Part 1, Aria’s Lament.

  The people of Entalita have been passing down stories about how the Goddess is going to come back and save everyone for ages, but the stories vary greatly on what she’s going to save us from. Growing up my mother told me that she would reunite the continents by bringing them back down to the ocean, but she always failed to mention whether or not it was even safe to return to the surface. Mom loved telling me about the monsters and the darkness that lurked beneath the waves, and I was never sure why she was keen to return to all that. She would also lose track of the story, reminiscing about how its been centuries since anyone had been below the clouds, so I never got a very clear answer. When I reached school age I started mingling with the other kids and learned that not everyone was told the same story. The school boys poked and prodded me while telling me that the Goddess was going to come back and only save the right people. She would take her chosen followers with her to a higher plane, and leave the rest of us to fall back down below without her. I didn’t like that version of the story very much. When I got into the queen’s sailing academy I was told by old sailors with missing eyes, hands, and teeth that the real truth was that the Goddess was dead for good, and that she wasn’t going to come back to save anyone from anything. To be honest I liked that version more than the people who thought she was classist. I would rather believe that her lack on involvement in the world she saved was because of her permanent death, rather than her indifference.

  I was told that the blessings run I was training for was more of a test than anything else. Their discouragement didn’t stop me from studying just as hard as I did for any other challenge I was presented with. There were parts of the story that all people seemed to be in agreement about at least. That almost a thousand years ago civilization was far below the clouds, floating on the mythical ocean like leaves in a pond. For a while the races flourished, empires rose and fell, gods came to power through their believers, and the ground work was laid for the great magic systems we still use today. But all this meddling in the nature of the world attracted unwanted attention. From the core something awoke, and creatures of darkness came from the depths of the oceans and emerged onto land, destroying the surprised civilizations with reckless abandon. They invaded the lands, reaching further by the day, until the people of Entalita knew they had to fight back. A great war followed, between the creatures of black mist and the young gods who protected the land. Countless lives were lost to ensuing battles, but no matter how strong or fast or smart the land dwellers were the monsters never stopped. The supply of abyssal creatures was endless, and the people feared that they would all be lost to the sea.

  It was one of the newer goddesses who finally put an end to things. Aria, a minor goddess of light came into the possession of a powerful relic from the creation of the world. A legendary staff called the Senka Rod that held an unbelievable power. With it, Aria lifted the continents out of the ocean and high into the sky away from the dangers of the deep. However, despite the rods great power, it took all of it’s and Aria’s magic combined to lift the lands and keep them aloft. Once the people were safe, Aria and the Senka Rod both broke apart from the stress. Aria’s light spread across the world, blessing the islands with the magic they would need to survive in the sky. The rod was shattered into ten pieces, each falling to the continents below to bath in Aria’s light. It was believed that basking in her glow would one day give the staff enough power back to revive the fallen goddess.

  The grand ships that once traveled the ocean now flew about in the air thanks to Aria’s blessing. The magic she used was studied and replicated, so that new ships could be made when the need arose. Since it was now the only way to get between the continents, the demand for new ships was greater than ever. As the centuries passed a new tradition arose for a ship on it’s maiden voyage. After completion every ship that could carry a crew made it’s first trip to the continent Reglilis, where a temple housed the only piece of the Senka Rod that was ever recovered. It’s said that if a crew is deemed worthy by Aria the staff will show them the way to the other lost pieces to be reunited. Of course, this has never happened. Maybe no crew has ever been worthy. Maybe the sailors at the academy were right, and the goddess is gone and the fragment is a fake and the blessings run is just to test the merit of a new captain and their ship. But I do know one thing to be true. If Aria really is still out there waiting for a worthy crew to put her back together, it’s going to be mine that does it.

  ~*~

  Keizeron wasn’t sure which annoyance was the one that awoke him from his slumber, the sun rays that were now perfectly positioned over his eyes, or the pawing of his familiar who was demanding breakfast. He yawned as he pushed the calico cerade off of his chest, and she mewed indignantly as she leapt to the floor. Keiz stretched as he sat up, and rubbed his eyes before glancing around the room. The calendar over his sparsely decorated desk market today as a special occasion, one that he had been waiting on with a quite nervousness for four years now. Today was the day he was scheduled to receive his boat and crew and set off for the blessings run. He knew that he was ready, but with the budget he was given Keiz could only hope his patron had hired a decent crew.

