Ashley listened carefully to Troe's words, since he seemed to know what he was talking about. Ashley had battled demonic beasts before—even bagged a few, with the help of the knights—but the open ocean was something she had no experience with. Seeing the absolute state of the sailors Xara was talking to only confirmed her suspicions. Taking this watery battlefield lightly could only result in a watery grave.

Truthfully, the smell of the ship barely registered in Ashley's mind. She had spent most of her life surrounded by strong smells. If it wasn't the wretched, overpowering smell of strong perfume and cologne at the noble parties, the body odor of sweaty knights in full armor, or the smells of the horses and the stables—or all three at once—it was the dung-caked faces of some criminal scum from the streets, or the piercing smell of cleaning chemicals from the clinic, or the rotting stench of death and decay that came standard with a back room full of brewing potions, the hunting and slaying of demonic beasts, or generally investigating the macabre. If she was "lucky" enough to be called in to a high-ticket crime scene, she might have the privilege of experiencing all six of those smells in one thick, rich cocktail. If she had to rate the smell of a ship full of seafood of varying kinds and degrees of freshness, she'd probably give it a six out of ten.

Samara's choice words of "better prospects" remain in the front of Ashley's mind as she watches the sailors opt out of repaying Xara's alleged favor, and as she begins reading the "room," so to speak, she honestly wonders if she should just toss her coin purse to Mikhail and have him sort the whole thing out. But, the smelly fishing ship had its advantages. Whatever crew decided to stick around would be full of seasoned veterans of dangerous ocean travel. A ship full of fishermen could keep a low profile, at least for the first leg of their journey, in an environment that was sure to be rife with competition—both fair and unfair. Ashley wouldn't be surprised if the ships full of mercenaries—who were sure to have varying ethical standards and levels of self-discipline—started trying to sink each other on the way, and as soon as she got on board any ship, the first thing on her agenda would be to size up her alleged "comrades," trying to sus out which ones were likely to kill her and Mikhail in their sleep and toss their corpses overboard, to increase their slice of the pie. She did not lie to her Lord Clive; as someone with a "wider" moral compass, she truly had weighed the risks.

Ashley sighed her trademark lifeless sigh. "It is the duty of a leader to make unpopular decisions when necessary," she says ruefully.

"That's the spirit, Ashley," her Commander responds, encouraging her.

It was then that Ashley was bumped from behind by the tall woman from before, and placed squarely in front of the young mage.

"Whoever the fuck's knights" sent Ashley's cold, dead heart into a frenzy as beads of frigid sweat began forming on her face. In full fight or flight mode, Ashley clears her throat before her Commander could speak, thus announcing her intent to address the insult. Staking her claim on the situation, she begins wracking her brain for something to say as she turns to face Nitonka. The woman towered over her, and could probably match or beat Mikhail at arm-wrestling. Ashley would be lying if she'd said she wasn't the tiniest bit intimidating.

"Your vote of confidence is appreciated. However, I must ask that you restrain that unruly tongue of yours. Had you insulted Milord directly, in the presence of esteemed company... there are some among the nobility that are quick to cry for blood, is what I'm saying. Don't invite the circus—but more than that—don't ask me to bully a child. Are we clear?" Ashley, for her size, could give a mean glare. Her narrowed, emotionless eyes were like the eyes of a woman who was already a corpse, but simply refused to fall over and die. She dreaded being forced to kill an innocent more than she feared death, and it was evident on her face. If anyone hadn't noticed that her damsel-in-distress act at the tavern was just a means to an end, it was painfully obvious now.

"Kids these days... accepting candy from strangers, just like that," remarked the woman in the coolie hat, standing just next to Margot.

The woman's voice seemed to take the razor's edge off of Ashley's brow. Perhaps she recognized it?

"Auntie. You're late," Ashley says to the woman, confirming that she did in fact know her.

"You're the one who's running late today, missy," she pleasantly sasses back.

Mikhail knew that this woman was not the wife of the uncle Ashley had been living with prior to being knighted. It had to be a pet name.

...Ashley used pet names?

Kavius was delighted at least someone in this array of characters enjoyed the phenomenon that is candy but everything else about the energetic girl somewhat threw him off. He wanted to say she was possibly someone he could stand to be around but it seems like she is the type of women who is very outgoing and very brazen, in a loud and confident way. That could cramp his always-trying-to-sneak-away-and-nap plans. Kav slightly sighed softly to himself remembering this was a job Sam would kill him over if he tried to do that so soon. He slightly touched the lower part of his shiner and winced. It hadn't hurt per say, especially since the man had be of no challenge to him, but it was still uncomfortable to have on his face. Maybe one of the spooky magic men here could heal it? Kav generally listened but stayed quiet to and during the main part of dialogue so far as he had nothing to do with most of these adventurers save the fact they all seemed to be willing to work together to get this job done. The money will be nice, Kav thought to himself, even if its split so many ways. Hearing finally their destination and seeing the ship they were going to be using made Kavius somewhat nervous about the journey. The ship seemed like she had seen better days and it was quite filthy. To elaborate Kavius was not worried in anyway about anything combat wise. He knew that with the men and women that were going to be onboard, including himself, any opponent they faced would regret their life choices up till that moment. The filth though........Kav hated being filthy. Realizing something important and realizing they had some time to before they moved out Kavius ignored the others and turned to Samara.

"Hey sammyo listen. I'm.....going out of character for a minute so if you make fun of me I am gonna put your fingers in a mug of water again when your sleeping when this job is over," Kavius said to Samara with a serious look on his face and in a voice loud enough to be overheard albeit this was unintentional. "So I know you know a lot and all but lets go back over ship facts since its been awhile since the last we were on a boat, plus the few times we were on a ship we were stowaways". "Remember port side means left side and starboard means right". "The Stern is the back of the ship which should also be the strongest part of the ship as well", Kavius said to Sam as he thumbed towards the direction of their sea vessel, "I ain't sure if that thing over there will actually be in super duper great condition but when we get on we should assess the ship ourselves if we aren't given a task immediately". "We should see from the inside what the condition of the ship is, and then we find eachother and exchange notes. We need to find the strongest structural side of the ship in case something happens on the sea. If we need to hide anyone or hide ourselves for some reason that is the best place to go to", Kav said then leaned in and lowered his voice, "Also if we steal anything it would be better to stash it near the strong side of the ship and retrieve it later".

