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Wandering Dog In the horizon, the sun is starting to set. Out in the open waters, there's few ships and few obstructions, so there'd be clear visuals of the sky, as well as any possible ships. In the time preparing to track and assault the pirates who had the artifact that they needed to repair the lens of the behemoth Oliphem, who could track Luthe, Wandering Dog had managed to find a ship captain willing to take the risk to get close enough to a pirate fleet to drop the group. At the same time, his contacts had gotten ideas of which ships and their movements, and eventually, everything led to today.

Out in the distance are four ships. They're clearly distinct for the fact they have no sails, yet move remarkably fast. They're small, likely no more than a few dozen men across all of them, instead of the hundreds one could expect. The Elites' transport would, as soon as it spotted them, stop and start moving in the opposite direction. It wasn't going to approach up close, and was going to leave the rest to those who could actually handle pirates.

As far as the group had known, the Lintha were cannibalistic demonic men who were ruthless and left no survivors except when cruel, as Wandering Dog's group would tell the story, sometimes forcing their captives to eat their companions if they wanted to survive. Could breathe in the water through their ghastly mutations. Their ships had no sails, powered by demons. Wandering Dog himself told none, admitting he'd never really interacted with them. It was all rumor, not expert opinion, but had given the Lintha quite the reputation. Wandering Dog had left soon after the boat docked.

The martial artist had gotten a rowboat out, big enough for the group, and took the role of the oars. "Alright, I'll sail us in close enough to board, unless anyone has a better plan. From there, I'll protect the rowboat while you guys try and find which ship has the artifact. Good luck." And then, the boat began rowing, giving the group just a bit of time before any conflict starts to move and take their first actions.
Ryu     Ryu is here. He looks like a scaly bag of misery. His scales are discolored here and there, and his eyes look half-lidded at all times. His mouth sags in a miserable frown, and he has patches of scales missing, small scars that look like they barely got done healing. He also has a bigger problem than that.

    One of his arms is a stump. It's actually healed somewhat since the other day, but he doesn't have a workable hand to utilize on his left arm. It'll be an issue.

    Even his fae wings look tattered.

    "I'll try to handle this stealthily," he proffers, and promptly vanishes as light bends around him.
Athela Valemore "Give room on the rowboat to who needs it," was Athela's simple response as the transport was being lowered into the water.

Instead she took out an aquamarine gem and held it out, releasing from it's magic containment to the water next to the rowbow. She jumped down a moment later, landing on the back of her Samurott as he came to the surface from the release. "Determine which ship and we shall rise to assist. Until then best to keep out of sight."

Athela grabs two of the prongs on Samurott's armor like reigns, and with little sound pokemon and knight dove beneath the water for their own stealthy approach. Don't worry, both of them are capable of breathing underwater.
All-Seeing Eye      Sitting in the rowboat with his hands folded and resting upon his lap, All-Seeing Eye is dressed for the open seas. A close-cut navy wool peacoat keeps the ocean spray at bay, complemented by a crisp salmon-pink turtleneck and pressed white slacks. He also wears a patient, confident smile, which he graces Wandering Dog with upon hearing the martial artist's idea. "I do," he says with a nod. "But it still involves sailing close. As you were, citizen!~"

     Once the boat is close enough for Eye to get a visual, he zooms in on the ships. Assuming they're not reinforced with magical materials or some sort of anti-scrying countermeasure, he should be able to use his Mass-Penetrating Scan to simply look /through/ the ships. There's still quite a few of them to look through, but it sure beats dealing with a bunch of dirty pirates!

     "Mm," he chirps with a wrinkle of his nose. "I might need you to stay at the helm, though. We'll see!" He's not met this 'leviathan' personally, but if the word isn't a misnomer, he's assuming the lens is pretty big and hard to miss.
Empty Tidings Empty Tidings put out a bounty for the heads of the pirates. She also shows up, because apparently a grudge, to her, means something you personally oversee the execution of. It isn't typical that said execution is literal, though.

Probably.

She's sitting in the boat, straight-backed and unbothered by the inevitable waves. The kimono makes her look elegant and poised; the veil she's wearing, obscuring the upper half of her face, makes her look like she's about to go to a funeral. Strictly speaking, she is. They'll all be burials at sea.

"They will surely spot an approaching ship, even one this small. If you prefer the element of surprise, I can provide a means of traversing the sea that will be much less obvious." She extends a hand, palm up. "If you swear to crush the Lintha vermin wherever you find them, that is."

This seems like an Actual Oath For Cool Powers kind of situation, not a Casual Promise For A Ride one.
Arthur Lowell     Arthur is relaxing in the back of the rowboat, playing a really aged classic Gameboy Advance SP and chewing gum kind of obnoxiously. "Yo, NOT got a BETTER PLAN on THIS END. My plan's just doing FIGHTS at 'em and figuring YOU COOL BROS will get the GRAB-BITS sorted." He's a little uneasy with crushing or killing, but he's most definitely not going to stand in the way of other people doing it, so he's also flicking through his Strife Deck.

    A glance to where Ryu disappeared. "You want DISTRACTION stuff, homie? I can get 'em RUNNING to ONE SIDE." Presumably the side opposite All-Seeing Eye's hopeful revealed site. "I don't do STEALTH, but pro'lly easier to do some SNEAKIN' if someone else is doin' some FIGHTIN', dog."

