I was inspired recently to start writing wolfic. I've finished the first one - 2404 words of the tail end of Satora's trip to Limsa Lominsa. I am not someone who does a lot of writing so please forgive me if it's not that great.
The journey had been lengthy and exhausting. Though she had spent most of it merely sitting, whether in a chocobo carriage or in the bowels of the passenger ship she found herself on presently, the unrelenting novelty of it all drew Satora’s attention this way and that. Never before had she been outside of the Black Shroud which her family called home.
From the nearby town of Quarrymill, she had boarded a carriage to Gridania, where she promptly hid herself away in the shadows to avoid attention. Prior interactions with the locals had provided her scarce reason to feel comfortable in the presence of so many. Quickly, she made way for her next carriage, a caravan of several merchants which brought her to the golden city of Ul’dah in the deserts of Thanalan.
Forest giving way to savannah and brushland was a shocking sight for the formerly forest-bound Keeper of the Moon Miqo’te, with the magnificent Highbridge and the imposing Burning Wall leaving her stunned. She had read about such structures and formations in the numerous books collected from passing merchants, but never before had she witnessed anything on such a scale. When the landscapes became familiar to her she attempted to study the worn Arcanist’s tome she had received from a passing adventurer in preparation for her eventual arrival and hopeful enlistment in the Arcanist’s guild, but the act served only to worsen her illness.
Her arrival in Ul’dah itself found her overwhelmed with the sheer size and grandeur of everything she laid her eyes on. The bustling city, full of so many people all vying for her coin, seemed something out of fairy tales. She resupplied on foodstuffs with the little coin she had with her, though the prices seemed to her exorbitant and thus she soon elected to avoid the marketplaces while awaiting her next transport to depart.
A final carriage brought her to the west coast of Eorzea, a small port known as Vesper Bay, where she boarded the vessel she now sailed upon to the distant island of Vylbrand and the maritime city of Limsa Lominsa. The carriages had been unpleasant enough, with rough jolts over uneven terrain and the occasional attack by local wild life and beast tribes making for a harrowing experience. Her unaccustomed stomach protested regularly, earning her sympathetic glances from fellow travelers. The boat proved too much. The rations purchased in Ul’dah were soon lost from her stomach to the Strait of Merlthor, an unintentional offering to Llymlaen followed by a prayer for her survival.
Retreating belowdecks in the hopes of getting some much needed rest, Satora soon found herself gripped in a nightmare. A vast abyss, a dark robed figure, and a flash of light granting her unusual garments and a seemingly great power. The figure vanished before her might and she awoke, a cold sweat pouring from her body. Such power… was not one such as she desired. Power, sure, but power enough to aid and protect her family. Such power as she dreamt was simply unnecessary, far in excess of what any one individual should wield in her mind.
To her surprise, a merchant who she had not seen so far on the voyage was sitting beside her, a look of grave concern upon his face. “Oi! Y’all right lass? You were moanin’ in your sleep an’ sweatin’ buckets besides. Rollin’ of the ship got your stomach churnin’, has it?” He took a closer look at Satora, then stood up straight. Before she could respond, he came to a conclusion of his own. “Hmmm… Don’t seem like seasickness, now that I look at you. It’ll be the aether, then, I reckon.” The man clearly had a perceptive eye, or so he seemed to believe. Satora certainly was seasick, but he was not incorrect that this was not the cause of her current ailment. Could aether really cause such a strange dream?
“Some are more sensitive to the stuff than others, see, an’ we ain’t too far from Vylbrand now, which is chock-full of aetherytes” the man elaborated. A relief, she felt, that her voyage was at last nearly at an end. “No need to fret, though. You’ll soon get used to it.” Satora could only hope that he was correct.
