Closed Setting Sail For A New Life

The Midnight Gem crew leaves Sunberth aboard The Waveraider for Zeltiva's calmer waters.

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Setting Sail For A New Life

Postby Kelski on May 27th, 2019, 3:26 am

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Timestamp: 70th of Spring, 519 A.V.


They were all loaded. The entirety of her life, her family, and everything that meant anything in the world to her was on board the ship. Kelski stood at the railing, staring at the now vacant and souless building up on the bluff near the Mudway.

She would miss the place, though she was taking her child with her tucked safely in her backpack. Her entire shop was there too, as much of it as would fit tucked into her backpack along with the essence of the barn as well. Moth and his fellow equines were below, safely tucked into stalls in the hold. And beside her stood others, people she'd come to know and love.

Ebon, Ember, Mosa, Gilthas, Mercy and Kaitlyn.... even Dess stood on the deck and watched Sunberth vanish in the distance. Anja and Vasin had joined her on this journey as well.

She hoped it was the right decision. It had to be the right decision. They weren't safe here, in Sunberth and its shadow of darkness. They weren't safe anywhere really, but Zeltiva held far more promise than Sunberth would ever have. And Kelski couldn't help but think as the ship slowly started pulling away from its mooring that they were leaving something overwhelmingly evil behind.

Kelski had no destination in mind once they got to Zeltiva. Would they all set up shop in an inn of some sort? Would there be a place they could lease for a season while they were building a home? Kelski had brought the Pavillion she'd used for the New Years Eve party anyhow, in case they needed something to live in that would fit all of them.

All of them? Mosa was heading to the Denval Quarter and Gilthas seemed to think he could a position at the University for all he'd seen in life and due to his age and immortality. Anja was coming for reasons of his own, ones Kelski wasn't certain of because they'd never talked of it.

Ebon wouldn't leave her alone... nor would Dess or Mercy. Ember seemed to think Kelski's brother was sure to show up sooner or later. It didn't make sense to Kelski that the girl had somehow just shut up about it when she suggested they move to Zeltiva. That made Kelski wonder, but she said nothing.

No, this trip was going to be a long but interesting one. Even now the Kelvic felt the restlessness surge through her. Being on a ship again brought back such memories. This was, in reality, the only time she'd been on a ship and had been free.
Last edited by Kelski on June 8th, 2019, 3:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Setting Sail For A New Life

Postby Anja Nightwatcher on May 27th, 2019, 5:40 pm

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It wasn't until the ship was well on it's way out of the harbor and Sunberth had become a tiny dot on the horizon that Anja finally removed his blindfold. The trip from the Gem to the boat has been nerve wracking. Anja was worried, not only of the possibility that someone would recognize him and draw attention to his magic, but also that he might trip and break his neck on the cobblestones. Fortunately, Maisa and Morte had been there to watch and guide him, and Battle and Sayeth had barked and growled at passersby to keep strangers at a distance. Anja had gotten his restless strider settled in the cargo hull with the other horses, and had confirmed with the crew that it was okay to let his dogs run loose, and had set them free to get into mischief. Sayeth had promptly taken a nap at Anja's feet, while Battle had decided to annoy the crew.

Still, admist all the chaos and stress, here they were. The howls of Sunberth's dead were fading, and Anja blinked as his sunburst touched eyes adjusted and he studied the disappearing coastline. It was strange how the anxiety was fading. How had Sunberth changed him. He couldn't help but muse.

"Alright there Chief?" Anja's talking crow sat on his shoulder, examining their surroundings with his own sunburst patterned eyes. Anja gave the bird a sharp look, and Morte shoved his head under his wing and began grooming his chest feathers.

"I think I told you not to talk around strangers," Anja said.

"Sunberth is gone, Chief," Morte replied. "We don't gotta worry about that anymore."

"We should be careful anyways," Anja said. "And not draw attention to ourselves."

Morte clicked his beak. "Whatever you say," he replied, then launched himself off Anja's shoulder to catch the breeze alongside the ship. With a sigh, Anja left Morte and headed down into the cargo area to check on the horses. That would be where he spent a great deal of time in the following days as their journey proceeded towards Zeltiva.
Last edited by Anja Nightwatcher on July 1st, 2019, 9:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Setting Sail For A New Life

Postby Vasin on May 31st, 2019, 11:43 pm

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Vasin had a feeling of deep anticipation inside of him as he stood there on the ship. The first thing he felt was as the ship shifted as it pulled away from the mooring. Then he watched as they began to pull away, his eyes fixed upon the docks. One spot that was carved into memory was what his eyes focused on. It grew further and further away as their ship departed. This moment felt like it had been a long time coming. He was finally leaving this city after arriving so long ago. He felt as if he was escaping the strangle it had on him, and the promise to only pull him down one day. It had made him strong, but only through hardship and the hard truth in life. If it hadn't been for Kelski and the rest of the Midnight Gem he would have never made that final step. He would have never stepped on this boat departing for Zeltiva. A place which had almost sounded too good to be true at first, but held such promise that Vasin just had to take Kelski up on it.

