Deep Sea Treasure [B-Tier Job/Group]

The group descended further and further towards the sea floor, though Marsun seemed to proceed at a rather casual pace. He noticed how the people who knew each other beforehand had began to group together and converse, though his attention was mainly focused on the schools of fish that swam by. Since he had been "liberated" of his previous catch, he debated on whether or not he should go through the effort of catching more. Deciding against it, he instead turned his attention back to the group, noticing Myra and Zafar a short distance away. He chuckled faintly at Zafar's uneasiness about being underwater then watched as Myra sent the large lion over to Garret to offer his assistance. Increasing his swimming speed a bit more, he joined up with Garret and the other magician who had been named Xenos just as the latter of the magicians conjured a ball of light to increase their visibility. "So are we going to just float here or are we going to go down and get the treasure?" Marsun questioned as he gazed around at their surroundings. From the corner of his eyes, he caught a quick movement. Upon turning his head in that direction, however, he didn't see anything. Dismissing it as another school of fish, Marsun turned his attention back towards pair of magicians he was with as he waited for an answer.

-1 post underwater-

Safiya shrugged no longer worried about Xenos and dove under. She swam down a bit before letting herself be suspended in the water to have a clear look around. The world below the surface was so fascinating. The light filtered through the water in soft rays, catching the bubbles made by large schools of metallic fish that seemed to take no notice of anything but where they were headed with their schoolmates. What clothes she had on floated around her slowly, her hair splayed out in tantalizing tendrils. She noticed some of her hair coloring coming off, leaving a bit of a murky cloud around her head.
Safiya watched as everyone swam down. She followed them, studying their movements. Each person swam a bit differently, even though their movements were, at a glance, the same. She giggled at Zafar being so unsure of swimming. Safiya had never seen a lion in the water before, and she could now make a pretty good guess why.
She heard Marsun's call to go down to the depths. Right. The treasure. Her fascination with their watery surroundings would have to wait. She swam nearer to the group and followed them to the dark waters below.

[201/1500] {1 Post Underwater}

Ariella looked around as they swam further down, taking care to avoid touching the fish that swam curiously by. The idea of touching one of them made her skin crawl, especially as they descended further and further into the dark. She was not a fan of pitch black, but then Xenos provided illumination in the pressing dark, which she was glad for. She kept a sharp eye out for anything big enough to cause them danger as the sight of glittering came into view. There was certainly enough loot on the sea floor for all of them to have their fair share, from the looks of it. She came closer to the bottom, staying in range of Garret, before coming to a hover in the water. She did not want to risk an ambush by other treasure seekers or by some random large creature that called this area its own.

On the deck of the ship, Nilexa hovered over Xenos' belonging, hissing at anyone straying too close to them. When a curious sailor tried to swat her away and sit on the carpet, she gave a sharp trill and nipped at him before he abandoned the spot and returned to his work. When the "danger" had passed, she trilled happily to herself and settled down on top of the carpet for a nap of her own.

[1139/1500]

OOC:

Enemy Details:

BIC:

At first, the flicker of light showed nothing. Garret sighed in relief. There was nothing there. As he turned his back to whatever it was that he had thought he had seen, he noted the beast that Myra had sent to assist him. He shook his head.  "I appreciate the offer, however I would not want to place a burden on either of you. It may be slower, but it will be better on us all if we are not over-exhausted." Garret was concerned for the beast; while the creature could likely easily pull him forward, he did not want to burden the creature, nor did he want to rely on another in order to move.  Their breathing bubbles were still well within use, the spell Grand Dive being sustained and slowly draining his magoi.

He lead the group further down, close to the wreckage. With the help of Azix's light, the group would be able to see an expansive treasure. There were four wrecked ships, and they looked like they had recently been burdened with a successful haul before they sunk to their ruin. There were many valuables there, gold and silver. Some of the things were objects of art crafted from those precious metals; superb craftsmanship marred only by their rough trip to the bottom of the sea. Rubies, various diamonds, emeralds, and an assortment of jewlery littered the wreckages. Most of this was scattered, however, and looked like it would take time to collect. Garret looked at it in satisfaction. This would be more than enough to fund what he needed done.