Kav chuckled slightly and leaned back to his original spot, and spoke up again.

"When you meet another sailboat, the boat which is on starboard tack has the right of way over the boat on port tack. The leeward boat has right of way over the windward boat and an overtaking boat must keep clear". "Those are very important not written down rules of the sea".

Kavius was extremely happy on the inside in the moment. His old mentor had taught him very little outside surviving in wildlands and such but there did come a time where he was taught a little boating. He and his mentor had not gone very far from shore but they had been on a personal mission. A very rude man had stolen something from them and was trying to sail away. Kavius and his mentors plan to sabotage the boat the night before went swimmingly though and they were able to rent a crew and boat willing to fight and sail just a little bit away off shore. They had a hell of fight, retrieved their belongings, and brought a notorious criminal to justice. On the sail back to shore his mentor had convinced their rent-a-sailor friends to teach Kavius a little. Kav was enraptured at something so foreign to him and returned to visit their new friends when he was near and they were docked. Even after his mentor left him Kav had reunited with his sea dog friends who still taught him new ship related things whenever they could. Kav had always learned at what nearly seemed like twice the rate of others, which is in part why he loves to slack off and nap. Kav pulled his thoughts together and silently thanked his mentor, wherever he was.

"I doubt we will get more than four..maybe five knots out of this ship if we are lucky". "But most importantly Sam do not I repeat do not throw up inside the ship because it really really sucks to have to clean it up".

Kavius popped one a small lollipop in his mouth and scratched the back of his neck, forgetting he was shirtless and exposing his damp physique and muscular upper body tonnage.

"Damn I hate effort Sam". "But not as much as I love candy".

Kavius believed that they probably would come across some unsavory individuals and there was a chance sea creatures wouldn't ignore them, but this thought just seemed to rile him up. There wasn't much he could say to Sam on that front she didn't already know. It did not matter the stage, a fight was something he and Sam would never lose together.

Mikhail certainly wasn’t surprised that the boat they were about to take got held up, and by Lord Clive of all people. It was like this was all planned from the start for reasons he could only begin to guess. Though hopefully from what he had seen Ashley had good reasons for all of the trouble this was putting them through. Maybe he could pry that info out of her later…

And of course their backup plan arrived, despite the fact that Mik was desperately hoping it wasn’t. But when he saw Xara talking to the captain of the smelly boat he sighed in exasperation. It’s not like it was the worst. He had to be in close proximity to sweaty dudes quite often and it still didn’t smell as bad as wyvern dung. And oh boy did that stuff like to pile up. He remembered his days of punishments cleaning it up as a kid and steeled himself. Maybe this boat wouldn’t be so bad after all. I mean the crew seemed able. And then some new members of the group popped up, two commoners from the bar. The one with the bow seemed able and hopefully she could dodge attacks well. The man with the sword, however, didn’t seem the most fitting. And he started offering out candy… oh Goddess this was gonna be one hell of a trip. He watched as the green haired girl that he invited went on a tirade about how she was going to lead them apparently and how brave and powerful she was and oh no. He was now worried that her earlier claim was all bluster and that she wouldn’t be able to hold her own on this trip. Fortunately he didn’t have to step in as Tonka started pushing for Margot and Ashley to duke it out which he would not have minded seeing. Especially due to Ashley’s proficiency in swords that he experienced and her magic capabilities. But both declined and he was honestly a little disappointed.



Nitonka sighed at Margot’s explanation, knowing now that she was 100% full of shit, seeing everything she needed to. However Ashley’s stern warning only made Nitonka want to insult this whoever the fuck even more, but she left it. Her father had mentioned something about noble etique but she really couldn’t give less of a fuck. Nobles had no balls and only sent their lackeys to do the job for them, if they wanted respect, they would do it themselves. Then the tiny girl openly glaring at her, made her glare back, before laughing and turning to her companion Mikhail
“for a short stack, she has some real balls, I see why you’re into her. If I had been anyone else I might have even been intimidated despite my size” she slapped Mik’s back “softly” as a sort of good on ya son. Ashley’s auntie showing up seemed to ease the tension and she once again went back to ignoring everyone, opting to sit with her legs swinging off the dock. She was sure someone would make the decision to leave soon, she just hoped it was sooner rather than later.



Mikhail smirked, almost proud at Tonka’s words and feeling he definitely picked the right person by picking Ashley. Until that offhanded comment that implied the two were dating. “Wait wha-” he barely had time to protest before that ‘soft’ slap knocked a little wind out of his lungs. He caught his breath before trying to explain himself after coughing a little bit. “What do you mean I’m ‘so into her?’ I have no idea what you’re talking about.” It was hard to tell if Mikhail was lying, trying to convince himself, or if he was telling the truth. To be fair he himself didn’t know the answer to that yet either. Hopefully Ashley was too distracted with her auntie to really pay attention to what he said. Wait auntie? Must be a pet name cause he knew what Ashley’s aunt looked like. Huh, he never realized Ashley used pet names. There was definitely much more to this woman than he initially thought.

She backed down anyway, huh, Ashley thought, relief washing over her as Tonka took her leave.

"Care to say goodbye to this old lady? Or do you have to look cool in front of your friends?" the lady teases.

"I've told you before, you're not old until I say so. And I wouldn't exactly call them friends." She winks at Mikhail, as if to say except you, babe.

"In that case, come over here. I have something for you." The not-old lady offers Ashley a hug with her one free arm.

Ashley makes a face like a spoiled child being offered an extra helping of vegetables.

"Come on," the woman beckons, undeterred. "You said they weren't your friends, so you're not embarrassed, isn't that so?"

Ashley got played. Sighing, she does a walk of shame over to Auntie's embrace.

