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Bloody Revelations     It shouldn't surprise anyone that the location of Bluehaven, forcefully extracted from the minds of high ranking members of the Family, is completely accurate, but there is an air of it going around when Elites return to the Mist-Veiled Siaka and the three ships of the Realm accompanying it in hopes of big promotions. After all, the Lintha have terrorized the western ocean for ages upon ages, and even their most modern, savage, degenerate descendents have kept the location of their home so closely guarded a secret for so long that some have doubted its existence.

    Once given a glimpse of it, it finally isn't difficult any longer to tell how they had hidden it so well. Bluehaven is not an island or a port or even a Manse at all.

    Of course a handful of ships, even powerfully armed and crewed ones, aren't just going to roll up to the front door --not after the damage sustained by the surprise raid by the Lintha dead especially. The only silver lining to that encounter had been that the sea hekatonkhire had devoured all of the survivors, leaving nobody to report back and warn them of potential intruders.

    The first look at Bluehaven comes from advanced reconnaissance, as the trireme tender's Dragon Blooded Sorcerer sends out a minor bird demon to scout from the sky, as an extremely gross-looking drone. Upon returning, it projects an accurate, if green-tinted and slightly warped, stream of everything it'd seen, for the major strategists, ship captains, and Elites to see. They, even Captain Darktide whom the Realm captains seem to treat with some suspicion by now, are invited aboard the largest ship to view it.

    In the strictest sense, Bluehaven is a fleet. It is composed completely and entirely of ships, literally thousands of them, stretching across hundreds of years of makes and styles, from small corvettes to gargantuan arks, incorporating ones that must have belonged to island cultures and nations that no longer exist. The overwhelming majority are no longer seaworthy, and have been moored together in a sprawling maze of permanently anchored vessels, upon which miles of bridges, walkways, ziplines, platforms, and accommodations both floating and hanging have been built, altogether comprising an actual shanty city built on utterly ancient ships as archetypical elves would build over a forest.

    The ships too damaged or too short-lived to stand as coral-encrusted centrepieces and superstructure outnumber the rest five to one, dumped out in open waters further away from Bluehaven proper, and left to constitute a floating labyrinth of dangerous wreckage more than a mile thick, no doubt requiring precise knowledge of a handful of safe routes to get through, or else risk being skewered by broken hulls and dashed on mounds of rusted iron and barnacle-studded wood.

    Not only that, but the water for literal miles more around is a thick, dark green, as the waves are completely choked out by thick mats of floating weeds and algae that almost look as if they could be walked upon. Even rowing a life boat through it would be an exhausting chore, as there isn't a spare inch of blue. The graveyard is so thick and convoluted that the Lintha haven't even taken the step of mounting defenses on it, stationing only lookouts on cheap floating platforms, rather than fixed emplacements.
Bloody Revelations     There is some sign of land though, however slight. A blot of shore is barely glimpsed at the very far end of Bluehaven, past the furthest reach of the barrier of wreckage, surrounded by water on every side. The view of it is decidedly poor, but it appears to be little more than a tiny island, fit for habitation judging by its vegetation, but without anything built on it, all Lintha structures kept adjacent rather than upon it. It seems to be coloured in weird shades of blue and white, but otherwise unremarkable, possibly some small Demesne of significant power naturally occurring in the ocean. Boats do seem to infrequently go to and from it, laden with cargo on the return.
    Even that excluded, the sheer size of Bluehaven unfortunately something people were unfortunately unprepared for. The Lintha have always been a notorious, almost ocean-wide scourge, but with a largely subtle influence outside of brazen piracy, and try to conceal and underplay their hand when they can. While the men assembled aboard the small fleet of the Skullstone Archipelago and Realm Water Navy had expected something big, the rambling mess that is Bluehaven is so titanic that it could very easily have been an entire island. There must be thousands, if not tens of thousands of Lintha here, and even assuming most of their ships are away, there must be at least two hundred still docked somewhere. Even worse, there are open water sections within that are currently home to just as many aquatic demons of varying size and nastiness, easily released in a short period of time. The scope is way beyond what would be possible to run face first at and burn to the ground with superior quality of weapons and troops.

    The time around arrival has pretty much been spent entirely in heated debate about what to do. All agree that a frontal assault is a terrible idea without much greater numbers, but the question of whether to call any and from where is still hot. Several more are suggesting spies, or infiltration by commandos, but have few good ideas of how to get in. The sorcerous personnel available aren't enough to put a dent in the number of demons if released all at once, and just setting the whole place ablaze seems difficult and unlikely. It's a tough and relatively closed off meeting, that might not make any real progress for some time.
Ryouma Sakamoto     "I think that might be the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," Ryouma says, numbering amongst those viewing the recreation of what the scouting demon had seen. Hands behind his back, hunched over slightly to closely examine the unholy cluster of ships either moored together or strewn about like obstacles, the man in the white officer's uniform seems genuinely excited by the sight, if not dangerously so.

