Graham has joined the The Pink Griffon.

Mayir has joined the The Valor of Valardin.

Arianna has joined the The Pink Griffon.

Ariella has joined the Golden Pearl.

Kaede has joined the Wreckless.

Arianna wields Eclipse.

Peri wields a steel longsword.

Kaldur has joined the Golden Pearl.

Kaldur drops Wavedancer, a steel longsword.

Ariella picks up Wavedancer, a steel longsword.

Ariella drops Wavedancer, a steel longsword.

Peri picks up Wavedancer, a steel longsword.

Luca wields Spinning Wave, a Steel Falchion.

Peri drops Wavedancer, a steel longsword.

Luca picks up Wavedancer, a steel longsword.

Adam, A Young Apprentice have been dismissed.

4 Navegant Marines have been dismissed.

Luca wields Wavedancer, a steel longsword.

Luca drops Wavedancer, a steel longsword.

Peri picks up Wavedancer, a steel longsword.

Luca wields intricately forged ancient steel cutlass.

Peri drops Wavedancer, a steel longsword.

Ariella picks up Wavedancer, a steel longsword.

Ariella drops Wavedancer, a steel longsword.

Kaldur picks up Wavedancer, a steel longsword.

Ariella drops Revival, a rubicund saber.

Ariella picks up Revival, a rubicund saber.

Ariella wields Revival, a rubicund saber.

Caelis has joined the The Valor of Valardin.

Estaban has joined the The Sea Mist.

The two fleets are maneuvering now, with the Compact's fleet in the center - or they're certainly trying to push the Compact's fleet in, and toward the glass shark that swims dangerously beneath them. Still ship to ship combat rages on, though now as a Compact ship starts to sink that shark swims under it. It opens its gaping maw with teeth - so many glass teeth - and the ship sinks into the shark, devoured. Inside, the abyss swirls, and the ship can still be seen - but now it is sailing further into the shark, beyond the swirling darkness, and gone. Just gone, snuffed out of existence (or at least the Primal plane) as though it never was. And still, the battle rages on.

Jasher has to take a pause in his order-slinging and morale-boosting (in the rough Thrax way, sharp-edged and implacable) to watch the ship vanish into the shark, into the dark within the shark. His lips tighten pale together. He resumes, with an ever eye on Wash to change tactics as necessary. What tactics can possibly be sufficient?

Reese is commanding the Grayson ship from her pink flag ship. She quickly looks over the area, trying to see if she can find an enemy ship with a ballista near by and if so she goes to try and try and get into boarding and attack range of that ship.

Mayir clamors onto the deck of the Valor of Valardin, looking for all the world like he's seen -- a giant ship-eating glass shark holy shit and just had to abandon a bomb of a ship. Trembling, he manages to reach under his shirt for something, clasping it in his hands and looking out around the scene about them and that shark. "If you have any ideas," he says, voice wavering, to no one in particular, to the air. "I'd really love to hear them."

Waking into a sweaty fugue, Kaldur takes a moment to get his bearings. Shouts and creaking, with the lift and roll of waves beneath. His head throbs in time with a pulsing pain in his gut. An ache. Peri. Where is Peri. He hears her voice ring out over the din. He staggers upright and ascends the ladder out into chaos. Light stabs, and Kaldur shields his eyes from the brightness. Flames. Churning. The enemy fleet pressing in and a sense of Something Wrong. Something Very, Very Wrong pervades. "Peri-" Kaldur gives himself a shake. He grits his teeth, moving towards her.

Jaerith continues his goal of doing damage but keeping his small, originally river based fleet away from direct contact and taking advantage of the Oakhaven huntsmen background. If brought to battle, he will not back down but one must play to their advantages. He still stands wounded from the howlings, ripping winds. The gigantic shark gives him pause as it engulfs a ship and he tries to figure how to deal best with this menace.

"Right, we don't want to get eaten, noted." Caelis puffs out her cheeks and looks to her newly rescued comrades. "Artorius, cover Vano while he recovers." She orders the two men and looks to the water as she adjusts her own plans mentally. "I don't suppose we could hope for a good lightning storm?" She wonders wistfully and looks back to Victus. "What'll it be, Grand Admiral?"

Margotis back up on her perch on on the deck of the Dove, signalling to her fleet and yelling orders to keep the Tyde ships together. Every now and then she squints, looking over the enemy fleet with a deep frown.

Now on the Valor of Valardin (an entirely fresh and not blown up ship), Magpie Grayhope is making sure that between him and Victus the King's Own, Eleanor, is pulled as far from danger as they can get her. Then he looks to Mayir, "How bad are you feeling? Can you stay here with Eleanor and-... Holy fucks in a fancy shrine did that shark just *eat* that ship?!" He exclaims, staring in horror. He pulls out his knife, because it's surely going to make the difference here.

Magpie wields Pecker, a stylized gambler's dagger.

"Hard to starboard!" Kaede calls out, as she's finding her feet once more. "Signal the ships to stay the fuck away from that... thing!" she says. "Spirits..." she curses out.

Wash sends up a signal. He has to spell out what he wants, or rather needs. The words go round the Thrax fleet and other nearby vessels. Wash wants a 'Blessed Anchor'.

Estaban is at awe watching the glass shark swallow the sinking ship, "Gods help us." he says softly he starts yelling commands to his men and the other ships under him including the Thrax crew that he picked up out of the water. He readys his cobalt bow and starts to resite a song/prayer his wife gave him.

Isolde is standing not far behind Reese, hands clasped tight together in fervent prayer. Her loyal guards are flanking her, trying to make certain that no stray arrows can hit the Princess.

Victus is just barely making his way over the rails to the BBB, or Big Blue Boat of Caelis'. Strung over his shoulder was the body of Eleanor, still breathing after being struck by an arrow. Once he's on deck he's dragging her off somewhere safe. Below deck, out of the line of very, a big-ass rock? Anything. While he's got his grip firmly stuck around his cobalt weapon, his other hand is moving to the alaricite axe he had slung just over his shoulder. His eyes move to check on Mayir and Magpie, ensuring whatever was rest of his crew was making it back on board properly. He takes up a stand next to Caelis, whistle or not. "Even if it's big, it's still made outta glass. Some kinda demon glass but it's still gotta be able to break somewhere, right? The Thrax Fleet has one siege weapon. We need to start dropping heavy shit on it, ramming is out of the question."

Aboard the Red Bargain, Ariella calls out to her holy water pump-and-hose team, "If that thing gets in range, I want you to give it everything you've got!" She leans agains the railing on her bad side, keeping an eye on the beast.

Wash gets Wave And Cloud Token from an oiled sealskin satchel with a shark tooth enclosure.

Arianna stands with the regiment of guards keeping Isolde safe. She's alert and nearby in case she's needed but her eyes are on the immediate surroundings of the Pink Griffon. She has a small aside with the guards and gestures for them to do something but mostly she just observes the battlefield with a stoic expression.

Peri is kind of busy! Given she's just ordered her people to start boarding. She looks back for a brief moment towards the helm and sees Kaldur up and about, shielding his eyes. "Feel better brother? Nice of you to join us," she teases as she pulls the Wavedancer out of her sword belt and hands it over to him. "Now I need someone to command these archers. They won't listen to me."

Peri drops Wavedancer, a steel longsword.

Kaede seems to have the whole 'commanding the ship thing' down for the time being- and so Antonio uses this moment to pray. In the middle of a sea battle with a giant glass shark full of monsters, the Lenosian drops to his knees and closes his eyes, his free hand clutching the vial of water around his neck.

Kaldur picks up Wavedancer, a steel longsword.

Reese tries to steer the Grayson ships around the shark, so they don't get eaten as she continues get reay to try and attack enemy shop, preferably one with a ballistae, but she will take what she can get!

Luca's at his wife's side, on The Pink Griffon, unable to do much about a terrifying glass shark in the water with but his sword in hand, but his dark eyes are searching, waiting, watching, half of his attention on finding the next step toward a solution to what is going to become a horrific problem, the other half of his attention on ensuring nothing manages to get close to Reese. "Magic like that sure does ruin my day." he calls out to Reese.

Lou just stares at the glass shark a moment, momentarily forgetting her crossbow. She shakes her head. "Or, enough fire to shatter the glass, or melt it down. But, I don't expect we've got anything more like that around."

Graham is still regaining his focus and well his blance and sense on what is even going on. The young man of Stonewood is still on his feet at least though. He manages to at least gain the sense of magnitude of what all is happening and now at least he can try and work on what to do about it.

