Event: Dran's Latest Gambit

Date	Title	People	Location
May 13, 2015	Event: Dran's Latest Gambit	Kyson, Leilani, Coldran, Aevarr, Katyana, Tim and Korra	Turbulent Sea

Another day, another trip to the eastern coast of Dran, far from Arendt, his Iron Tide, and his war.

At least, that's where the briefing told you you were going. Teleportation across such a vast distance is not easy, but doable, and there's apparently a camp set up on the eastern coat, near the Turbulent Sea, wher you'll be meeting up with others for orders. Apparently, Arendt has hired mercenaries of his own to pluck something from the bottom of the Sea for him. You'll be told more shortly... after the painfully disorenting teleport that leaves you standing on a rocky and rugged looking bech. In the distance, you see several ships resting anchored, most of them looking to be durable and rugged brigantines. Below you on the beach itself appears to be a large camp of some kind, with a great many people appaently having excavated a section of beach to uncover a half-revealed pair of walls of some kind, all crumbled. This is your destination.

      Tim, the portly elf, staggers a bit after the teleportation. "Ohh...I think I'm going to hurl." He grabs his stomach, then lets out a loud belch. He straights a bit, "No, all better now." He looks down at the camp for a bit, trying to see just whats going on down there.

Coldan looks down towards the beach. He looks perplexed and bemused, before looking over at the others. "I never learned the trick of walking over water. But it looks like I'll be walking under it, before then." The khazad gives his foot a kick, shaking off the sand. a Leilani staggers a bit after the teleportation, but quickly regains her feet. She blinks, looking around to get her bearings. Her eyes fall on the anchored ships and she takes a step towards them, longing evident on her features. She takes no notice of the camp and the excavation.

Kyson has learned, finally, never to eat the morning of a teleport. Nope. Still, the young apprentice looks a bit pale after having arrived on the beach. Bending over a bit, holding onto his staff to ensure that he doesn't topple over, he takes several deep breaths to clear his mind and ready himself. The wizardling then straightens up, shakes his head a bit and inhales the fresh, salty air of the nearby sea. With a glance towards Korra he smiles, "You wanted to see it," he glances to the waters nearby.

Korra listens to the sea breeze swirling around her, drawing a long breath before she exhales slowly. She gives an uncharacteristic smile to the young magus, a blush warming her features. "It is worth the spell-travelling," she murmurs, gazing out over the grey waters. "Or the lack of knowledge before. The ocean is magnificent. Truly a wonder of the world!"

Aevarr is more accustomed to waking in unfamiliar surroundings than suddenly arriving at them. He is more than a touch unsettles by the translocation and stumbles. This is quickly covered by directing his stumbling towards the beach whilst he regains his nimbleness. A deep breath. "Ah, the salty tang of the sea... though I hope that is not merely the aroma of the sailors..."

"If you think the ocean is magnificent from the beach," Leilani comments to Korra, "just wait until you actually sail on it." A wistful smile curls her lips, "There's nothing like it."

Korra laughs softly, nodding as she gazes down, eyes turning reluctantly from the crashing waves to the encampment. "I saw a lake once," she says, starting her way down, picking her footing carefully. "I learned to swim among the rivers of the Vast, and quiet pools and ponds of home. I have never been sailing"

"It may be the aroma," replies Coldan. He steps forward near Aevarr, to take a closer look, himself at the camps and the sea. "Aha! Look, there. See the hair coming out of his nose?" he says, helpfully.

   Tim smiles, "As long as they can catch enough fish to feed me, I've never had a problem with sea travel. Now rations on the other hand." He shudders a bit.

        Katyana surly-ily (That's a word now) looks around the nice, sea-breezy beach, and scowls. "So this is it, right? We teleport around, can't eat a half-decent lunch, and now we're in shanty-town looking for stupid ruins. Well!" She just claps.

        "Let's haul aweigh the day and sing a merry jib and jig, etcetera, etcetera." The dark elf mutters, before adjusting her shirt and travelling pants. "Alright."

"They said we'd find out more, soon. We're to wait." Coldan tugs at his beard, and then gestures towards Nose Hair Sailor again. "It would be less obvious if he combed it in," to Aevarr. "I've never liked the look, myself, but you can find accounts of it in some of the older style guides. Particularly Dran." The young khazad's eyes dance, though with reservation. As though he'd told a risque joke.

Korra glances towards Katyana, stifling a giggle. No, that would be unseemly; must be protective and stern for the sake of guarding the body. "Perhaps there will be a decent haul-keeling?" she suggests to the shadow elf, smilie fading to firm confidence. "I have heard that such is how they deal with their very worst criminals, since they do not have the horses for anything else." She continues making her way down, kicking a small stone aside. "What is this 'thing' we are to stop Arendt from finding? Does anyone know?"

