Seaside 5: Kinda like One Piece without the anime

[Earl of Purple]

Holiday Trip

Jack follows, looking around in awe. "Wow, this is amazing." She's really interested in just about everything they pass, no matter how mundane or ordinary it might be.

The dome and the view of the ocean beyond is going to be Jack's favourite part of the trip, at least so far. She gasps and stares out at the undersea view, though it's likely not very exciting. Really need to be clear water to see anything exciting, or else with lights and close to the bottom.

[5a Violista]

[Coast Crawling]

The robot
hasn't considered that.

"You...you don't think it's going to be dangerous, do you?" he asks. "I had...just assumed it wouldn't be, but. Well. I didn't want to ask since they told me not to. You were talking to that guy, he must've told you if it'd be dangerous or not." Please tell him whether or not it's going to be dangerous, his voice is pleading. If you're that experienced, you should know.

But he seriously starts imagining what would happen to his son if he never goes back. He's imagining all the worst things and worst-case scenarios.
"Did...did they say anything to you about what happens if you die on the job? As long as they send the money back for my son, then that'd be alright with me."



[Lost Beach]

Hearing the shouting, June looks back.
An octopus?!?
How strong are octopi, anyway? Aren't their tentacles made of just muscle, anyway? Plus they have suckers too. Will she even be able to help?

June goes back that way as fast as she can without slipping.
"Um...I don't know if I can!" she says.
Once she gets close enough, she tries to grab the octopus and put any free or loose tentacles together.

[Recaiden]

[Holiday Trip]

"Submarines aren't so big, and this ain't a very big submarine. Came to the nexus on a ship that was kilometers long."
Lights come on outside, though they reveal only dim and murky shapes.
"Now, it happens that we've made this one bigger on tha inside than the outside."
Omiko gives a bit of a tour of the submarine: here's where to leave in an emergency, here's where to leave when not in an emergency, here's the navigation console where a sharkman and a robot are working at the many instruments, here are the cabins, here's the giant magical crystal engine, etc.

[Coast Crawling]

"We're leaving in the middle of the night because it's dangerous. I mean, trips to Skyside always are."

As for the other part, Anchor shakes her head.
"I don't think they bother going over next of kin stuff until you've gotten through a few jobs."
"So you be careful."
Now that his head is filled with worries, she gives him a wave and picks up her pace a bit to go see the tough guy.

"I just saw the tail end of that fight. I mean, what was his deal?" Surely if anyone knows about that knife guy who's now lazily riding on a cart, it's his opponent.

[bc56]

Lost Beach

Can June even see the octopus? The area around Selekhael's head is full of billowing ink. Reaching into the cloud, June will feel the octopus' smooth, slimy skin and muscular tentacles. As long as she can get a good handhold, she can start tugging at it from the opposite direction as Selekhael. "Just try! Ugh, it's all sticky!"

[5a Violista]

[Coast Crawling]

The robot is left worrying.
He has got to find some opportunity to get out of here and go back.
They don't know his name or where he lives, so there won't be any problem if he just...vanishes, right? He just needs to wait for when nobody's noticing him. That'll happen eventually, he hopes.
The robot slows down, until he's walking behind the last of the five carts.


The tough guy smiles and laughs. "Oh, you did? I did pretty great, didn't I?" he boasts. "That guy, I just can't stand his face or his attitude. He's very punch-able."
Then, he tries to slap Anchor on the back: "But at least he puts up a good fight! Fights aren't fun if there's no danger. I wouldn't mind going at him again." He laughs again. "He doesn't care about the fight, though. Just likes seeing blood. He's pretty crazy, if you ask me. Probably needs therapy."

He's still weak from bloodloss but he seems pretty happy about it.



[Lost Beach]

You don't need to see it so long as you can feel it!
(And pray that you stay away from its beak. And hope that you don't get cut on the metal or the door.)

June has no idea how big it is, but she definitely knows where the tentacles are because she knows where Selekhael is.
She hopes it's kinda small.
She wraps her arm around the tentacles that she's gathered, and uses her feet to push against the observatory. "Come on, mister octopus," she says. "You don't want to mess with her. She's" she grunts as she pulls "the legendary Crab-Slayer."