    Unless someone tells him not to -- All-Seeing Eye not having any idea of the location, for example, or Ryu and Athela needing actual quiet -- his plan is to set off from the boat flying on one of his combat BATTLE-BROOMS, rocket-blasting towards the opposite end of the one they'll be heading for and probably already launching artillery blasts of shining starlight magic.

    Just assuming nobody tells him to knock it off, anyway.
Lyria Mason Lyria Mason us happy to be on the water, though they have pirates to deal with? The Levitani is more than okay with being on the water, she thrives on it honestly but it this on an alien world with strange alien gods. Also giant asshole whale things, in her experience. Still she was more than happy to help out Wandering Dog on things.

With the nature of these pirates she's ready kick some serious tail fin today, and she's armed pretty heavily too. She'd been making plans she carried a number of M-tek creations design to bore through the hulls of the ships, and send them to the bottom. She didn't intend to walk out leaving these monstrous things vessels intact if she had anything to say about it. She also had Swimmer not for his armour form but as extra support so they could have something friendly in the water should they need it though she's expecting she's going to need to fight.

"I got a few little gifts for these guys that should help sink their ships if we need to or when we're done and out."
Wandering Dog On the rowbot, Wandering Dog glances at Ryu briefly. "The heck happened to you?" But then the dragon goes invisible and disappears, as the boat gets closer. It's not very close, because for all his strength Wandering Dog is still manually rowing a boat, and gives everyone enough time to decide on what they're doing in that regard, with Empty Tiding's offer.

All-Seeing Eye glances towards the ships, which have no countermeasures. There's probably about 40-60 men across four ships. Finding the actual object seems difficult, at first. Eventually, though, the centermost ship, which also is the most reinforced, appears to have something. There's a large crate that's sort of difficult to pierce because of what's in it, which appears to be some sort of vase or urn, likely made out of a magical material. What's inside is impossible to tell due to that. It's the only thing that really pings as 'off'.

Athela would notice them first, as the ship approached. The ships are moving without sails because of the massive serpentine creatures pulling them, horrible things with singular eyes and way too many teeth. They're huge, and as Athela closes in, one of them briefly stops, as if it's smelling something. It doesn't seem to have tracked her location just yet, but the ships start pulling to a stop.

"I'll take you up on that if the rest will. I'm just your pilot, right now." Wandering Dog replies to Empty Tidings, as the boat continues to approach. At this time, Arthur launches off. Within moments of getting into the air, the people on the ship start moving, and as he gets close, he can tell they're the targets. Marked with various tattoos and cars, gills on several of their necks, skulls of fish on the belts of some, mostly wearing loose or worn clothing that's easy to swim in. They carry cutlasses, curved and sort of hooked, and as Arthur goes for that flagship, cannoneers point at him, firing hurtling spheres of metal. Sea-demons rise out of the water, the four serpentine demon snakes lunging out, one attempting to grab the broomrider and snap at him as he closes by, his artillery blast taking out part of the hull of the ship and several of the Lintha with it. Athela's clear to keep moving with this distraction, as is Ryu to fly on.

"Should I pull you in?" This is from Wandering Dog to All-Seeing Eye. If in the affirmative, the rowboat continues forward, unless of course Empty Tidings assists them, in which case, transport is at her whim.
Ryu     "Neverborn," Ryu tells Wandering Dog, vaguely, as an answer to his question. Once they grow near, he extends his wings and carefully avoids knocking anyone out of the boat as he ascends. His wings give a soft crystalline buzz as he climbs into the air, his form largely invisible. Once the ship's map is transmitted to him, breathes a soft sigh, and considers his options. He probably can't just grab the vase... not without smashing it, at least. He has trouble with gentle movements when he goes too fast. So, instead, he decides to not worry about gentle movements.

    In the blink of an eye, he'll try to land on the main ship. Then, he calmly, slowly tries to avoid notice from the Lintha on-board, but if they have Essence sensing or other powerful senses he may run into a few problems trying to be stealthy. Using the map that All-Seeing Eye provided to him, and hopefully the distractions the others will give, he'll try to reach the black jade vase without getting into a direct conflict with any of the demonic pirates.

    He's really too mangled to want to attack any of these people. Can't really blame him.
All-Seeing Eye      The Exalt's face brightens visibly when he finds that odd detail. Briefly raising a hand to touch a finger to his temple, he relays the finding over the radio and sends a detailed cross-section of the ship to those who ask for it. Arthur's high-flying antics in the distance cause his smile to widen. Turning to face Empty Tidings, he shakes his head.

     "I do appreciate the offer, dear, but I won't be needing subtlety to deal with common criminals." Offering her a sympathetic frown and placing a hand upon her shoulder, he continues. "That being said... they clearly can't be allowed to continue." Though he looks her in the eye, his attention seems divided for a moment when the serpents rise from the water--as if he's aware of their presence without turning to look.

     "Sadly, not all or even most will submit to arrest." Despite the words spoken, his smile remains--and he gives her a coy little wink. Removing his hand from her shoulder, he turns around and focuses his vision on the serpents. More accurately, he attempts to use his enhanced vision to see how the ships are being propelled through the water.

