Characters:RavenLogs/AA Arrival
[Logger note: we are on just-in-time time, so Marius and Raven will be arriving in Amber during the Big Family Meeting.]
It takes two days and about five rounds of shifting before Raven sees something she'd wondered whether she'd ever see again: the Cabra light, which was the sailor's gateway to Amber. A ragged cheer goes up from the crew when it comes into sight, and sailors go belowdecks to rouse their companions to tell them that at long last, home is near.
As they sail up the coast, the castle eventually comes into view by spyglass. Raven can see that one of the towers has collapsed and been partially rebuilt. The approach to the city shows the same: parts that have burnt down with only some of the destroyed buildings reconstructed, and not always in the same style or according to plan. The balance and grace of the city are diminished; where once she floated above the harbor, now she limps.
The harbor is desolate compared to the old days. Many of the berths have been destroyed and even so, too few ships to fill them are at anchor. The flags of the old Golden Circle treaty shadows are gone, instead replaced by some Amber banners, a similar unicorn banner in red, and another with a unicorn and a fleur-de-lys that Raven doesn't recognize.
When they come ashore, the Harbormaster is deferential to Marius, calling him Captain and putting sailors and officials at his disposal. A carriage is found to take him and Raven and Thalia up to the castle. Raven's sailors are allowed the freedom of the city while the Navy inspects and repairs her ship. It's clear the Harbormaster and the Navy have uses for it.
Prince Caine is acting as Regent; Marius clearly means to see him at once.
Other than making sure that anything portable that the Navy might consider contraband is quietly smuggled off the ship as sailors leave - something she leaves in the capable hands of her first mate with a few words below-decks and well away from anyone that hasn't been on board for at least six months - Raven and the Vale's papers are ready to go.
If it hadn't been clear to Raven that Marius was a royal before, the way he's treated on their arrival at the castle makes it clear he is one. He sends pages looking for several people Raven's never heard of--some men and some women--and there's something about knights as well. His orders are given rapid-fire as they follow members of the royal guard up to the office Caine has commandeered, Caine's office is guarded by midshipmen; Northern Fleet is Raven's guess. On Marius' greeting, they open the door for Marius and his companions.
Caine is seated at his desk, his mind clearly on a card that he's holding. Marius seems to know what he's up to, because he says, "Tell whoever it is you'll talk to them later, Admiral. I've a story to tell you now. And--" he turns to the guards "--we need to put Lady Thalia under house arrest for aiding Huon of the Horn in an assault on Rebma. Captain Raven will stand witness to the perfidy of Gateway."
Marius has Caine's attention now.
The guards move to take Thalia into custody.
Raven salutes the Admiral sharply and then waits to be addressed, although she does shoot Marius a brief and faintly irritated look when he mentions her name. There is not, in her opinion, much she can do about Thalia getting arrested; this isn't her ship, she isn't even passably in charge, and she can't help but suspect that Thalia had to know this was coming - after all, she could have left at any point after they made port.
Besides, the best way she can come up with to clarify her position on Gateway and on Thalia involved maybe implying that Marius was either lying or deluded - which she suspects the Admiral will not appreciate... and she has no proof either way regarding the Thalia-Huon thing anyway, just a general trend of conversation. So she waits, silently.
"Have the Lady kept under guard in the guest wing," Caine orders. "I'll be in to speak with you later, madam," he says as Thalia is escorted out. Then he turns to Marius. "There's a meeting in Paris. You can tell me what you need to later; tell them first." He looks at the card again and holds out his hand to Marius.
Marius takes Caine's hand and then something happens. It's like he steps forward, but then he vanishes. There's something like a rainbow left for a moment in his wake, but then it, too is gone.
"And have someone bring up dinner for the Captain," Caine calls after the departing midshipmen. Once the door closes behind them, Caine turns back to Raven. "Sit down, Captain, and let's hear your report."
"Aye, sir." Raven sets the pile of papers and the Vale's logbook down on Caine's desk where he can choose to look at it or not and takes a seat. "Forgive me if I get protocol all wrong, sir," she starts. "I got field-promoted, and this is the first time I've had to report in as a captain to anyone." "
Caine doesn't even look up from the papers. "I'm sure you'll do fine, Captain. Carry on."
I was bosun when we left Amber last - that was right after King Eric died, sir, and while we were out on tour, we heard that King Oberon had come back.
"The ship what passed that news was the last one with a familiar flag for a long time. This bastard son of a - " Raven stops in the middle of the curse and clears her throat. "This storm came up, sir. Ain't seen one like it before or since, and I'd rather not see one like it again. I missed the first part of it, on account of being bunked down for the night and it not being that bad, but by the time they got me up, we had a sea that boiled a man alive. And then there were silver skies and rain that nearly drowned us on deck and I don't know what else. It turned into a hurricane by the time it spit us out again, a big one, and we was off every chart we had.
"The captain said we should stay where we ended up, sir, because Amber would surely notice we was missing and someone would come looking. So we stayed there, at least for a while. There were these rifts what kept opening up around us, that seemed to lead to other places, and it weren't the best place to keep our supplies up, but those were the captain's orders. And then something started happening to the officers, sir - we still don't know exactly what it was. The only thing we could figure, later, was that they were all sharing something, some food or something, that was making them sick... and then they started dying. It weren't much more than two days before the captain was the only one left, and he put me in charge on his deathbed.
"After we threw out all the special foods and drinks on board, just to be sure it weren't going to get the rest of us, and buried the captain proper-like, with the rest, I decided I wasn't too keen on staying there. So we took a chance and went through the first rift what looked like someplace we knew. It wasn't, but... that's what we've been doing since then. Half the places we been sound mad, sir, and the rest sound like talk better saved for after a few rounds of drinks. It's all true, though, and it's all in the logs.