The grin that Kaldur sends to his sister at her barb isn't exactly pleasant. There's a shade too much tooth and a wild glint in the young knight's eye. His color is off and sweat shines on what skin is visible. He takes the blade and turns, needing a moment to steady himself before lifting Wavedancer aloft. "Archers!" There's a bite to the command, "Ready. /Fire!/" The loose ranks, some in awe of the monstrosity swimming below shake back to attention, eyes showing a little white around the edges. One makes a holy sign over his heart before loosing. "Second rank! READY! FIRE!" Kaldur is making up for lost time.

Estaban drops Prayers Before Battle, a poem that may also be sung.

"Guys! Guys!" Mayir is shouting to those on the Valor of Valardin, disappearing whatever it is he has under his shirt once more. "We might NOT want to kill the shark! I think if we do, it's going to release the Abyss and create darkwater right here." How he knows that is unclear. "I mean, yes, getting eaten is bad, but --" He's no tactician. "Maybe we should just try to kill the fleet and hope the shark goes away?" His eyes are wide.

Jasher steps away from the front of the ship to bind a metal disk, marked with wind and cloud, to the chain of the anchor, his hands fiddling with a tight knot, slender chain tangled with massive one. He's relaying Wash's orders as he secures the token. "Mangata billows our sails, our hulls push through her sacred water! Weigh anchor, hold steady! Prepare for fury, prepare for speed!"

Wash checked dexterity + sailing at difficulty 50, rolling 16 higher.

Magpie looks over to Mayir, his blue eyes widening in alarm, then on to Victus and Caelis, "We don't want darkwater here!" He says with a worried expression on his face. "You know what they can do with it. Would the shark... eat it's own ships? Maybe if we get in close to the enemy ships?"

Antonio checked mana + theology at difficulty 50, rolling 30 lower.

"And darkwater would chew us up just as much as the shark!" says Mayir, his eyes wide. "I mean, not that it would chew the shark, but it would be just as bad as the shark eating us!" He's a bit on edge here, gesticulating wildly, even as he remembers then to get his head down. He looks at Magpie meaningfully, as if to say, 'tell them.'

Victus whirls around to look at Mayir dead-on, his expression twisted into the most confused glare the man might have mustered in months. But the gears in his head start turning and his eyes are shooting back to that bunch of glass in the water. "... He's got a point. That whole beast is a fucking void to some other world. It might not go away if it shatters apart." The High Lord grinds his teeth. "If the Darkwater spreads here they could reinforce instantly. Massively..." His hand goes up. "DO NOT BREAK OPEN THE SHARK! AVOID IT AT ALL COSTS!"

Gunther, a Rottweiler have been dismissed.

Wash takes the helm of the ship himself, turning his cog to follow, not a ship, but the faint ripples and ineffable path of the shark under the water. He nods at Jasher. "Ready at the capstan. Raise up half a rell!" He shouts, gauging, through long experience, not just the path his snip needs to thread between the fighting vessels, but also the depth and angle at which his lead anchor trails the vessel, and the near-invisible, yet, somewhat predictable path of the inexplicable predator below.

Willen have been dismissed.

Reese hears Magpie's and Victus' words. "Don't attack the shark! Don't break the shark!" She echoes. She continues to try and attack the enemy ships while trying to avoid getting swallowed by a glass abyss shark!

Lou stares at the shark for a few moments longer, and then breaks out of her reverie to pull her crossbow up and start shooting at pirates again. Back to same old same old, hoping there are no further jam ups!

Magpie catches that look from Mayir and starts to hurry to Victus's side, but stops as the High Lord agrees with him. He gives the younger Grayhope a relieved expression that's brief, but sincere. Then he rushes to the far side of the deck, calling out the new command to the other ships in echo of Victus. "AVOID THE SHARK! DO NOT ATTACK IT!"

Margot lifts up a hand with a closed fist to signal to the Tyde ships to hold. "Not the shark." She hollars, then tilts her hand two fingers extended towards the enemy ships to signal to those outside of yelling distance where to aim their attacks.

"Right, we sail for the enemy fleets then." Caelis nods and puts her dear whistle to her lips blowing the signal and nodding to Vano to take to the flags. She'll trust the command to avoid shattering the shark. As she does she mutters a prayer and starts adjusting from the helm, calling out to her sailors to make adjustments to take on the fleet.

Lou checked dexterity + archery at difficulty 40, rolling 16 lower.

Estaban checked dexterity + archery at difficulty 40, rolling 17 higher.

Victus checked strength + huge wpn at difficulty 40, rolling 3 higher.

Magpie checked dexterity + small wpn at difficulty 40, rolling 7 higher.

Kaldur wields Wavedancer, a steel longsword.

Kaldur checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 40, rolling 16 higher.

Peri checked strength + medium wpn at difficulty 40, rolling 16 lower.

Luca checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 40, rolling 9 higher.

Ariella checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 40, rolling 13 lower.

Reese checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 40, rolling 20 higher.

Arianna checked dexterity + small wpn at difficulty 40, rolling 8 lower.

Jasher returns again from a conference with Wash and points cutlass toward the nearest enemy ship, displaying a redirection from the Crimson's original route, although it remains quite close to the shark.

Jasher checked strength + medium wpn at difficulty 40, rolling 11 lower.

"Keep away from the shark!" Kaede shouts again, as the message gets relayed through the lines. "Send out the flags... No, I don't know how to fuckin' flag 'giant glass shark'! Get creative!" she curses out.

Ariella checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 50, rolling 5 lower.

Graham checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 50, rolling 16 lower.

"If we can start closing distance with these ships it'd be just as likely to fuck up its own numbers as it is ours." Victus agrees with Magpie. "If we can avoid it and keep focusing on downing enemy ships, then it won't have a fleet to support it. We can figure out what to do about it when we level the battlefield." He hefts the cobalt sword up as Caelis calls for them to start their attack run. "Mangata, we pray for safe waters. Gloria, we pray for you to guide our strikes true. Sentinel, we pray for swift justice against the monsters of this world." And then to the crew, "No backing down, we have this!"

"Alright, well. Seems like we're ignoring the shark. I better kill some pirates, before they get a big head about this.", Luca tells his wife, leaning over to peck her on the cheek, even while she's yelling out fierce commands to the crew of The Pink Griffon. He slips that flask out again, the one that's embossed with the sigil of Mangata, and he takes a swig, before hopping down and hitting the side of the boat again as it nears another ship from the enemy's feet. His cobalt cutlass is in his left hand, flask in the right, and he's searching for anyone lucky enough to try and make contact with the side he's on.

Perhaps Lou should take up some other skill than archery. She shoots a single crossbow bolt and it jams - the bolt goes wide in any case, shooting some poor unsuspecting Grayson in the knee. RIP, adventuring career. Peri and Ariella are likewise unable to accomplish much, but Reese Grayson's crew are slaughtering the enemy ranks, laying waste with ships and archers alike.

Admiral Wash Kennex comes up with a novel plan as well, with Prince Jasher letting the anchor down and... trolling for glass shark? One sailor remarks - "we shoulda baited it," and the sailor next to him nudges him hard with an elbow and says, "Moron - /we're/ the bait."

And indeed they are. On the Grayson side, the Compact is sending the Gyre ships to the deep, turning the tide - but the shark has seen the anchor, and is coming.

Du duhhhhhhh...

Peri smiles for once in these battles as she sees Kaldur get back into action. She tries to go after one of the counter-boarding foe, but it's a big swing and a miss, putting too much of her strength behind it. "Damnit. Really wanted to knock its head off. Kaldur!" Her heart pounds wildly in her ears, quite the opposite of the hunger gnawing at others. She steps back to allow Kaldur to take care of her failure. Them she moves off to the railing to check on the giant shark and calls up to her crow's nest. "I want you to coordinate with the helmsman and our team down here with the rest of the fleet. Signal our ships if they have shark incoming. Signal our helmsman the same."

And as the shark gets closer, Antonio starts vomiting onto the deck of his ship as he falls to his knees.

Antonio takes serious damage.

"What are they doing? What are they doing? What are they doing?" asks Mayir, tugging on Magpie's sleeve and gesturing at Wash's ship, watching the scene play out in the slow motion of the sea. He has concerns about this tactic.

Estaban continues to chant the prayer as he stands on the front of his ship cobalt weapon aimed watching Wash and watching the Shark get ever closer but he does not stop chanting his men know what to do and he has faith in them.

That's it. Time to bloody the diamondplate, just like she promised she would! Lou puts her crossbow away, and pulls out the pretty, pretty new sword. Even if she is /less/ skilled with it. You can't jam a blade. "Time to dance," is she says, eyeing any ships close to their own.

