Traveler

When she first arrived, the guards looked piteously to her with her soaked clothes still tinged redder than before. The smell of salt was strong, even though the ocean was just around the corner.

She walked down the ramps to where she last found the Shipwright Master. He was scanning the parcels of cargo when she arrived, dropping the three boxes in front of him. She wiped the sweat off her brow and placed both her hands on her hips. “Your shipwright Fyrilsmyd is safe—he went back on his own. This is the delivery you were waiting on.” She explained quickly, hoping he would take it for what it was and not ask her for the gory details.

Ahtbyrm nodded with some noted comfort. “Good, I’m glad to know the lad is alright. What caused his delay?”

Azlyn frowned. “A terrible squall wrecked the ship they were on. Many of the people on the ship were lucky to survive the wreck.” She recalled the tale the young lad told her.

The Foreman crossed his arms, looking over to the unfinished ship in the drydocks and the dark clouds forming once again in the distance. He frowned as well. “I don’t think these recent storms are natural in making. These ships sinking one after the other—it’s as if something orchestrated it.”

The girl thought back to the Qiqirn camp, where she overheard them talking about the storms. She thought it was weird that they mentioned the Sahagin before. “The Qiqirn beachcombers were talking about the Sahagins being upset. Could that be why?”

Ahtbyrm looked at her with widened eyes. “Aye, those fishbacks have been messing with things beyond them such as this storm phenomena, and it’ll only get worse. Wait--” The thought of even standing there in front of him seemed like a strange notion as he said. “You talked with those beasts?! They kill all who approach their side of the coast. How are you still here?”

Azlyn sneezed into her hands suddenly. She merely sniffed as she stated. “Love to tell you about my negotiations, however I was traveling through the thick of the storm sleet. Could you spare me a room and bath?”

He was blown away by her nonchalance. His face contorted from confusion, to deep thought, until finally he laughed. He then hollered over to one of the guards of the Maelstrom. A young miqo’te officer ran over, her face alit with determination. She saluted the foreman.

“Officer, could you assist our adventurer in finding suitable stables for the night. She’s done us quite the favor.” He smiled, and she was released to the officer of the Maelstrom. It didn’t take long before they hit it off, talking about things of recent fashions and cool accessories being sold by a local merchant. It wasn’t long before Azlyn found herself a nice spot to clean up and was able to share a bunk space with the same officer she was acquainted with previously.

“So K’ryleah, where can I acquire some more clothes?” After her bath, Azlyn had wrapped herself in a robe, and walked out with her incredibly dirtied traveling clothes. There would be no way she could wear those without some strange looks.

The Miqo’te with pink hair tapped her cheek in thought. “Hrmm, well if you have some gold we could get you some clothing for the traveling merchant. He’s out in the yard there.” She brought Azlyn over to the window to point out the guy.

Nodding, she threw her clothes into the closest trash bin and was about to walk out. K’ryleah immediately went to stop her. “You’re not going out in a bathrobe. Let me get it. Stay here.” She collected a fair amount of gold from her, and she rushed out to the merchant below. Azlyn watched from above as the Miqo’te looked through the options.

Azlyn opened the window to lean out. Luckily the weather had stopped its rainy streak.

“That set looks good!” Azlyn yelled out, startling some of the guards walking below. K’ryleah gave her a thumbs up as she purchased a whole travelers’ set of clothes, belts, boots, and jewelry for her. Which ate at her coin purse a bit, but with all her recent work, she was doing better.

The merchant waved up to her after K’ryleah seemed to explain the situation to him. Then the girl ran back to the building and straight to the room.

“One full set! Lucky for you I get discounts from him!” She scratched under her nose with a sly grin.

Azlyn smiled. “Thank you. You saved what little of my dignity remains.” She took the outfit into the walk-in closet and changed in front of the mirror. It was different from her previous look.

A high collared armor chest piece that had a built-in scarf at the collarbone, her shoulders had shoulder pans that cupped over into short sleeves. She had one arm band that sat even on her bicep, and her wrist guards went up toward the elbow, stopping just short of that length. It was also plated in the same armor as the chest piece. The bottom half was a full-length skirt that only spanned the back, leaving the front open. Her pants were tucked into armored thigh high boots. There was a fabric belt that crossed the front of her waist and hung a long piece of fabric in front.

She did a simple circle and nodded. The only thing that seemed off was the small clip-in tiara that was in the set. Azlyn carried it out with her. “Why is there a tiara?”

