"Thank you, Tethia," Treon nods, before looking around the crew.  He considers how much of the gum they had.  "I will certainly be leaving the bulk of the supply up here." three pieces each for the people who need them, a couple of spares for Indrid and for Tomistoma and another couple just in case. His concentration is broken by a glance to Beetle, although one without too much censure.  He had left her alone when she had made that clear, after all.

"As for how long we expect to be down there ... that is hard to say.  When Tomistoma surfaces we will know more of what is down there.  It will take a few hours, but I intend to be back by sundown.  Even if they have some manner of artefact or sorcery which allows people to breath down there, I do not wish to sleep down there, unless it can be helped."

Nodding in grateful acknowledgment of the Captain, Indrid steels himself for the first - possibly lethal - swallow of the pale blue fluid sloshing in the jar. He sips it delicately, like a connoisseur testing a glass of fine wine. The taste is anything but fine, though not as vile as he might have feared. The liquid is thick though, nearly a jelly, and slides down his throat, leaving a thick blue coating upon his lips and tongue.

He shivers as the sensation and waits for Tomistoma returns.

"Slumber would not seem a suitable activity beneath the waves. Whatever thy own supplies may offer, Captain Treon, I am a'feared that even should it be effective, this formula I have brewed should not endure in effects more than a few hours at most. Truth, tis my desire to be somewhat nearer the surface before then."

Darel took off his ample shirt and boots and handed them to Kathleen, leaving only his trousers and a leather belt with waterproof pouches, knives and his scabbarded sword, and of course his blue jade bracers.

"I guess that as the only one with unlimited underwater endurance, I should also be on the frontline..." he said with a shrug.

Tomistoma's head breaks the surface just enough for him to speak as he relays the information he has discovered with brevity, "Three entrances below. No guards." After his head sinks it bobs above the surface an instant later to add, "No predators."

"Then I shall beg the pardon of this fine company," Indrid says as he finishes tying off the rope around his waist. Alchemy was a tricky thing and simply because he had not collapsed now did not mean there might not be an adverse reaction once he was in the water. One arm front and one arm back, he tilts in a bow and then backs to the ship's railing and climbs over.

It has been a while since he has last went diving. Not since he taught his eldest son Tigo on the white cliffs on the east side of Bluefin. The body still remembers how though and he slips off the side, plunging into the water with only the barest splash. Against the black of the chasm, his pale body darts like a large fish, limbs churning through the ocean to keep him held under.

After several seconds of this, he breaches back to the surface in a surge of salty white foam.

"T'would seem I my sleepless night hath not been wasted," Indrid says and has not forgotten how to sound proud as well. He unties the rope and waves up to the ship. "If I may ask another burden, push mine hammer off the side. Would be too great a weight for your man to pull me from the depths, but it shall not be more than a feather to mine own hands, so long as there is life within them to grip it."

Smiling at the possibility of being able to stay beneath the waves for longer than a breath, "If I may use your meays of staying beneath the surface, I'd be much relieved. I'd be willing to take the lead of underneath or perform some trade in barter if that is your way."

"I had assumed you would be accompanying us after our discussion at the end of the meal," Treon nodded to Darel.  "Though perhaps before you descend you could take ... Jim aloft.  The lack of guards down below, combined with the lack of ships up here gives me to caution.  Perhaps you can spy them from above?"

Treon then turns to Hera.  "There is no need to trade anything, if you are diving to aid in my purpose, that is payment enough," he says, as he gives her three of the small pieces of gum.  "Each should give you breath below the waves for about an hour."

Treon himself takes a number of pieces, for himself and for Indrid and Tomistoma, should they need more breath down there.  And then another couple of pieces to be sure.

"Beetle, if you would see to the lowering of Indrid's hammer?"

"Reconoissance, fine! Anybody come with me?" Darel said as he made a backwards somersault that ended with him on the agata's back.

Beetle takes his time about the task, but not enough to be seen as flagrantly subordinate. In the meantime Aranita moves away toward the opposite side of the ship.

He seems quite vexed that carrying the massive weapon is such a strain for him, despite his obvious physical strength. Stubbornly, the crewman drags Indrid's hammer to the edge of the Hammerhead and calls out gruffly, "Look out overboard!" before hefting it and letting it go with a splash over the side.

No one seems interested in flying on the agata with Darel, though that may be because most people aren't fond of being within close range of a demon--even a pretty one named Jim.

---

OOC: Sorry, I should have posted for Beetle before, I hadn't been watching close enough. You'll get an actual update from my co-GM soon.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:51, Fri 27 Mar 2009.

Darel spurred his mount, which took the air with a leap and a spread of its crystalline gauze wings. "Wheeeeeeeeeee!" Darel shouted in delight, spreading his arms as his natural element rushed around him.

Now, back to our business...

He would circle Black Rock Chasm and then patrol in a spiral three miles in radius, flying low in order to get a more accurate picture of what was going on...

