2018-11-29: Deckhands and Dungeons

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  • Log: Deckhands and Dungeons
  • Cast: Jean, Seraph Lanval, Ashton Anchors, Layna Manydays, Ines Colina
  • Where: Ships' Graveyard
  • Date: 2018-11-27
  • Summary: A group of Drifters venture to the Ships' Graveyard just prior to the Battle of the Phosophere, looking for something that might tip the scales.

============================<* Ships' Graveyard *>============================

Over the past two years, ships headed toward the Elru continent through the Narrow Sea have died - without exception and without mercy. The wrecks of the vessels have drifted with the tides and slowly merged over time, forming an unstable artificial reef some distance off Elru's coastline.

Desperate Drifters and other Adventurers can attempt to plumb the graveyard in search of the ships' cargoes, but the environment itself is dangerously unstable...and some sailors say that the unhallowed dead still sail the ships they died upon.

BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pih88NDEw1M
DC: Jean switches forms to Shadow Dancer Jean!
DG: A party led by Jean is now entering Ship Graveyard.
DG: Party formation is now over. An Entry Challenge will now be drawn and displayed to the party.
==============================<* Ship Graveyard *>==============================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - A Dangerous Approach *>=====================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The edge of the graveyard is a patchwork quilt of ruined, rotting vessels.    
 Most of them are wooden, but a handful are shod with metal, indicating more   
 recent--or, perhaps, more ancient--construction. Finding a place to           
 disembark will be difficult. Setting anchor is one option, but if the         
 graveyard drifts, then it might just drift away from your ship. Docking is    
 another option, but which of these wrecks is sturdy enough to do the job?     
=Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Jean has posed.

Far away from the chaos of the Photosphere, after a little interlude where the screen goes blurry... Memories remain. That's right, it's

                FLASHBACK TIME

Jean looks up ahead at the looming reef of broken ships thoughtfully, the bandana holding her hair back doing little to stop it from fluttering in the wind from her spot up on the rigging. She's dressed for sailing, naturally, and she seems somehow to thrive on it.

"Ghosts, huh?" Jean asks, shaking her head. "Do you think it's just stories...?"

Then she pauses, looks a little further. "We're here all right. Looks like we need a place to set down...

She frowns, thinking. "Hey, Layna! You can get us in that spot, right? The one with three together?"

For her part, Jean prepares to get down. ...But doesn't, yet.

As Jean stands in the rigging though, she brings a hand to the pin in her hair at the knot of her scarf, and focuses.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

        IN THE PRESENT
 
        Lanval's life is flashing before his eyes as he beholds something destructive. It kind of takes a while because he's lived over five-hundred years, but there's a recent one that sticks out for some reason or another.
 
        IN THE RECENT PAST
 
        Lanval's bottle is drifting in the dying ocean waves. This is a purposeful venture, because the Fox Company folks are looking for something and if it's something 'where all the shipwrecks collect,' so should Lanval's bottle. So he's sort of a beacon to them, mostly by yelling real loudly as the seas carry him.
        ...There's a really unsettling feeling for him, though, because of the way the oceans of Filgaia feel. These are water currents, sure, but they're kind of... just there. Not lively, not tossing and turning wildly, just there, like they're resigned to exist and are waiting to merely be still as the world's pulse begins to slow under Mohter.
        He's surprised he's taken anywhere at all, but soon enough, he leads the Ruby Empress towards this big ol' pile of shipwrecks. His bottle lines up against the hull of one ship with a 'tink,' taking him out of contemplation about just how dead the ocean is.
        ...
        "Mmmph." Lanval doesn't really do much to help, other than manifest himself onto the hull of one of those ships (somehow carrying his bottle in the process?) and just lay there, looking especially dry and kind of sad-looking.

DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, A Dangerous Approach.
<Pose Tracker> Ashton Anchors has posed.

Anchors away!
 
Wait, no, Anchors right here.
 
It'd be a lousy dig if he left already.
 
Well, he will leave in the future to do the Photosphere thing but he's here now.. here then... was... will... dang it.
 
WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE FAULT IN THE NARRATION. THOSE RESPONSIBLE HAVE BEEN SACKED.
 
Ashton is not dressed for sailing. His dragons, however, are. Creepy seems just sour. Weepy is wearing a bright yellow rain bonnet and a fake beard so he looks surprisingly like the guy on the front of a Gorton's Fish Sticks box. (Despite that those do not exist here, the image is universal.)
 
He looks out over the wrecks with a frown. His purpose is not to help with the salvage or the navigation. He trusts in Layna, because she is a Woman of the Sea and knows what she's doing.
 
No, no, Ashton is here for an entirely different reason.
 
He wants to find out if he can stab a ghost.
 
"I hope that it is not merely a tall tale. If it is, the hours ahead will be little but inconvenient splinters and damp shoes."

DG: Ashton Anchors has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward his party's challenge, A Dangerous Approach.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

The Ship Graveyard - Layna had been here a few times, but she was always interested in going back. It was the way of the sea to be constantly changing, and similarly, the Graveyard was different each and every time.

The Ruby Empress, a massive ship hailing from Lunar with a gleaming red hull, approaches the conglomeration of wrecks with some guidance from Lanval, who was able to point out its current location. It tended to shift with the sea's currents, so having someone who was very much like the sea himself was helpful.

Layna, of course, is at the wheel. Ordinarily her navigator would be responsible, but he - along with a good portion of her crew - had been left behind in New Arctica to lend a hand in rebuilding.

She hears Jean call out and, with a nod, Layna draws out her telescope, focusing in on the location Jean called out. She looks it over and, with a nod, stows the telescope away once more.

"Aye, Jean! I think I can manage that!" She calls back, twisting the wheel. It might be a tight fit. It might be a better and safer idea to look for something a little sturdier, but Layna thinks she can do it.

She might also be showing off a little. She's sure the Empress can take it if reality ends up proving her wrong.

DG: Layna Manydays has used her Tool Captain's Telescope toward her party's challenge, A Dangerous Approach.
<Pose Tracker> Ines Colina has posed.


