No trouble was encountered on the way to the port city, and while the land route to reach it had taken some time to traverse, if they had to flee the ocean was only a short distance away. Tirto was quite confident that his group could outpace any darkness cultivators in the water- even Verusha on her own, if for some reason that was necessary.
Tirto gathered spiritual energy to amplify his voice. “People of the Gloom Desolation. We come in peace, not with intentions of war.” He could see a few figures on the walls of the port city, though he wasn’t sure how many more were concealed. “We will wait for someone authorized to speak for you.”
“No need,” a man faded into view atop the wall. “I am here. But who are you?”
“Tirto Brandle, of the Shimmering Islands. We have come to investigate attacks on the shipping of our allies. We were unable to find any traces of the pirates themselves, so we continued beyond the borders of the Glass Hills. We merely intend to inquire if you have seen anything.”
“I have heard of your clan,” the man said. “I am Tenzing, an elder of the Dark Shore. I have also heard of these attacks, perpetrated by water element cultivators like yourself.”
“Water element?” Tirto asked with genuine surprise. “From what we saw, lightning cultivators used their techniques to ignite ships beneath the waves. We had not even suspected the involvement of water cultivators. Have you seen the signs yourself?”
The man’s sharp eyes pierced into Tirto. “I have seen them. And I know well the signs of hidden spiritual energy. Though they didn’t wish it to be found, water cultivators were certainly involved. As for lightning cultivators… would not the most likely culprits be members of those very ‘allies’ you spoke of?”
Reading Tenzing’s expression was difficult. The distance and unfamiliarity both led to trouble. Tirto was only certain that he knew more than he was letting on just yet. But he couldn’t quite be certain what that meant. “We had in fact suspected some sort of internal strife. However, it is unlikely that any group could have hidden such expert techniques for such a time as this, when they would have better been served rising to power in other ways.”
Tirto noted that Tenzing hadn’t said that there weren’t lightning cultivators involved- he had merely revealed the presence of water cultivators. Even his prior deflection somewhat suggested that.
“You speak with great certainty for one who admits to knowing little,” Tenzing replied. “Would not it be the simplest solution?”
“I am open to hearing any proof you have of cultivators of the Glass Hills or Wuthering Steppes attacking the ships of their own people. But so far, you have only revealed your understanding that water cultivators were involved. The very reason we were called upon was that they have very few such individuals to rely on for investigations such as this. As for internal conflict being a simple solution… that might be so, but none of the stolen goods have appeared within their borders.”
Tirto was hoping that honesty would get the reaction he wanted. While it was still possible the Gloom Desolation was harboring pirates, he estimated it was unlikely to be this particular port.
Verusha was not so subtly scanning the area around them with her energy. Tirto hadn’t felt any darkness cultivators sneaking about during their conversation, but she might pick them out where he failed. Or they might be content to remain behind their walls.
“You spoke of peace,” Tenzing said. “What then of the damage to our ships and port?”
Admitting fault was an acceptable practice among allies, but in many cases cultivators had to put up strong images. Tirto wanted to avoid being too overbearing, but he wouldn’t look weak either. “We were attacked first. Our companion was merely a little bit overzealous in his reaction. You should note I stopped him before he caused too much damage.” He’d also stopped Carl because the young leviathan alone couldn’t take on a whole city. But he really had wanted to prevent him from damaging the city too much.
Tenzing gave no apology for striking without verifying their origin, and Tirto gave no apology for what resulted. As far as Tirto could tell, the matter had been settled. “It is undignified for us to shout at each other from a distance for so long. If you are willing, we can have a more private discussion.”
“I have no objections, as long as I can bring my current companions with me.”
“Open the gates!” Tenzing said by way of response.
Tirto, Verusha, and their guards approached the city as the gates swung open. The optimal time to attack them, if there was going to be an attack, would be shortly after they stepped through.
But Tenzing himself had already come down off the wall to the main road, which would have left him vulnerable if they were planning an assault. Besides, Tirto could sense some of the hiding cultivators, and they weren’t near enough to be an immediate threat. He imagined he probably missed some of them, but finally sensing some was comforting. It wasn’t unreasonable that they would be monitored upon entering the city.
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“Welcome to Port Dusk,” Tenzing said. Several guards moved to stand around the group, but he waited for Tirto and Verusha to get closer before moving further into the city. They might have been surrounded on all sides, but their own guards were closer to Tenzing if trouble should break out.
The structures of the port were quite modest. That was unsurprising, given the relative lack of worthy materials in the region. Perhaps there were darkness element materials of great value further into the region, but the outer edges had been sufficient to dub the area the Gloom Desolation- a name which even the locals had not seemed to reject in the few interactions that had come up in the past.
Tenzing led them to a manor. “I hold the position of governor of Port Dusk. It affords me a certain level of luxury… even given the surroundings.”
