Seaside 5: Kinda like One Piece without the anime

[Shadowcaller]

Seaside 5

What is this place? Seaside is exactly what it sounds like, a sea.

Isn't there already a sea in Outside? There is an archipelago outside the cost of outside but Seaside is the ocean outside that coast.

So how can I get here? Seaside is actually more connected to the rest of the nexus than one might think. From the ocean you could reach HALO, Inside, Outside, Riverside, Random Places, The Hunting Grounds and other locations you can justify being near the sea. There are boats and planes going to every major island in the ocean so a PC can easily get to Seaside from any of those locations as well.

But what can I do here exactly? Seaside is made for sea-based plots take take place under or on the sea. Riding pirates and vikings, giant sea monsters, sunken cities, great reefs, eldritch monsters, underwater exploration, volcano islands with cannibalistic tribes and epic battles both under, on and/or above water.

Seaside is a vast ocean which links many of the major cities within the Nexus as nearly all rivers eventually end up here somehow. You can probably find a lot of the garbage and filth from the cities washed out here near the coast. But the majority of the ocean is clean, far from the city centers of inside and riverside.

Seaside have it's own cities instead both above and underneath water populated by all manners of underwater creatures who can't live above land or too far away from the water. Here you also find sailors, pirates, submarine crews, vikings and other air breathers that are associated with the sea.
The environment these people live in can be from tropical coral reefs and sharks to frozen seas and ice bears. While I maintain a number of locations in seaside (see the list below) anyone can feel free to make up what exactly exist in Seaside as long it's primarly connected to the sea. For more land bound adventurers there is Outside and if it doesn't fit there either Srs or Silly plots might be what you're looking for.

Plot Locations in Seaside maintained by Shadowcaller (message me if you want interaction there)

Spoiler: The Crystal Pinnacle

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Upon this mighty glacier stood a enormous demonic fortress from where they raided large parts of seaside. However, now little if nothing remains of the fortress or indeed much of the glacier as it was hit not only once but twice by goblin-made nukes. Instead, it has been reduced to a frozen wasteland filled with radiation. In the center are the two craters left behind by the nukes which have been filled by water and floating sheets of ice. While the water have mostly protected the wildlife from the radiation there are rumors of mutated demons still guarding the treasures they had stolen from the many places they destroyed. Exploration of the pinnacle should for this reason be considered very dangerous.

Spoiler: Galespire

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Over the sea of storms towers the spires of the rather aptly named city of Galespire. A symbol of arrogance some would say as it's location would be completely uninhabitable if not for the large force walls protecting it from the extremely violent storms that build up nearly every day. But it was not the arrogance of man that had built this place, it was the ethereals, energy beings from a world far from the nexus. With a reputation of traders they had apparently thought the nexus being important enough to set up an entire city here, though who they had done so on an island in the middle of seaside is anyone's guess. The city's trademark is its many bridges and floating spires reaching up to the sky. The majority of the city is in fact flying above ground with only teleportation being able to take a person in-between the different sections of the city.

Under the protection of the force walls other beings have decided to settle down here, building up a form of undercity out of shackles and huts nearby providing a sharp contrast to the advanced Galespire. While these settlers now live under the ethereal collectives laws they are not allowed to share their technology which is held from other beings by ethereal law.

Spoiler: Bayside

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A buzzing port city not too far from Galespire and one of their most important trading partners. Generally you can't go to Galespire without passing Bayside first as only they have the captains crazy and skillful enough to sail into the sea of storms. The city have under it's long existence been claimed by a good number of different pirates and warlords which still somehow hasn't effected it's trade. The citizens of Bayside simply don't care who they're ruled and have learned to adapt to even the harshest of systems rather than trying to resist whatever new warlord that's parading into town.

That said, the current ruler is Don Juliano Karnago, an upstart goblin pirate that raids both the sea and the air with his fleet of ships and airplanes.
He has adapted Bayside to not only accommodate ships but airplanes as well with a primitive airport build in the middle of the jungle that his air pirates use as a base. Anyone else is welcome to land however, as long as they're willing to pay a very reasonable fee.

Spoiler: Ithki-Ithki Isles

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Spread across an archipelago of smaller islands is the home nation of the seaside goblins. While their technology isn't as advanced as the ethereals they have far better living conditions than the rest seaside and even have their own navy protecting them from slavers. But it hasn't been needed in many years as the goblins have a 'understanding' with most slavers and pirates operating out here and is even rumored to partially practice slavery themselves. Nothing official however. The goblins have advanced enough technology that slavery shouldn't even be needed after all, still the rumors persist thanks to the high number of goblin crime lords that have spread across the nexus. From the infamous KABAL in skyside to Don Juliano Karnago, ruler of Bayside, who both originated from Ithki-Ithki isles.