  After graduating from the acadamy with top marks and the highest amount of honors a singular person could receive, it frustrated him to no end that he couldn’t find any decent work. Keizeron knew part of that struggle was of his own making, but he had not realized it would be well over a year before he saw the inside of a ship again. The only people who had given him the time of day after he graduated were desperate and struggling companies who weren’t offering enough, or unscrupulous crews that were offering him illegal work. They didn’t even try very hard to hide the fact that they did law breaking, which Keizeron found quite insulting. After he started reporting the suspicious listings they stopped asking him to join. Unfortunately, so did everyone else. It unnerved him to think about how closely connected the unity government and the slaver ships were linked. He could never prove that they were one in the same, but he could never disprove it either. It was one of the many reasons he had been looking for independent contractor work in the first place, instead of taking one of the plentiful unity job offers. But after he started making a fuss of the slavers in port, even the cushy government jobs stopped trying to recruit him.

  Slowly, a full year of fruitless meetings and closely counting his remaining coins passed. By the time the guild master sir Ranol Brankovic contacted Keizeron he was sure that he had been put on a watch list. Brankovic had sent a post, letting Keiz know that a patron of the guild had asked for him specifically, but had wished to remain anonymous and so was speaking through him for the time being. Keizeron was sure that it was the government, finally trying to get him until the guild master calmed him down and assured him the patron was legitimate. Keiz changed from cautious to interested even faster when he saw the budget and the ship that was being offered. Brankovic told him that the patron had seen his records from the school and was impressed, and wanted to make him the captain of her newest boat. However, she had already gone through the process of hiring her own crew, much to Keizeron’s dismay. Keiz spent a long time staring at the contract to decide if it was enough money to put up with a group of strangers for an unspecified amount of time. The job being offered was a typical supplies run, with offer of more work should things go well. After almost an hour of muttering to himself and riffling through the pages Brankovic confided in him that he had seen the paperwork for the crew and they were serviceable. Several more hours later Keiz had signed all the correct documents and returned to his academy appointed lodgings to pack and prepare for the journey ahead.

  Keizeron walked around his nearly empty room for what he hoped would be the last time, grabbing his few remaining personal items and stuffing them into a worn leather bag. He had been staying in this very room for the better part of the last fifteen years, half of his life, with a few notable gaps in between. Even when he had moved in as a teen it had seemed too small, and now, with almost all of his belongings on the way to the ship, it felt downright pitiful. Fifteen years, and the place had never felt like home.

  Another soft mew from Duchess pulled him from his reminiscing. She pranced around the floor, twirling her tail around his leg as if to ask for more breakfast. Keiz looked up at her insistence, and noted there was still an amount of food in her bowl. With a soft laugh, he traced a small rune into the air and cast the summoning spell that could call or dismiss his familiar. Duchess let out an indigent squeaking noise as she was pulled back into his earring and out of the way. He spent a little more time straightening the nearly empty room, before he decided that there was only so much he could get done and it was time to head out. Keizeron pulled on his dark purple academy jacket, the matching cap, and left the academy dorms without looking back. Maybe he should have been grateful they let him stay for so long after he graduated, but in this moment he was glad to be moving on.

  The morning sun was just starting to peak over the nearby mountain range, and he could already tell it was going to be hotter today than it had any right being so late in fall. Keiz unbuttoned his jacket a little further than he usually did as he walked through the neatly kept front lawn towards the waiting carriage. He had been told ahead of time that his benefactor had hired him a carriage to make his way down to the docks, but he felt it hardly necessary. Carriages were for rich tourists trying to get scammed by the vendors of Sahale, not for people who had lived here for over two decades. But eventually his desire to explore the novelty of it won out, and he climbed into the carriage without much of a fuss.

