Eleanor only promised a birthday party; she never promised to be a good hostess. "Welcome, hi, welcome!" So many people to welcome. "Please eat, and there's drinks over there -" She gestures to another table which definitely has many drink choices. "Thank everyone for coming! Please enjoy yourselves!" That's hostessing, right?

Pomegranate, the gentle fainting goat have been dismissed.

Austen is here! He has some fruit and horror-of-horrors, a glass of *milk*. He's currently wall-flowering near a particularly nicely carved piece of hull, the knight doing the best he can to investigate the carving and not draw attention to himself.

Ian is not generally especially surefooted on the decks of ships, but this one's moored at the harbor and large and relatively stable. So here he is, cane in hand picking his way on board with only a little bit of a stumble.

Lady Teonia Redreef, Aryka Wyrmfang, 3 Thrax Guards, Marquessa Pudding, a doughy dog, 2 Thrax Elite Guards arrive, following Sorrel.

an aid in Kennex livery, Octavian, a silken spaniel, 2 Kennex corsairs arrive, following Zoey.

12 Thrax Elite Guards, Lilybelle - The Claw of Arx, Scarf, a sinewy, serious, shiny-seeking otter, Sorrel, Zoey arrive, following Victus.

Dimitri had made his arrival shortly before the event was scheduled to take place. After all, it wouldn't due to be late to a birthday party. Making his way up the ramp of the ship, there's a little glance about before he's dipping a nod of his head in the direction of Eleanor, offering a smile as well before he's angling immediately over towards the table with the refreshments. Hands tug at the hem of the new tunic he wears, shifting how it settles upon his body slightly.

"I am amazing at navigation." Prince Victus declares upon his entrance, bringing along the attache of Lady Sorrel and Lady Zoey. They almost certainly did not spend an awkward amount of time hiking down to the Lowers through the whole of the upper city. He immediately gives a vibrant wave toward the birthday lady of the hour, along with Eleanor.

Kenna's got her arms locked around Bhandn and Rowenova's because WHY NOT? As they board the ship. They're an ill matched trio with ZERO attempts having been made to coordinate outfits. "... didn't realize that Eleanor was going to turn this into a party ship too." Kenna says, mid-conversation for those now in ear-shot. "But I guess that makes sense. Rhea would probably approve if you could pry her out of her lai, I mean, room."

As a guest to her own party, that also leaves Jaenelle free from actually hosting the thing as well. She arrives onto the caravel with Arik in tow, her hand lightly resting on the crook of his elbow. She smiles when she spots Eleanor, directing both of them in her direction. "Thank you" she says, and her epression says a great deal more than those two words could ever say. "I broguth pastries from the Tower" clearly everyone knows the chef in the King's Own tower makes the best pastries in the entire compact. "I cant to the conclusion that there are so many stairs in the tower because people are eating too many of these and need to lose weight." Though after speaking with Eleanor, she cant help but turn and repeat, "thank you all for coming" to those who've come before her and are entering after.

Keeping to the edges of things, Ian scans the crowd like he's looking for someone in particular.

There's quite a bit of (loud) laughter that comes with Rorik and Porter Kennex as they climb aboard the Silver Shell. Are these two wearing /matching outfits/? They most certainly are, though Rorik's dressed his up with a glamorous top-hat that he keeps fussing with because he can't get the angle just right. Whatever joke they are sharing does not get shared with the whole ship, though Rorik does turn his bright smile up to Eleanor. "Hello! This a great ship, wow," he passes the compliment easily before he spies Jaenelle, lifting a hand up in a wave for the birthday woman.

Sir Floppington moves in the wake of Rowenova, Khenna, and Bhandn. Rowenova is on the right side of Kenna and seems to have one long-sleeved arm back behind her shoulders with the associated hand on the far shoulder of the Acheron. Deftly moving, Nova adjusts for their 3-wide entrance onto the big caravel. Glancing back, she grins back to Jaenelle and Arik when they show up.

Tyche is here! Perhaps as a show of goodwill between Pravus and Velenosa. Or maybe just because she likes Jaenelle? Whatever the reason, the steelsilk clad Marquessa boards the ship, all smiles and friendliness in her unaccompanied self. A greeting is given the hostess, "Dame Eleanor," and then to the lady of the hour, "Archduchess. Happiest of birthdays!" Now to the mingling.

It's also obvious from the start that Sir Bhandn is completely dependent upon Lady Kenna for navigation, because for some reason he's opted to cover up his eyes completely with a blindfold. "Of course I have to wear this. The last thing I need is to have a fit in the middle of this," he's saying to the ladies he's accompanying. Because of that, he's taking his steps carefully, once even barely catching himself from tripping on his own feet.

And Porter looks just like Rorik (as far as outfits go), except that he's wearing a pair of really great, colorful earrings. "This is a great! I really like all of the turtles." As they pass by Jaenelle, he too raises his hand and waves. "Hello! Happy Birthday!"

Sorrel is absolutely not commenting on Victus's ability to navigate, though she looks mildly amused at his announcement as she arrives as part of his entourage.

"He's okay at it." Eleanor happens to be passing by Victus, Sorrel, and Zoey as the High Lord boasts of his navigational prowess. She doesn't slow down to chit chat, though, because she's making her way to Jaenelle. "Happy birthday, Your Grace," she says with a blinding smile. She clasps her hands together in front of her, restraining them. "May I give you a hug?" she asks, very polite, but plainly vibrating with the desire to do so.

2 Pravus Honor Guard, Abram, an ornamental hermit leave, following Matteo.

Arik arrives not leading Jaenelle but being gently tugged along beside the ribbony Archduchess. There's a nod here and there to those gathered until coming upon Eleanor with a rumbly voice, "Dame Eleanor." then Victus is announcing his entrouages arrival and while he might be waving at Eleanor and Jaenelle, Arik waves back too and then thumps his fist against his stomach a few times. Not doubling over in pain, win.

(OOC)The scene set/room mood is now set to: It's a warm, clear evening. There is nothing extravagant about the decorations for this evening's birthday party. Candles flicker along the railings and are strung from the masts safely away from any sail's canvas. A table with plenty of simple snacks - bread and cheese, slices of seasonal fruit - is laid nearby the entrance to the Captain's Quarters, which are open to allow guests to wander in and out at will. A three piece ensemble plays background music. The only extravagance is the boat itself: very silvery. Many turtles.

Claiming himself a glass of wine, Dimitri then turns his attention to the crowd that has begun to arrived. Spotting Zoey, he's lifting a hand to give a wave and when he then notices Jaenelle, he does angle a bit towards her, though not to disrupt the line of people trying to hug her. Instead, it's just enough so that he can offer up, "Happy Birthday, Your Grace!" Then, it's back off to one side for the moment.

Nomius, a deeply skeptical bloodhound, Siri, an attentive apprentice, Paris, a charming mercenary, 2 Keaton Huntsmen, Adalyn arrive, following Apollo.

Reedy, a King's Own aide arrives, following Corban.

Nomius, a deeply skeptical bloodhound have been dismissed.

Siri, an attentive apprentice have been dismissed.

2 Keaton Huntsmen have been dismissed.

"Happy birthday, your Grace!" comes the call from Austen, the knight still clearly very interested in these carvings over there away from the bulk of people as he chews on his apple and sips his milk. The Kennex clan get a wave, as does Princess Sorrel.

Lilah makes her entrance quietly, gliding in with the serene look of a woman who simply has no troubles at all. The moon glides down on the silver hair she's pulled back into a loose braid, and her blue eyes scan the room, taking in the guests and the host and the birthday girl herself. She keeps her distance for now, simply observing those who mingle and greet, those who dance and those who drink. She turns her head as if to make a comment to someone, but she is standing by no one at all and so she shakes her head, amusement turning her lips upward slightly.

"SIR AUSTEN," Porter calls, waving loudly to knight. "I demand a rematch. Again!"

Ian locates a drink from somewhere, and leans casually againt a railing, watching the crowd begin to gather. His intense, electric blue eyes move from person to person.

"But that makes //no sense//." Kenna complaines of Bhandn's blindfoldedness. "Nova, tell him that makes //no sense//." She's also a terrible guide and is leading Bhandn right towards the table. "AUSTEN!" Get yelled out across the night-sparkling carval. But then someone says something about TURTLES, and so in her best Riagnon-voice she replies to Porter, "Did you know you can milk turtles?!"

Tyche has joined the Prow.

"That sounds absolutely ridiculous. They have a /shell/! Where would you milk them from?!" It's Rorik, not Porter, who shouts this back to Kenna, incredulous. But there is some admiration for the turtle decorations as they come on board, and then a far more skeptical sort of squint at them. "No, I don't believe it. I do hear they make good soup, though!"

Apollo Oakwood isn't /that/ late. How often is he down to the dockyards? (Not often.) He probably got waylaid on the way. And honestly, it's Adalyn's fault, as he's escorting her - leading the Lady Clement with proper manners, looking for once entirely happy. He murmurs to her as they come aboard, something that sounds like: "- can't refuse, can I?" He grins at her, and gives her a hand, of course. No dresses were tripped over -this- day.

Zoey grins up at Victus when the trio make their entrance. "It was an enjoyable journey," she tells her Highlord before partying from his company with a nod of her head. She replies to Dimitri's raised hand with a raise of her own. When she manages to pass near Jaenelle she offers a brief curtsey and adds to the happy chorus, "Happy birthday, Your Grace!" before making her way to Ian's side. ... Ian is at the party?

Glancing over at her compatriots (Bhandn, Kenna, and Flop); Nova slyly smirks. "Never knew you could milk turtles. How does that work?" She sounds like someone asking about magnets here. Then, there is Rorik asking the same, too! Letting go of Kenna, Nova slides sideways behind her and moves to try to helpfully pause Bhandn by the shoulder before he dies by table.

Eventually, Ian's electric blue gaze lands on Lilah, and he angles in her direction; he says something to the nox'alfar in a low voice just before Zoey joins him and he winds up slipping an arm briefly around her waist.

"ELEANOR HE WANTS TO EAT THE TURTLES!" Kenna yells out, because apparently yelling is a thing that you do at people's birthday parties? There doesn't seem to be an expectation that the hostess answers though. She has to answer Rowenova. "I don't know. But Riagnon swears it is true, and he's only wrong a lot more often than not." Whomever Rorik is gets Kenna yelling back, "IT IS SO. You just have to get in there a little bit - AND don't eat turtles while sitting on one! The ship will make you fall off!"

Victus takes the shortest route he can to be by Jaenelle's side. His brush is brief. "I don't hug people. But as it is your day of celebration for growing old, I would like to offer you a firm handshake in this trying time." He extends a calloused hand. "I will not touch your hair for the remainer of the day. On my honor."

"Lord Porter! Certainly! But not here, I'd fall off the edge!" Austen admits, and then facepalms at Kenna's Turtle-Facts, the knight looking like he might be about to correct her. Instead, he just gives her a wave. "Kenna!" He looks perhaps a touch tired and maybe a bit battered, but otherwise in good spirits. Lilah's arrival gets a curious tilt of the head.

Octavian, a silken spaniel have been dismissed.

an aid in Kennex livery have been dismissed.

"You can? Where does the milk come from?" Porter demands to know, swiveling in Kenna's direction. When Austen replies to him, he laughs and shakes his head. "Of course not, this is a birthday party. We'd ruin the decorations. But later this week perhaps!"

"What did you two do?" Jaenelle first asks Porter and Rorik, watching them move past. "I do admit you both look rather handsome though, give me the name of your tailor." Victus, Sorrel, and Zoey are given dips of her head in greeting, "I would hope you would know where the docks are, Victus. Sorrel, thank you for not allowing him to get into trouble on the way here. I dont think I need another," she eyes Arik when he hits his stomach and rolls her eyes, "issue. Lady Zoey, thank you for coming as well! I believe your husband is somewhere" and it is a good thing Zoey manages to find him because Jae would be of no help at all. When Victus crosses the ship's deck, Jaenelle looks up at him and without saying a word wraps her arms around him tightly. "I hug. A lot. All the hugs."

"If it made sense to /me/, I'd explain." Bhandn doesn't seem to be entirely bothered by Kenna's complaint, answering her with a calm ease which promptly turns to a half-startled expression (half on account of his eyes being covered) when Kenna suddenly goes into the subject of ... milking turtles? "What in the gods' names brought this on?" Bhandn asks Kenna with a bewildered tone, as the yelling continues. He shakes his head, sighing, before finally asking the air: "Please show me where the drinks are."

Arik watches as Victus approaches for a handshake only to have an attempted hug on his person. There's a shake of his head with his attention drifting to spy Rowenova with a blindfolded Bhandn and Kenna, he kind of peers off at them with a mild tilt of his head. If Rowenova looks in his direction he motions up to his own eyes and mouths 'Why?' hopefully no one around the birthday girl notices her company is completely distracted with something else.

"Thank you Sir Austen!" Jaenelle calls from around Victus' form as she hangs onto him. "Thank you, Dimitri!" she then addresses the Velenosa nee Pravus Prince brightly. Still hugging Victus. She finally releases and turns to Eleanor, "I would love a hug."

"Like shove your hand in the shell?!" Rorik shouts this at Kenna before he looks down at his hand, looks at the turtles, and then just shakes his head in disbelief. "I DON'T WANT TO EAT THE TURTLES!" He makes sure that is known before he turns around to beam over to Jaenelle. "Do you like it? Thrax and Velenosa colors. I think it really brings out Porter's eyes," he grabs Porter by the arm and /hauls/ him over, before spinning Porter about for him to 'model' the outfit to Jaenelle. After the hugging is over, of course.

"Under the //shell//." Kenna shouts back to Porter, as if this is the most obvious thing ever. "Why do you want to push Austen off the ship?!" Then a glance at Bhandn, "It makes as much sense as you coming to a party with a blindfold on." She asserts FIRMLY. "HE IS LYING HE WANTS TO EAT THE TURTLES ELEANOR."

After what Arik motions, Nova shoulder pats Bhandn now that he is safe from running into random tables (at least until Kenna drags him around some more). Then, Nova lets go and shrugs helplessly to Arik. She steps closer to him, doing so with Sir Flop wagging up to him, too. She then turns to Jaenelle, bowing briefly before popping up to her full height once more. "My Friend. Happy Birthday to you."

Zoey finds flat surface to jot something down on a piece of paper. She leaves Ian briefly, returns to Jaenelle's side, and says to the Archduchess with a brilliant grin, "I have a present for you."

