727/Mission: You're Making Me Crabby

Mission: You're Making Me Crabby
Date of Scene:	03 October 2014
Location:	Hydaelyn <HD>
Synopsis:	The Megalocrabs in La Noscea are getting a bit uppity and the Yellow Jackets have requested for some adventures to dispatch them!
Cast of Characters:	66, 307, 311, 513, 522, 581

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Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
With the guild leves system no longer working because of the aetheric flow being in a chaotic state, so all of Hydaelyn, mostly Eorzea, had to return to more-- older methods of putting up jobs. That being on mission boards located around Eorzea and other places within Hydaelyn itself that didn't already have a system-- and even then-- the system was slightly connected. Connected enough that it was even seen outside of the main lands into the rest of Multiverse.

Lupita Auryon seem to find such a mission of interest. One in La Noscea dealing with giant size crabs that have gone very hostile and keeping the workers from being able to mine the natural salt from the ocean on the salt flats. She could gather a group with her, if she so desires, but like her-- others too could also by chance see the request for aid and also take part in the mission.

For by the end of it, they would all be rewarded with a sum of gil-- the currency of Eorzea.

Thankfully once heading to the guild to accept the mission, they would be handed a map on how to get there and they would be greeted by a human looking woman, with a yellow jacket on, a flintlock at her side, and a sword on the other. Her arms are crossed over her chest and a restless chocobo stands beside her wearing a bit of armor on its body.

She waits for everyone to gather up, at least what she expects is everyone, before she goes over the mission more clearly. "Al'righ' ye mates," She then points over the slightly ridge hill behind her, "Over 'ere is ye Salt flats crea'ed by 'e ocean. 'Ere is also some aetheric structures 'ere, so watch 'e self."

The woman then takes the reigns to her Chocobo before swinging herself up on the large yellow feathered bird, "'Ur job is ta clear ou' 'a hostile Megalocrabs so 'e workers can get back ta 'ere jobs." She frowns a bit at the next part she says, "We would help ye, bu' we got trouble wi't some local pirates 'at dun agree wi't 'e Admiral, so we really appreciate 'e assistance. 'At like 'e contract says, we be payin' fur 'e help, so it be worth 'e while."

"Jus' becareful on 'e downslope."

Lupita Auryon (311) has posed:
    Lupita caught wind of the mission becayse the Syndicate, for one thing. She took INTEREST to it because GIANT FUCKING CRABS. She LOVES eating ANY kind of meat, but GIANT MEAT is the BEST. (Plus, she has been driving Aethra -Insane- with pacing around the house, looking for something to do, and trying to talk the hermit fish into going out with her. So when she mentioned going out to fight giant crabs she all but got shoved out the door by her Moirail.)

    Approaching the guild is all polite business even if the tall, strange-looking alien woman is a little unnerving, what with the horns, and all the teeth, and the claws, and stuff. The map is read, the Troll heads out, an finds herself waiting for be 'briefed' by the woman on the chocobo. (... Hm. Does chocobo count as 'turf' when making Surf and Turf?) The thought is almost visible on Lupita's face a moment as she listens to the woman, then nods, and gives a lazy salute, before lazily slump-walking herself toward the edge of the hill to look down at the salt flats, and examine the best way down the downslope. ... Then shrugs.

    What the hell, she's a clown, a little fall ain't gonna fuck her up too bad, and at least it ain't -STAIRS-. She sets to slowly sliding down the slope standing up to head for the flats..

Lucatiel of Mirrah (66) has posed:
There is someone at in the back of the group of would-be mercenaries.

Whoever it is, they don't make much of a spectacle of themselves, nor do they try to make any effort to shove to the front of the group. They seem content to stay in the back, revealing the occasional glimpse of black leather pauldrons and cuirass, elabourately chaised in gold, and a white silk shirt; leather gloves, leather leggings and boots.

The most notable is the hat. It's a fine leather hat, broad-brimmed and dark. A ruffling of white feathers lay just forward of the front of the brim; rising from the back of it is a single sweep of a magnificently black, crooked pinion, several feet long. Whatever creature that came from had to be enormous. To the people in this world, it might even look a little like a slightly battered chocobo feather. A tail pinion, perhaps. Bloody hard to miss.

Whether the figure is man or woman is hard to say -- the armour hides their build, aside from a certain implication of whipcord muscle, and their face is covered by a vaguely ominous-looking silver mask in the guise of a neatly-bearded, unsmiling man's face. There are slots where the eyes should be, and it hides the face entirely, lending an odd, metallic echo to the voice.

The voice itself seems a little ambiguous, too.

While there's a long braid of blonde trailing from under the back of the hat, that's not really much of an indicator, given the ambiguity everywhere else...

So, the masked swordsman merely waits on the outset of the group, arms folded, head tilted slightly by the turn of the hat's brim, listening in silence to the instructions.

Half a glance is cast to the cautioned downslope, but the slow, deliberate tilt of the head suggests a distinct lack of concern.

