Roleplay

@akrimau @GenesisReborn

Lovell puffed up a little with pride, but the wistful look to his eyes as he looked at the ship below hinted that he was thinking of something else. This was indicated further as he replied, "This ship inn't so special. If yer impressed with'er, ye should've seen Th' Royal Oyster. Now she was special. Me real ship..."

The Pearlcatcher had seemed and sounded amicable during that speech, but now, his eyes took on a sinister gleam and his smile grew toothy again. "She was the terror 'o th' sea, saucy and dangerous. We worked in perfect harmony t'gether, complimentin' er'ry turn o' th' rudder n' billow o' th' sail. Ye could hear the screams across th' water when they saw 'er comin'! We killed so many t'gether…" He frowned. "But she foundered long ago... If onla she could rise again, as I did..."

"I hate to interrupt your moment of silence," Albus politely interjected after a moment of head-hanging from the captain. Fergus had somehow gotten paler during the reminiscing, and was feeling faint. "but there is something I am curious about. How did you manage to sail here from the plaguelands beneath the Icewarden's notice?"

Lovell grinned. "I happened upon a diversion. Other pirates had been botherin' th' shipments going to n' from th' Southern Icefield. I convinced 'em t' strike full on. Durin' th' fight, I sailed on by. Heheheh… They're likela still distracted with those others...not that we're goin' to th' Lady's lands."

Albus nodded. "I see. Yes, given our location, the most prudent location to flee to would be the Shifting Expanse, or the Ashfall Waste."

"No!" Fergus shrieked, garnering a rather unamused look from the scientist.

Trembling, he quietly and shrilly explained himself. "I-it's just that... That's where I come from, you know... Oh, the Stormcatcher, and the Flamecaller especially are so mad at me! I don't want to go anywhere near them!"

"I suppose where you do or do not go is the choice of your captain now," Albus flatly answered with a tiny shrug.

Fergus' attention snapped to Lovell, who was grinning in sinister amusement. "Aye, yer mine now... Ye go where I say ye'll go. N' we'll have t' see what I choose t' tell ye when we get t' where we're goin.'"

Fergus shrunk back, but nodded, continuing to tremble.

"That said," Albus added, turning his attention to those others gathered, "Is there anywhere any of you think would be prudent for us to go first? If not, we will go to the Shifting Expanse. There is a place there we should visit."

@Cryoluxa @akrimau

"I vote we go to the Fortress," Imriel grumbled softly. Even as he said that, though, he could tell that he didn't entirely want that. This Albus fellow was as close as he'd come to being able to find out what had happened to himself, or at least to regain his lost power. However, he couldn't stomach the thought of letting these known criminals roam free. Besides even if Albus could help him, he wanted to get rid of the Eleven. Imriel loved the Windsinger! He'd never do anything to harm him! Even if it wasn't his own Windsinger. Even if this Windsinger had nothing to do with himself or his creation... Perhaps...

No. He refused to be a part of anything of this sort. He would get what he wanted out of Albus and then surely he could turn him in. He trusted himself to be sly enough to manage that. Even with a dragon so smart that he had unlocked unknown powers... Maybe this wasn't the best course of action... but he didn't have much of a choice at this point.

"All that I know is I do not want to go back to the Hewn city quite yet. I am perfectly fine with going to the shifting expanse, what are we going to see there...?" She tilts her head at Ferfus. "And don't worry. I dont think any of us particularly want to be where wny gods can see us now. We won't get caught!" He grins and flicks her tail in the direction of Albus, indicating him. "Albus is smart." She flicks her tail twoards Lovell. "And he has a boat! That's all we'll need."

@cryoluxa @genesisreborn

@GenesisReborn @akrimau

(( "Albus is smart. And he has a boat! That's all we need." Sometimes, Bubblegum can be just really cute.))

Albus nodded satisfactorily, as a kindness (and simply because it wasn't quite worth addressing), ignoring the muttering of his most reluctant abettor. Fergus wasn't quite soothed by Bubblegum's logic, but kept quiet just the same. It wasn't so bad going to the Shifting Expanse, not when compared to going back to the Ashfall Waste.