K’ryleah smiled wide, bouncing over to pluck it from her hands. “It’s for you to wear with honor, silly!” She placed it into her hair with ease, since she was slightly smaller than her. “Our princess has to be presentable, and the armor won’t stain as easy comparatively to fabric. This set should last you some time—and better protection.” She tapped the armor against her knuckles, the sound echoed in the room.

Groaning, Azlyn dropped her head. “I should have known.”

K’ryleah nodded, looking her up from head to toe. “You’re perfect! Just imagine the looks of those pirate scumbags—our beautiful princess of the sea, bloody from her swooping arcs of her majestic axe.” She clasped her hands in a mock prayer. “I can’t wait to see you in action!”

“Should we get dinner then since we’re presentable?” Azlyn gave up, knowing that fighting it would only make it stick more. Maybe if she pretended it wasn’t there, the title would disappear like seafoam on a sunny morning.

The Miqo’te nodded, grabbing her own things. She was still dressed in her uniform, despite the fact she was off duty. Azlyn hazarded a guess that she had pride in the uniform she wore for work.

“I know this great place to eat, sometimes our squadron goes over after our shift. The owner always has a place set up for us.” She grinned as they walked down the steps of her temporary home into the Drydocks. Many of the repairmen and shipwrights were still working, even in the hazardous stormy conditions.

Their meals were prepared and set in front of them before too long, as the late afternoon rolled into evening time. K’ryleah was informing her of all the latest gossip when another uniformed officer approached the table. Azlyn was in mid-bite of her loaf of bread when K’ryleah shot up from her seat to saluted to the woman.

K’ryleah then turned to Azlyn. “Azlyn, this is the head of the water Grimthota. Captain, this is Azlyn, the bloody princess of the sea!” She couldn’t stop her excitement as her ears perked up.

Azlyn wiped her hands with her napkin. She rose up from her chair with a light smile on her face. “Azlyn, it’s wonderful to meet you.” She extended a hand out for the older Roegabyn woman to shake. When formalities had been passed between them, Grimthota joined them at their table. She ordered a small plate of food before jumping into the thick of it.

“Ahtbyrm has recommended you assist the watch—and I can see why he did. We’ve been having a bit of difficulty with some strangers taking residence in the God’s Grip region. Would you be willing to help? If rumors are true, this should hold no trouble for you. From aurochs to Qiqirn beachcombers—your triumphs had travelled quite a way.” Grimthota acknowledged her notoriety with a raise of her glass and drank the water shortly after. She was still on the clock, thus why she had no alcohol.

Azlyn smiled, returning to her sandwich. “Let’s get to the topic at hand—you said some strangers have taken residence nearby?”

K’ryleah frowned, she also knew of this intel. “Oh yes, the captain believes it to be pirates planning to wreak some havoc here.”

Grimthota nodded. “Well recent intel has confirmed this to be true; and I want Azlyn to infiltrate their ranks to bring it to light. Of course, we’d be willing to pay for your services.”

Azlyn pondered over this, before shaking her head. “How about you giving me access to the Aetheryte Crystal to come to and from? I’ll gladly take that as payment.”

The two officers looked between each other. Moraby Drydocks had a strict rule about not letting adventurers use the Aetheryte Crystal since it was the repair docks for their fleets military ships. Grimthota however seemed unaffected by the request. “That should be fine, we’ll charter an agreement and write your name in the books for future use. Does this mean we have a deal?”

The Au Ra nodded, smiling over her drink.

They gave her all the necessary intel she needed, and then prepared for her to change into a simpler outfit tomorrow for her infiltration mission. To find the pirates, she’d need to look and potentially act like one.

The evening dinner ended with Grimthota reminding the two girls about the early morning mission and leaving thereafter. K’ryleah and Azlyn slowly walked back to the station and had an impromptu sleepover night. They talked about their previous school days, and how they wound up where they were today. Overall, it was a fun and eventful day.

Morning came, and K’ryleah had a bit of difficulty getting up. Azlyn found a prepared bag of clothes for her, a simple tunic and breeches, simple tan boots, and an eye patch for good measure. Azlyn chuckled at the cliché, and opted to wrap a bandana around her head, covering up her white and black curled hair up. She nodded at her different look before she finally woke her new friend. K’ryleah changed into her uniform, walking her out and to the designated spot for Grimthota to give her the rest of the directives.

