vivala | Salvaging - it's kind of like Piracy?

Entry tags:

Salvaging - it's kind of like Piracy?

Who: Harlock, Link, And Nephenee
What: Salvaging
Where: Out in the sea
When: Shortly after the end of the ship battle.
Warnings: Possible violence, the dangers of water salvage,

It wasn't what Harlock was used to, but thanks to the magic - the magic of this world, diving and salvaging wasn't as undeveloped as he feared. Diving into water so blue and so full of life - he admit that he may have to remind himself to stay focus on the task at hand.

As the trawling ship The Gullchaser approached the scuttled imperial ships, the mast of one, and the bow of another can be seen sticking from the still sea as seabirds scream and circled above, flotsam bobbing around the wreckage.

"Here we are," The Otterkin captain calls out, waving the three over to the helm, as an elf comes out from below deck, as sailors started to swarm the cinches, cranes, and nets. "Boat's prepped, and Sasha will cast the water-breathing spell - you have about twenty minutes before you need to surface, but the spell will run out faster if you try talking underwater so keep any conversation quick."

"Any signs of Imperials?" Harlock asked as he rubs his hand over the right side of his face.

"Not yet, Harlock - but we'll be keepin' an eye out for them. Ether's valuable enough they'll be stickin' their noses around, but with Neptune's blessin' we'll be hauling back before they get here." She waves dismissively. "We'll be givin' your guide ropes a good tuggin' if we see their sails."

"Any questions before I start with the spell?" The elf cuts in, stifling a yawn. "Remember - twenty minutes, less if you're chatty, and we cannot take everything, so pick and choose carefully."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The woman in the group looks out over the scene as the otterkin explains things, quietly taking everything in. While she's never done diving quite like this, with magic or other means of breathing underwater, Nephenee's at least got some good swimming experience under her belt. That helps her not be too worried about this, but still...

"...How much ya reckon we can haul back safely?" She asks after he's done. She doesn't know boats, so...

"If we got a few days, we can do a max about forty tons with this load out. But with the Imps, we'll be probably get five, maybe seven max before we gotta haul ass." The Captain explained. "Lest you outworlders got some secret trick to speedin' up the process." She quipped as she examines her claws, as the motley mix of otterkin, ratkin and humans did final checks on the equipment.

Harlock made note as he slides some goggles on, pausing to adjust it's strap and the strap of his eye patch for comfort. "And anything heavy will take longer to surface, something to keep in mind."

"Right, once you hook up, give it a good ol' yank and we'll start crankin'."

Link hasn't experienced this kind of magic either. But he's used to having weird magical abilities thrown at him, and then having to quickly learn to adapt. He's not worried either.

But when it comes to whether they have any secret tricks that can help bring things back... "I have my pack," he reminds her. Glancing at Harlock - who won't have seen it in action before - Link adds, "It's magic."

And then in lieu of giving any more explanation than that, Link puts his shield away. The shield is several times bigger than the back - a small leather satchel that hangs from his waist. And yet, somehow it goes straight in with no issue, and disappears.

"Ah have got t'find out how t'get one o'them..." Neph mutters as Link goes shoving stuff into the fancy magic bag. But she doesn't dwell on that long before looking to the group in general. "If we come across anythin' big we need moved outta the way, Ah might can help with that." Not that she's tried lifting underwater, but she's a lot stronger than a lot of folks think just looking at her. She's self-aware enough to know that much, at least...

"...Any critters we should look out for?"

Edited 2024-09-13 00:42 (UTC)

Harlock's eye widen, as he mouths 'how the hell?' as Link demonstrates his pack's ability to be bigger on the inside than on the out, as the Elf lets out an impressed whistle.

"Folks at the Vault will want to look at that."

"Gotta watch for Sea Monsters and Sharks, the sea beasties you best hide 'til they pass - with the sharks, hit 'em hard in the nose and if you can, rotate the bleedin' idiots!" The Captain's black eyes glint with mischief as she exclaimed the last part a bit too enthusiastically. "Once inside, the big thing to worry about is spookin' an eight-legger into blackin' the area with ink and you can't tell your up from your down. there's bigger eight-leggers that like curling up in shipwrecks, but they don't come up this close to the surface. These wrecks will likely sink down, but it'll take a few days."

"Captain Keyla, everything's in order!" A ratkin calls out.

"Now, get yourselves ready dive, goggles on, since you folks don't got nice third eyelids like I do," Kelya clicks her tongue as the elf starts to cast a spell.

"Twenty minutes per dive, remember that!"

Harlock nods, as he sits on the deck railing, back to the sea. "We should try to stick to gestures once we're under as much as possible."

Could the folks at the Vault replicate the pack? Link doesn't know. Korok-magic is korok magic; he doesn't understand it.

