Duty Session 23: The Ezzo Rescue

    Mizuki returns with the first fleet of boats, which disgorge Adventurers and Landers into the port. Those waiting to go who missed the boat can see it was a success, although it quickly becomes clear that this is only a small fraction of the people who need rescue, even though they took the risk of sending four boats.

    Talking to Mizuki in particular gets a few more details: They SAW a leviathan, and the things must be kaiju sized -- the single dorsal fin they saw alone was the size of a castle all by itself! Also, Kite has insisted on staying on the island to investigate something and Shiroe, Mikage, and some others decided to stay with him. Mizuki is concerned and does want to check up on them periodically.

    If any adventurers want her help going out on a boat RIGHT NOW she demands fish. The boat she was on normally carried fish so the smell has been making her hungry all evening but there was only soggy cracker-food!

    Once fish are provided, the gathered group can see about getting a boat. The Landers insist on being guarded by at least two adventurers per boat, preferably 3-5 or so.

    And then... before they even leave, there's trouble: A stuck anchor.

    "REALLY?" Mizuki opines. "Ugggh, for crying out loud..." She takes hold of the chain and gets ready to pull...

    Mizuki returns with the first fleet of boats, which disgorge Adventurers and Landers into the port. Those waiting to go who missed the boat can see it was a success, although it quickly becomes clear that this is only a small fraction of the people who need rescue, even though they took the risk of sending four boats.

    Talking to Mizuki in particular gets a few more details: They SAW a leviathan, and the things must be kaiju sized -- the single dorsal fin they saw alone was the size of a castle all by itself! Also, Kite has insisted on staying on the island to investigate something and Shiroe, Mikage, and some others decided to stay with him. Mizuki is concerned and does want to check up on them periodically.

    If any adventurers want her help going out on a boat RIGHT NOW she demands fish. The boat she was on normally carried fish so the smell has been making her hungry all evening but there was only soggy cracker-food!

    Once fish are provided, the gathered group can see about getting a boat. The Landers insist on being guarded by at least two adventurers per boat, preferably 3-5 or so.

    And then... before they even leave, there's trouble: A stuck anchor.

    "REALLY?" Mizuki opines. "Ugggh, for crying out loud..." She takes hold of the chain and gets ready to pull...

    "Umm... is she okay?" Mizuki watches Jazz go down into the water. She's down there too long to be holding her breath, but doesn't seem to be drowning either... This is a bit worrisome. Fortunately, Jazz moves before Mizuki dives in to check on her, and seems to be able to loosen the anchor. "Heave ho!" The other three girls pull it, and pull Jazz the drowned maid with it as the boat drifts out of port.

    "Congratulations!" Mizuki's all smiles. "So how was it? Breathing underwater. Is it like in dreams?"

    As they sail onward, Mizuki enjoys her raw fish. It's FOOD WITH TASTE, dammit!

    Hours into the voyage, one of the Landers gets sick. "Is this going to happen every time? We need some kind of fully-stocked medicine cabinet on these ships..."

    Mizuki is disappointed that Jazz is mute about swimming. Oh well. She offers to let Jazz borrow spare clothing while using air and fire skills to dry hers. There isn't even uncomfortable wet changing when you can just equip dry clothes from the menu in an instant!

    She has nothing much she can do to help the sick Lander. Jazz provides some medicine and she sniffs it, "I THINK it smells like what we used last time..." But the sailor doesn't get better, so the crew is one short, occasionally asking the adventurers to help with pulling ropes and other ship tasks.

    Although, a more pressing task presents itself when the mermen climb onto the deck!

    "Gwen!" Mizuki shouts. "Can you hold them in one place? The longer they're in the art, the more hits they'll take!"

    Mizuki waits in the back for the others to get the monsters into position, then does some ninja hand signs. "JUPITEL THUNDER!"

    After the medical mishap, with the mermen, everything goes better than expected! Gwen keeps the merfolk at bay, Jazuhanzu's wet seweed conducts Mizuki's lightning spell to multiple targets, and Wisteria mops up the survivors!

    "Well, that was refreshingly quick. Last time it was a nigh-endless horde... Maybe they're a bit more cautious about bothering ships now..."

    Until people start getting sick. The were fangs can smell, and track, the source: A stowaway merfolk releasing poison gas! "Oh, come on! How can ONE monster cause this much trouble?!" Mizuki complains.

    The party of somewhat-experienced adventurers can't exactly fail to defeat a single merman, but they CAN take awkwardly long and embarass themselves in the process. The two were fangs rush into combat while Gwen is still busy trying to find the right medicine. Wisteria gets her foot stuck in the floor, making it easy for the monster to stab her. Mizuki whiffs her dagger strikes and gets stabbed a couple of times. At least Jazz is able to disperse the gas... the boat barely makes it to the beach with all its sailors sick. Hopefully, one of the trapped landers or adventurers has the skill to heal them.

    Speaking of which, people are trying to swarm the boat!

    "Please remain calm everyone! We'll get you off this island, and this is the second time Mizuki has been here so you know she speaks the truth!"

    The throng is unconvinced, and swarms the boat!

    Even the desperate aren't so crazy as to actually try to sail without any training, although questions like 'when are we leaving' and 'why isn't the boat going' have to be answered what seems like a hundred times, and is only confused more when someone says the boat isn't ready to leave and suddenly people are asking how to ready up, they can't find the button in the menu.

    EVENTUALLY things get sorted out, healers are found to treat the sailors, and once they recover the boat can leave, although it's a bit overloaded and stir-crazy adventurers make the trip a little more miserable than it has to be.

    A conversation about whether they can fish off the boat makes someone chime in, 'How I mine for fish?' and there's some laughs, and soon everyone thinks it's /hilarious/ to ask the Landers that dozens of times.

    Reaching Carmina Gadelica Marina after such a long and arduous night CANNOT come too soon.