Into New Horizons

Zyxey

(THIS RP IS NO LONGER CANON, HOWEVER IT WILL BE LEFT INTACT ON THE SITE DUE TO THE EXTENSIVE AMOUNT OF WORK THAT WENT INTO WRITING IT. ENJOY READING.)

The snow was like death, and the wind was like the breath from a heathen god. Veth Vewim stood at the edge of a massive crevice in the ground, beyond which lied yet another vast, uninhabited tundra. The kind of tundra which no intelligent being other than the magic-induced, genetically toned Kyleth could survive.
Veth: Patting their ride animal, a rryscir lizard; Alright Vaji, up! Let's go around!

Vaji screeched and the two began traversing through the snowy eastern tundra. Several other explorers motioned or called for their rides to move onward as well behind them. The party was to explore the northeast of Pelia and return with news on whether there were possible threats to the planned expansion across the continent.

After a few dozen minutes, the party had traversed around the dangerously steep crevice and made it to the other side. Veth stopped for a moment and whistled for the attention of their comrade in exploration, Gijeŋ Zcajiŋ.

Gijeŋ: For? What do you need buddy?

Veth: Do the maps say we're anywhere close to the ocean? We've been trudging through snow for the five months. I'm tired of eating wild beast meat for every meal. I swear when I get home...

Gijeŋ: Alright, alright, I'll check the map...

Veth watched as Gijeŋ's eyes scrolled the map, his fingers drawing lines across it to make connections and figure things out.

Gijeŋ: I know you're not gonna want to hear this buddy but no, if we were anywhere near the coast, we would no longer be in the tundra. We're, however, right in the middle of it.

Veth swore angrily and loudly to no one in particular.

Gijeŋ: Woe, Veth. Thankfully, it seems that we're also nowhere near any malicious nations, which is good...How about we stop for a moment and get some water? Ver nodded.

After about an hour-long break, the explorers re-saddle their lizards and take off again.

Veth: It would have been useful to take a demej due to the sheer amount it could have helped carry for us... Veth took a drink out of their canteen as they steered right with all the rest of the crew But unfortunately the glorious beast is as heavy as an iceberg and as slow as a turtle! Haha.

Finally, after about six more hours, somebody saw green on the horizon. The whole party stopped when they saw it to double-check their reality and make sure they were not seeing things.

Veth smiled to their crew, knowing they'd finally be out of the snow, and after that it was only a short distance until their journey would be half over. In just a few minutes, the crew reached lower snow, and then in a few more, no snow, and then in a few more minutes, they reached exposed, green grass for the first time in weeks. After some more traveling it became apparent that nobody lived there, which was a massive blessing.

Another explorer spoke up.
Scem: Thank the Relej...I was worried this was going to be a death trip.

The lands were almost completely flawless, as is nobody had ever been to these lands...It was almost uncanny. How was this possible? Was this a gift for the Kyleth race?

Suddenly, after several hours of travel, the sea was within view. Bubbling with joy, Veth jumped off their rryscir and bounded to the coast, smashing a Kyldegardian flag into the ground. Celebration ensued in the small exploring party, with their mission finally completed.

But suddenly, out of the corner of their eye, Veth saw something in the distance. Alarmed by the sight of...whatever it was, it was getting late and the crew was exhausted, Veth primed their baxang°.

Veth: To arms! We don't know what is approaching!

Standing by the flag, Ver and their party clutched their weapons in what felt like a mixture of fear and bravery, watching as the shadow approached the coastline.

°Baxang: a common short-to-medium ranged swinging weapon used in Kyldegard akin to nunchucks with a handle attached to a chain which is, on the other end, attached to a long, thin, sword-like blade. The baxang is swung rapidly and used to flay the opponent. (bɑçjɑŋ)

Image Attached: The 7th Kyldegardian Explorer Party's Journey, as told above
[upl-image-preview url=https://sparkalia.com/assets/files/2023-10-08/1696807691-853953-kyldigardian-expansion-plans-updated4-20231008192744.png]

Dokzentir

The clouds hung low in the cold winter's day. Despite the sky being completely covered, the landscape was unusually bright, and the clouds lit white from the shining sun above. Only one spot of clouds was shadowed, where the color went to darkened grey. When one observed it for a while, one could see it moving. It seemed to darken and expand, slowly first, and then with ever greater momentum.