    "It's genius. It's simply atonishing! Hiding in the wide open oceans, where no maps would ever predict the presence of land. Anyone looking for them would be searching the landmasses and ignoring the already-mapped sea, not considering someone could have built something out of ships."

    Oryou, floating behind Ryouma, appears bored and distracted, in stark contrast. That odd, long scaled scarf of hers floats in the wind along with her hair. She says nothing, although those brilliant pink-red eyes occasionally wander to the Dragon-Blooded present with idle curiosity.

    "How could one approach, though... no, by ship is suicide. If even only one ship out of ten has cannons ready to fire, that's still too much to deal with, isn't it? And that thick water would rob us of speed. Springing in from deep underwater, or dropping in from the sky, would be the best way past their cannons, but..."

    But a lot of things.

    "It's too bad diplomacy isn't on the table."
All-Seeing Eye      "Yes," says All-Seeing Eye in response to Ryouma. "It's a /shame./" He shakes his head 'sadly.' "On that much, we can agree. I'm afraid I don't share your opinion on its aesthetic. To me, it's merely another in a long line of unsightly boils upon Creation's surface. Tragic, really." His clothes should speak to his level of willingness to engage in diplomacy--a set of grey fatigues and combat boots, complemented by a sleek black longcoat made of synthetic leather. It's not the most welcoming outfit.

     "Even /I/ would tire, faced with such a... target rich environment," he offers. "I could perhaps walk along the ocean floor, but that would be tempting fate. The Lintha have all sort of nasty little pets, and I'd prefer to save my resources." He idly twirls a length of his dark hair around a finger, sighing airily.

     "You know," says the Exalt, raising his voice slightly to be heard above any saber-rattling that might be going on between Darktide and the Realm forces. "You could make this a joint operation. The Realm, Skullstone, and my own nation could each contribute. Each of us has something unique we could bring to the table. The Realm has numbers, Skullstone has its... unconventional weaponry," he says with some distaste, and a nod towards the Siaka's nearest undead crewman, wherever he or she might be.

     "And Claslat has weaponry not seen since the First Age--as well as its fair share of Exalted." He pauses, testing the waters. "But you know, I really don't care, as long as this place burns, and soon. I have other things to do, you know."
Tomoe Tomoe had had some time to recover a bit from the incident where she got just gobsmacked by some sort of eldritch horror and she knew she had another battle ahead of her. She was there with everyone else as they got a good look at just what they were going to hit.

"It's a nest of ships? Man, I saw something like this is a movie before my world unified."

She thinks about the maze as well this was going to be quite the challenge. She thinks back to working with the Knights of the Blood Oath. She kept near Ryouma for the moment and took another look.

"I could fly but alone? I'd get torn to ribbons in short order and I'd rather not see what would happen to my soul if I die on creation. Still hmm too bad we couldn't pose as locals bringing a shipment of slaves in..."

She looks over to Eye for a moment.

"Then you have off-world operators like myself who have abilities that might be wildcards they are not ready for.

She also gives Ryouma a look for a moment.

"They consider humans food and worse. I can get where you are coming from but ... I have little sympathy for these beings."
Empty Tidings "The only diplomacy I'm interested in engaging in with regards to the Lintha," Empty Tidings remarks, "is the sort where each message is punctuated by the strike of a spear."

The incongruous Tengese woman continues to be amongst the strategists, sorcerers and Elites. She clearly has some measure of power and influence -- if the surely wildly-exaggerated rumors about the engagement with the Lintha dead are to be believed, she faced them barehanded and did far better than merely surviving -- and has previously established she's the one with the prior experience with (read: grudge against) the Lintha to boot. Even if she couldn't offer some kind of material support, she'd be a valuable source of insight.

At the moment, she's dressed in navy blue, with her long, dark hair decorated with tiny brass bells that have been tied into it in some kind of intricate pattern. They chime when she turns her head sharply. She uses the sound to punctuate her commentary and her other gestures.

"I am in favor of the use of commandos," Tidings says, nodding slightly in Eye's direction, "in conjunction with a joint assault, or ahead of one." She momentarily wishes her other Autochthonian companion was present, too, thinking back on battle of Lookshy. "I could provide the means for a small team to advance underwater. Dealing with their undersea pets may be troublesome, but gaining entry should not be. After that..." She traces a fingernail against the inevitable map-strewn tabletop. "...assassination."
Finna     "Wheeeeeeeoooooey, that's messy!" Is the opinion of the young woman with slightly unkempt black hair going down to her waist. The same young woman who joined the gang's efforts not too long ago. A few might just know that she is not just the Jubilant Gale that she proclaims herself to be. And nationality isn't helping either - at best, one might peg her as one of the local Dragon-sired of An-Teng, if her attire's any indication. Because she's currently wearing a slim red-and-silver qipao modified for battle, a bow in hand and quiver full of arrows on her back.

