The Floating City of Churash would play venue to an international duel tournament, a competition of Player Versus Player combat. Tori, the red Captain, required Cadaoir to enlist in the event and fight against a specific opponent and win. As was a rule, the winner of each fight may lay claim to an item used in the battle by the loser, this could be clothing, armour or a weapon, which was the task given to Cadaoir: to defeat a particular opponent and retrieve a rare sword in his possession.

The weapon was some stolen artefact from the vaults of an Amaratese lord, but it could not be taken back by force, as the man who had stolen it was related to a powerful Churashi naval officer. Despite the theft, taking the sword back may cause unwanted backlash from Churash towards Amaratsu. Cadaoir could not be any less interested in this aspect, he was more interested in the tournament. A perfect way to test himself against strong opponents. But completing Tori's request would secure him passage to Hothaven in the south, taking weeks off his journey. The entire thing was a good deal, though doing someone else’s bidding was less than preferable.

After having boarded the Amaratese ship, it left Hattsu and passed a giant stone tower on an island off the coast. Ancient, yet still strong, and currently inhabited by Churash, the Shadow Tower was officially a stop off point for trade between Amaratsu's northern lands and the Floating City. Though many suspected that it was a staging area for Churashi raids against Amaratsu coastal towns and villages. Churash denied this entirely, and Amaratsu could not make an official move against the tower as both nations were currently under a cease-fire agreement.

A day after departure, Cadaoir was left to wander the top decks of the ship and wait for the journey to end. He was looked after, as Captain Tori was a well to do naval officer, who ensured that the Monk was fed, watered and begrudgingly catered to by an NPC man servant.

The sea was rough, the sky grey, but as the distance from Amaratsu grew, the waters calmed and the sky became clear and blue. Cadaoir, on the second day, was surprised to hear singing. From the bow, a lone male voice sang deeply.

The sailor sang his dream of a lost love, longing in his voice. His visions were of a long dead woman who he once could have saved, but did not. Once the beginning of the song was finished, the entire chorus of sailors joined for the second part. They sang out deep, yet loud, until the top deck of the ship was in complete harmony. The song was sad, a haunting shanty, a tale lived and owned by those who sail the ocean.

Cadaoir stood near the bottom of the steps leading up to the quarter deck, the sailors were going about their duties with as much intensity as their singing. The wind was strong and constant, the sails bloomed. The creaking of wood and the sound of the wake was in the air, mingled with the music.

Tori was at the wheel with his navigator, he called down to Cadaoir, inviting him up to the quarter deck. When the Monk reached the top of the steps, the navigator gave him a friendly nod. The Captain was smiling, his cheeks pushing up his eye patch and revealing the ever so slight sign of a scar. He pointed to the north, where the clouds in the distance were dark. A flashing purple light spread throughout the clouds and then a short time later the rolling sound of thunder was in Cadaoir's ears. The sea shanty was drowned out by the rumble, but the voices fought to beat it.

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'Are we going to get hit by that?' Cadaoir asked.

'No, we'll feel some wind maybe, but the storm will remain a spectacle in the distance. Enjoy it!' Captain Tori was pleasant, despite Cadaoir's dislike for his earlier manipulations.

The clouds were in view for a couple of hours, the lightning cracking and the thunder racing to keep up.

On the third day he saw whales, huge black tails breaking through the blue and slapping the sea. They were drumming nature's song. The pulling of ropes, the turn of the wheel, the hull crashing against the rising water was the sailor's dance to it.

In the early afternoon, the spotter in the crow's nest signalled loudly that ships were in the distance. It was the Churashi defence fleet, patrolling the waters around the distant floating city. At the fleet's rear was The Great Seafort, Churash's military pride.

By the time Tori's ship came side to side with the smaller Churashi long boats, Cadaoir could see more clearly the structure in the distance. It appeared as a large wooden fort, just like one that would be seen on land, only this floated on the water. Huge gates saw the traffic of battle ships and long boats, instead of footmen and horses, and cannons protruded through gun ports in the massive log baileys like guns on a battleship. All the while men walked the tops above them, like ants on a wall.

Tori's ship was boarded by Churashi Soldiers who inspected the cargo and the crew, questioned the Captain and checked his business documents and his passport. When the Churashi were happy that everything was above board, they allowed the ship to pass by the Seafort and head on to the Floating City.

The city, a mishmash of interconnecting islands, bridges and giant rafts, came into view from the north-west. Buildings and towers rose up from the sea and flags waved cheerfully above them. Surrounding the city were hundreds of empty ships and boats at dock, their crews likely enjoying the lively city within. Tori had his vessel dock at the least populated section and set men on guard duty.

'The tourney starts soon.' Tori commented. 'We don't have much time left for signing you up. Let's get to it.'

Cadaoir obliged and climbed down from the ship, leaving one wooden deck for another. The streets were wood and water, side walks and deep channels with rowing boats tied up or moving through. It was like a wooden Venice, before that city had sunk.

Cadaoir followed Tori into the innards of the city, and although the place was floating on the salty brine, it felt just like every other built up zone, a million miles away from green landscapes or even the sea. As the shadows of the buildings and bridges grew around them, as well as the people, Cadaoir could not help but quickly feel a longing for the beauty he had seen on the three day voyage, and a beautiful song that told the story a loving place in a dead woman's arms.

There would be no embraces here, nor the harmony of song. There would only be violence, and the cheer of the blood thirsty.