Blood in the water [Event]

[Pash Raj'oriq]

"O’aye there is—more ’n one somethin' at that! I heard ‘em." Pash acknowledged Kali’s warning, speaking loud enough for the others to hear, a bit of panic in his darkening blue eyes, "I don’ think it’s best we stay near th’ docks for long. I think they’re still lookin’ for more trouble."

Everyone was of course focused on getting people away from the water, out of broken vessels, and that was most likely the best thing they could all have been doing in that moment, naturally. There was the promise of the Elements arriving soon, which was comforting to those who’d seen what appeared to be creatures in the water—even some folks on the docks began to whisper of what they’d seen.

So, it was perhaps without too much surprise that as Kura climbed back onto the listing hull of the ship next to Vega and looked for somewhere to get higher ground, as Kali and Victor attempted to help some folks get off their ship and onto safer ground, and as Pash tried to figure out where the best spot to get his sloop into to even help, something appeared to ripple the surface of water. Several somethings. Bubbles at first, just a few breaking the bloodied waves, noticeable in the open water between The Muse and the capsized vessel Kura and Vega stood on. Everyone could see them, and the old woman who was now reaching for Victor’s hand as she prepared to jump paused to point,

"What’s that!" As if it needed to be said out loud, she moved quickly, all but knocking the poor young man over again as she quickly leapt at him.

"Immortals! What’s going on?" A fisherman from another ship who’d grabbed his hatchet in hopes to help leaned over the gunnel of his vessel and scowled.

In answer, a hulking beast of a creature leapt from the depths, all teeth and fur and flashing eyes. It was huge, perhaps the size of a small whale, but looked very much like a seal should anyone had ever seen one, save for the maw was wolf-like and vicious, clamping down on the poor fisherman who’d leaned over his ship before anyone had time to react and smashing its body against the side of the ship, dragging the man into the water without giving him a chance to even shout about it.

The motion rocked all the vessels nearby, and the old lady managed a scream of terror.

Something definitely bumped The Muse and another something rolled under the larger vessel where Vega and Kura stood. Then another. Just as the surface looked calm, the dark-furred faces of a few of the creatures appeared, taking deep breaths in a cloud of sea-mist, bright eyes obviously taking in everyone nearby in hopes of snatching another meal. This was perhaps a chance to hit one had anyone armed themselves in the heartbeats after the man disappeared into the water in the jaws of the first beast. They seemed utterly unafraid, lingering to pick out their next meal before disappearing beneath the surface again to begin rocking the smallest vessel present as if they could differentiate.

This, of course, happened to be Pash’s sloop and he was not happy about it. Delayed for a trill or two in shock and surprise, a string of curses in Rakahi left his lips at the rocking and purposeful ramming of the large creatures against his home and ship, their dark bodies visible under the surface as three of them seemed to coordinate their movements very carefully.

"I’ve gotta move!" Pash shouted, aware their little group of aspiring helpful folks were a bit scattered between three different vessels. It was both a warning in case anyone else needed to join him on board as well as just a panicked announcement, the tall Biqaj moving to make adjustments in his sail even as his sloop began to lilt dangerously to one side.

The smooth, dark brown back of one of the creatures peaked above the surface, obviously attempting to shove at the tiller of The Muse to begin to unbalance it, while the other two creatures were just barely beneath the bloodied water, getting into position to continue the motion.

Off Topic

Sorry I let this slow down. Let’s get some action going! Meet the Northern Sea Wolf. No, they don't want to hug.

Just as a reminder, I really never care about post order. So if you're inspired, please go for it. That may help speed things up a bit.

[Victor Amielle]

Things kept getting worse and worse. Around him people were screaming in pain or crying out in despair, as if the sea itself had suddenly become alive and turned against them in order to devour them. The old woman that Victor had spotted before had managed to get close enough for him to be able to grab her. He quickly extended his hands towards her and was just about to pull her onto the sloop with all of the strength that he could muster when she suddenly paused which irritated him to no end since that was not the right time to hesitate. He was just about to tell her to hurry up and promise her that he would not let go of her when she pointed at something that was behind them.

She isn’t afraid of jumping! he realized, and his heart skipped a beat. She’s afraid of something that is behind us!

“Quickly!” he urged her which turned out to be completely unnecessary. She jumped onto the sloop in a way that belied her old age, knocking him over in the process. He groaned as the air was forced out of his lungs and just sat there for a moment, slightly stunned before he abruptly rose to his feet again. Sitting on the floor when there was some sort of monster coming at you, he realized, was not a good idea. In fact it was one of the worst ideas ever since he would not be able to defend himself properly from this position should one of those things attack!