  Sahale was just as bustling as it ever had been as they made their way through the village market. Travelers from all over the continent gathered in this particular port town, both because of it’s renown for luxury items and hopefuls applying to get into the royal sailing academy, resulting in one of the greatest open air markets in the world. Keizeron had spent much of his youth exploring it, spending what little allowance the school gave him on exotic fruits and the occasional sweets. You could find anything here, from mundane supplies like ink or paper, all the way up to wyvrn eggs or magical artifacts if one knew where to look. Keizeron had seen traders showing off vegetables, wild animals, rugs, and ever burning lamps, all at one table. Though he never trusted the lamps were ever burning, he himself had used a wind spell to put one out as a test. He kept a far enough distance to make sure he wasn’t noticed, and he didn’t even feel bad that he cost the vendor a sale. Keiz also knew that there was a darker part of the market where you could find wares the unity frowned upon. After he became of age he was surprised to suddenly find people trying to sell him street drugs or nights of company with beautiful men, women, or anything he so desired. However, he didn’t desire any of that, and stopped going to the market after a certain time of night. Keiz closed the blinds to the carriage and tried to block out the noise and his memories of the city. He spent the last of his alone time for the foreseeable future meditating, and mentally preparing for the journey ahead.

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  After an hour of slowly rolling through town the driver brought the carriage to a halt, and called for Keizeron to know they had reached their destination. Keiz climbed out of the cart and was immediately reminded as to why he didn’t like riding in them. The driver coughed and held out his hand expectantly. Keizeron didn’t say anything, he simply pulled a silver coin from his pocket and placed it in the waiting man’s grasp. The driver tipped his hat in appreciation and shook the reigns to the cart, already on the lookout for his next fare. Keiz turned back to the docks, comforted by the familiar calls of people in the same line of work as him. There were five ships currently tethered to the floating Sahale docks, from a lowly sloop all the way to a grand galleon that was taking up almost half of the dock space by itself. As far as he could make out, two of the ships were in the process of being unloaded, while a third was bringing new cargo on. It looked like the last two were devoid of any activity as Keiz slowly made his way up the ramp towards the boats. As he got closer, movement on one of the smaller brigs caught his eye. A person was standing close to the edge of the railing, looking down at him. When she noticed him looking she waved, before stepping back away from the edge and out of view once more. So that was to be his boat, and his crew he presumed.

  Sure enough, once he was in sight of the main docks sir Brankovic approached him, wringing his hands nervously. A habit Keiz had noticed during their negotiations, but not one he’d needed to interact with before now.

  “Captain Keizeron,” Brankovic said pleasantly, holding his hand out. “So glad to see you in good health for the send off. If you’d come with me now, the crew is waiting to meet you.” The offered hand had a slick sheen of sweat on it, but Keizeron took it anyway. He had not come this far to offend the first person to give him a real job in over a year. However, as soon as Brankovic had turned around he discretely wiped his hand on a napkin tucked in his pocket.

  The ship he was being lead towards was average in size, with two full masts open and waving in the warm fall breeze. The sort of brig that would have needed around 30 people to sail back in the days they sailed on water. Now, with magical short cuts it could be sailed by a crew as small as four, depending on how often one wanted to take a turn on the helm. It was made of the same pale brown wood all airships were made of these days, with subtle but impressive gold trims. The mast head was the most eye catching feature, a roaring gold dragon, with intricate patterns around it symbolizing a massive hoard under its claws. There was something about the dragon that caught Keizeron's attention. It didn't look like a normal dragon; it had six legs instead of four, and the wings were strange as well. It patterned wings, almost like a butterfly's. Keiz took a step forward, wondering who had designed such a thing when a voice drew him from his thoughts.

  “Captain?” Brankovic asked, eyeing him over with a strange expression.

  “Yes sir?” Keiz snapped to attention, looking at the guild master.

  Brankovic swept his arms in front of him. “I’d like to welcome you to the Fortune’s Favor, your new ship.”