Lou wields forest mist diamondplate falchion.

As tje

Jasher makes his route. He sheathes his sword, for all the good it's doing him. He braces his hand on the chain, the smaller chain with Mangata's emblem dangling just above the water now. He inhales. He watches Wash for a signal.

"Spirits! What is she doing?!" Kaede curses out. "Flagger! Send word to the Igniseri ship! STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM THE SHARK!" Kaede barks out, from the Velenosa flagship. "Whiskey Jack, come here... I'll write a fuckin' /note/," she curses out. Kaede pauses to do just that, penning a short missive and sending it by way of a gray jay messenger to Ariella's ship. Spirits' speed, birdy!

The enemy ships closing in on theirs elicits a weary sigh from Arianna. No orders were barked off but she does unsheathe her falcata and dust off her thigh-boots. Meandering close to the mast she loops her hands into the rigging and uses it to brace herself, in case of sudden, violent collision. Which was likely.

Graham moves to at least do his best to help keep their ship fended off from the close by threats though he's not much on range so he can only do his best for the moment at this though if they are closing in he can then begin to do his part better. He is taking deep breaths though trying to remain focused and calm.

Magpie is standing at the rail, his diamondplate dagger in hand to cut apart any enemy sailors they meet as the ship is brought close to the nearest enemy. Mayir's tugging at his sleeve and Magpie looks. "What the *fuck*?! Victus!! Wash is fucking baiting the shark!!" He calls, tattling on Wash mid-battle like ya do. "With his boat anchor!!"

As the shark heads toward the Grayson fleet, Ariella orders the Red Bargain to pursue, archers and holy water hoses moving toward the bow to try and get at that thing from behind. The swift galley is in a decent pursit when the Captain receives her note from the Velenosan flagship. "BELAY! TURN ABOUT!" she calls to her crew.

Reese leads the Grayson fleet in kicking ass against the enemy ships. She calls out orders, wields her cobalt blade and seems quite focused on the battle. "Archers Fire! Ram! To the left! Avoid the Shark!"

Victus is fighting alongside Valardins. On a boat. This is weird. Not the weirdest, but man is it up there. His attention is briefly spared toward wherever Mayir is pointing, where he spies Admiral Wash on his own collision course with the shark. "What the fuck /are/ they doing?" He asks nobody through clenched teeth. "Damn it all. DON'T YOU FUCKING BREAK THAT SHARK OPEN!" He screams across the channels. Whether or not he would hear him is another thing, or if the flags had a code for 'Don't you fucking break that shark open'. He can't linger for long, ships are closing in and the High Lord had no intention of keeping his hands clean. He rears his sword back, prepared to strike at the first moment it appears.

Guiding her ship towards one of the enemies, Caelis draws her own blade to defend her vessel. "Better be fast about bringing ruin to our enemies! Cause I can't help take down ships and go rescue the Kennex over there." She calls to Victus and sends the Oathland ships to start flanking the enemy fleet so if the shark comes they can weave through the enemy vessels to coax the beasty into taking out Gyre ships as collateral damage in the chase. For now the Oathlanders unload arrows. "Mangata, this would be the perfect time for a lightning storm." She says, watching the two enemy fleets and calculating.

"STOP!" Mayir is shouting at Wash, not really sure if he can do the flagging in this ragged state. "YOU'LL MAKE US ALL DISAPPEAR INTO NOTHINGNESS!" Because that's, you know, a thing. "LIKE ERASMUS!" Hope he understands the reference.

Margot bites her lip, her free hand straying towards her axe hilt, and then she pulls it awaym sucks in a breath and refocuses on directing the Tyde ships.

Estaban turns his ship to head for Wash commanding the others to stay and fight, he shoots his bow at the enemy as he continues to pray to the gods loud enough for all to hear well those close enough to try and keep peoples spirits up and maybe the gods will hear.

Wash puts on speed, calling for every hand to quicken his oar. He watches both for and aft, eking ever bit of speed out of his canvas, and waiting for the telltale signs that the shark is accelerating toward them to turn away from it, dodge it's attack. He put the anchor in the water before the command to ignore the shark was given. He's stuck with the shark's attention now. A smile plays on his lips as the game he engages in with the shark is not dissimilar to that he played with his cousins, a pair of sleds, and a steep cliff.

"Archers, up!" A handful of archers ascend the rigging. Kaldur pulls a boarder physically onto the ship and tosses him down where others dispatch him. Shields up, another party attempts to board. Archers shoot from above. Kaldur cuts the feet from beneath them with ruthless slashes. He keeps hearing about some shark and looks around in a moment of stillness. "Why is everyone on about a shark?"

Jasher calls out over-shoulder, "I do not think breaking is intended!" The young Thrax prince is a reaver of as many adult years as he has, and the dangle of the anchor, the swell of the great beast nearby-- some commitments cannot be reneged on. If he's a bit pale, he's only human.

Well, that wasn't the answer Antonio was expecting- he falls foward on his hands, bloody vomit spewing out of his mouth for a good long while, and when he finally sits up, he looks wrecked- his eyes red and blood shot, his dark skin paled. "That.. wasn't the answer I was hoping for," he says, his voice weak as he tries to push himself up to his feet.

Isolde checked command + theology at difficulty 40, rolling 61 higher.

"This!! This is why I hate Kennex!!" Magpie yells in frustration, his temper snapping. "Fuck.. Fuck fuck fuck! I'm going to *punch* that man if I ever see him again. Right in the dick!"

Isolde continues her prayers, turning back towards the rest of the Pink Griffin's Crew and the other Graysons and asking --no commanding--them to join her. She prays for their glory, prays for their safety, and prays that they will not fall prey to their fear. It's clear that the Princess is trying to bolster their moral and boosts spirits in the face of the horrors that await them.

Kaede watches cautiously, looking for any red or black or purple sails that are still aiming for the shark. No? Ariella is turning off? "Thank the Spirits," Kaede says aloud. Then she turns, just in time to watch Admiral Antonio spew out blood. "What the f-..." she bites down on that last word, and rushes over to his side, dropping to her knees.

Margot checked command + leadership at difficulty 40, rolling 2 higher.

Even Wash's ship which originally headed straight for the shark, has turned away and is tacking back and forth to avoid being caught by the predatory creature. Even in the decent wind this battle features, there's no way that the Crimson Redemption can stay ahead of the shark forever. So he's using every bit of navigation and skill to predict the shark's course and cross it at the right moment. If his anchor is still dragging, surely that is only because he has no free hands to spare to pull it up again. And besides, better they lose an anchor than the whole ship. The smile that is growing n Wash's face with every successful pass is not one that is normally attributed to joy, but mania.

Kaede checked command + sailing at difficulty 40, rolling 13 higher.

Margot continues to direct her troops. Not attacking the shark, just the enemy foes.

Dante has joined the Crimson Redemption.

Victus checked strength + huge wpn at difficulty 30, rolling 23 higher.

Magpie checked dexterity + small wpn at difficulty 30, rolling 2 higher.

Caelis checked command + sailing at difficulty 40, rolling 8 higher.

Kaldur is overheard praising Isolde.

Luca checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 30, rolling 18 higher.

Graham has rolled a critical success!
Graham checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 30, rolling 147 higher.

Kaldur checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 30, rolling 30 higher.

Antonio checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 30, rolling 9 higher.

Ariella checked command + sailing at difficulty 40, rolling 8 higher.

Reese checked command + leadership at difficulty 40, rolling 15 higher.

Peri checked command + leadership at difficulty 30, rolling 15 higher.

Peri checked command + leadership at difficulty 40, rolling 11 higher.

Jasher checked command + leadership at difficulty 40, rolling 1 higher.

Jaerith checked command + sailing at difficulty 40, rolling 18 higher.

Estaban checked dexterity + archery at difficulty 40, rolling 14 higher.

Lou checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 30, rolling 0 higher.

Dante wields Rosethorn the Long Sword of Tor.

Artorius has joined the The Valor of Valardin.

Margot checked command + leadership at difficulty 40, rolling 6 higher.

Luca can't help but notice Wash lowering the anchor, and all that happens after that. How could he, with people yelling about it from across ships? As the shark begins to angle toward the ship Wash is on, the Fox-Prince is forced to stop in his slaughter of suspicious pirates and let himself gaze in wonder. "That magnificent son of a bitch." he says. Then he's back to working his cobalt cutlass to the left and to the right, switching it from hand to hand as needed, light on his feet and slick as grease as he twists, slashes, and dances around between blades. He can't help but glance over his shoulder, searching for his wife and ensuring she's still okay, but it's a brief glance before he's back to making sure nothing gets past him and further onto The Pink Griffon.