If she's honest, though, holding on to the muscular tentacles is kinda nice. Feels sort-of like holding on to a snake.

[Recaiden]

[Coast Crawling]

Well, they might recognize the robot, but...probably it won't come up.

"Yeah, seemed like you did. Really kept the punches coming."
When slapped on the back, Anchor joins in laughing.
"Huh. I mean, you'd think he could do with his own blood, no?" She glances at knife guy to see if he's involved in some weird blood fascination stuff at this very moment.
"Half the folks here probably need therapy." The Nexus's therapists are sadly overworked, though.
"Bet next time the caravan stops, you could get in a fight."

[bc56]

Lost Beach

A wet snake with suckers on it.

The combined of June and Selekhael finally discourages the octopus enough that it lets go and tries to jet away out into the ocean. "Phew. What was that?" Selekhael doesn't know what an octopus is? "Well, uh, the doors are open." A dark, half-flooded chamber can be seen through them.

[5a Violista]

[Coast Crawling]

Tough Guy really likes her. Yeah! She's alright. "I like you. If you ever want to fight, just ask," he says.

He, too, looks over at knife guy. "I think he just really likes the color red," he says.
Knife guy isn't really doing anything interesting with blood at the moment. He's just nursing his broken arm, flipping a knife up and catching it over and over, and - every so often, when he thinks nobody's watching - glancing into the cart that he's riding on. He's not on one of the ones with the mermaid tanks.

"Oh, that's a great idea," he says. "He'll never see it coming." He cracks his knuckles, his neck, and rolls his shoulders.


They reach the lightly-wooded area. The path goes between some small hills. Because of the trees and hills, the mime's motorcycle is going more slowly to not crash, and goes up to the top of hills to get a better look around. The bike stops on the top of the hills for a little while, and then drives down (going briefly out of view between hills) before going up to the top of the next.

Speaking of all the people, the lady in the labcoat (riding on a cart's back) leans over and looks at the tough guy and Anchor. She's been watching her out of the corner of her eye for the past couple minutes. "I presume you're going to be talking with me next, aren't you?" she says in a very confident 'I think I know what you're up to' kind of voice.
Removing the option to let Anchor choose to talk to her, labcoat lady hops off of the cart and walks over to them.


[Lost Beach]

Yes!
It worked!
"Probably just an octopus," June says, as she flexes her fingers and rubs down the part of her arm that was touching the suckers. "Possibly some kind of lewd monster."
She looks into the dark chamber.
"Oh! Or maybe a Ce...Cecae... Yeah. Maybe a Cecaelia. That would be so cool. Well, not as cool as a mermaid, but still kinda cool."

She pulls herself through the chamber and starts to wade through it.

[Recaiden]

"Hah, will do, that should be a fun time." And she means it. The tough guy is likeable, despite his unfortunate occupation.

Hmm. Knife guy sneaking looks at the prisoners - does he know one of them, is there more complexity here than it appears? Or is he just plotting disturbed knife-crimes?

Anchor turns her head to the labcoat lady.
"Didn't really take you for the socializing type. But I mean, the mime isn't gonna make good conversation, so sure."
"Last couple jobs didn't go great for me, first the army of skeletons, then my student got eaten by sea monsters, but I mean, looking at all of us, I think this is gonna go good."
"So what's up with you, miss?"

[bc56]

Lost Beach

"A what?" Selekhael just seems more confused. But the way in is clear, so she'll focus on that. "Coming?" She swims into the observatory dome.

The dome is about half full of water. Inside, a huge telescope rests, mostly covered by a carpet of mussels and barnacles. A spiral staircase, half flooded, leads deeper into the rock spire. Various astronomical charts hang from the walls, all ruined by water, at best covered in runny streaks and at worst turned to wet mush.

[5a Violista]

[Lost Beach]

"A...a tentacle monster," June clarifies when Selekhael still doesn't get it.

She looks around the ruined room, walking when she needs to and swimming when possible (definitely don't want to cut her feet or step on the wrong thing). "This room looks trashed," she says. Nothing really recoverable or useful. "Maybe the other robots are farther up?"