“Get behind me!” he ordered her and drew his sword on the off chance that it might actually be of use against something that seemed to have no trouble destroying ships. It was just then that it leapt from the depths. It seemed to only be made of sharp teeth and eyes that stared at him maliciously, and it was bigger than anything that he had ever seen before. “Behind you!” he warned the fisherman that stood on the other ship, but it was too late. Victor could only watch in horror as the creature dragged him into the water.

“Get to the other side, all of you!” he called out to the people around him as the boat began to tilt dangerously to one side. “Otherwise the boat will topple! Does anybody have a ranged weapon?” His sword, he realized, would be of little use against those monsters. If he managed to get close enough to one of them to attack it, he would also be close enough for it to just bite his head off. If only he were able to distract them long enough to give Pash a chance to move the boat away! His magic would not be of much use since it only worked on non-living objects for the most part, and those things, whatever they were, seemed to be very much alive and very, very hungry.

Hungry … something suddenly occurred to him. He quickly took off his backpack and pulled something out of it – a sandwich that was stuffed with delicious roasted ham, lettuce and tomatoes. He had packed it in case he would spend more than a break on the beach so that he would have something to eat. Maybe the monsters would like it as well?

“Here, I have something for you!” he called out to the monster that had just peaked above the surface of the water and hurled the sandwich into the water. Hopefully it would let go of the boat and go for that delicious ham instead – and give them a chance to get away.

[Kali'rial]

15th Saun, 717

Kali looked at the man beside her with a greatful smile, before turning back to the scene before them. As the woman threw herself at Victor, Kali stumbled back, looking up with wide eyed shock as almost in slow motion she watched the fisherman over on another vessel was taken in the mouth of some sort of huge sea mammal. It disappeared into the depths before the man could even let out a cry. Beside her the newcomer asked if anyone had a ranged weapon as the old woman screamed and the boats rocked, the Sev'ryn moved to the hatch, tearing it open and taking the stairs in a rush. Grabbing "The Huntress" - her master craft gift bow from the Baron - the dark haired huntress was back on deck in mere moments with her quill over her shoulders.

Running to meet her lover on the deck, Kali scanned the water, watching dark shapes underneath, drawing an arrow to aim for one of the furry faces in the water. It was too late though, the creatures disappearing before she was ready. As the sloop rocked again the brunette kept her eyes on the water, moving around the deck to try and spot another one of those toothy faces. Again, the gentleman who had been beside her moved to action, throwing his...

Wait...Was that a ham and salad sandwich?

Unable to process the bizarre selection of defence at this moment in time, Kali instead hoped that it would draw the attention of the violent creatures. As she reached the rear of the boat, her periwinkle gaze spotted the dark slick back and with practiced ease she tensed and released her arrow, aiming for the brown mass of wet fur. Wasting no time, she drew another arrow, waiting and watching for more of the beasts.

"Stay away from the railing, all of you." She said firmly to the people on The Muse, her voice lifting enough to carry to any vessels close by. There was no chance she was diving into the bloodied waters again, not unless Pash went over. Still, she heard screams from the overturned boats, and it turned her stomach.

"What in Moseke's name are these things?" The Sev'ryn asked aloud, eyes and arrow head scanning the water.

[Vega]

[img]/gallery/image ... ge_id=6509[/img]

Kura seemed inclined to action, not stopping around and chatting or picking her nose and admiring the sunset. This was a good thing as far as Vega was concerned so, she flashed a grin at the woman when she thanked her and then got on with doing the best she could to get these people at least some air. Once they'd got through, Kura (although Vega didn't know her name) jumped down. That was fine with Vega but she did not do the same, for all sorts of reasons. Mostly, because she figured she'd be more useful grabbing and helping people up, but also because she understood just what Kura was going down to, down there. It would be precarious, dangerous and she might need rescuing. Two of them down there might just lead to the both of them needing that assistance, so she waited, ready to pull up survivors or to help Kura immediately she needed it.

Turned out, it was the third, utterly shit option. There weren't survivors. As Kura re-emerged, Vega offered her hand for the woman, to make her ascent. Kura spoke to the biqaj on the sloop and Vega frowned, turning her gaze to the water. "What in the name of U'frek's skid marks is that!" She wasn't exactly a reverent sort, although she was deeply respectful of the Immortals and Vega pulled her sword and, as one of the creatures moved at the vessel she and Kura were perched on, the biqaj/sev'ryn redhead kept her balance in the way that only someone who has lived all their life on the oceas can and plunged her sword past the ridges which almost covered it and into the damn thing's eye.

