Reese has joined the The Pink Griffon.

{object} is leaving {origin}, heading for {destination}.

Peri has joined the Wreckless.

Graham has joined the The Red Bargain.

Peri has left the Wreckless.

Peri has joined the Wreckless.

Gino, a surly sailor, 1 Velenosa House Guards arrive, following Antonio.

Graham has left the The Red Bargain.

Graham has joined the The Red Bargain.

1 Saik Guard, Gunther, a Rottweiler arrive, following Estaban.

Peri has left the Wreckless.

Peri has joined the Golden Pearl.

Kaldur has joined the Golden Pearl.

Ariella has joined the The Red Bargain.

Graham has left the The Red Bargain.

Graham has joined the The Pink Griffon.

Antonio has joined the Wreckless.

Estaban has joined the The Sea Mist.

2 Lyonesse Trained Guards arrives, following Demura.

2 Lyonesse Trained Guards leaves, following Demura.

Aneka, 3 Iron Guardsmen, Meeka arrive, following Merek.

Aneka, 3 Iron Guardsmen, Meeka leave, following Merek.

Wash has joined the Crimson Redemption.

Ian has joined the Crimson Redemption.

Kaede has joined the The White Cap.

Jaerith has joined the The Maiden's Wail.

Rohm the Blackguard, Karrigan's Watchful Avalanche, a Snow Shepherd puppy of ultimate fluffiness arrive, following Caelis.

Jaerith has left the The Maiden's Wail.

Ezekiel the German Shepherd, 2 Sea Rover Bodyguards arrive, following Artorius.

Jaerith has joined the The Maiden's Wail.

Mayir has joined the Red Serpent.

Kaede has left the The White Cap.

Kaede has joined the Wreckless.

Vano has joined the The Valor of Valardin.

Caelis has joined the The Valor of Valardin.

Ariella has left the The Red Bargain.

Ariella has joined the Golden Pearl.

Ian has left the Crimson Redemption.

Jaerith has left the The Maiden's Wail.

Jaerith has joined the The Maiden's Wail.

Artorius has joined the The Valor of Valardin.

Jaerith has left the The Maiden's Wail.

Jaerith has joined the The Maiden's Wail.

Jaxon, Champion of the Reflection, A Mirror Masked Woman, Calvary -- A Large Fluffy Hound, 3 Velenosa House Guards arrive, following Isolde.

Isolde has joined the The Pink Griffon.

Willen have been dismissed.

Zavi have been dismissed.

Karrigan's Watchful Avalanche, a Snow Shepherd puppy of ultimate fluffiness have been dismissed.

Ezekiel the German Shepherd have been dismissed.

A Mirror Masked Woman have been dismissed.

1 Saik Guard have been dismissed.

Gunther, a Rottweiler have been dismissed.

Lou gets a shadowy pair of leather boots for traveling abroad from Rugged Backpack with Quick Release Straps.

Lou gets a shadowy form-fitting pair of leather pants worn under a tunic from Rugged Backpack with Quick Release Straps.

Lou gets a shadowy pair of dark leather bracers for deflection from Rugged Backpack with Quick Release Straps.

Lou gets a shadowy leather helm with the Grayson sigil upon the forehead from Rugged Backpack with Quick Release Straps.

The Mourning Sea. The wind is coming from the northeast now, and it's an ill wind that brings nothing good. The sun is bright though, and the sky is blue - for those who will die today, at least they will die knowing that their last day had beautiful weather.

That's not really much comfort.

The fleet that is sailing toward them this time is as large as the fleet they faced before. Or perhaps slightly larger - at least until from under the water, ships emerge, starting to sail as one with their brother and sister ships. The Gyre has brought reinforcements, and it is not going to be a good day for someone.

As the ships approach, Victus bellows to the combined might of the fleet. "Crusaders of the Compact! You held this line once against monsters that sought to tear down those walls in the distance! Now you are called upon to do so again. You have already faced this challenge once and you have shown what the light of hope can do! Reject the ultimatum sent by those who would see Arvum fall! The storm is coming and WE ARE STILL HERE! WE STAND AS ONE!" The captain of the Red Serpent flags down the Thrax's next orders. "MAKE READY!"

Reese is at the helm of the Grayson flag ship, which has pink sails and really stands out quite a bit. She tries to take a protective position in front of Isolde. "Graysons! Non Greater! Gloria be with!" She calls out, lifting her voice to carry as far as she can. She is commanding the Grayson ships and seems to be getting them into battle formation.

Lou gives her crossbow a dubious look, especially as she sees the ships approaching. She talks to it, like it's nothing out of the ordinary. "You're going work today, right? Right. I thought so. Good." Now that, that's out of the way she turns her attention to her sister and the other occupants of the boat, taking a moment to make sure all are okay, then turns her attention back to the ships that are approaching. Already, she's bracing for whatever dread they send their way. Oh, and she managed to find someone to unjam her crossbow for now. Only time and action will tell if it gets jammed up all over again. Here's to hoping NOT.

Back on the water, at the helm Caelis stands ready again. Her sword rests on her hip, loose in it's sheath and she frowns as Victus makes the call to stand ready. She keeps her thoughts to herself and raises her whistle to her lips, blowing the command to the Oathland vessels to make ready. There's a grim, focused energy to her and her sailors, something carried over from her days sailing for Southport.

This time, the Wreckless takes the center of the Lycene line, with Antonio standing near his helmsman. A look of grim determination sits upon his face as he looks toward the approaching fleet. "Hold steady boys. We got this."

Prince Luca echoes his wife, "Graysons!" at least partially, because he kind of mumbles the next part, and returns with, "Gloria be with!", drawing his cobalt cutlass. He's pacing the decks of The Pink Griffon, in front of her, waiting for the engagement. When he thinks he can get away with it, though, he pulls a small flak from inside of his cardian leather jacket, slipping a sip of it quickly and then replacing it.

Artorius stands on the Valardin flagship alongside his sister, Caelis and Van. he draws his greatsword as he looks to the Magnottan soldiers also on board with their tall shields and spears. "Hold your ground boys! Earn those shields!" he shoulders his greatsword, hand on the rail as he looks forward. "Ready to turn back the apocalypse once more, sister?"

Jaerith commands the Keaton Riverdogs from their recently rechristened Maidens Wail. He bellows for his men and women to make ready for battle before bursting into songs of battle and cackling loudly in between.

While Victus is doing the important business of leading the fleet, he's put Magpie Grayhope at the wheel of the Red Serpent. The sailor/smuggler is wearing an expression of mixed elation and terror, but holds the wheel tightly and keeps the flagship pointed at the approaching enemy. He calls up to the younger Grayhope, "Mayir! You see our lady-friend?"

Captain Kaede seems to have relocated from Redrain's flagship to Velenosa's. The Prodigal Northerner has brought some of her support staff, and is busy relaying messages to flaggers, which are passed back. Her bird, Whiskey Jack, twitters as it returns with another message from another captain in the Redrain fleet. She'll let Antonio do the yelling, and instead just mutter quietly to him, before sending more signals off to the Redrain fleet.

Thanks to the magic of the healers, Captain Ariella is up and ready for action. A little rum to ignore the pain, and she's fit to command her ship, and command she does. Though perhaps a little less with the running about.

As before, Kaldur stands ready. The Golden Pearl's sails luff as they tack along with the fleet against that ill wind from the northwest. That's home. He checks Wavedancer's draw again and glances down at the ranks of archers. "Archers, ready." His voice is pitched to carry over the wind and snapping of sheets.

