The north street of the city of Drowse was lively that day. It was always lively to so degree, carrying most of the traffic that connected the tropolitan area to the large territory of mostly cald wilds around. That day, all of the adventurers that usually would have stread down the road or would have been hanging out in the Guild were watching as two paragon groups stood across from each other.
There was no annoyed glaring any more. Three days had transford the imdiate emotions felt. Hot anger had been replaced with entrenched conviction. This was more true for one side of the divide than the other.
The leader of the Leaf’s largest Guild outpost suppressed a sigh. He had hoped that three days would have caused at least one side to reconsider. A small hope from the start. Monks did not engage in actions without conviction, and the promise of land would have animated at least one mber of the Atlas Party. Both sides stood on principle. Neither could be dealt with by a moral condemnation.
Thus, there was only one thing left to do.
“The Contested Quest begins!” the Guild Master declared loudly.
The people had expected both sides to take off in a sprint – and they were half right. The Atlas Party took the first of many steps across the line that had been drawn in chalk. The Inevitable turned south-east and moved at maximum speed. Aclysia flew, Reysha sprinted, Korith leapt, only Apexus lingered for a mont.
“I wish you safe travels,” the Monk said.
“Likewise,” Atlas responded, respectfully. A second later, he worked out why Apexus had chosen that route. “Don’t you dare die, you son of a dripstone! I need to gloat once this is over.”
“Prepare for my lecture,” Apexus answered in kind, then leapt. The crowd around dispersed, instinctively taking a respectful distance to the intense beats of the erald wings. Dense muscles were necessary to create the kind of lift that let a heavy entity like the humanoid chira take to and stay in the air.
Once he had gained the initial elevation, the flight went smoother. The soaring feathers did most of the work, keeping Apexus from losing more height than the occasional beat could recover. His tail served to shift his weight, to make mild adjustnts as he caught up with the others, then went ahead of them.
Apexus was not strictly the fastest of them. That honour went to Reysha. Whereas the tiger woman was fighting terrain and stamina for her montum, the humanoid chira rely had to lean into gravity to continue moving forwards. Flaps of his wings further accelerated him beyond that point.
The port that the supply ships left from was located by the mouth of the river east of the Worldstem. On foot and at regular speed, it was a day’s journey. If they moved as fast as their superhuman bodies allowed them to, then they should be able to make it in just a few hours.
Apexus arrived well-ahead of his party mbers. Despite having been told of their arrival, the sailors went for their weapons when Apexus suddenly landed on the pier. For all of his size and montum, the Monk ca to a gentle halt. A Featherstep made him near weightless for just the brief instant needed to stop. A trick that had cost him many crashes to figure out.
“I am the leader of the Inevitable party,” he announced himself to the sailors. “By decree of Lady Frashina, I am authorized to command you to begin preparations to set sail.”
Apexus was not used to ordering other people around, yet it ca naturally to him. The deep voice, imposing stature, and granted permission intermingled into concise instructions that the sailors followed as soon as their brains had caught up with the asure.
After barking clarifying orders, the captain of the barge approached Apexus. “The rest of your party underway?” he asked.
“They should arrive within the hour,” Apexus answered. Reysha was likely to get there next, while Korith had been instructed to hang back so Aclysia did not travel on her own. The chance that their healer was assailed by so kind of flying monster from Chirion was bigger than 0.
The captain clicked his tongue. “Better they ca earlier. Tide will be coming in. We’ll have to row until we catch a good breeze.”
“Then we row,” Apexus stated.
By the ti all three of his companions had arrived, the ship was ready for departure. It was larger than the one they had spent days on back on Tacuitos, more spacious with a larger crew. That ant they also had to work harder to get it away from shore.
The sailors were annoyed that they were made to row. It was hard work, usually reserved for ergencies. That they had to do it after being delayed in their mission added a sour note to a bitter taste.
Any grumbles were silenced when they witnessed the adventurers pull their weight thrice over. Korith and Apexus each took a bench usually reserved for three n and dragged the oars through the water to the rhythm of the drumr. Previous experiences on the matter aided them.
