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| Action Id: 1257 | Crisis: | Participants: Calypso, Fiora, Eirene, Caelis and Arcelia | |
| Status: Resolved | Submitted: Oct. 10, 2017, 9:35 p.m. | Public: True | GM: Puffin |
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Action by Calypso
Duchess Calypso was told by Duke Asger that a school of mermaids was escorted to Southport Harbor. Which is both a great honor, and a troubling thought all in one. They are First Children and must be protected. But, they hate men and have a tendency to lure them to their deaths, or so she was told. Calypso has pooled together a group of -female only- crew members and negotiators to go out and talk to the mermaids. The goal is to convince them only to use their siren songs to protect Southport and the Compact, and not to harm the male sailors and merchant ships that pass by the area.
Arcelia has been asked along to help negotiate with them. Eirene is there as Voice of House Malvici and to help if there are any injuries. Caelis is there to sail the ship out to greet them. And Fiora is there to help keep a watchful eye and to serve as protection if anything does go wrong.
Action by Fiora
Action by Eirene
Action by Caelis
Action by Arcelia
Result
The trip to see the mermaids is at first uneventful, until the sailors realize what they're going to do. Sailors are superstitious so it's hard to convince them to keep sailing, but Calypso manages - barely. It doesn't take long before they hear the song and they are ensnared almost immediately - not by anything more tangible than the lure of one's heart's desire. There are no words to this beautiful, haunting song, and yet somehow it speaks to each woman differently. It sings the songs of lovers waiting, of lust in the dark, of that fury of touch and desire of course. Of these things are stories made. And yet it speaks of more, and the longer the song goes on the more ensnared they all are, caught in the sure and certain knowledge that if they find the source of this song all their hearts' desires will come true.
And yet when the ship at last sights the mermaid sitting on the rock, the song cuts off abruptly. It gives them time to recover their senses, to get in the longboat and head over to speak with the siren. She watches them with eyes devoid of feeling, curiosity the only emotion present. They start the negotiations and she listens for a while, tail flapping against the stone. At length she says, in a voice smooth as refined honey - "We agreed to try. We cannot stay here forever, but for while we are here and are not the guardians but instead the guarded we will try. But we will not make promises and agreements. What are treaties to a Daughter of the Waves? We will not go out of our way to lure your ships and haunt your sailors. But we cannot deny our natures, after all. Perhaps you will understand better soon." So saying, she flips into the water and is gone.
It seems at first that this is a failure, but no song follows them, luring them back to the rock jutting out of the water. And while there is still a place that sailors are starting to avoid, no sunken ships are reported - at least no more than can reasonably be attributed to the normal predations of piracy and weather. But the song haunts every member of the crew for a week, singing in their dreams and enticing them to go back and chase their heart's desire. It is, after all, their nature.