Spoiler: The Sea of Storms

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The Sea of Storms is very appropriately named, as the violent, ship-ending, storms here are nearly constant. Countless of ships, both air- and seabased have sunk here, creating the so-called ship graveyard that is rumored to be in the very center of the sea, a huge swirling whirlpool that pulls everything sunk here into it. The sea is quite obviously cursed, some say as a divine punishment for some long-forgotten civilizations sins, others by some angry sea entity, what is known however is that whoever braves these water is either a treasure hunter or a foolish landcrab. As a precaution, the ethereals have set up a warning system around the sea to warn those uneducated of the dangers that only they consider themselves powerful enough to brave.

Permanent player owned locations in Seaside (message the owner to interact with them)

Spoiler: Raptor Isle

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This lone island sits on its own surrounded on all sides by mildly turbulent waters. Contained within are a number of settlements from ninja villages and small towns to big cities rivaling Inside, separated by uninhabited areas where cow-sized monsters roam. The technology of the area tends towards the futuristic.

Most of the island's visitors are numans from a certain other world, whose occasional faulty portals drop them here. Some choose to stay, and those who choose to return home know they have a home away from home waiting for them in the Nexus.

(The above basically means that characters from Eagleverse first end up here.)

Run by: Meltdowner (aka Purple Eagle)

If you want a permanent location added to Seaside, PM me and it will be added to the list.

Previous Threads
Seaside 1
Seaside 2
Seaside 3
Seaside 4

[Shadowcaller]

Headed to the Blast Zone

It's a traction-town! A rather ungainly town propelled by four large feathered paddle-wheels, two on each side. The hull is made of aluminium, and there's two large funnels along the midline of the town. The prow is sharp, and has the town's name written on it- Beverly-in-Hull. The town is very large; there's probably space for several thousand inhabitants, though there's larger towns around (and larger cruise ships in reality...).

The highest point has a landing pad with two balloons on it, located just in front of the funnels. Under that is the town hall, where the navigators and the mayor direct Beverly-in-Hull's journeys and travel. Currently, it's headed to where the navigators saw a large explosion recently; they're hoping to find decent salvage, and possibly smaller towns that have also been attracted by the explosion.

[Operation Sea Slug]

Will looks between the gnoll and the demon.
That’s it? That’s the best he can do? He doesn’t seem that much younger than Will. He’s sure if he had been born a noble’s kid he could at least say what they’re important for. But he keeps that quiet. This is, in the end, TTN’s decision. But personally he feels like going off with other gnolls would be abandoning Sargera and the crew to whatever Lannereth’s demon steward is doing. He didn’t really like them a lot but they are legal employees...

Operation Seaslug

TTN just nods along for a moment with the Gnoll's words before shaking her head. "Those names mean nothing to me." She admits before looking at Will and tilting her head to the side towards the direction they'd last seen the lich. "Maybe we can convince her to send us back to Sargera and the others if we can get whatever's rattling in her head to connect for a few moments."

Festival of Bloodlust

"I have other matters on my mind than my attire, Warlock." Jezebel says before jerking her hand and shattering the chain that holds the imp bound. "Go back to your Mistress. You have said enough. Linger, and I won't bother to restrain myself any longer. Take the camera with you." She threatens, turning towards the Anex only if the Imp vanishes from her senses. "I would suggest your warlocks venture out and begin purging your quarters and city of Imps connected to the woman. I am aware of who she is, and she has resources that would put my own and your city's to shame from my understanding. If it is truly her, then I would be wary of those she's outright bought to serve her as well. That all said, if it is vengeance you seek, I can provide it but be neither easy nor quick. And for it, I will need to be sent back to what you call the Shadowlands." She reaches up, scratching the back of her neck where an unfamiliar patch of scales and feathers reside before frowning slightly. Without turning to look at her, Jezebel tries to talk to the warlock. "What would it take you to send me back to the Shadowlands?"

Headed to the Blast Zone==> The Crystal Pinnacle

Before the town even comes close to the blast zone they can see yet another explosion rip the sky apart. It's thankfully too far to actually hit them, being only a tiny cloud far in the distance, but two explosions in such a short time span at the same location is bound to raise a few eyebrows.
The location they're heading for isn't exactly hospitable even before the explosions took place. The further they go in this direction the colder it will get.
Soon enough they will find floating sheets of ice in the water and eventually entire icebergs that they will be forced to navigate through.
Crashing into an iceberg could spring a leak or get their entire floating town stuck in over -30 degrees celcius. But if they overcome these obstacles they are rewarded by quite a sight.

At first it appears just to be a open ocean filled with tiny sheets of ice that was hidden among all these icebergs. But as they come closer they can see actual land that was just hidden by a thin layer of water and all the ice sheets. It appears as if the ice that was covering this land have melted despite the cold.

Upon further inspection they can see small hills raising from the water like tiny islands. At the horizon even a naked mountain range can be seen without as much as a hint of snow covering it.
If they didn't notice the land in time their larger ships and boats might run aground as they will suddenly be touching land.

