[Redd]

Cont. from Sea, Sand & Souls. As mentioned, PoE/PoE:D - Tutorial Island spoileries

With the safety of at least 6 members of the Defiant's crew still alive (stolen adopted daughter thankfully in that count) and the souls of the dead flitting in her wake somewhere behind her, the pair had fallen into a quiet march. Finding help was now a top priority. They had supplies but it wouldn't be enough to address a crushed leg, nor hungry bellies.

Silence oft invited unwanted meditation, as the Orlan was very familiar with.

It had been hard, saying all those goodbyes to everyone, Kana, Sagani, not you Durance, Aloth, Maneha and even the Devil, but at least she had Edér, the Steward and Vela around. Even if the former was a day's travel away most of the time, he'd at least been around. She'd never really had a family, a real one anyway, she'd been given away by her parents to an Aedyran noble at a young age then raised as their daughter, though more often than not, she'd been paraded around like one might with a fancy poodle.

Then, she'd met a Wild Orlan, this one a slave and cracked.

[Redd]

He’d been shoved in front of her, as they’d perused the marketplace, the Lady of the house had been otherwise occupied. His thick, bushy dark brown fur was in mats, and he snarled and snapped at the unkind hand that pushed him forward. In that moment, he’d alighted bright golden eyes on her and seized her by the front of her coat. She’d felt something reach into her mind and pull out a memory, of being brushed, manicured whilst the Lady clucked something about looking perfect - a like doll. The Cipher had recoiled, the words barely making it through his lips.

“That is the fate I am to expect - to be treated like an animal?” he hissed, fury burning behind his eyes. He had turned, the air around him warping, as he started mumbling under his breath and then there’d been a crack as something heavy whipped across the back of his head and he’d crumpled to the ground. There had been a mumbled curse from his owner, before he was scooped up and ferried away.

[Redd]

That had struck a chord with her. They had treated her like an animal. They always had.

In that moment, she had resolved to sneak out in the dead of the night and she never looked back. In the next following years, she’d flitted in and out of gangs, vocally protesting and deliberately sabotaging Empire directives. Then one day, the manor of the Lady’s burnt down and she’d been caught trying to sneak away. Then a riot had broken out and she’d ducked out as fast as her little legs could carry her and chartered a wagon as far away as she could think of -- The Dyrwood.

And then she Awakened, became a Watcher & realised she had Cipher abilities, somehow gathered a small band of misfits together and claimed a Keep. ‘I guess, I can’t complain that my life was boring.’ she considered wryly as she fiddled with a buckle on her armour. But she’d never had any family - the Lady had not counted and her own parents were likely slaves, considering she had been originally born in Readceras. But seeing all of them leave one by one had been soul-crushing.

“-cher. Watcher!”

[Redd]

Leona blinked and pulled herself back to Now. “You all there? You could’a beat a Hollowborn in a personality contest just now, y’know.” he quipped, a little grin on his face but a troubled look lingered in his eyes. For now, the black feeling eased it's fingers off her heart. At least she wasn’t facing this new threat completely alone.

“Yeah, just… was somewhere else.” Leona mumbled, self-consciously running hands over her long ears and hair and deliberating what to tell him. She’d never talked much about her upbringing in Aedyr, not to anyone.

Thankfully, that was not a decision  she ended up needing to make. “Well, while you were day-dreamin’ I thought things were lookin’ a bit more… flat. And then I saw this.” He raised an arm and pointed ahead.

[Redd]

Initially, it wasn’t clear. Ahead, was an Engwithan ruin, not treated well by the jungle and time. It was an amphitheatre of sorts, though many of the walls were crumbling in places - and some kith had started building barebones scaffolding, ladders and stairs to traverse it. Behind, the sky had turned blood-red, orange and yellow as sunset started to settle in and some sort of bird flock lazily drifted across the backdrop.

But, she’d grown so accustomed to looking up, that she hadn’t initially noticed one thing fundamentally wrong in her vision; a giant footprint, kith-like but… much too big. Possibly Eothas the titan-sized footprint.

