Duty Session 28: The Ezzo Rescue

The rescue continues.

The logistics are staggering as much as the smell. Landers flood the port city, seeing to all the requirements of the big repurposed ships used to ferry an endless stream of adventurers and landers back from the brink of the corrupted lands. Another group readies themselves to make the journey to Ezzo and protect the refugees from the dangers of the sea voyage. Nureha has her staff, but is also wearing her formal attire. It doesn't seem like she has any trouble in the multiple ethereal layers, though she walks slower and more carefully as though planning for every step. She makes preparations with a small group of adventurers she's drafted from her own ranks, watching the bustle of activity swirl around her from the deck of the ship they are taking.

    And into this rescue is introduced one giant of a were fang. Giganpor makes his way along the docks, spotting Nureha and approaching her. The armor-wearing lion man stands tall as he looks at the ship that Nureha's party has been assigned, is using, or just flat out bought. Whichever it is.

"Premission to come aboard, Lady Nureha?" The booming voice of Giganpor asks from the dock.

The sea breeze moves his cloak easily to reveal that is indeed armored, armed, and ready to join in on the chaos of a sea voyage rescue.

After a meal of raw fish and enough alcohol to likely assure that they aren't going to end up with some kind of status debuff, Mikage had suggested to Xander that they might be able to best help the people of this world by aiding with one of the Ezzo evacuation ships.

"So... the biggest problem points we ran into last time were the leviathan that our ship managed to avoid, and the fish-men." She explains as they approach. The Druid has clearly been on one of these expeditions before. "The fish-men did quite a bit of damage, both to the Landers and the ships, so it's important we're ready to defend them."

She smirks, "Other than that, just make sure not to get too sea sick." That much said, she raises a hand in greeting, approaching behind Giganpor. "Heard the ships could use a hand. Mind if we tag along?"

    Wisteria has been hanging about, taking quests and running dungeons. Fluffy, albino, dressed as an onna-bugeisha, the Were Fang strikes something of an odd sight. She seems to be a bunbun were fang? She's quick to hop into any group that is doing something, it's like the bunbun samurai wants to get her mind off something. "This the boat to adventure, danger, and probable mobbing and trampling by Landers and players in Ezzo?" she asks.

    After some drinking, jokes, and trying out some of this fish raw, Xander has joined along with Mikage, who he follows along easily enough. He also listens to what she has to say. "Well, I welcome any challenge really! After all, what is life without a little adventure!" He says with his spirits high.

He spots Giganpot, "Hey big guy!" Though as he looks around him, to the ship, the 'Landers', his eyes fall on Nureha and he just stares at her for a long period, before looking away, before creating his armored bracer on his right arm. "Yep. Danger alright." Whatever that is suppose to mean, or maybe that for Wisteria who just showed up. The world may never know!

Att Syne is aboard the same daring rescue vessel as Nureha, except he's way less animated about it. While she's roaming ethereally and making double-checks, Att is seated by the railing, a wide-brimmed straw hat he acquired somewhere pulled low over his face, apparently still half-dozing while they get underway. Whatever preparations he had to make, he's already made them... or possibly he's just accepted that time in this game has no meaning, and is letting his exhaustion meter determine whether or not he needs to fall down somewhere for a while.

Yeah... probably the latter.

    Kyo has changed outfits once again, now sporting a loose blue and white feudal Japanese sailor's outfit, like a Heian-era pirate, complete with headband and sash in white. This is, apparently, the right clothing for the occasion.

    Having met Giganpor that one time before, she gives a wave, though she's currently occupied trying to talk to the sailors (calling them 'Landers' in this case feels like it could be insulting), chatting them up for both the chance to test how much they can say back to her and to get more information from those who've already been through this route a few times before.

Nureha gracefully inclines her head to both Giganpor and Mikage, "As always, you are most welcome." She makes a graceful gesture to the open deck of the ship while others hurry to make their last preparations."And any of who already made this passage, please to sure to share your expertise with the rest. A little preparation goes a long way to prevent ill." She notices Xander but only quirks a bit of a smile in his direction, tilting her head slightly.

"Yep." A nearby Plant Hwyaden adventurer says to Wisteria with a grim expression. "This is Mr Bones Wild Ride." and proceeds to grump up the gangplank and into the ship. He passes Att Syne on the way, half-dozing or already having made preparations and makes an aggrieved sigh, muttering about a jinx before stalking further into the ship. Nureha makes one final check to make sure everyone is settled and they've taken everyone in before preparing to leave.

    Giganpor nods as he makes his way aboard. The metal of his boots giving off that chinking sound like spurs as he boards the ship.

    "Experience is most appreciated in this case. I have not done a sea voyage since before the Apocalypse." The large were fang says out loud, moving to a place more out of the way so he can be ready.