One bloke flung a sandwich and another woman asked what they were. "Pissed off, I'd say!" Vega yelled back with what seemed to be almost good cheer. It wasn't, not for a second, but she was afraid and they were here and she had to deal with it. So she did. The sword to the eye worked on one of them, but there were no more close by so she quickly pulled her bow and started to search for her next target. "They're used to raw meat not a snarding cooked sandwich!!" Which seemed entirely logical to her, but there were a lot of land lubbing types here, far as she could tell. Judging by the accent, the woman on the biqaj sloop was from round Desnind way. Just what she needed, Vega thought as she took aim and breathed in. More bloody hey-nonny-nonny.

[Kura Wolfsdotter]

"Kura, they're coming to the surface!" Speck called out, at the same time as the water began to bubble. Kura swore and flipped the top of her quiver open, pulling out her bow and an arrow. Kura thought she was reasonably fast, but she was no where near fast enough to save the fisherman who had looked out of the water. "Stay back from the edge!" she called, putting an arrow to the string of her bow. Then the broken ship beneath her feet rolled and she stumbled a bit. She was able to keep her balance, but this was not an ideal situation to be in.

Then another of the seal-wolves appeared and Kura loosed an arrow at the beast, aiming to pierce right through the top of the skull. There was another archer in the group and she seemed to reach the same conclusion that Kura did, arrows in the beasts. Still, the limited mobility was a problem, and they would all be in trouble if the beasts managed to knock over the biqaj's sloop. None of that stopped the woman on the ship with her from getting right to the water and stabbing one of the creatures, or one enterprising fellow from trying to distract the beasts with...a sandwhich. Well, at least he was creative.

Kura, for her part, stepped back until she was further away and higher up, standing on the railing of the wrecked ship. It wouldn't take that much to cause her to lose her balance, but she had some advantages if she wound up in the water, and Phelan was poised to catch her if she started to fall. Now she watched the creatures attempting the knock the sloop over, getting a feel for their rhythm. It wasn't perfect, animals were never completely co-ordinated, but she was able to get a rough idea down. She raised her bow and pulled back on the string, taking a deep breath to keep her aim steady. Then, a little before the next furred back would appear, she let the arrow fly, aiming to hit the creature right as its back showed, hopefully keeping it from ramming into the sloop. Once the arrow as loose, she didn't wait, drawing another arrow from her quiver and repeating the process.

[Pash Raj'oriq]

Pash did his best not to panic, moving quickly over his deck even as The Muse rocked and heeled, the creatures under the water making his small sloop their next target for preying on. He was adjusting the sails, shoving the boom with one sandaled foot in order to get moving, sliding over the roof of his cabin to get back to the tiller and steer so that he didn’t end up crashing into one of the many vessels wrecked and tangled already.

Just as The Muse began to pull away, Victor tossed his sandwich overboard into the harbor waters with a satisfying and generous plop. One of the many predators gliding effortlessly under the bloodied water paused at the plop, bright eyes visibly watching the Transmuter’s lunch float downward. Maybe it sniffed. Maybe it considered. At least it was still for a moment, though it denied the man the satisfaction of a nibble. Still, the sandwich moment did do some good, for the beast surged forward, slick brown back breaking the surface just enough for Kali’rial to lodge an arrow in its muscular body, right near the lungs.

The noise of pain it made was audible. A growl. It twisted under the sloop but didn’t bump it, disappearing in the dark toward the other side with a trail of bubbles and fresh blood.

As that one disappeared, another leapt out of the water with impressive strength, having spotted the movement of Vega and Kura aboard the capsized ship. The beast was just about to open its mouth and snap for the red-headed woman when she shoved her blade into its eye instead with well-practiced skill. The sea wolf snarled and whined, thrashing for a moment with the blade still in its head, attempting to work itself desperately free. Sliding away, it seemed to struggle to retreat, perhaps even mortally wounded by the depths Vega managed to plunge her sword. It whined and slowly slid back overboard, sinking under the bloodied water without any speed at all, confused and wild.

A few other beasts began to surface then, perhaps enraged by the injuries. Everyone could hear them click and growl, communicating with sounds no one had ever heard before. Kura lodged another arrow in the back of a third beast, right near the spine. That beast made another loud, shrill noise of pain and thrashed against Pash’s sloop, struggling to move properly.

