Seaside 4: Where Every Week Is Shark Week

[Rebonack]

[Marlick Bay]

Protagonists works well enough for our purposes.

Terza looks angry at everything in general, and snatches the muff with her not-knife-holding-hand. It would appear as though she's going to be helping as well.

Another guard gets flashed! He looks briefly lucid, but falls back into a trance again and continues his trek toward the sea. Blast... Looks like that doesn't always work.

As for the shadow-

It gets a good view of people wading off into the surf.

As soon as their heads vanish below the waves a current of incredible power seizes them with wholly unnatural finesse and drags them off into the depths at blistering speed. There's still no source for the keening visible. It becomes all the more clear now that Zoph and the shadow are close that it isn't coming from any fixed point off in the raging water. It's coming from the sea itself, crashing down upon the shadow from all sides as soon as it enters the surf.

Speaking of Zoph, he begins to lasso wanders! Tying them off to piers and posts and rocks is a rather clever plan, but there are enough enthralled people that getting all of them likely isn't possible. While one is being lassoed, two more trudge off into the waves. Zoph IS making a difference, however. A difference to those individuals he saves at least. Shouting at them doesn't appear to help, however they seem to lack the agency to untie ropes. They're simply pulling against them.

Meanwhile!

Back at the inn Benny and Sekhmet are trying their luck. Turns out that shoving great globs of mud into someone's ears is disorienting enough to help them shake out of the trance. The woman seems frightened and confused. "What... what am I doing out here? Who are you?"

As for the occultist?

Well.

He tries to analyze the keening.

Getting a translation is hard, since there aren't any words.

There is, however, meaning. There is a gravity to the sound. An inexorable pull toward the sea. What the mortal mind parsed as loss isn't too far from it. It is time itself that drags people toward their doom. Time that drowns all things. Time that drowns them, and drowns all those that knew them, until even the memory that they ever were is just another speck of detritus drifting in the abyss. Somehow, impossibly, time is lashed around the enthralled minds like the tentacles of an octopus grasping its prey.

Whatever is at work here? This is fell magic. Alien. Powerful. Ancient.

Probably just the sort of thing Benedict is interested in. The feeling is VERY similar to the sensation that the strange conjoined spiral image Benedict purchased invoked.

[bc56]

Marlick Bay

Sekhmet conjures more words in the air. "Dangerous sound. Keep ears full. Do same to others." Then she scoops up more mud and moves on to the next victim to repeat the process.

[Earl of Purple]

Not Boilwater Bay

"I promise, I won't tell her unless I feel it becomes important. I swear it on my right hand." Rather than using a deity, which Marvin may not have heard of and might not respect, Prumathe is swearing on the hand he uses to do his job and learn his craft. Granted, he might be able to make a prosthetic or have Pontius make one, but it won't be the same as the original and it'll come with downsides.

Marlick Bay

That confirmed that there's no words in the song, but the meaning he got anyway... That's worrying. And interesting. Time magic is usually well beyond Benedict's abilities, and therefore rules out an occultist as the cause of the song. Although the audible, not visual, nature of the magic was already a pretty major clue. If Benedict can either source an artefact or a sample of the creature creating this time effect, he might be able to work on reversing his own ageing. And that's something Benedict is very interesting.

He considers going back for the image he purchased, since he suspects there's a link, but it has no power and no abilities. Unless... They're triggered by the singing, or the singing is imbuing it with power as a side-effect. It's ultimately unlikely, and there's still people he could try to save, but... they're peasants, and not even his peasants. He'll head back into the inn, and go to grab his new shiny gold ornament.