As he was looking below, Zygus would be the first to realize something was off. It was not easy to pinpoint at first, as the water distorted the sound a bit, but there was a creature fast approaching them from above. It was still a small distance off, and if Zygus warned Lagi then they would be the first to notice.

A Deep Sea Hunter came swimming towards them quickly, moving at a speed of 20 m/s.



Garret knew that many of these individuals were not underwater fighters. He cursed beneath his breath, thinking of the best route he could go through as quickly as possible. He didn't imagine that the 'guardian' of the treasure would be an underwater creature that had made its home in these waters. Wand still in left hand, Garret cast two spells: State Transmutation and Controlling the Currents. He transmuted a box, which had a 'floor' that was 10 meters long on each of the sides. The 'sides' of the box were each 2 meters tall, and the ice was 1 meter thick in total. It began to rise due to the floating properties of ice against water. This box gathered the group together while he simultaneously controlled the water within the box with Controlling the Currents, allowing him to push the water away from the group and maintain a water-free arena which would give each of them an opportunity to use any of their abilities that they would normally have difficulty doing beneath the sea, while simultaneously giving them back their mobility and retaining the ability to strike back since the water was not too distant from them. The individual members of the group would find that no remnant of water was left on their body, if they cared to notice, as all of the water was pushed outward and was also used to help keep the ice from tilting or moving in a strange manner.

Garret wanted to be careful; he had to maintain these spells while watching for any breaks that the creature made. . "Time to earn your pay, everyone! Do what you can to defeat the creature while I maintain these spells!"

OOC:

658+1353 = 2011/1500
210/300 Magoi/Stamina

Abilities/Items used:

---------DM----------
OOC:
Box looks like this:
|             |  <----1 meter high walls.
__________  <-----a 10 meter long floor..
This creature starts out 90 meters away when Zygus and Lagi first notice it. By the time Garret turns, it will be 50 meters away. After Garret casts his spell and speaks, it will be 30 meters away. If it is able to get to the group, it will stop short of the group at the edge of the water and shoot its tentacle-like appendages out at Zafar, Marsun, Ariella and Azix in an attempt to deal C tier crushing damage to each of their torsos with its Crushing Grasp. If it has not been slain at this point, it will let go one of you (only in the event that nobody clashed with the tentacle to stop damage) or make use of a free tentacle that was defeated in an ability clash in order to attempt a Slicing Whip on Garret.

Lagi gets first shot at the creature in his post, which he has the next 12 hours to do so. If he does not post in that time, he forfeits his first shot and posting order doesn't matter. Keep in mind, however, that whoever posts first determines how close the creature got with what is in their post.

If anyone tries to attack it with a long range single target physical ability, it will attempt to clash with that using its Rippling Nibble attack.

P.s. Use your abilities before the re-work abilities as the re-worked abilities were not available when you took the job.

Zygus was picking up on the beast with is amazing hearing, and made a whistling sound that alerted Lagi. This in turn made Lagi ready to fire his arrow at the creature, pulling back the bowstring and utilizing a specific strategy when facing the unknown. In all sense, Lagi was sticking to the counter shooting method, intercepting the beast’s attacks with his own. “And earn my pay we shall. “Lagi would say as the  arrow formed simultaneously  as soon as the bowstring was pulled back. Upon release, Lagi fires off the arrow made of pure light at 20 m/s, heading straight for the tentacle that’s being at his fellow comrades. In addition, the arrow would deal b rank capabilities in the form of second degree burns. Since this ability was based off of holy magic, the arrow wouldn’t of had any trouble being formed and fired underwater. Also, it was Zygus’s turn to engage the enemy with an attack of his own.  Zygus fires off 10 metallic feathers that is 9 meters in length and 4 meters in width. The blades move at the speed of 15 M/S. They cause the damage of cuts that barely go past the skin and just start to touch tissue and muscle. Contact with the blades leaves metallic particles that are hardly noticeable and embedded in the skin, hair, or clothing if possible for the rest of the thread. The particles reminds you of glitter. The particles have an attracting quality that attracts C rank or lower metals to the person afflicted immediately for the next three posts within 20 meters, which means that the beast would have  a unch of collateral damage heading towards them soon enough.  This was a good combination of attacks, starting off the battle on a good note if they worked.