Vasin felt like he was resuming a journey which he had started with his birth in that cold bay all the way up North. He clenched his fist in determination before relaxing a little. Vasin would breathe the salty sea air in before letting it out. Packing hadn't been very hard, he had simply done what he always did. Pack everything he could into his bag and strap it onto him. Anything he could not take of the first trip he had gone back for. The hardest to pack was Tack the Mule, who was far more cooperative then he had expected. Tack was safely nestled down in the hold with the others from the stables. He hoped Tack wouldn't mind the journey once they started, but he knew that Tack was a hardy Mule and not one to be underestimated.

"One journey ends, and another begins..." Vasin said quietly as he stood there keeping his balance. He was leaving behind so many whom he had met in his life, and he wasn't sure if he would meet them again. What would become of that girl? Sparrow... Her brother? Or perhaps that Hunter he had met in the woods or Ixzo? What would become of them? Lives would go on as he left to start this next chapter in his life. They had not finished mapping the tunnels, an endeavor he had been so proud to start. He had not finished mapping the city. A rolled up partially completed picture. Maybe Sparrow would finish for him? He hoped that the lesson Kelski had imparted onto him he had imparted onto others.

Those thoughts going through his head another entered his mind along with that of Sparrow. Exploration, or rather Sparrow's boat and exploration. Kenabelle Wright had used a boat to circumnavigate the lands. So obviously a boat was useful for such expeditions. There was a problem however, despite his parentage he barely knew the first thing about sailing. He also didn't really have anything to do besides tracking the coast as they went. So an idea struck, while he could use his parchment to approximately draw the coast he could also help the crew on the way to Zeltiva. He nodded at the thought, thinking it was indeed a good idea. So Vasin turned about and looked over the crew as they went about their work. He was looking for the Captain, who he soon spotted by the helmsman smoking a pipe. Vasin hesitated a moment before deciding to commit to his thought. Walking over his feet against the plants of the ship deck he came to be in front of the Captain."I wanted to know if there is anything I could do to help? I'd like to stay active." he said with a slight shrug, the Captain's piercing eyes came upon him and seemed to regard him for a moment. Slowly the critical Captain puffed out some smoke."You a sailor? Know anything about sailing?" the Captain questioned."Not a sailor, and I barely know anything about it." Vasin admitted. The Captain seemed to think about it for a minute."Know how to measure speed? Knots?" the captain asked to which Vasin started to shake his head."Not at all." he said starting to feel a little silly.

The Captain let out another puff of smoke before gesturing with his head for Vasin to follow."Tis simple enough." the Captain said walking to the back end of the ship, Vasin right behind him. On the deck, there was a pile of rope with at the end of it a piece of wood that had three ropes going through it, one of which was on a removable wooden peg. The other side of the wooden block was weighed down with led paneling. The Captain picked this up for his demonstration."Right so, this wood part right here." the Captain said raising the wood triangle part up."You chuck this part into the water." the Captain said with a motion of the hand Vasin watching and listening intently."Because of the weighting, it will sit upright. Won't sink, nothing like that. Won't get dragged either, it will stay right where you chucked it at. Nice and simple so far eh?" the Captain questioned before quickly moving on."Once it is in the water it stays there and the ship moves away from it." he said as he began to run his hand over the rope."See these?" he asked Vasin pointing to a knot in the rope."Every fourteen point four meters there is a knot. First one there is one knot, second one there are two knots, third one there are three knots and so on and so forth." he said with an of course gesture."This is for measuring the speed at which we are going." the Captain said now pulling out an hourglass."See this? When you chuck the log out... the log being the wooden bit you flip this timepiece over." he said with a very quick pause gesturing with it."It lasts about twenty-eight seconds. So you chuck the log out, flip the timepiece, wait for it to empty out, and then you look at how many knots we are going at. Then you pull the whole thing back in nice and easy." he said Vasin nodding at how it had been explained.

