A Tale of Okeanos [IC]

[Failed Phantasm]

Had there been room to lie down and sprawl out, Keeper would have let one arm dangle over the side of Laughing Gull's little boat and watched the ripples race away behind the churn kicked up by the bow. He had always wondered what that might feel like, leisurely drifting along, but the River of Queens was carrying miles' and miles' worth of who-knows-what where it emptied into the Great Western Ocean; sticking your hand into that was ill- advised, to say the least. It was certainly a far cry from the ocean surrounding the Neck. Here the sea was pristine and shallow enough that one could look down and see the sand sinuously snaking its way across the seafloor — and clear enough to take note of the utter absence of fish or other marine life. But Keeper had to make that observation as he leaned against the mast, taking what cover he could from the sun beneath the mainsail. Behind the mask, his jaw was clenched tight, but he said nothing that might interrupt or dispirit his host while the man sang a little sea shanty in Seatongue.

Reed Cormorant had been right: it was a far quicker journey by sea than land, and Keeper soon saw the cove coming into view. He might even have considered it beautifully striking had he seen it earlier that morning or at dusk, but at the moment it was too damnably bright to look at directly. But he adjusted his mask and hood and straightened his robes as they drew closer to shore — the mild discomfort was no excuse at all to be anything less than perfectly composed. 'Shame that I don't have a more thoughtful offering,' he thought; 'It might have made this "Azure Wisdom" more amenable to my being here.' Were this a temple of the Golden Lord, he would have left arrangements of lotus flowers and carefully-calligraphed prayer strips. He'd had the forethought to buy a few of the latter from a native-born priest in Solid Shell, but he was down to his last after his latest tour of the islands. He pressed a hand against his chest, where the slip of paper was safely stashed. 'This will have to do, alas.'

"Thank you, Laughing Gull," he said as he disembarked. "I shall strive not to keep you waiting long, if you wish to wait for my return." He inclined his head politely to the fisherman and then made the short trek from the beach to the pier upon which the priestess was seated. Already he could see two other persons with the priestess — 'Unexpected but not surprising, really.' — and he slowed his pace to a more deliberate cadence as he stepped onto the platform. "My greetings to you, Azure Wisdom, honored priestess of Akeakamai." Keeper clasped his hands before him and bowed at the waist. "I do hope I am not interrupting?" He turned his head ever so slightly towards the priestess'… guests? servants? consorts?… before looking back at her.

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Spoiler: OOC

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CONDITION
Essence 42 / 53, Health Uninjured (-0), Willpower 10 / 10

➜ Personal 16 / 16
➜ Peripheral 26 + (11) / 37