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

[dubiouslychthonic]

Glitterstone Beach

[Maybe it would have been a good idea to get someone to help her learn how to swim some time in the last few weeks. Maybe. Unfortunately, she hadn't really thought of it, and there's nothing about her background that would have lead to her learning to swim earlier in life, so... sticking with the boats it is, she guesses.

She'd loaded up her sylladex with a pretty good assortment of supplies before coming down to the beach, so she throws a few more bottles of water into a captchalogue card, grabs the lunch with her name on it, and moves on to look at the life vests. Which seem like a really good idea, although honestly this whole business is far enough outside her wheelhouse that she's not entirely sure how to select one. Is there a particular way they're supposed to fit? Who knows, not the troll who grew up in the desert.

Once she's properly supplied, she moves on to laying claim to one of the inflatable rafts. Not that she's particularly possessive of it; if she sees someone else who seems unsure about swimming out to the rift, she'll wave them down.] Want to join me? This definitely has room for a few more people.

Sandbars

[Ok well she got in on the early start to actually get into the fissure, but this time Jetshard's not going to try and stay up all day. Just because she can handle daylight doesn't mean she can comfortably switch her entire sleeping schedule around for a few days at a time. So once the inflatable raft reaches small, open sandbar, Jetshard's going to disembark and set up camp, such as it is.

It's not really much of a camp, honestly; Jetshard doesn't have much in the way of camping equipment. But there's room above the tide line and there's pretty clearly nothing aggressively predatory on the island, so it seems like as good of a place to set down roots in the fissure as any. Anyone stopping by the sandbar in the middle of the day, any day of the mission, is liable to find her curled up at the base of one of the palm trees, half-buried in a pile of half a dozen mismatched cushions. Or later in the afternoon, she's got a modest fire burning on the beach. For those who are checking such things, she's also put up a public note on the network:]

o)+ Hey, aLL, it's Jetshard, she of the questionabLy convenient sLeePing schedule. I'm setting uP camP on the oPen sandbar. PLease don't hesitate to wake me uP if you need me.

o)+ ALso, I'm not going to be using a boat during most of the day, given that I'm going to be sLeePing. If anyone diurnaL wants to trade off in the evening, that'd be great?

The Trivesta

[Ok. Evening. Time for some actual exporing.

Jetshard's raft is moored outside the gash in the side of the shipwreck, and if anyone sees her arrive in the failing light, there's something entirely comfortable about the way she climbs into the gutted hull of the ship. It's not the same sort of craft, of course, but on the other hand at least with a derelict sailing ship there's a breathable atmosphere to work in, which already puts this well ahead of many of the previous wrecks she's ventured into.

The ghost jellies are a surprise, though; she has no need for a light source in here, but even without the draw of a light, they still brush through her on occasion. The first time she thinks she's imagining things, but after a few...] Oh hell.

[Maybe if she's careful she can dodge them? But they're getting thicker as she approaches what appears to be the door to the upper parts of the ship.]

At sea...?

[And of course, if you're out during the night, you might catch up with her on the water between dry land destinations. It is a rather nice time of year to be out on the water, if you like that sort of thing. Just... maybe don't sneak up on her too much. She's still not entirely comfortable surrounded by this much deep water, potential for transformation magic or no.]

The Trivesta

[serrata]

Shoo, won't you?

[ Oh, it looks like someone else is doing an investigate as well. Looks like someone made the mistake of busting out a torch and found herself in the middle of a whole cluster of them. Yikes.

Once she spots Jetshard, she gives a slightly panicky wave. ]

I'm sorry, excuse me– do you have any idea what these are?

[dubiouslychthonic]

[Jetshard sighs, batting absently at one that's drifting too close, which of course does nothing to change the jelly's trajectory and in fact just brings her into contact with it sooner. She frowns, shaking her head as if that's going to clear it of the brief flash of mild amusement that accompanies the touch of the jellyfish.] I'm not sure. They seem to be some kind of... disembodied moods or something.

[serrata]

Disembodied–?

[ She doesn't get the chance to fully voice her incredulity because one of the jellies happens to bump into her hand at that moment. A ghost of a feeling passes through her, a faint flicker of someone else's amazement, and Yuuri reacts like any reasonable person (not) and immediately takes a swipe at the offending jelly with her flashlight. Thankfully for everyone, she misses by a mile, but the disturbance of the light source makes them scatter a bit. ]

That... that wasn't... [ looking a little shaken, she puts a hand to her chest and lets out a breath. ] How do they do that?

[dubiouslychthonic]

I honestly have no idea, but I'm guessing "magic." I'm hoping it's one of those things that dissipate once the area is stabilized. [She sighs, leaning out of the way of another jellyfish that drifts past. The imposed feelings aren't overly distressing to her - at least there doesn't seem to be any particular intelligence or motive behind the effect - but it's still not something she finds really enjoyable.] Are you alright?

[serrata]

I'm fine, it's just... not what I was expecting.

[ She's got her torch still held out, all threateningly, but the jellies seem to have taken the hint to stay away. Away they go... ]

Maybe it's something to do with the Fissure? Either a side effect or something that's come through the cracks.

[dubiouslychthonic]

Probably. Strange says that sometimes the fissures cause lasting changes in the animal population, but these don't seem to have any physical substance to them? So I'm hoping they're just a fissure effect.