Operation Seaslug

The gnoll might be younger than they think. It's certainly hard to tell their exact age if you haven't met many of them. So far all the gnolls they've encountered have been adults so neither of them would have experience with gnolls younger than that.

Either way, he still hurries after them. "Um, everyone knows those names here though!" He sounds a tad confused as to why they weren't getting it!
"Pleaaase? They would pay you... and all that. Anything you want." Certainly a big promise from a little kid.

The lich did leave the library so they would have to leave through the front door which seems to be convinently nearby.

Festival of Bloodlust

The imp does what it's told without a word. It drops down, quickly flying up and grabs the camera before disappear with a small flash of light without as much as a sound.
"You think me a fool?" The Anex voice betrays no hesitation. "That's why they're here now. But who is she then? We've made a pact, demon... or whatever you are. You should tell me of anyone as I believe we're partners now."

"You're married?!" The eager warlock suddenly speaks up but is quickly shut down.
"That's enough. Know your place or I will cut out your tongue and feed it to the same monster you love so much, Adresil. They won't even know the difference between you and the most common of wretches." Not that the Anex needed to do much more than to look at the warlock to silence her. She quickly climbs down from the humans shoulders and falls in line with the other warlocks.

"Know this though." Her eyes seek out Jezebel's once more. "I'm a practical ruler. I do not seek vengence but I wish to know my enemies very well. For this reason I will learn everything there is to learn about the real you, Jezebel. We're not enemies yet, but in my experience it's best not to wait for that to happen. So see to it that I won't ever have to use that knowledge once I send you back. I will call upon you again so see to it that it will be for pleasant reasons."

[UncleWolf]

Festival of Bloodlust

Jezebel ignores the warlocks for a moment as she settles back down in her seat now that the Imp was of no concern. "Her name is Tellysandra and I would say she is most likely the most capable warlock of the Shadowlands as well as here. I have no small grasp on the workings of daemonology, but I would not have been able to accomplish anything like what was done today." She admits, shaking her head at herself. "Not only does she have almost unrivaled control over demonic entities, she has ties to powerful necromancers and Cuthun demons as well. It was because of her that I was almost mortally wounded in battle. Her wealth has made her nearly untouchable, and until I am able to figure out how far her influence is spread, I cannot move against her directly just yet lest I draw the ire of an entire city-state that is incredibly well armed."

"But of me? What is there to say?" She wonders, looking at her hand before clenching it into a fist. " I am Jezebel Tel'Vree of House Tel'Vree. I have seen worlds burn, untold millions die, and have a tendency to rip my enemies apart. If it is more personal information you seek, I am the youngest of four sisters and seem to have finally reached Daemonic Prince status like they already have." She pauses then, as if considering something before moving on. "I have a soon-to-be betrothed awaiting back home, as well as a son and daughter, but I have also a fair sized military force at my disposal as well as a hardened group of adventurers. The military force might not be considered elite by any means, but it houses daemons, daemonhosts, and a wide array of truly heavy and impressive weaponry as well as many sorcerers of my homeland." Without looking, she points a finger at Adresil. "And I imagine you're bursting with questions already."

[Rebonack]

[Marlick Bay]

Life is full of bad ideas.

It's how you learn and grow and get better at things!

...or get eaten by horrible ocean-themed zombies.

Deciding that more reality warping power is the best solution given the situation, Sekhmet fires a bolt of entropy at one of the zombies! It gets nailed right in the torso, its bloated, rubbery, blubbery flesh turning into dust where it's struck. The monster looks to be just barely hanging on, desperately trying to prevent itself from crumbling away into nothing. It appears as though it will survive the attack!

But then something very strange happens.

Between the locally warped time and the entropic blast, a rend in reality briefly manifests, disgorging a pew straight at the monster. The high velocity projectile slams into the zombie, causing it to burst in a shower of fine grey ash.

Huh.

So that's when and where the pew from earlier vanished off to.

The other two zombies are still closing the distance with Sekhmet.

Meanwhile!

It looks like it might be possible to remove the golden ring from the unconscious fish monster, but considering how deep it is set into the creature's chest this would be less 'just cut it off' and more 'extensive surgery'. It could be done, certainly, but it will take time. How much time do our heroes have to spare?

Meanwhile, down on the next level, the curtain is thrown back revealing-!

A chamber with a well in the center, the water a deep and absolute black. Considering the arcane designs etched into the stone it looks like some kind of ritual chamber? A pair of cultists in blue robes are cowering as far away from the curtain as they can manage.

"Please, don't kill us!" one of them pleads.
"We were forced to help! Everyone who denied the Saint was claimed by the call!" the other adds.

Hmm... what now?


[Geneva and Laz Finally Arrive at an Airship!]

Well.

This is a problem.

Geneva zips down to the ship and offloads Laz, who will no doubt be pretty happy about having a ship under her feet instead of the tentative footing of Geneva's psionic abilities. The problem here is pretty obvious. Demons gating in. This is why here inventions need to be mass produced faster! Thankfully she's got several with her.