[bc56]

Not Boilwater Bay

Marvin nods. It's an acceptable oath. "It all started shortly after I found her. There were things about the way she was abandoned that didn't add up. Years later, I followed what leads I had and came across a disturbing story in the papers around that time. A diabolic cult had been uncovered after its members came down with particularly nasty curses. Their leader claimed he had a child with a female devil, and that the cult was being punished for losing the kid and ruining her plans. I connected it back to myself finding a part-devil girl abandoned under suspicious circumstances a few days earlier." He looks serious. "There are two things you need to know. First of all, I suspect Sekhmet was born for some dark purpose, but I don't believe she'd willingly perpetrate evil. Secondly, if you ever meet a fiendish woman looking for Sekhmet, run, and don't tell her anything."

[Earl of Purple]

Not Boilwater Bay

"I see. Thank you for telling me. Uh, did you name her Sekhmet, or was her name on something found with her?" He thinks that might be quite important, since if the devil knows Sekhmet's name, it would be harder to hide from her. He's frowning, a little. "I do agree, though. I don't think Sekhmet would hurt a fly. She's the nicest person I know."

[bc56]

Not Boilwater Bay

"It was written on her blanket when I found her." Marvin smiles at Prumathe's statement about Sekhmet. "No, she wouldn't hurt a fly, and I'm glad for it."

It is at this time that Sekhmet and Esmeralda re-enter the room. Sekhmet is carrying a few books under her arm, wearing a pair of eyeglasses, and grinning. "Hi Prumathe! How are you doing?"

[Earl of Purple]

Not Boilwater Bay

"I'm doing great. I'm getting to know your dad, here. I think he's a wonderful man. You're lucky to have parents like this." Since Prumathe fell through into the Nexus as a child, and spent a large portion of his childhood in an orphanage, he thinks Sekhmet is very lucky.

[bc56]

Not Boilwater Bay

"Uh, thanks? They really are great." Sekhmet bends down to give each of her parents a hug in turn, then Prumathe. "And so are you."

[Earl of Purple]

Not Boilwater Bay

"You're great, too. Just FYI. I like the glasses, by the way. They look cute on you." He smiles, and stands up for the hug to make it easier for her.

[bc56]

Not Boilwater Bay

"Aww, thanks." Sekhmet's a bit nearsighted, not much, but the glasses help. "The two of you better go now. The gateway will close soon."

[Earl of Purple]

Not Boilwater Bay

Had Prumathe known, he'd have arranged for Sekhmet to go to an opticians and get a new pair.

"Oh, really? Well, it was wonderful meeting you both. I hope I will meet you again, and I'm sorry about my attire. We were at the beach, going swimming." He'll bow respectfully to Marvin and Esmerelda, and turn to Sekhmet, to leave with her. He doesn't want to leave her behind; he hasn't given her the birthday present he's got for her yet!

[bc56]

Not Boilwater Bay

"Best of luck to you both!" "Bye!" Sekhmet waves farewell and follows Prumathe out through the portal. Once they're through, it fizzles out and collapses with a quiet pop, and they're standing on the beach again.

[5a Violista]

[Marlick Bay]
Shore

Sure, it's a difference, but is it enough of a difference?
If this keeps up, up to two-thirds of the population of this town will die - and that's assuming he doesn't run out of rope or run out of places to safely tie them first. When these people come to, most of everyone they know will be dead.

As he ties more ropes, he considers his options. Maybe he could set up some sort of rope barrier? But, as proven by his own experience being entranced by this sound, they'll just walk around it. What if he collapses the cove to block access to the sea? No, that'll take far too long and it wouldn't work anyway - and it would be just as good as killing them himself.

He glances back at the sea, the source of the sound: really, unless there's a way to suddenly wake everyone up at the same time, the only option is to go seek out the source. He bets that if he intentionally let himself fall under the pull of the sound, he'd be pulled right to the source. But, if he does that, there's no guarantee he'll snap out of it in time or that he'll be able to stop himself from drowning. Sure, he'll probably be able to survive drowning and dying, but what happens after that depends on what's out there.

He starts grabbing a few more people to tie them back.

