Tales of Glory and Valour: the Seafarers Main RP Topic

Community Role Playing
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Soaked with blood from when you collapsed on the beach after trying to attack the kid with your magic?

The day before it seemed like he was willing to kill Dolphus, but now he seemingly showed compassion for him. Ari wondered what happened to him back there on the beach that made him change in such a way, as well as how he was still alive after losing so much blood. Maybe Mariner patched him up just like he did with the soldier?

“Huh?”

Ari tilted her head to the side, not sure if she heard Mako right.

"You want me to… help you… carve a?.. Oh! Well, I’ve never made a mask before, but it shouldn’t be too different from what I usually do, I suppose I can give you some pointers. Ya got the tools for this?” She leaned forward even more, now she was more squatting on the floor rather than sitting down, looming over the strange crew member. She wasn’t used to sitting in one place like this.

Ari was surprised that the bandaged hunter was approaching her with this request, especially after their rough first encounter the day before, but she concluded that she couldn’t pass up an opportunity to help the crew that saved her life, even it it was through something like this.

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Mariner waited until all the crew had left, before addressing Dolphus.

“There are a few things I wish to discuss. The first of which, may make you rather.” He paused, as if slightly unsure how to continue. “Unpopular” he finally finished. “Rationing. There are over 300 souls on this voyage, all of them require food to fuel them. As of now we have enough food to make it there and back but there is no guarantee of resupply. We need to ensure people aren’t eating more than their fair share.”

Mariner stopped for a moment, allowing his words to sink in for full effect. “There is also the matter of the Marine brought aboard this ship earlier. I wish to discuss the excessive force used to bring him in.”

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…What?

Dolphus’ head slowly turned to face Mariner, only after a careful check of the room to ensure he and the seafaring Halinth were alone. What on earth are you- Oh no. He means-

No. No. He couldn’t have found out. Dolphus’ hand stole to his throat. Unless… Hethila, she sent word with Karl, and now Mariner knows exactly who I am. They’ve had talks together while I was gone, and- and now he knows.

It’s over. He could feel his knees pressing into each other yet again. …Well, at least it isn’t the wing, I can survive with just the-

Depending on how much attention Mariner was paying to Dolphus’ expression, he might have noticed his face drop from concern into immediate relief and then hide from further view by Dolphus running his fingers through his hair, conveniently allowing him to break eye contact for a moment.

Okay. Phew. I was worried for a moment that I…

Wait a second, what- the ghost sailors need to eat? And what do you mean more than their fair share, I haven’t eaten a single thing on board this ship!

…I’m so thirsty.

At the end of Mariner’s first sentence, it seemed to Dolphus that he was about to announce the marine’s passing, having finally succumbed to his injuries. This notion was completely obliterated by a harpoon barrage in the form of the rest of Mariner’s statement.

Dolphus blinked. He had ended up in a new position in the chair, violently jolting away from Mariner with his hand frozen just barely reaching under his cape. His face went from all color to white as sand in an instant, and his trembling eyes danced across the two glowing beads that beamed forth out of Mariner’s helm.

“W-What?”

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“I do…partially.” He gestured to the knives. They weren’t much, but they would work.
“They’re not perfect, but…”
He shrugged.
“Better than nothing.”

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Ari moved closer to the hunting knives, picked one of them up and examined it, carefully checking its sharpness and the condition of the blade. Moments later, she shook her head, clearly dissatisfied.

“That’s all you got? It ain’t gonna cut it. For this stuff you need a ruler, chalks, chisels… a small hammer or two, a handsaw… some sandpaper”, she said and she diligently counted the items on her fingers, “let’s see, knives like these…” she pointed towards the set of blades next to her, “…are only decent for working with softer woods like pine or cedar, though they still get dull quite quickly… I imagine ya want a mask that’s made out of something that lasts longer, right?”

As Ari went on, she began to sound more and more excited in the way she spoke. Even if she didn’t quite like the bandaged hunter, or trust him, for a brief moment the forgot all about it. She was just happy to talk about the things she knew extremely well; to have an opportunity to tell someone who was willing to listen about them, for the first time in what seemed like ages; to be useful.