Allyn (307) has posed:
Allyn had heard that there was a mission against some crabs, but he'd actually been feeling rather mischevious the last couple of days. An odd thing for the usually wolfy shapeshifter, but hey, even he has to have some fun from time to time. Actually, he's doing it to kill some boredom. For once he's actually not there to do some mission, or help slay some primal, or anything of the sort.

Having learned to change into one of those large crabs, he's actually decided to side with the creatures this time. Well, he's probably not going to attack anyone, but he'll try to take command of the crabs and see what happens. How better to do that, than to blend in with them? He eyes the other crabs for a few moments, "<<Ok you crabs, you know there's going to be some people that are going to try to eat you! Let's do our best and drive them away from here! Down with the people, up with the crabs!">>

With that said to the other megalocrabs he wanders along the saltflats, then stops a moment. "Hmmm, on second thought." He decides to speak with the crabs again, <<"You know, why wait for them to come to us? Let's take our crabbiness to them!">> he scuttles along to see if the other crabs follow him or not.

Finna (513) has posed:
    Local currencies means food, supplies and goodies without having to steal and cause a ruckus that might reflect badly upon the image she's hoping to project of herself. Hunting creatures means more neat forms. So why would Finna not take up this odd job? It will give her a chance to practice her hunting skills, that's for sure.

    She's already been here for many hours. Aware that others will arrive eventually to properly take the job, Finna has gone the way of the poacher. Sure, she DID SIGN UP, but isn't with the group that's receiving the full explanation. Instead...

    She's stalking the crabs as a bird wherever they actually are, she's been studying each of them and their individual habits, physiques, carefully working out which is closest to being in its prime.

    Which has the body she'd like to make her own.

    She's currently a red-tailed hawk, soaring above far longer than most birds would choose to do so.

Ysabel Thibault (581) has posed:
    It's been a while since Ysabel last got out into the Multiverse. Thankfully, the Syndicate is a wonderful thing for getting information on things going on outside of Wyveria, and what better way to get used to the Multiverse again than...doing basically what she does every single other day, except somewhere else?

    It's for this reason that Ysabel is trudging toward the meeting point, the hard, neutral expression on her face made perfectly visible thanks to the wolf-like Zinogre armor she wears. Light blue and gold plates of Zinogre armor cover her, decorated with arm blades, claws, 'ears', and jagged lines between the plates and along her open back all glowing an electric blue. To match, she carries the Oppressor's Skyfall with her, the Zinogre-made gunlance's heavy shield braced on her right forearm with the gunlance itself folded in half at the barrel and resting on her back. The whole weapon seems like it must be twice as long as she is tall when unfolded.

    The hunter listens patiently once she comes to a halt in front of the chocobo-mounted woman, sea green eyes glancing across to the area they'll be heading once it's pointed out. Ysabel doesn't seem very concerned with her fellow mercenaries, either; a glance is given to each of them in turn, followed by a silent piecing together of what she can probably expect from them. No doubt she'll probably be /wrong/, considering this place, but it's worth considering, at least.

    "Yeah, we'll take care of it, don't worry," Ysabel finally remarks with a briefly-raised hand to the woman. "Just hold on, it'll probably only take a few minutes. Damn crabs."

    The huntress mutters her distaste to herself, but says nothing more; she turns off toward the salt flats and simply wanders off toward them, flexing her fingers at her sides.

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
Allyn is one with the Megalocrabs it would seem. When he speaks to them, the group of aggressive crabs raise their claws and all go, <<"'Eh! 'Eh! Down Wi'h Tha' Landers!">> Then they, for the most part start to follow him. Like a crab parade.

When the group does get over the hill they will notice the near eight foot crabs moving off the salt flats and onto the beach with their claws raised high and snapping along. By count there is probably twenty of them-- that-- is allot of crabs.

Yet when the crabs see the group they snip their claws and start to move side to side. They be challenging you adventures-- what will you do?

At least maybe for that one. What is up with that one?

Lupita Auryon (311) has posed:
    sliiiding down onto the beach, Lupita drops to a crouch, and does the thing where she SHAKES LIKE A DOG AFTER A BATH, sending sand and dirt and god only knows what else flinging into the air. She's not really paying much attention to the other people present because, well. Lupita is... Lupita. She does, however, watch them, should they approach. And turns to look out at the large crabs that are DEFINITLY approching, and just huhs thoughtfully, before her face breaks into that unnerving shark grin of WAY too many sharp fangs in a mask of juggalo paint. She summons her suffer-smash clubs from her sylladex and stands up. "Well lookie lookie lookie at this motherfuckin' fine line of clickty clacky cracks we got here yo. This ought to be a bunch o' motherfuckin' fun," she says.

    She licks her lips a little, and then charges for one of the crabs at the head of the CRAB PARADE, attempting to swing one of her large-ass, bone-and-metal clubs, fight for it's face, chains adding insult to injury.