215/250 Stamina

Abilities used/ ooc reasoning-

Spoiler:

1217/1500

Azix continued to sustain Flicker, illuminating the depths when Lagi and his bird began attacking a creature. The orange magician waited for it to get within range of his spells before unleashing his assault. Garret had built a box out of the ice and drained the water within it to make it easier to maneuver inside. Once the creature was within range, Azix conjured Kage Youshiki sending a mass of shadows forward to create a fifteen meter diameter seal in front of the creature. Fifteen shadow tendrils emerged from within the shadowy seal rimmed in purple light to attack the creature at twenty meters per second.

Azix kept an eye on his surroundings, ready to help those around him in case an attack came towards them. He knew Garret was occupied in maintaining the spells and didn't want the deep sea hunter to take advantage of the opening.

[240/300 magoi]

[1505/1500]

Spoiler:

Ariella was glad for the ice box Garret had made for them, she would have been useless otherwise. She had not initially considered how her magic would react in the water until she had seen the creature. Lightning plus water did not equal a good time for her treasure hunting group, but the box was the perfect solution, she could hit the creature without hurting those around her. Murmuring to the rukh, she waited until Xenos had cast his fascinating shadow magic before conjuring Electric Wall in front of them, the wall zapping and crackling through the water as it rushed forward to slam into the creature at 20 m/s. If the attack hit, it would deal B-tier damage and paralyze the creature, giving the others more time to finish off the ferocious looking beast. She only hoped they would take advantage of the opening she had provided to get off the rest of their assaults. While she did not want to be hurt by the creature, there was treasure below and she was anxious to find something pretty for herself.

[Magoi 170/200]
[1322/1500]

Ability Used:

Marsun muttered under his breath as his question was more or less ignored. Shrugging slightly, he instead turned his attention back down towards the shipwrecks below them. Even from where they were, he could see the glittering treasure that decorated the sea floor. There were several pieces that he could see that were of interest to him, namely the expertly crafted weapons and other pieces of metalwork...although he also wouldn't be against taking a bit of the jewels and gold for himself as well. As Marsun continued to gaze at the treasure below, he was completely unaware of the danger that was quickly approaching the group. It was until the icy platform began to form beneath him that his attention was diverted away from the treasure. Turning his gaze back towards the group, he saw one of the other magicians ready his bow while conjuring a gleaming arrow of holy power and launching it ahead of him. Following the arrow's progress, Marsun's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open slightly as he beheld the Deep Sea Hunter barreling towards them. A bold grin then spread across his face just as the platform fully formed. It seemed that the fighting had began, more and more people were joining in and adding their own attacks to the assault against the aquatic beast. Unfortunately, Marsun would not be able to offer much assistance currently as a melee fighter...a real shame. As such, Marsun simply sat down with his legs folded and his spear laid upon the ice platform next to him. He would just have to wait for the creature to be drawn closer...if, of course, it wasn't killed by the long range attacks that had been launched at it.

-2 posts underwater-

Myra was a little bit overwhelmed with everything. The Magicans magical power was ridicoulously strong – in the eyes of a Fanalis – and their power of just creating things out of nothing sure was stunning. A giantic sea snake would show up, ready to attack the group, but Garret – after refusing Zafar’s help which made the proud Lion a bit upset as he returned to his owner – created some kinda ice platform that allowed all of them to sit on it. Long distances attacks were Myra’s weakness – since she had none and something told her that it was the best to not get too close to the sea beast, so she took place next to Marsun and watched the other’s fight. “Sometimes I think it would be better if we could use Magic like that. But on the other hand..how often do you swim through the ocean to find a treasure that is protected by giant water dragons, right?” She chuckled and gently pulled on Zafar’s ear while looking at Marsun.

