Apocalypse IV - Rescue

A few waves move the boats at the Marine. Newly made with a lot of help from the landers, as well as a good number of Fourland Dukedom ships. Their flags proudly dangle at the top of the masts - with a secondary flag under each to show which 'house' is being represented by the ships. It is notable that the vessels are not moving out into the water right now.

The Adventurers present are being invited onto four of the ships. Each of them a Fourlander vessel. Each of them led by a different captain. This is a rather remarkable matter, as those in the know would be aware that Landers in general never send out ships in numbers larger than two, in order to avoid Leviathan attacks.

Standing on land, is the representative to all four of the ships present. The 'Duchess' of the Zorah Dukedom. Though who knows how many here would even know her name. She's a rather 'fishy' sort of Undine, it would appear: with a fin that comes off of her head, red coloring, with a white underbelly - and covered with blue robes. There's a lot of jewelry that adorns her, but it's notable how it's attached - ensuring it would not easily get ripped away if she were to dive under water. Very little of it being 'loose fitting'. She's holding a trident, tip down to the ground in a show of respect to those who have signed up for the mission.

"Please, see yourself onto one of the four ships. We will be moving in a very wide formation, in order to try and not arouse the attention of the Leviathans. But these are our biggest ships, so we should be able to get quite a few Adventurers off of the remainder of the Ezzo Empire." She proposes to those present.

POLARIS THE UNYIELDING has already dedicated themselves to one of the middle two ships, whichever seems larger or more impressive. It's important for shot framing to be able to stand dramatically at the bow of the ship, arms crossed, various dramatic aspects waving in the wind... They plant both gauntlets on their hips and laugh with tremendous amounts of good cheer. "HA HA HA! While I would love to make a legend of slaying Leviathans, I will reserve a labor like that for another day! Your strategy is sound and your ships are impressive, fit for a truly mythical rescue! Let's be off fast, I'm sure the refugees I left behind have grown restless, and I'm ready to write a new chapter in my legend of rescuring them!"

It only takes a little bit of heavy clompy dramatic striding before they've planted one foot dramatically on a raised bow segment, propping themselves up by one elbow while they lean forward in a perfectly rehearsed and perfectly heroic pose. IT BEGINS!

Nureha, as is traditional when she's out and about to be seen as the Guildmaster, arrives with a contingent of guildmates in her very best outfit. The magnificent multi-layered princess dress of embroidered fabrics. She takes her hand away from her ear, smirking mischieveously to herself with her eyes slightly out of focus.

With her hair bound up in ribbons, keeping it away from her face and tightly constrained in a decorative fashion, she makes her way towards one of the great ships.

She immediately seeks out Polaris, for the great and EPIC tales that they will surely tell her.. and coincidentally, as her guildmates break up onto the various ships, Proteus doesn't have to be with them.

Over the course of the last few days, the Were Fang Guardian, Mikage, had been hard at work helping with the ships. Crafting had never been her particular strong suit, but sometimes it's more of a matter of throwing as many bodies at a problem as possible. So, she pretty much took on any job that was needed to get things up and running, not giving a single complaint. There is some level of exhaustion in her features, perhaps some lingering status effect.

"Sorry, Rama, but you'll have to stay here for this one." The girl's pet lynx is pacing back and forth along the docks, obviously anxious about his owner leaving. "Stay here, hunt rats. There always seem to be plenty of them. Or go find Cyrus, I'm sure he'll watch you." Miki leans down to scratch the lynx's ears. "I'll be back soon."

So, as Mikage boards one of the closest ships, not being too picky about which one she calls 'home' for the next day or so of her life. "You know, with the haptic upgrade, I wonder if they've been able to simulate real sea sickness." Leave it to a nerd in Druid's clothing to think of something like /that/. Ugh.

    Mizuki is dressed for nautical adventure! Well, it's one of the low-tier light armor sets available in Carmina Gadelica Marina, anyway. It comes with a striking blue cloak and a black, plumed hat somewhere between a tricorner hat and a cavalier hat. Under the cloak is a buff coat with a red sash around the waist, and a pair of black trousers completes the outfit. There's also a pair of shoulder belts crossing over the chest with pouches and the sheathed long daggers Giganpor made. Pirate-style boots would be included if she weren't in beast form.

    It is fortunate that earlier today she spent some time talking to the NPCs more. She's not exactly convinced they're /people/ -- how would that even be possible -- but she can at least recognize that maybe they're worth treating with a bare minimum of politeness rather than treating them as quest-dispensing machines. Otherwise, she might approach this rather differently...

    Mizuki is rather alarmed to learn they're breaking the two-ship rule. She raises a hand. "Excuse me! Why is it safe to send four ships this time, rather than sending two groups of two ships?"

    Okay, bare minimum of politeness doesn't include bothering with whatever political etiquette might be lore-appropriate for talking to a duchess. Especially when concerned about monsters that have slain armies...

    Merek takes time to put on the best white-black attire of the longcoat he can find, a nice set of his twin blades upon the back while he takes a moment to nod to people, and bow to the Duchess. "I'm a healer, and work well with defense, if anyone would need it. I am combat capable," he says, taking the time to find a boat which speaks to him while looking to the water, "I wonder if there are gods of this world, listening. If so, then aid us within this quest," he adds.

Proteus is here. She isn't going to leave the rest of Ezzo's people in the lurch. Despite her usual demeanor, there is something of a remnant attachment to the now-corrupted ruined land. The cloaked and hooded Imp doesn't make a big scene of her presence, instead simply swishing to one side and nodding to Nureha as she passes, acknowleding her guildmaster.

Even being within earshot of the boisterous knight however seems to cause Polaris to wince once again, perhaps a learned response to the mighty warrior. While she didn't get back in time to contribute to the fleet, she will be lending her assistance to the proceedings. She sweeps onto one of the ships, pointedly picking one that Polaris isn't on.

As she passes Mizuki, she simply replies, "It's not." Before proceeding on. She has no heroic speeches to give. She has no declarations to make. And she barely knows most of the people here, so she doesn't waste time on small talk. She mounts the third ship, maneuvering up towards the prow and looking out into the distance towards Ezzo. It's probably not hard to pick out the faint shimmer of that distant barrier across the waves.

Denora had only been to the ocean on the rare occasion of family outings when she was young. So getting to go out on an actual ship was a new experience that Shiruba was excited for.

If only it was under less dire circumstances.

That doesn't stop the wolfgirl cait sith from practically charging onto the ship, and claiming a spot near a railing where she can see where they're going to be going. Her tail shakes back and forth a bit, even if she's trying to subdue just how much of an adventure this is for her. Got to keep focused on the task lying dauntingly ahead of them after all.

How odd, she was part of those that needed to be rescued, and now she's on the boat going to rescue the others. Well, those they had to leave behind at least, the Landers. She hopes they are okay a week after. It's already been a week. A long, busy week. The long haired idol hsa found a spot at the front of a ship, using her spyglass to look ahead. Maybe she can help with the passage at least.

She ends up the other Ezzo rescuees, Polaris and Proteus, two of those that saw her demise before. She smiles and waves to them, clearly looking more alive than dead fortunately "Hey." She got a bit more experience since last time, so hopefully she's less of a liability for the team.

After the time and effort put into getting these ships together and getting them ready to go, there was no way Kaydon was not going to partake in the rescue mission. Currently onboard the first ship, he stands near the wheel, arms folded across his chest. He's a Marine, this kind of thing is normal. Sure the last ship he was on was about fifty times larger and made out of steel and powered by a nuclear generator, but the concept is basically the same.

"I trust your men are prepared for the inevitable Leviathan attack, Captain." He says to the commander of the ship. He knows that he sure is ready for it, his blades sharpened and his armor brought back up to max durability after the encounter in the tower the day prior.

This is one of those rare times where his true nature shines through. He may sell himself as a mercenary working in exchange for loot and gold, but he cares, deep down inside, even if he refuses to admit it to anyone.

Kite nods appreciatedly to Mifa, grateful for the queen's assistance. "We all appreciate the risks being taken, staking four ships out in Leviathan waters like this."

Mizuki poses a fair question -- breaking the rule of two, so to speak, was a dangerous gambit in general, even with preperations made to minimize the chances of a Leviathan attack. " ... alright, well, I'll be on my way, your highness."

The fourth ship at the port, that was the one he found himself heading towards, making sure he had all his equipment; his potions, his mail breakers, his gold and miscellaneous items ... check. With everything he'd need in tow, he makes to board the vessel, the scent of salt thick in the wind.

From the way the Landers behaved, to the sensations experienced .. it's like this place had come alive, somehow. But, more than most others, Kite suspected a reason for that.

Aura had been special, after all, the first of her kind. But if her data had been used in any capacity to update the AI in Elder Tale, then ..

    Kite places his hand on his chin, rubbing it in thought.

What has Tetra been up to for the past few days? A good question! Having been busted back to starting gear is unacceptable, and she's been off doing what comes naturally for someone with a stark and terrible MMO habit: grinding. Not a lot has come of this yet besides the restoration of a few, strategic frills and ruffles that she considers essential for this sort of thing.

She nods a bit as assignments for this start rolling out and she starts heading over towards the ship she's supposed to go onto. "Heyo!" is her offer to those headed in the same direction as herself.

"You know.. I don't think I've ever actually sailed before..." she muses, half to herself, "I kind of wish it could be under less ugly circumstances..."

Gwen looks to Polaris for a moment.

"Let's make the song after we got through this my friend not before."

She notes she looks back to Shiruba for a moment. Mori is also there looking nervous and muttering about Uther being a bad luck magnet.

Gwen turns her attention to Mifa for a moment looking her over. She will make for one of the ships and look over whose involved in it. She'll head for her ship calling out to those who are to be a part of its team.

"Keep your wits about you, we could be facing anything could have fish-men showing up or who knows what else and when we get to the landing the last intel I have was things were quiet but don't assume it's going to be. Let's be prepared for the worst but hope for the best."

She's soon settling in on the deck.

"Well Kite we're on our way at last, we get in and pull as many people out as we can."

she looks to Shiruba for a moment

"What elemental arrows are you packing today?"

DArkness she's met once before and is aware she's some kind of a tank.

"So if we have to swap off between each other I'll be counting on you, Darkness."

Merek gets a bit of a look over as Gwen tries to recall just what he can do.

"What's your spec if I might ask and I'm Gwen Pendragon!"

    A towering lady knight stands among the Adventurers who gather at the port, preparing to board the newly built ships, so that they can go forth on their rescue mission. She listens to the explanation, and then, picking out a group (by Landers, by assignment, or otherwise), she ventures up the boarding ramp to join the rest of the crew. She introduces herself to those who may not know her yet.

    "Greetings, fellow Adventurers. I am Darkness, a Crusader. My specialty is my defensive abilities. Please rely on me to defend our party against enemies, no matter how numerous, powerful, or r-r-r-repulsive they m-may be." She appears to be flushed and breathing a bit heavily by the end of that odd sentence. Perhaps she is embarrassed about her stuttering. Or maybe she has some thoughts about pirates and sea monsters going on in her head that no one really wants to hear about.

    In either case, she takes the time to compose herself and learn the names and faces of her companions.

    "This is it. I'm appreciate you joining in on this as well. If all works out we shouldn't have to worry too much. But just in case, it might be best to stay to under the radar till something happens." The enchanter arrives speaking to a rather...(Short) companion. The Enchanter finds himself adorned in a new white cloak that covers most of his frame keeping most of his attire hidden from the eye. Though the staff he holds in his hand definitely seems different from the last one he had used for the Tolbana mission. This one appearing almost like a large pole of some sort with the tip separating into separate branches each with a bit of foliage to it. Frankly it almost looks like he's holding onto a miniature tree. "Ah that's..."