Finally the clouds were torn apart, spewing from it a grand many-winged thing of many colors. Rays of light pierced the skies for a short few moments, before the cloudy ceiling closed its wound. Despite the surroundings mere half-brightness, the thing was vibrant and lit as if in direct sunlight.

As it drew closer, one could see the true nature of the thing. A construct of wood and cloth and ropes. A vessel that resembled somewhat a ship, one that sailed the skies. Yet it was made of more moving parts, its segments and many wing-like sails swayed. The thing carried somewhat of a butterfly aesthetics. Its movement was more swift and erratic than one would expect from such a vessel. One also would not expect such a vessel to be partially on fire.

Polaris was a very responsible individual. His purpose was to be the authority figure to discipline the crew for doing things wrong. The crew's purpose was to operate the vessel, and to do things wrong so they could be disciplined. And then there was the captain, Aurora. While the responsible authority figure was an optional position, you always needed an irresponsible authority figure to get anywhere. The responsible exist to respond and organize and clean up after surprises and spectacle. The irresponsible are required to make surprises and spectacle happen in the first place. It was their purpose to push things along in new, exciting, and unexpected directions.

The blanket of clouds below them had made it difficult to navigate. The plan was to land, but the invisibility of the ground would make that difficult. As with popular Chromafey philosophy, "If one cannot perceive it, it might as well not exist." The purpose of the vessel of Aurora-Polaris had been to explore new lands, and you couldn't do that if the ground had a possible case of non-existence. Getting annoyed that all the explorable land might get away if left unobserved, Aurora decided to take some action. With that she declared war on the clouds. They looked so fluffy and flammable.

A load of firework later, one of the front-sails was snuggling with fire, and the Aurora-Polaris was hurling towards a lower altitude. While Polaris was responsibly responding responsive, on the way to ensuring a decent landing in the sea, Aurora was yelling and singing and swinging an elegant scimitar. The vessel plunged into the water and after some intense swaying came to rest on its surface. On its front stood a figure in an elegant combination of pirate-sailor-explorer dressing. Two pairs of large butterfly wings, in the colors of dawn, One hand a silvery spyglass, one a black-and-gold fancy scimitar, one holding the empty casket of firework, and the last one taking in a dramatic pose. Captain Aurora had arrived, she was just unsure where.

Zyxey

The crew glanced around in a confused manner as they witnessed the now-spectacled ship make landfall just a little ways east of them down the coast. In a hurry, they jumped back on their lizards and rushed east to where a peculiar figure was exiting the ship. What appeared to possibly be some kind of winged creature from a distance was brushing themselves off and motioning for more of their kind to exit the ship.

Veth saw as the captain swiveled around in their direction and gave an expression of shock.

Veth: Stop! Stop, halt! We don't know what these people are, or why they came here. They might not be here on purpose, but if they are they could be a threat. Sheath your weapons, we'll greet them peacefully, but... Veth nodded at his crew Be ready in case they decide to attack, you never know.

Upon reaching close proximity of the strange foreigners, Veth and their crew dismounted their ride animals, beginning to nervously approach the winged creatures. They had never seen anything like them before, but they wanted to seem professional, especially if this was an esteemed vessel crew. Finally, the crew of the Seventh Party stopped in front of the captain and her crew, not sure if they'd be able to understand the Kyleruth language but stretching out a hand in greetings. Veth hoped this wasn't a mistake and that these creatures could be trusted, and hopefully they would be right.

Dokzentir

What good is there in a good crashlanding if there is no-one to witness it? Aurora was therefore euphoric in seeing a group of seemingly locals approaching. Chromafey adventurers had 2 functions for the Season of Indefinite Color. For once you collected maps and books and artifacts and art and music and general knowledge and new things from the world abroad. But the second reason was to spread awareness and exiting tales of the Chromafey Season around the world. The Switterlind gained vitality and influence through attention. The more Indefinite Color was in the minds of people, the more they could cement their presence in this world and take influence in its forming. That's why one needed the irresponsible. They caused far better stories.