“Well shit.” Leona whistled and planted her hands on her hips. She cautiously stepped up to the edge of the indent and peered down, wonder being replaced by grim curiosity. Though there was grass, foliage and trees all around, there was… nothing living. She’d expected maybe crushed plants or the grass to survive but everything had… withered. “I guess we’re on the right track. It’s headed towards the ruin.” she frowned and turned her eyes towards the structure.

[Redd]

They’d picked their way through the last stretch of jungle and entered the ruin, fighting off jungle cats, boars and wurms that had taken the absence of people as an excuse to move in and initially nothing seemed… too off about the place.

Until they moved a little further into the ruins. Originally, Leona had thought them just statues, ashen effigies of people, some with hands thrown up to shield their eyes, some stuck dead still in the middle of a silent scream, others frozen mid scrabble with terror in their eyes. They were all looking out… in the direction of the footprint and it wasn’t until Edér made a startled noise of recognition, was she made fully aware of what exactly she was looking at. She reached out to one of the statues and lightly brushed it’s sleeve with her fingertips and it started to crumble. Leona backed up, hands clamped over her mouth in horror as the kith-figure started to unravel from the point of contact, head caving in before crumbling to dust and gently floating away on the wind.

[Redd]

She’d seen something like this once before, an Engwithan machine had ripped the souls right out of a kith’s body, leaving only an ashen and charred husk behind, one just as fragile as this one. Her eyes darted between the figures, a single thought forming in her mind, had… Eothas done this?

“There was… a lot of this back at Caed Nua.” Edér cheerlessly stated, picking his way between the husks and the rubble, a flat, heavy-heated look overtaking his usual cheer. “The Steward put a ward on both you and Vela, but I think it was a little too late for you.” He stopped to consider one of them, before shrugging and moving on, keen to find something, almost anything else to talk about.

“Hey, look down there. That looks almost lived in.”

[Redd]

He gestured further below, to the centre of the amphitheatre and she followed his gaze, ears perking up and swivelling. It looked like a research camp, if she had to take a guess. Aside from the tents and husks, an animancy machine made of copper sat off to the side, powered down and looking worse for wear. Cables were strewn about the campsite in a haphazard mess, likely as a result of the wurms and panthers. The last thing of note was… a giant cage.

“Reckon’ there’s a real big bird in there?” Edér perked up and stared at the cage intently. It had always been incredibly hard to not read the farmer’s mind at the best of times and the follow up intrusive image of a giant bird - and the query of could it be petted - was almost immediate.

[Redd]

“What? Please no. If there’s a giant-ass bird in there, I’m feeding you to it.” Leona shot him a mock-withering glance and he fired off a proud grin in return.

He always bounced back, at least he still had that in him, she considered as her hands puzzled over the cage door. She could get into almost any lock or manipulate almost any mechanism but she… couldn’t even see a latch. Not to mention it was a dead-zone as far as either of her Cipher or Watcher senses were concerned. It was very clearly a door but… maybe it only opened from the inside. After a moment of hesitation, she rapped a knuckle on the frame, a quick knock and then immediately jumped back when she heard movement on the other side.

[Redd]

As she scrabbled backwards and ducked behind Edér, the door opened with a slight hiss and several kith stepped out, an Ocean human leading a small group of others, likely the researchers, she concluded. Most of their company were human, shaken and distraught as they looked around their campsite and noticed the state of their long-dead companions. There was one of them that caught her eye. It wasn’t that he hung around the back of their cohort, slyly sneaking a look over the Ocean kin’s shoulder, nor was it that he was a Wood Elf, if the shape of his ears poking through immaculate hair was anything to go by. But she would have recognised that Aedryan styled leather armour, with it's decorative stitching anywhere. He noticed her glance and flashed a quick smile, raising a finger to his lips.

She’s just been lamenting how different this had been to the start of her journey in the Dyrwood, surely this was… a joke? Was the power of fate that strong to… huh. So this was Berath’s game, was it? To try and recreate some of the success that she’s experienced in the Dyrwood by applying the same parameters to the problem? She had to admit, if they had manipulated the events and set things in motion to end up like this, maybe she didn’t give the god of Death enough respect.

