Event || Mysterious Fathoms Below

[eternitymods]

Who: All characters who signed up
When: June 23rd-25th
Where: Ka'Pandol, the underwater city
What: While the outworlders and their guides are touring the new arena at Ka'Pandol, the city begins to flood. It is up to them to activate the ancient drainage system beneath the city before the Blitzball Association is forced to cancel the upcoming tournament.



The Zora guide, Pharce, is leading the group from the Curti Center through the center of town, waxing poetical about the legend of the First Zora, when the sirens begin to wail. At first, the residents of Ka'Pandol wave it off as a drill, but the sirens do not stop, and as they walk, the visitor shoes are beginning to get soaked through with sea water that is slowly rising.

"Come along, quickly, all of you!" the guide calls, leading the group to the Bureau of Tourism near the city center. As they walk, the group will see the aquatic residents quickly deploying bubble helmets around their 'exotic' pets -dogs, cats, parrots, squirrels- heads, just in case City Management takes their time righting whatever issue the dome is having.

"Inside, please. Safety first is our motto, so let's get you outfitted," Pharce says, waiving them inside. Each person is given one of the patented Ka'Pandol Bubble Helm, which will allow them to breath comfortably for several hours. Those that cannot swim are issued an emergency life vest as well.

The water had reached knee-level now. An emergency evacuation message broadcasts from loudspeakers.

"Well, yes, you could...but where's the fun in that?"

Pharce waves at the Hypello gift shop owner, and the two bow their heads in discussion for a moment. When they part, Pharce pats the Hypello (whose nametag declares him 'Shtan') on the back.

"My good friend will lend us some of his wares, if you will join me in saving the city. We wouldn't want this little mishap to delay the big game, after all."

Those that agree to hold off on fleeing the city will be split into groups and given instructions on where to go in order to help the sinking city of Ka'Pandol.

Comments

[topgun_textiles]

[Safe and lit. Okay. Kanji would wait until everyone else started hopping in before he fetched the thread of silk rope he'd planned on using for a project and begin tying both ends. The dancer who wanted a new weapon would understand. He wound one end around his waist, casually casting glances around...

Then tied the other end around Naoto's waist, quietly gauging the slack. He needed to frontline this stuff and he wasn't about to yank her around, right?]

We jump on three.

[He understood how it might put her off, but he knew she was too stubborn to stay behind... hell, he didn't want her to. He offered his arm to hang on to.]

One... two...

[arosetowar]

[Realises what Kanji and Naoto are doing and dives down while he's still winding the rope around their waists. Once on the ground again, she unsheathes her gunblade and takes her position among the group.]

[pishirogane]

[It's embarrassing, but she can't swim. Kanji knows that, and she knows better than to try pretending like she doesn't need help. Their given air supply only could last for a few hours - they needed to help the city.]

[Once she's secured by the rope, she takes hold of his offered arm for the leap.]

... three!

[Here they go.]

[wheretheresawill]

I'll take rearguard. Just don't leave me behind, okay? [Terra deliberately lingers until the rest of his companions have descended. The city looks clear, but if monsters drop in on them suddenly, better to have him be the one hit than one of the more fragile members of the group. He can take a few hits - more than a few, really.]

[eternitymods]

[As the Heroes swim down the hall, there is only one way open to them: forward, into the chamber. Once they reach it, one of the side walls lifts to allow a giant shape to scuttle in. It is a behemoth-sized crab, with a knife gripped tightly in one claw.]

BOSS BATTLE: Giant Crab (with knife)
Crab Battle!* This giant crustacean can pack quite a punch with its Big Meaty Claws (and knife). Those who face it will need high defense to withstand its attacks while they whittle away its armor.

((CW for violence/gore and very dated videos))

[topgun_textiles]

[Kanji Tatsumi, the smart guy! It was as simple as thinking like a crab would, see, and in a flood like this it'd be perfect to hide out and build up a sense of vengeance for the ones who forced him to fight for glory. ...Or just reading signs and putting two and two together.

He tries, okay? He brandished his warhammer.]

I'm on it!

[With a roar he channeled that Smite of Rage and gave the crab a friendly hello, that odd ember-colored corona following through the swing. Something odd in his mind, that hungry 'beast' the Berserker's Guild had taught him plenty about, wondered what giant crab would taste like.]

[mech_and_mutt]

[Aaaaand this was something he probably should have seen coming. Thankfully, Red did arrive fully expecting a fight, so the presence of an oversized crustacean didn't rattle him over--]

--Is it holdin' a knife??

[Well, he can't just let Kanji go at it alone, can he? With a frustrated growl in his throat, Red flicked the hammer on his Gunblade and spun the [•Ice Bullets] into the chamber. In a place like this, he'd have a hard time pulling off the fancy stuff.

He'd just have to remember the basics of close-quarters combat.]

