The Adventures of Lucien Kell

Mitsu may be fragile in body, but she’s stronger in spirit than many would realize, despite a tumultuous past, perhaps because of it. Still, I felt so helpless as I’d witnessed her battered body lying so small, so vulnerable in the medical bay. I knew we’d never be free of the Bluewater Cartel if we didn’t strike as hard as we could, and I redoubled my efforts to locate a critical spot at which to strike, as did Miss Cadoret. As for Lady Nightweave, I believe she’d felt out of her element in much of this. Why I haven’t taken more diligence to train her is my own failure. She’s a strong and talented woman, but with all her resources, she’s never landed a worthy trainer who can take the time to forge her steel.

Seeing Miss Tousart and speaking with her again is quite the surprise. I’d abandoned her in the last year, certain that her path and mine were much different. Hers was one among friends on an airship. Mine was a solitary path of escape from my past. To remain in one place, to settle as she had would spell certain doom for me. Always, I keep one eye ahead and one behind to outrun my pursuers. Unfortunately, it seems they’ve caught up. Someone accosted Miss Tousart, though her offensive magics have improved, and she left a dead body for inspection. With so much ground to cover, I won’t go into detail here, but the signs point to Amelia, who it seems is alive, based on what Miss Cadoret told me. That alone is a subject for its own entry, for it leaves me greatly conflicted. My first true love, or so I’d thought. A woman I thought had died trying to cross enemy lines to reach me, but all along, it had been her lie. I won’t dwell on it here.

Colleagues who perhaps know too much about me say I cannot run, that I must make a stand. With all my knowledge, and all I’ve learned, I don’t see how this is possible. If I stand against this, I’ll be cut down. And yet, my past has not only caught up to me, but to others I attempted to save by putting distance between myself and them. Their eye is upon Miss Tousart. How long before the hand strikes her? How long before it settles on others? I’m not even close enough to Miss Lee to keep an eye on her, though she’s been most adroit in looking after herself, but what about for threats she doesn’t know to anticipate? I must at least explore the possibility of a stand, or at least a discouraging strike. Unfortunately, a strike upon coals only incites the fire. This will take careful thought.

We took a boat from Kugane to Shirogane and waded the shallows to shore before it docked to await us near the ferry. It would return for us at a cove further along the beach. We sent Taryn ahead to scout, and I placed Trint in charge tactically. She spotted four guards around the large estate, which sat as a looming shadow, all lights extinguished, on a cliff overlooking the sea. The plan was for her to take two guards from stealth while S’ira would take one by the door and Trint would take the other on the far side of the estate. Their surprise attacks failed, and the alarm was raised at the estate, though not to alert the authorities.

Luckily, Taryn was able to take the one by the door from surprise with her bow while the other was dispatched. Once the alarm had been raised, I used the card up my sleeve and contacted the woman presumably held captive inside. I told her a rescue was in progress. She and her husband were able to break from their bonds and violently kill two guards inside, hastening their own rescue. 

What we didn’t realize was that the woman was so pregnant, she looked like she would pop any moment. They’d been heavily tortured to the point that they were barely clinging to life, especially the male au ra, who even had a chipped horn that had to be excruciating. We helped them to the cover where the boats were. Mitsu and Evaleigh had come along and offered help, but Mitsu seemed confused we weren’t taking them back to the Rosethorn for expert medical treatment. There was no way we could do so, as we cannot risk associating the rescue with us.

Evaleigh took them to the Compass Rose, a luxury ship that serves as a neutral site for the underworld. They will sail from Kugane to Limsa Lominsa and then be taken to a safehouse. Hopefully the woman’s child survived their hardships. Evaleigh didn’t think they would have lasted but days longer.

My brain tells me we were sloppy, our directives to our operatives indecisive. We’ll have to work on that. I also worry that the slavers we rescued the pair from can somehow ties us to the deed. Having proof would be another matter, but would they even need proof to act?

My heart felt good that for once in this ruthless business, we did something of which to be proud. I worry about Taryn’s reaction to aspects of the mission. We seem to be drifint further apart even as Evaleigh praised the rescue effort and doted on the rescued pair. Soon, I can debrief them on what they know.

We were to steal a magical item called the Lamp of the Waves from the estate of Councilor Agatahr Merlitarsyn from the Limsan Admiralty. He was holding a reception, attended by none other than Grand Marshal Eynzahr Slafyrsyn. No pressure, certainly not!

Perhaps I should explain how we reached this point. The Bluewater Cartel, one of the most powerful in Limsa Lominsa and specializing in shipping and smuggling, had kept Lady Nightweave’s cargo they’d held hostage, sending a message of their displeasure that we hadn’t acted more quickly to secure their own missing cargo taken by a rogue crew of theirs. Rather than hire our investigatory services, they saw fit to browbeat us into submission, given their much greater strength over our nascent network.

This could not stand.

With the Lamp of the Waves in our hands, our plans were to plant the magical item in a Bluewater Cartel building and then ‘discover’ its location for the Admiralty, hopefully leading to Admiral Merlwyb crushing them and ridding us of a powerful nuisance while simultaneously raising ourselves as a successful investigation service. As brilliant a plan as it is mad.

I broke our crew into teams. Taryn and S’ira were Falcon. They would go downstairs at the reception and grab the lamp. We knew it would be magically warded in a gallery, with several copies mixed among the real item. 

Eolise was Wasp. He would distract two roaming Yellowjackets and had prepared a concoction to put on food that would necessitate an emergency trip to the privy.

Trint was Hammer. He would distract the guards blocking the stairs from the ballroom to the gallery.

I was Storm. I would distract the councilor if necessary and keep an eye on the situation in the ballroom to cover the others.

The crew worked perfectly well together. Eolise’s treats sent a Yellowjacket and a guard running for the bathroom while S’ira and Taryn were able to improvise to get past the guards at the stairs and into the gallery, also finding a roaming guard down there and using a sleep spell on him. True to his word, S’ira was able to bypass the ward on the lamp and hopefully find the right lamp. By the Twelve I hope he grabbed the right lamp.

Once we plant the device in the Bluewater Cartel, the Admiralty will likely think they stole it for use on their own ships. Reportedly, the Lamp can create a magical fog to hide a ship as well as be lit to reveal shoals and shallows in the water, useful for running a pursuer aground.

There are still some loose ends to be addressed. Taryn (as a caterer) and S’ira (as a performer) were both spotted in the gallery before the item went missing. The catering service will come under scrutiny after two guards got sick from the food. Taryn, S’ira, and Trint have all left Limsa to lay low until the Lamp is ‘recovered’ from the Bluewater Cartel, after which the Yellowjackets should cease their investigation.

If all goes according to plan, the Bluewater Cartel will soon be in shambles, and we’ll have established ourselves as a service to be respected.