As Wash himself takes charge of the bait anchor, with bright-eyed mania that Jasher hopes is fueled by brilliance (they had worked well together so far!), Jasher returns to stalking up and down the decks, managing to keep his composure and his volume despite the situation. "Remember! We are Thrax! We are born on the water, we are masters of the waves, a shark is only a shark, and we have speed and cunning on our side!" It's going to be all right!

Antonio is back on his feet, looking quiet the worse for wear- but still- he's in this fight. "Intercept the nearest ship," he backs at his helmsman, flashing a bloody smile to Kaede, "AND BOARD."


**********************************************************************
Reports from Setarco are sketchy and the messenger service is openly scheduling retraining on communications and message running, but for now they're publishing the reports with disclaimers at the bottom. The fleet battle is ongoing, and one of the ships seems to be baiting the glass shark* with an anchor**.

*disclaimer - there is no such thing as a glass shark, but we don't actually know what it might be
**disclaimer - even if there were such a thing, anchors aren't hooks. Or they are, but not like that. Glass sharks don't grow that big and anyway - you know what? Even the disclaimer is ridiculous. Send those heralds to training.
**********************************************************************


Graham weighs into the fight now his own sword is swung into motion as he pushes forward enough to keep space behind him between himself and those who may need defending. It seems the rest bit to catch his breath and refocus has helped as he is moving and fighting well for himself thus far.

Estaban moves his ship agaout, "Ramming speed!" he points to a near by ship and then again continues to pray he knocks his arrow and gets ready with his men to board and start the attack, once they do he starts to aim and lets his arrow lose and follows him men.

And bolstered Lou is by Isolde's efforts, as some of her worry and fear seems to ease and ebb away. She grips her diamondplate falchion in her hand, not too tightly, and cuts across any pirates that manage to make their way onto their ship, or any pirates that get too close to their ship as it passes, as the cause might be! She swings, she swishes, she slashes, she swashbuckles like the best of them! And, later, Luca can brag about teaching her some weapons work. And, perhaps, Prince Edain. Assuming she doesn't flub up as time goes on! "My blade will eat your blood!" she tells the pirates. Because? It sounded cool.

"Wash!" Dante Fidante of house Fidante calls out aboard the other man's ship as he stares at the shark then at the blue eyed captain. "This is simple revenge for all those oysters. I'm sure of it." Despite being an anchor in and of himself, should the ship go down, sword of Tor in hand, he asks Jasher, "He knows what he's doing, right?"

Leaving those on the ship to boarding and fighting, Caelis continues to keep her eye on the rest of the Oathland ships. She's whistling commands to engage at discretion. As long as no one runs onto the Valor she doesn't engage, only commands.

"Sea salt and rust," Kaede mutters to herself, as Antonio asks for more action. "You heard the captain!" she bellows. "Ramming speed! Crash and board!" she calls to the men and women aboard the Velenosa flagship.

"Oh, gods," says Mayir, not attacking, not defending, not really doing anything except keeping crouched down low near Eleanor, making sure she is okay. "Well, we've lost other ships. At least they're drawing them off?" He's trying to keep on the bright side, even as the others do the attacking.

Reese focuses now on commanding the Grayson ships to attack! "Ram! Fire! We got them!" She says, yelling so her voice carries and gesturing about as well. She looks over to Wash's ship and her eyes are wide. "Oh, poor Lady Catalana, fucking wow." She says half to herself. She seems impressed and frightened for him.

Margot would really love to be slamming her axe into things herself but the Duchess knows there are those who are better able and that her own skills are best levied directing her people. THe Duchess there for focuses on having her people start to flank the enemy sips, looking for openings and taking advantage of them.

Around the fighting, Magpie glances towards Wash's ship again. "Oh.. is he... What's he doing? Is he leading it away?" He asks in Mayir's direction, focusing on the fighting in front of him. "If that's what he's doing I retract my dick-punch!" Then he climbs onto the rail to jump over to the enemy ship they're boarding, bringing all his Lower's spit and gristle down on the bad guys that want to kill them first.

Pressing now, the Golden Pearl's forces rally. "Seliki!" The boarding party gains a foothold on the enemy deck, forming a knot of shields and steel. Kaldur calls another barrage of arrows. And then sees the transluscent dorsal fin cut the waves. He pauses, stomach lurching. "Gods' blood. PERI!" He wheels and points at the disappearing fin, "PERI!"

Ariella orders the hose crews to wet the decks with holy water, because they're about to have a tea party. I mean boarding party. The swift little galley heads straight for one of the pirate ships, and the captain herself leads the charge over the side. "Swords out! Dip your blades in holy water! Send them back to the Abyss!"

"It's either a really brave sacrifice or a really kind of crazy sacrifice!" calls out Mayir to Magpie, giving the options as he sees them. He then glances down towards Eleanor near him. "Don't die. Magpie will be real sad if you die. And he's my best friend."

Artorius is with Caelis, sword in hand and ready to fight!

The saying goes, 'Sail me closer, I want to hit them with my sword!' and that is precisely what Victus is invoking at this moment. His attention shifts between the ships they're engaging and the absolute lunacy going on with the shark. Really, it's hard to stay focused. But there is one thing driving him. "You pirates sunk my goddamn ship..." He growls under his breath as he lashes out. "You're not sinking a goddamn Compact too!"

Watching her fellows strike true, Isolde can't help but feel her confidence rising. Voice ringing out loud and clear, she continues to lead the nearby sailors in prayer--making a point to offer an equal amount of praise and devotion to each of the gods. From the old to the newly discovered.

Jasher turns briefly to Dante. He says, "The captain has a hope. It is our role and our honor to execute." He gestures out over the water, the gap between the Crimson and other Compact ships. "Execute as well as we can. My lord."

Wash, distancing himself from the fighting somewhat, exhorts his crew as well, moving across from Jasher and giving every man the encouragement he needs to keep pulling. But he is a manic figure of energy, racing the length of the ship and throwing the tiller over at just the moment when the shark fin breaches the water in their wake. "No fish can catch the Men of Kennex! The Winds of Change!" He raises his cutlass again to rally his flagging crew.

Jaerith appears to finally have gained a hold on himself or possibly just accepted that hes gone inside with giant demon sharks and undead submarines. Best to pass on with a song your lips. He issues orders again and begins belting out a song once again as he did before the appearance of the strangeness. He stays at the helm of the Maidens Wail, giving orders to his fleet of ships that normally ply river waters.

Dante sheathes his blade and steps in where the rowing seems weakest. Making a sort of snarling, but jovial chatter with those nearest him as he puts his significant back into it. It doesn't seem to matter to the Lord of Roses who he is on land or what his intent and purpose was aboard this boat, for with a glass shark chasing the rudder, all hands are hands and all hands are on deck.

Peri's too busy commanding the accompanying fleets to keep good positioning, but she knows they're stuck there when boarding. Her eyes flit to Kaldur's progress and signals the fleets to stay their course with a blow of a horn at her hip, ready to try and dodge anything that might come and chomp them through the water. When Kaldur calls out, Peri looks down. "KEEP FIGHTING! SWIFTLY! We won't be tied down!" She hops down to the lower deck to cut additional lines being thrown just in case they have to pull off.

Kaldur has left the Golden Pearl.

The diversion of Wash Kennex has managed to give the Compact enough time to act and so they do. One fleet goes down in a frenzy of arrows and ramming, and a cheer goes up from the Graysons - Reese Grayson has outdone herself leading her fleet in battle. Two fleets down now, one to go - but the hours of battle are wearing on patience and skill, and it seems so much harder than it was, even with fewer ships to sink. The glass shark, meanwhile, catches the anchor with a powerful thrust of its tail and pulls taught, the anchor moving inexorably down the glass gullet while the rest of the fleet shifts sails and heads for the final enemy.

Rather than pit the strength of his men against the magical mein of the shark's gullet, Wash races down to the bow and doublechecks that the sigil of mangata fastened to the end of the chain is still strong. Then he takes his cutlass, and in two strokes, severs the six inch rope holding the anchor. "Time for an Uncle Ivan boys!"

Dante drops Tormaigh, a fine Crovane Whiskey.

Dante picks up Tormaigh, a fine Crovane Whiskey.

"What if the anchor breaks the thing from the inside?" asks Mayir, to no one, his eyes so wide as he is locked on whatever it is Wash is doing out there. "What if -- oh gods, let's hope it hits the void before it hits the glass." Mayir can't do the math for the wind speed and velocity of a laden anchor inside a glass shark, but ...