Jasher is back on the Crimson Redemption, hale and bright-eyed, if his leather armor shows signs of-- significant patching. He relays strategy from Wash. "Today, our ship is a weapon against the foe, a hammer against the foe! We will fight this battle until the fleet is shattered!" So on, so forth.

There are a number of Rivenshari ships that follow the Valor. And since his cousin is looking over ground forces, Vano got shoved into leadership looking over the naval aspect. This has put him on the Valor itself, relaying orders to his ships through the use of flags. And thankfully, he's given advice to Admiral, such as it is, and she had him relay what to do to the rather sleek blockade runners that the Rivenshari is known for. A glance is given to the flail that Alis loaned him. Never had such a nice weapon before. Not his style perhaps, but he knows how to use it well enough. His eyes are closed, lips moving and hand held out over the rail, as if feeling the wind. The Rivenshari Shaman doing Shaman things. Maybe preparing himself or speaking to the Spirits.

Peri is up on the railing of the Golden Pearl, /again/, looking out over the waters to the incoming forces. She's commanding the Seliki flagship, though the only fleets left at her disposal are Deepwood, Bisland, and Riven. She breathes in the salty air, her eyes cool as she surveys. "READY! READY THE FORMATIONS!" Apparently strategies were discussed with the remaining fleets. The signals go out and each fleet starts to move into formation. Still, they have all decided to stick alongside the Grayson fleet again. "We fight for our fallen! We fight for the Compact!" she shouts out to her crew, as she draws her sword to the incoming enemy. When Kaldur calls for the archers to ready, she hops down deftly and takes her place with her shield guard.

Once again, First Captain Eleanor Allenatore and her handful of knights represent the King's Own aboard the Red Serpent. Eleanor herself stands near Magpie, hand light on her sword. "Am /I/ the lady-friend? I have a name you know," she asks aside to Magpie with a pouty frown, though she doesn't tear her intense gaze from the approaching fleet. "Ready!" she calls over her shoulder toward her knights, who on cue move into a loose formation around she and Magpie and Victus.

Wash signals the Thrax fleet to take the starboard flank again, counting more on the familiarity of tactics than the enemy countering their moves.

"You're not the lady friend!" calls out Mayir from where he is atop the main mast of the Red Serpent, looking down at Eleanor, shaking his head at the First Captain of the King's Own. "The lady friend has redder hair and more evil in her." And then he sweeps his gaze out on the horizon, keeping an eye out. "Nothing yet, Magpie!"

Estaban calls to the Southport fleet to ready themelves, "Remmber the words you heared today men! We work as one we will stand tall!" he has his bow in his hand, "Ready formation!" he points his bow ahead of him. "Keep on the look out!"

There's no sign of Magpie's ladyfriend - what there is sign of is a huge fleet approaching. And then they split off, coordinated like nothing the Compact has ever seen. In the first battle they were driven by hunger - but now they are driven by what is clearly a strategic mind. The Compact, it seems, has taught the Gyre's forces to respect them - but that means that this time, they won't just sail for Setarco and trust to numbers. Captains who formerly faced the Gyre with barely-concealed contempt are now grim-faced as they watch the oncoming fleet. This fleet? This one might take them down. "Quarter the wind, lads, and ready for a fight! This'll be one for the ages!" The Captain of the Red Serpent has seen his share of battles on the water and he is unafraid. Now the fleet splits again and there are four groups of ships sailing toward them on different intercept paths.

Reese tries to guide the Grayson ships and signal the ships that Peri's commands to try and intercept the ships heading toward the west.

Wash sends messages, using the common cypher to indicate which fleet he is setting the Thrax ships to engage. It's a rough battle plan he creates, something on the fly, and he gives the plan to the Grand Admiral's midshipmen, so that the captain of the Red Serpent can make the call.

Magpie grimaces as he watches that massive, organized, strategic enemy fleet split and split again. "Fuck me, this is the shit I always run away from." The man mutters, but waits for the sails to be adjusted, carefully adjusting the angle of the Red Serpent. "Ok, that excited feeling is kind of turning into more of a 'what the shit what I thinking?' feeling? Pep talk, Sunshine! Talk to me like Leona does."

Lou checks out everything to do with her crossbow. Strings are ready. Lever is ready. Bolts are ready. Bolts are close by. Everything is in marginally good working order. She gives the fleet a nervous look, perhaps more so than she did last time she faced them. She once more checks on Reese and Luca, and even Graham and Isolde, making sure they are alright. It's that expedition leader trait of hers, making sure her people are all good, even if she's not the one leading them. "Stand ready!" she calls to other sailors on the ship, even as Reese makes the decision to move them along.

Artorius sees the umbers that approach them, and briefly his breath is stolen, before a wicked smile appears on his face. "Hah! Now THAT'S more like it! HOLD THE LINE BOYS! let's give them a reason to never forget us!" he's clearly ready for a fight, a fearlessness in his eyes as they approach a force built for the death of man. "Archers! TAKE YOUR POSITIONS!" he prepares for one hell of a fight.

Kaede is having words with Antonio as the pair stare onward. When she sees those movements in the enemy ships, her eyes narrow, and she mutters something aside. She's then prepping Whiskey Jack to send off another message.

Jaerith sends orders to his small group of ships from the Keaton riverfleet to move to engage then goes back to singing loudly and happily. Men and women on his ship, hand picked from hunters, sailors and trackers join in, bellowing a song of war as they prepare for glory.

Victus has joined the Red Serpent.

Peri's got clear line of sight to Reese's ship, and her lookouts and communication sailors have been instructed to keep on the lookout for such directions. "Send a signal back affirmative and relay to the fleets!" she shouts so they can move in concert with the Grayson fleet. "Keep your eyes open!" she stops at the main mast to call up to the crow's nest before moving back towards the helm, hopping over coiled rope. "Get that off the deck!" she shouts. Seliki crewmen might still not be used to such high-stakes sailing.

Watching the fleet against them branch, Caelis nods to something Vano asks and starts to adjust the Valor as she blows out signals to the Oathland ships to stretch out the line. Her hands white knuckle on the wheel and she nods to Vano to flag the Rivenshari ships into position as well.

Did someone say pep talk? Eleanor can do pep talk! "Steady on, Magpie," she tells him. "You're the best sailor I've ever met, and that's coming from someone who was BORN on a boat! No one I'd rather have steering my ship." She tears her gaze away from the incoming fleet long enough to glance behind them at the Compact's own fleet and draws in a proud breath. "Just remember how many people we've got behind us, and more back home. It'll be a tough fight, but we don't go into it alone."

The crew of The Red Bargain relays the messages, and her captain hobbles up to the forecastle, peering out with her spyglass. Ariella signals for the remaining holy water barrels to be attached to the pumps and hoses. It's that time.

Kneeling behind Reese's much more impressive and armored form, Isolde is knelt on the deck in meditation and prayer. Her guards and champion flank her--Dominic's guard dog at her side.

Astern, Kaldur looks out over the water. The enemy fleet splitting. Flags flicker, sending signals through the fleet, the ships moving to meet the threat as he stands flat-footed. The soldier's lot... hurry up and wait. He glances at Peri, looking at the line of her back, listening to the timbre of her voice. She seems steady. Pale eyes flicker back out to the ships carving paths through sea foam. Hurry up and wait.

