[Official NPC]

The queen's attendant is surprisingly understanding and patient as the Elysians finally spill the true reason for their visit. Even so, she rejects Danae's request. "Even if I believed you would be satisfied with normal eggs, we are disturbed by his intent." She goes on to warn that stealing the eggs is inadvisable: The last to try, a Malaki brave by the name of Garnak, was killed in the attempt.

At the same time, Yacobi's ominous warning to Kiel and Rahil could not come at a better time. A siren wails throughout the city as a giant shadow in the distance displaces the ocean enough to send eight foot waves crashing across the dock. A couple of the Ohani fishermen are caught off guard and swept into the water, only to easily cut through the sudden surf and climb back onto the black glass platform. They seem more concerned with the enormous fin, black with bright red markings flashing in the strange Nelunan sunlight, that is steadily drawing nearer.

On the penultimate floor of the queen's tower, the attendants hear the alarm and burst into action. Like a well-oiled machine, non-combatants return to private quarters or to work stations as the soldiers take up defensive positions or clatter to the elevators in small formations. Ilei's tentacles writhe atop her head and she holds both hands to her chest in apology. "Please. We cannot help you. To your ship, return now. Chaiku attacks our nurseries, eats our young. Go please, now." She offers a tiny bow and dashes off, leaving the group with just two leftover, surly guards who immediately push the Elysians towards the elevator they only recently exited.

Note: Don't forget to worldbuild as you plot! I'm making Chaiku up as I go so feel free to add bits. You can now also create/join side threads to explore events through Chapter One to Five, or to finish previous chapter threads.

Vanguard Members

PCs will be added to this list as they join. If NPCs (italics) do not already have profiles linked and are not personal NPCs, you can make them up as you go and their listed vitals will be updated per chapter. Struck-out names means they are dead or have left/not yet joined the main party.

Aella Karakinos — Unaffiliated Ayad, blacksmith's apprentice (inactive, following)
Aiden Roy — Therian (inactive, following)
Aifric Ramsey — Therian Cartographer
Alain Gaston-Moreaux — Red Warden (inactive, following)
Faris ibn Alsyad — Purifier rep attached to LoP
Ionia Essytia — Skotadi representative, League of Adventurers (inactive, following)
Kiel Taskel — Rutilus, League of Protectors
Maaike Sullivan — Therian scout, LoP-attached mercenary
Mortimer Jericho — Peteulanus, supplies & logistics, translator
Nimisha — Sidhe forest guide for unmapped areas
Raphael — Djinn bodyguard and hunter attached to Ionia
Ninian Aedh — Therian enforcer attached to Jericho
Shane — Shadowkin attached to Kiel
Clara Moreaux — Feisty adventurer, Alain's wife
Rahil'Taj ibn Murad — Zanaryan Dao, Serren scribe, scribe
Na'im — Djinn attached to Rahil
Jael — large Zanaryan attached to Rahil
Zephyr Cairbre — antisocial Rutilus (inactive, following)
Diana — Peteulanus attached to Zephyr
Elias — Aurumus attached to Zephyr
Elyxendria Argyris — wingless ex-Apali Charmer Vampire, representing Hesian Knights and Dark Sun
Evgeny — Apalos attached to Argyris
Psyche — Charmer Vampire attached to Argyris

Current Objectives

• Acquire those eggs!
  
• Go back to the skyboat and wait for the Chaiku attack to be over OR help the Ohani defend their nurseries.

Chronology

This chapter will end out of character at midnight (GMT) on the 28th of September. In-character, the events of this chapter will last 30 minutes.