    "I am hopeful that a few of my water summons may be helpful in this case, but otherwise..." He shrugs, "I look forward to seeing what has happened in Ezzo with my own two eyes." He moves to help where he can, when he can with something like the rigging or otherwise if others seem to be having trouble.

    Wisteria sighs "Soooo, we had fish people attacks, poison gas... and the damned anchor was stuck when we started off." she hmms "Ooh and I got mobbed and trampled by what felt like every Lander and Adventurer in Ezzo as they rushed to board the boat." she smiles at Nureha, the bunbun's lips pulling back to expose why she's a were fang and not some strange 'we managed a beast transformation and not monster', a mouth full of ragged razor shark like teeth.

What nobody seems to have noticed in all of this preparation is that they are stuck on a boat with a moron.

You set out from the port only to find that none of the actual preparations for traversing the open ocean have been followed. The Crew is getting increasingly irritated and the cause, it seems, is that the Captain is giving odd and often conflicting or contradictory orders.

How this problem wasn't sorted out in the beginning is soon clear. The Lander Captain, a dashing young man in impeccable dress, certainly LOOKS the part and he is even somewhat charismatic. But.. his sailing experience could be carried in a bucket without a bottom.

It looks like something needs to be done. Soon, before the Lander Crew gets fed up and goes forwards with their own.. perhaps less charitable plans.

    In the course of her conversations with the ~~Landers~~ Sailors, Kyo discovers that the person who should know the most about their voyage is... not one of them. It's not really that difficult to figure out.

    "Okay, as a question... just hypothetically, who's the best to replace the captain in the case of an unfortunate emergency? Someone who knows what 'tacking' and 'ballast' mean, can distinguish port from starboard, and find the north star in the sky?"

    Apart from the matter of convincing the adventurer to step down, and a Lander to step up, she looks for the best candidate for the job. 'Ahh, what a pain,' she mutters. "Trying to do new things is fine, but don't drag everyone else into it, especially the ones who can't re... -vive, will you? These boats took a long time to make!"

    Xander takes notice of this and while all instinct tells him to just grab the idiot by the collar and yank him to the side, so a Lander /who/ can do this can take over, he wants to go with the peaceful option.

This means using magic to try to maybe 'convince' the guy, like some Jedi mind trick. Alas, his childhood dreams failed and no jedi mind tricks. Instead, just, keeps his head low and allows others to do what ever needs to be done.

That and you try to focus when suddenly the ship rocks and you have to quickly grab onto a mast rope! Growling Xander is growling.

The smell of the sea air takes Mikage back to the first voyage they had taken to Ezzo. She takes a place at the side of the ship, closing her eyes, breathing in the scent of ocean and salt. "It always seems calm at first, but it doesn't last." Just as she says that, there is grumbling from some of the crew, nearby.

Tact, unfortunately, is not the Were Fang's strong suit. So when it comes to matters of ousting someone who clearly doesn't belong, her main option is to handle things with good old fashioned brawn. Except, that the pale girl isn't exactly intimidating. "Come on, let me through. I'll talk to him." Her hand rests on her sword.

However, it seems like the Landers don't seem exactly interested in letting a girl, much less one that doesn't seem all that strong, confront the Captain. "Oh come on, this is not the time for chivalry." She is blocked by two Landers, who she just stares at with narrowed eyes. "Fine, you handle it!" Grump.

Xander motions for Mikage to come join him. They can grump together and hope the others do better; Which seems to be the case.

    Wisteria notes the trouble when she Inspects the captain. The caerbannog isn't much one for fancy words. She's found that she's just bad at it, almost as bad as she is at swimming. So having a captain who can't.. isn't an option because she isn't going to swim back. The bunbun woman smiles, all ragged teeth and glinting razor edges as she leans on a railing. "I'm sure we can all come up with SOME way to make sure the best sailor is in charge." she says drawing her katana slowly, it's edge burning with a dark energy to match her expression.

    Giganpor, seeing the problem at least in a moment or two, and hearing the crew's comments, moves over to the captain. And frowns as he notices the problem. "You, sir. Come with me."

    He looks around, then looks to the nearest one to take the wheel osteniably, "Ah... first mate, take over, please. I'm sorry, but your captain is not what you think he is. And perhaps it is better if you take it in order to make sure this voyage goes much, much smoother."

    Giganpor's cloak is shimmering with the light, calming green as he puts a large hand around the 'captain's' shoulder and pulls him alongside, "Now, you, young man. I don't care what reason you have for it. But you obviously have no experience at this. We are on a rescue mission, so my first thing is that you are going to confess to the ruse or I will chunk you overboard." He says with a smile on his face at the captain. "I would normally do this more peacefully in private, but as it is you are endangering a rescue mission of fellow Adventurers and Landers. Now, which will it be? Confess, or swim back to Alne?"

