The merchant ship shudders violently, exiting the astral currents and back into the calmer, gray skies of Tienvidel. The crystalline repair on the hull fractures, bleeding raw teal energy that makes the host’s skin crawl. Arion’s grip on the deck railing slips, his fingers twitching with a rhythmic, unnatural rigidity.
Captain Halloway
Get off my deck, you cursed parasite. You have done enough to my ship.
Arion Touvengard
The host’s lungs are burning. He is resisting the tether, but I am too deep in his marrow to be shaken off now. I cannot let this mortal cut the connection.
Arion Touvengard
You mistake my presence for a curse, Captain. Without my hand upon this vessel, you would be nothing more than scattered debris drifting in the void.
Captain Halloway
My crew is gone! My ship is a ruin! I would rather face the void than spend another league under your shadow.
The Captain raises the heavy iron wrench, his knuckles white, his gaze burning with the desperate, jagged resolve of a man who has lost everything to forces he does not understand.
“"Your ship stills floats, and your crew has simply taken your lifeboats, bring us to shore and you will be done with me. And maybe instill a little more bravery in your crew so they dont run at the first sign of trouble." Arion says as he allows the captain to strike him with the wrench should he attempt. Arion then attenpts to rest and stabilize his connection to the host l trying to calm down his own racing heart from the non-stop danger he had been in.”
SUCCESS (Great Willpower, rolled +1)
Captain Halloway
You speak of bravery while you puppet this boy like a common marionette? Your arrogance will sink us all.
The Captain bellows, swinging the heavy iron wrench in a desperate, wide arc. It connects with a sickening thud against the host’s shoulder, a blow that would shatter a normal man’s collarbone. Arion does not flinch. He stands motionless, absorbing the kinetic force, his expression as blank and cooling as a tombstone.
Arion Touvengard
Your ship still floats, and your crew has simply taken your lifeboats. Bring us to shore and you will be done with me. Perhaps if you instilled a little more bravery in your crew, they would not flee at the first sign of shadow.
Arion Touvengard
The physical feedback is dull, a distant echo of pain. I must weave the energy back into the host’s failing rhythm. If his heart stops now, I am tethered to a carcass.
Arion closes his eyes, teal light bleeding from the sword into the host’s veins, frantically knitting torn muscle and steadying the erratic, frightened pulse of the boy beneath.
+ Scene Quest Added
Calm Captain Halloway and depart the damaged cargo hold
“"Lets retrieve your lost crew, they cant be far from your ship." Arion says as he moves to leave the cargo hold behind.”
SUCCESS (Great Willpower, rolled +1)
Arion Touvengard
Let us retrieve your lost crew. They cannot be far from your ship, and a captain without a crew is merely a man adrift in his own grief.
The puppeted body turns with unnatural, hydraulic precision, teal energy still sparking along the lines of the host’s jaw. Arion steps over the fractured floorboards, his gaze indifferent to the groaning ship. Captain Halloway staggers back, the heavy iron wrench trembling in his grip, his face a mask of sweating, wide-eyed terror.
Captain Halloway
This is not the boy. That hollow stare... something ancient is looking through his eyes.
Arion reaches out a hand, his touch light but cold, forcing the Captain to turn toward the hatch. The air in the hold grows heavy, humming with the resonance of the sword’s leaking power as Arion pushes past, leaving the man no choice but to follow or be consumed by the void behind them.
“Advancing onto the deck of the ship leaving the patched cargo hold behind, Arion and the captain ascend to see the calm skies of Tienvidel. Arion continues to calm his connection, pulling back the magic he had forced into the host.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Health, rolled +1)
Arion ascends the iron ladder, his puppeted limbs moving with a jarring, rhythmic grace that ignores the groaning fatigue of the host body. He pushes the heavy deck hatch open. The cool, crisp air of the Tienvidel sky rushes in, washing away the metallic tang of the leaking hull.
Arion Touvengard
The void is behind us, Captain. Observe the horizon.
Arion draws a shallow breath, his teal eyes flickering as he forces the erratic energy to recede. The veins in the host’s hands stop their luminous pulsing, though the skin remains unnaturally pale. He steps onto the main deck. Above, the astral rivers flow like rivers of liquid starlight across the violet firmament. The ship is scarred and listing, but stable. Captain Halloway emerges behind him, his knees buckling as he beholds the endless, calm expanse of the upper sky.
Captain Halloway
We survived. By the grace of the winds, we are still afloat.
Arion turns, his gaze devoid of empathy but sharpened by a newfound, cold clarity.
Quest Complete
Calm Captain Halloway and depart the damaged cargo hold
Attribute Upgrade: Willpower Great→Superb
+ Scene Quest Added
Search the ship for the lost crew