   Tim sighs, "Well, we might as well head down there and talk to them. That is what we are paid for..." He sniffs a bit, "I wonder if dinner is ready yet." He starts to waddle towards the camp, pulling out some jerky from a pouch and taking a bite to chew.

Leilani smirks at the dark elf's "cheery" mood and shifts to a sweet smile as she offers, "I do know several good shanties. I could teach you the words. We'll have a good sing-along while we wait for...whatever it is we're waiting for."

Stern for the sake of the body? Whyever would one want to be so dull? Aevarr dips his head in a knowing nod to the Khazad before loosing a chuckle. He then rolls his shoulders to Korra. "I know as much as you, my dear: travel to the sea for high adventure and high coin."

        "Thanks. I'll pass. I don't want bards to hate me for muscling in on their business any more. What with being already universally hated and full of myself already, if I sung any bawdy songs I'd have to join their stupid union and take a name like 'Princess Shadowdarque'." Katyana grouses with a shrug.

        "So you see. I simply cannot."

Down the way you go towards the camp.

You're quickly welcomed by what appears to be a large, half-elven man who seems quite pleased to see you. 

"Hullo," he calls, "they told me to expect you. It's nice to be able to operate in Dran without the usual cloak and dagger routine. Thankfully, we're a long ways from Arendt's center of stregnth. Well, let's get straight to work, shall we? We believe Arendt has been on the hunt for one of Krieg's lost treasures. We have reason to believe we've identified the location first, and that if we can recover it before Arendt can, we'll be able to use it against him. Once you're ready, you'll board the ship and get to go on a sailing trip. My advice: Don't each much. They don't call it the 'turbulent sea' for nothing."

Aevarr's path veers towards Katyana as he steps towards the camp. "I'll certainly not think ill for any bawdiness you may or may not wish to share with others, my dear. I am a fierce proponent of expression. One should ever enjoy the freedom to share as they wish..." He straighten as they are greeted. "How delightful! An excursion across the sea! And, pray tell, my good man, any notion of how long we might be excursing across the violent waters?"

    Tim nods after the information is presented, "Sounds good. How soon do we sail?" Apparently he isn't going to stop eating, as he is still chewing on his jerky.

Korra glances aside as the long-winded researcher greets them. She cocks her head to listen, but only with half an ear; the ocean itself is far more alluring. Crashing waves, and swirling sea…

Leilani's eyes light up at the mention of lost treasure and a big grin emerges at the mention of sailing, "Oh, now we're talking. I'd be more than happy to help recover this treasure." She looks towards the anchored ships appraisingly, "So which one is ours?"

Kyson walks close, but not necessarily beside Korra as they prepare to board the ship. His sea-blue eyes are bright and shiney, eager to begin the journey but also to explore under the sea. He's never been able to perform a spell that would allow him to do anything like that previous. Wait...a look of concern washes over him. What about his scrolls? And his journals? Will they get wet too? uh. The apprentice now seems a bit lost in thought, calculating what he would take with him and what he might leave behind. Oh... leaving things behind...on a ship. Are there pirates? Will his belongings be there when he returns? What was going to be a 'brave new adventure' is now starting to sour in the pit of his stomach. Not that the young man worries a lot or anything.

"The Brigantine. It has the best shot of weathering this. We've consulted with Alexandrian officials as we know some of the mhad experience with sending people under the water and we believe we've located the general area where the treasure might've sunk. You see, many centuries ago, Krieg, reached out to all the lands and peoples of th eworld as he prcolaimed his new empire. An in turn, many of them sent great gifts and tributerom across the world, as nations would do whenever a new king or prince or what have you is crowned. It's diplomacy. Some of them came from the lords of Xiang-Sei. According to legend, they were en route to a fort located along the coast of the Turbulent Sea, but sank admist a vioent storm within sight of the fort. We believe we've located the fort. Which means we've located the expanse that would constitute 'line of sight', which means we've located a poential ship full of treasures from Xiang-Sei, meant for gifts for the emperor of the Dranei people." The half-elf grins.

"The downside is that Arendt is looking too, but we're not sure how far ahead... or behind ... we are. It's possible he's just letting us do the heavy lifting too. That's one of the reasons you're here. Insurance. Now, you'll get on ship board and you'll be helping our searching parties on these ships to try to locate the sunken ship or any signs of it."

The mention of Xiang-Sei certainly draws Korra's attention, curiosity dragged away from the swirling oceans. She listens quietly, subdued as she digests the tale. "It must have been a different age," she murmur thoughtfully. "I could never imagine them doing such a thing now." She snorts softly, reaching up to brush a teasing of sea mist from her gauntlets. Her eyes wander back to the waters... The idea of treasure from ancient days. From a homeland never seen. Tantalizing.