Att mutters something disparaging but mostly incomprehensible as one of the other Shrubbery Duck guildies wanders by and similarly mutters at him. It goes nowhere.

The boat does, though!

A commotion on deck makes him stir. Att drags himself to his feet, yawning hugely. He looks left and then right, port and then starboard, and starts to pick his way across the deck of the ship towards the Captain. Att is a bit like a zombie on patrol, swaying with the ship and, impressively, keeping the heaving of the deck from tossing him on his ass even in this sleepless state. Eventually, he reaches his quarry, and he lifts one hand...!!

...and grabs him by the collar. Att lifts his head and glares from under his out-of-character hat. "If I have to go count provisions and check knotwork after all this," he says in a voice husky from sleepiness, "I'm going to tie a rope to your ankle and throw you overboard."

Inwardly, Att wonders if they even brought enough rope for this threat to carry weight. He'll have to ask Kyo or Nureha. They usually know what's up.

Kyo Kirin finds out that the best candidate for the job actually turns out to be the humble Quartermaster, who has a fine sense of the day to day operations of the ship by virtue of having already made several of these journeys already and a good repoire with his crewmates. The First Mate of the last run was wounded by the Wake, but at least there is a candidate. There is also a First Mate (though he's only been first by a few hours) but he turns out to be in the Lander Captain's employ which doesn't help the Captain, as he decides he isn't being paid enough for this nonsense and follows Giganpor's instruction. Enough to get them moving again without a small mutiny on hand, anyway. Xander attempts to tell the Lander Captain. "This is not the Glamourous Posting you are looking for." but it is. It turns out that the man is a conceited noble lordling who wished some reflected glory to shine upon him from the DASHING rescue of those in desperate need, savages or otherwise.

The Landers start to become more restless and Mikage finds herself blocked as they begin to encircle the Lander Captain, who.. without an inkling perhaps of self-preservation that would have served him better, doesn't seem to realize the danger looming in his future.

At least.. until Att Syne, Mikage and Giganpor begin strong arm tactics. The Lander Captain swallows thickly, looking at the burning blade of Wisteria and at Giganpor's shining cloak. He briefly rallies, not liking to be threathened and even further not liking being held nose to nose with an adventurer savage. He briefly evinces not knowing whatever they were talking about but...

His resolve eventually breaks.

The Crew breath a collective sigh of relief as the captain steps aside for a more worthy candidate in favor of this debacle never getting back to his Aunt. She'd eat him alive.

Everything is quiet for awhile. After the excitement of the first couple of hours, the Lander Captain has retreated to his quarters (which is preferable to being tied up in a sack and left in the hold) -- But there is a time when the ocean is.. too still. It's the moment before the plunge. The gasp before the fall.

The ocean darkens quite a distance far Starboard. A fin the size of a small castle rises from the water, causing the Navigator and the rest of the Lander crew to break out in hives and general panic. Even if the Leviathan DIDN'T turn towards them, the wave caused by it's passage could severely damage the ship.

And there isn't much time to get out of the way before it hits.

    Things are not going well, that is what Xander has concluded. The Leviathan comes and the waves become rough. As they do, Xander tries to call forth magic, but once more distractions! So many distractions!

He is primary a sword n' board, with magic on the side, and water is not one of his current focuses at the moment. So, while he attempts it, he fails, only to see one of the Lander's almost go overboard and attempts to grab them by the wrist, "Shit!" Though he probably won't make it in time and later would be questioning why he was risking it for a damn NPC.

    The bunbun were fang doesn't like this, she doesn't like it at all. "I... hate... water..." she shuffle/runs her way to the captain and starts trying to help plot a course to NOT drowning terribly. However her fluster at the impending swamping, capsising, and or swimming involuntarily has her as much hinderance as help.

    A new captain is chosen, the old captain is removed, and all is well... for a very short while. At least with a good quartermaster, they shouldn't have to worry too much about their supplies.

    When the call goes out about a monster, and the subsequent wave, she gets over to the side of the ship. The full length of the vessel is a bit too much for her to handle, but she does have some water spells, specifically for keeping air and water separated from each other. This sort of shielding won't do much to calm a wave of that size, but it's better than doing nothing at all. "Oh no, oh no! Brace! Brace!"

This isn't the first time that Mikage has seen the giant form of the Leviathan. The last time, it hadn't taken notice of the ship. This time? They might not be so lucky. She grabs for a rope, ties it around her belt and one of the supports, then moves to the edge of the ship. It's a literal lifeline.

