[hr][hr][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/CQXCW8A.png[/img][/center][hr][hr][center][h2][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Cc94Knv86w]♫[/url][/h2][/center][hr][hr][center][color=808080][i][b]Present:[/b] Yalen Castel [@pantothenic], Valerian Remi Leclere [@yoshua171], Maura Mercador [@Ti], Trypano Somia [@A Lowly Wretch], Ingrid Penderson [@dragonpiece], Niallus Saberhagen [@McKennaJ71], and Abdel Varga [@YummyYummy][/i][/color][/center][hr][hr]	[color=808080]Kaureerah had not walked close to the skuggvar. Every instinct that she had screamed at her to run from it. She’d seen those things [i]eat[/i] people with her own eyes before, and every moment within its senses sent burning anxiety and instinctual dread coursing through her body. Yet, the others had been so eager to go on their own investigations and she’d been so damned [i]agreeable[/i] that she had been placed with one of the animals and an old man who… could [i]sort of[/i] handle it? 

	She’d been trying to get lost - ‘accidentally’ separated - and then, after hiding in some safe place for a little while, she could just call the entire thing off and apologize and be done with it. Maura or Abdel or Yalen would find something and her failure would be quickly forgotten. It was better to be forgotten sometimes. You could disappear and reappear somewhere else and the danger would be gone. Guilt clenched at Kaureerah’s stomach, for she knew that she was no hero. She was a musician, an entertainer, and a whore and she did not belong among these people. The coast was within sight and she spared a quick glance at the waves before returning her senses to the big threat: that beast. It plodded along, sniffing and snorting, its great toothy head swaying back and forth, and that was how they moved: on one of those swings it would lunge and Xiang would be unable to control it and it would try to rip her limb from limb. In the water, the eeaiko [i]might[/i] outpace it. She used kinetic and chemical magics to force her heartbeat to slow, to stop the juices of her mind that screamed fear into her veins. 

She and Xiang had not exchanged more than a handful of words the entire time and it was awkward, because he seemed to want to talk. He even seemed friendly. [color=DEB887]“Eye weell goo scaut een te wauter,”[/color] she offered, forcing a rather pathetic smile. Then, the animal raised its head and looked at her and she jumped back. [color=599794]“Okay, girl. Okay. You no be scare. No scare. She nice. No hurt you.”[/color] One of those ‘nice’ things had eaten her sister. Its tail swayed from side to side and its tongue shot out to lick its lips and Kaureerah just… [i]couldn’t[/i]. [color=DEB887]“E-eye weell goo,”[/color] She squeaked, as the old Retanese man grimaced and shook his head. [color=DEB887]“Eye weell jaust bee een te wauter.”[/color] She peeled out of the bulkier of her human-style garments and managed not to outright run for the shore.
[hr][hr]
Seven people reconvened at the guardian station after a day’s worth of investigation, knowing more and sure of less. Xiulan was among them, bitterly quiet, her professional veneer threatening to crumble once more following the unrecoverable loss of her life’s ambition. [color=a2d39c]“It is because I am a Jiang,”[/color] she had cryptically told Yalen during the return walk, hiding her words as much as possible from Zihan, who walked uncomfortably and pensively behind, catching the Somnian’s eyes when he glanced back at her. [color=a2d39c]“No Jiang ever passes the test.”[/color]

	Abdel returned with his own story to tell, and Ming in tow. How much he said, however, and how much evidence he presented, was entirely up to him. Certainly, Maura, his rather significant other, returned on something of a high, Yawen in tow, with much to report should she see fit to. Indeed, the biggest question at first seemed to be what they would share or whether they would share at [i]all[/i]...

	…But then Kaureerah didn’t show up. She had been dispatched to the coast, to a fishing village, tracking both Mr. Bao’s and the black cloaked woman’s scents, and she had gone with Mr. Xiang’s and Dayanara’s help. Abdel searched in that direction for the distinctive energy signature of his skuggvar, hoping that they had merely taken a wrong turn or been held up by something perfectly innocent, and both Yalen and Yawen joined him. They located the animal  still in the village, or just north of it. And, as afternoon began its march toward evening, Abdel and Yawen were insistent. [color=yellow]“Something is badly wrong,”[/color] the latter warned. [color=yellow]“We need to gather our forces and go there [i]now[/i].”[/color]
[hr][hr]
	The water was cold, as all ocean water was but, once she had spent a minute or so beneath its surface, Kaureerah’s body made the adjustment and magic helped with the rest. Her eyes adjusted to the light and her ears to the different way in which sound traveled. At last, she took a cautious breath, mouth and throat warming as her manas set about breaking the water down and extracting from it the air that she needed to breathe. The rest, she snorted out through her nose. 

