epidemiology | EVENT ★ GONE FISHIN'

Thanks to your help, repairs to the flood wall are complete. The Nalawi are still largely without their Gifts, so they are thankful -- without the aid of ALASTAIR recruits, they would have surely drowned or been eaten by sea monsters.

Despite the barely averted disaster, the residents of Komo have decided to go along with their lives as planned, perhaps to bolster morale instead of giving into despair. By chance, their annual fishing contest is scheduled for today! As honored guests, recruits are invited to participate.

FISHING CONTEST

Dugout canoes are provided for all participants, patterns that suggest fish scales burned into the wooden sides. Curiously, no fishing rods are offered; if a recruit requests one, they will be given a strange look, but the harbormaster will acquiesce.

Due to the rough seas, the passage between Komo and the other islands is still inaccessible. Contestants are reminded to stay behind the reefs or venture east toward open ocean for their quarry. It’s only when the contest begins that the quarry in question is actually announced . . .

Sharks.

You are fishing sharks. And, judging by the lack of equipment (or the puny fishing rod you requested), you’re expected to do this by hand.

The tiny deer people don’t seem bothered by this predicament at all: the goal is to catch the biggest shark, by length and poundage. Better not embarrass yourself in front of the locals.

GET PUMPED

Mettaton has announced over the jewelry that he will be hosting a celebration in tandem with the fishing contest, in order to help the native Nalawi and the ALASTAIR recruits get to know each other better. This includes singing, dancing, and all sorts of different performances -- and, of course, reporting on the actual fishing.

If you aren’t the fishing type or maybe you just need a break from chasing sharks around, this is a good chance to bust a move and show your teammates how you can get down -- or just sit back and watch! It’s bound to be entertaining one way or another.

Plot for the stage here!

Olivia will be the final performer in the showcase. Anyone who witnesses her dancing may feel themselves super-charged by the spectacle . . . with possibly unexpected results! Characters may feel even more determined to win the fishing contest, or perhaps they’ll take this surge of optimism to help rebuild some of Komo’s destroyed buildings before the day winds down into night.

THE FEAST

After the fishing contest, the sharks will be collected and prepared. Grilled shark, fried shark, shark caviar, and shark jerky from the results of last year’s contest. There are fruits and vegetables and breads available as well, but if you want some protein, you’d better go native.

During the feast, some of the Nalawi perform dances and song. The subjects range from their goddess Nalanni to love songs. Want to show off your talents again? Now’s the time! Or, if you’d prefer to step away from the excitement, the beach is quiet and empty, and the baths are unoccupied since the whole of Komo is at the gathering.

As the feast winds down, the Nalawi will pass around their very potent alcohol for a toast to Komo’s health. Someone shouts, interrupting, wondering what good that will do if Nalanni has abandoned them. Concerned murmuring fills the gathering, spoiling the mood. ALASTAIR recruits may attempt to put them at ease -- otherwise, the feast will disperse on a sour note.

OOC INFO

If you would like your character to win the fishing contest, please sign up below. You must thread out fishing in order to participate in the drawing. There will be only one winner, decided by RNG. The winner will be contacted on April 1st. The prize is a necklace of shark’s teeth, which has a one-use spell that will make all sharks in a one mile radius sleep for 30 seconds.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Stubborn girl! Very well, for there is not time enough to argue - your catch I'll take up first.

[Speaking thus, he releases her hand and braces his bare feet against the carved hull of the boat so that he can gain proper hold of the shark, shimmering with both seawater and blood, without tipping himself into the water. There is room enough to lay it down in the stern, in counterbalance to his own catch at the bow. Then, Achilles once again offers his hand to the woman.]

Do not grab hold of the boat - my own movements I can counteract so that we will not capsize, but I am no seer into minds. Therefore, let me pull you out myself.

[ Good, she appreciates when people acquiesce her demands. She helps as she can, hauling the shark over, but there's not much she can do without pushing herself under the water. Humans are such weak swimmers. She's content when it's into the boat, and nods at his instructions. ]

Fine, go ahead.