    "You guys sure know how to pick your outings! This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing... and for unlucky folk, a LAST-in-a-lifetime thing. No mis-steps allowed here, got it? Can't guarantee anyone's safety today. If anything bad happens, it'll be your own fault..."

    A grisly look's on her face for some reason or another. And this 'Jubilant Gale' as she's called herself (a name of seeming no recognition) has done her best to stay far away from the actual Dynasts.

    "Might be able to sneak in and sabotage, start a diversion, cut some of this mess loose... but something tells me it's gonna be tricky. The waters 'round here, I bet they're full of monsters. And even if one COULD fly, they'd stand out..."

    A sideglance is aimed at Empty Tidings. The hints of deep thought are showing in Jubilant Gale's dark brown eyes. Perhaps she has an idea!

    But then her gaze falls back on the distant Dynast presence. A foul feeling builds up in her gut and she does her best to hide it. "... Yeah, for a group this big, I've got nothing. Could maybe sneak in and steal some outfits and gear for disguises, but that won't be enough..."
Ryouma Sakamoto     Ryouma's smile is genuine when he responds: "Ah, I just believe that there's hope for everyone to change their ways, even them. But I won't disagree that there being a base of operations for such vile acts is a danger to everyone."

    He eyes the representation of Bluehaven, sighing. "What a waste to destroy such a feat of naval engineering. If only we could drive them off and put it to better use. Maybe as a trading post or a neutral fortification all involved parties can use to remember what they can accomplish together."

    Ryouma stands back up straight, crossing his arms. "A massive attack from multiple directions would give us a pretty big distraction to work with, yeah. Cutting off the serpent's head would be a lot easier that way."

    Oryou shuffles idly, and says, "Oryou thinks humans need to come up with a better expression for that."

    Ryouma says, "Ahah... sorry Oryou. Well, if it's via air or water, Oryou can handle it, too. She looks normal right now, but she can make a pretty big mess."

    Oryou takes Ryouma's hat hostage. "Oryou will eat all of the Lintha that get in her way, don't worry."
Bloody Revelations     All-Seeing Eye is let in on the strategy meeting in extremely short order for his part in everything so far. Ryouma is as much for basically being vouched for, and having some really easy excuses if asked about who he is and who or what the heck Ouryo is. The other three are only let near with some extreme begrudgement, as a large number of sailors swear up and down that having women here is just begging a 'storm mother' to come down on them at the worst possible moment, however Captain Darktide is the one to inform them of a fact of Lintha sailing: that Bluehaven is fine as it is because the Lintha have apparently conquered and/or bought off the notoriously misogynistic oceanic elementals in the region, as evidenced by the fact that Bluehaven is made of ships and presumably half its population is female, which shuts up objections pretty quickly.

    The matter of coordinating a three way assault is met a little more favourably than a two way, but the Terrestrial captain of the flagship, whom the Autocthonian had negotiated with last time, sees the obvious problem. "No doubt, a third fleet might tip the scales in a favourable way, even taking your word at its face value, but how exactly do you plan to coordinate such a thing? The nearest available dispatch of the Water Navy I can reach is at least three days travel from here. Sortieing an appropriate fleet from Coral or the mainland would take even longer." He looks to Darktide, who makes a 'can't be helped' gesture with his hands. "Two days from Skullstone, using the Shadowlands. I've never even heard of Claslat previously. How long does it take to reach?"

    "More importantly." the Dynast continues, pointing at Empty Tidings. "Even should you succeed, who could you possibly be planning to assassinate? We know almost nothing about Bluehaven or its leadership structure, and given that we are set on attacking them in their nest, killing off an admiral or two is unlikely to make much of a difference; they have nowhere to run to and wouldn't even if they were completely routed, and they have to commit to no offensive maneuvers, merely fight for each deck and plank."

    Darktide just laughs a little in response to Oryou's grisly proclamation. "That'd just serve them perfectly right, wouldn't it? That little lady has something to do with the water, right? Do you think you could get something done should you infiltrate along with the others?" He jerks a thumb at Empty Tidings and Finna. "I like the idea of setting up a backdoor at least, come time for a theoretical assault, but we don't have the men -no offense- to do much after getting in, in the meantime. I'd wish for a scale of sorcerers at this rate. At least, it seems that way."
Ryouma Sakamoto     Ryouma looks at Darktide, ponderous. "Oryou could cause quite a commotion if she could get behind the lines of cannons. If there's concern of magic in the area, she could even pollute the waters and sap away magical strength. But under that much attention, I'm not sure how long she'd last, so everyone else would have to be on-point."