A little metallic ball suddenly appears between her paws, which she gives a twist and then lobs into the middle of the gating constructs.

Aside from it unfolding to latch onto the ground, the orb doesn't do anything terribly obvious.

Though the demons trying to gate in will likely notice a change.

Attempts to gate in will likely be met with violent and catastrophic failure. That won't do much about the constructs that are already here, but it should prevent any more from showing up any time soon.

[Deathkeeper]

[Operation Sea Slug]

Will is mildly alarmed that Titania seemed to just read his mind but he doesn't want to show it right now.
He also doesn't know what he does want. Not really.
Once again he shakes his head.
"Not my call."
Besides, putting TTN into an arena would be yet another challenge where he would risk her life while doing absolutely nothing to help. And he's getting sick of doing that.

[Arkhosia]

Moonwell Battle: Lone Meow

Blanche doesn't look terribly thrilled about the various proverbial asterisks the goblin describes, but clambers into the unnervingly small vehicle all the same. "It'll have to make do," the catgirl responds with a nod, running another quick check of her weapon as the goblin presumably programs the autopilot. "Er, best of luck with your boss, in case this doesn't go swimmingly."

[5a Violista]

[Marlick Bay]
Meanwhile!

Zophiel got the spear back, right? If Anchor's holding it, that's fine, he won't try to get it back.

He looks at the cultists who were behind the curtain.

He opens his mouth.
He looks throughout the ritual chamber. There's a well...okay. That sort-of makes sense.
"I won't hurt you," he promises.

Since they haven't explored those other two doors in the previous room, and these unwilling cultists might be able to help them or show them around, Zophiel asks: "Do you know your way around here?" and "How do we stop the call?"

[Earl of Purple]

Headed to the Crystal Pinnacle

One of the advantages of the paddle-wheels on Beverly-in-Hull are that they are quite manoeuvrable, since they can reverse the two on one side to turn on the spot. As the weather gets colder and colder, the inhabitants dress up in furs and feather cloaks. The traders in their air-balloons leave long before then, seeking other trading opportunities.

The shallow water past the icebergs proves much trickier to deal with, however. They'll grind ashore and get beached, and then the community immediately panics. They have to get Beverly-in-Hull free, and fast; they're stuck, and unable to escape if a beach-combing scavenger-suburb turns up, or a semi-aquatic predator-raft.

[bc56]

Marlick Bay

Well that was odd. Sekhmet does not want to be caught by the fish zombies, so the sudden pew is still a welcome diversion. She takes aim at the next zombie, this time reaching out with her newfound sense of time and trying to do to it what she did to the furniture earlier, to tear it apart and fling the pieces forward in time.

[Shadowcaller]

Headed to the Crystal Pinnacle

It's unlikely pirates would search for targets up here in this frozen wasteland as few if anyone travels up here or even pass it by while on a trade route. The icebergs, the cold and the demons made everyone keep out of this place. Even now with the demons gone that's unlikely to change in quite a while unless the explosions have drawn others here.

Even so, there are other concerns the people now trapped up here might have. Namely, the ground that they just run aground into is heavily radiated. The good news is that water heavily supresses radiation but the hull of the boat does not. So the question is if they have a giger counter on board or some other form of radiation detection.

Festival of Bloodlust

The Anex does comment on any of this. Just staying quiet, listening.
Once Jezebel finally finishes and Adresil opens her mouth, the Anex have already raised her hand to silence her. "I have but one request then. You and your betrothed are invited to my palace for dinner in two months from now. My request is that you use that time to consider the proposal. Since even though the dinner is in two months I need your answer in two weeks. If that's clear I will ask you to bid the crowd farewell and then I will have the warlocks return you from whence you came for now."

[UncleWolf]

Operation Seaslug

"That doesn't tell us anything, kid." TTN explains, sounding perhaps slightly more harsh than she means to. "We aren't from around here after all." She adds, heading towards the front door to open it up for Will.

Festival of Bloodlust

"I will give you my answer now if you'd like." Jezebel says, getting to her feet before bowing to the Anex halfway. "We would be honored to join you." She says, entirely sincere. When she straightens up, she reaches to her wing and plucks three feathers. When she runs them through her fingers, they change colors. One turns blood red, one is bright blue, and the last is a sickly olive green. "And a final gift, a sign of trust." She adds, offering the feathers to her host, leaning in to whisper so only she can hear. "Should you require them, my Sisters will answer a Call. Bellan of the Left Hand, violent beyond belief. The Bilemother, harbinger of disease and plague. And finally, Vritaxx the Tomekeeper. They'll fulfill a single request in my name for you."

