Jadira has even less to say, but she does attend the ceremony, keeping a respectful silence while Donnegal speaks the rites and the captains and various crewmembers add their own touches.

She places in Gatti's and Alves's coffins what few prized, sentimental items she found among their belongings. A rolled up letter, a ring, a lucky feather, a prized weapon... these sorts of things, that they may take with them on their final journey. Later on, she and Lasuri would do their best to send word to family, if they had any to contact.

It's not the first nor the last time they would have to do such a thing.

Several of the Tya step forward, to give the bodies of their comrades one last look. Some have small objects to send them off with, much as Jadira had done, while others speak soft words, confirmations that they will be missed, or avenged. Many are unhappy at the sparing of the corsairs by Treon, but while the corsairs remain tied up or watched on their own ship, far away from the ceremony on the Sea's Bounty, they keep their protests mostly quiet.

Rothalga does her best to calm any frayed emotions, and utters a short eulogy of her own. "Brethren, brothers in arms," she concludes, "rest easy in the embrace of the sea for whom you gave up hearth and home. We will remember you."

The sky has darkened into dusk by the time the coffins are boarded up and lowered one by one into the sea. The sharks have thankfully had their fill, and the seas are calm and empty but for the oblong boxes carried steadily away by the tide. Not wanting to dwell too long on mourning what cannot be regained, the Tya Captain orders her men to eat well and rest until the morning, and retires to her private dining area.

It's a modest cabin, functional rather than decorative, though spacious enough to fit Rothalga, her one remaining officer and the Cobalt Alliance outcastes (Donnegal as well, if Lasuri wishes). Lasuri and Jadira are given spaces near the head of the table while the others are allowed to choose their place.

Once everyone is seated, Rothalga rises briefly to address the Cobalt members as a whole. "Again, I would like to take this moment to thank you formally for your aid in repelling the corsairs' attacks, and bringing to justice a criminal who has preyed on our trade lines for months. For those who do not know it, I am Captain Tya Rothalga, and this is my First Officer, Tya Niakuni." She gestures to the shorter, wiry Tya seated next to her, her dark green hair in small braids adorned with beads.

[Private to Platinum Dove: Oh, right. Dove should be done by now tuning up Zeru's Assistant, so she can give it back to him.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:46, Wed 12 Nov 2008.

Treon nods, pleased that even being told it was no longer life and death, they still decided to go with him.  He nods to accept Black Reed's words, something in what was said making him look round to take note of Tageru, his face furrowing.  "I shall take your words under advisement, Black Reed.  For the time being you will have to remain like this.  I don't want the Tya to provoke you, nor you to provoke the Tya."  He sounds sad for the necessities of the situation, but makes it clear on this, there won't be an argument.

He then departs for the remembrance service, saying a few short words for Alves, who had died under his command, giving those who muttered about the corsairs sharp glances.  It was one thing to kill a person in battle, and quite another to butcher them.

The evening meal found Treon a sitting amongst the other officers of the Alliance, and he nodded in response to the Tya's thanks, though it was surely the Captian's place to accept them formally.

"The Alliance is grateful for your thanks, Captain. I'm sure I speak for everyone here when I say this." Lasuri smiles at the Tya and her second in command, then turns his gaze towards the people who have decided to sail under the Cobalt banner. He inclines his head, then nods to each and everyone of them personally.

"If you ask me, they're the ones that deserve the thanks. Good and dependable people are not always easy to come by, so I can only give praise where its due." He smiles warmly to his brethren, then turns back towards the Tya. "Me, I'm only glad anything I could do managed to help you out. That's all. We've been called many names in our young history, but we're not simple bandits or corsairs out to take from everyone but our own. All we are is a group of people who offer a place to those who don't have one. That's all."

"As for introductions - I'm Lasuri Leomaris. Pleasure to meet you all. My first mate is Miss Jadira Thornbloom. And here you have Mister Peleps Zeru, Mister Treon Fireblade, Miss Platinum Dove, and Mister Cynis Tageru. Over here is my Chaplain and Pilot, Mister Hermann Donnegal." He takes a moment with each name to gesture towards the introduced person, so a face can be appended to each name he gives.

"These are the people who give the Alliance its name, and its heart." He concludes, gesturing to the others with a smile.

Jadira nods when her name is indicated, speaking up only when Lasuri finishes speaking. "Pleasure to meet you, Captain, Officer Niakuni. How I wish we could have met in kinder circumstances. However, I'm glad that our chance intervention could have at least saved some lives."

"So I hear you were returning toward Wavecrest when the corsairs attacked?" she asks politely.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:30, Thu 13 Nov 2008.

