The layout of the Magara Chain lay in the order of, from west to east, Jhapura, Magara, Kakani, and Kyt. From the largest and most dense to the smallest and most free. Jhapura was almost entirely its own jungle with very few people or animals actually living on it. Rumors of tribes beastkin women with the features of scorpions and a few that resembled birds that could fly in the air as swiftly as they could swim came out from Jhapura now and again, but very few actual sightings were confirmed, as they preferred to keep to themselves in the jungles. They kept to themselves, guarding the fruits, including the ones that could bear coffee beans. Now and again, a shipment of products grown there would arrive in Magara with a simple list of things they needed to survive and work in return, and Maharani Rashmi gladly obliged, sending it back over asap full with the lists requests and then some. The island following it of Kakani was where the trees turned into deserts and dunes, which is where the Satapattrika Temple sat, glowing gold with the sand and sun around it, in the middle of the one oasis on the whole of the island. Kyt ended the chain, being the one most rich in its offerings of gems. The extraction of magick as a resource came in the gems and the ores and metals of the land, with different elements found in different ones, and outside of the Elves who naturally could not use magick in any capacity, it made for an easy resource to keep life running smoothly along Magara. Kyt was mostly a set of interconnected mining shafts at this point, with some basic guard and mining outposts for those that stayed to work there.

Susan was given a folder of papers and maps, most of them basic, with outlines of what resources were on what island and how far they were from Ch’Daesh and the enemy’s viewpoints. Pulling a folded telescope out of her pocket, Susan surveyed everything she could, using the papers she was given to make crude drawings of what kind of structures should be added as soon as they could to prevent the most damage from any sky pirates. Kyt would be a major target in and of itself, possibly even more so of one than Magara and Panahara castle. The gems that were excavated from Kyt were rich in gaean and divine magicks, as to be expected from a land that revered Terreshala first and Laeshann after. A decent extra sum of it contained wave magick, being surrounded by water, with a small scattering of others such as an unusual combination of force and omni gems, magicks not aligned with elements but more with willpower and emotion. Millia picked up a few of the force gems and gave a soft smile, as she could feel her goddess’ power within them.

“Brynshala has some form of presence even out here…” She mumbled as she pocketed the force gem without thinking about it.

Durga took the two all over every one of the islands, covering as many inches of it as they could. They were all small, each island could hold maybe a village or two on it at most alongside its jungles, forests, and sands, and traveling between them on boat or by bridge took no time at all. It was cozy, wrapped together neatly, and from Kyt they could look west and see the minarets on Panahara sticking up, showing how high off the ground it actually was. Susan filled several notebooks with scrawlings, drawings, and a side of some complex math. When you run a trade port and are a pirate yourself, both jobs come to command a need for an aptitude for math and numbers. If she could get all this to the Maharani’s engineers, she could begin building what she needed, looking at their cache of supplies to find out what they could reinforce their ships with. Transforming fishing ships into fully combat capable pirate ships, especially against airships, would be quite a task, but Susan felt like she’d been in worse cases and the odds still rolled for her, so there’s no reason to believe that failure was an option here. If any of them thought it would be even once, it’d be over for Magara, and the evil Ramachandra of Ch’Daesh would consume and absorb them all.

The gems and the scant amount of ores and metals found on Kyt would have to do. The combined magick of the light, the land, some water, and the cherry on top being the handful of force and omni magick made for a simple array of options, but they were all at least sturdy ones.

“Do you have any kind of engineer’s guild, or a court sorceress, or anyone who is able to use Kyt’s bounty to transform it into the kind of weapons, armor, shielding, and tools I have in mind?” Susan looked at Durga. “I’m an Elf. I can’t harvest the power of any of the magick inside any of it. Forging it into tools and such like a smithy I have no problem with, but my blood puts me right out of harvesting the real juice inside. If you can get a collective going at the royal palace, we can get started on this tonight after dinner. I have a feeling it’s going to be a long week before we see anything really starting to go, but once it’s going, it should stay strong. Until then, I can have Nuclear Wing Company D patrol the area quietly in The Devil’s Grail.”

“I got some people in mind. If you want, I can take you back to the Maharani and you can share your ideas with her. The sooner the better, after all.”

With that, the two set back to Panahara with Durga guiding them.

“Hey…” Millia said, gently touching Durga on the shoulder. “Thanks. I don’t know if you know this, but the way you guided the boats around the island was… I didn’t feel dizzy or seasick once. You’re amazing! I had no idea travel could be so smooth and, well, relaxing.”

Against the better judgment of herself, Durga felt herself lose a small bit of her inner control, a swell of warmth and redness coming up from her belly like a flame and spreading across her cheeks like a rose blooming at the first sight of sunshine. “I’m… I’m just doing my job. I’m glad you didn’t get sick.” Her voice stuttered, and she faked a quick cough and cleared her throat, claiming she hitched on her words solely because she had gotten some of Kyt’s desert wind lodged in her vocal cords.