[Earl of Purple]

Headed to the Crystal Pinnacle

Alas, the community of Beverly-in-Hull don't have any gieger counters. Nuclear power is a rare, dangerous and mostly forgotten form of Old Tech that these people don't know about. So they're probably picking up far too much radiation as they push the engines into reverse, turning the wheels as fast as they can to pull Beverly-in-Hull away from the sandbank as the prow of the vessel opens up (the prow is a set of hydraulic jaws, designed to eat smaller ships by pulling them into the warehouses, engine rooms and scrapyards of the Gut) and engineers disembark, unloading spare engine parts, steel drums filled with fish oil or potable water, small boats, sacks of salt, and even part of the town's plumbing, sewerage and hydroponics systems.

[Lord Magtok]

Geneva and Laz in Moonwell Mayhem

Spoiler

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Geneva and Laz in Moonwell Mayhem

As the two are approaching the airship they can see one of the adventurers, an lizardman dressed in camoflague gear, waving to get their attention as the rest are attempting to fight off the now steady stream of black fiends that are gating onboard the ship. A total of three, with one still falling off the ship with the mad woman, have appeared and are slashing through everything with little the VIGIL members are doing capable of causing any lasting harm.

Magic grease doesn't seem to cause them to tumble with how they have magically teathered themselves to the ship an even a mighty fireball igniting the grease isn't doing as much as a scratch. Whacking their joints with magical weapons seems to be slowing them down but not much more and even doing that have cost two adventurers their lives.

The falcon have turned into a bear and is fighting the third fiend in the air while the mad woman in it's grip still laughs.

There is a single bat demon that's still near the skyship. It's much larger than the other bats and seems to have been feasting on it's own kind. Still chewing on large chunks of bat demon as it cirkles the ship.

There is a small group of bat demons that have retreated from the fight and are heading towards the moon well. Two raven demons are still following Geneva and Laz from a distance. They don't seem to want to engage them and are more focused on tailing them than anything else. Trying to simply dodge anything Geneva throws at them, including Laz.

Laz sighs in exasperation, getting tired of this midair dance, where the bats and birds keep coming and nothing they do seems to be putting a sizable dent in the demonic tide. They're on a timer here; how much longer can they stick with this one trick before it gets everyone killed?

"Screw it, this isn't working and I'm tired of playing to their expectations. Geneva, throw me at their ship and just leave me there. They're just using these bats and birds to distract us; let me go at their ship on my own and they'll be pulling attackers away from ours in no time."

[Shadowcaller]

Geneva and Laz in Moonwell Mayhem

To summarize, these are the demons that Geneva and Laz can still see:

Four bat demons which are retreating back towards the moon well.

Two vulture demons that are still following them from a distance.

Two pit fiends onboard the deck of the VIGIL skyship.

One pit fiend landing in the waters below with a splash while still struggling with a huge bear and what appears to be tendrils made of shadow.

One giant bat is following the retreating ones back to the moon well. It doesn't seem to have the best intentions in mind for it's fellow kind however.

"Hey! Hey!" The lizardman that they saw waving to them earlier calls out, holding his hat tighly against his scaley head as Geneva touches down as if expecting the psychic ball Laz inside to create strong winds. "Good job and all that, but I got information." He gestures out towards the purple light above the moon well. "Seen that light show before, I think they're making a lich."
"Jocchan!" A dwarf with flaming hair shouts out as she's blocking one of the fiends blades with her shield.
"Er, had to tell the flying team something!" He shouts back before giving the two a quick tip of the hat and turning to fire his rifle twice at the fiends eyes.

Geneva's telportation blocker activates though there are no obvious effects yet. Which might be a good thing in this case.

Moonwell Battle: Lone Meow

Things are programmed! "We can't do **** from here, but it looks like your people in the sky are taking care of things anyway." The goblin gestures upwards at the distinct lack of demons. While there are a few still around most of them seem to have been cut down by Geneva and Laz.

He slaps the side of the helicopter. "But it should do for now. Just don't try to move too much, like leaning out the window. It might throw it off course."
Backing away, picks up the keyboard-like device he's been using to program the helicopter with and presses a button at its side and with that the rotor blades starts moving.

It doesn't take long before they pick up speed and the helicopter leaves the little helipad it has been standing on. Up in the air the catgirl goes, moving straight towards the VIGIL airship.
However, there are two things she might take note off while in the air:

1. There is an all too familiar bear-shape underneath the surface of the sea below some distance away. An bear-shape which suddenly becomes a shark-shape as it seems to be struggling with another shape underneath the water.

2. Of the demons that are still in the air, she can see that two of the raven-like ones are looking her way. This helicopter isn't exactly silent.

[Laughing Awen in The Moonwell of Madness]

As soon as it hits the water, the fiend starts to sink. Whatever magic animating the construct is apparently not reducing what must be its enormous weight.
The hands will have a hard time pulling it down faster into the depths than its body already is.

But what of the bear that came to her rescue? Awen can't see it anywhere.
That's when her feet are being booped by something huge. Had the fiend somehow managed to raise itself from the depths?
No, it's just an enormous white shark that's pushing her up to the surface with its head. That's a relief.