     "Yes, please," says the Exalt in response to Dog. He gestures with a hand towards the menacing sea creatures. "I think I'll remove them first--unless..." As the boat pulls closer, he focuses his vision beneath the waves, attempting to see if there is any sort of propulsion mechanism that powers the fleet. If he's able to see the same chains that Athela sees, he'll open fire on them with crossbow bolts that fade into mist to bypass the friction of the water.

     If not, he just blithely opens fire on the serpents, without regard to retaliation.
Athela Valemore The nearest comparison Athela can muster is a monsterous deformed Gyarados. Or maybe mutated would be more apt. Either way, she sees an oppritunity to keep the ship from moving as the others board to search for their target. The ships are already slowing, likely in response to the others above. But that can be capitalized on.

There is little to say underwater, though is it necessary. Lancer was her starter and arguably strongest pokemon, their synergy together was expectional from the long time and experiences together. All she has to do is gesture towards the massive monster mobilizing the ship, and then grab onto her aquatic steed's armor and lay down against it to spare them as much drag as possible.

The direction and feeling her settle close to her back is all the indication Lancer needs. Eyes narrow being the visor as he pulls his front limbs in and gives a powerful push with back legs and tail, sending him surging towards the sea serpent. His head lowers, the long steel blade protuding from it aimed forward like a ramming prow, a combination of speed and bulk capable of putting some considerable force behind the potential blow even when smaller than the creature he's charging.
Arthur Lowell     Arthur ducks and weaves, straining his magic and his circulatory system to evade the incoming cannonballs. "YEAH! YEEEEAAAAH! Come and GET SOME you AQUATIC MOTHERFUCKERS, I got that PAIN to bring you! You want a PIECE OF THIS?! You wanna CUT THOSE TEETH on what I GOT?! Put those EYES on ME if you want a TASTE!!"

    The snake from below grabs him, and he strains to avoid getting crushed, struggling and bleeding as he forces his hands against the teeth, before seeming to succumb and fall into its maw!! ...Only to emerge from a portal just nearby! He's left a Gate inside the massive beast where it tried to eat him, it seems! "How's it taste, BITCH-NESS MONSTER? You getting HUNGRY FOR MOOOOOOORE?!" Arthur brandishes his gun at the Gate outside, and unloads a tremendous blast... Which ought to build up inside the demonic snake!

    Arthur continues his ducking and weaving, trying to draw aggro and attention away from guarding the main ship against direct on-foot invaders, and making them far more worried about his lancing streams of bolts fired on the fleet as a whole. How long, exactly, a Squishy Caster can maintain aggro, is a bit of an issue; Arthur's Health Vial bar is already dropping sharply with bright crimson marks.
Empty Tidings Empty Tidings gives All-Seeing Eye a long, considering look, folding her hands on her lap while she does. She meets his gaze for a moment -- or seems to, given her eyes are covered -- and smiles, but there's hardly any warmth in it. "Of course. I understand that you do what you must. So long as they do not prey upon the innocent, then..." She trails off, frowning. She doesn't seem satisfied with that much, but that's the least of her worries at the moment.

She gestures at Wandering Dog to bring them closer, staying where she sits on the boat. She's considering the situation as they approach. They'll be busy with the distractions, and her momentary allies will be disassembling the ship's propulsion. She /could/ start sinking them, or go in underwater...

.../or/ she could just wait for the boat to get close enough for her to get on deck, and then go from there.

She picks the last one. Patience is one of her many guises' middle name.
Lyria Mason Lyria Mason looks at Ryu and does seem concerned he's not looking so good, but then Ryu just vanishes from sight whelp that's the end of that. She looks to Wandering dog, she checks her water proof bag she' got some of her supplies in and wit that? She's ready o get into the fight she can control the water, she calls upon to making a water platform to spring up and leap to the ship she'll attempt to land on the deck and will come up shooting with her pistols as she does, sure Eye needs some alive? It is a target rich environment.

"No parley today for the likes of you!"
Finna     All of the NOISE being hurled around topside of the water is a great distraction!

    Lunars like Finna LOVE distractions. It means that she gives the party a big grin... "I'll help figure out which ship!" And dives overboard, disappearing beneath the salty waves just like that.

    And she doesn't surface for air. Not even once.

    A VERY out of place gecko DOES start climbing up the side of one of the demon ships though in no time at all though. From here, Finna shifts straight into a common rat and starts zipping about the ship, looking for any sign of the artifacts. Or anything else that might be shiny or interesting for that matter!
Wandering Dog "Well, shit." Is what Ryu gets in reply from Wandering Dog, not going further because the dragon's flying off. The boat's pulled up enough that the sailors have pointed at it, but luckily they don't fire cannons. What are they doing?

All-Seeing Eye would find that the sea-demons are attached by strange fastenings of metal and rope, which are easily shot through by his superb shooting. The ships aren't going anywhere anytime soon. The problem is that this also frees the serpents from the ships, and they immediately take this mobility. One, however, is attacked by Athela, the one that was leading the center ship. Lancer's blade pierces into it, drawing a horrible dark ichor as it thrashes, but it doesn't kill it. Instead, the sea-demon dives into the water, moving to crunch into the Samurott with its teeth. Two of the others start moving around, trying to find those moving on or around the water...