Nevermind that for now, though. Instead, he puts thoughts of korok enchantments aside and listens carefully to the Captain's instructions, nodding along as he does so. Punch the sharks, turn them around. Makes sense to him.

Speech done, he puts on his goggles. Moves over to Harlock. And then gives him a little thumbs up. Considering that Link's not one for talking much anyway...sticking to gestures shouldn't be much of a problem at all for him.

Rotating sharks? Well, now she's heard of everything! The punching them bit sounds familiar, though...probably some sailor back home she overheard, she guesses.

Right. She's a little nervous, but, with a deep breath and digging deep into the battlereadiness she brings up, she steadies the rogue jitters, if not the excitement she feels overall. They'll be fine. Googles, check. Wishblade fastened on her back (no shield, that'd make swimming hard), check. And while she's a regular chatterbox compared to Link, gestures are no stranger to her, especially now. Coming up alongside the men, she nods, her face mostly neutral but for her eyes practically dancing with anticipation.

Harlock had put his rapier away, borrowing a dagger from Keyla - as it was a more practical weapon for what they are doing.

The crew worked the cinches, dropping the hooks first into the sea, as a small rat raced up the rigs back into the crow's nest to watch for Imperials.

An all-clear was shouted - no more things were being thrown into the water, and Harlock moves first, rolling backwards off the railing, cutting through the surface. A gasp escapes - instinctive dread before a shimmer crosses his eye, and it felt like he was inhaling a thick fog - almost ticklish on his tongue as he lets the sensation roll over him. The pirate isn't quite sure if he'll get used to the sensation of having spells cast on him, but better that he get used to it.

He swims to one of the hooks, grabbing it, once he sees Link and Nephenee, he waves them over - pointing to the hooks, then to the nearest of the wrecks.

Link watches Harlock. Seems him just dive straight into the water, and disappear into the waves.

Right. Link figures he should do the same thing, then.

So with a nice swan dive, Link joins Harlock in the water. He takes a moment to marvel at the magic - he's underwater! He's breathing! Is this what it's like to be a Zora? - before getting down to work.

Grabbing another one of the hooks, he starts swimming towards the wreck Harlock was pointing at.

Link, anyone ever told you you're (perhaps inadvertently) a bit of a show off? Goodness gracious... she thinks, before diving in, herself.

The magic takes a bit for her to notice, as she had unconsciously taken in a lungful of air while taking the plunge. But as she's nabbing a hook of her own and quickly following them to the shipwreck, Nephenee does have to let that breath out. Yune, the feeling of breathing like this is weird...but it's working, so she'll deal with it and be happy for it. In the meantime, this is an interesting experience, and she keeps a sharp eye out for whatever might be nearby.

Edited 2024-09-15 04:25 (UTC)

As they swim closer, the trio would disturb a ball of hand-sized fish - causing them to scatters and revealed what they were gathered tightly - a halfling in tattered imperial garb, tangled up in the riglines.

Harlock pauses at the sight, giving a glance to the others before shaking his head. There was no avoiding the fact there were casualties in the battle, but it may hit different seeing it in the murky blue. The pirate gestures to the cannons on deck as he swims towards the corpse, drawing out the knife as he does so - though he wouldn't stop either of them if they chose to follow him instead.

Link takes a moment to watch Harlock with the corpse.

He's seen plenty of dead. Of enemies and comrades alike. He won't begrudge Harlock's decision to tend to this one - although Link wonders if maybe it would be better to let them rest undisturbed.

Those thoughts go unvoiced, however. Instead, Link follows - and takes out his sword to help cut away the ropes.

The fish scattering gets Nephenee's attention, and she grimaces at the grisly sight. She's seen lots of death, been around it countless times...but waterlogged, chewed-on corpses aren't something she's seen often.

But regardless of Harlock gesturing to the cannons or the side that the halfling had been on, she's going to swim over and help. Partially because she knows a lot of lower-ranked soldiers are just trying to make a living, and they deserve a proper burial, but there's a heavy practical aspect, too.

She's hunted before. Corpses draw hunters and carrion eaters, and with that talk of "beasties" earlier, she'd like to keep those away from their party. Hopefully this one isn't so ravaged it can't float up to the surface... She tugs her dagger out and helps Harlock and Link untangle the poor dastard.

It really wasn't a pleasant sight, and while it wasn't on Harlock's mind, Nephenee's concerns were quite valid. The pirate touches the ropes above the body, working his way up until he reaches the metal pulleys that was part of the rigging system, as his eye follows to where they end - their anchor points on the deck being closer in reach to Nephenee and Link.

As he starts cutting above the pulley - intending to using their weight to drag the body down to the bottom of the sea once cut free. It wasn't the most dignified of 'burials', but to the pirate it's better than being all tangled up.

