#Lymlaen

[silketara]

You can't tell me they don't gossip once in a while.

[minarcana]

yes hesperos has 18 seconds of relevance and all these seconds are optional but have you considered he was made in a lab by and for me specifically so im obsessed with him. you people havent even had to bear the brunt of my hesperosposting

[jadequarze]

Giggling and twirling my hair,,, Haiiii

Lymlaen!

My bisexual ass is overloading again

[dawntrailing]

6.5 New Minions/Mounts & Collectibles

Minions

Tourmaline Weapon - PVP Series (Level 15 Reward)

Kydonia Strolls Ⓣ - 400 Faux Leaves

Vicarious Vacationer - 4,000 Seafarer's Cowries

Wind-up Oschon - Alliance Raid (Thaleia)

Wind-up Golbez Ⓣ - Dungeon (The Lunar Subterrane)

Wind-up Forchenault - Merchandise (Eorzea Encyclopaedia Vol. 3)

Hydaelyn Idol - TBA

Zodiark Idol - TBA

Ryunosuke - Heavensturn (2024)

Mounts

Lynx of Abyssal Grief - Extreme Trial (The Abyssal Fracture)

Apocryphal Bahamut - Quest (7 Lynx Mounts)

Sabotender De La Luna Ⓣ - 600 Faux Leaves or 1 Gold Khloe Certificate

Garlond GL-IIT - 100,000 Seafarer's Cowries (Rank 20?)

Island Peerifool Ⓣ - TBA

Island Adenium Ⓣ - 200 Vegetal Vouchers

Peatie - Little Ladies' Day (2024)

Crescent Moon - Mogstation (TBA)

Barding

Abyssal Barding Ⓣ - Crafted

Orchestrion Roll

FINAL FANTASY IV: The Final Battle (Endwalker) Ⓣ - Crafted

The Red Wings (Endwalker) Ⓣ - Crafted

Kingdom of Baron (Endwalker) Ⓣ - Dungeon (The Lunar Subterrane)

One among Wonders Ⓣ - Alliance Raid (Thaleia)

Fair Winds to Guide Ⓣ - Alliance Raid (Thaleia)

Course Uncharted Ⓣ - Alliance Raid (Thaleia)

Myths of the Realm Ⓣ - Alliance Raid (Thaleia)

Pennons Aloft Ⓣ - Submarine

From Fear to Fortitude Ⓣ - Submarine

In The Balance (Amanda Achen Vocals) - Merchandise (FORGE AHEAD: FINAL FANTASY XIV Arrangement Album)

Dedicated To Moonlight (Forge Ahead) - Merchandise (FORGE AHEAD: FINAL FANTASY XIV Arrangement Album)

Dedicated To Moonlight (Amanda Achen Vocals) - Mogstation

The Labyrinth (Forge Ahead) - Mogstation

Carrots Of Happiness (Forge Ahead) - Mogstation

What Once Was (Forge Ahead) - Mogstation

Flow (Forge Ahead) - Mogstation

Athena, The Tireless One (Forge Ahead) - Mogstation

In The Balance (Forge Ahead) - Mogstation

Scream (Forge Ahead) - Mogstation

White Stone Black (Forge Ahead) - Mogstation

To The Edge (Forge Ahead) - Mogstation

Triad Cards

Halone - 24,800 MGP

Oschon - 24,800 MGP

Nymeia - Duel (Ylare - Old Gridania)

Althylk - Duel (Ylare - Old Gridania)

Nophica - Duel (Ylare - Old Gridania)

Thaliak - Duel (Malliart - Old Sharlayan)

Lymlaen - Duel (Malliart - Old Sharlayan)

Eulogia - Alliance Raid (Thaleia)

Durante - Dungeon (The Lunar Subterrane)

Zeromus - Trial (The Abyssal Fracture)

Fashion

Colorful Carrotsol - 6,000 Seafarer's Cowries

Emotes

Defeatist Attitude (/slump) - PVP Series (Level 5 Reward)

Greasy Delights (/eatchicken) - Promotional JP KFC collaboration

Apocalyptic Charades (/exodus, /sundering) - TBA

Love Heart (/loveheart, /heart) - Valentione's Day (2024)

Joyous Leaping 1-5 (/jumpforjoy) - Mogstation (China)

Framer's Kits

Palaistra - PVP Series (Level 10 Reward)

Cloud Nine- PVP Series (Level 20 Reward)

Twelvestold Blessings - Quest (Myths of the Realm)

Vanu Vanu - 6 Vanu Whitebone

Vath - 6 Black Copper Gil

Moogle - 6 Carved Kupo Nut

Wondrous Whimsy - 2 Silver Khloe Certificates

Fantastic Faux - 600 Faux Leaves

Season 8 PVP (Several) - PvP from ranking rewards

Notes & Sources

Ⓣ - Marketboard Available (Tradeable)

FFXIV Reddit

Garland Tools

FFXIV Collect

[asinglepecan]

FFXIVWrite 2024 Prompt 6: Halcyon

A young Aila hears a story from her captain.