[Kiel]

Like, Kiel didn't need telepathy or awesome linguistic skills to figure out what the Ohani's belly was telling them, and he immediately held up his hands and backed off from the edge with a giggle. “Like, dude. It's okay, it's okay. We're kinda used to it, you know? Like, we have some pretty nasty monsters in our oceans too except, like, you know, we generally build our homes, like, away from them, you know, rather than, like, trying to share...” His head swivelled as he scanned the city and the ocean that stretched as far as his eyes could see and, like, he had pretty good eyes, he thought. He remembered the trip on the skyboat and how they hadn't seen any form of land at all since the portal, and, like, scratched his head. “Well, but, like, I guess it's not like you have much of a choice, wahahahaha. And, like, when I think about it...” His scratching moved to his chin as he considered that, really, Elysians kinda shared their turf with predators and beasties, too, except on land. And he unknowingly mirrored Jericho's earlier thoughts: He really needed a shave. Except, unlike most of the guys present, he still really only had kind of a five o'clock shadow or, like, two-day beard even though it had been a couple of weeks now. Bah. Why did his body think he was a girl?

“But, like, wah?” Whipping this way and that, he tried to figure out where the sirens were coming from and what they meant. Like, dude! He had to clap his hands over his ears 'cause they were so loud, and Shane was spitting like a tomcat that had seen another tomcat and was about to be all, like, turf war and stuff. “Dude! Why the heck is it so loud?!” He had to yell over the noise just to hear his own voice, but, like, woah!

Suddenly cast into the sea by a huge wave, Kiel floundered and spit out water that tasted way saltier than he was used to, and, like struggled against the rip. Like, he could swim and, like, pretty good, you know, but that was in the pond back home and not in a huge ocean. Then a slimy, webbed hand had him by the collar and he was being dragged bodily out of the water and dumped on the platform, where Shane was shivering and soaking wet with her fur all scraggly like a drowned rat, hissing and spitting even more at the water still sloshing inches deep across the dock. Gasping, Kiel grinned at his rescuer and clapped the dude — well, like, he thought it was a dude — on the shoulder. “Thanks, man, but, like, wah?” Like why were the Ohani gesticulating frantically and pointing and yelling and, like, trying to shove him away from the platform toward the skyboat, man, for sers?

[Faris]

Faris had stayed behind to look after the skyboat; it was their one and only sure way of getting out of this place. If things turned ugly, an escape route was needed. And unlike everyone else, he had managed to sense the giant incoming wave before it even appeared on the horizon. It did little to prepare him from the impact, though. Having chosen to stand guard outside of the flying contruct and allocated most of his energy to brace the skyboat, Faris took full brunt of the tide's force.

He was first thrown backwards inland by the wave, using the rushing seawater all around to make a rudimentary shield to protect him from landing onto anything hazardous. The buildings, for one; crystals were either hard or sharp. Or both. Faris had no intention of finding out, and it seemed that the wave-tide felt the same way. As the water surged back towards the open sea, it pulled everything in its grasp along with it. Amidst the incessant wail of a siren were the dismayed and panicked shouts of Ohani who had not retreated back in time. Faris did not resist the current's pull, letting it drag him out. While he was no Aziz and was well-aware of his limits, Faris was certain that he would, at the very least, not die from drowning.

The same could not be said for a harpy who had been caught outside of the skyboat. The Acanthan creature appeared to be a poor swimmer, her feathered limbs rapidly disappearing under the surface of the tide even as she struggled to keep afloat by flappping her wings. She had no chance of surviving once the tide dragged her out into an open area with nothing for her to cling onto. Drowning was a experience one could do without; Faris knew this first-hand.

So he gave the tide wave a slight nudge as it rapidly retreated. His aim was compromised by the ragdoll-state he was in right now, being tugged this way and that, but he was certain that he managed to send the harpy in the direction of the skyboat. Hopefully she would be able to find some protrusion to latch onto; the skyboat seemed secured and sturdy enough. Faris himself was already past the skyboat at this point however so for him, the way only one place for him to go - into the open ocean.

Where whatever had caused this tidal wave would be lurking.

[Jericho]

“Well, this was a complete waste of time.” Jericho's face managed to do something it rarely did: The muscles twitched and his eyebrows drew down into a deep scowl, a fist clenched at his thigh. "Frustration" didn't even come close to how he felt as they were escorted into the elevator and made to stand beneath the surly stares of the guards all the way back down. He had translated Ilei's words exactly, tone and all (though there was still more guesswork behind his interpretation of Ohani speech than accuracy), so they others would know that their mission had failed, and so they could share his irritation. Once the elevator was in motion, he turned his back on the soldiers — trusting Ninian to watch his back — and demanded input with more enthusiasm than he had shown probably the whole trip.