While the fourth is fed a portal full of lasers. The result is messy, as it starts to bloat. It's about to explode into a massive shower of ichor, but leaps up to bite Arthur one last time, trying to take him with it. At the same time, the cannoneers are still fighting on him, his distraction working, and one of the pirates grabs a rope and moves to swing forward, trying to distract him from his distractions.

The pirates are being thinned, though, with Lyria's shots. They're not used to this kind of weaponry, and it blows through sevral. There's a new arrival on the flagship, though, coming from near the wheel. Dressed in a ragged coat, with a fine pirate's hat and a large blade at his side, he appears to be in his 50s, and also the most demonic of them all, his left hand bearing horrible claws. He appears to be a captain, shouting orders, as two strange creatures flank his side, four eyes each, sort of canine-like with gills. They're as big as Great Danes, and seem to have scaly hides.

Ryu's attempt to slip up allows him into the cargo hold, where several pirates still are, about half a dozen, defending their loot. They don't notice Ryu, and Finna can find her way down here as well, transformed as a rat. They're all wielding those big swords, and one of them's practically a slab of muscle.

As the rowboat pulls up, several of the pirates leap off the ship, landing on the water and running across it in strange sandals, approaching the rowboat and trying to strike at anyone they can with their blades. Another pair dive in, moving to circle around the rowboat and try and drag those inside down. They outnumber the group, but don't seem very strong, and can probably be dealt with on the way towards boarding.
Athela Valemore Why is it monstrousities bleed everything -but- blood? A question for the scholars of all times.

As the serpent twists back towards them after being gouged Athela yanks her legs up under herself, and with feet against her pokemon pushes off into the waters. Just moments before the jaws of narled teeth come clamping down on Lancer. The teeth dig into the plates but fail to get little farther than the organic metal that makes up his knightly armor. Still that's hardly painless as it is part of his body. The position, compromising as it is, is also an oppritunity as Lancer does that 'grab the jaws and try to push them apart' at the same time.

The idea is to keep the mouth busy. Athela draws her sword, and with her own ability to swim freely in the water lunges back in. While Lancer is grappling with the toothy hell to keep it's mouth occupied, Athela aims to drive Resolute Blade into it's cycloptic eye.

The other two starting to circle don't go unnoticed, but one thing at a time. Does that bounty include beasts utilized by the pirates? Not that it really matters, it's not the monetary reward she's here for.
All-Seeing Eye      "Ah, there we are..." Like some sort of artisan poring over meticulous details, Eye mutters to himself as the battle unfolds across the open waters. First, his focus is on the chains he's broken, and the sea=demons now free of their restraints. Athela's struggle causes his mood to darken slightly. "There are only four of them," he calls out in slight annoyance, cupping his hands over his mouth. Lowering them to cross his arms, he utters a put-upon sigh. He lines up a shot to try and assist her, only to spot the would-be boarders coming up behind him.

     The air around his fellow passengers (and Dog) suddenly smells of ozone, as a strand of purple lightning crackles into Eye's waiting hand. He stands, twirling on his feet to send it snapping at the feet of the pirates. Or, so it seems. The whip seems to move of its own will, darting downwards at the last minute to dip into the water, attempting to elecrify the attackers where they stand.

     "Must I do everything myself?"
Lyria Mason Lyra's thinning them out and her M-tek pistols just keep shooting all the while sending shell casing all over the deck. She doesn't stay still as someone new arrives on deck she looks at the man for a moment, if you could call them one. One pistol is holstered and she pulls her vibro cutlass in her primary sword hand she looks at them.

"I expected a captain not a beast."

She'll fire shots at the likely captain and his two beasts as she moves in tying to get to melee range, though that might be a bad idea given she has no idea just what this 'man' and his beasts can do.
Empty Tidings Empty Tidings doesn't immediately react to the pirates leaping down at them /or/ standing on the ocean surface. She looks at them quizzically after a couple seconds of menacing, and then draws herself to her feet in the rocking dinghy. "You deign to come down to us? How thoughtful." She takes a second to smooth a wrinkle out of her clothes and flick a stray lock of long hair over her shoulder. She lifts a foot almost daintily, cautiously placing it over the side...

...and presses it down on the surface of the water like it was dry land.

Empty Tidings explodes into violence. She lunges at the nearest pirate, catching him by the throat with her right hand, squeezing hard, and stepping past him. She drags him downward, swinging him off his feet and hammering him against the surface of the water like it was momentarily the same consistency as a concrete floor. She lets go, striding smoothly to the next, rising with a contemptuous slap of her left hand against his extended blade and driving a knife-handed blow into his throat.

She pirouettes to the next, smiling widely. "Come, then," she invites, skipping across the waves in a wide circle, each hop carrying her just beyond the reach of those below the surface. "Does the Great Mother favor you thin-blooded fools?"
Arthur Lowell     Arthur darts back as best he can, confidently shouting more insults that have gotten progressively more and more tasteless and obnoxious over time. Unfortunately, he's not quite fast enough. Even with his rocket, the thing manages to snag his ankle! Arthur screams out as it latches on, and sees it building up. "You think I'm 'bout to BACK DOWN, motherfucker, better bring something BIGGER and BETTER! I make the HEAT because I can STAND THE KITCHEN, you son of a biiiiiiitch! Let's GOOOOOOOOOO!"