        Rumours of ghosts, shipwrecks and other terrible things were what led Ines to joining up with this particular voyage. Those rumours, combined with a nasty run in on another ghost ship all too recently made her all too suspicious of this Ships' Graveyard, and so she finds herself on the deck of the Ruby Empress again.

        Hopefully this time involves no terrible news or cackling wizard monsters.

        "Honestly, I wouldn't rule it out." Ines responds, as she readies herself to jump off the bridge and onto whichever wreck Layna gets them over to. Still, Ashton manages to draw a smirk from the beastwoman. "We could do a lot worse than that. Sometimes a few splinters is a pleasant change from what you can find in these placed.

        Not much to do now but wait for the ship to get in to position. Still, she keeps an eye out for any wreckage that might pop up from under the seas and screw up the approach.

DG: Ines Colina has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, A Dangerous Approach.


DG: Jean has used her Tool Bejeweled Hairpin toward her party's challenge, A Dangerous Approach.
==============================<* Ship Graveyard *>==============================
=====================<* CHALLENGE - A Dangerous Approach *>=====================
|Type: Entry       |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The edge of the graveyard is a patchwork quilt of ruined, rotting vessels.    
 Most of them are wooden, but a handful are shod with metal, indicating more   
 recent--or, perhaps, more ancient--construction. Finding a place to           
 disembark will be difficult. Setting anchor is one option, but if the         
 graveyard drifts, then it might just drift away from your ship. Docking is    
 another option, but which of these wrecks is sturdy enough to do the job?     
=Dungeon Conditions: Bad Luck=================================================
=========================<* Ship Graveyard - Round 1 *>=========================
=======================< Results - A Dangerous Approach >=======================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jean                                0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Bejeweled Hairpin                   2   Wits    Effects: Cleanse and Efficient
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ashton Anchors                      0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ines Colina                         0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Layna Manydays                      0 --(0)--> 0                   Pass
Captain's Telescope                 3   Wits    Effects: Fanfare              
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Lanval                       0 --(5)--> 5                   Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC                
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Jean                        0 --(20)--> 20                 Pass
Conditions: Bad Luck(2)
Effects: Cleanse
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Jean has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party
management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Jean has posed.

Things that are unpleasant: the rotting cargo that Lanval's botle bumps against on its way to tink. It's not... the worst thing in the world, but as Lanval just lays there looking dry, he will have to wipe it off. Old grains, mostly. More helpfully though, Ashton's dragons are great for morale. Weepy in particular looks great!

...Okay, being real about it, most of the actual work goes to the main sailors here, and between Jean's destination, Layna's deft, expert steering, and Ines's keen eye keeping them away from floating wreckage, they are there in position shortly.

Not a bad makeshift crew--and Ashton and Lanval will surely be vital in what comes.

Jean, for her part, steps forward and jumps down outright from the rigging, somersaulting through the air and landing gracefully on the deck of one ship over. "There might be something useful here other than ghosts. ...But I can't really rule it out either," she admits to Ines and Ashton both.

"...Knowing my luck, it's definitely ghosts..."

DG: Ines Colina has drawn a new Challenge.
==============================<* Ship Graveyard *>==============================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Fight The Current *>=======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 You've reached a dead end in the mass of flotsam. The only way forward is to  
 swim to the edge of another mass, about a hundred feet away. As soon as you   
 take to the water, another problem presents itself--there's an anomalous      
 undertow here, and if you don't fight it with everything you have, you could  
 be sucked beneath the waves. Alternately, you might be able to break off a    
 piece of flotsam to use as a raft, but that has its own hazards...            
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Exhaust==========================================
<Pose Tracker> Ines Colina has posed.


        Hooray for not crashing and sinking! "I guess there's nothing for it but to head in and find out." The beastwoman says, as she leaps somewhat less gracefully than Jean onto the other deck. There's some slight creaking under her weight, but nothing collapses yet. Still, it serves as a useful warning for everyone to be careful of their footing. "Alright, let's see if we can make it through here." And for the moment, Ines takes point if no one else stops her.

        After several twists and turns through the wreckage and flotsam, the ground- for want of a better word- simply runs out, and the makeshift crew are surrounded by water on all sides but the way back. "Looks like we're going to have to swim." Ines remarks, and slowly lowers herself into the water, instead of diving in enthusiastically. This turns out to be the better course of action, as she pulls herself back up when she notices the undertow. There's a grimace on the beastwoman's face. "...That's fierce." She mutters, looking around at the group. "I wouldn't recommend diving in casually." Of course, for herself, well, shark's gotta swim. Immediately after giving her advice, Ines stops to pull off her boots, revealing her somewhat flipper like feet, and loops the boots around one shoulder by the laces, to try and keep from losing them.

        And then she takes to the sea, making a straight line for the next island of wreckage.

DG: Ines Colina has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Fight The Current.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

        Lanval spends some time lazing about. He might need to be urged along. He may or may not be disturbed by the rotted, sour grans. (...Let's not speculate.) He has a distant look on his face. With his eyes being closed, that's hard to believe, but it's true. It's a look Lanval can manage! Distant with eyes closed! Then he plops intothe drink and drifts along after them, as Ines takes point to guide them through the next sunken wreck he can collect himself at.
        The shark woman passes by him. He's not sure if she can see him. The untertow violently yanks him around, and yet, the Water Seraph - technically in his own element - is nonplussed as he seems to go along with it. Where is it coming from? These oceans have so little life to them. At this point it's more morbid curiosity as to what could possibly be creating such a huge undertow.
        He'll catch up eventually, or maybe even accidentally if someone snags him somehow.

DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Fight The Current.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

Layna doesn't step off the ship right away - instead, she stays behind for a brief moment to give some orders to the skeleton crew staying behind(don't worry, they aren't literally skeletons...or are they??) before rejoining the others a little ways ahead.

She follows after them quickly, being just fine to let Ines lead the way. Eventually, they find themselves at what appears to be a dead end with the water being the only way forward. Layna eyes it suspiciously, and her suspicions are confirmed when Ines re-emerges, warning of the undertow.

"That bad, eye...?" Layna mutters with a frown. She's confident in her swimming ability, but she knew better than to underestimate that pull.

