Vaddis followed Tarrov into the icy water and felt his nether regions tighten dramatically at the cold water.

Upon reaching the ship he nods at Tarrov's suggestion for the lower deck. "I'll lead."

Selvin's wings folded behind him as they won't be terribly useful in the water. Between the gills of his companion and the pearl, he was fine for breathing the water. He was grateful for the slight resistance to the cold water that the pearl gave him, that was for sure.

He gave Vaddis a shrug at his not-really-a-suggestion that he would lead the way. "If you think it best." He didn't say more than that, not feeling the need to go in to reasoning on why it might not be.

Vaddis looked back at Selvin, "If you wish to go first, by all means do so."

As you all propel yourselves downwards, you watch for any signs of movement from the ship. There are small slim shadows...eels most like...darting around the remnant of the shattered bow. The larger stern section seems very quiet. You don't even see any darting fish nearby.

As you head for the gaping hole, you see that the captain's cabin on the main deck remains undisturbed. The door is still shut, though there's a gap under the frame so there's no chance the cabin isn't filled with water.

You head past the flooring of the top deck. The second deck looks to have had a few cabins and a small hallway leading into a main hold. From inside the hold you see something large circling. It moves quickly. In a moment it has moved away from your lights and into the more shadowed regions of the hold.

The lower deck looks to be mostly a bilge. It appears to be clear. A set of stairs leading upwards to the second deck is at the far end of the space.

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Tarrov grimaced at the lower deck.  "What do you gentlemen think?  I don't like the look of the creature down there, and it seems to be just a bilge, but who knows what it might actually contain?  We should probably explore it before we leave, even if just out of a sense of thoroughness."  He pointed at the upper deck.  "But we might want to look there first."

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"I agree." Vaddis heads toward the upper 'deck' of the ship to begin searching the cabins and captains quarters.

Selvin watched with a wary eye. "Yeah, agreed. Start at the top an' work our way down if we don't find what we're after I'd say."

You swim upwards, coming over the top of the fractured top deck.

The cabin door is the only thing of interest. As you pull on it, it actually comes away from the frame. It was hard to tell before due to the general murk, but it had been ripped from it's hinges. And then placed back.

Mercifully, nothing comes lumbering out at you. Ruined bits of furniture scatter about the floor. Bed sheets bob in the current like children dressed up as ghosts for a night of pranks. A dead man lingers amidst the wrecakge. He does not stir. He just hangs there limply. His face is covered by a mask. It is like one of the doctors masks you saw in the Palace square earlier. A full leather facial masks with the eyes covered up by thick goggles sewn into the leather and a long, thin beak of an appendage jutting out from the mouth. He appears as a giant misquito, long since dead from it's unfuflfilled thirst for blood. It appears at least pne of the Queen's plague doctors came aboard this ship. Though whether he was here when it sank or he came along since, there's no way of telling. At least there isn't by just staring at him.

Vaddis checks the body out.

Search take 10

"Think they were here after t'find a cure, or did they start all this?" It was really a rhetorical question as none of them knew the answer.

Selvin will search the room while Vaddis checks out the body, just to be thorough.

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Tarrov also looked around the room carefully.  He approached the body, trying to determine the cause of death.  Had this physician died from the plague, or to more-sinister activity?

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Sorry about lack of posts, I thought I had been keeping better track, but it's been a busy week

The half-orc had donned the same pearl as the others before heading into the water, but even with the magic, it was simply a strange sensation to be under water with such free movement. Of course, he remained cautious as they approached the boat. He hoped Vencarlo had been wrong about his implications on their ability to cast spells. He wasn't sure just how much of a fight he could put up if worst came to.

As his companions looked over the found plague doctor's body and posessions, Izzick's fingers worked on casting a spell. Perhaps he would test what Vencarlo had said by searching for any magic in the room. Perhaps if the Plague Doctor had some magic allowing him to breath underwater, they'd know he came after it sank.

Going to cast Detect Magic and search the room

There is little amidst the floatsam and wreckage Selvin which the water has not ruined. You find a couple of journals whose pages are throughly ruined. One of the covers is still intact enough for you to read the cover. Rois Vindmel. It appears it was a personal journal.

You twitch your thick fingers Izzick and are rewarded with a spell. At least you know your magic is castable down here. Outside of the items on your companions though, there is no magic present in the chamber.

A look at what is left of his flesh Tarrov does show some signs of the Veil's rash and scarring. But it does not look too advanced. He probably drowned before succumbing to the disease.

The body is a mess Vaddis. Somehing has taken some chunks from him. But as you lift up his shirt, you get another sort of nasty surpise. Around his neck is a brass ornament worn on a chain. The ornament is shaped into the likeness of a moth with a skull on it's back. The Death Moth. Sacred to the Palid Princess, Uragotha. Mother of Disease. The man was probably a worshipper.

Vaddis removes the evil holy symbol from around his neck and puts it in his pocket. "Anything else you guys want to see? Or do we work our way below now?"

Selvin looked a bit disappointed, but he hadn't expected much else from the journals. He pocketed the one journal in case it might be somehow salvageable on the surface. He turned in time to get an eyeful of the partially-eaten corpse. He looked disgusted but shook his head. "I'm good t'move on."

"He doesn't seem to have one of these pearls," Izzick confirmed before they moved on, "</darkgreen>He might have been on the ship when it sunk. This is pretty far to get with just a temporary spell. Just a guess though at best,</darkgreen>" he offered, their own pearls so easily removable that it would be lucky if they didn't share the same fate. But he nodded in agreement once they'd searched the room that it was time to move on.

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Vaddis' revelation of the amulet took Tarrov by complete surprise.  Although now that he thought about it, it probably shouldn't have.  Uragotha.

"This plague is no accident, then."  The bard said, his face grim.  "We're not fighting against chance and bad luck.  We're fighting against a plot to infect our city."  He looked around at his companions.  "That's not good news."  He nodded.  "Let's see what else we can find."

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The next deck below contains the hold. There is a hatch in the deck which leads downwards. Or you can swim back to the break and swim in that way. The shape you saw was in the hold. Or at least it was.

"Hatch, or open hold through the break?"

"Now, now," to simply play the devil's advocate, "there are other ways besides these pearls to breathe underwater. Spells, my companion, etc. Now, I've been sayin' all along it was a plot, but I'm jus' sayin' it doesn't prove anythin'. Yet. We need more evidence."

He turned to Vaddis and shrugged. "I say Hatch."

Vaddis looks to Tarrov and Izzick for confirmation on entrance to the hold.

"Agreed. Deeper in we go," Izzick confirmed as Vaddis looked towards him.

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Tarrov nodded his agreement as well.  There had to be more here.  Didn't there?

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Vaddis opens the hatch and peers in to see what he sees before entering the hold. He sees nothing so enters with his trident.

07:43, Today: Vaddis Sonaden rolled 1 using 1d20. Perception.

The hatch comes open easily. The only light comes from your magic torches and the little light that filters down through the river's inky waters. The light shining from your torches doesn't penetrate too far down. The hold looks like it contains mostly shadows and more water.

Selvin, you see it before the others. The large shadow thay detaches itself from the other shadows and comes rushing up. Whatever it is, it's too large to fit through the hatch. So it shouldn't be a problem. Right?

A moment before it hits, you all see it quite clearly. A large shark. A very large shark. A very, very large shark. How in the hell did it get in there?

Regardless, it's there now. And it's swimming up at you at a breakneck speed. You barely have time to think before it hits the deck under your feet. And smashes through....

Everyone except Selvin...roll init and beat an 18. If you do, you can take an action. Selvin, you aced the perception check so you had a moment to prepare. You can post an action.