“I have no idea who this Chaiku person is but if he — or she, yes, Misha — eats Ohani young then he must know his way to, what did they say, the nursery pools. I get the impression they're at the heart of the city, so we have to find a way in past all the soldiers, but we may be able to sneak in while they're busy defending against this Chaiku.”

His plans ended abruptly, however, when the elevator stopped just shy of the ground floor. There was a rushing, liquid bang that reverberated through the black glass walls, and then they dropped a sudden foot into place. The doors opened on a rush of outbound water and Jericho saw soldiers and what might be civilians rushing about the docks and walkways. Heads bobbed yards out to sea, and it occurred to him that "Chaiku eats our young" may not be a literal translation. “taroch dung! Did we tether the boat to anything? I think Chaiku is a tidal wave!”

Clapping a hand to Ninian's shoulder, Jeri jerked his chin toward the dock in the distance, a sign for the Therian to go on ahead to check while he and Misha followed at a slower pace. As Nin rushed off, Jericho touched a finger to his temple in sarcastic salute to the guards and gingerly stepped onto the walkway. He sneered. “Why can't they build above the water, like normal people?”

“Chill out, Jeri. A little water never hurt anyone.”

“It's ruining my shoes, damn it.”

“Your shoes were already ruined.”

[Maaike]

Maaike wasn't entirely sure what was happening any more, and she was no longer convinced that Jericho was translating properly in either direction, or that he had the group's best interests at heart. As they were led this way and that and finally got to meet an Ohani referred to as "Attendant Ilei", she listened intently despite not understanding a word that was said.

Or, more to the point, she watched. She studied. She was paying as close attention to Jericho's body language as she was trying to learn the Ohani's. Though it was impossible to truly comprehend a conversation based on physical movement and expression alone — especially across the "alien" barrier — she did get the distinct sense that, whatever Jericho had said, they were being denied. Again. Hydra heads and vlareon spit. Now what?

Ilei's body language changed, then; she displayed signs of fear, rather than just wariness. Had Jericho threatened her? But, no, he said the attendant spoke of "Chaiku". And like the others, she immediately assumed it was some kind of sea beast — until she set foot back on the dock and found herself ankle deep in water, then spotted Ohani and Elysian heads alike bobbing in the tumultuous sea. “What the heck...?”

Rushing forward to fish a harpy out of the sea, Maaike's head swivelled in an effort to understand what had happened. The harpy coughed up half her lungs, then snatched her wing free and scurried away from her, managing to sneer even with that eagle beak in the way. “Suit yourself.” Maaike's top lip pulled back to bare her canines in reciprocation, but she didn't help again, even when the stupid woman almost toppled back in. Apparently, the bird-like creature was more afraid of being infected than of drowning.

To her left, Maaike caught a glimpse of something large and dark and pivoted, water sloshing up her legs, just in time to see a huge, split-finned tail disappear back into the water with a crash of surf. “Possibly not just a tidal wave.” There were still bodies in the water, and an Ohani further out trying to help another harpy. Maaike blinked, and suddenly both were gone. Her first thought was that they were drowning — that the harpy was just as idiotic as the one she herself had tried to help and had somehow dragged her rescuer under — but that great shadow moved right under where they'd been and her skin chilled.

“What was it Ilei said about Chaiku? That it 'eats' their young? I think she meant it literally...”

[Argyris]

Like Jericho, Argyris was annoyed by the amount of water going into her boots. After taking yet another waterlogged step, Argyris sighed and removed them. Tossing the pair of ruined shoes away, Argyris looked over at where Maaike had been staring. Just a patch of dark water, with nothing much to look at. Maaike's words had hinted otherwise.