She casts her eyes about, looking for something up above them. Something catches her eye, and with a grin and a quick incantation she sweeps her arm out quickly. A blade of wind flies up, cutting off a part of a ship looming above them, sending it falling down into the water below. She takes an experimental step onto it with a single foot, then with a grin boards it completely.

"Alright! To those of you who ain't confident in your swimmin' - or just don't want to - climb aboard!" Layna calls out. She draws out something from her coat - it appears to be an ARM of some kind, taking the form of a drill. She makes a few adjustments to it...and then kneels down, placing it in the water.

Looks like she's made it into a makeshift propellor. That should speed things up.

Lanval, meanwhile, goes his own way. Layna doesn't worry about him - he's literally in his element in here.

DG: Layna Manydays has used her Tool Arm-Mounted Drill toward her party's challenge, Fight The Current.
<Pose Tracker> Ashton Anchors has posed.

Heavily, Ashton sighs. Partially because he is rather heavy. Even if he were to strip down and leave everything behind, he's carrying an extra five or six stone in dragon on his back.
 
Briefly, he experiments. Weepy leans up over his shoulder and blasts a wave of chill frostbreath at the water. A thin layer of ice forms across the top and.... completely fails to be thick enough to hold any weight.
 
For a moment, he considers disrobing (literally). But... a frown. Ashton's not too eager to show more dragon than he has to. It's rude and a bit of a sensitive point for him.
 
Deeply, Ashton sighs again. "Well. I'm going to be wet anyhow." Stepping forward, he simply drops into the water and struggles to swim forward. Grabbing a nearby piece of driftwood, he prepares for a difficult swim.
 
Aaaand then he looks over to Layna's call, sees her makeshift boat and sighs -again-.
 
Slowly, Ashton paddles back over to the boat. Before he clammors aboard, however? He does grab that floating bottle. Ashton remembers it from last time - and doesn't believe in coincidence.

DG: Ashton Anchors has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Fight The Current.
<Pose Tracker> Jean has posed.

Jean doesn't stop Ines from leading the way; she just ends up falling to the back, to watch out for everyone. And so, they walk, and walk, and walk... and that's about all there is. Jean looks around, and shrugs. "I guess..."

In better circumstances a nice swim would be no problem, of course. But it's not the best chance. When Ines mentions the issue though--

"Good to know." For her part at least, Jean is dressed for water, and she doesn't wait for the boat. "It's hot out here under the sun anyway. But... Hey, can you hang onto this?" Jean offers her <inventory> to Layna for now and then grins. "See you on the other side!"

She slips into the water--and takes off. At least strength isn't much issue for her.

DG: Jean has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Fight The Current.
==============================<* Ship Graveyard *>==============================
======================<* CHALLENGE - Fight The Current *>=======================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 You've reached a dead end in the mass of flotsam. The only way forward is to  
 swim to the edge of another mass, about a hundred feet away. As soon as you   
 take to the water, another problem presents itself--there's an anomalous      
 undertow here, and if you don't fight it with everything you have, you could  
 be sucked beneath the waves. Alternately, you might be able to break off a    
 piece of flotsam to use as a raft, but that has its own hazards...            
=Dungeon Conditions: Weaken, Exhaust==========================================
=========================<* Ship Graveyard - Round 2 *>=========================
========================< Results - Fight The Current >=========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jean                                0 --(30)--> 30                 Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ashton Anchors                      0 --(30)--> 30                 Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ines Colina                         0 --(30)--> 30                 Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Layna Manydays                      0 --(15)--> 15                 Pass
Arm-Mounted Drill                   3   Brute   Effects: Fanfare              
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Lanval                       5 --(30)--> 35                 Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Jean                        20 --(10)--> 30                Fail
Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Weaken(2)
Effects: 
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: The party led by Jean has failed this challenge! The party gained 10 exploration! If anyone needs to use party
management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Ines Colina has posed.


        The peril of the ocean lies in underestimating it, as most people here learn the hardway. The undertow drags anyone who hit the water underneath, suddenly and brutally. It goes from a tough swim to a sudden, desperate swim for survival. Ines, Jean and Lanval are all pulled in different directions, tossed aside by the rip current, and the loss of a sense of which way is up makes it even harder to resurface. Ashton doesn't even quite make it back to Layna's boat after setting foot in the water, getting dragged around before he can make a desperate reach to the edgeof the make shift raft. Layna has the easiest time of the group, but still not easy. The raft has to fight the current to get to the next 'island', and controlling is difficult.

        Eventually, everyone manages to surface, with extreme difficulty, pulling themselves onto the makeshift land. Even with her gills, Ines has to catch her breath upon heaving herself onto the land. Her boots are, naturally, lost to the sea. Better them than her. She looks around, trying to see who else has made it. "Bloody hell," she eventually manages, "is everyone alive?"

DG: Seraph Lanval has drawn a new Challenge.
==================================================<* Ship Graveyard *>==================================================
========================================<* CHALLENGE - An Ominous Save Parrot *>========================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
 A colorful bird perches in the rigging overhead. It looks like the parrots    
 used by some branches of the Memory Service, and as soon as it notices you,   
 it takes flight, perching on a nearby railing. It looks at you, an            
 unsettling gleam in its eye as it starts to recite disjointed fragments of    
 travelers' stories. Or maybe poetry? It's not entirely clear. Nevertheless,   
 there might be something useful in there, if you can make sense of it.        
=Dungeon Conditions: Reckless, Secret=========================================
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

        Further and further bodies swirl... no! They still have breath. There will be much coughing and gagging but they're not all waterlogged ghosts yet. Only most of them aren't. One of them kind of already was to begin with, so...
        ...While one mulls over semantics, the waters grow calm. They're surrounded on all sides by flotsam and other wreckage. There's really no other way to go than up. Up, and over, onto wherever the collected graveyard of ships leads among the makeshift platforms and walkways, but then there's a colorful splotch just ahead on the rigging above.
        One of those Memory Service parrots.
        "hex," it goes. "hex hex h e x h e x h_ e_ x_" It grows more distant. It makes splashing noises with its throat between hexes, as it turns down and looks at the bunch of them. It cocks its head maybe a liiiiiiiittle further than parrots already can. Could just be the near-drowning experience talking.
        "It is the ^Many Mainders^ of the ^Liquid Sight^..."
        Lanval surfaces, wearing dumb beer lens novelty glasses, where the bottoms of these bottles were extra-swirly. They look stupid. If this is supposed to be a serious cutscene, it is totally ruined.
        "Ha ha ha!! Heeeeey, the bird'sh shayin' funny thingsh... wooooooowwwww...." Lanval just laughs along, as if to get his mind off of the weird undertow experience.
        "hex"

DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Amber Tinted Glasses toward his party's challenge, An Ominous Save Parrot.
<Pose Tracker> Jean has posed.