Fish that were spooked by their presence slowly starts filtering back in, deciding that these strange creatures weren't interested in eating them.

Seeing what Harlock is doing - and guessing what he intends - Link swims down towards the anchor points. Grabs a hold of them, keeping them steady - and then, the moment Harlock cuts the rope, starts pulling down.

Link's a small guy - but he's surprisingly strong. Pulling the body down doesn't give him any trouble at all.

(As for those curious fish - when one gets very curious and swims a bit too close, Link reaches out. Grabs it. And then stows it away in the pack. Gotta have something to cook for lunch later.)

Nephenee cocks her head to the side as she tries to figure out what Harlock's doing, before Link's actions have her figuring it out. Well, that wasn't what she had in mind for burials, but admittedly this isn't her wheelhouse. So she helps Link tug the ropes down, giving him a half-quizzical, half-"Really now?" look at the fish grab.

But that's all she's going to 'say' on that subject. Fun as it is to bother a friend, they're busy. With how strong the two are, tugging the ex-halfling down to the bottom takes no time at all. She looks to Link, then up to Harlock. Now what do they do to bury this?

He bites back a laugh at Link snatches a fish - a strange bit of mirth in the rather macabre task they have set out to do. He lets go of his end as the two help to guide the ex-halfling down to the depths.

Harlock gestures for them to resume their salvage - it was the most they can do for now, letting the body sink out of sight, perhaps once they are finish with this ship they might do more, but the pirate knew they did lose time for this symbolic gesture - not that he regretted it.

The cannons seem to be a good place to start.

Oh. Harlock wants them to go to the canons now?

Seems a bit odd to just leave the body after all of that, but...Link doesn't complain. Instead he just nods, and starts swimming towards the cannon - grabbing one of the hooks along the way. Then, he starts looking for a place to attach it.

It's a pity he doesn't still have Ultrahand - if he did, he could just stick the hook to the cannon. But he regained the ability to use Fuse, so...maybe one day. For now though, he finds a metal ring attached to the side, and uses that to anchor the hook.

Neph's in the same mindset as Link, and she's a bit worried about that just hanging out there...you know, being bait.

She'll grab her hook again as well, but before she swims over to the cannons, she motions to Harlock to make sure she has his attention, then to the body. And he gets her pantomiming a big ocean creature swimming over and eating the body, with a fairly alarmed look at the end. Ain't this a good way to get them big critters after us? She mouths, trying to not actually speak so they can preserve air.

He could see their concern as the body sinks - and it was indeed valid. He helps Link to finish on the cannon before he pulls away - he had hoped to wait until they clear the cannons before he would finish the body, not wanting it to get in the way of raising the heavy equipment. Thankfully the cannons are not locked to the deck, only ropes are holding them in place - however, the netting that kept the cannonballs in place had torn, so there's balls all over the deck.

Harlock gestures for them to continue as he heads to the sail, sawing through the material for an impromptu shroud, careful not to snag a rope that would tilt the arms or cause it to billow in a way that obstructs the salvaging. A shroud may not mask the corpse's "essence" forever, but should mask it just long enough for their purpose...

as well as pulling it further away from the ships.

Edited 2024-09-23 23:58 (UTC)

Do they need those cannonballs? Harlock hadn't mentioned anything about them. But they might be useful, so...better picked them up anyway.

So while Harlock is carefully wrapping the body, and pulling it away from the body...Link is swimming around the deck, picking up the cannonballs. Each one disappears into his korok-enchanted pack...which doesn't appear to be getting any heavier.

He also finds a crab. That goes into the pack too.

If Nephenee knew what a 'seafood boil' was, she'd be having a hankering for one seeing all the critters Link's nabbing.

Satisfied that Harlock understands her concerns, she returns to her job of helping with the cannons. As she cuts at ropes on cannons that don't look like they'll run away at the slightest provocation, she shoves cannonballs with her legs over to Link to help him out, using the cannons or railing for a bit of leverage there. Even as strong as she is, especially in regards to her legs, she doesn't feel like checking if she can kick them. She'd probably be fine, but there's too many ways that could go wrong for her or the others, and there's no need for doing anything particularly risky like that. Now if a big sea creature comes around...then that might work.

Ropes undone, she affixes her hook to the nearest cannon, and looks to Harlock and Link. All good?

He frowns slightly as he pulls away, sheathing the knife, this should do - it's no undersea pyramid, but still more dignified than how they found him. As he swam back - his brow knitted in confusion, as he was sure there were more cannonballs when he left - until he saw Link stuffed one into the bag.

His brow raised at the sight of it, giving a silent whistle - he hadn't considered picking them up due to the hassle, but if Link could stuff them without sinking to Davy Jones' locker, then - well he isn't going to stop them. The pirate pauses, wondering if this world had anything similar to Davy Jones' locker before pushing that thought aside to check on Nephenee's ropes, giving the knots a final tug to tighten it before giving a thumbs up.

