The dry-docks in Anriuku were by-in-a-way the town's largest feature of interest. Situated near the docks, which seemed to shrink in comparison, the Dry-dock was assembled of massive pillars of formed stone into the town's most prominent cliffside. Ships were held by massive chains locked into the rock face and suspended in the air, allowing for even more room below the hull. 

The workers were equally odd, each bore gauntlets encrusted with Gewels of a spectrum of colors and a large black leather collar affixed with a sapphire. The ones working on the ships were wearing even more acumen, darkened shielding helms and shoulder pads of glowing white leather. 

Seko had never watched the workers before, though he'd also never come to visit as the Pasongunan was being worked on before. He watched a pair of them make the motions of instruction before the man on the right aimed his gaunleted fist at a nearby chunk of forged metal. A dim glow started from a notch on the gauntlet and the chunk began to lift slowly, the man then inspected the tool he was using to defy both nature and Arcanist alike, then he shifted it towards a lower portion of the ship's hull.

"Morning Brother." Nakyan strolled across the upper stone observation lines with the air of a King in his castle, watching over the many servants as they dithered and went about their work. "She looks to be coming along well."

Seko gave a nod and sipped from a large flask. He had no desire to drink so early, and as such had filled the container with a herbal tea of sorts. The taste of warm smoke filled his senses. He'd made it with the intention of waking up and being productive, but the lack of sleep the night before was beginning to make that difficult. 

"Yan." He rested a hand on his brother's shoulder once the man had stopped beside him. They stood overlooking their greatest theft as of yet. 

"She still looks as beautiful as the day we bought her." Nakyan said

"Bought?" Seko chuckled, "Is that what we're calling it?"

"What would you prefer?"

"Theft." Eados deep voice startled the pair. For someone so massive, the man seemed to walk with a surprising ease and silence. It was something that Seko hadn't ever gotten used to. "What else?"

"That's a bit harsh." Nakyan countered, "Though it is fair."

"We did what we had to." Seko said. 

"Agreed." Eado said. He joined the pair and rested against the metal railing. 

"How's the crew?" Seko asked

"Better. What we did to the Raz, that is something that none shall forget anytime soon." Eado spoke slow and patiently, Seko would have found the pace upsetting if it wasn't for the calm it seemed to bring him. Eado never rushed or raced, he spoke at the same speed no matter the situation. 

"Your pet project really did a number on the old bastard, that's for sure." Nakyan said. "Hope it doesn't come back to bite us."

"Better the Empire know what we have," Eado said, "Make it a fair fight. I fear you both would grow bored otherwise."

Seko smiled. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"Should I take it as an insult, then?" Nakyan asked, "Split the difference if you will?"

"Take it how you like. Look," He pointed to a portion, "That is my suggestion, I'm glad to see that Yedia agreed."

"She values your input, more than she does mine." Nakyan leaned over the railing and sighed, "Speaking of the old witch, where is she."

"She might be in the room." Seko offered, "I'm pretty sure that Vel had a few suggestions for her about the mountings."

"Of course she did."

"Once they work, it'll be a huge boon to our work."

"If, When, Once," Nakyan made an exaggerated counting with his hands "That Arcannon is one of the few successes you've had, and even then it's a gamble each time."

"We can discuss it with Yedia then," Seko said, "If it bothers you so much."

"No, no, it doesn't bother me. I'm just curious as to why my suggestions haven't been even acknowledged."

"What could you possibly be suggesting? More cabin space?"

"Maybe." Nakyan looked away, "Among other things."

"Make one that benefits more than the Officers of our crew, and you may have more luck." Eado offered 

"What does it matter, you sleep with the crew and my brother sleeps in a broom closet."

"I don't need a lot of space." Seko said, shrugging. 

"It is better to live with those you rely on, especially in a deadly life like ours." Eado said. 

