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Meraki, finally adapting to Greenly's decided course of action, quickly casts a spell on her and the rest of the party before things can get too out of hand.
The General's HP: 41/59
Greenly does not need to swim very far to reach her target; the General is so large that he occupies most of the space in the lake channel, so there is plenty of scaly underbelly near at hand for her to plunge her dagger and begin filleting the monstrous catfish.
Amandine grabs for the rope secured to the top of the cliff and tries to reel in Zeke. However, the halfling's own frantic grabbing for this lifeline means that the rope is whipping around, keeping Amandine from getting a good hold on it.
Meraki can scarcely get the first words of her prayer past her lips before Greenly has already dove into the water. Thankfully, the distance down to the water is only about 15 feet, so the amphibious warrior woman is still within reach of the Good Hope that Meraki calls down upon the party.
The water grows darker around Greenly as the monster catfish's blood flows out from its wound. The beast snaps around and clamps its immense maw down upon Greenly, holding firm with incredible force.
The beast's maw gapes open and Greenly is pulled with the water inside; as it goes to bite down, she frantically plunges her dagger into the flesh above its eye, but as the teeth pierce her flesh, the usual icy demeanor she carries in battle breaks with a loud and terrible howl. One arm pinned down, she limply throws her dagger against it once more as her wisps batter into its side, peeling its scales away with the breath of the dead.
"Eat me!" she screams, daring it to swallow so she might cut it open from the inside.
The General's HP: 23/59
Greenly continues her struggle against the monstrous catfish, the water growing very dark around them as blood flows freely from the General's wounds.
Not willing to let Greenly face the thing entirely on her own, Meraki steps to the shoreline and, with a gesture that resembles an exaggerated slap, sends a beam of force hurtling at the enormous fish.
Amandine drops the rope, feeling it's useless for her to pull on it. Instead she looks about until she finds a sizable stone. By concentrating on it, she sends the stone flying at the fish.
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Amandine's rock strikes the monster catfish square upon one of its bulbous eyes, sending the beast into another thrashing fit.
Greenly slips from sight as, with one mighty, yawning gulp, the General swallows her down his gullet.
Then, at this desperate moment, Meraki unleashes her magic.
The spell strikes the enormous catfish like a boxer delivering an uppercut, knocking out his foe. The General violently flops over from the force of the exaggerated, magical slap. The creature floats unconscious upon the bloodied water's surface.
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It is hot and damp all around. The smell is unbearable.
Lit only by the spectres still surrounding her in this tight space, Greenly finds a place without fin or bone behind it and delicately rests her knife in the slot. She angles her shoulder into the knife, pushing into it, pulls back and throws all her weight against her fist, piercing its flesh and slices its belly open. Her ancestor's green-grey wisps swirl around her as she carves a path from its stomach to the outside, their shades tumbling against the interior walls of the beast, vibrating in celebration of a hunt completed.
Slowly, deliberately, the mighty warrior pushes her way out of the fish and into the water.
Leaning against the General's floating carcass like a buoy, she picks up Zeke and places him on board the dead body of his master, taking the slack from the line she'd hooked into it and tying it over and around the fish, securing it to another shank of rope if needed.
As the giant's butler scurries up the rope, she calls after with a simple, "You're welcome," offering no apology or explanation for her actions.
Once the prize fish is secured, Dro'gan stands up and steps over to Greenly yelling as she starts resting. He gyrates back and forth as he speaks, his hands flying all over the place in vague gestures of semi-importance.
"YOU...? WHAT DID YOU THINK...? ARE YOU INSANE...? THAT THING COULD HAVE BEEN A DRAGON IN DISGUISE FOR ALL WE KNOW!!! OUR MISSION PARAMETERS WERE QUITE CLEAR...! WE WERE JUST SUPPOSED TO INVESTIGATE...!"
He then grumbles and snorts in a very strange manner, as he stalks a short way into the wilderness throwing up his hands in total frustration.
Over the next few minutes you see the occasional small rock or loose tree branch flying into the air and some minor roars of frustration coming from the direction Dro'gan disappeared off to.
Greenly takes the abuse without care or notice, but she does recuse herself to discuss with the ladies after "Gan'dro"'s departure. "Sorry to, like, surprise everyone. He needs to get better at improvising. Nice shot with the rock, Miss," she nods appreciatively at Amandine, giving her a rare smile.
"To be clear, I thought he," she points at the wet halfling, "could use a little scare. Some perspective on how it'd feel to be one of those 'lovely lasses' he told us about. Thought that if the General thought he smelled tasty, it'd get us a better look at the fish. Then when I saw it, I thought I could kill it. And I was right." She smiles triumphantly, unashamed of her actions.
At first Amandine can only shake her head in bemused amazement at the craziness of the last several minutes. In the end though, the fish is dead, which is almost certainly good, and nobody is dead or badly injured.
When she finds her voice she replies to Greenly. "That has to be the single most amazing thing I have ever seen." She returns Greenly smile with a small crooked one of her own.
"But until you keep an appointment with a bar of soap, you're not riding inside the carriage."