    Oryou just nods twice.

    Leaning over, the Counter Guardian seeks to examine the map again. "We don't need to disrupt their leadership that much. They've been operating from here for how long, you said? Ah, even if they have a backup place they can retreat to, the blow to their morale and organization would take a long time to recover from. Something this size has to have people in charge, though... not to mention, they must have a way to communicate quickly within Bluehaven. If an alarm sounds east, someone or something has to be in charge of relaying it to the west. That's something else we need to find and disrupt. If they can't organize, they can't fight off however many fleets you manage to bring."

    But all of that is obvious. Ryouma's eyes are scanning that map, looking for something that isn't. That's easier said than done.

    "If we knew how they communicate with each other we could even have someone feed them false information. A spell? Signals, using flags or fire? A lot of shouting?" It could just be a lot of shouting. Pirates, man.
Finna     "Well! Seems like what we need most is information." States Jubilant Gale. "Operating alone, maybe that I can get you." ALthough HOW she intends to acquire such information isn't said, there's mischief in this Jubilant Gale's eyes...
All-Seeing Eye      Eye has an answer for the Dynast fairly quickly. "Contacting it isn't the issue, thanks to our membership in the Commonwealth. The issue, I'm afraid, is travel time. If forced to travel... oh, what's the expression?" He places a finger upon his chin. "We'll just say 'in a straight line'--it would take the longest of the three to arrive, I'm fairly certain. It's very nearly on the other side of Creation. Buuut..." His tone takes a sweet, cajoling shape, his lips curling into a wry smile. "If there's a nearby warpgate we might use, we could cut down on travel time significantly."

     "My strengths are more aligned towards pursuit of high value targets and close-quarters engagements in target-rich environments. If we can agree on this three-pronged assault, Claslat will no doubt send a tactician, probably an Orichalcum." He pauses, realizing that may be Greek to Darktide and the Dynast alike. "Oh, it's like a Solar, but minus the tendency towards despotism and psychosis." He wrinkles his nose playfully at the Dynast, gently nudging his shoulder. "You'll like them!" He doesn't bother looking at Darktide to spy the captain's reaction, but given his degree of vision, he really doesn't have to.

     The mention of false flags does draw Eye's interest, enough to have him turn to look towards Ryouma. His brow furrows, his golden eyes darkening with ideas as he ponders just how to send that fake information. They're well outside the range of his Mobile Sensory Drone, and zooming in would be no better than a particularly sophisticated looking glass. They need to discover how information is sent, as Ryouma says, before they can send bogus information. "We could have the sorcerors send the demon again," he admits with some distaste. "Or, perhaps.. Jubilant Gale could get a closer look."
Empty Tidings Note to self, Tidings thinks, conquer the Pole of Water and give the larger elementals a lesson in gender politics.

(Did you know you can absolutely maim a hurricane if you know where to hold it?)

Empty Tidings eyes Oryou for a moment, and then decides that quirky hat-thief sidekicks are acceptable in a planning session. She turns to look at the Dynast who points at her instead. Her hand comes up, and she gently touches the back of the outstretched hand, and then presses downward until his finger is no longer in line with her face in a manner that her stern expression says is frightfully rude. "If I were to slay the head of House Ragara tomorrow, there would be chaos within its ranks until the power vacuum was filled. No matter how prepared a family is for the loss of their head of house, it is always a blow. The same is so of the Lintha. They call themselves 'the Family,' after all."

She tips her head towards Darktide, letting the potential offense breeze past with a tinkle of bells. Tidings straightens and clears her throat. "The Lintha are a matriarchal society organized as an extended family structure. As their lineage is all drawn to their legendary ancestors and their progenitor, this falls as a natural order they can and will obey. The greatest individual within their heirarchy is the eldest grandmother among all Lintha septs, the 'Lei Kiangi,' who is advised by a council of elder grandmothers known as the Septian Covenant. The Lei Kiangi is responsible for the defense of Bluehaven, and is able to command any Lintha ship or fleet, which will obey her unquestioningly. It is a holy position, and none has ever been assassinated."

Empty Tidings' voice and expression are glacial. "Which is why I propose we approach the Septian Covenant as it meets, butcher the whole of their council chamber, and then hang the Lei Kiangi from the highest point on the isle to strangle as the sun rises."
Bloody Revelations     Ryouma gets down to the map to navally strategize. Naval strategy is kind of his entire thing. Even in a place as incredibly weird as Creation, ships are ships are ships, and as horrific and bizarre as Lintha culture are, they use hulls of wood and steel and sail oceans that are like all oceans. The compatibility is acceptable.

