Check-in! (Check fin?)

[thornsofmalkav]

Okay. Uh. Wow. I did not expect to be Investigating as a mermaid. Selkie. Finvestigating. You know.

I also did not expect to get all kinds of shiny mermaid knowledge dumped in my head the moment I ended up in the water, but that seems to have happened anyway. So if anyone wants to know anything about that shit, please do ask me. The most important thing is that the Thalassian Mermaid Queen, the Dread Empress or whatever, is as scary as fuck and our cover story should probably be that we ran away from her empire because we didn’t want to become cannibal berserkers. Which are a thing. Oh my god.

Anyway, it looks like we’re in the world with the Labyrinthine Shoals? Like, that’s evidently where we are. We’re in the Shoals. And I guess we’re mermaids? Some of us? Can anyone chime in to tell me if there’s anyone around who’s not a mermaid.

Actually, maybe we should make this a general check-in with, like, name and species. I’ll go first: this is Thorne and it looks like I’m a California sea lion selkie.

Comments

[papacerberus]

This is Lupa. I'm myself, although I have just changed.

I'm on the ship, and I will need new clothing. My armor won't blend in at all, and the other clothing I had stored in Vishuddha won't fit me currently.

What do you know about these berserkers? My own experiences might help in dealing with them.

[thornsofmalkav]

Basically, they're normal mermaids who got forcibly infected with a disease that causes them to go berserk and try to eat people's faces when there's blood in the water or somewhere they can see or smell it.

And because of that they're now forced to eat sentient beings like humans or dolphins to survive.

Basically? They're a lot like you Junkyard guys. And just as much victims of circumstances.

[papacerberus]

Then my experiences will be helpful.

[The sentence is positive, Lupa's tone is sorrowful.]

Is there a cure for them, at all, that you're aware of? How much and how often must they devour? I can put some flesh in my hammerspace for emergencies, although that will likely raise questions of where I got it.

[There's a slight mental shrug] If it saves a life or a mind, I believe that risk is worth it.

[thornsofmalkav]

I don't know about a cure. The knowledge that got dumped into my head isn't, like, perfect knowledge about mermaid stuff. I think it's what any random mermaid would know?

[She'll give him a rough estimate of the amount, however, before adding:]

I think so too. Just be careful and try not to pull anything out of hammerspace in front of them.

[papacerberus]

I will be careful about that.

Since you do have some knowledge, and have seen me as Cerberus, would that form attract negative attention? If I must swim, that form is faster.

[And also much better at killing things.]

[thornsofmalkav]

... you might get mistaken for a monster, yeah. Sorry. Maybe not one of the Dread Empress's, but.

But hey, if you can outswim trouble...

[papacerberus]

I believe I can, but I should test that theory before we encounter potential hostiles. Once we are all accounted for and settled, I should probably go for a swim.