Scene #8195: The Sea Swallows All ft Raha and Midway

Owner	Pose
N'Raha	The coordinates lead to... the coast of the Vylbrand, just outside of Aleport. Once upon a time, this was a lesser port for the island, until an enterprising baron decided to lower the tariffs on rum and ale imported into the city. This had two benefits. One: it put Aleport on the map. Two: I reduced the number of ships clogging up the ports and docks in Limsa Lominsa. Just had to do a bit more land travel to get the beverages to the city. N'raha sits on the rocky shore of the coast, in some smart looking clothing. A well cut tunic and trousers, in a striking red color. A special fit from the Scion's in house tailor, no doubt. N'raha is fishing. If he is catching, it remains to be seen, but he does have the other vital equipment. A bucket of bait, and a bucket of beverages.
Midway	Something bites! Immediately the rod keels over, indicating the size of the beast on the line. Wrestling it feels like a shark or a sailfish, though marlins don't tend to frequent this side of Vylbrand. Drawing it in produces a dark shape beneath the surface until-- a black-skinned beast is hauled ashore. Cetacean-like, with a dark hide that belies an internal surface like steel; a hinged jaw filled with teeth; glowing blue eyes. When hauled ashore, the I-class Abyssal Destroyer rolls from side to side a few times. Once it is right-side-up, the little beast extends stubby little legs and stands up, swinging its face up to stare at the Miqo'te. A moment later, it leans back further and lets out a noise somewhat between the bark of a seal and the honk of a foghorn. Midway appears on the water. Rising out of it as one might were they riding an elevator from the Depths to Sea Level. Additional destroyers surface around her, milling about in the waves while the Princess approaches the shore. It's immediately obvious that she is taller than any Roegadyn. Towering at some ten fulms, Midway folds her arms, staring down with glowing crimson eyes. It's an intensity that any warrior is likely familiar with; carefully restrained ferocity.
N'Raha	The appearance of the little Abyssal Destroyer is a surprise, but only in that he was expecting a shark or something. He's met one of the little beasts before, though... not the other creature it's attached to. And as Midway surfaces and starts to stride out of the water to glare at him, N'raha Tia sniffs a bit, and... smiles. It is a cheery thing, but there's steel behind those eyes. The catman's busted ear twitches lamely against his head, as the other one swivels to peek at the tall Abomination. "...Ahoy, madame. You must be Midway." There is no shrinking, no flinching from this small cat. The Princess is nearly twice as tall as him, but Raha simply takes a step back, no to escape, but to make sure he can look into the being's eyes. "...Welcome to Eorzea."
Midway	"I am the Princess of Progress," she introduces herself at least, the resonance of her voice clearly the same as from the radio. It's not a correction so much as an addition. Despite the waves pushing her up and down gradually as they roll in, her posture remains unchanged, "Square-rigged sailing vessels are of little interest to me. However, I am incapable of ignoring certain things." Her head inclines forward, "The ship graveyard in the island chain to the south did not escape my notice. Nor did the foreign airships littering the bottom around the military base. Your seas are cleaner, but no stranger to war."
N'Raha	"Something like that, yes. We didn't start the fight with the foreigners, but we damn sure keep ending it." N'raha rocks back on his heels a bit, and then sighs. He rolls his neck, and then... That red suit is actually a red suit of armor, glistening slickly in the mid afternoon clouds. Whether a trick of the light or more of that simple glamour... or just plain magical, is unclear. But that fishing pole is also suddenly a heavy bearded axe, glowing with dull, murderous intent. The Bravura. Something formal, then. "I am The Warrior of Light, Slayer of Eikons, Sunderer of the Empire. I serve the Pirate Queen Admiral Merlwyb Bloefhiswyn, and the Queen Crystal Hydaelyn. Upon my body have crashed and died the hopes and dreams of the Empire of Garlemald, and the Gods of the Beastmen. Till the Seas Swallow All." Oh, a full on boast.
Midway	The Princess' eyes narrow slightly, "Naturally." Those eyes then close. A hand lifts, flexing pale fingers covered in darkened metal braces. The very action of flexion causes that metal to creak when those fingers curl into cruel, steel-tipped talons. "I have no need to prove anything to every errant adventurer who hears an inhuman voice on the airwaves," Something pops and her hand closes into a fist quite suddenly, as if whatever was restraining her grip had broken. Those eyes open again, "I am War, in all its inevitability, its suffering, and its hatred." The Princess lifts her hand once more, re-folding it. Her posture hasn't changed in the least, "I will forgive the unintentional irony of issuing that proclamation while standing in apparent defiance before an Abyssal Princess." "Tell me what you know about your Sea. That is why I decided to travel here."