At that moment, the boat rocked, sending the man stumbling and Satora’s stomach churning once more. The merchant complained, “Eurgh. Might as well have been bloomin’ seasickness… Ship’s leapin’ around like a demented chocobo today.” Though she was uncertain just how the man had come to such a firm conclusion that Satora was not, in fact, seasick, she was ironically unable to correct him as her energies were presently devoted entirely to keeping her composure. “I reckon I might head out on deck – get meself a breath of fresh air. Limsa Lominsa’s still a fair way off, in case you were wonderin’. Seein’ as you’re awake an’ all, how’s about you keep me company till we get there?” The idea was far from unappealing. Fresh air would do Satora quite well, and the man’s company wasn’t wholly objectionable. If nothing else, the merchant’s prattling would give her something to focus on besides her nausea.
Gesturing towards a pair of sleeping Elezen, seemingly twins from appearances, the man grumbled, “Them young’uns don’t much care for conversation, see. Anyroad, Brennan’s the name, an’ peddlin’s me trade.” Brennan departed for the stairs to the deck, and Satora soon got up to follow at her own pace.
Upon reaching the deck of the ship, Satora quickly rushed for the railing and leaned over, her unsteady legs leaving her in need of support and her illness requiring a place to deposit what little remained in her stomach should the worst occur. Brennan, on the other hand, took a very different attitude much to her envy and irritation. “Ah, smell that salty sea breeze!” Would that she could not with her relatively heightened sense of smell. “Now then, lass, judgin’ by your unusual garments, I’d say you were one of them new adventurers. Am I warm?”
Again, this grizzled merchant was decently perceptive. Finding her voice at last, Satora managed a brief grunt of confirmation in response. He seemed quite ecstatic to be proven correct.
“I knew it! Goin’ wherever the wind blows, seekin’ fortune an’ glory – now that’s what I call livin’!” Given her experience so far, Satora could not say she fully agreed. Brennan continued, his tone surprisingly light for what he had to say, “So long as you can avoid dyin’, I mean. Ain’t no secret that adventurin’s a risky business – these days especially. What was it that first attracted you to it?”
A question that required coherent words in response, Satora bemoaned internally. Nevertheless, she took a deep breath to steady herself before answering, “My family needs my support, so I set out to learn what I could to improve our lot when it comes to hunting and self-defense. Ultimately, however, we cannot survive without coin for trade. I suppose to put it simply then, you could say I am out here to amass a fortune.”
Brennan perked up at this and smirked. “Fortune, eh? Well, it’s a dream we’ve all had at one time or another. Once you’ve learned to handle yourself in a fight, you’ll want to pay a visit to whichever craftin’ or gatherin’ guild tickles your fancy.” Satora nodded and mentally filed away this advice for later. Odd jobs as an adventurer weren’t the only one to make gil, she supposed. Adventurers need supplies as well to survive in the wilderness, and being able to craft and maintain her own gear as well as forage for whatever food and supplies she may need would cut down on her own expenses significantly.
The merchant continued, “Limsa Lominsa’s renowned for its smitties an’ armorers, not to mention its fisherfolk. An’ then there’s its cooks, of course. Adventurin’ ain’t just about killin’ things, after all. A peaceful pastime may well help you make your fortune! Just remember, though: there’re more important things than fortune an’ glory. Such as breathin’. Ain’t no profit in bein’ dead, and that’s a fact.” Satora smiled and thanked the man profusely, thinking to herself how fortunate she was to encounter such a kind fellow so willing to offer such advice for free out of merely the generosity of his heart and care for his fellows.
At that moment, a bell rang out across the deck of the ship and the sailors on board began to scramble this way and that. Her senses heightening in response to the sharp, instrusive sound, Satora caught sight of a vague shape deep in the fog of the strait. She began to point towards the object to signal its approach, but it was too late. A cannonball smashed into the water mere fulms from the side of the ship, the shockwaves sending Brennan to the ground and water soaring onto the deck. For her part, Satora struggled to stay standing with her tail whipping to provide much needed balance. She soon found her queasiness returning in force. A second and a third cannonball smashed into the water in quick succession, failing to aid matters.