"You know how to write?" he asked Vasin."I do." Vasin was quick to reply."Good, I want you to write down our knots in this log book here." the Captain said handing Vasin over a notebook with some writing utensil."Well? What are you waiting for! I want to see how many knots we are going at!" the Captain said with a sudden clap setting down the log and rope. Vasin knelt down and picked up the rope and log. Though he let the rope/knots slide out of his hand before he chucked overboard the wooden log. He had brought his arm back and really chucked it hard over the side. A small splash as he quickly then took the timepiece and flipped it over. The sand starting to trickle down to the bottom. With that Vasin took the rope as it slid out and over the side and would have it run over his hands. He didn't get rope burn as it was not going all that fast. One knot.. he counted... two knots... he counted... three knots... he counted.. four knots... he counted. five knots... he counted... six knots... he counted... and that was it! The timepiece ran out. They were going six knots! So, what he did then was slowly pull the rope and log back in. This took some time and being careful not to break the thing he was slow going. Eventually, he had it back on the ship and neatly piled up. From there he took the log book and went to the current day. There he wrote in their knots which were six."Six knots!" he would tell the amused Captain.
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Setting Sail For A New Life

Postby Kelski on June 15th, 2019, 4:34 pm

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Old habits die hard. As Kelski and the group she was with settled into ship life, the Kelvic would still wake in the morning, do a quick check of the cargo and horses, then she’d slip off in her Sea Eagle form and scout.
Life on a ship wasn’t exactly what she felt was good exercise. She felt horrible for the horses and mules in the hold that could not even come up on the deck for fresh air like the humans could. Eighteen days on the boat didn’t seem like much, but Kelski thought it was time eternal to be pent up. But there were things to do with her mind.

What she truthfully wanted was to learn the lay of the land. And as the ship sailed southward from Sunberth, shadowing the coast, Kelski would track its motions over land. She learned what the beaches looked like as they traveled southward. She crossed rivers that she noted on her mental map, and would make sure she understood how the land lay against the sea and what shaped it.

And truly she fell in love with the wild places. She loved the place where wind met waves and the land dipped into the sea. Kelski had never had the privilege of living wild before, not on her own and not totally free. She’d tasted Lhavit’s wilderness, living out of a cave for a time, but this was different. Then, she’d been on the run from a dead owner. Now, she was her own person, free and wild, and her choices were endless. The more she flew the more she knew she didn’t want to live in a city anymore, not like she had in Sunberth. People were dangerous. The Wilds were too, but not nearly as dangerous as actual people with their wants and needs.

The scouting had dual purposes too. It kept her fit as they traveled. She covered lots of miles by air and had that taste of danger trying to find the ship along their route at the end of her flights. The acute awareness that she might miss the ship kept her sharp and very aware if its rate of travel and its direction of travel. And if she grew gone to long, following something inland, she practiced her navigation, noting where the ship was and tracing mental grids over the water, and combing each one dropping further and further south until she found the ship again.

Sometimes she’d arrive exhausted. And sometimes her trips were cut short. Rain was no good on even healthy feathering, so when the weather didn’t allow flight, she stayed in and talked to the sailors. The Navigator was one of her favorite people. He taught her a bit about navigation. Jalisth talked about how to read water – that every ripple, wave and swell contained detailed information about what the wind was doing, what it has been doing, and what it might be doing soon. One example he gave her was looking at reflected and refracted swell patterns in the waves they saw. Waves rolled straight across them, in dual lines, but when they hit bodies of water they changed and bent… when approaching they bowed outward away from the island, crossing back over the straight lines of waves. When they passed islands, they created bows that pointed towards the islands and eventually criss crossed in X’s behind the big waves the further from the island they got. So when waves swelled across them headed towards the shore… when their patterns changed Jalisth would often point this out to Kelski and if she took wing, she’d usually find an island in the distance, usually where aboard ship they couldn’t even see one.

It was incredibly useful information, and something she could see from the air when she was scouting. From talking to Jalisth, she learned more about the sun. She always thought it rose in the east and set in the west, but the man denied it. He said the world they were on was such where it rocked seasonally, and that the only day the sun truly rose and set in a perfect alignment was on Midsummers day and Midwinters Day of each year. Then and only then did the sun rise perfectly in the east and set perfectly west. The rest of the year, the sun rose and set further and further off course. When the solstices happened, the sun would rise and set further from east and west to the point it would be extremely off the true points getting travelers lost. Jalisth talked about sailing extremely north and in those areas the sun was so far off west and east it rarely set at all but simply migrated around the sky.

