NENGO 327年11月16日 6:35 AM - 45 Days until Culmination
As the sun was beginning to rise in the East over the Incisor Sea, TRITHAL was awakened by the sounds of Nguang getting the boat ready for departure. Everyone else appeared to be asleep. TRITHAL got out of bed, got dressed, and went out to see if Nguang needed any help. By that time, Nguang was almost finished and ready to start the engine. TRITHAL made himself useful & started a pot of coffee.
The vessel left port shortly after 7:00 AM. After the boat was underway, the rest of the party eventually woke up. It's about 6 hours from Olgamar to Garr, so that allowed plenty of time for the party to converse.
Rihac: "So Mugen, now that I've brought you up to speed on what's happened with me these past 80 years, I think it's time to hear what you've been up to!"
TRITHAL: "Well, since the 'incident' 80 years ago, I headed west to meet up with Liiche. Even after everything that happened before then, I still felt the need to fight... but thanks to the Nengo treaty there really wasn't much to fight about. As anyone who's read Volume 1 knows, Liiche was probably the biggest opponent of the Nengo treaty and the notion of pre-set permanent borders between territories, or Prefectures. I figured if anyone needed an enforcer, it would be him. And so, I joined his campaign of resistance in the west. Over the years, I managed to work my way up the chain of command... and I eventually found myself as one of Liiche's top lieutenants."
Rihac: "Yeah. I remember hearing about the insurgency in the west. I also heard about a woman who was his most-fearsome enforcer. I always figured that was probably Macha-Rei in a female form again."
TRITHAL: "True. At that time I went by the name Chihime, which means 'Blood princess'."
Adeth: "Woah... so you can, like, change genders too?"
TRITHAL: "Something like that. When a Macha takes a new body, they can transform it into whatever form they want. For a long time I preferred the female form because, for some reason, a strong female warrior with the right appearance commands a great deal of respect and loyalty among most male soldiers. The detachment of Liiche's soldiers I commanded would follow me into the very gates of hell if given the order to do so. Most male commanders, regardless of how strong and powerful they are, just don't have the 'natural charisma' a female has."
AXEM: "So, in other words, Chihime was a prick tease."
TRITHAL: "Yeah, pretty much."
Anri: "But, if you preferred the female form so much, how come you're male now?"
TRITHAL: "Because when I take a female form, I'm soon reminded of a problem I have... I don't like dudes. I like females in all aspects. When I was in female form, I would go after other females. In a few instances, that has led to my downfall. Plus, with the female form, it seems that I'm more prone to bad luck. So after the last one called Chihime was killed, I came to the realization that I'm better off in the male form."
Danika: "But, weren't you female when you assimilated Tsutaru?"
TRITHAL: "Yes, I was. When the last Chihime was betrayed and killed by the very soldiers who followed her after that incident in Kureganu 30 years ago (which by the way led to Liiche being banished to the peak of Mount Sabretooth as he was in Volume 1) I had to escape fast. It was pure coincidence that I came upon the young Minako, who was about 5 at the time. It was also fitting, because at the moment I felt like a lost child... after being betrayed and such. Despite Minako's small, frail body, I managed to make my way towards the east, trying to get away from all that shit, and out from under Liiche's radar. I eventually found myself in Morgura prefecture near the town of Susanville. It was by a shear miracle that Hitukiri found me there and took me in."
THRAX: "And that's the point that ties in with the Minako story from Volume 1."
TRITHAL: "Sometime later, after Minako met Tsutaru, Liiche dispatched an assassin to kill Minako. (Visaggo of the Shadows, for those of you paying attention.) When Minako died, I jumped ship and assimilated Tsutaru. I only partially assimilated him because A, at the time I was considerably weakened & not able to perform a full assimilation, and B, I've decided that I'm done being Macha-Rei. I'm ready to just live out this lifetime and let it be over with afterwards. Now that I have established a steady life for myself in Laurenstown, and now that I'm with my beautiful wife Danika, I feel content with growing old with her and letting the Gods take me when my time is up."
Rihac: "Yeah. Considering all the shit you've been through these past 1000 years I can definitely understand why you're ready to settle down & call it quits. Out of all the Macha that still survive today, you're probably the most-adventurous and daring."