Harlock gestures, indicating they should head up to get the spell redone after getting the cannons up before going inside the ship proper.

Time to head back up, then. Link nods, to show that he understands.

...But he doesn't start swimming immediately. There's a couple of cannonballs still in easy reach, after all. Might as well grab them now, while he's close. And also after Harlock and Nephenee helped by pushing them in his direction.

So after grabbing just a few more cannonballs, Link finally swims up to the surface.

Right, might as well get it redone. She has no idea how much time has passed, but no use pushing it.

When the Sentinel resurfaces, a reflexive gasp escapes. Even if she doesn't need the oxygen that badly, her brain sure thinks she does! "W-Well, that's the cannons down, er, up, at least!" Nephenee says, before shaking her head to try to force the hair from her face - she looks a little like a excited, drenched border collie.

Once they surface, Harlock adjusts the goggles, gasping for air, looking rather like a waterlogged alley cat.

"Good work! At this rate we'll be bristlin' more than a Hedgehog's backside after being spooked!" The captain calls out from the deck, as the elven caster starts to reapply the spell. "Oh, I be thinkin' - if you're goin' for the Etherstones, why don't you swing by the captain's quarters, see if any of the captain's logs ain't too waterlogged, may give us some info." She added.

"Do that first, once the ether is out of the engine, the ships will start to lose their buoyancy," the elf added. "Oh, I should've mentioned that before?"

Harlock facepalmed.

Link frowns. Looks down at the ships they're standing on. They can't sail without ether? (Seems like a bit of a design flaw, really. Zelda would have things to say about that.)

In the meantime, Link can see how it might be an issue. once they get the ether stones, the sunken ships will fall even deeper.

"Any other things?" He asks. Because they should probably figure out everything they need to find at this point, really.

Maaaybe should've mentioned that before, elf buddy. She doesn't facepalm, but she does frown. "Mighta shoulda told us that, yeah."

Regardless of that, what the captain tells them does bring to mind a question of her own. "An' where would them logs be in the room?"

"Try the desk." "Probably in the desk." Harlock and Captain Keyla answered at the same time.

"I assume the ship can float fine on it's own, but that Etherstone is what is keeping it from sinking entirely," Harlock added, sensing the unspoken question from Link's look.

"But yeah, scoop up anythin' that looks good, any sealed medicines, weapons, or just some guy's really nice hip flask just don't risk your neck for it." The otterkin scampers on the rail as the last of the batch of cannons is being slowly hoisted. "Good haul, steady there ratties - don't wanna waste these fellas efforts by droppin' it."

"in my experience, we Captains tend to be pretty peculiar about our cabins: messy, neat, military or outlaw the arrangements tend to be largely the same." Harlock added quietly. "With any luck the desk drawer is either well-made or the logs are kept in a lockbox."

Medicines. Weapons. Really nice hip flasks. Link nods, and makes a mental note to look out for all of those things. Oh, and any desks, of course.

Right now though, Link's ready to get back into the water. So as the last cannon is hoisted up, he moves towards the edge of the ship - and then looks back towards the others, waiting for them to get going again.

"A'ight. Desks, weapons, medicine, shiny things..." She lists, unknowingly doing the same thing as Link.

Now that they're clear of the salvage being brought up, the Sentinel notices Link looking over to them, and, bobbing her head in acknowledgement, just runs on over and dives straight back into the water. Hopefully no one had anything pressing to tell her! Let's go!

He just chuckle and shook his head as he waits to see if the elf remembered anything else - but hearing nothing, gives Link the signal before diving back under. It's still rather disorienting to suddenly going from breathing air to breathing water - but the change wasn't nearly as startling as the first time.

The fish that was disturbed by their initial intrusion had returned, most deciding the weird creatures weren't predators, though they still kept their distance, especially from Link - perhaps the fish had witnessed his crabnapping?

As Harlock swims to the hatch separating the hold from the deck, Nephenee and Link may notice a strange shape swimming languidly in their direction, looking at least a little longer than the pirate is tall.

It doesn't seem hostile, but it is getting rather close...

Well, if they're all diving back in, Link will do - with a little spin in the air as he does so, for extra flair.

Sometimes Link likes to be dramatic.

As the swim to the hatch however, and the shark-like creature appears, Link pauses. Maybe the creature wasn't hostile, but it was best to not have to fight it if possible.

So Link draws his bow. Fuses one of the fish he'd grabbed earlier to an arrow - and then fires it through the water, off past where the creature is swimming.

Being underwater, the arrow doesn't fly as far as it usually would - but with luck, the promise of a nice free meal away from where they all are will keep it distracted.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Salvaging - it's kind of like Piracy?

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

cw: dead body

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject