Prestississimo

I will get something out in the near future (tonight or tomorrow). Sorry for being MIA was taking care of some moving.

There isn't really a set order this month. People can post whenever they feel like posting. You can go ahead if you want.

The humid Palgard air sat heavily in Ellen's lungs as she puffed along while a myriad of aches and pains, both old and new, worried at her limbs as she ran. The irritants conspired to sap her strength and her motivation, but they weren't enough to put her off the chase. Not nearly. Magic and fury powered her limbs, and she was not to be deterred. Cora, in a sudden and impressive burst of speed, caught up to, and then passed Ellen. The odd young woman directed the researcher into a turn, and then followed through on her own instructions. Cora turned on a dime and transitioned into rushing down the pathway with an effortless grace. Ellen, for her part, was unable to wholly stop her momentum, and was forced had to catch herself on the building that made up one of the walls of the narrow alley. The researcher felt like her arm was trying to rip itself out of it's socket, but she was able to stop herself. She took a few stumbling steps backwards, rounded the corner, and then put herself into a full sprint to catch up with Cora. The sailor took another sharp turn and Ellen was forced to make another awkward slowdown maneuver that left her trailing pretty far behind Cora. Luckily, the path from there was relatively straightforward, going through a couple of open air plazas. Suddenly, they were no longer flanked by buildings. The two women ran along with the river flowing on their left and the dark facades of the houses and apartments of Palgard on their right. Ellen caught up to Cora just as the pair arrived at a huge set of docks. Things were humming with activity, even at this hour, as sailors loaded and unloaded vessels by the light of some truly massive street lamps, powered by either magic or chemistry, or maybe some combination thereof. The researcher wanted to bend over with hands on knees for a few moments and just breath. Moments were precious, however, and not to be wasted. Instead of doing that, Ellen turned her attention to her surroundings. In the low-light, Cora might be able to notice her green eyes giving off a ghoulish glow, but the researcher wasn't really thinking about that right now. Instead, her attention was focused on a small school of Sight spirits tucked just beneath the veil. Ellen mumbled the Call under her breath, aware that the power of the ritual lay not in her volume but in the magic she infused her speech with. The Call did not go unheeded, and one of the Sight spirits greedily latched onto the thread of energy that the spell presented it with. Ellen reeled back the call, pulling the spirit along with it. The Sight spirit fell through the veil and into their reality, manifesting in front of the two women with a surprised squeak. One look at Ellen had the spirit turning tail, but the researcher still had a hold on it via the Call. She used the magical tether to pull the hapless spirit close to her, settling it against her chest. she laid a soothing hand on it's panicked form, and offered some placating cooing. The small creature shook as it's wide eyes scanned it's newfound surroundings, but Ellen's ministrations saw it calm down in short order. The Sight spirit shown faintly in the darkness, offering any onlookers a view of it's appearance, kind of. The spirit looked... foreign. It was clearly not something of this earth, a tangle of limbs eyes as indecipherable to the mortal mind as the void itself. It was also constantly in flux, more the ever-shifting impression of a living being, than something actually alive. As a creature of pure energy and magical power, it had no need of a consistent or sensible physical form, even on this physical plane. All of this mattered not to Ellen. The researcher strengthened her focus on the call, rewarding the spirit with more energy, which it took into itself greedily. Silence passed between the pair, Woman and spirit standing in quiet embrace. For a moment that stretched on a forever, the two of them communicated in the purest way possible. Energy, perfect and quintessential, stretched the gulf of the eternities that lay between them. All too suddenly, the moment was gone. The spirit lifted itself away from Ellen's body, a purpose written into it's very being, and began it's search. It was over in an instant. A bright light shone out from the spirit's body, shooting at and illuminating the creeping form of a man in a trench coat. The thief looked up, startled, before breaking into a run, pushing passerby out of the way as he made his way to the docks, right towards the two women. Ellen grinned with savage glee. They had him.

The first to arrive was Chad. Cecil nodded to the enforcer as he took a seat. The man seemed a bit out of it, perhaps a bit of pre-gaming, considering he was armed with a bottle. The enforcer immediately launched into a monologue, and Cecil listened along, nodding appropriately. Much of what came out of Chad's mouth went past the captain, but this was often the case. The enforcer was notorious for making references to things and places unfamiliar to the rest of the crew. Cecil knew the reason, but he kept it to himself. On Chad to share his origins with others if he so chose. The next to arrive in the bar was tragically not of his crew, though Cecil still spared the stranger more than his fair share of curious glances between nods at Chad's ramblings. The dwarf carried an exceptional amount of esoteric equipment for a trip to the bar, and Cecil couldn't help but wonder how strongly integrated it was to the dwarf's biology, if at all. It would explain why he took it all with him drinking. The other patrons similarly offered the dwarf guarded stares, though the Knife's Edge being what it was, no one would make eye contact, turning quickly away if the dwarf tried to find their gaze. No one wanted to pick a fight with such an imposing figure. At least not this early in the night anyway. Next up came Lobo, always able to hunt him down. The reliable wolf padded over to their table and settled in the booth next to Cecil. He offered the captain a bark in greeting and a look from those too-smart eyes. Cecil nodded in acknowledgement at his crew-mate's presence, and gave a small wave. The captain was still slightly unsure about how their newer crew-mate felt about patting and head-scratches, and he didn't feel up to exploring that venture yet. Maybe after a few drinks.

