PM to join An Unexpected Catch (Ariane)

[Lucy Colburn]

8th Day of Spring, 515 AV

There was some problems regarding the anchors of two of the ships moored beside each other at the docks. The sailors aboard the ship suspected a clog or entanglement of some sort. One of the captains of the ship had put forth a request for help, and she had accepted the task. When Lucy approached the affected ships in the docks, she could hear the sailors cheering rowdily as they saw her approaching with their captain in tow. She walked to the edge of the docks before getting ready her diving equipment, mainly her swimming goggles and her breath bag. She had also brought along her gladius, just in case she had need of a blade, which most likely seemed guaranteed. Securing her breath bag to her belt, and sliding on her goggles, she dropped down into the sea with a splash.

Diving down, she followed the chain as it led to the anchors. She spent several ticks scrutinising the problem, trying to get a fix on the situation at hand before turning around with a swirl, as she kicked downwards, propelling herself towards the surface. She broke the surface with a splash, and countless ripples were formed as she remained in the same spot in the water, treading water to stay afloat. She slid her swimming goggles up her forehead, taking in several breaths of air in as she looked around at the sailors. Some of them were crouched on the dockside with curious smiles, others were crowding around the stern of the ship, looking down.

The waves lapped against her body, as she swayed in the water to-and-fro, accompanying the currents of the sea it ebbed and flowed. Her goggles was a simple but life-saving invention. It was but a simple leather frame containing a clear piece of glass made to fit tightly over her eyes, allowing her better vision under the water without the sting of the salt water in her eyes. These also allowed her to stay longer under water, with only having enough air being the deciding factor.

She called out to them "I found the source of the problem." One of the sailors shouted from the crowd "What's the problem, lass?" "It's somewhat of a mess down there. There's a whole lot of entanglement. I see tons of kelp, cloth, and bits of debris, from petch knows where." "Can you get it loose? Trying cutting it or something, got a blade?" Another sailor yelled from the ship. "I'll see what I can do. Aye, I got a blade with me."

Detaching her breath bag from her belt loop, she expelled the old air before refilling it with new, fresh gulp of air. With the bag of crucial air supply fully replenished, it was promptly reattached to her belt. She felt for her gladius in its sheath at her side. She would most definitely need it to cut away some of the mess down there. Sliding her goggles back down onto her eyes, she went back under the surface, heading down towards the site of the problem.

[Ariane Fitzharmon]

8th Day of Spring, 515 AV

The docks were a bit busier than usual today. A group of sailors was just staring at a pair of ships moored beside each other, pointing at various parts of the ships and gossiping amongst themselves, all beside the usual comings and goings in port. From the looks of things, the ships weren't going anywhere for a while - maybe something was wrong with them? That much wasn't Ariane's concern, though, as long as they were still seaworthy; what mattered to her was that they'd most certainly not interrupt her fishing. Today, she wanted to catch some minnows of her own for bait, and she had just the fishing net for the job. She figured there might be some kelp stuck to the bottom of these ships that would attract the minnows, and if she was right... well, that's a few less Mizas put toward buying them from someone else. The less money she had to expend, the better.

She sat down on the edge of the dock, net in hand, and cast the weighted end into the water, as close to the ships' hulls as she could without hitting them. She then waited a bit, gaze somewhat split between what she was doing and the ocean in the distance. She was only really half-focused on the task she'd come here to do; her mind kept wandering off to thoughts of her mother Xenia, who'd departed for lands beyond only a month prior, and how she was getting along in her travels. The currents tugging at her net snapped Ariane back to reality, and she pulled her net back in. Nothing that time. She shifted a bit closer to the ship and recast her net, more or less simply assuming her net will miss the anchor chain and rudder rather than actively ensuring her net doesn't snag on them. She then drifted back off into thought.

Ariane thought back to the stories she and Xenia would hear from travelling merchants. One recurring theme was the tale of the so-called "World Guardian": a figure powerful enough to challenge even the gods, lest one of them decide to unmake Mizahar. The tales played out more like inflated legends than truth; in one, this Guardian was able to take down a three-headed dragon and mount its still-talking heads on a hunter's plaque, while in another had to resort to dropping a pillar on top of... a slug. The World Guardian's description varied, sometimes drastically, from story to story, even changing gender halfway through a single story on occasion! Ariane and Xenia didn't really take these stories as more than mere fiction, but they were quite entertaining, and it'd be an adventure to see if any of the places mentioned existed, at the very least. Maybe they had some really exotic fish, too, rainbow-y types or octopi or some superfish that lives in lava or something. That'd be neat. Not like the minnows she was trying to--oh right! She was supposed to be catching minnows!

