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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Yeah, it was bad, I know.

[If it helps, he looks genuinely apologetic. Nate has never been in possession of an abundance of tact.]

How have you been? Here, I mean. In Hadriel.

Like many others, I was torn from something enormously important to be the playthings of so-called gods, so - [ She breathes in deeply through the nose, then releases it after a few seconds. ] I would like to be returned home, above all, though it's been... some time.

[ When had she first arrived here? Over a year ago, at least... ]

And you? Aside from... [ Losing brothers. ]

[Her Highness makes it sound as though she had been engaging in some cosmological prophecy prior to being ripped out of her world and dropped into this one, which...fair enough, that's probably not inaccurate. Similarly, Nate has been in this place for over a year and would really like to resume his work with Sam.

Or just be back home, in New Orleans.]

Good, I guess? I used to do work that made me a little more prepared to deal with this place, so it hasn't all been crap.

And what sort of work was that?

[ She can't even begin to guess what he might have been doing, particularly since she knows he'd come from a world very different from her own. He's roguish enough, but that doesn't reveal much in the ways of possibility. ]

Uh.

[For a brief moment Nate tries to think of a way to describe his former profession to someone without making it sound like he was a mercenary. Thief doesn't come across much better, really.

They're both pretty bad.]

I used to work in complicated acquisitions. These days I work in what we call marine salvage.

"Complicated acquisitions?" [ Yeah, that translates to "thief" in her mind, and her mouth flattens into an unimpressed line. ] ... Well, what do you salvage?

[ Maybe he can salvage his reputation! Time will tell! ]

[Yeah, he can already tell that her skepticism is increasing at an alarming rate. Do they even have museums in her world? A black market for ancient artifacts? Or do people not care about that shit?]

It's like- okay, it's like if a ship was transporting goods, right? And there was a storm, or an accident, and all the cargo spilled into the ocean. You'd think it was lost, yeah? A lost investment.

[He waits for a moment to check that she's following him before continuing.]

My boss runs a company that gets hired to retrieve lost cargo for people.

Edited 2018-09-11 18:20 (UTC)

A worthy business. So much is lost at sea, or so I'm told.

[ Her own ships carry everything that is of value to her, save the dragons that fly above it. Were they to face an immense storm on the way to Westeros, well. Treasure would be the least of it. ]

Is it profitable for you?

Oh, yeah. A lot is lost at sea.

[More than he'll ever be able to bring to the surface, more than can possibly be fathomed. As terrifying as the ocean can be, as vastly unexplored its depths, it doesn't stop him from maintaining that fascination with the kind of secrets it holds.

If he can find lost cities in the jungles, in the massive stretches of desert, imagine what's below the surface of the water.]

...but, uh...it's a job. We're not rich, or anything, but it's decent money. Competition's pretty tough, so we're always looking for new work.

[ Little do either of them know that even within Hadriel, something very valuable is lost at the bottom of the sea... ]

And dangerous, I should think. There is only so much treasure to be found, and more treasure hunters than that by far.

[ She has quite a lot of treasure herself at this point, in her world, though none of it was accrued by Dany herself. ]

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

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