"Through whatever manner of trials and storms we may weather—"

"—this oath I do swear before all powers, both great and small—"

"—to death or glory everlasting, we go together—"

"—or we go not at all," Ashley finishes. "Are you satisfied?"

"Oh yes, quite," Auntie responds with a chuckle.

With a little sleight of hand, Ashley produces a long, black hair that was clearly from her own head. "See? I found one that's not gray."

"Hell! If you find one, don't pull it out!" She lightly swings her staff toward Ashley, clearly playing along.

Ashley swiftly dips backwards, dodging the "attack." "You're quite lively, too."

"Your smooth lines are wasted on a woman twice your age," Auntie teases. "Here, take this," she says, throwing Ashley a bag.

"What is it?" Ashley inquires, a bit bewildered.

"It's pemmican!" Auntie says with a toothy grin. "It'll keep the rest of the meat from falling off your bones. There's plenty, so share some with your acquaintances. And your boyfriend," she adds with an excited-old-lady whisper, tipping her hat in Mikhail's direction—pinpointing Ashley's "type" with surgical precision.

"You— Shush! I'm leaving now! Take it easy on the stairs while I'm gone," Ashley fires back, forgetting entirely that she was supposed to board the ship last as she scurries up the ramp toward Xara and his seafaring friend.

Troe looked at Ashley boarding the ship in disbelief. This was actually happening, a fishing boat...that smelled horrific...and they would be travelling for several days without any relief from the stench. He sighed in defeat, at least it had been made clear that the mage with the 'sugar high' wasn't going to be calling the shots.

Maybe this ship wouldn't be too awful? It was unassuming enough that he wouldn't expect it to be pillaged for plunder despite the fact that quite a few of the people that would be traveling aboard were nobles. The only issue he could see was once they got to the island, the 'innocent fishing boat' jig would be up and this wasn't the combat vessel that some of the more affluent adventurers were likely taking.

As he passed by the shirtless swordsman and his archer pal, he overheard the loudmouth mention throwing up aboard the ship being a major worry...Truthfully it would probably go unnoticed given the almost visible aura of stench already wafting from the deck. He chose not to make a comment, but shook his head all the same.

As he stepped on the plank, one last thought crossed his mind. "Hey, big axe lady." He said, very briefly reverting to the terse way of speaking that was common on Irinoth. "We need to talk." He said before embarking onto the ship. He didn't intend to speak of his lineage or upbringing with the group, but it would be smart to get a few things straight with his potential fellow islander.

Utter confusion. That was the state Sam found herself in. They were simply walking to the docks and Kav had somehow lost his shirt, gained a shiner, and carried a bag of candy. It took way too much brainpower to try and understand his antics at times. Over at a different boat, her attention caught onto tablehopper from earlier. That ship was absolutely dreadful. The smell wasn't a big issue to her as she had smelled many horrid things through her life on the streets. A couple of full buckets discarded into a closet is definitely one of the worst. But looking at the boat she was unsure if it could even make it to Irinoth in perfect conditions.

She was about to question Kav about his current lack of a shirt when the younger female mage piped up in a weird speech about herself and how she was great. Sam just stared at the woman with a look of complete incredulity. The one-armed axe woman then suggested a battle between their mages which while Sam was interested in watching she was unsure if this was the best place to do so. But then the younger mage, quicker than a spooked cat, spewed out a flood of words to get out of it. If it wasn't for the fact that they would soon be on a boat with this person heading towards a dangerous place she would have laughed. What are with these people? The most normal person here is the woman knight.

Thankfully, Kav interjected at just the right time to distract Sam from breaking her own mind thinking of the oddness of this group. Only for the rambling words to confuse her even more. Her head started to spin listening to him spew out various facts at her about ships. "Kav, Kav, Kav. Please slow down. I'm not a boat expert like you. I only know how to stowaway on one. But whatever boat we get on we aren't going to steal anything until we learn more about these people." Responded Sam as she nodded her head towards the others. "And if while we're checking out the boat they start pulling out I'll have to head up top. Since we're allowed on this boat we can roam freely and I'd rather be up top when the motion sickness hits me." Sam visibly cringed remember her first time on a boat. She had hidden in a barrel below deck. Sam had no idea that her stomach was incompatible with being on open waters. What made it worse was that her hidey-hole had tipped over at one point causing her stomach to do both figurative and essentially literal flips as she rolled around in the barrel. Let's just say that smell is towards the top of the worst things she has smelled.

Kavius had forgotten how bad Samara was on a boat. The fact that she was so susceptible to sea sickness had completely been lost on him for awhile since it had been so long since they have had to take a boat somewhere together. Kav whistled softly and shrugged. So he wouldn't have the one person at his side he trusted, so what? They were a big group and Kav was sure they all had the same goal in mind. Probably. Sam came first though. Kav put his arm around Sam and softly punched her shoulder.

"Ah my bad I completely forgot about that Sam sorry getting ahead. Don't worry though just focus on saving your energy. Also at closer inspection, if you throw up on board I don't think anyone would notice after all," Kav joked.

Kavius removed his arm from Sam and softly grabbed her wrist. After seeing people start boarding he wanted to hurry up and go.

"But no time like the present lets go."

Kavius walked towards and onto the boat with Sam. Looking around the bow of the ship and calmly believed that fire was only possible solution for a boat this disgusting. But he had been on a slave boat before that was returning from a long voyage and that was by far the grossest boat he had been on. Letting go of Sam and grabbing the lollipop out of his mouth Kav walked around the bow a little. The ship had a decent crew and all, the price of being a fishing vessel was this ultimately, but he wanted to help if he could. In the end though Kav went against any helping at the time to not be in the crews way. He walked back over to Sam and sighed.

"What do you wanna do until we take off"?

"What do you wanna do until we take off?" said the shirtless man.

"Heeey!" Margot approached the two near the bow of the ship. "You're Kav, right? And you're Sam? Sorry, but I overheard your convo. Here."

Margot looked left and right and seeing no one else nearby, she pulled out a mysterious brown bag from her pocket. Then, she put her hand in the bag and pulled out what appeared to be a fragile brown mushroom with lots of red dots.

