416 CHPT 416: Into The Tendread Sea

Tuesday Morning, January 20th, 2241, On the Coast of Camaco

Modern populated areas in the daytime. Claude had almost forgotten the experience due to his very recent adjustment to nocturnal and nomadic living. It was coming to an end-- and his memory of seeing so many people under the warmth of the sun was only being revitalized as he traveled through the coasts of Camaco.

He drew the eyes of many due to his height while Ursula and Cassidy had a similar effect due to the color of their skin. The trio plainly spoke outsider-- luckily, it wasn't a sentiment too foreign to the area considering people were arriving off boat and merchant carriage in the hundreds. Many smelled of sea water, blood and other unknown strong scents mixed in with fear. A fear that strongly remained in their eyes-- like they'd just escaped hell, while other Warriors looked unaffected after arriving on land once more.

"Look-- he's carrying an Octolepid!" Ursula whispered to Claude as they traveled down an impossibly wide stone street that eventually gave ways to the docks built over the shallow waters in the distance.

Claude followed her eyes and found man travelling down the massive set of stairs leading away from the docks, as he came down to their level and out of the heavy glare of the sun, Claude was able to see the man's features. Dark skin, long hair, muscled frame beneath thin leather armor adorned with feathers and... something that shimmered under the sun like sectional diamonds. Scales. The large rucksack slung over his shoulder failed to completely hide the fish bones and massive dark purple tendril spilling from the bag. Eight others followed behind him similarly dressed and with their own tendrils-- parts of a massive creature they must've slain at sea.

"It's a Blackgush.." Claude corrected Ursula after seeing more of the dead creature. Unlike the Octolepid-- or bladed Octopus, the tendrils had no bladed stingers. One dead giveaway to the fact that it wasn't an Octolepid was the thick black blood-like fluids dying the seaman's leathers and dripping from their rucksacks. A trait commonly found in Blackgush's.... also known as Squids.

"Smartass." Ursula replied with a smirk before adding, "To think. That was almost us." In reference to the Warriors leaving the docks with their Monster parts.

Cassidy chimed in from Claude's left, "Being employed as Seaguard isn't too bad a job if you have the right employer, guide... and aren't stationed at the Tendread Sea."

"Lucky us." Claude replied.

"Hey, it was the best plan we had." Cassidy explained.

Claude thought on that as they wove their way through the busy streets, the sounds of crashing tides and hollering seamen loud on their ears.

Plans. They ran through at least a dozen only a handful of hours ago as they brainstormed away their last night in the desert. Ideas of being guards to unhealthily rich and idiotic men and women looking to travel by sea to avoid Raiders, ideas of hoping to hitch a ride from independent sailors-- unlikely when the entirety of Camco was connected to Camazotz chosen, religious councils and any number of Warrior Clans. Hell, they even considered hijacking.... Claude almost blew a fuze trying to explain the moral implications of such an action. He gave up. It was late. It must've sounded better on an exhausted mind.

After a few hours, they came to the plan they were executing now. Entering a place as crowded as Camaco's Coast with Claude's current pack would've been impossible, even with the armored disguises Cassidy had purchased. So, Claude split them up. Rollan traveled by land with Diamondback, Loba, Cassidy's Hounds, Canis and Piet. In their armored disguises, they simply looked like a team comprised of a Beast Tamer and two Knights-- even if one was a bit undersized.... very undersized. Their journey would be less dangerous but take longer, so they started travelling before even the sun was up.

Claude moved with Cassidy, Ursula, Frosty, Ma and Blackbeak. Where his link to his tamed packmates failed, Blackbeak would travel between them as a messenger. And when the Umbral Raven was off with the other team, Claude and his group would be traversing the Tendread Sea. Not entirely by boat. Claude needed to minimize Frosty's time near water, PitWolves can't swim... and his godly evolution into a VanaWarg only made him more physically dense. Rollan provided them with the wonderful idea of Tangent-Hopping. A way to minimize time at sea and to avoid nightfall. Nightfall on the Tendread Sea was like a Tangent on it's own.

And that's what lead their current travels.

After twenty or so minutes more of walking, they found a Merchant's carriage parked at a corner of activity. Seated on the stone path in between a path to the docks and a path into Camaco. Perfect for what the Merchant was selling. Runed Lures, Chum Repellant, and Ocean Maps-- maps marking significant areas of activity, Tangents and recent significant deadzones. Carcasses in the Tendread Sea were bad news..... Carcasses brought Lochness packs and Megalodons. Two things everyone at sea avoided regardless of Rank and Level. Claude would operate no differently, hopefully he wouldn't need to worry too much about it considering they weren't going too deep into the sea. Even so....