Or maybe he could follow one of these people in? he wonders. Let one person drown to see where they go after entering the water.
He looks back up at land.
No. All the best options require back-up.
Benedict didn't seem to be affected by it, he hasn't seen Anchor walking by in a trance, and there's a few other people from the inn that he hasn't seen yet. So he still has hope that back-up can come, but not if he goes off without leaving a trail behind.

The paladin looks back at the sea.
Maybe he could tie all these ropes together to see where they go after entering the water, as some kind of lifeline. At the very least, it'll show him which direction they're heading in. And his sword, he could leave it behind as a message about where he's going.
He pauses.
But will any of this even help?

"Hey, Neptune!" he shouts out, not expecting any response. Or a response that he wouldn't understand. "How can I stop this?" Again, Zophiel is skilled in the art of tying up people and yelling at the same time.

[Arkhosia]

Anika and Blanche in... The Moonwell of Mysteries

"I'm not asking her to fire it, just to get it prepped for you when - agh, goddamnit!" Blanche's response is similarly cut off as her previous target spasms with restored vigor, lifting an arm to block the sand and spray sent in her face. Catching sight of the newest attacker, she grimaces and fires a few rounds at the raven - if that thing was getting back on its feet after just a shot, she'll have to start hitting harder.

[Recaiden]

The Vasa

“Oh, I know a couple of things. I’m no caster, but I try to know what I need to know.” Lena tells Omiko with a confident smirk.

"Do you succeed?" Omiko finds she has to ask. After all, they haven't seen Lena demonstrate that magical knowledge yet. Just the curiosity.

Kosh happily heads below decks, absent-mindedly looking for more things to do. He does spot the light down below as he walks past a porthole, pausing and glancing out at it. Ay what's uh... what's that then? He asks whoever's nearby.

"That's got to be from the city's-" begins the perfectly normal human crewman. But then he stops and looks closer. The light's moving, isn't it? Retreating into the distant gloom.
"Probably a sea monster."

[Marlick Bay]

The shadow tries to grab hold of the shadow of someone who's entering the water, and get pulled along with them, to wherever the current is taking people.
That's going to be the fastest way to get some answers.

Anchor is getting worried.
There are too many people, and not enough distance to the shore.
Would a loud enough sound wake everyone up? Can she do anything that loud? Oh, maybe she doesn't need to wake them up right yet, if they can be kept away from where they're going. A wall?

The wizard lifts her hands, and the darkness of the night takes on solid form, concentrating and becoming solid strands that tangle around the enthralled folks, trying to wrap around their hands and feet, tie them up and stop (or at least slow) their movement towards the sea. The street outside the inn is left in an eerie half-light, not lit but unable to properly be night-time.

[Rebonack]

[Marlick Bay]

The person that Sekhmet just freed?

Doesn't help. She runs back inside to hide. Ah well.

Sekhmet's tactic doesn't always work, either. The next person to get mudslapped shows a brief moment of lucidity, but then they fall right back into the trance. She's free to keep trying, but there's a bit of a timer at work here. She only has so long before the enthralled victim drowns themselves.

Benny, meanwhile, dashes back inside! Because there are FAR more important things to contend with right now besides useless peasants. They would have just died in the mud eventually anyways, why should he be concerned with them? And finding the bauble he purchased won't be an issue at all. Though... what he does next may cause an issue. If he picks up the object the power of the keening will begin amplifying geometrically. He can resist it now, but what about when it is ten times strong? One hundred? One thousand? Should he use his magic to examine it first, he'll find that it's collecting whatever power is radiating from the sea and concentrating it within itself.

Anchor, meanwhile, decides to anchor a bunch of people in place! They aren't particularly difficult to ensnare, since they aren't attempting to dodge anything. As a result, everyone who was in the area of her spell is now immobilized! They struggle against the bonds, but to no real effect. That probably caught a decent number of people, but how many depends largely on how... well... large the effect was.

And down at the shore?

More people get roped. More people amble off into the waves.