It was about then the calvary arrived, several Air Elements passing overhead, shadows fluttering across the searing hot wooden decks in the Saun suns, and raining down a few calculated, careful shots into open water, away from the small collection of wrecked ships an The Muse.

There was a heartbeat of pause, the red harbor waters churning with the motion of wounded, fleeing creatures. A few more bumped against the sloop, the capsized ship, less so in attack so much as in their haste. Two Air Element troops split off, clearly in pursuit of one of the beasts.

In the pause, a few bubbles rose from the open water between the three ships, and to the surface rose the sea wolf Vega had stabbed in the eye. It wasn’t dead, but it was clearly struggling, gasping for breath and rolling clumsily, brain injured by the blade she’d shoved into its skull.

The beast was the size of a small whale and as it rolled it was clear it had a body very similar to a seal or a walrus, with front flippers that may have had stubby nails on the edge and a flipper-like tail that was powerful and could probably push them along on land. Their faces were wolf-like, with big maws and small nubs for ears, strong bone-like ridges over the eyes that gave them a gnarled look. This one, of course, had its big purple tongue lolling out of one side and sharp teeth snapping as it wheezed pathetically and rolled, two arrows from above also piercing it’s thick but probably very luxurious hide.

This was a chance to kill one, it seemed.

[Victor Amielle]

That had not gone as planned. Victor had hoped that the beast would devour the sandwich instead of the people on the boat and then return to wherever it had come from, having satisfied its hunger, but it did no such thing. Maybe it was the lettuce. He was not sure if murderous sea creatures liked lettuce. Maybe he should have removed it beforehand, but alas, it was too late for that now. His hand went back to his sword as he readied himself for another attack, but to his surprise no attack came. The beast suddenly paused and sniffed – just long enough for Kali’rial to use her bow and shoot it.

Both the beast and Victor’s lunch slowly sank towards the bottom of the ocean where they would probably become fish food. The Transmuter’s good mood returned instantly, and he sent a prayer to whoever Immortal was watching over them that trial for what had just happened seemed like divine intervention to him. Holding his sword in his hand he looked around to find out where his help would be needed the most now. He did not have any more food left that he could distract the beasts with, but he was quite decent with a weapon. If Vega could stick her sword into a beast’s eye, then so could he.

So if any of the beasts came to close, he would do just that and drive his sword into any body part that was exposed and looked halfway vulnerable, such as the head or the neck. It was just then that the Air Elements arrived though and took care of the remaining beasts. They were safe now …

Well, almost, he corrected himself. The beast that Vega had stabbed in the eye was not dead yet after all, and Victor suddenly found himself reminded of his utter lack of ranged weapons. He needed to eventually buy a bow or at least a few throwing knives, but for now he simply grabbed a rope that was lying around on deck and tied it around the hilt of his sword. He made two knots so that they would not come loose as easily – he still needed his sword - and then he moved closer to the railing, shifting the sword in his hand as he did so.

He was holding the rope with one hand while the index finger of his other hand was wrapped around the crossguard, and the flat of the blade was resting on the palm of his hand. From this position he threw it almost like a spear with all the strength that he could muster, aiming straight for the beast’s head. To some people throwing a sword might seem silly, but it was far from a new idea. He had read about it in a book in his brother’s library back in Lysoria.

Who knew, if he actually managed to hit the beast, maybe people all over Scalvoris would suddenly start throwing swords …

[Kali'rial]

15th Saun, 717

As her arrow hit it’s mark, the huntress drew and nocked another in preparation for a fight, watching the woman with an axe leap back on the railing of her downed boat to let fly with arrows of her own. It was a poor place to stand, and yet the wolf hovering by the woman gave the southerner a sense that if she were to topple he would not be so quick to let her fall. It gave her a sudden sense of something...déjà vu?

Kali was drawn from her inner contemplation with a jump as the red-head there near the water plunged a sword mercilessly into one of the creatures eyes like some sort of spear. It did the trick...sort of.

Something deeply ingrained in the Sev’ryn was that as a daughter of Moseke and a huntress of her people, any hunt should be swift and avoid suffering on behalf of the creature in question. To watch the speared beast bob back to the surface with gasps and twitches made the brunette sick to her stomach.

”Moseke take this beasts soul back to the cycle so it may live again.” She muttered ruefully, training her arrow on the flailing sea-monster’s gasping mouth. Even as she released, another movement caught her eye and she watched with open mouthed surprise as the scholarly fellow picked up a sword and...well he threw it.

First the sandwich, now the sword.

