DUNGEON LOG: KEYSTONE REEF

[phantasmods]

Expedition day dawns, as usual, with an android mass text -

Okay, so, this time we're aiming to go out and stabilize the Fissure in the reef you can see up a little to the north of here. The waters are usually pretty calm this time of year, so if you can swim instead of needing to take a boat, that'd be a great help. We only have a few of them.

Also, I know that last time was a mess, so I'm just gonna say this: If you need to get out for any reason, just send us a message and a picture of your location. We'll get a drone out to you as soon as we can and bring you home. No questions asked.

( ﾟ▽ﾟ)/ Stay safe out there! When you're ready to go, meet us down at the beach. The rocky, sparkly one, not the sandy one.

Unlike previous expeditions, this time there's no rooftop sendoff - instead, as Charm noted, the tables are set up on Glitterstone beach, along with a series of boats pulled up on the sand. Two rowboats that could maybe sit six people but probably better suited for four, a trio of inflatable rafts (with motors attached to the back, all mismatched) of about the same size, a two-person dinghy and a long canoe that could hold two or three.

Besides the little fleet, there's also the usual bagged lunches (in gallon ziplocs this time, and other such watertight containers), and every boat is equipped with a large number of those chepa dollar-store water bottles, all with their airtight store seals. There's also a selection of life vests and other floatation thingies in a box next to the table. Strange hovers over the setup, checking watertightness of a handful of first aid kits with a spritzer and a bucket to submerge things in. They give a little wave to anyone passing by headed to the boats.

For those who opt instead to swim, everything seems perfectly normal until you reach the border of the Fissure... When, very suddenly, it isn't.

Comments

[makejapangreat]

[Akechi's voice startles him so much he nearly drops his device. Nearly. But he quickly covers it with a hand and slides it into his pocket. Yup, his face sure is on fire...]

I-I don't know what you're talking about.

[The Tamagotchi chirps traitorously from his pocket. His blush deepens.]

flops

[makejapangreat]

[The odd monster-cat happens to catch Shido's eye. He can't help but stare a bit... but when it talks, he recognizes the voice instantly and can't help but blink in alarm.]

... Morgana?

[Oh, hey, it looks like he remembered your name!]

[founderinglight]

I know.

[And as someone who can deal with any trouble that might arise, he's one of the better qualified people. Izunia is plenty aware of this.

But does he really have to?]

[foolishjustice]

[Oh, that timing...that timing is just perfect. He struggles to keep his composure, snorting loudly behind his hand. He actually looks like he's on the verge of doubling over laughing, complete with tears starting to form in his eyes.]

I think it's hungry. You aren't going to neglect the poor thing, are you?

[burninglight]

[A sigh.]

Wait here. I'll just take a quick look and see what we're dealing with.

[founderinglight]

[There's a pause, and then Izunia's expression warms to a smile of genuine affection.]

Thank you. I appreciate it.

[burninglight]

Oh, do spare me. I'm not doing it to help you.

[He called up the Armiger for lack of any other magic light source; fire was obviously out of the question, and thunder magic would help no one.]

I just don't want anyone getting killed down there.

ii

[nojohnyouare]

[Mai, with a bronze swordfish tail and horn, watches with a tiny smile and golf-claps.]

Fun. My pet bear-san liked doing that.

Graveyard

[makejapangreat]

[Shido's examining the ships too, and thus his attention isn't particularly on his surroundings— though he does look over his shoulder every once in awhile to make sure there's no panther sharks sneaking up on him.

When he rounds the corner, he nearly crashes into Astolfo, and in his surprise he lets out an alarmed noise, quickly (if a bit clumsily) propelling himself backwards as fast as he can. O-oh, it's... just him.

He lets out a breath of relief.]

I thought you were a shark...

/appears!

[fistsofchange]

-Trivesta (initially human)-

Confident in the life vest she was wearing, Lin stood up carefully in the row boat as it got near to the Trivesta. She had a coil of rope over one shoulder. She glanced down at the other people around her, then jumped.