Next to Aurora appeared a new presence. The individual carried the colors of a bright winter night, in tones of cyan and white. The clothing reflected their more stiff and authoritative attitude. Dispassionate cold eyes took which seemingly took an observer status until things started going horribly wrong. One by one a set of another five fluttering double-paired wings appeared, followed by their heads glancing curiously over the vessel's side.

"Hold this, my dear." Aurora handed Polaris the empty casket, who took them without a reaction. She then leaped over the side of the ship, fluttering over the water, and finally landing on the grassy ground, posing dramatically. She then stuck a crudely-made flag in the ground, because that is what one was supposed to do after reaching new lands. She then turned to their foreign counterparts.

"Greetings my foreign. We come from far away, a land of shattered skies and unbound rainbows. The Chromafey Season shares its wonders. Aurora-Polaris, the dawn on glacial domains."

Zyxey

Head Explorer Veth gestured behind him for their explorer party to pause in action and turned to Captain Aurora, squinting their eyes.
Veth: You just spoke Kyleruth, yet I don't believe I know of your species...what are you people and where are you from?

Captain Aurora: We are Switterlind from the nation of Indefinite Color. We are a troupe of explorers aboard the great Aurora-Polaris on a quest to explore and to collect trinkets, culture, and arts, and to spread stories of the Chromafey.

*Veth and the Kyldigardian explorers looked among one another in confusion and then one of them spoke up:

Kureji: Who are you trying to spread stories to? This land is uninhabited. Are you crashed or something?

A crew member started to laugh behind them but Veth silenced his voice.

Veth: What my mate here was trying to say was, if you are crashed or lost here we would be more than happy to guide you back to civilization in the west, where you would probably be able to contact your motherland. Kyldigard is a very welcoming place, and if you say you like art, well, you'd be in for a delight in our colorful nation.

The explorers stood there awkwardly as Aurora's crew discussed it among themselves, awaiting their answer.

Dokzentir

Aurora chirped in her cheery voice. "Yes! I totally crash-landed the vessel!" She stated it like an achievement. "How else are we supposed to get down in a professional?" The dawn-colored Switterlind fluttered uncomfortably close to Veth. "But you said you can bring us to new land? Your homeland? That would be lovely!"

Polaris had solved the problem with the burning sail by forcing the vessel to rotate once around, dunking its upsides into the icy cold water. The crew was now soaked and freezing. Only the already frozen-heart Polaris did not mind the cold.

Aurora pointed to the vessel with her scimitar. "We'll need to bring my ship. It won't fly right until we fix it up. But we have installed wheels for land-travel. If you wan't ya can all join us up there. We have cake and hot blazeberry tea to warm the heart."

Zyxey

The famished explorer party perked up at the mention of tea. Before Veth could even give the word, the crew had already started toward the vessel, cheering and hollering for food and tea. Veth ground in their teeth in alarm at first but shook it off and agreed to join the Chromafey crew on their vessel.

Eventually, the crew was settled in, wheels ready to go. Head Explorer Veth stood around, sipping at the tea as Gijeŋ assisted the Polaris crew member at the wheel in directing themselves toward the correct direction to go in.

Captain Aurora walked up to Veth, sipping tea daintily. She looked as if she had something she wanted to say, so Veth started to speak.

Veth: Men, huh.

Veth awkwardly looked toward the foreign captain, trying to start conversation. The Kyldigardian explorer crew was goofing off on the other side of the ship.

Veth: I mean, men, males in general. Kind of wierd, you know? Will hop onto a stranger's alien boat before their head explorer even said to...not that I wouldn't have, but...well, you know.

Veth glanced over to Aurora, who seemed to be slightly chuckling. They quietly waited for an answer.

Dokzentir

The Aurora-Polaris had looked like a ship of humble size, but, in classic Chromafey trickery, revealed a more extensive interior. It was comfortably warm and full of vibrant curtains. Looking through a specific window revealed a dreamy scenery of wheat field in sunset. A Chromafey crew-woman had advised the guests to not open said window.

Aurora had been laughing and chuckling almost continuously. It was the blazeberry tea. Steaming hot, colors and taste of cherry and honey, it warmed the heart literally and metaphorically, encouraging fiery emotions to be set free. An overkill for Aurora, but something that caused the cold and stoic demeanor of Polaris into actually expressing mild annoyance about Aurora's antics.