- 2 Posts Underwater -

OOC: GO FIGHT MY MINIONS!

Lagi had managed to fire an arrow at the creature that was moving towards them, following it up with the help of Zygus' fan of metallic blades. Garret watched as both attacks landed on the creature before it was able to get close to them. The Deep Sea Hunter screeched out in pain, but continued moving forward. It had used its Slicing Whip attack in order to intercept a majority of the damage from Azix's spell.

It was at this point that Garret saw Ariella call upon yellow Rukh. Recalling the readings from the book of Magnostadt, as well as his experiences with a job he had done with Azix, Garret realized she was about to cast a Lightning type magic spell. He cast a quick glance over at Zygus, realizing that the 5 meter beast was far too large to fit in the 1 meter air pocket, and a portion of his body was still in the water.

Sustaining both Deep Dive and Controlling the Currents, he manipulated the latter in order to create a larger pocket of air specifically for the beast. The spell was formed and the Lightning magic struck the water while moving towards the beast. A large amount of power flowed through the water, but the people in the ice arena were safely secured by the ice and the lack of water touching them. It was then that the fried corpse of the Deep Sea Hunter fell into the ice arena that Garret had made. The giant fish, now dead, was 8 meters in length and sank their ice down to the bottom of the sea, nearby the four ships.

Various metal objects within 20 meters of their landing began zipping through the water, and sticking to the creature; blades, metalworks and the sorts. Garret didn't quite understand why, but it seemed the creature was magnetic somehow... And that magnetism was pulling at the rest of their group's metal weapons.

Shaking his head, Garret thanked his luck for not having brought any metal weapons with him. There was still work to be done. He looked to those that were there. "Good job, everyone. Since we've got something useful like this here, though, we might as well use it. Lets begin collecting the valuables and drop it off in here. When we are finished, we will go back up and divvy out the rewards. Remember, everything you can carry is your reward for helping out, so make sure to load this thing up. Keep an eye out for anything else out there." Garret controlled the water about them, allowing them exit to gather the treasure. The beast was heavy enough to act as a counterbalance to the floating properties of the ice, which allowed him to move about with the rest and continue to provide them the magic that allowed them to breath. They would have to simply swim out there, get the treasure, swim over the box, and let go so that it could accumulate within the box.

OOC:

185/300 Magoi/Stamina

Abilities/Items used:

Sorry for pushing it along up until now at such a fast pace. You may now post multiple times in a row, and discuss stuff and RP with each other. I will probably post again in about 72 hours from now with a wrap up post, but until then everyone should enjoy themselves ^_^. No need for posting order, just socialize while collecting treasure.

“So what, the thing is dead already? I gues sit couldn’t stand up to such overwhelming attacks, but it’s a shame. That creature would of ben useful if I had a few days to tame it. “ Lagi would say to himself as Zygus did a victory squawk. It was a good thing that he didn’t have to reveal Orie in front of all of these people; it wasn’t a smart thing to go around and showing off his ace in the hole, even though Orie was practically begging him to come out. IT was pretty lucky that all of the treasure and the goods started to be attracted due to the magnetism ability that Zygus had. Extra treasure was always a good thing to have, and Lagi wasn’t much of a big complainer about that. “We should start swimming towards where the treasure is, it doesn’t look like Zygus’s magnetism is going to pick it up. That could only mean that the contents of the chest are of high value. But still, it might be mating season for those kinds of creatures, I wouldn’t waste any time. “

Lagi would say this briefly as an expert on beasts and other unknown species, only due to the fact that he’s tangled with a few of them before. “Zygus, Let’s get the treasure. Try to carry as much as you can, you’re strong enough. “Zygus would nod as he and Lagi would go o0ff to collect the treasure from where it was located. With that being said, Lagi went off with Zygus to get the treasure. This was that magicians show, so Lagi was more likely to just follow through with what was being said. After the current threat of being halted was currently out of the picture, Lagi’s other concerns involved his fair share.