With her back turned to them so she could hide her face, Durga lead Susan and Millia back to the throne room. Susan had never been more delighted to do math in her life. Well, except when it involved ways to manipulate more taxes off the richer residents of Gryan and how to slide those tithes over to the ones working for them to keep their house clean. Nothing better baked than the smell of cooked books over the concept of taking from the rich. She wouldn’t be a proper pirate if she didn’t do that kind of act now and again. And in her town, it was fully legal. So long as it was stamped with her mayor’s badge, nobody could touch her. It’s not like she was acting on that in the way a buccaneer or corsair would. No salty dogs here, just a woman who loves to see everyone in her town smile equally and brightly.

“I see you’ve returned. Come, eat dinner with me, and we will discuss your findings.” Rashmi stretched and looked around, a small hand fan waving itself across her face and making her hair flow most elegantly. Her eyes darted around, and eventually confusion took her over. “Where’s the paladin I hired? Is she not with you? Is she devising some other incredible plan for us?”

“I…” Durga swallowed hard. “I told her to introduce herself to the Satapattrika Temple and greet the priestesses at breakfast. They took her with them. We haven’t seen her since. This is my fault, and now she’s missing.” Her skin tightened and her muscles locked up a bit, a bead of sweat rolling down her face as she looked her Maharani in the eye.

“Oh you did, did you? You sent her off to where your dear sister works? What did you hope to accomplish? She was going to have to meet with them anyway, and you took today, the day you were supposed to be responsible and lead them around, and you sent her away to play with your sister and her fellow priestesses?” Rashmi’s voice gasped, sounding surprised and almost disappointed in her guard. “What, did you not want to be around her? Oh, I get it, you got a crush on her. She is quite the charmer, isn’t she?”

“NO SUCH THING!” Durga shouted, her eyes immediately going wide as her mind caught up, telling her she had yelled at her own dear royal leader. “I mean… I…” She closed her eyes tight and the bead of sweat soon had more rolling down her face. That was not it, but she couldn’t admit that she wanted to be rid of her. And why would she have a crush on her when her squire was much more responsible, much more polite and, oh, by Terreshala, she realized her heart was being toyed with in so many directions this past day.

“Alright, it’s okay. Durga did nothing wrong!” A familiar voice yelled into the room happily, as the doors swung open and a uniquely discernable figure walked forward. The rest of the room turned towards the doors to see Siofra entering, now dressed in the robes of the Satapattrika, her olive skin bronzed further by the desert sun of Kakani. The freckles in her skin were pronounced and more red than they’d been in a while, that sweet, Terreshalan blessed sunlight doing wonders for her. A hand flipped her hair back and she gave off a wide, toothy smile.

“S-Siofra?” Rashmi stammered.

“That’s my name, don’t wear it out, unless it’s in bed.” The knight laughed. “But don’t worry. Durga actually did me a favor. I overheard the whole thing coming by the hall. The lovely Satapattrika Temple sisters, and especially the exquisite Arundhati, gave me everything I would need to know about the islands. They keep impeccable records of everything that happens here, and were kind enough to share it all with me. You have an incredible religion out here, Maharani. I am honored to be able to join in their worship with you all. Thank you for hosting these incredible resources protected by such impeccable examples of womankind. And I have Durga to thank for sending me this way and delivering this trove of information on me.”

Durga tugged at her collar a bit. “Y-Yeah. I thought she’d like to talk to my sister and use their archives for this job.” She was indebted to Siofra, just this once, for helping her save face in front of her royal highness.

Siofra took a seat at the dinner table that sat in Rashmi’s hall. Following close behind her was Arundhati, happily hooking her arm back into Siofra’s and letting the knight guide her. The priestess was clearly smitten, a lovestruck smile on her face as she got to sit next to her new favorite. Durga stared in mild disgust, of course her sister would go for a ravenous, amorous fool like that. The old epic romances of the islands she read always gave Arundhati the idea that a valiant warrior should come protect her, and it was all she could do to keep an eye on them and make sure that her sister didn’t use Siofra herself as a seat. Though she could already feel a headache coming on. Siofra’s room lay next to hers. What if the sounds coming out of it later that night were going to be her dear sister’s? Thank Terreshala that Susan needed her help assembling a team to put together defenses with and would probably be up late into the night. She could avoid the bedroom hall. Perhaps she could get revenge down the line by taking Siofra’s dear squire and…

...Her mind could not complete the thought. She just went red and silent as everyone got comfortable and started looking over the folders of notes Susan made.

Royal workers began to bring forth incredible breads, sauces, meats, teas, coffees, and fruits to the table. Palm wine was poured in generous goblets, and the energy that filled the room was lively and robust.

“To a new Magara. May the Ch’Daesh islands know we are more than their match and will recover that Harp.” Rashmi raised her glass. “And to new friendships, new alliances, new romances.”

The group clinked glasses and began to feast. The plan to save Magara and prevent the Harp from destroying the world had begun.



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