"I'll try to keep us from taking on too much water." Miki draws her sword, runs her hand along the flat of the blade, the weapon lighting up faintly blue. Magic crackles around it as she sweeps the blade outward, using the magic to try and hold back the wake coming towards them.

Att stares at the 'captain' for a long moment, then turns to Giganpor...'s chest. Att looks up. He raps a knuckle on the larger man's breastplate. "Good work. Teamwork." Att yawns. "Makes... dream work." He shambles away. Att starts rummaging through his inventory, sighing. Eventually, he comes up with a couple of leaves, which he pops into his mouth and starts to glumly chew. It'll wake him up... eventually.

By the time the next crisis arrives, he's ready for it -- in terms of sheer 'ability to theoretically operate,' anyway. The sea gets rough and the monster arises, and Att Syne's first response is 'kill it.' He Inspects it from a distance, notes the color on the threat scale, nods sagaciously... and then practically sprints across the deck to get away from the side of the ship most likely to be washed into the sea. Att ends up on the upper deck, crouched and squinting over the side, gauging space and distance, praying silently, and then grabbing the wheel and trying to maneuver the vessel just enough to keep them from getting capsized.

He has no idea what he's doing.

    Giganpor, after that, keeps an eye on the old captain. At least until the call goes out. He makes his way upwards to help plot the course, calling out one of his elementals as he does. "Might of the earth, rise from slumber! Come forth, Granit!" A gorilla-like elemental of Earth appears out of a yellow circle, then blinks as it looks around.

    Giganpor looks over, "Tremble Step, Granit. I need a course around the leviathan." The gorilla gives a questioning look at the request, then pounds it's fist into the deck. The resulting sonic wave blasts out, into the water as Giganpor reaches to put a hand on the elemental both to steady himself and to see what it sees. Frowning, he looks to the captain, "Tail to the west. Watch out!"

It's coming

Xander manages to grab the Lander in time which only leaves him MORE time to mentally debate his life choices as the mosntrous wave towers over them all. It hangs almost frozen in time, a slice of nightmare just about to become reality. The calls from Kyo Kirin to brace come just in time. Wisteria and Att Syne try to steer the ship away from the main force of the calamity, but it's much too late for that.

What goes up? Must come down.

Giganpor's summon reaches out, the sonic waves making small dents in the oncoming tide but not enough to break it up. Just enough to slow it.

The wave hits. The shielding trembles under the hammer blow of the water, robbing some of it's lethal momentum before breaking, dumping a drowning torrent of water over the deck. Mikage, perhaps wisely, ties it around her belt as the water pours over the sides, trying to take some of the crew with it as it does. It's immense weight and power causes the entire ship to tremble, groaning to the left side as though punched by a titanic fist down into the water.

The only bit of good news is that the Leviathan didn't really notice their existence. The wave left the ship broken and in disarray, listless for multiple hours as they repaired what they could.

There is a danger to being so vulnerable out on the open ocean.

Namely, there are things out on the water looking for easy prey. As the ship prepares to get going again, the entire ship SHUDDERS and there is the clicking of bone on bone as a pair of large Undead Fish scrambling up the Starboard side, clattering with their bony legs onto the deck. They scan the damaged ship with their white, clouded eyes and immediately go after the Crew, large mouths opening and closing with 'CLACK. CLACK CLACK' sounds of their teeth gnashing together.

    "Is everyone alright?" Kyo calls out, as soon as she can pull herself, with the assistance of the railing, back onto her feet. She wasn't hit by the worst of it, herself, for her efforts in trying to shield the ship. At least she dressed appropriately for this, and kept her sword sheathed, as she's now completely soaked. "Ah, geez. That's too big a challenge at this level, isn't it? The sea is vast. And a harsh mistress." She's heard those phrases somewhere, but can't possibly make her voice salty enough for them to come out right.

    Xander could only watch as the wave rises. His stomach sinks. As they start to go crashing back down. He throws the Lander to safety, but he, as well nearly goes over. Using his sword to carve into the wood, he manages to keep himself from being thrown off and once everything settles he goes to stand back up on his feet.

The Salamander growls lowly and pinches the bridge of his nose. As he hears the voices from the Landers in panic and concern. The calls for checks and people scrambling. He pushes it away for now and inhales deeply that salty, sea smell.

    As repairs were going on, he finds a place to settle himself. To settle his mind. This is when he hears the sound. First he didn't think much of it. But soon as it go louder, he realized what it was. "We got a problem!!" He roared out to the others, before he pulled out his sword.

Soon as one of those undead raised its head up over the edge, he swung his blade to cut the monster's head off and tried to play whack-a-fish; Sword style.

    Proceeding to help with the repairs as much as he can, Giganpor and his handy summon continue to do just that. At least until there's the clicking sound. Stopping what he was doing, he looks around, then at the undead fish that are scrambling up.

