Ilmea's Lament Deep Sea Leviathan

[Mio Ban]

After saving the ex military officer, Mio had been buried deep in research. Outside of her typical looting adventures, she had gotten used to deep sea diving and had poured through the pouch sized map that the man gave her as she showed him the exit to the town. Though she wasn't sure where the elderly man and his small family would end up, she couldn't help wishing that they were happier then they'd been. It wasn't how the quest was supposed to go, but Mio felt that it turned out happier for it while she poured over her books and mapping tools.

It was in instances like this that her knowledge was beneficial as she tried to plot where to go, hoping it wouldn't be a wild goose chase, once she settled on a location, she sent a message to @Selene telling her she was ready. Her eyes had black bags from the lack of sleep, it was clear that Mio had been working and pushing herself to find things and get everything set up. It was tough on her but she at least managed to get it all together even if it was still a lot later then the arranged time.

Mio would be sitting on a crate, curled up in a small ball trying to get a short nap in at least. Fox tail wound around herself for a bit of warmth in the sun while she waited. It would be some time until the ship they needed to take would set off after all. For that reason Mio tried to get in what hours or minutes of precious napping that she could up until the very last second when she would need to get on board and tell Selene the plan. Hoping everything would go well, she maintained her tightly curled state until she was woken up or until she was told the crate needed to be loaded up.

 

[Selene]

It seemed that it was time to continue with whatever plot that @Mio Ban had been cooking up after their little tangle with the law and saving that one military guy. It had all gone a bit silent and Selene had wondered if Mio had hit a dead end, plus there had been that whole mess with the Red Fever that the two of them had gotten wrapped up in, but after all was said and done it had been pretty quiet. She'd considered that Mio had just come to a snag and there was nothing more they could do.

Until she'd received the message and dropped everything that she'd been doing to meet up with Mio, eager to take the next steps in this plan that the fox girl had to make them more money. She wanted the money. Being rich was great and she wanted to make more and more and more.

Though when she got there, Mio was curled up in a ball on a crate and Selene had almost awoken her, until she caught sight of the dark rings around Mio's eyes, indicative of a lack of sleep and rest. It probably wouldn't hurt to let Mio rest a bit longer, right?

Selene settled into place, giving Mio's tail a soft, gentle pat, as she prepared to entertain herself until Mio woke up naturally.

 

[Mio Ban]

Mio remained curled up for a long time, trying to peacefully nap, a decent amount of time would pass but unfortunately she wouldn't get woken up naturally. Instead, it was when one of the many sailors bringing equipment on finally needed to load the crate she slept on. Though the man seemed a little sorry for having to do so, it was for that exact reason Mio chose to sleep on it, so that she would get woken up before loading if Selene got lost.

Gradually coming to, half awoken by people loading crates and half from Selene's petting, she gradually lifted her head, rubbing her face with her sleeves before sliding down off of the box so as to not hold anything up. "Mm... It still feels too early." She would complain half laughing half yawning before she finally smiled to Selene, a little more awake. "Good to see you came though. This one might be a little tough, it's definitely a lot riskier then the jail break from before, so it's best if we talk about the details before we get too close." Mio spoke, though still exhausted, she didn't hesitate to warn Selene about the dangers this time around. Normally Mio was the type to value safety first and for good reason with how dangerous the game was. This adventure was worth a more serious risk in the girl's mind though.

It was for that reason she made sure she could at least talk to Selene first and make sure she knew what was going to happen before getting too invested. She wanted to make sure her friend knew what they were going to do and had a chance to leave before getting on the ship at least. Mio wasn't one to judge, self-preservation was important after all, but for Mio who relied on gold and in game currency for real life wages, the turn around of items inside would be enough for her to make a drastic change to her life.

@Selene

 

[Selene]

Eventually, a sailor had to come and end Mio's sleep by needing to load up the crate that the fox girl had chosen to sleep on, though he did seem apologetic so Selene didn't try to give him too much trouble for it. Especially since Mio seemed to be pretty understanding of it, perhaps having chosen that specific crate for that exact reason, though Selene obviously had no way of knowing these things. She could share emotions, not read minds.