"You gave me candy so I thought I'd return the favor." She held the mushroom for both Kav and Sam to see. She whispered, "This is canas Cabillas, and it's totally cool. It's a rare type of mind weed that can give us all happy dreams even while we're awake." Margot looked at Kav and Sam to see if they wanted her to continue. She continued whispering. "Last time I took this, I thought i was sleeping with the king! You have to go somewhere safe tho, because since you don't know what's real or not, you can totally harm yourself if you jump off a bridge or something while you think you're still dreaming. Because of that, it's banned almost everywhere -- but that's exactly what makes it cool! The trips are amazing!" She stopped to look at the two. "So you two wanna join in on the fun? I'm thinking of finding some secret place and lightning one up. I haven't a good trip in a while, and I'm graving it. Anyway, like it?" She pushed the mushrooms forward in front of Kav's and Sam's faces. "The mushrooms are very frail. You grind them into powder and then you smoke them. Both of you will have to pay me, of course! I'm not giving this away for free! They're pretty expensive.... for commoners, anyway."

Aleria smoothed out her dress after stopping. Taking a look around the harbour she wanted to find the Santa Lyrica. It had been a long and tumultuous day and frankly she was ready for some shade and peace and quiet. However after finding the ship she knew she was far from that. She quizzically eyed the large group of mismatched people, wondering what they had to do with anything at all.

Sighing, she waved her hand, signaling for her two guards to stay back and she went forward to talk with anyone. Finding who looked like a ship hand she had a brief conversation about what was going on.

“I was supposed to board the Santa Lyrica today, I was..assigned to this mission. I was supposed to be joining a group that was heading to the southern isles. The church deemed my presence crucial.” Aleria explained, rubbing her temples as she contemplated her devotion to her family.

“Ah miss, you won’t be boarding this boat today. You see, the guards stopped the boat due to criminal stowaways. You know how it is, petty hold ups. Yah know, I think this is a whole load of bull but what can I do? Anyways you have a nice day miss!” The help said before scampering off, before Aleria could get a word in after. Exasperated she looked around wondering what she should do.

Eventually her eyes settled back on the peculiar group she noticed earlier. They were close and they seemed ablaze with conversation. Lively bunch that’s for sure. She listened for a second before she heard some talk that seemed related to her and her assigned task. Quickly she walked over to the group and eyed out who seemed to be in charge. The one armed lady sitting on the dock had an intense aura about her. It exuded leadership and Aleria assumed she would be straight and blunt with her. Approaching the dock and intimidating lady ,she stood next to her and cleared her throat. Clasping her hands behind her back and standing straight she opened her mouth.

“I apologize immensely for bothering you, but I must ask what is happening currently with the Santa Lyrica. I overheard your group talking and it seems we are fated to be on the same team. I was sent by the church.. reluctantly..” She muttered the last bit under breath. “I am a proficient healer and I hope to be of use. Pray tell where I should be going and what boat we shall be boarding instead?”

---

Hearing Troe tell her they needed to talk, relived Nitonka of figuring out how to go about small talking her way into some magic lessons. Though the man seemed serious, she couldn't pray more that it was to spar or something once they were off the boat, but she had a sneaking suspicion it wouldn't be as fun as that. Getting up to go follow him onto the fishermen boat, she was approached by a small meek girl in church attire. Nitonka was taken a back for a second by the little woman's beauty, her face reminding her a mural of a goddess she had seen in ruins on Airi. Realizing the girl assumed her being the leader of their makeshift group, told her that she was a good judge of character, though she was a "little" bias.

"I don't know fuck all about fate, but a healer sounds useful, even if your along reluctantly" she had seen a healer in action here in town but she wasn't too familiar if it was a unique talent. Her reluctance was a bit worrying, but Nitonka was sure her magic ability would out way the risks of bringing her along.

"Come along, the boat's going to leave soon, you're going to want to talk to the dark hair boy girl mage, she's the leader of the group. If she doesn't agree, tell her I invited you" she said moving towards the boat without waiting.

Once on, she saw that Samara and Kavius were talking to Margot, who seemed to be trying to get them into some stupid shit. She had seen the whole lot in terms of drugs and they never were for her. Her dad said the Zhtomir family had a resistance to drugs and alcohol because of their size. To her, drugs were just a money black hole for a couple of seconds of feeling weird and then nothing. At least alcohol tasted good, but all of that was for naught, if she wasn't one hundred percent, she couldn't give her all to fighting. Moving past the three, she found Troe, pulling him by the sleeve of his shirt to a secluded part of the boat. Leaning against the railing of the boat, she half sat, the railing creaking from her weight "before you start I also had some questions for you, so this better not be one of those say some shit and storm away talks."

As the following passes by the remaining crew, some of them pass with large crates of fish. for the group it becomes apparent what the nasty smell was coming from. Xara and Tedreus are both visibly confused as everyone, including Ashley and Mikhail, were boarding. While it helps alleviate most of the stench, the ship still has a residual odor of fish and grunge.
Tedreus interjects, "Thought you said just that one guy. Not that I mind, more hands on deck."
Xara just shrugs and accepts the serendipity, apparently his offer did work after all...?
Ted spots Aleria and eyes go wide. "Woah, it's as if an angel fell from earth." He'd make an advance if he weren't a married man.
Xara inquisitively asks Troe, the only familiar face in the group. "So like, are they all with you? Cause holy crap, you must be a popular guy!"
He then turns to Margot, not really waiting for the wind mage to even respond.
"By the way, there's so such illness, hormones have nothing to do with casting." He says this straight faced, not aware that calling someone out like that in front of others can be seen as antagonistic.

Mikhail watched around as everyone finished their final preparations and finally boarded the smelly boat. He watched a little as Ashley said her goodbyes to her ‘aunt’ but didn’t want to listen in too much, eavesdropping certainly wasn’t the most polite thing he could be doing. He did roll his eyes at the wink he caught from Ashley though. He followed onto the boat shortly after Ashley but not before noticing what seemed to be another new recruit. At least it appeared that way based on what he could see from Tonka. He sighed a little bit and cursed the amount of frail looking mages he’d have to keep protected and hoped that the combined magical might they possessed would outweigh that risk.

