Chapter 03: Act I

[storyevents]

The Little Mermaid: Act I—

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§ instructions.

The first Act of our third campaign is underway! This is the designated log for all Main Scenes. Others are free to create their own toplevels for the Sub Quests, which are detailed below. Each Main Scene has their own unique toplevel and those cast into the roles are to thread their scene under each. All scene instructions are provided in the toplevels. There are also toplevels for each Sub Quest this time around, but players are more than welcome to create their own individual toplevel if they have something else in mind they would like to do.

As a reminder, characters will find similar information and instructions within their journals so they won't go in blind. Also to note, all characters will have all their belongings within them as well as the additional supplies provided to them by the Storyteller. As you know, everyone has undergone a special "mermaid" transformation upon arriving into the Book, but do note: characters in Main Scenes will have a second wardrobe change while acting the scene. Their merform will stay the same, but they'll have additional bits to add to their role. Outfits will be provided in the prompts themselves, and these outfits will only be in affect during the scene. The moment they leave the setting area, they return to their other wardrobe.

Finally, just to be clear, characters who are in Main Scenes are not immediately dropped in to their location and will have to travel to the "setting location" and then return. Threading all of that isn't necessary, but it's to help give a better idea that characters can take a break between scenes or wait a bit to help with other things like the Sub Quests.

Feel free to refer to the Game Notes for more detailed info as well as ask questions or clarifications.

Comments

[rokubro]

The boy scowls and brandishes his branch again.

"You won't get it!"

Although who knows, the boy may still try to force another riddle out of childish despair. For now, Rokurou has at least managed to the main rock that housed the pearl. But...now he has a real problem. Upon arriving, the once open oyster suddenly shuts tight with a loud snap! Immediately he shrinks back down because surely they all could have heard that.

The dog definitely has and is growling, starting to move towards the water's edge.

[chatwithdeath]

"Oh I won't, huh?"

She thinks she knows what that clap was and does her best not to turn. But dammit, the dog is growling again. So long as the kids were occupied and not giving attention to the dog, it would be fine... and she could probably play off not knowing Rokurou if he was caught.

"Well, we can play again because I'm fairly sure 'Iceberg' is the answer to this one."

[rokubro]

How the hell is he supposed to get the pearl now? Honestly he's thinking he should just grab the entire thing, even if it's fairly huge. ...Assuming it's not stuck on the rock. Otherwise, surely his sword will be enough to cut it open, but—

There's suddenly a loud yowl of anger from the boy, an eerie black mist forming around him.

"No, no, no! You weren't supposed to get it! You cheated!!!"

It's enough to turn everyone's attention onto the boy. Now or never, Rokurou is going to try and grab the oyster. It's definitely stuck on there, but a quick conjure of his smaller blade is enough to slam the steel into the crust holding it and wrench it free.

So here's the next riddle: is anyone going to catch him or is he going to get away with this?? And if not caught in the act, will they hear the SPLASH as he reenters the water?

[chatwithdeath]

Arms crossing, Naomi stared at the boy despite the mist.

"I did not cheat... and honestly, I don't know how I could cheat."

It's not like they were near the ocean or had anything she could reference for help. It just came down to thinking about it... and the Titanic. Brushing some of her hair behind her ear, she sighs.

"Look, I'll try to guess one more riddle. I probably won't get it this time."

[rokubro]

"No, no, no! Witch you're a witch!!!"

The boy continued to smoke an even seem to mutate a little, his face becoming more disfigured. At the boy's cries, the dog whimpers and turns to him, but the girl rushes to Naomi.

"You need to leave! If you don't he'll—"

But as she's trying to push Naomi away, her eye catches the empty space where the oyster used to be and she freezes on spot.

"...What...? It... Our treasure... Our treasure is..."

Now she's beginning to have mist form around her, her hands clutching her head.

"Ah....aaahh....AAAHHHH!!!!!

[chatwithdeath]

Well, the girl's trying to push her away so Naomi would go, 'wondering' what treasure that she's beginning to mumble about. Both had seen her so she hadn't taken it, but probably best not to linger and get into a fight.