Walking back over to look down at the fish, Amandine moves on to considering the next problem. She's not worried though because this particular problem might also be an opportunity.
"I've often heard it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission. It isn't a saying I put stock in. I've always believed it's better to ask for permission in the right way."
"I suppose going to see Baron Okerra about this will put my notion to the test. It will have to be forgiveness I ask for, but I'm fairly confident I have enough of an in with him to get it."
Coming back calmly but covered in dead leaves, Dro’gan will nod to Amandine’s grace with words but makes light of her worry.
“I think offering the Baron the General’s carcass for his table and trophy room will put a smile on his face quickly enough m’lady. “
"The important thing is," Meraki says, still not quite believing all that just transpired, "the fish won't be eating anyone else. Probably." She turns away from the fish and back to Greenly.
"There's a bar of soap in my pack, if you need one. It's back in the carriage...hmm. I'll just go get it."
Amandine shrugs at Dro'gan's suggestion.
"Yes, I'll certainly bring it up. It might help. Do you think a fish of such great age and size is actually tasty?"
She remembers to look around to see where Zeke the halfling is and what he's up to. He might act in unpredictable ways in these new circumstances.
Dro'gan shrugs, but smiles.
"I tend to leave such things in the hands of the Baron's chef. Regardless of the taste, imagine the stories that will be told of the Baron vanquishing the mighty General...then eating him and stuffing him!"
Amandine makes a humming noise signaling disagreement.
"I am sure you read the Baron wrong. He is not that sort at all, to care about appearances or stunts for short-lived approval. He is a man of substance, without the need or the taste for such things."
Zeke remains paralyzed with a blend of fear and rage for some time after the ordeal. This has the hidden blessing of making it easier to hoist the soaking wet halfling out of the channel and back onto solid ground. As best as you can read the mood of the hermit, he seems far more incensed by being cast into the water than having watched the death of his self-described master.
Whilst struggling to tie up the fish carcass, Greenly spots something about two dozen yards down beneath the water's surface. The timbers of an old barge, gilded with algae, stick out of the mud like large broken bones. Faint glints of light reflect off bottles tucked among the muddy wreckage. Even if the General proved to be an ordinary, albeit massive and aged specimen of catfish rather than any sort of magical monster, it seems that the stories of the beast scuttling noble pleasure barges may be more fact than fiction.
Upon being offered both the ultimatum and the soap, Greenly discreetly strips down, takes a rucksack and dives back into the waters of Lake Pensaris, cleaning herself certainly, but also exploring and plundering the boat destroyed by the catfish.
Greenly's lung capacity serves her well, and she is able to recover the lost treasures from the sunken pleasure barge. She first brings up a quartet of bottles, their etched labels announcing them as bloodberry gin. On her second dive, Greenly retrieves a ruby-and-sapphire wedding ring from around a stray finger bone, dislodged from the rest of its body.
Lastly, she uncovers a teakwood box that has been left naught but twisted garbage by decades of water damage; however, its contents seem to have survived. Opening it, you find a deck of cards that are slightly stained but otherwise in, surprisingly good condition.
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Greenly surfaces, exiting the water richer and cleaner then when she entered. "Y'all will never believe this," she shouts, pulling herself back up the rope. "Zeke was telling the, like, the truth about his fish eating boats!" Finishing her climb, she darts behind a tree for some modesty while dressing. "Lots of goodies down there, I think you'll be interested to see what I've found!"
Amandine looks at Greenly's haul with interest.
"Did you see any more boats down there?"
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Wringing out her hair, the warrior answers. "No, just the one noble wreck here, but maybe we can, like, tour the lake with a glass-bottom boat or something, see what else the beastie has eaten over the years. Do you sink or scuttle a ship? What's the difference?"
If he is not stopped, Zeke stomps off to return back to his wooded home back in the northern reaches of the lake. There, he takes a nap to put this ordeal out of his mind, if only for a little bit.
It takes ropes, magic, your carriage, and some reluctant help from your horses to secure your massive fishing catch. In the end, you manage to transport it along the lake shore. You've almost arrived at Pensaris at the southern end of the lake when you spot quite the shocking scene out on the water.
Echoing the sunken noble barge you found at the bottom of the General's feeding grounds, you spot another pleasure craft drifting aimlessly as its stern sits brightly ablaze. The flame is like a beacon upon the lake, and you can see many locals gathered along the shore to watch this macabre spectacle. Horrifyingly, you see many passengers and crew still aboard the burning boat, struggling in vain to quell the fire.
The burning boat is about 50 yards out. The crew tried to get it to shore before the spreading flames made it too difficult and dangerous to continue piloting the craft.
About a half-dozen small fishing boats line the shore near at hand, their owners apparently having scrambled to get out of the way of the pending disaster, lest some noble's folly drag down their livelihoods - or lives - with the burning boat.
Sighing heavily, Dro'gan jumps from the slow-moving carriage and runs for the closest boats. He throws his voice back over his shoulder...
