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

[have_hat_will_travel]

[Pidonus is surprised by Wren's quick movement, but doesn't manage to protest with more than a squeak of surprise before she's - thankfully - clear of the stuff for the moment.]

T-that .... Uh, kinda makes sense?

It's not in my usual realm of effects I've seen, but...

[She doesn't seem to blame Wren for the attack at least.]

Now we just need to figure out how to strike the damned thing...

[have_hat_will_travel]

[Pidonus decides to try just... Getting Mai out of range of the slime and getting some of it off of her, grabbing at her arm to pull her further out, then trying to brush the stuff off by scraping with her sword lightly. If she can just quiet that thing's voice in Mai's head...]

[thoroff]

[Wren grimaces in a way that makes it clear that she's still going to apologize her heart out... but later. For now, there's a battle to be fought.]

Yeah... I don't fancy getting close to that monster again, and all of my magic... well, neither fire nor lightning are going to do us much good underwater.

[theosophomoric]

Deep. Dark. Marvelous. [She says it almost like a mantra, or a slogan.] The Neath is... well, it's not a lawless place, the laws of man still hold so long as someone cares to uphold them, and London's never quite forgotten how to be the seat of empire. But the Laws of Nature are spottier - death is often reversible, and if you know what you're doing you can easily bodily cross over into the dream-realm of Parabola, or into Hell itself - although coming back from Hell is an entirely different matter - and the rats can speak and create the most fascinatingly intricate mechanical devices. [As she says that last, she absently runs a hand over the tattoo on her right upper arm, which depicts a rat brandishing a tiny pistol.] At 'zee, odder things happen. London's steam ships visit islands where everything has a life and a voice, or where every person there has died so many times that they've had to retire from polite society and tend to the preservation of their damaged bodies, or ports along the shore of the Elder Continent in the south, where there are vast jungles of giant mushrooms and our sapphire mining operations are dependent on the good will of the tigers.

But the city's still... fundamentally, it's a city, for all that it's a mile under the earth. It's lit by gaslight and candles now, rather than the sun, and we eat a dreadful lot of mushrooms. Drink 'em, too. But folk still study, and pray - even with Hell's embassy right there in the city - and do business, and create art, and commit crimes, and love. In all things, they love.

what if we just pick up where we left off tho

[biddentodance]

((it your turn tho))

[thoroff]

[After doubling back to retrieve her Deft Harpoon, Wren returns to the site of the battle. Since neither melee nor the magic she has are particularly attractive options, she looks upon everyone already fighting the thing and decides her wisest move is to support them. She raises her trident in a rallying gesture and calls out to the others, fire in her voice.]

Don't let up! No matter how many tricks it throws at us, we're still stronger than this beast!

[Thanks to Rally Spectrum, everyone who hears her words should feel their power, defense and speed rise for a short while.]

[nojohnyouare]

[Mai's hard to get a grip on when she's convulsing, but the effort combined with Akira's spell makes her stop and stare in front of her rather than try to attack.]

...?

[riderofcharlemagne]

[He eases on that front, at least - he's not about to force Jetshard into doing something she'd rather not.]

With sea monsters like that, there's gotta be some interesting stories about them, right? Heroes valiantly fighting on the high seas and all.

[riderofcharlemagne]

[He buries his face into his shoulder, which probably doesn't help the sinking.]

I'm glad, too.

[That, for someone who hadn't even had friends before, he'd reached this point with Astolfo. He was glad that they could share this moment together, and for all it meant.]

[riderofcharlemagne]

[He leads him through the wreck, occasionally holding himself back from going too fast. He seems to be moving more through some kind of instinct, barely pausing to remember where to go, taking shortcuts through cracks in the walls and flooring.]

Have you ever been in anything like this before?

[He means boats generally, but if Goro has any shipwreck experience that's equally interesting.]

[founderinglight]

Mmm...

[A small squeeze.]

Touch helps. Keeps me grounded.

let's do a thing; shallows

[nonono7]

[ There's certainly a pink-haired girl swimming over. Not a fish person, or a mer-person, just a. Person person. ]

Wow! That was so cool!!!

What was that?

[have_hat_will_travel]

Yeah... Urgh, what a mess. The best patterns we have are-

[And then Pidonus suddenly spins away from Kurama, and moves to cover Wren's eyes before the very large wave of light launches out from Kurama's attack.]

Meep.

[blackestwitch]

[ WHAT YOU CAN SEE i see what you did there ]

....You're not going to breathe a word of it to anybody else. Right?

[have_hat_will_travel]

You were under that thing's control! The mucus is capable of influencing people, apparently.

[Pidonus keeps trying to scrape more of the stuff off Mai... Some of it might be landing on her instead, though she's managing to resist for now. Then she hears Kurama's shout, and... Quickly spins to face away from him, trying to get Mai in the same direction.]

[daughterofthemark]

[Oh no you don't.]

Let us level the--

[Oh... yes you do, apparently, because Arianna happens to be right at the edge of Akira's casting range, and in the middle of casting Clearance she suddenly snaps out of her controlled state.]

What...?

[seafoamgreen]

Uh... I think it's just an alternate setting?

[And then, because Undyne has her priorities:]

But that does sound awesome.

[makejapangreat]

[The warmth he now feels is a welcome reprieve from his usual heavy emotions. He actually feels relaxed and some level of... okay. He crosses his arms loosely in front of him as he watches Akira laugh at the fish, for now feeling content. He won't intervene unless Akira starts bleeding again, in which case he'll come up and gently shoo the fish off.]

[makejapangreat]

[Shido looks up and over (perhaps a bit quickly) when he notices the red out of the corner of his eye and sees the redhead. He gives a small nod in greeting, then looks over at Akechi, then back to Kurama.]

What's wrong?

[makejapangreat]

Not bad at all.

[Though uh, he's just... going to take a seat for a moment? He's wiped.]

Hooh...

[makejapangreat]

[Helpfully:] I'd know if you told me. [But somehow he gets the feeling that's not going to happen???]

[makejapangreat]

... they have names?

[hi, guess who is very much a newbie to this whole tamagotchi thing]

[fistsofchange]

That's what I was thinking. At least I don't feel like I weigh as much down here, or this would be exhausting.

[fistsofchange]

[Nono you can cut planets in half why do you think THAT disaster was cool?]

I...uh.

[Rebooting brain...
...okay.]

Lightning Fist Technique...

[fistsofchange]

Wow...That sounds incredible.

Do you mean that people who died can come back to life in your world?