With a smart look on her face and her eyes closed, clearly enjoying herself, she explained: “woodworking, y’see, is a very delicate craft. One wrong move, and you can ruin the entire piece you’re working on. You can’t put back the material that was already removed, so if you removed too much, you need to either live with it or start over… this is why you need steady hands and good tools for this…”

Lost in her thoughts and having seemingly forgotten who she was talking to, Ari realised that she was speaking the words of her father, almost word for word. She thought that this was definitely something he would say. She missed him, a lot.

Suddenly she wasn’t feeling so joyful anymore…

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He nodded slowly, realizing how little he knew about wood. He just sat there awkwardly, not completely sure as to what to do.

Well…it IS her profession…I suppose it makes sense she’d enjoy it.
He observed her as she went on, his emerald irises reflecting her in them. He barely moved, not wanting to spoil this moment, as she went on with a smirk. His bandaged fingers didn’t tap anymore, she had his full attention.

His eyes slightly widened at the sudden change in her demeanor, going from jovial and cheerful to sullen and silent. He tentatively reached out one of his hands towards her, stopping midair.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! QUIT-

He shoved the thought away, and hesitantly grasped her shoulder.

“Are you alright?”

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Lost in her memories of her father, not paying attention to her surroundings, Ari didn’t notice Mako’s hand approaching her. She felt his touch on her shoulder, which immediately snapped her out of her melancholic state. Her hand shot up impulsively to grab his wrist, while her other arm started winding back rapidly, seemingly preparing for a punch.

Her guard, which had been down all the time when she was talking to the kid, was up once again, now that she was fully rested.

Only then the fact that the person touching her shoulder was none other than Mako, the ship’s hunter, registered in her mind. As she saw his expression of concern, with not a single hint of ill intent, she let go of his arm and lowered her hands with a bit of a sorry expression on her face.

It was safe on the ship, nobody meant her any harm. She wasn’t used to that.

“I’m fine, just thought of the one who taught me all this stuff. It’s been a while since I had a chance to tell someone about it like this…” Ari smirked, “y’know, you’re not nearly as uncaring behind these bandages as you seem at first. You should show your face more often!”

Only now that Ari saw his face up close and with no obstructions, she realised just how young he was. He almost seemed to be closer to Dolphus in terms of his age than he was to her. What’s with this ship and young folks who clearly went through a lot?

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IDIOTIDIOTIDIOTIDIOT-
His eyes widened as her hand wound up, his own hand reaching to his whip on his side, his breaths now sharp and whistling-

He wobbled a bit, as he was startled by how sudden she released him. His breaths were short and tight, as if he was being smothered. He cursed, his jaw tightening as he backed up against the wall, his eyes never leaving her.

He glared at her, his eyes glowering with a hint of blue. He coughed, and his hand released his grip on his whip. He felt wounded, even though nothing truly hurt. He didn’t want to deal with this. He didn’t want to deal with any of it. This. He had let the barbs of his words go, show that, MAYBE, he cared just enough. But here she was, nearly ready to beat him into a pulp.
And somehow, he didn’t blame her for it.

“I’d…”

WRONG. YOUR FAULT. EMPTY. LOST.

PENANCE. P E N A N C E. P E N A N C E

EMPTY. GONE. FAILURE AFTER FAILURE. YOUR FAILURE.

YOURFAULTYOURFAULTYOURFAULTYOURFAULTYOURFAULT-

“Why did you do that?”
He asked quietly.

“Why?”
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Ari instinctively moved back, surprised by Mako’s sudden visceral reaction. Her eyebrows lowered in concern mixed with confusion.

“Wh- what are you talking about? Do what?”

What did she do wrong this time? Why did her attempts to interact with people never end well? What freaked him out so much?