Jasher looks out over the water at the better-arranged fleet, uncanny and with a more disciplined hunger, and he inhales. Then he's shouting again, "We are the harpoon, the hammer, the cutlass, the net. There is no shark we cannot slay, there is no fleet we cannot sink, stand bold, stay bold."

Estaban jaw tightens as one group turns into two and then three and now four, "Fuck." the tall Saik grummbles, "Archers at the ready!" he calls out and has the other south port ships get ready as well. He also signals the ships to spread out the line as well.

Vano feels the wind on his face, a hand reaching out, as if trying to touch something that isn't there. The bells on his belt sing a moment longer, then he comes to, hand griping the flag and starting to signal to the Rivenshari blockade runners.

Antonio responds to Kaede's query, before having his signal man flag the Lenosian and Lycene fleets. 'Follow me.' And then the wreckless' oars start propelling his ship toward one of the fleets, one not targeted by Thrax.

Prince Luca is at the edge of The Pink Griffon in an instant, gesturing wildly, "By the Thirteen, they're coming up from the water! That.. wow! That is something else!" he claims, aloud, letting his words slip into the winds of the ship's travel and tangle with the sails. "EVERYONE HANG ONTO YOUR ASS." he calls out, in his most commanding voice. He might even be heard across the ships nearest to his.

"Mags get your shit together." This is the kind of pep talk that Victus gives Magpie. "Follow Wash's lead, steady as she goes. We're in the shit proper and it's time to paddle like a motherfucker. Prepare archers!"

Wash waits for confirmation from Victus, then issues orders to the fleet. They set a course, not for the nearest enemy, but the farthest from shore. He'll hit those, and if they can break them, roll back toward the island in support of the Lycenes. He hands the tiller over to his first mate and sets himself to write a note. A packet ship, waiting off shore will get the message he sends. If the worst comes, word of the conflict will reach Arx.

Kaede nods to Antonio, then sends off her bird to Wash. The plan is... Redrain will back Grayson, Velenosa will swing to Thrax's flank to engage in one of the fleets that's nearer.

Victus wields Intricately forged ancient steel broadsword.

Artorius wields Intricately forged ancient steel broadsword.

Three fleets to be engaged, and the fourth heads for the city on a wide arc that will completely avoid the port and all its defenses to land on the east side of the island. Or - not land perhaps. But that's a matter to worry about later. Just now there are three fleets, split up and headed for Compact forces and looking very much like they want to engage in battle in all sides.

And then it comes, winging though the air. A huge boulder, fully large enough to bludgeon its way through the hull of even a drommond, arcing across the deck of the red Serpent and landing with a splash in the water. A voice booms out. "SURRENDER NOW AND JOIN THE RIGHTFUL RULER OF THE MOURNING ISLES. ABANDON THE PRETENDER AND LIVE." A wash of fear rushes over the water, and even the hardest sailors start to panic. And this time, there are no prayers and no support from the city. They are on their own.

Wash wields Intricately forged ancient steel cutlass.

Eleanor wields Wavebreaker, a short sword.

Ariella wields Revival, a rubicund saber.

Reese seems concerned when the boulder hits, very concerned, but she tries to hide it. She stays with Peri's ships and with the Redrain fleet, combining forces to take on one of the three fleets. She keeps her protective and guarding position in front of Isolde. "Gloria be with us!" She says having praying and half pleading.

Ariella takes a shuddering breath, bracing herself against the mast. She forces herself to stand tall. She has to lead by example. Her heart feels like it's about to explode and she fears she might vomit, but she can't show it. Sweat breaks out on her brow, despite the sea breeze.

"Stop calling me Creampuff!" Magpie is arguing with Eleanor, and then there's a boulder arcing over the ship in front of them and the Grayhope let's out a yell of surprise, "Ahh!! Was that a sea monster turd?!", looking around wildly for the source of the boulder. A shiver runs through him at the booming voice, but the man holds tightly to the wheel. "Mayir! You see anything in the water near us?!"

Lou closes her eyes a moment, and tries to take a steadying breath. She's an explorer. She's faced fears before, right? RIGHT? She breathes in, she breathes out. She breathes in, she breathes out. Whether or not she has a handle on herself, she opens her eyes with a grim faced determination and grips her crossbow perhaps a bit too tightly.

"Well, Magpie!" reports Mayir from the crow's nest of the Red Serpent. "I saw a boulder off our port side!" Yes, Mayir might be screwing with Magpie a bit. Or perhaps that is just how he deals with the terror that begins to settle over him, taking a deep breath and trying to refocus.

Jaerith s singing falters as the wave of fear passes over him. He gulps once, sniffs the air and lets out a deep breath. He clamps his mouth shut, afraid for a moment that trembling voice may give away how deeply the fear affected him.

Artorius stands at the helm of the Valardin, though as he hears the ghastly voice roar across those waves, there is not a single hint of fear in his eyes. "WE STAND UNBOWED!" he bowels out with a roar, hand still on his cobalt greatsword that he shoulders. Alas, no fear will take him this day.

"Full speed!" Wash signals the ships accompanying him, "Don't keep her too steady." He urges the helmsman and he wraps his fingers around the hilt of the blade he won at the Isle of the Weeping Daughter. "We'll close with them soon enough. Wait until the song starts. They'll feel the fear on the other foot then. If they flag, they sink, if they engage too quickly, fear may steal the heart of his men. "Anytime now Ian." He mutters under his breath.

Jasher shivers hard, his eyes wide and darting toward the massive boulder. He clenches his hands until his fingernails bite. And then he's shouting, he has to shout, "We will not abandon our ships, we will not abandon the salt and wind and wave of Thrax!" It's all hasty and defiant and more to ease himself than the men. Perhaps it will manage a touch of both.

"If you get us out of this alive," Eleanor tells Magpie, managing to bite out the words through an expression tense with restrained terror, "we can discuss nicknames, Creampuff."

Estaban shudders the fear washing over him and the weapon he holds helps that but its still there, "Steady men! steady calm your hearts! For Setarco! For the Compact!" he cries out to his men and the ships around him as he follows along closer and closer they get!

"DID YOU SEE THAT?" Luca cries out, as the boulder comes sailing. He's up on the side now, holding onto the rigging, and he calls back to his wife, "WE'VE GOT TO FIND THE ROCK-SLINGING SHIP! OR SHIPS!" He's got his cobalt cutlass out, and he's waving it around, but he has no real target for the moment, so he sticks to shouting innefectually at his beautiful, brave, hard-sailing wife.

Vano shudders, feelings something very much akin to what he felt when Brand possessed his people. A similar fear. A fear he's used to. It's pushed back, into the same place where it's always been pushed, but it puts his jaw on edge, his fist clenched. It takes a particular moment before the bracelet is being set into his hand by Caelis. Then his lips are moving, words unheard. But he's speaking, putting words on the Wind. Trying to reach out to speak to something not there.

"Can't say I regret not opting to join the Red Serpent," Kaede mutters aside, to Antonio. She then reaches out, to the side, to lay her hand over the hilt of his sword. Yeah, a little Cobalt magic will help! Then she takes in a breath and gets to work. There's sails to adjust, rowers to help time, and of course, more signals to be sent to the Redrain fleet. Soon as her bird is back, she'll be giving it another message.

"Gloria be with us!" Isolde repeats, still kneeling on the wood of the ship. Her hands are clasped so tightly together that her skin starts to turn white from lack of blood. She keeps praying, even if her voice falters, murmuring soft words of praise and devotion to the 13th and then the rest of the pantheon.