It made sense. There were always predators (and scavengers) that actively searched for a niche to occupy in the event of an environmental disturbance. Just like how And on such a watery world as this, a tidal wave that dragged land creatures out into the sea was like an invitation to a buffet for aquatic predators.

"...The 'Chaiku' is some sort of tidal beast..? No matter. Whatever the thing is, if the tidal wave can put the Ohani eggs in danger, that means they have to be on the outskirts of this city. If we're going to steal the eggs now, we should do it quickly. I doubt any of us knows how to sneak around or fight while swimming; especially when in comparison to the Ohani."

The fish-people moved gracefully in the water; even in the current chaotic situation their movements were clean and elegant. Much of the time they did not even need to use their arms, relying on just kicking and waving their legs to propel themselves forward. More importantly, they were comfortable in water. And if their fish-like appearance were anything to go by, the Ohani would definitely outlast any Elysian in an underwater standoff.

"Look, the water's receding starting to recede. Evgeny, go find the Ohani egg pool; we will comb the edges of the city starting from here in a clockwise direction."

The Hesian Apali, who had only just landed again (he took flight the moment they exited the elevator), shook his head. Like Maaike, he had seen hint of a monster lurking beneath the surface of the ocean. Sometimes it was just a shadow, at other times he managed to catch sight of a dull glimmer of light bouncing off the surface something that while smooth, but not as reflective as water. At first he had assumed that it was just an optical illusion, or his ill-rested mind playing tricks. But then he too saw the tips of a tail just before it went under the obscuring surface of Neluna's sea.

"No; going further out now is akin to entering the maws of the Chaiku. If even the Ohani are so fearful of it, we won't stand a chance."


OOC: Permission to use/take over Evgeny and Psyche (female Hunter vampire) granted to whoever wants to use them ^^

[Jericho]

Jericho trod carefully along the walkway toward the skyboat, where water sloshed against the blubber-like surface. He had been surprised when the harpy crew brought the flying machine in to land on the water, but in retrospect, the way it had skimmed right up to the dock, and the cut of the hull he could see better now that he was heading towards it, suggested it would be just as smooth a ride on the ocean as it was in the air. Ingenious, these Ohani.

It was also most likely the safest place outside the city buildings themselves — and he wasn't prepared to go back indoors given their purpose here and the uncertain reception. So he planned to climb aboard and wait out the attack. He could translate, if needed, from shelter. However, the yells he overheard regarding the Chaiku and the eggs were leading him to a rapid conclusion.

“Ninian, go with this Evgeny chicklet.” He didn't care what the others did, but he wanted his hands on one of those eggs: either as insurance, or as a rare item to trade or sell once this was done (assuming he ever got home). “I'll be on the boat.”

[Maaike]

“Jericho.” Flagging the Peteulanus down as he headed for the boat, Maaike wiped a drop of blood from her nose and wiped it on her already ruined shirt. She pointed at the skyboat as she caught another glimpse of tail fin in the distance. It was closer; the size of its shadow beneath the water suggested it was huge.

“Does that thing have weapons?” It seemed that, if they were equipped with sirens as a sort of early warning system, the Ohani must be accustomed to being attacked like this. They had soldiers, so they didn't strike her as a pacifistic sort of people; surely they had other defences? Other ways to protect themselves and their young? Spears and bone armour were all well and good in a melee fight, but logic suggested they didn't tackle things of the Chaiku's size as individuals. Even squadrons of their soldiers would struggle against something that size, no matter how well they could swim. And surely, if Danae was to be believed and they had designed and built the skyboat, there was more than one — and it floated as a sea boat, too, so it followed that they had some kind of defence against sea monsters. Right? In Elysia, a ship's defences were the crew and the gunners. There had been no sign of these Ohani being water manipulators, or elementalists of any kind, so how did they protect themselves while travelling the great depths?