    As he spots the duchess' appearence, he makes his way over to her waiting for the rest of Adventurers to finish their conversations before even attempting to speak to her. As he'd finally find the chance to speak he'd give a courteous bow to the Duchess, "Duchess Mifa, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance in person. My name is Shiroe and one of the many recipients of your good will. With that said though, do you intend to join along with us? Not that we wouldn't be graced by your presence but knowing the risk of this expedition is it safe for the Duchess of the Fourland Kingdom to come along?"

    It wasn't to doubt that she wasn't capable but well, if something went wrong while she was going about with Adventurers, if it was just that she got hurt...It'd be quite the problem that might end up coming down the line. Something he'd like to avoid if possible. "...Well, one way or another rest assured should anything come to pass we'll do what we can to keep your ships in good condition and your men safe to the best of our ability."

    With that said he starts wandering over to the designated ship where he spots one of the other adventurers and their lack of sailing experience. "Mmm, better late than never though. Especially with the Chaos Gates down Adventurers will probably have to get more accustomed to traveling by sea inorder to get to other parts of the server. At the very least since it's such a large ship we should hopefully not have to worry about too much rocking."

Kite is broken from his thoughts by Gwen, the Twin Blade giving her a small smile and a wave. "Oh, hey, you're here too, Merek." he greets.

Adjusting his red cap, Kite nods once before introducing himself to Darkness and Shiruba; he'd seen the latter back when this mess started, but he couldn't remember having spoken to her, and he'd never seen the Crusader before today. "My name is Kite, I'm a Twin Blade .. overall, I have a good balance of physical and magical offense power. I don't have a lot of HP, but I also have a solid amount of evasive skills and a couple of support abilities. It's good to meet you!"

In an effort to help Darkness out of her shy, shy shell -- nevermind that it wasn't any measure of 'shyness' that was causing her to act the way she had -- he sticks his hands out for a western style handshake.

    Having made it in time to join the four ships, he had to go back and help the other Adventurers and Landers get off Ezzo. There wasn't much left of the place and honestly after that day, it was a bit crazy. Still he was going to do what he could ot help the others. As he boards the third ship in the convoy he reckonizes a few faces, "Hey Reika, Proteus." he says as he looks ot the two. "I'm sorry I don't know the rest of you, but I'm glad to meet you all." he grins. His monkey like tail sways from side to side as he seems to bounce along the balls of his feet.

    He is still wearing pretty basic clothing, though he's done and earned enough money to get new clothing, he looks to be waiting possible. "So you all ready for this?" he asks. He heard Mifa's words before they left, "I've not seen a Leviathan prior to things changing, but yeah. I hope we don't meet them, I have swim skills but it's not the best."

At Polaris' claim, Mifa tilts her head just a little. "I, Mifa, recommend you be careful, Adventurer. The Leviathans are surely more mighty than you and this meager set of ships." She remarks with a fairly teenage and girlish tone that still somehow manages to convey both respect and urgency in it.

At Mizuki's asking, Mifa frowns a little. "It... isn't. But we understand the desperate need to get as many people off of that island as soon as we can. We are hoping that by keeping a wide formation, we won't draw the Leviathans' ire. There have been formations up to six who have moved without trouble in the past. It's... a measured risk." She expresses.

As Tetra moves past, Mifa adds; "Don't worry. We have the best Sailors. We're counting on you to be our weapons against any... unfortunate encounters."

The lady is then surprised, as an Adventurer actually approaches her. "You... know my name?" This seems to confuse her. Adventurers rarely knew Lander names, even with their culture enforcing that they named themselves on introduction. "A pleasure to meet you, Adventurer Shiroe. I do indeed intend to come along." She proposes to him. "These are my ships, and my people. I would make a lousy ruler if I would not venture forth with them." Something that her advisors probably heavily disagree with.

----

With everyone on the ships, the Anchors are soon being pulled up, and the ships set out. It's going to be a few hours long of a trip, so that gives the people on their individual boats some chance to introduce themselves to one-another. Mifa joins up with Shiroe, Tetra, and Mikage.

The boats, unfortunately, rock quite a bit. They're quite massive, easily capable of carrying a good 1000 people if they pressed close together. This is certainly better than even an enormous galleon. These are transport ships normally ment for mass good trades. And based on the smell and a few remnants down in the hold...

Ship one normally carries fish.
Ship two normally carries grain.
Ship three normally carries livestock.
Ship four normally carries construction materials.

There's sizable cannons on the ships as well. And there's large 'ramps' under the deck that are meant to bring things up various levels. It's like a warehouse below deck. A rather interesting design at that. Including banisters with nets, to prevent things from falling into the lowest central area.

----

Travel is about two hours in, the deck heaving and weaving, when there is the first sign of trouble.

"LEVIATHAN SIGHTING TO THE PORT BOW!"

Those who immediately move to the port bow, would notice an /enormous/ black mass under water... quite far away. One might wonder how anyone sees anything... until a /MASSIVE/ fin rises up from the waters. Just a single fin... easily as large as a european style castle.

Nureha takes her place on the deck, careful not to get in the way of the Lander Crew. She pays her respects to the captain, thanking him for making this journey on behalf of those who were still stranded. She tries not to notice the HEAVY smell of fish that permeates every inch of air and almost every pore.

Her curiosity burns to examine past the shores of Ezzo, a tingling rush that makes her toes curl in the sturdy leather boots underneath her fine dress. They look like dress shoes, but only from a certain angle which, much like the dress, has a floaty and ethereal look to it. She approaches Kaydon in passing, saying. "Let us hope, for the sake of those we are trying to save, that it is not quite so inevitable as you believe."

She spends much of the trip exploring the ship, though the smell of fish is MUCH more pronounced in the lower decks.

She examines everything, cataloguing and taking everything in before returning to the relatively fresh air of the deck.

She eyes the titanic fin, biting off a short gasp and letting out a steadying breath. "..well. it looks like the inevitable HAS in fact come calling."

Now to see what happens after that.

POLARIS THE UNYIELDING!! loves to spend time with what they think is some sort of fan, though that's the insane filter of their weird obsession. They have plenty of stories to tell about the horrifying infected creatures of the Ezzo island, and their assorted properties! Their invulerability, their vicious consumption of durability, their hideous green glow, and of course, Polaris's claim to have slain _two_ great immortal beings! A terrifying rat king, and an ancient elemental machine!

This is only slightly embelished, surprisingly; their gregarious gesturing and posturing aren't adding _that much_ to it, though perhaps they're stealing a little bit too much credit. Their grand-standing is only interrupted by Mizuki's arrival. "YOU!" They shout! "Don't rest easy! I've not forgotten about the duel your friend owes me. I expect you there as her Second, so get your voice ready!" What in the digital reincarnation hell is Polaris talking about? No elaboration, they just confidently laugh and resume their poses and suchlike. Kaydon's arrival is less engaged-with, thankfully for Kaydon, though Polaris stops to think that it's strange being the only Adventurer on this boat who doesn't have animal genetics jammed up in the avatar.

They are desperately struggling to contain a joke about Mizuki and fish.

The leviathan sighting has them immediately off the bow and leaning over the railing to look at the fin. An eye burns under the helm! Expectantly, they move as fast as they can to start climbing the nearest mast, ascend it, and take a position on one of the mast yards that can allow them to properly Ahab this thing should it take hostile action... though of course, they don't plan to incite the battle. Even though they lust for the chance to carve a legendary victory here, Polaris isn't so awful as to prioritize that over _refugees_ being _rescued_. Spear in hand, they crouch, and just motionlessly await the chance to LEAP DRAMATICALLY.

The gnoll were fang gave a nod in response to Nureha, "I'm hoping for the best when it comes to that myself, if I'm being honest. I'd rather this go smoothly." Of course, it seems that going smoothly is not the case in this instance. Because no sooner have the words left his lips than the fin is spotted off the horizon.

"I hate being right," he mutters, "Captain, I'm ready to help however I can. What are your orders?" He understands chain of command.

He moves towards the side of the ship. He's not going to get in the way of the Landers crew, they should know what they're doing. But he's ready to get at the Leviathan if those are the Captain's orders, however he knows that they may not be able to take something so massive, at least not with only four ships.

Keeping the ship safe needs to be the number one priority right now.

As the ships leave port, Mikage spends most of her time leaning against the railing, looking out as the marina disappears into the distance. Even once they are out at sea, the girl seems to be taking in her surroundings, keeping her hood up. Since the ship was mostly manned by Landers, it is probably for the best that they can't see her Were Fang marking with the cloth covering it. She glances over in Tetra's direction, perhaps remembering her commentary from earlier. "It's good to take in the experience, even if it isn't under the best circumstances."

After a moment, she adds, "I haven't been on a ship in ages. The gates always made it easier to get around with out them, so you kind of forget to take in the view." A glance is cast towards Mifa and Shiroe, but the two seem to be more the social sort, making pleasantries and the like. Miki is a little too quiet natured for that.

"If it weren't for the Leviathans, I'd be seeing how far out the range of water magic is. But I wouldn't want us to look potentially like a tasty snack." So, she avoids doing so. But it does mean that Miki is looking out at the sea when the monster is first spotted.

"Big boy..." She comments, letting out a low whistle. "Let's hope it swims on by, otherwise we could be in for some trouble."

Reika waves to Wynfei as well, smiling. She looks in a better mood than before, a few days ago she was questionning everything, including her own ability, which led to her death. She questionned her usefulness even. She sitll needs to work on many things, but it all starts with a smile.

It looks like they got the livestock boat, she sniffs a bit, looking around. As long s she doesn't step in something untoward... WHY should she think about that kind of detials in a game? -.- So many questions.

She keeps at the front of the boat, using the spyglass to find any sightings. They aren't the first boat through, but have to be careful if any come to them directly still.

Gwen says "Well you have myself and Lady Darkness. We should be good with the damage two twin blades and a hunter and dish out."

Old class names habit die hard, so hard she's referring to a clast of a now sadly long dead western MMORPG. Things are quiet for a bit Gwen is looking out at the sea seemingly excited about it. Later Gwen will chat it up in the meantime. Time ticks away as the formation is going it's been about two hours? They are making good time at this point however there's something wrong the ship moves and heaves.

"Heads up!"

Her ears twitch a little bit and then she sees it a massive fin.

"Darkness help me cover the party and the crew, Merek? Kite? Shiruba? Help the crew with the Cannons, we're likely going to need them!"

Gwen will ready her self for battle, sword and shield at the ready watching for what might come next she also shouts out a warning to the crew.

"LEVIATHAN!"

She may end up on the canons soon too depending on how things go.

BGM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fEqQsgH-Bs Mining base Defence Final Wave PSO2.

Reika looks toward the rest of the ship's occupants "There's one over there, but it's looking and moving away. We might be safe for now." She keeps an eye on it though...

The arrival of the formerly dead idol gets a glance from Proteus. "Hello there. It's good you made it back." Her tone is neutral, and the tilts her head. "Are you all right? The death process seems to be... different than it used to be."

Wynfei gets a nod too. "Looks like we're going to be working together for the forseeable future, hmm? Glad to see you back in business." There is a shrug at the mention of a Leviathan. "If it happens, it happens. I'm not sure what we're going to be able to do if it does show up. They're not exactly something you can just run up and hit."

There is a little bitter noise from the Imp. "No one has good swim skills right now. We've all been reset, remember?" The ships get moving, and the Imp works on steadying herself on the rolling deck, getting used to the motion of the ship. "Tch. I never did enjoy spending time on the ocean. What's below is much more interesting, I bet." She comments to no one in particular. She turns and leans on the rail, simply biding her time.

But it was not to be that their trip would go unmolested. The cry goes out, and Proteus stands looking off the port bow. "Mmm." She hums. "They are certainly living up to their name, I see." She turns to the others. "This is usually where we run away quietly and let it go after the people who scream."

    Mizuki looks somewhat mollified when the duchess says that large groups of ships have moved safely in the past. A measured risk sounds acceptable.

