It’s been a long time, journal, and there’s much to cover. So much so, that I’ll have to summarize.
First, there’s been the Bluewater Cartel. My plan to pit them in a struggle with the Yellowjackets certainly weakened them, but it also drew their ire more fully upon us. They began by kidnapping staff. We rescued Mrs. Nakiri, though I fear she’ll never be the same, and they killed dear Avgustin. We were in the midst of planning our response when they then kidnapped Miss Mitsu when she went to meditate in La Noscea near Moraby Bay. We quickly summoned who we could and came to her rescue, capturing a Cartel lieutenant and bringing a very battered Mitsu to her own clinic. Luckily for us, Miss Emeline Tousart came to our rescue and treated Mitsu, who’d sustained life-threatening injuries.
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.
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Post Briefing Beach fun. A bit of sparring between Balor and Saphyra, sand castles with Kayne, murderous intent, and Saphyra got a new and broken hat. The night ended with a strange comment to Lucien from Saterra that left him thinking a great deal and made my heart jump. For reasons, I do not know why yet.
Veloce called for a meeting with Saterra and me. The manner in which she did so spoke of unwelcome news. We convened in my study. She told us that Ul’dah has become too dangerous, and we’ve drawn too much attention to safely build our network here. She urged us to consider a location where we’d be less hindered at this vulnerable stage, recommending Limsa Lominsa, a city with which she’s quite familiar.
To be clear, Ul’dah is a city that has special meaning to Saterra and me. For Saterra, she is a titled monetarist with remarkable resources such as glass factories, mines, and her offices. She has a rival in Amarelle Yoni, a snobby heiress whom Saterra wants to hurt very, very badly.
I admit to having personal bias to operate here as well. Not only is the city unmatched on wealth and intrigue, but I lost the Stormcrows here, the fifteen last men and women who’d followed me here. Of them, only Obadiah is left, a largely retired warrior of great skill but whose tribulations have perhaps finally caught up with him. Miss Yoni’s people nearly killed Obadiah and myself. We deserve revenge, and the fallen Stormcrows deserve justice. Yes, Ul’dah is our path to redemption. Am I personally committed? Undoubtedly.
But I’m also a strategist. Veloce’s case is quite compelling. She warned us that we’re under the watchful gaze of Miss Yoni’s people, Miss Taryn Lee’s people, and likely others. It would only take one member of the Syndicate to crush our nascent efforts. She laid out a case to rebuild where it’s more permissible and then return in strength.
As I thought on it, I realized that we have many with roots in Limsa, a place in which I’d briefly held roots as well. Memories flooded me, memories both unsatisfying and even haunting. Had I almost found myself? I shook my head clear and thought on it. Miss Evaleigh De’loncre has an apartment in the Mist, as does Miss Mitsu. I’ve just resumed professional relations with Miss Xayah, now an extremely successful weaver...with a mansion in the Mist. She’d spoken of not needing it and that we’d be welcome to use it. Of course she’ll have a price. Charity givers don’t become as wealthy as she.
I remember the crashing waves on the shore. The laughter of companions. A playful spar that seemingly went on forever between a large man and a small, spirited raen. A wooden cabin with the sound of the waves heard through the viewports when at dock.
Again I clear my thoughts, focusing on the many pieces of a move to Limsa Lominsa. Veloce spoke of how Saterra could expand her markets there, especially to the East. In many ways, Limsa is the center of Eorzea, and Veloce is right. It’s much more permissible to starts an enterprise there, so long as one didn’t run afoul of the Admiral and her layers of enforcers. Perhaps I could even convince Miss Lee, finally, to work for us. That would maintain our eyes and ears in Ul’dah as we prepare.
There’s more to Veloce than meets the eye. It shall be most intriguing to peel those layers away.
We’re growing despite some setbacks. As mentioned, we relocated to Limsa to escape unwanted attention in Ul’dah. This has allowed us to open the new Rosethorn as our official headquarters, a venue to attract the elite with a luxurious venue for drinks and socialization, while also offering much more in terms of information, bodyguards, and advisers. No more hiding behind an inn. It isn’t necessary in the permissive operating environment of Limsa Lominsa.
