Ch.3: "Silver Tide" / Nyse Lagoon

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn

Sigrlinn follows Kell into her old room, looking around curiously. She stays quiet as Kell and Vin start chatting, except to laugh at Vin's horse-smell quip. There isn't much for her to say; she feels a bit like an interloper.

Dinner with Vivian helps a bit, though, since they talk about other things than just Kell's and Vin's relationship. Though she has to remind the others every so often to call her Sigrlinn, not Leto.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Kell and Vin get the chance to know each other a little more, while Sigrlinn is relieved to have Vivi around to spare her from being the third wheel.

Some time passes… a lot of time in fact. It seems difficult to believe our heroines can get far from the lagoon before sunrise. The eastern sky is starting to change. Helios is coming!

Vivi assures our heroines that they will be fine. She leads Kell and Sigrlinn to a passage under the villa.

Vin says, "I guess this is goodbye for now." Nymphs bring Valkyrie to Vin, and Helix to Kell (though they're aware that Helix doesn't need to be led—a couple of them just wanted to ride a unicorn).

Kell has a chance to say something to Vin, then our two heroines will need to stay underground. Can Helix guide them, or must they all guess their way through the passage? It seems to go only in one direction, so maybe there isn't a need for a guide…

((You're free to speak to Vin and/or Vivi, or simply move forward…))

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell tells Vin, "I'll miss you, but I know this is for the best. And Buck is a good man. I think you'll enjoy working with him." And she hugs him tightly for a few moments.

She asks Vivi, "Have you always lived in Nyse, or did you live in Ogygia for a time? It's clear you know the villa, but I don't remember ever seeing you there."


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Vivi replies, "I was working with the Orange Phœnix, traveling in small groups or on my own, supporting the bounty hunters in my own way… but I'm not a fighter like you. I mostly made things for the hunters, and I also gathered information. But to be honest, I don't have the stomach for it. Buck suggested I stay here and… I'm sort of on call, I guess. But so far he's only asked me to send messenger birds so if you run into anyone from the Orange Phœnix, everyone knows you're one of us.

"But then, I haven't been back for long. From what I heard, you haven't been away from Nyse for very long either. I suppose there were some days we were both in Nyse, but missed each other."

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn

Sigrlinn wastes no time in getting to the safety of the underground, and waits for Kell to join her.

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell asks Vivi, "How did you manage to get on the wrong side of Judge Xarris?"


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Vivi replies, "I refused to… entertain him. Not all of us are so easy, right? And had I refused him in the villa, nothing would have happened. Unfortunately, Xarris was a powerful man and my understanding is that I was a sacrifice to some sort of demon. Buck believes that to be the case, at least.

"Some of us didn't commit real crimes. There are a few members of the Orange Phœnix who were guilty of offenses that are sometimes punishable by death. Admiral Crunch was a pirate. Maybe Vin will run into him… he tends to travel in places Buck would never send a woman, but when he's not at sea, he spends a lot of time at the Kook Bar in Scheria Bay."

Vivi's eyes stare dreamily in the distance as she mentions the admiral. She blushes a little, then says, "Sorry. Do you have any more questions before I go?"

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell grins at Vivi. "You seem to be a little sweet on the Admiral. I hope that works out for you. Is he the reason you're so happy, or is your happiness bigger than that?"


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Vivi shrugs. "Not really. I am just happy to be alive... and some of the girls feel sorry for me, ask me why I do not approach Aphrodite about restoring my appearance. I choose to keep the burns. The other Orange Phoenixes don't have the luxury of having their bodies rejuvenated, and... men do not approach me. I'm sixty years old and happy to spend my remaining sixty like this."

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell tells Vivi, "Well, just remember that if any man should happen to look at you, you can be sure it's because he sees you and not what you look like. If you should be fortunate enough to have that happen, I urge you to think twice before throwing it away." She won't say more than that. It's Vivi's life, after all. But if she and Sigrlinn should make their way to Scheria Bay and meet this Admiral, Kell figures she can at least mention Vivi to him. If he's clearly not interested, well, Kell knows how to drop the subject.