  Keiz nodded his thanks, and as the guild master waved him on, he walked up the gangplank to meet the waiting crew. There was a total of five of them, and his initial reaction was mixed at best. Some of them were waiting patiently, standing at attention, while two of them were talking in hushed tones and didn’t even notice he was on the ship until he cleared his throat. Keizeron took them in slowly as the five crew mates gathered in front of him.

  The first was a tall man, with the tanned skin of a seasoned sailor. He had light blond hair and a face plastered with freckles, but his most stand out feature were the series of scars across his face, leaving one of his eyes a sightless white. But despite his partial blindness the man looked strong and capable of handling his own. The next crew mate was much shorter, with thick curly white hair and set of sturdy black horns. They had pale skin and bright red eyes that watched Keiz as closely as he watched them, but with significantly more judgment. They wore a dark red jacket and as he glanced down Keiz noticed hooves. Fauns were a rarity in this part of the continent, and the few he did know of where nobles. What had this one done to end up on a ship with such an inexperienced captain? He moved on.

  The next person was the woman he had seen from the docks. She had dark skin and bright emerald eyes, and was wearing a decently heavy breast plate. She wasn't in full armor, the rest of her outfit was a green dress accented with leaves. He wondered what sort of job would require such attire on a ship. She seemed to be an elf, but upon closer inspection he noticed her ears were tufted. That, paired with her short stature implied she was half elf at most. The other half could be terran, but that would be absurd. They were creatures of the earth for starters, to have one on an airship would be strange enough. They were also a race that was big on community, to have one by herself would be stranger still. She did look quite nervous, clutching her hands together as if in prayer. But she was here wasn’t she? All other factors didn’t matter much to Keizeron.

  The next crew mate was an automaton much to Keiz’s surprise. Automatons were rare, with their sturdy bodies and great strength they were in high demand for many different jobs across the continent. Keizeron immediately wondered what was wrong with it that it had been able to be hired with this ships low budget. Then he noticed it was smiling gently, looking up into the clouds above instead of at it’s new captain, and he understood. Well, one didn’t need to be bright to be strong he supposed, and if the automaton was hard working that was all he needed. The last was the other one that had been chatting when Keiz walked on board. She was a taller woman with pale blue skin and even bluer eyes. Her most notable feature however was her hair, or rather, her tentacles. They were pulled up into a slimy looking ponytail behind her head, and as Keizeron looked at her they seemed to twitch. She gave him a slow smile as she noticed how awkward he looked.

  “Welcome aboard the Fortune’s Favor, I am captain Keizeron Yin.” He took a moment to nod at the gathered crew. “I look forward to sailing with such an, interesting crew,” He winced as he faltered on a description for the color assortment of talent in front of him. Keizeron was a professional, he would make this strange cast of characters work no matter what.

  “I’m Sola Rea,” The blond man said, holding a hand out. Keiz took it, and was surprised at how warm he was. “I’m going to be the ships boatswain and general carpenter. I’ve been sailing for a few years, but my previous captain retired and I wanted to join a smaller crew.”

  Keiz nodded, and turned to the lamb faun expectantly. They cleared their throat and stood at attention. “You may call me Aka Lularoon, I shall be the boats navigator and book keeper. I have sailed aboard a number of my parent's airships, and know my field well,” Aka finished, before stepping back. Though they were clearly the youngest member of the crew, they seemed efficient much to Keizerons relief. He would need some more experienced members of the crew to keep the others in line. The name Lularoon was familiar to him, as was the crest they had on their jacket. Then it struck him, he had seen that crest on many of the maps he had used to study in school. Lularoon maps were famous for their high quality and equally high price, leaving Keizeron to wonder why Aka would leave what was sure to be a high paying job to join his crew.

  “My name is Willow Zybella, and I’m trained in clerical work so I’ll be the ships doctor,” the terran woman said quickly. Now that she brought it to attention, he noticed that her armor had the symbol of an older god he recognized on it. A stylized hand, reaching from the ground and turning into a small growing plant. It was the symbol of Vothos, a minor god of the harvest. Usually a god worshiped by farmers, though it wasn’t unheard of for Vothos to take on clerics. However, those clerics didn’t usually take to airships, and as far from the land as they could be. “I also haven’t been on an airship before, I’m a little nervous,” Willow squeaked, before covering her mouth with her hand and stepping back, as if she was embarrassed to admit it. While unorthodox, Keiz didn’t blame her for being nervous. She seemed out of her element.