    Instead of standing by idly, he calls to Granit, "Granit, protect them! Kill the fish!" The elemental takes off after the undead fish as Giganpor himself draws his sword and proceeds to set himself to defending.

Of course, the sight of an elemental gorilla looking thing going toe to toe with an undead fish is probably one of the weirdest sights that could be seen out there. Definitely!

The water slams into the boat, causing Mikage to be washed nearly over the edge. She manages to reach her arms out to catch a couple of Landers before they go overboard, though it is a tense moment before a few sailors come to aid her in pulling them back onto the ship. "At least it didn't see us." She pants, reaching a hand up to slick wet hair from her eyes.

"Now, if it's anything like last time, I can expect the fish..." And that's when she starts hearing the clicking sound. Reaching down to untie the rope from her belt, Mikage holds her sword out in a defensive posture, "Get behind us!" She shouts at the Landers.

Raising her sword up above her head, Mikage manages to freeze some of the water that is still lingering into the air into shards, which rain down onto the fish-monsters. The air grows a few degrees colder in the process, her breath hanging in the air.

"My pride hurts," Att reports after a little bit, "but everything else is ffff... fine."

He peels himself off the deck. His hat has been lost at sea (so nothing of value is lost). Att trundles to the railing and looks over the side after it, feeling a pang of remorse at the lack of Bad Hat. He sees something in the water, and for a moment, his soul soars with the hope of hats lost and found.

It turns out to be fish skeletons. So, you know... not a hat.

Att leaps off the upper deck, swinging his staff like a baseball bat. He's trying to force the monsters off the ship, relying on their speed at sea to outrun them once they've done it. "You need a 'yarr' or two to make those work, Kyo!"

    Sputtering, swearing, and something like the death of sanity (the sound of an angry bunny) erupt from the were fang. "I... hate... water..." she says her fur plastered to her skin and making her look more Watership Down and less Alice in Wonderland.

    She spends much of the repair time in human skin, the young albino woman surprisingly good at locating problems that need fixing. Once her kimono is close to dry she shifts back.

    At the sound of attacking death fish she smiles a razor fanged smile. "Finaly, action." she says "Corrupting earth, infuse my blade and spread your wicked bite." she moves in a shuffle run with easy balance on the rocking boat. Her sword flashes out, a sickly green miasma clinging to her blade and causing the wounds she inflicts to corrupt and melt. She continues to move in quick bursts, and snapping flashes of green tinged blade until nothing hostile moves.

    Undead fish. There was nothing at all around. "In the middle of the sea, F.O.E.!" is the kind of reference Kyo has the presence of mind to make as she treats the new attackers to far less dignity and awe than the massive wave of hours earlier. From a standing start, she's suddenly way over there, coruscating steps continuing to spark, little flashes of arcing light in her wake, as she makes her landing right against the bare skull of one monster, and the electrical charge in her feet blasts through the water-dweller while sending her into a backward flip back onto the deck.

    "Yarr! Yarr? Eh... eh, I'll work on that later."

The sea is indeed a harsh mistress, and it's populated with things best left undisturbed.

But sometimes you just have to cut something as a stress-relief exercise. Xander's latest foray into tournament level Whack-a-fish garners tangible results. Not quite decapitation, which would have earned them the gold rank, but a satisfying SQUELCH as the sword sinks into the rotten flesh, causing the undead thing to spasm as it's severed muscles refuse to answer it's call to counter-attack.

The elemental smacks around the other Undead fish but it's claws and savage spear manage to do a few telling blows in response, it's body resistant to stunning and crushing blows, even when handed out by a gorilla of such a stature.

While the Crew retreats behind the adventurers, helping some of the wounded to get out of the way, Mikage sends a flurry of icy shards raining down on the deck. The two undead are immediately pincushioned by long shards of ice but beyond feeling pain, they madly clack their jaws and continue to thrash, littered with glowing red gashes.

BONK. BONK BONK.

A staff rebounds multiple times off the rubbery flesh of the Undead, tripping them up as their mobility is hampened by the ice and their movements begin to slow from their wounds. Wisteria finishes off the first while Kyo finishes off the second.

Corrupting earth and flashes of arcing light blast through the dead flesh.

Wisteria's melts for several seconds before shattering into light. Kyo's simply topples forwards from the electrifying blast to the head, smashing into light as it hits the deck, slain. .. The ocean is quiet again. For now.

The rest of the journey is relatively quiet. It's not been a quiet voyage, but preparations are finally being made for landfall. What they find, which is no surprise given the dubbing the ship took from their close call with the Leviathan, is that the longboats have been damaged.

The refugees are in sight, lining the beach and populating what looks like a large sand castle in the distance.. and they will certainly start getting restless if the longboat situation isn't sorted out soon.