“I wasn’t trying to hurt you or anything, I just… I’m sorry, okay? I’m bad at this…”

Ari started backing off towards the door, trying her best to avoid making any move that would make Mako break down even more. What was his problem? Even if she got startled by his gesture at first because of her lack of trust towards him, she immediately corrected herself after realising that she was safe and acted friendly, yet he was still freaking out so much, even after what she said…
Weirded out by the experience, Ari got an urge to leave the room, as she felt that she wasn’t welcomed there anymore.

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“No it’s…you just startled me is all. I really…”
He sighed, trembling. He looked at her guiltily.

It’s your fault, you wretch. You get afraid at this? How dare you Mako.

He looked down. His fingers twitched, the bandages still stained red. He drew a breath. And another. And another. And for a split second, it seemed to go on for eternity. Then he met her gaze again-

“It’s not your fault…”

He said quietly, his emerald gaze softening a bit. He bit his tongue, as he tried to find the words to explain. His skin prickled with pins and needles, and he could taste the metallic tang of his blood.

It’s mine.

“I should’ve waited. You were having a moment, and I disregarded that.”
He drew another sharp breath.

“I…I’m sorry.”
The words were regretful. How could he act like this to her? Cruel, cold, unfeeling. How could he?
He truly was empty.

-You truly were a waste.-

How could I?

“For all of it. I should have never had spoken like that to you.”

His gaze dropped back down, and he felt himself drowning in endless resignation. He felt empty again.


“I won’t stop you.”

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Ari stopped in her tracks towards the door abruptly, listening to Mako’s words. Her face showed no emotion for a brief moment, but then her brow crinkled and teeth formed a snarl in a sudden flash of anger. She turned sharply to look directly at Mako.

“Just how pathetic are you?!” Her strong voice boomed across the cabin. “All I’ve seen you do ever since I met you was beat yourself down at every given opportunity. HOW can you live like this? I can’t believe you hate yourself so much that you feel the need to degrade yourself to such an extent every time you feel even slightly bad.”

She took several heavy furious steps towards Mako, everything in her body language showing her outrage.

“You did NOTHING to hurt me, so you have NO reason to apologise. Have some blasted self respect! You have a role on this crew, don’t you? For whatever reason, you’re here, sailing on this ship. How can these people rely on you when you break down whenever you’re pushed even slightly?! You say that the kid needs help, but he’s doing a much better job than you are…” she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, gradually calming down, “I’ve been through some terrible things in my life, like I’m sure you have as well”, she pointed at the numerous scars covering the entire surface of her arm, “and I know what it’s like to have people who depend on me, who I can’t let down no matter how bad I have it… You need to get yourself together, if not your own sake, then for the sake of everyone you’re sailing with, so you won’t let them down when it matters the most.”

With those words and a blank expression on her face, drained of all emotion, she turned away and started walking towards the door.

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Very. Very much.
You have no idea.
He said nothing as she yelled out at him.

It isn’t living…
It never was.
Can’t believe, or refuse to?
Do I refuse?
Have I cared?

Because it’s a singular simple role.

But it’s worthless.
He blinked, his gaze shifting away from her.

He showed a slight reaction to the scars, his fingers twitching. Of course, he hadn’t noticed because he was just too daft.
“She is correct…you know…”
The voice whispered again, sending a slight shiver down his spine.
“Just try.”

Was it worth it? Was it enough?
ῳɧąɬ ɖơ ყơų ɬɧıŋƙ?
He didn’t stop her. He didn’t do anything.

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“Judging by the bruising I can tell which injuries were sustained first. Why did you feel the need to break his back after everything he’d been through?”

Mariner tilts his head, wondering after the answer. “His life will be… Difficult from now on. With a trained doctor, he may recover completely, but I am no doctor, nor am I capable of the Magic he requires to set his back again.” He pauses and ponders. “Excessive cruelty is not a quality the Armada looks for in their Captains, Dolphus. Even towards their enemies, mercy is a virtue oft looked down upon in today’s age, but it should not be.”

As Karl arrived back at his cabin, he may have noted the door slightly ajar, and a lamp lit just beside his bed.