    Safe routes through the labyrinth of detritus, sargasso, and quite possibly old munitions, are not obvious from the air. Almost all of the lookout traffic is concentrated in the south and east though, as it would seem there's no reason to approach from the north or west. There doesn't appear to be anywhere sensible to put a signal fire, and probably for the best that they not rely on them. Instead, it's quite probable they rely on old alarms like port belltowers, or perhaps gongs or similar, and there are certainly many places where small structures like that could be placed, if only on a small wooden frame.

    The way the lookouts and tenders are separated from the 'inland' portion of Bluehaven makes it seem really unlikely they regularly sail in and out. The more Ryouma looks at it, the more he'd get the feeling that it's an arrangement that could normally only be done with scuba gear, so at least some of the Lintha, especially those outside, must be able to make underwater trips, and thus it stands to reason all of the stuff outside of the ship graveyard stays outside.

    A /lot/ of close examination repeatedly leads the eye along webs of planks and ropes back to the same ship many times --moreso than the others. It isn't quite so convenient as to be the biggest and most central ship of the fleet, and the awful green tint of the image had made it hard to spot, since that way its hull of what seems to be brass doesn't stand out nearly as much. It's heavily connected to everything else in a thoroughly unplanned way, and possible to reach from almost any end of Bluehaven, even indirectly, making it seem like, if not a centre point, absolutely the oldest and most politically, magically, or even just sentimentally important place. It also easily has the space of a small state building.

    The demon pens are an obvious stick-out. Judging by the fact they aren't really fenced off much, it's probably safe to assume the demons are trained not to just lunge out and eat Lintha. The gates are locked much in the same way as livestock, though even those are known to stampede. They're essentially kept in large 'pools' dotted throughout Bluehaven, attached to long lanes that ships could easily glide down, in order to hook each carriage up to its horse. A large number of large galleys and small warships are moored in those areas at any given time, being the preferred docking spot, rather than platforms unnecessarily far away from where they'd logically be 'changing steeds'.

    Finally, the weird blue island obviously sticks out, but moreso are the number of active ships around it, posted as if guarding it, yet without anyone having ever had the bright idea to extend the graveyard wall about it, as if that weren't possible. The cargo coming back from it can only be natural resources of some kind, as even if the island can't possibly be big enough to support this many people, it'd be idiotic to not exploit what's there, even for a nation of pirates. The question is what /is/ there.

    All in all, though the structures are extremely dense, they'd not be incredibly difficult for Oryou to rampage through, albeit very easy to plaster over with makeshift repairs very quickly, unless a large number of adjacent permanent ships were all sunk. Obviously the lower portions are so wet that there's no chance of burning them, but as the verticality of the place increases, the less and less fireproofing is possible, and it seems mostly nobody bothered, save where the construction is oddly metallic.
Bloody Revelations     Nobody at the strategy meeting looks particularly impressed when All-Seeing Eye tells them Claslat is on the other side of the whole world, and most still give him a sour expression when it comes down to warpgates. "I'm aware." begins the admiral. "But we haven't encountered one the entire way here, and if we were to look for one, we would be combing over thousands of miles of empty water looking for one." Darktide offers. "I'm aware of one suitable for ships off of Skullstone's Onyx island, but whatever ships you have in mind would be crossing with the Black Fleet, assuming they're able to match speed. We're still looking at days, or even a week, until a plausible assault. Enough for a full return trip, but only just barely. If we /get/ the ships here, I'd like to have used that time to soften up the enemy instead, but that'd entail remaining unseen on open waters for the remainder of the time, since once committed, there'd be no time to retreat and resupply."

    There is immediate, almost rehearsed revulsion at the mention of Orichalcum and Solars, mostly tapering into confusion rather than really being assuaged when the Alchemical carelessly 'clarifies'. Darktide's poker face at this point is truly something impressive. They give off the impression they'd seem more suspicious of Empty Tidings instead, were it not for the obvious venom in her explanation. "That's a lot of really specific information." says Darktide. "I imagine it took a lot of sources to get all of that, but can you trust all of them?" Under the impression that someone Tengese has brushed with the Lintha a lot (of course) and clearly Empty Tidings must have been working on this revenge plan for some time, the Realm Admiral merely asks "If this is the case, and you have their incestuous rat king of bloodlines and alliances truly worked out, how will you find the 'Lei Kiangi', how will you ensure her death, and how will you time it to be in any way beneficial to the main assault?" A pause. "And how were you planning on getting inside in the first place?"
Ryouma Sakamoto     "I don't know how I feel about murdering grandmothers," Ryouma laughs, "But I'll leave the targetting and handling of leadership to you," he says, eyes trailing along the map half-distractedly until things seem to just... click into place. The web, suddenly, makes sense. No, rather... it might not have been planned to make sense, but by accident or otherwise, order sprung in the chaos of the planks.

