[SD:OA] Squirming Runes - Chapter 3

The night passes quickly and we soon find our quad squad making their way to the Salty Baron. This early they have to push through a bunch of people. Seems that even with magic, ships still like to catch the morning breeze to get out to sea.

Emrys ducks behind Gem as they cut through the crowd.

Not that Gem is being rude and shoving people. They simply are like a force of nature and people who feel them coming naturally get out of their way. Still, the four are glad they left a bit early. Not that they would be late if they hadn’t, but it would have been closer than any of them preferred.

Gem points, the Salty Baron easy enough to spot. It isn’t easy to keep a shop that white without looking bleached out.

Then, once on board, things are finally quiet enough to hear themselves, especially as they get under the deck and to the mess hall.

Emrys sighs, “It still feels weird not being able to pick out the other travellers.”

June smiles, “What has been accomplished here truly is amazing.”

Emrys shrugs, “More like they managed to get the locals as crazed about getting the best out of their gear. I swear, one gal was wearing a bright orange hat, cowhide pattern cape, and what I swear looked like cargo shorts.”

A nearby crew member laughs as they butt into the conversation. “We could equally blame you travellers! For the longest time, things were more naturally colored. Then the Makers were all like, ‘Now stuff is going to look psychedelic so the coming travellers can play dress up’. After which, not only were there a bunch of funky colored beasts, but they tended to have impressive effects!”

Gem laughs, “That’s amazing! Though I noticed most of you guys here are matching?”

The guy nods, “Oh yeah, it isn’t required, but it is cheaper. You want certain effects? Use the same materials for a greater chance. Want those effects to be better? Have a crafter make the same stuff until they’re good at it. Ergo, uniforms. Just check out my hat here!”

And he takes the wide-brimmed hat off his head. Like everyone else in the crew, it’s a very light tan color. You wouldn’t mistake it for white, but it sure is close.

He taps it, “This beauty here? We source them from a beautiful island which is mostly inhabited by cows. The island concentrates solar energies and the cows are particularly resistant to it, which translates to a hat that protects us from glare and sunburn. Combined with the design? Perfect hat for us.”

This was quite interesting to June and so the rest of their meal ends up being a back and forth asking about various common equipment for sailors. Though the biggest find?

The man nods, “Oh yeah, any amount of fire resistance will protect you from natural sunburn and normal temperatures. Between you and me? I’d get an amulet that gives fire and water resistance next time we’re in port. Even if it is literally a 1F- trinket, you’ll be protected from a bunch of annoying aspects of sea travel. Most of us have it covered already by the rest of our gear.”

Gem, of course, asked the obvious follow up, “So why not a trinket with all four base resistances?”

The guy shrugs, “You can only get two of the four main resistances from gear. The system doesn’t want us having it too easy. Better to go for more specific resistances on gear as it works better. Fire might prevent sunburn and protect against tropical temperatures, but it doesn’t make it comfortable.

“You want comfort? Get something with heat and cold resistance. Won’t help at all for anything else, but you’ll feel fine until the temperature gets to the point of passively dealing damage with even the lowest tier enchant.”

That interesting conversation out of the way and breakfast packed away, the party head back up on deck, only to find the ship is already quite far out to sea. Seems the Salty Baron hadn’t been depending just on the wind and waves for their exit. Though this also means there is even less to do on deck as there isn’t even much to look at.

Which meant they took up Sssally’s offer to do a bit of fishing. Or as Gem decided it should be called, “purposeful boredom”. There wasn’t free bait, though the hooks were shiny and had reflective plates, so it wasn’t completely hitless.

Except for Gem. “I swear! The second you put a damn fishing rod in my hands, the fish flee from me! I’ve snorkeled and marveled at fish before. I’ve watched fish in ponds and the ocean both out and about, as well as in various games. Then I pick up a fishing rod and I might as well be throwing the hook in an empty bucket.”

Emrys laughs as Samuel assists him in pulling up a fish half his size. “You just don’t have the touch! Maybe you should try fly fishing? Seems to fit more with your whole ‘air’ thing.”

Gem pulls back her lips in frustration, showing off a mouth now full of overly pointy teeth. “Bah, water isn’t even antagonistic or anything. Besides! That wouldn’t explain my overall lack of luck. Me plus fishing rod equals no fish!”

June sighs, “Well, at least we have some supplies. The regular ship food would get boring quite fast, I suspect.”

Emrys, “SOME supplies? Look at this beauty! This fish will feed us for a good while.”

Samuel shakes his head, “Not in this weather. It is going to go bad and we aren’t exactly allowed to start a fire to smoke it. Unless you’re going to binge on sashimi right now? We’re turning this all into the ship’s kitchen.”

Gem smirks, “And we aren’t getting the best cut of things for them to cook or preserve it for us. Oh, and they’re not taking coins for the services! They’re taking a literal cut of our fish.”

Emrys rolls his eyes and throws his line back in.

And that’s about how the next 8 days pass. Though, of course, anytime a specific number is mentioned, you know something is about to happen. Not that things haven’t happened, just not in relation to Gem and friends. The sailors don’t need their help to handle the regular fish monsters.

The ninth day dawns to a spotty sky, more clear than clouds, but only just. Worse, the fishing isn’t good, but they do still manage to pull a couple decent sized fish out by midday. Then something decides to pull itself out.