"Then, two days ago, we got hit by a tsunami. When we went to find out what that was - we'd been doing that, you see, sir, because sometimes, the disaster was another rift instead of just what it looked like - we started finding these bodies. Some of them were Rebmans, sir, and some of them weren't. Not sure what they were." Raven frowns, and then reaches into the pocket of her coat and produces one of the pouches they'd taken off the dead men. She sets that on the desk too. "Those were carrying these, sir, and we couldn't make heads or tails out of what's inside. They had these horns full of powder, too, and were covered in tattoos. Some of them - both types, the Rebmans and the not - looked like they'd died in battle, and some of them looked like they'd been under something what fell. Stern - one of the crew, sir - said it looked like some of them had been killed by Tritons, too.
"And then we found Gateway after that." She scowls. "I don't much like their way of hosting visiting ships these days, sir. They let me and a couple of men come ashore all right, and then the harbormaster had his men jump us when we got to his office. Said something about there being questions for Amber ships. Sent my men off to the gaol, and me off to a fancy little cell - that's where I met up with..." She hesitates, and finally settles on, "Captain Marius. We escaped, and then ran into the Lady, who helped us get my men out and got us out of the harbor without any questions. We came straight here after that."
Caine nods at appropriate places throughout the telling, tracing log and chart information while listening. "Gateway may need a courtesy call from the Navy, to teach them some courtesy. Tell me more about the Lady. Why did she help you, do you think?"
"She wanted passage to Amber, sir," Raven answers. "And it sounded like she was trying to tell Captain Marius that she ain't too fond of Gateway's choices, and that she had nothing to do with whatever happened to him before I got there, but..." She shrugs. "I don't know the facts of that one way or the other. She came off honest enough."
He looks up from his papers. "We'll judge the facts and the risks, Captain. Sir Marius is, as I have recently been reminded, responsible to the King if he starts a war, but protected by the King if an act of war is committed upon him.
"Not many of the scattered fleet have made it back to port, Captain, and the tales from the few that did are wild. You're not the first to find your way in after meeting a member of the family, and it may be that that is a necessary but not sufficient condition. It takes an extraordinary sailor to bring a ship through that, and the Board should recognize that. I expect the formalities will be just that."
Unless she's badly mistaking him, Caine is suggesting she'll keep her Captaincy.
This is clearly something of a relief to Raven.
"You came in by the harbor, so you've seen the state of the fleet. How soon can you have the Vale ready to sail?"
"We got repairs where we could, sir, and while they ain't what you'd call pretty for the most part, unless something fails inspection, she's good to go now. There's some minor things what could use repair, seeing as how they're being held together with spit and hope - nothing that keeps her from being seaworthy, just... Heh." She smiles slightly and shrugs. "Gives her character, let's say. If anything, I'd say it's the men that'll keep us in port, sir, at least for a few days. It's been too long a trip, and I know I ain't the only one with someone to let know that I'm still alive and kicking."
He nods. "If you've given your men liberty, they already know that Amber's civilian population is being moved to a new city. A number of them will find that their 'someones' are no longer here. Also, don't be surprised if people think you've come back from the dead. Assume your crew will be in even more of a state of shock than you planned for.
Caine puts down the papers. "The king will want to hear your story when you get to Xanadu. You'll tell the harbormaster that I said you needed to speak to his majesty. Requisition what you need from the Naval, including any men you need to round out your crew. It's our interim dockside base of operations. There's a flotilla leaving in two days. I expect the Vale of Garnath to be with it."
"Aye, sir," Raven answers, with a crisp nod. She's not thrilled to be back at sea so soon - but soon or not, orders are orders. She's not quite sure what to make of being told to report to the king, either. "Uh... if I may ask, sir - I got something of what went on while we was lost from Sir Marius, and I saw what the place looked like coming in, but... Is it as bad as all that? Abandoning Amber?"
Caine nods. "You'll hear a phrase as a Captain that you may not have heard on the decks. 'I serve at the pleasure of the King'. It doesn't matter what we think, it matters what we have been ordered to do. I recommend you take a good look at the city over the next few days and then when you arrive in Xanadu, recall the differences. You may make up your own mind."
Raven nods again, slowly this time, her expression thoughtful. "Should we be worrying about getting our kin moved, then, sir, or is that being taken care of?"
"Hmm?" Caine says, looking back at her. "I've no idea. Check with the Admiralty, they're handling ship assignments. I'm sure they can move your family onto the list for your ship, if needed."
Caine reaches down and picks up another paper. "That will be all, Captain."
[OOC: Caine's done, although you can certainly try to re-engage him. :) Please write a summary post of Raven's preparations, although if she has NPCs she wishes to talk to (Mom?, Bloody Bill (or his successor(s)?, etc) we will play those out. If she just wants to get ready to leave, do that. If there's no one to talk to, we can summarize until the appointed time for sailing. The goal, if you don't have plans in Amber, is to get Raven to Xanadu where there are PCs and some more family NPCs.]
[OOC: Heh. Pushing her luck with Marius is one thing; pushing her luck with Caine is quite another. In her opinion, anyway. ;) ]
Raven salutes, with a crisp, "Sir," and takes herself out promptly.
She heads back to the Vale. There, she complies the appropriate lists of what they've need of and how many additional men they could use and sends those off. She makes sure that word makes it through the crew that if they're missing people, they may be in Xanadu, and that they're leaving for there in two days. She checks on the status of the inspection and the contraband removal. In short, she does every task that reasonably needs the captain's attention that day before turning her attention to the one task that she knows she needs to do, but that she doesn't particularly want to do.
2. Homecoming