And then? An invocation.

Moments after Zoph makes his plea, there comes a shrill, warbling cry from high above as a white silhouette briefly appears in the gloom. It's a.... tern? The sea bird warbles again, flying off along the cliffs toward the north.

And Anchor's shadow?

It goes ZOOMING away! The trip will take a while as they're hauled off into the depths, so we'll come back to this later.


[Anika and Blanche in... The Moonwell of Mewsteries]

Should either of our heroes have their communicators on them (They should! They're useful!) they'll get a brief heads up!

"This is Geneva, I'm on my way in."

Then there comes a rather odd, electronic echoing sound as a tiny pink floating cat in an equally tiny bombardier jacket materializes a few yards above the boat with an armored, sword-wielding ghoul in her telekinetic grip! Saint Laz hopefully isn't thrashing around too much, since thrashing needs to come a bit later. As soon as the call for help had come, Geneva had kicked one of her latest projects into action!

A teleporter! One way, sadly. BUT! Still very important for rapid-response situations. Otherwise getting help waaaaay out into Seaside on short notice would leave Anika and Blanche high and dry.

Thankfully it looks like her MKIII version of the device worked instead of exploding! But then her communicator informed her that the fire-suppressing systems in her lab just activated. So... it worked and then it exploded.

Still an improvement from the MKII! She'll have to make some adjustments to the MKIV.

~We'll try to keep the others away from the boat,~ comes the mew's telepathic voice as she zips up toward the Horrible Birds, Laz bobbing along behind her like... well. Like a ghoul inside of a pink psychic balloon. Which is a pretty apt description of the psionic bubble she's found herself in.

Geneva takes a deeeep breath as she gets close, little glittering scales begin spreading across her body from her nose down while a little pair of antlers curl away from the back of her head. Then? She belches a gout of magenta flames at one of the demon-avians!

Dragon Breath!

Hopefully the spiritual flame does horrible things to them. She had been informed that they don't like dragon-related things, so this seemed like a reasonable tactic to employ.

Meanwhile, the bubble reshapes into a wide, open platform about three yards across that Laz can freely walk around on. Surrounded by nothing but open air and Horrible Birds, it looks like it might be a good time to begin swording.

~I'll keep footing under you, Miss Lazarus. Just move and fight like you normally would.~

[bc56]

Marlick Bay

"No, no, you've got to wake up!" Sekhmet silently moans. This isn't working either, sadly. She wishes she could hear well enough to make an illusionary sound, but since she can't imagine how it should be when she's overwhelmingly deaf, she can't cast it. She tries the shaking method again, grabbing onto the victims of the spell and trying to trip them and otherwise hinder them from walking to their deaths.

[5a Violista]

[Marlick Bay]

Upon first hearing the bird, he turns to look at it.

He initially mistakes it for a spirit or something like that...before realizing it's just a tern. However, remembering last night's lull in the storm, he keeps his eye on the bird. He sees it fly northward...isn't that the direction of the church? It'd make sense that there's something nearby the church, especially lower down the cliffs where few people could safely go. Possibly at the church, too, but it's probably safer to check the bottom of the cliff first.
"Thanks."

Zophiel finishes tying up the last person he has grabbed.
"And sorry." to all the people he'll be leaving to walk to their death.

...
Carrying around such a large sword in a dangerous part where it's easy to get swept out to sea is a bad idea, he'll have to leave his sword here. And that's perfect, because he can use it to leave a message that he hasn't drowned, and where he's going in case anybody comes looking for him or heads this way.

He plunges the sword into the ground near all the tied-people so it can't just fall over or get washed out on its own.
Then, he grabs two of the ropes that had an anchor on them. The shorter one, he quickly ties to his sword's hilt, with the anchor pointing north towards the cliffs.
The second and longer rope, he takes with him, coiling the rope in case he'll need something like that later. If he has to climb the cliff, that might make it easier for him.