	So, the eeaiko just… swam, as she had not for some time. It wasn’t exercise. It wasn’t just to be wet. It was to go somewhere and do something and it felt nice to swim with purpose. She soon - and maybe purposely - forgot all about her unwanted escort. She was in her element, quite literally, and had no wish to return to the land.

	The coast of Retan outside of the capital was deep greenish-blue place where algae grew on every surface. Crustaceans picked their way through the jumbled rocks and slow, wide-mouthed bottom-dwelling fish burrowed in the thick mud. Fishing nets, caught or abandoned, hung everywhere in the water in various states of decomposition. Some still had active floats and she was forced to swim around them. All manner of detritus and garbage and a great multitude of planks were strewn about, small fish darting among or sheltering under them. She passed a couple of sunken boats as she carried on. 

Then, some ways away, she could hear and feel movement in the water that was not that of an animal. It had the imperious feel of a human ship that rode above the waves, pushing them away from itself and the fragile sapients within. Reaching out with her magic senses, she found it out of her range, along with Mr. Xiang and the skuggvar, who she tried to tell herself she was chagrined for having forgotten. 

Five minutes later, Kaureerah was in range, but if she could detect others, then [i]they[/i] could detect her. [color=DEB887][i]A shark. I am a shark.[/i][/color] Picturing the illusion in her mind’s eye - its shape to the naked eye and its energy to one’s manas - she crafted a shark around herself. She did not waste energy or effort on its scent or sounds. Humans neglected those senses, particularly the former. So it was that a shark’s dorsal fin - or perhaps a girl’s head - broke the surface of the water right outside of the village, where people rushed back and forth unloading a black ship. [color=DEB887][i]Nikanese,[/i][/color] Kaureerah recognized. Human cultures had once seemed an incomprehensible mishmash to her, all too similar to each other to be truly distinguishable. Now, however, she was quite certain. It looked Retanese, but a few of the details were different: the shape of the bow, the rigging of the sails and, most of all, the languages being spoken that she could [i]just[/i] make out if she used some sonic enhancement.

But that involved using magic. Sharks did not use magic in that way and the enemy was not stupid. Someone was shouting in Nikanese - pointing at her - and Kaureerah dived desperately beneath the surface, for she was no fighter. Arrows and harpoons plunged in after her and one grazed the girl and drew blood. She should not have separated herself from Mr. Xiang and… just thinking of the beast proved a distraction, and enough of one that Kaureerah lost her focus. Something incorporeal grabbed her with irresistible force, and she felt herself lifted clear of the water. When she looked for the source, fighting with all of her magic to break free, she found it: a man in a hooded black robe. 

[hr][hr]
	The efficiency with which the Guardians worked when there was the prospect of a genuine threat was breathtaking. It was naught but fifteen minutes later when Whispering Dragon Squad of the Bái Qíshì set out in force, accompanied by the four students. The mighty Captain Zhao rode at its head in full regalia, with lieutenants Ming and Zihan marshalling twin columns of Guards old and new. Yawen and the second Watchful Eye, Meng, occupied the middle, along with two Red Menders. The first was a graceful older woman named Ai-Xue, with brilliant white hair well past her waist. The second, Nuan, was young and plump-faced, with a sparkle in her eye. The Speaker, Shuyuan, rode immediately behind her Captain, ever attentive to his needs and orders. 

It was none of these who gained the group’s attention most, however, for there were two new members they had not seen before. At the very rear came an [i]enormous[/i] hairy man of few words riding a small mammoth. Across his back waited two swords in ancient and ornate sheaths, their design marking them as distinct from Retanese tradition and promising violence. Upon Abdel’s questioning, Shuyuan referred to him only as ‘Yěmán’, or ‘Savage’. 