(@DuneToa)

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“I- I wasn’t…”

You weren’t What? Trying to break his back? Trying to cripple him so he couldn’t run away, so you wouldn’t accidentally lose him?

He swallowed.

I guess that’s right, you weren’t trying to break his back. That would have been too little. Maybe you wanted to somehow rip him in half, save yourself the trouble of drawing your sword. Maybe you didn’t want to break his spine and leave the rest of his life in shambles. All you wanted to do was kill him. Isn’t that so much simpler?

Dolphus could feel his heart beating directly through his chest. The rattling of his ribcage from before could not compare to the force which nearly threw his body forward with every THUD his heart produced. Before he had desperately clung to some sign of Ari being willing to conceal the wing; now the complete ruination of his entire life lay before him. All the work that had been done to find Alexis, to rebuild what had been lost, was about to be destroyed.

Unless.

His fingers crawled inside his high collar. Ari killed that other man. She would have killed this other fellow if the option existed for her. He had to admit to her murdering the other fellow; this prisoner would sing. He would tell all.

Do it, Dolphus. You have everything to lose.

…No.

How Dolphus had any water left in his system was simply a miracle. But somehow, those limited reserves of hydrating fluids in his system flooded his horrified eye, turning them glassy as Mariner’s gaze penetrated his youthful mind, somehow missing its target entirely while also striking home.

I broke his spine. Me. There is no reason to push this off onto Ari, the only one in so many years who’s touched my heart like that. And… And I hers.

His expression had been quite aghast before, but as Mariner seemed to half-deny knowing about the wing and half-confirm its existence, his brows crumpled further and further until they finally weighed his head down too much for his body to keep it aloft. His heart stopped its incessant convulsions; all it could manage now was a steady ache.

I did this. Me, Dolphus Gorov. I’m the only one who should pay for it.

“He saw.” Dolphus finally whimpered out, unsure if the implication would be obvious or not. His feathers had stood on end early on, but now slowly settled back into place on their own.

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“Hmm.”
Karl’s hand dropped to the hilt of his sword, and he slowed his pace, stopping just short of the door. He could see that someone had lit a lamp in his cabin, but why? A suspicious member of the crew? Or… he swallowed thinking of some alternatives, most none too likely. Probably not one of his employers, definitely not that dragon… After some deliberation, he stepped forward and opened the door.

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“He saw what?” Mariner said curiously, he was curious about what massive secret Dolphus could seem worthy of execution.

The room was dark but for the little bubble created by the light. The curtain had been drawn over the porthole, cutting off the daylight. The effect caused the shadows in the corner of the room to deepen, obscuring them from view. From one of these corners a voice spoke up.

“You’re at a dinner party with King Summer and all his generals. Who is the most dangerous person there?”

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Dolphus’s hand slowly pried itself out of his collar, pausing on its journey down to his wing at the irritation of a tear rolling down his cheek. What would Mariner’s reaction be? Would he be merciful, and try to keep the wing a secret? Would he assemble the entire crew to make its existence known, with no reservations?

He was powerless to stop Mariner in whatever action he took, whatever path he chose. It didn’t matter whether or not he could trust him; there was only the inevitable response to the wing’s existence that awaited him, and whatever became of him as a result of it.

His eyes suddenly widened, the tips of his fingers just shy of touching his cape.

“You-” He looked up, his lips parting, his brow partially uncrinkling. Mariner had known — but for how long? Since the Thauin attack? Since the start of the voyage? Since before he was even part of the crew?

And who else knows now?

No. Dolphus’s lip had started to quiver; he compressed it until it could no longer move. Am I so blind, that any member of this crew could have known, and I not be able to see it through their eyes? These glass panes, with their crystal eyes and resin hearts, revealing even the slightest thought they think? Would Mako be able to restrain a comment or quip if he knew? Would he have voted if he knew?

It was still unclear if Mariner would react in harsh fashion, even as Dolphus’s watery eyes danced between the glowing blue dots inside the Halinth’s helmet. But if he knew — and all signs pointed to his knowing — then he was not about to tell the world about it.

Hopefully.