    Especially when you can respawn.

    She's already at least met everyone on the boat, but she's not sure she's introduced herself to Polaris and Nureha. Her tone has completely changed from talking to the Duchess: "Helloooo~! I'm Mizuki, cat nyinja! I'm fast, I stab things, I've got elemental and dark magic. I look forward to working with you, nya!" May as well keep those spirits up! Hopefully nothing bad will happen.

    Mizuki wanders the ship as they sail, taking in details. Like the thought put into the design of the cargo ships, the cannons indicating that Yamato /also/ has gunpowder (but no personal-scale weapons? She can't remember what invention made those possible. Better quality steel?), and the smell. Of fish. Which is making her hungry no matter how much soggy-cracker food she eats. Endure it, Mizuki! There will be tasty fish later after this is all done!

    Something bad happens.

    She stares over the railing at the giant shape. "These things have destroyed armies..."

    She turns around and raises a fist into the air. "Nyever give up! Ready the cannons! Ready long-range attacks!" She'll help move the cannons around if needed. Even if this thing cons black... by her pride as a gamer, she's not giving up without a fight!

    Merek nods a bit to the Duchess, while he takes a moment to board up onto the ship, "Merek, Twin Blade Sorcerer, I can use light magic. I prefer healing," he mentions, while he begins to look as the ship moves along, blinking a bit to Darkness, "You okay?" he asks, lifting a brow. The man smiles to Kite, nodding a bit, "Great to see ya Kite," he offers. The man walks up to Darkness while answering that to Gwen and Shiruba about what he does. "Need anything?" he asks, crossing arms while he thinks, "If you're worried, I believe we will be fine." Which is offered for Lady Knight.

Shiruba glanced over her shoulder first at Gwen's question, and then the other Adventurers getting themselves familiar with each other. "I'm Shiruba the Spell Fletcher. Hunter and Sorcerer." She holds her arms up to make a pose of mimicing drawing an arrow in a bow. "I use elemental Wave Artes to enhance the output of my archery." Essentially answering both sets of questions. She has some other Utility tricks, but DPS at a range is her primary fortay. Especially when she's got other people to stand in front of her.

At least they didn't get the ship that smells like animals. Or animal refuse. Or dead fish.

By the time of the second hour of the trip though, a lot of that initial ethusiasm has waivered off, and Shiruba was slouched against something convenient with a bored expression sullying her previously excited features. The down side to sailing was there was a long stretch of nothing happening for passangeres, it seems. Occasionally she yawns, or dips her head a bit as if about to doze off.

And it's at one of those moments that someone shouts about a Leviathan being sighted!

Shiruba snaps upright in a flash, ears fully erect at attention. The bored sluggishness is immeadiately gone as she joins the rush to the port side of the ship.

"Okay, it wasn't me. Who complained about being bored?" Shiruba gestures a hand out at the giant fin slicing the waves atwain. "This is what happens when someone says they're bored doing the big adventure!"

Which is followed by a sigh as she draws her bow from her back. Though she's thinking less about damage and more what she can do to slow one of the beasts down for the cannon if need be.

Tetra isn't the sort to get motion sick. There's very little that actually can get her nausiated at all anymore. It takes a little while for her to get used to the pitching and rolling of the deck but she adapts quickly. At the sound of a Leviathan being sighted she actually rushes up towards the bow to see what it even looks like.

She seems excited by the idea of seeing new and strange things.

"Oh wow..." she murmurs after a moment to get a general idea of the SCALE of the thing. Her eyes shift, then her whole stance shifts, "oh woooooooooooooow...." she almost squeaks.

She uses her rod as a reference point.

"From there... to.. over THERE..."

And then she holds up her thumb, closing one eye.

"He's huge. And not coming for us. Gojira is real and he is here."

Nureha has spent much of the trip listening to a near /CONSTANT/ stream of stories about Ezzo. She has a little book that she carries in her inventory and as she listens to POLARIS, she UNYIELDINGLY takes a lot of notes concerning the infected creatures of Ezzo and their immortal properties.

Like a shy and retiring fan who only wishes to bask in the radiance of their chosen object of affection, she wanders around with Polaris until they make a plan to climb the mast. She finishes the notes in her book and tucks it away again in her inventory. "Do you think that's a very good idea?" she messages him, putting a hand to her ear as he begins to await the chance for glory. "If that thing so much as sneezes, you will certainly regret being so high up."

She interacts with Mizuki whenever they cross paths in the two hours before the leviathan sighting, though she doesn't cop to being in her adventurer duties at the time and so pretends that this is a first meeting.

Nureha doesn't do anything because the Leviathan is still quite some distance away, their mass certainly something to destroy them and the fleet with a thought. She ponders some sort of liquid, a squid's ink perhaps that could irritate or blind such a creature, but there was no possible way to create enough of it. Polaris and Mizuki running around checking cannons or preparing to engage were monstrously foolish. Still. If it gave them some comfort, she went to seek the Captain and asked if there was any way they could avoid such a thing. Anything in the ocean around them to hide them from it's immediate wrath.

    Seeing the idol, Wynfei walks over to her and bows his head, "Nice to see you again. You doing alright?" he asks as he looks ot Reika. He didn't get to close, because well people and personal space and such. He turns and looks towards Proteus, "It looks that way." he laughs. "Well hey we better do a better job at keeping in touch than." he says as eh looks to her.

    Wynfei stretches out and he doens't know what's going on with the boat with leader of this convoy, but hearing the vague murmurs of a dark shape, the Monkey like Cait Sith moves to the edge and sees the dark mass underwater. His eyes widen. "Yeah I take it that we don't have anything to handle one of those, so hopefully they will just let us pass with no issues. Right?" he stammers

    Darkness accepts and shakes Kite's hand. "I look forward to working with you." She seems to recognize Gwen from that meeting in the Cathedral after the resurrection incident. But the rest aren't registering anything. She also hears the other introductions, acknowledging Shiruba with a nod and a smile. "Well met, Lady Shiruba." Further greetings and getting to know her crew-of-convenience has to wait as an enormous sea monster emerges from the ocean. Just like she was hoping for!

    Face flushed once more, she charges towards the port side of the ship, drawing her blade, and tries to position herself inbetween the monster and her companions. "Oohohh! There it is! Now I can demonstrate my prowess! Come forth, beast! Unleash your fury against me, while my party defeats you!"

    She must be using that one Crusader skill, 'Decoy'! Or maybe she's just needlessly drawing attention to herself when she could have kept quiet and hoped the thing went on its way like a normal person.

    Still, it's a game right? It's not like anything bad is going to happen.

Kite is given a while with his new partymates, getting to know them just ever so slightly in that timeframe before things really start heating up.

Excitement, and not the good kind, sets into the crew as various sailors start moving about with the kind of furor that you'd only see in deseperate times. Kite nods to Gwen, kicking off to make for the cannons alongside the starboard, given pause as he looks out to sea and witnesses the great fin sticking up from the water. "So that's a Leviathan ... "

The moment is broken by Darkness. Putting on such a brave front must be embarassing for her, Kite thought, surely that is why her face is so red. What a brave woman.

He wastes no more time in grabbing a cannonball in each hand to ease the job of the sailors. "Need a hand?"

At the showing of a Leviathan, there's an immediate sense of tenseness on the ship. As that first massive fins falls back under the water, two new ones rise, coming up... and then falling back down. Each time, enormous waves flood the region, causing small tidal waves that flare out from its position... only to have grown small enough that they don't bother the ships by the time they reach them - though it's notable that even at this distance, it still makes the boats groan with stress.

The various landers give Mizuki a /look/ at the call for cannons. "Our cannons would do nothing against a Leviathan." One of them explains to Mizuki. "We'd sooner throw the cannons overboard to lighten our load, and sail away." Another follows that up with.

Fin after fin follows as it moves away from them at slight parallel. Towards Ezzo, but away from the point they are traveling to.

On the second ship, slightly in the lead, Mifa white-knuckles her trident as she hears that it's moving away. She then glances up at the nest. "Any sightings of the Wake?"

"The Wake seems to be following it for now!" She hears back from the man in the nest.

Only for Ship 4's mast to suddenly start ringing a loud bell and then grabbing large flags. Slowly, they communicate something.

Something or SOMEONE had aggro-ed the 'Wake'.

Across all ships, the command follows immediately.

"Everyone to battle-stations! The Wake is coming!"

Something that can be seen by the streams of white across the water's surface. Large things splash up across the water. At first, there's some shouts from adventurers; "Dolphins!" "Sharks!"

But it's neither of that.

"AWRUUURALOCHLOOOCH!"

Green skins with red streamers, almost like dreadlocks. Massive bulging eyes. Those who wish to man the cannons can do so. Others who are on the deck would find that the /fastest/ swimmers make contact shortly after the first cannon might even fire!

CLACK.

CLACK-CLACK-CLACK-CLACK!

CLACK-RIP-CLACK!

Two massive /fish/. Just... FISH suddenly lift onto the decks of each ship! They are fish with massive teeth, each with eight sharp /legs/ that dig into the wood of the ships. They seem to have filthy dead fish eyes, and just almost seem to move on instinct. They are eaten into largely. Partially rotten. Some kind of undead fish beasts!

Reika nods to Proteus as well, smiling "Yeah... it was a weird experience to die, I don't suggest it to anyone. But... at least it wasn't permanent." Silver lining and what not.

She looks over to Wynfei as well "I got... a better handle on this game right now, at least, but still need to train and improve." At least she's being serious about it, it was rather embarassing back in Ezzo. Not that she could help it. Even now she still think sit's a long event, she doesn't know what's going on, but she figures it's going faster if she helps out.

Well, that training battle might come in handy in a second, as the giant fishes jump after the ship's occupants. "INCOMMING!" She shouts out, putting her spyglass away and taking out *both* swords this time. Looks like she found out what Twin Blades can do. Twirling the blades, she lets out a cry of "SHOCK!", stabbing at the closest fish to try to stun it.

Kite is unfortunately, probably, given a similar explanation to Mizuki. He nods and puts the cast iron orbs back where he got them, in their large cubby. Those Leviathans really must be exceptionally tough if not even a barrage of cannonfire could phase it.

Unfortunately, it seems like they've got bigger issues .. or, smaller ones? Certainly more problematic.

Kite draws his mailbreakers, intent on making a pro-active offense with the hope of preventing the enemy from spreading out too quickly even as they decide to swamp the ship. "FLASHSTEP!"

Propelling himself with the power of wind, Kite's face scrunches in disgust and apprehension at the seemingly zombified merman. hoisting up his right hand and firing off a barrage of stabs and jabs with his down-sized rapier in the hope of skewering the creature's vitals two or three times.

"What...." says Tetra, her head ratcheting in the direction of the fourth ship.

Then her head jerks towards the water's surface.

"MUCH FISH, STARBOARD SIDE!" The rowelless spurs she wears on her boots, seemingly as some kind of decoration, spark as she accelerates suddenly to full speed. Apparenly, some Acolytes come with a speed setting. She goes tearing by people warning of the direction she saw the fishes coming as she tries to get into a better position.

"If I get knocked down," Calls out Polaris to Nureha. "It will _accelerate_ me into _stabbing_ the beast, countering its actions entirely and keeping me safe!" There's a kind of insane knight logic there. But they stand, urgently, looking out to the incoming danger... THE UNDEAD FISHBEASTS! "COME, THEN, WAKE!" Polaris roars, raising their spear. "SHOW ME YOUR STRENGTH! HEAVEN ITSELF COMMANDS YOUR TIDES -- AND I DO NOT MOVE, EVEN WHEN HEAVEN DOES!!"

THOMP! Here come the massive fish! "THE NORTH STAR IS BURNING BRIGHT! EN GARDE, YOU ROTTING ICHTHYOIDS! <REPELLING SHIIIIIELD>!" And Polaris descends from their perch at tremendous speed, trading their spear for a shield and diving shield-first to intercept the fish, a strike meant to blast them back while they work to advance aboard.