“Ask the harpies. If it has weapons of some kind, maybe you can get them to create a perimeter line and try to deter the thing.” She glanced about, surveying the "battle field". The Ohani civilians were heading inside, while a few of the guards helped the last of the bodies out of the water — that they could see, anyway. There wasn't much Maaike could do here. “I'm going to help look for the—”

She was cut off by a hacking cough that doubled her over. She clasped her hand over her mouth and gasped for breath as her lungs seized, almost bringing her to her knees. Her eyes watered and spittle sprayed across her palm. She was finally able to straighten and pulled her hand away to wipe it on her shirt (maybe she should toss herself in the water to freshen up), but froze as she caught sight of the pink stains on her skin. Fear and doubt slid up her spine, and she surreptitiously wiped the bloody froth away. Her hoarse voice shook. “—look for the eggs before we run out of time.” Unfortunately, it may already be too late for her.

[Jericho]

Jericho stopped at Maaike's behest and turned to glare at her. “What?” He glanced at the skyboat, then arched an eyebrow. “How in the Hel tarnation should I know?” He was no warrior. The closest he came in battle to strategising was to know his exits in case things went south. He had never thought to study the boat or its armaments. Instead of quizzing the harpy crew on the way here, he'd been trying to catch some shut-eye while silently plotting gabs-a-lot's demise. (Normally, he would task Ninian with the assassination so he could keep his own hands clean, but he suspected he would take great pleasure in throttling the pink-eyed moutharian himself. Great pleasure.)

And, yes, he could ask the harpies now, or at least, once he was back on deck. But being commanded (especially now that he was beginning to enjoy his role as leader-by-proxy), and by a grotesquely dying woman already several stations beneath him, just rubbed him the wrong way.

“I've got a better idea. You ask.” He turned away in a huff and stalked up the gangplank, his shoulders stiff inside his heavy, wet armour. Nevertheless, the first thing he did when he got back on board was to clutch a harpy by the shoulder, suffer her beady-eyed sneer, and telepathically request information about the skyboat's weapons. No sense in letting the Chaiku eat the eggs, after all.

The responding image flashes suggested the ship itself was designed as a weapon: The prow was sharp, sturdy bone shaped to carve through water, air and whatever ocean-dwelling pests got in the way. The rudder at the rear was similarly built, and in battle (he could only assume water fights were common), bony spikes were set out to act as a shield like a hedgehog's spines. Beyond that, however, Danae's skyboat had no armaments (whether or not other Ohani boats did, he couldn't tell), and they would have to get up some speed to be able to ram the Chaiku or be of any use. That said, if they could get the elementalists aboard and take off, they could try attacking the thing from the air when it surfaced — which it must, given that he had now caught a few glimpses of the tail swatting the ocean surface like a gigantic fly. It was just a shame that Nereids struggled in this kind of environment. And where in Xanth's name was Faris?

[Kiel]

“Wah? No, but, we can't just leave them...” Kiel's head, like, totally swivelled on his shoulders as he looked from Jeri to Maaike and back again, then at the Ohani scurrying about. He was a fighter, you know, helping people was just ingrained, but, like, they had a point about this being a good opportunity to get the eggs. Like, Maaike especially looked terrible (like, not that he'd ever tell her that to her face, you know, 'cause she was mean, man, for sers), but a few of them had already started with the hiccups and rash so obviously she wasn't the only one infected, you know?

“There's nothing we can do here, kid.” Aifric was drenched and dripping, and like Kiel was spinning about, like, looking for some way he could help. “You're lucky enough you didn't drown the first time around with that arm. And, well, I think they're used to this sort of thing, right?”

“But, like, sure, yeah, but.” Sure enough, the Ohani soldiers were responding quickly, yelling to one another and taking up defensive positions in tight formation. They sure looked like they knew what they were doing, and, like, Aifric was right about his arm. He still couldn't turn away, though, you know?

“Holy fish! Look out!” Diana was already shoving Elias back up the gangplank when Kiel pivoted toward them, and she pointed. Like, not so very far away, that great big tail lashed out of the sea and another huge wave arced up around it. Aifric's eyes bulged and he darted for the gangplank too. Kiel hesitated, but, like, no way he could just stand around on a boat, okay? Shane on his heels, he ran after Maaike. Like, he could be useful somehow, you know? Like, right?