    One of his gloved hand starts tracing a route through Bluehaven as he oohs and aahs, until finally lifting his head and... retrieving his hat from Oryou to put it back on. He is a dork at heart, and exposition warrants his hat.

    "I agree, if Jubilant Gale thinks she can handle it, it would be invaluable information. Looking at the structures, there seems to be bell towers strewn about." He points a few of them out. "We must know what their codes are. Then, we can have someone, or multiple someones, ring the bells erroneously."

    Then his hand wanders to the edges of Bluehaven. "North and west seem to be no good for their traffic. The traps and obstacles must be heaviest there. A strong attack from those directions could clear a way through their least defended sides. If that isn't an option... then, we must avoid those two directions at all costs." Do they have someone with a swordlaser handy? Where's a Saber when you need one?

    His hand then travels to the center, as he tries to signal All-Seeing Eye and Empty Tidings over. "This ship. There are more routes that go to and from this ship than any other. I can't tell if it was a deliberate design choice or not, but it must be important."

    The cages, he's not sure what to make of. Nor is he certain about the small plot of land evidently being exploited. "Here, they're exploiting something. And there are... cages? Pens, more like? Are these for the demons you were talking about? I'm not sure what to make of either of those things, though I can wager a guess we either really do not want those pens accessible, or we want a way to deal with them pre-emptively. Or perhaps, to enrage their contents and set them loose. I'm woefully ignorant of this world's... wildlife, and so... ah, well, I just don't know."

    He laughs.

    Oryou points at one of them. "Oryou can start rampaging here and eat all the demons. Then she can go for the next one and the next until it's not a problem anymore."

    Ryouma looks to those with more knowledge to determine if that'd be a suitable use of her talents or not.
Finna     "If the belltowers are used as signaling, could just as easily sabotage them as use 'em falsely, if we have to!" Points out the Jubilant Gale with a genuinely cheery smirk. A look that's far too positive and exuberant for this gathering. Might be the reason for her sobriquet, maybe?

    "Whenever there's a cage, it's used for one of two things. Imprisonment or summoning. You don't cage things that are loyal to you. So these might be a useful source of chaos!" She then adds to Ryouma's info.
Tomoe Tomoe politely looks past the comments about women here, she doesn't feel like picking a fight with their own allies. This is also Creation so they might have some backing to their fears. I'd be up for going to commando route but I'm more of a shock trooper when it comes down to it. I know how to be quiet but I'm not a stealth expert at all. I can give some air support in some fashion if it's needed. Could be single flags too."

She seems lost in thought for the moment at what to do given her own skills she can only offer insight on her own experiance and she's not generally the general. That's more Kirito's, Thinke's, Klien' and Angil's bag really. Still, she looks at the situation there has to be something she's not seeing here.

Emptty Tidings give her own inptut.

"A direct plan I have to admit."

She goes silent as they get quite the view of Bluehaven, it really does feel like it came out of that old Pirate Movie she saw a while back.

"I'd be willing to help Oryou with the demon diversion if it's neede we shouldn't send her in alone."
All-Seeing Eye      Eye doesn't leave the conversation with the two captains--yet, he seems to respond directly to Ryouma, as if he'd not only heard the strategist, but somehow seen the spot on the map to which Ryouma referred. "I agree," says the Exalt. "Perhaps that's where our target is--or perhaps it serves some other purpose we can disrupt, on our way to her." He pauses. "You don't mind me tagging along, do you, dear?" He smiles sweetly at Tidings. "I hate to invite myself, but we just work so well together."

     This splitting of his attention is done in the midst of the near-performative revulsion performed by the Realm forces aboard the ship--his expression is entirely unconcerned. "Oh," he says absent-mindedly. "I don't blame you. They left quite a mess on their way out, after all!" Eye chuckles like he's in the midst of polite small-talk, rather than walking his way around an ideological minefield.

     When it's clear his veneer of polite amusement isn't going to impress anyone, he sighs his most put-upon sigh. It's a lofty, disappointed sigh. Briefly putting his hand to his brow, he bothers to speak with gravity befitting the situation. It kills him to do it. "/Gentlemen,/" he laboriously begins, his voice dripping with diplomatic accomodation. "As long as Captain Darktide can include a note about friendly forces sailing with the Black Fleet--or, more likely, above it--our forces will have no issues cooperating to put down a common threat to law and order in the West. If we can safely access the warpgate you mentioned, travel time will be /considerably/ reduced. I can also assure you both that our vessels are possessed of propulsion systems far more advanced than simply..." He makes a pantomiming gesture with his hand. "Letting the wind carry them." That hand then makes a dismissive motion, as if swatting away a noisome fly. "Or whatever it is you do. Keeping up with the fleet once our forces arrive won't be an issue. But!" He smiles brightly, clapping his hands together and letting them rest before his waist, rocking slightly in place. "That's beside the point. The point is..."

