faderift | CSI KIRKWALL: A Bad Case of Crabs || closed

They get their information in the end. And then: they get their team, and head up along the Wounded Coast at a quick speed. Scouting, to start with, looking for the signs they've been warned about--the inlet that's shaped like a old fishhook, around the wreck of a ship the old fishermen had named Withered Tit. And then the sea had looked dark, suddenly--which might be accounted for by a drop-off that follows a sandbar, but they'd been assured, it were different, a sudden dark, like--and then that dark water had seemed to seethe, which is poetic and certainly particular.

And they'd been told that what's left of the Withered Tit is rumored to be best seen in the afternoon. Here they are now, and there the Tit is, ribs curling up toward the overcast sky, thrust out of the sea like the bones of a proper leviathan itself.

Darras still hates horses, would have much preferred a ship to take along the Wounded Coast. Logic had ruled: it makes more sense to ride along the Coast to the fishhook inlet, and cross out on the open sand that's been cleared as the tied has rolled out, and wade through the shallows beyond to come at the wreck--so that's what they've done. There's no sun to shade his eyes against, as he peers out at it.

"That water look any darker to you?"

Tessa is not an experienced horsewoman, so she's riding behind whoever would take her as a burden because they inevitably had to deal with her horse puns the entire way. At least they're near their destination, so they can dismount and she can knock it off already.

Looking out in the direction Darras is staring at, Tessa squints, trying to determine if the water is in fact darker. It doesn't seem so to her eyes, but then again, it's not super bright out here to be able to see the distinction.

"Neigh," she replies. Okay, she's really done with the puns now. Really. No more horsing around.

Alex, not sitting in front of Tessa but still able to hear the puns, snorts. Who is she to criticise a pun, truly the most elevated form of humour?

Even so, she's been a little distracted on the way, occasionally looking over her shoulder. She could swear that there's a shadow following her, something in the distance, but whenever she tries to get a bloody look—

But Darras asked something, didn't he, before she got distracted again? Her feet slip from the stirrups, and she dismounts easily, landing lightly on the ground, and bringing the reins over the horse's head, leading it forward as she goes to get a better at that, at least.

"Yeah. Seaweed, maybe?" It's not the worst guess, with her memories of the massive swaths of it she's encountered at the beach back home.

Puns aren't exactly Darras' style, but he's not grimly opposed to them either. He weathers Tessa's with a little grin, once he gets it.

"Might be," he say to Alex, as they're looking out across the water together. "Or it might be the deep bit of water that we're meant to be looking for. Given that it's been sitting there, doesn't exactly seem sudden the way it was told to us. Then again," he adds, fairly, "our sources were old Lowtown fishermen. Prone to exaggeration to a man, as near as I could tell."

So maybe there's no sudden dark at all. Darras gives it a moment longer for observation, than shrugs off his coat and drapes it over a nearby rock. "Don't suppose anyone's done any crabbing before."

Korrin, astride not a horse but a large nuggalope, rolls her eyes and groans good-naturedly at the pun. "That's it, you're fired." Except not really, because if she fired everyone who ever used puns in front of her, she'd never get anything done.

Peering out across the water as Asher grunts along, she frowns thoughtfully and makes a skeptical noise. "They exaggerate, sure, but there's a kernel of truth in there beyond the drunken bluster. Besides, that sudden arrival is one of the few details we have to go on beyond the lack of red crystals."

"Only eating them, dude." But Tessa follows after Darras, trying to keep aware of their surroundings. It doesn't seem likely they'll be caught off guard by a giant crab, but it's not like she's ever faced one before either. And what if this is all some trap to lure hapless do-gooders out here alone? It's best to be ready for anything.

"So what's the plan now?"

"Only a couple times."

And, actually— "No one happened to bring bait, did they?"

Maybe they can spend a nice relaxing time fishing and catching some bait. Maybe. Potentially. In an unlikely twist of fate?

Darras whistles, the single long note that is a universal stand-in for wow. "Amateurs, the lot of you."

He's very much teasing. And, in the interest of being useful, he crouches and tugs open the top on the sack that he'd pulled from his horse, and holds it out for them to see.