Gallivanting about on a quick and ugly horse and making the poor Speaker’s life difficult with his constant needling of the others, however, was the final member of the group: Tai-Heng. A small man, balding, with long oily hair and a bristly, unkempt mustache, he carried an assortment of oddly-shaped knives and a bandoleer packed with pistols and ammunition. By their body language and tone, it was clear both that he was very powerful and that the others looked upon him with contempt.
[hr][hr]
[hider=A Deal Between Devils][color=000000]"You can come out now, shapeshifter. I know you're there."[/color]
A tree spoke to the Dark One, its voice deep and ancient. [color=000000]"You should not take the girl. Only calamity will result."[/color]
The Dark One stood there, eyes fixed upon it, but senses sweeping all about him. This girl had used a magic he had not seen since… [color=000000]"Do you not thrive on calamity?"[/color] he spat.
[color=000000]"Only when I must."[/color] The tree became a perfect facsimile of the one to whom it spoke.
[color=000000]"You do not frighten me, [i]changeling[/i]. Since when do you ever fight?"[/color]
[color=000000]"Only when I must."[/color]
[color=000000]"All the same,"[/color] the Dark One replied, [color=000000]"She is of interest to me now. Mind your own business unless you've more than words on offer."[/color]
Just then, reality wavered, and the Dark One found himself standing...across from himself. Another him - a [i]false[/i] him - stood where he had been, with the unconscious girl at his feet. For the first time in centuries, he felt... cold: without certainty.
[color=000000]"I pray you be on your way and leave this matter to me, or we shall both die here,"[/color] said the Traveler. There was no intake of energy. There was nothing but the roar of the near-distant waves and the wind whispering through the trees.
[color=000000]"You interloper,"[/color] the Dark One snarled. [color=000000]"I have lived a [i]thousand[/i] lifetimes!"[/color] The Traveler stepped protectively between the girl and he. [color=000000]"As have I."[/color] 
[color=000000]"I have devoured [i]nations[/i], just as I have brought them into being!"[/color] He glared at the false self and it merely blinked in return. [color=000000]"You [i]charlatan.[/i] You rogue!"[/color] he shouted. [color=000000]"You think your magic frightens me!?"[/color] 
The Traveler wet his lips. He started to walk forward. [color=000000]"People should be [i]free[/i], you fucking tyrant. I will put your fool head on a spike!"[/color] With that, the very earth itself seemed to split and shake, but there was no draw of magic. There was no [i]cast[/i]. It just [i]happened[/i].
[color=000000]"Don't make me laugh, [i]impostor[/i]!"[/color] howled the Dark One. The ground stilled and healed itself. [color=000000]"One man's tyranny is another man's order and there [i]must[/i] be order. I would not let your foul weapons run amok."[/color]
The air around the Traveler ignited in a blinding flash but he was gone and at the Dark One's back. [color=000000]"And what of [i]your[/i] weapons?"[/color] he hissed in his enemy's ear. [color=000000]"Necessary evils for the preservation of society,"[/color] The Dark One retorted, and he did not stand there to be hit. He leapt into the past and was somewhere else instead. [color=000000]"I apologize for [i]nothing[/i]! I have sold my very [i]soul[/i] that humanity and her sisters might live! What have you sown but reckless chaos!?"[/color] 
[color=000000][b][i]"FREEDOM!"[/i][/b][/color] roared the Traveler and, for a moment in time, the sky turned to stone. The very air that the Dark One breathed hardened in his lungs. [color=000000]"A chance to do more, and [i]be[/i] more! A chance to not live under the heel of an eternal oppressor!"[/color] 
The Dark One hacked up blood, but then he was unharmed and the stone in his lungs and all about him was gone. A rivulet of doubt passed through him, but he hardened his resolve. [color=000000]"An oppressor to whose ranks you belong."[/color]
A long silence reigned, ripe with unspoken violence. Then, a laugh, low and eerie.
[color=000000]"You idiot. That is your greatest weakness: you are a [i]thing[/i] - a created [i]thing[/i] - and you will never learn because you are not [i]capable[/i] of it."[/color] The Traveler raised its head and seemed to grow taller... and [i]taller[/i]. Great black-feathered wings sprouted from its back and spread impossibly wide, emanating darkness instead of light. [color=000000]"Experiences [i]change[/i] people. Destiny is a [i]sham![/i] We are not what we are [i]meant[/i] to be, except for you, you poor pitiful creature. We are what we [i]become! I[/i] am what I have become!"[/color] A massive sword, glowing from the heat that rolled off of it, materialized in the black-winged angel's left hand. A perfect red apple materialized in its right... or was it green? Or... another color? [color=000000]"And now I am become death."[/color]
The Dark One knelt, then, head bowed, as the God stalked towards him, seeming almost to float as it did so. [color=000000]"Then I submit myself to thee,"[/color] he lied, as the very last of the sun faded from the sky. [color=000000]"Let your reign begin and I will serve."[/color]
That gave the Traveler pause for it did not wish to reign. 
That was all that the Dark One needed. Then, he was ten minutes ago, holding a chaos marble when the monster appeared.
[color=000000]"I pray you be on your way and leave this matter me, or we shall both die here."[/color] 
He produced the marble. [color=000000]"But one more permanently than the other,"[/color] he threatened, and the Traveler regarded him steadily. [color=000000]"You cannot kill me,"[/color] it replied. [color=000000]"I will come back in some form."[/color]
[color=000000]"But you will be dead for now,"[/color] the Dark One said, [color=000000]"and that is enough."[/color] 
The Traveler tilted its head to the side, like some sort of great bird. [color=000000]"Are you certain?"[/color] 
[color=000000]"I know your games, changeling, and I [i]am[/i] certain."[/color] 
[color=000000]"Perhaps it is so,"[/color] the monster replied with a shrug, [color=000000]"but have you considered the will of these people: what [i]they[/i]want?"[/color] 
[color=000000]"What they want must serve the grander design."[/color] 
[color=000000]"Whose design is that?"[/color] The Traveler's eyes narrowed. 
[color=000000]"I tire of your [i]words[/i] and I'm itching to [i]use[/i] this,"[/color] the Dark One retorted, and his enemy raised both hands nonthreateningly. [color=000000]"An act of 'order,' to be sure,"[/color] it mocked, [color=000000]"but very well. I shall propose something."[/color] 
[color=000000]"I am listening, [i]trickster[/i]."[/color] 
[color=000000]"Neither I nor you shall intervene in this conflict any further. Let it be decided by the systems that we have put into place. Shall tyranny or liberty prevail?"[/color] 
[color=000000]"Order or Chaos."[/color] 
[color=000000]"Reductive."[/color] 
[color=000000]"Biased."[/color] 
[color=000000]"Do you accept?"[/color] 
[color=000000]"I shall take the girl."[/color] 
[color=000000]"You must leave her unharmed."[/color] 
[color=000000]"After I am finished with her."[/color] 
[color=000000]"You may not keep her."[/color] 
[color=000000]"Those in my service may."[/color] 
[color=000000]"This is... acceptable."[/color] 
[color=000000]"Do we have terms?"[/color] 
[color=000000]"We have terms."[/color] With that, the Traveler disappeared. The Dark One took his prize and left as well.[/hider]
[hr][hr]
Turning off the main trunk road, Whispering Dragon Squad and its foreign escorts found themselves in the open countryside of Retan during golden hour, where farmers worked for as long as daylight would allow to bring in their rezain harvest. Most all of them paused and looked up, some bowing respectfully, others waving, and a handful seeming to shrink away. The small road that they occupied became too narrow as it passed through some hilly country, a lone village perched on a nearby hill glowing with the orange sun. 