The Roegabyn had been waiting patiently, as they ran up to her from the ramp. She sighed—but handed Azlyn a slip of parchment. “This is our written writ for permission to use the Aetheryte whenever you need to.”

Azlyn tucked that away into her satchel so that she wouldn’t lose it.

“Go to the rear gate and talk to C’nangho. K’ryleah, you’ll have to report to your station at the north gate.”

Azlyn bid her goodbyes to the two and prepared for her first espionage trip in a while. The last time she had to do something like this it was close to Carteneau because they refused to let anyone other than an officer of the Eorzean Alliance within the boundaries.

That didn’t stop her though, when she stole a uniform and confidently strode in with a small smile. It took a bit of luck and timing, but there were ways.

This time would be a bit different though, as she could potentially wind herself up in a dangerous encounter. She’d have to be careful. She walked slowly through the town, blending in with the morning groups of repairmen and former pirates. When she arrived at the rear gate, she asked for her contact, and was granted an audience with him.

He looked down at her with a quirked eye. “I’d been told someone would be along—but I didn’t think it’d be someone so small.”

Azlyn smiled. “Makes it hard to find me sometimes.”

C’nangho nodded, “Well, you’re in for a treat. The place you’re looking for is going to be southeast—close to an ancient stone called, ‘the mark of the Spinner’. You find that, you find the camp. And be sure not to get yourself killed.”

She gave her best salute, and the man shook his head at her attempt. “If you’re going to salute, be committed.” He replied but smiled at her regardless. “Be safe out there.”

The Au Ra walked the path as directed, keeping a close eye on the path for that ancient stone the guard had talked about. She must have travelled up several large overarching cliffs to the southeast before she came across something remotely resembling the stone at the bottom of the cliffside.

She slowed her walking pace. She scanned the lower levels, trying to pick up any signs of camps in the area.

“There it is.” Azlyn spoke aloud, lifting her hands up to block the sun’s glow as it rose up. She put on her eyepatch, making sure her ears and hair were covered. Only her bangs were visible, and she hoped this would prevent those pirates from thinking she was not who she said she was.

After all, she hadn’t seen any other Auri in the region. That’s probably why this title wouldn’t leave her alone, since they probably started to describe her different ears and white scales in the description. It wouldn’t be long before she’d just have to accept it for what it was. She was reluctant to do that though.

As she made her way down the steep mountainous cliffs, she walked past the stone and up to the campsite where three to four individuals were resting around a campfire. Azlyn walked straight to them, raising a hand in greeting. “Good morrow friends.”

The larger fellow was dressed in navy blues, drinking a pint of ale before turning to look at her. “I’m givin’ ye to the count o’ nine to step back on that path, and carry yer ‘venturin’ arse back down to whatever rock it is ye crawled out from under.”

Azlyn tilted her head in confusion. Hoping that it might buy her some time. It did.

“Ye see, I’s ‘ad it up to me ears with yer type, roamin’ the ‘ills like they was yers to roam. It’s gettin’ to be that a man cannae enjoy a mug o’ rum wivout some shite-breath outlander runnin’ up askin’ which is the way to the local levemete. Seven ‘ells if I know ‘em! I’m a bloody goddamn pirate!”

She shrugged as if that wasn’t her problem. She smirked. “Not meh fault ye chose an easy place mate.” She did her best to copy the native tongue she heard from over dozens of people in Limsa. “Ain’t an ‘venturin’ type meself—just killin’ time. Saw a bunch a sods off the cliff an’ thought, ‘what the ‘ell?’. Now yer bloody accusin’ meh o’ being a shite-breathin’ venture’. The ‘orror.” She spat to the side for good measure.

The man who confronted her seemed taken back by her mannerism but turned back to his rum.

The other two pirates approached her sides cautiously. She wasn’t hiding the axe on her back. 

“Once we get our lad, we’re out. We’re not lookin’ fer some fresh off the beach recruit. Now scat.” He waved her off with a wave of his hand. She shrugged.

“So’s be it. Yer missin’ out on a great fella ta work with.

He spat in her direction.

Azlyn left them to their camp, striding past the two without missing a beat. She was waiting for them to make the jump on her, but they didn’t. She walked all the way up the cliff, and made sure to check behind her. She didn’t want them to be following her back to Moraby Drydocks.

Her report went by flawlessly to Grimthota, who decided to increase the security after the docks—but she was concerned about the lad the pirates on the cliff were waiting for. “Wish we had a bit more information on him.”