—–

“Have ye heard of the ‘Halcyon’ Sprout?”

Aila shook her head. There were no Halcyons in the Twelveswood. 

Orwen chuckled, and looked to the captain. “Cap'n Hyllfhiswyn, Sprout wants to hear bout the Halcyon! You'll tell her yea?”

Aila was still intimidated by the Captain. She stood taller than anyone she had seen before, and talked in a thick accent. Still, a story was a story, and Aila sat eager to listen. 

“Aye Orwen, I'll tell 'er. Tis a seabird, unlike anyother. Ol pirates said the lil bird could calm the very seas. A gift from Lymlaen erself!”

Aila was enraptured. She had heard about Lymlaen, and she was clearly a very powerful woman. 

Dornlonna continued “A reward fer its fishin skill. They say the Halcyon has dove deeper ‘an any man. Say it's caught every fish in the sea. So impressed by it was Lymlaen that she demanded the bird never have to return to land. She gave it the power to calm the seas, and nest upon the whitecaps.”

“Really?” Said Aila.

“Oh yes. Now anytime we're out to sail ye keep an eye out Sprout. See if he can't see the little nests, bobbing along the water. And remember to give thanks the next time ye see a seabird. Never know which one might be the Halcyon in disguise.”

Aila nodded sagely. The next morning she stood on the deck and quietly thanked every bird she could see.

[eorziapple]

FFXIV Write 2023 Prompt 9: Fair

(Character: Apple Silverberg, Setting: WoL & GA Apple, Sprout Safe)

She sighed happily as the wind swept through her hair, feeling the light bob of her vessel over the waves. Sailing wasn't typically advised for house boats, so her mother had spent a considerable amount of time drilling in safety, and thankfully her child was nothing if not a good study.

Conditions were perfect, not entirely unusual for La Nosca around this time of year, warm summers, warm waters, light wind, and limited waves in the middle of the day when the tide was not strong. She eased the wheel a few degrees northward, heading towards the Villas of Costa Del Sol, nestled in a bay a mile or so from the main resort.

Gage had thankfully approved the mooring costs, apparently enjoying the idea of her converting her vessel into a company party barge for Moonfaire.

There were times where she wondered if she'd followed up with her mother's profession, rather than fixating on arcane studies. She loved sailing, to be sure, just her and the wind and the waves, enjoying the thrill of travel and control of her ship. She'd even based her aetheric tattoos on Lymlaen, in retrospect probably not the goddess she felt closest to, but it felt like a nice way to take a bit of her mother with her wherever she went.

A pod of dolphins crested suddenly off both bows, she always considered it an invitation to play, and she was happy to oblige, turning the rudder to follow them as they weaved through the currents. She smiled, it was hard not to smile out on the sea.

[siderealcity]

Does anybody else ever wonder how the Archons connect to the Twelve? Just me? That's fair.

Back before the Praetorium fight, Alphinaud named the plan to take down the Black Wolf, "Operation Archon" on the basis that it required the cooperation of twelve major factions, and the Archons of legend were twelve in number. Which automatically associates them with The Twelve. So... speculation on who's who under the cut, I guess.

1. Louisoix -- Obviously aligns with Thaliak. The symbol for Thaliak is inscribed on Tupsimati.

2. Matoya -- I'm going to say that as the Keeper of the Antitower, she aligns with Nald'thal.

3. Y'shtola -- As the vehemently curious sun-seeker, I'm going to guess she's aligned with Azeyma, goddess of inquiry. And her conflict/connection to Master Matoya mirrors Azeyma and Nald'thal.

4. Urianger -- The student of prophesy seems most likely aligned with Nymeia, the goddess of Fate.

5. Yda (the real one, not Lyse) -- Was probably Rhalgr. I mean. She seems to have majored in punching. That's a no-brainer.