"WAAAASH!" Victus howls across the waves. "STAY AFLOAT YOU CRAZY MOTHERFUCKER!" The Thrax has stepped himself up onto the port-side banister of the Valor of Valardin, his blade bloodied and the fatigue of battle weighing heavily upon his shoulders. "One more fleet stands between us and some fucking respite from this clusterfuck. RAISE YOUR SPIRITS, WE WILL STAND! FOR YOUR HOUSE, FOR YOUR FAMILY, FOR YOUR GODS, FOR YOUR COMPACT!" His fist is held high as he chants across the fleet. "WE STAND! WE STAND! WE STAND!"

Margot checked command + leadership at difficulty 40, rolling 14 higher.

Jasher checked command + leadership at difficulty 40, rolling 10 lower.

Dante doesn't hesitate in action as he stares at Wash chopping away the anchor. Then he just laughs, rows hard, and pulls out a bottle of very expensive whiskey that he slugs down before passing it on to the water boys running along the rowers, to pass out as he puts all his effort into helping the maneuver happen as Wash envisions.

Caelis checked command + sailing at difficulty 40, rolling 0 higher.

Peri checked command + leadership at difficulty 40, rolling 13 higher.

Luca checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 30, rolling 29 higher.

Magpie moves over to Mayir's side, briefly slinging an arm around him as he catches his breath. "Can you see what's happening?"

Reese checked command + leadership at difficulty 40, rolling 9 higher.

Arianna checked dexterity + small wpn at difficulty 30, rolling 23 higher.

Victus checked strength + huge wpn at difficulty 30, rolling 29 higher.

Isolde checked command + theology at difficulty 40, rolling 12 higher.

Magpie checked dexterity + small wpn at difficulty 30, rolling 1 lower.

Artorius checked command + leadership at difficulty 40, rolling 18 lower.

Kaldur has rolled a critical success!
Kaldur checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 30, rolling 46 higher.

Graham checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 30, rolling 51 higher.

Kaede checked command + sailing at difficulty 40, rolling 19 higher.

Wash checked command + sailing at difficulty 50, rolling 14 higher.

Estaban checked dexterity + archery at difficulty 30, rolling 3 lower.

Artorius checked dexterity + huge wpn at difficulty 40, rolling 4 higher.

Margot remains focused on making sure the Tyde army is taking out the enemy ships as efficiantly ass possible. Any stragglers from the main enemy fleet are being multched by the Tyde longships.

Lou checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 30, rolling 9 lower.

"I can try," says Mayir, reaching under his shirt, and wrapping his arms around something and squinting as he looks out over at Wash's ship, trying to get an eye on it and what is going on there. "Please, please, please, please, don't kill us all."

Dante checked strength + athletics at difficulty 30, rolling 17 higher.

Antonio checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 30, rolling 38 higher.

Graham can only continue the work he's doing, while trying also to keeping track of the other people who are upon the ship as well not wanting someone to get by or get hurt because he wasnt paying attention. It seems though the battle is focused as they move on to continue the fight.

Ariella checked command + sailing at difficulty 40, rolling 2 higher.

Everyone wants to be the man perfectly steely in a crisis, but while Jasher doesn't actively crumple or howl, his words of encouragement and certainty falter a little bit as the shark takes the anchor.

For a brief, dangerous moment as the Crimson Redemption turns in place, it's hook gone, along with the poison pill. The sails are all aback, and the oars seem to be flailing in opposite directions. The rudder is bent and in that moment, the Redmeption isn't moving, and having lost it's way, seems as if it will never regain it. But rather than make a looping predictable turn, Wash has oared the ship in place with a highly trained maneuver, and before the wind can snap the booms of his cog across his deck, the sailors are manhandling them into place so that the craft picks up speed as quickly as possible. Wash stands on the railing, on hand on a rope, looking East, for signs of the shark's pursuit, trusting his crew to complete the maneuver as trained. Trusting, but listening, just in case they screw up anywya.

Artorius shoulders his greatsword as he watches the entire battle wage on. A swing of his blade and an enemy falls. "Stand your ground!! Make them pay for every inch they cross!"

"Incoming!" calls Kaede, just a few moments before the Reckless crashes into one of the Gyre vessels. "Boarding!" she calls out, as if it was needed. As if Antonio himself wasn't there leading the charge, hacking at pirates or zombies or whatever the hell they are. She keeps half an eye on the Kennex ship that's heading off, but really, she's too busy with the here and now to pay attention to all that.

Jaerith checked command + sailing at difficulty 40, rolling 3 lower.

As Peri sees Kaldur and his accompanying soldiers mopping up, she looks back the way the shark went and watches as it trails after the Kennex ship. "Hope they can break that thing. Let's go! At best that shark is going to come round! DIVE DEEP!" She shouts and sends out word to her remaining fleets a warning of incoming and the cardinal direction. That's all there is time for, with the messages being relayed out. Peri launches up onto the railing of the Pearl again. Still, she prays with a breath that, "Let that beast get a stomach ache..."

Antonio might have cooked his insides doing.. whatever it was he was trying to do- but that's not going to stop him from being the first of his crew over the side on the enemy ship, cobalt cutlass in on hand, diamondplate in the other. It would seem that he's entrusting the care of his ship to Kaede.

There's just so much to watch. Again Caelis drops off the warriors on her ship and remains to hold the helm with Cutlass in hand. Her whistle blows commands all the while to her fleet to move and engage the remaining enemy ships. When she isn't watching her ships she's looking for that shark and praying for a lightning storm.

Reese is standing at the helm of the of her pink ship while still shouting out orders and lifting her voice to carry. She doesn't fight, but lets Luca take on any of the foes that get near to her. Instead she keeps directing the Grayson fleet to attack.

The men and women of the Red Bargain fight hard, and Ariella is in the thick of it. Enemy heads are rolling, and she impulsively kicks one overboard. That's grotesquely satisfying.

Magpie gives Mayir a brief squeeze with his arm, sweat and a bit of pirate blood rubbing off. Then the smuggler rushes back to the railing as they close the distance. Once the two ships are rubbing cheek to cheek, Magpie follows Victus (because letting him lead is just proper -- and much safer) but he's losing some of his enthusiasm for the fight now.

It's been pretty and it sure still isn't. Victus swings, cutting to the bone with his blade as they engage pirates left to right. Arrows flying and ships colliding. It's a whirlpool of violence, but it's also where he thrives. That doesn't stop the burning in his lungs from each breath he takes and the weight of hours of fighting that pound on him. But he's giving it all he's got, to the bitter end.

The anchor goes down, down, down - and the emblem of Mangata and all the holy blessings that they could think of goes with it. As it sinks into the shark, the glass shark starts to writhe and then the anchor touches the abyss - and the shark explodes. Glass shards fly everywhere. Huge chunks of abyssal glass embed themselves into people and ships, tear through masts, sever ropes - it's everywhere. And worst of all, now the water seems to start to be turning dark, dark, and darker still, an inky pool rising up from the water beneath.

Artorius takes minor damage.

Isolde takes serious damage.

Ariella takes serious damage.

Kaldur takes minor damage.

Luca takes minor damage.

Antonio takes moderate damage.

Arianna takes minor damage.

Magpie takes serious damage.

Wash takes moderate damage.

Caelis takes moderate damage.

Jasher takes serious damage.

Mayir takes minor damage.

Margot takes moderate damage.

Peri takes minor damage.

Jaerith takes minor damage.

Victus takes minor damage.

Kaede takes serious damage.

Dante takes moderate damage.

Margot sways aboard the deck of the dove. Thank the gods for armour. Good armour. She holds up her hand again and looks across to the Valardin ship where Victus resides for a signal.

But perhaps worst of all is the large, unbroken tooth that flies through the air and embeds itself in the throat of Estaban Saik. He has time only for a single cry and then he is slumping to the deck, dead.

Estaban has died.

"NO!" shouts Mayir. But it's too late. He tried to warn them. All that manages to leave is a strangled cry, a sob. "Magpie! I told him! We told him! Why didn't he listen? I knew. I knew." Tears stream down his cheeks, of frustration.

As shards of magical monster stick fiercely into, piercing through the rubicund beauty of his ornate rose engraved armor, Dante cries out with a snarling hiss of pain. He's up before he even realizes it, but it pales, quickly, when he sees Jasher. Dante's own pain largely forgotten as he leaves his oar for someone else to take as he goes to Jasher's side, calling for a healer.

Jasher seems to be about to say something to Dante, a tight irritation on his face, and then the shark breaks. Flies into a thousand pieces, several of which embed themselves in his body. The blood leaking from these perforations is one thing. The black seeping into the water is of greater concern. He waves Dante away. "Forget me. Row."