She swims to the staircase and follows it.


[Coast Crawling]

One of the prisoners is probably just wearing red or received a cut earlier. There's probably no need to read in to it too much.


Labcoat lady tells the tough guy to "Hold still for a moment."
She grabs a couple things from her first-aid kit and cuts off his makeshift bandages and rather quickly begins suturing them up. (Why she waited until they were on the move rather than when he got them? No idea.) "I socialize when it can benefit me," she tells Anchor. "I'm sure you're the same way."

She moves on to the next one. And the next one. "Not expecting any skeletons or sea monsters this time, unfortunately." She's pretty fast about it. "What's in it for me is money, amusement, things like that. Same as you and everyone else, right?"
And she's finished stitching up all of his cuts. She (oddly) licks her tools clean (can you call it clean if you've licked them?), and then puts them back in the case and steps away from the tough guy.


The motorcycle goes down on to the road and drives rather far ahead until it gets out of sight.

[bc56]

Lost Beach

The stairs don't go up or down, but rather sideways. Swimming through them is an unusual experience. They lead out into a pitch-black room, about half full of water. Unseen objects made from damp, rotting wood clutter the bottom half of the room. The light of Selekhael's sword reveals them to be trunks and cabinets, overflowing with astronomical paraphernalia. Small fish dart into hiding at the sudden light and movement, and a crab snaps at June's toe as she swims by. The staircase continues deeper still.

[5a Violista]

[Lost Beach]

Yes, it is a singular experience, swimming across stairs.
She wishes she had shoes.

She looks into the room and takes a detour from the stairs to get a closer look at the trunks and cabinets. "Nope, not here," she says. Some of the stuff here might be interesting to look at, but it's probably all in awful condition so June isn't entirely sure if it's worth it to look through them.

She goes back to the staircase, letting Selekhael go first again.

[bc56]

Lost Beach

The stairs go further sideways to a small workshop, not so well equipped as the one in the tower. A hallway leads downward, lined with glass cases covered in grime. Rusty tools coated in barnacles are scattered about the chamber.

[Recaiden]

[Coast Crawling]

One of the prisoners is probably just wearing red or received a cut earlier. There's probably no need to read in to it too much.


Labcoat lady tells the tough guy to "Hold still for a moment."
She grabs a couple things from her first-aid kit and cuts off his makeshift bandages and rather quickly begins suturing them up. (Why she waited until they were on the move rather than when he got them? No idea.) "I socialize when it can benefit me," she tells Anchor. "I'm sure you're the same way."

She moves on to the next one. And the next one. "Not expecting any skeletons or sea monsters this time, unfortunately." She's pretty fast about it. "What's in it for me is money, amusement, things like that. Same as you and everyone else, right?"
And she's finished stitching up all of his cuts. She (oddly) licks her tools clean (can you call it clean if you've licked them?), and then puts them back in the case and steps away from the tough guy.


The motorcycle goes down on to the road and drives rather far ahead until it gets out of sight.

"Not at all. I mean, socializing can be its own reward, and the other people get their own benefits from it."
"So what benefit are you looking for from me, hmm? You're already going to get paid."

Anchor watches the stitching skeptically. No, they are not clean if you licked them!
Unless your tongue is covered in soap or hot enough to sterilize the tools, both of which are pretty unlikely.
What is wrong with this lady?

The mime is out of sight, but the road ahead is still pretty clear. Not time to try anything yet.

[Vahnavoi]

Forgotten Pirate Cove

"Aye, it be great. No clue to the password to use it, though. Mayhaps one o' the lubbers at port know of it an' can use it. Quick way to the city, if so." But Earl doesn't know if they do, however. Hasn't decided yet. "If there be strong emotions, aye. Or sorcery, an' dark gods, it be rumoured that what is dead don't die if magic or religion get involved enough. Haven't seen it much meself, mind. Fought some dead pirates once. Strode out the sea wi' swords an' cannon. Their gunpowder were damp an' swords were rusty, but they took a beatin'." They didn't much harm Frigate, because they weren't smart enough to find his weaker points and aim for those. And their cannon couldn't fire, no matter how often they loaded it.