Finally she hugs Vivi, thanks her for her help, and follows Sigrlinn into the Underground.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Our heroines travel through the underground passage. After an hour, they pass through a section where the ceiling is high. About thirty feet up, there is a hole in the east side of the cave wall just big enough for a fairy to crawl through. Our heroines only know this because of the ray of sunlight forming a misty beam.

Sigrlinn could cast her Ascension spell to have Kell investigate, but even if there is anything more than the view of the rising sun, the hole is too small to reach into with her hand. Apollo's flaming arrow could get through, so Sigrlinn might not want to look herself.

((A 7 would allow Sigrlinn to fly Kell up, look, then land safely. But there's nothing out there, just evidence of daytime. Why Aphrodite stalled your trip for so long will become clear. Your characters had no way of knowing they slept several hours when the Graces gave them new abilities.))

After another half hour, our heroines see that the cave leads to waster. Sapphire and Phoebe are using a crossbow as a raft. Each fairy is paddling to shore using a single bolt as a paddle.

"The hearth is flooded," says Pheobe.

Sapphire says, "We were gonna set up shop, but the fire went out. All we have is this underwater crossbow."

Phoebe asks Sigrlinn, "Wanna buy it, Leto?"

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn

Sigrlinn shies away from the beam of light they pass, and blinks at the flooded hearth. How did all that water get there? Was it simply the tide, or the work of a god seeking to bar their way?

She looks curiously at the underwater crossbow. "That looks like it could come in handy. How much is it?"

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Sapphire replies, "The crossbow is $1111. Um... you can pay later though since I can't fly with a bag of coins. Only the Tooth Fairy can do that."

Phoebe says, "We'll throw in the bolts for free since they got bent from us using them as oars."

"You don't happen to have a spell that creates magic bolts, do you?"

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn

Sigrlinn grins. "I do, as a matter of fact. I have a feeling I'll be using it a lot, especially once I'm out of normal arrows." That'll save her some silver in the future!

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Sapphire says, "The spell is actually Heaven's Bolt, but if you know Heaven's Arrow I hear it's the same spell… just with a crossbow."

Phœbe says, "Crossbows are slow because it takes time to—"

"Phœbe! Leto's a Huntress! Of course she knows how slow crossbows are!"

"I know, but, I wanted to tell her she can charge the bolt while she's loading it. That way she fires the stronger bolt that doesn't miss."

"Huntresses don't miss," Sapphire insists. Then she asks Sigrlinn, "Do they?"

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn

Sigrlinn smiles. "I do know Heaven's Arrow, so that should be fine. I don't have much experience with crossbows, but I don't think it'd be too hard to learn."

At the question, she half-smiles. "Sometimes. We can't all be as skilled as Artemis."

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

"Speaking of Atemis," Phoebe says, "this is the best way to her."

"Yup," Sapphire agrees. "All you gotta do is hold your breath for a few hours."

"Good thing you have big lungs. Sapphire almost drowned when the cavern got flooded."

"Phoebe saved me. She can hold her breath for a whole minute! That's more than most fairy lungs can handle!"

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn

Sigrlinn balks at the thought of having to hold her breath for hours, and laughs nervously. "Heheh... yeah, I don't think that's going to happen. I doubt any of the spells Kell or I know can do that, especially if we haven't had the chance to practice them yet."

 

[tbgg]

Kelleia

Kell frowns at Sapphire and Phoebe. "So are you telling us that something caused a flood in the Underground? Is that common? Is everyone back at Buck's place OK, or do you not know?"

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Sapphire says, "When the fire went out, the portal should have closed, so Buck's place should be fine. I think."

Phoebe says, "The moon controls the tide. I think that's why it's flooded down here."

"A silver boat controls the tide?"

"People in Arcadia talk about science a lot."