Darel's flight gives him a good view of the surrounding area, as well as an almost dizzying impression of how massive Black Rock Chasm is. From above, its shape can be seen as a faint outline, even through the ominously black waters... A tremendous rock giant sleeping beneath the waves, its mass slowly fading as it reaches towards the Ocean bottom. Corroborating Tomistoma's report, however, it seems that Darel cannot spot anything moving from where he is - For all purposes, the Spire itself looks devoid of life. Either its Pelagial inhabitants are in hiding, or they purposefully do not come out this close to the surface so as not to attract attention.

Now more than ever, it seems that the group will need to infiltrate the Chasm proper to learn more...

Darel returned to the Hammerhead, his agata hovering close to the deck.

"Nothing more to report, ladies and gentlemen: it looks quite deserted. An impressive sight, though."

[OOC: BTW, you did not answer my question: can my neomah shapeshift into a humanoid with the Gills mutation and accompany me underwater?
At any rate, my sesselja is still with me, if it can also benefit from my Gemstone of Aquatic Prowess when living symbiotically with me.]

PM
[Private to Darel Arwan: Gah, my bad, I thought I had put that info in my previous post! My oversight, apologies. I would see no problem with the Neomah getting the gills mutation at all, so you can assume she can follow you down there. Same with the Sesselja - I would assume it is bound to your service and thus can profit for the hearthstone like you do.

Once again, sorry for the oversight here! Let me know if you have further questions.]

"Thank you for going to look.  I wonder where the ships went, then.  I suppose we will have to ask down there."

"Very well, we dive," Treon announces to the ship with a resolute nod.  He turns his attention to Tethia and Black Reed.  "I hope that we are back by sundown.  If you have heard no word by then, the night will have to be spent on alert and send down a team of swimmers at dawn."

Finally, he walks over to Aranita.  "I should be back soon.  If any presses you more than is appropriate, tell Black Reed or Tethia.  I won't have that kind of behaviour on my ship.  See you soon," he says with a smile, and then walks over to the side of the ship that Indrid and Tomistoma are on.

After waiting a few moments for questions or comments, he checks the binding for his daiklaive once more, starts to chew a piece of the gum and then excutes a clean dive over the side of the vessel to the water below.

Darel ordered his mount to stay at the ready for an emergency pickup and patrol, warning those onboard if the situation changed down below.

He then jumped onboard, and told his neomah to remain on board; she would shape-shift into an amphibious humanoid and help a rescue team if need be.

Then, he leapt down on the water, walking on the surface a few moments before sinking under, accompanying Treon and the others.

Dipping under the surface of the water as the massive hammer splashes into the foamy darkness, Indrid lithely kicks his way under and emerges again with weapon in hand. True to his words, the heavy hammer all but floats on the surface with him.

"If all are prepared, I should think it wise the lady Hera and I keep at the center as we move downwards. Meaning no ill towards the ladies skills," he inclines his head respectfully towards the same. "But we've neither the might of the Dragon-Blooded nor lord Tomistoma."

Hera shakes her head, "No, I will not remain protected behind a circle of those I seek to help. I know not of the might of the others, but my limbs are strong and those that oppose us will fall."

She sticks a piece that she was given in her mouth and dives into the water. Her form is excellent filled with power, skill, and grace. She seems accustomed to the water as if she had been living in it since the day she was born.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:07, Tue 31 Mar 2009.

Tomistoma circles the area around the group's dive area about fathoms beneath the surface. His long, narrow body waves in a serpentine motion as he stays alert for any dangers. The splash of the entrance of the others is thunderous to him as his essence-tuned ears pick up the slightest disturbance in the water.

Seeing that all those who would be diving are in the water, Treon flips a salute to the Hammerhead and then pushes beneath the surface of the waves.

When he is below the surface, he indicates to Tomistoma to lead the way downwards, towards the openings he saw.

I wonder what we shall find?

Now beneath the depths, the group starts to progress towards the entrances Tomistoma had pointed out to them earlier. As they break surface, and plunge deeper into the blackness surrounding Black Rock Chasm, the rays of the sun seem to get filtered out... And the sense of foreboding grows stronger with each stroke of the water they make.

As the group progresses more and more towards the visible entrance to the complex, it becomes harder and harder to see, light seemingly being sucked out of their very surroundings. In the fading surface light, they can witness what their ally had confirmed earlier, however - the three openings no doubt serving as topside entrances to Black Rock Chasm proper. The darkness within them is barely penetrable, but stray beams of the mid-day sun hint at objects stacked within the first approach chamber - glimpses of rusted steel and rotted wood, and the eerie floating of torn sails.

In the sharp rocks beneath them, the rotting carcasses of ships are caught within stone maws and claws. The corpses of once proud and mighty vessels lie dormant there, gutted and emptied like fish, their innards stolen and plundered until only a husk remains. From the outside appearance of the Chasm, the group can surmise that many more remnants might lie further below, the wrecks tossed aside once anything of value has been taken from them. For those who have spend their lives sailing, the image is a desolate, sad one; an open grave full of discarded stories and tales.