"There you three are!" Vels voice stirred the men from their conversation and drew their attention to the quickly approaching Arcanist, bearing a face of irritation. "You've kept us waiting for over ten minutes."

"I'm the captain." Nakyan said. He stood up tall and puffed out his chest. "The crew should be content to wait for their captain."

"I wanted to see the work." Seko said. "I never come around her, found the tools these workers use interesting."

"Yes, yes, I'm happy for you both. Now, can you follow me so we can start the meeting?" She rested a hand on her hip in her usual sign of Just do what I say

"By all means," Eado said, "Lead the way."

With a sigh, she turned and started towards the far section of the dry-docks. 

The internal rooms made out of the rock were constructed using magic, and the process resulted in strange crevices of smooth stone that swirled and curved to form ovular structures in the wall. Chandeliers made with clear crystals giving off a pale glow lit the room above a large stone circular table made into a depression in the floor. 

Across the table before the procession was a massive map of the Imperial strait and bearing the string-lines Seko had created in his quarters. Small stone pieces in the shapes of various ship classes dotted the paper ocean, marking positions of other pirate vessels that either the town or crew was aware of. 

Yedia stood as the quartet entered and gave an annoyed scoff. 

"And just where have you three been?" She asked, the shake in her voice failing to lessen the venom she seemed to coat each word with.

"Inspecting the ship." Seko said, "I'm sorry we're late."

"As well you should be," She nodded, "All three of you should be sorry. Leaving poor Veldria and I to plan all your schemes. 

They took seats in the depression around the table, and Nakyan scanned through a sheet of paper before him. Seko had familiarized himself with the material already, having written most of it, but still went through the motions of reading and inspecting the reports. 

"What are we considering as our next path?" Yedia asked after the pair had lowered their papers. 

"Well, Yedia, I think that we-"

"We're going after the Treasure of Dotan Depairyo." Nakyan said confidently 

Yedias eyes came to a squint that seemed to be wielding daggers. "Is that correct?" She turned her death glare to Seko, who felt the shame of a mothers scolding suddenly. 

"It...is..." Seko said "In a manner of speaking. We're going after this Imperial Treasure Ship." He placed a finger on a long thin string in silver. "This Ship, to be specific."

Yedia shuffled the papers and drew out the page relating to the string. She frowned as she read through again. When she set down the page her anger seemed to be growing. 

"We are not Pere." She said "We don't have the luxury of chasing legends."

"Which is why we aren't going after a legend." Nakyan pulled a small journal from a coat pocket and slid it across the table. "That is a journal I found in the local library, recovered from a deceased pirates estate nearby."

"Rather an odd find." Seko said. Yedia lifted the small book and leafed through the pages, stopping occasionally to grimace and read. 

"This isn't enough to go on." She said. 

"That ignores the danger implicit in the endeavor as well." Vel grumbled "Its cursed treasure. Damned men's dreams."

"Pere remove curses all the time." Nakyan said

"But often at great loss in the end." Vel countered. 

"It isn't something that was on the top of my list." Seko said "But Yan feels confident on this and it's his turn to decide." 

"His tur-" Yedia mumbled a curse "Fine, but Captain. I'd like to report my objections to the current goal."

"Seconded." Vel shot

"Understood and acknowledged, but the plan is the plan." A sudden feeling of Déjà vu filled him, Seko couldn't help but feel he'd heard this same speech before. Only every time it had been by his Captain after he and Nakyan had objected. 

"We need to be getting our name out there." Nakyan said. "We're pirates, but we live worse than the common soldiers of the Empire. What good is it to live free if you can't actually live." 

"Survival is living." Vel said

"Surviving is surviving. I'm talking about thriving." 

"Normally I would agree." Eado said "However I feel this may be the exception." 

"We're going after the Treasure Ship. Any idea of the Depairyo treasure is secondary."

"But-"

"Man cannot live off hope alone." Seko said, trying to end his brothers growing desire to shout his opinion to the gods. "We need to secure the gold and whatever else from this treasure ship. The journal may lead us further, but the ship is our main goal."