Cold and soaked through, Jean eventually finds her way up. Her long training does a lot to help her through it, and she ends up on as close to land as they're likely to get out of this. "Sure," Jean says. "Go for a swim. Why not?" Jean shakes out her hands, stretches to help get some warmth into her chilled muscles, though not too much all at once.

But as she stands, she sees something bright, colorful... And hears its odd, odd words. Jean slowly tilts her head.

"What?" she asks, and she is not precisely asking what it said.

She glances at Lanval, glances back to the bird. "Yeah, uh..." Jean pulls the pin from her hair, rubbing a thumb along the enchanted gem, always set to offer a little calm. And then she steps forward, and moves for the rigging.

"Honestly, this is probably for the best..."

DG: Jean has used her Tool Bejeweled Hairpin toward her party's challenge, An Ominous Save Parrot.
<Pose Tracker> Ashton Anchors has posed.

Ashton is alive on the other side of the swim. He is, however, soaked to the bone and not immediately answering Ines. This is because he's arguing with his dragons.
 
"No, I -know- you don't like getting wet!" The damp swordsman is practically yelling at the red Creepy, who in turn is simply staring at him meaningfully. Whatever is being said back isn't audibe. "I don't like it either! And I-- No, I did not do that on purpose! I got water up my nose too!"
 
Weepy, the blue, maneuvers around to put his two cents in. It looks like there's just about to be a loud (and one-sided) argument between the three when the parrot shows up. This drags all three's attention away.
 
For a long moment there's silence. Ashton trembles a little.
 
Those who know him well are certainly familiar with his luck and opinion of said luck. Namely, that Ashton believes that he is perpetually cursed with terrible luck and the world around him seems to support that. So when a parrot shows up screeching the word hex over and over? He reacts... poorly.
 
"AAAAAAAAH!" Ashton himself points at the bird, having a brief freak-out. "IT'S A PIRATE CURSE!" The two dragons respond to what must be a panicked command from their other third - and both immediately open blasting dragonbreath at the thing.
 
No, Lanval, this does not appear to be a serious cutscene.

DG: Ashton Anchors has used his Tool Dragon Assistance toward his party's challenge, An Ominous Save Parrot.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

"Aye, lass." Layna says with a nod and a grin toward Jean, accepting her request and storing her things away safely. Layna might be a pirate, but she was a trustworthy one - Jean's things were safe with her.

Layna manages to make it through, but it's not easy going. In the end, she and any passengers she might have finds themselves balancing on a strip of wood - the rest having been stripped away by the currents and the rest of the flotsam surrounding them.

"Sound off, me hearties! Who's still with us?" Layna asks, stepping onto dry(well, okay, solid) land. She looks around, waiting to see if anyone else surfaces. Fortunately, everyone seems to be mostly alright.

...Mostly.

Before she can do much further, she sees...a colorful bird up ahead. Layna looks up at it. It looks back. And then it begins hexing up a storm.

Such fowl language...

Layna mostly just ends up staring and blinking.

"So, uh...what the hell?" She asks, massaging her forehead. She has no idea what to make of the babbling bird. She then looks over toward Ashton, and a malicious grin crosses her face.

"That's not a Pirate Curse, lad. This is a Pirate Curse."

And then she says something that must be omitted from this pose for the sake of general decency.

DG: Layna Manydays has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, An Ominous Save Parrot.
<Pose Tracker> Ines Colina has posed.


        Normally for Ines, the sight of a parrot like that one is a sign that you are in, if not civilized territory, at least a place where you can get something to drink. As such, the sight of the rare wild save parrot is... kind of disconcerting. "The hell is one of these doing here?" And then it talks in it's disjointed, nonsensical matter.

        And then Lanval starts talking, and Ines just sort of shakes her head at the kind of indistinct member of their group. "At least you can find something to chuckle at in here." Oh, no, there's Ashton going off too, suddenly opening fire on the parrot. "Whoa! Hold it!" She yells, a bit too late. So much for getting info out of the bird. And then even Ines, a jaded geohound, cringes at Layna's display. "I don't even want to know how you came up with that one."

        With the 'conversational' avenue seemingly exhaused at the moment, Ines decides to follow Jean's lead. Deciphering potentially cursed birds is not in her wheelhouse. Moving forward might actually get them somewhere.