N'Raha	"You are not just an 'inhuman voice' on the airwaves." N'raha shifts and plants the head of the axe into the dirt. "You are a Sea Princess, an Abyssal, foe to the Kansen, beloved of the seas and the waters." He leans on the ax, his boast overwith. Listen he had to get that out of his system. "I have fought alongside and against Kansen and those of the depths in the past. You are no mere 'voice', Princess." A breath. "My seas, though, they are much like seas in other worlds. They have seen the horrors of war, they give us our life's bounty and in the end claim our lives once more." He's looking past Midway now, though her, off into the waves. "I used to be a sand-dweller, but I caught the call of the sea alongside my calling with the axe, and the gift of The Light." He taps his chest a bit, and murmurs. "What silly sailor nonsense are you expecting out of me?" A chuckle. "I could tell you old tales of the waters, of my battles thereupon?" A beat. "My victory over Leviathan himself?"
Midway	"Far too many would-be heroes hear an inhuman voice and believe they will find glory in it," Midway states. The tone of her voice, resonant as it is, seems almost bored with the concept. At last, she moves, striding along the coastal bluff. At a certian point, she produces a canister, lobbing it into the stone. This explodes, blasting out a concave depression in the side of the bluff. Despite her proximity, the Princess simply endures the rock that bursts out. With dust settling, she turns and settles in, reclining in the crater she had created. "If you are familiar with the Kanmusu, then you likely recall that I enter a period of non-aggression during this time of year," Midway states evenly. One of the I-Class milling about on the waves wanders closer, and she picks it up, resting it across her lap as one might a cat, " And so I shall listen. Sailor's tales. Adventures. Superstitions. Curses. Doubtless infamous pirates brought to heel by your Pirate Queen."
N'Raha	N'raha laughs as the tall princess makes herself a seat, and then settles back in himself. The need to boast gone, that suit of armor fades away once more, and Raha sits in his tunic and leggings once more. "Hnnnnffff okay." His good ear twists a bit, flicks around as if the catte is wracking his noggin for a good story here. He settles in. "Not long ago, in your reckoning, likely, I was a but a sea pup. A barely damp speck of fluff and tuff and anger, seeking his fortune. And to test my mettle, I, along with some of my fellow Warriors of Light, set out to roust a band of sea-worshippers from a nearby cavern. They, along with the Sauhaugin, decided what they really needed to do was conjure up Old Ones from beneath the waves, to crash against the walls of Limsa Lominsa, the great city to the east you likely saw on your way in."
Midway	Midway's eyes close as she reclines there amidst the rubble of her own creation, a placid face behind a fence of thorns. The destroyer resting in her lap is stroked with surprising gentleness given the fierce reputation she holds. Period of non-aggression, indeed. "Cultists, then," she states after a moment, "Who view the city as an obstacle. These Sauhagin must be the fish-people I encountered on my way here." Eyes open, just narrow slits nearly boiling over with crimson for just a moment, "An annoyance which soon learned to avoid me." Her gaze lifts to the sea, and the other destroyers who play in the waves like iron seals, getting dashed against the rocks but seeming to enjoy it rather than be in distress from it like a normal ship would. "Continue."
N'Raha	The catman smiles, and thinks back to the heady days of... chasing pirates. Though as he does so, and he starts talking, it's like Midway... can clearly see the memories of that day. A rag-tag bunch of Multiversals have joined members of the Scions, including one very very green little sand catte, getting his feet as a Maurauder. A smaller band of adventurers, failed in their attempt to handle the pirates and cultists, a healer, a soldier, an archer and a mage, all bickering at each other. N'Raha, howling taunts as he busts through a door into a large tavern. "YER COUERL IS DEAD AND YER CAPTAIN'S TURNED TAIL AND FLED, BOYOS. I GOT FIFTEEN OF THE HARDEST ARSEHOLES I EVER MET AND THEY'RE ALL COMING TO KILL THE LOT OF YOU, IF YOU DON'T CLEAR OUT AND TELL US WHERE THE CAPTAIN WENT." The captain's dead corpse and the massive fish man over the top of it. N'raha and several other multiversals putting the Fishman in the dirt. And the now empty pirate ship in the back of the cavern. And then the story fades away, as Raha smiles. "And that's how I got my very first commission. No one else wanted to handle that ship, so... they all voluntold me for captaincy of the ship. The No-Name." At some point, Raha fished out some of his beverages, and... as it turns out, was hiding some high octane kerosene-cola in the bottom of that big old bucket. He DID come prepared. That bottle is offered up to Midway.
Midway	Something's a little Off about the vision shared by the Echo, when it touches the mind of the Princess of Progress. Throughout the entire memory, dull explosions ring, interrupted by cracks and thumps, all soft and muffled as if in the far distance. As the shared memory proceeds deeper through the warren of the Seagrot, the familiar, nostalgic color palette starts shifting. By the time the Orcatooth collapses; the memory is shot through with unmistakable crimson. Returning to reality, Midway's head has swivelled fully towards N'Raha, those eyes wide-- perfectly round circles of bright, burning red. The Echo still carries that sound of distant warfare. Growing suddenly, impossibly closer. The buzzing rumble of aircraft engines. The rattle of machine guns. Voices shouting orders over the chaos, muffled and indistinct. The rhythmic thuum-thuum-thuum of autocannons. The world-splitting bursts of naval artillery. The scent of gunpowder and the heat of flame. Screaming. In pain or anger, it's impossible to tell. The nature of War suddenly clicks off, as if from a switch. Midway's expression returns to normal just as abruptly. She reclines back into her seat, reaching out to accept the strangely bottled concoction. There is no cap-remover. She unseats the cap with the metal talon covering her thumb. "A curious ability," is the only remark she makes on it.
