust back.
A start… Xan held out the gold she had taken from the box with Theo, and the remaining coins from her trips across the bay with Captain Gold.
(cont)