     He gestures idly towards the pirate haven in the distance. "When you move to boil this... impurity from the sea, you'll want all the help you can get. I would say permanently ridding the sea of the Lintha is worth a few days more, wouldn't you?"
Empty Tidings Empty Tidings has an awful lot of venom for the Lintha. She has not made her personal hate-on for them at all secret for the entire journey, and her pleasant and personable demeanor has routinely totally upended whenever they became a topic of conversation. "The demons will be bound with sorcery and unlikely to cause much carnage," she tells Ryouma. "There may be ways to undo that binding, though. We will have to consult our sorcerously-inclined associates, I think."

"I can," Tidings tells Darktide. "I corroborated it from multiple members of the Family over a rather lengthy period of years. Repeated interrogation yielded the same information from each source, with extra pieces added to the puzzle as time went on. Their captains enjoy pontificating while feasting, while indulging, and most especially," her eyes flash with a moment of sick satisfaction, "while suffering."

She regards the Admiral again. "I have enough information to pose as a part of their twisted little society, if I must, and as I have already said, I am perfectly capable of traversing the sea and bringing a companion or three along with me." Tidings inclines her head almost regally towards Eye. "I wouldn't dream of leaving you behind. We've a common purpose and a certain bond, I think, and it would be /such/ a waste to let you and it wither so."

A shoulder shrugged. "He is perfectly capable of engaging them in combat, especially from a position of surprise. I am," a stray thought to the bloodbath on the deck of the Siaka, "adequately able to defend myself, should I be so threatened. I had thought that we may provide something of a signal to the exterior force to begin the assault, once the head is well and truly removed. Then, when your ships are on the horizon, and they come to seek council..."

Empty Tidings spreads her hands. "...chaos."
Bloody Revelations     The tense, uncertain silence following All-Seeing Eye playing around the Solar comparison faux-pas is suddenly broken by a snort from somewhere in the second row when Empty Tidings says she is 'adequately able to defend herself', considering the sheer amount of bloodyminded butchery that had happened last time. They're all pretty well convinced she's a Tengese 'lost egg' by now. Oddly enough, that seems to relieve the tension more than anything else, as a round of grim, sarcastic chuckles goes around the circle.

    Both Darktide and the Dynast Admiral seem impressed with Ryouma at the same time. "I will admit, I had not expected overmuch from a newcomer at this stage, but I see why you were permitted on." the Terrestrial Exalted un-begrudgingly admits. "Those demons are what the green filth use to tow their ships, such that they can outmaneuver ships relying on oars, and attack those stilled by a lack of winds, no doubt due to their supposed alliance with the western storm mothers. They are likely kept near the docked ships in order to tow them in and out of harbour, in this weed-choked place with no breeze. It is indeed most likely they are either trained or ensorcelled not to attack the pirate scum themselves, but if antagonized, a proper 'rampage' should make short work of the portions of the fleet unfortunately docked near them, I agree."

    Darktide refocuses his gaze on the ship Ryouma points out, and then lets sleep a brief, unknowable frown. "That'd be it, aye. A pretty likely spot to send a team that slips in. So what would that make? The alarm codes for the wrong directions, disabling the bells along our intended approach, assassinating this slaver crone, causing chaos in their beast pens, anything I'm forgetting?" He only needs to take a glance at the barrier of floating refuse and its insane thickness. "We won't be getting through the north or west unless our friend from Claslat has something in his pocket. We're so far out into the northwest ocean that there's got to be nothing worth raiding in that entire direction." He momentarily stares at Oryou, his eyes flashing in an uncanny way. "I reckon she'd be more than a match for a pod of the Lintha's ill-tempered sea mutts. Even failing that, the sheer amount of collateral . . ."
Bloody Revelations     The Admiral seems satisfied with Empty Tidings' alleged quest of vengeance. "Very well. Bring with you whoever you need to obtain the information we need to thwart their early warning measures, and locate their critical personnel /before/hand. There is no sense in allowing them a week to replace their leadership while our ships still sail." Darktide cracks a grin. "A signal is simple enough, right?" he says, tapping the side of his head where a skull-engraved black jade earpiece sits. Apparently the Silver Prince has caught on to the radio thing.