"Chicken necks. Crabs love 'em, butchers don't have much use for 'em. I figure we head out to that shipwreck, set that bait, and see what we get. If it's the ghosts that we were told about, we'd better hope they've poor enough taste to want to make a meal of chicken necks."

"If it's spirits, we'll find out anyway. Places with thin Veils aren't exactly subtle." Her gaze sweeping over chicken necks, Korrin nods without a hint of distaste. As long as they get results, that's what matters to her. "Sounds like a solid plan, to me. Anyone here not a strong swimmer? I can help you along, if you need it."

"I'll be okay out there, but thanks," Tessa says, bending down to unlace her boots. Laying out chicken necks to catch a giant crab? It's not exactly what she'd put on her bucket list, but it'll make for one hell of a story.

Once her shoes and socks are off, she looks out towards the wreck.

"This water's gonna be freaking cold, isn't it?" Boy, she is not looking forward to wading in.

"Is swimming the only way?"

She looks around, to see if she can spot anything boat-like. Boat-ish, even.

That said, she's got no reservations about swimming, and she's working at her laces. "Seems like it could be unlucky, getting over there and needing to take our time to slap our boots on if there's giant crabs that could nip off our feet. Or spirits, for that matter. I'm sure they can be nippy, too."

"Tide's out."

Darras points toward the edge of the water, which--not that anyone but him will know this, probably, not unless Korrin is more of a seafarer than he knows--is too far, edged with sea foam like soft lace. Debris studs the sand between the water and their party--seashells, scraps of driftwood, rocks. A shoe. A board, with the nails still in.

"We'll mostly be able to wade out there, near as I can tell. Bit of swimming toward the end, maybe. We'll have to make due, unless someone's brought a ship in their satchel. I happen to be fresh out of 'em myself. And yeah," this bit to Tessa, as he gets one of his boots off. "It'll be cold. Nothing that's going to kill any of us. Leastways, not until we've had a chance to kill this beast. Or spirit. S'ppose those aren't killed, exactly."

Shading her eyes, Korrin turns her head to observe what Darras points out and nods. She's picked up some things with Araceli in their time together, though Darras being quicker to spot such things isn't surprising since he probably has more than her few years' experience. "Very good timing, then. We'll take advantage of that, and what swimming is left shouldn't be too taxing on anyone here. You lot seem to be in decent shape, anyway." If they weren't, she would have voiced reservations by now.

"Eh, the cold might be a shock at first, but you'll be surprised how quickly you adjust. We can always make a nice fire on the beach once we're done, anyway, dry ourselves out before we head back."

"Well, let's get this over with, then." Tessa takes note of the debris in their path and works on avoiding it — especially that board with the nails. If Darras needs a hand carrying the bait, she's ready to take some, but otherwise she'll just follow his lead since he'll know the best spot to lay down the bait.

Alex would so much prefer being able to bomb it into the water. Alas, low tide. She grins at Darras anyway as she wades, the laces of her boots tied loosely so she can have the boots hanging off one of her shoulders and keep her hands free to hold a dagger, holding it with deliberately exaggerated drama. "I bet I could make a boat outta seaweed and driftwood. It'd be a work of art."

She's up to her thighs, and adopts an exaggeration of her usual accent - a whole lot broader, and with a slight waver at the ends of some words. "Now, the giant killer crabs of the Waking Sea are a real delicacy, folks. They're commonly called the Giant Killer Crab. You just wanna watch out for—"

And she disappears, dramatically, under the water... for about five seconds, before she reemerges, grinning like an idiot.

Always willing to not be the one carrying the chicken necks (or at least, not the only one carrying the chicken necks), Darras grabs a few out and sticks them in the pouch at his belt. Then he shifts the sack of bait over to Tessa. Leaves him free to draw his dagger, if need be. He's left his falchion with his coat and boots, too unwieldy to be dragging through the surf--or to be used in battle against a massive crab.

Alex's little display gets a grin out of him, despite its exaggerated farce. "Didn't know we had a mummer among us. Can you disarm a crab with laughter, d'you think?"