Allyn (307) has posed:
Allyn moves side to side like the other megalocrabs do and watches folks for a few moments, and blinks his eyes when Lupita coems down to attack them. <<"They are here my brothers and sisters! Defend yourselves!">> He scuttles about continuing to parade about at least for a few moments.

He snaps his pincers at Lupita in challenge as well, "You're impeding our progress!" he calls out, "The megalocrabs will have their day!" yeah that's right, well time for this then. He fires off a Bubble Shower at Lupita.

Finna (513) has posed:
    "Well, this is looking to be a tasty crab battle. Here goes!" With the OTHER hunters starting to arrive, Finna has chosen what she's out to do. Even if it seems a certain SOMEONE has found it funny to go leading the crabs to go make this even more different, he apparently hasn't noticed her circling.

    And then it happens.

    The hawk tucks its wings in and DIVES. Silvery light flickers across beak and talons and DOWN it goes for its chosen target: the largest (if only by a fractional amount) of the Megalocrabs.

    The bird screeches out a war cry that reverberates across the flats, just DARING anyone to get in its way.

    Because it's picking up unnatural speed, and it's not going to be hitting with normal strength or tearing power when it tries to simply rip into one of these enormous creature's vitals for a killing blow!

Ysabel Thibault (581) has posed:
    Once she reaches the slope, Ysabel decides that she may as well simply slide down the surface too. Thankfully she's used to such dangerous terrain, so she manages to reach the bottom without further incident, gliding along the slippery slope with her feet braced at just the right angle.

    When she sees the horrible crab-beasts moving towards them, her frown only seems to grow more severe. A glance is given over to Lupita before she gives a terse 'tch'. "I hope you're being sarcastic about that. 'Fun' doesn't look like it's in these things' vocabulary." Ysabel glances back at the approaching shelled creatures, her eyes narrowing into a piercing gaze. "...or maybe it'd be the fun of tearing us up, most likely."

    The hunter's left hand goes back to take hold of her gunlance, which she brings forward and unfolds in a single motion. The barrel locks into place against the stock, and Ysabel begins moving forward, her shield lifted-

    Wait. Did that crab talk?

    The blonde woman stares with a look that simply screams 'what the hell'. Quick, baffled looks are given to the others helping her. "Hold on, did any of you hear that? I'm not going completely crazy, am I? Nobody mentioned /talking crabs/."

    She looks back at the horde, then simply lets a breath hiss between her teeth. "Goddamn Multiverse..."

    Ysabel takes a rush toward one of the frontmost crabs, then, thrusting forward with her gunlance to strike with the pointed tip and a rush of electricity. That's not the only part, though: she pulls the trigger a moment later, releasing a strong explosion from the weapon's barrel with a strong enough recoil to send her arm jerking back.

Lucatiel of Mirrah (66) has posed:
The masked swordsman seems to have come prepared, too; a tall and broad greatsword over one shoulder, and an estoc of some sort at their hip, and a round steel shield over the other shoulder. Their head turns to regard the crabs now trying to swarm up onto the flats.

There comes from under that steel mask a single long, exasperated, harsh-sounding /siiiiiiiigh/, turning to follow after Ysabel, who seems to be all for heading down there for some crab carnage. Might as well get this over with. They're being paid to dispatch the beasties, after all.

With a ringing of steel, the greatsword is easily pulled out of its scabbard, swung, and placed into the left hand; sunlight flashing on its polished flat.

It doesn't take long to catch up to Ysabel as she goes, head tilting to eye the gunlance somwehat curiously.

"...What manner of weapon is that?" It's a woman's voice, then, albeit a very low and hard voice for a woman. "I have not seen its like."

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
As Lupita comes slamming her weapon down on top of the Megalocrabs hard shell head, the shell cracks under the sheer weight and the crab then goes to swing its massive claw right for her. Two others then go to try and attack her as well, with their claws moving like maces and another snipping those powerful pincers. Though they do make way for Allyn as he moves in with his bubble shower, cause those bubbles have acidic properties in them so yeah-- none of that thanks!

When Finna comes rushing in, her claws find that sweet, sweet weak spot between the shell layers and just slams that massive crab over. Another one comes charging over, blasting a wave of bubbles at the birds direction with those acidic enzymes in it.

When Ysabel fires the Gunlance the shot blasts right through one of the Megalocrabs, but two more take its place rushing right for her with those pincers ready to avenge their fallen brother! As for Lucatiel, she finds herself being marched at by a crab, who then suddenly goes running at her. Looking to charge her it seems like-- good time to put that big sword to work!

Lupita Auryon (311) has posed:
    Oh what the hell IS IT with ACIDIC BUBBLES, this isn't the first time Lupita's run into them, and oh she HATES the burn on her carapace as Alynn's bubble bath hits her. She hisses and snarls at the crab blasting her, and then suddenly hauls back with both clubs at once and tries to SMASH INTO ALLYN'S STUPID CRABBY FACE!

    .. Attacking Allyn leaves her vulnerable to the other crabs, of course, who get in their claw snips, opening cuts against her shoulders, her ribs, and her legs; and the sight is spectacular to behold as the troll bleeds GRAPE JELLO COLORS instead of the human's red. Not that Lupita seems to care because she whirls away from Allyn as one crab nearly details her wolf-pelt cape, and brings the club SLAMMING with THE FORCE OF A GIANT PISSED OFF ALIEN for it's face directly. "NO ONE touches the PELT.." She snarls loudly.

Ysabel Thibault (581) has posed:
    Ysabel gives a quick glance over her shoulder to Lucatiel when the knight speaks to her, stepping back slightly and bracing her weapon along her arm again in the process. "This? It's a gunlance. More like a cannon on a stick, honestly, but - ah, /shit/!"

    Unfortunately, her brief distraction means a Megalocrab rushes up to snap at her armored leg, pincers digging into the wyvern plates protecting her. Ysabel quite loudly swears, though more in annoyance than pain; her armor is good for resisting these kinds of attacks, at least when there aren't many of them.

    Still, it's best to get the beasts off her. While her shield is moved in place to block the second crab that's approaching, its pincers clanging off the sturdy bulwark long enough for Ysabel to raise her gunlance and simply /slam/ the heavy weapon down on the crab that's got her with another burst of electricity on impact. Once that's done, she tries to leap back out of the creature's grasp again, kicking if she has to.

    "Goddammit, I /hate/ fighting crabs. What is this, spawning season?"

Allyn (307) has posed:
Allyn winces as he gets a club to the face, though he manages to get a claw up in time to stop the other, but of course it still hurts like heck! Though when Lupita turns he skitters off, ah he notices the blur as Finna dives towards one of the other crabs. <<"Hey, Finna you should join us crabs!">> He's still not sure if she understands animal language.

Lets see, who should he go after now. He skitters towards Ysabel and snaps his claws at her, "Yes, I am a talking crab and no, this is the great crab revolution! We're taking over this area, so just let us have it! Crabs move forward!"

Finna (513) has posed:
    The hawk succeeds! Mission successful. As the crab it assaults breathes its last, the creature ducks its beak into the wound it speared open and bloodies its beak in swallowing some of its guts. That is all that's needed.

    The hawk then screeches over at Allyn, wing-waggling in a vaguely negatory fashion. ...Just before getting splashed with BURNING BUBBLES AUGH. There's no flying away from that. It screeches again, hobble-wobble hops away and suddenly...

    Suddenly its shape melts, expands.... shifts to quadruped and sprouts VERY noticeable fur.

    Finna is now a TIGER.

    An angry tiger. She lashes out against her assailant, going right for the eyes with claws out!

Lucatiel of Mirrah (66) has posed:
"A cannon on a stick," the masked fencer echoes, somewhat approvingly. If Mirrah had designed a weapon like that, there would be no need for its constant warring. Something like that would have come in handy on the road, too, come to think of it. "Fascinating. But--"

Oh, hello. Suddenly crab monsters. Anything that big automatically qualifies as a monster by Lucatiel's book.

"--I will have to ask you more about it later."

Greatsword in hand, she shifts her weight, handling the blade with ease and familiarity despite its length and weight. It's a fine-looking weapon, if plain in its ornamentation. The blade is held loosely, and Lucatiel makes no movement to lunge just yet. Let them come. She is patient.

And then suddenly she /moves/, exploding from her ready stance like a spring uncoiling, neatly ducking under a claw and lashing out with the full weight of the blade, aiming for the chink in the armour along one claw. The sooner those weapons can be taken out, the easier it'll be to put the thing down.

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
Lupita slams her clubs into the one poor giant crab, which gets slammed down into the ground and is seeming knocked unconscious from her massive blow; Maybe even dead! The other two however don't back as they stay with Allyn in this fight!

If the locals heard Ysabel ask if it was spawning season, they be rather confused and maybe think she means mating season. Cause really-- what the heck is a spawning? Must be some kinda multiverse term for birth right?? Either way the Gunlance claims another Megalocrab, but if Ysabel is not fast she may find bubbles coming her way as a crab spews some in her direction!

When Allyn says 'crabs move forward' the Crabs all raise their claws, snip snip, and then start to suddenly charge-- at least the ones that are in the back! Though now one has to ask, is these crabs being aggressive because Allyn has taken command of them? Or-- did the aether really mess with them but Allyn has some how really gotten them to actually 'behave', at least in a direction of combat. One can never know, beyond maybe Allyn and perhaps the elements themselves.

Finna strikes out at the one who assaulted her, claws ripping into one of its black glassy eyes, it screeches in pain and the claw swings around to not only slam into Finna, but actually slam her hard into the ground. Take that cat!

The massive sword that Lucatiel wields, slams into one of the claws, rending it nearly useless, but the crab does not give up. Instead it swings its claw free and then comes in with the other in a hard diving motion to drive it down at Lucatiel point down!