"MmmmmMMMMMMM." Victus constrains his voice as Jaenelle wraps him up. The hand originally extended balls into a fist. Then trembles. Slowly, slowly, /slowly/ shaking its way inward. He gives a very light pat on Jaenelle's back. "MMMMMM-Happy Birthday-MMMMMM." When he's finally released from the torture, he takes a LONG drag of oxygen. As if the Archduchess had been slowly eating away at his very soul.

1 Malespero guard arrives, following Pasquale.

When Zoey speaks of having a present for Jaenelle, Nova wolfishly grins within the shade cast by her pelt headdress.

Adalyn has traded her usual casual garb for a dress and flats, so at least /some/ effort has been made to dress for a party. It is thanks to Apollo's escort that she manages to navigate her way into the building without any dress-related mishaps. "Of course. But you must introduce me to the birthday girl. I'm not sure we've ever been officially introduced."Snippets of conversation capture her attention, her head swiveling as she glances over the gathering. "Turtles aren't on the menu, are they?" She sends Apollo a dubious look as if to ask what he's dragged her into.

There's so much going on right now, Porter appears to be in overload. "How do you get it out of the shell? I have so many questiooooons!" Which gets elongated because some lunatic is spinning him around and making him model his outfit. "Why did you--?" Oh, hello. He smiles at Jaenelle as he tries to feel less dizzy, a big brilliant, doofy smile. And then he slowly edges away again. "I don't want to push Sir Austen off the ship!" he says to Kenna.

Eleanor steps carefully out of the way to allow Victus his hug, and she only looks a little bit jealous. Of Victus, not Jaenelle. From the way her brown eyes go wide and flick to the side, she isn't NOT hearing threats of turtle eating and/or milking, but hosting is very serious business. If she elbows Victus out of the way in her eagerness to hug Jaenelle, it's probably nothing personal. "Happy birthday!" she says in the Archduchess's ear, giving her a warm squeeze.

With birthday wishes given, Dimitri is moving over towards one of the railings, only to turn so that he can settle one side of his hip against it. His glass is held idly in his hand as he lets his gaze linger along the crowd, taking in the others as he sips from his wine. The arrival of a messenger has him inclining his head a touch as he accepts it, only to then deposit the piece of paper into one of the pockets of his tunic.

Gino, a surly sailor, 2 House Velenosa Guards arrive, following Antonio.

Bhandn mutters, "The last thing you /or/ I want is ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ship ... see it make ... Will you at ... help me pay ... to Her Grace on this ..."

"You know Victus." Arik says a name without a title, shocking really. "Given the number of little ones you have running around the estate, you'd think you had had a hug before." his attention drawn back to Jaenelle and Victus with Rowenova coming up to greet the Archduchess too. "I think this means you get to muss her hair too."

"Look, do you want drinks or say hi? Make up your mind old man!" Kenna says testily, as her yelling partner gets turns about. She'll shout one last, "COME VISIT ACHERON, Riagnon will explain it all! ALSO WHO ARE YOU?" She doesn't really expect an answer though, and is going to lead Bhandn right into a chair. This is fine.

Corban makes his way onto the Silver Shell, looking around with great curiousity as to the boat. It is VERY impressive. But then he spies Austen, going over to give him a bro hug pat pat. "Sir Austen! Knight Lieutenant! Congratulations, my friend! Welcome to the officer quarters!"

Corban is overheard praising Eleanor: Massively turtle-y!

Apollo grins brightly at Adalyn. "Of course I will," he says. "What else am I here for?" Important work, escorting. He's definitely a courtier and not a tanner dressed up nicely. He draws her along, finding the first opportunity to sidle up to the Archduchess, offer a bow. "Your grace," he says brightly. "May I introduce you to Lady Adalyn Clement? And wish you a happy birthday of course." One more brief brightening of his smile, and he leans close to murmur something to her.

"Soon!" Austen promises Porter. Why are they yelling over everyone? Because! He looks over as Corban starts praising him, the knight smiling and dipping his head. "Thank you, Sir Corban. I really should put some decorations up at some point. Or get a wardrobe," he considers.

"Look, the hug didn't kill you," Sorrel says to Victus cheerfully, then turns to Jaenelle to offer her own hug to the Archduchess.

Sir Floppington sits down next to Arik, doing so with his soulful eyes gazing up at the human beings here, and his long tail gently wagging.

Victus has now been hugged and very mildly elbowed by the Lord Commander. Two transgressions from such high society. It would crush a lesser being. But not Victus. "Well. I never." He snorts with feigned annoyance before turning his attention to Arik. His brow quirks up, the rest of his face following in apparent confusion. "Why would I hug my children...?"

Arik helpfully suggests, "Your wife, Victus."

Victus says, "Oh. You were making an innuendo."

Victus says, "HAHA!"

It's a beautiful night, really. And sound the water makes as it laps against the docks is a pleasant addition to the party, though it seems to get quieter and quieter as the party continues. Still, the swaying of the ship and the gentle rise and fall of the water in the Bay is a soothing feeling for those who find their sea legs quickly. And indeed, the party is so pleasant that it seems that the sound of the raucous docks just fades away into little more than distant background noise.

As he's aged (or not aged, as the case may be), Antonio Velenosa has gotten more and more adverse to large social gatherings, which this certainly qualifies as! So the fact that he's here, cautiously making his way up the gangway, says something. What it is says, remains to be seen.

Nova raises an eyebrow so high it disappears under the edge of her headdress!

Arik sighs quietly to himself with a shake of his head, "I'm going to go back to calling you Prince Victus, this has all gone terribly awry in-laws or not."

Ian remains on the edges of things, leaning against a railing and exchanging a few words with Lilah. His solemn countenance and flat expression really don't belong here. He doesn't look like a man who even knows what fun IS. It's no wonder that Zoey was surprised to see him present.

Bhandn will settle for a chair, but there is a sigh that comes from him as he gropes at the seat to which Kenna led him before making his way into it. He'll fold his arms and direct his attention where he thinks Kenna is standing in, trying not to frown at her and partly succeeding. In the end, he'll stay sitting and try to listen in on all the activity, see if there's a topic that catches his interest.

Pasquale makes his way over to Jaenelle's position once the initial crush of well wishers has died down somewhat. "May I wish you a joyous birthday Your Grace." Since Jaenelle's being hugged at basically the same time he doesn't expect a response and instead glances around to see who's here and where he wants to begin.

Catching sight of Rowenova, Dimitri is offering a smile and a quick wave of his hand towards her as he takes another sip of his wine before finally beginning to push off from the railing. Then, he's catching sight of Pasquale and he's beginning to ample his way across the deck and over in his direction, only to offer up, "Lord Pasquale. How's it going today?"

Tyche has no problem with social gatherings! And so maybe /that/ is why she finds her way to Antonio, the Velenosa prince one of the familiar faces aboard the ship. "Your Highness," she lifts a cup to him in salute, having grabbed it somehow in all of the celebrating. "A pleasure to see you again. It has been... a year? At least."

Docks <O> is now locked.

There is a squeeze for Eleanor as she takes Victus' place, unable to help her giggle from both the hug and Arik's words. "No it does not" Jaenelle states firmly, shifting both Eleanos and her own bodies to get a better look at Arik, and a warning glance to Victus. "No mussing." When she finally does release Eleanos she is giving Sorrel the next squeeze. Hugs do not hinder the host, and she turns towards Zoey and Rowenova with a beaming smile, "you did not have to give me anything, but you are more than enough simply being here. Hmm" Jaenelle then states to Rorik's explination of the of the color choices. "Did you know that my father was a Redrain prince? So perhaps you should have some red in there as well to embrace each piece that makes up Jaenelle." She just gave the Kennex men homework on how to better attire themselves. Once the hugs are done, she offers Apollo a smile and nod, "we will have to whether it is or isnt. Lord Pasquale, thank you for coming" she tells the newcomers.

"Well, I am sure a couple of us can come help you move your things when you are ready," says Corban to Austen, offering a small smile. "Congratulations, again." Then he notes the Nox'alfar here and moves over to her, bowing his head formally. "It is good to see you again. It was kind of you to come to the Lord Commander's ceremony and now to this."

Spotting Pasquale and Dimitri, Nova soon recovers from her eyebrow lifting which was so taxing! She nods forth to each of those noble men. A quick smile before she looks back to Jaenelle who she gloms onto with a wolfy hug!

"Oh, but you will *so* appreciate this," Zoey insists to Jaenelle, holding out a folded piece of paper toward the Archduchess. "Please, take it."

It's possible that Porter's volume does not need to be so loud, which is perhaps why he adjusts it to something a lot lower. "Uh, okay! Whoever you are!" Porter says to to Kenna, looking just a little uncertain. Like, what is going on? Why are they talking about milking turtles, how did they get to this point? "Okay!" to Austen.

"Yes, at least a year." Tyche's approach gives Antonio some pause, though the woman is offered a friendly enough smile after a moments consideration. "How have you fared, Count-" A beat and he corrects himself, "Marquesa?"

Adalyn flashes Apollo a wide grin as he offers his assurances, following his lead. As he makes the introduction along with his birthday wishes, she bows her head to Jaenelle and turns a warm smile upon the other woman. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Your Grace. I hope you have a most memorable birthday - but memorable only in the best of ways, of course."

Rorik claps his hand on Porter's back to /shove/ him towards Austen even though he's already headed that way before he laughs over to Jaenelle. "I'll do better next time, your Grace," he promises with a bright grin. "But I did like the foxes and the waves. Maybe I could've given the foxes red eyes, though that probably would've been a little scary," hmmm! He considers this thoughtfully while he ambles over to get him and Porter some drinks. "PORTER! Help me with these cups," he doesn't really /need/ four.

"I have something for you, too," Eleanor tells Jaenelle, "But I'll let you greet all of your well-wishers." She gives her a fond nose scrunch and then weaves her way out of the press of people around the Archduchess. "You can't milk turtles." She appears beside Kenna and Porter. "They lay eggs." That must've been weighing on her, because only after that does she say, "Hello, I'm Dame Eleanor," to Porter and, "Kenna, did you see Austen's new tabard?" She turns her head to sweep the crowd to find the Knight in question, but her attention is caught by Corban and the Nox'alfar woman.

Apollo smiles at that response from Jaenelle, and nods his head - he seems very glad that the overture was well received. And steps back with Adalyn after her greetings are made, just in time to bump into Pasquale. He turns, apologetic face at the ready. "Pardon me," he says, and hesitates - doesn't know who he is. Doesn't play the prince-or-lord game - just gives a bow.

Tyche laughs as he begins to mistitle her, but then corrects himself. "Guilty as charged. Although I do believe the last time we met I was still a Countess, so your almost error is forgiven." Her dark eyes make a quick sweep of him before she determines, "You look well," and despite the generic nature of the compliment, she seems sincere in the delivery. "I thought I would come celebrate, because in spite of following my blood, Archduchess Jaenelle has always been nothing but kind to me."

Lilah leans against the wall as though she's holding it up, even as she murmurs a word to Ian in return. And then she nods to Corban's comment. "It would be quite rude of me not to be here, don't you think?" That slight smile, those upturned lips and she nods again. "Yes, quite rude indeed. How do things fare in the Compact and with the Hundred in your estimation, First Captain?"

"Dame Eleanor, how are you?" Bhandn's question is thrown at Eleanor's right shoulder, his blindfolded head turned a bit too far to be considered looking right at the woman. "Forgive me if I come out poorly dressed but... one's eyes are a bit of a bother right now."

As Lilah's attention turns elsewhere, Ian withdraws. He probably intends to withdraw completely from the party. Except, oops, probably not still possible?

After replying to Jaenelle's recognition with a smile and a small bow, Pasquale finds his attention drawn over to Rowenova and Dimitri. "It's a pleasure to be aship Dimitri. Even if we wont be going anywhere." he blinks, surprised, at the impact between him and Apollo. "Excuse me." he says back to Apollo as if it might have been his own mistake. He considers Apollo's face for a moment and then says "I dont think we have met. Lord Pasquale Malespero."

Austen is not wearing his tabard! In fact he's all casual-like. He's about to add something to Eleanor's words and then Porter is being *shoved* at him and the knight steps forwards to check that he didn't trip over a plank or something.

"I solemnly swear not to muss. On my honor." Victus declares, a hand stamped onto his coat. Right above the new emblazed black rose on the leather. Turning back to Arik, the Prince shakes his head. "No no, it's quite alright. Northern humor is a difficult beast to wrangle. In the Mourning Sea, we're much more used to the heave-ho and occasional noodling pun."

"How gracious of you," Antonio responds, a little ghost of his usual smirk 'gracing' his lips- as he focuses on his conversation with Tyche, it seems the prince lets just a little bit of his social anxiety go. Indeed, he laughs. Just a little bit. "Jaenelle usually is pretty kind. Usually."

"Your Grace, you seem indundated with gifts. Am I suppose to be carrying all of these." Arik wonders while looking over the growing offerings to the Archduchess. "And more yet to come." he adds after Eleanor mentions having something too before she weaves away. "Noodling?" he echoes Victus' description of the Mourning Isles before he adds, "Alec is going north to do his tour of Whitehold lands. Having been up north yourself a few times. What's -most- likely to kill him during his visit and what's most likely to annoy him... For... His own good."

He's PUSHED toward Austen, which means he crashes into Austen. Whoops. "Sorry! Haha." Don't mind him Austen. He brushes off his shirt. "Hello, I'm Lord Porter," he relays to Eleanor with a nod. He seems very appreciative for her clarification. "Thank you for your input, Dame Eleanor. I was starting to feel concerned." And then his cousin is shouting for him to help with some cups. So Porter murmurs his apologies and heads in that direction.

Arik briefly glances around to see if Rowenova is within ear shot of these important Alecstazi based questions.

"Indeed, it is. Been some time since I've been aboard one." That's offered just as Pasquale collides with Apollo, which has Dimitri looking over towards the other man, smile on his lips. He does dip a little nod towards him, followed by, "And I can't say that we've met, either. Prince Dimitri Velenosa."

The party continues, and every star in the sky seems like it's shining bright down on just this occasion. The twinkling lights seem to swirl above them in circles, and the motion of the ship gets slightly more pronounced. It's probably Ian, looking to make a departure, who notices first that the ship is no longer moored and is in fact floating aimlessly in the bay.

Tyche cannot help but grin in return, "Oh you know me. So gracious." The self-deprecating remark made, she turns to the gossip, bringing her drink up to hover just at her lips when she asks, "Usually? Do tell!" And then a sip is taken, content to play this little game of getting dirt on the birthday girl. The movement of the ship goes unnoticed by the Inverno, as she is now engaged in conversation.