The swordsman stares pensively over the waves as Frigate recounts its story. "... I don't like the sound of that" , he says, frowning. "I don't know if there's any purpose or reason to me being on these seas... but I feel, if the state of affairs is as you tell, that my duty is not done. That I have to do... something... to make this world a better place. So that people may move on freely. " He looks at the knapsack, then hands it over to the construct. "Could you look at these for me? Tell me what they're for? Be careful when opening it, though. There's a squid inside."

[Earl of Purple]

Forgotten Pirate Cove

"Aye, it not happen often. Only ever seen two hangin's go wrong, an' one was mine. T'other was a skinny bald chap, as he danced the hemp fandango he shifted an' grew, snapped his bonds an' cut the rope wi' claws growin' from his fingers. He had fur an' big teeth an' ran for it. Din't kill on his way out, neither. Undead be present, but... Not common." Neither are werewolves, which is why the town wasn't expecting the man to escape as one.

Frigate takes the knapsack and reaches in, pulling the squid free. He's being rather gentle, holding his fingers still and letting the stuffed animal pull itself out through the tentacles wrapped about his hand. It's biting him, but its beak can't hurt him. "Hmm. Teeth necklace... Maybe decorative? Might sell, though not fer much. Most valuable t' the guy who collected it, methinks. This stone wi' a hole, it be someone's lucky charm. Sailors be superstitious louts, an' this dagger say it be a sailor's bag. Brass don't rust, see. More practical for those at sea than iron or steel. Pocketwatch be valuable, it stands out. It didn't originally belong to the same person as the rest o' this. Too nice- unless the bag belong to the cap'n. Bag's got coins in it, silver looks to be. Maybe tin or zinc. Not sure 'bout the glass."

[5a Violista]

[Lost Beach]

June looks around and spots the hallway downwards.

She groans.
Underwater swimming through hallways again? Luckily, Selekhael can breathe underwater, so it's not that bad.

She turns to her. "Hey, I'm going to swim down to see if there's an air pocket. If there isn't, you'll have to do it instead."
And!
Luckily!
She already has a lot of experience knowing how long she can swim (still not yet realizing she can swim better and breathe for longer).

She takes a deep breath and dives.



[Coast Crawling]

The mime starts driving back. But he drove away pretty far so it will take a while yet.

Labcoat lady shrugs, and says, "Why, I just wanted to help close some wounds out of the goodness of my heart."
In that case, Anchor, being a doctor, might want to examine the stitches more carefully because, although they look really well done, one or two of them look like they might have a chance of tearing if the tough guy exerts himself too much.
"Besides, we girls have to stick together, right?"

[bc56]

Lost Beach

"I'll, uh, just come with you." Selekhael dives down with June.
The hallway is lined with glass cases coated in muck. Most of them appear cracked, the machinery behind them rusted to nothing. It would take a while to search through all of them. At the very bottom of the hall is a stone door partly covered in rubble and sea life.

[5a Violista]

[Lost Beach]

Unfortunately, June is not a mermaid.
She can't just spend time searching whatever. Maybe on future trips, if there's nothing interesting, but she does need to breathe eventually.
So she just focuses on going down.

Once she reaches the stone door, she pushes off some of the rubble and uses the rubble to move away the sea life.

Then, she looks at Selekhael, gestures to get her attention, and then gestures 'I'm going to ascend'.

She pushes off the ground so that she can swim up the hallway faster, so that she can reach the surface and breathe again. Once up there, she now has a good estimate of how far down it is, and how much breath she thinks she has left. More than the last time in that dungeon temple puzzle! She must be getting better, she thinks.

After catching her breath again, she dives back down to see how much progress Selekhael has made.

[Vahnavoi]

[Forgotten Pirate Cove]

As Frigate goes through the belongings in the knapsack, it might find there's one object in there that wasn't present when the swordsman first opened, if it personally doesn't know that: somehow, a mask made of bone-like matter has ended up inside, one half black, the other white. The useless thing has no holes for eyes, mouth or nose, so it doesn't look very comfortable.

[Shadowcaller]

A NEW THREAD HAS RISEN FROM THE DEPTHS!