Getting down the river a bit and the dog preoccupied now with the kid blots, she'll dive back into the water, shifting forms...

... perhaps overshooting that shift, and taking the form of an actual salmon.

Well, no time to waste thinking about that. Time to find Rokurou.

[twilightskey]

"Thanks, Kotori."

He says it in a genuine voice, gratitude clear in his expression. Kotori really had been very understanding and kind... and her promise to help him only made the happiness he felt grow stronger. That strange, warm feeling bloomed in his chest again, and though he didn't have a word for it or fully understand it, it made the smile on his face grow warmer.

[twilightskey]

While Shizuo focuses on keeping an eye on the statues, Roxas tends to cleaning the garden. There's a lot of mess to clean up, and the pile next to Roxas is slowly growing bigger and bigger with the piles of dead seaweed and garbage he's collecting. It's at least starting to look a little nicer, and some of the nearby fish are starting to explore the areas he's cleaned.

He's busy watching a brightly-coloured fish examine some broken pottery, so he doesn't notice the eel-shaped statue approaching. But he does notice it when it suddenly bites at his tail.

"Aah!!"

[rokubro]

Rokurou had definitely hightailed it back to thicker cover in the reeds, but since he's preoccupied with the giant oyster in his hands, he doesn't notice Naomi shifting. He looks up through the reeds to check, but he only sees the blots going insane. He can only assume that Naomi managed to get back in the water unseen somehow, so he ducks back under before he's noticed.

He could wait where he is, but he opts to continue swimming the rest of the way back to the entrance. If Naomi's in the water, she might be able to catch a flash of his tail as he quickly swims along the far shore.

[chatwithdeath]

At the flash of his tail, Naomi soon followed after him. She'll let them swim a bit further from the blots just to be more secure in their safety before sighing.

"The girl was sweet enough, but when this story's finished, I'll need to have a word about that boy with their parents..." And then, thinking about it. "... Well, if they have parents."

Salmon Naomi scowls slightly. She's not looking to adopt kids here...

[hatesviolence]

What the—

"Roxas!?"

Shizuo immediately turns around to see what looks like one of the stone statues...biting Roxas's tail???

"Shit—!" Just a swear before he lunges towards the chunk of rock, grabbing at it but surprised by how it actually moves like an eel. Not as smooth as the real thing, but it actually wriggles and squirms before trying to attack him.

In the end he manages to fling it off to the side a fair distance, sand erupting from where it lands. But he only looks for a moment before turning back to Roxas.

"Hey, you all right?" Did it injure his tail too badly?

...Unfortunately because Shizuo has taken his attention away, the other statues are now making their way towards them.

[rokubro]

Rokurou blinks when he hears Naomi's voice, but then lets out a surprised shout when he sees her not as she usually is, but—

"Wait—Naomi is that you?" As a...salmon?? He'll just look at her with some disbelief before continuing, slowing down his pace a bit. "But you won't have to worry about that. As far as I know, any blots in this place no longer exist once we're finished. Not sure if they're killed or 'pass on' or what, and hard to say if they're even 'alive' or just constructs of the story."

[chatwithdeath]

"It is. I didn't realize I could literally turn into an animal before..."

But whatever works for now. Slowing down herself now that he's not going so fast, she tilts her head. "I see. I prefer the idea of them being constructs; signs of the Story Eater's encroachment guarding an item essential to the story."

Still... "They could be displaced characters. That boy's knowledge of witches and their deaths in various tales... maybe an amalgamation?"

[rokubro]

"...Huh, that's kind of cool." Being able to turn into an animal that is. Not the blots. As for those—

"But it's not impossible. In the other stories, there were those that were just more like listless shadows, and then there were ones that could talk, move, and think like a real person. They still felt like they were playing a part, though, so hard to really say one way or the other."

[chatwithdeath]

"It is... I'll have to try it out more later." See what she could do, if there were limits, etc. like that. But back on the blots...