    The battle was over and the rest of the voyage was quiet. Xander made sure of this as he patrolled around the board, checking on the fellow Adventurers and Landers alike. He was having a hard time really telling the difference between the two, unless he examined them.

It-- Bothered him really. That while it seem based on what Mikage pointed out, events were running on script, but, were these npcs? Were they always the same?

    It was a question to ask later, as it is brought to their attention as they grew closer that they had a new problem. The Longboats are in bad shape!

While Xander was no woodworker, he did have survival training and some common sense. So while he let the Landers deal with the actual work. He took charge in making sure a supply chain was in line and being sure what they needed got to them quickly as possible.

    The albino samurai is good at finding flaws and weaknesses... she's less good at repairing those same weaknesses when it doesn't involve weapons or armor. She does her best to help, and manages to at least not make any of the problems worse, and maybe just maybe helps... no Wist definately just managed to not make it worse.

    Giganpor, seeing the very big trouble, brings himself up to the fore. "Granit, thank you."

    Then the large were fang tosses the gorilla a small sack, "Full of ores, Granit." The gorilla gives a few chest pounds before disappearing.

    Turning to look at the problem, Giganpor gives a grin before opening his inventory. There's a sudden shimmer over his right hand before a large bronze glove appears on it. Followed by what has to be a freakishly huge warhammer standing on it's haft as he grabs it upon it's appearance.

    "Now this is more my territory!" The large were fang booms as he steps forward to begin getting to work. "Someone get some barrels or other supplies we can use! I need planks long enough to fill the holes and oil!"

Matching his confidence, the cloak and he begin to glow a golden color as the red haired human shifts into his were fang form. Growing a few inches, the lion-like mane appears before he gives the first strike with some materials to begin repairing the longboats. The quiet thwhoom of hammering comes across again and again as Giganpor moves to each boat quickly.

Att Syne's staff strikes are mostly artless repetitions of stick-on-undead violence. It seems to work out, though! ...in conjunction with everyone else putting more effort into it, anyway. "Good work, team!" He's no inspirational bard, but he sure can say words like one. "Giving crap experience, F.O.E."

    SOME TIME LATER

"I forgot how much I hate waiting around on boats," Att says to nobody in particular. "I had this Peggle app downloaded, and I'd just play it while waiting to get to the next zone. Such a pain." He's been grousing like this for a while now. His eyes scan the horizon... "...Castle ho!!" What?

The sand castle! His sand castle, unless he misses his guess. He heads over to the boats, giving them a cursory inspection -- and finding damage. "Stupid sea monsters," Att sighs. He pulls out a tool kit. "Alright, let me just..."

    Kyo was not granted any dockyard worker abilities together with her old timey sailor outfit, unfortunately. While she can take this time to work on her pirate speak in low tones (which she's unable to progress beyond just sounding cute), she is totally useless at this kind of crafting and construction labor. The most she can manage is helping hold things, fetch things if their names aren't too complicated, and talk to people in indefatigably cheery tones.

    Eventually (perhaps to hide her frustration at her lack of crafting ability), she takes the ocarina out of her pack, shakes some water loose from it, and goes into the rough rune of a sea shanty. It's from a few centuries later than her clothing and the other side of the planet, but if that sort of thing doesn't bother game devs, it shouldn't need to bother her.

Trying to catch her breath in the aftermath of the fighting, Mikage lowers her sword, a bit of ice clinging to her fingers as she sheaths the weapon at her side. The Were Fang shakes out her hand, trying to get feeling back into her fingers. Cupping them to her mouth, she blows on them briefly to warm them, then take stock of their situation.

Once things have calmed, the trip seems more uneventful. The seas near Ezzo did tend to be quieter, despite the chaos on the nearby landmass. And yet, the boats are a problem. "Crap. Uh, I'm not very good with this, but let me see if I can't break down some barrels into wood to patch them up." A crafter, this one is clearly not.

Soon enough, a barrel is being broken down using what looks to be some kind of combat technique. It's pretty crude, but it does give a bunch of small wood pieces. Which might be useful as saw-dust and kindling, but likely not for repairing boats.

Xander taking charge of the supply chain turns out to be a good thing, because several of the storage rooms had been partially flooded or damaged by earlier events, so it took all of his attention to deal with the logistical snags. Kyo Kirin helps with the supply chain, knowing her limitations and playing an inspiring sea shanty as things settle into a general rhythm.

Meanwhile, Wisteria does her best to help with the woodworking but.. no.. that bit looks a little off. That little bit off causes other little problems and eventually the whole chunk has to be ripped out and redone, though it was ALMOST right. Another pass has better results. Mikage breaks down barrels, which would make good firewood, but are the wrong size and quality for repairing boats. A few pieces can still be used though, adding to the supplies though, sadly, subtracting from the available barrels.