Lupita Auryon (311) has posed:
    Snrrrrl. Lupita spits at the downed crab. "Yeah, you bet your motherfuckin' ass you better stay down ya dumb-bass crab," She snaps, then, yes, does the snapping fingers in the air thing. Of course, there's still two crabs around her, and she turns toward the others that are snipping at her.. Bares her fangs, then ROOOOOARS.

    "WOOF."

    ... Trust me, better than a Honk, really, really better than a HONK.
    Lupita then reaches over to the downed crab, lays a booted foot on the body, grabs one of the pincher arms, and YANKS, trying to rip the pincher leg off so she can WHIP IT AROUND and BASH THE OTHER CRAB in the FACE WITH THE CLAW.

    ... Yeeah. Someone has been watching a few too many movies.

Ysabel Thibault (581) has posed:
    What the hell. "/Bubbles/?!"

    Ysabel's free, but that doesn't mean she's safe. Her shield comes up to block the bubbles coming at her, because she doesn't really want to find out what those things are going to do when they hit her. She's had enough experience with devastating water jets that she doesn't want to find out what /bubbles/ are going to do to her. Doesn't make it any less ridiculous, though. Her gunlance comes around to fire another shell at the offending crab as the bubbles crash against her shield, sending another spent casing tumbling out of the gunlance's stock.

    "Yeah, go ahead and do that," Ysabel shouts back to Lucatiel. "Ysabel Thibault. Monster hunter. Goddamn /awesome/ to meet you." She doesn't sound very happy.

    And then there's another crab charging at her...except this one talks. And digs its claws into her leg, drawing another pained shout. Ysabel's glare is leveled right at Allyn, and her gunlance comes around a moment later to match. "Alright, fine, you talk. But I'm not getting /paid/ to let you take over whatever beach you like!" BOOM.

    Oh, and the hawk turned into a tiger. Awesome. Fantastic. Yeah, screw this place.

Allyn (307) has posed:
Bah, Finna doesn't want to join in his playing around! ah well, he's not going to attack her though, she's his friend and all that and what kind of friend would attack their own friends? Certainly not him, besides he's not really doing much attacking of those fighting the crabs, other than that bubble shower at Lupita, but then he has to act like the other crabs, so no one really expects him to be there.

He lets out a screech though when his shell is blasted by the gunlance and he begins to bleed some from the hole that's punched into his carapace. He gurgles a little and crab eyes glare at Ysabel.

"This is our beach and you cannot have it! We will defend what is ours!" ok, so he's just making stuff up now, but that's ok.

The pain though, is quite a bit and he thinks about changing forms, but no, he's not supposed to be really serious here. "You all are strong, but it is not nice to try and take what is our!" he snaps his pinches aggressively at Ysabel, but doesn't attack her. Finna probably thinks he's lost his mind again, but really he hasn't. He takes up a defensive stance, "Crabs defend yourselves!"

Lucatiel of Mirrah (66) has posed:
Admittedly, most of the time Lucatiel's opponents are more human in stature. It's a little strange to fight creatures like this, but fortunately, she's fast on her feet. That helps make up for lack of experience against such beasts. Then again, the last time she saw a crab, it was a little hermit crab on the shore, and it was kind of adorable. Definitely not a person-sized monstrosity like these things.

One claw down, one to go. Maybe a few legs, after that, if this thing proves uppity. Lucatiel ducks, bodily hauling herself out of the way of that massive claw; twisting, she lets the brunt of the blow come down on the metal shield over her shoulder. Nobody can see it, but it's a blow that sets her to ringing like a church bell; baring her teeth in fleeting pain.

"I'll count myself lucky to contend with the claws, then," she throws over her shoulder to the growling Ysabel.

There's a huff of breath before she spins on her heel, and... she tosses the greatsword to her left hand, drawing the estoc with her right. Two blades? And it looks like wielding a ridiculously big sword like that one-handed doesn't bother her so much, come to think of it.

Her answer to Ysabel is understandably kind of muffled.

"Lucatiel of Mirrah. A pleasure. I trust you have more experience with these--" She grunts, raising her greatsword to fend off the remaining claw, staggering under its weight, "--than I do. I am rather more used to fighting men."

She then proceeds to raise the estoc while the greatsword has the claw tied up, and attempt to shove it into whatever serves as the crab's mouthparts. Eat steel! Or whatever that thing's made of. It probably is, indeed, steel.

Finna (513) has posed:
    OWWWWW! While Finna avoids getting the pinch put on her, she IS slamed into the ground by the offending claw. The tigress hiss-yowls and bats away at the claw. Then, with a whirl of movement... goes to BITE through the crab's arm, just before the claw proper. Maybe tear that thing off!

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
Lupita manages to not only get one crab, but two for the price of one! Pretty good deal really because when she slams the leg into one, it rears back and goes crashing into one behind it. The two of them try to get back up, but that probably leaves Lupita the time she needs to end both of those crabs lives.