"Hm... I guess I should've asked sooner, but how many other stories have been restored?"

[rokubro]

"Two big ones, and then there have been the smaller stories that just needed some minor help, so..." A small pause as he tries to think. "About eight?"

[chatwithdeath]

"Hm... so there's still more to learn about blots and their nature." And probably best to leave them relatively unharmed if possible for such purposes.

"That aside, this makes one pearl retrieved. How do you think the others are fairing?"

[rokubro]

"Pearl and a meal," he says with a grin as he holds up the giant oyster. He'll be able to pry it open once they get back to base.

"But they should be fine. I don't have to do anything for now, so I'll be heading back out to try some of the other locations regardless."

Mostly to see if he can get some good fights.

[detectiveforhierophant]

Twin Greatswords.

Red glowing eye.

Cavalier attitude but with obvious skill to back it up, and a whole lot of blood lust.

... This guy was like something out of an bad direct to video cartoon back in the 90s. Had the hair to match too, now that Dojima thought about it, like some knock off samurai.

But enough about the knock off-- Dojima had his own set of opponents to face.

A defensive stance, unlike Rokurou's full on assault, Dojima waited for the blots to make the first move towards him--

Parrying their blows, countering-- he felt his mind shifting into muscle memory that wasn't his own, Arthur's--

Striking them down, one after another.

Unlike Rokurou, his face was stone like, taking no obvious pleasure from his actions. Why would he? They were the ones that had riled up the Blots, after all...

[detectiveforhierophant]

Ah, great, a 'lone wolf' type, just what he needed...

At least the other man seemed actually capable, so he shouldn't complain too much. Both hands now on the wreckage, Dojima held on tight as another large waved swept over them.

D-damn, it took a lot of his strength to hold on...

"The shore--" Did he have any idea? How could he? The clouds had blotted out any sign of stars, even if he could read them, and there was no sign of land--

He'd glanced up towards the horizon, to see if he could make out anything in the storm, when he saw it-- in the distance, a sweep of light across the fog and rain-- and then another--

"--I see a lighthouse, that way--!" He pointed with one hand, still making sure to grip the wreckage with his other arm.

[bladebabysitter]

Such as they are. [And if they rewrite this to slightly more equitable circumstances, that won't be a bad thing, will it?]

That being said, the fastest way is up there. [She nods to a very large boulder, fairly sheer, which if they surmounted it would cut a rather long and winding switchback off of their path.] But not the easiest.

[flamekthunder]

A lighthouse?

After bracing against the waves, Eustace looked over in the direction Dojima pointed. It took a moment, but he eventually saw the sweep of light. It was going to be a long swim and he still feels as if something was watching them from somewhere below, but they had no choice. They had spent enough time trying to get their bearings.

"Hold on," were his only words, giving Dojima only a few precious seconds to prepare before he dove underwater to begin swimming. Although the water helped, he could feel the weight and drag from the man behind him.

[chatwithdeath]

"Fresh oyster... hm. It's been a while." And considering someone has been having cooking issues beneath the sea, raw oyster. On a half-shell... seaweed with it perhaps...?

"... Yes. I might head to this supposedly haunted ship."

[rokubro]

The wild youth versus the more even tempered senior. Despite the contrast, the two will be able to make short work of the mob, Rokurou cutting through the initial wave leaving Dojima to deal with any who either make it past or just stay clear away from the daemon entirely. One might wonder if Rokurou shouldn't have been a shark instead, each cut and slash ruthless as the already murky waters become stained with the black ink-like blood of the blots "killed," their bodies dispersing into the water.

Eventually none were left, and as Rokurou sheathed his swords he turned to look over at Dojima.

"Still alive, old man?" he grinned.

[rokubro]

"Can't get any fresher than this. Wonder if Kotori can do anything with it." Otherwise...well should be fine. Not that it would bother him, any.

At the mention of the haunted ship, however, he perks a bit.

"You, too? That one caught my eye as well, along with the swan one."