Not alone, you're not!

[A quick flutter of his legs was enough to thrust him forward, thanks to those silly-looking floaties he kept around his biceps- but at least they wouldn't stop him from the more finessed motions he'd need holding this thing at bay in the front lines. Kanji could get first strike against the shell with those big, wrenching blows- but Red's [•Magitek Sword] combo was aimed straight towards the joints. That oughta get its attention.]

Result of the throw of dice "1d4" : 1

[mythmaker]

Goodness...it's certainly Cancer.

[Well, she's never seen a crab holding a knife before. Every day, there's something new about this place, isn't there? Azusa swims in behind the others, relying on her purple tube to keep her from sinking from the weight of her wet robes.

But what can she do? She has a free turn. She thinks back to her spells and who's in the party, and once she reaches a position behind Red and Kanji (really, she knows her defense is a little too low to withstand a knifing from a crab), she frantically looks around for someone.

And she spots Naoto Shirogane.]

Um! Please accept this! Fight without worrying, okay?

[Since it seems Naoto might not know how to swim, Azusa casts Major Arcana on Naoto. The card she draws is a pair of scales: the balance. It's enough to give the teenager a 25% boost to her attack and, Azusa hopes, a boost of confidence.]

[pishirogane]

Thank you!

[Kanji already diving forward, Naoto doesn't even think about the rope. She trusts him to know what he's doing and to remember the length of the cord. Right now, she just has similar thoughts as Red - why was it holding a knife? Where did it even get a knife that big? Who needed knife that big and then a crab had it? So many peculiar questions, but perhaps an answer for another day when they're not supposed to be fighting.]

[Harpoon Gun from her back, she takes careful preparations to Aim. She needs to make this shot with her boost in attack count. Also the... boost in confidence is nice. At least she's not floundering around right now.]

[spaceforged]

...why is it holding a knife? Does it even know how to use that? [The ridiculousness of the situation is staggering. It's almost like home.

Shiro surges to the right behind Red and gets a good look at the giant crab. He might have to swap to Paladin but without the floaties, he'd be slower. For now, he'll leave it be. He pulls energy into his spear with Spirit surge and moves to get around to the side of the beast. If it can be distracted by the others he can take a shot at disabling the shoulder joint of a claw arm.

Knife claw first. He's not taking any damn chances.]

[arosetowar]

We're about to find out.

[Moves in the opposite direction to Shiro, but doesn't position herself as near to the claw arm; instead, she establishes a strong line of sight to its eye and fires off a Magitek Laser before falling into a defensive position, wielding her weapon now as a blade.]

[wheretheresawill]

Why does it need a knife? It already has pincers!

[Terra moves up close to the crab, confronting it head-on. It puts him in a more vulnerable position, but better him than someone more fragile. He activates Rampart, boosting everyone's defense by 5% and his own by 15%. That should protect them at least a little bit against the...giant knife? This is odd.]

Hey! Over here!

[Hopefully it's interested in Terra's yelling, or at least in his shiny armor.]

[eternitymods]

[The crab weathers the attack stoically, letting his armor shield him from the brunt of the damage. There may be a hint of a crack in the exoskeleton right at the leg joint where he took multiple hits. Kanji will feel a slight return of energy when he attacks, like taking a bite of a delicious shellfish delicacy.

The crab seems offended that everyone is questioning its knife-wielding prowess. It gives the knife a few expert waves before it scuttles forward to slash his knife at Terra, who is both shiny and questioning about its beloved weapon! The impact is somewhat 15% reduced by Terra's armor and job skill, but it still packs a punch.]

[topgun_textiles]

[The energy, it was so... delicious, and perfect for the summertime. Now he needed a big slice of watermelon, dashed in salt.

Another wind-up, and he would focus on making that crack he just found a little bigger. Another Smite, adding insult to gunblade-inflicted injury!]

[wheretheresawill]

I - guess that's why. [Terra's voice betrays the strength of that blow, though he's trying not to let it slow him down. He retorts with Saint Cross, hoping that magic will get through its armor in a way that physical attacks won't.]

[spaceforged]

[Okay, it can use the knife. He takes his shot with a Jump just as the crab slashes at Terra. He aims to get the exposed connective part in the arm riight before the shoulder. If he can get in a strike then it might slow down and open itself to the others.]

[mythmaker]

Terra! Please let me know if you need healing!

[It's tempting to start with that right away, but the crab has only attacked once. As far as she can tell, she's surrounded by six very physical fighters? It's a fair bit of pressure to be responsible for all of that.

Her next move is to cast Boon of the Stars on Shiro. It's a gift spell she can only give once, so she decides it would be best on someone right in the Crab's face.]

[mech_and_mutt]

Sapristi...!