It took a bit for Kelski to wrap her mind around that one. The Navigator explained it to her this way. If you were to walk in the direction of sunrise during Spring and then turn around at the end of the day and head back towards sunset you stand a good chance of finding your way back to where you set out from (out east, back west). If you try the same thing in midsummer or midwinter you will get horribly lost. If you walk towards sunrise in midwinter you would need to walk with the sunset over your left shoulder to get back to the same spot at the end of the day (out southeast, back northwest). He even drew a diagram for her…

Aproximate Sunrise Directions

Northeast East Southeast
Summer Solstice Equinoxes Winter Solstice


Then he set a ball directly under where he wrote EAST on the wall and let the rocking of the ship side to side roll the ball back and forth between northeast and southeast to mimic the turning of the wheel of the year and the movement of the sun. With that in mind, Kelski realized navigation got a bit easier when speaking of the sun.

However, according to Jalisth, the sun wasn’t so unreliable if used other ways. The shortest shadow, for example, cast by a stick each day will form a perfect north-south line anywhere in the world at midday. So, if there was clear weather, good sunshine, and a stick available when the sun was directly overhead, Kelski always could keep a compass with her. With that in mind, Kelski could always get a ‘bearing’ on her compass line and know where she was going.

With that, Jalisth promised to teach her about the stars, wind, moon and maybe more about sun navigation the next day.

Kelski could see that both Vasin and Anja were keeping themselves entertained similarly, with Vasin cozying up to the captain and learning from him. Anja, of course, was making other kinds of friends. Ember and Ebon were sticking close together. Mercy was occupied with Caitlyn who was violently sea sick almost the moment they stepped foot on the ship. And Dess simply watched her, taking his time to make sure Mosa got time on the deck and playing cards with Gilthas to pass the time. They looked happy, all of them, to be away from Sunberth.

Zeltiva had such promise. Too bad, Kelski thought sadly, she wasn’t going to settle in the city.
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Setting Sail For A New Life

Postby Anja Nightwatcher on June 24th, 2019, 3:37 am

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The trip to Zeltiva was a bit like a miniature vacation. Anja was used to always being busy, so he had no idea what to do with himself. Anja spent a lot of time down in the cargo with the horses, talking to them, grooming them, and just giving them the reassurance of his presence. Often when he ducked down there, he would find Morte or the dogs there. Morte seemed to enjoy talking to Maisa in particular, and as odd as it seemed and in spite of her confinement, the Strider seemed to be gradually warming up to the strange talking crow. Several times Anja caught the mare nosing Morte's feathers, or Morte grooming her mane and tail.

Anja spent a great deal of time with the dogs as well. Battle was a great annoyance to the sailors as they went about their work, so Anja distracted both her and her brother with attention. Some of this came in the form of training. Anja cemented the behaviors he had taught them back in Sunberth, sit, stay, calm, friend, and come. All these tricks were revisited and perfected, and the twins began some new games as well. Anja found a ball of twine, and would roll it across the deck, command one of the twins to stay and the other to fetch, then return the object to his hand. He practiced teaching them to fetch other objects as well. Rope, buckles, fabric. Anything he could find unattended. He taught them to fetch any object he pointed to, and the pair took to the new game with enthusiasm. Morte would join them sometimes, offering bad advice on training until Anja shooed him off or the crow managed to convince him to work on his Pathfinding.

It was interesting to be able to practice magic in public and not worry about what attention his magic would bring. Anja wore the magical items he had been gifted openly; his Ring of Emerald Flame was on his finger, his Tracker's Lodestone looped around his neck, the Feathered Serpent's Egg and the Coin of Stinking nestled safely in his sash. Anja had no fear of being seen with them, a strange realization. Anja would spend many hours with his legs crossed on the deck of the ship and Morte nestled in his lap, practicing his breathing, sinking deep into a trance and examining his pool of djed from every angle.

Depending on what he felt like on during the giving instance, he would feed the violet shards of energy up through his eyes and watch the coming and goings through auristic enhanced eyes. He was starting to discover a quality of Auristics that he had been unfamiliar with until now. If he put his full focus on one of the nearby sailors, he could sense if that sailor was annoyed, or hungry, or tired. The aura didn't tell him that specifically. It wasn't like a voice whispering secrets in his mind. But there was a logic to it. If the sailor was tired, his aura would flare dimly. If he was annoyed, it would spark irritably. If hungry, the aura would flare up around the subject's stomach. If any of the sailors wondered at Anja's intense stares, they didn't ask. Perhaps they had seen stranger.