He brought them to a sitting room, where the Brandle Clan guards positioned themselves on one side- and a number of those sharing the same style as Tenzing stood on the other. Tirto again felt more in rooms beyond, but he would have been somewhat insulted had they not been cautious.
When refreshments were served, he wished he had spent more time studying the blood purification techniques his father spoke of. He had no reason to believe the food was poisoned. Indeed, darkness cultivators weren’t necessarily more likely to poison anyone compared to other cultivators- with the caveat that they would be better at hiding it if they chose to.
“You have not yet introduced yourself,” Tenzing said to Verusha as he sipped some tea. “You are from the Green Sands, are you not?”
“Indeed. I am Verusha Brandle, formerly of the Milanovic clan in the Green Sands.” Her hair refused to settle into any particular pattern, but rather than betraying any particular emotion, Tirto thought it might make her harder to read. Though her caution was likely apparent even to those unfamiliar with her. “I did not expect you to be familiar with the Green Sands.”
“It is not that I am particularly familiar. But I would be remiss if I did not at least recognize the cultivators of an elemental zone merely two steps displaced from my homeland. Though a journey through the Glass Hills is not a pleasant one, it is certainly quite possible for cultivators of sufficient caliber.”
Tirto nodded. He decided they had to get to business sooner or later, so he began the process. “Your words and actions indicated that you also had trouble with pirates.” Or they were working with them, but a sudden assault would be an odd way to hide animosity. “Can you tell me about what you know? Especially what let you understand there were water element techniques involved.”
“As you noted, we also found ships damaged by lightning. That was the more obvious part, in fact. The water element techniques were merely an enhancement.”
“Ah, a supporting role from the cycle of elements,” Tirto said. “Do you know if they are dual element cultivators?”
“Dual element cultivators, or paired in such a way as to effectively be that,” Tenzing confirmed. “We have previously noticed their passage, and of course the loss of some of our ships.”
“Were they passing through from the east or the west?” Tirto asked. He had little understanding of what was east of the Gloom Desolation.
“It is difficult to say, except that they went far enough east to be noticed within the vicinity of Port Dawn. That would be the one furthest east.”
“Since we share difficulties,” Tirto said. “We should work together. Or if you would… at least pass on word of our presence so that we don’t run into further conflict. You should at least know that it is not we who are troubling your shores.”
“You bring a rather large monster with you for a peaceful visit,” Tenzing commented.
Tirto shrugged. “We did come with the intent to bring retribution upon those at fault. But you maintain the Gloom Desolation isn’t involved, so he shouldn’t be any risk to you.” Tirto certainly wasn’t going to mention that Carl had followed along in secret. Simply because leviathans were part of the sea didn’t excuse Tirto missing it. Though he’d seen some of the signs and gotten close to sensing him. It certainly explained the lack of predators.
“I can send word ahead to the other ports,” Tenzing confirmed. “They may not be willing to let you dock, but they should at least be more cautious with their actions. Though I would suggest not picking up air cultivators or you may appear as targets.”
“We appreciate the offer,” Tirto said. “If you can provide additional information, such as dates and locations of attacks… that would also be quite beneficial. We are not yet certain if it is a single small fleet or multiple groupings.”
Tenzing thought for a few moments. “I suppose it should not harm our interests to share that information… if you will reciprocate.”
“Of course,” Tirto said. If the Dark Shore were truly involved somehow, it really wouldn’t matter if they knew the details of attacks they themselves had perpetrated. The same was true in the other direction. As the shipping routes would be fairly certain, there were few secrets to be had with the lost ships. Though Tenzing was clearly cautious about revealing too much, Tirto judged him to be honest as far as they had come. And he was fairly certain there was no poison in the food… though he would be making use of some blood purification techniques later in private, just in case.
Verusha suddenly spoke up. It wasn’t that Tirto had forbidden her to speak, but she understood her own personality. That ultimately meant her diplomatic training had focused on simply not saying things without good reason. “If you do spot them, let us know right away so we can go burn them to the water line,” she said. “As long as you can point us at them, we’re sure to catch them.”
“Is that so?” Tenzing asked. “They have the advantage of free wind in their sails.”
“Hmph,” Verusha turned up her nose. “Little good it will do them facing cultivators of the Shimmering Islands. The moment we have a target, it will be over for them.”
Tirto was also quite confident in their ships’ speed- though they could be dealing with other seaborne cultivators. Then again, they at least had Carl. The leviathan didn’t seem like he would be fast, graceful, or even basically functional… but in a straight chase, the power of a sea creature like him could catch any ship eventually. Human cultivators would tire themselves first, and the natural speed of wind and wave were simply not enough.
“I’ll tell the others of your assurances,” Tenzing declared. “Port Dusk will support you in this effort. So will the others, if I can manage it.”