Festival of Bloodlust

The Anex doesn't touch the feathers, instead Adresil comes up to accept them without a word as they're offered. She bows deeply before Jezebel and then backs off again.
"I see." The gnoll ruler remarks with a curt nod. "That's acceptable. I won't waste any more of your time with procedures then. The crowd will want to see you before the tournament is over though to hand over the grand prize to the winner however. But that's another concern I won't bother with you right away. Just keep it in mind once you're home."

She gestures at her warlocks. "Now return her from wherever she came."

"At once your highness!" Adresil quickly bows once more and gestures for Jezebel. "If you would follow me..."
The Anex returns to her seat and once Jezebel is gone the curtains will be opened and the ruler ressume her watch of the bloodsports taking place before her...

Headed to the Crystal Pinnacle

As the crews start to get working on freeing their ship they might bump into objects laying buried in the earth that appears to be of an artificial nature.
A closer look will reveal that they're metal vehicles that might remind whoever is bumping into them of hoovercrafts if they've seen any. But these ones don't have any room for any operators. They seem to have been made to be completely unmanned.

But the crafts are as radiated as everything else here. Right now only those standing on the radiated earth underneath the water and the people near the part where the hull ran aground are in danger of it but if they bring these artifacts onboard they could risk exposing everyone onboard.

[Operation Sea Slug]

The gnoll turns around without as much as a word, looking completely dejected.
Opening the front door they can see that the library is in the middle of a large seaside city. It's sorrunded by a tall black fence and a green well-maintained lawn. But they don't have to look far to see that most of the city isn't nearly as neat. There are tall chimneys crowding the horizon and clouding it with thick black smoke.
Just outside the fence they can see two human beggers trying to plead for money by a disgusted-looking woman and a girl passing them by. She is quick to pull the girl close to her and nearly break into a sprint to get away.
By the gate stands a lone gnoll guard that are giving the two a curious expression. The gate isn't closed so they could simply walk by but they have no idea where their lich friend went.

[Deathkeeper]

[Operation Sea Slug]

”When we find Lannereth we should ask her if she would be interested in loaning our one of her demons to get an in with the modern nobility.” Will suggests to TTN. He feels terrible about it but he stands by his decision to let Titania make her own choices about what to risk her life for.
”Think we should ask around for who’s seen her?”

[Earl of Purple]

Headed to the Crystal Pinnacle

The hovercraft are noticed, but getting the town seaworthy and floating again is top priority. By the time it's managed, the engineers who were unloading the Gut are starting to feel ill. They're taken to the medbay, as other engineers retrieve the most important things they unloaded- water, hydroponics and engine parts. That all comes to a stop when one of the medics recognises the symptoms as blastglass poisoning. No blastglass here, but... they may have accidentally strayed to the Dead Continent. The water and hydroponics are abandoned, swapping to the fish oil (fuel) and engine parts. They'll grab one of the hovercraft, too; they think it's an Old Tech device. They'll put it deep in the Gut and surround it with spare deck plating. Hopefully that'll block most of the toxic emanations it's emitting. If it's emitting any; they don't have any real way of detecting it, so it might not work. They're working on old superstition, misunderstood technical knowledge for devices that don't exist any more and one nurse who read an account of an archaeologist's account to Dead America.

Marlick Bay

Well, that's unfortunate. No whirly golden gizmo for Benedict, it seems. He'll limit himself to slitting the monster's throat and head into the chapel proper. He looks the cultists over. "If you were forced to participate, you won't mind removing your robes. They are a symbol of your submission to the Saint, after all." And they'll let Benedict make sure they don't have any tell-tale mutations.

[5a Violista]

[Laughing Awen in The Moonwell of Madness]

Once Awen reaches the surface - thanks to that shark - Awen coughs to get any water possible out of her mouth.

She tries to get her breathing under control - even though it's incredibly irregular - and keep herself afloat. There's a friendly shark, the fiend construct is sinking, and...the bear? Where's that bear...

She looks around. "W-where'd that flying...ha...flying bear go?" she says, looking for it. She looks down at the water. "Did it get dragged down too?" If she can find the bear before it gets too deep, maybe she could...maybe she could...

[Rebonack]

[Geneva and Laz in Lichbusting Adventures!]

~A what?~ Geneva sends back telepathically. ~What's a lich?~

Obviously it must be something bad, but it isn't a term she's familiar with. Does that mean they should head for the moonwell? Or help secure the airship? They could probably still go with their plan to crash the demon's airship into the moonwell. That might still work, right? Best to stick with the plan rather than altering it on the fly.

~Alright Miss Lazarus, I'm going to launch you to the other ship. I'll join you once the fiends here are taken care of,~ she adds.

And then?

She's going to whip that telekinetic bubble around like an athlete winding up for a hammer toss before flinging Laz and her psychic shield off toward the demon's ship! The shield will detonate violently upon impact, likely shredding anyone near Laz's landing point while leaving the ghoul unharmed.