Zophiel runs off northward, keeping an eye out for anything that might help.

[Earl of Purple]

Boilwater Bay

Prumathe turns and looks back at where the portal was. "Well. Well, my present to you has lost a lot of its sparkle. Don't think I can top that." Then he shivers. "Do you want to go back in the water, do some more swimming, or get changed? It's a bit chilly."

Marlick Bay

Now that is... Not very good. If he'd had time to prepare, get up a proper ritual circle and had packed a decent artefact to serve as a battery, he might be able to contain it. He might be able to use the symbol as a power source in containing itself, but... the power is coming from outside, and that won't work. He's got an idea, and pushes the table to the window, tilting it so the icon falls out the window without him having to touch it or get very close. Then he'll rush back outside and get his manservant to pick up the symbol.

[bc56]

Boilwater Bay

"I'm, uh, just glad I got to say goodbye." Sekhmet didn't get that when she first arrived. "Yes, let's change." She's shivering again. It's cold out here, and being indoors for the last several minutes only makes her feel chillier.

[Earl of Purple]

Boilwater Bay

"I'm glad I met your parents, Sekhmet. They seem like great people." Prumathe heads over to the tent, and grabs a towel before handing it to Sekhmet. He'll let her dry off and get changed first, since that's only chivalrous.

[bc56]

Boilwater Bay

Sekhmet changes into some clean clothes: a green top and a long, grey skirt. She wraps a shawl around her shoulders for warmth and comes back out of the tent. "I'm glad you got to meet them too. I think Uncle approved of you."

[Deathkeeper]

The Vasa

Lena winks.
"Well I'm still breathin' ain't I? Well, still breathin' and ain't been made a newt or a horse or nothin'. So I'd say I do, yeah." she says with a grin.

[Earl of Purple]

Boilwater Bay

Prumathe is quite quick to get into the tent and out of the wind to dry off and change. When he comes back out, he's wearing a dark green cross-hatched shirt, a pair of black denim jeans and a pair of trainers, with a red scarf around his neck. "Really? That's good to know. I am aware I didn't make the best impression." Since he was wet, wearing only a pair of swimming trunks, and feeling decidedly awkward and self-conscious. "So, I brought this. It's for you. Happy birthday, Sekhmet." He hands over the parcel and smiles. "Um, I'm not sure if you had birthday presents back home, and I didn't actually ask, but it's a gift to celebrate you getting older, and you can open it now."

If Sekhmet follows through, then inside the large parcel is a cardboard box, and inside that is a white-furred teddybear with button eyes and a stitched face. Most interesting of all, however, is that it will reach out to hug Sekhmet of its own accord. "I, uh, animated it myself. It was quite tricky, fabric is totally different to stone or clay." And being a primary mason and carver for Pontius, he's not actually made many animated toys before. Or, indeed, any. "It knows how to hug people, and it's got a reasonable vocabulary, if you need it to do anything. Um, somebody suggested I give it claws, or something, so it can be a bodyguard, but... I thought you'd like it better if it was all soft and fluffy. There is a hard lump in the torso, that's its heart. If you need to destroy it, that's the bit that gives it power. Damage anywhere else can be repaired. But, uh, you should only need to do that in an emergency."

[bc56]

Boilwater Bay

Sekhmet scoops up the teddy bear and allows it to hug her. "Prumathe, it's wonderful!" It also sets a pretty high bar for his birthday, but she'll cross that bridge when she comes to it. "Thank you so much!" She strokes the stuffed animal's plush fur.

[Recaiden]

[Marlick Bay]

The shadowy web covers quite a sizeable area. I think it probably got all the people on this street except the very first ones towards the water, and, inconveniently, the one that Sekhmet had briefly freed.
And leaves Anchor visibly worn out, leaning over to catch her breath.
Still, those people should be safe from drowning themselves.
Now, to get to...she stops her train of thought, realizing that her shadow still isn't back. That's probably not good.