Finally, they reached a fork in the road, with an old wooden signpost. One direction pointed towards a place simply called ‘Shan’ or ‘Mountain’ and the other towards ‘Chuánwèi’. [color=F4A460]“Hah!”[/color] barked Captain Zhao. [color=F4A460]“They’ve reversed the signs!”[/color] He reached out with his magic and set them right again. [color=F4A460]“We are entering the domain of the enemy,”[/color] he warned, and Xiulan translated for the students. [color=F4A460]“Stay alert. Cover each other.”[/color] Then, he spurred his horse forward into the setting sun. 
	
The sun had set and the village of ‘Chuánwèi’ was startlingly empty when they reached it. A handful of people retreated inside hastily as Whispering Dragon Squad approached, and Zihan and her captain exchanged a wary look. Perhaps it was merely that its many fishermen were already asleep, for they would have to wake up well before dawn to sail out to the best fishing waters. However, the concentration of human-shaped energies that Yawen and Meng picked up to the immediate north, behind a forested ridge, hinted that there was more at play. Abdel and Yalen confirmed as much for those who were further from the pair of Watchful Eyes. The energies of a sleeping skuggvar were very much present as well, but there was more: something else, skulking about unseen.

The Captain raised a fist and those behind him came to a halt, save for Tai-Heng, who scampered on his mangy mount into the middle of the village, cupped his hands around his mouth and called out, [color=C71585]“骑兵来了!” (the cavalry is here!)[/color] He grinned wickedly. [color=C71585]“出来，出来，无论你在哪里!” (come out, come out, wherever you aaaarrrre!)[/color]
	
Horses snorted and stamped. The wind whispered and distant waves crashed. A sign on a post creaked and eyes darted about. Then, from around a rocky headland, appeared a black ship. Its gun ports opened and thirty cannon pointed at the group and the village. It opened fire.
[hr][hr][center][h2]Action Opportunities[/h2][/center][/color]
[hider=Action Opportunities][color=808080]Your job in this chapter is simple, at the start: survive the Obake Maru's bombardment. Once you do, we'll be working through your next actions on discord. Objectives may include: 
[indent][b]One:[/b] capture or destroy the vessel.
[b]Two:[/b] See to the locals, if any remain, and interrogate enemies, if any remain.
[b]Three:[/b] Locate and free Kaureerah, Mr. Xiang and Dayanara. The latter might be very useful in the fight. However, what could be strong enough to overcome a skuggvar with minimal fuss?[/indent]
In general, feel free to cover any insights you may have gained from your investigations and discuss your findings with the others. Information exchange is key here... if your character is interested in doing so, of course.[/color][/hider]