Seaside 3: A load of carp

[deleteman900]

[Beachside Party]

Victoria covers herself with a wing again as another balloon splashes against her.

"It's no fun when it's one sided." Joel declares. "I need a balloon or a water gun or something."

The half fiend giggles at him. "Fine. Let's set our stuff down somewhere, then you can go seeking revenge, ok?" Victoria looks for a likely patch of empty beach and puts her things down on a towel. Joel follows and sets up the beach umbrella over it, and was careful to set down his guitar on the towel. He didn't want sand to get in it.

"Alright, now where did that guy get those balloons?"

Together the two go hunting for ammunition.

A wicker basket full of water balloons almost seems to mysteriously appear next to the bush the kit was originally in, with a note-card attached saying "Good luck, XOXO~ <3" and another balloon is lobbed high into the air, striking down like a mortar shell a scant few feet away from Joel, :D

[Shadowcaller]

[Beachside - Party!]

Anchor raises an eyebrow at Fetty. Those poor hypothetical kids. But then she focuses on Zhareen's happy babble.
"I think the point of the Nexus is that there's just one! But we probably could. You just take a wrong turn and-there you are. Fortune? That sounds fun. Yeah."

[Beachside - Party!]


"Aw, thanks, Fay," he offers the tiefling some of his towel back, around his shoulders. "Your hypothetical invitation is noted."


"I've had a few very nice, very cute scientists try to explain it to me over the couple years I've been here. Never got it. I don't think any of them were all that smart, but it could've just been the late hour and the dubious levels of intoxication," Fetty says with his own haughty wink at the collective group. Though she does look more particularly at Zhareen, now. "Fortune telling? Seriously? I mean, sure. But only if everyone gets it told." He glances teasingly at Fayyaad.

[Beachside - Party!]

"Fortune-telling? Why not," Fayyaad says. "I'll take whatever fortune that's told to me."

[Beachside - Party!]

"Oh, but if we go by that defenition, we could say we are in all our worlds right now as the nexus is somhow connected to all of them, otherwise we wouldn't be here." Zhareen argues. "Anyway, of course I'd do all your fortunes! Just offer me your hand and I'll tell it. Just don't be scared! The future is nothing to be scared of!" She pauses and strokes her chin thoughfully. "Unless of course it's terrible, but then if you see it, you might be able to change it! But if you can change it, is it really the future? It'd change the moment you hear it... If not the future it predeteremined and our actions can't change anything the future at all, which means that history, and by extentions, our lives are- uh, let's just do it shall we? Who goes first?! Give me your palm, don't be shy!" She looks between them with a happy grin.

[Felandria]

[Beachside - Party!]

Adir grins. "I'd say more drinks, followed by one of the two." The stag looks over at Misha. "I've never been the vengeful type, buuut..."

Excellent.

Bartender, another round please!

Felandria reaches into her shoulder bag of holding and pulls out some balloons and a funnel.

And some water, please.

[Recaiden]

"Maybe it's just a future."
Anchor holds out her palm - wait, maybe it should be the other hand, yeah, that's better. So now she's holding out her left palm, waiting to hear what the future holds.
"Can't be any scarier than the past, right?"

[Artemis97]

[Beachside Party]

Joel throws up his arms as water and sand splash up beside him. "Oh it's on now." He declares, picking up two balloons and throwing then in quick succession towards where he last saw the kitsune.

Victoria's more calculating, taking a single balloon from the basket and watching to see where the kit might show himself next.

[deleteman900]

[Beachside Party]

Joel throws up his arms as water and sand splash up beside him. "Oh it's on now." He declares, picking up two balloons and throwing then in quick succession towards where he last saw the kitsune.

Victoria's more calculating, taking a single balloon from the basket and watching to see where the kit might show himself next.

The fox released a short yelp of alarm as he scampered out of those bushes, dripping water from where a balloon had split open too close for comfort, some of the liquid shrapnel finding its mark, in return he did a spin move where his tails gripped a balloon every foot or so, unleashing each one in turn to fly straight at Joel with pinpoint accuracy, 2 more following from his hands towards Victoria before he tried to duck into the brush again with a chuckle, taking cover behind a low-lying rock concealed under the bush, though his tail stuck out a bit.

[Fenric]

Several uneventful days pass: after a pleasant day at sea and a day at a quaint little beach with a very touristy little town, the ship is once again out in the midst of the waters.

Breakfast is done, and lunch is hours away: it's the part of a cruise where one begins to doubt the amount one spent just to be trapped in your hotel for days at a time.

Or it would be... if the massive ship didn't abruptly slow dramatically and come to a halt, flinging people to the ground and causing quite a bit of disruption, to-do, and disturbance!

