The Azure Tidebreaker cut across the skies, its hull a silent seahound slicing through wave after wave. It cut deeper, deeper; and at one point Larin found himself walking at the observation deck, gazing out into boundless horizons of shining starlight and small, small cities. The farther he went towards the heart of Auquanian culture, he found himself wanting more. Little did he see, little he understand. This was rather more than traveling to learn how to do some more new magic tricks. It went deep into a mold of thinking that was deeply shaped by this vast expanse of cosmic water and the reach of unseen tide.
---
As she followed him through the undulating halls of the Tidebreaker, Larin learned much of Auquan philosophy from Myrith Crestfoam. Walls took on lives with glyphs in motion as living seaweed waves whose meaning changes like trapped eternities caught in eternal tides of an ebb and flow.
"Auquan society is built on the principle of fluidity," Myrith said, nodding gently. "We are a people of water, and water teaches us that change is inevitable. It carves mountains, nourishes life, and swallows worlds. To be Auquan is to bend with the tide-to be swept away, perhaps, or not.".
"Is that what the Sublime Auqua Project is?" Larin asked, his eyes flashing with interest. "A tide to unify worlds under one current?"
Myrith nodded slowly. "Yes, but not all tides are soft. The Sublime Auqua is a vision—a harmonious convergence of magic, technology, and life. Each world brings its strength, adding its unique current to the ocean of existence. But harmony is not without conflict."
---
As he moved along, Larin learned about the religious rituals of the Auquans. The idols or Kirat for the gods of Sinlung were the rigid structures, but the Auquans revered the *Great Flow*, that metaphysical power for the continuous motion of creation and destruction. For them, it was not these static structures like temples but those fluid sanctuaries with liquid architecture-a new form as every gathering took a common decision.
"The Great Flow does not command," Myrith said as they passed through one such sanctuary, a chamber where translucent streams of water wove into intricate mandalas. "It whispers. It guides those who listen, but never with words. To pray is to attune oneself to the rhythm of existence."
Larin watched as the streams formed symbols he couldn't fully comprehend—vortices of time, spirals of fate. "And those who refuse the flow?
"Many resist. Some believe in dominion rather than harmony. They would rather shape the current to their own whim rather than be shaped by it." Her voice darkened. "They speak of it as strength, but it is folly."
---
Myrith's words proved a harbinger for the enemy Larin was soon to meet. The Azure Tidebreaker had moored for only a brief respite in one of the giant skyborne strongholds known as Stormhold Reaving, seat of the House of Pyrestone, a cabal of Auquans whose blood was said to run slick with cruelty and conquest. As Myrith ushered Larin through its chill halls, he felt a subtle shift in the air. There the halls of Seafoam flowed in elegance and harmony, but the Pyrestone architecture was sharp-edged with harsh angles and burning sigils. It was rich with power, stifling rather than stirring.
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They were received by Varok Redspire, Patriarch of Pyrestone. His skin was as dark as basalt, his eyes like molten fire. His voice rumbled like a volcano about to erupt.
"Seafoam brings a thinker," Redspire said, holding his gaze in a drill. "Do you come close to water to think, or do you grind like stone at the sea's approach?"
Larin smiled blissfully. "I would find a way. A stone refuses to yield in the sea does wear to dust."
Redspire's smile was a jagged crack in granite. "A philosopher, we need fewer of those and more empire-makers. Sublime Auqua is here to conquer chaos, not dance with it. Power comes from bending the tide to arms, not whimpering before its whim."
Myrith's face went pale, but her hair seemed to coil within its tentacle-silk form. "The Great Flow teaches balance, Varok. The tide that destroys also brings life."
"The strong define balance," Redspire snapped. "The weak drown."
---
As they rode out of Stormhold Reaving, Myrith sighed, her composure cracking ever so slightly. "Pyrestone represents a philosophy of domination. They believe in the Sublime Auqua as an instrument of order imposed by strength. Their creed twists the flow into a torrent that crushes dissent. It is a dangerous path."
"Why let them be part of it?" Larin asked.
"For even turbulent tides are the sea itself. The Great Tide encompasses all," Myrith said. "Still, one must always be vigilant. House Seafoam seeks equilibrium, but Pyrestone reaches for empires of ash and flame."
---
Later, Larin was taught about the Seafoam House's practices. He read through their forms of warfare-techniques that were not based on brute force but on fluidity and misdirection. Battles became dances of influence where, to win, a power must change the vector of an enemy's power rather than simply oppose it.
He learned their language as well, in words of great import, scribbled out in ornate flowing script. While the brackets for Sinlung's power spell are formal indeed, the Auquan glyphs flow along a stream and never do one know where to start or when to end.
She was guiding him through this word magic herself. "Each word is a wave," she said. "It builds, crests, and falls, always part of a larger current. There are no fixed boundaries. Meaning is shaped by context, by the rhythm of thought."
Larin's mouth opened in amazement at the potential. "And how do you contain it? How do you stop it from becoming chaos?"
"Control is an illusion," Myrith said. "We do not stop the flow. We guide it, like channels carved into a riverbed."
---
It was one night that Larin sat alone in his chamber of the Tidebreaker. He couldn't help thinking over all the things he now knew. And they seemed almost to crush inside his mind-as if they came closer than what lay before a drowning man.
He found his journal. He started writing.
Journal Entry:
The sublime Auqua speaks of unity but also works as a possible tool of control. It speaks of harmony but carries the seeds of tyranny. The Seafoam House dreams of balance, but Pyrestone tries to forge order by fear and domination. Both belong to the same ocean, but the tide will decide which philosophy will prevail. I must tread carefully, for the flow is still so powerful, but it can also drown.
As the Tidebreaker continued on his way, Larin learned that the greatest war was not over magic or strength but in knowing where to stand in the endless current of change.