Then there is Giganpor and his freakishly huge warhammer. He, along with Xander's supply chain, begin quickly sorting out the worst of the damage, triaging what can be saved and what has to be replaced with the supplies they had on hand.

This gives Att Syne the opportunity to fine-tune the repairs once they get to a certain point, laying in with his tools and diagnosing problems that come up, often due to not QUITE having enough skilled labor or parts to do an ideal job. But, like all true adventurers, one can simply Mcguyver it.

Finally, enough longboats are repaired that the rescue mission can proceed at all, with only a few minor leaks and stubbed fingers to speak of.

The natives are restless..

And by restless, some have weapons already drawn. A lot of adventurers look like they are going slowly stir-crazy from being stuck between the coast and man-eating giant monsters and the corruption being held back by a barrier of untested strength. The longboats have not inspired much faith in their rescue either, as some of them sprung a leak on being pulled to shore.

And while 'food' is being offload and people loaded onto the ship.. there is a definite air of unease and discontent that could easily spark into violence.

    As things go smoothly this makes a happy Xander, however once the Longboats are off, things start to become more of a problem. People are getting angry on the ship.

Pushing, shoving, there is trouble. As typical with citizens of any kind. They just can't work in a nice file n' order. Keep their cool.

    Xander does try to diplomatic means, but when no one listens, he remembers--he was never that type. So, what does the Salamander do? What Salamander's are good for. FIRE!

Xander slams his hands together and creates a giant massive flame pillars that cuts off the fights and walls off some of the trouble makers, using the water to help keep things from catching on flame; With also some magical control to boot. "Listen up people! Knock it off or lose it! Get civilized!" He then lowly growls as his eyes almost seem to glow like the fire he is casting, "... Or I'll make you civilized."

    Wisteria has been here before... seen this before... and she's NOT doing the talking this time. Instead she chooses to stand guard at the railing. It is a good thing the caerbannog picked guard duty too. Her long ears twitch, and swivel, and the sound of some 'wily' Adventurers trying to scale the side of the ship after having swum out to the boat catches her attention. A few quick shuffle steps, and application of one zeta to fingers with a powerful BunBun kick sends one screaming into the ocean. A slash of her sword parts a rope sending the other back into the drink. "GET IN LINE!" she shouts down at the sputtering figures.

It is a little embarassing not to even be able to actually help with the boats. After a short while, Mikage basically gives up on that and just stands by, watching. She obviously didn't take levels in crafting.

Dealing with people, on the other hand, she also isn't good at. Luckily, Mikage is one of those people who doesn't mind using their physical prowess to their advantage. The Were Fang sets herself up in a strategic place where she can put an arm, or her entire body, in the way of rushing passengers.

"Take it slow or get tossed into the drink. One by one. You next!" She points at a Lander who seems to be carrying a child with them, then blocks the way of a couple others who are trying to push their way onboard. "Don't make me stab you."

Xander has the right idea, observes Att. He sidles up next to him, flicking the tip of his staff in a horizontal fashion and muttering under his breath, "Flame Wall."

Another eruption of flame, this a narrow but intense sheet dividing obvious groups at each other's necks behind what should be proper lines. He eyes the adventurers with weapons drawn. "If you want to go all the way back to the Root Town, you should start some more shit. We'll take care of it for you. Otherwise..." He jerks his head at the boats.

Att reminds himself to get Nureha something nice to say thank-you for the timely rescue. Maybe a duchy.

    Giganpor goes ashore as soon as possible. Not only because he is a fresh face, but because in his lion form he's intimidating to a degree. And that enough is sure to drive people into being orderly as he can. It takes a while, but he continues his repairs, and makes sure to keep people orderly. To make sure those that can get to the longboats when they arrive and it gets going as quickly as possible.

    One particular incident, however, has Giganpor putting the fear of the Lion literally into the people around him. "STOP." The incident in question as a brawl between a mixed group that was trying to force their way on to a longboat which didn't have enough room. The resulting word is enough for the incoming starting blow to bounce off a sudden shield of light as the were fang lion walks around to block the group. "Do it again and I show you why I'm called the Golden Fang Knight. Now SIT DOWN." The growling lion reaches for his sword as his cloak gives off a malevolent, red-gold looking aura that inspires fear. "Do not question, do not say a thing. You will have your chance until the ship is full. Sit. Down."

    

    Kyo's better at the tune than she is at woodworking, which turns out to be handy later. It took a lot of effort to get this far, and not all of it was good, but somehow, they've made it. Now they can exchange the supplies that survived, both in the trip over and in their leaky longboats, for passengers to take back. Fixing the longboats, again, might be a wise first move. Surely there's some help around here to get that done.