Rorik piles two cups into Porter's hands, already draining one of his own. There's seemingly no notice to the more pronounced movement of the ship, or the fact that it's no longer moored. "When do we burst into celebratory song?" he wonders aloud to no one in particular. Maybe to Porter. "I can do the drums!"

Ian stands blinking, looking out at the distant lights of the dock. "Uh." He looks up at the stars for a moment (are they supposed to swirl and spin like that?), and then casts his gaze to the helm to see if anyone's actually steering this ship.

"AUSTEN, make sure that he," POINT at Porter, "Comes over to Acheron to learn about turtles! Bring his date too!" Kenna rplies quite happily till they're pushed together towards Eleanor and Kenna beams at her. "I haven't but I'll inspect it once this weirdo," a headjerk at Bhandn, "stops being weird. Ah, Eleanor? Why are we moving?"

"At least it's lovely weather tonight," Adalyn notes with an upward flick of her eyes toward the starry night sky. Attention is captured as Apollo and Pasquale collide, an apologetic glance offered despite not having done the bumping-into.

Apollo shakes his head, lifting a hand to cover Adalyn's there on his arm. "Apollo Oakwood, your highness, my lord," he greets the pair. "Very glad to meet you both. This is Lady Adalyn Clement." A smile follows. "I've not had much time to get used to the tighter quarters shipboard. I'm sure you won't be my last mishap tonight, Lord Pasquale."

Jaenelle reaches out to take the piece of paper from Zoey after being completely persuaded by the woman's charms to do so, only to be attacked by Rowenova, who gets a tight hug before she has the chance to look at what was written. "Lady Adalyn, thank you for coming, and it is a pleasure to meet you. I do hope that your day has gone as well as mind has so far, it would be terrible if I kept all the good days to myself" she grins. "I will come find you shortly" she then promises Eleanor, looking after her to spot Tyche and Antonio. There is a warm smile for both, dipping her head in greeting to the pair and a finger wiggle as the ship seems to rock effortlessly within the waves against it's hull. "Yes" she then conforms to Arik, "as my escort, you get to help me take everything home."

Austen laughs as Porter collides with him, reaching up to steady the man before he moves away to sort cups. What happened to the knight's milk? It's a mystery! He seems to know nothing about boats, and so he's blissfully unaware of their movement until *someone* points it out. "Uh.. are we moving?" he asks naively.

"Bears would definitely kill him." Victus notes. "Actual bears. Annoying? Make away with his blankets in the night. It's a theme I've noticed with Islander lords. 'We can handle the cold, we've been on chilly boats'. They underestimate just how fucking cold the real North is. Make sure to tell him that if he grew up in the Isles, then /surely/ he can handle a little breeze in the snow." He's almost too preoccupied to notice that they're currently adrift. Almost. Once he does however, his eyes turn toward Jaenelle and Eleanor. "Uh. I'm not sure a tour through the bay is the best of ideas with the whirlpool."

Now that their gift is in Jaenelle's hands, Zoey winks at Rowenova and returns to Ian's side.

It's unlikely that Porter realizes the ship is moving initially, probably because people are spinning him and shoving him (those people are /all/ Rorik). Then he's taking the cups from his cousin and drinking one of them, looking out over the docks. "The Damsel looks smaller," he says idly. "The Damsel looks--" wait. "Hey, this ship is moving."

Assuming Ian sights nobody at the helm, he'll head in that direction. But, of course, it's a big ship, and there are a lot of people between him and his objective, so it'll take a while for him to get there.

After their shared hug, Nova lets go with a bright smile. Of course, she is definitely hearing Arik's words. She always pays close attention to Arik. Stepping aside, she half grins Zoey's way then looks back to Jaenelle there.

"There are enough sailors here that I think that some might be capable of getting the ship back to the docks," Sorrel suggests to Victus, motioning towards Ian as he heads towards the helm. "Maybe Lord Porter can help, too."

"Oh, I would say they are at a time of ... great potential," says Corban to Lilah, the Nox'alfar ambassador. "Change, yes. But with the hope of renewal and new freedoms. I pray we have the same courage and strength to make potential a reality." A pause. "I used Leona's blade in battle against the Abyss the other day. It served me well. I hope you can tell her that, along with my birthday wishes."

"A pleasure!" That's offered to Apollo and then Dimitri is turning his attention towards over towards Adalyn, a smile coming to be given to her, along with an incline of his head, "A pleasure to meet you, Lady Adalyn." There's a pause and then a glance about as they are moving, only for his gaze to turn back over towards Apollo, "I have a feeling that you're not going to be the only one making such missteps."

"no harm done." Pasquale says to Apollo before giving a smile to his companion Adalyn. "A pleasure to meet you Lady Adalyn. Why don't you join Prince Dimitri and I?" Its the change in the movement of the ship underfoot that clues him into the fact that something has changed. He looks to see what that is.

Eleanor takes a moment to place Bhandn, given that last time she saw him he had a whole face. "Oh! Sir Bhandn. I'm. Um. Glad you could make it!" She turns to look at Kenna with arched eyebrows. "Moving?" The Lord Commander (is she also the Captain?) turns away from Kenna and notices the other people noticing that the ship seems to have drifted and she moves to the railing to squint out into the darkness - difficult, with the ship so alight with candles. "High Lord Victus?" she calls. "Do want to -- you know. Show some of those amazing navigating skills?"

"The Damsel doesn't look /smaller/, are you already drunk?" Rorik mutters something to Porter, but he's going to the rail of the ship and hauling Porter over with him by the collar of his shirt. "See, the Damsel's right - oh. Oh. We're moving! We're /moving/. We shouldn't he moving, who's at the wheel?" He starts to haul Porter back to Jaenelle and the rest of the party. "Is somebody at the wheel??"

Arik might have been fine if no one called attention to them being adrift but when Victus says something he looks around and it becomes pretty obvious he's now off balance. Yet another sigh parts his lips and he briefly places a hand on Jaenelle's shoulder to get his balance back. "I don't know what it is, but as soon as I know I'm on the ocean. I can't stand straight." he mutters in a grousing manner.

That slight smile turns into a real one then. "It was meant to be used in defense of the Compact," Lilah says to Corban. "It is with the correct person, in my opinion." When talk of moving gets other people worried about the small things, like whether the ship has somehow untied itself and is now sailing without anyone at the helm, Lilah gives Corban a nod and then moves to handle more important matters - like addressing Jaenelle directly and drawing her into a hug, murmuring something very quietly to her.

There's a suggestion of a wan smile on Sir Bhandn's face, then he's giving a sharp hiss of breath at the hand on his arm and turning his face in the direction of that now-hurting appendage. "What?" he asks Kenna, not keeping his voice down. He's clearly missed the cues and people talking about the ship possibly moving. This man is no sailor, after all.

Apollo nods agreeably, shoulder nudging against Adalyn's with a sort of fond gesture. "I'm sure they won't," he says to Dimitri, glancing around. "Though I'd lay bets that most have got a better stomach for the sea than -" his words falter a moment. He hears some of the murmurs and calls for sailing expertise, sees the receding lights of the dock, and of course feels the subtle turn under his feet: look at that, Jaenelle, they're /all/ dancing, in a way. He looks back to Pasquale. "Er," he says, uncomfortable. "Long as you don't mean to go too close to the rail, thanks."

"Imagine one of them probably already at the wheel, eh? Didn't expect this party was going mobile. Would've brought some extra rum." Victus muses over toward Sorrel, still maintaining some jovialness. Up until Eleanor calls him out by name. "You want me to...?" The Prince squints. Now privy to the idea that this may in fact /not/ be apart of the show. "... Suuuuure." He gestures for Sorrel to follow as he trails in Ian's wake, up toward the wheel.

Definitely no one at the helm. Nope, not a person. Not a shadow of a sailor here - this ship wasn't staffed for sailing, it was staffed for a party, after all. A nice, safe party with no one undoing the moorings and no sailing toward - well. Toward the whirlpool.

If Antonio notices the ships movement, he makes no comment on it. And while Jaenelle's smile and little wave is noticed, Antonio remains focused on the conversation at hand. "Oh, that would be telling," he responds after a moments consideration, a little bit of a teasing lit to his voice now. It fades though as he gives Tyche a little shake of his head. "Actually, in truth, I can't recall her ever being anything but perfectly pleasant."

Jaenelle checked composure at difficulty 15, rolling 8 higher.

"Looks like this ship needs a crew," Ian says to Victus as the High Lord draws near. "I'll get my family, captain." Is someone else supposed to be captain of the ship? Because Ian seems to have decided that it's Victus.

After realizing they have a problem here, Rowenova bolts away to where Ian is, "Let me know what you need!"

Rorik's going to just set his cups over /here/, making sure to drain the other before he puts them down. There isn't another moment that he wastes though, still hauling Porter around as he follows Ian and Victus, et al, past Jaenelle and towards the helm. "Tell us where you need us," he says up to Ian and Victus.

"The ship is //moving//." Kenna hisses at Bhandn. "Last time I was in the water with Lord Ian a shark tried to eat me." THIS IS NOT FINE. "AUSTEN." Kenna's just going to yell bot forgets to add the rest of it.

Tyche admits with a bright wave to the woman of the hour, "Same, Your Highness. She has never been anything but kind. It is sickening." Despite the word choice, there is a clear admiration for the woman's cheer. In this, however, she begins to notice not the movement of the ship, but the reactions of the guests who begin to panic. "What's going on?" she asks of Antonio, as if he might have all the answers, but a look out to the water gives her answer enough. "Are we moving? We're moving." That in and of itself shouldn't be an issue, but there is the WHIRLPOOL.

The wheel is up on the Quarterdeck, and so Eleanor turns away from the railing in hops up the railing in a few athletic movements and comes up beside Victus and Ian. "This ship wasn't supposed to go anywhere," she tells Ian. "I lived on boats long enough to know when they're moored. She tilts her head to look at Victus sidelong. "I don't think we could even lower the sails in time to do anything - there's candles up there."

Sorrel follows Victus dutifully, even though her role on ships thus far has largely been as a passenger. "I might have an extra bottle of something in my bag somewhere, if it becomes important," she tells the high lord.

Dimitri gives a bob of his head in Pasquale's direction as he offers Apollo and Adalyn to join them and it's followed by, "Indeed. Please do." There's a pause as people seem to mention that the ship is underway and he's glancing about a moment, brow lifting a touch, "I wasn't aware that this was going to be a mobile party. That certainly changes things .." Then Eleanor is stating that the ship isn't supposed to be going anywhere and the Prince is giving a little blink, along with a little shake of his head, gaze drifting back to Apollo, Adalyn and Pasquale, "Well .. looks like things just became a lot more interesting."

Zoey has joined the Quarterdeck.

"Well." Pasquale says "It seems we're in for a bit of an.. adventure." He looks to Apollo, Adalyn and Dimitri. "Do any of you actually knows how a ship like this works? Or will you need instructions?"

Something suspicious happened and there's a six foot tall Nox'alfar giving Jaenelle a hug. Arik is just squinting up a suspicious glower at Lilah while it becomes clear no one planned for a sail.

"Oh fuck me." Victus notes once it becomes apparent that /nobody/ is steering this boat. One quick look out into the distance told him enough. DANGER. "Try to- Try to be subtle about it." He replied to Ian. "Don't want anyone to panic." Perhaps already a lost cause, but hey, he could dream. "Get one of your ilk up toward the sails. See if they can't lower them /without/ setting fire to the whole thing. Someone else needs an eye forward on the whirlpool." Then he motions to Eleanor. "We /might/ be able to turn this around before we get sucked down, but we need everyone moving /right now/."

When Lilah approaches Jaenelle, her eyes widen slightly and the hug is tighter than any of the other ones before. It does not appear that she wishes to release the woman, but she does. "Adventure is good" she finds herself saying with a laugh and quick swipe of the back of her hand to her eyes. She is fine, nothing wrong here. "I think if anyone could compete within a sailing adventure it is certainly those that have gathered here. I am certain they wont let me die in a whirlpool." She looks around expecting them to agree?

After what Eleanor says, Rowenova takes action. She immediately hops onto the rigging ropes before scurrying up to those lit candles and quickly snuffing whatever wicks she possibly can with her leather gloved fingertips!

Austen looks more and more worried about the fact that they're on a boat that's headed for the whirlpool, the knight sidling up to Kenna. "I don't know anything about ships," he murmurs to her. "And I'm pretty sure I can't actually.. you know, cleave a whirlpool."

Corban mutters something at the sudden three hour tour (three hour tour) that sounds like "Nox'alfar sense of adventure" before he moves towards Jaenelle to also give her a hug and wish her a happy birthday.

Zoey follows Ian up to the quarterdeck, but knows when and how to stay out of the way. She does so unless told otherwise, writing down notes on two more pieces of paper while the sailors see to the safety of the ship.

Oh good, there's a second person. Kenna's already got Bhandn in a death grip, and she's just going to reach out and grab Austen too. Because this makes sense.

"I'll go stand to the front." Pasquale lifts his voice at Victus' instructions. He doesn't wait for acknowledgement before starting to weave through the crowds in that direction.

Rowenova says, "We may still need some light, so we should move some of these candles. Going to snuff the higher ones!"

Pasquale has joined the Forecastle.

Bhandn, in the meantime, is trying not to wince at Kenna's grip on him while exchanging low words with her.

Sir Floppington seems to follow Rowenova except he is at the deck level while she climbs to put out higher candles than he can really reach. He looks up with those soulful eyes and then momentarily scans the ship situation, too.

"Great," Porter says when they confirm that the ship is in fact and moving toward the whirlpool. His expression blanches a little and follows after Rorik, joining in with anyone else who plans on trying to redirect this ship back to the docks.

Ian isn't, in fact, showing any kind of panic. In fact, if anything, his bright blue eyes are focused and generally serene, giving a pure calm to his flat countenance. "Nova, go forward and keep an eye on the whirlpool." Assuming the role of first officer (also without asking anyone), he starts rounding people up and giving the orders that need to be given for the ship to do what the captain wants it to do. "Porter. Rorik." Yeah, he saw them there. "We're going to need the sails to fight the current."

"I don't know about subtle," Eleanor mutters to Victus. But she turns and beckons for Austen. "Knight-Lieutenant!" He might not be a sailor, but it'll have to do. "Get as many of those candles down as you can, please!" Polite, even in a crisis, she points up at the lights hanging from the masts. "You good here?" she asks Victus, not even waiting for an answer before she takes off to start climbing up the nearest mast, blowing candles out as she goes.