The comments of Veth caused Aurora to try to arrange her scattered thoughts into a coherent whole. The tea gave her the energy to blabbler on endlessly. "Males prone to careless initiative into exciting ventures?" She thought out loud. "Maybe I am male..." She seemed to consider the thought seriously. "Come to think of it, I don't think such behavior is limited to any gender in our kind. Many sirs and ladies are like that, and the worst buzz-kill is the male right here." She pointed to an unamused Polaris. "He'd never do any fun things." Aurora grinned wide. "At least not without my forced encouragement."

Aurora stuffed herself a mouthful of cake. "Rompf mgh... shrmg dampf..." She swallowed "I know there exist species with heavy sexual dimorphism, where sex and gender plays a fundamentally categorizing role. Like ants right?" She glanced at Polaris for conformation, who sat there with an indifferent expression. "For us it's a fancy exchangeable accessory. We are a species of polymorphism, of many forms, of changefulness. The only faction with strong opinions about this topic are the nature-worshipping naturalists. They say female is the natural default. It's mother nature. It is the natural, primal, fundamental, big, and forceful; while art is the male, and the divergent, small, fickle, erratic, artificial and unorthodox."

Aurora filled a fresh cup of tea and sipped it, burning her tongue and hissing. "So from the point of the tree-huggers and druids, we actually would be a rather masculine species, compared to others. And if you take that view, I guess hopping onto a stranger's alien boat fits the male characteristic of the erratic." Forgetting about the heat, Aurora tried another sip only to burn her tongue again. "But our kind always likes to break rules. Diversity and uniqueness and color and character and polymorphism. It all opposes easy and consistent rules." Aurora offers a slice of snowwhite cake to Veth. "Does you kin have sexual dimorphism, or different kinds of polymorphism?"

Zyxey

Slightly surprised at Aurora's change in attitude, Veth nodded in understanding and responded to the best of their ability.

Veth: It's not that all men are the same, just it's that young men are often a bit less mature, you know?

Aurora blankly stared at Veth.

Veth: You know what I think I'll...just...anyways you were asking about our biological dimorphism? We have a little bit, yes. Fourty percent of our species are maŋ (males), the ones with the bigger tails, usually. Same with fins. And then we have fourty percent who are deŋ (females), with...ahh, how should I put this...bigger...um...

Veth blushed, trying to convey something that they weren't exactly sure would be appropriate to discuss with a stranger.

Veth: Well, let's just say that they...feed the babies. Yeah, anyways, they have much smaller tails and fins. Not to the point of being unable to swim or anything, it's not that much of a difference in that way, it's mostly just a visual difference. And then obviously as you see before you, I am part of the third sex, of the twenty percent of our nation that is the demaŋ (androgynes). We have a bit like halfway between maŋ and deŋ bodies in a lot of ways. We give birth like the deŋ but we can also fulfill the, ahem, biological role of maŋ. Speaking of which, this used to make ancient Kyleruth think we were gods, haha!

Veth grimaced for a moment, looking down.

Veth: Yeah, it definitely caused a very long period of oppression on our part, stupid sexists, but thankfully we're out of that period now, at least with the exception of some of those damned extremists...

Aurora looked somewhere between very interested and very dazed.

Veth: Oh yeah, sorry, I rambled on, didn't I. We don't really seperate ourselves by gender roles anymore, although some of the cultural differences from older eras still survive to this day in a lighter sense, like feminine people wearing headwraps, masculine people being more rowdy...not that anyone is enforcing those things, they kind of just don't affect society negatively...unlike the whole women-and-men-getting-no-rights thing that we had a whole big civil rights movement over about two hundred years ago. Thankfully now we have gender equality-

Gijeŋ, screaming across the boat: Hey, stop bothering the captain with your stupid history lessons and come play Vrji with us!

Distant laughter was heard from the explorer party.

Veth: We've been playing that the whole trip up here, and besides, we don't have anything to wager, it's not as fun unless you're gambling!

Veth turned back toward Aurora, pointing a finger in realization.

Veth: Actually, would you like to play? We could choose a Chromafey game, if you guys even do that...plus I'm bored out of my mind playing Vrji with these fools. Their tells are obvious to me at this point. So what do you think?