Azlyn nodded. “They weren’t too keen on my presence. They were on edge.”

Grimthota grimaced. “I fear the Victory might be what they’re trying to get at. Well I won’t let Limsa’s hard work go to shite because of some washed up pirates. Azlyn, if you could find this mysterious pirate lad, and stop them from setting their plans into motion, we’d be grateful.”

She replied, “Already on it.”  First, she wanted to change into her other clothes. She felt a bit unprotected dressed as a pirate. When she was finished changing, she started to ask around the drydocks for any suspicious people asking weird questions or were in strange places without permission. It took her a good portion of the day, but she was directed to the top of a wall. There was a person standing at the top looking down.

The guard known as Urswyrst said with a sure voice. “We don’t station many on that ridge—due to the massive number of jackal wolves at the Empty Heart. I thought it was kind of odd, so when you mentioned it, I immediately thought of that guy. He’s still there.”

Azlyn rushed out from Moraby Drydocks, following the cliff path up the incline of the hill, to see the ridge had been littered with wolves. She stealthily moved across the ridge, her axe in hand in case one smelled her. There were two that spotted her, just before she got to the landing on the white stoned wall that overlooked the port. She hastily took care of the wolves before finally arriving at the destination. A lad dressed in similar pirate gear to the ones of that morning turned to face her—his expression was surprised at her arrival.

“Bah—spotted me did ye? Well, yer too late—what’s to ‘appen is already ‘appenin’.” He rushed off, but that one sentence sent a horrid chill down her spine. She chased down the cliffside, jumping down some of the rocks to avoid the wolves, and tried her best not to lose her footing. She still had a bit of a drop if she did slip.

She rushed to Moraby, her lungs felt practically on fire as she didn’t even wait for the gates to rise. The guards noticed her frenzied rush, her axe already in hand as she went over to the drydocks. There happened to be several guards rushing out from the shipyard screaming for help.

Azlyn ran past them, seeing Grimthota running along the other walkway. They joined up at the junction just before the shipyard. Azlyn hastily yelled. “They’re already here—the shipyard’s in trouble.”

They both started to sprint down the steps, Azlyn jumped off from the fifth step and felt the jolt in her knees. She continued to push herself. She could hear a skirmish ahead of her and the Storm Captain.

As they got closer, Grimthota grabbed a wounded guard by his uniform to help him up. Azlyn took this moment to rest before jumping in. “Report soldier, what’s happened!”

The soldier seemed dazed, holding his side that had been stabbed. “Pirates—came out of nowhere. They had—explosives with them.”

Grimthota snapped her head to Azlyn, “There’s no time to lose—I will take the wounded to safety—you need to stop those pirates from causing anymore damage! On the double!”

Azlyn nodded, sprinting in the direction of the fighting. Now she was a bit concerned. Explosives? They must have been trying to destroy the new ship that hadn’t been fully completed yet. That would seem like the plausible answer.

She turned around one of the buildings, where two pirates were guarding a gate. Azlyn branished her axe, and engaged all of them to battle. The fighting between them didn’t last long as her axe cleaved through both of their weapons and deep into their chests. She didn’t bother waiting to check if they were alive or not and continued to rush to the shipyard.

Several minutes later and a plethora of grievous injured or potentially dead pirates on the ground, she found the same pirate from the cliffs laughing at an exhausted Ahtbyrm who had been tied by some ropes on the ground.

“Gahahaha! Never reckoned it’d be this easy! Still don’t trust those slimy bastards, but their plan worked like a charm!”

Ahtbyrm grimaced, yelling at him. “Da! What are you doing, you great bloody fool!?”

The pirate narrowed his eyes at him. “Shut yer trap boy. This’ll all be over soon. All that’s left now is to blow this ugly pile o’ driftwood into splinters!”

Ahtbyrm continued to yell. Azlyn made her approach slowly as he said, “Why would you do such a thing? Have you any idea how important this ship is? What it represents?”

Azlyn lifted her axe, pointing it to his back, but didn’t say anything. She wanted to hear what this pirate had to say. She narrowed her eyes as well.

“Aye!” He yelled, “And that’s why it’ll make it so much sweeter! Whatever it takes to knock some sense into me treacherous, backstabbin’ son!”

This was the time she interceded the conversation. She coldly called out. “Hey old man, you’re the one with no sense.” She waited for him to react to her presence. The recognition on his face grew as he remembered her face from that morning. He put two and two together.

