Ankyra Sound the odyssey

Please wait for @Leucothoe, @Callantha, and @Nesaea to reply first! Joining thread, so I'd appreciate fast posters. If replies take longer than a day or so, I may skip turns. :x

She had high hopes for the daughter she named Aktaiê, after her grandmother— a great matriarch, though not without her faults. Still, the daughter that had been sent to create a branch of the Nereides bloodline on a distant shore had disappointed her. Aktaiê no longer sat at the helm of Ankyra Sound, abandoning her post and her mission, leaving it in the hands of a sister only freshly returned to the breasts of Mother Sea and Mother Moon. She loved her daughters fiercely, but she expected greatness from them. Minthe had told Aktaiê exactly what her failings were, before sending her to serve within the Protomedeia's congregation; a far more fundamentalist clan of Themiscrya, by necessity. She had been easier on Psamathe, who had only followed, who was ever at the mercy of the visions granted to her by the Sea— for Psamathe, Minthe only insisted she continue to nurture her gift, for she had the makings of a promising High Priestess, perhaps of the Protomedeia herself.

As for Ankyra Sound— well, Minthe would make up for the failings of her daughter. Knowing not the state of the newest branch, the woman gathered a careful few; two of her youngest daughters, each gifted in their own right. A third youth joined them, sent by a distant relative, with the hope that Minthe could set her straight even as she also sought to guide the fledgling Siren Queen of the Sound. Despite the clutches of winter, Minthe began their journey— there was no time to waste.

It had been long and difficult, particularly the stretches of time that had seen them separated from the embrace of their Mother Sea. But the scent of salt, the tall sentinels that were giant sequoias— they were here, Minthe firmly knew. Standing at the edge of the forest, the woman turned to rest her eyes upon each of her companions in turn; her daughters and her ward.

"We arrive, daughters," she told them gently, voice cast low— "I know not what we shall find. Remember, though she is not of Themiscrya, this Queen demands the same respect. She is not of blood, but she is a Nereides returned to her Mothers." Minthe had her own fears, would judge Caiaphas' claim— make no mistake— but she would honor the female's station and would ensure her daughters did the same. After all, Caiaphas had remained where Aktaiê had abandoned. If Ankyra was too far lost, Minthe and her daughters would return to Themiscrya.