    Rather than going for that angle again, Kyo works the crowd. This is easy. She's in her element. She doesn't even really need to do anything but start playing a tune, something poppy, an anime opening she'd learned across a few instruments, while walking about. She picks out a few people from the crowd who are stuck in their level 1 bard equipment, and encourages them to come out and join her, get their instruments out, and begin an impromptu jam session. Even if they're not very good, she can adapt as she's playing, and her singing voice works well for the genre.

    As long as they're focusing on something else, they'll forget about being hungry for a little while. Long enough for people to get through the line.

Fire is civilization.

Or at least, it startles and PROMOTES civilization by virtue of the 'You Don't Want To Be Fried Because Even Reduced Pain Thresholds Suck' idea. Att Syne adds to this idea by using narrow but intense sheets of flame. Several fights are broken up and though they ALMOST start again, even with parts of the beach slagged down to glass, they calm down. Wisteria stands guard at the railing, knocking off some stragglers who thought it was a good idea to 'sneak' onto the ship. SPLASH. They swum here, they can very well swim their way back.

Mikage also has success with the 'Stand and look intimidating' plan as the rushing passengers balk, the Landers first and then the adventurers, who break out into loud and pedantic squabbling about JUST whose fault it is they logged in to Ezzo. Apparently, this has been somewhat of a long going argument to have survived a week.

Giganpor goes ashore and tries to make things as pleasant and orderly as he can. Well.. as pleasant as you can be with a mob of desperate, angry, frustrated people half out of their minds with dread and the other half filled with soggy crackers. The group he's facing almost erupt back into violence, but cooler heads prevail and the moment passes.

Kyo has better luck working the crowd, her tune raising spirits and soothing fears as she works together an impromptu jam session that pulls in more than a few people. Suddenly, through the power of music, things don't seem to be so bad.. at least for a moment.

It's easy going from there.

It doesn't seem like it when fights break out amongst the crew or when the adventurers crammed in the hold complain bitterly about their rescue but.. long hours later, gratitude and good will begin to break out through the clouds of frustration and resentment. It could have been far worse. IT HAS been far worse. But now, a new crop of Landers and Adventurers have a future to look forwards to.

Maybe that will have to be enough for now.

    Once back on land, Xander steps off and extends a hand to anyone who /might/ need help getting off the ship. The joys of being six foot, nearly six foot one.

He at least got some rewards out of it and he lingers around just to be sure no more help needed.

Every time that Mikage leaves Ezzo, it's with a stark reminder that they can't save everyone at once. Even with the boats filled to capacity, there are still many, both Lander and Adventurer left behind. "We'll send more ships. Try to hold on for a little longer."

The trip back may be uneventful, but the Were Fang is not a fan of crowds. So, she spends most of her time up on the prow of the ship, crouched, looking out over the ocean, and trying to keep some kind of physical distance between herself and the press of refugees.

When the boat comes in to dock, at last, after the long voyage, she is one of the first to just flat out hop from the boat right into the water. She doesn't wait for the gang plank, or anything. Nope, the Druid is content to swim herself to shore. Too many people! But still, a job well done.

    Once the refugees are onboard, Wist hunts down a space where she can relax. Might as well relax until the next crisis. She gives people 'friendly' smiles full of ragged razor fangs to keep a bubble of space. She keeps her big ears open for trouble, and closes her eyes, holding her katana's hilt in hand and is somewhat surprised when things don't go horribly on the way back.

Att Syne spends the rest of the voyage alternating between lingering near Kyo's musical talent, starved for auditory entertainment as he is, and shooting the proverbial shit with the Adventurers they picked up to keep them from causing trouble. It shifts the tension away from near-violent to melancholic which, while not exactly ideal, is better for being trapped in close quarters with them.

"This is such a mess," he sighs to himself.

    Kyo gets through at least three rounds of Sailor Moon--originally released before she was old enough to appreciate them, but the high-quality versions were pretty recent--and seemingly literally any other series someone can name to her and start humming before the jam session comes to a close, and it doesn't really 'close' so much as 'continue on without her talent,' as plenty of those stuck here have nothing better to do until more ships arrive but remember all the shows they're missing and work on what could be useful skills.

    She exchanges friend addresses with a few of those here, promises to play again once they make it off-continent, and then heads back out to the ship for the return voyage.

    Giganpor meanwhile mostly keeps to himself, grumbling a little. The were fang definitely is something of a figure to keep the peace. Especially when he can summon up water and rock elementals to be sure. Still, he keeps watch through the voyage back for trouble as best as he can.

The lion's definitely looking around, however, perhaps in curiousity perhaps in contemplating on whether or not this could have gone better.