Victus' grip on that weapon of cobalt tightens as the wave of fear begin to wrap around the fleet. His eyes narrow, a wave of the saltwater below splashing over him and the deck when that rock narrowly misses them. "Reveka." He growls under his breath. The Grand Admiral's voice raises, shouting out to those who fight. "DO NOT FALTER. YOUR CAUSE IS RIGHTEOUS, THIS COMPACT DOES NOT BEND THE KNEE TO ITS ENEMIES! OUR LIGHT OUTSHINES THEIR DARKNESS!" He jabs a finger at Magpie, working in tandem with Wash's signals. "Full speed, Mags. We're gettin' into it. 'Cause do you smell that? THAT IS THE SMELL OF SHIT!" The Thrax barks, looking up to Mayir as well. "Do you see any clumped formations up there?!"

Reese looks over to Luca at his words, giving him a quick nod. She does do a quick look, trying to find the source of the rocks if she can. She continues, trying to get her ships in formation to attack and trying tp keep with the ships of her vassals that Peri commands.

Watching the rock fly, Caelis gages the size with a look of dislike. Taking a moment to remove her bracelet she gives it to Vano. "We should have got Kat her ballista." she mourns and puts her whistle to her lips to echo the command forward.

Vano checked mana at difficulty 20, rolling 8 lower.

When Peri sees the giant boulder fly through the air, that sinking, nauseated feeling comes back in full swing. Looking a bit green about the gills, she looks back to Kaldur. "Alright! BE READY TO TACK ON A PIECE OF SILVER! Port on my mark!" which will make sure they don't steer themselves into their neighbors as they head out to charge forward, swift and without question. There's no way to communicate giant boulders to the other fleets, so they'll just have to clue in themselves. She calls up to the crows nest, "I WANT TO KNOW WHERE THOSE ROCKS ARE COMING FROM!"

"That wasn't Reveka's voice..." Magpie mutters to Victus, then starts calling out commands to the crew to open up the sails while Victus is working on morale. As the ship picks up speed, Magpie focuses on the sailing.

It's hard not to flinch at the impact of the boulder and the outsized splash it makes among the Compact forces. Kaldur bellows, "You heard the lady! Archers! READY!" Along the rail, the first rank of archers nock arrows to their bowstaves. The second rank sidle up, on deck. Literally.

Reese continues to guide her ships into a attack formation, using handle signals and crying orders to the sailors. She has her cobalt weapon in hand, but seems to be more focused on command than fighting at the moment. She continues to try and stand in protective stance near Isolde. "Archers!" She says, getting them ready to fire when they are close enough. She also tries to watch for incoming boulders!

"I don't -- it just smells like salt water to m --" And then Mayir realizes that Victus is referring to the excrement in a more-metaphysical way. "Ahhhh. Well. I don't see anything just yet," admits the Grayhope sailor from the top. "But I'll keep looking!"

Brier, a dappled grey mare leaves, following Leola.

The words are in Ravashari, Vano's native tongue, and whatever he is saying is fervent, not exactly pleading, but respect tone to it. Asking. But his hand continues to reach out, feeling the wind and sea spray. Wind and Waves. Wind and Waves. The little bells on his belt ring in a tinny song, like chimes on the caravans down the rivers. And the Shaman of the Rivenshari will continue, the chant and words spoken on the wind.

Wash checked composure at difficulty 15, rolling 3 lower.

Wash checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 6 lower.

Reese checked composure at difficulty 15, rolling 3 lower.

Peri checked composure at difficulty 15, rolling 16 higher.

Reese checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 0 higher.

Artorius checked composure at difficulty 15, rolling 10 lower.

Victus checked composure at difficulty 15, rolling 12 higher.

Jasher checked composure at difficulty 15, rolling 3 higher.

Lou checked composure at difficulty 15, rolling 11 higher.

Mayir checked composure at difficulty 15, rolling 6 lower.

Mayir checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 5 lower.

Vano has rolled a critical success!
Vano checked composure at difficulty 15, rolling 5 higher.

Estaban checked composure at difficulty 15, rolling 4 lower.

Kaldur checked composure at difficulty 15, rolling 2 lower.

Estaban checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 0 higher.

Reese checked command + sailing at difficulty 40, rolling 2 higher.

Luca checked composure at difficulty 15, rolling 4 lower.

Jasher checked command + sailing at difficulty 40, rolling 40 higher.

Kaldur checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 5 lower.

Lou checked dexterity + archery at difficulty 40, rolling 20 lower.

Antonio checked composure at difficulty 15, rolling 6 lower.

Antonio checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 4 lower.

Ariella checked composure at difficulty 15, rolling 5 lower.

Jaerith checked composure at difficulty 15, rolling 6 lower.

Lou checked dexterity + survival at difficulty 15, rolling 39 higher.

Eleanor checked composure at difficulty 15, rolling 6 lower.

Jasher checked dexterity + athletics at difficulty 15, rolling 1 lower.

Peri checked command + sailing at difficulty 40, rolling 7 higher.

Peri checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 15, rolling 19 higher.

Ariella checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 1 higher.

Kaede checked composure at difficulty 15, rolling 5 lower.

Caelis checked composure at difficulty 15, rolling 5 higher.

Victus checked command + sailing at difficulty 40, rolling 4 higher.

Magpie checked composure at difficulty 15, rolling 3 higher.

Wash checked command + sailing at difficulty 40, rolling 10 higher.

Wash checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 15, rolling 45 higher.

Victus checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 15, rolling 35 higher.

Kaede checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 10 lower.

Jaerith checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 9 lower.

Eleanor checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 7 lower.

Graham checked composure at difficulty 15, rolling 5 lower.

Caelis checked command + sailing at difficulty 40, rolling 24 higher.

Antonio checked command + sailing at difficulty 40, rolling 18 higher.

Artorius checked dexterity + huge wpn at difficulty 40, rolling 15 higher.

Artorius checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 15, rolling 28 higher.

Antonio checked dexterity + survival at difficulty 15, rolling 19 higher.

Reese checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 15, rolling 25 higher.

Graham checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 20 higher.

Isolde checked composure at difficulty 15, rolling 7 higher.

Estaban checked command + sailing at difficulty 40, rolling 9 higher.

Luca checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 15, rolling 24 higher.

Estaban checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 15, rolling 16 higher.

Graham checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 40, rolling 21 higher.

Isolde checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 15, rolling 9 higher.

Jaerith checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 13 higher.

Magpie checked dexterity + sailing at difficulty 40, rolling 13 higher.

Mayir takes serious damage.

Kaldur takes moderate damage.

Jasher takes moderate damage.

Eleanor takes moderate damage.

Kaede takes moderate damage.

Jaerith takes moderate damage.

Frostbite the Wolf, Whisper the Snowy Owl arrive, following Arianna.

Lou fortunately stands steady against the fear, regardless that it keeps hammering at her. She lifts her crossbow, aims, and attempts to fire. Click. She pulls the trigger to release the bow again. Click. And again. Click. She gives the crossbow an incredulous work. "ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME? I HAD YOU FIXED!" She yells at the piece of wood and wire and leavers in her hands. She reaches in and attempts to pull the bolt out, doing her best to keep out of anyone else's way and dodging anything that might come her way. Hopefully, this will not be an all battle issue for her, and if it seems like it is, she has her trusty, unbloodied diamondplate blade.