Adalyn offers a cheery grin to both Dimitri and Pasquale as introductions are made. "A pleasure to meet you both." A brow arches, attention shifting to inspect their surroundings as she digests the knowledge that they are no longer moored. "Oh. Moving, are we? I admit I do enjoy a bit of an adventure, but I'm not much of a seafarer myself." She laughs, turning back to her current companions and giving a rueful shake of her head to Pasquale. "I'm afraid I know nothing about ships. The best I can probably do at the moment is to keep out of the way until instructions are shouted."

Kenna's busy squeezing people to death, this is fine, it's all fine. Until someone tells her to do something she's just going to, oh wait,someone is telling AUSTEN to do something. She reluctantly peels her hands off of his arm.


**********************************************************************
On a day with many, many official proclamations being made, there's another one that goes out. It doesn't use the usual heralds, no, not the usual pomp of a proclamation from the Faith or the Crown. These heralds are commoners from the Lowers. Beggars. Children. Servants. Prodigals. Refugees. The poor, the shunned, and the ignored. And the proclamation itself is ignored, at first, of course, even when they stand on street corners in the Ward of the Compact and shout it. But it doesn't stay that way:

"Queen Triscali Grayson, the Black Rose, is remembered for many reasons, even this long after her reign. Scholars can tell you bits of her story. Mummers can act them out for you. The Theater she built still stands on Lords Lane, and we perform. We remember.

But Queen Triscali Grayson is remembered for other reasons. The Black Rose ended slavery in the Compact. The Black Rose freed countless slaves, countless numbers of people, and their descendants, owe her that debt. But free people own their own freedom. Free people make their own choices. Free people fight their own battles, and free people help to fight those battles that free other people. Noble, King, Queen, Commoner, we are all free people here.

And we are all free to choose what we do with that freedom. You've sold yours, Ivan Helianthus. You will not sell ours."

- The Black Rose Mummers
**********************************************************************


Kenna's player also hits enter too soon, "//how would I know how close that ship is?!" Kenna replies at Bhandn, because WHY

"Uh.. yes, it looks like we -are- moving," Antonio says after Tyche's question calls attenion to the uh.. movemnt of the ship, "If you'll excuse me, Marquessa. I should -probably- see if I can help. Though I'd certainly like to continue our conversation soon. Very soon, in fact." There is just a -subtle- hit of fliratiousness in Antonio's voice. Very subtle. After waiting for a response from Tyche (after all, possible danger is no reason to be rude!) the Lenosian prince heads towards Victus. "How can I help?" He is, after all, a sailor.

Apollo gives Dimitri and Pasquale an uneasy shake of his head. "I've /been/ on ships before but learnt fucka--" well, he's worried enough he's swearing, but not so worried he didn't catch himself. "Er. As a passenger." When Pasquale heads off, he looks at Dimitri hopefully - and then, Adalyn, hopefully. Hopes dashed when she says she knows nothing. "I learnt how to swim?" he says. That would probably comfort him more if there weren't the sound of a question mark on it. "Yes, I think... let's get out the way. Unless something needs repaired I'm not sure I'm much a use."

"So when we have to swim back to the shore, which of the gifts do you want saved?" Arik is asking Jaenelle while squinting out into the darkness, still a bit off-kilter what with not having sea legs (ignore that they're in a bay).

"I suppose that I should climb up and help get the candles off the sails. I don't know anything about sails or rigging or anything," Sorrel admits, but she's fairly athletically inclined, and climbing up to the sails is not much of a problem for her as she heads up to see what she can do about the candles.

Austen reaches out to squeeze Kenna's shoulder. "It's going to be fine," he reassures her, "Sir Bhandn, good to see you again," he greets, and then winces, quickly turning towards the closest mast. "Aye Lord Commander!" And up he goes, blowing out as many candles as we can.

"Sails? Got it." Porter grabs Rorik arm and starts hauling him off to the rigging where they'll need to do that. Also he finishes his drink along the way, because this night is going to need it.

"You got it," Rorik acknowledges Ian with a firm nod before he's turning around, rolling up his sleeves in the process. "ROWENOVA, WAS IT?" He shouts up the mast at the woman climbing to get the candles snuffed. "You tell me if you need any help! Or when we can drop the sails at least!" Is he dragging Porter around as he goes about? Yes, yes he is.

Or, apparently, it's Rorik's turn to get hauled. Whichever.

When people begin to snap into action, Tyche does the only thing she can in such a situation. She steps closer to Antonio, out of the way of anyone who can actually, actively do something about a moving ship. But look! He can do something about it, too, "Of course," she nods to the prince, waving her hand to send him off. "Go. Save us!" she says this almost jokingly. Ha. Ha. Isn't it funny to be at a party heading toward a whirlpool? And then she's left there, drink in hand, uselessly looking about for some way to help. Unfortunately, whirlpools and ships can't be controlled by pretty dresses and diplomacy. So she stays out of the way.

Dimitri's looking back over towards Pasquale, a low chuckle hinting in the back of his throat, "I know absolutely nothing about sailing, I'm afraid. Never really an interest of mine." Then Victus is calling out instructions and there's a little shake of his head, gaze turning back over towards Apollo and Adalyn, "I think this is my cue to stand to one side and let everyone else do their thing." A little shake of his head, "I can swim as well. That's about it."

Pasquale gets to the front of the ship and starts assessing the path ahead of them. He glances back once to see if anyone else has been ordered this way as well. "Is it just the maelstrom you want eyes on Captain?"

Ian rounds up Antonio, too, on his way to the foredeck. "Prince Antonio? Help me with the mains'l. I don't think I can set it alone."

Ian has joined the Prow.

After putting out however many candles she possibly could which might have somehow impededed/lit dropped sails, when Ian tells her to go forward and basically scout the whirlpool, that is what she definitely do! She drops down onto the ship deck before running up to the front bow with Sir Floppington heeling beside her as they rush up to where Pasquale is, stopping nearby. "Greetings!" says she then, she peers out toward the whirly pool out there.

Rowenova has joined the Forecastle.

Pasquale has left the Forecastle.

Pasquale has joined the Prow.

Rowenova has left the Forecastle.

Rowenova has joined the Prow.

Victus rolls up his sleeves, both hands taking the wheel as the makeshift crew scrambles. "Yeah, I got it-" but Eleanor's already off. Good. "Sorrel-" also already on the job of candles. Good. So far, he was keeping a straight face through the encroaching panic. When Antonio slides up alongside him, he gestures to Ian. "Do as he says. I'll remain at the wheel, I can see most everything from this spot." His eyes dart up the mast and shift back to the prow. Occasional glances at the sails as well. "How far are we from the Whirlpool?!"

Adalyn's good cheer? It immediately dwindles as she remembers that problematic whirlpool. She casts a sidelong glance toward Apollo, but manages to retain an outward expression of calm. "The good news," she notes to Apollo and Dimitri as Pasquale moves off to help, "is that we are clearly in quite capable hands. And that the three of us all know how to swim."

There might be a few muttered words (epithets) coming from Sir Bhandn's mouth as he slowly gets to his feet. Carefully, because he still is wearing that cover on his eyes. "Then just turn me somewhere that is /not/ the harbor," he says in a somewhat testy manner to Kenna, while gently but firmly trying to move his arm away from her grip.

Jaenelle does not seem all that concerned as everyone around them begins to do whatever it is sailors do. She gives Corban a hug, "thank you. Are you a sailor, Corban? Will we survive this small folly?" she wonders as she watches them all while informing Arik, "you. Do try to keep yourself saved." After the hug with Corban, she reaches out to steady Arik once more, though she also doesn't seem to wish to release Lilah either unless the woman slips away through all the chaos that is happening.

Zoey has left the Quarterdeck.

Zoey has joined the Prow.

Victus has joined the Quarterdeck.

Nope, nope nope nope. Kenna is NOT about to let Bhandn go. He's something solid on a ship that is //moving//. "Okay. Right. Turn you, that's fine. I can do that!" Right? She can do that. So she turns him towards the city, because that's not the harbor. "Look! You can still see Silas' ship."

Zoey's curiosity about the whirlpool gets the better of her, and she joins Rowenova to watch the whirlpool.

Apollo laughs, a nervous edge of to it. "Maybe we'll ah... get to check my proposal. That we... sail 'round it the wrong way." He looks a little green, swallowing, just then. "Best of hands, I'm sure." Oog.

If Dimitri seems overly concerned about things, it doesn't register in his expressions. There's a smile given to Adalyn's words, along with an incline of his head and a little lift of his glass, "So it would seem. And at least there's still refreshments to be had, so it's not a total loss. I suppose we can all stand to the side, look good and grade the others on how quickly they get us back? After all, one must find the bright side to things." Turning his gaze towards Apollo, the smile remains upon his lips, "Why don't you have a seat, Apollo? Can we get you something? Glass of wine? Water?"

Getting a caravel ready to sail with so few sailors is a difficult job, but some of the servants probably know how to sail, and Ian rounds them up, too. He's still showing no signs of alarm, whirlpool or no whirlpool, as he climbs into the rigging to work on loosing the mainsail so Antonio can tie it off.

"I can swim." Arik points out as he gets his balance back with a little help and then looks sidelong at Lilah or in her direction if she has indeed slipped off. "I thought the Queen and Prince were the only of -them- in the city." if it sounds like he's bitter, it's because he sounds very bitter.

So - the scrambling is probably a good thing, all things considered - floating caravels in the middle of the Bay of Arx that are drifting toward a surprise Whirlpool of Indeterminate Origin are unusual to say the least. Unmanned caravels are likely The Official Worst. They're about halfway out from the docks, and moving at an unusually swift pace, considering the sails have candles on them and aren't blowing in the wind. In fact, there's no wind at all - nothing that should be moving them toward anywhere.

Rowenova briefly hugs Zoey with one arm then lets go. "Was good to know you." Though, she tries to sound humored but there is a serious edge to her words before she glances back to Ian, "We got triple eyes on the whirly pool, so feel free to restation me if need be!"

Kenna shouts from nearby, "I am not an idiot!"

Pasquale lifts his voice to answer Victus' question. "We're gaining on it fast Captain but its still a ways away."

Rorik and Porter somehow drag /each other/ towards the sails to start doing whatever it is that needs to be done to manipulate them. But it's not hard to see that they aren't billowing. He licks a finger and puts it up into the air, furrowing his brow. "There's no wind," he says plainly to Porter, before he shouts over to Victus the helm: "THERE'S NO WIND!"

Rowenova says, "Do we have oars like a longship? I can do that!"

"I'll try!" Antonio calls out to Tyche as he moves off to do what he can to help- getting intercepted by Ian and told what to do. And so, Antonio helps out as directed by Ian's extremly vauge sailing knowledge. Something.. to do with a sail!

With each rushing body DOING something, Tyche feels more and more the decorative ornament she is. Her gaze darts out to the horizon, squinting to see just how close they are to this famed Whirlpool. She looks up to the sails. No wind, she looks out to the fading dock behind. All the while she's inched closer and closer to the railing of the ship, out of the way. "If I can do anything!" she calls to one of those schooled in the art of sailing as they rush by.

Bhandn will continue to play the roll of Kenna's lifeline, it seems, because he's wearing an increasingly impatient expression after being turned to look towards... the city. He's engaged in a heated whispering session with the Lady Acheron, and his temperament is rapidly declining.

Eleanor has made it to the top of the mizzen mast, which has been carefully been de-candled. Except now that she's up here, it's extremely noticeable that there's no wind. Her hair doesn't do anything at all. Without bothering to release any sails, she scrambles back down to the deck. "No wind," she says with a nod as she draws up beside Victus and the wheel. "What happens if you just -- turn the wheel?" she asks the High Lord/conscripted Captain.

Ian looks up as the mainsail unfurls and... just sits there. He looks at the sky. "Shit." He still doesn't sound panicked. Or even urgent, really Now he sounds resigned, the proverbial 'Well, here we go again'. He starts to climb down to report to Victus.

Eleanor has joined the Quarterdeck.

"Truthfully, Jaenelle, I think even a small Folly is unlikely to murder everyone on board. Calithex would be so cross. Maybe." She chuckles, low under her breath. "Or maybe amused." She looks over at Bhandn and Kenna. "Are you blind these days, sir?" Her eyes do not miss his irritation.

Victus blinks at the call of Rorik's voice, intermingling with Pasquale's report. "... No wind?" Without another word, Victus yanks /hard/ on the wheel. Doing his damnedest to turn that rudder as far in the opposite direction as possible. "Why are we so goddamn fast? The ship is LITERALLY built to be a turtle! ELEANOR!" His eyes scramble to find the Lord Commander in the mess of bodies. Although she's already right beside him. "Good, there you are. What's the situation below deck? Is this ship stocked with paddles? Can we get a team of rowers?"

"This lack of wind is going to be--" Porter is saying to Rorik when Rorik starts saying it back to him. He squints for a second then looks over. "The wind is a problem!" he calls. Still, even without the wind, he continues trying to get them set up in a way that they would be useful if there /was/ wind. Maybe they're luck will change.

Ian has left the Prow.

Ian has joined the Quarterdeck.

Oh look! Something else Kenna can pay attention to. "TURTLES CAN BE VERY FAST OKAY." Shouted at Victus in an attempt to be helpful.

Dimitri's words draw an answering smile from Adalyn. "Aha! That's the upside. Refreshments and a little taste of adventure. Won't this make an interesting tale to tell when we're back on land?" She /would/ be thinking of that sort of thing, wouldn't she? But it's clear she is determined to remain positive, especially for Apollo's face. One glance at his face has her nodding agreeably with Dimitri. "We were /supposed/ to let the fish try that plan out first, remember, Apollo?" she teases. "Sit. Let's find you a drink." And then the yells from the sailor-types about the wind has her gaze lifting sharply, a frown tugging her lips downward.

"I don't think I like heights," Austen complains from the top of the mast. "The Gauntlet was far more forgiving." He wobbles a little at the top, once it's all been decandled. He now has a different problem. Seeing how to get down. "...Well, fuck." He is not as fast as Eleanor in getting down, shimmying down the mast as slowly as he can.

Reedy, a King's Own aide have been dismissed.

Rowenova has left the Prow.

Rowenova has joined the Quarterdeck.

If it wasn't for the blindfold, perhaps Lilah's voice addressing him would not have caused Sir Bhandn to suddenly jump almost a foot in the air. His mouth actually falls open and any irritation floods out to be replaced by what appears to be embarassment. "YES," he finally gets out, torn between anger at himself and something along the lines of deference. "If you know where that stupid ship from Cardia is NOT at, I can be a little /less/ blind."