    Truth be told in regards to actually knowing Mifa's name, the only reason he could probably say he knew anything about her is cause somewhere in the back of his mind he could recall something about the in game lore that mentioned the Duchess of the Mifa Kingdom. He could only help that she didn't ask if he knew of her escapades though, "Yes, it would be rude not to be somewhat familiar with the person acting as our Benefactor. Though as someone going out of their way to stand with her people we've found ourselves in good company. I've also heard that you're a rather knowledgeable individual as well when it comes to books. If you'd have any recommended readings I'd be happy to hear them when you have the chance."

    As it happens Mifa ends up on his ship of all places. Go figure right? And thanks to that or just coincidence he ends up on the boat that had usually carried grains so there's no particular stench that needs to be worried about that otherwise would have been dealing with in regards to fish or livestock. The rocking...Still a bit problematic, but nothing he can't handle. Overall for the first two hours the trip seems rather manageable till the first signs of trouble arrive. He turns to the port bow wanting to get a grasp of the type of creature the leviathan actually was. Catching the large black mass going under them made it seem like the shadow of an island was floating under them rather ominously. Then when the fin raises up, it only helps to reaffirm that worry...

    He wasn't sure if their party could handle such a thing, and he really didn't want anyone to try anything as of yet. Better to make a few calls.

>
>

>Messaging Kite...Messaging Gwen
>
>
<<Kite, Gwen, for the time being don't let anyone try to mess with the Leviathan's. We should try to follow the sailor's example. I don't have any contacts on the other ships so if you can get the message acro->>

    And that's when signs of the /Wake/ occur, and the massive fish arrive on the ship. He's no tank but he prioritizes putting himself in the way of Mifa and the creatures. "Tch...Sea Monster vultures...Get ready for combat!" He readies his staff as he starts to send what info he can to the Adventurers on the ship, as well as Kite and Gwen who he add the friend addresses to on the other ship about these Vultures. But first...He'd have to deal with these things before any of that. So he'd prepare Thunder Fury in an attempt to fry these fish creatures quickly so that he could relay what info he had to the others.

It is only a small relief that the Leviathan seems to be paying them no heed. A certain part of Mikage would like to see one up close, but there is also another part that rings alarm bells in her own head about how stupid such an idea would be. Instead, it is the closer threat that draws her attention.

Drawing her sword from the scabbard across her back, Mikage runs her hand along the flat of the blade, igniting lines that seem to run through the metal. "Why don't you go back where you came from." She shouts, channeling water magic through the weapon. A guyser seems to spurt up from the side of the ship, turns abruptly at an angle, and then splashes out at the Wake, trying to catch enough force to knock it overboard.

Certainly, the smell of fish can't get any worse.

WARNING WARNING: THE WAKE

Excellent.

She galvanizes the few Plant Hwyaden adventurers that followed her onto the boat, having them group up in proper party formations in the center of the deck with the mast behind them, so they cannot be ambushed and can only be approached from a limited number of sides.

Undead fish beasts flop onto the deck, googly dead eyes staring into infinity. While she is being screened by adventurers, she throws a nasty glob of.. something white at one of the fish creatures. An explosion of spores puffs into the air, drifting down and trying to take root in the creatures, attempting to quickly multiply in the dead flesh

    The Landers mentioning running away reminds Mizuki that they may not have entered its aggro bubble yet. "R-right... of course. If it hasn't noticed us, we still have a chance to avoid it..."

    Then people start shouting about THE WAKE. "What's The Wake?!"

    That's The Wake.

    Undead fish beasts with spindly legs? It strikes Mizuki as a bit unusual for this game's aesthetic, but okay. As a Ninja, she has both the killer stabs AND the magic nukes, she just needs to wait for someone else to draw aggro...

    And Polaris is happy to oblige!

    Mizuki runs after him at a distance, taking a breath and then spitting a ball of fire at the fish! It explodes exactly like the Sorcerer spell, so she aims to catch both fish in it if she can!

The trip, despite the Leviathan in the distance, was somewhat uneventful, until the bell started ringing. That was never a good sign. The response of the Landers gets Kaydon moving, opting to go with his one handed blade and shield this time, because of the close quarters on the ship. It turns out to be a good idea, as the two horrifying fish drop onto the deck.

They're close enough he thinks he can actually pull this off. He wheels around with the shield, releasing it from his hand as he finishes the arc. The heavy metal disk flies through the air, deflecting off the mast of the ship, flying towards one of the fish monsters, with the angle set to bounce off of that fish's head, and slam into the second one, before flying back towards Kaydon to be caught and locked back onto his arm.

He immediately drops back into a defensive position after setting the shield, "Come on, you soon to be chum. I'm going to chop you into pieces!"

Those attentive ears aren't just for show. They hear the sound of something approaching the side of the ship, and Shiruba quickly backpedals away from the edge moments before the deep sea horrors propel themselves up onto the deck with a thunderous flop of half-eaten forms.

"So much for having the ship without the dead fish smell!" One leg shifts back a bit to brace herself as she reachs for her quiver, a few sparks flying from her fingertips as she grabs an arrow, which causes the runes etched in its shaft to light up as she nocks it and draws back. More sparks arc along it's length.

"The wrath of the howling storm send ye back to the depths of the unknown sea -- THUNDER FURY!" she chants, and fires. The arrow crackles with power into a lightning bolt, unleashing a quick series of discharges where it hopefully inpacts.

    Merek looks while the Wake begins to come upon the party, and nods a bit, while he looks to Kite, Gwen, Shiruba, along with Darkness. "Well, it looks like we have to fight!" The man then begins to maneuver forward while his felt hat shifts away, his scarf along the wind while longcoat begins to flash. The man swings with his twin blades, "Tank, you got the party protected? I'll heal when needed!" Why would he even work on healing.
    The man begins to sweep into one of the Wake with his blades beginning to dance along in a flurry, with skill he begins to work around with maneuvering. The ability of the Tester, he would test the limit.

Gwen calls back.

"I never said I was bored Shiruba!"

Then Darkness is already throwing out taunts? Wait!? Is Darkness, throwing out taunts?? There's a brief look of panic on Gwen's face.

"Wait no don't agro them unless they move to...."

It's too late oh god it's way too late. She's going to have to deal with it. There is a first in Gwen's lift, she wishes it was some kind of fishmen like Murlocs or local version thereof. Not these things, oh god who cooked up these horrors?

She doesn't want to know oh god she does not want to know so hard. There's no time to yell about what's happening the fight is on.

"Canons on the ones that haven't got aboard!"

Gwen is already moving to charge into the fish horrors that has got on the deck, there's only one thing on her mind it's very much tank flow chart right now. Get agro off everyone else.

"Darkness? Keep the fish on you, don't go for the Levithan it's ignoring us right now you can protect us by keeping those fish off us and the crew! Ignore the Levithan and deal with the wake!"

<<Got it, I have contacts ob both ships I'll get ahold of them.>>

She will patch Mizuki and Reika into the call.

<<Heads up do not mess with the Levithan if you can tell your comrade that follow the lander's example they know more about this than us and focus on the wake!>>

<<It's done, Shiroe, Kite? Let's do this.>>

She'll trust in Darkness to take agro for a moment this gives her an opening.

"SHIELD BOOMERANG!"

Which has her launch e shiel off her forearm and sending it flying intend to bounce if of the various deep-sea horrors.

    Wynfei nods to Reika, "I'm glad you're getting the hang of things. Though I did say I would help but wasn't around." he sighs a little. "I apologize to you for that, I will try to do a better job. With how things are shaping up, it's best to try to make friends, something I've done a horrible job at." he chuckles a little. He rubs teh back of his head as she starts speaking with Proteus. He too turns around at the sound of them being boarded, and as Reika moves to engage, so does he.

    Wynfei moves towards one of the walking fish, he looks ot the name of the enemy displayed above it's head, "I havn't fought one of you before." he chuckles. Though he's been in enough fights to know that he can't play around too much and as they are now able to feel some of the hits more so now. He feints a knee towards the creatures center, but drops and spins along the ground using his thick tail to try to trip up the creature but the bobbing of the ship throws him off causing Wynfei to miss.

"This world is better than most, perhaps. At least death isn't the end." Proteus agrees with Reika. "You have an opportunity to learn from any mistakes... And yes, we all make them. The important thing is the knowledge we take from it, isn't it? Experiences are the true treasure. And it looks like you're taking that to heart." Her tone seems... warmer, at that, it seems.

But the time for small talk is over. The Wake is coming. The horrors crash onto the ships, and the Imp grimaces. "Looks like this isn't going to be simple, then." With a flip into the air, a curling series of rings appear around her right arm as she jumps in on the aquatic creature. "CORRUPT!" She calls out, and she dives down, a spike of dark energy blasting from her arm a short distance, trying to curse the creature to begin denying it the ability to act and respond to the assault.

    The Leviathan ignores her. However, something else is definitely paying attention. A >lot< of somethings. As the surface of the ocean swells, Darkness looks around quickly, half-turning to check behind her. "N-nani!?" Then she spots them! Undead fish-people! They climb aboard and begin to menace her party members and the crew! Unacceptable! One million years dungeon--Wait, that's a different thing.

    Thankfully, Darkness is a Crusader, so she has tons of holy/light-based powers to dispose of these undead, right?

    She leaps into the way of any monsters attempting to advance on her companions, with a "Hah!" Her sword is held defensively, but other than interposing herself between party and attackers, she doesn't whip out her awesome light-based powers. Maybe she's saving them for something. "Undead! The enemy of all who dwell in the light! Come at me, and face judgement!"

    She brandishes her blade, slashing at the air a bit, but not hitting anything. Maybe she's using the Crusader skill, 'Scare Undead', using her holy powers as a follower of Eris to inflict fear upon enemies that normally don't experience it!

    Or maybe her accuracy is just in the negatives and she failed to hit anything. Hard to say.

Earlier

Mifa smiles to Shiroe. "You can always come visit my castle. And we can talk about books then. Alright?" She offers him.

NOW

On ship 1, Polaris moves forward in order to block the undead fish advance. Halting one of their fierce jaws with his shield and forcing it back! Mizuki follows up with a blaze of fire that burns into the side of the fish, but fails to incapacitate it. And now the ship smells of /burning/ rotting fish. Nureha however manages to take advantage. Spreading strange spores in an area, causing the rotting flesh to more quickly dissolve away. Some of the bones wearing away! Kaydon throws his shield, causing a constant ricochet effect between the two fish, slamming into them, shattering bones!

On ship 2, Mikage uses her control over nature to cause a geyser, catching one of the fish and pushing it off the boat. Mifa arrives, not a moment later right next to the Gargoyle and moves her trident, bringing up a second geyser, and then slamming it down on the top of that falling fish, crushing it and causing it to shatter into pieces. Tetra helps the team organize. A few landers taking out Axes and chopping into the remaining Undead Fish. Shiroe joins in to the magic display, using his Thunder Fury to finish things off, eradicating the creature and shattering it. Even Enchanters can pull their own weight sometimes!

On ship 3, Reika sends a fierce shock of lightning across the way, rippling into the nearest undead creature. Its legs twitch and flail for a moment, halting its movements. Wynfei joins into the fray, but he finds that his fierce punches just 'slap' against the undead fish bodies in places where he just cuts holes into them, causing red streaks and the 'flesh' to disappear, but the bones beneath to remain just fine. A group of Landers rush forward with spears, spearing the one Wynfei failed to cut down, and cause it to burst into shattering light. Proteus follows this up with a fierce blast of darkness, which slams the last remaining undead fish off of the ship.