1500-1500


215/250 Stamina

Sitting in the icy arena and watching the magicans and the beast tamer fight, Myra was quite impressed by their skills. She nudged Zafar gently and pointed at them. “One day, we will be just as strong, Buddy!” The Lion roared something and Myra kissed his nose, waiting for the other’s to defeat the sea creature so they could go for the treasure. However, something rather odd happened. The creature seemed to be magnetic since it was collecting all kind of metalworks, that were now clinging to it’s body. Unfortunately, Myra was wearing a golden armour that was made out of – well, metal. As she realized that she was being pulled over to the dead sea creature, she panicked a bit, releasing a high pitched scream that sounded like a “KYA!” while Zafar bit into his Mistress’ clothes to keep her from being drawn away. Myra climbed onto Zafar’s back and wrapped her hands up in his fur, clinging to him while the Lion was swimming towards the treasure like Garret had ordered them to do.

- 3rd Post Underwater -

Safiya stared at the ocean dragon, or sea monster, or whatever it was, with a mix of confusion, awe, and a bit of terror as it streaked into view. She had never seen something like this except in pictures in books she couldn't really decipher, and had no idea how to deal with it. She watched everyone carefully as they dispatched the great finned lizard. She wanted to learn how to fight things that large, and she figured they knew how to do it. They killed it with magic. That didn't help her very much. She didn't exactly have an abundance of magoi.
She mused over the killing as she propelled herself down to the treasure. Safiya watched the others for any cues. They chuckled and smiled as their attention was focused on Myra, who was being dragged away by something she couldn't quite make out. Not seeing or hearing anyone telling her to touch nothing, she removed her shirt, her upper torso covered only in her wrap. She needed something to carry part of the treasure. The soft, filtered light made the intricately knotted tattoo that ran thickly down her back and narrowly to the back of her hands and feet slightly blurred and purple-ish. Her eyes slid over the glittering piles, searching for another gauntlet or a piece of armor she could wear. It would certainly be easier if she didn't have to buy what she wanted. But, taking stock of the entirety of the treasure, she was sure that she could buy everything if she couldn't find what she was looking for.

-3rd post underwater-
265/1500

Ariella glanced around as the beast fell to the ground, smiling triumphantly. She was quite pleased with the amount of teamwork and now it was time to collect the treasure. She swam over to the glittering pieces, chuckling as Myra was drawn by the magnetism. The freedom of the water was wonderful and she was enjoying watching her hair make a purple cloud around her that filtered the light to cast everything in a violet hue. She glanced around at others, picking through pieces of gold and gems idly. Finding a glittering gauntlet, she shouted to Safiya and tossed it over, having to use all her strength to get it near the girl. It would not do well for actual fighting, but maybe she could wear it out for a night in Reim, if the girl enjoyed such things. She found a delicate choker and tucked it into the hem of her pants before finding a glittering ring and whistling to Myra, throwing the ruby gem toward the servant woman. The red of the gem matched Myra's red hair. Pilfering through more piles of gems, jewelry, and coins, she pulled several pieces onto her fingers and wrists, draping chains of gems around her neck. The coins would be more difficult to carry and she really was not concerned with the actual money. But she did enjoy shiny trinkets, as did Nilexa. The winged serpent was fond of laying near her jewelry box and resting her head on the various pieces, guarding them like a dragon.

Finding an interesting gold pendant etched with an ornate dragon design from Kou, she noted it was on a long, heavy chain, obviously a man's piece of jewelry. She quietly swam up behind Xenos and looped the chain around his neck, giving it a light tug just to see how he would react to the "attack" from behind.