Arianna has joined the The Pink Griffon.

The fleets sail toward each other, and the first crash of ships is jarring and echoes across the water, with the worst of the ships starting to take on water immediately. A Valardin ship goes down. They're less coordinated than they normally would be, owing to the absence of The Unsullied and Princess Katarina. An ill wind blows across the water, and those without cobalt weapons struggle - some of them pausing as the wind literally lashes cuts open on their skin as they succumb to the fear and hunger that sails with the Gyre's fleet. And then Lou's crossbow jams, and she is so busy yelling at it that she misses the arrowstorm headed her way and she is feathered with arrows as she tries frantically to make her crossbow unjam.

"Augh!" shouts Mayir, getting ripped up bad as the ill wind strikes him high up on the Red Serpent. It hurts. It hurts bad. And he's no brave soldier. It hurts and he's scared and he hurts real bad. "Magpie!" His voice is shaky, on the verge of tears. "What do I do, Magpie?"

Jasher struggles and stands against the fear and the hunger, but this doesn't keep him from taking an arrow. The old friend the arrow. Through a patch in his armor, no less. He remembers Wash's orders. He points and bellows and directs. Ram and crush, ram and splinter.

"Get that line tight!" Kaede yells, as she's firmly taken over as Antonio's first mate. Because, well, she's already ordered her own ships to follow Grayson, so why not! "Harder to p-..AHHH!" she lets out a shriek and drops down to her knees. Blood starts to pour from a dozen tiny cuts, almost entirely unseen save for the few on her face. She stares in wide-eyed horror at nothing at all.

Reese winces as her sister is peppered with arrows. She looks over in her direction. "Lou you good?" She says, keeping her words simple, likely cause they are in the middle of a battle. She continues to steer the ships into attack position. "Fire! Ramming Speed!" She cries out out.

Artorius stands his ground. "Hold fast!" and that he does, he stands up completely straight and he doesn't even get sliced and howled down by that cruel wind of fear. He stands tall, unbowed, no such thing exists in Artorius. "I fear no darkness."

Eleanor's eyes are pressed tightly closed as she battles the fear, the panic. It hardly helps as the wind cuts open gashes across her skin. Her teeth clench, head ducks, shoulders shake as she tries to regain control of herself.

"Archers, F--" the words freeze in Kaldur's throat and he siezes in a rictus of torment, staggering forward he clutches at a railing. He drops to a knee, sweat beading on his forehead, eyes wild, skin pale.

Wash is not a frontline combatant. As he directs the ships closer. He weathers the first barrage with a side step and when the enemy hoves into view on their starboard he ducks a low-flying version of the same. There's a loud crunch as his cog plows through a ship a quarter it's size and then a series of pops like limbs breaking as a series of oars are mowed down by the hull on the other side. Well trained oarsmen lift their own oars out of danger, but getting that close means at least a couple of the enemy make the boarding attempt. "Jasher!" Wash directs the man to the enemy, pointing his cutlass. He's more than a little pleased to have a real Thrax Prince leading his marines, not least because the man's mein, might and bravery have been excellent beyond question.

Magpie grits his teeth against the sensation of terror and just glares ahead, pulling the wheel hard to force the Red Serpent into a tight turn. He hears Mayir's call and looks up. "Fuck! Climb down from there before you fall!" He reaches for Eleanor's arm, pulling at it, "Sunshine!! Hey! Go help Mayir!"

Isolde breaks from her prayer as she hears the sound of arrows hitting armor --scrambling up to her feet. "Princess Lou!" She'll call out, darting to the royal's side and looking her over. The guards that surround her adjust according, shifting to try and get in the way of any arrows. "Are you hurt?"

Either the Spirits are protecting Vano or he has suffered enough at the hands of Brand that this kind of fear is one that the Shaman has long since become accustomed to. Either way, the ill wind does not harm the Rivenshari. His hand is still reaching out, the words in Ravashari still falling from his lips, still speaking and beseeching to Spirits. Asking for their help, their protection. Ever has he been faithful to them. His faith in them sustains him, as it always have. As it always will. This does mean he can't do much more at the moment. He has to focus on this.

"There's a good target." Antonio points his cutlass at a nearby ship. "Archers.." The few archers who arn't gibbering maniacs at this point, "Ready!" And thats just when Kaede drops to her knees. The Lenosian prince frowns, "Keep a steady course." This is barked at his steadfast helmsman, before he crouches down near Kaede, once more offering her the hilt of his cutlass.

Victus' eyes dart between Mayir's screams on the crows nest and Eleanor's own lashing against the wind. "Hold." He commands. "HOLD!" The High Lord makes his way down deck, grabbing hold of the First Captain's shoulders to steady her. "Stay focused, Eleanor. Stay sharp!" His hand goes up, signalling to his own troops. "ARCHERS! RETURN FIRE! LOAD AND LOOSE AT WILL!" Next his hand is upon Magpie's arm. "Evasive maneuvers, Mags. Try to keep her out of the line of fire while we get our footing. We ain't broke yet." Though arrows litter the deck and one very terrified cat is in the midst of scurrying from one end of the ship to the other, Victus' resolve holds. The cobalt certainly helped. "Don't lose formation now!"

Ariella braces herself against the cruel wind, then turns to her archers. "READY!" she calls out. "NOCK! LOOSE!"

Mayir checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 1 lower.

As they start to get within range, Peri yells out, "Ramming speed!" When she doesn't hear anything about the archers yet, she looks back to locate Kaldur. She'll yell out if he's unable, but she does duck down as her shield guards throw up their shields in defense of any possible incoming arrows. She doesn't seem to be affected by whatever is going on, but doesn't notice yet either. "Mangata. We fight for you," she says under her breath, the words lost to the winds and the currents. She takes the bottle of previously blessed water and moves towards her brother. Ripping it from its cord, she cracks the delicate bottle in her hand over his head, then tosses the shards over the side of the ship. "Maybe this will do you some good."

Victus checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 4 lower.

Reese has rolled a critical success!
Reese checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 32 higher.

Eleanor checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 10 lower.

Magpie checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 1 higher.

Lou checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 3 lower.

Clenching her jaw as one of the Valardin ships go down, Caelis keeps her focus on commanding the other ships in the fleet with a resolute stubbornness. "Mangata, Gloria, I pray we see our people home." She looks up for a few moments with her hand on her blade before picking up that whistle Victus loves so much and taking up calls again. She knows Artorius will be biting at the chomp soon to get action.

Kaldur checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 5 lower.

Artorius checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 4 lower.

Peri checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 7 lower.

Estaban yells out and signals the outher southport ships, "Steady men! Load!" he commands the archers, "Ready! Steady! Fire!" he tells his men.

Isolde checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 6 lower.

Jasher checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 4 lower.

Luca checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 3 lower.

Caelis checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 8 lower.

Wash checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 0 higher.

Estaban checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 7 lower.

Graham checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 5 lower.

Arianna has rolled a critical success!
Arianna checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 27 higher.

Jaerith is one of those who is without a cobalt weapon. He grabs ahold of the ships wheel as the wind whips out, wincing and yelling as open wounds appear on his skin. He holds firmly to the wheel, the way a man might grip to a life preserver in deep water, holding it as if its his last grip on sanity.

