Solo [Job Thread] She Sells Seaslugs By the Seashore

[Slenta]

"Are you here to show me the cave?" Slenta asked the Charoda standing half-submerged at the beach, holding a large spear upright, covered in various coral adornments. The Charoda nodded. It then dove into the water, and Slenta began to splash in after it, quickly sinking beneath the waves. The water was quite warm for a Fall afternoon, though she knew the deeper they went, the colder the water would be.

Earlier, Slenta had seen the poster speaking of a Charoda who offered to show the water-faring races of Sunberth prime fishing locales, or underwater caves. She also offered to retrieve things from beneath the waves, all for a price. The price was five gold mizas for a tour of a nearby underwater cave, and five gold mizas for each instance of object retrieval, and between five to fifty for animal retrieval. She was quite skilled at what she did. Her name was A'mala.

Slenta couldn't pass up the oppurtunity to have access to some abundant ingredients to concoct her poisons with. She knew there were all sorts of poisonous sea creatures and plants beneath the surface, but she did not dare go below without a guide. The ten gold mizas would be a worthy investment in this case.

Slenta's hand clutched her Suvai as the water rose over her head and she ducked down. She was a fairly weak swimmer compared to the Charoda, which slowly backpedaled away from her, allowing her to catch up. She remembered how to paddle to rise, and push the water behind her to move forward, but she was terrible at it.

[Slenta]

Mockingly, the Charoda laughed at Slenta, and grabbed her arm. At first Slenta attempted to protest, but decided against it a moment later. It would be easier for the both of them if she were dragged to their destination. She at least tried to kick, to make sure she wasn't dead weight, watching how the Charoda moved and trying to mimic her movements. Swimming would get better with time.

From beneath the waves, Slenta could see a vast ecosystem of sunken wreckage and the occasional dark and ominous boulder, towering from the sea floor, and surrounded by fields of sea weed in all directions. Slenta was careful to memorize the direction they were headed, she didn't want to lose track of where she was, for future reference.

After several minutes of swimming, a formation of rocks began to show from the murky depths. "We are almost there," said A'mala. Slenta could feel the pressure on her body increase as the both of them began to swim deeper and deeper, towards the rock formation. The dark opening of a cave seemed apparent ahead, between two large rocks.

The thought of the Charoda betraying her and leaving her out here crossed her mind, but she shook those thoughts away. She made an effort to try and trust the sea girl, for science, and profit. "Watch out for eels, don't touch anything that moves, has a pretty color, or glows with your hands," Amala informed her. Slenta surmised that she shouldn't touch anything, since everything in the ocean was dangerous.

"The water here is hard on the coral and sea life. It is very dirty due to the city of Sunberth. I came here to help, but I find that earning a bit of coin helps me with my duties," she continued as they neared the cave. "The caves here are where much of the life is. I will show you one, but the others I must protect." As the Charoda finished, they began to enter the cave.

Ahead, a luminous, but faint light glimmered. "What is that?" Slenta asked, her words garbled due to how inexperienced she was with speaking underwater.

Coral to provide light," A'mala answered. Together, they swam forward towards the main chamber of the cave. The ground beneath Slenta seemed to curve down below her, enlarging the cave considerably as they dove deeper into the earth.

As she floated in the center of the room with the Charoda, she began to examine her surroundings. The area was filled with all manner of coral, and many kinds seemed to glow. The cave had a bed of silt, where Slenta spotted a single sea slug swimming across the ground towards the coral, at the first sign of the intruders. "This is great, it will serve well for my purposes, A'mala."

The Charoda nodded at her in response. "Do not take too much, the ecosystem will not survive if you." After saying this, the Charoda began to seem distant, as if plagued by some past occurrence. She snapped back to reality a moment later. "...When burnt with fire, there are stones that exhude poisonous smoke. If you wish, I will show you to them." Slenta nodded, and began to follow the Charoda once more.

Slenta was led into a slightly darker part of the cave, just barely illuminated. Ahead, a single coral outcropping shed light on a small room. There, small rocks were littered across the floor of the underwater cavern, covered in sand and silt. Slenta saw them as they got closer. "Those are the stones? Are they safe to touch?" Slenta asked. The Charoda merely nodded.