    Arthur pours the last of the blast into the portal and suffers its effects; the detonation is likely to leave him with some substantial burning, flickering white fire left all along his body. It seems he's got far less reservations about killing when it comes to monsters, as demonstrated by the soon-to-be raining blood and gore. "HOOOYAAAAAAAAHHHH!!" He calls out a pained cry of triumph, and gets right back to work.

    This time he intends to create far more chaos... And separate the battles between the beasts and the ships. The beasts are used to pull the ships... And so Arthur decides to use that as an advantage. "Alright, let's TURN THIS MOTHERFUCKER UUUUUUUUP!" Arthur screams, clapping his hands together dramatically once, and then struggling to raise both upturned palms, hands shifting into strained, clawed positions.

    The section of open waters where these four ships are begins to rise. Massive streams of water streak up into the skies along the paths of fluctuating gravity, creating huge aquatic 'tubes' that snake into the sky. The gravitational forces also grasp the ships themselves; Arthur's plan is to warp gravity so hard that the ships LIFT clean out of the water, and the beasts alongside them; if the titanic threats have nowhere to hide, it'll be a head-on battle with no more surprise attacks from sea-snakes. It likely won't disable their mobility, with all the water brought along for the ride, but it'll definitely deprive them of a major advantage. This will no doubt complicate the water-walking battle with a fresh bit of three-dimensional terrain, and shake up the battle aboard the boats, but it isn't itself inherently destructive.

    Arthur's right back to combat as he does this, blasting away with rapid bolts of starlight, as if the surreal environment he's trying to shape this open-water battlefield into were normal.
Finna     Finna knows that it's unusual for rats to scurry straight in front of people and into sight. Few are that brazen. But she also knows that she's so small and not threatening that if she bursts into the room she'll have a few seconds of confusion.

    So this, she does! She scurries at hyper speed across the floor and skids to a halt after sliding between the big guy's legs... and that's when she rocket-morphs upwards back to human form. Her tail extends like a slithering snake, growing and twirling around the man from his legs upwards. And it's tightest on those legs, to keep him from getting better footing or balance!

    This leaves her back to back with him, and Finna sees fit to press a shining fingernail, sharpened to a razor point by Lunar Essence, against the back of the man's neck!

    "One bad move and it's on to the next life with you, big guy!~" She calls out warningly. "What's in this big 'ol crate?"
Wandering Dog Athela's gambit is risky...but it works. Lancer holds the jaw open long enough for Athela to dive upwards and impale it in the eye with her sword, which causes it to spit out Lancer in probably a painful fashion. Already wounded from the previous strike, it's taken out immediately, crumpling below.

On the water, All-Seeing Eye and Empty Tidings deal with the Lintha, who are far out of their league. Electricity shocks through the water, knocking the swordsmen off their feet and frying one of those two who were trying to drag them down. The electricity might strike Empty Tidings, but she can withstand it far better than her foes, capable of smashing them against the water and cracking their throats and skulls as she dunks them. The one who hasn't been fried tries to swim after her with her taunt, even if he's wounded, trying to leap up and grab her by the hair.

Lyria fires at the captain, who sneers at her. "I'll carve you open and feed you to the dogs while you're still breathing for attacking my fleet, you wretch!" The Fleet Captain is shot at, but one of his beasts leaps in to take the shot, bleeding black blood as it howls, and the pair of beasts move to slam at her. One bullet does hit him, impacting into his coat, which appears to have a cuirass under it. In unison with his demons, the Fleet Captain moves to cut her with his blade, trying to slice through her.

At this point, the tide of battle shifts, literally. As blood and gore is raining from the sky, the water suddenly starts to shift. The swimmer chasing Tidings suddenly pulls back as the water rises from gravity, while all the ships rock back and forth. Wandering Dog keeps rowing to keep the rowboat from getting screwed over by this and keeping it steady. The Fleet Captain's demons are brought off-balance, allowing Lyria to get good shots on them, though the Fleet Captain maintains his footing.

While this has been happening, Finna had taken the big burly guy hostage. Feeling the blade, he doesn't move, and only speaks. "Magic treasure. I don't know what it is." He doesn't say anything else...and as the ship rocks, he feels the pull away from the blade long enough to try and elbow Finna and shout a roar, trying to smash her against the box. This alerts his fellow pirates, who draw their blades and come in her direction. Looks like they're going to try and swarm her and get in close with their blades!

The sea-demons, meanwhile, are wriggling in the water, trying to figure out what the hell just happened. One of them actually clear leaps over the water, trying to dive into Arthur for his gravity attack! It turns out snakes really hate him.
Finna     Finna was expecting some kind of retaliation after an answer like that... but the answer was enough to catch her a bit off-guard. He doesn't know, but it's magical? Not knowing when it's magical is a pretty expected thing. He's probably telling the truth. Just as she's pondering whether or not she should dispatch him or somehow reward him for cooperating at all--

    BAAAAAAAAM!