Katyana smiles tiredly. "So we're muscle. If you wanted diviners or seamen, you'd pay top coin for that. We're here because you know where it is, and want some cheap swords to back you up." She offers, with a shrug.

        "But that's fine. All aboard, weigh anchor and yadda yadda." She grumps. She is very grumpy. Beaches really aren't her thing.

"If Arendt intends to watch and wait for us to find it for him..." Aevarr ponders a moment, before breaking out into a grin, "I applaud the man for his wisdom. Does anyone have an inkling as to what we seek? It would aid us in finding it, after all. An alluring, welcoming chest ripe for the clutching? A mighty, magical oar? Necklaces of pearls and gems? Gifts fit for emperors are a rather grand category..."

Coldan looks towards the half-sil, his brows up towards his hairline. "We don't have much ocean in the mountains," he says. Grins. "But, I will try my best. Ah, sail-away, and...however that goes."

        Tim has no questions really, instead he is snacking on his jerky. It looks like beef, since its dark in color. He is listening though to whats being said, and asked by the other adventurers here.

Leilani nods approvingly at the choice of ship before reluctantly taking her eyes away from them to look at the half-sil, "How are we going to be getting to the sunken ship?"

Kyson peers at the half-elf and asks, "Is it more important that we secure the treasure and return it...or that the enemy does not get their hands on it?" Leilani's question is given a nod of approval - as though he were also thinking the same thing but she asked it first.

"We don't have much contact with Xiang-Sei, but even today, were Dran to united under one man, I imagine they'd probably be willing to pay him off than deal with their expansionism. Tribute to powerful neighbors is still common," says the half-elven, red haired man to Korra. "We don't know much about what the treasure was supposed to be. It, well.. /sank/, but the legends say it was a lot of gold, and a lot of finely crafted art and stuff destinted for Krieg. If Arendt can recover it, the prestige of having things meant for Krieg, for himself, would be... rather high, you know? and hat's not to say what he could BUY with it." He shakes his head. "And that's not even getting into the fact that the Turbulent Sea has a LOT of shipwrecks in it. It's just going to be a sort of 'we'll know it if we find it because it'll be amazing if the legends are true'. He lets out a sigh.

"So, anyways," he continues, "you'll be provided with messaging tokens that'll allow you to talk, then you, along with a lot of othr search teams, are going to be fanning out in a pattern and exploring areas under the sea to try to see if we can't figure out where it is and at least where it's not." He leads you to one of the skiffs, helping you aboard and then nodding towards the oarmsan, "Good luck. You and the rest of the teams are going to need it. BE careful out there!" And then to Kyson, "Both, honestly. We'd rather have it than let them have it, but we can't let it fall into arendt's hands either. So.. .best judgement."

Tim nods, "Alright, well, lets get moving then shall we? Normally I hate walking, but I figure underwater it might not be so bad....at least I hope not." He shakes his head briefly as he considers problems with underwater travel.

Coldan steps onto the skiff. It takes a moment to regain balance--khazad? In ships? Some of them. The young man from the mountaindeep, and mountaincold. ...no. Absolutely not.

Korra's lips twitch at the explanation provided by the half-elf, but refrains from comment. "Treasures of the ocean, hundreds of years old." She muses quietly, walking towards the vessel. "Metal work might survive, but anything of art or silk would be long gone, unless it were protected somehow." She brrods on the question, thoughts running. ".... such a waste. There could have been works and words from the Immortal Masters aboard. A light of civility for barbarians."

Leilani boards the skiff easily and takes a seat near the front. She has nothing more to say to the half-sil and looks positively eager to be getting on with the mission.

"Worry not, my friend," Aevarr gives their briefer a friendly pat on the shoulder as he steps for the skiff. "If I know anything of vaunted adventurers, we have an unerring nose for gold and jewels. We shall sniff them out." Once aboard, he glances to his companions. "All brought proper swimwear, I trust?"

Coldan watches Leilani's move with interest, and looks to be cataloging it--much as a scholar would study a book. He mimics the step with his own foot--and then rocks on the boat.

He stops. Kyson looks to the dwarf as he climbs into the skiff and asks, "Are you going to be ok?" The young man's tone is of genuine curiosity and a hint of true concern. Though they've just met, the apprentice doesn't want one of his teammates incapacitated before they even begin.

The skiff, and the others there, row you ou to the brigandine where you're welcomed aboard by a rope ladder being tossed over the side and you're able to climb aboard. while the skiff is rescured to the ship after being lifted out of the water by men grunting and groaning. You know, like sailors.

You're greeted warmly by the captain and his crew, all of which appear to be slightly unsettled, if experienced, human sailors of Dran. They don't seem to mind working with you, as the pay is, apparently, excellent. 