“Wahhhhhhhhh!” An Ohani formation split down the middle to surge around him and Shane, and he could totally swear he heard one of them snarling at him so Shane snarled back. That totally could have been a diplomatic disaster, you know, except they were too busy responding to the Chaiku's latest attack and, like, he was too busy running the other way. He had no idea where they were going, but he wasn't leaving his friends alone, okay? “Dude, like, are you okay, Mikes? Like, I thought you were gonna cough your guts out back there, you know? Gross, it's gross! And, like, where are we going, anyhow?”

[Faris]

Faris bobbed along limply, occasionally using his ability to nudge himself upwards for air as the receding tide dragged him into the open waters. It was when he was exchanging another breath of air that the foreign presence in Neluna's waters made itself known. Faris' first reaction had been to curse Xanth for creating gigantic possibly man-eating beasts, but quickly remembered that he was not in Elysia. Which made things worse, since he did not know how the creature who shared the waters with him - and was rapidly approaching - behaved. It had none of a foamfish's skittishness, nor did it seem inclined to ignore the floating Marid.

A predator. That was all he knew, and really, all he needed to know. Additional information was a luxury. He needed to get back to land, and fast.

The waters between him and the aquatic beast begun to churn, the surface of the sea frothing a little. It was a familiar technique that he had used numerous times; except this time he wanted to keep his target out. Spinning the undersea currents as quickly as he could, Faris forced out a oblong ring of air. As the bubble ring moved upwards, it left behind trails of tiny air bubbles. Hopefully the curtain of bubbles would be enough to distract whatever -

SNAP!

Faris was certain he was a good distance away from the beast, but the sound of muscular jaws snapping shut was still all too audible in his waterlogged ears. There was a glimpse of a wickedly fanged mandible cutting through the curtain of bubbles too. Faris shivered, and all of a sudden, felt himself being drawn backwards. It was like someone was determinedly dragging him by the scruff of his neck. And that someone wasstrong. Faris struggled, arms desperately trying to paddle himself away. He did not try to fight the sudden current headon, choosing to move diagonally against. Still, he definitely needed to get away. He could practically feel himself being sucked into a whirlpool that wanted to eat him alive.

And there was only one way out. This time there was little to no finesse in that way he simply moved the water. Pushing himself upwards, Faris broke free of the sea-thing's dangerous pull. He found himself airbrone, and instinctively stretched out his wings. Unused to gliding, Faris was unable to manuovure himself properly and soon plopped back down into the waters with a splash. And then found himself being moved against his will once more.

He cursed Xanth once more for her interest in crazy animals, even as he noticed that he was moving towards the shoreline this time. Faris surged forward helplessly, but this time the tide did not hit the Ohani city as hard as the initial blow. The pullback was much milder as well. Faris hit the side of the skyboat. Or at least what he thought was the skyboat. Clinging to a jagged protrusion, Faris waited out the receding tide and slumped to the ground.

By Xanth was he tired.

[OOC: Mister Jericho! Here's your order of one Faris, please sign here and here, have a nice day! Oh and feel free to manhandle Faris around for a little while. He's not in much of a condition to object ]

[Aiden]

The ocean surged violently inland, causing Aiden to flinch uncomfortably from the saltwater as it washed over his legs and bit at the open sores on his calves. The rashes weren't visible under the cloth of the therian's ragged jeans, but they had developed during the trip to the Ohani city. Closely watching the surface of the ocean, the ex-guard hurried after the majority of the Elysians who were treading toward the skyboat.

Suddenly, Maaike crunched forward in a fit of coughs so heavy that she nearly keeled forward into the water. Remembering the sight of the malaki liquifying at the temple, Aiden's throat seized with worry as he sloshed toward her. He was close enough to place a hand on the other therian's shoulders when he heard Jericho rebuff Maaike and leave for the airship. The beginnings of a growl rumbled in Aiden's throat as he watched the 'vari's retreating back. Whatever Maaike's question had been, the 'vari had no right to sneer and turn like that---as if the infection meant they were trash.