Once on board it seemed the rest of the party seemed to be settling in nicely and made him realize they really were a very rag tag group of mercenaries now. He overheard the very boisterous mage girl talking to the other two that definitely seemed like commoners and he certainly didn’t like the conversation he heard. Seemes the girl had a… taste for drugs. That’s the kind of stuff that gets you killed out here Mik thought to himself before turning to ignore the situation. As long as she wasn’t doing it in an important time or offering it to him he decided it was best to simply let it be, not like it harmed him in any way.

“Thanks for the free ride, Table Hopper. Welcome aboard to the ever growing party.” Mikhail said as he passed by Xara without particularly waiting for a response. He didn’t really hear the guys name but he heard Ashley mention the nickname before and he thought it was funny. And it did seem like the group was growing all on its own at this point. Who knew that him asking Ashley to partner up with him on this trip would lead to so many people joining up with them. With the angelic looking healer that would make nine in total. He went off to one side and leaned over the edge of the boat while looking out over the water. It had been quite awhile since he travelled by boat, and he was excited to be out on a trip like this. Even with the potential life threatening situation he seemed to prefer this over dealing with the occasional letters or possible visits from his father.

As they boarded the boat Sam looked around. Man, if they made it out of port they would be lucky. She began looking around the topside of the boat when Kav approached her again. She was about to respond when younger mage girl approached them. Sam slowly shook her head, "While I won't try and stop you I don't necessarily think something like that would be a good idea. We are going to set sail soon and if we get attacked by other adventurers we'll need everyone ready, and if my stomach starts acting up on the ride I don't really want to throw drugs in the mix. But you guys do you." She gave Kav a light pat on the shoulder, "I'm going to go talk to older mage lady. It's looking like she's going to be leading this party so I'm gonna tell her what I can do before the waves put me out of commission. Whatever you do just don't overdo it." With that she walked away from the two towards Ashley, "Hey boss lady. Thought maybe you wanted to know a little about what Kav and I can do before we set off."

"Thanks for the offer but I gotta say no at the moment," Kav said to Margot, "Plus Sam, the nice girl who just walked away from us, gets sea sick really easily so I need to stay of sound mind for the voyage ahead." Kav put his hands on his waist and laughed heartfully. "Find me later though."

Kav knew Sam would try to be productive as possible before the sailing actually started, which was soon, and much as talking to this dazzling heroine was possibly interesting there were still so many people still arriving and looking itching for something to do. He didn't want to go far from Sam when the sailing started but for now it looks like everyone could use some focus until the boat s ready to go. Having more hands on deck would be helpful but amateur's trying to tie boat knots amongst other things would be disastrous. Sam was still close enough to where he could still see her, talking to a rather dreadful looking women. Kav held up a finger to Margot, signaling her to wait a moment, then bent his knees slightly. As soon as Kav had had done so he sprung up and backwards, twisting his body sideways, as he landed on the fishing vessels railing slightly above and farther back than where he had been standing.

"Hiya everyone," Kav had spoken loudly to everyone on and approaching the vessel, "So yea hi. Looks like its gonna be just a short moment before we are ready to go. Everyone here looks so intriguing and I was hoping for a bit of a roll call for this little party we have here. I'll start."

Kav looked out towards the small sea of faces now looking at him. He had not lied everyone here simply oozed potential and power in front of him, all of whom where all manner of shapes and sizes. It had been a long time since Kav had been part of a large group and he was glad Sam was here. Mainly because if he had to be here working he was damn sure he was gonna make sure she was along for the ride. Kav could spot the Blonde Table Top Man amongst the members on board which wasn't surprising but he was glad he had a chance to see what magicky gook this guy could perform. Jumping through windows might be overkill but tamer spells would be nicer to see. Close by was a very do-not-fuck-with-me looking guy, there was an enchanting vision of a women near a board looking man, and a very elegant blonde girl too. More faces were in the crowd but Kavius coughed into his hand and pressed on.

Kav pointed towards Sam. "But First that's Sam over there. My name is Kavius Hishamie but you guys can call me Kav or whatever. Im nineteen, lived a very "nomad" life, and I fight in whatever manner I want at the moment....usually with a sword," Kav said putting a hand on the hilt of his sheathed sword. "Whose next?"

Smiling fondly at the rather well endowed lady, Aleria nodded her answer. She couldn’t really say much more as the woman started to walk away. Alright..uhh..black haired mage. Are they a boy or a girl? This woman seemed to not know..

Shaking her head and pulling away from her thoughts, she looked back at her guards. They seemed unfazed and ready to follow Aleria at a moment's notice. It was her family's way of making sure she was doing as she was told no matter what. Furrowing her eyebrow she thought about what she should do with them. After a second she quickly trotted over and addressed them.

“Ahem, I need you to run an errand for me. You see I left..” She started rambling a long and confusing list, making sure they wrote down all the bullshit she was spewing. They were looking at her like she was crazy but she needed them to leave and she needed them gone while she left. She would do this for her family but she wasn’t about to have them breathing down her neck through proxies the whole time. “I assure you I’ve been told the boat has been delayed long enough for you to retrieve these items. They are vital, I need them. I mean it! Now go.” She sighed, shooing them off. They scurried away, and she was now free to join the rest of the crew on the boat. Now with no distractions.

Returning, Aleria made her way up the ramp, gagging just a bit over the smell. It was foul and fishy and she wasn’t used to this type of environment. She much preferred the clear air of the church with the hint of smoke and incense in the air. She closed her eyes for a brief moment, hoping to call her nerves. No matter how well trained she was she has never ventured this far off by herself. She wished she could say it was exciting but something felt rather off about it. As she boarded she managed to hear the tail end of what sounded like an introduction from a lax looking man who went by the name Kavius.

“Who’s next?”

Aleria looked around and everyone seemed just so..reserved. Typical, of course, they all barely knew each other. She bit her lip before speaking up.