Dokzentir

Aurora seems very excited by the proposal, jumping up and hacking her scimitar in one of the small wooden tables. The influence of the blazeberry tea was starting to turn her even more energetic than normal. "Oh I love games! Lost an eye once! Wasn't mine tough. I'd love to show you one of our own games, but I'd love even more finding out what this Vrji is! The new is always so exciting!" She downed her tea in one go, burning her tongue again, but being to aroused to care.

"Let's try your game first! And ours after! How many players do you need, I can get you some of our crew, and also force Polaris to play." Aurora gave Polaris a side eye, came closer to Veth's face and whispered: "Careful, this one's a clever and merciless boi."

Zyxey

Captain Aurora and Head Explorer Veth sat down at the players' table, Aurora gesturing over toward Polaris and some others to join them. At first they looked uneasy.

Gijeŋ: No use being shy about it, we can play with both decks and include you too.

Polaris gave in and sat down at the table opposite to Aurora's seat. Gijeŋ shuffled the cards for a moment but was halted by Scem, who grabbed the cards out of his hands and made an unkind gesture toward his face.

Gijeŋ: Oh come off of it, I only shuffled raw° one time. I can be trusted!

Veth: Gijeŋ, just let him deal. We can argue about you two lovebirds' rivalry later. Now let me teach the game to the newcomers.

Scem: Lovebirds?! I am not-

Veth: Okay, so these are the cards, as you can obviously see. And on the back is the back of the card with this fancy artwork. That part is just for show. The front of the card, you want to keep to yourself because you don't want anybody to know what you have or else they have an advantage over you. Basically, there are five suits: ruby, which is red, crystal, which is white, ebony, which is black, arbor, which is green, and amethys, which is purple. The front of the cards will be colored in one of these five suits and have a number in the center. If you know Kyleruth, you should know them. It goes from 0 to 8, and then there are two levels above that, twin (which is a four-pointed star) and triplet (which is a six-pointed star). Basically the goal of this game is to get as low of a points score as possible. Obviously, the numbers are scored as they read from lowest to highest, and twin and triplet count as 10 and 15 points. You have three turns in the game, the first, you recieve your hand of five cards. Then you're allowed to trade out one card for one in the deck in the center. You must do this the first turn even if your hand is good. The second turn, you may on your turn, trade one, two, or no cards out for ones in the center deck. Oh, and also you don't put the ones you trade away in the main deck, you put them in the discard pile to its right. And then in the last turn, you can't trade out any cards, but you can choose to either go for gold (which means bet all in and risk losing your money if you're betting) or you can go for bust (which means you can't win but you can bet on one of the other players, and if they win the hand, you get to keep your money instead of it being given to the winner.) Oh also, there are two special cases: If you have one card in each suit in your hand by the third turn, their points are cut in half. And if you have exactly four, no more, no less, of a number card or star card in any suit, by the third turn those cards will be zero points if you go for gold. And that's where the fun comes in, because if you trade out one card instead of two and are looking suspicious, people might notice that and think you're trying to go for gold with a set of four in your deck.

Cards began to slap on the table as hands are passed out by the dealer.

Veth: And one last thing, if you go for bust and bet WRONG, then the person you bet on will take your money (or chips, if you're not using money) that round, even though they "lost". Also, just like having one of every color suit, having a hand of specifically three 3s and two 5s or any run of consecutive numbers will give you half points off, having a full hand of twins will give you three-quarters of your points off, and a full five triplets in your hand let you get zero points, which is the best possible outcome. Do you understand? If not, it might just be better to start playing. You'll pick it up. You look like you're good at games.

Veth winked at the captain, looking through their hand and plotting their turn one move.

Dokzentir

The explanation had left an ambiguity of some of the rules. But instead of asking for clarification, a Chromafey assumption was that all ambiguity and hidden rules were part of the game. Aurora pulled out a small leathery bag. "You said you had nothing to wager." She poured out a heap of small colorful gems. "I can lend you all a dozen of these stones. They haven't much value, but they have some. So if you loose more than you gain, you owe me." She laughed shrill. "Games need stakes after all."