We can recruit more openly, hiring those who can provide necessary public services at the new Rosethorn and provide our overt services. I plan to offer a free mission, a demonstration of our capabilities and recognition of primacy to the Admiralty. This should prove easier than my earlier plan to appease the six insular members of the Ul’dahn Syndicate.
Miss Taryn Lee has joined us. Her information network in Ul’dah will prove doubly vital with our relocation. I have been passing her my own informants since she will be located in Ul’dah, leaving me to focus on Duskwatch. In return, we have unlimited access to her information, so long as she maintains full operational control of her assets. A tough negotiation that benefits us both. I remain greatly intrigued by her.
Miss Sage Akhlys is an oddity. A blind lalafel who poisoned Lady Nightweave to prove her deadliness and also her willingness to serve by providing the antidote and the identification of who had sent her to kill Saterra. Not the greatest of a beginning business relationship, but I can make it work. I told her in no uncertain terms that while I understand her desire to join a network that would allow her to advance, in contrast to the Alarcon, she will have to do much to win our trust. But, is this not how all such associations begin? She merely has further to climb. Her skills with poison are invaluable, and I’ll use her as I can.
Miss Holly Souther was a surprise. Someone I’d met in Kugane a year back only to see her walk into our establishment seeking work. She will join security, and her ties to the Rogues’ Guild in Limsa will prove especially useful with our move. I’m entertained that she perhaps thinks there’s a romance between Evaleigh and myself, based on our games. With so many strands cast about for this web, it’s easy to lose sight of the center to which they connect.
Miss Xayah Katsuna was among us last year, young and inexperienced. She returns as a mercantile paragon all her own, composed and confident. She is leasing us the building in Limsa, previously her mansion. We’d offered to buy it, but she likes the status of owning property in various great cities. She’s agreed to allow me to train her in elicitation and perhaps even red magic, but it’s clear to me that her mercantile efforts as a clothing designer and manufacturer come first. She wishes to use Saterra’s holdings as her primary conduit into Ul’dah’s markets. A win-win.
J’vhex is rather quiet, but Saterra and Veloce speak highly of him. he’s been placed in security, and I’ll make it a point to meet with him. He proved decisive when necessary when we’d investigated a haunting on a ship in which Saterra had bought a share for transport her goods to and from the East. He is clever, a valuable trait. As our security join the ranks of operatives, we will value perception, alertness, discretion, and initiative in our sentinels.
Lady Aldette Drauteur is one I have no handle on at the moment. She is a Gridanian elezen, which I’m warned are a maddening lot for their impetuousness, but she seemed quite content in our garden playing with a chocobo chick. She has agreed to provision us as a hunter, as she seems skilled with the bow. Veloce had labeled her as a woman of refinement, and I admit to being out of sorts on whether her role with us would grow. I should visit with her more. It seems she and Veloce are...rivals of sorts. Could it be because this woman is the only one I’ve seen taller than the Ishgardian?
We are leasing a building in the Mist outside of Limsa Lominsa to serve as our Headquarters in place of the Rosethorn. Those who have signed on as staff with us will merely work at the Headquarters instead, which includes a restaurant on the main level and a club on the lower level.
The move from Ul'dah allows us to train as a group and build our network into an elite institution without Syndicate or other outsider influence. We recognize Limsa Lominsa as being more permissive to us operating openly as an information brokerage and provider of other covert services.
Our Headquarters will host public receptions to bring wealthy customers, connect us to other underworld specialists, and serve as a living and training grounds for our staff.
New recruits will still join us as staff at the Headquarters, filling the roles of bartender, cook, security, provisioner, clerk, or other necessary roles. After a month, they have the opportunity to be tested to become an operative in our network.
The Rosethorn will continue to serve as a small inn under Lady Nightweave's Ul'dah-based enterprise, Meridian Holdings.