"Good morning." She nodded as Mio was finally awake enough to hop off of the box and could greet her, though hearing that it would be riskier than the jail break, Selene rubbed the back of her neck nervously, though it was good to know that Mio knew what the risks were. She'd need to pick the woman's brain for knowledge anyway.

"Alright, so what exactly are we going to be doing? I assume it has something to do with the sea since we're at the docks and all, but last I knew, you sent that guy and his family on their way." She wasn't going to just accept whatever mission this was going to be without understanding the risks and actions they would be taking. "And will it be as dangerous as that whole Red Fever debacle was?"

@Mio Ban

 

[Mio Ban]

Mio was a bit bitter about the level of danger, nodding along with some level of discomfort at the memory of the Red Fever event. She still couldn't help her throat being a bit dry when she remembered just how close Celeste was to dying right next to her, how she saved someone's life with her art against all odds. Even if she never got credit for it, the girl managed to survive thanks to Mio. "It's probably just as dangerous, maybe worse?" She couldn't help wearily mention thinking about what was ahead of them on their journey.

If Selene seemed confused or horrified, Mio would explain. "It's a creature in the deep ocean, the reason the guy's treasure was never found was because it sank with their ship. They imprisoned him to try and get the location out of him, but he gave it to me for his freedom because it's not something he'd be able to get back on his own." Mio explained the reason she ended up being able to make the trade. "It's deep under the water, we'll be fighting a big monster, the kind of boss battle they usually send a bunch of people into. If we're careful though I think we can take it as long as we keep retreating if we ever get too hurt and go back in while it's wounded." Mio offered thinking her plan had some merit.

Of course, if Selene didn't want to come, Mio understood, Selene didn't really have much of a need to risk things like she did. "It's risky business, so if you wanted to wait this one out and see how it goes, I understand." She spoke, with a small smile, making sure the girl knew that even if she did refuse, Mio wouldn't hold it against her.

@Selene

 

[Selene]

Ah, well that made this suddenly feel a lot less like a friendly, happy adventure and more like it might be a treck to their certain dooms, hearing that it might even be worse than the Red Fever thing, though they were hearing stories that things had gotten even worse after they'd left and a search party had been sent out for the missing Explorers or whatever.

And the further the explanation went, the more pale Selene became, color rapidly draining out of her face as Mio explained that it was some kind of deep sea creature. The kind of boss battle that they'd be sending a bunch of people into and they were going in alone with just the two of them? It felt like Mio was losing her mind going after this much money, but at the very least, her friend did have a good idea. So long as they were able to actually outrun the creature.

"I mean, it sounds pretty terrifying, I'm not gonna lie. But so long as retreat is always an option, I'm okay to give everything at least one try." She nodded, swallowing. Was her sword even going to be useful against some underwater sea creature? Actually, for that matter...

"How are we going to get to the bottom of the ocean anyway?"

@Mio Ban

 

[Mio Ban]

Mio wore a weary expression seeing Selene go paler and paler. It was a bad idea maybe, but she invited Selene because she was the one she trusted the most. At the end of the day it was definitely a tough sell for most people who understood the consequences of the game. Letting her proposition sink in, Mio nodded thinking to explain a bit more. "It's a trapped beast, after the treasure sank and was swept by the current, the beast that hoarded it hadn't left the cave since it was small, so it can't leave now that it's big. It has some complex tunnels and smaller caverns for us to move through, and air pockets and plants to breath from." Mio explained, her experiences deep sea diving already helping her a little at this point.

Though when asked about how they would get there, Mio tilted her head in confusion. "Diving bell, you know?" She spoke as if it were obvious but for anyone not interested in treasure and looting it might be a novel and foreign concept. "It's like a church bell, they drop it down into the water and it holds air inside of it. You sorta use that as the escape too, when we're ready to come up you pull a rope and they pull the bell up with you in it." Mio tried to describe the object in question with hand gestures and miming. It was something she was intimately familiar with at least, and while there were dangers to doing such a thing in reality, the physics of the game fortunately didn't allow for things like the Bends.