On ship 4, Kite rushes into action. A staccato of piercing blows stabbing into the nearest fish. It lifts one of its bone-legs and tries to stab into his leg, only to barely miss as Darkness gets in the way of the retaliatory blow! Merek joins into the fray, getting to the second fish, cutting away some of its legs and enabling a nearby lander to push the disgusting thing back into the waters. Shiruba casts down a nasty thunder right before Darkness eyes, zapping the creature and causing it to spasm, until it's fuming and appears to be dead... shattering to pieces in the usual display of a defeated enemy. Gwen joins Darkness in holding off the remaining fish, shattering it with a Shield Boomerang as it is getting pushed back into the water, shattering that one as well.

Cannons fire continues to loudly ring through the air. And moments later, multiple fishmen jump onto the ship, followed with another league of those undead fish! "Get those things off of the ship!" A captain can be heard from Ship 1. The battle continues to wage as the teams work together on cutting down the fishlike beings. Strikes, magical casts. Even the calls of some of the members, summoning up peoples' courage.

It's a battle that wages on for a good hour, until the Wake decides it will no longer chase. That the food is not worth it, and stops engaging with them - leaving the Adventurers and Landers both exhausted.

One Hour Later

As the ships continue up north towards Ezzo. There's groans heard from everywhere. There's a lander who needs healing on Ship 2 - maybe someone has a potion for him or is good with Pharmacy. There's a mast that got broken on Ship 3, that needs some Construction work. Ship 4's sail has gotten ripped, which needs some Tailoring to do. Ship 1 managed to get out with the least scratches, but its captain seems to have gotten poisoned, and could use some Light healing, or someone who has the right Herbology skill to apply an antidote.

POLARIS THE UNYIELDING... is thoroughly exahausted. That's an objective fact, you know, the Exhaustion Meter proves it! But they'll be damned if they let anyone see them sweat. Even after playing dead fish Breakout for an hour, they insist on outrageous enthusiasm. "HAHA! Already this chapter in my GREAT LEGEND bodes well!" WHOOSH! They whip their shield in an arc over the edge of the ship, and a layer of rotting, crusty chum slides off it, slinging into the ocean. "I TOLD YOU: THE NORTH STAR NEVER YIELDS!"

Now comes the matter of healing. They're careful to keep their sentences short, to disguise houw out of breath they are after all that. "Now, let's add a little filler on this chapter!" The captain was poisoned...?! "Aha! So this legend even adds a little poetic irony! The captain of the fish trade vessel is nearly killed by dead fish! WELL! The legendary Polaris never yields! I won't allow even one death behind my shield! Let me at them!!" HELM-GLEAM! Even when bloody and covered in fish-chunk, Polaris can do that helm-gleam!

"OL REPTH!" Polaris booms loudly, activating that classic technique and letting its healing light fall on the Captain.

Nureha drifts with her group next to Kaydon, keeping in formation in case any more Undead Fishsticks are lining up to be battered by flaming oil and deep fried. In fact.. that was a better idea than the first one.

Nureha calls out to Kaydon. "Keep back! I'm going to douse it," --- And thus starts a very long conflict where oil doused Fishmen and burning / searing/ dissolving and other sorts of Alchemy is applied, at length, to the WAKE until they break away and fade back into the ocean.

Nureha's dress flickers like a hazy memory before she pulls herself together again, giving herself a little time to rest while they check on the condition of everyone. She finds the Captain has been poisoned by one of the assaults and frowns. She examines one of the left behind weapons of the WAKE, analyzing the poison left on the weapons. If she could extract a bit of the poison, she might know enough about it to try crafting an antidote, knowing that many antidotes and anti-venoms are created using a sample of the poison they come from.

    More fish? More fire. If they're more spread out, she grants the party stoneskin. Eventually she runs low on MP, though, and starts supporting with...

    ...Song? It gives an attack or defense buff, so... "It's beginning to look a lot like fish men. Eeeeeverywhere we goooooooo..." She darts in, occasionally stabbing, and... has forgotten the words, so she improvises. "We'll stab them until they're dead," STAB! "their blood turns the ocean red," STAB STAB "our magic and our blades will never faaaaaaaaail! We're attacking an endless lot of fish men." STAB STAB "They woooon't" STAB" leave uuus a-looooooooone! They won't let us cross the sea," STAB "but we'll kill them for XP, we'll level up and save folks from Ezzooooooooo~!"

Kaydon manages to strike at the fish monsters with his shield and several strikes from his blade, carving deep red lines into their bodies with each blow, until eventually they are finished off, and disperse. The ship seems to have not suffered much in the way of damage, but the captain needs help.

Kaydon, after sheathing his weapons, moves to the captain's side, "I'm no healer," he says, because that's going to be very reassuring for the man, though Nureha seems to be pretty much taking care of the situation on her end. He's still going to try to cast the one tiny healing spell he knows, to keep the captain alive while Nureha does her thing.

As it just so happens, Tetra is a specialist healer and can see what she can do about lending a hand for the injured on Ship 2. With any luck at all she'll at very least be able to help his recovery along.

One would hope...

This is not working quite the way that she was expecting it too, and quickly the starts to show a bit of strain. "Wait.. huh.. no.. this is a little tricky..." she's trying very hard not to panic as she tries to use her magic to help. But her eyes are also, on the sly, looking towards The Smartest Man In The Room for some help.

Two monsterous fish down!... And more aquatic fiends storm the ship to replace them. Shiruba draws another arrow. "Don't let them spread out and swarm the ship!" She fires an arrow at the feet of the invaders, coating the deck in some slick ice so others can push the fiends back and off the ship. Then occasionally more lightning charged arrows. This goes on for roughly an hour before the creeps of the deep finally give up and withdraw. Not that anyone is counting down to the exact passage of time.

But there is no time to rest yet as the ship has taken damage. Torn sails and rigging?

She doesn't know a lot about tailoring, but she can help get the supplies together and other simple things. Hopefully experienced sailers like the Foursides would be prepared for in-transit needs like this, and the Adventurers are only needed to assist instead of be Do Everything Heroes.

Throughout the fight, it becomes clear that Mikage is more than just your standard Druid. The sword she carries isn't just for show. In fact, the Were Fang has to use it a number of times over the course of the long battle, not only to defend herself, but to drive back the enemy. However, it seems like focusing magic through the weapon is the major part of her kit.

In the aftermath, the pale Were Fang pants softly, only then realizing that her hood came down during the fight. Quickly, she pulls it back up. At least amongst these Landers, it's likely that none will be too negative about a Were Fang being on board, but better safe than sorry. It is why she's remained in human form despite the difficult fight.

Sheathing her sword Mikage looks around, taking stock of the damages and injuries. "Shit. Where is someone like that damn snow leopard when you really need them?" Though some Druids are known for healing magic, Miki isn't among them. She does at least attempt to help out, shedding a little bit of light magic from her fingertips to help ease some of the pain.

Reika is glad that it worked. For once. With the Landers on board, it makes quick work of the rest of them when they can't move, much easier from there on. She phews, and turns around to look at the damage, frowning "Well, nothing to it, time to get to work!" Unfortunately she has no skill at this, so it's a far more tedious work than it should be, giving them time to talk. It seems she can't do much more than assist the other's work.

She looks to Proteus, remembering she had reacted... weirdly to knowing she was an idol with little game interaction. Seems she warmed up. A noob is only a noob when they refuse to learn. You could say... Reika's hand was forced here, considering the situation. Survival matters, and her inexperience cost her a life already. "I'm doing my best to catch up I guess. It's not that I didn't want to learn the game, it's just that I had no need to, fans just did things for me because it made them happy, feel special." In reality they managed to give the idol a crutch. Not that anyone could have predicted this.

    Merek looks to the mast where the sail is built up, then he begins to try climbing along upon it. He then takes a moment to begin working the sail, before it begins to swing along with him, the man spinning about upon the ship while he shouts, "AAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Chaos reigns upon the ships for some time. Proteus does what she can in order to help control the enemy forces, augmenting the ability of Ship 3 to act freely by denying the enemies the ability to do so. Waves of Dark power, cursed blasts, even sudden riptides to catch the undead fish by surprise, all of it is marshalled in order to allow the more offensively focused to beat the tar out of them.

The aftermath is unpleasant. The broken mast almost fell right on top of the Imp, which isn't helping her mood. "It's going to be one of those days, I suppose." She mutters. Still, she moves in and assists, grunting as she puts her back into helping to get the mast back into place and sealed up.

>Got it, thanks, Shiroe! = )

The battle with the Wake trudged onwards and by the time it was over, everyone was sick of it, it seemed. But they'd all made it through with minimal issues.

Kite is thankful that Darkness, being the stalwart and courageous knight that she was, protected him from the brunt of the fishmen's bladed advances. At least there wasn't much in the way of viscera to assail them in this virtual world.

Kite sets about trying to help fix the sail, and climbs on the swinging beam himself once Merek goes flying, only ...

Somehow, he winds up stuck there himself. "Oh no!"

Gwen is busy switching between fighting the fish horror, tanking them. Or protecting the crew from harm at the monsters' hands. Shes might have trouble sleeping tonight or at the very least not want to eat fish for a little while.

It's pretty intense but finally, the battle has finally come to an end the wake is done. Gwen will lean on the railing for a moment before sheathing her blades and putting her shield on her back. She seems glad they didn't lose anyone from the looks of it. The sails on the other hand are a mess, out of her inventory comes a sewing kit and she's going to attempt to get to work.

Gwen is not used to working on a ship that is in motion and she's just having a devil of a time patching things up in a timely fashion, today is not a good say for this Maid, at all.

"Shir, Kite, anyone make this boat stop moving so I can work here!"

    "Hey it's all good." he says to her. Wynfei managed to dust himself off and as work is being done on the ships, he checks on everyone before heading back to Reika and Proteus. "You two alright?" he asks as he looks between them. He smiles seeing that they are ok, "I really have to shake the dust off my skills, I thought clearing the first floor would've helped me in that, but looks like I have to relearn being Lvl 1 agian." he sighs.

    Once the battle's done, Mizuki follows the healers preparing to treat the captain. Not that she knows anything about healing, she's just nosy. Although, speaking of noses... she gets the bright idea to use hers to learn what certain healing herbs smell like so she can better identify them!!

    An hour passes and FINALLY it looks like there's some form of retreat from the Wake. Mentally, Shiroe's exhausted. With no tank, he's been having to work with the crew and the others to alternate who gets dealt with the most aggro to avoid anyone taking too much damage, and while the fight's over his HP and MP feel like they're in the low. Yet even with the enemy supposedly gone, he doesn't want to take the risk of thinking they're out of the water yet...One of the Landers already appears to be severely wounded. A grim look can be seen from those sanpaku eyes behind the glasses. A furrowing brow on his face. "Oi...Tetra!" He shouts out to the healer on board the ship. He had never actually asked what her skills were but the fact they made it through that hour without dying had likely been thanks to her efforts. But now she was needed more now than ever. "You still good on MP? This guy looks like he's gonna need it. Also Mikage, Akatsuki, we should keep patrol around the edges of the ship just in case something else decides to pop up."

    With that said he leaves the sailor in Tetra's care as he starts walking out towards the ship's edges and starts to keep track of anything he can such as the location of the dark shadow in the water and any other abnormalities he can spot. He also places a hand to his ear as he contacts Gwen and Kite again,
>
>
    <<That's good to hear. If there's an issue make sure to let us know. Also do you think you both can give us a headcount of how many people are injured on your ship, as well as those injured on the other boats. We should try to get an idea for when we hit land so we can have them ready for healers to take care of them as soon as we can.>>

On the various ships, the Adventurers get to work. Repairing the ship, fixing the sails, and healing the Landers. Making quite the reputation for themselves at that. Some folk not matching the skills is of course expected. But the fact that they are so willing to try is still rather impressive. Things kind of go into a lull after that.

The various sailors seemingly calming down from this mess. Some of them settling in to eat something. Mifa coming down from near the captain. The crew generally available for questions the Adventurers might have, or some mingling as the ride continues on rather calmly.