Polaris used the same type of stones as their capital. To the game joined a strawberry-colored individual named Viola. He carried blood of a Kindred that reveled in aspects of love and life and euphoria. In his mind he immediately began shipping Gijeŋ and Scem. His capital was more varied. Among it was a small flask perfume and a small heart-shaped candle, both presumably containing some lovely fey-magic. The rest of the Aurora-Polaris crew was having their own antics nearby. With a few showing interest and maybe joining in later games.

Zyxey

The cards are shuffled and handed out to the participants. Veth takes a glance at their hand. Two fours, one eight, and two twins. Not ideal, but salvagable. On their turn, they discreetly trade out the eight for a card in the center. It's a seven. Drat. Veth is pained but keeps the feelings inside, keeping a steeled face on.

Kureji: If you guys are betting those gems, we can bet too....
Kureji tosses in three silver 300-ccing° coins, then looking at his hand.
Kureji had a good hand: A one, a two, a four, another four, and a six. Many options available, one obviously being a straight of one through five or two through six. Kureji slickly trades out his extra four for a card in the center; another two. Not ideal but by no means bad.

Gijeŋ: Damn, I'm gonna have to one up him, aren't I?
He flips over five 300-ccings to the center of the table, wondering if the foreigners know of their massively inflated value back in Kyldegard. His hand is fantastic: Four eights to start, already a nearly perfect hand. His other card, a one, would need to be traded out to prevent him from losing his quadruple-number advantage. He trades his one in discreetly to the center card deck, recieving a zero. Absolutely perfect. He tries not to smile as he holds his turn one zero point hand, thinking of ways to convincingly play off not trading any cards next turn.

Scem: Alrighty fellow creatures, let me show you the art of the Vrji stare.

Immediately his joyous face becomes silent of emotion, trying hard to hide his reactions to his good hand. A six in crystal, a six in arbor, a five in ebony, and two fives. A decent start to completing a full rainbow hand, a winning strategy as long as nobody had less points. Scem tosses in five 300s and a 600 and watches as Veth reluctantly tosses in....woah.

Scem: Veth....what are you doing?! This is not meant to be a big betting game, we're just betting token values, not big money. Scem gestured to the six 24000s thrown on the table by Veth, a substantial amount for a for-fun game, approximate to almost 300 standard currency units in many nations. Scem felt his heart sink as he saw it. Veth must have the mother of all hands...

Veth: Well, we're with a distinguished captain, I'm sure we can part with the ccing. Besides, we've got massive paychecks awaiting us in Muremysct once we get back anyways.

Kureji: Hah, you Muremysctjiz and your money...out in Dawungezcev we aren't so worried about cash. You know the saying; if money comes around, we live. Hooray. If it doesn't? We die! Hooray!

The men of the Kyldegardian explorer crew laughed and Veth rolled their eyes.

Dokzentir

The Fey were always ready for games. But they had a very unorthodox approach. They were used to games with tricks and twists. The first game was one of the exploration of opportunities. One had to familiarize themselves into the system and test the bounds of the rules, some of which may be hidden. The three Switterlind all lost the first game terribly.

Aurora played just wrong, trying out things not specified by the rules. Trying to steal cards, looking for secrets or hints in the images or numbers. Once she challenged someone to a duel. Instead of "gold", she first yelled a variety of other metals, to check what would happen. When she ultimately revealed her cards at the end, one of them was a red uno-reverse card. Unclear where she got it from. Viola too was not really showing a great winning strategy. But he did not seem to mind distributing his capital. Almost like he was loosing intentionally. Polaris... well, he just got unlucky.

As the night progressed the Chromafey started to become more accustomed to the way the game worked, and a few others joined in. They played through midnight. The crew of the Aurora-Polaris could offer their visitors a few cramped bedrooms to rest until the next morning would show itself.

Zyxey

Before long, the journey of the crew had come to an end, the landmass in the distance becoming more and more visible. Even the Chromafey's bedrooms were unconventional, giving some people a good night's sleep and others backaches. Scem woke up before dawn after a mediocre night's sleep, walking up to the deck and leaning on the railing, taking in the view of the Wintry Ocean as the pink and white landmass of the Kyldegardian coast got closer and closer in his view. Scem pondered his existence and his identity, floating into somewhat of a trance in his own thoughts until suddenly, Viola spoke up from behind him, startling him to bits.

Scem: Viola! You scared the heart out of me... Scem grasps his chest.

Viola's eyes perked up in worry.