”Of all the things...” Kali said, moving closer to Pash and scanning the water for signs of any other of the monsters.

”You think we can manoeuvre our way out of this?” She asked, looking up with relief as the literal cavalry arrived, hair still dripping and blue eyes wide. The huntress was fretfully looking at the carnage before them with a slow shake of her head.

”So much destruction and death. Hopefully we’ve scared them away long enough to save the set of those people out there.” It was taking more than a good deal of effort not to fling off her bow and dive in again, but the woman knew that whilst the surface seemed calm, looks could be deceiving.

[Vega]

[img]/gallery/image ... ge_id=6509[/img]

Vega saw the creature begin to emerge and she cursed. That wasn't her intention and she was not one bit amused at herself. She wanted to kill the creature quickly, and so she leaned her center of balance forward slightly, then used the sword she'd already plunged into it once to slice across it's throat in what she hoped was a quick killing blow. That was how she'd been raised, what she understood to do. If a kill had to happen, then it happened fast and the animal didn't suffer. So, that was her first priority.

Then, when she'd done that, or not as the case may be, Vega was about to move, about to speak and say something to Kura who she was sharing an upturned boat with. But something quite else distracted her and Vega looked on in amazement as "the stupid land boy who flung a sandwich" got a promotion to "You Steaming Pillock!! Did yer mother drop you on yer 'ead when you were born?!" She yelled at the man whose name she didn't know. Her eyes had turned a deep crimson as she did this and her expression was best summed up as Not One Bit Amused. "Or do you need instructions that it's a fekkin' stupid idea to fling swords into melee combat? What is WRONG with you, you idiot on a pair of legs!" Whatever the sword did (unless it skewered her, of course) that would be her response because what it could have done was very serious indeed.

It was a shame she didn't have time to berate him more, but there were people that needed helping and so, now that the Elements had arrived (thank U'frek and XIur for that. Maybe they'd arrest Steaming Pillock for Crimes of Stupid) she would go where she was told. She had the instinct to swim out to help, but she wasn't a strong swimmer and she knew that she was as likely to end up being part of the problem if she did that, so she waited until they had some direction from the Elements before she acted.

"Nice to meet you, by the way." Vega said to Kura with a genuine smile. She was a fiery individual, her red hair very clearly mirroring her temper, but there was no harm to Vega at all. "Nice ax. I'm Vega." The smile she gave was nervous and the young woman, who was very obviously young, wasn't likely to fool Kura for a moment. She was shaking slightly, nerves and adrenaline giving way to what could have been. But she hid it behind bluff and bluster, like she always did. Mostly, she went where the Elements told them to go and she offered her help.

If it was possible, once all the people were taken care of, Vega would pull that creature if she could and she would get started on the process of skinning it and sectioning out the meat and so on. She was a huntress by trade and design and she was of the opinion that the only respectful thing to do was to use every part of the animal. Teeth to tail, and so she would, if it was possible, do that. Every piece of it, it was the only reasonable and right thing to do. Also, it stopped her from finding Steaming Pillock and punching him in the face until his mother wouldn't recognise him.

[Kura Wolfsdotter]

Not everything went as swimmingly as Kura could have hoped. She wasn't sure if her shots actually killed anything, and that guy with the sandwich was now electing to throw his sword because apparently he had left his common sense at home today. Well, he was trying to help, even if he wasn't exactly succeeding. Still, beasts were getting quite injured and no one was dying, so all in all, things were going well, despite her precarious position.

Things were going so well, in fact, that when the air elements arrived, Kura sighed in relief, glad that they would still have something to do. ..or maybe just glad that they had reinforcements and the beasts seemed intent now on getting away. Could have gone either way. Watching her footing, Kura carefully made her way back down to the main part of the capsized ship. Once she was on firmer ground, she waved up at the Air Elementals, one of them dropping relatively close to her and the redhead. "They may have been driven off. Not entirely sure. Be careful near the water, still." she said, noting that soldiers were already checking other ships. The Air Elemental nodded, then flew off to join the others, relaying her message.

The dead one on their wreckage was interesting and Kura stooped to examine it as the redhead prepped to clean it. "I wonder how tough their hide is, might be interestin' to have a coat of that stuff." she said, before laughing. "Still, glad it's dead whatever gets done with it. I'm Kura Mareth. You're pretty good with a bow, Vega." she said, grinning at the redhead before looking up at the crew in the sloop. "You all want to come help skin this beast? Or are you goin' to stay on rescue duty?" she called to them, her voice curious as she looked for the best way to help Vega.