Interlude: A Day at Sea

[Talisman]

The matriarch and patriarch of the skywhale pod ushered their families away from the developing fight, continuing their path towards the Commonwealth as the skies turned dark with clouds. Whether that was deliberately caused by the dragons to develop a better fighting situation for the defending party, or the whales did it on their own, was questionable. But considering they hadn't wanted the aerial behemoths harmed or distressed, it may have been an fortunate byproduct.

Where dragons had fire, wyverns utilized a very different ability altogether. And those who were not familiar with Solunarium would even consider them a possibility… especially this far from the border of the desert kingdom. Finn’s sudden appearance from effectively nowhere, as he and Kherdroth had been able to successfully hide under the monstrosity that bore Raxen, startled those on the ship further. While the airship was strongly warded through Negation, and the Kineticists on board were doing their best...

Everyone had a plan until a wyvern screaming rage and defiance was bearing down on them out of thin air.

With the team of trained mages on board, the question became what would run out first - those using Kinetics to deflect the harrying fire from the younger dragons, or the twin dragons that now had an outlet for whatever dark energies they possessed and needed to expend on some target or another. While he did not know how old Myrelian and Myzedian were, they were larger than some of the younger dragons he had seen in Drathera to date, and they were certainly on the level of these human mages individually. The closer Finn got, the more he could feel the defensive spells being maintained to try and save the airship and those on it.

But they had a problem - the very influence of the Shadow dragonflight was that of terror, fear, and nightmares. He could feel it on the edge of his own symphony, as in-tune with himself as he was, though he would need to take care not to let that overwhelm him, either. That overwhelming influence was not something that those on board could ward against, and their problem was compounded further by Kherdroth's rider.

Mesmer wasn’t something that could be blocked by Kinetics, and those whose very core and being were shaken with terror were having trouble maintaining the protection as they sought to get away. The bubble was faltering - Finn may not have been a Sembler, but he could see the dragon fire getting closer to the gas bag than it had been. And as he added his own song to preternatural influence, the enemy began to crack. His skill with his Rune was stronger than the wards that they had on them, and he would be able to overwhelm the crew.

The last Kineticist's ability to shield the ship crumbled in the onslaught, and while one tried to aim a large, floor-mounted crossbow at Finn and his wyvern partner, Raxen leapt off of Varilian's back, a bestial roar erupting from his throat, bringing with him one of the massive swords that the Sentinel had seen him using in the training grounds. It may as well have been a warhammer; when he brought it down on the crossbow, the sheer force of it cleaved the metal weapon in two before the bolt was able to begin its trajectory towards him. The next swing caught the man who had attempted to fire it, and a flash of white showed the bones of the spine when the halves of his body hit the deck.

"Find the Captain," Varilian requested of Finn. It looked like they would be taking at least one prisoner back with them for tor---interrogation.

[Finn]

Eventually, they overwhelmed the airship's defenses. It was only a matter of time given that a well-trained Silver Sentinel riding an Atraxian wyvern was the least of those on the team. In a perfect world, Finn would have had some chance to train with the team before going on an active patrol, but he was only on patrol because they were spread so thinly along the long borders of the Commonwealth.

Even so, it took divine intervention from Raxen to prevent a last-ditch bolt from a scorpion to threaten him. He would thank Raxen later.

For now, Kinetics and Negation overwhelmed, he landed Kherdroth upon the deck and leapt off, black boots landing solidly on wood.

"Defenda me!" to Kherdroth, who made himself look suitably menacing as he watched particularly for threats made to Finn.

Then he strode toward the nearest pirate. His veil was up, and perhaps there was the added terror of finding a Silver Sentinel so far from Solunarium and in the company of dragons. The terror inspired by those dragons made his job all the easier; he augmented that, and then augmented his own Command with the awe inspired by his divine grace.

A halo of gold shone from his brow, bringing the pirates nearest him to their knees to grovel.

They were flying over the sea rather than over the Commonwealth itself, and so it hardly seemed gauche to call upon his connection to Aværys. And, in any case, Raxen's divine intervention saved him from having to dodge a quarrel from the scorpion. Aværys' divine intervention would help him quickly and expeditiously enact Raxen's will upon the pirates.

"Bring me your captain and any others of rank or note," he Commanded with the full force of arcane rune and divine emblem, and, of course, his own practiced voice.

They scattered like cockroaches in the light. Finn was the Light, bringing Aværys' solar glow even here over the great expanse of the sea amid gathering clouds and gathering shadow dragons. He waited for his will to be enacted.

[Talisman]

Depending on how learned Finn was on the various Dragonflights and their breath weapons, he might have realized that the twins were not using the birthright of the Shadow Dragonflight here - but that was definitely a strong, strange fire. But their breath weapon was not safe to be used around Finn, not without substantial Negation wards - his Sentinel blacks were better equipped to manage their breath weapon better than most, considering the close proximity that they were in to Sorokyn, but there was still a danger. Varilian might not have given much of a damn about Solunarium, but even he, an ancient beast of immeasurable years and experience, was not about to risk the diplomatic mess that would come if there was another way to manage. Especially with Raxen present.

The pirates were not prepared to have a Solunarian anywhere in the mix, that was certainly clear. And they were not prepared for a Mesmer of Finn's calibre. They had no prepared defenses to the way he deftly manipulated their symphonies like a conductor leading an ensemble, nor from the divine influence that he so easily wielded from He of the Sceptre. The Negators on board had spent much of their time trying to reinforce the physical structure, and Finn's subtle hand with the Craft was not overt and obvious from the start.

