020 - Session Recap

-From the journal of Indiana

General Summary

It was like the streets were empty... The bustle of the townsfolk... the stares of worried eyes... the murmurs of her companion’s voices... even the sound of her own hooves against the worn road... it was all there, but... receded. Like the pull of low tide... or ships out on the far horizon. The only thing that mattered was the weight she carried. ...She had to bring him home.
Corvolas watched on unphased. What was one death more in a city of thieves, pirates, and murderers? ...It would scarcely notice the death of a single Tengu, even one so great as the Mako’s First Mate. Loss was just a drop of water in the sea. But, to Indiana he was so much more than that... Longclaw was an ally... a mentor... family. Family of which she had precious little of... The old bird had skirted death more times than Indiana could remember... but... all it took was one deal gone wrong. ...One... misguided child.
She returned to the manor not as a pirate but as a quiet pallbearer holding a raven that would laugh no longer. Dalton met them upon the porch, a grim look taking root on his weathered features as it dawned on him the price of his trade. It was not his old rival Hallewell that slew his first mate... No, it wasn't even a pirate... or a beast. It was that noblewoman from across the sea. But that was all Indiana would recount for him then... her mind was elsewhere. Though it pained the old sailor greatly to see his closest friend this way... it hurt even worse to see the grief on his daughter’s face once more. The old captain sighed deeply... and put an arm around her shoulders... in a heavy silence they would make for the garden together.
...Longclaw would be buried beside her brother.
There was something... almost amusing about it... in a very distant way. One grave with a headstone, and nobody beneath it. The other, a buried body with no headstone above it. Indiana stood beside the graves for a long time... long enough that her father would eventually leave her to her peace beside them. He had his own ways to mourn... and he knew Indiana would come to him if she needed it. The silence was almost deafening... but Indiana did not know what to say. ...In truth... she did not know what to even feel. From her home, she looked out to the sea. For all it haunted her... for all the fear it instilled... Indiana did not hate the beast that killed her kin. ...It was just that. A beast. An animal.
Indiana could still see it so clearly in her mind's eye. The face of that woman... the magic she wielded... the way it made her skin crawl, and hair stand on end. ...She would have killed Hallewell too, only he had gotten lucky in a way Longclaw did not. Now she was somewhere out there... holding onto a pilfered trinket she stole from Indiana’s own father... and with it she took something else even more priceless. She was no beast, nor animal... but she was... a monster.
As Indiana turned to leave the graves a single feather would catch her eye. A long black pinion... a gift from her departed friend, perhaps. With a somber note flicking across her face, she would take the feather and hold it with her for a moment. Longclaw was alway a superstitious one... like most Tengu she's met. For whatever fortune it would bring, the good or the bad... the colorful plumage upon her hat now stood starkly against a shining black feather. Even if it was small, it was a comfort being able to bring a part of him with her.
Though... ‘comforted’ would not be a word to describe the lass any time soon.
Indiana left back for Corvolas shortly after the deed was done. She told no one of her departure... though they likely saw her leave the mansion. She left home with a fire in her wounded heart. Small and dense and hot... like a cinder from a burning pyre. She knew what the feeling was... but before now it had only been a word. Oh so hollow of a word, though Indiana never felt it before... not for the kraken, not for Hallewell, or any lowlife scum she’d ever taken the life of... Today would be the day she’d understand what hate truly felt like.
It was later in the evening now... She had a goal in mind that she would fulfill before she would leave the city. ...But as she passed the gate a voice would stop her. ...Or at least... try to. Sadly... there would be two less fez-wearing tollkeepers in Corvolas, and their bodies wouldn’t be found for quite a while in the dark alleys. Maybe they would have been better off if they hadn’t asked for ten silver instead of five...
The pirate cleaned her blade, leaving not a drop of evidence... Reputation was one thing, callousness was another. Dipping in and out of the convoluted map of ratways and darkened crossroads, Indiana would make her way back to the four galleons... staying well out of sight of the patrols. She had a mind to pay a certain “weary traveler” a visit once more.
Time passed... and she found herself sitting in the dimly lit secret room once again as the man sipped his drink with a slight smirk on his lips. ...That was... until Indiana placed a stack, nay, a fist ful of coin on the table in front of him. ...Twenty gold pieces... She could see the glint in his eye, he wanted it. The way to play with every pirate’s heart was to let them hear that pleasant clink, and she used that fully. But she wasn’t there for a game... Twenty gold sat at the table, but just as he went to take it in the blink of an eye, Indiana’s hand would cover the bounty like a dragon with a horde. Her claws scratched the dry wooden table lightly as she pulled the coin closer to herself. He would get his gold... but only if he answered her every question. The catch... was if she caught even the smallest inkling he was holding any information away from her he would not see even so much as a copper piece. Though he wasn’t inclined to do business in any way that wasn’t his... it was a delicious prize... and he had done a lot more for a lot less before. Though he had to admit... something he was different from the last meeting. Something almost... unnerving. Indiana held her hand out to him... and after a moment of thought, or perhaps hesitation... he’d make a deal with a devil. ...There was just one woman she wanted to know about... and Indiana wanted to know everything about her.
As the souls of the dead fill the space of my mind, I'll search without sleeping till' peace I can find. I fear not the weather, I fear not the sea. I remember the fallen, do they think of me? When their bones in the ocean forever will be.

Report Date

19 Sep 2024