In the lull between the bloodshed, Tonya takes a moment to gulp down her potion, before cautiously moving forward towards the cabin and knocking at the door. "Looks like everything's clear. You good in there?" she asks.
Yelenn once again relies on a combination of magic and swordplay, blastin the approaching creature, then taking a step forward to meet it with her blade/
Battering and slashing it the monster still remains standing even as Yelenn's magic eats away at its rotten corpse. Stepping through the soaked corpses the uneven footing prevents the monster from building any momentum and as a result the Student is easily able to sidestep its weak retaliatory swing.
Seeing that Yelenn had the monster handled, Tonya downs her potion, letting out a sigh of relief as the healing liquid seeps down her throat.
Finding her magic to be more effective. Yelenn takes another step back to fire more of the disrupting energy at the creature
Concentrating solely on her magic, Yelenn sees this mote of positive energy fly straight and true into the creature's chest, causing it to glow momentarily before disintegrating. With not much of anything to hold its limb together what's left of the beast falls down, inert.
Shortly after it falls a large wave washes over the ship, followed by that wail. Lasting longer than it did previously it's almost as if the ship is tilting in multiple directions as that low pitched sound plays along just the right frequencies to cause vertigo. Then all at once the sound abruptly stops, or rather, warps horribly into a deep repeating cacophony.
Growling.
That's all the warning that is given before some force slams into the ship, strong enough to send it sideways across the sea it is traveling on. In the splashdown that follows even taller waves splash over the side of the ship.
Two new previously unseen pale beasts are knocked down and up against the edge of the ship by the waves, while a third is carried all the way off, back into the sea.
As Tonya is pulling out the potion, the wave knocks her off the ship. She desperately clings on to the railing for a few moments before plummeting into the deep.
She begins desperately tearing off her bulky armor, flailing about as she tries to stay afloat.
The warrior woman sinks into the deep as the armor starts coming off piece by piece.
The crashing wave completely blindsides Yelenn, knocking her off her feet and sending her sweeping over the side into the depths.
As the ill omens of the curse bearers reared its ugly head the two women found themselves knocked from the relative safety of the ship into the uncaring waters below. Plunging below the waves the frequent lighting darting across the sky illuminates the tranquil lie of their passage.
Trailing along a ways from the ship are hordes of pale bloated flesh, too many to immediately count even under the best of conditions. But all those possible threats fade away as the wail sounds out, and what seems like the ocean itself seems to turn and move towards the women. The murkiness of the water fading from the sudden movement reveals a great finned leviathan of aquamarine scales and adorned with maws instead of joints in its limbs, swimming through the horde of the undead without a care they are shredded like wet paper upon its flesh and and many mouths.
You only catch a glimpse of its crocodilian face as the lumbering beast, seemingly making the water surrounding everything momentarily forget its function as it easily rockets upward, breaking the surface of the sea the force from its escape sends the woman away as white foamy bubbles obstructs their view.
Not even a second later that white is split as the Dwindling Light, or rather the two halves of the Dwindling Light are dragged under the waves as the sea beast comes back down. That familiar wail is sounded again before the leviathan surges forward, dragging the water and remnants of the ship along with it towards Yelenn and Tonya.
Getting dragged along by the force of the monster the ship begins to splinter, and along with the wall of force it is creating the woman are buffeted by the broken planks of their former vessel. It would have knocked the wind from them, if they had any wind in their lungs. It would have crushed them, had the water not protected them so that it could drown them itself. Caught like a fish in a net in the debris, at least having something to hold onto, the two woman are propelled onward, the artificial undertow dragging them along.
Just when darkness starts to cloud their vision the wave above breaks and wall of force trapping and dragging them disperses. Still moving from the force of the sea beast they are pushed above the surface. The air burning both their eyes and lungs the storm seems to momentarily be breaking, as the waves are still large but not enough to tower over them. Still large enough however to rise and lower quickly enough to move them on.
