Reflections on the Rising Tide (Work In Progress)
Venturing Into Unknown Waters
As Operation: Rising Tide (ORT) comes to a close, I’ve been thinking about all the changes that occurred within not only the ORT initiative, but Kraken’s Call as a whole. The journey so far has been an assortment of moments brought about by a storm of “magic” - some bright and brilliant, others wrought from chaos and despair, but all part of the adventure we chose to bare. Under the leadership of our Captain, Oliver Benley, I believed our initial ORT-driven weeks were promising, and yet I was wrestling with looming questions:
Where do we go from here? Is there a destination we wish to arrive? For what cause do we venture forward?
Are we not just a ragtag lot of misfits, loosely tied adventurers seeking riches and plunder? What good comes from our union?
In these moments of doubt and uncertainty, it felt as though the answers I sought were obstructed by a dark storm cloud, barely visible by accents of illuminating stikes of lightening.
And although the future remained a mystery, I chose to keep the faith. Prayed to my benevolent deity, Menphina, and followed cautiously behind our new Captain - a beacon of light in these turbulent waters.
Promises Under the Night’s Sky
“A sea of shimmering stars. Diamonds strewn across a raven gown, boundless and beautiful…” whispered the purple haired woman as she gazed upon the starry sky.
I remember that night well. But, more importantly, I remember the glint in her eyes - a resolve unlike any I’ve seen before, the sort that could convince a cautious sprout to unwisely join an unproven, albeit charismatic, self-proclaimed Captain in some grand adventure.
It was on the eve of our free company’s closing bid for housing in the Mist, the residential housing district in Limsa Lominsa. Kraken’s Call was founded just weeks prior, and somehow Captain Oliver was able to quickly rally a small company of swashbucklers and crew mates from all corners of Limsa.
“How has she gathered all of these Lominsans in so short a time?” I remember asking myself as I joined several fresh Kraken crew mates for a photo - celebrating both the formation of Kraken’s Call and the newly acquired free company house.
“It should of been a near impossible task given the short time frame. Though this is her gift - to excite others and bring them together. As is her wont.” replied a dark haired female Au Ra. Ishtar, a long time friend of Sarilla’s, evidently overheard…