She seemed to almost float through the air, barely even disturbing the boat. Instead of falling into the water, Lin landed lightly on the deck of the ruined ship, some thirty feet away. She waved back to the rowboat, then reached for the rope coil so she could toss it back to her companions and pull them back...And then the rusted out deck gave out beneath her weight and she immediately vanished into the interior of the Trivesta with a yelp. A moment later, there was a muffled sound of a splash.

-Coral Graveyard (fish person)-

Lin couldn't swim. That didn't stop her from exploring, though. The moment she had fallen into the water inside the Trivesta's hull, she had transformed into some kind of fish person. She couldn't swim, but she could breathe under water just fine now, so she just sort of strolled along the sea floor, carrying a waterproof flashlight she'd borrowed from the androids or something and peering up at the sunken wrecks of ships around her.

She shined the light up at what had once been a modern day luxury yacht, but was now a wreck broken in half by some sort of horrible impact. "I wonder if there's any treasure in there. There's supposed to be treasure in sunken ships, isn't there?" She mused out loud.

-The Shallows (fish person)-

Lin had angered a dragon eel. There was no way she could outrun it under water, an environment she was NOT very comfortable in, so she did the next best thing and fought it. She spun around and threw a punch at the eel's snout as it lunged at her.

There was what sounded like a collossal POP as both Lin and the eel convulsed briefly. Anyone nearby could feel a suddenly electric shock. Startled, the eel shook itself out and swam off to find less troublesome prey. Lin drifted through the water, stunned. She'd used the lightning fist technique plenty of times, but she'd never had it BACKFIRE on her like that. But then...she was underwater, so she supposed it made sense.

Eventually she noticed she wasn't alone and shook herself out. "So THAT'S what that feels like..."

[founderinglight]

I'm thanking you anyway, and you'll just have to deal with it.

[That looks more than slightly ridiculous, Ardyn, but at least he won't have to worry about you neutralizing any threats you do find.]

coral

[nojohnyouare]

[Mai, with her swordfish horn a little scraped up and her actual sword in hand, swims carefully over. She nods a greeting to the two of them like they're not a weird sight at all.]

Unnatural. But a good place to look.

shallows

[nojohnyouare]

!

[Mai swims over, sword in hand, and looks Lin over. She doesn't say anything for a while.]

Water conducts electricity. ...Unharmed?

[burninglight]

Another annoyance on top of several.

[and there he goes]

[.....]

[enjoying the silence yet, zuzu]

[founderinglight]

[Well if that's all he has to complain about, they're doing better than Izunia could have hoped.

He leans over the edge, following the swirl of dramatic pink light with, yes, still a tinge of worry.]

[burninglight]

[He's going to be a while, because scientific curiosity is leading him about as far down as pressure allows.]

[...Might even get pretty hard to see that little magenta glow, too.]

III

[fistsofchange]

Lin had gotten in over her head. She actually looked somewhat like Undyne right now, but she wasn't a fish person naturally. The pressure WAS getting to her down here, AND she didn't actually know how to swim. She had a flashlight hanging from a lanyard around her wrist to provide enough light as she slowly climbed up the rocky wall of The Gap.

When she glanced to the side and saw a single, glowing eye in the darkness she let out a yelp and almost lost her grip. On the surface, she would have felt confident she could defend herself. Down here, she was feeling a lot more insecure. "S-stay back! I'm not tasty at all!"

[fistsofchange]

Y...yeah. Just stunned a bit, mainly...

[And disoriented. Unable to swim even in the best of circumstances, Lin slowly drifted downwards as she spoke. Fortunately, there wasn't anything but sand beneath her.]

[founderinglight]

[He's cool. As long as you know that glow doesn't rev up into combat mode. He's totally chill.

Don't get the bends, Ardyn.