They came to a stop near the carriage, letting Cassidy travel ahead alone to order their supplies needed. The crowd that walked around them split like divided rivers as they laid eyes on the armored VanaWarg standing at Claude's left and the pelt and metal armored Berserker at his right. Camouflage wasn't all that necessary when Frosty didn't exactly look entirely wolf anymore.

"You nervous?" Ursula asked him from beneath her helmet made out of a Gnoll Skull as they scanned the area.

"Yea, how about you?" Claude replied.

"A little.... my father traveled the Tendread once in search of one of the Ten Dreads--"

"The Kraken... he ventured off to slay it and failed-- but not before significantly dropping the sea levels due to the heat of his solar flames. I read that he came back covered in chum and scorched fish scales." Claude finished.

"Yea...." Ursula said absently.

"I don't get that part though.... the Kraken isn't even one of the Ten Dreads." Claude added.

"I know. The part they don't put in the fanboy novels is that he was shitfaced." Ursula added.

Claude wasn't surprised considering everything else he heard about her father.

"He tried to gain the title of OceanLord for a while during that time just because Ronin had it-- he was also freshly left by my mother so... yea. That had to be at least eight years ago, though."

Claude nodded, "Yea, there's been a new OceanLord since then."

OceanLord. The title granted to whoever had slain the most Monsters at Sea whether it be Tangents or the beasts below. Ronin held that title for a long time-- it must've been easy considering he could simply send a barrage of lightning bolts into the sea and fry everything in a who knows how wide radius. It was a byproduct of his ascent towards the leading man of The Nine. And it stayed that way until his title was stolen by the current worlds OceanLord. The ninth-- and least talked about member of The Nine.

"Yep...." Ursula said, clearly not interested in talking about folks she lumped in with her father, "I don't remember his name."

"Levi Anathan." Claude said.

"What?"

"Her name. It's Levi Anathan, she's the current OceanLord."

Ursula laughed to herself, "Or course you know that. Her name isn't even in the published books..... to be honest that name sounds like an alias."

Claude nodded, "I know. I found her reading about Sea Monsters-- the largest limb recorded of a Lochness Beast was brought to land by a woman who sold it. She was noted as odd since she wasn't wearing clothes and sold the limb for information.... on Ronin's whereabouts. People interviewed her and later wrote her off as crazy. They said the limb she sold had bitemarks-- assuming she didn't kill it, and that she didn't come on boat."

Ursula had gained interest sometime during his explanation. "What do you think?"

Claude shrugged, "She wasn't a normal woman. Normal people can't carry a piece of a Lochness Beast no matter the size-- they also can't drag it out of the sea by swimming. Carcasses draw predators that can swallow a dozen humans without a thought. I think she killed the Lochness Beast and everything else that came after-- she could've had a Specialized Class crafted from a life at Sea-- my father told me in the old world there was stories of kids raised in the water by Dolphins. She could've been a sort of Deep Sea Knight or Swordsman..... or a Beast Tamer with an affinity for Deep Sea predators that could give her the power..."

Ursula stared at him with wide eyes and a barely contained smile.

Claude felt his cheeks warm and pulled the hood of his Druidic Cloak further down over his eyes.

"You're such a nerd!" Ursula punched him in the shoulder with a laugh.

"I found it interesting to find someone so strong hiding in plain sight.... and also being so detached from society." Claude grumbled.

"Of course you did. Maybe she inspired your Night Running habits too.... you know, with your whole hiding in plain sight thing." Ursula said, still smiling.

"No, that was purely out of necessity. The twins were on my ass." Claude replied.

"Oh yea...." Ursula's smile darkened as she turned to watch the people spilling from the docks again.

"Anyway, yea. That's the Ninth Member and our current OceanLord..... at least that's what I think. But I can't explain why she wanted to know about Ronin, though."

"Maybe it was to get into The Nine?" Ursula suggested as they continued to watch the people around them passively.

"Maybe." Claude replied, although that didn't feel right.

The two fell into a silence that was only broken by Cassidy's return, his hands full with rolled up leathers, jars of glowing fluids and other things he couldn't accurately make out.

"Alright, folks. I got maps, Lures and Repellant."

"Are the maps up to date?" Claude asked anxiously. He'd hate to go out to sea and find that the marked Tangents and deadzones were entirely different. Frosty seemed to have a matching level of interest as he raised his snout to Cassidy, sniffing at the new items furiously through his sectional armor.

"Yea, should be."

Claude and Ursula stared.

Cassidy rolled his eyes, "God damn-- yes. I checked them."

"Ok, let's get this boat. We need to be on the water and in our first Tangent by nightfall." Claude said.

Frosty barked in agreement before they left for the docks.