[Magoi 170/200]
[1500+/1500]

Azix was glad the beast was defeated but cursed when his Deviant, the sword given to him by Madam Trixie flew from its sheath and stuck to the creature. Azix attempted to recover it, but the sword refused to budge. Accepting it as a sign that he wasn't mean to wield the blade, Azix left it and went to help the others with the treasure.

He found a chest on its side, the contents poured out and grabbed it. He swam around looking for valuable things and placed them in the chest until it became too heavy to carry. He was about to start flapping his legs in a rhythmic sequence to push himself to the surface when he felt something grab him by the throat. "ACK!"

He spun around, dropping the chest and saw Ariella smirking at him. Azix gave a playful glare before swimming back down to grab the chest, putting objects that had spilled back into it. When he was done he shouted, "Last one to the surface has to scrub the latrines," before kicking at the water, swimming as fast as he could to the surface.

Marsun's crimson gaze watched as all of the attacks which had been launched at the sea creature impacted with devastating force. As he continued to wait for the creature to be drawn in closer for him to actually be of use during the fight, Myra had taken a seat next to him, commenting on the power that everyone else had. Tilting his head slightly, Marsun absently scratched at his head while looking at the people around them. Most of them did seem to be pretty strong, though there were also some that seemed a bit inexperienced in regards to combat and things of that nature. Shrugging slightly, Marsun returned his gaze upon the sea creature, which had began to fall to the platform, landing with a dull thud and shaking the icy platform beneath its dead corpse. Shortly after it had fallen, a few people had began to swim towards the wrecks to gather treasure for themselves. As he thought that it would be a good idea for him to do so as well, he began to feel a strange pulling against his spear, as if something was attempting to draw it from his grip. Blinking curiously, he turned his head towards the recently deceased sea creature, he noticed that it was somehow magnetized and wasn't just affecting his spear, but also a majority of the metal around them....which in a somewhat comical display also included Myra's armor. Stifling a small laugh, Marsun rose to his feet and detached his spear into its segmented form before replacing it into the holster across his back.

"Well, I guess we better get some of that treasure before there's none left for us." Marsun remarked as he stood up and began to swim towards the nearest shipwreck, which in itself was of a remarkably impressive size. He floated near the aft of the wrecked ship, seeming to inspect it closely. After a short moment, he swam down to the part of the ship's aft that was closest to the sea floor and got a good grip on it, planting his feet into the softened earth beneath him. After a small struggle, he suddenly dislodged the entire rear section of the ship, forming a makeshift basket from it before setting it down nearby. Surprisingly, he seemed a bit disappointed by its size. "It's a bit small....but I guess it'll have to do. Now let's see what I can find..." Marsun muttered to himself as he began to rummage through the treasure, occasionally tossing pieces of metalwork or jewels and gold into the ship "basket" behind him. After a while, he had almost completely filled the ship section, though he still seemed to be looking for something else. Hovering over a small pile of treasure, his gaze settled upon a pair of glimmering golden bracelets, both bearing intricate carvings upon them and inlaid with beautiful rubies. As Marsun stared at the bracelets, he found himself comparing the sparkling red jewels to Myra's eyes and had even glanced over towards her for a brief moment. Smiling slightly, Marsun picked up the bracelets and tucked them into his waistband. As he turned in preparation to return to the surface, another brief glint caught his eye. Looking towards, he noticed that it was a golden ruby ring that also seemed to match the bracelets. Perhaps he would also give the ring to Myra as a gift. Adding the ring to its bracelet counterparts, Marsun moved back over to the "basket" and hoisted it above his head with a small grunt. He then proceeded to walk across the sea floor carrying his collection to rejoin the others. "Well, I'm all set, let's get going, yeah?" He remarked as he stood waiting for the rest of the group to finish gathering their share of the treasure.

-3 posts underwater-

OOC:

We are pretty much all set here. I'm going to write a post and we can pretty much end it with each of your exit posts.