"COME ON GREENLY! I THOUGHT YOU LIKED THOUGHTLESS PLANNING AND JUMPING HEADLONG INTO DANGER!"
Once he gets to the beach, he throws a handful of coins at the owner of a semi-fast-looking row boat that 'might' hold everyone and starts tugging/pushing it toward the lake...
"Rental fees...and for your trouble!"
He manages to puff the words out as he struggles...
Amandine turns to Greenly.
"What about using that harpoon thing you have to snag the boat so it can be pulled in?"
Greenly follows Dro'gan close behind, helping him with the boat and ushering the girls on.
In response to Amandine's plan, she says "We'll have to get real close for the arrow to work, and like, the fire could catch us too but maybe?"
The bodyguard waves and shouts to the barge, trying to get the attention of its passengers. "We're coming to help! Oiiiiii!"
"That will all take time," Meraki says, already beginning to cast a spell. "This is faster."
Dro’gan finds himself unsteady for a moment, then smiles as the magic takes over his feet.
“Great idea Meraki! Greenly? Grab the boat and tow it along! It will give those escaping the flames a place to escape to!”
The power of the Redeemer Queen carries Meraki, Amandine, and Dro'gan swiftly across the lake, quickly drawing upon the imperiled boat. Likewise, Greenly follows close behind; the water offers surprisingly little resistance against the narrow hull of the fishing boat as she pulls it along, cleaving a wake thick with spray behind.
Desperate passengers and crew aboard the burning boat begin to jump into the water to escape the heat and smoke, although their flailing makes it plain that few are adept at swimming.
Mira Wulff, still standing atop the deck, is the first to see the miracle fast approaching: four figures running across the surface of Lake Pensaris itself, dragging a rowboat behind them.
While Amandine thinks walking on water is a brilliant way to get to the boat, she's less sure how it will help them evacuate the people. She's unsure how many are aboard, but assumes the number is greater than the capacity of the boat Dro'gan is hauling along with him.
Too many people in the boat could swamp it. It might serve as a flotation device for more people than it could hold though.
She doubts she could carry a person, and even if she could, doubts the water walking would support the extra weight. As she comes within shouting range, Amandine calls out to the boat's passengers with the best plan she can think of.
"Those of you who can swim, swim for shore! Those of you who can't swim: children and the elderly get in the boat! Everyone else hold on to the sides of the boat from in the water! We will tow you to shore!"
Mira takes a look around, then at the swiftly approaching people with a boat dragged behind them.
The fire on the boat was definitely not by chance...so at first, she was reluctant to trust anybody with such splendid timing to come rescue people.
Mira was not a very good swimmer. She COULD swim. In calm water, nude or in a loincloth. Not with a formal dress, a backpack, and with a dozen people LESS adept than her holding on and dragging her down as they attempted to stay above the surface.
Luckily, she was near the bow of the ship - and while people pushed towards there, it was bearable for the moment, as those closer to the flames decided to jump overboard.
She glanced at the swiftly approaching people again. Rescuers? Or Kidnappers? Who were they working for?
There was little time to decide on an approach. Currently, she was definitely dressed in style - which would not matter if they had no ulterior motives, but could complicate matters if they did.
With a sigh, she took of her cloak, wrapped her pack in it, then took off her dress, and jumped over the reeling nude, towards the center of the lake. She was reasonably certain she could cover that distance...so her plan was to get slightly away from the ship, then arc around with plenty of distance to those people busy drowning each other.
Greenly waves wildly at the people on the ship, trying to rally folks to trust Amandine and Meraki. "Off this way! We've got, like, magic and a boat! This way this way! If you can't swim, I'll carry you!"
Distracted as she is by the fire and the disaster, she neither notices the woman stripping bare and diving into the water, nor her avoidance of the party.
Focused on keeping the glorified rescue craft from over-turning, or helping swimmers grab the boat, Dro’gan misses the full moon leap overboard!
“Move! Swim! Do Stuff…Things! Do it!”
When it first set out upon the lake, the barge carried carried 18 people: 6 crew and 12 noble passengers, Mira included among that number.
The fire spreads more quickly now. The afthouse is completely engulfed, and the flames spread across the deck. Anyone still standing aboard the barge now dives into the comparative safety of the water.
The crewmen demonstrate swimming skills adequate for their profession. The nobles, however, flail and plead for help.
Greenly hastily ties a bunch of knots in a rope, ties a bowline around her waist and tosses the rope in the water. "Grab on the rope if you, like, can!"
She then mimes swimming to try and give the nobles a quick lesson in how to stay afloat.
The nobles begin shoving each other aside to grasp at the proffered rope. However, Greenly's commanding presence as she provides instructions seems to get them in line. It is hardly an efficient operation, but you manage to keep the survivors of the boating accident, noble and commoner alike, alive long enough to get them to shore.
Soaking wet from the chest down, Dro'gan begins trying to start a small fire to let people keep warm and help them start drying out.
"Noble thoughts and noble deeds..."
He then begins to try and lift spirits by juggling some rocks, and making some jokes about how well the hot air of nobility floats...