“My name is Aleria Lancaster and I will be your healer and support during this mission. I’ve been sent by the church and I hope to make myself of use to you all.” She gave a small curtsy and clasped her hands behind her back. She turned towards the black haired mage, separate from the introductory conversation.

“I was told you were the leader of this makeshift group? And I was to ask you for permission to integrate myself? If not the pretty lady over there said I was allowed on.” Aleria chuckled softly, pointing over to where Nitonka was.

“Also it’s a pleasure to meet you, I hope we can be good acquaintances.” She said finally to the mage, giving a smile. Aleria assumed she was allowed to be here, she couldn’t see why the church sent her if she wasn’t already a part of this.

Besides she needed to be here. She couldn’t glean much from the conversations amongst the elders in the church but this seemed to be a charity case. The church would look bad if they didn’t help in some way, and she guessed she was their answer at least for now. There wasn’t much information for her when she was sent off. Just talk about how she was a capable mage and she was of age to finally go and help however she could. When they sent her on her way she was informed to head to the docks, any group of adventures they rounded up to deal with this she was to join them on the Santa Lyrica. Thankfully she found them with relative ease, she just hoped they accepted her presence and didn’t question her.

Ashley side-eyes the drug-peddling mage in absolute disbelief. Is this girl for real? Did she already forget that I'm Captain of those knights standing just out of earshot? As she ponders what she should do about it, though, she realizes how powerless she is in this exact moment, as she can't afford to have this ship delayed, too. She already fooled me once at the tavern, and now... I can't tell if she's an idiot or a genius. Doesn't matter—as long as she waits until we reach international waters, it's... technically legal. If there's any left over, I'll just confiscate it later, she reasoned.

"My sincerest apologies for the inconvenience, good captain," she says to Ted with a short, gentlemanly bow and handsome smile. "It seems I have a talent for herding cats," she adds with a fake chuckle as she follows the captain's gaze toward the blonde noble lady. Before she can spare a thought for her, though, Samara makes herself known. Ashley does her best to maintain a friendly face. "No, I'm the one who should have properly introduced myself before being nominated as the 'boss' of this... group," she manages to finish before Kavius took center stage. These kids sure are lively, huh? Not that my presence here sets the bar very high...

Ashley gives Sam a look that almost seemed like pity after Kavius' "introduction." "Well, you have a bow, and the eyes of a girl who can handle herself out there. And a good judge of character, if I say so myself," she japes, giving her a "thanks for the compliment" gesture.

Listening to Aleria boldly introduce herself early, Ashley stares with what could have been admiration. She was surprised that the refined-looking beauty even managed to get on board the ship without losing so much as an ounce of her charisma. She gives Aleria her best "handsome lady" smile, and bows. "The pleasure is all mine, my lady. We would be privileged to have your aid," Ashley said sincerely, offering a hand to the lady—as a "gentleman" does. Yes! I won't be the only noblewoman on board—I'm safe! she thought. But, wouldn't a woman of her standing rather take the Santa Lyrica? And then it hit her. The Goddess really is looking out for you, young lady. Ashley looks out toward the sea and wipes the sweat from her brow with a kerchief, trying to chase the thought from her mind. Alright. Let's get this over with.

Not to be outdone, Ashley turns back to the others and puts her foot down with flair, standing at just the right angle for her cape to billow in the wind before beginning her own introduction. "I am Dame Ashley Wycliffe, Knight Captain in the service of the esteemed Carradine family—and the so-called 'most fearsome lady' of all of Mokata's knights," she boasts, changing her nickname as she pleased.

For those privileged few who had regular access to the gossip of the noble courts, the name "Wycliffe" occasionally still came up. Rumors abounded about the late Marquess Robert Wycliffe's only surviving daughter. For the vast majority of the uninitiated—and mostly uninterested—common folk, though, the disappearance of the Wycliffe family's children eighteen years ago—and the Marquess' murder five years later—was swept under the rug as much as possible. The name might ring a bell, as most noble family names do, but the story behind the name was almost surely vanished from memory, especially for those too young to remember.

"I am called a cursemaker, but do not let that title concern you—for even as a man who fixes clocks is called a clockmaker, though he has never made a clock in his life, so too am I called a cursemaker, though I have only ever reversed curses, and have cast not one." Ashley delivers this declaration with a divine air, as though she were reading scripture. Perhaps she did this because of Aleria's presence on board, or perhaps she was just like that. Perhaps it was a bit of both.

Her introduction over, she takes on a more casual tone. "And as an insider of the industry, so to speak, let me give you all some sound advice. Most curse-reversal services are offered by the same witches and warlocks who cast them in the first place. To put it simply, they're scam artists, and I consider it my mission to run them out of business. If you find yourself cursed, come to me. I charge far less than what my services are worth—and yes, in gold and silver—nothing so gauche as eyeballs, or whatever a witch would ask for," she says with a smile and a dismissive hand gesture Troe was quite familiar with. It was the body language of a specialist whose field was commonly misunderstood.

Having said her piece, she turned her attention to Mikhail. "That brooding blonde over there is Mikhail Feldunn," she says, leaving out the "Lord" as she figured he'd want. It made Ashley feel a bit scandalous, referring to him as though he were an equal, but for the moment, she was relishing in the feeling. She got a bit of a scandalous look in her eye, too, as she thought through the list of ways she might tease him. "He's my second in command," she decides, opting to go a little easy on him. "Don't underestimate him. I may be biased, but as the most fearsome lady knight in Duke Carradine's service, I must say that his lance is quite frightening."

"Thanks for the offer but I gotta say no at the moment. Plus Sam, the nice girl who just walked away from us, gets sea sick really easily so I need to stay of sound mind for the voyage ahead." Kav put his hands on his waist and laughed heartfully. "Find me later though."

Wait, did this guy just temporarily reject me?

Margot was stunned as she watched the guy do a backflip. Then, Kav shouted to everyone else, "Hiya everyone. Looks like its gonna be just a short moment before we are ready to go. Everyone here looks so intriguing and I was hoping for a bit of a roll call for this little party we have here. I'll start..."