Sharks with muscular arms cause superficial damage to the hull as hordes of them pull themselves out of the water. “Sharkfolk!”

Gem leans over the edge of the boat, “Huh, so there is.” Their teeth all go pointed, “Silly fishies, you’re not the only predators in these waters!” And they toss down a wind blade.

The razor sharp gust hugs the hull and slices through the fingers of seven folk below before it stops. Only three of the sharkfolk fall from this, but the other four aren’t climbing so fast. They also aren’t happy and gurgle shout out something which directs their ranged mages towards Gem.

Or rather, where Gem had been. They had ducked back behind the railing. “Hey guys, I think we’ll get a good fight out of this one!”

June sighs, “I doubt we have a choice, seeing as you aggroed them.”

Gem laughs, “Just the ones on this side of the ship!” And they peek back over the side to toss down a couple more blades.

 This time the sharkfolk are ready and only one falls. Though more are hurt. Of course, the wind blades only delay the inevitable. Gem would have to be sending down magic non-stop to prevent their climb and the enemy mages would not allow that to happen. Their geysers of water blowing splinters off the railing hoping to catch them ducking out again.

Then the sharkfolk haul themselves up onto the deck, revealing them fully. And yeah, even more so than other folk the group had seen, they looked like sharks someone glued arms and legs to.

June finishes her second buff spell on Gem, who rushes towards the gathering of enemies.

Gem opens their mouth wide and chomps at them, all while their arms are stretched forward with the claws extended.

Not being idiots, the sharkfolk all take a step back and prepare to receive their charge.

Except that isn’t Gem’s plan. Once they get two-thirds of the way, their tail whips out from behind them, a five pack of wind blades attached to the end. All of which fly towards the sharkfolk at an impressive speed when the tail whips their way.

This was not what the sharkfolk were expecting, but their dead eyes didn’t even squint. They were already braced for impact, even if not expecting this sort of attack.

Then, unnoticed from the side, Samuel crashes into the tight formation, pulled all the tighter to defend against Gem’s magic. Samuel’s shield easily taking the impact, the sharkfolk, not so much.

Five of their group falls off the boat right then and there. Though they might be the lucky ones. This shield charge broke their defensive formation and Gem’s five wind blades are just now arriving.

One takes a sharkfolk right in the throat, opening up quite the wound. And while the others aren’t as bad, they aren’t good either. Which Gem isn’t above taking advantage of and so they continue their charge.

Gem’s claws seem to almost slither through the sharkfolks’ armor and natural defenses. Even the smallest gap in their armor is taken advantage of by Gem to slice them up. Though the sharkfolk don’t pay too much attention to them, they are not afraid of the shallow cuts. Up until Gem gets their fingers on two of the bigger folk, Samuel has fully taken their attention.

Two quiet noises seem to freeze their targets. Though this isn’t some sort of sound magic. Rather, Gem had just channeled a pair of wind blades and launched them at point blank distance.

This isn’t enough to separate the head from the body, but the spine is properly chopped. Which drops the two sharkfolk. They aren’t dead yet, their Body stat being quite advanced, but they aren’t going to last long either.

Though the party’s little spat is interrupted at this point. From the aft of the boat, one of the crew blasts through the sharkfolk as she chases something that might have at one point been the same. Whatever the being is now, has strayed quite far from that starting point.

Gem barely makes it out as the two literally run through the sharkfolk they had been fighting, but they looked to be warped by the bad kind of chaos. One arm is split down the middle on purpose, the bone left to one side, allowing the other to move with boneless agony. The feet had something done to them, maybe teeth growing out of their soles? And the head had an odd number of eyes which was greater than three.

Oh, and squirming runes. Runes which later on the others would complain about them making their eyes bleed. Gem just felt like they were dirty and impure.

Though with this interruption, it did mean the party was free to go help elsewhere. Or rather, Samuel stood guard as Gem played overwatch. Their wind blades, when combined with the new spear and June’s buffs, were amazing at sniping.

Of course, for the spear to work, Gem needs to actually hold the weapon in their hand and channel the spell through it. But once they do? Their wind blades pack quite the punch, piercing through skills and shattering the coral armor that seems popular among the sharkfolks’ casters.

All the while, Emrys is acting to protect those who are downed. While he doesn’t have any healing magic, sometimes prevention is more important. Which, in his case, means putting up illusions around the downed crew members so the sharkfolk can’t spot them.

Though in the end, this is all small side dramas going on. Sssally and a great white sharkfolk who should be at least three meters tall are duking it out off to the side. The water provides the sharkfolk no safety as Sssally proves herself to be quite adept at water combat. Her weapon, a crystal cutlass that water will not approach.

The enemy sharkfolk, on the other hand, is using knuckle dusters that seem to be made from their own teeth. Though maybe gauntlets would better describe them, as it is a close thing. Besides that, though, the only other feature that stands out with the short amount of time that Gem has to watch, is more tattoos.

Though instead of covering the body, they are centered on their head. Oh, and the runic tattoos do not seem to shift around. Gem, however, does admit that the whole “shifting” thing might just be a mistaken observation on their part. They didn’t exactly get a proper chance to examine that weird mutated sharkfolk.

Whatever the case, Sssally’s fight soon reaches a climax only for their battle to suddenly end. The tension between the two high end combatants snapped as one of them dies.

Gear and a Ship - Chapter 2

Feeeshing - Chapter 4