6. G'raha -- The one introduced to us as a happy-go-lucky archer, who still gets all excited about wandering on the eternal winds, and who was notably there for Myths of the Realm is almost definitely aligned with Oschon, tendency to be trapped in towers aside. (This might have also been why they initially thought of making him green instead of red.)

So, with the easy ones out of the way, that leaves us:

7. Rammbroes -- I'm going to throw him over to the Althyk column. I had initially thought maybe Byregot? Just... on the basis of vague tower-related stuff? But it makes more sense for the archaeologist to be associated with the god of time, I think.

8. Papalymo -- I'm guessing Byregot for him, on the basis that he's the counterpoint to Yda's Rhalgr.

9. Moenbryda -- I'm torn on this one. With moon literally being in her name, that makes her a shoe-in for Menphina, she wears blue and white, and being the sweetheart of just about everyone we know she kinda lines up with the goddess of love, but she's... really into axes, and she throws herself at Nabriales, the Convocation seat that governed combat? So she could also be aligned with Halone. And we meet her at the start of the plot that leads us to Ishgard, so...

I dunno. I might put her under Halone, the more I think about it.

10. Thancred -- Another tricky one. Being the guy who throws knives, and also being from Limsa originally, I am tempted to say he's aligned with Lymlaen. But also being the outrageous flirt throughout ARR, he could be the one lined up with Menphina.

11 and 12?? Mikoto and Kagura. Does Kagura still count, if she was stripped of her title? Mikoto is a super-nerd and has precognition. That could make her a good candidate for Althyk. But she's also in the relic weapon quest for Shadowbringers, and she's involved in crafting tools to stop Ultima, so... she could be Byregot? But she's also a twin, and her sister is described as "headstrong" and her colors are all ice-blue and white, so... she could be Menphina while Kagura goes with Halone.

But then again... Nophica and Lymlaen are unaccounted for, and they are also sisters.

It would help if somebody had a dog, is all I'm saying.

[asaltmage]

Myths of the Realm Alliance Raid wing splits (in theory)

Aglaia: Byregot, Rhalgr, Azeyma, and Nald'Thal

Euphrosyne: Nophica, Althyk, Halone, and Menphina

???: Thaliak, Nymeia, Lymlaen, and Oschon

[aerialsquid]

FFXIVWrite 2023 Day 19: Weal

Day 19: Weal

Old man yaoi now with in-laws. According to my googlings, 'Weal' can both mean a patch of scar tissue or injury and be an older term for wealth or prosperity. Love me some double meanings.

The brig below was empty, cleared of both cargo and people. Likely all the prisoners had been moved over to the Misery, save this one, who Carvallain's men hadn't thought fit even to touch his ship. 

Charlemend stood with his fingers clutching the metal criss-cross of his cell, shoulders hunched on himself. The dark bruise from where Charlemend was struck by the captain was still stark against his cheek, and his flowered shirt was torn and stained.  Edmont had never seen the man look more despondent, not until the sound of footsteps turned Charlemend's head and his ruddy face lit up like light through a gemstone.

"Edmont! By Halone, Edmont–" His hand shot out to try and reach for him. Edmont stumbled down the stairs to rush to his side, nearly tumbling into the bars. Charlemend grabbed his thin shirt and pulled him close, face pressed to his cheek. "I woke up and you were gone, and they wouldn't tell me where you went," he said, his breath coming in short pained jerks. "I thought they'd-they'd done something to you and I couldn't bear–"

"It's all right." Edmont rested his hand on the back of Charlemend's head, stroking his thinning orange hair. "I've been quite safe. We're both safe now." Never mind if the pirates were staring. They were both far, far too tired to care about propriety, in that wave of exhaustion that often followed a state of panic. Two years of peace had almost been enough to make Edmont forget that familiar pattern.

Charlemend's head rose again, perhaps to speak some demand for release to the pirates, but he stopped dead with his mouth open. Edmont didn't need to turn around to know why. His arms gently slid back from Charlemend's shoulders, hand staying against his arm to steady him.

"I knew it," Charlemend whispered, his voice a bare rasp. "All this time, I knew it. I felt it in my soul, that you were alive somewhere. But why…" Tears were beginning to form at his eyes, though they did not yet fall. Perhaps if he had been less tired, less scared, he might not have wept - Edmont suspected different.

"Why am I here?" Carvallain asked sharply. Edmont squeezed Charlemend's arm in silent support. (I am here. This will be brutal, but you will weather the storm.)