She waves and points, trying to indicate that Terza should try to wake other people up, and that she, Anchor, is going to the shore to investigate.

[Shadowcaller]

[Operation Sea Slug]

"I don't expect them to have run afoul of danger already. The most dangerous thing on this island is Lannereth and as long they seem to be getting along, we should all be relatively safe as long as we don't go wandering into more traps." Sargera shakes her head. "But to be safe, you should run after them and check, Will. I'll send someone after you once we've reached an decision here." She gestures at the other gnolls. "We still got wounded but it's a miracle no one died and I think that's due to Titania's sacrifice, so I want you to tell her that."

"Can I go with Will then?" Tammy continues prodding the gnoll leader.
"Again, no. I need you here right now, Tammy."

---

"A simple portal to another of my sactuaries. It should only really take a few seconds, but I'm expecting complications after this long. Magic go crazy after a few hundred years so who knows what will happen after a thousands? I can't wait to find out!" They go through the cursed corridor and back into the lich's hibernation chamber.
Once inside a previously unseen door on the other side of the chamber suddenly starts opening and the lich heads inside.
The square-shaped room is largely empty with the exception of a white crystal that is suspended in the air by four chains connecting to the ceilings four corners. The air in here is even staler than in the chamber and there is a heavy layer of dust covering everything inside.

The lich taps her boney chin as she looks around the room. "Hm, looks the same, sans all the dust. How disappointing. I was almost expecting muk to be growing all over the place by now, that would have been far more interesting." She glances at Titania. "Don't you hate when all your carefully laid plans go off without a hinch? It really hinders your creativity." Lannereth walks up to the crystal and prods at it. "Still, I haven't actually activated it yet. All sort of interesting things could happen then. You might want to take cover, or don't. Who knows what your reaction to magic will be now? In fact, you shouldn't take cover. You might learn something."

An Unusual Ritual

Ildabog grins. "Oh come now, Jezebel. You're standing in a pool of blood in the middle of a ritual chamber. Loaded questions are par of the course and I don't think either of us expected this to be easy."

The demon then pauses as the former daemon answers, casually sitting down in a large throne-like chair near the blood pool. "As I said... I didn't expect anything to be easy about our meeting." She begins once Jezebel finishes. "But I'm not going to go into the whole 'good' and 'evil' question. To me, good is what supports society's norms and evil is what goes against them. You can't really escape the majoroty's perceptions no matter how much you might reject them. In fact, your denial of them makes them define you in many ways. I mean, even if your daemons would have no agency whatsoever, making them more animals than intelligent beings, you have agency don't you, Jezebel? If you became a daemon that would, as you put it, be the end of a long road of decisions. Society do have a saying for that I believe, "the road to hell is paved with good intentions". So even if daemons are animals without a concept of good and evil, you are very much not an animal, yet you've made all these decisions to eventually turn yourself into one. Simply having that as an end goal society would likely be seen as nothing but evil." She waves her clawed hand. "I digress though. I'm more interested in that microcosmos of society that influences us more than anything else." Her glowing gaze meets Jezebel's. "I believe you call it 'family', is that something you wish to discuss? Since I think they pushed you on this path more than anything else in your life. But that's just a pet-theory."

[Anika and Blanche in... The Moonwell of Mewsteries]

Blanche might have her communicator on, Anika does not.

The catgirl might suddenly be unable to see anything as an especially large splash creates a wave of water that causes the entire boat to rock as it washes over its occupants. She can hear both soldiers grunt and how at least one of them fall down into the boat with a thud.
Depending on if she gets blinded by the wave or not, the creature she was shooting at nearly crashes into the boat, just barely missing Blanche before going down in the water. However, its wing is now laying over the mid-section of the boat, over one of the soldiers who seems to have panicked and is kicking and screaming underneath it. The other soldier has just barely recovered and is shooting the now struggling demon-raven in the head with his gun.
Both he and Blanche are running out of bullets though and he tosses her two cartridges. "Make 'em count."