Not agreeing with the statement Rihac just made, AXEM says "That doesn't sound like the Trithal Tsutaru we know. He's pretty laid back compared to other people I know."
Anri: "Yeah! We pretty much had to drag him out here for this mission. He wasn't even willing to lift a finger when we first heard of this situation."
TRITHAL: "Weren't you all paying attention? We were talking about Macha-Rei... not Trithal. Don't forget that Macha-Rei has officially ceased to exist according to 壮大マハ."
RIhac: "So, whatever happened to Liiche? It's been decades since I've heard anything from the west. Is he still banished on Mount Sabretooth?"
AXEM: "Not anymore. Our friend Trithal here personally saw to his demise."
Rihac: "Really? What about his symbiont Macha-Kun?"
AXEM: "Trithal killed him, too!"
After hearing this, Rihac became shocked and surprised, and says "Wow! And, 壮大マハ allowed you to live?"
TRITHAL responds to Rihac in the Macha language, which he seems to be better at explaining things with than English. Afterward, Rihac had an understanding of what had happened.
The random conversing continued on as the boat made it's way north-northeast to Garr.
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By about 2:00 PM, our vessel approaches the port city of Garr, the last human-elf city in Okreman Territory. Nguang manages to find a marina in the bay with the signs written in English. He steers the boat there, hoping to find clearance to dock. Nguang asks THRAX to to assist with negotiating with the marina owners. Between the two of them, they manage to secure a spot to keep the boat for as long as they need.
After Nguang had finished tying the boat to the dock, TRITHAL sent THRAX to gather up some transportation, since he's been here before. Everyone else took to the task of unloading the boat. Thirty minutes later, THRAX showed up with some horse-lizards and a wagon.
Danika: "Couldn't you just get a U-Haul or something?"
THRAX: "That would be fine, except the mountain trail we will be using would be treacherous for a motorized vehicle. Trust me, I've tried that before. It's not a good idea. Besides, we haven't used horse-lizards since Volume One."
TRITHAL: "Based on what I've heard about this region, I would have to agree with Thrax. The mountain trail to Okremafort is arduous, at best. Getting this wagon all the way there in one piece is gonna be a trick all to itself. Maybe our SUV could have made it... Too bad we had to leave it in Irumac."
THRAX: "Yeah, but a newer-model vehicle with Valleys of Morgura plates would stick out like a sore thumb out here. It's probably a good thing we didn't bring it."
So the party agreed to not use a car....
Smilin' Bob: "Which means it's going to take us forever to get there!"
Jeremy: "Hey! We managed to get the party through a day over-sea trip in just one episode! I promise you that you won't have to wait more than 60 episodes before walking through the gates of Okremafort!"
THRAX: "Are you two done yet? Good! Now, I suggest we make for the DragonAle Inn. It's on the other end of town, but the trail to Okremafort is only a few miles from there."
AXEM: "Yee! The 'DragonAle Inn'? I bet there are all kinds of hotties there... human and otherwise!"
Danika (to AXEM): "Did you forget what happened the last time you let booze and horniness control you? First, you had a hangover that impaired your stats... then you got arrested! Do you want that all over again?"
AXEM: "Oh.... right...."
So it was agreed. Everyone headed to the DragonAle Inn to rent rooms get some supper. Afterwards, the party split up and explored the town.
THRAX, AXEM, and TRITHAL went to a weapons shop for much-needed sharpening and repairs. THRAX decided to sell his short sword that he bought WAY back in Volume one, since he now has the Dragon Saber and no longer needs the short sword. Anri and Danika went to some girly perfume shop to get girly shit that I don't care about. Adeth found a computer store that had the latest version of PhotoShop, and was quite pleased. He was disappointed when he realized that he didn't have any money to buy it with... or a computer to run it on. Rihac found some new spell scrolls that interest him. And Nguang made sure the party had plenty of food, HP and SP potions, and various other supplies.
After everyone was done with their business in town, they returned to the inn and decided to visit the bar downstairs... but soon realized some of their party may not be old enough to enter the bar.