DG: Ines Colina has contributed a Wits Basic Action toward her party's challenge, An Ominous Save Parrot.
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230: æ 231: ç 232: è 233: é 234: ê 235: ë 236: ì 237: í 238: î 239: ï 240: ð
241: ñ 242: ò 243: ó 244: ô 245: õ 246: ö 247: ÷ 248: ø 249: ù 250: ú 251: û
252: ü 253: ý 254:  255: ÿ 
==================================================<* Ship Graveyard *>==================================================
========================================<* CHALLENGE - An Ominous Save Parrot *>========================================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Wits      |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
-----------------------------------------------< Challenge Information: >-----------------------------------------------
 A colorful bird perches in the rigging overhead. It looks like the parrots    
 used by some branches of the Memory Service, and as soon as it notices you,   
 it takes flight, perching on a nearby railing. It looks at you, an            
 unsettling gleam in its eye as it starts to recite disjointed fragments of    
 travelers' stories. Or maybe poetry? It's not entirely clear. Nevertheless,   
 there might be something useful in there, if you can make sense of it.        
=Dungeon Conditions: Reckless, Secret=========================================
=============================================<* Ship Graveyard - Round 3 *>=============================================
==========================================< Results - An Ominous Save Parrot >==========================================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jean                                30 --(0)--> 30                 Pass
Bejeweled Hairpin                   2   Wits    Effects: Cleanse and Efficient
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ashton Anchors                      30 --(0)--> 30                 Pass
Dragon Assistance                   3   Wits    Effects: Rally                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ines Colina                         30 --(5)--> 35                 Fail
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Layna Manydays                      15 --(0)--> 15                 Pass
Investigate                         0   Wits    Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Lanval                       35 --(5)--> 40                 Fail
Amber Tinted Glasses                3   Wits    Effects: Fanfare              
-------------------------------------------------------< Party >--------------------------------------------------------
Leader: Jean                        30 --(20)--> 50                Pass
Conditions: Reckless(2)|Secret(2)|Weaken(1)
Effects: Cleanse
===================================================< Dream Chasers >====================================================
DG: The party led by Jean has passed this challenge! The party gained 20 exploration! If anyone needs to use party
management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

        "Is there beland soon??" The parrot 'talks.' That is so not 'talking.' That is an affront to the concept of language. "hex" Splash noise.
        It gets agitated as Jean starts to climb the rigging. It flaps its wings and screeches in a way that might be kinda-sorta familiar to Layna when Ashton gets agitated by the curses this parrot must be dropping! Mad curses, like maybe the kind of curse that makes all your portraits look older and older as time goes on! (Or not.)
        "Start depeating meeeeeeeeeeeeeee," it whines as it flies away. Lanval just keeps laughing along. "Ohhh, Layna... I dunno, I could tell ya a really shalty one, but ya might be a li'l young fer it... ha ha ha!"
        The bird escapes, tail on fire from dragonbreath, but as Ines clears away some trash along the way, she can see that the bird is flying away to somewhere that looks shiny. Shiny, like treasure shiny? Or shiny like 'bad evil ghost thing' shiny. Either way it's going somewhere interesting.
        "h_ e_ x_"

DG: Ashton Anchors has drawn a new Challenge.
=============================<* Ship Graveyard *>=============================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Locked Door *>=========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 The path ends at a thick, sturdy door, which has thus far weathered decay     
 much better than most of its surroundings. Rust has turned the lock into a    
 thick, unyielding mass, making lockpicks and fine manipulation all but        
 useless. The hinges look to be in similar shape; perhaps it could be forced   
 open?                                                                         
=Dungeon Conditions: Overzealous==============================================
<Pose Tracker> Ashton Anchors has posed.

Ashton, already wet and full of dragon-arguments, has briefly lost it. Fortunately, cooler heads remain amongst the crowd.
 
Layna speaks her Pirate Curse. And that brings him to an abrupt halt. Blinking owlishly, Ashton turns to the pirate lady. "....Did you just say ©©©©© ®®® ****]?"
 
It is not the most graceful way to defuse the situation, but it IS successful.
 
Things.. calm as the bird flies away and the dull white background noise of the sea returns. The last croak of "h_ e_ x_" can be heard clearly through that. And through the small barred window on a door that the parrot disappears through.
 
It's a heavy wood door, wrought with what was once iron that was painted gold before the salt air ate it away. But it still holds firm and steady against the elements and time.
 
But a ship wouldn't have put a door like this into place without something notable behind it. It's too heavy, too well-secured to be just a path below the decks. And there's a brief gleam that can be spied through the window, lit by the small bit of dragonfire flame on the parrot's fleeing tail.
 
Ashton's quick to join Ines as she finds it - and just as quick to try and jam his sword into the gap and heave. "Do we have any more appopriate tools for this? I fear I left my crowbar in another nest."

DG: Ashton Anchors has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Locked Door.
<Pose Tracker> Jean has posed.

Jean may or may not have been planning to secure lunch. As it stands though, as it flies away and whines, she just shakes her head... and then laughs, too. "You're right," she says to Layna, "That's a much better Pirate Curse. Makes me kind of nostalgic for a good sea trip, right?"

She glances over Ashton though. "You okay there? Looks like your friends didn't much like that."

At least there's something valuable out of all that business. She can't help but glance Lanval's way, though. "You at least seem like you're gotten the party started. You don't have some of that spare, do you?"

And this is the point at which Jean sees... a big door. A big, heavy door, that definitely can't be picked or given anything useful, so...

Jean puts the pin back in her hair. "I can work on it, but I don't have a lot for it." She steps up, and while they're trying to pry it open...

Jean looks to Ines, "At least it's not the parrot?" With that, she starts to focus and--yes, she's going to try to kick the lock off.

DG: Jean has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Locked Door.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

"That I did, lad. That I did." Layna says with a proud look on her face and a smirk toward Ashton. Lanval gets a glance from her...and then, a raucous laugh.

"Aye, I don't doubt it!" She replies. While she hadn't seen it in its...prime, she'd seen what the place he'd resided for a time had become. She didn't doubt he'd heard some things that'd redden even her face.

Jean gets a nod, then, as Layna draws out the items that had been entrusted to her and hands them back over.

"Aye! I think I still owe you a proper ride on the Ruby Empress, come to think. Maybe once this Metal Demon business's dealt with, an' we don't have that hanging over our heads." She says consideringly.

Meanwhile, the bird seems to have lead them to...something. That 'something' appears to be a locked door. At one point it might've looked nice, but now it's sealed tight with rust. And yet, it's managed to weather the elements. Layna looks it over consideringly, 'hm's, and then...brings out the drill again.

It's still a little water-logged from being used as a makeshift propellor so she'll probably have to give it time to dry out after this, but...hey! You use what you've got.