[Slenta]

A'mala let go of Slenta's arm, allowing her to flounder about towards the bottom of the cave. In the dim light, Slenta was weary of any animals they might come across. When she deemed it safe, she stowed away her Suvai. There were a dozen rocks in total, which Slenta began to pick off the cavern floor. She dropped them into her pockets.

"These should be.. Useful." Slenta commented. "What are some of the more poisonous creatures in this cave?"

A'mala began to rattle off the names of a few underwater creatures, and then move on to other types of poisonous species as well. "Sunberthian Spadetail, Oceanic Cave Ooze, and just about every mollusk's slime are inedible due to their toxicity. I know not of the art of concentrating their toxins. Outside the cave, the blue seaweed that grows is poisonous. Most of the types of moss in this cave cannot be eaten..."

After making sure to memorize what A'mala had told her, Slenta spoke again. "Would you collect sizable fresh samples of each of the five species you mentioned?" Slenta asked.

The Charoda nodded. "It will take me about one hour, and it will cost you more mizas, twenty-five to be precise."

"That sounds reasonable." Slenta stated. "Would you take me back to shore before you begin?" She asked.

"Very well." A'mala said, grabbing ahold of Slenta's arm once more. She then began to take her out of the cave. Slenta retrieved her Suvai once more, a little nervous of her surroundings still.

When they finally did leave the cave, Slenta bubbled a sigh of relief. This place was so foreign to her, but at least she had a good guide. It did make her wallet a bit lighter, but it was worth it. In any case, A'mala would likely be quite valuable for her business in the future. An asset that she would be careful not to lose.

A'mala led Slenta back to shore over the next few minutes. Slenta had learned a lot from this experience. The world below the waves was a world she had largely ignored until now, but braving it seemed to require a whole new skillset which she did not yet possess.

The two of them emerged from beneath the waves, near the very same spot they had entered the murky depths. As the waves battered her, Slenta nodded to A'mala, who dove back into the sea to gather the samples Slenta had asked of her.

Slenta let out a slight smirk at the waves, despite being drenched from head to toe. Her hair and clothing would dry out soon enough. She decided to head home- the inn she stayed at was a short distance away. She also had to retrieve some coin, as she hadn't intended to pay up front, or risk bringing her coin to a new contact and getting robbed.

Slenta slogged up the beach, sand entering every crevice of her shoes. She then went home, crossing through the markets and arriving at the inn. She would always draw many stares, despite trying to be sneaky and moving along behind the stalls, close to the wall. It was an art she had yet to perfect.

As she entered, the familiar sound of a pub reached her ears. The sound was more pleasant than the nagging sensation she felt when people were sleeping. She would often wake up in the late afternoon, and then go to sleep just before noon, to prevent her 'gift' from waking her.

Slenta navigated through the crowd to the stairs. It was less rowdy today, and she was mildly pleased that nobody had put a finger on her. She had already been warned repeatedly for using her Suvai to fight back burly men trying to grope or fondle her, but she knew that she would be fine so long as they deserved it. A hand reached for her, and she swiped it away and gave the perpetrator an angry look.

[Slenta]

Slenta climbed up the stairs to the second floor of the inn. At the far end of the hall, a man sat in a pool of vomit. It was a disgusting sight, but Slenta was used to it. She had been living here for years.. At least none of them have ever broken into her room, as far as she knows.

She tip-toed down the hall and opened the door quietly, not wanting to wake up the drunk. She didn't like it when people knew what room she lived in, Akajia would frown upon her if everyone knew her sanctuary. Only the Daggerhands seemed to know, and only due to them keeping a close eye on her business. If she were ever caught selling to Night-Eyes they would probably gut her in her sleep.

"Slenta, 'ye there?" A voice called from behind the door. She could hear the man talking, but she didn't recognize the voice. Normally, she would be approached for business in the alley by the docks, but this was different. "It's one 'er Robern's men, open up m'lady!"