You're each given a token and told to put them above your ear, and then masks with bottles afixed to them. Bottles of Air. 

"Wear these. When we get to the point, you'll be able to go under the water with no problem, so I'm told. Good luck to you. Each of those masks will protect you from the cold to boot. So don't ake them off, unless you want to drown or freeze to death or something. Probably drown." 

And with that, you set sail. 

Coldan secures the ear piece, and looks towards the water in question. "This has to be similar to diving back home. ..." He gives a bounce on the balls of his feet to test it. Then looks out to the sea.

And as the ship sets sail, Leilani finds herself at the bow of the ship. She leans against the railing, enjoying the feel of the wind and the spray from the waves. She hasn't put on the mask yet, but she has it handy for when it's time to go diving.

Aevarr eyes his token and mask. "Yes, I'll be sure to keep them in place until such time as I want to drown..." Which could explain why he promptly tucks the token in place and keeps the mask near.

Korra has never been to the oceans; she exhilirates in the snap of the ropes, the bite of the wind, eyes closing as she breathes in its cool breeze. A moment in time to treasure... And regretfully, one that must end. "Is swimming the ocean similiar to swimming in rivers and lakes?" she asks Leilani, removing her helm and setting it aside. The gleaming of her shield follows quickly thereafter, and she spends the next several moments shucking off heavy armor, setting pieces and parts and the shirt of chain to one side. "Rivers can have swift currents, and lakes are mostly calm."

Kyson shakes his head at Korra's question. "The oceans are dark - barely any light will reach us that far down." He explains, "According to Master Cesran, the water will be uh..."he tries to remember the proper description from his instructor, " cold as ice, dark as night. " Smiling a little, mostly because he was able to recall the information, he then lets the image settle into his mind. "Oh, but no matter - I can easily illuminate our path..." and then another image crawls into his mind, "...of course, that may attract nearly every living thing under the water as fast as a fisherman's lamp...hrm..."

Leilani nods at Korra's question without taking her eyes from the sea. A wistful smile plays across her lips as she speaks, "You get a little of both in the ocean, especially under the surface. Have to be careful to tell the difference so you don't get swept too far by the currents." She nods in agreement with Kyson's addition, "Aye, it does get dark under there." There's a beat pause as her wistful smile turns into a playful smirk, "And you don't usually see sharks in lakes and rivers."

Katyana leans over the side of the rail, slightly green. "Yeah, yeah, let's... Ugh... I hate the ocean. And - I know - let's all take a fireslinger underwater." She mutters, before peering at the mask, a viper slithering up to coil around her neck. "I'll probably have to leave my familiar on the boat, then. Unless you've got an adorable little mask for it, too?" She asks, trying to fight down her gorge and seasickness.

"With any luck, we'll not see any sharks here, either," Aevarr offers up. "Of course, if it's so dark, we shan't, shall we? So all will be well!" He seems healthy enough in stomahc and spirits.

Korra unstrings her bow, collecting it with her arrows, laying the whole beneath the chain. "Hopefully we will not see them today either," she replies with a smirk, eyes awrm. She wraps the collected arms in an oil cloth tarp, to protect as best she can from the salt-spray elements. "Legends say they eat ships though--" she glances to the others, hefting her shield back onto her arms. "I shall try to be as delicious and chewable as possible, that you may get away."

"At the wizard's suggestion, we've placed some lights on the bottom of the vessel. They're magical, so they should work okay, I guess." The captain grins, shrugs his shoulders. "I dunno how well they'll illuminate the depths or how far deep you'll wind up going, but it should at least provide some frame of reference for you. I've provided sunrods as instructed as well." Truly, you and the other ships are taking their sweet time in setting up in a pattern along the coast. Which you do. Eventually, you're given time to ready yourself and, after several hours, are told this is the place and it's time for you to go overboard.

"What's a shark?" the khazad asks, new to all of this. He grips the edge of the ship. It's only his race's broad stance that keeps him upright. The pale features have gained a greenish tint. He does his best to focus on the captain. When it's time to go overboard? "I just realized, if I lose my lunch in that. It's going to float right back up to me." Being an adventurer is GREAT!

        Tim grimaces and fits on the mask and the communications device. "You know, this means I will not be able to eat the entire time I'm down there. I am very unhappy about this."

Coldan looks towards Tim in poorly disguised queasiness.

To Coldan, Leilani says, "Imagine a sleek fish, built for speed and strength, easily 10 feet long or more, with row upon row of razor-sharp teeth." She gives a big, toothy grin before securing her token and her mask in place. She then tests to make sure the token is working, "Can everyone hear me through this thing?"