"Well, then. It seems like we're on our way to the Shifting Expanse," Albus noted before looking to Lovell, "You have to take Ondine back to the Scarred Wasteland, don't you?"

The plague construct nodded. "We'll go to th' Shiftin' Expanse t' lie low fer a while; maybe do some recruitin'. In all likelihood, though, we won't follow ye inland."

"That's fine. We'll act like we've never met."

With that agreed, the dragons moved from the Southern Icefield's landmass onto Lovell's ship, cast off, and set sail.

((Did you guys want me to jump us to the Shifting Expanse, or did you want to rp some of the ride there? I can't think of much to put into it other than more conversation.))

@Cryoluxa @akrimau

((Tbh I can't think of anything that Imriel could (or would even be willing to) say. He'd likely just seeth quietly during the whole ride unless either Bubblegum or Albus try to talk to him.

@cryoluxa ((we can skip to the shifting expanse. Just know bubblegum is like, really excited and happy to be on a boat and probably prances about and sticks her head over the side a bunch. And thank you for camling her cute! :3))

@GenesisReborn @akrimau

((Okie dokie then.))

The two groups separated at the next pirate port, and Albus, Bubblegum, Arianna, and Imriel headed into the region proper. They entered what appeared to be a burrowed-out den at first, but the tunnel continued a long ways. After a while, industrial bits of metal casing and dim lights began to show up, then become more common. Quietly, they continued on. Albus didn't say a word, and Arianna followed suit. Again, she wondered why in the world she thought looking for someone who had been stored in the Fortress of Ends would be a good idea.

Bubblegum keeps her head on a swivle as they walk, keeping her eyes out for anything that could be important or interesting. She starts humming softly after a bit, then pauses, and asks albus; "Where exactly are we going again...?"
@cryoluxa @genesisreborn

@Cryoluxa @akrimau

((I'm gonna assume that by now Imriel has decided, albeit reluctantly, to join Albus for the time being and has been freed from his bonds.))

Why did he choose to go through with this? Even if he could figure out what had brought him here or even just regain his magic, was it really worth tangling with such a dangerous character? What if he was just a pa- No, he was certain that he was just a pawn in whatever game Albus was playing. How he would be played, though... That was the biggest question, and the biggest danger.

Ever since stating his desire to join Albus, Imriel had remained silent, a difficult task with the Coatl, Bubblegum. A fitting name for her, he thought, a very bubbly character. Speaking of this bubbly one... His tail had begun to twitch and he felt an urge wash over his body that told him to start skipping or bouncing or doing literally anything other than keep his slow, brooding pace. He had been focusing much too much on the Coatl.

With that he drew his gaze away and instead focused on counting the dim lights that they passed and the steps he took between each one. Their light reflected dully off of his eyes as they flicked to and followed each one in turn, hopping to the next as the last left his peripheral. He hoped they'd reach wherever they were going soon.

@akrimau @GenesisReborn

((Sorry about the delay! I haven't been able to get on the computer for a couple days and I was really tired the last time I was on here.))

True, he hadn't stated it directly, though he hadn't felt he'd needed to. There was no harm in telling them, though, he supposed. So, he answered, "The Underspire."

Though common knowledge to residents of the vast, underground city, and (though less so) to other places in the Shifting Expanse, it was unlikely that if one didn't do business with the servants of the Stormcatcher, that one would be aware of just how difficult it was to get into the Underspire without consent or detection. Vast and continuously evolving, the Underspire was filled with the best and the brightest, the curious and the imaginative, and the cunning and the opportunistic. Dragons serving the Stormcatcher to advance productivity were everywhere. Given the scientific advances, it was no wonder that security was so tight.

"This," Albus explaned, gesturing to the tunnel they were in with a wing as they walked, "is a tunnel which bypasses the Stormcatcher's security, dug by smugglers. Very soon, they will remove these lights and fill this tunnel in, then dig a new one. Thus, they keep moving it in order to avoid detection and subsequently be found out and shut down. We were given permission to use it this once, between moves."