DG: Layna Manydays has used her Tool Arm-Mounted Drill toward her party's challenge, Locked Door.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

        Lanval continues to laugh. Sadly, he accidentally bangs the side of the novelty glasses against a fallen mast and one of the lenses falls out. Oh well. That happens all the time, though, as he staggers along up towards the locked door.
        "Heyyyy, did it go in there?" Lanval asks. "I wanna teach it shome shwearsh--"
        hex" And then a vocalized splash.
        "I mean... ©©©©© ®®® ****'sh a good one, 'n all...."
        Jean asks if Lanval's got any to spare.
        "Mmmm... maybe~" He's not sure he wants to commit. They've had to sit Lanval down and tell him they're rationing alcohol something fierce as he slouches up against the rusted door. "Sho, how're we gettin' in? I don't shee a door anywhere."
        ...He's helping! Sort of.

DG: Seraph Lanval has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward his party's challenge, Locked Door.
<Pose Tracker> Ines Colina has posed.


        Catching sight of the bird gives the group something to follow, at least, as they make their way through the wreckage, before finally coming across a, quite frankly, sensible obstacle. As Jean sizes up the lock, Ines looks over the door as a whole. "Yeah, this is something I can do something about. I'd feel bad beating up on a bird." She chants, and her symbological tattoos glow, as metal covers her fists. "I think we might be better off just knocking the thing off it's hinges. Or maybe knock the hinges out of the frame. One of those'll be the weak point." Okay, fine, she has her fair share of smash and grabs under her belt, work was hard to find starting out.

        She looks over at Ashton using his dagger as a makeshift prybar, while Layna brings her drill to bear. "If you take care of the one down bottom, I'll deal with the one up top." And taking advantage of her height and size, Layna starts smashing her metallic fist into the upper hinge, bringing good old BF&I to the problem. "Y'know, they kind of lose effectiveness if you're gonna drop the same curse every time," Ines mutters to herself, unhelpfully.

DG: Ines Colina has contributed a Brute Basic Action toward her party's challenge, Locked Door.
=============================<* Ship Graveyard *>=============================
========================<* CHALLENGE - Locked Door *>=========================
|Type: Exploration |Dungeon Ability: Brute     |Challenge Rating: 1          | 
--------------------------< Challenge Information: >--------------------------
 The path ends at a thick, sturdy door, which has thus far weathered decay     
 much better than most of its surroundings. Rust has turned the lock into a    
 thick, unyielding mass, making lockpicks and fine manipulation all but        
 useless. The hinges look to be in similar shape; perhaps it could be forced   
 open?                                                                         
=Dungeon Conditions: Overzealous==============================================
========================<* Ship Graveyard - Round 4 *>========================
==========================< Results - Locked Door >===========================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jean                                30 --(0)--> 30                 Pass
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ashton Anchors                      30 --(0)--> 30                 Pass
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ines Colina                         35 --(0)--> 35                 Pass
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Layna Manydays                      15 --(0)--> 15                 Pass
Arm-Mounted Drill                   3   Brute   Effects: Fanfare              
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Lanval                       40 --(5)--> 45                 Fail
Force                               0   Brute   Effects: BASIC                
----------------------------------< Party >-----------------------------------
Leader: Jean                        50 --(30)--> 80                Pass
Conditions: Overzealous(2)|Reckless(1)|Secret(1)
Effects: 
==============================< Dream Chasers >===============================
DG: The party led by Jean has passed this challenge! The party gained 30 exploration! If anyone needs to use party
management commands, do so now. Otherwise, the next round's GM may begin the next round with +dungeon/draw.
<Pose Tracker> Ashton Anchors has posed.

As he heaves, Ashton nods to Jean. "Yes. Yes, sorry, I just..." His face flushes with embarrassment more than exertion. "I already have issues enough with luck without strange parrots in ghost-ridden ships cursing me."
 
He backs off, however, as the others come in with tools and abilities far better suited to the task. With Ines smashing at the bottom and Layna's drill ripping at the top, the door trembles. It's stubborn and tries to do what it was made for... but there are limits. And a true party of adventurers isn't going to be stopped by a mere door. (Now, if it were a chair in a doorway, well, that's another story but it isn't.)
 
In the door's defense, it doesn't fall. The wall around it... does. Rusted joints hold firm, but in short order? There's nothing for them to continue to hold onto. And it falls open with a thump and a damp splash.

DG: Jean has drawn a new Challenge.
==============================<* Ship Graveyard *>==============================
==========================<* CHALLENGE - The Kraken *>==========================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The wreck you're standing on shudders violently beneath you, and starts to    
 sink beneath the waves--as though something had grabbed hold of it, and is    
 slowly pulling it under. Massive tentacles erupt from the water, groping and  
 thrashing. A moment later, even more of the beast breaks the surface. It's    
 /massive/. Those tentacles are merely feeding tendrils, and they surround a   
 mouth full of grinding, crushing bone. The rest of its body is covered by     
 shell-like armor plates. Drive it off before it drags you under!              
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Exhaust===========================================
<Pose Tracker> Jean has posed.

Jean takes back her <inventory>, and not a moment too soon. ...Well, maybe a few moments too soon. "That'd be great," the dancer tells Layna. "But I might not have a lot of time. When we get this taken care of, I bet Lucia's going to be all-in on finding a way back to Lunar. ...We have some things left unfinished up there."

Jean cants her head to Lanval, "Holding out on us, huh? Fine, fine..."

She does not mention feeling bad about the bird. What she does do is focus on the weak point Ines mentions... And to Ashton, well--

"You remind me of Hiro and company," she says, shaking her head. "I know how you feel about luck. They're like a magnet for trouble. ...Though I guess that's how they met me..."

When the door falls, Jean looks to everything around it. "You know what..." She shakes her head, and she starts to move forward--but suddenly the whole wreck rumbles, and all around them water splashes upward--tentacles erupt forward, and the beast is plain and clear. "What--"

Armored plates rise, and they are locked in combat with a great beast! Jean, armed with her <inventory>, jumps backward, lightly landing on a beam that hasn't gone under yet. "You've got to be kidding me." She sighs, and pulls something from the bundle, a--

It's a flask. It's definitely a flask. She uncaps it and downs the whole thing at once.

Only after that does she dive back down to start attacking one of the tentacles.

If everybody doesn't move quickly, they'll be lunch!

DG: Jean has used her Tool Emergency Flask toward her party's challenge, The Kraken.
<Pose Tracker> Ashton Anchors has posed.