Korra eases the coil of her ponytail, letting the tight strands hang more loosely as she adjusts the token at her ear. "Like hearing your voice through a tube," she replies, frowning. "But I think I understand you, yes." She glances back to the shadow elf, sympathy on her face. "Hopefully not too long a seperation," she murmurs, turning back, adjusting her gear, preparing for the dive. Adventure! Curiosity, for the chill depths.

    Tim seems to smile for a second, "Anyone got something to grab some fish with while we are down there? There are some rather exotic types that are very tasty."

"...oh. That's very nice, then," to Leilani, from Coldan. More fun things to swim in. Yes, yes. Life of an adventurer... It's so heroic.

"Do not forget that their favorite past time is eating..." Aevarr feels the need to add that, concerning sharks, to test his token. He then dons his mask, adjusting the fit to make it as comfortable as possible.

"Oh, that's a good point," Leilani comments after Aevarr's interjection. "I heartell they can smell blood in the water from a great distance. Hope noone has any open wounds!" She grins behind her mask and bounds over the railing, diving into the water.

Kyson contemplates the effect of using his 'dry' cantrip on himself while in the water. Hrm. Donning his mask and ensuring that he can adequately breathe through the contraption, he scoots up to the side of the craft and, after a glance to the others, leans backwards so that when he hits the water, the force doesn't pull the mask off of his face.

Tim waddles to the side of the ship, looking down at the water, then starts to try to jump off, but trips and ends up tumbling down into the water, hitting headfirst. His mask slips sideways and he blurbs a bit underwater until he can re-adjust the mask on his face.

Korra takes the moment after her own preparation to glance over the others. Unfamiliar equipment, but caution always pays-- she checks to make sure the tokens are secure, nodding with a huff of breath. She stilfes a twitch of laughter, shaking her head as Leilani leaps into the waves. "Stay as close as you can," she offers the others, watching Kyson go over. "Look for shining things." That said-- up, over the rail, into the waves!

Oh, good. Coldan looks towards Aevarr. Perhaps the bravest thing the khazad does that ...year...is stepping into the cold, awful sea water.

Aevarr keeps hold of his mask as he gives a bow to the nearest sailor, grandly sweeps an arm with flourish, then bounds over the side after the others. SPLOOSH.

The first thing that hits you is the cold. The water is COLD. You have a sense of this. An awareness. But it's like the cold around you rolls off and soon you're settled at a comfortable equilibrium. YOu're /aware/ that it's cold, but you don't /feel/ the cold. 

True to their word, the water lights up as large mana stones attached to the bottoms of the vessel's hull gives you a place to use as a reference point. The water's inky blackness is lit up from this, and allows you to see the various schools of fish and other underwater creatures making their ways to and fro. 

You sink, sink, sink the way down. There's a buzz in your ears.  

"Can you hear me?" comes the voice of the captain from above.

"Wonderful," says Coldan at the sight underseas, only it comes out: blubbbbbb... He lands softly on the sea's murky floor. The act sends mud and gunk rolling outwards as underwater smoke.

        Tim looks over the various fish as they descend, he points at a large tuna swimming by. "Ohh, that one looks delicious." He looks down as they descend slowly.

Korra breathes-- slowly, hesitantly, and against all instinct to clamp her mouth shut and hold every breath dearly tight. She winces at the tinny sound in her ears, nodding before she taps the slender emblem. Mana light reflecting from the silver of her shield, she twists, kicking for the bottom. Swimmer's element-- she slings the shield back across her back, streamlining to move more quickly

The young apprentice sinks into the water, with his staff held in one hand, the bit of rope he's tied at two points along its length trailing a bit but long enough that he can loop it over a shoulder should he need both of his hands. While sinking, the flame-like, blue-white light of his staff creates a small 'bubble' of light around him which may only push back the gloom a bit considering the mana stones above but it's enough to give them more direct light if needed. Kyson is constantly looking around as they descend, anticipating what they might find as they approach the sea floor.

Aevarr sinks like a stone. A fairly well-dressed and articulate stone. "Aye, I can hear you," he answers, to assure that all's well. "Seems we may not need your light, afterall... and will have the joy of testing your theory." Once he lands on the bottom, he begins to walk, testing his new equilibrium and environment. "Shall we take a glance about?"

Coldan takes an experimental step forward. Every step has the same effect on the soft floor, which is soft and unusually textured and... He squares his shoulders and after the others speak up, sets about adjusting his mouthpiece. "Testing?" he says, as his toes settle into the murky goop.

Leilani swims down through the water, going deeper and deeper. She looks around in wonder at the new sights. She's swam in the ocean before, but never without worrying about air or with so much light. "I can hear you," she replies to the captain. Finally, she settles onto the sea floor with the others and looks around. "Now, if I were an ancient treasure-laden shipwreck, where would I be?"

"In the deepest, murkiest place possible, if we still believe in stories. ...and I do," replies the khazad. He almost smiles, and tries a conservative jump, here in this odd environment. To see what happens.