Viola: Your hearts can fall out? That seems very bad!

Scem: Scem laughs, turning around to face his Chromafey comrade, clearly not totally sober. No, no, don't fret, it's just an expression. He turns around again to face the sea, Viola coming to stand beside him. If my heart could fall out from me being scared by things, I would have had to bring spares on this exploration quest.

Viola looks like he wants to say something, but isn't sure if he should.

Dokzentir

Viola pulled out a small pink book, decorated with hearts and roses, and opened it. "I have many love stories. I make love stories, like a cupid. It is partially in my nature." He handed Scem a pink rose. It carried a sweet smell. "You can make things happen." Viola looked dreamily in the distance. "There are also a lot of secret areas in this vessel, should you need it, you just have to find them." Viola winked, and vanished back into the shadows he came from.

Zyxey

Although at first he was a little bit confused as to what the flower was meant to be for, Scem soon realized and blushed, realizing that his cover had been blown. He turned around.
Scem: W-wait, was I that-
Scem noticed that Viola was gone.
*Scem: ...That obvious??? Where did he...

Meanwhile, Gijeŋ dozed on and off in his bed, thinking about his life and his legacy. Gijeŋ. The name of many powerful people in Kyldegard, even the current Grand Warden shared his first name. He was expected to run for some form of local office in government, but instead he wanted to be an explorer. And had it been worth it thus far? Possibly. He had found friendship, new lands, new beasts, and was now riding home in a ship of quirky foreign creatures whose kind he had never even heard of before, much less seen. But something was missing. He swore he heard footsteps nearby but Gijeŋ was too tired to do anything about it, so he just went back to sleep.

Scem felt like he was being consumed by a spiritual force of pure anxiety, his deepest secret being guessed out of the blue by someone he had literally just met.

Scem: Am I just that oblivious? Was I just being that obvious? Ah! Even Veth mentioned it! But it was a joke, wasn't it? It was just a-

The slightly drunk Scem slipped on something hardly visible, barely hanging on to the flower Viola had given him and tripping backwards over the side of the ship. He barely managed to grab a part of the side of the ship, keeping himself from plummeting down, but his grip was slipping and he was still stuck.

Scem: Ah! Help!

Zyxey

Gijeŋ snapped fully awake and rushed to the deck, followed by all the others.

Gijeŋ: Where are you Scem?! I can't see you?

He frantically looked around for him, until he finally heard a voice back.

Scem: Hand...slipping...help!

Gijeŋ's heart skipped a beat, metaphorically speaking, as he saw his beloved friend hanging over the edge of the ship. He immediately grasped onto Scem's arm and began to pull up, but it was very hard to do. Suddenly, Scem held something out in his other hand.

Scem: Here, catch!

He gracefully threw the flower up into the air and Gijeŋ caught it by the stem in his teeth (it tasted sweet), freeing up Gijeŋ's other hand to hold onto Scem. Slightly later than he'd have hoped, others began to help him pull, until finally he was back on board.

Gijeŋ: You're safe...I was worried...That sounds wierd but...

Scem: Gijeŋ.

The two shared a glance for a moment, and Gijeŋ's expression changed, suddenly realizing the rose's meaning.

Gijeŋ: Oh!

Gijeŋ picked Scem up in his arms, scurrying off giddily to the other room.

Veth: Where are you going? He might need medical treatment!

Gijeŋ: Oh, um, I was just going to go, eh, put him in his bed for rest! And then also stay with him for a bit-Okay bye!...

Kureji laughed.
Kureji: That's totally a lie. Juveniles...
Veth was quite confused for a few moments.
Veth: I...don't get it...I'm the explorer captain, why do I not get it?!

The shipmates had a pretty regular day after that, although Scem and Gijeŋ were spending a lot more time together than usual and standing a lot closer to one another without bursting into a fight...

Kureji: Hah, sorry to say it, but you're a bit blind there Veth! Even I could see that one coming.

Kureji took a drink of some tea.

Gijeŋ spoke up, still near Scem.

Gijeŋ: So, how did all of you Chromafey crewmates meet?

Dokzentir

Captain Aurora jumped onto the deck dramatically and whacked her scimitar into the wooden railing. "Oh, I love storytelling!" She unsuccessfully attempted to pull the blade back out, before leaving it stuck in the wood, and leaning on it in a 'cool' manner.