[Deathkeeper]

[Continuity Cruise Lines]

Ben's too stable to fall over, but he scampers over to the side of the ship and looks down curiously.
"I don't think ships are supposed to do that."

[Lost_Deep]

Continuity Cruise Lines

Bella arrives back at her cabin from getting a snack to find an orange furred cat on Kate's bed. Immediately putting her snacks down, Bella rushed over to hug the kitty. "You're so cute!"

Kate, currently a cat, stutters a little. "I just wanted to see if being a cat helped with seasickness. And... maybe? I'm not sure."

"You should be a kitty more often!" Bella says, setting Kate back down, "I think-

Then, with a lurch, the ship stops suddenly, and Bella is thrown to the floor.

"Bella!" Kate turns back into her her normal self, and then rushes to help Bella up. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Bella says, shaken but not injured. "What happened?"

"I don't know," Kate admits, "but if there's an emergency, we should be on deck. Come on."

And so, the pair walked out onto the deck, looking around to see if there looked to be an explanation yet.

[Fenric]

Looking below, there are two huge crabs that have grabbed the ship and brought it to a standstill.

But more importantly, dozens of crablike soldiers are swarming up the sides and will have access to the lowermost open deck in mere moments! Other passengers have noticed them and people are starting to scream and panic.

[Deathkeeper]

Continuity Cruise Lines

Ben swears something child-friendly and takes a deep breath. Opening his mouth, he fires an intense beam of light that sweeps over the various crabs on his side of the ship, likely burning on contact and certainly blinding should it be looked into.

[Lost_Deep]

Continuity Cruise Lines

As people start screaming, Kate and Bella are confused. Then they notice Ben firing over the side of the boat. Bella rushes over to look down.

"Bella!" Kate calls, "Don't! It might be danger-"

They both get there and look down.

"Aw... crud."

[Artemis97]

The fox released a short yelp of alarm as he scampered out of those bushes, dripping water from where a balloon had split open too close for comfort, some of the liquid shrapnel finding its mark, in return he did a spin move where his tails gripped a balloon every foot or so, unleashing each one in turn to fly straight at Joel with pinpoint accuracy, 2 more following from his hands towards Victoria before he tried to duck into the brush again with a chuckle, taking cover behind a low-lying rock concealed under the bush, though his tail stuck out a bit.

[Beachside Party]

Joel is drenched by the hail of balloons and left sputtering.

Victoria manages to dodge one balloon, but takes the hit from the other. Still, she's spotted her target and lets fly with her balloon.

[deleteman900]

[Beachside Party]

Joel is drenched by the hail of balloons and left sputtering.

Victoria manages to dodge one balloon, but takes the hit from the other. Still, she's spotted her target and lets fly with her balloon.

The kitsune was unfortunately left off-balance after over-extending on his power attack, and wasn't flexible enough to continue the spin to avoid her return attack, the balloon hitting him center mass and leaving his fur a drenched, soggy mess. "Aww c'mon! Do you know how hard it is to dry out this much fur?!" he exclaims, pouting angrily. Suddenly, he gained an evil grin, spinning a relatively low-level illusion of 3 to 4 mirror images of himself in various points of cover around Victoria, since she was currently the larger threat, and they all simultaneously wound up and threw a water balloon with each hand, aiming to confuse her long enough to be unsure which one to dodge and take the balloons dead on in her own torso.

[Artemis97]

[Beachside Party]

"Feathers aren't so easy, either, buddy." Victoria shoots back. She frowns, concentrating on the illusions. "That's not fair." She picks the third one and throws another balloon at it, but can't be certain she'll hit. The half-fiend is, however, hit center mass by another balloon.

Joel recovers in time to pick up some more balloons and throws them at the two closest illusions, hoping to hit something.

[deleteman900]

[Beachside Party]

"Feathers aren't so easy, either, buddy." Victoria shoots back. She frowns, concentrating on the illusions. "That's not fair." She picks the third one and throws another balloon at it, but can't be certain she'll hit. The half-fiend is, however, hit center mass by another balloon.

Joel recovers in time to pick up some more balloons and throws them at the two closest illusions, hoping to hit something.

The fox pouts as the illusions waver and collapse by being hit with water balloons, one of Joel's landing on the real kitsune as he gets even wetter, tail now thoroughly droopy. He is now thoroughly soaked enough that his final technique won't affect him too much, and launches himself bodily through the air towards both of them, some kind of weird string vest of sorts holding what must be at least 3 dozen water balloons in place all over his torso, as he attempts to belly flop near enough to them that the balloons bursting will get all 3 of them soaking wet, :D

(Not true, actually. Certain kinds of birds, particularly waterborne fowl secrete oils through the quills of their feathers that does basically what Rain-X does, making the water slide right off their bodies. Food for thought, ;p)

[Rebonack]

[Tanari Island]

And thus, Orion has completed a quest!