        Tim adjusts his mask just a little, scratching at the edges of it. "This is so weird." He looks around, "Ok, so werent we supposed to search a specific area? So we don't overlap any other groups?"

While continueing to descend to the sea floor, Kyson opens his mind up to the flow of arcane energy about him and casts a simple spell to discern if there are any sources of magic nearby. He's never tried the spell underwater and so has no idea what the sea water would do to his abilities.

Finall, you come to rest on teh bottom of the coean after you've let yourself sink far enough.

It's even darker down here, but hey, sunrods! Those are fun, right? 

You find yourselves standing in the midst of deep muck and mire and seaweed and overgrowth and blooms of algae and more. In other words, finding ANYTHING down here is going to be hard, and right now, it's not looking very promising.

Coldan unslings his staff. Its odd color comes from the sailor's wrappings around it. It also makes it a bear to handle. He uses it to sweep some of the seaweed out of the way--and gets a face full of mud for his troubles.

        To Katyana, this is only moderately better than being on a boat. "This... is the worst. How am I supposed to /sling fire/ under water? I'm like... Ugh, it's even hard to see! It's /dark/! I should be GOOD at it being dark!" She glubbles, having gone from seasick and sour to Beyond Sour.

Korra would laugh if she wasn't concerned the bottle-mask would slide from her face. Instead, she simply views her companions with varying levels of bemusement-- learning to swim *is* a valid choice! But showing off would be rude, and unkind...

                ...even if a little bit fun.    
        

With a gestures to the others to stay close, she turns her slow search outward, eyes glimmering in the cool and wet and ocean cold.

"Very carefully? Mayhap you'll make some lovely steam bubbles, my dear?" Aevarr's chuckle is distorted over the comm tokens, alas. "As for the dark, there's no reason to fear it. The dark never claimed a soul. Now, the possibly numerous, ravenous beasts in the dark are another matter, entirely..."

"Great. Let us know when you need to come up. We'll try to help you out as best we can, but you should be able to swim, if worse comes to worse."

And with that, you begin to fan out. Time to search! And really, you're not the only group down here if the lights in the ditance are anything. Truthfully, so far, you're not finding anything. Chances are, you won't be so lucky on the first day of a search like this, right? Right? 

Of course not. 

Mud, mud, mud. You're able to mostly find your way through it (even if you're getting FILTHY) and Tim actually finds a single gold coin! It's so muddy that nothing can really be made out on it, though. IT's going to take time some time to clean, and it's probably nothing to do with what you're looking for.

Leilani shines her sunrod around the area as she looks, shoving seaweed out of the way and shuffling mud around. She starts to sing to herself, "Why can't ye be so handy-o. Handy, me boys, so handy...Oh, aloft this yard must go. Handy, me boys, so handy..."

        The coin gets clean, and Tim looks it over before pocketing it. "Wrong century, guess we keep looking." He trudges around with the others, not really sure how to find anything in this mess

Kyson tries to swim around to another part of the sea bed to continue searching. All he's managed to find so far has been more mud.

Korra quivers with silent laughter (and a shiver to keep the cold at bay), sunrod gleaming as she swims above the muck and the mire. Search, search, search…

Coldan uses the staff to move weeds out of the way. The oil wrappings cut into his hands, and soon there's red amid the mud-gloams. He works silently, diligently at the task. The deep isn't so bad. Except you know. Sharks.

"Why in Her name are you wanting men to get /handy/ with you?" KAtyana wonder, lifting her foot out of the muck and groaning. "This just isn't worth it."

The first go around of searching doesn't go very well.

Eventually, you return to the ship and the ships move again. Searching in patterns, you see, they and the others. The captain makes a mark on the maps they're using, checks his positions, and more and communicates with the other ships with signal lamps. Down you go again, more or less the same deal the second time. It's exhausting work, and you haven' come up with anything more than some broken daggers or other bits of metal that have survived. So far, it seems like this has been a complete waste of time. 

Up and down you go once more, back into the cold water, down down into the depths below, sinking back into the mud again. 

This time, with Aevarr's keen eyes, you're able to find a position atop a rise underwater and Tim catches something faintly gleaming down below in the muck.

        Tim casts a light on a copper coin he had in a pocket, then uses that to look down into the muck, perhaps something valuable is there, and hopefully not something that will try to eat him.

Up and down, heat and cold, warm soup and ocean's chill.. Korra enjoys the return to the waters, but it becomes wearying after a time. Thoughts inevitably turn to how the entire process could have been performed more carefully, more certainly, better--

A mental sigh-- wizards just are not good planners. No offense to poor Kyson.

"Good find," to Tim and Aevarr. Coldan drops onto the ground again as they begin a new day's search. He's almost used to this, and had been eyeing the sailors' tattoos, earlier.