"In the beginning there was a young Lady of the Dawn, ready to start her story and make her mark upon the world. With her little savings she bought herself adventurer's equipment, containing among others, a pith helmet, a silvery spyglass, and a black-and-gold sword. On her way she came along a fledgling Sir of the Frost, making his way to explore Winter's Eye, an endless underground of layers of ice and snow. The Frost-Sir desperately pleaded for the the Dawn-Lady to accompany him."

"I explicitly told you not to follow me." Polaris mumbled from the background.
"A forlorn cry for companionship." Aurora romantically continued, unperturbed. "He didn't dare to venture alone. Together they descended deep in Winter's Eye. Darkness and cold threatened to grind them down, but Dawn-Lady's light would guide them forward."
"I remember you crying a lot."
"Into the icy depths they went and out of them they climbed, with a freshly frost-forged friendship. They brought from the glacial-below a valuable materiel of clarity, Winter's Glass. Most of it they sold and bought with it a ship of skies, for ever future-more ventures."

"The rest of the crew we hired or found along the way." Aurora finally managed to pull out her scimitar and pointed it at the strawberry-colored Switterlind. "I think you already know Viola. Lovely boy. Makes our food and drink and reads me bedtime stories. I'm also pretty sure he is trying to ship me and Polaris."

Her sword swung to the scarlet-black crewmate, whose wings looked partially scorched. "Firlitz we hired as our invoker of devastation. He is the operator of the ship-cannons, master of firework and explosives."

Next was an individual in colors of the forest, carrying bags and belts with a variety of plants and parts of animals. One talisman looked like a torn-away piece of someone else's blue wing. She was the biggest of the Chromafey crew. "Domia, healer and poisoner and invoker of nature. She sometimes also helps Viola cook. We took her along after we escaped from her family's garden." Aurora shuddered a little. "She is also very good at carrying stuff and battering people with a big stick."

"Next we have our navigator." Aurora swung the scimitar around, a thin azure Switterlind barely dodging the blade. "Lidi. She's into divination. Studies the skies, draws our flying path, and tells us the weather forecast. She approached us and told 'it was inevitable for us to hire her eventually' or some plum like that, so I did."

Aurora searched a while for the last person, before noticing they had been standing next to her the whole time. Their wings were silvery. Aurora leaned towards Gijeŋ. "I don't really know what their deal is. Just appeared on our boat once. They don't speak. Don't know if they are a Madame or Monsieur. But if ya can sneak on our boat without Polaris noticing, yar cool enough to tag along. We call 'em Silver. They do sneaky and subtle stuff: spying, stealing, breaking in, breaking out, getting Lidi's magic needle when it fell into a small slit in the wood once, and delivering secret messages."

Aurora made a pirouette. "Then we have Polaris of course, our curator and quartermaster and bureaucrat and de-facto househusband. He's the only one who cleans up regularly." She jumped onto the railing with an epic pose. "And then you have the me, the best of all. Captain. Leader of this exploration. The one who follows the treasure's clues. The one who gets us into trouble, lucrative trouble. The one who pushes this story along." With the last motion Aurora almost fell over the side of the ship.

Zyxey

Gijeng was startled for a moment by the captain almost falling off of the ship. He breathed a sigh of relief when she stabilized herself.
Gijeng spoke. "So...you all have been on quite the journey...All those adventures and whatnot...And yes, your Viola definitely...well, ships definitely sail because of Viola, that's for sure." He paused for a moment, his expression on his face changing. "You know, I don't think anyone told you what we were all doing out there in the cold, did we?" Captain Aurora gestured no. "Ah, yes. So our explorer team was tasked by the leader of our great country, Their Glory Grand Warden Gijeng Kujij, to chart out a safe path all the way out to the east of Everek, to prepare the way for the first waves of settlers in these lands. In fact, that flag we planted in the snow by the shore was the first one this country has ever planted out there!" Gijeng laughed. "Might also be the only time I've seen Captain Veth smile", sarcastically remarked Gijeng.
He looked out into the waters. "Looks like the north port of Muremysct is coming up on our view. I'll go get Veth and the boys and and tell them to get our rryscir lizards ready to go."