Despite the dark skies and fiery explosions happening on land, most of the island below sea level appears to be calm and tranquil. Almost eerily so...

From the War Room

As promised, Klythie had set up a simple spell for unobtrusive sonar and collected the communication gear from the ship before setting out. She'd provided a momentarily odd sight, leaping into the sea in her usual formal clothes, but since they'd been crafted through magic they were also easy to shift through magic. Once she was under the surface, it was little more than a well-practiced thought to take on her seagoing form.

This was far enough out of her usual line of work that she wasn't quite sure what to even look for. Then again, she was familiar enough with the ocean that anything out of the ordinary was probably worth mentioning. So she looked around with both mundane (well, relatively mundane) senses and enchanted ones, as she said into her comms in a warbling voice "Testing. I trust we can hear one another?"

"Yup, I can hear you," Ms. Nettle replied over the comms. The voice was ever so slightly distorted and there was a faint white noise sound, but was otherwise pretty clear and understandable. "I've got Alpha on another channel, so if I ever take a moment to reply, it's probably related to that. If the comms ever go 100% silent, that means we are disconnected." Apparently the faint white noise was a feature, not a bug.

Ms. Nettle let Sea Witch move around in the water for a while and get the lay of the land. There wasn't a lot of variation in the sea life in this particular area. Mostly just rocks, sea grass, and the occasional fish or urchin. The water was pretty deep, but not so deep that no light reached the ocean floor. The only notable features were the occasional chasms along the ground that would break up the otherwise monotonous sea floor. The cracks weren't huge, but Klythie could likely squeeze into some of them if she desired. They did all seem to head in the general direction of the volcano.

There was one other detail that seemed to catch the detective's eye as well. Something concerning the local wildlife. Just as she had figured out what she was looking at, Ms. Nettle's voice returned. "Checking in. What is your progress? The ship's sonar can only tell me so much."

---

Klythie, you have spotted evidence of some type of noteworthy sea creature that lives in the area. What is it? It can be as mundane or fantastical as you desire.

"Understood," Klythie replied to Ms. Nettle about the comms. She kept her updated in efficient fashion about the lay of the land as she went about her exploration. There wasn't all that much of significant interest to report, until she noticed something shinier than usual on the floor of the shallows. "C’est quoi?" she murmured, gliding through the water with her tentacles for a closer look. She poked at them a little with her wand before speaking again.

"Aha. Ms. Nettle, it seems there are some particular sea turtles in the area. When they live long enough, some mystical sorts attain an intellect of their own. They collect things of interest, among other curious actions... But this group must have fled so quickly that they left their possessions behind. They would likely have sensed the magical danger coming before most creatures." She gently returned the stones she'd displaced. "They'll be glad that their collections are undisturbed once we've made things safe again."

"I didn't even know such sea turtles existed," commented Ms. Nettle. She seemed at least moderately interested. "I don't suppose they have collected any shiny relics over the years that might close a portal to hell, eh?" It was probably a joke.

Klythie hadn't discovered much else that was noteworthy yet, but had made substantial progress toward the island by the time Ms. Nettle spoke up again. "Crap, crap, crap! Alpha took a hit. His comms are down. I think he's probably okay, but I don't have a visual and he was dealing with a helicopter full of stupid sightseers. Anything you can do, Sea Witch? I'm contacting the others now." Her comm went silent again as Ms. Nettle presumably switched to a different channel. She would still be able to hear any response Klythie might give her though.

"They're shy creatures, especially around surfacers." Klythie considered Ms. Nettle's question. "I suppose I wouldn't rule it out in theory...? That's an interesting thought. After all, what better place to find a resonant item. Nothing seems to suggest itself, though." It would be a bad idea in more ways than one for Klythie to just pick it all up and take it with her, so she decided to go with her first magical impression and swam on.

She was still en route when Nettle called again, at which point she sped up. This was no small thing, since her tentacles could propel her rapidly through the water when she wasn't taking the time to look around. "I'm on the way, I'll be there soon. I can soften the blow if the helicopter or Alpha crash in the water - use it to catch them more or less. I'll have eyes on him soon. Anything else need doing?" Since she didn't know Alpha's own situation - and apparently Nettle didn't either - she wasn't sure if there was something more specific she should be doing than getting up there and trying to make sure nobody died.

It was a moment before Ms. Nettle replied to Klythie, but she eventually said, "Nothing yet. May need help getting the others to land, but I think they'll manage on their own. I'll let you know." It wasn't long before Sea Witch had reached the water's edge and had a great view of what was happening with Alpha.

[To: Pahoehoe Island - On Dry Land]