Catching their bearings they find no sign of the beast, though it could very easily be right below them. Looking around they notice a rocky outcropping with a large dark tower silhouetted against the night sky drawing nearer. Within minutes the ladies flotsam will push them up against it, having got caught in the pull of the landmass. Hopefully a high rise of water will take them there, lest a low tide dash them against the rocks.
Tonya spends a few moments hacking and coughing, water gurgling from her lungs. Her armor is an state of disarray, but she managed to retain a firm grip on her blade. "Are you okay?" she says, turning to Yelenn.
"Yeah... I guess....we aren't dead at least." Yelenn says, a momentary haunted look passing through her eyes.
You're around me and you didn't drown, damn lucky if you ask me.
She didn't remember sheathing her sword in the chaos, in fact she was pretty sure she let go at some point, but there it was in it's scabbard at her side......not that she should be surprised.
"What the hell was that thing?" Tonya wonders, readjusting the straps on her armor. "Was... no, that doesn't make sense, why..." Tonya lets out a harsh laugh. "Heh. Of course. It's all just a scam to begin with, isn't it? We're all convicted murderers, we should be getting the guillotine. But the thing is, nobody wants to risk catching what we have. So they let the giant sea monster take care of it for them, no harm done. And the ones that do make it out are liable to starve or bleed out on this forsaken rock."
Amidst their conversation and relief at being alive the tide slowly but surely brings them closer to the tower's base. Drifting along every now and then their legs rub against something sturdy, the rocks supporting the tower now extending under them, rather than an endless abyss.
Mylyna was not having a pleasant night, she normally found this isle quite pleasant, if lonely, but then this stupid storm came up. It left her very peevish and chilled. She had long since curled up around a fire in the back of her clearing and was trying to stay warm as she knew getting too chilled would be very bad for her. Luckily the small clearing she had claimed for herself had a section that was sheltered enough that the rain and wind weren't really a problem so the fire was enough to keep her warm for the night. Meanwhile the storm raged on and she could periodically see the beam of the lighthouse sweep past the one opening in the canopy of her Villa.
Though the storm had been rough all night Mylyna noticed it had reached disastrous levels as the towering waves rose and crashed about over the past half-hour. And then just like that it stopped, almost as if the sudden burst of chaos had caused the tumultuous weather to over exert itself.
As everything calmed down Mylyna noticed various shapes along the perimeter of the lighthouse, though she couldn't quite make out what they were.
When the storm suddenly abated Mylyna was surprised, but pleased, and made her way quickly up her favorite tree. She was just about to curl up and go to sleep when she spotted something at the shoreline. Actually it was a lot of somethings at the shoreline...I wonder what washed up. I should probably go see before any scavengers get to it, I might find something worthwhile. Mylyna went right back down the tree and out to the shore and, cautiously, began to approach what she had spotted.
The beach Mylyna has found herself up on is almost a lagoon, with the large swath of shallow water that retreats back into the sea at the tide's whims. To the north the sheer cliff face curves and cuts off the beach as it proceeds into the water, the only way around to the other side of the beach would be to risk the waters and swim out and around the obstruction.
To the south the beach seems to go on endlessly until your vision starts to distort trying to focus on any landmarks, the sheer almost perfect cliff face running the entire way making it seem more like the walls of an ominous fortress than some natural formation.
In addition to the alcove Mylyna had nestled herself in there appears to be a narrow path going up through the seemingly impenetrable rock, the groundwork almost appearing to have uneven stairs, which they may have been at one point in time, due to age and the winds from the sea they have been ground down and smoothed into a gradual incline heading up and deeper in, rather than some grandiose staircase.
Extending out at the southern tip of the "lagoon" is the Lighthouse and it's own island.
Off to the sides from the lighthouse and a long ways away great stone fangs rise up from the sea from the sea, large enough that you can still easily see their silhouette though the night and distance, naturally deterring, no, herding any ships ill fortuned enough to travel here
If she has the patience, as she waits she sees bits of broken wood of various shapes, some small, some large, being washed ashore, the largest congregation apparently being snagged by the rocks surrounding the lighthouse.