Zoey gazes out over the dark water in the direction of the whirlpool. "No wind..." she says softly.

Sorrel perches near the sail and starts to sing a cheerful sea shanty about the wind blowing the right way and the seas being pleasant and the weather being delightful. It's the sort of song that's designed to raise morale and give a rhythm to work with.

"Absolutely not a sailor," says Corban to Jaenelle with a shake of his head. "I think we will be all right, though. Lots of people are rushing around."

Tyche checked composure at difficulty 10, rolling 0 higher.

After reporting to Victus and Ian, Rowenova springs away and heads to where that anchor on the ship might be. She has been on a few and looks where it is generally kept, and if successful in finding it, she will use her might along with that of any help she can muster in the process to tank it over without getting anyone hung up and flung over, too.

Ian turns up next to Victus, seemingly unconcerned still, and, hearing his order to Nova, immadiately turns around to lead her to where the dropping of the anchor takes place. "We're still in the bay. It might be shallow enough." There's a note in his voice, that calm resignation, that suggests he's not really sure this is going to work.

"//FINE//." Kenna says and pushes Bhandn around. "There you can look at the whirlpool that apparently wants to eat us or something. If you would just EXPLAIN you old..." and then Kenna will keep muttering and there are lots of synonyms for 'idiot' being thrown about.

"We are definitely not headed toward the Cardian ship," Lilah comments to Bhandn. "It's only the whirlpool ahead," she adds. Only. So helpful.

Apollo anchors attention on Dimitri, very charmingly offering a drink. He starts to nod, but the general sense of things-are-not-going-right with the sailing bits throws him. "I think a bit of water, perhaps," he says, finding his calm a little, voice dropping to a hush. "Like to keep my head though. I don't... suppose this ship is the sort that has oars? I'll help. If I can. Unless we need to swim and... have we got a plan?" He looks like he expects Adalyn or Dimitri to be able to answer that. Still - he's easily floating somewhere to sit, so led.

"It will be fine Zoey." Pasquale says from his place near the front of the ship. Ian's words catch his attention "The storm anchor perhaps Lord Ian?"

"Some turtles are quite fast in the water," Eleanor says with a raised finger, as though this is important in ANY WAY. "No," she answers Victus. "It's a regular caravel, no slots, no oars." She places her hands on her hips and turns to stare out into the dark. "What's pulling us forward? If the pull of the whirlpool is that strong, wouldn't it have pulled every boat at the docks with us?"

Arik checked composure at difficulty 10, rolling 1 lower.

Lilah starts to laugh as Corban's comment sinks in. She laughs, and laughs, seemingly not at all worried that they're headed toward a whirlpool and almost certain death.

"Mmmhmm! That's it exactly!" Dimitri flashes a grin in Adalyn's direction, only to then give a soft little chuckle, "Testing a theory with fish, first, probably is the best way to go about things." A flit of his gaze to Apollo and he's then offering up, "Water! One glass coming right up." There's a little pause and another grin is given to Apollo, "Plan? The plan is not to worry about things, my dear Apollo. Let those skilled with things worry about the ship. We'll worry about staying out of their way." A wink and then he's moving off to claim up a glass of water, though he does cast a look back to Adalyn, "Can I get something for you?"

"Storm anchor probably won't do it with the steady pull of the current," Ian opines to Pasquale. "But it might buy us some time if the main anchor doesn't catch."

Seeing Ian there to help her, Rowenova follows his lead, applying her might wherever it seems efficient to do so, so they can drop the anchor right!

"It did not want to then," Zoey says, turning around and raising her voice for Eleanor to hear her.

Austen moves up alongside Eleanor. "No clue," he admits to her question that probably wasn't for him anyway. "What can I do?"

Tyche looks to Lilah as she laughs, both brows lifting in mild worry, but she manages to keep her composure! Only death awaits. That's not so bad, right?

"Your guess is as good as mine." Victus replies to Eleanor. "We were unmoored and we're traveling without wind in our sails. I'm about ready to chalk this up to something magical. Which if so..." He plants a hand on his chin, still holding the wheel as far to the left as he could. Praying it would do /anything/. "Somebody has it out for us."

'Only' heading towards the whirlpool. That's good enough to get Bhandn to start fumbling clumsily at the knot on that cloth covering his eyes, though, though it takes him time to work it through since Kenna is holding one arm still(?). His grey eyes are alert and annoyed both as he stares straight ahead, trying to take stock of the situation and rapidly failing. Not a sailor. "Please let go of my arm," he manages to say in an almost eerily level calm to Kenna. "I need to go be useful."

"You could risk taking one of the sails and rigging a big net for even more drag?" Pasquale replies to Ian. "I've no idea what that would do to the handling."

Zoey has left the Prow.

Zoey has joined the Quarterdeck.

"Fine." Kenna says with a bite in her tone, and lets go of Bhandn. She's just going to stand there very very still and stiff. Then realizes she's in the middle of the ship and so takes herself off to one side so she can clutch at a railing.

After hearing Victus, Zoey tears her eyes away from the water and goes to the Quarterdeck to find Victus. Clearly she does not want to shout whatever she has to say.

Porter has joined the Prow.

Rorik has joined the Prow.

Eleanor turns at Austen's approach and smiles. "No clue," she answers in echo of his own words. "There's no logical explanation for why it's happening, so I have no idea how to stop it." She considers Victus and hums a soft noise of thought. "Magic," she muses. "Austen." She turns to him and reaches for his arm. "I have a very bad idea, so please come with me and make sure I don't fall in or anything, okay?"

"Oars, I don't think so," Adalyn remarks to Apollo, appearing disappointed that there /aren't/ oars to busy herself with. Dimitri's offer is waved off with a grateful glance and a shake of her head. "I don't care for anything at the moment, but thank you." She takes a few steps forward closer to the railing while attempting to stay out of the general way of the hard-working crew, eyes searching for any sign of what might be propelling them forward.

After the anchor drop, Rowenova quietly whispers to Ian while Sir Flop looks up and gently wags but has concerned eyes.

Under Rowenova's direction, several join in and help throw the anchor overboard, praying as they do. Victus' dark words of someone having it out for them filters through and everyone seems to be taking a slightly grimmer look at things. They hold their breaths for a moment, then another, and then - the caravel comes to a halt, jerking in the water as the anchor catches and sinks deep. There they are - no wind, the whirlpool close enough to stare at, and the ship groans as the pressure of whatever is pushing them toward the whirlpool fights the strength of the rope holding ship to anchor.

It is not a good sound.

Still, they are paused for this moment in time, looking at the strange anomaly, and there is at least a moment of time for people to think of something, anything to do next.

Arik is balanced by Jaenelle so he reaches up to get a hand on her forearm and asks in an only half-way cross tone, "Islander by birth, Lyceum Archduchess... I assume you can swim with a dress on? Islander for swimming, Lycene for evading death in a dress?" even as the ship groans and the anchor has them paused near the whirlpool or whirlypool as some might call it.

Eleanor checked mana at difficulty 20, rolling 17 higher. Eleanor rolled a critical!

Without wind, Porter ends up going to the prow and looking out over the approaching whirlpool. When the ship comes to a halt, he stares out at the anomaly, looking sick to his stomach a little.

Ian says a few words to Rowenova, then lays a hand on the railing after the anchor is deployed, and closes his eyes. He's waiting to feel if the anchor catches. And then it does, and he's on his way back to the forecastle.

Talk of Eleanor having a bad idea has Kenna looking up and around sharply. Holding tightly to the ship she's just going to go follow Austen and Eleanor. "Please don't do anything bad, Rhea would be //really// mad."

As the candles are being dispatched, and the sky is giving the only light with the brightness of the stars overhead, it is certainly not exactly the best feeling to be quickly moving out to sea blindly without any cause. Still. Jaenelle finds one of those pastries she brought with her and a glass of wine, informing both Lilah and Arik, "I asked Queen Symonesse to send a missiveword to my sister to ask her for spidersilk sails. I would like to put them on my new caravel." She watches those who are doing more than they are, finally wincing at the sound, "I can swim in anything" she assures Arik, "but not that" and she motions towards the whirlpool.

When Ian touches the railing, so does Rowenova before she pushes away and then follows along after him toward the forecastle.

Rorik grabs hold of Porter as the anchor catches and the ship grinds to a halt in the water, peering over the edge of the rail to the whirlpool. His eyes bulge out only a bit. "Swimming now would be a very bad idea," he says over a shoulder back to Jaenelle and Arik.

Austen nearly loses his footing as the boat jerks to a stop, reaching out to grab a railing to steady himself. He nods to Eleanor. "Of course," he says crisply, giving Keanna a reassuring smile. "We'll be fine!" he says, certain.

When the boat groans to a halt, a hand juts out to grab the side of the ship. She clings to it desperately, looking down at her own attire when Arik asks Jaenelle about swimming. Could she outswim a whirlpool? Most certainly not. But Jaenelle seems calm. That's reassuring, right? "Archduchess, is this some grand trick you have somehow planned for the night? Very charming!"

Apollo /could/ worry about it more. He really could. But Dimitri seems rather certain, and if there's anything Apollo loves when he's uncertain, it's second-hand certainty. Or... maybe he is simply being charmingly deferential, when he smiles at Dimitri, takes the glass, bows his head in thanks. He glances the way the ship had been tugging, and - oh, look. The whirlpool. he's heard so much about it. He lurches, when the ship stops, but only a splash leaps from his glass. And he blinks, mouth a flat line, and has a drink, and reaches for Adalyn's hand to hold.

"She is the Lord Commander," says Lilah at Kenna's words. "Of course she's going to need to do something, and it might be dangerous but do you really think that's going to stop her?" She seems more amused than upset - as if this entire event is really just quite interesting, in a detached sort of way.

Pasquale lifts his head finally. Once again aiming his words mostly in Ian and Victus' direction "Can we get longships out here to tow us back?"

Nova tells Rorik as she passes, "Scout Rowenova it is. Sorry for the delay!" Then, she is on her way.

Kenna glances back at Lilah, "Okay, no, but Rhea might yell and be sad and //that// should do something."

Corban bites his lip for a moment, looking out at the whirlpool and then at Eleanor when she announces she has a bad idea. And then at the Dueling Sword on her hip. Hm. Can the Marin'alfar fish it out of the Bay after, if he needs?

Ian returns to Victus' side. "Do you think you could tack at an angle to whatever's pushing us? Use it like an unfavorable wind? We might be able to skirt around the edge of the whirlpool once the anchor gives way." He's taking for granted that the anchor is going to give way.

Arik looks from Jaenelle to Lilah with pursed lips and a discontented *mrrrrm* sound. "I don't suppose spidersilk sails don't need wind and could turn us around, because..." then he trails off and adds, "We could always swim back, common sense is the better part of valor. It'll only look ridiculous if they save the ship and they beat us to shore." the northern way... fuck it and swim away from naval problems.

Bhandn too will also follow Eleanor, but he'll be speaking as he does, with his eyes almost glued in the direction of the whirlpool. "What would you have me do, Dame Eleanor? As long as I'm not... that is..." There's an almost helpless gesture vaguely behind him in what might be the direction of the city harbor and its myriad count of ships.

Antonio's player is pretty lost as to whats going on- Antonio though, is not. He's an experienced sailor, and he's available for directions!

"Wouldn't there be an undertow, this close to the whirlpool?" Sorrel wonders as she comes down to deck again. "Is swimming really an option?"

Victus wobbles on deck as they came to a jerking stop. From his vantage point, the best he can tell is that they've come to a complete, if not permanent stop. The High Lord looks about and then flashes a big thumbs up all around. He motions to Pasquale. "We'd need a way to send a message toward land. Some sort of signal, preferably a fiery one that doesn't burn the rest of us with it. Make it clear we're in distress." To Ian, he nods. Jerking the wheel side to side. "Doing my best, but this thing isn't being consistent. Like a storm without the rain, wind or thunder."

Water procured and passed off to Apollo, Dimitri is keeping the smile on his lips, "We're in great hands. This'll be just another adventure to recount, like the Lady Adalyn mentioned." When the anchor falls and the ship lurches, the Prince shifts a touch before settling, "So, tell me about yourself, Apollo. What is it that you do?" There's a glance to Adalyn, another smile given to her before he's looking back to Apollo.

Rowenova says, "What do you think Sir Flop?"

Quiet words pass between Porter and Rorik, it looks like a very solemn conversation. Then, without warning, Rorik seizes Porter ... into a hug? Yes, it is a hug, a near back-breaking one, before Rorik releases his cousin and claps his hands on his shoulders. After another quiet word, he turns back to the others. "This close to the whirlpool, swimming's basically asking to be taken up in it. We're stopped for now. Is there something we can contain a fire in?"

"Swimming is not an option, everyone is to stay on the ship" Jaenelle informs Sorrel, glancing towards Arik as if she might punch him. Instead she reaches for his beard and yanks it gently. "Also fire is not a good idea. If we call others out here, they will be in the very same position. We do not wish to cause others harm, do we?" she asks those around her.

"Too bad we can't just get some distance from the lee shore, reef the sails, and heave to," Ian says to Victus in a dry tone of voice. "A storm would be easier to handle."

Pasquale looks to Dimitri and Apollo. "Prince Dimitri. Apollo. Help me put together some signals." to Tyche he smiles "I'll leave you in command of the watch Marquessa." before heading over to the two men he picked out, lowering his voice and starting to explain exactly what it is he needs them to do to fulfil Victus' request.

"It should hurt her throat," Lilah comments to Kenna. "And wear her out for nothing. She knows well enough Eleanor's job by now. Or she should," she amends.

To Lilah, Tyche risks the question, "Do /you/ have an idea?" The Inverno lady has been pretty useless up to this point, but her brain certainly works. Oh but look! She has a job. A little nod to Pasquale is given, and she repeats, "I'll have the watch." But what is she watching FOR? Certain death?

Lilah looks over at Tyche. "My advice," says the tall Nox'alfar woman, "is to avoid sailing into the Whirlpool of Bad Decisions." So helpful. She's such a helper.

Adalyn keeps her footing as the boat lurches to an abrupt halt. "Oh, good. See? That ought to give some time to plot what's best to do next." Her gaze meets Apollo's, a reassuring smile attempted as she reaches out to slip her hand into Apollo's. Dimitri's tactic of distraction seems to earn her approval, a grateful look snuck in his direction. As Pasquale returns, she speaks up, an eagerness in her tone. "I'd be glad to help as well. Just tell me what you need."