    That impact to the side of her head's enough to dizzy her and loosen her grip. With another thunderous blow she's sent crash-crumpling into the box... and though Exalted she may be, THAT REALLY HURTS. She whimper-groans upon collapsing to the ground, heaving for a breath... and gets her second wind VERY quickly. She spins about on the ground like a breakdancer and plants her feet to the ground, only to FLIP UPWARDS and spring towards the cabin's ceiling... which she splays against like some kind of spider for one brief moment... "That ain't how you treat girls who cuddle up to you!" The fox Lunar teases, swiftly spring off the ceiling and down into one of smaller men with a FLYING KICK to the chest! "But if you wanna play that game instead..." -- and use the recoil to transition into a spin and send that same leg towards the other lanky pirate's head... "Then do it with him, not me!" -- all with the intention to send Goon #2 FLYING into Big 'n Burly and knock them both into the crates!

    She's not terribly worried about artifacts in the crates. They tend to be nigh-indestructible to casual abuse after all!
All-Seeing Eye      Eye's vision flicks past Empty Tidings and the pirate reaching for her hair. It focuses on the ship from which he came, piercing the hull and searching it. In particular, he searches for whatever accelerant is being used to fire the cannons. Visible only to him, a purple grid appears, singling out this accelerant (be it black powder, firedust, or what have you) with helpful, blinking red indicators. Dog and Empty Tidings will hear a faint hum, while Eye himself sees the all-too familiar bootup message.

TRANSMODAL RAPID TARGETING SYSTEM ONLINE

     A solid red line traces its way between the indicated targets, marking a flight path. The Exalt's golden irises slide backwards, retreating with whirrs and clicks to reveal two black metal nozzles. Another crack of lightning, this one coming from his eyes, flies across the water, defying all known laws of electromagnetism and aerodynamics as it does so. The projectile dips upwards, then dematerializes.

     "Duck," he says calmly to Dog and Empty Tidings, just before the lightning phases through the ship on its way to strike the powder kegs (or their equivalent).
Athela Valemore Athela Valemore pays little mind to All-Seeing's annoyance as she wenches her blade free of it's target. The other sea-monsters were not yet moving in to strike, she knew it better to deal with the one they already crippled before they did than to possibly overtax themselves dealing with multiples at the same time. She would have to bring out her other aquatic pokemon, and that also means more divided attention and more potential targets for the enemy.

The theater of the conflict takes a bizarre turn when the entire portion of the sea is pulled out of the ocean via gravity shenanigans. That's really the only word for it.

It's nothing as impressive as lifting entire sections out of the sea, but she can do her own unusual tricks with water. Especially when surrounded by it.

She focuses her hydrokinetic power through the Resolute Blade, drawing water to it's tip and taking advantage of the pressure caused by focusing it within a watery body. Gripping the weapon with both hands she points the relic blade forward, and blast is flung off the weapon. Compressed by aquatic pressure to the point that it not only keeps its spherical shape while hurtling through the suspended ocean, but will hit with the same sort of impact as being slammed into by a cannonball.

All aimed at the demonic sea-serpent to try and knock it off its course of making a snack out of Arthur while he's holding everything up. So to speak.
Arthur Lowell     Now that Arthur can take this thing head-on and not with the surprise of it surging out of the water. "YEAH! YEEEEAAAAAH!! HIT ME! LET'S DOOOOO THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS!!!" He shouts, readying his broom. "YEEEEAAAAAAAH!!" He makes a massive, engine-powered swing for the oncoming snake, charged with a heavy dose of magic, intent on stopping it in its tracks.

    But, surprise! Athela Valemore has saved him from the direct impact, or so it seems likely, anyway. His readied strike can be used far more effectively now; it's no longer a block, but a parry! He swings straight for what may yet be an exposed side of the incoming snake. The shockwave of the impact rips out through the whole open-water area, creating a tremendous shockwave that sprays apart columns of water and rocks the waves below.

    Arthur's broom roars as it impacts, bristles whirling like a blender. He intends to tear through this thing's flesh straight along its length due to the parry Athela's granted him, and he tries to plunge it in deep and rake all along the length of it, all while delivering a sustained, rising, hot-blooded scream.
Lyria Mason Lyria Mason says "Oh that's better than I expected out of you." She is a dog person herself so somewhere inside she cringes slightly but these are demon things , so not much and the fight gets going in earnest with the captain. Lyria seems fairly well trained in fighting an shes' got experience well not as much as the captain does but she has youth and strange alien powers on her side. Her own blade comes up to parry the attack and the demon captain, and when she gets a moment she will take the shots she can but it's clear she's doing a pretty good all things considered.

Then she feels it something ain't normal with the water and she'll keep fighting but given her focus on the captain she's not quite sure what has happened. She's got to keep from getting fed to the captain's demon dogs.
Empty Tidings Tidings skips and hops, getting reminded to keep her feet up each time the live wires lash against the surface of the sea. She seems to move whenever a jolt goes through it, and that's because that's exactly what she's doing: getting a tiny shock before really getting seriously electrocuted, and leaping up again before it can finish cooking her like some sort of flying fish.

She shoots Eye a wide smile, and opens her mouth to say something -- and then, suddenly, gets yanked off her feet by a pirate doing the dirtiest move she could think of. Correction, the /rudest/ move she could think of. She suddenly had a thought about dirtiness.

Empty Tidings stops standing on the water and unceremoniously gets dunked herself. She goes under in a flurry of dark hair and finery. The pirate pulls her down, and down she goes, pulled underneath with him, presumably left at his mercy.

Except as it turns out, /she's/ not trapped down there with /him/...