"That makes more sense." Yedia crooned "I'm still against it on the grounds of knowing Nakyans plan."

"Old crone." Nakyan mumbled

"You both know almost nothing about this treasure, or the curse." Vel said "What hope would you have on not bringing us all to ruin with you?"

"Then inform us, master witch." Nakyan said

"I'm not certain on the details either, all I know is that the few who have found it have met very quick ends."

"That's the life of a Pirate mate, no curse about it. Unless you mean to say we’re all cursed?"

"Not everyone." Eado said "Some wish to retire eventually."

"Are you certain that we're going after this ship?" Yedia asked "No chance I can persuade you otherwise?"

"Unfortunately no." Seko said "My priority will remain the safety of our crew and the actions of securing our wealth. I don't care for the fame, but I won't ignore Yans request."

"Fine." Yedia removed a long thin book bound in a deep emerald leather. "With that decided, then shall we move on to the actions of improvements?"

"What have you decided on? Aside from the Arcannon mounting and the realignment." Seko asked

"Realignment." Nakyan scoffed

"They're aligned perfectly." Vel said, she seemed to bristle at the notion, her accent thickening in the process "It's a matter of power distribution now." 

"Regardless, the matter has been resolved." Yedia opened the book and waved to summon her quill, a token she'd kept from the empire. She likely had a Heritage crystal like the pair of brothers, but Seko had never been curious enough to ask. "The Engineers here are rather skilled at handling these sorts of tasks. They managed to assemble a hangar on the bow for the device to sit in, and a pair of doors that can be parted to allow for firing."

"That is a rather large addition." Eado said "Has it lowered our structural support?"

"We have the labyrinth, I'm not sure if we can lower the Pasongunans strength. Not unless we wish to gut the ship." She said "I believe someone requested that, actually."

"The lower decks are confusing when drunk." Nakyan said

"However," Vel said "With the combination of the crystals and the Arcannon, our power limit is nearly at capacity."

"They don't work yet, how are we using so much power?" Nakyan asked

"They still have uses," Seko said "or did you forget the storm cloud and fog we used?" 

"Precisely why we need to expand either our battery supply or storage housing. Four more mounts would-"

"Four?!" Yedia shouted "Have you any idea home much one of those housings costs? Not to mention the price of running more of those strange metal 'cables', and those aren't cheap either."

"A necessary sacrifice." Vel said "The expansion of mounts would give us more than enough power to operate all features at once, and continue without interruption for some time."

"We can't afford four housings." Yeida snapped "We could barely afford two, and that isn't exactly something we need to invest in yet for a currently inoperable project."

"What can we afford? Or what have we decided to spend money on?" Seko asked

"The stores needed to be refilled, including the barrels in the labyrinth, the Arcannon took away most of our money as well." Yedia ran a finger along the paper, tracing the indicated parts of the recent receipt. "Finally, at the insistence of Eado we've increased the armor around the rear of the ship. Something about a cannonball shattering the Captains Quarters walls."

"Thank you Yedia." Eado said "I am happy to hear that it was a good idea."

"It was." She said "One that we should have made increases on some time back. By the way Captains, we should keep this harbor as our home. The facilities here are far better than the last three we've been in."

"I know Seko has considered owning a house here." Vel said with a sly grin. 

"Aye, I'll take that into consideration." 

"Any of mine this time?" Nakyan asked

"Hmm," She flipped a page "What was one of yours?"

"How about the poundage of the cannonballs?"

"Ah yes, that one was approved. As was the inclusion of the chain and bar shot." She slid her finger down the list to the end, then added "The grape shot was rejected however."

"Why?"

"Price."

Nakyan frowned and slumped in his chair, acting out a childish pout. Seko laughed at his brothers action, it was something he'd done since he was a child and was often a response to their mothers scolding. 