The arrows seem to hail down around Lou. Tink! Tink! Tink! Tink! They go off the steel armor that her sister gave her. She winces with each one, but she keeps on trying to get her damn crossbow to work. She'll give it one more shot, then she's switching tactics! It looks like that armor is some seriously good stuff, as she looks fit as a fiddle and perhaps more than a little irritated. "I'm good! I'm good!" she calls out to those checking out up on her. Finally getting the bolt out, she takes a moment to try and aim the weapon.

Kaede checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 2 lower.

"What?" Eleanor says vaguely, finally opening her eyes to blink them at Magpie. "Right. Right." Her gaze turns to focus on Victus, turning into a scowl. "I'm doing my godsdamned best," she bites out at him. She shrugs off his hold and moves to the main mast, gazing up at Mayir. "Get down!" she shouts up at him.

Ariella checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 2 higher.

As the wind cuts sails to ribbons and howls around them, Luca stands in front of his wife, cobalt cutlass in hand. He is unwavering in his protection of her, and still unable to bring to bear the fullness of his blade against the enemy. He winces when Princess Lou is peppered with arrows, and lifts his blade to point at the enemy, "Lou! Give as good as you get!" he cries out. He fishes the blessed flask from inside his Cardian leather dueling jacket, and underhands it to Lou.

"Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow." The cuts burn on Mayir as he makes his way down off of the crow's nest, the long trip down from the top to bottom of the Red Serpent hurting him something awful, the rope cutting into the red bloody mess on his hands. He thumps onto the deck and looks around, shuddering, sniffling, trying to get his bearings.

Vano checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 4 lower.

"Got it." Magpie responds to Victus and calls out a string of sailing orders to the Red Serpent's crew to change the rigging for a hard tack, pulling the wheel hard in the opposite direction. He trusts to Eleanor to handle rescuing one of his best friends while he concentrates on the complicate sailing maneuvers.

Lou gladly takes the flask from Luca, takes a swig, and hands it back. Fortified, she stands ready again! "I intend to do just that," she tells her brother-in-law!

Kaldur slumps to the deck before Peri makes it to him, shivering and sweating. Wavedancer clatters to the deck.

"Archers! Return fire!" Peri orders, taking over command of them too and relaying her orders through her dedicated sailors to the rest of the fleets under her command so those within range can help return fire. She orders someone to get Kaldur below deck and takes the Wavedancer up herself.

Antonio checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 2 lower.

"Return fire now!" he calls to his men and he starts to move his ships in a way that he can best help in take some of them out before those raming get there.

Eleanor checked stamina, willpower + survival at difficulty 8, rolling 43 higher.

Eleanor remains capable of fighting.

Now the water starts to funnel upward. Even as ships fight ships another catapult comes arcing across the water, and Reese takes one look at its path and, grabbing a bow from a nearby soldier in a moment of inspiration, fires it - directly across the ships, lodging into Eleanor's back and knocking her forward. Which allows her to dodge the huge boulder that lands directly behind her, taking out a good portion of the Red Serpent's deck. As the Serpent starts taking on water Eleanor falls, gravely wounded in the middle of battle. She is barely clinging to consciousness as the Serpent starts to sink.

It's hard to tell what's going on in the battle proper. Ships are sinking left and right. The Red Serpent, flagship of the Compact fleet, is going down. Sharks circle in the water below.

But it is not only Compact ships sinking - the Gyre's fleet is sinking as well, ship by ship. It's a hard battle as they fire arrows, try to board - try to keep from being boarded, and most of all combat that starving clench in their stomachs that doesn't seem to want to go away. From somewhere there is laughter, cold and amused, rippling across the water. Is it Reveka? Is it the Gyre's laughter himself? In the din of battle, it's impossible to tell.

As the great stone strikes the Serpent, Jasher is momentarily distracted. He turns to the railing, his fingers wrapping tight around the metal. He stops shouting the same refrain, strike and sink, ram and destroy. He looks to the sharks, and he looks to Wash.

Reese has the bow still in her hand as she looks across the way to Eleanor and the Red Serpant. She seems concerned very concerned. Her cheeks are pale and her slender form is taunt. "Continue! Fire! Ram! Don't give up! For Compact! Gloria be with us!" She says. Reese then spares another look to the Red Serpant, hoping that nearby ships are rescuing Eleanor and the others on board.

Terribly wounded, Mayir considers going down below. Certainly, the flagship of the Combined Compact Fleet will be a safe place for him to ride out the rest of the battle! But then -- no. Nope, there's a boulder taking out the structural supports, and another cry goes up from the sailor. Now what.

The Wreckless is too far away from the Thrax fleet to do much rescuing- and Antonio has problems off his own, as his crew works to repell boarders. "COUNTER BOARD!" he hollers out, after speaking almost quietly to Kaede.

Wash raises his sword as the Red Serpent is struck. He swings it wide, indicating orders to the remaining Thrax fleet to finish their envelopment of the trailing fleet. Force them together where larger ships can plow through more than one at a time. His cog circles around the edges, looking for just that opportunity.

Magpie gapes as he watches the boulder smash through the decking of the ship and sea water starts pouring into the holds. He sees Eleanor with an arrow in her back, Mayir looking awful. The sailor pulls hard at the wheel, trying to get the rapidly listing Red Serpent at least turning against the side that's sucking in water like it's going out of style. "Get the sails in before they get dragged into the water!!" Magpie yells at the sailors. "We're taking the sea in too fast!!" He calls, rapidly seeking out the nearest Compact ship and aiming for *that* boat.

With some inspiring orders from Antonio, and with a brief touch of Cobalt, Kaede is fighting back to her feet and trying to regain herself. "There, watch the rail!" she's calling. Then her own cutlass is out, and she's preparing to get on with the dirty work. "Signal to keep tight with the Graysons!" she calls again, to her flagger. Who... hopefully is still standing!

Artorius calls for another volley and it is fied! his eyes look to all around them as ships ram and smash into each other. He sees the swirl in the water, how the sharks swirl beneath all of them. "Hold fast! ARCHERS! LOOSE!" he calls then, sword ready, he looks to the Serpent and how it starts to goe down, eyes wide. "Prepare to board!"

Looking over as the Red Serpent takes on water, Caelis whistles and orders one of the Oathland ships to get closer to the wounded vessel to take on passengers. The smaller, lighter vessels were brought specifically to fish out sailors. Meanwhile she gets the Valor in position to let Artorius and his men board.

Lou gets a determined look on her face, and attempts to fire bolt after bolt from her crossbow when the order comes to fire again. Hopefully, assuredly, she has this thing unjammed for good! "WE! WILL! STAND!" she shoots one bolt after another at the enemy, punctuating her words.

At some signal or another from Wash, Jasher turns away, and his bellows to the sailors continue. "See them splinter, see them fail, see them sink! Remark no laughter, laughter is empty noise! The strike of our prow is the true thunder of the waves!" He keeps a side-eye on the Serpent when he can, though. How can he not?

"Steady!" Ariella calls out, trying to make her crew and archers focus on her instead of the sinking flagship. "Your job is here, not out there."

Vano rocks on his feet, gritting his teeth, grunting to stay upright. There's a look of frustration, seeing the chaos unblinking and triesfocus on his breath. He looks at the bracelet on his wrist that Caelis had lent him. He raises both of his hands before him, trying to channel every fiber of his being into his faith, his words, his beseeching. And he's calling onto the wind, in Ravashari. The words don't make sense to anyone but him, but the Spirits, if they're listening, they know. They'll know what he's trying to say. To call upon the Wind, to call upon the Waves. To make it stop. To help not just him, but everyone who he's with. The bells on his armor right loudly, singing their tinny song. They have to listen. Please listen. But still, he calls out to them, calling out onto the Wind.