"I'm here because this is my ship and my crew," Carvallain continued, taking slow steps down the stairs into the brig. "An empire that I earned with the sweat of my brow and the labor of my hands, not some inheritance dropped in my lap that I could lord over others."

"You're–a pirate?" Charlemend asked, voice cracking in confusion.

"Aye! And I'm a damned good one!" Carvallain threw his shoulders back and let the overlarge coat fall to the ground, exposing the body Edmont had seen in bare glimpses during the battle. Tattoos old and new ran up his arms and across his belly, mingling and intertwining with long white scars from past battles. 

"I fought at Carteneau Flats during the Calamity." Carvallain tapped the circle wreathed in flame. "I've crossed the Meridian Line and set foot on the other side of the world." A serpent coiled around his forearm, spitting water from its mouth - the primordial snake of Lymlaen, Edmont figured. "I've seen Leviathan with my own eyes, which is one more god than most of Ishgard's ever come across, and I've taken his children's heads for it." Two fingers to the Sahagin head on his arm that had been promised to Novv.

Some of the tattoos were weathered and clearly done by amateurs,  their shapes barely coherent blobs of patchy ink on his skin. Those of the Kraken's tentacles, creeping over his shoulders from the back, were far sharper and more detailed. When Carvallain half-turned to show the piece off, Edmont noticed a few of the tendrils were clutching coins, while others held broken gold chains.

And one, the very smallest, down by Carvallain's hip where the sagging captain's trousers let it peek above his waistline, was clearly holding the cracked half of a bell.

A piece like that had to be done by a master craftsman, and must have taken ages to complete. A decent pile of gil, too. 

Charlemend, of course, wasn't looking at any of the tattoos. His eyes were set fast on his son's face, as if trying to fix it fast in his mind.

"But…why?" he finally managed.

"Why? Because I sat down and I looked at my future and all I saw was becoming something like you, tied to those cold halls and pointless legacy, wrapped up in pointless social shite. I wanted my freedom and by the Navigator's perky tits I grabbed it with both hands, didn't I?" He was shouting, but all Charlemend could manage was a timid whisper, and somehow that seemed to get Carvallain even angrier. "I've seen more, done more, than any Lord of Ishgard ever has and I don't regret a damned moment of it.

Twenty-odd years anticipating a fight must have built up Charlemend to something as grand as King Thordan's Primal in Carvallain's head, and instead all he had was an old man shivering in a cell, eyes wet, arm clasped by a second old man who had to stand on one leg not to fall over. Carvallain stepped forward, the better to shout in Charlemend's face. "I don't want your bloody high house, I don't want your lordly legacy, and quite honestly at this point I probably have more money than you, and made far more honestly."

He might have said more, save for the mistake of getting within grabbing range. Charlemend's arm shot forward and he grabbed his son, pulling him in for a tight embrace. Carvallain could have broken it easily, with those tattooed arms so used to swinging a warrior's axe. Instead, he froze like a gazelle in lamplight.

Charlemend let out a few pitiful noises against Carvallain's chest before he could manage a gasping, "I am so, so sorry."

"Wh–good gods, old man, what are you–"

"I should never have–you shouldn't have had to–I'm sorry–" The sobs took his words away. "I knew it was my fault, I knew, but you were gone and I couldn't say–I couldn't—"

"You're making a bloody scene, you know," Carvallain grumbled, but despite himself let one arm curl around to rest on Charlemend's lower back and pat it.

Blutwyn, who had clearly been hoping for a more dramatic fight and now was just standing around awkwardly in the stairwell, slipped over to unlock the cell. Charlemend could barely bring himself to let Carvallain go long enough to walk around to the outside of it, whereupon he threw himself back into his son's arms again. His face was a streaming mess, and he accepted Edmont's handkerchief with a look of gratitude, though he still couldn't manage words.

"Good gods, old man." Carvallain, for all that he rolled his eyes and mocked Charlemend's lack of noble bearing under his breath, was holding his father just as tightly. He turned backward to Blutwyn and muttered, "Tell the lads to make ready and stand fast, ey? This'll be a bit. Fortemps, you tell Novv's lads the same."

"Aye, sir."

"Of course."

The implicit message: *Give us a bit of privacy.* 

The last thing Edmont heard as he followed Blutwyn back up to the deck was Charlemend, forcing words through his hitching wet gasps. "I knew you'd become something great. Didn't expect how, but–but I knew."