While the Cobalt officers dine, the corsairs very grudgingly remain tied for the moment. Some of them have rather... colorful words to say about the Tya. They are at least allowed to rest below deck rather than be open to the elements above, separated between the men who would join Treon and the ones who would be sent away.

"We have heard of the Cobalt Alliance," Tya Rothalga says carefully, reseating herself. "but we have also heard that you are allied with Coral. I admit that if you had not come so handily to our rescue, we would be more... cautious in our dealings with you."

Then she smiles a little wryly. "Meeting you in person, I realize you're driven by an ideology that would get most people killed at sea very early. Misfits very often end up hunted down. Even we Tya realize that, and tried our very best to assimilate wherever we would be accepted."

"But they are strong, Rothalga," adds Niakuni enigmatically. "They may be the ones..."

"In any case," Rothalga continues, speaking over Niakuni as if she had not said a word, "We feel obligated to pass on some information to you. When we came across the corsairs, they were not actively pursuing us--at least not at first. They were anchored perhaps a half mile northwest from here... preparing, I am quite certain now, for a deep sea dive."

"They aborted their operations to chase us. I do not know whether it was to keep us from discovering what they had found, or simple bloodlust, or both. But I am sure there is something of importance beneath the waters in this area. Perhaps you've found something indicative of this in one of the ships you've captured?"

Her suggestion is followed by a crisp crunch! as she bites into an apple. The meal laid on the dining table is an eclectic mix of imported fruit, cheeses and fowl -- likely taken straight from the cargo they are transporting to Wavecrest -- as well as seafood pulled in by the fishermen onboard.

"Don't worry about us," Niakuni continues for her Captain, popping a round grape into her mouth. "We're not treasure hunters ourselves, and we already paid with our lives. But... we may be able to help with the dive, IF you think it's worth investigating."

Tageru keeps mostly quiet during the ceremony. When the captain introduces him, he just bows slightly and continues as before.

Zeru thanks the captain for his words with a silent nod. He holds his tongue to decide if the captain sees fit for to reveal the true purpose behind this voyage. He would have spoken but he dicides that conversation had become too delicate for his clumsy tongue.

"Ah, and to answer your question, Miss Thornbloom," Rothalga adds belatedly, "yes. Our intent is to return to the port of Gateway, Abalone... assuming no more unpleasant interruptions." A heavy sigh accompanies these words, and another emphatic crunch!.

"You're well informed - and I won't lie to you. We do have a letter of Marque from Coral. They're the first ones that decided to give us a hand, and accept some of the cargo we had to sell. So we do have a connection." He pauses, then smiles. "However, we're in no way part of the Coral navy. We can't get drafted for any of Coral's military campaigns, nor do we have to support any conflict they have with other nations directly. Not with Wavecrest, or anyone else."

He pauses, then rubs his chin thoughtfully. "Some people think that makes us even more suspicious, suggesting we're just spies or opportunists. I say let them speak. You're free to pass judgment as you see fit too, of course."

At the mention of the new information, Lasuri listens intently, pondering the facts carefully. "I admit things have happened so quickly, I've not had time to hold a proper council with the other members of the Alliance, yet. But you've decided to venture that information to us, so I don't see why we should hold anything back from you - trust for a trust, I've been taught in my youth."

He turns towards the others, then tilts his head slightly. "Mister Treon. Mister Zeru. Miss Dove. Was anything discovered on those ships that corroborates what Captain Rothalga is speaking of?" He pauses, then nods. "You're free to talk about our own purpose in this area too, if you wish and if that has any relevance."

"On the courier I commandeered it appears that the lieutenant in charge was an essence user and fancied himself a collector of artifacts. He may have known of artifacts in the area and convinced Bloodeye to locate such." Zeu starts, trying to get everyone's attention "Along with their ballista, They had some round plates of magical material. He planned to use one to sink the ship before I stopped him. You may have seen the plume of water. It could be used for the excavation of ruins underwater. One could place the plate and charge it to explode opening any kind of ruins that one might find. his of course holds true anywhere, it may not be underwater."

"Fascinating," Rothalga remarks to Zeru's description. "If that lieutenant had a map, it'd make the search even easier, but I do not think we would have to look long. It's definitely within a mile radius from here, whatever they were searching for."

"We have some equipment on board to aid with deep sea diving. It is an art the Tya are known for," Niakuni adds proudly.