Also the crab population is starting to get thinner...

Ysabel opens fire on the crab and it shell goes right into the crab, quickly ending its life, though another come now physically charging at her, its claws snipping at the air, before moving to slam her with both.

Lucatiel sword shoves right into the crabs mouth after she gets the clawed tied up, it is rather resilient in there, but soon, the massive creature drops down with its life taken. Finna also has luck with her prey, when her teeth dig into the claw. Though it was hard to tear off, it does cause the Crab some pain, it lets out a screech and tries to throw her off.

Yet when Allyn tells them to go on the defensive, one of them cries out, <<"We mus' retreat! We can claim it another day!">> It seems some of these angry crabs start to head backwards right back toward the sea, while some others snap their claws defensively but they two are starting to scurry back.

It would seem the crabs are on the retreat and heading back to the sea!

Allyn (307) has posed:
Allyn lets out a sigh as the crabs decide its time to retreat, well he thought about calling for that anyway, but it was fun while it lasted anyway. <<"Alright, I will keep them distracted while you all get away. We will claim the beach one day!">> Ok, so now he needs to make more stuff up, so he ponders for a few moments. Well, he doesn't really know anything, but he comes up with something that at least sounds good to him anyway.

"Oh Lord of the sea lend me some of your strength to aid your followers in their retreat, so they may try again some day to claim this beach as their own."

With that he skitters back towards the sea for a few moments, then he can't help it any longer, even though the blast from that weapon hurt him, he shifts into his human form and then bursts out laughing!

"Oh that was fun! I'll have to do something like this again." he grins and bows to the people he and the crabs were against, "Hmmm, maybe next time it can be frogs." he snickers and then shifts forms again, returning to his dire wolf form.

Lupita Auryon (311) has posed:
    There's no 'probably' about it, because as soon as both crabs go down, Lupita's clubs come back into play and she SMASHES for one then SMASHES for the other, and then GRABS the dismembred claw from the first and actually uses her jaws and teeth to CRACK INTO THE SHELL of the LIMB and start eating the meat RAW. Uh. .. Well, no, she's pretty much a giant alien cockroach, so it shouldn't make her, too sick, right? She's licking crab blood off her jaws when Allyn turns back into a human, and she pauses, staring.

    ... Then shrugs and resumes gnawing on crab leg, since most of the crabs seem to be in retreat.

    She tosses the leg aside for the moment, then, and turns upon the three crabs she's felled, and begins, well, dismantling them into parts. Screw money, she's got MEAT and she can take some BACK to her FISHSIS.

Lucatiel of Mirrah (66) has posed:
A flick of the wrist retrieves the estoc, and another flick flings some of the goop off of it. Behind the mask, Lucatiel's face twists into an expression of disgust at the mess. She'll be spending a while scrubbing this stuff off her swords once she's finished, here. And maybe scrubbing herself, too. She's been in pretty disgusting situations, but seriously, ew. "Ugh."

She steps back in time to look up and note that the crabs are, apparently, retreating. Maybe a show of force was all they really needed.

Lucatiel stands there flicking her sword a little longer than she really needs to, but the mask hides her sour expression. After a few seconds of this she realises what she's doing, sheathing both swords and hiking the shield higher up where it hangs over her shoulder. Turns out she didn't even need it.

"I suppose that's that." The fencer folds her arms, glancing over to the others.

Ysabel Thibault (581) has posed:
    "Not /these/ things," Ysabel shouts back at Lucatiel over her shoulder. "Things /like/ them are what I make my job of hunting, but they're usually just a little bigger." 'A little.' That's an understatement.

    Ysabel seems about ready to fire on Allyn again, but...the crab isn't attacking her. That earns a furrowed brow of wariness from the huntress. As if it weren't weird enough that she's dealing with a talking crab, she's dealing with a /tactical/ talking crab who's not incredibly aggressive. She really doesn't know what to make of this. Thankfully, another crab comes rushing toward her, and it's thanks to quick reflexes that she isn't outright slammed away. She whirls around with her shield raised when she hears the creature approaching, just in time for those claws to crash against the large barricade, sending Ysabel skidding back a couple of feet before she regains her footing again. Teeth clenched in a low snarl, her gunlance comes around again to smash the offending crab with another electric burst!

    ...and then the crabs are retreating. Ysabel stands uncertainly for a few moments before Allyn gets her attention again, and she turns back to level her wary scowl at him as he calls some sort of bizarre prayer and skitters off toward the-

    Wait, what?

    Ysabel's mouth hangs open as if she really would like to say something about the fact that the Abnormally Large Enemy Crab suddenly turned into a human, but whatever she might say is silenced as he then turns into a /wolf/.

    Her mouth snaps shut finally in a hard line as she lifts her gunlance, snaps it down to fold it in half again, and places it on her back once more. Once that's done, all she can manage is lifting her arms in a resigned gesture. "What the hell. I give up. The first day I step out. /First day/."

