Cast Away (Enrick & Qit’ria) [Graded]

[Maltruism]

MOD BOMB!!

Fingers brushed what felt like stone for the duration of the contact. But a cloud of darkness leaked from the floating boulder, following the finger as it was pulled back.

There was no sense of danger exactly. The tendril of inky black stopped short of unchecked growth, ending its span at about a foot and a half, then broke free of the stony sphere. It seemed to adapt quickly to the motion of currents and began to solidify, as a second streak now spilled from the rock after it....And a third...And a fourth...

Soon there were a dozen wriggling eel-like shapes darting around playfully. By the time the Sev'ryn warrior noticed that the floating boulder had shrunk in size relative to the amount of eel flesh now zipping her and there, a second dozen had birthed from it. By the time a fist-sized rock suddenly dropped back into the depths, there were sixty or seventy of the things. Now, however, they had found a focus; the vessel itself.

It was likely that one or both of the others on board had come to investigate. They may not have seen the eely creatures at first, and there was no guarantee that any of them had ever placed much stock in the oft-disbelieved accounts of "Tarfish", if they'd ever even heard them in the first place. But if they had, it would have come as no surprise that the creatures immediately latched onto the outside of the hull, stretching and spreading to form a coating over the wood, precisely to the waterline point.

As waves washed against the hull, the tarry substance of which the things seemed to be made washed up with it. Their gooey essence appeared to be filling in cracks and sealing leaks. As well, what few barnacles had attached themselves here and there came under attack as food.

There seemed to be no downside to these wondrous things...

Off Topic

So, it's entirely possible that Enrick should find a source of information on 'Tarfish', and see if they are as beneficial as they appear.
I will not be adding any more to this thread, but who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of mods...

[Ellen'wyn]

Ellen moved closer to the ship's rail, over to where the sound was coming from. She peer over, silence by the strange sight. It was like a float orb of rock bobbing on the surface of the water. Qit was approaching it without nary a caution and Ellen bristled, tense and watchful. Her wings were fluffed and ready to run at a moment's notice, but in the back of her head she realized she couldn't flee and leave Enrick--regardless of whether he was real or a dream.

By the time Qit'ria touched the mysterious thing the half-breed was watching through her fingers. She squinted and tensed, waiting for something. A strong chill shot through her when the smoke began to appear, wiggling and thrashing, as the boulder began to shrinks. Ellen moved back from the rail a bit, calling out a quiet warning to the Sev'ryn below. The things didn't necessarily look dangerous, but she erred on the side of caution.

She stepped backwards quickly, reaching for Enrick behind her and putting her back to his front. A protective gesture. In his condition he would only get hurt if something happened. Qit'ria looked as though she could handle herself, and even if she couldn't the redhead couldn't swim so the other woman was shit out of luck either way. She clasped a small hand around the sailor's tan wrist, holding him there. He would be able to feel the bundle of feathers between them if she chose to reach out and investigate.

"Qit'ria?" Ellen finally called out after a moment of silence. She couldn't heard anything. No shouting, no wiggling in the water. "Are you okay?" She glanced at Enrick out of the corner of her eye, unsure how to explain what she'd seen.

[Qit'ria]

Common Text
Xanthean Text
Kashehino Text

Qit'ria didn't move away from the floating rock, as she watched tendrils of what, to her, looked like the ink that squids used, spilled out. Or rather, seemed to swim out. She was the closest of the bunch, and she couldn't see any identifying features on the creatures, beyond being black and wriggling. She watched as they latched onto the ship, and the rock-egg thing, much smaller now, sank down beneath the surf. She ignored Ellen's warning. She watched the critters closely, now that it was clear they weren't being hostile to her. Not that she was concerned. She'd killed far scarier things than... sticky shadow fish things.

She watched as they latched on, and spread out. Like tree sap over an older spear, to help fill in the cracks and divots from age, to keep it smooth. She saw some lumps from the little sea critters that live underneath ships beneath the inky blackness. And slowly, they disappeared too, flattening out. Qit's mouth formed an 'o'. They were eating the things! She wondered if they would eat the wood too. At Ellen's next question, "Yes. Good. They eat boatship ticks."