BIC:

Garret watched the group move about, collecting their share of the treasures. He noted that they were primarily collecting enough to be held by themselves, which he expected would be the case. He was still sustaining Deep Dive, as well as Controlling the Currents, and used the latter to control the water and sweep up any gold or other various treasures that were unable to be carried by the rest of the group. He placed this treasure within the creation of ice that he had made before, loading it up to fund the coffers of the Intelligence organization. He noted that those around him seemed to be finished with their personal searches as well, and he directed them back to the ice container. "Everyone should get back into the ice box. We're taking the express straight up."

Azix, however, was already swimming up, telling them that the last one up would have to wash the latrines. Garret shook his head, waiting for everyone to join him in the box. Once everyone was ready and in the box, he would move the control of the water around it, pushing it up with his spell as he did so, until they reached the surface, at a rate of 15 m/s. He angled it so that Azix would also be caught within the box, as the magician could not swim faster than the movement rate at which the box itself was moving. When they resurfaced Garret dispersed his water breathing spell that allowed the others freedom of breathing. It would no longer be necessary. He did, however, continue to maintain his other spell in order to keep the ice box floating. The weight was incredible. "Okay, everyone, from here on keep an eye out for any pirates. Hopefully it will be smooth sailing, and we won't encounter any such issues."



With no more outside encounters along the way, the group would be able to make it back to port. There were several individuals awaiting their return; carriage drivers and manual laborers. "Alright, everyone, you are free to take what you can carry with you. I appreciate the assistance along the way." He nodded to the group of guards he had hired. It was quite an interesting turnout of individuals, and he kept a good eye on them all, remembering their faces. The laborers would begin the job of unloading the gold and placing it into the caravan.

OOC:
You may now all post your exit posts, and claim your rewards. If nothing requires me to stick along further, this will be my exit post.


160/300 Magoi/Stamina

Abilities/Items used:

The mission was over; they was finally about to be paid for their services. Lagi and Zygus took the express straight up from the ice box like spell that the magician casted. As soon as Lagi received the money for the mission, he proceeded to go on his way. Lagi was a mercenary; there was no point in trying to be friends or anything. LAgi made his money, and the next thing that he had to do was to bide his time until another kind of mission came along. After hopping on the back of Zygus, Lagi flew off.

-Exit

Ariella started to follow Azix before noticing Garret bringing the ice box up and decided to hitch a ride on it, instead. As they surfaced, she looked around, trying to spot the boat they had been on, eager to recover Nilexa and show the winged serpent the pretty jewelry she had picked out. She spotted it at one of the docks and she hurried over, careful to not lose any of the loot she had taken. She left what was in the ice box alone, not wanting to be burdened down, she had just been there for the experience of being in the sea.

As she stepped onto the ship, Nilexa fluttered up into the air, still guarding the magic carpet Azix had left. Slipping back into her cloak, she fondly ran a finger over Nilexa's scales and started to walk away when the serpent trilled at her. It seemed the creature was taking her guard duty seriously and refused to leave Azix' carpet unattended. She sighed and smiled before walking over and sitting down on the carpet to await the owner's return so she and Nilexa could go back to the inn and rest.

-exit-

Azix was scooped up by the ice box as he swam to the surface. The sudden motion of something rushing up beneath him startled him for a moment, but once he surveyed his surroundings he calmed down. It would have been unfortunate if another sea creature had attacked him while he lugged the chest up to the surface.

Once back at shore, Azix carried the chest with the spoils with him back to the ship to reclaim his carpet. He noticed with a smile that Nilexa had diligently guarded over his carpet and pet her in payment. Hopping on his magic carpet, Azix offered a hand to Ariella as he balanced the chest on his lap. He would stop by to pick up what she had left behind if she wanted before heading back to Remano.

[exit]

Safiya followed the others into the ice box, shivering a bit as her bare feet touched the frozen surface. She smiled to herself as they all rose safely and uneventfully to the surface, breathing fresh air once more. Part of her was happy the job was over. She didn't really expect a giant sea monster to attack them. But as she reflected on it, she believed that she might actually miss everyone at least a bit. It was nice having people to talk to, even if it was just for a little while. And she had found out a little bit about her people. Maybe. She wasn't quite sure if spending time with a few of them and observing counted as learning about an entire culture.