[shayminlucario07]

Thaleia predictions-

-Raid itself will open on Thaliak fight, then skip a Nymeia fight since we've already fought her. We will, however, see her section of the Heaven of Water, and she'll probably open the way to the Heaven of Wind for us. I doubt we'd refight Nymeia, especially considering the newly confirmed existence of the Unnamed God.

-Thaliak will appear before us in the quests before we enter the raid, like Nophica did; our lovely Rogaedyn companion will be just as smitten with him as she was with Nophica (He is always depicted half naked, after all)

-Lymlaen will look nothing like we think she does; we've only seen one depiction of her, in a statue not unlike what you'd see mounted on the bow of a ship

-Deryk will, in some way, be deeply related to Oschon- likely through the Opo-opo companion he has, if not revealed that Deryk himself IS Oschon in some magical way

-Oschon will be even more naked than Thaliak

-The Unnamed God will be related to the Holy element and be the god of healing. (Based on nothing, just what I want from the story)

-The Unnamed God will be the fourth god we fight

-The gods will give us more context for the Elementals of the Shroud in some way

-We'll get a wind-up minion of Lymlaen instead of Oschon or Thaliak for some inexplicable reason

Let's see how hilariously wrong I am when 6.5 comes out!

[blur0se]

OBSESSED WITH LYMLAEN DROPPING YOU TO 1HP IF YOU /BLOWKISS AT HER

[theglitchos]

FFXIV Patch 6.5 Alliance Raid Spoilers

you have been warned.

Eulogia: By our blessing may you march towards a brighter future.

Byregot: May the font of your ingenuity ever flow.

Rhalgr: Yours is the strength to destroy all obstacles.

Azeyma: Abide in virtue, and hold fast to the truth.

Nald'thal: There is meaning in your deeds. Celebrate life and embrace death.

Nophica: May you flourish, and reap a bountiful harvest.

Althyk: In your limited time, have boundless compassion.

Halone: Carry yourself with honor and forge on, towards victory.

Menphina: Harbor love in your heart - for yourself, for others, and for the world.

Thaliak: From past to future the river of knowledge flows. Be part of its nourishing waters.

Nymeia: May a wonderful new world greet you beyond destiny's horizon.

Lymlaen: Be calm as the ocean, and you shall weather any storm.

Oschon: As the wind blows unfettered, may you be free to follow your heart.

[keykidpilipili]

Thinking about Myths of the Realm and the connection between Leviathan with two heads/hitboxes, Llymlaen’s twin sea serpents and Seal Rock possibly being linked to them in 1.0.

[xenodile]

I legit forgot how much Lymlaen gets invoked in reference to your actions when you start in Limsa, so having Lymlaen be Bylgrael’s patron deity and the only one of the Twelve Bylgrael is at all familiar with was a really smart move on my part.

[illegiblewords]

Fandaniel + Altima Zodiac Theorizing

Crossposted from twitter.

We know that the Ascians started working in pairs (for the most part) after Igeyorhm botched the Thirteenth. One thing that's been crossing my mind, that has been IIRC on the cusp of implication by Ishikawa when she mentioned writing Fandaniel and his [REDACTED] were her favorite characters to write, is that Fandaniel is supposed to have a convocation partner who is MIA. So I did some mapping around. While ofc I could be wrong af I wanna go out on a limb and say Fandaniel’s partner is Altima and we'll be getting some kind of Altima lore in EW.

All of this is tenuous but my logic goes like this: Fandaniel = Leo according to both FFXII Scions of Light/Darkness lore and the in-game soul stones of the Convocation. Leo mapped as closely as possible onto the Twelve's dates = Rhalgr. Rhalgr elementally ties to thunder, which in THM lore is the element used to cleanse sins. Rhalgr and Byregot both utilize thunder but Rhalgr is specifically the Destroyer. Wouldn't be surprised if we find destruction/cleansing sin is relevant to Fandaniel's motives.

Additionally, within the Convocation vs the Twelve the numerology isn't exact and there's an odd situation where Azem got shuffled in for Azeyma. Elidibus is also MIA for Ophiuchus. The missing Convocation/Twelve parallel is that normally Altima would be Virgo, but was replaced.

Virgo is, further, right after Leo. So while it's conceivable that Fandaniel's partner could be Byregot within the same element (or someone else completely), I'm not actually sure that's the case. A bit of shuffling happened in terms of months/order relative to zodiac signs. We see this in that Emet-Selch = Gemini = May 21st - June 20th = Nald'Thal = October, when normally that would be Scorpio/Nabriales. And in elements, Emet-Selch might have theoretically been partnered with Azem/Azeyma according to Twelve lore, but ofc Azem isn't there.