He feels like it took a whole lot longer than the few hours that it actually was. Weird. Regardless, he'll thank the goblin for the help, wish him well with the gnoll relations, and take his leave. No idea how he manages to carry that map without utterly ruining it in the water, but he pulls it off.

Somehow.

Eventually his trip to Beachside will lead him through an angry school of giant pelagic crabs...

Beachside Party- Sam

Sam waves his arms in the water, moving slowly.
"All at the same time seems to work fine." he comments, floating. He'd say more, but he's just sort of enjoying the moment.

"See? Easy!" Orion declares. "Now, I wouldn't suggest trying to swim out in places where the surf is dangerous or in any rushing rivers, but you've figured out the basics. So long as you can float, you're okay. So long as you remember to kick your limbs, you can slowly scoot in your desired direction. You might not be an amphibious sea mammal thing, but progress is still progress."

Orion rests his tail and hind legs in the sand, grinning down at Sam. "Now that quest one is finished, how about quest two? There's still that game of volleyball going on and now's the perfect chance to give it a try. It's quite a bit of fun, and I bet all those extra arms might come in-"

Oh no.

No.

Don't do it Orion.

You're better than this.

"-handy."

[Murkus]

[Beachside - Party!]

Excellent.

Bartender, another round please!

Felandria reaches into her shoulder bag of holding and pulls out some balloons and a funnel.

And some water, please.

"Righteous," says the tentacular man, laying out another round of the same for Fel and Adir.

"What he said," Adir agrees with a glowing grin. The 'keep gets them not just water, but a hose, and they're welcome to fill as many as they like. Adir palms a particularly fat balloon. "I, uh, didn't actually see who hocked one at us. Did you?" Adir squints at the probable perpetrators. The ladies handing them out seem pretty likely...

[Beachside - Party!]

"Oh, but if we go by that defenition, we could say we are in all our worlds right now as the nexus is somhow connected to all of them, otherwise we wouldn't be here." Zhareen argues. "Anyway, of course I'd do all your fortunes! Just offer me your hand and I'll tell it. Just don't be scared! The future is nothing to be scared of!" She pauses and strokes her chin thoughfully. "Unless of course it's terrible, but then if you see it, you might be able to change it! But if you can change it, is it really the future? It'd change the moment you hear it... If not the future it predeteremined and our actions can't change anything the future at all, which means that history, and by extentions, our lives are- uh, let's just do it shall we? Who goes first?! Give me your palm, don't be shy!" She looks between them with a happy grin.

"Maybe it's just a future."
Anchor holds out her palm - wait, maybe it should be the other hand, yeah, that's better. So now she's holding out her left palm, waiting to hear what the future holds.
"Can't be any scarier than the past, right?"

"Zhareen, you're really cute and all, but you make my head hurt," Fetty says, leaning in to peer at the mer-woman and Anchor. He's got nothing more to add for the moment.

[Fenric]

A swath of crab-soldiers are burnt and briefly blinded and fall back into the sea, but they are swiftly replaced by more.

The attacking crabs don't bother trying to get all the way to the upper deck, instead climbing into the lifeboat deck and making their way inside. But more and more continue to emerge from the sea - something more decisive is going to have to be done.

[Morty]

[Beachside - Party!]

Fetty also waits for Anchor's fortune to be told, leaning against Fetty as he does so.

[Artemis97]

[Beachside Party]

"What the-?!" Joel shouts, suddenly finding himself being tackled by the kitsune. The move knocks him into Victoria and all three tumble down, soaking wet. The half-elf is dazed, but the half-fiend is left giggling. Noticing that, he smiles at her then reaches over to pat the kitsune on the head. "Thanks, little dude." Victoria needed laughter, right now, and Joel was glad the little fox fellow could provide.

[Shadowcaller]

[Beachside - Party!]

As Zhareen takes Anchor's hand, she can feel that the merfolks skin almost feels like a snake, all scale-y and slippery. The warlock places one of her claw-like fingers in the middle of Anchor's open palm and starts drawing a circle in it. Then she opens her mouth and sings, or more accurately, hums. Just a series of clear, beautiful vocals.
Then her eyes glances over as Anchor can feel Zhareen press her finger deeper into her flesh. "I see calamity and death. Disaster is coming for you, Anchor, and it will strike those around you mercilessly. Do not enter the storm that is coming, Anchor. Do not get caught up in it. If you see the storm clouds gathering, turn and flee or you might lose that which you hold dear. Fear the color of the storm." Then Zhareen let's go of Anchor's hand and appears to shrink back a bit, her eyes slowly returning back to normal.
"So how was that? Did you learn something cool?" She asks as she looks in-between the three as if she had no idea what had just happened.