@Selene

 

[Selene]

Well that made her feel a little bit better about things, hearing that the creature, whatever it was, was trapped in some underwater caves after the treasure sank. It wasn't still super ideal, but Selene was at least a lot happier trying to escape something that was trapped than trying to outswim a sea creature with the whole ocean at its fingertips. She still wasn't exactly sure how good she would be at actually fighting anything underwater, but at least she wasn't a Pyromancer.

Though she'd never heard of a diving bell. As she opened her mouth to ask what one was, Mio spoke up to explain it anyway. It sounded like a smart idea, though she didn't have an understanding of the physics that allowed it, at the very least, it sounded like the kind of thing that would work. Especially if Mio seemed so confident in it that she'd mentioned it as if it were so obvious that anybody should know it.

"Ah, so we go down using this diving bell thing, but how do we actually like, get out and explore without drowning? I don't think we'll get very far if we have to keep swimming back to the bell to breathe." She tried to think. Maybe her Spirit Magic could help? Probably not, though, since it had nothing to do with water or air. "I feel kinda useless. None of my stuff will really help us all that much. I can maybe use Metamorph to give myself gills, maybe, but that won't really help you all that much, will it?"

@Mio Ban

 

[Mio Ban]

Mio was naturally confident in the diving bell, she'd used it a few times and checked the underwater play already. It certainly wouldn't be a great play area if it didn't have the resources for players to reach it after all. "There are usually air pockets, or air clams, or special plants. The last two dives I did, one had plants with air in them you could squeeze, while the other had air pockets floating around in a ship." Mio explained, though when Selene mentioned spirit magic, Mio nodded with a warm grin. "Though lots of things could be useful down there too. I can draw a rebreather that'll recycle some of your breathing and make sure you don't lose air at least. So that's a nice bonus." Mio offered

Though hearing her talk about useless, Mio immediately shook her head as if it were silly. "What do you mean? Metamorph for gills is amazingly useful, you won't need any of my help to be down there with that." Mio spoke as if it were a nice skill to have. While Mio could make her own air with a few masteries if she was desperate enough, Selene's method was naturally superior to her own. It almost made her sigh thinking Selene might have been more prepared then she was to explore the deep seas, but she tried not to dwell on her own weaknesses.

"Anyway, this is an important looting possibility, as long as we can deal with the boss, dragging things out will be easy peasy." Mio spoke nodding and even offering a hand to Selene to take her on board the ship taking them out. Though if Selene still seemed uneasy, Mio would try to sweeten the deal for her partner. "Hey, come on, if we do good, I'll even let you cuddle my tail on the way~" She offered with a warm smirk swishing the fluffy fox tail at Selene.

@Selene

 

[Selene]

"Special plants?" That sounded like something totally out of a sci-fi or fantasy novel, though to be fair, this world was a fantasy world, so she supposed it made sense. Still, plants that they could squeeze the air out of didn't exactly fill Selene with a whole lot of confidence in their ability to not drown under the water. The offer to draw her a rebreather was definitely appreciated, though she didn't want Mio to have to waste a lot of energy looking after her when they would probably need every last bit of energy they could get.

The talk about her Metamorph though, made Selene shake her head. "I know it's good for me, yeah. I just wish I could use it to help you out a little bit more. I feel like my skillset is kind of inherently selfish and won't really be much help to you outside of combat." Maybe she could ask the spirits to guide their way, but the spirits were usually pissed off that she kept using them to bind spells and cracking them open for spiritual energy.

With that said, she reached out and accepted Mio's hand, stepping on board the ship that would be taking them to their destination, before grabbing a hold of Mio's tail and giving it a soft hug. "Let me know when we're there. I'm going to cuddle this for a while."

@Mio Ban

 

[Mio Ban]

Nodding Mio tried to describe it, even going as far as to use hand gestures. If Selene didn't understand from that alone, she'd try drawing a model using ink going from a blob of opaque black liquid into bizarrely shaped plant that seemed as if it were made out of seaweed knit and folded into a net that held a fat water bubble. "It looks something like this... They're made out of different stuff, but it's almost like an astronaut helmet?" She tried her best to explain, but she didn't have much experience in real life equals to give the idea any weight.

