act17side

Just the place to get us in that creative groove!

What do you girls say?

(Riffs lightheartedly)

The shore's got an unsettling vibe. I can already smell all that stuff I'd rather not.

I really don't think we should be visiting the waterfront so carelessly.

Does it matter, if we can find inspiration? C'mon, look how fired up about it Dan is.

(Riffs depressingly)

Time to find our muse!

Right... It's a good chance.

I can't believe we're actually looking to that messed up ocean for inspiration now.

Yeah, which is exactly why it's a fresh new vibe!

Took the words outta my mouth.

(Riffs in agreement)

Well, should we split up, then? I can take our luggage to the hotel on my own.

Alright! I'll be checking stuff out over there.

All by yourself?

I'm glad SOMEONE's worrying. Just don't forget we're playing with fire here.

So where's the hotel?

That reminds me, how did a small town like this get itself a hotel anyway? Do people even come here?

They need to make a living somehow.

Right. No living, no music.

(Riffs)

The sea...

We're back.

Excuse me... can I get past?

Oh, sure, no problem.

Have you been sitting in the chapel again, Mr... uhh...?

Elysium.

Sorry... We've even run into each other several times already.

Don't worry about it. The name 'Elysium' isn't very common here.

Actually, someone as smoking hot as me has gotta be a rare sight in Iberia to begin with, right?

Uhh...

I don't know about that... but someone as confident as you, maybe.

Right...

It took spending some time here to realize that the place that I always called home doesn't really feel like home.

Are you still waiting for someone here, Mr. Elysium? It's already been several days, hasn't it?

Haha, not like I have a choice. That's just how things are in my line of work. Besides, I'd rather hang out in comfort here than that in primeval forest infested with bugs and Originium.

You're from outside then?

Oh, you can tell? Is it because of the vibe I give off?

Actually... uh... I guess you could say that?

What do you mean?

Like... the way you dress?

You know your stuff.

Gran Faro doesn't see a lot of visitors... There's not a lot of folks here, so everyone in town knows everyone else.

Besides... What with how close to the sea we are, not a lot of Liberi are willing to talk to Ægir these days.

Especially after the Inquisition started showing up more often.

Right...

I get you. I've been through similar stuff plenty of times.

Does this happen in other Iberian cities, too? Like in those prosperous ones I hear about in the rumors?

Not just in Iberia, kid. The way I see it, it's pretty much the same no matter where you go. Life's tough everywhere.

But I gotta say, some of the Ægirs I've met are a real handful. Just thinking about 'em gives me a headache. Wish I could beam all my common sense straight into their brains.

Which makes you pretty easy to get along with, by comparison.

Uhh...

Okay, now THAT's a face asking who'd ever want the common sense of a guy like me.

N-No it's not!

Sure, I look like an unemployed bum lazing about here 24-7, but I've actually come a loooong way and been through waaaaay too much.

So... you're an explorer, then? What's life like for the Ægir in other places?

Haha...

Not too bad.

Not too bad...

Mayor Thiago... You needn't come here every day.

I've been hearing some bad rumors lately. I'm worried about you guys, Amaia.

Bad rumors... You mean about the cultists?

But we're not just close to the sea, we're close to the Inquisition too, and the very heart of Iberia.

So how could there possibly be cultists here?

Who knows? Happens all the time in coastal towns though. Hardly peculiar at all.

Also... I heard someone saw a monster on the shore.

Did Old Pedri tell you that?

You know the kind of nonsense he goes on about when he hasn't had his drink.

You're a kind man, Thiago. I'm sure you're just worried about Jordi, the boy who works at the chapel.

I... I'm not a very sophisticated one though. Maybe you can put me at ease... help me sleep better at night.

These rumors are just rumors, right? The ghost ship, the cultists, the sea monsters?

The Inquisition hasn't let us go out to sea in a long, long time.

Right. Can't even remember how long... Eighty-four years? Eighty-five?

Try fifty or sixty. The Profound Silence happened in 1038.

Have you really been trapped on land for so long, in your memories? You aren't even that old. Have you been a prisoner of this place since before you were born?

If living in poverty counts as imprisonment, then yes, I've been a prisoner for a long, long time.

I haven't so much as looked at the sea since Marin died. I loathe it.

But you're not worried about the gossip, are you? You're worried about the Inquisition. And even more so about the Penal Battalion coming here to take away all the Ægirs.

*Sigh*, poor Thiago...

The Inquisition snuffed out the love of your life, an Ægir woman. Your anger and resentment is perfectly understandable, but be careful what you say. For everyone's sake.

...Maybe you're right.

Okay, I'll be careful. You always know more than the rest of us, anyway. So what've you been up to lately?

The same old. Doing my job as a third-rate translator in this frighteningly laidback seaside town.

That said, it's been months since a Messenger stopped by. All my drafts have been piling up, and it's giving me a headache.

*Sigh*... Translation! I've never even set foot outside this small town my whole life. Anything besides Iberian may as well be gibberish to me.

Hm, it's getting late.

Right, Jordi should be off work soon. I only hope that the Inquisition isn't gonna give the lad any trouble over that gossip, these next few days.

I'll see you later.

Be safe, Mayor Thiago.

...Cultists. Hm.

The young woman named Amaia ponders for a moment before turning her mind back to the papers, as always.

Ursine novels, Kazimierzian biographies, Leithanian poetry... even Sargonian folk tales.

All the lands of Terra lie before her as a thick pile of literature, each word waiting to be deciphered in a solemn, orderly manner.

The air is extraordinarily humid. She can't help but pinch the corner of the page.

The sensation of the sea...

'The waves continue to accelerate, and the winds are frightened. The corals line the sky, painting it a neon shade.'

'We will come to detest ourselves for not having wings.'

Are you finished with your work?

Ah, uh... yes.