[serrata]

So we're being haunted by psychic jellyfish. Wonderful.

[ Of course this would be the first mission she gets sent on. Of course it would. ]

I suppose there's worse things to be haunted by, but– shoo! I told you to shoo!

[ AWAY WITH YE, JELLYFISH ]

Sandbars/Text on the network

[caduceusoncall]

[There's not much to do in the boats as they make their way towards the fissure, so Mercy finds herself checking the network to see if anyone's posted anything about the expedition. It just so happens, someone has. Tucking her staff under one arm, she taps out a reply to Jetshard's post.]

I can work the day shifts, don't worry. Rest well. Do you have enough medical supplies? I have my staff, so I am unlikely to need the medkit I was given.

[dubiouslychthonic]

o)+ I've got PLenty, don't worry. I rePacked my PersonaL fieLd kit Last week and it's considerabLy more extensive than the ones Strange was handing out.

[caduceusoncall]

Understood. I may drop by your position come evening, to rest and switch off with you, if you are not opposed.

[dubiouslychthonic]

o)+ Sounds good.

o)+ I don't know what kind of inventory carrying caPacity you're working with, but I've aLso got a fair amount of extra food and water as weLL if you need it.

sandbar, evening just after sunset

[founderinglight]

[Jetshard probably noticed the head breaching the water a while ago, and even with the water slicking the usual volume of his hair back it's not hard to recognize Izunia at his usual evening ritual, watching the sun set off past the land in the distance.

After that, it's time to come part way up the beach and flop out on his stomach just within the range where the surf will keep his lower half damp. Drying out doesn't sound particularly fun right now, really. His tentacles, a reddish orange, spread out across the sand and through the shallow water behind him like a fan.

Eventually, he props his head up on folded arms and says - ]

I think you may have had the right idea by avoiding the water.

[Local king is tired and grumpy.]

[dubiouslychthonic]

I wish I could claim some sort of foresight, but honestly I just can't swim.

[She pokes at the fire with a stick, nudging one of the dry driftwood logs into a more stable position; her nominal attention on the way the fire occasionally pops in odd colors from the salt in the wood doesn't remotely hide the way she's watching his annoyed fidgeting with a bit of a smile.]

I suppose it makes sense that you'd end up with tentacles, though. Unless that association's just a troll thing.

[founderinglight]

I have no idea what you're talking about, so I'm going to go out on a limb and say "troll thing."

[Floooooop he doesn't want to move.]

Perhaps it's just my lack of experience, but I don't think they're entirely designed for long-term swimming.

[dubiouslychthonic]

We've got a fairly strong association between royalty and tentacles, but I suppose that's probably mostly to do with the entire imperial line sharing the same heavily betentacled lusus.

[She sets aside her fire pokin' stick, and turns her attention a little more fully on him; less amused now, and more of a kind of mild concern.] If nothing else, I can't imagine that an abrupt change in locomotion is doing anything productive for your fatigue issues. If you don't mind me saying so.

[founderinglight]

That'd be nonsensical to any human. We raise our own, remember?

[There's a single wet tentacle flop behind him, with a bit of a splash.]

It's exhausting. I have enough of a handle on "walking" with them, but it's not truly swimming and it's painfully slow in comparison. I have to warp to get anywhere with speed and that's...

[Vague hand gesture. It's very tiring to do for any length of time.]

[dubiouslychthonic]

Of course. [She still kind of feels like Gl'bgolyb is of a different order than most lusii, but she can't really elucidate the difference at the moment. Still, it strikes her as an appropriate transformation for him.

If, apparently, an inconvenient one.]

If you don't mind being out after dark, I'd be happy to let you hitch a ride when I take the raft out in a little while.

[founderinglight]

I think I'm just going to nap here.

[Local royal is very tired.]

Wish I had a waterproof pillow.

Beach

[have_hat_will_travel]

Well... Sure, if you don't mind.

I can handle the water in terms of swimming, but this looks deep enough that that... Won't mean too much, honestly, so, I think I'm gonna stick to the surface.

[Until she inevitably lands in the water...]

It looks like some of us are prepared for not needing to breathe, at least... Bet'cha those ones get better loot.

[dubiouslychthonic]

I don't mind at all. And I'll probably make camp early, if we can find a suitable spot, so if you'd like to take the raft for the afternoon I won't complain.

[She'd still like to be able to set up a base camp outside of fissures, but this one's close enough to the station and has enough built-in transport difficulties that it doesn't seem like the time to try that. Another month, another several days of constant exposure to a high-magic environment. What is her life.

Anyway. Might as well get the raft on the water, right.]

Water damage might balance things out a little on the loot front, a lot of what I've found in the other fissures wouldn't have survived a dunking.

[have_hat_will_travel]

Well, a lot of the stuff that would survive underwater from my world is some of the really good magic items, so... What they do find might be neat? Hopefully.

[dubiouslychthonic]

Hopefully. Personally, I'm just as happy sticking to the surface anyway.

[have_hat_will_travel]

I'm mostly staying up because flight doesn't work underwater. Speaking from very painful experience...

[dubiouslychthonic]

[She smiles wryly.] That sounds like it has a story behind it.