That is not a ghost.
 
A little part of Ashton is disappointed by that. Now he can't find out if he can stab one. And that was going to be a plus for future jobs.
 
A bigger part of him is excited. He cut his teeth hunting monsters and -THAT- is one heck of a monster.
 
The remainder of Ashton realizes that this is a very serious threat to his and everyone else's lives and it's not time to mess around. Fortunately, he's already got his weapons out.
 
Ashton grits his teeth. "Well," he notes to Jean, "I -did- just say how bad my luck is." Then he, too, is in motion.
 
While slower than the others, Ashton cheats. One moment he's on the rapidly sinking deck. The next? He's teleported five meters forward and he's slashing away at a tentacle. Lightning licks off his blades as he unleashes a flurry of blows.

DG: Ashton Anchors has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward his party's challenge, The Kraken.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

        Lanval flops over on his back as the door he's lying against gives out underneath everyone's strength. Actually, he kind of gets carried along with the door, at which point he lies on top of the door like it were a luxurious pool raft at some fancy club swimming pool. He's pretty chill about the whole thing, even as the sea shakes.
        "Mmmm, that'sh a good shign," Lanval muses, "water'sh movin'... hey, 'm not shure how ta put it, 'bout here--"
        A kraken appears. A massive, hungry, terrible kraken. While Lanval continues to float along on the dislodged door. One eye opens up half-lidded as he sees Jean gulp down the contents of a flask. He kind of 'harrumphs' but has a laugh. Which is a hell of a thing to do when a rampaging, enormous sea creature is threatening to eat your friends and their associates.
        ©©©©© ®®® ****!! Screams the bird, as it flies off.
        "Mmm." Lanval turns a half-lidded eye to the flailing sea creature he should not feel anywhere near relieved about. He takes his own gourd and has himself a gulp of it, all too leisurely while his door-raft floats and has fun.
        "Okay, that washn't a good shign, shorry~" Lanval's apology is easy to miss because OH MY WORD THAT'S A FREAKING KRAKEN WHAT IS WRONG WITH HIM
        He takes out a brightly-colored, shining white bottle, pulls off the cork, and half-heartedly splashes some of the sanctified, shiny water at the armored hide of the great beast.
        "Take it eashy," he says to it. This isn't going to really do anything because it is a HUGE KRAKEN and it's not going to be deterred by sanctified water of that quantity. One tentacle violently strikes at the raft-door, spinning it violently as Lanval hangs on for dear... well, not his life, he's water, maybe he's just hanging on because it's fun.
        When it steadies, he has another drink, then stands up straight. Steady. Upright. His eyes open up all the way as he faces the big thing down.
        "Ha ha ha... then if thine will is to play rough...!" Lanval takes the gourd by its attached rope and spins it lazily a few times, before striking it against it. More like... playfully patting it against it.
        At which point there is a tremendous burst of shining, clean, beautiful water, the likes of which would make this entire set of flotsam rumble and quake as a halo of watery energies escapes from the impact.
        "Be on your way in good health!" Lanval laughs.

DG: Seraph Lanval has used his Tool Holy Bottle toward his party's challenge, The Kraken.
<Pose Tracker> Ines Colina has posed.


        "Too much to hope that we'd finish this quietly." Ines growls, jumping back with a gust of magical wind to get her clear from the Kraken's maw, and landing roughly on a piece of intact deck. "Let's hope that your luck isn't so bad that there's more than one of these!" Ines shouts, given the topic of conversation.

        Once her footing is stable, Ines pulls the enchanted boleadoras from her belt, and throws them at a throng of tentacles to try and bind them together and give the angry sea beast a little bit less to grab things with. With something as large and ravenous as this, every little bit helps. Her second step is to start magicking up winds of magical shrapnel and start firing them into whatever masses of soft flesh she can aim at. "Let's just focus on being too much trouble to eat, yeah?"

        She is, however, caught a bit off guard by Lanval's sudden showing of kung fu mastery. "You don't think you could have started like that?" She grumbles, but probably not quite loud enough to be heard over the Kraken.

DG: Ines Colina has used her Tool Bewitched Boleadoras toward her party's challenge, The Kraken.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

Layna considers it for a moment. She didn't know Lucia all that well...but yeah, that sounded about right. She had some unfinished business on Lunar, herself.

"Aye, I understand. Well, we'll figure somethin' out!" She says, her cheer unhindered.

This cheer lasts even when the door falls, and something massive bursts from the water. Look out, it's a Kraken!!

Layna, meanwhile, just laughs.

"Oh good, and here I thought we were gonna get through this without having anything to fight, aye?" Layna remarks, rolling her shoulders. She leaps away as a tentacle comes crashing onto the deck nearby, perching on a piece of debris sticking out of the ocean nearby.

She hauls a fist back and recites an incantation. At about the same time, the bracer around that wrist begins to ignite.

"Watch out, me hearties!" She warns and then, with a heavy punch forward, she sends out a focused shockwave comprised of wind and flame that aims to smash right into some of those armored plates.