TRITHAL: "Danika, you're 21 now, so you can come with us. Wang -- "
Nguang: "it's NGUANG!! You shi-theed!!"
TRITHAL: "Okay, 'Wang U. Shi-theed,' you're not even 18 yet, so you go and find some cute elf-hottie to fuck somewhere."
Dejected and pissed that no one can say his name right, Nguang gives TRITHAL the finger, then excuses himself from the party and goes to do something.
AXEM: "What about Adeth?"
TRITHAL: "He's like 421 years old or something like that, so he's cool."
And so, the party minus minus Nguang heads downstairs to the bar. It's around 7:00 PM.
In the bar, the party finds a table, and orders a round of the local favourite alcoholic beverage, which tastes much like Jagermeister. In the corner of the room, there's a shitty band comprised of a smokin' hot female elf lead singer, and about 3 human dudes occupying the post of drums, bass and guitar. The vocals sound great, but the music accompanying them sounds quite lousy. Needless to say, none of the bar's patrons are paying attention to the band.
THRAX: "Damn, this band sucks!"
AXEM: "Yeah, but the lead singer is a total hottie!
TRITHAL: "We can play better than those posers!!
The bar's owner comes by to serve the the party the next round of drinks, and says, "Why don't you, then? It's hard to find good musicians way the fuck out here!"
TRITHAL: "Okay, but can we borrow that lead singer? Her voice is perfect."
The bar's owner agrees, and goes up to the stage to get rid of the loser back-up band. Once they clear the stage, TRITHAL assumes the bass, THRAX the drums, and AXEM the guitar. The three tune and adjust the mis-used instruments, and collaborate with the lead singer. They decide to play some songs each of them know.
Once the band starts playing, more and more patrons began to notice. Soon, people were filling the bar listening to the 4 of them play. This is kinda reminiscent of the Battle of the Bands competition in Yokka a year earlier, or the talent show at the Laurenstown United Prefectures Day festival from Volume 1. The band played for a couple of hours, until around 11:00 PM.
When TRITHAL, THRAX and AXEM realized how late it was, they ended the set... much to the disdain of the crowd. The female elf lead singer joined the trio at their table with the rest of the party.
Singer: "Thanks for playing with me tonight. We really wowed the crowd!"
AXEM, who obviously was trying to make a move on her, says "No problem, babe! We were glad to accompany a fine singer as yourself!"
The singer, who seemed more interested in TRITHAL, said, "My name is Kyra, by the way."
TRITHAL: "Well you know I'm Trithal. This is my wife Danika, that's Thrax, that's Anri, that's Rihac, and that's the Dude... I can't pronounce his real name..."
Adeth: "It's Adetherian Gurtentogen. A pleasure."
TRITHAL: "... And that goofy-ass dude hitting on you over there is Axem."
Kyra: "Nice to meet you all. So, tell me... what's a classy bunch like yourselves doing way the hell out here on the edge of nowhere?"
AXEM was about to spill his guts about the whole mission, but THRAX and TRITHAL stop him.
TRITHAL: "It's... something... big... that not everyone needs to know about."
THRAX: "Let's just say we're out here after something."
Kyra: "I see. Well, if you're headed north from here, I would strongly advise that you don't let your guard down. Word has it that the nomadic tribes are starting to fight each other. No one's sure why, but one would be wise to avoid any Dralani moving about."
THRAX: "Ah. Well thanks for the heads-up."
Trying to keep the hour from growing too late, TRITHAL interjects, "Well it's late. We have a very long day ahead of us, so we should head upstars."
AXEM: "Not me, though... I got the stamina to stay up all night--"
TRITHAL (a'la Bruce Willis in the movie "The Whole Nine Yards"): "You too, Axem!"
As the party gets up to leave, Kyra says, "Hey, if you guys come through here again, call me!"
Kyra writes her phone number on a piece of paper, then folds it and places it flirtatiously in TRITHAL's hand. Danika flashes a dirty look in TRITHAL's direction, to which TRITHAL responds with a 'What?' expression.
And with that, the party goes to their respective rooms at the inn, and goes to sleep. Tomorrow they head to the mountains.
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