Finna (513) has posed:
    Finna's thrown off, alright. She shifts back to human form in midair and goes skidding across the ground, having somehow pulled a shortsword out of NOWHERE during the motion. She's in her 'cutesy adventurer' attire - a heavily modified, trimmed down, skin-showing version of her traditional huntress wear and considerably more fitting for warmer climates, and is showing a wild grin.

    "Aaallyn, what kind of wackiness are you UP to?" She's still ggot blood around her mouth after all that, and starts licking it up and wiping it with a finger.

    Because that's totally not a disgusting thing to do, nope.

Finna (513) has posed:
    "You know, you're not getting paid if you don't take down the crabs, right?" Finna asides to the group, gesturing with a thumb at the retreating Megalocrabs.

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
Unknown to them, the yellow jacket women has been watching the whole time. She grins softly, and goes to make sure the reward is indeed ready by the short-comm link pearl. Ah-- how she misses the days though of the longer range...

Though as she informs the guild the job has been done, she catches something in the distance as the Crab 'speaks' out about the Lord of the seas, her hand drops slowly, "By 'e Navigator.." She then yells out, "GE' BLOODY AWAY FROM 'E SHORE!"

Why?

Though victory was there with meat by the /tons/, the very ocean is drawing suddenly back and easy to see why. In the distance a massive wave is heading right for the shore line!

Lupita Auryon (311) has posed:
    Lupita has three large legs and two GIANT FUCKING SIZED CLAWS broken off and piled, and is about to break off another when a shout comes up. Huh? She looks at the woman in the coat on the giant-ass turkey, then turns, and looks at the sea.

    owo?
    OWO
    OWO!!!!!!

    "Oh -STAIRS- ME," Lupita bellows, grabbing the legs and claws in her arms, stifling them away in her sylladex, and -RUNNING- for the hill she ever so precariously slid down atthe start of the whole thing.

Ysabel Thibault (581) has posed:
    Finna falls victim to Ysabel's next glower as her arms fall to her sides again. "Hey, they said to clear the beach so people could work, and this beach is the most crab-free place I've ever seen in my /life/, so you can just-"

    Whatever she was about to snap next is quickly silenced as she hears the officer shouting down at them. A confused look is spared toward the woman, then back at the receding water...and the gigantic wave approaching.

    "...oh COME ON."

    Needless to say, Ysabel books it toward the slope again. Good thing she's used to running like hell in full armor with a giant weapon, or else this would be nearly impossible.

Allyn (307) has posed:
Allyn bounds over towards Finna when she speaks to him and licks her free hand, then looks up at her and tilts his head innocently, "Oh, I thought it would be fun to play with the crabs and those who came to hunt them. I'm allowed a little mischief, right?" The wolf wags his tail happily and then his ears perk and he peers back towards the sea, "Uh oh, maybe I went a little too far, I think something is coming. We might want to run, or fly if we can." He's not sure if Finna is able to at the moment, so he shifts again, a large sabertooth cat now, "Get on and we'll get to safety." he tells Finna and if she does, he takes off towards higher ground.

Lucatiel of Mirrah (66) has posed:
Lucatiel is busy watching the others bicker and snipe amongst each other, because it's vaguely amusing, and none of them are actually sniping at her. All that to say, she doesn't notice there's something wrong until their contractor starts flailing and pointing out to sea.

Her head whips around, and behind her mask, her mouth falls open.

Oh.

"Blood and damnation...!"

Fun fact: The kingdom of Mirrah is land-locked! Lucatiel has no idea how to swim. And now it looks like the harbour's going to throw ludicrous amounts of water at them. Needless to say, she's kicking up sand in her haste to get away, reaching up to rip off a glove and jam thumb and forefinger into her mouth, shrilling a sharp, high whistle.

And then suddenly, hoofbeats!

A rather large, dappled grey warhorse with fine saddle and bridle comes thundering down from the direction of the road at full gallop, kicking up clods of sand and dirt as it goes, and doesn't so much as slow as it nears Lucatiel. She reaches up to the horse's neck, jamming a boot in the stirrup mid-stride and swinging herself aboard; galloping up on Ysabel's position, where she offers the monster hunter a hand, leaning over the horse's neck to offer Ysabel her hand. "Here." All abooooard~.

Ysabel Thibault (581) has posed:
    Ysabel, by contrast, is a very good swimmer. It's a helpful skill to have when a large chunk of your hunting targets tend to be aquatic. However, horses are something she hasn't dealt with before...mostly because the only thing in Wyveria like a horse is a certain legendary lightning unicorn.

    Needless to say, Ysabel is more than a little confused by the presence of the horse, but she's not going to say no to having some help with getting the hell out of here. After giving a look of wariness to the hoofed beast, she reaches out to grab Lucatiel's hand and then jumps, helping with the leap onto the horse's back.