"Is there anything we should be concerned about for this ship?" Seko asked

"Hmm, not that I'm aware of." Yedia said "Vel?"

"Other than that this is a near death sentence?"

"Would you prefer the noose?" Nakyan asked 

"I could show you how to tie the rope." She said "bring your neck here."

"Alright." Seko held up a hand to douse the fire before it could engulf the conversation. "If there isn't anything else, we should disperse and enjoy the next few days. We'll likely be at sea again for another few months."

"Provided we can't just fly home." Yedia mocked 

"Cheap shot" Seko said. 

Nakyan was bored, and annoyed. With the Pasongunan in the dry-docks and the crew spread across the town, he had little in the way of companionship of any kind. Sure he could visit the brothel again, but provided he wanted to continue to eat well that was going to have to be set on hold. 

"Tsk, damn you Seko." He kicked the dirt and struck a rock, sending the small object flying into a nearby building. 

The main street of Anriuku was almost laughable in comparison to the towns main source of revenue. The Dry-docks and ports seemed to be ripped from the myths of ancient heroes and sewn haphazardly into the poor reality around him, while the street and surrounding town was barely more than a couple dozen small homes and rather oversized shops. They hadn't even gone through the trouble of painting over the buildings closest to the water, and those seemed to always be under construction. 

The taverns were poor, the brothel was lacking, the food was bland, and there was nothing of any note to keep the attention of such a renown and experienced soldier. Nakyan was a warrior, a combatant, he never truly felt alive unless his arms were elbow deep in the rigors of wars brutal dance. This, the walking and peace making, was nothing like that.

Even when he'd joined the Empire it was nothing like that. It'd been easy to convince his brother to join with him, Seko had always seen himself as the noble hero of the people, something Nakyan could neither share nor understand. People were people, and the common man was as likely to stab you in the back as give you a scrap of bread. The world was blood and screaming, you either survived or you died; but that was the issue with the nobility. They didn't know the struggles of life on the streets in those cities. The looks that the guards and citizens alike would give when you asked for help, a look of pure disgust and hatred. 

The Offer of Naval service was supposed to change that, give Nakyan the Experience he'd need to become a Pere and leave the whole thing behind. He could pay his way into a new identity and buy the license for the job, he just needed the money. Leave the boring life of a noble pirate behind and chase the grandeur and fame offered to the bloody guards of the Empire.

But that would leave Seko. Seko, the last hope for the Konudepa name. The last hope for his family. The family that had reluctantly taken him in and given him a home, housed him from the dangers and taught him to fight like a true Knight Officer. His father had even spent the money trying to teach him magic, something that he'd never offered Seko. He wasn't even disappointed when Nakyan showed almost no talent for it, instead insisting that he focus on the things that the boy had liked. 

Father and Seko were the only ones who had watched out for him, regardless of their differences. In school, that short-lived experiment, Seko had even defended him against the depraved elites of the Juvenal hierarchy. Though Nakyan would never say it aloud, but it was that day that given him a better respect for Seko. Even if he thought of the man as a lesser of those same Depraved Leeches. Still he wasn't going to leave that brother behind, but he knew that Seko would never join him.

So he was locked, and if he was locked in this damn prison of honor than he would make the best of it. If Seko was so concerned with the little details than Nakyan would worry about the big picture, and that big picture was showing that they were starting to fail.

Honor and respect were wonderful tools, but that's all they were. Tools for a job, and a specific job at that. Yet the "Elite" of the world seemed to be driven by it, to an almost humorous degree. In his youth, Nakyan had wielded that knowledge like a blade but after joining the outskirts of their ranks...No using someones honor against them was becoming to difficult morally, even if it was the easiest solution sometimes. Honor and respect was what drove Seko, and Nakyan admired that... but only to a degree. 