Qit'ria had a curiosity though. She could see they only stayed below the water, which seemed rather obvious since they were fish. But she wanted to know if they were damaging the boat. She watched the top most section of the inky blackness as the ship bobbed and bounced. She could see the fish adjusting with each motion so as to stay underwater. Treading water she watched and waited, waited and watched. Finally a large bounce came and the whole splotch adjusted. She touched the wood before it could dip below the waves.

Pulling her hand back, she found a sticky film on her fingers. It was transparent black, instead of the solid black like the fish themselves. It didn't seem to be doing any damage to her fingers, and so she popped them in her mouth. Salty, and tasted like tarragon. Or licorice. Something strange like that. She was sure the fish wouldn't harm the ship, thus marooning them here. Or rather, marooning Enrick and Ellen here. Qit was fairly confident that she'd be fine, as always. They couldn't be too far from Desnind. She could swim that far, surely.

She dunked her head in the water, and could just make out the stone egg way down below, nestled in some coral and stones. Popping back up, "Is safe, Eren. Take Enlick to beach." She then took a big breath, and dove back down. She kicked hard against the whirling currents, and the added buoyancy of her belly, switching back and forth from a scissor kick to a dolphin quick, and doing the turtle crawl with her arms. Once she reach the stone egg, she poked at it again, finding it light and easily movable. Similar to a nut's shell, cracked and eaten. She grasped it in both hands, and made her way back for the surface.

Once topside, she rolled over on her back, letting the current drag her closer back to shore. She propped the stone-egg-shell on her torso, leaning against her belly. She rolled it around until she found the opening in the surface. Looking inside, she saw a few wriggling masses. She'd caught a couple! She dunked it down to make sure more water got inside so they didn't die immediately. They could try eating them later! Or using them to make food taste better. She was certainly going to experiment with them.

Closer to shore now, she swam properly so as to avoid the dangerous coral, and soon found beneath her feet. Marching up the beach, she plopped down in the hot sand, holding her prize close, and waiting on Ellen and Enrick to get to her.

[Kasoria]

Review Rewards

Name Qit'ria

Points awarded: 15

Knowledge:
Climbing: Climbing a mast rope
Detection: Seeing the signs of desperation
Leadership: Not tolerating laziness
Navigation: Ymiden sun sits in the north
Sailing: Tying down a steering wheel to "maintain" course
Swimming: Swimming with a pregnant belly
Strength: Lifting an anchor
Throwing (Javelin): Throwing from a bobbing ship
Throwing (Javelin): Arcing the throw above an enemy, so as to have it fall on them

Name Enrick

Points awarded: 15

Knowledge:
Knowledge:
Endurance: Pain From Swollen Eyes
Endurance: The Sting of Salt On Wounds
Detection: Relying On Your Other Senses
Detection: Where Eyes Fail You, Ears Do Not
Discipline: Dealing With Disorientation From Blindness
Navigation: Sailing is Impossible Blind

Non-Skill Knowledge:
Personal: Relying On Qit to Sail
Personal: Picked Up a Castaway

Notes:
Favorite Line: probably "boatship ticks" to describe "barnacles"

All in all, this was pretty cool! Shame Ellen bailed (heh, natiucial stuff, water, bailing... okay, I'll shut up) and the Mod Bomb was both unexpected and yet sorta benevolent. A rarity for Malt! Enrick and Qit'ria, you both did a good job capturing the essence of your characters. Enrick didn't seem to much the Beta here, so much as a polar reversal to something like Qit, who is often more animal than person. And despite that, he's still able to keep track of pretty much everything happening on his boat BY SOUND ALONE. That's impressive stuff, bruv.

Conversely, Qit, great job in evoking the tangle of emotions she feels about Enrick and the baby and the situation she finds herself in. There's no critique to give you and no praise you haven't heard before.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns in regards to this review, feel free to PM.