Margot did not know how to do backflips, so she had to walk to where all the people were gathered. Meanwhile, she heard Xara walk next to her and say, "By the way, there's so such illness, hormones have nothing to do with casting."

"Um, my hormones? ... are um.... all over the place today," smiled Margot. "They may not be messing with my casting, but they're definitely messing with my mind."

Margot looked at Xara. At the same time, she reached into her pocket and thought about offering Xara some of her rare time weed mushrooms, but on second thought, Xara did not look like the type person who was interested in those type of things. Plus, there were too many people nearby. So she retracted her hands and left her time weed pouch alone.

Her mood entirely changed when she reached where the rest of the group was gathering. So many people! So many opportunities! Rich, poor, classy... and low lives like her? Yeah! There were all the sorts of people she could meet! friends, lovers, allies, maybe even... enemies?

Instantly, she came to the decision that she had done the right thing by coming to the capital despite not having any money in her pockets to begin with.

First, the really pretty blonde woman in a white gown -- named Aleria Lancaster -- spoke briefly about her reason for being here, which was that Aleria was tasked by her church to help everyone on this mission. Why is she really here? Do we really need a white mage?

Wait! I should be glad that she's here, regardless of why she's really here. If i get injured -- Margot shuddered -- I'm gonna need Aleria's help!

Then, Captain Dark Hair spoke. Margot was utterly amazed by Dark Hair's introduction, which was that she -- Ashley Wydcliffe -- was an extremely well off, sophisticated, socially embedded, and highly skilled individual. However, the overall impression Margot got was... well... Margot could not help but notice how much Ashley wydcliffe really really liked herself. Still, I wonder if Ashley has some rich male friends that she can hook me up with!

Margot could not resist the urge to introduce herself as well. "Hi all, I am Margot Frete, and to be honest, I don't really care about the southern islands. I just wanna make money and become fil-- rich! And um, i've never been on a boat either, but i figure that if it doesn't hurt you, you'll come out of it for the better! The same for the mission we're all on. I want to gain experience and go on exciting adventures and grow."

And get famous -- famous enough to marry a wealthy man -- while having my adventures glorified in the history books... Margot grinned.

Troe patted his sleeve down a bit after Tonka let go. “I assure you this isn’t a ‘say some shit and storm away talk.’ I suppose if you’ve also got questions this talk should be tit for tat.” Troe said, fairly interested in what this woman had to ask him. Even if she was from Irinoth she probably wouldn’t recognize him at this point. It had been years since he left, and knowing his father they likely said he was killed by a wild boar or something.

It didn’t matter, he needed to confirm something anyway so his own secret would be a fair enough exchange. “So, given your build and how you carry yourself I can’t help but assume you’re from Irinoth yourself. Six foot plus warrior women aren’t unheard of, and are honestly pretty celebrated...It would explain the battle damage too.” He said, inwardly slapping himself for making statements instead of asking questions. “Am I right?”

Nitonka was actually caught off guard by Troe's question, as this was the first time someone asked her about her heritage since leaving Airi. Not that she was ashamed or anything but she was unsure if letting people know she was essentially a Bandit Princess was a good idea or not. Though the mention of women similar to her build peaked her interest in Irinoth significantly, mentally cursing her old man for sending her the furthest possible island away from it. The mention of her arm made her hand go up to the stump "honestly I might start telling people that..." she showed a rare moment of vulnerability that not many got to witness, her hand going back to bracing her as she looked out onto the ocean. Snapping herself back to her usual self, she cleared her throat "unfortunately not, the story behind this is not as exciting as it would be if it had happened on a battlefield" her tone making it hard to detect if that had been a joke or her being serious. "I am the daughter of the Ex-Knight Captain of Molto, and my family use to be nobles on Santorini but that was a long time ago. You might have heard something that could shed light on what happened but I'm almost positive that they would have destroyed any record of the Zhtomir family. My turn now, why would you ask that? In my experience, asking a question like that could only make me assume it might not have been good if I said yes'' she was probing simply because it interested her when people took up wanting to talk to her. She wasn't exactly the easiest to walk up too, she assumed it took a bit of determination and confidence to sit across from her so to speak.

Troe was actually kind of confused by Tonka’s response. Santorini? Really? Somebody from the island of tourists produced a warrior of this natural caliber? He hadn’t seen a woman this built since his mother tried to set him up with a nearby noblewoman’s daughter...Or actually his mother was at least the same height now that he thought back. “I’m afraid I wouldn’t know anything about the goings on with nobles in Molto...I guess I did say this talk would be tit for tat, so I can’t brush over your question. It wouldn’t have been some terrible revelation if you were, at least from my perspective. Though I suppose depending on what part of Irinoth you would have said, it could have gone poorly for me.” Troe admitted, though not showing any fear. Part of him was avoiding spilling the beans as to why...though he forced himself onward slightly uncomfortable now that he had to reveal that information when his assumption was incorrect from the start. “I ask that you don’t bring this up with the others, but we do still have something in common in this situation. One could also call me a ‘former noble.’ I’m of one of the higher up families of Rjaskav, though I was exiled for not being able to wield a weapon properly.”

Nitonka was slightly more interested in this man, having a similar path it seemed was something she did not expect to find. It wasn't far fetched she supposed but Troe seemed like a pretty normal man. "It seems fate or whatever the fuck is up there has crossed our paths for the better then" unsheathing her axe from its holder, holding it between them "I happen to be pretty fucking okay at wielding a weapon, and I'm the best practice opponent you'll ever get. I however want to learn about magic from you, I saw what you did at the bar earlier. My father never needed magic, so he never learned, but my mother was supposedly a mage, so I assume I'm just as capable. Sound like a deal?" She didn't exactly expect him to agree with it, but she wouldn't give up at attempting to get him to teach her about magic. Her eyes staring into his with deep conviction, this was an opportunity to get stronger.