That very honor and respect was beginning to sink their ship. Nakyan had the true captains cabin, the largest section of the quarter deck, but even that was growing small. Not to mention it had no place to store the myriad of trophies he was acquiring. The crew was barely getting by financially, and Nakyan was himself lighter and lighter of purse with each new enjoyment he found. They needed to start making real money, enough to earn legends and copycats. At the rate they were going, it wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

Thats where the Treasure of Depairyo would come in, he'd convinced Seko to take on the job, even if he'd been a bit hesitant, now all he needed to do was find the journal. Nakyan was certain, willing to bet his life even, that the journal held the map. If they could find the map that Depairyo navigated the seas with, they could follow the trail back to the mans horde. Even the curse was something bland. Rising of the undead to defend the treasure from grave robbers and cursing the lives of any who should succeed in stealing it. Half the time the curses weren’t even real, just fiction from salty dogs returning with tails between their legs. 

Ghost pirates was an interesting concept. Not one unheard of, tales of Ghost ships laying siege to fleets were rare but not so much so that it wasn't common knowledge to the average seaman. The horrors of the sea were always willing to reveal a new tendril when one least expected it, but a cursed treasure was too captivating to not chase! The fame alone could give them any number of boons, maybe even the chance to earn a song immortalizing them in record. All Nakyan cared about now was the next battle, Fame would give him the chance to find even stronger opponents and that was something that he couldn't give up. 

A cheer broke through his mind, shattering the chain of thoughts and spiral it was devolving into. It was loud, and close. Something about the sound filled him with sense of anticipation, and he felt himself rising with it without a real thought. It was coming from an alley in a tight grouping of homes. 

Nakyan approached slowly, making sure not alert anyone of his presence in the way he'd been taught years before. The wood of the buildings provided the same cover the cobbled houses of the larger cities would, but he had to pull himself away to avoid catching on the snagging portions of the unsanded wood. As he crested the corner, Nakyan expected to see a crowd, or at least a number of people larger than single digits. Instead, a small group of four people sat around a circular sewer grate made of large overlapping bars. The design had something to do with steam mitigation or something, but the result was a cover that anyone could see through. 

"Oi," an older man gave a restrained shout and waved for Nakyan to approach "Get out of the alley, you'll give it away. If you wanna watch then get over here like the rest of us."

Nakyan hesitantly walked up to the kneeling man and mirrored his position. A noise of smacking flesh caught his attention and the adrenaline of a fight started pumping. He caught the glimpse of movement in the grate and realized what was happening. Inside the chamber below the sewer grate was a mass of people of all kinds in a makeshift circle around a pair of brawling figures. 

"What is this?" He asked, curiosity rising.

"New in town?"

"Not especially." Nakyan said

"Well, you must be blind then. Everyone here knows of the fights." The man gave him an annoyed glare and turned to face him "Are you going to ask a lot of questions?"

"Maybe." He smiled "Nakyan."

"I don't really give a damn, I'm trying to watch the fight. Its-" The man looked back just in time to see one of the figures falling to the ground, sent sprawling from a wide swing. He cursed but refused to look back to Nakyan. "See! Missed a great part."

"Can anyone fight?"

"You got money?"

"Yeah, some." Nakyan shifted his considerably lighter coin purse with dissatisfaction and groaned, "Hoping to make some, honestly."

"Ain't we all?" Another man whispered, clearly having overheard their conversation.

"Yeah yeah, listen kid. If you wanna fight then head down to seaside grate and pay to enter." He looked to Nakyan one last time before saying "If you want to watch then shut the fuck up and watch the fight." 

Two feelings overcame Nakyan then. The first was to beat the old man for his disrespect, a feeling he last pass over him as he stood and left the grate. The second was that his time in the town was likely about to become far less boring and quite a bit more profitable. 

He turned the corner into the street and made for the lower ports and the sewer outlets. Luck was finally turning his way. He'd convinced his brother to follow his plan and now he was finding a way to blow off steam that may actually pay. Things were certainly starting to look up, perhaps that big picture was going to change.