That done, she turns her attention to those nasty pit fiends and begins charging up a ball of deep azure aura between her little paws. Little paws that begin bulking up into bigger paws as she grows larger, her fur turning white and spiky in places as if she were wearing a shirt over her pinkish fuzz. A red band of fur wraps around her head, long tassels whipping at the back as the orb of pure FIGHTING SPIRIT pulses with raw power.

With a fearsome cry of ~AURA SPHERE!~ she lobs the spirit bomb toward one of the pit fiends, the sizzling through the air toward them like a guided missile!

[Recaiden]

Anchor trains a gun on one of the cultists. If they do anything other than answer questions, volunteer information, or obey Benedict, she'll shoot them right away.
"Who else is down here - the priest?"

[Arkhosia]

Moonwell: Meowverick

"Wait, don't lean out?" Yikes, this thing really wasn't built for her occupancy. It's not the most reassuring thing to know about your transport across the water, especially when you're wearing 15 pounds of light ceramic plating.

Regardless of how brisk the copter's pace may be, Blanche can't help but feel an almost agonizing slowness as she assesses what she can. The boarding party is looking like a distressingly rough fight, and she can't tell just what Anika's entangled with. Not that she could do much to help from up here, even if she could; the water would slow her shots down quite a bit, and between the refraction and any melee, there's no way she wouldn't be risking hitting Anika.

Blanche doesn't get to at least watch and make sure her friend is safe, though, her attention swiftly diverted as she catches the motion of a demonic raven from the corner of her eye. Great, being attacked is the last thing she needs in this thing. Moving to size them up in her sights, Blanche will prepare to fire if they do show intent of pursuing.

[Lord Magtok]

Geneva and Laz in Lichbusting Adventures!

"A lich is a wizard undead. Their whole thing is telling other undead what to do, so-" Saint Lazarus stops, looks around her, and realizes Geneva is nowhere in sight. In fact, there's just a lot of open air out here, almost as if she were being telekinetically fired like a rocket at the enemy vessel, which she should be crashing into in five, four, three, two-

[Rebonack]

[Marlick Bay]

Sekhmet reaches toward one of the zombies, causing reality to warp and buckle around the being until it shatters with the sound of a beautiful, majestic creature being violently strangled to death. The awful thing tumbles off into the void and vanishes from sight.

Well.

That's two down, right?

There's still one more racing toward her. Within the next few seconds it will likely be in pouncing range.

What's next, Sekhmet?

Meanwhile!

The two cultists begin to hurriedly disrobe, revealing fairly normal villager's garb below. Clearly their sense of self preservation handily trumps whatever devotion they have to the Saint.

"We know the way around the shrine," one says.
"You can't stop the call! It isn't possible," the other insists.

It's questionable how true that is. Just murder whatever is making the call, right?

Interestingly enough, neither of the cultists have any of the ocean-themed mutations that others have had. Maybe they're newly inducted?

"The priestess is down here. And the high priest, too," one of the cultists replies. "They're probably down in the ritual chamber. Please don't kill us!"

[bc56]

Marlick Bay

One left. Sekhmet focuses and flings a bolt of flame at the zombie, giving the fabric of time a chance to recover from what she just put it through. She hopes that will be enough to stop it, and she'll still have to do something about their leader too.

[5a Violista]

[Marlick Bay]
Meanwhile!

"It is possible to stop, and we will stop it," Zophiel insists, feeling the need to correct that cultist. If they have evidence to the contrary, it's on them to bring it up.

So...
lacking mutations seems like a good sign.
Zophiel's shoes seem to be dried off enough to be able to walk well on the rock.
They know their way around, so that's also good.
"Yeah, lead us to the ritual chamber," he says.

[UncleWolf]

Operation Sea Slug

TTN stops just a short distance outside the door, hand still on it as she looks around. Her shoulders slump a bit and she sighs a little. "Think we made the right choice, Will?" She asks quietly, looking a bit over her shoulder back the way they had left the gnoll. "I'm not sure. Look around. We're in entirely unfamiliar grounds, a place that doesn't seem particularly welcoming, and I wouldn't be surprised if the bag of bones has already forgotten us. I'm not sure we'll get a better offer and we might have to make friends. I just want to get home, but I have no home to go to."

[Deathkeeper]

[Operation Sea Slug]

Will looks up at her sadly.
"I don't know, TTN. I got nowhere to go either. But I meant what I said. It's your life, and your call to make. We both know I don't really give you commands. If it helps, I don't think the Gnoll Reclamation League is going to get too mad about us helping gnoll nobility." he offers.

[UncleWolf]

Operation Seaslug

TTN takes a deep breath and sighs despite not truly even needing to breathe before nodding. "Very well. It'll get us coin as well, which we'll need no matter where we go. And, if I am honest, my sense of chivalry was grating against the choice to leave him, for better or worse." Titania seems to give a smile in her mandibles, giving a shrug of resignation and slight happiness at just being there to help. "I'll let you negotiate the finer things when the time comes. Deal?" She turns back over her shoulder, looking right at t where the gnoll had left. "Hey kid!" She shouts. "Still need help or are you going to mope?" She calls out.

