The Otter

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

I should've known Est would be a tiktok girl...

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

Callum Prosser

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A moment before he'd been about to shove his dagger up under one of the scales and pry it up, the massive head turned, backing away and facing him with an eye wider than he was tall—before pulling back yet further, all three eyes trained on him. Squarely on him, he was convinced; the shade-born anglerfish next to him likely didn't even come into the leviathan's consideration at all. "Well, this isn't ideal," he muttered to himself as the monster's words grated in his head. Before he felt a sudden rip current pulling at him as the beast's jaws opened.

Oh. Oh it really did eat the court mage! Don't eat me, man, I only just got this job! Why was I one of the backups to dive down here? I was taught to fight people, not these things!

He was almost surprised that he wasn't cursing or worse, though that was due as much to the fact that he couldn't force his own jaw to move as to any sort of bravery or fortitude he might have possessed. The anglerfish off to his left tried to swim away, breaking out of the current, as he floated, frozen in place at the sight of Ingens rearing back, his mind furiously trying to find any way possible to get out of the line of danger. Unfortunately for him, every last possibility his thoughts trended towards was shot down as quickly as it was imagined.

There really didn't seem to be a way out of it for him. An ignominious end to an utterly disappointing journey thus far—he couldn't even manage to move fast enough, with the ring's help, to get out of the way of the current pulling him in. He'd just have to hope he could avoid the teeth...

Wait. That might work out.

Forcing his limbs to move again, he started to try and cut his way out of the current just as Ingens lunged forwards. Jaws enveloped him quickly, water that the beast had sucked in pulling him along just past the snapping teeth. Not a problem for the leviathan, certainly—but Callum's last-second movement had carried him towards the roof of the monster's mouth. He let himself get carried back further, out of the way of any wayward pointing teeth, looking for a spot that would be good to sink a hook if anything existed large enough to fish for a leviathan—before lunging upwards, sinking his dagger into a soft part of Ingens's mouth once he could see light poking through the translucent structures again rather than hard bone.

He was dragged along a little further, the dagger opening a gash in the leviathan's mouth, but with his free hand also shoved up into the bleeding wound he managed to keep himself from disappearing entirely down the monster's throat. "Don't be like an eel, don't be like an eel," he repeated to himself, clutching onto his dagger and some loose flesh for dear life. He couldn't see anything like an eel's secondary jaws further back, but he wasn't about to let that make him too confident.

Rather, it was better to act as soon as possible. "Alright, you overgrown fish, let's see if you like this as much as the smaller ones!" With a grunt, he pulled himself up, pushing his left hand deeper into Ingens's flesh; the subjugation pearls were still clutched tightly in his palm, but he stuck two fingers out, pressing hard. "Dealanach!" While he'd never claim to be any great mage, the electric shocks he'd been able to conjure had proven their use multiple times, whether against fish or against people. While outwardly, it would likely mean nothing to the leviathan, he could only hope that the blast of electricity coming from inside the beast's own head might prove more of a threat.

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

Bristol...where every day is talk like a pirate day.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fionn MacKerracher

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Fionn stood in place, staring down the creature as the others sprinted to different parts of the now wide-open space. "When you say it like that, it makes it sound like I was the one that did the barging in," he grumbled, pulling out his sword. At least she'd answered the captain's question well enough for him—he was nearly guaranteed not to have any better idea than her in matters pertaining to other fae, something that still held true in this entire situation.

Without waiting for any information, Tyaethe charged the writhing tree-snake as it reeled back from Arken's barriers. "You may want to drop down and find a safer spot to hide, dear," he said over his shoulder. "I figure the fastest way to break whatever enchantment holds that thing together will be to stab it right through the heart, so I'm going to try and be quick like. Gniye bristim!"

Whether Fiadh decided it was worthwhile to hop off or if she thought that by staying attached she could do more good, he started to rush the snake from a different angle to Tyaethe; the momentary glow of released mana suffused his being as his spoken spell turned inwards, and he crossed the distance in the blink of an eye. Unlike Tyaethe, however, he didn't waste any thought deciding how he would tackle the woody beast.

He was already climbing it, ready to jam his sword in at any moment to keep himself from falling.

And hoping it wouldn't try to roll over on top of him.

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

Now to decide what would be the funniest option...

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fionn MacKerracher

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"Play nice, you two," Fionn chided Gertrude and Tyaethe. "Don't embarrass us in front of the king's mage, because I don't want to have to lock you in a closet until you can decide to get along." The damage may or may not have already been long done on that particular front, not helped by his own joking back at them—not to mention that it was mainly Gertrude's inability to play nice—but such simple details wouldn't stop him from joining in.

With Fleuri, Arken, Tyaethe, and Fanilly already having their weapons out and ready, Fionn stopped just ahead of them, peering curiously at the trees around the group. "Nice enough little thicket trying to grow here, I suppose," he commented after a moment. "Too dense to let much light through, though, sun or moon. What's the one old Barukstaedian tale that kept on down here? Der Erlkönig? Maybe we've wandered into the wrong entrance hall!"

In contrast to Fanilly, Arken, Fleuri, and Gertrude, Fionn's bright and cheery disposition seemed far more in line with Tyaethe's mood at their surroundings. More than anything, he was wholly unconcerned with whatever they'd managed to find, despite the twisted, gnarled faces glaring out at them from the trunks that lined and bent over their path. "It would be just our look to go looking for a Moonlit Queen and to run right into the start of an Alder King's domain," he concluded with a nod. No clue if they were on a path towards the parts of the forest where alders might start to be the prominent trees, but that wasn't the important part of the story anyways.

Assuming that one of his old travelling partners before he'd become a knight was correct (and he had little reason to think otherwise, given the man was from Barukstaed), the old versions of the tale had nothing to do with alder forests. Elverkonge, or something like that, wasn't it?

Even without his blade at the ready, standing at the fore of the group as they peered into the ever-darkening depths of the forest, he held himself perfectly confident about their ability to deal with whatever they might face. "You've got the rear, aye, Renar? Let's try not to get snuck up on, that always looks bad!"

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

It's pretty possible in my experience, I've known more than a few that like being in or underwater

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

Callum, unless the job offers banger benefits and a good 401k plan, don't take it.

This is Irradiant speaking, by the way, not Altina.

@Irradiant

"Look, you try telling the half-elf queen that could erase you from existence with a thought no when she gives you a job offer. I'll just sit back and watch."

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

Callum Prosser

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Oh. I'm not her secret police. I'm just her fixer. That's fantastic.

His left hand shot up, reflexively catching the very unfortunately slimy Seed that was spat his way as he already tried to forget the sight of the oversized fish trying to speak to him. It only stood to reason that something would go wrong, significantly wrong, below the suface to match what was happening above. At least the queen's preparation didn't leave anything to scoff at, giving him one of the other rings just in case for this eventuality. "Alright, then, let's—"

He ducked to the side, hand swiping another of the pearly crystals out of the air as Captain Thorne threw yet another his way.

Ah. Wonderful. Double duty. Or is it triple at this point? I'm losing track.

He shot Spirit a disinterested glare, stepping back towards the railing as the mercenary captain stepped between them. "Can't play this time, sorry," he quipped with a small wave, lazily rolling backwards over the ship's rail as the dragon and the other foreigner decided to assault the Swiftsure. Before he even hit the water, the ring he'd been given blew a skintight bubble out around him, leaving him floating perfectly dry in the water.

Before he began to dive rapidly, aided by the ring's own propulsion, cursing and narrowly evading the stray fire from Mirie, Hayworth, and the third Ravenfell intruder. Undeterred by the prospect that the ghostly people had found some way to multiply, he sped along towards the queen, slowing at the sight of the creature she had come to try and tame. "Ah, rach air muin," he grumbled looking at the momentarily-blinded Ingens. "Iasg na galla. You said these go in its head, aye?"

Where had the court mage even gone? Knocked out and sent to the depths? Surely she couldn't have sank so fast if that was the case, sank at all, even—but he hadn't seen her come floating to the top either. Eaten? Dia, don't tell me this thing ate one of us... He swallowed, pulling his dagger free with his right hand, if only to have something to try and pry up Ingens's scales with.

"...Your majesty." The honorific came late, an afterthought, manners reasserting themselves despite the beast before him. "Captain Thorne is occupied on the deck. I'll try and be quick about this." With a small salute with the dagger—slow and sloppy through the water, but hopefully the thought would count for something—he turned, and sped on towards Ingens while the beast blearily tried to right its vision. At least the tentacles should be fairly easy to see if it tried to flail about more, and easy to see meant at least some chance of avoidance...or, failing that, he supposed he could always just grab on if one should hit him and try and pull himself along it.

Hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

Further Callum catastrophizing will come this weekend.