DG: Layna Manydays has contributed a Combat Basic Action toward her party's challenge, The Kraken.
==============================<* Ship Graveyard *>==============================
==========================<* CHALLENGE - The Kraken *>==========================
|Type: Final       |Dungeon Ability: Combat    |Challenge Rating: 2          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 The wreck you're standing on shudders violently beneath you, and starts to    
 sink beneath the waves--as though something had grabbed hold of it, and is    
 slowly pulling it under. Massive tentacles erupt from the water, groping and  
 thrashing. A moment later, even more of the beast breaks the surface. It's    
 /massive/. Those tentacles are merely feeding tendrils, and they surround a   
 mouth full of grinding, crushing bone. The rest of its body is covered by     
 shell-like armor plates. Drive it off before it drags you under!              
=Dungeon Conditions: Wound, Exhaust===========================================
=========================<* Ship Graveyard - Round 5 *>=========================
============================< Results - The Kraken >============================
Player                               Exhaustion                      Pass/Fail
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jean                                30 --(0)--> 30                 Pass
Emergency Flask                     3   Combat  Effects: Rally                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ashton Anchors                      30 --(15)--> 45                Fail
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ines Colina                         35 --(0)--> 35                 Pass
Bewitched Boleadoras                3   Combat  Effects: Rally                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Layna Manydays                      15 --(15)--> 30                Fail
Fight                               0   Combat  Effects: BASIC                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seraph Lanval                       45 --(15)--> 60                Fail
Holy Bottle                         2   Combat  Effects: Resilient            
-----------------------------------< Party >------------------------------------
Leader: Jean                        80 --(35)--> 115               Pass
Conditions: Exhaust(1)|Overzealous(1)|Wound(2)
Effects: Resilient(1)
===============================< Dream Chasers >================================
DG: You have overcome the dungeon's trials! This run is a success!
DG: The party led by Jean has successfully explored Ship Graveyard!
==============================<* Ship Graveyard *>==============================
=========================<* CHALLENGE - Kraken Nacre *>=========================
|Type: Discovery   |Dungeon Ability: Conclusion|Challenge Rating: 1          | 
---------------------------< Challenge Information: >---------------------------
 Bested, the Kraken lets go of the vessel and flees into the depths. Bits of   
 its shell bob up to the surface, floating in the brackish, debris-filled      
 water. Their inner surface is coated with a beautiful pearlescent             
 material--nacre. Jewelers absolutely love the stuff, and so do craftspeople   
 who make carved ornaments. A valuable and interesting prize!                  
=Dungeon Conditions: Treasure=================================================
<Pose Tracker> Jean has posed.

Ashton has a point. He has demonstrated a level of luck that more than qualifies him for immediate association with the Vile Fiends, and they hang out with Fei. On the bright side, one of them might die and let Ashton find out whether he can stab a ghost!

Teleportation is useful in a fight like this. The attempt of the tentacles to grab hold of Ashton fails as he cheats the very nature of time-space, and then proceeds to use the monster's elemental weakness. Lightning-infused slashes quickly mean that this tentacle tenta-can't survive, and one is down; the monster's sprite changes to match.

Lanval, meanwhile, has apparently been having a very good time. He corrects himself before, tells the Kraken to take it easy, and the kraken does not take it easy. It keeps attacking. But finally...

In good fun, Lanval brings forth the power of pure water, something brilliant and clean in an ocean that has seen death more than life, and that brilliant pushes the monster back just as it attempts to knock the ground out from beneath them all.

Ines's quick thinking binds up another set of tentacles, and the monster shrieks in rage--and can't dodge the magical shrapnel that comes straight past its bony maw into its important bits.

Layna keeps good cheer even in the face of a sea monster, which is frankly a good sign for a pirate captain. A tentacle crashes near her--but the one that was going to block her assault happens to be the same one that Ashton just sliced to pieces. In moments, Layna's heavy punch crashes forward, and the plates crack beneath it.

At this point the Kraken appears to consider Lanval's offer; the remaining tentacles recede, and the sea stops shaking moments later... leaving them in peace. Bits of the remnants float upwards...

No ghosts, no secrets to destroy Mother...

...But some really pretty material that could be valuable all on its own. But for seafarers, the nacre has even more value; it could take enchantments very well.

...Also, it's very pretty. "Not bad," Jean comments as she picks up a little. "Not bad at all."

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

        Lanval keeps laughing, throwing his gourd up into the air in a toast to nothing as more shining water fills the space. It's shiny, it's beautiful, but there's something breathtaking about the fragments of nacre to behold, as the Water Seraph cheers and makes indistinct but heartfelt, intoxicated-by-atmosphere calls for a round of drinks! He projects a Domain of easy-going, celebratory airs as they all live to draw breath...!
 
        IN THE PRESENT
 
        I don't think they will be calmed down by the nacre, Lanval concedes inwardly. And so, his true nature - that of an old-timey adventure game protagonist who may now be trying to use every inventory item he has on each interactable element provided to him - is revealed at large!
        Or not. He's not sure why he's thought of the nacre.
        He returns to being frightened about the imminent new Day of Collapse.

<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

When the smoke and bubbles clear the Kraken has fled, leaving behind the debris from their fight - shiny bits of material that Layna immediately recognizes. She lets out a whistle, moving to claim some for herself as well. She could think of a few good uses for this.

"Aye, I'd call this a success!" She agrees. She then reaches into her coat, pulling out what appears to be a flaregun. "I'll signal the crew to come along and pick us up."

She fires it off into the air...then looks toward Lanval and grins as he suggests drinks.

Sure, that's probably just Lanval being...well, Lanval, but to her, that's not a half-bad idea.

"Aye, lad, I think I can manage that. Drinks for everyone!" She says, then hesitates. "...Once the Empress gets here, that is..."

<Pose Tracker> Ashton Anchors has posed.

The sudden burst of fighting feels good. Ashton has always considered himself an adventurer more than a drifter - delving into ancient ruins has never been his thrill. No, it's the people that have been his. And aiding them against the forces of all-consuming darkness. And hungry beasts.
 
So the fight takes away the feelings of grumpiness at being wet; banishes the mood as sour as Syrup. Perhaps Lanval's jovial air plays a part too. But by the time the Kraken retreats? The Double Dragon Duelist is all smiles.
 
Picking up a small piece of the shell, Ashton inspects it. "Beautiful, I must say. And a nice bit of exercise that's not dealing with Metal Beasts. I'm glad for that change of pace."
 
The rest of the nacre is left for the others. The mercenary seems to only pocket the small piece as a memento. But when Layna speaks up.. "Captain, you are indeed a lady of great wisdom and fine character. An excellent idea."

<Pose Tracker> Ines Colina has posed.


        The sight of the fleeing Kraken is a pleasant sight, but the sight of the nacre is an altogether prettier one. It's nice to have a few seconds of, well, peace after that rush. "Seems like a good way to celebrate." Ines responds, as she kneels down to collect some off the nacre for herself. It'll come in useful somehow.

        She looks back at Ashton. "Damn sight better than splinters and wet boots, anyway." Or no boots, come to think of it. Eh, that's a problem that can be solved another time. Right now it's just a matter of waiting for their lift to come around.