Leilani chuckles softly at Katyana's question, "If you have to ask that, then you haven't experienced a good...handiness." She goes back to singing until time to return to the ship. Then more searching and singing. And so on and so forth. The singing seems to help her work more efficiently. She looks out from the underwater rise. Idly, she comments to Coldan, "I know a good artist back in Alexandria. Has a little shack down by the docks."

Coldan looks over with cautious interest, as though he's not sure that's something he's supposed to be interested in. "You don't say?" he says, pretending to be interested in the muddy seaweed. Well, he focuses on the search, too. Just this is interesting.

Truth be told, it becomes apparent that their goal is to maximize coverage within a fixed radius and it does seem to be working over the long period, even if it's fatiguing work. You begin finding your way down towards the glint that Tim spotted and, indeed, it appears you may've found /something/. There's some shapes jutting out of the mud, but it's hard to make out much more about them than the fact that they don't look like they belong to the regular ocean floor. It's not like the wrecks you're looking for are the ONLY wrecks down either. You're looking for a needle in a stack of needles.

Kyson continues to use his magic to detect the presence, if any, of arcane magic or other magic while they conduct their search. Unfamiliar with the actual content of the treasure, if anything resides within it that is magical then he hopes to pick up on it - or, on the slim possibility of exploring the other wrecks, might find something else worth investigating.

        Tim keeps moving along, groaning as he does. "I'm tired, I'm hungry. Perhaps we should mark this and come back again? This could take us hours to find anything. Lets go, have a nice meal, come back later."

Korra keeps her silence. Though she makes occasional glances to find the others' position via their sunrods, she continues in her own search, clasping the sunrod in her teeth, eyes scanning across the surface of the seafloor below.

Aevarr finds some distraction in Leilani's song and discussions of handy men. Surprisingly, he keeps his comments to a chuckle, perhaps in deference to the singing. Possibly to better keeps his eyes alert for... whatever it is that they seek. That, or anything portable of value. "A needle in a stack of needles in the dim..."

Leilani makes her way closer to the shapes in the mud. She pushes mud out of the way, trying to look for distinguishing characteristics of the wrecks. Unique designs, figureheads, a nameplate...anything she can find.

This will take time. You begin to dig, gaterhing back together, trying to search through the muck and mire to find something -- anything -- that can tell you if you're in the right place. Finally, a metal chest can be unearthed from the guck, though it looks to be absolutely covered in filth and encrusted by the sea. Whatever ship this was in has dinstegrated, if it was ever in one in the first place. That fits, to a certain extent, but then again...

Katyana kicks the ground lightly. "Oh, I know!" She glubs. "I'll use my unlimited arcane power to simply summon up the thing we're looking for. Hold on." She offers, summoning up a swell of power about her, causing little bubbles to swirl around her. Then she gestures outwards, as a ghostly voice speaks sardonically.

        "Oh Wait! I Can't Do That!"

        Ghost Sound, being the best spell, swiftly fades, as she looks at the chest. "Wow. Speak of Her, and there She is."

Korra swims for a closer look, curiosity taking her gaze for a moment. "We should mark it now," she suggest, "And use magic to lift it to the surface when it is time for us to go up. It would be better to examine it aboard the ship, rather than down here where water might destroy it."

Leilani looks over the chest for a few moments before shrugging, "We should try to get this back up to the ship before opening it, just in case it was sealed against water." Which is apparently what Korra is also saying at the same time.

When finding out you've found something, you make arrangements with the captain. He'll pull the chest up for you, through a lot of long ropes, and you'll join him back up on the deck of the ship to examine it.

More closely. 

"So, uh," he asks after a moment, "and of you know if this thing is trapped to 'splode us all up or what have you?"

Tim has no talent with examining chests, beyond detecting magic. Let that overeager mage Kyson handle that. Tim is busy finding something to eat and drink, taking a seat to rest and watch...from an explosive-safe distance.

Leilani squeezes water out of her braid as she looks at the chest on the deck of the ship. She's taken off her mask and hung it from her belt. "I don't know much about traps, but I'd like to think the innards of it would be rusted out after all this time. Unless it's a magical trap." She looks to the spellcasters in the group.

Kyson is glad to be out of the sea, though it was an interesting little trip. Once back aboard the ship, he removes the mask and air tank and sets them aside and finds a small corner of the deck to clean himself up. Thankfully he can do so with the flap of a finger or the wiggling of an eyebrow or something. First to clean himself of the mud he does so with a simple, single command. The mud seems to pull itself off of him and hover in the air around his body for a second before falling to the deck - leaving a nice, muddy ring for the crew to the clean up later. Then, still wet, he 'draws' the wind to him - or so it would seem by his hand gestures - and dries himself off. Now both clean and dry, the young apprentice slowly approaches the chest and offers, "I can do the same to the chest - if you think it would help identify it."