N'Raha	And as the Echo of an Echo takes place, Raha's eyes flicker a bit. He can taste the gunsmoke, the powder in the air. Steel and sky sing for blood, sing for death, sing for the end of all things. And as the vision fades, Midway if she's looking at the little mortal, will see a reflection of that warcraft, that terror, that death and blood and war, in the body of the miqo'te. That tail of his is bottle brushed out, his ears pinned to his head, as best they can be.. and he's clenching his beer. And then it's gone, and Raha sighs. "....Aye, I've been in that place too. Among the wreckage out there to see, in the trenches with my fellow men against the Garleans." A pull of his beer. "Where we Eorzeans come with magic and word, the Empire... cannot. So they come by fire, by steel, by machine, to make up for the fact that they do not have the spark of Magic."
Midway	The Princess makes a dismissive gesture with her free hand, "In this instance, not out of malice. As I explained: I am War. Those who enter my mind bear witness to it firsthand, whether that is the intention or not." "It is natural for technology to advance. While not a force, merely a concept, it is a concept which ever seeks improvement. Enhancement. Furtherence. Even this--" She reaches out, indicating the sailing ship departing from Aleport with all hands, "--will eventually be refined. Replaced. Upgraded. As sails give way to boilers, turbines, and engines. The beauty land-dwellers see in such vessels will evolve; from handsome square-rigged sails and rigging to the sleek lines of steel and glass." "Whether there is 'Magic' or not, progress marches forward ceaselessly. I wonder how soon your people will reach the point in which they are the technological invaders of another 'primitive' country." Her head turns slightly, "Or has that perhaps already happened? This cycle of warfare could be broken, but rarely is."
N'Raha	"Oh that's already happening." N'raha points up at the sky, as an airship floats lazily past, heavy with cargo and goods, a pair of little escort craft swooping in slow scout patterns around it. "The Garleans have pushed us to modernize, whether we like it or not. They came and took our ores, our aether, our lives, our blood." A shrug. "We have stolen their technology and are making it our own. It is a cycle that has come and gone." A wave. "We are not the first of our civilizations that have come, crested the peak and have fallen into the dustbin. That have risen up, grasped the godhead, and fallen." Raha's carefree demeanor has faded, as he looks out across the waves. "Allag. Mhach. Skalla. Gelmorra. Nym. Amdapor." A sigh. "All have crested the top of the waves and sunk back below." "'Til The Sea Swallows All.'"
Midway	"I had assumed such craft were a local invention," the Princess remarks, "Given the vastly different designs smashed upon the seafloor to the south. It is very different." She doesn't look up during this appraisal, but the faint tingle in the air suggests she's viewing it a different way. "They came to take," Her gaze shifts sidelong, "And you broke their advance, in your own words." Midway's posture shifts, one leg raising to fold across the other, black shoes just above the spray of the waves. "The cycle spins ever on, as waves crash upon the shore." Her eyes close, "Until sea swallows all, indeed."
N'Raha	"You can ask Cid and Nero how they all work, me, I'm just content to know they can stay up in the air and come back down in one piece and get me places." Raha snorts and sighs. He falls backwards in the dirt and scrubgrass, and looks up at the sky as well. "...there's an aetherial sea, beyond our star. You can see it when you look up at the Firmament, up beyond the night's sky." A hand reaches up. "...I've been out there. Floated through it. Seen the other worlds beyond our own. Touched them. One day I'll visit them. And then I'll have really travelled. Not just... not just through the warp gates. Not just..." A look of longing. Some might use the term 'adventurer' as an epithet for 'mercenary' or 'assassin'. But the longing in the Miqo'te's eyes to see truly new frontiers... it is plain as the sun that's falling below the horizon.
Midway	The Princess remains silent for a time, presumably ruminating on Raha's adventurous wanderlust. After a few quiet moments, she lets out a thoughtful 'mm' sort of sound and leans forward in the process of standing up. The I-Class in her lap is uncerimoniously dropped into the sea where it wriggles around until it's rightside-up. "Wanderlust. You travel not for gold or glory, but just to see what is over the horizon," Raising her arms, she folds them while staring out at the sunset, "Few could claim to hold a conversation with an Abyssal princess who were not inclined to experience new things. You are likely well aware that my very existence is anathema to humanity, after all. No doubt your instincts as a warrior have been demanding you address this. Your restraint is commendable." Her head turns slightly, showing just one glowing crimson eye, "And wise." Midway returns her attention to the sea and begins walking, stepping over the waves as easily as one would a gentle meadow, "Should you wish to see the bottom of the sea, you need only Sink. Until next time, Warrior of Light."