The analysis from J'son and Lydia matched up with his own, and it seemed as if they were in agreement about the best course of action as well. Cecil checked his magi-tech sidearm, and was pleased to find the sidearm loaded and ready for action. He set the weapon back in its holster, and walked over to the ladder leading down into the First Main Passageway. He knelt down to peer into the gloom, but the hallway was almost entirely unlit, illuminated only by the same dim sunlight that was streaming into the bridge. There weren't a lot of port holes on the Aria, and what visibility there was ended up being wholly inadequate. He stood up from his kneeling position, and walked over to the emergency kit stowed on the wall of the bridge. He opened it up and tossed a couple of light wands to his officers, before grabbing one for himself. The captain walked back over to the ladder and activated the wand. A small ball of light formed at the tip of the enchanted item, lighting up the bridge. Cecil dropped the wand down to the deck below, and once again looked around through the passageway. Nothing moved, and the passageway looked empty. "I'm going down," Cecil told his officers in a hushed voice, before putting words to action. The captain took a few quick steps down the ladder before jumping down and landing with an audible clang. Cecil was up in a moment, hand on his holstered weapon and eyes sweeping his surroundings. Nothing stirred. After several moments, Cecil beckoned for J'son and Lydia to follow him down. He knelt to pick up the wand, and then cleared the way for his compatriots. The captain pulled out his sidearm once again as the pair joined him in the passageway. "Let's clear room by room. We can start in the back with my and J'son's quarters and then move forward through the ship."

Being picked up was never an experience Anessa enjoyed. Having her own too feet on solid ground was important to her before the accident, and more so now after, but the speed at which the skull man carried her was worth the discomfort. Anesa carefully kept one arm around her companion as they moved, mindful of how much force she was exerting, and the other hand applied pressure on the wound in her side. The pair were moving faster than she would have thought possible, and Anessa felt some hope that they were in the clear. This relief was immediately stifled, however, by a shooting pain from her side. She grimaced, and took the opportunity to inspect her wound a bit. It was hard to get a good look, tucked as she was in someone else' arms. but from what she could see, there was a slight blue charring around the perimeter of the wound. Some of the areas around the hole, the one's not tainted with the azure char, were evidently repairing themselves, mending slowly but surely before her eyes. Anessa looked away quickly, disturbed by the process and unwilling to watch. She looked up from her musings, and realized that they'd made it pretty close to the outskirts of the city. She wasn't sure how long she'd been lost in thought for, but it couldn't have been too long. They really were moving fast.

@ODSTDRAGON You are perfectly welcome to the signaler position. Out crow's nest is already crewed by our very capable lookout, and the signaler's position is on the bridge, but when they're not working your character is more than welcome to hang out in the crow's nest as much as they want XD

I see what you did there and in response I will clarify. Choose whatever your heart desires as long as it is not already claimed by another member. Our open positions currently comprise of 2 Gunners, 1 Engineer, and 1 Signaler/Communications expert.

Well this is your decision and I'm not gonna make it for you XD Pick whatever your heart desires!

@Holden Be happy to have you, and to see the sheet. @ODSTDRAGON We'd love to have you. If you can settle on a role and give me a character sheet I'd appreciate it a lot :D

Alright, answering in order: @Alex Kimchi You'd be welcome as a gunner. Send me a character sheet and I'll get you in. @MrDoubleSunday We'd be happy to have you in with a brand new character. @Yīwěi We are currently in need of two gunners, two engineers, a cook, a marine/enforcer, and a signaler/communications expert. We'd love to have you aboard in any of those capacities, and possibly others if you're so inclined.

You're fine Cyanide, you posted in the side thread the first month, remember? Also Sunny and Candie are fine where they are. I doubt we're gonna be so inundated with recruits that we run out of room any time soon (though I would enjoy being proven wrong).

And the thread is up! https://www.valucre.com/topic/37262-skyship-aria-main-thread-3-cutpurse-cove-drinking-on-the-captains-tab/