    "The more broken their rat's nest is, the more we can fire into it. The more of their leaders lay dead, the less effectively they can resist a boarding action --and this is a boarding action. If their demons do not come to their aid, then their greatest anti-unit weapons are out. If we catch them by surprise, only their docked ships can scramble to their defense at sea, rather than the hundreds they could no doubt recall. If we can indeed arrange all three prongs to meet, there are certainly no shortage of brave men and women of the Realm eager to prove themselves on a historic occasion such as this." Darktide shrugs. "Likewise, the Silver Prince is willing to commit considerable resources to finally purging this malignant culture from Creation. I know you have your doubts, but I can assure you that the Lintha are held in vile contempt even by the people of Skullstone." The Admiral just nods.

    "Then how is it you plan to enter, at last, who will accompany you, and where will you go? Our sorcerer can manage convenient cover for a time over this next week, if a stable base of operations need be. Our flagship is still fully stocked for another month at sea. I will need to know if any plans are to be made for operating secretly within the area in the preceding time." Darktide laughs. "Likewise! The Siaka's crew aren't a peckish bunch, if you catch my drift!"
Ryouma Sakamoto     Ryouma turns to Finna, and strokes his chin. "Sabotaging the bell towers might be just as good, if we can manage to get a most of them. It might be easier to send false messages along though. See if you can find out how they function and what kinds of codes they use to talk through them, but the next best thing is to make sure they're the first things we destroy. Any strategy they might be able to come up with against our combined forces won't be of any use to them if they can't spread them to their forces."

    As for the demons, he takes both Empty Tidings and Finna's advice. "Alright. Oryou, you'll be in charge of devouring as many of the demons as you can while they're still grouped up in their pens. If our more magically-inclined friends can come up with a way to sever their bindings or to enrage them, we'll find you something else to eat."

    Oryou nods enthusiasticly.

    Then when it comes to the praise, Ryouma just awkwardly scratches the back of his neck. "I'm just an outdated swordsman with entirely too much spare time and a love for ships. It's turning out quite handy, between this and another enemy." Foreigner is a mess. He still isn't sure how to deal with THAT.

    He eyes Darktide, which Oryou also does, though he doesn't question how he reached that conclusion. Oryou is a weird floating lady and the both of them exhude mana like other people produce CO2.

    Not to mention, not that Ryouma would know that, but Oryou probably comes across like she's got a high Breeding score.

    "My only remaining question is, what's to happen to Bluehaven after we've driven the demonic and/or undead pirates away? It wouldn't do to come to blows after the fact because the gathered forces can't agree, and one wants to burn it, one wants to own it, and one wants to make it open to all."
Tomoe Tomoe seems to like the idea about turning the demons loose on their masters seem to work for her, also the removal of their leadership would cause some serious issues. Though she wondered how she ended up in dealing with stuff like this? She has to see it through to the end, she has a hand in why the world has been made worse with the fall of Lookshy, and she can't leave until she tries to set things remotely right. This is a part of that win the ends.

"We need to sort out what to do with it if it survives the attack. I'm not one with the right to make a call on that as I don't live in this world."
All-Seeing Eye      The comment about the north and west is the first thing said today for which All-Seeing Eye doesn't have an immediate answer. The Realm guys probably don't mind that at all, seeing as how he's likely given the impression of someone who loves his own voice. He taps his chin, frowning thoughtfully--he even gives a drawn out 'hmm.'

     "Not... in my pocket," he admits. The very admission then causes him to giggle, struck by sudden inspiration. "Not in /my/ pocket, no. But I know someone with very deep pockets, you might say!~" The thought draws a further bit of amusement from him, his smile becoming sly.

     "I'll tell you what, gentlemen. I believe I have /just/ the man for the job! I'll send my recommendation to the National Tripartite Assembly. In the worst case scenario, we'll have a capable tactician with a crew of veteran boarders." He touches a hand to his temple, already making the call. "But if he's free, well... you'll wonder why you bother with sailing ships at all."

     After a moment or so of waiting, he's apparently connected with someone. "Senior Clerk Rachminanov? ...Oh, he /has?/ Well, good for him! I knew he'd advance through the ranks before long. Hm? This is All-Seeing Eye. Hee! Yes, /that/ All-Seeing Eye. Yes, could you forward me to the Grand Autocrat? Yes, I understand--but... Ah. ...tell him it's pertaining to the Revelations matter."

     Eye chuckles. "I thought so." There's a brief pause before he's apparently connected to the authority in question. "Grand Autocrat Nikolaev! I need a /teensy/ little military strike. Oh! Hah, no, I certainly wish--but it's of great strategic importance, I assure you. Listen, before we get into the nitty-gritty, can you confirm or deny whether Thousandfold Radiant Stratagems is available?"

     He practically bounces in place when he hears the answer. "He /is?!/ Well, that's splendid! So! Here's the tea-- the tea. It's--nevermind, here's the situational report..."