"However," concludes the blue-haired captain, "it's up to you to decide if it's worth your time. An excavation would likely take an entire day, or more depending on what you may find there. We have enough supplies to anchor here a short while, even help you repair the second courier... Vengeful Riza I believe it is called." Rothalga utters the name with an unpleasant expression on her face, and starts to spear a few slices of fowl onto her plate.

"Whenever you are prepared to depart, though, I must beseech all of you as I asked Captain Leomaris... We are currently lacking in manpower, and it's still a few hundred miles from Abalone. Would any of you be able to provide us an escort?"

---

OOC: couple things to decide... 1) dive in search of what is likely the workshop manse Dove studied about? or save it as a task for later? 2) escort the Sea's Bounty to Wavecrest, or continue proceeding to An-Teng?

Lasuri isn't a "I decide for everyone" sort of leader, so try not to leave it for him alone to decide. :D  If you do want to stay and dive I'll post next about the equipment the Tya have.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:48, Fri 14 Nov 2008.

"Well, I don't have a problem with staying a bit longer. I think we should at least check for these supposed ruins, if we've got the help we need right here." Jadira has a handful of berries and a thigh of chicken on her plate, which she consumes with gusto. "I think we can trust the Tya not to give away the location at this point."

"As for an escort... we've three ships now. We could potentially spare one, though perhaps we're still too small a force to be splitting up. What do you think?" The armswoman looks to Lasuri and the others.

Captain Rothalga's mention of the map reminded Zeru. He reached into the pocket of his duster and pulled out a rolled up piece of parchment. He rubbed the back of his head. "I put it in my pocket while we were clearing out the captains quarters." He says sheepishly unrolling it on the table.

"I'd not prefer to leave the our brothers here in the lurch so at the very least I vote to go, if the Black Marlena will have me I'd be happy to help."

"I don't think it would be very wise of us to split up.", Tageru says, speaking for the first time since he came here.

"While I would hate to see someone stranded and undermanned, I believe that the only way we could help right now is to let..." Tageru pauses for the slightest moment "Mr. Rothalga's ship travel with us, lend them some of our crew members, and then escort them to the nearest harbor when we're done. I'm certain they can hire some sailors there to continue their journey, and it shouldn't take us long to finish what work we have here."

Tageru looks at the Tya captain "No offense, Mr. Rothalga, but we've lost some men too, and some are hurt, and unable to work. I, frankly, still don't trust our new... recruits enough to let them on our ship without the men we can trust, and I don't think you do either. So I believe this really is the only way. We cannot split up. It's not practical and it's not very safe."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:45, Fri 14 Nov 2008.

"I, on the other hand, do trust those men, Mr. Tageru," he spoke up as the man ventured his rather cautious opinion.  "If I did not trust them, I would not have accepted their conversion.  There are a great many things I do not know, but I do know people.  The Spring Dryad II set out alone and I do not see why it would be in undue danger for it to continue on alone for a time whilst Captain Rothalga and his men are escorted to Wavecrest and back, especially if this Manse can be located before we depart."

"Even with myself and Mr. Zeru split off from it, it still boasts a large and skilled crew," he explains further.  "And with the cannon from the Hammerhead, a quite impressive armament."

"Of course. But we've lost some men in the last fight, and I'm not sure just how ready we should be to trust those who have converted after only a couple of hours. For all we know they could be planning to steal a lifeboat and run away right now. Or try to slit our throats in the dark... While I'm not afraid to face the potential mutineers in battle, I am too cautious to let them man the ship and sail it, at least unattended and until they've had at lest some time to prove themselves. Any man can beg for mercy and accept any deal if it means he will live longer. Not every man fulfills his words. And some are very good liars as well..."

Tageru takes a small sip of his wine and looks at his crewmates "But, as always, I will comply with the wishes of the others. I cast my vote, the rest should do the same. If you vote otherwise, I will not complain."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:11, Sat 15 Nov 2008.

"If I may... I'm really not a fan of titles, just Zeru will do if you don't mind."

"I don't doubt your abilities at leadership, Mr. Fireblade... but the men you've spared have yet to be tested. So I do think Tageru has a point..." Jadira shoots an apologetic glance toward the Fire Aspect, and shrugs a little helplessly. "It might be a bit too sensitive a situation to escort the Tya with the same men they just recently did battle with."

"Both sides lost lives. Winners or losers, it's still a fresh wound..." The Wood Aspect inclines her head sympathetically toward Rothalga and Niakuni.

"I don't see a problem with us all detouring toward Wavecrest once we're done excavating here, though. One fortunate perk to Cobalt being an independent force..." She flashes a grin. "We set our own deadlines."