Nearby, Satora heard a sailor calling out an alarum. The precise message was difficult to pick out through the chaos, inexperienced as she was with such circumstance her senses quickly became overwhelmed. What she could make out, however, sounded urgent. Diving towards the gunwale for support and protection, the considerably calmer Brennan made clear what had been said. “Pirates? Bloody hells…”
As Satora began to process the meaning of the risk and the threat she now found herself unexpectedly under, one of the sailors noticed the pair cowering and ran to them. “Have ye no sense!? Get below!” he urged them, pointing to the nearby stairs down which other passengers were already fleeing. The sailor ran off to continue his response to the pirate threat, while Satora and Brennan simply nodded at each other and stumbled down the stairs to safety.
Within the safety of the ship’s bowels, Satora braced herself against a low wall to catch her breath as her merchant companion spat exasperated, “What is the world comin’ to…? Pirates firin’ on a ship flyin’ Lominsan colors! Bastards either have a boatload of balls, or bugger all for brains.”
As her strength returned to her, Satora managed to inquire, “So this isn’t a common occurrence then?” Brennan nodded, leaving her relieved. This certainly wasn’t the start I expected, but if this is uncommon then perhaps I can get through it…
The doors slammed open a short time later as a sailor came barrelling into the room where the passengers were holed up. Satora noted that it was the same kind sailor who had aided her and Brennan in retreating below decks. The man announced to the terrified passengers, “Ye can rest easy, friends! We’ve made it out o’ cannon range, an’ no buccaneer’s bark’ll catch this flighty temptress once the wind’s in her sails.”
A collective sigh of relief emanated from the room as Brennan turned back to Satora. “That was too bleedin’ close… Glad one of us kept her head on her shoulders – I reckon I’d’ve lost mine, otherwise.” The anxious Keeper of the Moon found herself baffled by the man’s praise, she had been just as terrified as anyone else and expressed as much to him. He responded, “Aye, but ye noticed the ships afore the firs’ cannon fired and kept alert enough to get us to safety. Now then, if them pirates gave up the chase, we must be close to port. Let’s head up on deck an’ have us a look, shall we?” With a nod, they both ascended back above deck.
The city, they found, was still too far in the distance to make clear sight. Nevertheless, the waves were notably calmer and the fresh sea breeze brought a sense of ease and settlement to her tormented stomach. To pass the time, Brennan turned to her and asked, “By the by, is this your first trip to Limsa Lominsa?” Satora nodded, for this was indeed the first time she had ever been anywhere outside of the Black Shroud her family called home. The merchant’s eyes lit up with excitement at the news. “It is!? Well then, let this journeyed itinerant tell you the ins an’ outs of your destination. Ahem!”
Grateful as she was for the man’s generous advice and information, she smirked inwardly as it was becoming clear that the man was a lonely sort, eager for conversation and only too happy to hear the sound of his own voice to fill the silences he likely endured on his travels. Nevertheless, she relaxed against the railing of the ship as he began his clearly prepared speech. The information was useful, Satora thought, getting her at least a decent initial impression of the city’s politics and ongoing struggles. At the mention of the city’s former tendencies towards piracy, she found her anxiety returning with an understanding of the earlier attack on the ship. Regular raids by Sahagin gave her further cause for concern. Maybe I have gotten myself in over my head?
As Brennan’s speech came to its natural conclusion, he gestured out to the horizon with the proclamation, “Behold Limsa Lominsa, a nation blessed by the ocean’s bounty an’ beloved of Llymlaen, goddess of navigation.” Following his gaze, Satora witnessed the rising of the city’s grand towers in the distance and thought to herself that the man could not have possibly planned such auspicious timing in his speech.
The ship soon pulled into port, permitting Satora to disembark at last at her final destination. Three suns of traveling had left the inexperienced young Miqo’te exhausted and she could not be more relieved to be on solid land once again. I suppose I would be what these sailor types would call a “landlubber”, she chuckled to herself. Bidding farewell to the friend she had made on the voyage, she set her sights for her new life. First stop, the Adventurer’s Guild to get directions and registered for work, then a trip to the Arcanist’s Guild to enroll and learn the skills that inspired her to leave home behind. Soon, mother, I will come back and teach the rest of the family what I have learned. We will survive yet in the Twelveswood.