Fortunately it just seemed like she would be the one to worry about it though, with a bright smile, Mio shrugged without any worried. Even if Selene was the only one who benefited, that was plenty, having someone who didn't need the air made it easier for her to horde it. "I'll be fine. Have faith in me at least, I wouldn't be going down there if I wasn't able to take care of myself." She spoke brightly glad Selene was worried, but she didn't want to stress the woman and make her worry about her own safety.

The hand holding though made her cheeks a bit pink as they stepped on board, her tail swishing up until the woman hugged her tail making her twitch. With a dry laugh she let Selene cuddle her nodding along as if it would be fine before they arrive. "Are you sure you don't wanna find a hammock to lay in if you're going to cling that tightly?" She asked with a giggle.

@Selene

 

[Selene]

The drawing of the plant that Mio had described did help her understand it a bit better, though it was a little comical, seeing the helmet shaped seaweed and the bubble that was held inside of it, probably a bubble of air surrounded by water, or something like that? Selene had no way of knowing for sure, considering that she'd never seen one before, but if Mio knew about them and was confident that she could use one for breath, then Selene had decided that it was totally fine with her.

Plus, now that she thought about it, if she could give herself gills, then that meant that Mio would be able to use all of those plants and other air sources, without needing to share, so ultimately Mio would also be safer as well. "Alright, yeah. I have faith in you. Plus, you said you've done something similar to this before, right? Like, as a practice dive or something? Or are you going treasure hunting without me?~" She tried to tease, before she climbed in the boat.

"If you can find a hammock though, I'd gladly lay in that and cuddle for a bit!" She smiled, pausing in her hugging to look around. "I've never been on a boat before!"

@Mio Ban

 

[Mio Ban]

Mio grew a little bitter. Thinking of hunting treasure without Selene, did she? She did a few quests but wasn't sure if those counted as treasure hunting, there was certainly treasure involved, it was the only reason she really participated besides the quest rewards. Putting some thought in, she tilted her head with a hum. "Mmm... I've done a few quests, not really big treasure hunting, does that count?" She asked with a pout, wondering if Selene was upset, she didn't want her friend to think she was going on without her, but she just thought those quests were small and maybe not worth bothering her partner over.

Though the hammock was a nice thought it was a hard find. Grabbing Selene by the hand they ended up spending more time wandering around the boat looking at things, a childish adventure exploring the ship since it was Selene's first time. Holding hands, with the girl hugging her tail occasionally, it was a fun experience together wandering about until they made it to the site.

The crew were busying themselves with preparing the diving bell, getting it strung up and ready to sink. Mio watched while leaning on Selene, it wouldn't be much longer now. "We'll probably be jumping down soon. Just stay safe and be careful." She tried to warn hoping that they'd be able to get to the site of the treasure without endangering themselves more then necessary. The risk would be too great to get injured on the way over after all.

@Selene

 

[Selene]

Selene shrugged. "No, I don't really think it counts, if it was just a quest or two." Though it did make her feel like she hadn't really done anything since they'd last met. She'd kind've just been resting on her laurels, not really going out and accomplishing a whole lot, though she'd had one or two customers in the real world, so at the very least, she'd been working. Though even then, it wasn't exactly as if tattooing somebody was a particularly hard job, unless the person was getting their first ever tattoo.

Mio grabber her by the hand and they began to explore the boat, looking at things and with Mio taking her around the ship, showing her things. It was nice of the woman, especially since Selene had never been in a boat or on the ocean before.

Though they settled in to watch the sailors preparing the diving bell, stringing it up. Selene watched them with great interest. "Sure thing. You stay safe too. Do you want me to go inside of the bell with you? Or dive with my gills alongside it? You'll have more air if we go with the latter."

@Mio Ban

 

[Mio Ban]

With a wide smile, she was a little relieved that Selene wasn't bothered by it. At the very least though it did make Mio a bit worried, she'd have to invite her friend along for smaller things next time. Maybe a cute date or trying something like cheap cakes? Selene might not like the prospects of stale cakes but for Mio it was an exciting date treat. "Good. Plus, I'd feel bad dragging you all over left and right." Mio spoke with a warm smile, thinking Selene wouldn't want to be attached to her hip.