Kenna's just going to stp and turn on Lilah with her eyes upraise. "I mean, yes. But also. Rhea yells because she //can// yell. Ans screech."

"Sound advice," Tyche replies with a laugh that is only somewhat nervous. Actually, it is fully nervous, but she hides it well.

"Or by people who can't tie a proper blasted knot," Ian suggests to Rowenova, still with that deadpan humor. Still mostly unconcerned. "The anchor will probably come loose before the chain snaps. We're in trouble if it doen't. I saw a snapped chain cut someone almost in half, once."

"ALL HANDS!" Victus shouts above the commotion. "Please bear with me as what I'm about to say is absolutely comical. Does anyone here have training in speaking to spirits? Likewise, does anyone here have a fish or something tasty that a whirlpool might like to eat?" A beat. "Please assume that hypothetically I know what I'm talking about and answer me seriously."

Pasquale smiles to Adalyn. "I understand Apollo is a crafter. I can't imagine anyone else will be better suited to building something that will allow us to send a signal without setting the rest of the ship alight. Right now I think the rest of you should gather some fuel and candles."

Arik eyes Victus for a loooooooong moment at the spirits then and looks around the ship as if waiting for that response. Does he respond to Jaenelle tugging his beard? Why yes, he elbowed her right in the hip.

After quietly speaking to Victus and those around him, Rowenova briefly dips her wolfy head then pops up with a hopeful smile. Then, she turns to hear out the ongoing speech, smirking sidelong to Ian before she seriouses up!

"Do you think the whirlpool might want a bottle of Kennex vodka?" Austen offers to Victus. "I was going to give it to the Archduchess for her birthday but..." he trails off, looking back to Eleanor.

So unsteady! Apollo lifts his chin and nods. He's trying not to listen; imagining, perhaps, that the circumstances are pleasanter than they are, that he can't hear shouting and creaking and dismal odds. "I ah - I'm a tanner and... pretending at being a courtier, and I go on adventures mostly very unwillingly, and -" he looks up, at the summons from Pasquale. A glance at Dimitri to check. "Was there... mention of fire?" he asks, gathering his wits. "If there's extra sail we can - douse it in water under any fire used. And... glass? Or something metal - mirror would be - I can't believe I'm saying mirror would be nice, but -" he glances around. "I've got all of a sack for foot-juggling, but if you think the whirlpool wants that, be my guest."

Zoey's eyes scan the crowd, looking for anyone who might react in the affirmative to Victus' question about once gifted with the ability to speak to spirits.

Tyche risks looking over the edge of the ship, eyeing the surface of the water around the boat. There's no answer to be had, but she looks anyways!

Still hanging onto a rail to help keep his balance, Ian looks to Victus. "You know, if it's a magic... whirlpool... blob..." yes, he knows how stupid that sounds. "Maybe it wants, uh, magic stuff. We could try bleeding on it." He also knows how ridiculous THAT sounds, and from his tone of voice, he is very sorry about that.

"The Whirlpool of Bad Decisions" Jaenelle repeats, and despite the situation there is amusement coloring her features. "If there was any greater title for a book dedicated to my life, that would be the title." She looks back to the whirlpool, talking to it with a commanding voice, "bad decisions can feel like the end of the world, but really, they arent. Perhaps you should come to terms that you did what you did, and things have changed, but you've felt this way before and was it really the end of the world? No. And it wont be next time either." Because taking to a whirlpool is fine. She flicks Arik's elbow after.

Confident that Austen will follow, Eleanor makes her way to the prow of the ship at a half-jog. Once there, she goes right up to the railing and -- leans way over. Just staring into the darkness and churning water. She slowly rises, eyes focused off into the distance. "Oh, hello," she says out of nowhere, with a brief but cheerful laugh. "Need somewhere else to go, hm?" She stares a while longer with a soft frown of thought, then, "Right." She pushes away from the railing, no need for Austen to save her at all. "Run and tell Victus we don't need to fight the ship, it's not going to get us anywhere."

"I really think we're going to be fine," says Corban, to Jaenelle, as an aside. "It'd be quite rude to be whirlpooled at your own birthday party."

"Oh, I sang at the wind once and it sang back to me," Sorrel pipes up entirely seriously to Victus, almost cheerfully.

Kenna looks away from the elf she's trying to explain Rhea to so she can shout at Vitalis, "If it's lost something I can maybe look for it?" Because that's no weird.

Rorik pats his pockets, but he must've left his fish in a different pair of pants it seems. "Looks like all there is on the table is bread and cheese and fruit," he says up to Victus, frowning as he thinks this through. There /is/ a look at Ian though, he blinks a few times.

Pasquale has left the Prow.

Pasquale has joined the Main Deck.

Zoey looks at Victus after Sorrel speaks. "Seems as worthwhile to try as anything."

Austen follows after Eleanor dutifully, his face set in a grim line. HE's ready to grab her if she looks like she's going to fall over the edge, but as she straightens he stares at her. "I should tell him to raise anchor?" he asks.

"I'm sorry, Your Grace, I left the fresh fish in my other pocket." There's a hint of humor in those words as Dimitri calls out to Victus, only to then turn his attention to Pasquale, "Signals? I'm sure we can do that." He's looking back to Apollo, listening and then giving a smile, "Ah! Pretending at being one? Why, Apollo, you have it down to a science." There's a grin and then, "But it seems that with your knack as a tanner, you'd be ideal to help us create some signal. And fire? Didn't hear that. But you tell us what you need and we'll find it, I'm sure." Looking to Adalyn, there's a little nod of his head and a smile.

Arik murmurs something to Jaenelle in an aside and rubs at his elbow with a chagrined expression.

Rowenova gets Iceguy, an everwinter longsword with icelands leather wrapped handle from an alchemy belt with preinked quills within the darkest vials.

"There." Pasquale says "I knew Apollo was the right man to ask to do it. If we can get a distress signal up and running we should be able to get longships from shore to come out and tow us back. So what do you need Apollo? Reflective items?" He looks around "There is probably something in the cabins he can use." he nods to Adalyn. "Would you go and check please Lady Adalyn?"

"No, no," Eleanor waves at Austen. "C'mon, I'll explain." She gestures for him to follow, and trots off back down the deck and back up onto the Quarterdeck. "Don't bother with the ship," she tells Victus, once she's there, breath a bit heavy after all this climbing about. "It's magic, like you thought. I don't think anything we do is going to change the ship's heading, unless it lets us. Did I hear you shout something about talking to spirits? Because we should probably try that."

"An ability to speak with spirits isn't a secret talents that you've been hiding, is it?" Adalyn asks of Apollo as she hears Victus's query. "Just checking." Pasquale's explanation clicks in her head and she seizes upon it, if nothing else than for having something productive to do. "If anyone can fashion something useful like that, it'll be Apollo. Reflective items, got it." She nods to Pasquale, then glances to Dimitri and musters a faint smile, still attempting to maintain a calm demeanor despite the circumstances. And then her focus is honing in on the surroundings, on the hunt for anything reflective to be used.

Sorrel checked mana + performance at difficulty 40, rolling 8 higher.

Without further ado, Sorrel walks to the front of the ship and begins to sing extemporaneously:
"O! Beautiful Whirlpool
Please do hear my song!
This ship is a party,
That's somehow gone wrong.
We're out on the water.
Though we're meant for the docks.
Try not to eat us,
For we'll end on the rocks!
And that would be sadness
Not Archduchess joy:
For this is her birthday
The ship's a big toy.
For her and her sister
She's got a great twin!
So if you'd let us sail home
That'd be a great win!"

Pulling her sword from her belt, Rowenova does not look like she is going to actually use it to attack. No, she just sets it down on the ground by Apollo before she looks up and hears out the song sung by Sorrel. "Good lyrics!"

Whatever reaction Victus was expecting, this was apparently not it. His expression stiffens. "I-- No, not Vodka. Not cheese and bread. Sea-stuff." He glances over toward Sorrel. "Sure. Try singing. Maybe it will calm down...?" He's just throwing ideas at the wall at this point. "And what the hell is Eleanor doing over the edge? The thing is liable to gobble her up next." Then to Ian. "I am going to veto the idea that we bleed into the whirlpool. Let's try many things before we try that."

When Eleanor comes alongside him yet again, Victus' eyes are wide. "You're awfully calm for the fact that we're hopeless to fight against our whirlpool aggressor." He spins the wheel, letting it just do its thing without his control any longer. "Unless Sorrel can sing it calm or we've got a spirit-talker on board, is there anything we can do?"

Look how much better Apollo looks with /something to do/! Even if it's... not gonna do anything, just being busy, and descending into the grand crafter headspace of MAKE A THING TO SOLVE A PROBLEM - so much better. He looks around, spots a flash on Kenna's hip, and starts her way. "No, but I bet there's some like... aquatic sort of jewels or something folk could chuck in," oh listen to that voice, that's Master Apollo Oakwood-the-tanner voice, not pretending-or-down-to-a-science-courtier voice. "Can I have that? And the shield as well?" he asks Kenna. "Adalyn, will you wet some cloth? Whatever it is. I did a bit of art of a ship ablaze and it was lovely but I don't want to /be/ that. HAS ANYONE GOT GL--oh, the drinking glasses!" He scurries to dump out his glass as well.

Ian looks like he's getting ready to cover his ears, although he doesn't actually do so. Sorrel's not a bad singer, after all.

While Sorrel sings Zoey looks back out at the water again, hoping for some kind of sign that things might be turning for the better.

Although Sorrel's song is well-done, Tyche's head pops up from looking over the edge of the ship to say, "Maybe it isn't the whirlpool which draws us in, but something else which pushes us." She's grasping at straws here, from her position of 'watch.'

Kenna is startled when people start singing and then Apollo is asking for her IG crest and flask. Startled enough that she just hands it over blinking in misunderstanding. "Uh, okay! BUT THOSE ARE CROWN PROPERTY." Kenna calls out much belatedly.

Pasquale glances to Dimitri as Apollo takes off like another Maelstrom. He cracks a slight smile and mouths "What did I do?" to the prince before sinking back into his thoughtful mode. What else have they failed to try. The spirit idea is mulled on for a bit before he offers a somewhat obvious. "Perhaps we should ask Mangata for help?"

"See? Sorrel's got a song. Eleanor's got Sight. We're doing fine." It's unclear who Corban is talking to at this point.

"It's not an aggressor," Eleanor answers Victus with a crooked smile. "I -- don't /think/ it will let us be pulled into the whirlpool," she says, with perhaps less confidence than one might wish. "It's curious, I think maybe if we explain --" Oh, look. Sorrel has perfectly 'splained. As the singer finishes, she turns to the railing again and peers over."

"Unfortunately I can not speak to spirit. Human ghosts, yes" Jaenelle admits to Victus, and it sounds ridiculous as if she does not often admit to these things and looks a little unsure of even speaking these words. "So unless there is a ghost who is angry about something I dont believe my skill set would be very valuable in speaking to the spirits."

Rorik leans over the rail one last time before he blanches and moves away. Sorrel's singing to the whirlpool and he taps out a rhythmic beat on his leg to go along with the music. It works. But aside from the drumming, he seems at an utter loss of what to do. Which is perhaps why he drifts over to Jaenelle and Arik, rows raised. "Maybe the singing will help!" he's hopeful. "Are you both doing okay, at least?"

"Don't suppose at the center of the whirlpool is the former Prince Donrai and it's just him being -real- upset?" Arik suggests to Jaenelle and Victus when the mention of a human ghost being something people can solve.

Bhandn wasn't entirely sure what to think of Victus's shouted queries about spirits and talking to them. He didn't answer the question, a bit dumbfounded by it in the first place. Not having anything to apparently contribute, he watches in the direction of the whirlpool, expression grim.

"Lovely song," Adalyn calls to Sorrel, having listened whilst on the hunt for reflective materials for Apollo to use. The leatherworker appears to be locating those just fine on his own, however, and so when he calls to her for wet cloth, she immediately switches gears. "Wet cloths, coming right up!" It's clear she's grateful for the opportunity to focus her attention on a specific task, no matter how simple.

Dimitri's turning his attention to Sorrel as she sings that song, head canting a touch to the side before he's looking back to Apollo as he starts pointing out things that are needed. A glance to Pasquale and there's a grin and a wink given, along with a nod before he's looking back to Apollo, "Oh, glasses? Well, I can help with that, then." The glass that he holds is lifted to his lips, contents drained (after all, can't waste wine) before he's lowering it to set it on the deck, "How many do you need?"

Austen just tromps after Eleanor, letting her explain whatever it was that leaning over the side of teh boat told her. While she talks to Victus he just peers around the boat, checking everyone is okay.

Victus looks between Eleanor and Jaenelle amid Sorrel's lyrics. "Oh. /Okay/." He throws his arms up in the air. "I'm going to admit now that I am horribly out of my depth. I deal with boats and swords and just discovered this whirlpool is sentient minutes ago. Somebody is going to need to hold my hand on the weirdness of this."

Reedy, a King's Own aide have been dismissed.

Nova pipes up, "Archduchess Jaenelle, it might be useful. I mean, there may be ghosts out here, indeed! There was that one guy who tossed people off the Sovereign Bridge, along with a great many things, like a certain toolset, so maybe it might be worth checking?"

Jaenelle finds herself grinning slightly at whatever is said to her, "I believe so. They have done great things today. Lets go home."

The look Ian gives Victus is genuinely apologetic, the apology of someone who doesn't like the situation he's in, either.

Eleanor presses her lips together in a soft and sympathetic smile at Victus. She reaches for his hand, the picture of an earnest attempt at comfort.

At Tyche's comment, Sir Floppington runs to the side of the ship, barking wildly. Or perhaps demandingly, it's hard to tell. Apollo's efforts don't result in any sort of fire, but they do result in some sort of really interesting set of aquatic-looking crystals, magnified and set alight - not on fire, just shining in the sunlight with the redirection of sun off the bit of metal he has. It's a fascinating sculpture, and the water starts rising from the whirlpool, almost as though the Whirlpool of Bad Decisions suddenly wants a closer look at the Very Interesting Thing that Apollo has made.

Sir Flop, meanwhile, continues barking as Sorrel sings her song, and as she gets to the end there's suddenly a rush of wind. The water from the whirlpool splashes down in the middle, even as Victus spins the helm as though to show how little it will do - but it actually starts turning the ship away from the whirlpool even as the wind picks up and catches the sails.