Estaban watches the ship start to take water, "Southport you know your orders keep firing." he starts to move The Sea Myst in the direction to help those out on the red serpant amd he starts to let the nets on the sides of his ship lose why? Cause sharks are jerks!

It's every Thraxian's worse fear come true. Their boat is sinking. The big boat is sinking. Victus' expression is shockingly blank. There's one moment of hesitation. Then he's leaping into action, rushing down the deck and grabbing the body of Eleanor. He breaks the arrow shaft in half first and shoves her up into his arms. "ABANDON SHIP, THE SERPENT IS LOST!" Rafts luckily line the dromond's left and right sides. It wouldn't store everyone, but it would save some. "Mayir, you did good. Get on one of those dingy's." His black eyes turn back to Magpie. "... You have a light right, for when you smoke drugs?" The legality of which did not need to be discussed now. "Steer us to the closest ship. There are pounds of Thrax fire under deck. We send this girl off with a bang, do you understand?" His voice bellows again, ordering crew to prepare for an emergency evacuation as the boat lists and rocks.

With Kaldur below decks, suffering from the growing hunger, and likely other members of her crew too, Peri remains unaware of what her crew and fleets are going through. Some kind of malaise? For now, she pays it no mind, and instead puts the Wavedancer in her belt so she can go cut the incoming lines. "Maintain ramming speed! I'd rather arc through then try to do a full about." It's not like she's on /that/ incredibly agile of a ship. Not like her skiff back home for sure. When she sees the boulder smash down into the Compact's flagship, her eyes widen. She's in no better position than the Pink Griffon to assist in rescue efforts. It's important for her fleet to not break their lines. "That ship! There!" she calls out to intercept and ram another enemy ship trying to swarm the Red Serpent. They're still far off to where hopefully they won't break their position completely. If it's her ship or another from the fleets she commands, she'll try to favor the latter responding to the call.

"Got it!" Magpie calls to Victus and stands at the wheel, bringing the Red Serpent about at painfully slow speeds to point it to drift towards the nearest enemy ship. "Mayir! Get off the ship!"

It takes a moment for Mayir to shake off what he is doing, the paradoxically natural view to freeze in a crisis rather than do something. But he then nods when Victus speaks to him, not yells, but speaks, and bolts for the dighny. If he lives, he'll realize he didn't do much of anything at all. But now, all he wants to do is get to Caelis's boat.

With Lou seeming largely unharmed, Isolde returns to her prayers--kneeling again on the hard wooden deck. Arianna is given the briefest of smiles, even if the reassuring look doesn't reach the princess' eyes. Soft murmurs of prayers are chanted, over and over.

Eleanor struggles to stand. She's panting, she's bleeding (a lot) (no like, A LOT), she's scrabbling at the deck as it starts to turn. She turns wide eyes to Magpie. "We've gotta get off," she calls weakly, stating the obvious and oblivious to the fact that Magpie's already on it. Then she's up - hauled up by Victus. She bites off a curse as he breaks the arrow and leans heavily against him. "There." She points toward a boat approaching. "The Oathlands ship," she gestures. She doesn't let go of Victus, but starts to pull in that direction. Take me there, large man!

Jaerith appears to be fighting his own small personal war, getting tunnel vision as battle continues to close around him. He issues orders to his small band of ships, trying to keep them at a distance to allow the Oakhaven men and women to use their bow prowess to maximum effect. Jaeriths face changes from moment to moment, agony at one point, shifting quickly to glee, then to the look of a man barely holding onto his mind.

And Vano prays. He prays, and the spirits answer. Not the spirits of wind, but of water. As the crew of the Red Serpent get into the longboats, as Princess Caelis brings Valardin resources to the rescue of the Thrax, as Magpie sets fire to the huge drommond, Vano calls to the spirits of water. With the crew off the boat is propelled forward by a thousand little spirits of water, on and on still. The Gyre's ships try to stop it and as they try the bracelet on his wrist grows hotter, hotter still - burning a circle of steel into his wrist. But he doesn't stop his prayer, no he doesn't. And the ship is propelled by little water spirits. The perfect application of a little bit of help in just the right place, to send a ship loaded with Thrax fire into the center of an enemy's fleet.

And right on time, the Red Serpent doesn't burn, it - explodes. Fire belches out from its belly in every direction, incinerating one third of the Gyre's forces from the inside. But fire is no respector of alignment and some of the ships of the Compact are caught in the firestorm as well. And Vano slumps to the deck of his ship, injured and successful.

Vano takes serious damage.


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At Setarco, the news from the navy is grim. What was one fleet has split into four prongs, and three are being engaged by Compact forces, but the fourth seems to be sending its crews at the gates of Setarco, making an end run around the port to come from the side of land. Meanwhile, forces at the gates seem to be dealing with monsters. Half the Valardin cavalry is dead, having faced and with much difficulty mowed down a pack of the same creatures that killed Lord Killian and Zhayla, Sword of Deepwood. Word has is that Duke Cristoph Laurent led the valiant charge, but he has been taken to the Mercies in critical condition, barely clinging to life.
**********************************************************************


Lou has left the The Pink Griffon.

Jasher stands still for a moment, his face opening with awe, lit by the roiling flames (too close, too warm, but beautiful against the dark). He takes the foredeck, then, beating his fanfare, shouting response. "The waves and flame are with us! The enemy cannot stand against us."

"Oh, /fuck/!" Kaede exclaims as she watches that big boom. Too far off to really tell if everyone go off, the Prodigal captain just looks a touch troubled for a moment, then shakes her head and whispers out a prayer to the spirits. "Stay focused, sailors!" she calls out. Do as the captain says, not as the captain does, goes unsaid.

Speaking of staying focused, Mayir is focused on one thing: Getting to safety on Caelis's ship, the Valor of Valardin. He rows that longboat like his life depends on it. Because he does. He lowers his head and just wants to get on board and safe and not die.

Reese nothing short of amazing when the Red Serpent explodes in the middle of the Gyre's forces. Her eyes widen and her breath stops for a moment. "Wow!" She says and then is quick to start calling out orders once again. "Press on! See that, we can get defeat the abyss fuckers! Press on! Attack! Fire!"

Magpie sets the fire on the Red Serpent and half climbs, half jumps into the longboat. "Go go go!!" He says in a rush. As they're nearing the rescue Valardin ship, the man stands and turns to watching, blue eyes wide, "Oh.. oh.. it's still going.. how is it still-" BOOOM! Magpie topples over in the long boat from the blast, momentarily blinded. "Fuck yeah!"

Glancing briefly at the explosion of flames, Caelis shakes it off and continues to focus on commanding her ships. Sparring a glance at Vano, she nods to the man. "You did good. Catch your breath, there's fighting still to get done. Artie, press on the archers, nows the time to be loosing with all that fire."

Vano cries in pain, as the bracelet burns and sears into his flesh. His face is contorted in pain, grimacing, teeth barred, eyes wide, sweat beading on his forehead. But he keeps his arms outstretched forward, screaming the words in Ravashari, words on the Wind. Words on the Waves. It's a chanting of words long since carried downt he clan of Rivenshari. The faith carries him, revenge for his people drive him. The Shaman does the only thing he can, hurt the Gyre fleet as much as he can. All of his rage, all of his pain, they can have it tenfold and seething. What was taken from him, taken from his people he shall pay the darkness back. They will know. But in the end, he can no longer take the pain, the smell of burning meat lingering in the air of Valor. The Shaman goes to his knees on the deck, almost looking like steam wafting off his body from the exertion, and especially so from his wrist where the bracelet is. "They do not...abandon..." he coughs. He needs a moment, clearly.