[Earl of Purple]

Marlick Bay

"Have you tried to stop the call? Because we intend to try. If you behave yourselves, I see no reason not to let you go." That wouldn't normally stop Benedict, but he has company right now and unless he leaves no witnesses somebody is going to moan at him. And he doesn't think he could take on the other members of his band.

He'll follow Zophiel, making sure to put his feet only in places where one of the two prisoners has. If anyone sets off a trap, hopefully it won't be him.

[Recaiden]

"You'd better hope we can stop it. I mean, otherwise, well..."
Anchor will follow them to the ritual chamber, stepping behind Benedict and looking over her shoulder now and then.

[Shadowcaller]

Headed to the Crystal Pinnacle

The hovercraft are noticed, but getting the town seaworthy and floating again is top priority. By the time it's managed, the engineers who were unloading the Gut are starting to feel ill. They're taken to the medbay, as other engineers retrieve the most important things they unloaded- water, hydroponics and engine parts. That all comes to a stop when one of the medics recognises the symptoms as blastglass poisoning. No blastglass here, but... they may have accidentally strayed to the Dead Continent. The water and hydroponics are abandoned, swapping to the fish oil (fuel) and engine parts. They'll grab one of the hovercraft, too; they think it's an Old Tech device. They'll put it deep in the Gut and surround it with spare deck plating. Hopefully that'll block most of the toxic emanations it's emitting. If it's emitting any; they don't have any real way of detecting it, so it might not work. They're working on old superstition, misunderstood technical knowledge for devices that don't exist any more and one nurse who read an account of an archaeologist's account to Dead America.

Headed to the Crystal Pinnacle

They can only hope the frames can contain the radiation. However, the hovercrafts would likely be extremely valuable to anyone that could repair it (and isn't bothered by the radiation). It's a military-grade blast drone with silver enhanced ammunition. Specificially made to fight demons (and other things that are weak to silver, lasers and bullets). Indeed, just it's parts would be worth quite a lot and there's hoovercrafts like these everywhere just half buried underneath the sand.
Once they managed to get unstuck there is nothing preventing them from leaving however if that's what they want to do. They could also continue searching for valuables but the radiation makes this particularly dangerous and there could be more than just it and cold hidden here.

[Operation Sea Slug]

Before they turn back to the library, they can see an omnious purple cloud forming above the city. People take notice but don't seem to know what to make of it. It isn't doing anything... yet.
Inside, they will find the gnoll not too far away from where they left him. "You will? Really?!" He exclaims, gasping loudly.

Geneva and Laz in Lichbusting Adventures!

-one.
Monster-mash!

That is, Laz is slammed head first into the hull of the demonic ship. Good thing she was shielded and wore that helmet or that impact would likely have made her into one of those stereotypical brainless zombies.

Geneva did manage to get her on top of the ship so she doesn't just slide off the ship like a toon character. Instead she finds herself laying on top of the ship in front of a gentle slope in its exterior which she just crashed into.
The ship is seemingly dormant, just omniously floating there next to the air-ship. There's no signs of weapons or magic being worked on the black cold surface. The only thing she can see is herself being reflected in the surface of whatever weird metal the ship was made up of.

Geneva Stands Floats Alone

The blast forces the fiend to back away. If it wasn't already clear to Geneva, these fiends were actually constructs. Black with eyes glowing an eerie blue. If Geneva have seen fiends before she would know that their eyes usually glow yellow, as does their magic.
"They're tough bastards. I think we need to force em' off the boat like Awen did." Dwarf-with-fire-hair remarks.
"I hope she's okay..."
"She'll be fine." The dwarf gestures at Geneva. "Pinky, throw some more of those balls at it, would ya'? Get em' off my ship!"
The rest of the adventurers are standing back, both making sure they're not in the way for Geneva's blasts and ready to defend her if the pit fiends would launch and counter attack. It looks like they're retreating however. Both of them backing towards the entrance to the lower decks, standing back to back with one another.

[Laughing Awen in The Moonwell of Madness]

No signs of any bears, flying or otherwise. Though as the friendly shark emerges next to her. It gives her a toothy grin and then in a flash of green light accompanied by a puff of green gas, there is now a tall purple woman in a bikini in it's place. "You okay?" As her amber eyes look at Awen closely she couldn't help but to notice one thing... "Oh ****! Don't tell me you're with the freaking 'snake-god', ****."

Moonwell: Meowverick

You'd think Blanche's fur is black since as she gazes upon the ravens, they gaze back.
Giving up on Geneva and Laz they both turn and starts to fly right towards Blanche in her microcopter.
The door of the copter can be opened mid-air and there is also a parachute pack right above Blanche that she could put on. However, abandoning the craft might not save her from the flying demons. She could lean out and shot at them but it would be risky considering how unstable the craft apparently was.