Even as the Blue flags rose above the Imperial Palace, members of the various Knightly Orders only had a few moments to make some last minute preparations with the news before they headed towards the Regalian Harbor. Marisa Solisti, Eponia du Saullevé, and Humaira Reinard each sent some of their house servants to contact their family members about their immediate departure, while Altea Solisti simply stood by Marisa, her Oranjen Oath keeping her from being too political in the matter, beyond a few noncommittal words. As the noblewomen conversed as their gear was loaded on the ship, the remainder of the Knightly Orders started to show. In total there were 21 Knights that were planned for the trip: 2 Viridians, 1 Villiers, 1 Oranjen, 1 Blackguard, 8 Bloodcasts, 4 Fae, 2 Pelters, 1 Great Oak, and a singular Darkwald, who was not seen amongst the commoner arrivals at the dock. Indeed, one Mila Braunbecker would wake up in Kurlauer Castle that morning, realizing that she was supposed to be already on her way to the Harbor before dawn. After some hurried muttering under her breath, the Darkwald Sergeant would "borrow" one of the Drachenburg mounts before galloping out of the Castle, heading down the road at breakneck speed. As for the remaining Knights, they soon found themselves situated boarding the nearby ship, which was quickly determined by the nautical-prone of the group to be a Bragacao Nau, a vessel perfect for exploration on the high seas. Once all the luggage was moved on board, each of the Knights began to focus on some of the preparatory tasks, and what they were planning to do for the voyage. Wilvamair Arnyn, Marisa Solisti, and Lyonel Deceres seemingly had similar ideas when they each brought up their fishing rods, prompting Lee Ming-Qie to offer his culinary skills to the group if they managed to catch any decent fish during the travelling, given they would be sailing between fresh and salt water networks on their way out of the Regalian Archipelago. Altea Solisti and Eponia du Saullevé offered to help the deckhands with some of their work, while Harlow Ketch offered to use his ability to blow gusts of wind into the sails, something which the Bragacao sailors were quite happy to have to make the trip faster. The last person who offer direct aid to the crew itself was Aesgeir av Hedryll, though exactly what he was offering lost in between the bouts of heaving along the side of the ship was anyone's guess. Though Aesgeir was not the only knight on board getting familiar with the bobbing of the marine vessel in the harbor. Down below the deck of the ship were a few individuals who decided to hold up for the voyage. Laying down on one of the hammocks was Alban Koning, tossing a small ball up in the air as he waited for the ship to take off, seeming to just be there because Crookback duties were worth taking a small vacation for. Lynmar Lomstedt laid over by his bed and gear, taking in the statements Howland of the Black Code was attempting to drill into him nearby, the Viridian not willing to let the Bloodcast get by easy given that the Crypt fiasco was still not concluded. Though far in the corner of the quarters was Rafael Carano. Seeming to fade into the shadows with his blackened armor, those familiar with his Order's code knew that he was buying his time, disciplining himself before one day challenging the victor of the Cycle of Growth Melee to regain lost honor. Lastly, in another section of the below decks were the Fae Knights: Cadwyn Marth, Carmen di Vincenzo, and Lyyra of Kintry, each checking the gear they brough along while the latter pulled out some of their books to take some notes of the journey's preparations. As the rest of the cargo was prepared, the captain of the ship gave the go ahead to cast off the ropes and make way to Hadar, the crew starting to sing the age-old shanty written some 30 odd years ago. Though to say the launch was without its bout of excitement would be an understatement for some. Mila Braunbecker, still riding the horse she borrowed, managed to arrive at the start of the dock before a Violet Order patrol stopper her, starting to question why a horse was not at the stables and instead parading around the city streets. Fortunate for the Darkwald, two somewhat familiar faces flagged her on after she dismounted, with the older of the two mounting up in her stead before riding out of the harbor. Only the Spirit would know how Mila would explain to Lord Eldrich why she was riding his prized horse that morning. But that would be a story for another time, as she was starting to figure out how to get on the ship that was already half out to sea. The three fisherknights simply looked onwards, before Wilvamair handed off his rod to Humair Reinard nearby, before stepping towards the other side of the ship. This left Marisa and Lyonel to wave Mila forwards, urging her to jump at the last second. Keeping