Ezzo is a few more hours off. But at this rate, it looks like they'll be able to get their first /large/ batch of Adventurers off of that accursed land. It also means that those who want to climb the mast can have a moment to stare at the strange horrors that lie beyond the lit-up 'screen' that has formed around most of the Ezzo Empire.

Reika uses the commlink she got with Gwen to report on the damage on her ship <<No injuries, but going to need a bit of time to repair the mast.>>

Nureha's first pass through the ship was investigation. She wanted to know who was there and what was there in order to catalogue what they had. The WAKE did an excellent job of showcasing the strengths and weaknesses of Ship 1 and both it's adventurer and lander crew.

After she has concocted a weak but passable anti-venom, she closes her eyes and listens to the sound of the chatter around her. Sailors starting to calm, adventurers coming out of crisis mode, the sounds of combat lulling to the sounds of apprehension.

She spends most of her time helping the Landers where and how she can, checking in on them, assigning some of her people to help where they can. She distributes food to the scouts on one pass like a Purple Gowned Fairy Godmother and when she's finished and her people are helping with any manner of small tasks or settling in themselves to talk and eat, she climbs to the top of the Mast to take a look at their destination in the far distance.

She drinks up every moment of it.

The tiny girl in Shiroe's company had been pretty quiet since the duo had arrived at the dock fidgeting and adjusting her clothes that seemed very ill fitted as though they'd been hastily cinched to her size from a much much larger frame. She'd followed along quietly as they had boarded their ship and enjoyed the toss of the waves against the boat as they traveled compared to the last few days for her the waves were significantly less than the vertigo she'd felt from the new haptics.

Then the Levianthan had shown up and the deck went oddly calm save for the various adventurers reactions but the giant sea beast had passed them by quickly enough on its own journey to Ezzo. The Wake, however didn't leave so peacefully. Clashing with the aquatic undead in a seemingly endless horde had been taxing but worthwhile she felt immensely more confident in her own abilities despite the level reset and the recent changes to her stature. She'd spent most of the battle fending off the Wake from one of the sailors that had taken a nasty blow midway through the fight.

"My lord! My apologies, I wasn't of more assistance in this fight!" the short assassin calls to Shiroe as he approaches the stricken man while Tetra and Mikage tend to his wounds. Her deadpan face doesn't give away the fact she was mentally kicking herself for not preparing more properly with some healing potions for this journey but the two magic users do seem to have it in hand.

Once things had settled down Akatsuki had gone back to quietly scanning the horizon towards Ezzo musing that she had almost chosen that as her homeland when she first started ELO and wondering what might've been had she made that choice instead of The Eastal Free League.

Tetra does her best to work through the near-miss on the healing of the injured sailor and calm down afterwards. She looks slightly grey, from the stress of the fish monsters and the smell of them afterwards as well as the aftermath.

It takes a lot to make her queasy. Perhaps this is a good example. She does NOT go scrambling up the mast to see if she can sight the land first, but she looks upwards at the mast longingly for several good moments before she thinks better of it. The fresh air would do her good.

The yawning chasm of space all around her, perhaps not so much.

    When rescued from the sail by Darkness, Merek will find a place to settle in, looking to the horizon while he sighs a bit in thought. The man takes a drink of water, "Would like to know what we can do for everyone when we arrive." The man seems to be within his thoughts. Kite, Darkness, Shiruba, along with Gwen might notice that a little while he takes a sigh.

Kite eventually manages to get himself rescued from the sail after such an incredible display of their skills. Not everyone can function as a human sail, after all.

Moving on. >No one was seriously hurt on ours, but I have no clue about the other ships.

Taking to the nest proper, Kite uses the opportunity to get a good look at Ezzo. Where, hopefully, his answers were waiting for him. It was such an ominous sight, even from here ... it reminded him, with that 'screen', almost of one of the sealed Protected Areas of Fragment. The thought brought a frown to his face.

With more capable healers taking care of the problem, Mikage steps back from the injured Landers. Though she might not have a healer's skills, there is some kindness there. Then, her eyes dart to Shiroe. "Yes sir." The response seems instinctual, like someone used to following orders when they're given. "I'm probably better suited to it than this, anyways." Her lip quirks.

Rising back to her full height, she draws her sword again, just to make sure the weapon is kept on-hand. "I'd heard of the Leviathans, but these fish men are a whole other thing. It makes me wonder what other dangers there are out here on the seas." She ends up taking a place nearby Akatsuki, resting her weapon against the railing of the ship.

"So... you call him your lord?" She pipes up. "He seems the leader sort. Is he a guild leader or something?"

    Mizuki hums sailing background music to herself sometimes. Though the food is bland, she tries talking to the sailors, asking why they chose to come on this mission. And of course, once they get close enough to see it, she too climbs up the mast.

    "That is obviously a glitch." The catgirl observes to Nureha. "The Landers usually ignore when we ask about game terms, like they can't hear us. I wonder if they can even see that?"

    You know, why ask that which can be known? She'll ask one of the sailors, too... what do they see when they look at distant Ezzo?

It's easier to risk failing when you don't have a parental figure looming over your shoulder demanding nothing less than perfect success. That alone is enough to get Shiruba to try to help regardless of her own skills or lack of. It at least helps to pass the time.

Eventually she makes her way up the mast, using much the same skills she would for climbing trees or rocky cliffs. She intended to help watch out for any more potential threats.

But it's hard to miss the first glimmers of chaos in the distance. "Goddesses above, even from out here it looks messy as hell."

With most of the Landers taken care of, and Kaydon honestly not much help when it comes to patching people up, he instead opts to take himself up into the crow's nest, climbing up the rigging to reach the platform.

He asks the Lander for the spyglass he has, in order to try to get a better view of Ezzo, or at least what it used to be. He'd done quite a bit of questing there, back in the day. It was a shame to see it like this. Maybe one day they'd find out why.

"Be ready for anything." He says, mostly for the sake of the Lander in the crow's nest with him, but also a bit for himself. He doesn't think that they'll be able to much besides grab the refugees and get out of there.

"YOOOOOU think _that_ is a _glitch?_" Polaris calls out. Somehow, at some point, they wound up on a mast yard just above the one that Mizuki and Nureha are perching on. "Absolutely not! That is the outcome of the LEGENDARY WORK OF POLARIS THE UNYIELDING!! I helped establish that dome! It is a quarantine, one that I helped the true Bandit King of the Ezzo Empire create!! THAT DOME..." They slam their hefty armored foot onto the mast yard. "IS A KEY PIECE OF THE SALVATION OF THE WORLD! It is what PREVENTS the horrible Infection from spreading!"

"Oh, and the Landers always knew. The Bandit King had kept tabs on our inappropriate out-of-character behaviors in Lander earshot, you know."

Nureha takes in a deep breath of the fresh air, listening to the wind and the relative silence up in the crow's nest. Her hands are on a small railing, looking out at the screen.

She isn't alone for long and is soon joined by the others. She politely asks Kaydon. "May I see that after you are finished?" wanting to get a better look at the screen herself. She also nods to Mizuki. "That is... obviously something we don't understand yet. And if the rules are changing about that, well.. we're entering territory where the rules we know don't apply."

She blinks, craning her head up at Polaris. "Ah, I see. So that is your work." Nureha says with a smile. "And.. huh." she says about the Bandit King. ".. That's.. intriguing. And now, I assume, we are out one shepard such as they are."

At Mizuki's question, one of the landers looks up at the massive dome. He then glances away. "I... honestly don't know what the make of it. The land there is clearly cursed or infected or something. It's... none of us have ever seen that before. But it's Ezzo. That land is cursed to begin with." He points out, followed by spitting on the floor.

Reika sees the boat is moving again, so she takes that time to get up the mast to spy around again. Gotta make sure they avoid those Leviathans. They probably cannot avoid the fishes... the large fishes... but mayeb she can see them approaching. Either way, best seat in the house. She falls down the mast "Clear sailing for now!"

<<Right we'll take stock on it. on it.>>

Once the day is saved with the Sail by Darkness, Gwen will help take stock of who needs healing, sadly her spec does not have healing at this level. That's a bit of a way off, but she'll keep that in mind. Thankfully it turns out no one is hurt and Kite report back.

At this she will also climb up into the nest to get a good look at what' out there or just hang on the rigging blow if there's nowhere to get a good perch.

"Dear God, my Father didn't do this justice..."

There's a sense of horror as she looks at it.

"It's wrong, it's so very wrong..."

The Holy knight shudders at this sight.

She calls out to Darkness.

"Good work on the sail, Darkness you pulled us out of the fire there."

    "Not the DOME, the stuff BEHIND it." Mizuki replies to Polaris. "Although, uh, good work."

    To the Lander, she replies, "It was always cursed? What do you mean? I'm, uh, not from these lands."

    While there's definitely an appeal to talk more to Mifa inorder to continue building relationships with the Dukedom, there was something that needed to be addressed. He smiles Akatsuki's way before speaking up, "It's fine. You ended up dealing with more of those things than either Tetra and I probably did together.Once we're landed you should take the time to breath. All of you should."

    That's when he finds himself being called sir. It's enough to make him scratch the back of his head, "Just call me Shiroe. And Akatsuki, you're being way too formal again. Anyway, seriously both of you should take the chance to have a short break. Once we're back on the sea who knows if we'll be dealing with those things again."

    While he says that to them though, he finds himself still as busy as ever. He heads over to the Duchess for a moment keeping that same smile on his face, "I'm glad to see your men are so capable. They did well holding off that attack. Still, I wanted to ask a favor if possible. If it wasn't already being planned could you make sure a tally is taken of all the Adventurers that are taken aboard the ships, as well as names?" He doesn't elaborate on why but more than not it's just a precaution for the future.

    Finishing with Mifa he has one more, final task he wants to take care of. He starts climbing to the mast, a desire to see the entirety of Ezzo if possible and the 'screen' that he had been hearing rumors about.

    He receives the message from Kite as he starts climbing up, and starts putting his hand to his hear as he finally reaches the top. <<Got it. In that case once we land try to make sure that you get a tally of the Adventurers you end up taking in. Names too if possible. Also...If you haven't already we should try to make sure we take a chance to observe what's going on with Ezzo. Especially with it possibly being the source of that wave...>>

The lander, to Mizuki's follow-up, remarks; "It's the land of the Spriggans... of course it's Cursed. It's where most of them went to get out of the public's eye. Good riddence too." He notes. "But, I suppose now we're going to have to deal with the black bastards in our lands en-masse again." He seems to be unhappy about this particular bit.

On Shiroe's approach, Mifa looks to the villain in glasses. "A favor?" She asks, clearly considering the notion of _another_ favor in that moment. After all, the Landers risking their necks for the Adventurers was a serious favor as it was. Not to mention what was happening along with that rescue. "Sure, I can see about numbers being taken. But we're going to be loading up these boats rather heavily... we'll need a lot of paper and charcoal or ink for that. And I don't think we have that kind of thing with us at this time." She explains to him, while leaning on her trident.

"I suspect the true Bandit King yet lives." Polaris says to Nureha, seriously. "They possessed a lesser Bandit King -- stole the man's mind and body, then left when their work was complete. I have not seen the last of my king, and neither have you." The Black Knight also gestures to their own dark armor. To their whole... you know. Their aesthetic. They answer Mizuki. "The land is Dark, and growing darker. It is the nature of the world to hold dark places, and the nature of darkness to find the places that can hold it. Ezzo was so direly cursed, it was the source of the Dark Wave! A source I still intend to investigate!!"

    Wynfei lets Reika speak with Gwen on the channels, he does indicate to her he's going to help, along with Proteus. He rolls up his sleeves and begins trying to help the Landers with repairing the ship they are on, he carries things and lifts broken pieces of wood. Though when he tries to saw a piece they were working on, well his skills for caprentry is 'SHIT!' He gets hollared at for messing up because well instead of cutting it in half, he cut in quarters. He really thought it didn't need to be in a half. "Uhh....sorry I was trying to... Ok, ok!" he calls out. He is pointed away from them.

