Re: Chapter 2, Phase 2 Intermission - Marlena, Part 2
"The Lintha!" Marlena's eyes glitter. "I can outpace anything they can throw at us," she boasts, preening her feathered hair. "I won't have any demon-spawn touching my vessel if I can help it!"
She would have addressed Cinna, but the glittering gem catches her eye first. The spirit snatches it from Zeru's palm as soon as it's presented, cooing to herself as she examines its facets in the fading sunlight. "It's good enough. I like it," Marlena concludes approvingly. "Bring more. I like dark colors. Red would do as well." Almost immediately she weaves a bit of essence, and the gem appears in a setting of her design, embedded in a choker-like necklace around her neck.
Then she crosses her arms, striding over to Cinna and gazing down at her. "Woman, understand this. You may have this man in any other fashion you wish, but when you are aboard my ship, his loyalty AND yours are MINE first. You have the privilege, not the right, of boarding and managing my affairs. This is my sacred vessel, not your property, so don't take advantage of my generosity!"
Faced with Marlena's overbearing and direct personality, Cinna seems almost... sheepish. "Er... yes ma'am." She does her best to look subservient, though inwardly she feels a little put off by the potential for jealousy and possessiveness in the spirit.
[Private to Peleps Zeru: BTW, I was thinking that it'd be a neat idea to have Marlena become a gradually stronger spirit due to Zeru's attention to her. So the Marlena would survive not because it's got lots of powerful armament (like the Dryad) but because the spirit is strong. I'd have it manifest as the Marlena actually using spirit charms to aid your sailing ability or protect the ship from harm. So it'd be kinda like you earned a spirit ally that's attached to your ship.]