“Hey—yer that scrappy la—”

“Sod off.” She interrupted, swinging her axe. She was fully dressed in her armor before, the tiara sparkling in the lights from the port. “Don’t you see, the pirates had their glory days, but that era is over. Get over yourself and quit antagonizing people who want to improve their lot in life.”

The pirate started to growl, even when the Storm Captain had brought over a few of her platoon with her. She exclaimed. “I wondered why Ahtbyrm never spoke of his father. I never would have thought it was you Ahtzapfyn.”

Ahytbyrm resisted against the ropes that tied him down. “Da, you have to stop this! You don’t know what you’re doing!”

The Pirate identified as Ahtzapfyn shook his head. He looked at all of them surrounding him. He didn’t break a sweat even as he stated. “The ship’s a symbol alright—of everything what went wrong with the world. An’ I mean to shatter it into a hundred thousand pieces!” He manically started to laugh, and Azlyn lifted her axe. Narrowing her eyes, she looked ready to charge.

Ahtbyrm shouted. “Grimthota, Azlyn! Pray beat the tar out of his bloated sea slug, and make sure no harm comes to the Victory!”

Grimthota leapt to action, while Azlyn clashed her axe against his sword. He was stronger in physical strength, as her legs were starting to buckle under the pressure. Grimthota started to press in the assault, holding off the other pirates joining the fray from the sides. What was odd were the beastmen that joined in the fight as well. Grimthota was able to hold some of the off, but some slipped by to Azlyn. 

Azlyn let hand to let him overpower her, as she dropped low. She could feel the sting of his blade bite into her arm as she rolled away. She swung at him several times, gaining the advantage. She decided to take care of his underlings that swooped to his side—rendering them unconscious with swift kicks to the sternum’s and hitting the vital points she could find. They crumpled down, just leaving her and Ahtzapfyn to shuffle in their stances. 

Grimthota yelled. “Azlyn catch!”

She spared a moment to look over, as she was thrown a bundle of rope. Grimthota had managed against the beastmen, driving them off and running to help her against Ahtzapfyn. 

Azlyn smirked. “I have a crazy idea. Keep him busy for me.” 

Grimthota took the charge, allowing her to retreat back to a wooden pylon nearby.

As quickly as she could, she tied off the rope and made sure it was anchored properly before signaling for Grimthota to start edging him over. She made a simple rope pile, but had the remaining end in her hands as she waited. She was going to have to plan this right when he stepped on by. 

Azlyn felt the wind rush by her as several pirates and casters started to assist the Captain. She had to dodge the magical attacks for a short while before reinforcements arrived. 

K’ryleah arrived with four other uniformed officers, and began to fend off the lot. 

“Yer lookin’ the wrong way lass!” Azlyn ducked behind the wood pylon as Ahtzapfyn thought she was distracted. His sword swung in a wide arc, hitting the wooden pylon. She danced around, which seemed to infuriated the older Roegabyn as he couldn’t get in a decent blow. She had to wait, keeping an eye on his feet until she saw the opportunity. 

She yanked the rope as hard as she could pulling the pile to tangle in between his ankles. Not expecting the Auri to trip him, he stumbled down to the ground, where Grimthota stepped down on his shoulder and kicked his sword away. 

Azlyn smiled sweetly, holding the rope up for him to see. 

“I—I must be gettin’ old, lettin’ some green ‘venturer get the best o’ me.” The old pirate wheezed. His breathing was sporadic as he tried to catch his breath. 

She nodded. “It’s time to move on—for your family—and for yourself as well.” 

Grimthota’s squadron had dealt with the remaining pirates, securing them in binds and piling them into scattered groups. They were disarmed. K’ryleah had run over to the foreman Ahtbyrm to undo his ropes. When he was released, he ran over to Grimthota who had already begun the process of detaining his father. 

Ahtzapfyn was silently gazing at the unfinished Victory. 

“Da.” Ahtbyrm said with a bit of uncertainty. 

His father stared up at the massive hull, and coughed. “That’s one big bloody ship. Big—an’ nasty lookin’. Ye made that, did ye...?”

He nodded. “Yeah Da. Yeah, I did.” 

Azlyn watched the exchange—sensing a bit of change in the old pirate. She smiled, and decided to take a step back. Her business was settled now that the Maelstrom had gotten everything under control.