However, the subject of study was usually Pathfinding. Morte was insistent about teaching Anja, and would usually pester him to work on it at least once a day. In those instances, Anja would reach into his djed pool and touch the orange streaks of lighting running throughout. This power wasn't remotely gentle the way Auristics was. At the moment of contact, the light would rush up Anja's spine and burst through his eyes. And Anja could see the trails the sailors left from one side of the deck to the next, their djed casting lights all across the ship.

Anja was leaning against the railing, studying a trail that Kelski had left through the air when Morte suddenly spoke to him. "Iraso," the bird said suddenly.

"Pardon?" said Anja.

"That's what it's called. Iraso vision. I just remembered. But I don't know what it means." Morte looked up at Kelski's trail. "I'm an Iraso animal," he added. "That's why I can see these trails the same way you do. It's also why I could teach you." Morte looked at the dogs snoozing in the sun nearby. "If you get good enough at this, you can teach them to be like me too. Minus the talking I mean. That's special." He paused a moment in thought. "Bet you could teach Mai too," he added.

Anja looked back at the trail in the air and nodded faintly. "That is a very interesting premise," Anja said quietly.
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Setting Sail For A New Life

Postby Vasin on August 12th, 2019, 10:57 pm

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Vasin had just finished measuring their speed and reporting it to the captain. They seemed pleased, though did not say anything at first. They seemed to stay quiet and start flipping to the logbook. Counting their fingers as they went, seemingly doing some math in their head. While the Captain was doing that Vasin gave a bit of a stretch and walked to the edge of the ship. Looking down into the twinkling waves. The sky reflecting off of the water up to his eyes as he traces the ripples and curves of the ocean. The sound of the ocean and it's salty scent was unescapable out here. He found the gentle rock of the boat to be rather comforting. He felt bad for those who were not dealing with it so well. He figured it must have had to have done with him being born on a boat. While he had either lost or never learned about sailing, there was something almost tranquil and natural about it.

Having been keeping himself busy he had taken notice of Kelski scouting out the coasts. Flying to land and then coming back. It was a sight to be sure, though as always he didn't try and stare, it would be rude to do so. Oh, how he wished to be able to fly like her. Such freedom, but he knew just by looking up and at that endless coat... his chance would be soon. He was learning to morph of course, so perhaps one day he could fly with her. But more importantly, he planned on exploring the world around him far more often once they reached this new city. He wasn't entirely sure what he would do there for a profession, just that he wanted to put more attention towards his dreams. Sunberth had been suffocating, and that wasn't just the stench talking. It was exciting! Exhilarating! But the idea of moving into a new city... he began to become a little concerned. What would it be like there? Would he be able to pursue his ambitions?

Those thoughts were interrupted however when he noticed Kelski speaking with the Navigator. He quietly watched on a little, though wasn't able to make anything of their conversation. The waves crashing against the hull of their ship drowned out their casual conversation. He seemed to be explaining something to her, showing something to her. Vasin grew curious and adjusted his position. Though as he did this, Vasin realized something. He hadn't been talking to any of his friends, including Kelski. He ran his hand along the railing letting that sink in. He had occupied himself entirely with helping the crew. Vasin softly breathed out at this realization as the sea breeze blew through his hair.

His eyes going from the shores and waves as they passed them back to Kelski he noticed her conversation was concluding. Maybe he would ask her about what they were discussing? He shook his head at the thought. No, he wanted to see how Kelski was doing. So, Vasin walked over. The creak of the planks announcing his every step."Hello there Kelski. Fine weather today." he said with a small smile, a slight nod of the head."Just realized I hadn't talked to you since we got on the boat..." Vasin said rubbing the back of his neck a little."Wanted to fix that... you know?" he said a little embarrassed, but wanted to be honest."I've been trying to learn a thing or two about sailings... but I've also been watching the coast as we've gone along." he gestured to the land in the distance.

"Noticed that you have... well I have been scouting out the land I think?" he said not wanting to mention anything in particular about her departures."Seen anything interesting while out there? I bet it is wilderness fore miles all around right?" he asked a bit excited at the prospect of hearing what she had seen before."Oh! Also, I was wondering... What do you think of this Zeltiva place? I don't know much about it either... other then it is better then Sunberth." Vasin said only knowing little pieces, but more than that he wanted her opinion on it has a home.

Though as he spoke to Kelski he noticed Anja not too far off. He seemed to be looking up in the air following something with his eyes. But a glance up in the air and Vasin didn't see anything of note. Though he did seem to be carrying on a conversation with Morte. Maybe all three of them should have a chance to talk? He looked back to Kelski, though didn't want to interrupt.
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