Jaerith s attention is finally pulled as the explosion occurs. His eyes go large and round. In the confusion he feels, he is unsure if it was intentional or not. He gives a quick look to see if the crew of the former ship are in peril or not before focusing back on the task at hand.

Estaban moves the Sea Myst to start grabbing who they can out of the water, when the ship explodes he ducks and looks up, "Holy Fuck!" he yells out and breaths deeply, "Steady she goes mean, lets help these guys and then continue on to merge back into the southport fleet, "Archers at the ready!" he calls out.

Artorius looks to Vano, patting him on the shoulder. "You did good. You did good. Now rest." he tells him as his eyes looked to the water spirits who helped them...then? BOOM!

Artorius actually leans back after helping the Thraxians that needed it on board. "ARCHERS! LOAD! Fight them back to the very last inch!"

Victus still clings to Eleanor as he plants the two of them in the same longboat as Mayir. Magpie getting in just as well as they collectively 'haul ass' to Caelis' ship. He's not without his grief as he watches his pride and joy of Thrax and temporarily the Compact go up in flames. More than flames even, a literal hellstorm that blazes through the sky in a shower of debris. "... My daughter was born on that boat." He murmurs to himself, just loud enough for the others to hear. "Assholes..." A clenched fist and a glare is given as he watches the old girl sink beneath the waves, flames licking at the corpses of their enemies. He does his best to set Eleanor down without aggrevating her wounds and grabs a paddle, rowing with force as they butt up against Caelis' ship.

Amidst many, Luca is also struck by the sight of The Red Serpent being propelled forward, before it explodes into innumerable pieces as the Thrax Fire in the cargo hold catches alight. "Wow." he mouths, and then he's over to the side of The Pink Griffon again, searching for signs of life amongst those who fled the doomed ship. Something tenses inside of him, but settles once again as he noticed ships already shifting course to compensate for people who need rescued. He doesn't linger for long on the sight, instead departing back again to where he came from, at his wife's side. "Gods, I'm really wasted here on a ship. I should have learned the crossbow." That second part he iterates for the second time today, but he keeps his cutlass out, waiting for signs of danger in regards to the commander of the Grayson fleet. "I think Vic and his crew are getting a lift. We need to keep an eye out for signs of leadership on their boats."

It happens quickly, which is good for Peri and the Golden Pearl. No one got too far in the way of Vano's 'line of fire' and the Pearl isn't out of position. "Keep us moving! Tack port now!" she shouts to angle them to withstand the wake of such a force as it ripples through the sea out their way. "HOLD!" she shouts as it hits them. "Press forward! Support Grayson!" She moves back to rapid fire off some directives to be relayed out to the fleets in her command, trying hard to stay on that and not let the communication break as it did in the last battle. Keeping up the agility of their ships seems to be a key strategy for the front lines of her fleets, never letting the momentum die down as they continue to cut lines, "Archers fire!" and weave back into their own core forces for protection. It's a strange strategic dance that requires the most in tune crews to keep up, and they might not keep it up forever as some of their line of protection begins to be embroiled in counter-boarding action. "Ram! Thirty degrees port!" She's targeted one such enemy ship that's a sitting duck as it tries to board.

With the Red Serpent's demise, Crimson Redemption becomes the center of Thrax communication. Wash disengages from the ship he has engaged and circles in a slow figure eight to give each bank of his oarsmen a brief rest. He indicates for burning enemy ships to be given a wide berth, let them burn to the waterline if possible. He picks out targets, harrying the Herald's fleet Westward to pin them against the island, sink them in water shallow enough that they won't rise again from the depths.

"I was born on a boat," Eleanor murmurs to Victus between strained breaths as he lowers her to a seat. "The boat doesn't matter. It's the sea that matters." She has a kind of faraway look in her eyes, as she bleeds quietly into the rescue boat.

Isolde joins Reese in the staring--at least for a moment. Then again, she continues to pray. Each of the gods are given their due, from the Limerence to Aion. There is temptation in her voice to linger on words of praise and supplication to the 13th--but she fights it, maintain the balance of prayers. Slowly she'll stand, getting to her feet and staying the words louder into the wind. The princess is scared, terrified of what's to come but she pushes through it.

Reese watches as Isolde stands and she seems nervous. She tries to stand in front of her in a guarding position, of course with boulders coming from the sky, it is hard predict where she needs to position herself to protect the faithful princess, but Reese does her best.

Magpie blinks a lot, finally getting enough vision back to move next to Mayir as they reach the rescue ship. "Come on. New boat to move to, let's get you up there, I'll take the oars and keep us steady."

Reese looks to Luca, giving her husband a nod. "Okay." She says, glancing to Caelis' oathland ship as if trying to be alert for orders and signals. She keeps giving the sailors orders, pressing on for attack.

Luca seems to think better of something for a moment, then he leans in toward Reese a little more, his sword still out and prepared, and he tells her, "The last time ships peeled off from the fleet it was from the back. I think they're mean, but they're not brave. Let's go right through them, and hit the ships in the rear. I bet the first ships to turn tail are what we're looking for."

Wash is overheard praising Luca for: For bravery, ability and brains!

Ariella is overheard praising Vano.

Reese is overheard praising Vano for: Wow, wow!

Reese is overheard praising Eleanor for: yay, she is alive!

Reese is overheard praising Luca for: So witty, whip smart and nimble!

Arianna is overheard praising Vano for: Gotta love a man who can woo spirits.

Victus is overheard praising Vano for: We live another day thanks to you.

Victus is overheard praising Magpie for: He blew it up, the madman.

Victus is overheard praising Caelis for: Knight in shining armor.

Arianna is overheard praising Isolde for: Your prayers gave us strength.

Peri is overheard praising Vano for: This man gave us a fighting chance.

Victus is overheard praising Eleanor for: LIIIIIVE

Luca is overheard praising Vano for: Wow, I've got to wear more bells.

Artorius is overheard praising Eleanor.

And as the center fleet disappears, as the Thrax sailors make it to safety, the Compact finds themselves facing the other two fleets and into the void left by the Red Serpent comes a shimmering like glass cutting through the water.

And glass it is, or something translucent. And then it dips down and cuts through the top of the water, jumping out of the water and twisting to arc downward again. It is a shark made of glass - as big as a drommond, and in it swirls the abyss, and through the abyss swims monsters. And now it heads for the Compact fleet as they try to clean up the rest of the ships.

Victus is overheard praising Mayir for: LIIIIIIIIIIVE

Artorius is overheard praising Mayir.

Arianna is overheard praising Magpie for: Big badaboom!

That bracelet isn't coming off Vano's wrist anytime soon. Not without a whole lot of pain in the process. He spares it a glance, wondering if it's now fused to his wrist. Can't worry about it. "They do not abandon." A cold sheen of sweat is on his face, even though if all he was doing was screaming into the air. Slowly, he starts to haul himself onto his feet. "Not quite sure how many more times I can do that." he says in tired humor, clenching his fingers into a fist of the hand right below the bracelet. Then he looks out at the horizon, seeing the shark. "I should've saved the that explosion for...that."