Still, his Command was impossible to ignore by the pirates he addressed, and the one that was attempting to resist found herself impaled by the Orkhan demigod. Raxen had little problem using the woman's clothing to wipe the blood from his blade once he shook her free of it. He could relax now that Finn was glowing, and watch how he managed with the request from the dragon. Pirates descended into the cabin of the ship, and others climbed rigging to get inside the blimp that the twins had been looking to destroy, and it was showing concerning signs. "Don't wreck the bag yet," he warned the twins. They didn't necessarily need to completely destroy the ship; it might come in handy later. And this way it wouldn't pollute the Crystal Sea and upset Aedrin. If Finn could take over these invasive pests, then they could just haul them all back. Well, minus the two that were dead on the deck, but death was just a natural part of the cycle...

And necromancers would probably be happy to have the corpses. Even dead pirates could have their uses.

From the bowels of the ship's cabin and being dragged down from the interior of the blimp were four people. All hell was breaking loose: one man with a flashy sash around his waist was bleeding from the face and being dragged by two of his crew - that was the Captain. The other three were the first mate, pilot, and engineer. All colour was starting to leave the Captain's face as he was dragged before Finn, staring at him like he had seen a ghost. "What are you?" he gasped in Kathalan.

[Finn]

It took some willpower not to tell the captain that he was his master now, or captain of the ship, at least. With Aværys' grace came a Hunger, and he had not bound a thrall to him in some time. But whereas he might have done so over Atraxian waters, he could not do so here.

"Kneel before the God of this place," he Commanded, via runic power, divine emblem, and his own trained voice. He also kept his light dimmer than it might have been so there could be no suspicion he attempted to eclipse Raxen himself.

Even the lesser dragons here present were likely more doughty than he himself, and he was a diplomatic guest. He knew his place on this Pyramid.

Kathalan had been spoken to him, and he had answered in kind. But while channeling his Aværyn powers, they could all understand him as clearly as if he were speaking their native tongues, whatever those were. Were he alone, he would have overwhelmed the wills of the pirates and had them fly to the nearest Ecithian port flying white flags to turn themselves in. But instead, he merely kept them docile and honest that Raxen might play arbiter with ease.

He lowered his veil as his magic wormed its way into the captain's mind until...

"He will speak truth, Lord Raxen..." He paused, half a smile at his own expense. "But then, you wouldn't need my help to command truth."

All the same, it was done and it was a mercy for the pirate captain, who needn't have the truth tortured out of him. Solunarium had tempered Finn into a blade, but he still detested torture.

[Talisman]

No lie could be told in Raxen's presence, after all. He compelled the truth simply by being there, and what he spoke became Truth. And he was watching as Finn wielded Majesty. He may not have been Solunarian by birth, he may not have been so easily seen at first as one that Avaerys would choose to mark... but he could see why now.

It was interesting - he might have thought Finn more aligned with Syren than one of the Divine Twins that had ruled the desert kingdom for so long, and whose progeny still reigned there... but those two schemed in private. Or, rather, he felt Varvara schemed in private, and Avaerys kept the rest distracted from what his twin sister-wife was doing in the shadows.

The rest of the pirates were lingering, nerves and fervor raw now that Finn’s Command had been fulfilled. Yet, they did not dare cross the gold-framed man that inspired awe and terror in equal measure.

“Why are you here?” Raxen asked the captain. He addressed him in the tongue that he had spoken with, his gaze pinning him to the deck.

“To hunt the sky-whales,” the man managed in kind. He was before one of the greatest warriors of the Commonwealth, and not one he expected to see today. That much was certain.

“Why are you here?” The demigod repeated himself.

“To hunt…” he stopped, confused, unsure.

The excuse, then. An excuse close enough that he could make it despite that which Raxen commanded.

“You come from the Imperium, yes?” Compelled as he was to answer, the man nodded. Different information became important in that moment. They may have been 'hunting' the sky-whales, and there were surely other purposes at play - testing Ecith's response, wasting resources and time for the defenders of the Commonwealth...

“Who sent you?” the Orkhan wanted to know. His tone may have been calm, but his unblinking stare would have made others very nervous indeed. Finn could tell that the man was anxious - his heart was hammering, and his Symphony was a cacophony.

The shadow dragon twins were circling the airship, keeping it more or less in one place between them. One might have wondered if Finn and Raxen weren't aboard if they would have passed it between them like a ball, but that was something that would likely go unexplored and unacknowledged if asked about later on. And despite their blackened forms circling like predators that might snap him off the deck at any minute, the man couldn't look away from Raxen. Try as he wanted to not answer, he could not fight that Command from Finn and Raxen's own demand for Truth. "Felix Lorenz," he whispered.

The Ork nodded thoughtfully, and leaned down, getting in his face, before he poked him with one finger in the temple. He collapsed in a heap at Finn's feet. "Nicely done," the demigod said to Finn as he straightened. "We have some captives, we have those who can give us information, and we've got some Imperial technology to investigate... and no sky-whales were injured in the process. If you want to stupefy or sedate them, we'll return them to the landing zone, and then continue on." A day's work wasn't done until the shift was over. Who was to say that this airship of pirates wasn't a distraction for something bigger to come?