Seeing the debris wash up on shore like that Mylyna realized that there was little she could find here but maybe over closer to the lighthouse? She contemplated how to get to it as she wasn't a very good swimmer. She decided to start by making her way along the shore to get as close to the lighthouse as possible for the time being, she'd decide what to do about the mass after that.
"That's cynical....but not that unlikely." Yelenn responds. "Hey, I think we're close enough to come aground." she says noting the rocks bumping against their legs.
Tonya nods. "Alright, let's move. Priority one is shelter and clean water, I have enough food to keep both of us fed for a few days." Tonya clambers onto the rocks, scanning the environment for threats and opportunities as Yelenn follows.
With the two survivors clambering onto the rocks they don't find much on the outside save the lighthouse itself, behind which a path seems to lead down into the water toward the beach.
Glancing towards Yelenn to make sure she's following, Tonya begins to warily approach the beach, hand always within easy reach of her sword.
Mylyna saw just how far out the debris still was and decided that she wasn't going out there in the dark to try and reach it. It was far too dangerous with her rather poor swimming skills and so she began to slither back towards her little grotto. While she went she was completely oblivious to the sight of the two people trying to reach shore.
Yelenn follows, taking in their surroundings as they move.
Grimacing, Tonya begins wading towards the beach alongside Yelenn, fighting her armor to keep herself afloat.
Daring to cross the water at night Tonya promptly goes below the surface as she drops into it.
Subvocally growling, Tonya simply continues walking towards the beach.
After the harrowing ordeal she had already been put through less than an hour a simple stroll on the beach bottom wasn't going to deter the Fighter, and eventually she finds her head above the waves as she marches.
Yelenn attempts to swim after her companion, without much luck.
Yelenn's attempt to move toward the island are halted as the tide recedes, effectively keeping the lithe woman in place. Once the tide comes back she is able to swim to the shallows after her armored companion, though the ordeal is exhausting.
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"Is there....a reason....we just swam across....instead of....sheltering at the light house?" Yelenn asks, trying to catch her breath.
"Bastarache has been abandoned to the Cursed for at least hundreds of years, right? Any structures built on it when it was still inhabited by normal people would've rotted away into nothing by now in all likelihood. Which means that somebody's been actively keeping that lighthouse in livable conditions. I don't think we're in any condition to tangle with them if they're hostile, so the wilderness is probably safer for us. I can hunt and cover our tracks fairly well, so we should be fine as long as we keep moving and make sure one of us is awake at all times."
Catching the sound of something...odd on the shore Mylyna changed direction. She wanted a better view and to have an advantageous position and so began to slither up the side of the cliff. Once she got a few dozen feet up she looked out towards where she had heard the sounds.
Drawing close enough for her enhanced vision to reveal the source of the sounds Mylyna spots two figures on the beach, one large and heavily armed and armored, and the other... less so.
Mylyna knew that she had a decision to make. She didn't really trust these new arrivals, they were too heavily armored for her taste, but she was also lonely after several days with no companionship. She was debating whether to take a chance with them and ultimately her urge for companionship, and intimate relations, won out. She slithered back down to her cave and positioned herself so that the darkness would conceal her from the waist down, as she called out to them. "Over here, you can take shelter with me if you like."
While Tonya's logic was relatively sound, the element of swarming undead and native monsters and animals roaming the wilds was also cause for concern. Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice calling out to them, her hand instinctively resting on the pommel of her sword.
"Looks like we have company" she says quietly to Tonya, "Wonder what earned her a spot here. What d'you think."
"Give us solid proof that you mean us no harm and we'll entertain the thought of coming in," Tonya says, her hand an inch away from the hilt of her sword. "After the day I've had, I'm sorry, but I'm not exactly inclined to take your word for it."