“Huh.” Troe responded, this was a bit of an unexpected development. “I guess that proves beyond any doubt that you’re not connected to Irinoth.” He said, dropping his own guard slightly. He thought for a second and hesitated, he had never really considered taking a student or anything...And a giant one armed barbarian woman wasn’t exactly what any mage would expect to try teaching the intricacies of magic. “Given what you’ve said…” He didn’t exactly know where to start as far as teaching went, so this was going to be a learning experience. “We’re going to be stuck on this boat for a while, and I’d be a liar if I said I didn’t want to see how someone like yourself would develop, so…” He held out his hand, making certain it wasn’t on her stubbed side.

"Hah! You are full of surprises Troe, I'd say its Irinoth's loss they don't have you around" the girl couldn't contain her smile as she violently shook his hand. "Well now that we got this out of the way, we should probably go join the others before it looks suspicious. And don't worry about the whole keep it a secret thing, I've still got a few myself" giving him a thumbs up, before walking back to the deck of the ship where it seemed everyone was introducing themselves.

Catching Kavias he introduced himself and Sam, the angelic girl that approached her early seemed to have gotten approval to stay with the group, telling everyone her name was Aleria after. Ashley had spoken up for herself and Mikhail, Margot speaking after. While the girl wasn't Tonka's favorite so far, she acknowledged her statement in wanting to grow, if she was telling the truth. Speaking up next, Nitonka stood tall "Names Nitonka, but you all will call me Tonka, unless they want to swim for the rest of the trip. I'm tall as fuck, I'm good with an axe and I'm here to fight strong opponents, I dont think there's much else to say" she held her axe like a cane with the head touching the ground.

Troe followed her out and listened in, it clearly couldn't be helped. "I'm Troe." He said, initially intending for that to be the entirety of his explanation before sighing. "I'm a mage and a scholar, I intend to study whatever's going on and document the results."

From his spot on the side of the boat Mikhail listened in on everyone’s introductions even though he looked like he wasn’t paying much attention to anything. In truth he was judging the ones he knew nothing about and seeing if they had any noteworthy skills.

The first up, of course, was Kavius. The man who started this obnoxious business of introducing themselves. He looked like he’d be a bit of a wildcard. Not only because since first seeing him in the bar the guy had somehow lost his shirt but he seemed surprisingly aloof given the nature of this mission. Though most people seemed to not be feeling a whole lot of tension either way so he couldn’t really judge him on that. He also introduced his Sam, the archer girl he had noticed during that brawl. Mikhail had made sure to avoid her while fighting his way through the crowd, partially because he didn’t want what little money he had on him stolen and also because he didn’t want to accidentally hit her in the face while she was stealing. Not that he particularly cared about her actions. At least half of those people probably had it coming anyway.

Shortly after him was a few mages. The first one was the new healer of the group, Aleria she said her name was. Apparently a noble associated with the church. Great. He never cared much for the church to be honest, the imagery was posted around his house at varying intervals and he obviously accepted the religion but for the most part he didn’t care much for the church themselves. Organized groups like that almost felt off to him but he wasn’t about to admit that to the priestess standing before him. Ashley was up next and she went on a little about her rank and profession. He had heard at least somewhat about her profession from Clive but it was certainly a bit more interesting hearing it from her own mouth. And it seemed like she definitely knew what she was talking about. Then she started mentioning him. He was honestly a little thankful at first as he didn’t really feel like speaking, and he sighed in relief as she chose to leave out the bit about his title and bloodline. And then her introduction took a turn for the worse… talking about his ‘lance.’ The absolute nerve of this woman. In his reaction he nearly slipped and banged his head against the side of the ship he was leaning on but stopped himself just in time. He sent a glare her way before hanging his head down to hide the slight blush on his face. “By the Goddess this woman will be the death of me…” he muttered to himself.

While regaining his composure a bit a few others introduced themself. Margot, the mage girl with a drug problem who was apparently interested in money more than anything. Not that he could blame her, that’s ninety percent of the reason most people were going. Then Nitonka, the large axe wielding woman he invited earlier. Then Troe, the scholar that Ashley was acquainted with.

After finally regaining his composure he turned to the others. Hoping to recover from the off handed comment Ashley delivered. “As our commander here mentioned, I am Mikhail Feldunn. I am skilled with a… lance,” he cringed a little internally as he accidentally played further into the joke. “I’ll be on the frontlines making sure none of you slip up and get yourselves killed out there.”

Well, she honestly should have expected someone to get the group to introduce themselves like this was a kid group. Should've realized that Kav was the kind of person to do this. She decided to use this as an opportunity to figure out what kind of people they all were. Kav obviously went first but she already knew plenty well what kind of person he was. Next was the most recent addition. ChurchGirl. She seemed refined and dignified, albeit a little rigged. Way too poised for this in Sam's opinion but a dedicated healer would certainly be useful. Next to speak up was the boss lady herself. She was definitely smart but felt very haughty with how she talked herself up. Being a lady knight of some fancy rich-born people isn't that high of esteem to flaunt in front of others. Her knowledge of curses and the like though? That certainly was something to put her in high regard. Still being so boastful about it irritated Sam.

The next to make their presence known was the younger female mage. Sam had expected the girl to go on a full monologue like an actor. But she kept it quick and precise. Sam found that respectable. She even seemed mostly open about why she was going. Samara couldn't fault her for that but the girl's lack of experience greatly worried the young archer. The one-armed beast of a woman introduced herself next. Pretty blunt and straightforward. She also looks as powerful as her voice and words seemed to indicate. The guy who seemed obsessed with his books gave an even shorter introduction. Book types tended to be like that from her experience.

Next was the skilled 'lancer'. He seemed to be somewhat put off his game by Ashley's comment. It was quite funny to watch this man struggle. She wanted to laugh but deigned not to make jokes about these people at least until they are no longer on the boat. She decided to finally speak up, "Names Samara. Call me that, Sam, or whatever you feel like. I don't really care that much. I'm skilled with a bow and I have a few dubious talents that I doubt most of you would have. Don't ask my age because I don't know and I'm in it for the money like Margot. Pleasure doing business with you all. I'm going to find a corner to sit in before the waves start messing with the boat." She then walked towards the edge of the boat and sat with her back to the railing.