Sir Flop stops barking and pads back to Rowenova, looking satisfied as he sits by her feet and leans in for pets. The only problem, as they turn the ship, is that the anchor is still down.

Reedy, a King's Own aide have been dismissed.

Tyche blinks as a dog comes bounding to join her, leaping up to bark over the side. For her part, she still clings to the ship, but she looks out in the direction of the barks, squinting. And then the ship is turning! She wobbles, her feet planting more firmly, and looks to the others on board for their more sailor-y reactions. Is this good? This is good, right?

Victus darts his hands away just as Eleanor's fingers brush against his own. "I meant METAPHORICALLY--" The spinning wheel suddenly starts to have an effect, and Victus is rattled as the boat starts to turn. "Oh shit." He quickly latches back on to the helm, attempting to keep their Turtavel steady. "We've got life, crew! Raise the anchor!"

".... I don't think that's what a flask is for!" Kenna says to herself and then is just going to repeat it a few times/

Half kneeling, Rowenova scoops up Sir Floppington into her strong arms and simultaneously snugs him as she also carries him, too. "The Goodest of Boys." Then, she softly kisses his greying cheek with a little smile afterwards then gently sets him on the deck below. Back pats ultimately ensue, at least two. Then, she apologetically departs from the pettening rewards to head off to do exactly what Victus just spake. She becomes one of the crew members to go and raise anchor!

Ian runs a hand through his hair as he watches the spectacle, but Victus' order is enough to snap him out of that and round some people up to man the capstan to raise the anchor. He'll be pretty useless on one of those.

"It seems to approve." Pasquale says with a slight undertone of shock when Apollo's invention causes the response it does. He looks to the invention himself, seeing it with new eyes, and then to the crafter. "Astonishing work Apollo. Astonishing. You really outdid every expectation."

Sorrel naturally continues to sing, when it becomes clear that the whirlpool seems to be enjoying her music:
"O! Beautiful Whirlpool
You've been very kind.
This fantastic wind now
Gives us peace of mind.
We're so glad to visit
We don't want to stay
You're really quite charming,
But you might go away.
There's places you could swirl
That are not in the port
Where you'd be more happy
And less out of sorts.
For commerce must flow through
New ships every day
All loaded with cargo
To sell in the bay.
So go out to sea now
And play with the fish!
For they're super friendly!
And gossip they'll dish!"

Bhandn can handle helping raise the anchor, and he's got a set of strong arms that can manage manual labor. He'll be staring at the deck the entire time, however.

Rorik's gaze diverts to the dog that goes running to the side of the ship, his eyes widening as water starts to rise from the whirlpool. "Uhhh-" There's that look of just stunned silence before Victus is calling for someone to raise the anchor. Without another thought, he runs to help raise it.

Apparently, the answer to "what happens when you set a crafter to work on a life or death situation with random materials, no particularly clear expertise or idea what he's doing, and sheer panic" is: Art Appreciation Hour. Apollo catches the movement of the water out of the corner of his eyes (Dimitri, the answer to 'how many' was: "More, more please - yes - the green ones too -") - and he watches the light splash shipboard, and the water rise up, and - in a moment of utter confusion, lifts the thing. Face all screwed up like 'what now?' he looks at Dimitri and Adalyn and Pasquale. "Am I... supposed to... give it to it?" he asks. He has /no idea what the hell he's doing/.

Dimitri's great at playing gopher, fetching glasses for Apollo as they are needed and he even pauses to admire the creation a moment or two, grin dancing to his lips, "Now see, if I'd tried to make something, it would have turned out so very horrible." A little grin and then he's looking to the water, brow lifting as the whirlpool seems to rise up from it and at Apollo's question, he's looking back, gaze then flitting to Adalyn and Pasquale before looking back again, "That's .." And then the ship is moving .. or turning and that cuts off whatever else he was going to say, gaze looking towards the 'sailors'.

"I dont think so Apollo." Pasquale says "Its beautiful because of the light. It would lose that if it was in the water. Just keep doing what you're doing. If its true that the maelstrom is sentient then we can always set a platform up near it and mount your 'sculpture' nearby as a gift."

"Oh." Eleanor pulls her hand back to her chest with a faint frown, but she has other things to worry about. Like the turtavel! Change definitely approved. Only so many people are needed to raise an anchor, or turn the wheel, so apparently at ease she leans up against the railing over the main deck and watches the water.

Always confident in Apollo's crafting abilities, Adalyn wouldn't be surprised by his creation receiving acclaim - except that it seems to garner approval from the whirlpool itself. She blinks, shrugging helplessly at Apollo and glancing to Dimitri and Pasquale for their opinions. "I'm not sure, maybe? I guess we'll see what happens now that we seem to be moving again." She cranes her neck to direct her gaze back toward the whirlpool as the ship begins to turn.

Lilah goes still at something Jaenelle whispers to her and then takes a deep breath and shakes her head. "I didn't know," she says quietly. "I suppose I'll have to stop putting goats in his bedroom."

To no one in particular, Tyche remarks, "I think I can safely say that I will not be looking for another boat trip anytime soon."

As she pulls at the anchor chain with the rest of the crew, Nova quick nods. "Agreed: Lord Pasquale." That is all she can say because she is a bit focused upon the raising of the anchor which takes much strength to try to help.

"That's a shame." Antonio, it seems, has done all he can to help currently and has decided to check in on Tyche, "Usually, sailing is the best thing ever. Usually."

Since everything seems to be going fine Arik looks around and wonders, "So is the whirlpool a spirit or just very angry water or?" it seems the concept of a Whirlpool being intrigued by Apollo's amazing works is baffling to him. "Are whirlpools secretly like animals? Like a giant Squid or Kraken?"

As the anchor raises, and they start to sail away, a giant wave of water rises, higher than the ship, higher than the sails of the ship, and then comes splashing down directly on Apollo's head, drenching him and everyone on the ship. Except Jaenelle, Lilah, Corban, Eleanor, Victus, Bhandn, and Sir Floppington, who all remain meticulously dry.

"I thought not, and that goat was beautiful. Better than a rug" Jaenelle tells Lilah with a soft smile and nudge towards the other woman. "But it will be a boat trip you will remember" Jae then grins towards Tyche, especially now that they are all wet.

"HEY!" Kenna yells out when she gets drenched, "... I'm //never// going to an Eleanor Party Again."

"AH SHIT!" Rorik declares as he's absolutely soaked, staring down with a frown at his soggy outfit.

Art? Suuuure. Apollo's got that. Advice about what, practically, to DO with that art? Oh gosh. How grateful he seems for Pasquale - he seems to understand, a little better, what's happening, having been too intent on building the thing. And so he angles the pretty bit of glass-and-metal-and-cruft so that it catches the light, shines it toward the risen water, offering. If it likes it, and they're not dying, that's the best day's work in /awhile/. He whispers under his breath a prayer that is almost certainly to Jayus and Mangata and 'please oh please oh please' and then there's a tower of water falling on him, and he stands, sodden, with his arms out, looking like he thought he was a goner, emoji level grimace and uncertainty.

Ian is all but knocked off his feet by the sudden rush of water, but he manages to grab onto something before potentially being washed overboard.

"Ahhhh," Porter says when he's suddenly covered in water, falling on his ass. "Oh, well. Damn." He plucks the silk shirt away from his chest.

"If the wind can be a spirit I think a whirlpool can be too." Pasquale replies to Arik's question, despite the fact it wasn't aimed at him. He's about to add more when the torrent of water aimed at Apollo splashes over him. He's absolutely drenched yet he laughs. "I guess we should anchor a boat out here with it."

Zoey looks over at Eleanor and Victus, since they are the nearest dry people. "How...?"

When a wave of water crashes down on Apollo and the rest of them, Dimitri is not immune and winds up soaking wet. Lifting a hand to wipe water from his face, there's a little frown, shake of his head (that sends droplets cascading about) and then he's looking over in the direction of Jaenelle, "Next time, Your Grace, have your party on land. Please?" There's no seriousness there, though and the words accompanied with a grin.

Austen looks over to Tyche, and he might be about to answer when the wave of water rises over them all. "Oh... shit," he says as it comes down. "Ppsspsffff," is all the knight can get out.

Completely drenched and utterly delighted about it seemingly, Sorrel laughs a bright and infectious musical laugh that peals brightly across the ship. "Master Apollo, that thing was beautiful! C'mon, let's go find some dry people to hug!" she declares as she scrambles up from where she sits on the deck and heads promptly in Jaenelle's direction, arms open wide.

With the anchor settled, Bhandn took a moment to realize that they were turning even more. So he's turning so as to keep the whirlpool in sight long enough that he can find a surface to cling. The reason being that he's putting the blindfold back on before he turns to face in the direction of the city. "Lady Kenna, are you alright?" he calls out.

Tyche parts her lips to say something in return to Antonio, just as a giant wave splashes down on them! Noooo! HER DRESS! Her arms fly up as if she can protect herself, but like her efforts to help, this is all futile. When she comes up for air, the steelsilk is plastered to her body, her hair is likewise plastered to her face, and she stands there like a drowned rat. "What."

Nearly toppled, too, Rowenova only stays up because she was holding onto the anchor chain and not letting go for anything, feet slipping before they slam into the side rail to brace as she keeps hauling the chain up and back, too. Though, she does pause a brief moment to hang onto her progress with one hand before reaching out her hand to Ian and trying to help catch him, too.

"See?" says the Very Dry Corban. "We were just fine."

Arik ends up on his ass on the deck drenched through but luckily he's wearing seasilk! It's supposed to be good for this right? From his spot on the deck, in a puddle of water he looks up at Jaenelle and Lilah all dry and wrings some water from his lengthy coppery hair and throws a palmful (uselessly) at the pair of them, muttering something under his breath.

Here comes the wave. Victus looks up high and closes his eyes. At this point, being buried under a tsunami seemed like a fitting end to the day. The Prince was resigned to his fate. Up until the water crashes down and... not a drop of it is felt on his person. One eye pops open, scanning the horizon. Then the other. "Hm. But why...?" He shakes his head. "No Victus. Don't ask questions." Setting the wheel straight and making sure they drifted back to the docks at an even pace, Victus finally steps back and takes a breather.

".... I don't have a flask any more." Kenna replies to Bhandn. "Apollo fed my flask to that thing."

Eleanor, dry as a bone, walks to the railing of the ship and calls out, "Thank you! We'll come back!" WILL THEY? She turns and comes to face Zoey's question. She shrugs, looking around at all the others. "No idea." She seeks out Austen, who seems wet but fine, and then wanders over to punch Victus in the arm. But like - lightly. No hand holding here. "Thanks," she says.

Ian grabs Nova's hand and, after the water recedes, thanks her. The ship can sail, now, so he goes about doing what's necessary to sail it, drenched clothing and all. In fact, his clothing looks like it was made for wet weather, and the water is mostly running right off it, even if his hair is soaked.

Water! Antonio is just as surprised as anyone to get doused with a huge amount of water- but he doesn't seem all that bothered by it once the waters subside- indeed, the salt stained nature of his outfite makes it clear that this is faaaar from the first time he's be soaked in it. Still, he can't help but offer Tyche a little smile- thats equal parts sympathy and amusement. "See? Lots of fun!" he offers, before grinning broadly, "Are you okay there, my lady?"

"Uh... incoming." It's the only statement Adalyn really has time for before the wave comes splashing down upon them. She splutters, a hand lifted to wipe water and drenched hair from her face. "If only I knew how to interprete /that/. It is really neat though, Apollo. Perhaps we should offer it to the whirlpool somehow?"

After seeing that Ian is okay, Nova continues with dragging the chain until their anchor is up. After, she stretches out her biceps before picking up the good boy once more, even if she is a wet mess and he is completely dry. Then, she wolfishly grins. "Success!" says she before heading to where Arik is. "Greetings, My Lord. Are you alright?" says she as she carries Sir Floppers.

Dimitri is overheard praising Apollo.

Dimitri is overheard praising Sorrel.

Docks <O> is now unlocked.

Eleanor beams a sunny smile at Victus, and then walks away without a word. She makes her way to Jaenelle. "I'm so sorry about that," she says, hands wringing. "Not a very good birthday. I do still have a gift, though." She glances to Lilah with a curious squint, brow furrowed, and offers a polite Nox'alfar greeting.

Tyche sputters, her hands coming up to wipe aside the red hair that has turned a dark auburn from moisture. She flicks some of the droplets from her hand, to no use, and looks down at herself. Antonio's question is met with a laugh, and a shake of her head, "No! I feared for my life a moment ago, and now I am drenched, and NOT in a good way." The last is tossed on there for a bit of scandalous humor. "If you'll excuse me, Your Highness, I believe I need to /swim/ my way back to the estate and get out of this." To Jaenelle, she calls out, "You are right, Archduchess. I will never forget this!"

"Nope. Happy Birthday Princess," Kenna says, towards Janelle. "I'm going //home//." Kenna announces firmly and poor Bhandn gets left behind because Kenna is GONE.

Ian apparently didn't come here to party, and once the ship gets back to the dock, he disembarks, like he'd originally intended to do. Although he does make sure the moorings are properly tied first.

Ian has left the Quarterdeck.

Rorik pinches his shirt and rolls it up to squeeze some of the water out of it, giving his head a vigorous shake. If some water flies off onto Porter, oh well. That's life! "Well, this is probably the /oddest/ birthday party I've ever been to," he quips before he grins over to Jaenelle. "Happy birthday to you and your sister, your Grace."

Tyche has left the Prow.

Floofkins, a blue colorpoint kitten, 1 Inverno Ensign, 1 Inverno Captain, Cornelius, a studious looking attendant leave, following Tyche.

"We could always put it on a boat or raft whilst we are out here." Pasquale suggests. "And let it drift. Then the maelstrom can have it." he cant help but smile at Tyche before turning his attention to Jaenelle. "I can certainly say you have all the best parties Your Grace although I must say I am very grateful winter has passed right now."

Lilah looks over at Bhandn as he's left at the ship, blindfolded and alone. "Would you like an escort, Sir Bhandn?" It's a polite question offered even as Kenna escapes. "Since you're apparently wilfully blinding yourself at the moment. I'm curious about that story."

"Well. I think everyone is fine," Austen says, eyes checking through the crowd, pausing briefly on Kenna and Porter before he stares at the dry members of the party. "I'm not even going to ask," he grouches. "I need to get onto land." He squelches over to squeeze Kenna's shoulder, checking she's okay before he makes his squishy way off the ship. "Lord Commander, we should talk about this. Later," he decides.