The violent young lady suddenly jolts backwards with no apparent cause and turns, half-twisting while her hair is in his grip. She claws at his face, dragging fingernails over his skin, and then, suddenly, grasps his arms and tugs him into a forced embrace. She locks his joints with sudden strength so he can't get leverage to use a weapon on her while they're beneath the surface, holding him against her and keeping him under control with one arm.

One of her hands caresses his neck almost gently. Then her fingers curl, and with an expression of curious sadness, she rakes her nails across his gills. She tears at them, clouding the water with blood, rendering his breathing apparatus useless in a display of careful savagery.

She stays there with him, murmuring sweet obscenities into the Lintha's ear as they slowly drift deeper and deeper beneath the waves. Only one of them is going to be coming back up.
Wandering Dog Finna's able to deal with the guards with her superhuman agility, knocking the goons that came at her together with the burly one. As they slam into the crates, the crates roll on top of them, taking them out with a loud crash. Out of one of them rolls a vase, made out of a fine black jade, symbols etched into the sides. It has a lid on top of it, clamped shut even with all the falling and rolling. This must be the artifact they're searching for.

Wandering Dog ducks as All-Seeing Eye calls out, and mades a flight path with his lightning eye-bolts. The lightning fires up towards the barrel of powder the pirates use for their cannons on one of the ships that isn't the flagship. The bolt's ability allows it to phase through the ship, and it impacts with the powder in just a way that it creates a chain reaction. Explosions start rocking through that ship, killing most of its crew and creating a big enough hole in the side it's going to start sinking. That's one ship down.

The sea-demon going after Arthur was not expecting Athela to come out like a cannonball, slamming into it. It's brought thoroughly off-guard, dazed enough for Arthur to be able to boost forward and slice through it with his broom, raking along the sides and drawing that horrible ichor. The thing thrashes, slamming into one of the ships that isn't the flagship in the process and knocking several of its men overboard and leaving a nasty hole in the side. The mixture of the impact and the slicing leaves it pretty much dying, thrashing about on one of it's own allies.

As this happens, the Fleet Captain curses under his breath, moving to lunge forward and swipe into Lyria, his dog-demons trying to grab her legs and knock her off balance. In unison with the sword strike, that left claw is drawn to try and rake against her, even as the Fleet Captain is bloodied by her attacks. "What is it you seek, huh? What is it that makes you think you can fight the Lintha?!"

The Lintha who Empty Tidings drags underwater suddenly and locks up tries to scream, but the water muffles it. As his gills are torn apart, he struggles, trying to push her away, but she's immensely stronger than him. He continues to try and scream until he's stopped breathing, dead in the depths of the water.

In the end, there's two ships left: one normal one, which starts firing its cannons on Arthur and Athela, and the flagship, where the last two sea-demons scurry around, moving to protect. If anyone gets close to the sides of the ship, they move to lunge.
Finna     Finna actually WINCES when the crates come down on the guards, but she's not really gonna shed a tear about it. If they live under all that weight, then fine. If not, oh well.

    She immediately goes into Steal The Place Blind mode, pulling out a sack from seemingly nowhere (or maybe Elsewhere) and stuffing anything remotely shiny or expensive into it. Jewelry, any fallen weapons, silver, whatever. And, of course, that strange vase. THAT, she handles with a bit more care, turning around a few times before stuffing it in the sack...

    Now that she has (hopefully) what she came here for, Finna sees no further reason to stick around. Tucking the sack away (again, somewhere?) she rushes on out (blindsiding anyone who gets in her way at great speed) up onto the decks and LEAPS OVERBOARD...

    ... and then proceeds to traverse the waves in GREAT LEAPS. ... Yes. Somehow, she's LEAPING across the water as if it were a solid. Whatever kind of sense that makes.
Athela Valemore Athela recoils from the attack, but fortunately her Samurott is there to catch her. She's a little dazed in the aftermath, but between her intercept and Arthur's counterstrike both the demon-serpent and the other ship has been disabled.

Unfortunately, one of the two remaining decides it would be a good idea to bring it's cannons to bear. Weapons meant to wreck great ships, meaning that while they may be difficult to hit smaller targets with, they are going to hurt a whole lot more. "Lancer... cover the withdrawl..." Despite her own being rattled about Athela is not going to leave her allies in a lurch.

Lancer nods, wrapping one of his armored forelimbs around her. Frost krackles across his great whiskers as the Samurott takes full advantage of how Water types also have some synergy with Ice. As he opens his maw a frigid stream (looking almost like 'lightning' made of ice) sprays from it, aimed for the side of the ship. On impact the formation of ice will spread as he attempts to clog up the cannons and gunports with a layer of elemental ice to keep them from effectively firing on the retreating heroes.
Arthur Lowell     Incoming cannonfire! Arthur takes a defensive stance, swatting incoming cannonballs with his broom or intercepting them with a two-hand-grip defensive hold, and returning fire when he can with long, arcing beams. And then... At last! Finna declares that she's got the goods, and they're heading out! With Athela covering things with her powerful freezing, Arthur can ideally pull back his defenses and focus on flying out of here! He drops into a dive, swinging low and darting back between the columns of water with his body pressed low to the broom's haft as he surges towards Wandering Dog's boat, does a stylish stopping backflip to land in it, assumes the most cool and stylishly relaxed position he can, and begins shoving space energy into it so that it'll blast out of here like a motorboat once everyone who needs it is bad aboard!
Empty Tidings Empty Tidings releases the Lintha once she's certain he's expired. She lets the weight of his clothing drag him down. She stays down there for a few long moments, drifting near him, watching the corpse sink, a long knife clutched in a death grip.

