A day at the Lake

Goldenblade has moved her engineering pavillion out here by the edge of Lake Eas, or whatever the lake by Eas is called, and it offers quite a spectacular view, if that's your thing. She is working several building projects simultaneously, with tables covered in pages for plans of buildings, plans of ships, and plans of shipyards. She's got a lot going on. One of the tables, and it's not getting as much attention as the others, appears to be a map of the lake, minus the water. Or, rather, assuming the water isn't an impediment to working and living on the bottom of the Lake.

She had put out a notice to players that she was seeking Undines for a project, but there were no details posted.

    Naniko has little interests in the unexplained projects of others. It is largely coincidence that she turns up at almost exactly the spot that Goldenblade is at. A blurry disruption deep in the water becomes the outline of something that definitely should not be. Soon, it is revealed to be a bubble rolling up the shoreline. Instead of popping when it touches the surface of the water, the bits below remain bubble-shaped as the completely dry undine walks up onto the shore. She waves, recognizing Goldenblade.

Goldenblade waves to Naniko when she waves, catching her attention, and says, "Ah, perfect, and you've already had a look around the lake," she says. "That's just what we needed help with," she explains, stepping over, leaving a lot of assistants tending to the paperwork as she shuffles over. "Have you come to help us out?" she wonders. "Only we need some Undines, my diving capabilities are pretty limited."

    Naniko shakes her head. She snaps her fingers and points an index finger toward the other woman. "You're the one leaving those vague requests for Undine all around," she deduces from memory. "No, not specifically, but if you'd like to go for a walk, I'm fully capable of maintaining breathable air down there in a Bubble."

Goldenblade ehs about a bubble, and says, "I don't think we should go through the lake without being properly prepared. There's /something/ down there, and we're not sure what, exactly. Marchioness Wake told me something down there needed investigation, but not what. So," she goes on, "basically what we're asking for is someone to help us explore down there. She'd like me to build a city down there for Undines, but I don't know what you'd expect in an underwater city, and of course we'd have to make sure it's safe first."

    "Well, water, for one," Naniko says. "I like the taste of saltwater on my gills better, but this water's not bad. I haven't had the fortune--good or bad--to run into any 'THING' in the lake, but that doesn't mean there's not something down there." She shrugs. "Then again, my whole thing is not being seen." She turns toward the water. "There needs to be some areas friendly to air, for those things we have that would not be very happy about being submerged in water all the time." She looks at Goldenblade again. "Pets and what-not. There also probably needs to be some kind of protection. All the monsters in the water kind of make it hard to--" She snaps her fingers. "Oh, and we really need legal protection to keep air-breathers from using our water as their sewage outlet!" she says, interrupting herself.

Goldenblade nods about there being freshwater down there, and agrees that not being seen is a good thing. "We want to explore carefully," she agrees, "And find whatever's down there before it finds us." As to the construction requirements, she nods slowly. "I wasn't sure if Undine houses underwater were all filled with water, or had air in, or what," she admits. "The only Undine underwater cities I know about are ruins that have been discovered. Apparently they were driven out some time ago." As far as legal protection, she says, "Marchioness Wake would never allow that sort of thing. She's very progressive, and anyhow, most of the waste is getting used for mulch for the crops."

    "Which is very nice. Humans eating human poop. I've heard stories of that kind of thing happening, and nobody got sick from it. Plants are very good at digesting the bad out of such." Rubbing her hands on her poncho, Naniko considers. "I definitely don't want to start dying with this," she says. "What's the payout for this job of yours?"

Goldenblade ehs about eating human poop. "It's not really like that. Technically the plants are eating the human poop, and making it into plant. Humans are eating the plants. After washing them, of course. It does work out fine, yes," she agrees. She also nods about not dying. "I don't want to die, either, and I'll probably be going on the mission, too. As to the payout, we'd have to see what Wake can scare up. Probably not cash, she's turning cash over for all these projects, but I'm sure it'll be something worthwhile."

    Naniko definitely looks more interested now that she's got more details. "I'm not usually on monster hunts, but this sounds kind of like a mystery, and I'm all about those," she points out. She rubs her chin and considers for a while. "I make no promises, but it does sound like something up my alley. I don't suppose I can call dibs on the drops if we kill this thing."

Goldenblade smiles widely, looks relieved. "I'm glad to hear that," she says. "We definitely wanted Undines on this, for several reasons." She smirks. "By the way," she goes on, "What sort of houses and buildings /would/ you want in an underwater city? All air filled with airlocks, mix of air and water? All water? Can you breathe water, or do you just hold your breath for a long time like a dolphin?"

    "I have lungs," Naniko says. She takes in a deep breath of air. She then pinches her nose and there's a hiss as she exhales without using her mouth or nose. She takes a fresh breath and says, "and gills. I could deal well with a fully underwater city, but it would suck for my paper, some of my ingredients, a LOT of the metals I use to make jewelry--but I don't want to be stuck in air all the time. It would be nice to sleep in water without needing to coil up in a bathtub." She considers. "I'm imagining an air-filled dome with column supports. Water entrance beneath with some way to keep the critters out. Even sharks aren't pleasant to come across, let alone the giants in open sea, anymore." She rubs the back of her neck. "Do you remember Venice? Pictures, at least? It feels right to have the inside like that, with safe canals for swimming between places, but also having those flanked with sidewalks or roads for those who would prefer to walk. Lots of water features, because we've definitely got the magic to keep those running...honestly, there's been a lot of thematics around coral, but that stuff's alive and needs an entire ecosystem to keep it going. Stone would be nice as a base, if you could use non-pourous stuff. Glass and polished marble or something like it. I don't want it to feel like undersea ruins when I'm at home unless I want to live beneath the waterline of the bubble of air inside. Make sense?"

"I see," says Goldenblade about having both lungs and gills. As far as Venice, she nods, explains, "My wife and I went, back in 72 or 73, I think. It was very nice." She considers the construction, and says, "So a mix of water and land modes. That seems reasonable, and doable. It'd certainly take magic to keep going, but we've actually got a project working that will allow us to make modern-ish structural concrete. I think as a foundation, that'd be great for not letting shifting ground cause a glass dome to crack. And I like the glass and marble theme, it makes me think of some underwater ruin from ancient Greece. And we can make the dome go to the base, with water at the basement level for those as want it, and air above for those as don't. I've got some interesting ideas now."

    "Just be careful not to turn it into an underwater greenhouse," Naniko warns.