How The Void Do You Fight Mist?
The drizzling rain had subsided for some precious moments and the sunshine brought a welcomed warmth, despite the autumn season approaching the Archipelago. Christopher Black was standing on a weathered path that wound its way to the top of a cliff edge. He'd stopped along the path, and was leaning his elbows on the railing. He looked out over the harbour below him, formed by the coastline. The land was foreign to him, but not unfamiliar. He was in Gallovia. The black-sailed Armada was peacefully anchored in the harbour's waters. The waters lapped at the ships' sides, as gulls circled overhead.
It was an Armada with presently nowhere to go. Ideas pulsed through Christopher's mind. Perhaps it could sail west to do battle with the Kathar fleets? Christopher mused. Nothing had been heard of the enemy ships for weeks though. Maybe it could escort scholars on scientific expeditions? No scholars were currently presenting themselves, however, as in need of a nautical escort to faraway lands. What about conducting some military training exercises? Practice makes perfect. No. All of these options were out, given the Lampero's recent statements. Frustration tugged at Christopher's brow.
What good was a fleet with none of the black powder that the Vultaro lands mined? Certainly, the fleet had stores in warehouses that might last a battle or two. If the gunners rationed it wisely, it could even last for three or four more. Ultimately, sooner or later, however, they would run out of gunpowder, and then, where would Regalia and all of her people be if the Kathar fleets /did/ suddenly appear? With the Kade fleets lost in the mist, the Black Armada was practically all that the Archipelago had between it and the enemy. Christopher was not an idiot.
He permitted his attention to be drawn in a southerly direction. Somewhere, out there, was Anglia. There were orcs, right now, firing whatever they could at the black fog that had enveloped the homeland of the Kades. Dianne's nephew was somewhere in that fog, as was the glorious Imperial Dragon, not to mention the Archipelago's grain supply. It would be a noble quest to help the Lampero restore Anglia, and to try to save those caught within. It wasn't that Christopher didn't want to help, even from the moment that the mist had appeared. It was /the/ question that held him back. A question that, even with a fleet at his disposal, he didn't know how to answer. The question now presented itself once again in his mind, until he spoke it aloud to the circling gulls. "How the void do you fight mist?"