"It would make sense if it was protected, if it was a treasure." Coldan eases onto his heels, and forward. "Is there anything in the histories that would have said?" to the captain.

Korra waits until everyone is accounted for, aboard, before finally crawling from the ocean herself, muscles quivering from unaccustomed exhertion. To ride is one matter, to pracitce with blade and bow another-- swimming for days on end is *still* tiresome, and she rests against a coil of thick rope with a nod to the others. "Who could say?" she says, wordlessly accepting a bowl of soup broth from one of the sailors. She drinks the broth down, glancing sparingly at the waterlogged chest.

Hot food is indeed provided. It's been one of the more consistant offerings to you when you've returned from below.

"It does make sense. But, no. Nothing in the histories. We don't even know what was in it, and if this is it, there ought to be a lot more down there. So for all we know, this could be nothing. So. Let's get this thing opened, eh?" 

HE looks around again, hoping there'll be a volunteer.

        Tim looks up with his mouth full. "MMmhhprmh." He swallows, and then nods to Con. "Yea, what he said, no need blowing up the ship. I'm not a strong swimmer."

Kyson uses the butt of his staff to touch the chest after warning those nearby to take a step back while he tries to remove some of the grime, "Lavitae." The word of arcane magic courses through his body, down the length of the staff and impacts the chest - hopefully revealing the more details of the container.

Leilani stands back while the chest is cleaned off. She shakes her head, "It would waste time to take this back to shore only to find out it's not what we're looking for. Better to open it here and know for certain while we're still in the search area."

Korra drinks of the soup, long and deep, setting it aside after gesturing for another. "Then we should continue the search for others?" she suggests thoughtfully. "Gather what we can find, divide found cargo by ship and where she was searching..." She pauses, brushing her lips. "Economy of effort, in a way. And safer ground to explore what we have, if anything."

Korra drinks of the soup, long and deep, setting it aside after gesturing for another. "Then we should continue the search for others?" she suggests thoughtfully. "Gather what we can find, divide found cargo by ship and where she was searching..." She pauses, brushing her lips. "Economy of effort, in a way. And safer ground to explore what we have, if anything."

Eventually, the box is cleaned off. Flecks of paint that weathered the ocen waters, protected by the girme, are visible, but it does nto bear any sign or sigil stamped on it. There is no indication that this belongs to anyone in particular, unfortunately, and thus you take it back to the shore for it to be opened. The wizards ashore eagerly, and carefully, use their magics to study it and then to open it from a distance, carefully, in case there's some kind of protection.

The lid flips open, and reveals.... 

Actually, it reveals a half-dozen scroll tubes. Which, to the wizards, is probably an amazing find of some kind. SCROLLS. 

But it isn't exactly the treasure you're /looking/ for. As they 'ooh' an 'ahh' over it. You make your way back to the ships and set out to sail once more and then a voice cries out. 

"SAIL HO! DRAN WARSHIP! BRACE YOURSELVES, MEN!" 

Indeed, off in the distance, a rather large galley ship appears to be working its way up the coastline, the oars moving in powerful synchronicity. No doubt it's well designed to endure the travails of the Turbulent Sea, and worse still are the wicked looking ballista on the deck being armed by muscular looking sailors. 

Seems the Iron Tide is arriving, a bit late, to disrupt your search party.

"They found us," Coldan says, then looks back over his shoulder at the shore, the direction of the oohing and aahhh'ing wizards. He remains quiet, but from his expression, he isn't thinking good things.

As soon as the scroll tubes are uncovered, Kyson immediately raises a hand towards them to feel for the presence of magic. They may be scrolls of lore or instructure, or maybe, perhaps, have spells written upon their pages. There's a certain sparkle that starts to burn in the eyes of eager young wizardlings when a lost chest of possibly-arcane scrolls is recovered from the bottom of the sea. Now, if you tie in the perfectly-timed arrival of Dranei warships, a nation the young man would have wiped off of the face of the world, and the sparkle becomes something less bright and cheerful and more focused - like the gleaming of a predator's eyes at night. "I can summon a fog that could hide us while they go after the illusion...," he adds to the elf's plan with a seriousness that belies his eagerness to get at those scrolls.

"And then, perhaps we put our Firecaster to good use, sending their galley up in flames." Korra leans forward, nodding with a grim pleasure. "Fog and illusion-- both together should purchase us time to close and attack..."

Leilani is obviously disappointed at the contents of the chest, but at least the wizards are happy about it. One woman's junk and all that. On the ship's return to the search area, she joins the sailors in their duties aboard the ship. That is until the Dran warship is spotted. That has her going for her weapons and armor to get ready for the attack.