Artorius sees Esteban be stabbed in the throat by that tooth, a shard entering his shoulder but he rips it out. "Oh no...."

One moment he's preparing to strike deep into the heart of the enemy. The next, an abyssal shard of glass has lodged itself into the brawny Thrax's arm. Victus sneers in pain, his eyes going straight to the point where the shark used to reside. He rushes to the end of the ship as the dark water slowly fills the void. "... I told him not to do it..." He growls. "I told them-" A fist slams on the rail, the High Lord pursing his lips and giving a great shout to go along with the signals of the flags - "GET AWAY FROM THE DARK WATER! GET AWAY FROM THE DARK WATER! FALL BACK AND REGROUP, FALL BACK NOW! GOOO!"

Kaede falls backwards as there's glass suddenly slamming into her. Looks like it's caught her good in more than a few places, not that it's easy to tell in her dark armor, red tabard, and already bloodied face. A deep breath then she's trying to pull herself back up. "Disengage! We need to pull back!" she's ordering, her voice hoarse.

Reese's armor protects her from all the shards of glass. She does quick look over those gathered on her ship, trying to gage how badly they are injured. "Steer to the right, get away form the dark water! Regroup! Fall Back!" She cries out.

No one said Lou would be able to hit every pirate she ever comes into contact with ever. So there are several swings, swishes, swashbuckles and misses as she tries. She's an Explorer dammit, not a warrior! And, even if she has had to kill before in the past, it was always working with a team of specialized people to accomplish that task. And then, suddenly, it's pelting glass around her. "WHAT THE HELL?!?!" she calls out around her. "I THOUGHT IT WAS CLEAR TO LEAVE THE SHARK ALONE!" Ratta tat tat tat, ratta tat. Glass shards tink and plink everywhere around her, and the crew of the ship she's on. She ducks as best she can.

Reese tries to guard Isolde as much as she can, when she realizes the princess is seriously injured.

"Esta!" Caelis shrieks when she sees him drop. She can't release her wheel or risk losing control of her ship but she leans as far as she can, trying to see the Baron. She hasn't noticed her own wounds yet in the shock of seeing him drop. "Get up! Come on Esta, damn it all, get up!" She yells as tears start to fall and she holds her breath for any sign he isn't dead. At Victus' command she peels away, her sailors helping to turn the drommond even as she looks still for her friend and blows a little more weakly on her whistle to spread the command of retreat.

Ariella is peppered with broken glass, shards embedding themselves in her arms, cheeks and forehead. Luckily, she shielded her eyes with her arm. "HARD TO STARBOARD!" she calls out. "DON'T TOUCH THAT BLACK SHIT!"

Wash is looking at the ocean when the shark explodes. Killing it wasn't his goal, but letting it kill him was absolutely not an acceptable possibility. The explosion catches him by surprise. Enough that he is staring straight at it when the surge blows glass and shards past him, through him. He snatches a line as it whips past him and on instinct, belays it around the rail. What's needed now are orders. Orders he gives to get the oars moving, the sails taut. This is water they don't want to be dead in. "Marines! Lady Kennex!" Wash calls his cousin. "Clear the deck of anyone that cannot pull and oar or tie a line."

Reese sucks in a soft breath, looking over to Estaban's ship. "Fuck.." She says and tries to keep her shit together. Her cheeks are pale and her breathing is elevated.

Jaerith issues more orders to his men and women. His orders conflict, maybe due to trying to sing and talk. It causes a little havoc but maybe his men are used to it. He is taken completely by surprise as glass shards explode. He does his best to shield himself and his armor protects him. Some of his men are not so lucky. Jaerith is dazed, but issues orders to move away and towards where othrr ships are regrouping.

Seliki's forces are clearing the decks, cutting foes down right and left. Much more and the enemy ship will be theirs to take. And then the sea is boiling, darkness seething, shards of glass flying. Cries go up. Victory turns quickly to surprise and fear. "Back aboard the Pearl! GO!" Kaldur leaps the railing as the crew cuts ties and pushes off boarding ladders. "Peri!" Standing tall, the knight searches out his sister amid the milling chaos of a ship preparing to get underway. And fast.

Isolde is in the middle of another prayer, more words of encouragement to the sailors. Then a sharp pain hits, followed by a warm feeling spreading across her borrowed armor. "No." Isolde murmurs, looking down with horror. A hand goes down to check her stomach--shaking and bloodied--only for the princess to let out a soft sigh of relief. Then, she falls to her knees, the glass that digs into her legs too much for the princess. A few shards have embedded in her arm but Lou's leathers seem to have deflected those. She's still seriously wounded though.

Luca flinches, withdrawing inward as the glass shark explodes, sending shards of glass in all directions. He even catches a couple pieces himself. When he notices Estaban catch a piece in the throat and fall over dead, his withdraw reverses. He roars, hanging onto the rigging, cobalt cutlass in his hand. It's a lion's roar, even if he is a fox at heart and a griffon by choice, "THE THIRTEENTH TAKE YOU, REVEKA TYDE, AND YOUR DARK MASTER! I AM COMING FOR YOU!" There's nothing to hit, so he jerks the flask from his Cardian leather jacket and he slams it back, emptying all of what's left inside, then calling out again, "SEND THEM ALL BACK TO THE SEA! WE MAY HAVE NO TOMORROW!" He is righteous, for once, which is a change from long and languid naps on sunlit couches and drunken afternoons in stretched out on the rooftops of Arx. In the last, he screams, "NOONE MY HARM US UNPUNISHED!"

"DOWN!" Peri barely can yell it when the shark explodes, sending its shards spraying out in deadly fashion. She dives to the deck, feeling a pinch of something on the way down. One of her signal men keels over next to her. Blood seeping through a moment after. "Kaldur!" She looks around for her brother in moment of unadulterated fear, trying to spot him before she stands up again to look over the side of the Pearl. The black. "NOW CLEAR OFF NOW! STARBOARD NOW! HARD TACK!" She races to grab one of the signal flags and starts waving to Bisland fleet, then Deepwood, leaving the Riven fleet to her other signal woman.

Magpie startles as he's pelted with glass, "The fuck?!" He's in the fray of a fight and as Victus calls the retreat he scrambles back to The Valor, looking around frantically, "What happened?! He attacked it?!" He asks, looking to Mayir for a scant moment before turning his attention back outward to the fight, making sure they can disengage the other ship they've been in battle with.

Margot is not one to yell usually, she's quiet by nature but she sucks in a breath, forcing her voice louder. "REVEKA. I am the Duchess of Tyde. Your head of family. SURRENDER NOW and the crimes you seek recompence for will be exposed! Stand now NOW and reperations will be made. Now is the only chance you have for Justice!"

While the others navigate their boats away from the darkwater, Mayir manages to cover Eleanor with his body, most of the glass striking his leather armor and cloak rather than him. And keeping it away from the poor fallen King's Own on the ground. And he weeps openly, tears streaming down his face. "It -- it touched the void inside it, I guess and --" And then kapow. "I told him, Magpie. I told him. Why? If they had just listened. He told me this would happen."

It's Dante's turn to be serious now as he looks over Jasher, "Can you walk?" The Lord of Roses then looks over the other ships, seeing the slit sails and ravaged ropes and broken boards. He does what he can to clear the deck quickly, lifting people up in his arms, ignoring his own rather minor wounds by comparison to many others. He calls out to the mean near him, "We've slain the beast, now we survive to slay another day!" For his part, however, he's little more than a rather ornate looking sailor at the moment. Helping people off the deck and getting back to hard rowing. Blood and salt and water turning his glittering visage into a hardened one.

Arianna cries out when the glass sprays the deck and she's not fast enough to get to her cousin. With a swiftness she needed earlier she moves to her side and slips under her arm offering to help her below decks before abandoning her offer and carrying her. "I'm sorry..." For such a stoic face her eyes conveyed the pain she felt for not protecting her. Reese and the others are given a glance, as if to carry on and then she's rushing below decks with the injured princess.

"I have taken worse," Jasher assures Dante as he bleeds. He has talked of the importance of swift sailing towards, now he barks, if a bit subdued, the importance of sailing away. A man of slow and deliberate thought, he watches the darkwater as if trying to seek any solution at all.

If it weren't for be peppered with shards of shark glass, Antonio might not have even noticed the explosion, so focused is he with crossing swords with the enemy. But.. glass in the face does get one's attention, as does Kaede's cry. "BACK TO THE WRECKLESS, BOYS!" And then he's inching back toward his ship, ending his boarding action.