Is she that good? Belay that, actually--because before anyone can get a response out, there's a tell-tale ripple in the water a few feet ahead of their squad. It looks like a wave, but it moves against the waves that are rolling in to the shore, carving backwards through their rhythmic progression--and a shadow is beneath it, something big and dark and fleeing their approach.

Darras stops, and his hand goes to his dagger.

Following along, Korrin will grab some of the chicken to place in her own belt pouch, reluctantly sharing that burden and telling herself she'll be able to get the smell out of her gloves later on. That, or it will be overshadowed by crab and that one particular scent won't matter. She keeps her staff in one hand, empty blade hilt not drawn yet but her hand rests near it, ready to change that in an instant.

Alex's antics get a snicker out of her, but she barely opens her mouth to respond when that ripple in the water gets her attention as well. A sudden something, big and dark, could well be their target. And if it's not, it's still a danger to be dealt with. Thinking quickly, the Vashoth mage casts Barrier over herself and her companions. Then it's time to draw out her blade hilt, though she refrains from activating it until it's closer.

Tessa takes the sack itself once Korrin has her necks and is ready to carry it out when the others go on alert. It takes her a few more seconds to see what the issue is, but once she does her hand ax is held at the ready. She tenses slightly when Korrin casts her barrier — unsure what it is — but beyond that she focuses on the thing out there.

"Throw it a neck," she says, since she's holding the bag in one hand and her ax in the other, so she can't do it herself.

Alex is, at times, a creature of poor impulse control.

This may be about to become one of those times.

She grins, fascinated by the sheer size of the shadow, and whispers an awed "Holy dooley." It's as much for the barrier as the crab, and she reaches out to try and tap it.

Tossing one of the necks in the air and re-catching it, she pegs it towards the crab, and starts skirting around and away, so that the crab might come closer, allowing it room, and crouching down a little. Fascinated, amazed, and— "Do you reckon we can take one alive? Just, I mean, they're pretty fucking cool."

"And what? Keep it for a pet in the harbor back at Kirkwall?"

Darras, with his eyes on the approaching shadow, hadn't flinch at the magical barrier, or the plop of the chicken neck landing in the shallow water. He makes his critique of Alex's plan amicably, without any particular feeling or rancor to it, as he keeps watching the shadow.

Are they cool? It remains to be seen. The shadow reaches the chicken neck and the water swirls, madly, as whatever is beneath the surface falls onto its meal. Darras, his dagger in hand, moves, slowly, in a path that puts him anti-clockwise of the shadow. It is just outside of Korrin's barrier, and he just within, but it gives him a better vantage point.

"Pretty small," he says, after a moment of observation. "Larger than it ought to be, yeah, but nothing that would kill a man. Unless there's fifty of 'em out there somewhere. I say we kill it and bring it back to the Gallows as proof. If there's more out there, we come back with reinforcements. And nets. If I can get it flipped over, and someone can immobilize it--drive a sword or something into its arse, stops it from moving--we'll make quick work of this one at least."

Alex's plan is enough to get an amused snort from Korrin, even as her gaze doesn't stray from the water. "...yeah, that would go over well. I can feel my kadan's glare all the way from the Gallows." Cool, yes, but so not worth it in the end.

The barrier won't last for too long for anyone else, so she stands ready to renew it as soon that cooldown time subsides. Her eyes narrow as she observes the shadow's movements, ready to rush it should the creature approach. 'Small' is still relative, and she's learned not to underestimate such creatures, whatever the size. "I can manage the immobilizing. Lightning works well for that sort of thing, just make sure you're not standing too close after you knock it over. Any of you."

"We could charge admission to come see it," Tessa suggests as an alternate plan. Then again, how much is it going to fight them if they try to capture it? "On the other hand, it's been ages since I ate crab."

She follows closer to Darras to get a closer look at the shadow. "Believe me; I've been electrocuted by a mage already." Stupid Venatori on their stupid ship. "I don't want a repeat. But I'll give it a good whack with my ax. Just tell me when."

"Woah woah woah, hold up. Lightning while we're all in water?"