"Guys, I need someone to take the steering thingy! I'm need to go shark!" Anika looks visibily frustrated as she's stuck controlling the boat and can only kick the wing that is currently on their deck.

((I can't really reply to the rest of Rebo's post as dumping down more people into the boat would likely cause it to flip over as there already are four people on board.))

[Lord Magtok]

[Anika and Blanche in... The Moonwell of Mewsteries]

~We'll try to keep the others away from the boat,~ comes the mew's telepathic voice as she zips up toward the Horrible Birds, Laz bobbing along behind her like... well. Like a ghoul inside of a pink psychic balloon. Which is a pretty apt description of the psionic bubble she's found herself in.

Geneva takes a deeeep breath as she gets close, little glittering scales begin spreading across her body from her nose down while a little pair of antlers curl away from the back of her head. Then? She belches a gout of magenta flames at one of the demon-avians!

Dragon Breath!

Hopefully the spiritual flame does horrible things to them. She had been informed that they don't like dragon-related things, so this seemed like a reasonable tactic to employ.

Meanwhile, the bubble reshapes into a wide, open platform about three yards across that Laz can freely walk around on. Surrounded by nothing but open air and Horrible Birds, it looks like it might be a good time to begin swording.

~I'll keep footing under you, Miss Lazarus. Just move and fight like you normally would.~

This is total bee ess, and Saint Lazarus is not at all happy to be a part of it. She knew she shouldn't have just taken the first job VIGIL offered. She knew it could go poorly if she didn't pick something out that would suit her own powers and skill set. She also knew she didn't want to be involved in any mission where she could possibly get upstaged by the cyborg's daughter. God, she knew all of this, and yet she still jumped the moment the SOS signal went out. Like a big brave idiot. Now she's standing on some psychic barrier over the middle of the ocean, one lapse of concentration away from tumbling into the depths and getting lost down there for months.

"Yeah, okay. Just know that if you drop me, I'm gonna immediately turn into a pirate ghost and haunt you forever," Saint Lazarus promises in a deadpan, as she immediately begins swinging her zweihander at these loathsome ravens. It's hard to tell if the ghoul knight is joking about that; her eyes and expressions are hidden away in that iron helmet, so Geneva only really has tone to go off of. Well, tone, and any ability she might have that would allow her to realize there's a zombie in that armor. Barring some extraordinary exceptions, zombies don't usually leave ghosts behind when they die.

[Rebonack]

[Marlick Bay]

Shaking with mud in the ears still?

Once more lucidity briefly flashes into their eyes, but THIS time they manage to fight their way back to the surface of their mind.

Success!

They look confused and probably say something to Sekhmet, but she won't be able to hear them until Benny's spell wears off.

Meanwhile!

A small golden object goes tumbling out of an upper window of the inn and lands in the mud with a soft splat.

Not that anyone hears the soft splat.

Because the keening sound just became a rhythmic pounding in the minds of everyone within line of sight of the trinket.

Which isn't TOO much of a problem, since everyone who was anywhere near the inn just got shadow webbed!

But then-

Meanwhile at the beach!

Just as Zoph begins jogging along the beach, sand slowly giving way to coarser and coarser gravel, the keening stops.

Just...

Gone.

Replaced with nothing but the patter of rain, the howl of wind, and the crashing of ocean waves.

And the confused cries of more than a few restrained people.

It looks like our heroes managed to stop basically EVERYONE who was staying at the inn. Though it would appear those who had been closer when the keening began weren't as fortunate.

[bc56]

Marlick Bay

Sekhmet doesn't know the sound has stopped. She's deaf. She begins moving towards the nearest sleepwalker, but realizes that they aren't sleepwalking, and aren't heading towards the beach. Instead, she stands confused for a while. She should probably go look for that wizard and get him to remove the deafness spell from her.