By the time he comes back up, he'll find that Izunia has settled in with his phone and is steadily texting someone, laying out on his stomach in the sand with a fish idly "sniffing" his hair as it flutters around in the current.]

[foolishjustice]

[Early Expedition]

[Goro has no need to either take a boat or swim the entire trip. Instead, he's soaring above the boats, white crow wings spread wide and casting a dramatic shadow over the waves.

Every now and then, he swoops down by a boat to wave, grinning excitedly.]

Let me know if you run low on any supplies, I brought extra with me.

[Of course, people might wonder how, considering he has neither his usual loot bag nor even the pockets of his jacket, having replaced it with a black T-shirt...but he seems confident enough.]

[Under da Sea] (Whenever, after a few hours)

[Sea breeze is nice, but it's no replacement for air conditioning. Eventually, the heat gets to be too much for him and his wings vanish as he dives down into the water. The change is nearly instant, leaving him changed from head to tail. He has to take a little while to get used to the fins and tail, but it's not the first time he's had to learn how to deal with unfamiliar limbs.

After a few minutes of awkward flailing, he's darting around under the water in both the shallows and the deeper water with a grin...and, occasionally, black stripes. What catches his attention the most, though, is the coral graveyard, where he can be found flitting between the ships. He seems especially interested in the runes on the stone ship, examining them closely.

Occasionally, he's also beset by a panther shark, and people can find him wrestling with a deep sea predator as if it's a harmless pet. In fact, those who look closely will notice that its teeth seem to be having no effect on him - not only is there no blood in the water, but his body doesn't even seem scratched. He is, however, visibly making an effort not to let the shark touch his dorsal fins or the fanning abdominal fins on his hips.]

[Did Someone Order a Flying Fish?] (Any time)

[Just because Goro's transformed, doesn't mean he's stuck underwater. people exploring the deck of the Trivesta can catch him swimming through the air. Every now and then, an invisible seagull flies over to investigate, only to squawk and fly away at a flapping fin.

His exploration runs into a bit of a snag, though, when he tries to fit through a door that's rusted half open...and gets stuck. His tail flaps uselessly behind him as he squirms, trying to get loose. This...this is not good. Anyone in the halls of the ship might hear him calling out, a hint of fear creeping into his voice.]

I could use a little help here...

[blackestwitch]

[ Neither spider monster nor magical mergirl seem to notice the nod, but both seem to have tensed as she approached, even before she enters audible range. ]

....There's a lot that's unnatural here. My powers may have made them moreso.

[nojohnyouare]

[shallows - above water]

[Mai's... a swordfish mermaid. Her tail and the long horn protruding out of her head are a shiny bronze colour, and she'll swim around with her sword in hand, popping up her head to check on her friends in the boats or on the shore.]

...How are we going to get back.

[shallows - underwater]

[Mai's getting hungry, it seems, and a year fending for yourself in sims with various different food situations gives you some manner of creativity. Which is why she's picked some seaweed, put it on a stick, and is... cooking it over a cluster of boiler coral? Is that even going to taste good?]

[gap]

[Well, time to treasure hunt. You can find Mai looking at dark crystals with some suspicion, staring blankly at jellyfish, and cautiously poking at rocks with her chipped plastic sword to see if she can unearth anything.]

...?

early

[nojohnyouare]

[Mai looks up and stares for a second before nodding.]

Bird-san? ...Armiger.

[The go-to explanation for anybody's inventory, she thinks, as she munches on a rice ball.]

[meowna]

[The cat-monster is picking uncertainly at the smallest life jacket he can find; even that is taller than he is. Hearing his name though, he turns and waves cheerfully; guess who's forgotten that not everybody has seen him as a mascot yet?]

Oh--Shido, hey! Are you all ready to go?

[nojohnyouare]

[Mai follows after and just pokes around the sand, sifting through it with her very plastic sword.]

Good. Don't get hurt. Magic?