  There was a moment of silence as the crew waited for the automaton to step forward since he was next in line. A beat passed, before Willow gave it a gentle nudge and it snapped back to attention. “Ah yes, I guess it’s me then. I am Zero,” He said, and Keiz could see the gears turning in his head. Literally.

  Another few moments passed. “My friend, what will you be doing on the ship?” Keizeron asked slowly.

  “Oh! I will be the chef!” Zero responded. The aquan woman next to him snorted, and covered her mouth as she turned away. Zero looked down at her with a pleasant smile, and then also broke into a loud wheezing laugh. “I am kidding of course, I am to be the gunner. Could you imagine? A chef who can’t taste,” It’s laugh sounded like steam escaping. This was going to be a long journey.

  After Zero stopped wheezing the last woman stepped forward and bowed dramatically. She had a large chest and a window in her shirt, and for a moment Keiz was worried she would spill out. He would need to get her a proper jacket. “My name is Annie Mea,” She said cheerfully. ((“You have got to be kidding me.”)) “But you all can just call me Mea. I’m going to be the half master.”

  Keizeron could not stop himself from sighing out loud at that. “Do you mean the quartermaster?”

  “Oh, right yeah, I’m that,” Mea said with a large grin. “I’m not good with fractions. But I am a very good cook, and I can play the harp too,” she added proudly.

  Keizeron stared at her, and decided the best course of actions was to keep his thoughts to himself. A few of them would have to learn some hard lessons if they were going to stay aboard for long, but he would take this mixed crew over no crew at all. “Alright, you have an hour to get your affairs in order before we lift off. I will be in my cabin if anyone needs me. Master Brankovic, if you accompany me?” Keiz nodded his head towards the captain quarters. The guild master nodded, and they walked towards the back of the ship as the crew scattered and began chatting again.

  Brankovic pulled out a key ring from his jacket, and spun a few keys before landing on a hefty silver one and pulling it off. He handed the key over to the new captain, and waited for him to unlock the door. Keiz savored the weight of it in his hand for a moment. He had waited his whole life for this, and it was finally time. He entered the room, taking in the spacious quarters. It was almost twice as large as his dorm lodgings, and fully furnished. A large four poster bed was situated in the corner, with sheer purple curtains tied up with thick golden rope. Though the bed itself had plain sheets and blankets, Keiz had never been the sort of person who needed an extravagant set up to be comfortable. Below the wide window was a regal looking desk, which was empty aside from a map of the seven main continents and a lamp. On either side of the desk was a bookcase, but there were only a few books currently on the shelves. A basic guide to sailing, the unity law book that was included in every finished ship, and one that looked like a log book for the journey. Keiz glanced around, and spotted a few crates that had been brought over from the academy, containing almost all of his worldly possessions in them. He would unpack the rest of his belongings in due time, but there was one more tradition to be done before the airship was ready for her maiden voyage.

  Keizeron turned to master Brankovic, who smiled at him expectantly, “I’m relieved to finally see you on a boat captain. Don’t tell anyone, but of my students who graduated recently, you were my favorite.” He confided as he pulled a large bottle of fine Chandy wine. Keiz laughed at the sentiment. Brankovic had never hidden from anyone that he thought Keizeron was his favorite student. Nothing too much to get him singled out by his classmates, but he used him often as a shining example of how the scholarship program could produce the finest students. Well, at least it wasn’t the praise that had gotten him singled out, but the incident was hardly Brankovics fault. Keiz pushed the thought from his mind as the guild master pulled two glasses from a cubbard he hadn’t noticed yet and poured them both a glass.

  “To the Fortunes Favor.” Keizeron held a glass up.

  “To the Fortunes Favor.” Brankovic repeated, “may Aria bless you and keep you safe,” and they both drank.