    Not that she's at all graceful when she gets there, clinging to Lucatiel in her efforts not to fall right off. Apparently riding is new too. "...what /is/ this thing?"

Finna (513) has posed:
    "Silly. Anything that gets you shot at is going a bit far!" She doesn't mind the licking, and goes to scritch Allyn behind the ears. "..." Spotting the sea and the commotion, she shivers. "....Yeeeeeah, flying sounds good about now!"

    She shapeshifts. Into a swan. "...Because this wave looks like it'll be a LOT of fun!"

    And she takes. Heading OUT TOWARDS SEA!

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
The wave comes crashing in as the adventures quickly get out of the way. It slams into the ocean shore line and crests upward almost unnaturally as the corrupted orange aetheric crystals surge out energy at the sudden disturbance. It quiet the light show really!

Once its over though the ocean seems to remain normal and the Yellow Jacket furrows her brows, she looks over at the group and nudges her head to the road, "Glad ye are all safe.. 'ur reword is back at 'e guild.. an' keep 'e crab meat. 'At stuff is pretty good eatin', cause wha' ye lot dun take, we probably will!"

The women then points at the lady with the gun-lance, "Also ye weapon reminds me of somethin', bu' I can't put my finger on it righ' now..."

Lucatiel of Mirrah (66) has posed:
Whoa. Lucatiel sways in the saddle when Ysabel reaches up and clumsily pulls herself aboard, but it seems the fencer is good at trick riding -- she doesn't lose her seat, although the saddle lists to one side a little. The warhorse itself snorts, prancing and throwing its head up mid-stride at the sudden shift of weight.

"Careful. I can see that you've never ridden before. Or seen a horse, apparently," she adds, with a hint of amusement in that low voice. "Hold tight; Naruiel will not let you fall. Nor will I."

Leaning low, she lets the horse have his way, streaking for shore -- only to twist, catching sight of the aetheric fireworks as the wave curves up. Lucatiel frowns behind her mask. She twists, curiously, watching even as she guides the horse to higher ground. "I am... fairly certain waves are not supposed to do that."

Ysabel Thibault (581) has posed:
    Ysabel, though she grumbles something under her breath, remains holding on to Lucatiel and her horse through the ride. A glance is spared toward the crashing wave, but it's not until they're on higher ground and she swiftly dismounts, landing with a slight stumble, before she says anything. "Yeah, that kind of thing tends to happen only when there's a leviathan or something stirring things up in the water, but I doubt they have anything like that right here. We'd probably be hearing something trying to kill us if that were the case." A further wary glance is spared for Naruiel. "...thanks."

    Ysabel takes a moment to dust herself off before she looks back to the woman in the yellow jacket. A light shrug is most of what she offers. "I haven't seen anyone else lugging gunlances around, but good luck figuring that out, I guess. I'm not gonna wait around for that to settle in, though."

    Ysabel turns, offering a brief, respectful nod to Lucatiel. "Nice meeting you. You're not half bad with a sword, I'll admit." Allyn and Finna get flat looks, meanwhile, before Ysabel simply sighs and shakes her head, trudging off down the road. Looks like she's interested in getting her reward and getting out.

Finna (513) has posed:
    While everyone else is getting away from the wave, anyone looking closely at it... will see at least one dolphin on the wave's crest, surfing along just in front of it.

    finna is having a blast!

Allyn (307) has posed:
Allyn didn't think about changing into a dolphin or killer whale or something when the wave was coming, but he watches Finna and the big cat would chuckle if he could. It does look like fun, but he'd already had some fun for today, so it's not all wasted. He plops down and starts grooming himself, besides that wound from the lancegun thing did hurt, so he busily grooms the blood from his fur.

Lucatiel of Mirrah (66) has posed:
A brief tug on the reins brings Lucatiel's horse to stop its charge, and a neat turn on the horse's hind legs to face the shore. During which it seems their passenger's hopped down, too, though the fencer seems more content to stay in the saddle. Maybe she doesn't trust that wave not to creep up the shore regardless of those pretty lights.

"Worry not." This is given in a tone of definite amusement as Ysabel regards the horse warily; the horse, as though aware he's being studied, flicks his ears forward and sticks his nose in Ysabel's general direction. "I trained him myself. He will not bite, though it would seem he is curious. As am I. Such a profession is not common in the world I am from. You are an odd one... but you are skilled."

The nod is returned, tilted slightly to one side. Not half bad with her sword? "Thank you. And you are skilled with your weapon, as well. Such things are not common where I am from. Although I do not make my livelihood hunting such things," she says, glancing sideways and down at Ysabel -- for the horse is now starting to outpace the monster hunter. "Perhaps we will meet again."

With that, she gives the horse a nudge in the ribs with those dusty (and now sandy) boots; kicking up a few clods of wet sand (hopefully not in Ysabel's general direction), the warhorse is off -- for Lucatiel to see to her reward, no doubt, and then off toward wherever the wind should take her.