When Selene talked about going down on herself, Mio didn't have a strong opinion either way. "It's okay, the air in the diving bell only needs to last long enough to go up and down." Mio explained, but if Selene wanted to be outside, Mio could even join her outside until they got to the bottom. When The bell finally got lifted, it was their turn to shine, Mio happily stood up trying to pull Selene with her with a bright smile. Letting the girl dive into the water over the side or ride the bell with her.

When it was dropped, Mio would jump with it, grabbing onto the side as it pulled her down into the water with it's weight. She held her breath with a wide smile, if Selene was with her or swimming down after her, she'd wave happily as it got deeper and deeper, darker and darker. Towards the bottom it was almost as dark as night in a city, the dim light was enough to see but it was clearly obscured at the same time. Fortunately they weren't here for searching or fighting locals. They were there to find treasure and fight a monster. Thinking of one last break, Mio swam around into the bell for a breath, getting ready to draw her rebreather on her face and give Selene a good luck hug before getting ready to head into the danger zones.

@Selene

 

[Selene]

"Well don't feel bothered about dragging me around for stuff. To be perfectly honest I don't really do much whenever you're not online." She'd not really found much reason to be invested in the game aside from playing with Mio whenever they were both online and available at the same times. It wasn't that she felt like she was glued to Mio, just that there really wasn't a whole lot of reason to play the game when Mio wasn't there with her. It wasn't like she had any other friends that played or anything.

Though the explanation as to how the bell would work and how long the air needed to last did assuage her nerves a bit. "I'll go down outside of it and swim down with you. It should be fine if I have gills and stuff, I think."

And then when the bell was finally lifted, it was go time. Selene took a deep breath, before leaping into the water, only using metamorph to add gills to her body when she was submerged, to reduce the discomfort of her gills feeling dry. Though she found that the bell was sinking deeper, before she quickly made her fingers and toes webbed, which gave her a bit more thrust underwater.

And it was beautiful down there, underneath the blue waves. She had to stop for a minute to take it in, whilst Mio retreated into the bell. It was dark down there too. The metamorphed elf licked her lips nervously, keeping an eye out for any hostile activity.

@Mio Ban

 

[Mio Ban]

Mio made sure her rebreather was drawn on properly before falling back into the water with Selene once more. Giving the woman a warm wave, she would shift to get her bearings and make sure they were going the right way. Once she found the right direction she'd glance back to Selene and beckon her forward.

The site wasn't too far, Selene would be able to see a myriad of plants with air bubbles trapped much like the one Mio originally showed her an example of. There was a light florescent bulb or two growing from the plant net making it easier to see in the dark. It was clear they were here for a reason, they grew this way by design no doubt so that players might be able to fight without drowning or fear of drowning. In the end Mio would have to use one along the way taking a deep breath before continuing on.

She would guide Selene towards the mouth of a cave, one that seemed particularly dead except for the plants leading them in. It was nerve wracking, getting farther and farther from the ship as they went deeper and deeper, stopping for Mio to take a breath every once in a while before going deeper. The further they went, the warmer the water became until it had gone from a black and dark cold cave into a warm almost glowing red space deeper within. You could see magma vents and super heated rock here and there as if magma was flowing on just the other side.

With a bitter smile, Mio waved for Selene to come closer and stay towards the edge of the entrance into wide bright red cavern. If Selene joined her, she'd occasionally see a massive creature that could compete with the size of their boat. It was no wonder it wouldn't come out and attack anyone when it couldn't fit through the entrance to the bright red cavern.

Spoiler

 

[Selene]

Sinking down into the depths was both an uplifting and ominous feeling. The way that she felt gravity almost stop affecting her entirely, feeling her new gills able to supply her blood with enough oxygen to keep her body working, though she was definitely aware of the way it was draining her energy meter, enough that she knew she couldn't afford to recklessly waste energy if she wanted to stay down here for long enough to do whatever it was that they needed to do. She'd have to be conservative to remain useful to Mio.

