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

[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...

[pishirogane]

[That's one claw down, but another claw still swinging. Doesn't look like it recovered quickly enough to get an effective attack back either. With Red firing his Magitek Laser, she reloads the harpoon gun, feeling a surge of energy from such small action alone.]

[Turning her attention from the others, she blinks when there's a rather familiar snarl. Naoto takes a moment to watch Kanji, brow furrowing as she considers how long they're going to be underwater like this because there's going to be no way to give him tea at this rate. With a sigh as she considers the issue for later, she tracks him, making to Aim at where ever he hits next.]

[spaceforged]

[He flips free, away from the crab and kicks backward once to put a bit more distance between him and the big claw swinging around. The battlefield around him is alive with people taking action. Shiro rights his spear and pulls on the dragon magic roaring through him. The best way he can support them is to time his next jump carefully.

Power curls in his hand and flows down into the spear in another Spirit Surge that coils in red lights around the shaft and over the spearhead as he drops to the floor of the room. Let's see what this crab will do.]

[arosetowar]

[Takes the hit with a light grunt, then uses the momentum from it to swim out of the remaining arm's range. There's less of a need to keep watch of the arm now that it is -- or rather that it appears to be -- the only remaining threat, so once she's established a new position she fires a Magitek Laser of her own into the crab's upper shell while the effects of Red's attack are still active.]

[wheretheresawill]

Hey! Over here!

[Terra doesn't approve of the crab hitting someone else. To get its attention, he heads in close to its legs and hits it with Shock Break, hoping to do some damage to more than one leg on that side with the greatsword combo.]

[eternitymods]

[The various attacks rain down on the crab, cracking at the armor, but not yet chipping any more major pieces away. The remaining claw is more heavily armored than the knife claw, which is why, perhaps, it chose to wield a knife with that former limb. Or maybe it is just a blade aficionado, you don't know this crab's backstory.

Though it moves a little more slowly due to the barrage of attacks(and maybe a little due to being distracted by Azusa's sparkly miscast), it reacts to the berserk Kanji attempting to climb on its shell by slamming its claw into Kanji, sending him hurtling back. Since Naoto is still tied to Kanji, she will also be dragged back a few feet. Thanks to the water around them, they both slow before they impact with the wall of the chamber, so only Kanji will take damage from the attack.]

[topgun_textiles]

[This crab was either more clever than he let on, or Kanji hadn't made the best decision. Jury's out and claiming both. The claw is a hammer of its own, slamming into his body and carrying him along at a speed he couldn't compensate from by swimming. Poor Naoto got taken for a bit of a ride herself.

But he hardly felt the impact against the wall, even if it dented the armor and made a sound even to those whose ears were muffled beneath the water. All he could hear was the blood rushing in his ears as the edges of red in his vision thickened. The sound he gave then, that roar, nothing about it was human...

Now he was mad. Food should know better than to fight back.]

[pishirogane]

[She's more startled than anything being dragged so abruptly, but it's not breaking her concentration or aim that easily. Where the new cracks were forming, her harpoon's back on target.]

[She pulls the trigger, letting the next harpoon fly, completely unperturbed by Kanji's roar. Her focus is remaining on the crap for now.]

[spaceforged]

[The roar punches through his thoughts like a hammer. Shiro spins his spear and studies the crab. The ice and leap has done a lot of good.]

Hey! Fire more ice at its legs and shoulder! We can weaken and disable it faster that way. Saint cross lit it up inside before to make it easier to target the weakest spots.

Think you can do that again? We could possibly slow down its attacks by freezing that claw too.

[mech_and_mutt]

Alright! now we-- eh?

[Did he need to get his armor checked or something? For a big flashy spell, that Major Arcana seemed to do a whole lot of nothing-- and it sure didn't feel anything like that boost Naoto seemed to get from--

well, on second thought maybe it'd be best not to be in Naoto's shoes right now. Or at least not her impromptu slingshot. He'd just have to let the confusing letdown slip from his mind for the moment; after all, this thing wasn't dead yet. Nor was it any less dangerous. And Shiro's idea was starting to sound like the best remedy to both.] Right--!

[It wasn't every day he had the weak points of his enemies conveniently lit up for him-- it definitely made figuring out where to plant those [•Ice Bullets] a lot easier, and soon he was firing off another few shots he'd lined up at the crab's claw. Hearing those sharp bursts underwater was getting pretty satisfying. But hearing a sudden click from his Gunblade a few squeezes in was quite the opposite. Dangit-- he really needed to get a feel for how many he had left.]

Furballs...!

[He'd hoped six shots would have been more than enough to kill anything that moves. Red popped out the chamber and let the casings fall to the stone with a tinkling clatter while he hurriedly slipped in another half dozen ice bullets, giving a nod to Cornelia as he did so.]

You heard 'im-- your turn!