The cold of late autumn had seeped into the water of the ocean. The sa water pulled the heat from the hull and the rooms within. The sa water leaked in cold waves through the holes of the oars. n shivered despite the heavy work.
Aclysia raised the Scripture from its special holster on her waist. A single hand held the book by its spine. A thought parted the hard covers, causing the blessed paper to whisper. Empty pages turned, a Scripture to be filled with the Blessings of a Preacher. The flutter stopped on the first page, where golden letters rose brightly from the snow-white parchnt.
Like artists with their chosen instrunts, so too was casting with tools accompanied by individual habits. So it was that Aclysia’s angelic voice filled the barge, divine script channelled into syllables of power. Golden letters rose from the page, images of the calligraphy filled with the esoteric and magical power of the tool and the spellcaster.
As Aclysia sang, a golden glow enveloped sailors and party mbers. A corona of light like that of the sumr sun embraced each of them and brought to them the warmth of the desired days. Relief from the cold was near instant, the Blessing of Warmth filling them with fresh energy and motivation. With that boon, they pushed out against the tide and soon got word that the sails were full with an eastward wind.
Afterwards, the party finally got a mont to relax.
By Frashina’s decree, they had been given quarters that were usually kept for travelling noblen aboard the ship. They had a degree of luxury, but not much. Nobles liked to live well, but the rulers of the Sleeping Empire were not so decadent as to compromise the sleeping quarters of the sailors to make their own larger.
“That was pretty neat,” Reysha comnted. The redhead was the least exhausted of the four, courtesy of not having aided in the rowing. Apexus was recovering biomass by stuffing a whole chicken, feathers and all, down his throat. They had bought it just that morning in anticipation of the trip. Korith and Aclysia were happy to just lay on the bed for a bit. It was big enough for the two of them, but not much else.
The comnt by the redhead spurred the guardian angel into motion. She sat up, back against the wall, and opened the Scripture. The golden letter had ever so subtly faded. “It has its own price in material,” she inford the others. “Each Blessing is drawn in magical ink and such magic is partly used up with each usage. I will have to redraw the script in due ti.”
“An acceptable price to pay for access to long-lasting spells,” Reysha reckoned.
“Their duration is key, but far from the sole advantage,” Aclysia answered, gently brushing over the fine paper. “To commit a spell to paper is much simpler than to learn how to cast it myself and by externalizing so of the mana cost I can avoid strain on my own resources. The greatest advantage, however, is that Blessings cannot be learned no matter how hard I try.”
“You can’t learn Blessings, period?” Korith asked.
Aclysia gave a confirming, slow nod. “A caveat introduced is that there is a Common Art that subverts this expectation for Witches and Preachers alike.”
“Wonder what the Class on our cards will say in the future,” Reysha thought aloud. “We’re pretty solidly getting out of the standard mould these days.”
“I suspect you will find out upon our return,” Apexus said. His own card still said Omniverse Sli Chira, which he did not anticipate changing anyti soon. He was a trained Monk, but that was a fighting style layered on top of his reliance on his unique body.
They spent the next two days onboard the ship, before making landfall in the township that had been carved out of the hostile territory of the Lanaan Hives Influence Zone. Like most colonies, it had plenty of raw materials to work with, but not enough food to get the whole population through the winter. Hosteads had not yet grown enough for the task.
The majority of the delivered supplies were thus food and other items needed to endure cold temperatures. Apexus would have taken a greater interest usually, but they had their own journey to go on.
“Before I forget!” the captain shouted after the Inevitable Party, just as they were setting out. “Her ladyship ordered to give you this.” He handed Apexus a map of the local area. “She kindly requests that you check on these places, if it works for you. They’re early attempts to build more settlents.”
Apexus traced the locations with his eyes, then handed it to Aclysia for deeper analysis. “I believe we will naturally co through several of these locations,” the guardian angel stated. “We cannot promise more.”
The captain shrugged and turned away, he had done his part in all of this.
The party turned eastwards again and took their first step into the Lanaan Gauntlet.
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