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Ul’dah is getting hot, and I’m not talking about the fat that it’s, you know, a desert. I feel like at least three different groups are having me followed, which is problematic given the sensitive stage we’re at with Duskwatch. We’re still preparing our first group of recruits to enter training even as a second group has joined us, leaving me having to meet my informants personally rather than through cut-outs. A lack of time can lead to shortcuts, which in turn lads to mistakes
First of all, I’m unsure if Miss Amarelle Yoni is still tracking our efforts. She seems...unskilled at the game, but we’d guessed all along that her spymaster, Tobias Cain, was the true power in her network. The two haven’t been seen in the same place in months, meaning he’s either left her service or they’re running a top notch deception and denial campaign. I wish I knew which and might focus on that next. Regardless, fifteen of my people lost their lives from not seeing Miss Yoni’s people preparing an ambush for us, and I can’t afford to discount her, regardless of he reports I receive of her social ineptitude.
Second, a smalltime information broker named Taryn Lee is having myself and Saterra followed. I’ll no doubt get an earful from Saterra following Veloce’s warning to curb her activities. Miss Lee came to our inn, and upon me taking her downstairs to discuss business, she told me of her occupation and her disapproval that we are now competitors. My calls for her to join me (work for me) were met with resentment and her sudden departure. I had thought about preventing her from leaving but needed time to sort my thoughts. She’s proven resourceful and capable, likely learning more about us than our surveillance has learned about her.
Much of the problem lies with Veloce’s people being overtasked with surveillance. Keeping an eye on Miss Yoni, Tobias, and now Taryn is likely a strain, especially since most of Veloce’s people aren’t native and Taryn is, proving slippery when she wishes. She leads a careful lifestyle, making it difficult to pinpoint weaknesses in her habits, aside from one. She often travels beyond Ul’dah’s walls bereft of guards. Sometimes she travels with Brass Blade patrols if they’re headed in the same direction but other times she seems to count on her familiarity with the land. It’s given me an idea...
Last, I can’t help but shake the feeling that a group from my past has found me and is watching me. This would be very much worse than the other two potential threats. I’ve done all I can to periodically travel to Kugane and Limsa Lominsa to throw my name about in deals and reserving rooms at inns in an attempt to throw smokescreens, but it may not have been enough.
(( All thanks goes to Xayah Kasura who is donating a large FC house in the Mist to our FC after rejoining our fam! After we explained the concept of what a Deathwatch Headquarters would have, she and Mitsu Mimori, who are both accomplished decorators who work on commissions, went to work, and 18 hours later, this is what you see! ))
((The FC is very excited! The Headquarters has living space for our staff and operatives, entertainment for luring the wealthy to our hostelry, a theater room downstairs, a Persian-style semi-hidden lounge, a planning room, offices, kitchen, card room, and all kinds of nooks and crannies for RP. ))
(( I cannot say enough about Xayah’s generosity and both hers and Mitsu’s phenomenal skill at decorating, even incorporating Satera’s House colors and Lucien’s heraldry colors into the decor. ))
(( Can’t wait to get moved into the new place! ))
(( And our two amazing decorators in our fam, Xayah and Mitsu! ))
(( And Xayah for donating the house and the funds for most of the furnishings! ))
I find my mind moving to more depressing thoughts lately. I have always found ways to find the light of things, joy in the world and hope where many see none. But here I am, sitting in my office in the Med Bay...hiding.
Everything around me is in various stages of disharmony and I know not what to do or how to fix it. With all the workings going on my friends are angry and weary of much, my love and heart, Lucien, is finding no rest in his pursuit of vengeance. He is in Ul’dah so much and I miss him greatly most nights. Though I would never tell him. He is his own person and I am mine own as well. We work because we want each other, we do not need each other.
Saterra is taking on a very dangerous tone and the Captain is strangely aloof in some regards.
The limits of my temper are being stretched with each passing day.
All I can do is try to remain calm, keep to my schedule and be a presence of support. I do not know how to explain my unease without hurting them to some degree. Silence and open arms are the only gifts I may offer.