She sounds alarmed. She is alarmed. "Uh, no. That's a terrible idea. Water conducts electricity and Shelly McCrabber over there might be immobilised, but the rest of us would probably be a bit fucked, too." Sure, they don't have horror movies here, but please.

Darras shoots Tessa a sidelong look at her remark. And perhaps he'd ask for more details--or perhaps he'd weigh in on the trouble they'd have with lightning on the water--or talk about how much he loves eating crab--but none of those conversations come to be, because the quite small shadow that is eating the chicken neck suddenly twists beneath the water and is gone, fleeing out toward the shoreline.

Darras swears under his breath and shoves his knife back in at his belt. "Seems like all we've managed is to give it a free meal. Come on, we'll have to follow it--"

The bones of the shipwreck are out there, visible now that the tide is properly out. It's a distance, and they've got water to wade through, they can't move so quickly as the crab did.

As they're approaching, they'll notice: that little shadow is still there, huddled up beside the wrecked mast of the ship. But there's a bigger shadow, lurking just beyond the shipwreck. One that's bigger than the ship would have been in life. One that stirs the water now as it rises, seething. Two eye stalks that blink, balefully.

"Shit," Darras says.

"I've done that before, it's a limited range--" And then the shadow moves away, refocusing her attention away from the debate. As long as Korrin isn't treading water -and she'll be the very last one for that- she blurs forward on waves of magic, hoping to get its attention and keep it on herself. Thanks to that little push, she spots the sizable shadow beyond relatively quickly and shakes her head.

"Now that looks more like something that would scare the shit out of sailors and fishermen." As it rises, she renews the barrier around everyone, and gets into a battle stance with staff and spirit blade at the ready. As soon as it makes a move on anyone, she strikes.

"Pfft, you expect science to follow rules in a world of magic?" Tessa asks. This is a place where a mage can wave their hand and there's a blue, glowy bubble around all of them that apparently doesn't let stuff through to hurt them. She expects Korrin knows what she's talking about.

And then she finally sees the big shadow too, eyes revealing themselves and focusing on their little group. Tessa looks at the bag of chicken necks, then tosses it as far away from herself as she can. That just makes her bait holding bait. Gripping her hand ax tight, she swallows nervously. What was she supposed to do again? Knock it down? Yeah, good freaking luck there.

"Okay, so... maybe electrocute it first, then we hit hit?"

“Or, maybe we can just float over it and hope for the best!” Brightly, before Alex snaps her fingers, “oh wait, we can’t, because this world still has gravity and other laws of science. Maybe you can just assume germ theory is bullshit, too.”

Concern for your health and the health of others is such a miserable trait, and all.

Alex unslings some rope from her shoulder, working fast to tie it into a lasso. “We get the ropes around its legs, bring it down. Tie up the pincers so it can’t crush us, go to down.” A glance to the others, and she exhales. “I guess I’ll get on that.” She’s a brawler, and fists are going to do shit against a giant armoured crab. Alex starts wading, and then dived below the surface - shallow as it is - so she can try to get closer to the crab without it seeing what she’s doing as she starts looping the first bit of rope around one of its legs.

Beneath the water, the full size of the crab becomes clearer. Water distorts anything that's below its surface, shrinking and exaggerating sizes, blurring the lines. What looked big from a perspective above the surface is massive below the surface. Like how they say you can see only the tip of an iceberg, or a rock, or what shows of a reef when the tide is low. Jointed legs the size of small tree-trunks; a broad round abdomen and shell as large as a cart. The pincers would stand as tall as a full-grown man, jagged-edged and dangerous.

As Alex ducks beneath the water, the crab shrinks back, stirring up the water. Its eye stalks retract, pulling in. One of those great claws swipes out at her. The other is hauled above the surface of the water, snapping madly.

Darras, in Korrin's renewed barrier, swears and grabs firmer hold of his knife. The claw doesn't get near to him. It butts up against the barrier, furious.

"Behind it, beneath, where it's soft--that's where we hit it, to stop it from bloody moving--it's an old trick, unless it can be electrocuted without frying Alex--"

CSI KIRKWALL: A Bad Case of Crabs || closed

gone crabbin' || Darras, Korrin, and friends

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