“I think you know already.” Dolphus swallowed, finally pulling the cape back far enough to allow the wing to unfurl - not fully, lest it be so massive that someone might open the door and discover it. His eyes maintained an injured expression, cautiously reading Mariner’s piercing gaze for any indication of what might happen next.

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Ari angrily left the room and shut the door behind her with a loud thud. At no point did she turn around to see if her words had any effect on Mako. She was too frustrated to look at him. How did he have the audacity to act so weak in front of someone he didn’t know? How could this crew rely on him when something so insignificant resulted in him imploding?

She shook her head around and rubbed her eyes, trying to throw the disastrous conversation out of her mind. Her anger was gradually beginning to fade away as she calmed down. She would still need to help Mako out with his request, but now she wasn’t sure if she could even approach the bandaged man without making him freak out. Ari figured that she just needed to give him some time and return to that objective later. Surely, waiting a bit would fix things.

Remembering Mako’s other request, she threw a glance at the closed door of the chart room, where, to her knowledge, the conversation between Mariner and Dolphus was still taking place. Her eyes lingered on it for a moment as she wondered why he approached her with the request to look after the kid and not any of the actual members of the crew, knowing full well that she wasn’t staying here for long. For how long was she staying here? sailing the ocean took time, that she knew for sure, and it’s not like she had an exact destination in mind. She was just looking for a place where she would be able to live a calm and peaceful life without having to be reminded of her past. Would such a place even be possible to find?..

Concluding that thinking so much was bad for her health, Ari shrugged and broke her intense eye contact with the heavy wooden door. Right now, there was no time for thinking about what was going to happen in the future, her morning routine had already been interrupted twice, first by the meeting and then by Mako, and she needed to catch up on it as soon as possible. After all, she needed to stay in shape during this trip, so morning exercise wasn’t optional… it was a necessity.

With newfound enthusiasm, Ari marched towards her cabin. She entered the small room, making sure to barely avoid smashing her forehead into the top of the doorframe, made sure that her toolbox was just the way she had left it, retrieved her metal bat and walked out of the room with it over her shoulder, closing the door behind her.

As Ari prepared to head out, she noticed Karl standing in front of one of the many doors in the corridor, presumably leading to his room. As she walked past him, she threw a glance in his direction and raised her hand in a greeting, not paying any mind to his odd behaviour. She then headed onto the main deck of the ship, to look for a spot with a lot of available space where nothing and nobody would be getting in her way.

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“He who can hold a blade to the heart of the kingdom unsuspected is more dangerous than any other present. And I am he.”
Karl entered the room, drawing his dagger left-handed, pulling the door shut behind him.
“This mission I have undertaken, it must begin at once, for the next destination of this ship is the Shadow Temple. I can find supplies there, but I may need to protect some of the crew of this ship. They are not all acquainted with the devious arts practiced there. Some of them are likely inadequate for such defenses, if needed.”

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“A bold answer, and almost correct.” The voice spoke again, this time the voice seemed to come from a different corner.

The voice said nothing as he spoke, merely listening. “Perhaps we were mistaken in our initial impression of you. You offer information unprompted to unknown sources. If we are to do business that will have to change.” A figure stepped out of the shadows, hooded and masked to obscure all details. “You will not need your weapons. If we wanted you dead, we wouldn’t have advertised our presence.”

Another pause, “I represent the Cadre of Silence, and I break that silence, to offer you an opportunity.”

Mariner was quiet for a moment, when he spoke he sounded slightly puzzled. “Your wing? Why-” he started to say but stopped himself short. He mentally shook himself as the realization struck. Clearly the lad had some deeper issues tied to his avian limb. Mariner had never stopped to ask himself why Dolphus kept it hidden. He’d assumed it simply didn’t handle well in the damp air at sea.

“I see” he finishes finally. Then he took a deep breath, he needed to get to the bottom of the issue to know if it would impact the voyage. “I take it, that wing is not simply an odd fashion statement of the upper class then.” Mariner had taken it as such previously, the Human Nobility was utterly alien to him.

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