Graham is fighting or holding on and bracing for the next fight at least. He hears the sound of the breaking and is in time to turn his back his armor pelted with shards and though some stick in. It seems to have kept him safe from harm so far. He turns looking about their ship and the fleet before moving. It seeems they are pulling off from the darkening water though he turns to move back and help those who are harmed. Helping to bend down and help others to get below though himself staying on the deck back near the helm.

Wash gets his ship moving again, if slowly. The maneuver they practiced works better without the flying glass and ripped sails. He sets a course for the theatre of war, intending to intercept the Dove.

Lou takes a moment to check on the other people occupying the same boat as herself. Isolde is still alive. Check. Graham too. Reese and Luca. She nods to them, all of them, and shows that she's just fine, even after having been showered with glass. She braces against the ships sudden maneuvers to move away from the quickly growing dark water, and switches back to her bow. Cursed as it might be, she'll use it as a club if she has to. She's more skilled at it, and will likely have need of ranged combat!

Lou wields forest shadows regal crossbow with etched Grayson sigil.

Adam, A Young Apprentice, 4 Navegant Marines leave, following Turo.

Eying the spreading dark water and looking to the Sea Mist, her old ship where Estaban's body now lays Caelis grabs a flask, she pours the liquor into the water and plunges the cobalt cutlass down as she leans over the rail, holding on. "Please goddess, as my family loves you, and the Saiks love you and this navy loves you, give is lightning to push back the darkness." Her eyes looking skyward, letting tears fall openly.

Caelis checked mana + occult at difficulty 70, rolling 47 lower.

Caelis takes serious damage.

"I was going to make it," sighs Mayir, looking out at the horizon, at the dark water they are retreating from. "I was going to make it. All of those cuts and I escaped a sinking ship that was a bomb and I told them and I was helping and now I'm going to die because we got a stupid portal for the bad guys because people didn't listen."

Artorius looks to Caelis as she makes a daring move. "Caelis!" he says then, hearing her words but not moving to stop her, for he knows what she's trying to do.

Graham can only continue his efforts to help those upon the deck who were injured into realitve saftey while keeping tracking of things the best he can his sister moving below decks is actually some comfort though he worries if she took injury as well.

There's a wince to Caelis' effort, a look to Mayir as he speaks and a slow nod to those who share the Valor of Valardin with him. Victus turns back to regard the growing patch of dark water. He lets his jaw fall open and he begins to... sing? Yes, sing. The High Lord is singing. Calmly. It's nothing special either, just a religious hymn to Mangata. Praising the Goddess of the waves for her deeds, for safeguarding her children and giving way to life. Growth. All that and more. He doesn't have the best singing voice, but he's doing his best. As best a man with a hoarse voice after hours spent spilling blood can do.

Dante wields Rosethorn the Long Sword of Tor.

Jasher checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 9 lower.

Antonio checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 9 lower.

Caelis checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 7 lower.

Victus checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 3 lower.

Margot checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 4 lower.

Luca checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 6 higher.

Wash checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 1 lower.

Magpie doesn't understand what Caelis is doing, but he sees Victus singing and a grim expression crosses his face. "Fuck..." The man mutters, then sheathes his knife and starts singing softly too, because what can it hurt. Magpie has a decent voice.

Mayir checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 7 lower.

Lou checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 1 higher.

Magpie checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 6 lower.

Peri checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 3 lower.

Graham checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 3 higher.

Arianna checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 0 higher.

Artorius checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 6 higher.

Ariella checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 10 higher.

Kaede checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 6 lower.

Reese checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 4 higher.

Dante checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 9 lower.

Isolde checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 2 lower.

Kaldur checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 3 lower.

Jasher raises his head. Victus's song is faint at this distance, yet the Thrax prince grasps at the strain. He has no voice to speak of, but from where he stands on the quarterdeck, near the dark, he recites the hymn he remembers, his hands tight on the railing.

Jaerith has rolled a critical success!
Jaerith checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 3 higher.

Isolde takes serious damage.

Kaldur takes moderate damage.

Arianna takes moderate damage.

Magpie takes moderate damage.

Wash takes moderate damage.

Caelis takes moderate damage.

Jasher takes moderate damage.

Estaban takes moderate damage.

Mayir takes serious damage.

Margot takes serious damage.

Peri takes moderate damage.

Victus takes moderate damage.

Kaede takes moderate damage.

Dante takes moderate damage.

The darkwater swirls, the abyss rising up from the deeps. But this is different from the Darkwater that holds the Gyre. No, this is different indeed. Something new, and dark it is - but there's a rage to it, and indeed it's blood red. Born from rage and betrayal it is, and there is nothing good at all about it.

It reaches out with blood-red tendrils and wraps them around the remaining ships of the Gyre and just pulls, tugging them down to the depths. As they sink, as the Compact watches, the ships start to appear in the swirling bloodwater. And there is a glimmer too - is that... is that the glass shark, reborn?

And then a las of acid blood sweeps across them all, as though the bloodwater slaps them contemptuously. And then it disappears.

Tag. You're it.

Aboard the Crimson Redemption, the three Lords on the quarterdeck raise their blades. "Each for every! And Every for each!" Wash shouts with them. Then he turns and salutes the Dove, his course leading his cog into a supporting position for Margot's Tyde fleet. A few Kennex Longships form up behind them, having survived the fighting and not yet ready to concede anything outside the darkwater to the enemy. Then acid rains everywhere. Who forgot to bring an umbrella? These guys.

Ariella manages to dodge the spray of acid bloodwater, but her stomach sinks when she looks at the reformed fleet, disappearing in a flash. "Oh, fuck me."

Margot checked composure + leadership at difficulty 15, rolling 50 higher.

Margot drops down to one knee on the deck of the Dove, groaning, a lash deep in her side. She leans on the rail dragging herself up to her feet, even as her skin looses a few shades of hue, and blood stains her snow white armour. She takes a deep breath, schools her features in complete control, and resumes giving orders.

Artorius watches the Gyre fleet be pulled into that black abyss, attempting to keep everyone on that boat back and away from harm...until the sea lashes blood acid at them! EIther way, he manages to dodge this vile fluid, but others are not so lucky. "RECOVER!" he shouts to his men as more than a few be burned by such liquid.

Jaerith glances sideways as darkwater begins to swirl. He quickly shouts orders that his men relay to his other ships. Hes got a bad feeling. His orders are to move as quickly away as wind and ore can take then. It appears as though Luck is within him, for his ships make enough distance and angle themselves in such a way that the acidic lash does little to them.

It burns. Oh, how it burns. Mayir screams as the red acid rakes across him, re-opening the wounds that the dark water's hunger wind whipping past him caused before. It's a mess, the bare limbs getting raked, but he manages to make it. He's -- alive. And that's something. "What happened? Where did it go?"

"Oh, spirits..." Kaede mutters, as she watches the darkwater start to shift. "ROWERS!" she barks. "Get us back," she calls, soon as the last of the Wreckless' marines are aboard. Then comes the tentacles. Her eyes go big and wide. Then comes a lash of that ... blood? There's a muffled cry as, again, Kaede is hit, and again, she's knocked onto the deck of the ship.

Reese managed to evade getting hit by the darkwater, actually she is completely uninjured. She is pale-cheeked and troubled though. She glances quickly to Luca and her sister, trying to make sure they are okay. She then looks in the distance to Margot, seemingly relieved to hear her voice. "Margot!" She calls out, maybe just letting her know she is alive here too. She doesn't even bother with titles. Then then it sinks in that Estaban is gone. She sucks in a sharp breath and another another trying to break down. She keeps giving orders as well.

Jasher is still by the quarterdeck railing, his hands tightening as the lash strikes him, but even as his injuries deepen almost past the point of standing, he's squinting at the rage-red water as it disappears, trying to understand.

Raises his blade with Jasher's and Wash's, shouting something with them. Then he lowers it, lifts a bottle of wine, and ducks swiftly as acid blood water sprays at him. HIssing as it burns at his armor and his skin in places, he stands back up. Straight. Bold. Staring at the magic going on, the fleet and the shark and the darkness and he seems grim. "Well." He drinks more wine. As Jasher tries to understand, the Lord of Roses merely goes, "Sore losers."

Wash gestures with a flag. "To Setarco and the final fleet?" He asks, the question, directing it to the surrounding vessels, but also specifically to the Valor, which successfully picked up the Grand Admiral.