    Before going to the top of the mast:

    "I thought something like that might come up so..." Shiroe digs into the bag beneath his cloak to pull out a large quantity of parchment, sealed glass containers of ink, and several feathers to act as a form of writing utensil. "I'm hoping these should be sufficient. If there's any left over please feel free to keep them. I know they may not be the best quality but offering this is the very least I can do personally to thank you and your Kingdom for the help you given."

    Sadly it was true. If his scribe level was still the same as that of when he was back at max level perhaps this would be things worth something to the Dukedom, but at his current skill level this was all the renewed scribe could do at the moment. Hopefully it was still a nice enough piece of parchment though.

Kaydon hands over the spyglass to Nureha when she asks for it, "Here you are. I'm going to go get ready." He moves to the edge and slides down to the deck from the crow's nest. He disappears back under the deck for a few minutes, and then returns to the surface.

"Act like a leader, get treated like one." The white-haired Were Fang winks at Shiroe before taking her place on patrol. There were people amongst the various groups of players who had stepped up in many roles since the Apocalypse, and Mikage just tended to treat those people with respect.

For now, though, she focuses on keeping an eye out for any more water-based trouble heading there way. She doesn't have any kind of nifty special abilities to see long distances, but every extra set of eyes helps.

Earlier - Mifa takes the gear that Shiroe provides, and notes; "We will do what we can."

Now:

A good while later, the boats start coming closer and closer to the coast of Ezzo. Truly, it is easy to see now. The chaos. The buildings spawning over buildings. The way that various lakes and the like form above water, only to break and splash onto the ground. There's bugged monsters walking all over the place, some of them enormous, some of them small and in larger groups. There's formation to the way they move now. Each of them seeming to constantly be moving in a pattern across the land. Those with spyglasses can see that the more humanoid forms keep moving their arms up and down, as if they were trying to push away the air in front of themselves.

"Alright, we're close enough. We'll be launching the longboats now. We'll be taking up to a thousand people onto these boats. When we are full, we are turning around and heading back." The various captains let their passengers know. "It'll take a while. If you can help us load some of the food supplies onto the longboats to load off on their side, before we take adventurers in with each shipment, that'd be super helpfuly."

There's pulleys and simply cranes that can be used to load food down into the longboards, and ladders deployed for people getting in and out.

Shiruba keeps staring, but fails to make any sense of what she sees, and eventually it's just giving her one big headache. So she climbs back down the mast to the main deck to help out with other things. She's good with pulling strings and ropes being an archer, helping main one the lift pulls shouldn't be too hard for her. Just no one make any jokes about dogs playing tug-a-war with something they can't move and we're all good.

She does smirk at Gwen at one point when her friend passes. "So how many times are you gonna smack Uther for staying behind before you hug him?"

    Mizuki blinks at the lander. "Wowwww. Racist much? What do you actually see, when you look over there, though?" She points. "I see... it's like buildings constantly being created and destroyed by more buildings sprouting from it, like a tree that grows super fast and has also gone crazy but instead of a trunk and branches it's... buildings." After he replies, she walks away to find something else to do.

    Once they get even closer, the glitches are only more apparent. "Geeze..." Mizuki will put that were-fang strength to use loading the boats, of course.

"What in the world...?" Tetra murmurs softly under her breath after she finally catches an opportunity to see what they're trying to save people from. Her mind is trying to make SENSE of it. Intellectually, she's torn between trying to see it as actual, physical chaos and rampantly corrupted terrain data.

She can't quite make up her mind on how to look at it.

After a few moments she comes down and tries to find a moment where she can speak with Shiroe, simply saying, "Thank you for the help..." softly. It's a brief moment where she allows herself to look as nervous and concerned as she actually feels before she reverts to a more relaxed stance. "There could be injured. No. There probably ARE injured."

It seems like ages since the Apocalypse, even now. It was that very same day that Mikage had first glimpsed the chaos going on in Ezzo through a borrowed spyglass. Now, up close, it seems worse than she could have ever imagined. "I can't even imagine what the people stuck here have been going through." She murmurs to herself. It is bad enough being trapped in a game, but to be trapped in a place that is literally bugged and falling appart around you? It is like being trapped in a horror film.

"Oh, right. Loading up goods. On it!" Mikage sheaths her sword and begins helping the Landers as they load up food onto the longboats. Though the Druid doesn't look particularly muscular, she does carry around a large sword, which means she probably puts a few of the sailors to shame with what she can carry. "Hopefully this will be enough to keep the refugees going for a while. At least those we can't get out today, anyways." The fact that they won't be able to rescue everyone is a harsh reality.

Nureha descends back onto the main deck, getting her guildmates to help with the loading of the supplies and help the landers get the longboats set in motion.

She stands at the railing looking out at the beach, a hungry look flickering over her face before she schools it back to something more appropriate to the situation, such as concern.

She raises a hand to her ear briefly and then goes back to their assigned tasks, handing off the spyglass to one of the sailors so it's goes back where it belongs.

She draws Kaydon and Mizuki and Polaris into a private link, saying .. <<And now, the more dangerous half of our journey commences. I know we're all tired from dealing with the WAKE, but laden with refugees it will be twice as important that if it comes to it, we shield them until we return to the port. Landers always live without a respawn, but these adventurers have nowhere to bind to, so they are essentially the same.>>

    Merek looks to the horizon, and nods a bit, "Well, it looks like we'll have a lot we need to deal with," he says, then he maneuvers to keep with his party while they begin into longboat.

"The land is Infected. Feverish. A weapon malfunction has rendered it entirely sick. We will need to find a way to amputate it, after some time! I am sure it will be quite satisfying for the racisms. Imagine it! The entire continent annihilated. They'll love it! It'll be _legendary_. Perhaps if I can find a way to cause that weapon to fire _properly_, it will vaporize the offending landmass." Yes, the racisms, let's satisfy that. "Why are you so curious about what the People of the Land see? I already told you! They hear and see the same as you. They just usually know better than to point out that you're insane!"

Anyway, someone called for help! "Aha! Lifting? THE NORTH STAR IS BURNING BRIGHT!" Polaris leaps off the mast yard, dives to the deck, and slams down. "LET'S BEGIN!!" Their strength is _tremendous_, and even though their Exhaustion was massively increased, they're eager to come to the refugees bearing lots more food, because food always helps people feel more willing to accept a legend!

<<Oh, it's actually quite worse!>> Polaris answers Nureha. <<The Bandit Kings lack the energy to Cast Out so many adventurers! They _are_ still tied to Ezzo. If they revive, it shall be inside the quarantine, where they'll probably be trapped and murdered repeatedly by immortal death-beasts for all of eternity!>> Why do they still sound so... boisterous while they say this? <<Reika nearly suffered that fate! Remarkable, really.>>

Reika will help load things up of course, whatever she can handle with her arms anyway. She even sings her song while working. She wants to lift people's spirits as much as possible after all, and she is a singer. At least, in her world she had a single out recently. Which is what she sings right now, for lack of anything better.

"Faster we get loaded, faster we can get everyone to safety." Which is, the better option really.

"Yes." Nureha says agreeable, not seeming to be phased in the least by the horrible, terrifying prospect of being killed repeatedly forever by killer death-beasts. "That is one word for it."

    Shiroe has the same sentiments as Tetra as he takes in the landscape of Ezzos. "And here we were all freaking out about being in Aincrad...But the ones in Ezzos were the ones who had really drawn the short straw." It was digital nightmare. As though everything he was seeing where things that just didn't mesh with Elder Tale at all. It was without a doubt unsettling to see. Which made it all the reason to be sure that they got as many Adventurers out of there as safely as possible.

    Shiroe found himself coming down from the mast only to find Tetra briefly garnering his attention with those words of thanks. Compared to how she had been before she seemed much more...Vulnerable? Yeah, that was probably the best way to describe it. She was letting her actual feelings show on the matter and so Shiroe tried to respond as best he could when she she finishes saying everything she has on her mind. "Mmmm, probably a fair amount. Probably from both Ezzos and those on the other ships. Their might even be more injuries that happen on the way back. But...You're definitely a capable healer. If anything, I should be the one thanking you. You're a big reason why we were able to last that long dealing with those things." It was the truth, at least the way he saw it. "In fact, I hope you'll allow me to add you as a friend. It's rare to find a healer believe it or not, especially one that's so competent at monitoring and managing a party's health."

    Mizuki briefly looks somber when she recieves Mikage's message. <<"Understood.">> Still, she tries to be all smiles for the refugees. She does ask them one thing, though... if they've seen an Adventurer named Att Syne.

Kite does his part in helping the survivors along, packing them and their belongings into the longboats they arrive on to send them back to the large ships. It was .. awful, he surmised, wondering if this is what a war-torn country in the real world might've looked like. And to say nothing of the environment, seeing it firsthand, he was positive.

This place did hold his answers. The bugged environment, clustered with compromised data, was his best bet. If that email had been truthful at all, this is what he'd been asked to come and witness. This was his clue.

"Well, it was fun partying with you guys on the boat, and I was happy to help however I could with the rescue, but ... well, I'm staying here."

The barrier, he thought, was preventing any real investigation of the area. But that wouldn't be an issue for him ... not with the Twilight Bracelet still in his possession.

"I hope you guys have a safe journey back."

Gwen can see they are getting to shore soon she'll put in a call to her father Uther.

<<Old man we're pulling in, it's going to go time soon. Mori is seething don't be a smartass old man.>>

<<If I wasn't you'd never have been missy.>>

Gwen just kinda facepalms there and mutters something. She'll then get to work helping with loading the food down to the longboats for the moment.

"Less than Mori does but to be honest? It's more for not slipping out with Att Syne and his crew."

She makes a face here and will start to help with the loading of people and unloading of cargo. Eventually, Uther's booming voice can be head from one of the longboats.

"So do I have a tale for all of you!"

Mori seems to be waiting staff in hand and looks like she's about to go nuclear.

"I try," Tetra says, her smile is genuine. "If you ever need a hand on keeping people off the floor, let me know," she says after a few moments to think about how she wants to phrase it. She sobers a little bit at that, for a moment, she's quite serious about it.

Nureha on Ship 1 makes preparations as well. She and her guild help the survivors but she also is making preparations for herself, loading supplies, materials and food into a rucksack.

She isn't going to miss an opportunity to see the barrier up close, even if she had to hike there. The ships would be coming and leaving for some time. When she was on the shore, she would let the glamour drop and fade into the mass of unremarkable players.

They couldn't afford to just let it sit there, a festering wound, without at least some cursory examination. There was also a few things she might look for on the way there.

Shiruba looks in the direction the voice of Uther booms from.
Then looks in the direction Mori's heated gaze is coming from.
Then looks back to Gwen. "She looks ready to beat him down, then revive him just to beat him again."

    Shiroe returns that smile to Tetra seeing her ease up a bit. It was nice finding people who not only wanted help sincerely, but were willing to give help as well. It was something that he hadn't seen in many people regarding him till this whole Apocalypse happened. If it weren't for the reasons behind it, it'd probably be...Nice. "If that's the case, you'd be perfect for a certain tank who tends to get himself caught in way too much damage than he should. That said if you ever find yourself needing a pick-up party let me know. I'm sure my friends would be happy to work with such a capabl-" He finds himself stopped midsentence as he notices someone getting off one of the boats. A figure who wasn't helping to load the Adventurers or supplies but looked like... "Sorry Tetra, one second."

    A hand goes to his ear as the other holds onto the railing of the ship. He reaches out to a certain someone with a furrowed brow on his face,
>
>
    <<Kite? That you? Where are you going? It's dangerous going past the docks!>>

    Just what in the world was this crazy kid thinking?