Safiya's thoughts stayed inward. No one seemed to want to discuss anything with her, so she gladly retreated further into herself. She took stock of her appearances. Ugh. She smelled of sea water, algae and monster. She had never felt such a strong need to bathe in a very long time. She hoped no one else could smell her. Although, they all probably smelled like she did. Except for the mages. She didn't doubt that they had a spell to keep them smelling wonderful or keep their environment from affecting them. Something along those lines. She wondered what it was like to cast magic. Does the release feel good? Could one feel the magoi drain from their bodies? Is the power they possess addictive? To just conjure up an entire large box of ice without so much as a sign of effort looked incredible. One could do such incredible things with magic. Why do the Fanalis have such a small amount of magoi? Now that was a question worth pondering. Humans seemed to have an overabundance of magoi, and Imuchakk had a fair amount, too. She wanted to find out more about that. She needed to find out more about her people. She would consider her quest completed when she was satisfied with what she knew about the Fanalis. She had a feeling this would take an incredibly long time.

Safiya climbed out of the box and onto the boat. Quickly, she counted her gold and stuffed it in her belongings, which she slung over her shoulder as soon as the boat docked. She stepped quickly down the gangplank and disappeared among the throng of people, in search of some much-needed rest and relaxation.

-EXIT-

/1500

It seemed that everyone had gathered their treasure and were ready to go. Most of them seemed to only have gotten modest amount....and then there was Marsun and his "basket". Even Myra had exercised a bit of restraint and only carried what appeared to be a large basin filled with her treasure. Still, Marsun had no regrets about the treasure he had gathered. Shortly after stepping onto the ice platform once more, it began to rise to the surface. Needless to say, his treasure-laden ship half had drawn quite a bit of stunned attention from the sailors on the boat, though luckily the ship was large enough to accomodate both the group and Marsun's haul with plenty of room to spare. As the boat continued back towards the pier, Marsun made good on his promise to the sailors and reinforced all of the metalwork on the ship, earning their respect in the process. Once they reach the pier, Marsun once more hoisted the "basket" above his head then hopped down from the ship's deck, landing on the cobblestone walkway of the port and cracking the polished stone in the process. Glancing around at the adventurers as they departed, Marsun himself began to leave before he remembered the bracelets he had found for Myra. Setting down the ship half with a hollow boom, Marsun turned back towards the boat and made his way over to her.

"Hey, Myra, hold on a second. I wanted to give you something, close your eyes!" He remarked. He knew that she mostly wouldn't close her eyes, so he simply went through with his intended plan anyway. Removing the glittering golden bracelets from his waistband, he took each of Myra's hands gently in his own and placed one of the bracelets on each of her wrists. "The rubies reminded me of your eyes, so....I thought I'd give these to you. I hope you like them." He spoke with a gentle smile, though he lingered for a moment holding her hands. The truth of it was that he was debating on whether he should also give her the ring he had found now or wait until later. Deciding to wait until another time, Marsun released her hands a gave her a small wave before turning away and walking back over to his treasure. Once more lifting it above his head, he continued on his way, heading off to find a place to store his recently amassed wealth.

-Exit-

It took a while but the group would eventually gather all the gold and treasures that were hidden in within the sunken ships. The monster was defeated as well so technically, there was no reason for them to stick within the ocean.When they swam back towards the ship, Ariella would suddenly throw a gold ring at her. It had a red rubin within it that had a similar color to her hair. "Thanks." She said and smiled. And it seemed that Marsun had watched over them closely. Shortly after he arrived in front of her as well, ordering her to close her eyes and placing two wristsbands on her. She looked down on them and squeezed Marsun's hands - not in a gentle way. "Thanks. You are flattering me when you present me with jewelery that we earned together on a job." She sad with a strongly sarcastic sound in her voice before she climbed onto Zafar's back and they returned to the ship.

- Exit -