The sun had set not long ago, vanishing into the depths. The reds and oranges of the sunset had slowly  faded with it, leaving the lonely ship engulfed in darkness. The twinkling stars above were far clearer than they had ever been in Dairsmuid. They were comforting, in a way; she’d watched those same stars from the Circle Tower at night, long ago. She could still name them, if she had the patience for it; the Dragon here, the Maker’s Cradle there. She wondered what her ancestors had called those same constellations – certainly the Maker’s Cradle had no place among the elves.<br/><br/>The wind had gone with the light; her robes no longer fluttered about on the ocean breeze. She didn’t like the stillness; without it, the only sounds were the groaning of the ship and the sloshing of water against the hull. The silence was far too eerie. There was no telling what lurked in the water just out of sight, waiting for a chance to tug her overboard.<br/><br/><span style="color: green">“Well then,”</span>she mumbled,<span style="color: green">“it’s <i>definitely</i> time to get below.” <i>Before my imagination gets any <b>worse.</b></i></span><br/><br/>As it turned out, the situation below deck wasn’t much of an improvement. The sailors, who – judging by the abandoned tankards – were more than a bit drunk, had wandered toward Aure and Atashi in a sizable group. She frowned; it looked like one of them had a fair number of coins in his hands. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but it didn’t look like the crewmen were being<i>too</i>aggressive. Curious, she approached the group, trying not to draw too much attention toward herself. If they tried anything funny...<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>