She began to swim along, following after Mio as the fox girl beckoned for her to go, seeing a lot of plants with trapped air bubbles, or ones that glowed with bioluminescent light, making it just easy enough to see, even with her own senses that weren't as sharp as those possessed by a beastkin. She could only really watch in concern as Mio paused to take a breath from one of the plant bubbles, before they continued.

The water got warmer and warmer, almost glowing red as there were magma vents and heated rocks, Selene swallowing at the feeling, before they caught sight of a creature the size of their boat, in the entrance to a cavern. At the size of it, she gave Mio's tail a gentle tug to grab her attention, eyes wide as she looked at it, sharing her feeling of unease and uncertainty with Mio using her racial trait. They were supposed to fight that thing!?

@Mio Ban

 

[Mio Ban]

Cycle 1
~Infant Dragon Leviathan~

Spoiler: Battle Details

Info

Total HP is the total HP of every part of the creature and is not targetable alone
Map Link

Status Effects

Blindness: When Blind roll save against DC 40 or miss. Lasts until free
Paralysis: When Paralyzed roll DC20 or stunned. Lasts 3 turns
Entangle: Movement unavailable. Lasts 2 turns
Lava: 10 Damage every turn or movement through tile
Stone: 50HP impassable terrain

Mio wore a dry smile nodding her head slowly in answer to Selene, the girl was appropriately skeptical but Mio had confidence in fighting the young creature that had already outgrown it's pen's exit. Turning towards Selene, she used her own Racial trait to communicate back after feeling her unease. "It's okay, I wouldn't have brought us down here if there was no shot. We can always escape if we need to and it won't be able to follow us outside of the cavern." She tried to explain through her racial trait's non-verbal communication.

Though Selene wouldn't be able to talk back, she could at least feel Selene's feelings to know what the girl thought. "It's a tiny thing compared to the real one, but these tunnels are connected to each other on all sides so we can leave and come out of another really quick if we need a break or some distance." Mio offered hoping that would calm Selene down. If it did, she'd be relieved at the very least if Selene wanted to go home now there'd be no hope of her continuing on her own and everything would be for nothing. Though when things were properly worked out up until that point, she'd turn back towards Selene in thought. "Which side do you want to approach from? Think we should split up or no?" She asked while nibbling her lip.

Dragon Leviathan

​

Total HP

❰ 1200 / 1200 ❱

❰ 100 / 100 ❱

Head

❰ 0 / ??? ❱

Head

❰ 0 / ??? ❱

Head

❰ 0 / ??? ❱

Head

❰ 0 / ??? ❱

@Selene
Player Sheet

 

[Selene]

210 / 210

Location: H2 on the map

Being able to receive information from Mio even when they were both underwater and unable to physically talk to one another was a huge boon, even though the elf couldn't exactly communicate back through anything other than her own feelings. Knowing that escape was always an option, at the very least, she felt reassured at that, which she allowed to transmit over to Mio through her ability to share her feelings as an Elf.

Hearing that this was a small thing compared to the real one, though, made Selene feel another stab of shock and panic, thinking of how large the true one must be, if this one was already so big that it was essentially trapped in the caves.

Still, the thought of retreat never being an option that was closed off for them was reassuring enough that she could send Mio a sense of nervous determination, though she did send the fox girl a feeling of terror when she mentioned them splitting up. She did not want to be split up, only for something to happen.

So she began swimming into the cave, moving slowly enough to for Mio to keep pace with her, projecting a dully glowing pink barrier around Mio, aiming to protect the fox girl from damage if the beast noticed them and attacked.

Rolls

Protect
No Damage due to no attack target in range
Give @Mio Ban the Protected status
Guard Arts | Selene | 833C1

Dragon Leviathan

​

Total HP

❰ 1200 / 1200 ❱

❰ 100 / 100 ❱

Head

❰ 0 / ??? ❱

Head

❰ 0 / ??? ❱

Head

❰ 0 / ??? ❱

Head

❰ 0 / ??? ❱

Player Sheet