She presses her hands together, fingers entwined, and speaks a quiet, murmured prayer to the Great Mother -- the same Great Mother the Lintha so revere. It's a long, intricate thing in an old, old tongue, drifting into a siren's psalm that entreats the listeners to pay homage to The Sea That Marched Against The Flame for her boundless love. She lifts her voice, carried beneath the sea and, soon enough, appearing to have no source whatsoever.

She's down there for quite some time. Eventually, though, the song ends. The prayer concludes, bringing with it a sense of relief, like a long-held breath finally released and drawn anew.

Then, the Lintha pirate surfaces near one of the remaining ships. He swims to the side and climbs it one-handed, carrying a grisly trophy in the other. He swings himself up onto the deck, an expression of grim satisfaction on his face. He tosses a crudely-severed head onto the planks before him, mangled beyond identification, save for a shock of short, freshly- and forcibly-shorn dark hair.

He gets clapped on the shoulder by one of his fellows who clearly recognizes him. He tells them about the attackers and what happened on the other ship -- but he got one, he says. He'll have to tell one of the matrons about the attack. He shares a look of knowing and understanding with his fellows, and takes his place amongst the living that break away from the scene of the battle.

Deep beneath the waves, a headless body disappears into the abyssal depths, still clutching that knife...
Lyria Mason Lyria Mason has a love for booty and it's not looking like she'll get to grab any but she is getting a heck of a fight. Which will be a heck of a story if she's lives. The dog demons are trying to get her and knock off off balance as he make she doesn't get off so well this time she get cut up fairly bad her clothing is a big stronger than one might expect but still there'd damage she's still bleeding she's also clearly in pain.

"Your man eating pirates, what do you think."

She notes to them, normally on a raid she's run now but with the likes of these pirates putting the hurt on them is something she's up to.

She was lucky she had been sluiced up, yet there was some good news. Lyria hgad avoided, getting mauled by the dogs. There is no more words from here now, just t he contiuning fight. At that moment she makes several more strikes at the captain. She clearly intends to keep him busy till everyone else is out at the very least.
All-Seeing Eye      Lightning whip still held in his hand, Eye twirls it gracefully through the air to reflect the odd bit of debris coming his way once the boat explodes. As it falls to the sea with a multi-voiced chorus of splashes, he allows himself to bask in the accomplishment, flashing a satisfied smile to Wandering Dog. Flipping his long raven hair over a shoulder, he takes another moment to survey the battlefield, briefly touching a hand to his temple to listen to the radio.

     He narrows his eyes (which still show the weapons within), sorting through the chaos for a means to an end. As more details come together, his hand rises to rest upon his chin, and he frowns. "A suboptimal outcome," he says with disappointment to Wandering Dog. "Our flight is premature. Wandering Dog!" He clasps his hands together and turns to face the other Exalt, beaming brightly. "Don't worry about me, hm? I'll find my way back."

     Eye pats Arthur on the shoulder and gives him a few congratulatory words for his feats of aerial prowess, then simply jumps overboard and disappears beneath the waves. He sinks until his form is obscured by the dark depths of the ocean, using his vision and hearing to guide him to the serpents. They will, of course, need to be removed from the equation for an optimal outcome...
Wandering Dog Finna manages to escape from the ship, blindsiding one of the pirates above deck as he moves to check what's going on. She's able to leap across the water, where Wandering Dog flags her down. "Get aboard! Once the others are here, we'll get out of here."

As Athela moves to retreat, her Samurott sprays ice over the cannons of a ship, rendering it incapable of firing at them. That ship's not going to be able to do much, as it can't even turn due to a lack of sails. The duo is able to get away safely.

"I think you should be dead by now!" As they fight, Lyria manages to slay one of the demons, causing a hiss from the Fleet Captain. He's very badly injured, and it's mostly pride that's stopping him from retreating. He's likely going to die whether Lyria takes the fatal blow or not, but when she retreats, he retreats with his demon. He's going to have to get his pirates out of here.

The Lintha who had triumped in the water is able to return to his crew successful, a hero amongst a failing fleet. Horrifically, his companion is shot to pieces...hopefully, he can avoid the same fate.

Arthur turns the rowboat into a motorboat, and the group speeds on through, escaping the ships. The jar is safe, and when investigated later on, seems to carry a golden paste. The paste doesn't seem to do anything until Wandering Dog tries applying it to a broken telescope aboard the main ship (whose captain is honestly shocked they made it back with zero casualties). One drop is all it takes on the lens, as the paste automatically expands to fill the cracks to a certain point. The jar is pretty full, and probably has just enough with that ability to fill Oliphem's lens up.

The Lintha pirate fleet is found days later, resting in the water where it last fought. There were no survivors. Each of the four sea-demons had been slain, and aside from those killed in the battle, it seems the crew had gone crazy due to an unknown cause (possibly being stuck at sea?), killing each other horrifically and slowly. The fleet captain was dead in his chair, the corpse of his companion demon beside him. Nobody would truly know what had happened at this site.