[Redd]

If not, well, that was one hel of an unlikely coincidence.

“Hey it’s-” Edér apparently didn’t have any issues recognising him either.

‘Shush.’ Leona frantically projected the words into Edér’s mind and forcefully stomped on his foot for good measure. He made a soft grunt of pain, but didn’t visibly react - another kick in the gut about how badly her strength had diminished. Usually she could at least get a swear out of him. ‘Let’s play along. I bet we can make him squirm.’

‘Watcher, that is the single best thing I’ve heard you say all day, but did you really have to trample my foot like that?’ He thought back, tilting his head at her and raising a quizzical eyebrow.

[Redd]

“Ah, we are saved, Clario does care after all!” One of the researchers crowed having finally recovered long enough to notice the party of two.

“Per complanca, look at them, do they look like townsfolk?” The leader, the Ocean folk snapped back, gesturing at the two. She then raised her hands up in an apology. “Sientere, no offence of course. We are glad for the assist; I would not have liked to have been cooped up in there for much longer. I’m Benessa, I guess I’m in charge of this place now.” She looked around the campsite and exhaled heavily, clearly a little overwhelmed, Leona figured. Still, she needed some information.

“Uh, I’m Leona, Watcher of Dyrwood. What… happened? If you don’t mind? We’re not here at this… Clario’s instruction, we’re chasing the titan.” Leona petitioned, almost pleading for more information. If Eothas was gone and they had no direction, well… the Deadfire wasn’t small, if she remembered the maps correctly.

[Redd]

Her eyes widened at the title but she noted how dismissive Leona had been and promptly moved on. “Ac, the titan came through alright. Our animancy devices detected a surge within the luminous adra so we ran to the cage and… obviously not all of us made it… oh!” She perked up, a memory jolting her upright and it was strong enough for Leona to pick out a name. “Oderisi, he was in the ruins at the time, he had our research with him, merla.” She paused, chewing on her bottom lip before looking at Leona earnestly. “Watcher, I am in no position to ask for favours but, I’m afraid of what the surge has done in the ruins, it won’t be safe to traverse. Can you please retrieve his notes and return them to Clario back in Port Maje, he’ll be grateful, I promise.”

Leona flicked a glance back to Eder, who simply shrugged. So there was a port on the island, which meant people and a way to fix their boat. Maybe… if this Clario owed her a favour… “Sure, why not. Maybe I’ll find some clues about where this titan went…” she sighed, rubbing a hand over her eyes.

[Redd]

Leona flicked a glance back to Eder, who simply shrugged. So there was a port on the island, which meant people and a way to fix their boat. Maybe… if this Clario owed her a favour… “Sure, why not. Maybe I’ll find some clues about where this titan went…” she sighed, rubbing a hand over her eyes.

Benessa brightened up instantly. “Belfetto, then please -” she turned and gazed back at the elf with soft eyes and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Leona narrowed her eyes, it was lingering for slightly longer than what she’d consider appropriate for just friends. ‘Friends, huh.’ She snidely commented to her companion.

‘Coulda fooled me.’ Came the response, with all of the mirthful humour with it.

“- take Engferth with you. He’s quite a talented wizard.” Benessa was practically beaming with pride as ‘Engferth’ strode forward and examined Leona with a patient expectation. Of course he was.

[Redd]

“... Engferth huh?” Leona raised an eyebrow and made a deliberate show of examining the elf. He flicked a glance between the orlan and human, smile faltering ever-so-slightly at Eder’s smirk. “Talented? How so?”

“He came from the college with winning recommendations.” Benessa replied eagerly, as Leona and Eder exchanged looks. “I promise you, he’s no trouble at all.”

“I ah…” ‘Engferth’ winced, raising a hand to stop Benessa from talking but dropped it as another Animancer started talking.

“He even threw fireballs at the panthers when they came for us.” He excitedly babbled, ignoring a withering glance.