Also, Mitron as Taurus (April 20th - May 20th) I think maps to Lymlaen with the month of May and element wind. Loghrif as Aries (March 21st - April 19th) maps to Nymeia with the month of April and element water. Thaliak/Lahabrea/Pisces is the other Twelve water element.

I say all of this because there might be order in how pairs are set up in some places, but Emet-Selch, Nabriales, and Altima being shuffled around weirdly makes it a little harder to tell for sure who partners with who.

There are spots where there's some implication date order might reflect who partners how, but most cases my impression is it's not usually two people within the same element. Even if Emet would have partnered with Azem had that been an option based on his own preference, but who even knows.

My suspicion is that barring weird cases it's the next person down in the elemental order. So Fandaniel as Leo/Thunder would have been with Virgo/Fire. Azeyma/Azem makes it weird and the missing person is Altima. Additionally, Altima has ties to Ultima as a spell and the Ultima Weapon purely in name, and in both FF Tactics and the Ivalice raid would theoretically have some relevance in Ultima the High Seraph as well.

(Ivalice raid baddies basically are people on the Thirteenth who got poisoned by primal energies and became crazy voidsent monstrosities, Ultima the High Seraph might be an Altima fragment but honestly it's not 1:1 there anyway either given Mateus.)

But yeah, Altima by both title and conspicuous absence from the Twelve has some foreshadowing going on in terms of weird exceptions and has been kept both quiet and nondescript for a while. If they're Fandaniel's partner I expect they'll be doing SOMETHING in Endwalker.

[way-to-the-future]

#7: Nonagenarian

He’s beautiful. They want to put him out to sea.

I can see the stories that his shaking hands are reaching to, the old flames, the line and the helm and the oar. His eyes don’t see much – they’ve turned the worst of milky, cataractic white, but he’s still present. In his time, and in ours. I can’t imagine it. I truly can’t.  

I can see the serpents of his tattoos ducking beneath the patchy white mess of his beard as though it were the caps of the surge, continuing in violet and aquamarine over the sunken, sea-stained parchment of his half-bared chest. He’s still dressed like a scallywag. Like a proper pirate. That’s something that not even most pirates can pull off.

He’s beautiful. They want to put him out to sea.

His breath pulls in fitful, reaching gasps while he talks to me. It’s just a flu, but at his age, just a flu is enough. Still, he talks to me, about the people and places he’s loved, about the ones he still loves, whether they’re living or not. The sand flows all ways for him; he stretches out like sunlight to touch everything he’s ever been or done.

Apologies if I sound a little in awe. It might be an effort. I might be trying to love him, because they want to put him out to sea. His – his crew, his children, everyone who ought to have a scrap of consideration. They circle like buzzards rather than stay by his side. They look at the hoards he’s amassed – interesting, but not the most interesting.

Limsa Lominsa is not a very old city. Six hundred years is hardly a distance, in gross historical time. There’s little we value that’s old – a consequence of our government being tossed about on the tides every nine years, perhaps. Our academic circles might like to assert that we’re the heirs of Nym, but we hardly know enough about them to go around making that sort of association.

I have to try, don’t I? Someone has to respect him. Someone has to listen to him, to what he knows, to the story he’s made. A wrong turn, and the tale could’ve been lost beneath the tide. It’s improbable that he should be here at all, and especially near a century from the day he was named.

I scrape my quill and put his words to paper. I wait as long as he needs to breathe. The others, his ‘family,’ come around and sneer. Maybe they’ve heard it all before, but they’ve never seen the point in putting it together. I stay with him, though.

He was beautiful. They put him out to sea.

The shift in our language is a hard thing, not the least because we still feel a present effect even speaking of the past tense. He reached to the edge of the horizon, before he went, and by the gods I hope Azeyma kissed her seeker sweet to his last. I hope Oschon and Lymlaen took him hand by hand to step up on wind and wave.

You wouldn’t find the cove, unless you stayed and put it all together. Unless you tried, even vicariously, to go as far as he did. Not that it’s far by foot – but while his heirs are squabbling over the paucity of treasure in the castle above, I move his donation into a few dinghies with the help of some maelstrom lads and the local fishers.

As I set back to the monastery with my manuscript in hand and a bounty in my boat, I think I see a serpent, coasting the spray out to sea. Beautiful.