[ Something brushes her leg and distracts her as she reaches for his hand though; human eyes aren't meant for peering through the waves, but she thinks that's the shadow of another shark. Which is annoying, because she doesn't need another shark, she already has hers.

It isn't until she feels a sharp pain in her right calf that she realizes a shark actually poses a problem to a human. She jerks with a gasp: ] Pull me in!

[The sea blooms red, in the same way the nourishing earth of the plains that surround well-founded Ilios has reddened in the wake of felled soldiers: instinctively, swift Achilles knows why. In one maneuver, he bends and scoops the woman from the water, all the time making sure that the boat not rock too madly, and he deposits her too in the hull.

For Achilles has the second matter to which to attend: again he takes up his spear and he peers down into the waters. The telltale fin bobs from the white-crested waves once more, and Peleus' son thrusts his spear with pitiless precision. The red bloom spreads from the epicenter of the cruel bronze.

He casts his gaze back to the bowl of his boat: it is clear that while harboring the girl and her catch, no room remains. It is with a great sigh that he braces his foot against the flank of the fish and pushes it back to the water, that he may reclaim his spear.]

Forgive me, O far-seeing gods, that I've left such waste: for neither meal nor supplication was cut from this creature.

[Then he turns and settles into the seat closer to the stern. His spear, he sets down along starboard, and the oar he now takes up.]

We should not linger on this spot, lest more of these great fish flock to the blood. Tell me, how badly are you wounded?

[ She's in the boat quickly enough, left to crouch in the bottom and wrap a hand around her bleeding calf. She finds herself a little annoyed that he's killed the thing, too. She could just as easily have taken her revenge, if she'd wanted to. Her frown is a good mix of both irritations. ]

It's nothing.

[ It hurts like hell, though. She twists her mouth unhappily and decides not to look at the scrape to see how deeply the shark's teeth bit. She focuses on Achilles, instead, and on the warm sun on her bare, wet skin. That part is nice. Maybe she can use it to drown out the discomfort. ]

Row, then. The sharks will be more interested in the one you've left for them than in us. [ She's been one, she knows by now how their minds work. ]

[With his oar Achilles will begin to carve their path across the waves. He is bothered not at all by the woman's nudity: as he rows, he drinks in a glimpse of her here and there. In spite of the sour expression turning her features, there is little that is unpleasant to look at, save for the gash left by the shark.]

I've no medicines nor bandages with which to dress your wounds upon this boat. Therefore, we shall return to shore. Our catches too will need to be unloaded that the judge of this contest might appraise our efforts.

[Had he more tunics than just the one across his back he might sacrifice it to her, but his current situation leaves little room for proper generosity. The look he now gives her is drawn in perplexion.]

Now tell me, as I must know-- How is it that you managed to catch such a creature, unarmed as you are?

[ She's not concerned by the rowing, and definitely not by lending assistance. She settles back against the bulk of the sharks, eying the pair of them. She wants to say hers is bigger, but it's hard to say without them laid side by side. Hers had better be bigger, she'd picked carefully.

She turns her attention back to Achilles for his question, though; she likes that question. It sounds like a chance to talk herself up. She allows herself a smile, pleased and secretive as she knows how to make it look. ]

I'm never unarmed. [ She could tell him more, she could actually be helpful, but she'd rather look mysterious and dangerous. At least for a few seconds, before the urge to brag overcomes it. ]

[Nor is he concerned by her inclination to rest in the hull rather than lend her aid: such labor as rowing is not for women to undertake, even in good health. He can see not too far in the distance the waves breaking and frothing upon the shore, and he knows she is in no danger of slipping away before they too reach the sand.]

Then surely-- Be you some manner of sea witch, with power beyond that of mortal men at your fingertips? For it seems that while your visage is fair, such delicate features belie the deadliness of your strike. It is a clever deceit, at that.

EVENT ★ GONE FISHIN'

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject