[Second day of Week Two/Three Mingle]

[professorwolf]

Hello, sorry, Lyall here. Do all of you recall that vision I had of the dividing wall between us during the last month or so of liminal space? How it was a very literal sign of what was to come?

It's happened again. I had another one. And it's being about as persistent as the first one, so I'm guessing it's important. I can share it directly if anyone would like me to, but in summary, I believe there's something out there beyond the reefs. I saw dark water, well below the level of the reefs, and a large, pale, diseased something. All I saw was a wall of flesh, that was then obscured by bubbles, and then it went even darker. Like it dove away.

I don't know if we need to find it to stop it, or find it to help it. But I do think we need to find it, if just to keep it from coming here.

... also, I am still making earplugs, for those who are finding the noise difficult to bear. I'm not sure if it will help entirely, but it can't hurt. If anyone wants to try and distribute them to people who trust them and might need them, please let me know, I'll get you a few pairs.

Comments

[set_your_watches_for_fun]

Give us a look, then, love.

[claudiometer]

...Well, that's not remotely alarming or anything.

[theflyingone]

Where did so many bubbles come from? If you saw it so deep down, it could not have been the waves...

[memoryandtheft]

Diseased how?

[professorwolf]

A release of air from the creature I saw, in order to dive, perhaps. Air is buoyant, after all. Or it could be a mammal, like a whale, and that was an actual exhale. It was certainly large enough to be a whale, but there were sharks that size in prehistoric times, and if what I'm hearing is true about there being a giant squid in the previous Jaunt, it could well be any manner of sea monster.

We could discover the Loch Ness monster.

[The last is facetious.]

[professorwolf]

It was most certainly alarming. We may have to find a way to send our merfolk investigators out with or without the locals to, er. Investigate.

[And boy, is he glad now he wasn't brought here with fins. Except if he got the vision, that makes him worry that he's supposed to be there.]

[professorwolf]

Like the skin was rotten. Not sores or infection, but necrosis or decay. I didn't get the sense whether the creature it belonged to was alive or undead, but if the bubbles are any indication, at least it still breathes.

[memoryandtheft]

Just what this little slice of misery needs. Underwater zombies.

Did you get a sense of whether or not it was hostile?

[claudiometer]

Something the size you're describing would certainly account for the 'what the fuck was that' noise. One really big something is potentially easier to deal with than several smaller somethings, too.

On the other hand it could be harder, and here's me and my electricity-based weapons stuck in the water. Still, at least we have a starting point.

[professorwolf]

All right. It's a memory of mine, not a livestream, so be prepared.

[With that, he opens up a private channel to his packmate to send along what is effectively a fully-immersive experience of having a vision of the future. He had been helping some locals and maybe an investigator or two haul a small fishing boat out of hiding and into the water when everything around him suddenly went dark and wet and suffocating. He can't see the sun or the sand, he can only see a wall of something sickly pale, pieces falling away rotted, rising up in front of him. It's more than a little terrifying to see, if just that it's so huge, and it's obviously flesh, not rotting wood or even coral.

Then the view is suddenly obscured by a surge of bubbles, and whatever it is is gone-- or maybe Lyall has just been swept away from it. Everything is dark and wet and suffocating again, with nothing but a faint glimmer above to relieve the darkness.

Then he's sitting on the sand in the bright (and uncomfortable) sunlight, with people around him asking him what's wrong, the vision over.]

[professorwolf]

Yes, please don't use your weapon in the ocean. Saltwater conducts even better than clear water, and while it may be a good idea to neutralize whatever this is-- it might not be, I don't know yet-- I'd rather not do it at the expense of everyone else around you, as well.

[professorwolf]

I didn't, I'm afraid. It could be that it's simply ill and we're supposed to help it. Or it could be that it's hostile, or being controlled somehow, and we're supposed to stop it.

I am wondering if we oughtn't find some way to warn the infiltrators, particularly the mermaids. Do you think visions would be too outside their experience?

[set_your_watches_for_fun]

... bit of a shock, that. [after a moment, though he sounds calm enough] Well, it seldom seems that our tasks are to defeat monsters or the like, so I imagine we're meant to figure something out about that. Perhaps how to help it.

[professorwolf]

Sorry. I can't livestream something that isn't happening at that particular moment, so you had to get the full experience.

I'm not sure whether it's fight or help. I hope it's help. That would be more pleasant, anyway, if not necessarily easier.

[memoryandtheft]

Or it could be representative of something that's happening to all the ocean life, and you just got the dramatic bits.

Visions might be a little much for them to swallow. *Legends*, on the other hand...

[professorwolf]

Possible, but I will have to remind you that I see literal things, so there is something this large out there with this condition... I wish there was some way to direct these damn things, instead of just hoping one of them shows up and gives me another angle to work with. It's completely outside of my control.

I'm not sure if we can finagle a legend about rotting leviathans when we have actual mermaids here who know a lot more about the ocean than we do. Maybe if you're a better liar than I am.

[claudiometer]

If there's one thing I know, it's electricity. I'm not gonna cause a mermaid fry, don't worry. [Possibly one of her electromagnetic rock things from Nova Venezia would be useful here, if she can rig it with a time delay...]

We need more information before we can really set a course of action anyway.

[thornsofmalkav]

Make it a local legend to the Cornu school... Oh shit, they'd think it followed us.

[chalicejoker]

...I don't think there's anything about this I actually like.

[shiroganeheir]

I might be able to use Sift to find its location, and once I get a track on it, I could use my Control Panel to follow it, if it is not too far away.

Beyond that, unless we can actually see it, I would not be able to fight it. If we do see it, I could likely help defeat it. On the outside chance that we are supposed to help it... I might be able to use my power to help heal it.

[Now she's wondering what would happen if she cast Diarahan on it.]

[awitchdidit]

I'd say, given how relatively easy dealing with the local Infiltrators has been, that whatever it is is probably the main objective of this Jaunt.

Why does everything keep sending me underwater lately...

We should have some time to scout it out if we can find it. Doing that is probably best before we leap to any conclusions on what we're meant to do with it.

[awitchdidit]

Possibly we should have someone go "just happen" to put eyes on it first, and avoid any uncomfortable questions.

Supernatural visions are disallowed as an investigative technique for a reason, after all.

[seestheworld]

If it does come down to a fight, I can probably put a sizable dent in it at the very least. But there's also the possibility of it spreading whatever it's got as it dies.

Of course, that's assuming we're meant to fight it.

[set_your_watches_for_fun]

[Oddly enough, Tick-Tock has actually had extensive experience in soothing massive beasts and monstrosities, so this may be coloring his view. He hasn't actually fought very many, as usually it's his job to put things right, not kill people.]

I think we can fair assume what you saw is what's singing that horrible song - might be helpful to organize a group and scout it out? Bring along some of the merfolk that can do that singing business.

[triggerhappytraitor]

Teruo already thinks I'm... not quite normal, as mermaids are. I could bring it up to him as another memory I shouldn't have and see what he thinks.