hadriel | [video] you will hear it for yourself, and it will surely fill you with wonder

[As can be expected Nate's film-related framing could be significantly improved - he isn't entirely in line with the feed, but it does enable viewers to see the edge of a jib boom, thick fabric, and the roiling, dark waters behind him. Upon finding a sailboat moored in one of his island's small, rocky coves he commandeered it for the express purpose of old school navigation: no trade or transport, but cartography.

This might be evidenced by the worn pencil he has stuck behind one ear, and the notebook flat, open, in his hand. The other he uses to talk, being a gestural sort of person.]

I know everyone else is doing the whole- y'know, "organizing stuff and travel" thing, which is great! But I've been mapping the area because we're pretty scattered. Not just in terms of area and amenities, but environment. And the lunar cycle feels like it's twice as fast.

[He isn't an astronomer or an astro-physicist, but he's had to find his path by stars before and the passage of time is expedited here in a way that must contribute to the limited extents of high tide and low tide on the islands.]

I'm not sure if there was any life here before we arrived, but if anybody finds any ruins - ones we didn't bring with us - let me know.

[Nate turns briefly, glancing out at something adjacent to him. A shadow in the waves. When he speaks again it is with calculated casualness.]

And, uh...if you see a tall guy in a denim jacket...smoker, Boston accent, answers to "Sam." Tell him I'm looking for him.

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[Mind if I board it? he asks like they just discussed going on a manly bonding trip together. Like they haven't met a grand total of two times. It might be better not to press, even if he wants to know how the Hell Law intends to board in the first place. Having him pilot over to pick him up, island carpool style?

Nate looks down at the boat again.]

Define "longer." It's got a one-man cabin, the kind you need to crawl into and out of. Not much storage. Depending on your skill level and fishing prowess I guess you could manage it for a decent amount of time.

[he really can't help the smirk]

When I was thirteen I spent six months in a tiny lifeboat with the barest semblance of a sail. My ship now is bigger but I still remember how to handle a small one. Honestly, I just want to have a look at it first, before I go thinking about making any kind of long trip.

O...kay.

[Nate honestly can't tell if this guy is just really inept at expounding on his statements or fully intends to commandeer his boat. If it's the former, understandable. If it's the latter...well, Nate probably should have expected some push-back for trying to claim the vessel he stumbled upon.

It was in the water when he found it. Maritime salvage law applies.

Cool, when I was thirteen I was living on the street and stealing churros from vendors in La Pesca, is what he wants to say, somewhat sarcastically, but this isn't a pissing contest.]

I can pick you up if you want to help me map this place, but I don't know which island you're on.

No need. Where are you now?

[he will teleport himself to the nearest cliff, it'll be fun]

Seriously?

[It's possible that Law is a goddamn wizard and can just fly across the divided city, but that begs the question: if that's the case, what the Hell does he need a boat for?]

...there's a channel between the north-most and central islands. I'm currently moored on the latter. If it helps, I can see Fear's temple from here.

Seriously. Fortunately, I'm at the clinic at the moment so it'll be a short walk.

[aw no showing off his ability today. Later, maybe. He sets aside whatever he's doing immediately and heads out to take a look, he's that intent on seeing a sailboat.]

I'll hang here, then, I guess?

[He isn't sure he has it in him to fight someone who wants to invite their own self along, though he has a purpose to this particular sojourn and he isn't deviating from it for anyone who just wants to be a tourist.]

[sure enough, there he is, fuzzy hat leading the way. Law crests the rocks in time to spot the top of the mast, first, and then the, uh, glorious sailboat it's attached to.

So, not that big. But it's a boat goddammit.

He saunters close enough to just have a look, though there's no missing him approaching so whenever Nate finally spots him, he tips his head in a manly nod]

So. This is it.

[Hard to miss someone who wears a hat that looks like a furry mushroom cap.]

You weren't expecting a Spanish galleon, right?

[Not that he could have managed that anyway. Nate is fairly certain that even the Fancy needed more than just Avery to crew it, and it was a comparatively smaller warship than most of the others of its period.]

I get the feeling the gods don't want us on anything bigger, just to deter us from leaving the island chain.

No, not a galleon. I was aware it was a small boat...but not just how small.

[yeah that's right fear the hat. It's actually very useful in this world, keeps the rain out of his eyes and his head warm in the chill]

Figures. Something this size...could, possibly, make it a day or two out to sea, but only in an emergency. So much for Sorrow's suggestion that there's something worth learning here, if they're not going to help us find it.

[Fear is not what comes to mind when witnessing such crimes against millinery. Nate isn't the most fashion-forward, but he knows a sartorial sin when he sees it.]

Who says what we're looking for is at sea?

[His personal takeaway was that there was something on the islands, and given that the world he came from before this was nearly identical Nate is inclined to utilize his usual methods of exploration until he locates it.

Leaning against the jib, he gestures at the territory behind Law.]

And who says we need them to find it?

I've already walked all over these four islands. There is nothing here that wasn't here in the desert, or the cave. This is just the city. [tipping his chin up and out toward the water] There are other islands, you can barely see a couple in the haze on a good day. What we're looking for isn't going to be here, it's out there.

[that's way more of a sense of adventure than anyone still sitting here at home where the houses are warm and the shops are full of canned soup]

[Nate isn't convinced.

In his experience a lot of treasures - cities, even - are hidden in plain sight, underground or swallowed in deep valleys, buried in chasms that have shielded them from prying eyes for centuries. Rafe Adler spent fifteen years combing the land around a Scottish cathedral and came up with jack-shit - all Nate did was find the right headstone in a nearby graveyard to unearth the passage that no one else had been able to find for a decade and a half, even with financial resources. It's not the means, it's the method.

He isn't here to argue, but if he was he'd tell the guy to find his own boat for whatever nautical mishaps he wants to get into, because he's starting to suspect he'll get conscripted into being a chauffeur. He'll get to the islands once he's finished mapping.]

People didn't think there was anything in Hadriel's lake until I dove down to look. [Nate points out, not unfriendly.] I'm just saying don't discount what we've got.

You were the one who found the remains in the lake?

[now that he did not know. He'll have to poke at that line of information later.]

You're free to get a shovel and dig if you want. I only know what I see, and what I see is an ocean between me and everything I want to look for. [with a nod to the boat] That's not enough. Enjoy it, I have my own ways of getting around.

Yeah.

[He knows, it was stupid. There were monster sharks. He got bitten. But it's all in the past!]

Wait- you don't even want to see what stuff is around the islands?

[Color him rightfully confused, but he was still down with having another person on-board for the mapping process. It's nice to be at sea.]

Not really.

[look he's a captain, not a cartographer. the shapes of the rocks just aren't interesting to him]

Let me know how that thing handles. Just for professional curiosity's sake.

...all right.

[BUT THESE ROCKS ARE COOL, DUDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]

I'll let you know if I find anything.

[video] you will hear it for yourself, and it will surely fill you with wonder

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