"This table shouldn't be used as a forum to decide who is worthy or not to join the Alliance. I have left the fate of the yacht and her crew to Mister Treon - and I trust in his judgment and decision implicitly. We of the Alliance will not condemn a man or woman who has chosen to give up their past lives and chose to serve. Not until said person has given sufficient reason to cast suspicion on their actions. And so until proven otherwise, these people are members of the Alliance, and they are Mister Treon's responsibility. Anyone who does not agree or has misgivings will be free to express them to me... When we're not partaking in the hospitality of guests."

"That said... I do see wisdom in the other points raised as well. We choose to give these people another chance, and that is our choice. Captain Rothalga and her men should not be expected to agree to nor face the consequences of a choice that is ours and ours alone. That's why they shouldn't be expected to work alongside those they called enemies only a short while ago. If we just make our choices and then expect everyone to keep up and accept them, we're no different than any other nations out there - we're still trying to impose our ideas on others, and I don't believe in that. So to make a long story short, I also think we should take a moment to dive and check this location, and then all move out to escort the captain to her port of choice."

He smiles, then nods slightly. "That's my take on the affair, anyways."

"I thank you for your understanding our situation," Rothalga says, nodding to the assembled Cobalt Alliance members. "While I am wise enough to consider that the corsairs may very well have had a change of heart, I do not know my crewmembers will so easily feel the same. And I admit apprehension on my own part to let them too near."

"Simply admitting that one is turning a new leaf does not erase all the sins of the past. They have killed many men. They may thought it out of fear or necessity, but they still followed Kossuth." The Tya Captain shakes her head vehemently.

"His sins are theirs as well. So no. There will not easily be forgiveness."

She sighs, then, leaning back in her chair as Niakuni reaches over to squeeze her shoulder -- a familiar, almost tender gesture. The green-haired Tya continues where Rothalga left off. "Your aid will be greatly appreciated. We will inform the Tya Elders of what you have done. There are many Tya guildhalls in Wavecrest and throughout the West, and they will be more inclined to welcome you."

"As for the excavation, we can start in the morning." As the meal continues, Niakuni explains a bit about their equipment, which is fairly crude: weighted ropes and pulleys, swim fins to aid in moving through the water. The most exceptional diving aid, though, is what Niakuni calls "maruera gum" -- a Tya secret, she claims, which allows them to breathe underwater and even surpass the negative effects of water pressure for a short time.

---

OOC: If you've any more to say for this scene, go ahead :) Or you can post what you will do tonight. Then I'll move things to the next day.

The equipment the Tya have actually removes underwater penalties (assuming you're not already a water aspect), and lets you breathe as normal.

"That I can understand," he nods to Lasuri, the flames that had been building quenched with an effort of will.  After all, if he had read them wrong, he wouldn't be around to bear the consequences of their actions.  "I also agree with that course of action.  I am curious to see this manse, I will admit." And less sure sailing into wavecrest alone with a ex-pirate crew is the best of ideas.

"So am I," Jadira agrees with Treon, "assuming it's really what we're looking for. You'd think Dove would be piqued, seeing that it was her research that brought us here..."

"Guess she ran off with that artifact Zeru showed her." She chuckles, and returns her attention to her food for a moment, swallowing a few mouthfuls before nudging Lasuri playfully. "Shame you got so battered, though. Deep sea exploration for us, bed rest for you, Captain dear.

"Anyway, we're grateful for your help, Captain Rothalga, Mr. Niakuni... and for the meal." The brunette bites into a strawberry as if to illustrate that point, her plate now mostly empty.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:35, Mon 17 Nov 2008.

"Yeah, I'll be staying put for now, it seems. But you don't need my supervision for all this, do you? I'm sure you'll do fine. I'll just say topside and be a nuisance to everyone who stays up here." He smiles, then takes a sip of his drink.

"Miss Thornbloom's right, though. Thanks a lot for having us on board, Captain. And you as well, crewmen of the Sea's Bounty." He takes a moment to look at and acknowledge the rest of Rothalga's crew as well, favoring the Tya with a smile and a grateful nod.

"It is the least we can do in exchange," Rothalga says, nodding graciously. "And a small price for our lives."

The meal comes to an agreeable end, and the crews return to their respective bunks and quarters for a well-deserved rest.

It is a calm and peaceful night, a relief after such a momentous battle. The corsairs are the only ones who don't sleep quite as calmly, kept under watch throughout the night -- though perhaps for their own safety as well as for the Tya.

And the next day dawns...

---

OOC: Decided this will be an intermission thread, so we end here... :) Small bit of XP awarded for the participants.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:24, Mon 17 Nov 2008.