[Recaiden]

Anchor winces when Zhareen presses her claw in the circle, but keeps her hand as steady as she can to listen to the fortune.
Her eyes get progressively wider as she hears it.
"I don't know about fun. Hopefully it's a useful warning."
She pulls back her fortune-telling hand and takes hold of it with the other.
"Uh, who's next?"

[deleteman900]

[Beachside Party]

"What the-?!" Joel shouts, suddenly finding himself being tackled by the kitsune. The move knocks him into Victoria and all three tumble down, soaking wet. The half-elf is dazed, but the half-fiend is left giggling. Noticing that, he smiles at her then reaches over to pat the kitsune on the head. "Thanks, little dude." Victoria needed laughter, right now, and Joel was glad the little fox fellow could provide.

The fox smiled happily, not having enough willpower to resist the urge to nuzzle into the headpats, thoughts of drowning the world forgotten for the moment as he beamed, tail swishing happily. In his supreme pleasure at headpats, only surpassed by bellyrubs, he was more than content to just sit there more or less in Joel's lap, tail swishing gently and ending up tickling his chin without meaning to, :D

[Artemis97]

Joel chuckled at the kitsune's reaction. When the little guy's tail tickled his chin, he sputtered. "Alright, I think that's enough."

Victora just smiled at them both. "That was fun. Thanks for dragging us into this."

[UncleWolf]

Above the Rocks

Sorrow gives a snort, smiling beneath her helm. "I don't know if there are any or not, but it is in our best interests to remain hopeful, isn't it?" She asks, offering Faithel a hand up. "If you give me a few moments, I can fly up and scout the area for one. I know if nothing else, there is a waterfall near by. It will be cooler, but a fire could be built next to it to warm us up afterward." She reasons. "It may be our only choice until we reach a town."

Unless prevented from flying up, she'll do so and return in a few minutes, leaving Faithel a chance to collect whichever weapon she wants. When Sorrow returns, she gives the woman a shake of her head. "No springs, but the falls are this way." She says as she walks to lead the way.

The falls are about twenty minutes away through a forest, but eventually they get there. It's a small waterfall but it looks cool and clean, and most importantly, freshwater. It falls into a deep pool of clear water, lined with rocks along the bottom and sides, and lacks a path to get to it so it'd be nice and secluded. Once they arrive, Sorrow begins to gather materials for a fire and sets a small pouch near the pool. "Soap and oils are within." She explains.

[deleteman900]

Joel chuckled at the kitsune's reaction. When the little guy's tail tickled his chin, he sputtered. "Alright, I think that's enough."

Victora just smiled at them both. "That was fun. Thanks for dragging us into this."

The kitsune's tail wags mischievously as he leans forwards, trying to steal a kiss from the half-fiend before hauling tail away, chuckling these weird, short laughs as he goes, noticeably lighter on his feet now, despite the good extra ten pounds or so from the water trapped in his fur.

[Morty]

[Beachside Party]

Fayyaad reaches out to Zhareen, curiosity apparent on his face.

[Shadowcaller]

Above the Rocks

Faithel can't say no to a helping hand, especially considering how thick her skull still felt. "Right, flyy. You go ahead and do that, savior. But if you would see a rowboat, you inform me, okayy?"

When Sorrow returns from her scout trip she will see that Faithel have at least managed to managed to put on some proper pants and a shirt. She have taken off some of her armor though and put it it in a bag, with a huge claymore sticking out of it, which she is holding over her shoulder with one hand. She waves as Sorrow comes closer. "She reeturns, pasa da'thar, so what did she find?"

As Sorrow tells her about the falls, Faithel chuckles. "You look past it for treasure? Therre is alwaays treasure behind those things." She comments before starting to follow the Sister. "But seriously, waterfalls are loud and unpleasant. Nice scenery though."

Her remark is likely confirmed once they reach the waterfall. She had imagined it to be larger however. "You know... I cannot recall last time that I bathed." Faithel remarks as she sees the oils. "Least of all using thaat sort of... chemicals."

[Murkus]

[Beachside - Party!]

Fetty looks flabbergasted and perhaps even a little frightened as Anchor's fortune is told! He blinks, grins, and his whole face changes. "Ooh, this ****'s gettin spooky! I love it," Fetty confesses, hopping up and standing behind Fayyaad, putting his hands on the tiefling's shoulders. "What do you think it'll be, sweet-cheeks? Grim and dark?"