[Even watching an impact like that was enough to have Red wincing-- and it certainly made those smaller cuts was trying to stack onto the cantankerous crustacean's claws seem less than adequate by comparison. More importantly, he can't just keep trying to feebly chipping away at this thing while it keeps beating on one of his teammates.

Still, it wasn't going to be easy even using his stronger techniques underwater, let alone trying to pick an element for a Magitek laser. Fire would be useless, Lightning would be a good way to hit everyone friend and foe alike... and an Ice laser would probably just clog up the battlefield freezing everything on the path to its target.

His bullets, on the other hand?... If he aimed just right, he might be able to land a few shots right in the cracks of that shell. They'd burst on impact, and the expanding ice could do the rest. That settled it-- it was back to target practice.

While it was tied up with Terra and Shiro's frontal assaults, Red slid himself aside to the crab's knife-wielding arms and let loose a small, quick fusillade of [•Ice Bullets] right into those small cracks that Kanji and Terra were digging into the armor- and if his aim was true, then hopefully they wouldn't stay small for long.]

[pishirogane]

[She's ready, watching, noticing the cracks that Kanji, Terra, and Red are making into the crab's shell. Her harpoon is ready, she shifts her aim after the Ice Bullets hail down and pulls the trigger. If this powered shot could open up that shell for Shiro's attack and further assault from the others, that would be great.]

[She'll have to reload before another attack.]

[arosetowar]

[With the others focused on the crab's armour and knife-wielding claw arm, Cornelia maintains her defensive position by the opposite claw, ready to parry and just on the edge of shouting out any warnings should it begin to move in threatening ways.]

[eternitymods]

[With the physical attacks and harpoon shot, aided by the aim skill, focused on a single area, the cracks in the crab's shell grow more pronounced. The holy paladin spell lights the crab from within, illuminating the cracks and causing the crab to flail in pain. The ice bullets leave a thin shell of ice around the cracked shoulder area...and when Shiro's jump bears down on that weakened spot, both the ice and the shell shatter. The knife-arm falls to the ground.

The crab lashes out with its Big Meaty Claw, but due to its abysmal dice roll proximity to the waiting Cornelia, it chooses its target poorly, attacking the party member who is actively guarding against, reducing the effectiveness of its attack.]

Good tank swap, guys

[mech_and_mutt]

[Once he'd frozen the joints over, that Dragoon's drop was watched with breath-halted anticipation... and Red nearly fist-pumped when it severed the limb completely, snapping the knife-arm off right from the base.]

Yeah! We took out the weapon!

[He tucked his Gunblade into the thigh of his armor, and raised an arm as ports began rising up from his vambrace aglow with arcane energy. Now that they didn't need to worry about a very large crab's very large knife being turned away from the more defensive fighters, perhaps he could forego even a hint of subtlety start ratcheting up the intensity of his attacks. And this was a trick he'd been itching to bring out into battle for quite some time now.

The glow of the [•Magitek Laser] quicky ignited into a bright flash- diffused and cooled as it was by the surrounding water- and a series of arcane beams erupted and arced aside, bombarding the upper shell of the crab in a bursting volley of shimmering magic- and when that blow finally hit, Red's grin was so toothy and satisfied he'd have passed for a shark at this depth.]

How d'ya like that?!

1/2

[mythmaker]

Everyone, keep it up! Unity is strength!

[Azusa maintains her position in the rear. She ceases swimming somewhere in the distance behind Red, sure to keep several yards to herself just so she isn't in anyone's way. She reaches for her cards again—her healing gift is set, and she has no real way to attack. When Azusa shows up to support, she shows up to support.

She places her hand on the top card—]

Wolf-kun! The next boost is yours!

[She reaches for the top card, and...]

2/2: Result of the throw of dice "1d4" : 4 💦

[mythmaker]

[...she draws the spear, meaning her Major Arcana does nothing at all. Sure, Red will experience some fancy sparkles, but then it's like the magical equivalent of reaching for a Coke, taking a sip, and realizing it's flat. No effect, but no effect so strongly everyone in the party can sense it's a dud.]

Eh? ...How could this happen to me?!

[That's one big waste of a turn.]

[topgun_textiles]

[Maybe it was the blast of gunfire, the glimmer of ice, the way the dragoon hurtled down... he wasn't sure what it was, but seeing the arm fall and the knife clatter was something that gave him a gut-deep satis-

No. More limbs left. Tear them off.

Suddenly it was like chains being pulled taut, something howling and roaring in demand. Kanji had learned when to feed that feeling, lest it let itself out anyway. It was worse when it let itself out. Amid the glimmer and flash of the lasers firing in a spray, the red aura began to ooze between crevices in his armor, still a smoke even beneath the water. In a Berserk state, Kanji swam his way to the giant crab from his position from the flank. He looked like he had intentions to climb atop the thing.]

Now you fucked up. C'mere, ya big bastard...