Tetra nods at Shiroe's sudden distraction and doesn't pry further. She takes a step off to the side and looks back at the situation as it unfolds, a hand resting on the rod in her belt. She's mostly waiting to see if there's anyone obviously stricken who needs some kind of immediate aid. Otherwise, she's trying to keep out of the way.

She does not convey the image of being a physically strong person useful for toting a load.

Gwen whispers back tpo Shiruba "She can do it too." Gwen just leaves her parents to thier thing for the moment it's best that way. She pauses at Kite as he seeme dot be heading out and she calls out.

"Kite?! Where are you going?!"

"I am my lord's faithful ninja." Akatsuki responds with a surprising earnestness to Mikage's question though Mikage's response to Shiroe gets a mometary smirk from the tiny girl, her impassive gaze returns and then falls on Shiroe, "I am humbled my lord, next time I shall do more." A beat passes as she looks to Tetra before she adds, "Understood I shall do my utmost to rest." Completely and pointedly ingoring the statement to be less formal it is her role afterall and isn't going anywhere she offers Mifa a formal bow before wandering off to loiter on the deck elsewhere to rest up.

The prospects of bland food do not interest the ninja girl all that much, she wasn't in the mood for wet crackers at all. Though once the long boats are readied Akatsuki joins the other adventurers to embark on the trip to shore though she does her part and dutifully helps the Landers load up the food supplies. Tetra's comment about there being likely injured ashore Akatsuki finds herself nodding in silent agreement that is more than likely the case as she passes by with her arms full of supplies.

The glitchy hellscape that she can spy while helping with the loading of the longboats is without a doubt intimidating though he features remain neutral even she feels a touch intimidated by what is going on in Ezzo, "What happened here to cause that?" She muses aloud as she packs a food crate into another boat.

It takes awhile to get out onto the shore in the rush back and forth. She helps the next group be loaded and sees them off before sighing, her Exhaustion level getting pretty high by now. She walks through the chaos of the crowd, finding a place out of sight to drop the illusion and return to a simple grey robe, a green blouse and sturdy leather pants. Her magic was almost exhausted and she needed some time to take a breath before she went anywhere. As she takes a break on a rocky outcropping, she notices someone else lingering on the beach.

She lingers, not staring, just.. closing her eyes, listening to the crowd and it's shifting moods. When she gets up again, she goes to help another group of adventurers. She pauses, then moves off to talk to another pair a little closer this time. Not imposing. Just listening, just trying to pinpoint the source of distortion. The person pushing against the crowd instead of working with it.

>I know. But, this is something I have to do .. maybe it's something only I can do, so I have to try.

Kite gives a little smile, rubbing the back of his head as Gwen catches onto him, "Like I was saying, I'm staying behind this time. There's something I have to do."

Everyone but him seemed to be cranking it at a hundred and ten percent to get everything done quickly, and done right -- none of them actually wanted to stay in this hellhole, and that was understandable. If given an actual choice in the matter, neither would he, but that just wasn't in the cards.

Leaving now would be tantamount to giving up on Orca, and Kite refused to do that.

"Yeah. I think it's best to give them space."

Shiruba keeps at helping load and unload boats as they make the trips.

Nureha leans up from where she was helping a group of adventurers. She looks to Gwen, vaguely recognizing them from a couple of duties and looks to where Kite is being anchored by them. She raises a hand in greeting.

"Oh. Are you staying behind?" she gestures to the barrier. "I've been meaning to take a closer look at that myself. I.. it makes me uneasy knowing so little about it. Would you mind if I came with you? The boats will still come, at least for some time."

She looks at the corrupted landscape. "..And even if the barrier stays stable, maybe.. maybe it wouldn't hurt to have some backup."

    Wynfei does what he can to help out as best he can, hearing Reika's words on their boat, the dark skinned Monkey Cait Sith is lifting and carrying whatever he can. Once they begin to load the longboats, Wynfei is doing just that. ONce he helps, "Do we all need to be going as well?" he asks.

    The look on Shiroe's face doesn't seem to get any happier when he hears the response to that. It's enough so that he finds himself basically shouting out his response, "That's crazy! Did you forget why we came here?! This isn't somewhere you can investigate! Especially on your own! You should at least bring a group with you. A healer, a field monitor, anything! You shouldn't just- Tch! Don't you dare leave the docks before I get down there...That's an order." He finds himself cut off... He wants to go. He really does, but realistically he's not sure that he'd be able to provide much support on his own. If that was the case...

    He looks back to Akatsuki who had already seen the anomalies on Ezzo and speaks up. "I'm not entirely sure but supposedly Ezzo was where that wave that caused the Apocalypse originated from. It's possible that it also affected Ezzo as well. At least that's what it looks like...Akatsuki..." His brow furrows a bit, "I'd like to go off the docks and investigate the lands a bit with friend. I can't guarantee how safe it'll be if it really is somehow connected to the Apocalypse. That said, if we have a field monitor like an Assassin class who's able to observe the surroundings using stealth it might prove to keep everyone just a bit safer. I won't force you to go, but I plan on heading out one way or the other..."

The ships arrive. Things work out how they can. There's more people than ships, and as one might expect there's going to be many trips back and forth.

This leaves opportunity for some things if one is willing to have a little bit of a commitment. Proteus leaps from Ship 3 and lands on the sand, looking about with a smile at the crowd. "We're back. Don't worry. We're going to have plenty of trips to get people going." She says, gestruing. "File on in an orderly manner."

However, after a short time she fades back, losing herself in the inevitable crowd.

Proteus doesn't ask permission. She simply walks off. She has some things she wishes to investigate of her own.

For his part, Kaydon has just been helping to move and unload boxes. He is the bigs trong type who's perfectly suited for exactly this type of thing. He seems pretty focused on it, though he thinks it'd be faster to set up a human chain.

As she finishes placing another supply crate into one of the long boats soon to be heading ashore Shiroe speaks to her. "If my lord asks it of me I will happy to act as a field monitor." While she might be playing a role and her impassive features might very well make it hard to tell there is a certain curious shine to her eyes that is genuine interest. Her eyes fall upon the longboat that she just finished loading, "Shall we go then?" It'll still need to be lowered into the water but otherwise should be ready to make its way to shore.

POLARIS THE UNYIELDING is hard at work, unloading things! Getting STUFF off of boats, you know? And yet, ever-observant, they have a particular habit. The habit, of course, of marveling at their own legendary accomplishments!

That's why their eyes are towards the barrier, and why that ominous helm-gleam shines abruptly the moment they see Kite moving beyond the docks. Someone who intends to see the barrier? What do they intend with the quarantine? With the hard work Polaris did!? A shining white light marks one eye under that closed helm, an eye that gleams and the great black knight suddenly drops their crate and starts to move.

It is time to Cause Problems.

    Breathes in for a moment as his gaze peers beyond the docks of Ezzos. He really has no idea what to expect. Though...there is one thing that comes to mind, a woman's bolsterous yet charismatic voice that echoes in his mind, The best part of adventuring is experiencing new things! The thought felt so misplaced in a situation such as this, and yet...He found himself pushing his frames up as he nods to Akatsuki. "Mmm, let's do it. And Akatsuki...Thank you again." With that he'd start getting into the boat so they could begin the process of lowering it into the water. <<Kite, I've found some back-up for you. Someone I think who could be really helpful. We'll be coming to shore shortly so be sure that you don't leave without us. Got it? If you do... For a moment his face accrues a rather devious smile that emanates a type of aura that can be felt even from a distance, <<You'll wish I was Balmung...>>

Kite shudders. What was this spine chilling sensation? That guy .. he really was a villain, huh? Like the Great General of Darkness. Yuck.

>R...right... ("o~o)

His attention is caught by a tower of a man in gleaming armor on the approach. "Uhm ... hey. What's up?"

Kite shudders. What was this spine chilling sensation? That guy .. he really was a villain, huh? Like the Great General of Darkness. Yuck.

>R...right... (''o~o)

His attention is caught by a tower of a man in gleaming armor on the approach. "Uhm ... hey. What's up?"

"My Pleasure." A mildly pleased tone to her normal monotone. She then hops into the boat behind Shiroe as it is readied to be launched. As it is lowered to make contact with the water there is a mild splash, Akatsuki sits confidently at one set of the longboat's oars looking ready to power it to shore all by herself if necessary.

    Having been keeping up wiht all that's going on, Wynfei moves with the others offloading food and helping people onto the longboats to get back to the main ships. "Do we have a timeframe we are working within or until the job is finished?" he asks.

THE LEGENDARY UNYIELDING POLARIS is here! "Ha ha ha! I'd ask you the same!" At some point, Polaris wound up _between_ Kite and the barrier. Their gauntlet presents a hefty index finger, jammed directly towards Kite's face! "Remember! This island is under quarantine!" They raise their fist, and clench it hard! "A quarantine I've built with my own hands! I, the legendary POLARIS THE UNYIELDING, made this dome and this isolation, to SAVE THE WORLD!"

They cross their arms dramatically! What few parts of their outfit that are crimson fabric manage to flap in wind! "Do you have some _business_ you intend to do with what I've crafted here?" It is a challenging tone! It's a challenging tone because of all the _challenge_.

On a side-note, it is fully legitimately 100% possible that they are not even Inspecting right now, and actually have failed to recognize Nureha, near Kite, is even the same person without that illusion on, which would explain why their brief history and first impression hasn't factored in here yet.

Kite blinks, tilting his head to the side. The behavior of this strange person ... it was nostalgic. That kind of bombastic roleplaying was the exact kind of thing he'd have expected out of that heavy axe wielder. He wondered idly how Piros was doing, all these years later.

"Yeah. There's something I have to do here, no matter what. You're saying you made this Protected Zone?

"I made it with the True Bandit King of all the Ezzo Empire himself!" Polaris roars eagerly. "Because of the severity of a great and awful Infection that threatened to annihilate this entire world! I can't simply allow anyone to interfere with it as they please!" A clenched gauntlet! They wring that hand with authentic dedication to the True King of their lost Empire.

"If you intend some kind of _business_ with the Barrier, understand this! The source is protected, its location hidden in secrecy, known by few! If you intend to investigate this... You would have to PROVE THE WORTH OF YOUR INTENTIONS, AND DEFEAT ME! THE LEGENDARY POLARIS THE UNYIELDING!!" HELM-GLEAM!!

"A truly insurmountable task for one such as yourself, I'm sure you'd agree!"

Kite rears back slightly at the incredible, gleaming vigor radiating from the figure's helmet, blinking slowly. It took a moment to really digest everything that was said -- but the crux of it came down to this; that this Polaris the Unyielding had the aid of someone called the Bandit King in order to seal this place, and that if Kite wanted past him, they'd have to fight.

He surmised that the Bandit King was most likely a System Administrator or at the very least, had been influenced by one. In other words, the answer was just over the horizon.

"Maybe. I don't want to fight you, but .. if continuing forwards means we have to fight, then I'll meet you head on."

Resolve swelled in his chest. Just like then, belief was a power, too. He wasn't someone with an idle fancy, he'd stake everything on the line to save Orca, even his life .. although, it was just a feeling, he didn't think it'd come to that. Not this time, at least.

"Meet me head on? HAHAHA! Know that you will be the one who is halted here, if you plan to meet me head-on! Bring the full heat of your burning spirit, because I cannot be moved! Whether by weapon, magic, or word, I am unyielding!" That gauntlet raises, an index finger jabbing the sky. "HEAVEN ITSELF MIGHT MOVE, BUT POLARIS NEVER WILL!" The gauntlet clenches hard. "THE NORTH STAR IS BURNING BRIGHT! YOU WILL FACE MY CHALLENGE BEFORE YOU SEE YOUR TRUE GOAL!"

That's right baby, it's a duel. We'll see to this business properly soon.