her pace, all the Darkwald could do was jump right at the end of the deck, only to miss her shot and start flailing towards the water below. Except that, there was never a splash. When Mila opened her eyes, she was being plopped down on the deck of the ship as Wilvamair dissipated his angelic wings. With the remaining knights looking towards her, and the crew preoccupied with their ailing efforts, the Darkwald simply got up to her legs, before walking down below decks to take a small retreat from the others. The Knights were gathered together, if only at the last minute. Water. Clouds. Blue as far as the eye could see. While anyone could describe the sights on the open seas, it was an entirely different experience to actually live through a voyage. While many war veterans had seen such sights many times in recent months, the less-travelled knights came across a sense of boredom that forced them to find entertainment anywhere. Theresia Kaeppler along with Aldüir Stormblade, Lazarus Lupenzi, and Bernardetta dei Lampeport all took in the vast blueness of the ocean whilst making smalltalk. Theresia and Bernadetta soon took to making sketches of the scenery for future tattoos and paintings when on more stable ground. Aesgeir meanwhile had gotten over his seasickness, and was now acting as a lookout on the head mast, with the Bragacao lookout taking care to give the Great Oak Knight a space over the crow's nest, in case his sudden acclimation to the movements of the Nau came back suddenly. As for the fisherknights three, each had managed to catch a few Barnacle Trout each, which gave Lee more than enough food too cook up delicious dinners throughout the voyage, much to everyone's pleasure. Over the next few days, much of the same routines were repeated by the Knights. Having had their share of fishing, Marisa went to join her other Solisti by the ship's help, while Wilvamair started to fly around the vessel as a scout. Lyonel meanwhile had found himself conversing with Howland and Aldüir, the Avanthar at times using his Evolutionary Mimicry to mess around with the others on board, either copying the screeches of a Rat, to even the cry of a Painted Lancierron, something that often took the unsuspecting knights by surprise, given that no horses were on board the vessel. the Trio of Fae Knights had also started to wander around the ship, with Cadwyn, Lyyra, and Carmen offering to guard places, only to be told by the crew that there was nothing beyond cargo and gear to guard. As for everyone else, they either took turns sleeping in the hammocks, singing with the crew, or taking in the endless blue for hours on end. After what felt like months at sea, the captain ordered the vessel to come to a halt. Climbing up to the decks, the knights looked around, noting a few islands all around them. But most curious was the sudden existence of Mai-Allar on the decks of the ships, conversing with the crew as if nothing was wrong. After some brief questioning, the knights soon learned that they has arrived in Hadar around the middle of the night, and were now arriving near the coordinates of where the underwater ruins were first discovered. Wilvamair took this pause in the journey to fly out once more to scout around the nearby isles, arriving some moments later with some uneasy news: a Sendrassian Corvus was spotted beached nearby, with the Mai-Allar soon confirming that said beach was where the entrance to the tunnel was at. With some surprise given the previous news of all Sendrassian forces retreating from the theatre, the Knights started to prepare the rowboats as the Nau began to sail towards their destination. Once the rowboats hit the water, it only took a few minutes before the Knights gathered around the Corvus on the beach. Despite the unease approaching, it soon became apparent that the Sendrassian Vessel had seen better days. With half of its hall missing, and parts of the deck already rotting away, many suspected that whatever force had landed on this island was already picked up by their allies, as there were few signs of life on the ship or nearby. However, while few signs of life were found, there were some indications of scouting on the small isle. On the beach heading into the nearby forest were several pairs of raptor marks, only barely visible due to the sea breeze and tides that washed upon everything. However, even with the tracks nearly gone, the Mai-Allar that the ship conversed with had been here before, and aided the Knights in discovering the entrance to the ruins. Looking to be like any other cave, blinding darkness was all that anyone could see as they stepped foot a few yards inside. With the sound of running water, echoes, and a light humidity all around them, it would be anyone's guess what the Ruins of Mantziraqq held inside, and what challenge(s) would be faced before finding their expected goal: a Shard of Ssentra.