Above the ohani's shouts and Kiel's yells, the sound of rumbling waves was everywhere as the underwater beast came in for a second helping of city-people. Another wave crashed against the now-rocking ship, and he pulled lightly on Maaike's arm as he hobbled toward the ship. He couldn't say anything at the moment, but he hoped she'd understand that he wanted to find the eggs as much as she did. However, the creature occupied so much of the shore that it would be foolish to enter the water and look for the eggs.

As they set foot on the deck, he saw Raph run toward one side of the ship with a rope in hand. The djinn was yelling at Faris.

((I figured I'd at least try for a few more posts before Friday. As always, feel free to GM my charries however you'd like for the purposes of this thread.))

[Alain]

Alain and Clara spent most of the trip alone on the skyboat with little contact from the harpies, which was exactly as they wished. Alain even tried to get some rest, before the situation exploded and he felt the ship lurch after the Chaiku's arrival. In the end, they were blissfully ignorant of the events surrounding them as a result, given Alain's lack of use of his telepathy, which, as it was proven "useless" in such times, he gladly left out of use. That was, until he and Clara stormed up to the deck to regain their senses, and to find that Raph was already "fishing" Faris from the water, with most of the rest of the party not much better off.

"What in Xanth's name happened here?" Clara asked accusingly, but with everyone else already too busy in the heat of the moment, no one else heard her. She looked to Alain, who shrugged, purposefully avoiding Jericho as his target for information, and settling with the Purifier being brought aboard.

Alain quickly relayed the information to his wife, and the pair watched as yet another body was fished aboard. This time it was an Ohani, carrying a familiar but undoubtedly very unconscious Dao Zanaryan, one whom Alain once revealed to Clara was actually from a sort of aristocratic family, from what he'd gathered. The pair moved to join the rescued, looking to Faris, who Alain already knew was in bad shape from his state of mind, and then to the Ohani, who set Rahil beside him...her...it. Alain couldn't tell based on appearance. Fish people.

Then he noticed a familiar smell, made only worse after the source being drenched. One he actively avoided Zanaryans for.

"You should've left him in the water," Alain began, gesturing to the Dao with one hand, and pinching his nose with the other, "Gods, the purifier smells better."

"At least now we get to fight over who gets to slap pompous nobility awake," Clara snicked from beside him, with the notion enhanced by her altered voice due to her covering her nose. "By the way, Alain, the jademine vials."

((OOC: Hopefully this isn't terribly awful as a post...still trying to get back into things. And Alain will be helping Faris with jademine! Just because he is nice, totally. ))

[Faris]

Waking up to the smell of salty Jumenmine, Faris coughed forcefully as the seawater he had inevitably swallowed came rushing out, some of it burning through his nostrils. Panting in the aftermath, he looked around himself. The deck. Skyboat. He was on the deck of the skyboat. Not knowing that the two people who were tending to him already knew, Faris sat up with the intention of telling them what he had seen.

"The Chaiku! It's not a natural phenomenon; it's a sea-creature. At least the same size of as full-grown Leviathan; it's been creating the tidal waves by manipulating the water. It draws a huge amount of water away from the shore, and then releases it all in one go... We have to kill it, else it'll batter us all to no end! ..Ah, where's the captain?"

Faris was getting up now, fully intending to convince whoever was in charge to get them out into the sea. Except, he did not know who to speak to.

[Maaike]

Had Aiden not been there, Maaike was convinced she would have keeled over into the water and sunk to her death. It wasn't that she was in the right place at the wrong time (that is, at the edge of the dock when her lungs seized powerfully enough to stop her in tracks) but that there was just so much water, it would be difficult to not collapse into it. And if she couldn't even walk properly, she rather doubted she'd have the skill to swim.

Even knowing that Aiden himself was suffering, Maaike couldn't help but lean heavily against him. She struggled to stay on her feet, to take at least some of the burden, and with anyone else she would have sooner thrown herself into the sea for a watery fate than shown any weakness at all. But if nothing else, this 'jaunt' had solidified her trust in the big, sweet man. It was almost a shame, really. At this rate, even if they got the cure, it was too late for her — and he was one more person to feel guilty over. It was never the dead or the dying who suffered, really. It was always those left behind, and bad enough someone would have to tell her folks and her baby boy that she was gone.