She realized all too late that she'd let go of her net, which had sunk below the surface of the water. Then she saw a bit of it peek up above the surface, and breathed half a sigh of relief. The other half of that breath turned to dismay as another piece of that net showed up, visibly cut, drifting off into the ocean. And then the other pieces bobbed up to the surface. Something or someone must have cut it! Oh, if only she'd kept her focus on the task at hand... but, then, what could have cut the ropes so cleanly?

[Lucy Colburn]

The shafts of light piercing the depths of the water grew fainter she went deeper. The mess wasn't too far from the surface at all. That was great. Any deeper and she wouldn't have the breath nor skills to finish the job. As she got closer to the large jumble of mess that had has the anchors to clog together, she saw into further detail as she took into detail the ways the assortment of kelp, unwanted cloth and other small debris who had found their way into the mix. It was also then that upon further examination, that she found the root of the problem.

The kelp and cloth had got mixed and tangled up into each other forming a net of sorts for the heavier debris, snaring them as they sunk into the sea. If she should cut the kelp and cloth loose and sever the connection between the two, the rest of the heavier debris should then be able to sink to bottom, freeing up the anchor from any entanglement. Aware that she should be running out of breath really soon, she proceeded to head back up to the surface. She had better report to the sailors about the solution she had come up with.

Back up at the surface, treading water once more, she called out to the sailors. "I found the root of the problem. I should be able to cut loose the kelp and cloth causing the mess and your anchors should be free." Cheers of "Alright" and "Petch, yeah!" could be heard in the surrounding crowd. Lucy gave them a quick grin as she prepared to descent back down into the depths once more. Diving back down, as she approached the messy site, she unsheathed her gladius, and went to work, slicing away. The kelp and cloths initially provided resistance, but that too gave out as the blade worked its way through its entirety.

Her blade sliced through pieces after pieces of kelp, as the remnants began floating down to the sea bed. She then went back up for air, before returning back down once more, to work on the cloth. She worked hard with the blade, finally severing the connection between the cloths and the remainder of the kelp. As she had suspected, without any support left the heavier debris, they began to float down to the depths of the sea bed. The chains of the anchor were free now. Now, that was her job complete.

Lucy sheathed her gladius and began the ascent towards the surface. With two feet left to the surface, she suddenly saw a fishing net sinking towards her. It looked like a fisherman's net, with its edges spread wide as it looked like a beast threatening to swallow her within its maws. With her gladius in hand, she sliced open the net, just as it surrounded her in its grip. The rope binding the net together came apart easily, as she rocketed towards the surface, breaking through the water with a loud gasp.

She had almost ran out of air, thanks to that stupid net. Taking several chimes to catch her breath, she called out to the sailors in ragged breaths "The job is done. Your anchors should be free now." Cheers erupted in the air as the announcement was passed around. Her job was done for now, but she swiveled her head around, trying to look for the person who had threw the net into the sea. All she could see were the sailors were earlier. Her eyes went to-and-fro, before they narrowed and stopped on a particular new arrival. It was a girl, at the edge of the docks and she seemed to be looking for something in the sea.

[Ariane Fitzharmon]

Ariane scooped up a piece of her now-useless net, looking about for who or what could have destroyed it like this. It didn't take long, though, for her to see a woman bobbing in the water, in the center of where the pieces of net were drifting apart. She couldn't find a blade on this woman's person with just a glance, but likely this was the cause of Ariane no longer having her bait-collection tool. Ariane was about to admonish this woman for destroying four gold mizas' worth of potential adventurin' gear when she had a second realization: the woman had been underwater, and probably was still underwater when she cut the net, and had to get through the net to surface... oh dear. Ariane's daydreaming almost drowned someone!

"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry! I, are you okay? Let me help you out, okay? Ohmigosh... please tell me you're not hurt!" She reached an arm out to the unfamiliar woman to try to help her out of the water. Ariane was sure she'd scanned the depths of the water to make sure one, there were minnows to catch, and two, there weren't other creatures - such as humans - she didn't want to harm. She must have either missed her in her scan, or daydreamed past the part where she climbed in, or something, but at any rate, she still needed a new net, and a new fishing strategy. 'Twould seem fishing near ships was dangerous to others. As for the net, likely she'd have to eat the cost herself, unfortunately. In any case, Ariane had a slightly more pressing matter of saving face.

"Uhm, right. I am so truly sorry! If there's anything I can do to make this up to you... oh yeah! Name's Ariane Fitzharmon, resident fisherwoman! Though I'm gonna be an adventurer one day, you'll see! You must be... um... a dockworker? Don't think I've seen you around before..." Ariane was sure she knew at least the faces of the regular workers at the docks, but this one was unfamiliar. Least she could do was be nice, make amends, and get to know the person. She braced herself, not quite sure what to expect.