Slenta silently moved to the door, and unlocked the door knob. She opened it to a crevice that she could peer through. Indeed, it was one of Robern's men, she recognized him. "What do you want?" She muttered. The man fidgeted a moment, looking both ways down the hall before responding. Don't know who 'da vic'm is, everythin's hush hush. Been told to ask you fer' some'tin to make 'im a bit sickly."

"Very well," Slenta said. "I haven't seen you before so you must be new- approach me in the markets following the twenty-third bell tonight. I will begin work on the poison immediately. It should be finished by that time." She shut the door on the man. Hopefully he would get the picture. The Daggerhands were so disorganized as of late.

Hopefully she would be able to create something for her client using the samples she had asked for. Slenta went over to her closet, and knelt down. Her valuables were stored in a small compartment in the floor here. It was as safe as any lock, as far as she was concerned. She began to pry open the board covering the compartment with her Suvai, and it popped cleanly out.

Contained within the compartment were the rest of her Mizas, as well as her other Suvai and some of her tools. She scooped up her Mizas, counting off thirty Gold Mizas- the amount she owed to A'mala, and threw the rest back. She then replaced the board.

She stood, and began to leave the room. At the door, she took one final glance at her room to see if anything was amiss, but she decided she was being paranoid and shut the door behind her as she left, being careful to cause as little noise as possible. The nearby drunk was still asleep, as her senses had told her, but a loud noise would probably wake him up.

She tip-toed over to the stairs, and then proceeded down them. She crossed through the tavern, left the tavern, then proceeded through the markets. When she arrived at the beach she knew she was early, but she didn't mind waiting. Her clothes were still damp from her sea excursion forty-five chimes earlier. She sat upon the sandy beach and began to await her samples.

Thirty chimes later, A'mala emerged from beneath the sea. By now, the sun had already been swallowed up by the horizon halfway and it was getting dark. In A'mala's hand was a rucksack. "Everything is here as promised. The fish will die soon." The rucksack was indeed wriggling, and the Charoda seemed to care little for seperating the contents- everything was all in that one bag. "You can keep the sack as well. Just bring it back when you have more to ask of me."

The Charoda walked up the beach to where Slenta was sitting. Slenta opened up the bag. Sure enough, everything was there; a mollusk, a spadetail, some seaweed, some moss, a piece of coral..? "The Ooze is in the coral tube. Be careful, everything in there can sting, but the fish and the ooze will dry out and perish fairly quickly in the open air. The mollusk is less dangerous, just don't touch it with your bare hands." A'mala said. Slenta noted A'mala's warnings.

"Very well, here is your payment." Slenta handed the Charoda the Mizas. A'mala smiled and then awkwardly bowed in gratitude. "I will see you around, for future business, A'mala?"

"For as long as i'm able." A'mala said. Slenta stood and nodded to the Charoda, and they went their seperate ways. Slenta began to make her way back to the inn again, moderately excited on being able to experiment on some new poisonous sea creatures and plants.

[Slenta]

Crossing through the market, and creeping behind the stalls to avoid prying eyes she arrived quickly at the inn once more. She peered inside through the window. It was packed now, and it always was at this hour. All of the sailors had gotten off work, and many of them were drunk.

Groaning, Slenta began to shove her way through the group of burly sailors as she entered the inn. Grabbing hands reached for her, but she swiped them away with one of her hands, eliciting woos and whistles from the bar's patrons. One hand made it a bit close to her face, and she drew her Suvai and swatted it away with the pommel. As soon as they saw this happen, a majority of the sailors backed away. Slenta tried to put on an intimidating face, though she knew she was bad at such things.

Slenta smirked as she headed up the stairs. It was time to study, and she had all night to do so. By now her clothes were almost dry, though a bit sandy from her adventure on the beach. She would have to wash them within the next few days, should they get too uncomfortable.

At the top of the stairs, she didn't sense anyone sleeping, but she noticed there was a drunk affixed to a bottle at the end of the hall still, he was awake. Slenta began to move as silently as she could, not wanting to get the drunk's attention. He was humming to himself, and reeked a foul odor that became apparent as Slenta got closer.

Slenta unlocked her door, trying to keep calm and casual. She then slipped inside and locked it. All was well, and it was time for her to begin the night shift.