Even more eerie is the fact that at this level, Black Rock Chasm is completely silent and quiet. Nothing moves, nothing makes a sound, and nothing breaks the calm that seems to emanate from this place. Of course, anyone who knows even a slight bit about the Pelagial themselves can tell that this is merely a facade - one of the foremost collectors of wonders and artifacts, the Pelagials continually work at scavenging and harvesting new materials and sources of handiwork to reinforce their dying race.

As they approach the entrance to the complex, the group comes to a head with the looming darkness. In but a few moments, they will find themselves surrounded by it, the outside light shut out completely as they step within the Black Rock's maw.

Hopefully, they will find who they are looking for, before Cynis Megara becomes an integral part of this lightless world.

[OOC: More will be coming, but you will need a source of light or an alternate way to see in darkness from this point onwards. Once that is done, you will be entering the complex proper, and will be able to begin your exploration.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:09, Thu 02 Apr 2009.

With a command to his immaterial eristrufa, Darel conjured small lights to illuminate their immediate surroundings.

[OOC: my eristrufa will use his Ghostly Presence Charm to make some light for a scene.]
This message was last edited by the player at 20:26, Thu 02 Apr 2009.

Immediately responding to Darel's command, the eristrufa starts to exude a ghostly light, enough to illuminate the group's immediate surroundings, and help them see ahead...

... And grants them their first hint on their quest to find the missing savant they are looking for.

Just ahead, bathed in the soft light given by Darel's otherworldly ally, the group can get their first real look at the big entrance to Black Rock Chasm, and the room it leads to. It is an irregular, roughly dome-shaped chamber, into which are stocked piles of barrels, crates, and ship remnants. The various pieces and containers are secured with strong ropes and chains, to keep them from either floating out of the complex and to the surface or drift downwards towards the ocean floor.

In the middle of the giant room, relatively new ship wreckage are anchored at the chamber's bottom with strong steel chains. They undoubtedly used to be proud vessels, but only a faded halo of their former glory now remains; their once majestic sails have been ripped and torn, and their elegant masts broken near the base - no doubt to facilitate their storage in this place. War wounds are immediately apparent - tremendous jagged holes have been punched at the bottom and sides of the ships, mortal wounds that insured these vessels would never take to sea again. Other, more cleanly cut openings have been practiced on the left side of all the wreckage, likely to facilitate the emptying of the ships' cargo.

Based on the look of things, the approaching group becomes more and more convinced that the sad spectacle they are witnessing is, in fact, the broken and battered remnants of Cynis Megara's once proud expedition.

Treon nods his thanks to Darel for the illumination, before a large bubble escapes his mouth in a gasp as he perceives the fate of the fleet.  It was such a sorry state to see such once great vessels reduced too and it did not bode well at all for their rescue attempt.  How can they be allowed to do such things, to the Realm or to any one's vessels and crew? he wondered.

Nothing to find there though, I'm sure.

He gestured to those who saw with him, indicating that they would swim further into the cabin, past the remains of the ships.

Swimming down with the others, Hera continues to marvel at the incredible magic that allows her to remain down here for so long. The ruins of the ship intrigue her and she moves in closer as she is directed.

The Dragon King slowly circles the group, his wide, flat tail moving in slow, powerful strokes to propel him through the water as his crooked, stubby arms and legs float lazily at his sides. His webbed toes are spread wide, easily directing his long body almost instantly in any direction. As he completes his circumnavigation and starts another round, his ears and the sensitive scales on his sides and his white underbelly are charged with Essence to detect any sound or movement of the water that might reveal an object moving in the distant darkness.

At the same time, his beady, black eyes pierce deep in the dim light, seeking for any traces of Essence itself.

[Private to Raconteur: using the Clear Air Path charms that basically duplicate Keen Sense Technique for Sight, Hearing and Touch, and another that duplicates All-Encompassing Sorcerer's sight to look for anything hidden, invisible, dematerialized, any uses of Essence, any artifacts, magical materials, etc.

Costs a total of 8 Essence.

Oh, and here are rolls for the three senses. With automatics from my charms, it comes out to 6 successes hearing, 5 successes sight, and a nice 9 successes for feeling. Hopefully I will be able to feel the disturbance in the water if anything approaches.

18:12, Today: Tomistoma rolled 7 successes using 6d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 with rolls of 10,2,6,10,8,10. Feeling +2 Automatic Succ.
18:12, Today: Tomistoma rolled 3 successes using 6d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 with rolls of 7,3,4,8,9,5. Sight +2 Automatic Succ.
18:11, Today: Tomistoma rolled 4 successes using 6d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 with rolls of 9,3,8,5,7,7. Hearing +2 Automatic Succ.


Do you have the Dragon King book, or the PM I sent with the Paths I have?]
This message was last edited by the player at 02:19, Sat 11 Apr 2009.