Once the ship has returned to port, Dimitri is looking to the trio that he had come to spend the adventure with and there's a grin given to each of them, "Lady Adalyn, a pleasure. Lord Pasquale, great to see you again." Then, it's to Apollo, "And Messere Apollo. Your creativity under pressure was something else to see. Well done. For now, I think I shall take my leave and find myself some dry clothes and dry land. Perhaps next time, we can get together on land, where there's no risk of the ship drifting away on us."

Apollo is indeed very soggy. He is so soggy that he does not seem to register that there are people who aren't soggy, when Sorrel makes that suggestion; he looks around, /quite/ confused. "Mmmm. Yes I... sure. We can... give it to - of course." Well, he'll find words again. This is neither tanner nor courtier, this is raw confusion. "Ah. I want to hug her." That's Adalyn. "But I don't want to put this down." And thus, he plunks it into Pasquale's hands, and proceeds to squeeze the stuffing out of Adalyn, leather squelching. SQUELCH. When he catches sight of Dimitri, he looks /ever/ so grateful.

"Please." It's slightly plaintive in terms of the tone that Sir Bhandn uses to answer Lilah, the knight trying very hard not to flush red in his cheeks at the moment. Over fifty and he can still manage being visibly flustered. "I thought I told you that story," he adds a tick later, but he'll hold out his left arm slightly as if offering it in escort rather than being the one so escorted.

Pasquale gives the thing now in his hands a slightly confused look before carefully setting it on one of the surviving tables.

Jaenelle looks down in question as the caravel comes under control and asks Arik, "what was that? You wanted to go swimming, remember?" Mmhmm. She nudges him with the side of her foot before people are approaching. She holds up her hands towards Sorrel but finally laughs and accepts the hug from the wet woman, "you are a good sister. Thank you for all you do." Then Eleanor is given a shake of Jae's head, "unless you planned this, there is no reason to apologies for. I expected nothing less, truthfully. But now we know a bit more about the whirlpool and we can make it happy enough to return to where it is meant to be. This is a very good thing." Still she totally holds her hand out for presents. "Lord Rorik, I have many things I need to tell you, later. We'll meet to talk." Pasquale is given a grin then, "I am glad you came, and admit that it is beautiful weather for a drenching." Says the woman who isnt wet. "But Apollo does owe me a dance" she then reminds the statue creator and Adalyn squeezer.

"Definitely not planned," Eleanor says with a laugh and a shake of her head. "It was enlightening, though." She reaches into the pocket of her silver, steelsilk pants and pulls out a small wrapped package. "Happy birthday," she says. "For Leona, too, but you'll have to wear it for both of you."

Reedy, a King's Own aide leaves, following Corban.

"A pleasure indeed, Prince Dimitri, even under such strange circumstances," Adalyn answers with a laugh. "I'm glad to see we've survived to tell the tale after all, but I do think a gathering on land sounds much preferable for next time we all might meet." As Apollo hands the creation to Pasquale and gathers her into a wet, squishy hug, she giggles and wraps her arms around him to give a gentle squeeze. "That was amazing, Apollo, creating something so beautiful under pressure." She grins as she overhears Jaenelle and gives another squeeze before releasing Apollo. "I believe you owe the birthday girl a dance."

"Happy birthday to you and Leona," Sorrel says fondly, not lingering in the hug too long, for Jaenelle doesn't need to be any damper than she already is. Probably. "I love you both, and I am glad to have attended your birthday party! Even if it did kind of go sideways."

"Ominous," Rorik chuckles over to Jaenelle, though he dips his head into a nod to her. "It's always a pleasure to speak with you, your Grace, so you just let me know and I'll make myself available." Then he hauls Porter around so that they can do whatever is needed to get the ship back to the harbor, safe and sound. Fade into the scenery, he does.

Lilah responds in kind to Eleanor's greeting in Nox'alfar, and for those who know the language it is both polite and vague. And then she takes Bhandn's arm and links it into her own. "No," she says in Arvani again, "I don't think you did. But it can keep for another day too - yet I'll see you home safely." A pause. "Oh, and I have a message for you, Lord Commander, from the Twilight Court. I'll make sure it's delivered before I return." Looking back at Bhandn she adds, "Shall we?"

Setting down Sir Floppington, Nova gives him a few pets. He seems to be dry, just like Jaenelle is. Meanwhile, Nova is all drippy from the wave drenching moments ago. She glances back to Zoey with a half grin then turns back to her liege lord and the Birthday Archduchess. "Do you think the ones who are dry versus the ones who are wet ... means anything? Or, random happenstance?" Though, she does not seem bothered at all about the dripping just curious.

Rorik has left the Prow.

Porter has left the Prow.

Cluck, a really stupid rooster, Brando, a rhythmless percussionist in training, Porter leave, following Rorik.

Bhandn doesn't have much to offer Lilah aside from a mute nod. Whether he trusts himself to speak or not, his mouth is a thin line that makes it clear he's biting his lip and letting his neck do all the talking right now.

Arik is still sitting on the deck dripping as many are departing and he asks, "So what am I carrying?" to Jaenelle.

Victus slowly meanders his way over toward Jaenelle and Eleanor. When he arrived, he was energetic. Now, he was more shambling and tired than anything. "I have had a very long day." He announces to the two of them, whether or not they were listening. "Queen Triscali burned an autograph into my coat." He points out the raised bit of leather, making the perfect pattern of a black rose. "The whirlpool tried to eat us. I steered this ship of..." Turtles. It's all turtles. "But I thought for a second we may die. So." The Prince of Maelstrom breaks the personal space boundary to stiffly, awkwardly wrap both arms around Jaenelle. He gives precisely three pats to her back in the middle of the statesque hug, then releases her. "Happy birthday."

Apollo looks wildly confused, but that's not new. He extracts himself from Adalyn, and shifts on his feet, then wanders over to Jaenelle (squelch squelch squelch go the shoes). "Your grace," he says. "I'm afraid I'm wet. But I'll still dance with you. Happy birthday, we're alive." He bows, the soggiest bow that ever was, that he knows of. Is there music? He doesn't need any.

Rowenova says, "Queen Triscali was the real deal then, huh?"

Zoey says, "Seemed so."

Dal, a jumpy and introverted bookworm leaves, following Bhandn.

Apollo is overheard praising Pasquale.

Apollo is overheard praising Dimitri.

Apollo is overheard praising Adalyn.

Apollo is overheard praising Jaenelle.

Apollo is overheard praising Sorrel.

Sorrel is overheard praising Apollo.

Sorrel is overheard praising Jaenelle.

Pasquale is overheard praising Sorrel.

Pasquale is overheard praising Apollo.

Pasquale is overheard praising Dimitri.

Pasquale is overheard praising Tyche.

Pasquale is overheard praising Jaenelle.

Pasquale is overheard praising Adalyn.

Victus says, "If she wasn't, some actress has vandalized my property."

Rowenova says, "Any idea how to contact her about a thing?"

"I mean, post a note in the Blackrose Theater, maybe?" Sorrel suggests with a little shrug, still dripping cheerfully onto the deck.

"Worthwhile vandalism even so I should think." Pasquale says to Victus. "Given the message."

Jaenelle tells Victus something after the patting hug, looking more amused now that they are safe and back at the docks. "One moment" she then tells Arik when he is asking to help, her attention on Eleanor, "am I the fox or the serpent? Both? My new caravel that I am having built will be named the Seaborn Fox, so it fits. Unless one is me and the other is Leona. And you are the turtle. Symonesse is the spider? The other?" she asks about the crown and sword, "the King's own?" As she discusses her present with Eleanor, she asks Apollo, "would you prefer the dance when you are drier? I would not fault you for such."

"Oh?" Eleanor blinks at Lilah and then smiles brightly, her eyes shining as she watches the Nox'alfar leave. "Thank you for not getting my ship eaten by glass sharks." She turns to Victus with utmost politeness. Will she ever let that go? Unlikely. "Both!" she answers Jaenelle. "Thrax, and then the Lyceum," she explains. "The spider for Leona, and the King's Own for she and Lord Sistermander." She sparkles a smile at the Archduchess. "The turtle is me. I know it's not the same as you and Leona, but I couldn't help myself."

Adalyn lifts a handful of sodden hair to squeeze water out of it. Little to be done about the soaked dress, she stands muttering something under her breath that sounds suspiciously like, 'I /knew/ armor was better for a reason'. She belatedly spots Rowenova and directs a faint grin in her direction. "Well, that was an interesting outing. I had no idea the whirlpool had sentient thoughts." Her expression indicates this is big information to process.

"It is at least a rudimentary intelligence," Zoey tells Adalyn, squishing her way across the deck. "There are a couple of missions coming up where we will attempt to make contact with it."

Rowenova up nods, "I will send a messenger there, then, to Blackrose Theater." Then, she curiously asks Eleanor, "So glass sharks?" She then looks to where Sir Floppington is. "That would make sense! Good boy!" Many pets surely ensue before she looks up to Adalyn with a bright smile then lifts up to offer out hugging arms to her drenched comrade. "It was!"

Apollo clears his throat, looking down at his gold (well, soaking wet it's more mustard) white hart jacket, umbra underneath - he tugs the umbra from his skin an inch, makes a face. "I think I might," he says, agreeably. "If I'd known that would happen, I might have worn something that -" he pauses, frowning thoughtfully. Good humor and life is returning to his limbs, expression. "Well, I don't think I'd have come," he says. His nose wrinkles, as that's not the most flattering self-portrait. "Send word and I'll be there. ...dry." A smile, and he ducks his head, and retreats. What. A. Day.

Pasquale looks thoughtful as Zoey speaks on its intelligence. "That means it has desires. Which in turn mean it can be negotiated with. So those are good things, in their way, but why is it here? I understand the sirens said it was unintentional?"

"You're welcome." Is all Victus returns to Eleanor. After some hushed words with Jaenelle, the Prince steps back. "I'm going to go home and sleep for a few hours before another calamity strikes." He gestures to Zoey and Sorrel in kind. "Thanks for accompanying me, Ladies. I assure you I had no idea we were going on an adventure."

Rowenova says, "Hug your kids."

"I am glad I was here to provide what help I could," Zoey says to Victus. "And we all came back unharmed. That is most important."

"It needs help," Eleanor interjects into the discussion of the whirlpool. "It doesn't mean any harm." She flahes a grin at Rowenova and gestures to Victus. "You'd have to ask him. Have a good evening, Your Grace," she continues into a smooth farewell for the High Lord of Thrax.

Adalyn offers a smile of greeting to Zoey as she makes her way forward and brightens at the thought Pasquale utters. "Exactly so. At least there's a silver lining in all this." She glances down at her drenched outfit, water still dripping from the sodden silk. "Well. It's certainly been memorable. If you'll all excuse me, I think I ought to change into somethign drier." She turns to find Jaenelle among those still gathered to call, "Happiest of birthdays, Your Grace. It certainly will be one to remember."

Jaenelle laughs and shakes her head to Eleanor, "it is perfect. I will wear this always" and just like that the bracelet has become a part of everything she ever wears from here on. As Lilah departs the woman sighs and looks after, it is only a moment. "Then I will find you with an entire band and we will dance" she assures Apollo with a grin. "I dont know if there was a reason which got wet or not, perhaps the whirlpool likes me." To Adalyn there is a softer smile, "I hope it was an adventure you will remember foldly. Thank you for coming, truly."

"Why don't you hug /your/ kids?" Victus shoots back. "Yeah. Think about that one." He beats a hasty goodbye and a faster exit before he's beset by logical arguments.

Victus has left the Quarterdeck.

"Ah, I'm always glad to face misadventure at you side, Your Grace," Sorrel assures Victus, even as she drips onto the deck, unconcerned about being wet. "I got to sing to a whirlpool, and Master Apollo made it art. Maybe we should work together on that."

"Perfect," Apollo says, and smiles a moment, before stepping back out of the orbit of the Velenosa high lord. He moves to take up Adalyn's arm - er, no, offer his, that's the way that goes, that's right, he's got this courtier thing down to a SCIENCE - but pauses, hearing Eleanor, then Sorrel. "Help with what?" he asks. "What's it..." he casts a look back at the water, then at Adalyn, her wet clothes, his own wet clothes. "Perhaps I can come talk to you both? After I've changed." A twist of his face suggests he knows what wet leather feels like after: five minutes, ten minutes, half an hour, an hour, et cetera.

Paris, a charming mercenary, Adalyn leave, following Apollo.

Eleanor's sunniest smile shines on Jaenelle as she watches the Archduchess don the bracelet. "I'm so glad you like it," she says, hands clasped. "Princess Sorrel," she turns to the singer. "Thank you for your song. It was beautiful, aside from being helpful." Perhaps an understatement, 'helpful'.

Pasquale engages in a short hushed conversation with Zoey "I noticed you went up to the wheel to explain these more difficult subjects up there. I approved. I would not have mentioned the sirens in a different crowd. Rest assured. It is difficult to ensure everyone has the information they need without sharing snippets like that though wouldnt you say? I know I only had suspicions that the maelstrom was being dealt with. Its reassuring to hear that you are involved.

Zoey smiles at Pasquale and gives him a nod. "Like I said, I was happy to help. I have been gathering intelligence on it for a while."

"There is a lot to be said about leaving a task in capable hands." Pasquale agrees with a little smile. "But I think I had better excuse myself. This coat was never meant to get wet."

"I'm so glad you enjoyed it. Sometimes they turn out rather stupidly when I'm just randomly singing them. At the wind, or whatnot," Sorrel says brightly to Eleanor. "And that bracelet is quite fun, the one that you gave the Archduchess, who is one of my favorite people. I have many friends in the King's Own, including her sister, who is also one of my favorite people."

Rowenova lets out a quick laugh after what Victus tells her then shouts aloud, "After I have kids, I will hug them!" Then, she looks back to Eleanor with a slight shrug and a little laugh, since she can no longer ask Victus, but then there will be another day. She soon looks to Pasquale and Zoey, too, before waving goodbye. "Farewell, My Lord." She then picks up Sir Floppington into those strong arms of hers. "Happy Birthday, Archduchess Jaenelle."

Pasquale has left the Main Deck.

1 Malespero guard leaves, following Pasquale.

Jaenelle is overheard praising Eleanor.

Sorrel is overheard praising Eleanor.

Eleanor is overheard praising Jaenelle.

"The Archduchess's sister is one of my very favorite people, too," Eleanor tells Sorrel with a fond smile. "For tonight, though I should probably -- clean up." The deck is quite a mess, after that wave. "I hope you've had the happiest birthday, Your Grace. Next year we should try something a little quieter."