Graham is knealt down behind a side of the boat helping another up to there feet when the acidic spray hits, and thus he's lucky to avoid its sting. He can only continue his efforts. "It is a dark day, today if we find victory it's cost might be greater than we thought." He speaks the words definately troubled and wearried by the losses they've taken and the spread of the darkness.

Margot looks across to the Pink Griffon and lifts a hand to her. Hey still alive over here. She even smiles convincingly.

Caelis hisses a breath, trying to duck as much as she can. "We can't leave the Sea Mist. Artie, can you captain her? We can't leave him out here." She looks to her brother desperately, ignoring her pain as she leans more than a little of her weight into the wheel with heavy breathes. Her eyes track to Victus as well, ready for more orders.

When the ship is getting underway, Kaldur mostly does his best to stay out of it. Without a particular job to do, he watches the miasmic disaster unfolding astern. Chills run up his spine at the unnatural draw and wind of black and red, seething hate that sucks down the Compact fleet. A shout leaves his throat, he lurches forward, futile effort. "DOWN! Get down!" The red backlash, thrashes out, splashing. He is bellowing this when the acid wave strikes. Hissing, he takes cover, eyes squeezed shut. They're okay? His eyes? They're... he blinks... one... two... they seem okay. "PERI. GET US OUT OF HERE!" He scrambles to his feet and looks around. There has to be something he can do.

Antonio takes moderate damage.

Magpie knows the hymn well enough, having over half his life at sea. But as that water surges up, dark with the abyss, the words fade from his lips and he stares. He watches the ships get sucked up and consumed, then flings up an arm uselessly to try and block the acid. It burns him all the same and the man screams in pain as it sinks through the gaps in the leather he wears. "Shiiit!!" He flails, then mutters, "I think that was the shark again? ... if we hadn't taken out most of the fleet... " Then he looks up to Caelis leaning so heavily on the wheel and moves to her side, "Here, sit down. I got it."

Lou manages to dodge out of the way of the bloodwater acid splashes, and tries to pull a few sailors from harm as it lashes out at them as well. She is not in time to get to Isolde, and winces as she takes a hefty brunt of it. "I've no healing skills," she tells her, voice apologetic. She pulls a clean cloth out of her bag though, and hands it to Isolde for use if that will help some!

Arianna screams in pain at the lash of acid swiping across her flesh. She quickly retreats from it and again. Isolde takes more punishment and all she can do is be there for her. Lou is given a look for her apologetic tone,"It's alright. Can you find us a healer on the crew if there's no one here?"

Victus stands by and watches, his singing abruptly cut off as that whirlwind of blood-red rage bubbles up and wreaks havoc. He doesn't even move when the acid blood rains down, the pain he feels as it singes and stings him. It hurts. It hurts bad. And when it's done stinging, he just slumps forward and lets his entire body bend over the side of the ship, face buried into his blood-stained forearms. Deep breath. Deep, cutting breathing. With some difficulty, the High Lord pushes himself back up, nods to Caelis, and makes his way to the mast. "COMPACT!" He cries, lifting his blade up. "... We survive. Collect the ones who did not, they've earned their honor."

His hand moves back in the direction of Setarco. "Regroup and prepare to reroute to the city." That commanding edge of his voice hasn't survived, his vocal chords were blown out long into this battle.

Even though Arianna dragged her below decks, Isolde is still hurt. A lash of blood red water digs into her skin--tearing through the armor Lou gave her and striking true. She yelps in pain, clinging to her cousin with soft whimpers of pain. She's not a warrior, she's a healer or a priest. The princess has never felt this kind of pain before. "Sorry. Sorry." She half-whispers to Arianna and Lou, reaching out to take the cloth with a shaky hand. "I wanted to help. Not this."

Antonio had just made it back over the side onto his ship when he's slapped by the blood lash and knocked to the deck- and he doesn't get back up right away. No, he's hurt. Pretty badly.

Wash gives special orders to relay to the Bounty. The peaceful ship will sail out here after the battle with a host of Mercies and look for anyone that may be saved. One of Victoria Kennex's ideas.

Reese sucks in a sharp breath as she looks toward Isolde. "Fuck.." She says. She then starts to pull some water, booze and bandages from her a pouch. "I know basic first aid." She says. "Very very basic. We will need to get her to real healer as soon as we can."

Peri's keeping an eye on that swelling red, the tendrils. She watches as the Gyre ships get sucked away from them, luckily all her crew had extracted in time. But as she stands along the rail of her ship, holding onto the line, she watches the death throws of the creature, the wink of a glass shark. Too curious for her own good she looks down in and when the spray of blood acid shoots up with enough force to knock her off the railing. She comes down hard, cracking into the deck with a grunt. Left without shield cover, she sweeps her face as fast as possible, covering her head through the residual blood. She scrambles to her feet over to the helm after loosing the main sheet, her hands shaking. "Take the-" She tries to yell as she stumbles over to the helm. She can feel the acid continuing to eat through.

Margot pushes up her chin. "REVEKA!" She yells. "As your leige I demand you yeild!"

Jasher just stands, supported perilously against the rail, bleeding and acid-scoured, his stoicism more a function of being dazed than being unassailable.

Artorius looks to Caelis, helping her stand on her own before a hand is on the wheel of the great vessel. "Aye, that I can." He follows orders though, steering the ship as necessary. "We live, sister...I only wish we did not suffer such losses."

Lou nods to Reese, and says gently, "Once we get back. Assuming we don't have to fight more once we are back...." She's certainly /not/ looking forward to that. She looks out over the waters, at the Sea Mist, her brow crinkling, and then she winces as Margot yells.

The Fox-Prince isn't quite finished yet, it would seem. There he is at the rigging, bemoaning his cousin's death. "REVEKA TYDE. I'M COMING FOR YOU. YOU ARE JUST A STEP TO YOUR MASTER!" Wow, he is just a little on edge here, which is unusual for him, but it is a genuine sort of rage, and just to be sure, he reiterates her name like he was calling down a being of the otherworld. "REVEKA. TYDE." That cutlass forged of cobalt-essence is there in his hands, out and stalwart. Woe betide any undead pirate that gets within his range at this time. He isn't actually frothing, but the froth can be heard in his words, the dire thirst for vengeance.

Reese gets a small bottle with clean water from a first aid pouch embroidered with a candle flame.

Reese gets a small vial with a strong liquor from a first aid pouch embroidered with a candle flame.

Wash is not longer amused or jocular either. As he turns his vessels toward the city under siege he calls out to the nearby Duchess of Tyde. "Lady Margot. The pretender may lead the forces in Setarco, let us seek her where our aid is needed most!"

Reese gets Fresh Bandages from a first aid pouch embroidered with a candle flame.

Reese gets Herb Soaked Cotton from a first aid pouch embroidered with a candle flame.

Giving Magpie the helm, Caelis winces and looks to Artorius. She smiles to him. "Go take the Sea Mist. You're Malvici still. I shouldn't leave the flag ship. Take him home Artie, please. I can't right now." She shakes her head and looks to Victus, steeling herself. "Let's get you to safety too, Grand Admiral."

"Back to Setarco!" Kaede calls, as she finds her feet. Exhausted, bruised, bleeding, the Prodigal captain is still giving orders, best she can.

Margot slumps down on the deck of the Dove, her hand pressed to her sive, grimicing a bit. She backs her back against the railing doing her best to make sure no one really who isn't on her ship sees how badly she's hurt. Slow measured breaths are drawn and she looks to the first mate evenly. "Just get me some bandages."

Arianna is overheard praising Estaban for: He gave his life for the Compact!

Reese is overheard praising Isolde for: She prayed and helpd us fight and got in the process, I hope she is okay!

Artorius nods then to Caelis as she speaks to him, and he kisses his sister on the forehead, taking one of the smaller Magnottan vessels to reclaim the Sea Mist...and take Estaban's body under his care for the long way back to Setarco. "My friend....may you live forever in paradise." he says with a sadness in his voice, looking at his friend as he takes a heavy breath. Tears are fought back, and he lifts the man onto his vessel.

Reese is overheard praising Victus for: Lead us in battle

Reese is overheard praising Estaban for: Miss you so much! You were so brave.

Wash paces the oarsmen for the return to Setarco. His assumption is that the fighting will resume on land once they get there. He wants to arrive there en masse, not as ships limping home.

Peri is overheard praising Wash for: Defeating a giant glass abyssal shark.

Reese is overheard praising Luca for: Always at my side in battle

Dante is overheard praising Wash for: Saw us through incredible danger, risked our lives for the Compact and thwarted a weapon of the enemy. Helping to win the war through a dark and bloodied battle.

Reese is overheard praising Lou for: Keeps fighting, my sister was with me bravely