“Ergh.” Staggering away from the other Therian as they entered the enclosed deck, Maaike coughed and wheezed and held out an arm to catch the wall to brace herself. “Damn it...” Wheeze. “Jericho. You... have to get them to do... something.”

[Jericho]

Weeks. He had been doing this thankless task for weeks and still that harpy of a Therian was nagging him to do something. Jericho curled his fingers at her, as if preparing to throttle the little remaining life out of her, and growled low in his throat. His muscles spasmed and for one blinding moment he truly, honestly, seriously wished her scrawny neck was between his hands. Then, he pointed sharply at the hulking lummox glued to her side and sneered. “Do something with the cow before I do. My advice would be to toss her overboard, but it's fine with me if you want a more hands-on approach.” He really didn't care how she met her end, so long as she did.

Spinning on his heel, Jericho stamped his feet to draw the nearest harpy's attention. (The real harpies — though the word was apt enough for the wheezing wench at his back.) With her beady eyes on him, he threw orders at her like telepathic darts and followed her to a small room at the bow. The bridge, she called it, and pointed with a stunted, balding wing at the great wheel set dead-centre where the glass canopy drew to a point. He'd get a poor view of the creature from here since they were facing the city, but he would at least be able to avoid crashing into that hard black glass.

“Right then. How do you make this thing go?”

“Ummm, Jeri, what are you doing?” Misha, ever on his coat tails like a lost little lamb now he didn't have the fire of vengeance to keep him going. Jericho rolled his eyes. Thankfully, the harpy was giving him what he needed.

“Something is what I'm doing. Hold on to your hat.”

“Umm. I'm not wearing a ha—augh! Jeri! Jeri, stop! We're going to craaaaaa—!”

[Faris]

As Faris made his way to the bow, he noticed something wrong. Something terribly, terribly wrong. The deck - the airship - was tilting, and dangerously so. And heading diagionally into the side of the docks at that. The Marid cursed whoever it was at the helm as he forcibly pushed the airship away from the smooth and very hard structures.

He struggled to reach the bow; the one controlling the ship seemed to have a rudimentary grasp of how to control a ship at the very best. The Marid had to constant direct a good portion of his attention to ensuring the ship stayed on course. Once the airship entered more open waters, Faris stumbled towards his destination as quickly as he could. He had not explored the airship much on their way from Acantha to Neluna, but the airship seemed to be designed similarly to a regular vessel. Hopefully he was right and the steer was in that room he was heading towards - Faris really did not want to have to go exploring under such uneven conditions. Reaching the door and opening it, Faris wrapped one hand around the door's frame and flung himself in.

"Seriously now, what - Mister Jericho what are you - Gah, just let me take control of the steering wheel, will you?"

Faris strode forward and attempted to place his hands on the steering.

[Jericho]

“What am I doing?” Jericho filled in for Faris as the Zanaryan struggled forward and attempted to wrench control of the wheel from him. “I'm doing something. Just as Miss Maaike Know-It-All The Boss of Me said.” He still hadn't decided what that 'something' was going to be, but at least they hadn't crashed yet — though, given the jerkiness and lurching of their "journey", he suspected the Marid had something to do with that.

He kept hold of the wheel for a few seconds, making Faris work for it — not because he particularly enjoyed being in charge (well, fine, maybe a little) or because he particularly wanted to drive, but because he. Was. Pissed. Weeks and weeks of this taroch dung and instead of "thanks for getting us here alive", he got a "do something". Like he hadn't already been doing something.

“Jeri, quit it! We're going to craaaash!” Misha yanked on his arm and Jeri finally let go of the wheel with a snap.

“Fine. You crash us. I'm going to bed.” But before he went, he pointed at the huge wage coming their way. “You might want to go left a bit.”