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Message: <blockquote data-quote="skotothalamos" data-source="post: 6265107" data-attributes="member: 83398">To Sea!The constables headed out to sea in pursuit of their quarry, Xambria Meredith, who seemed to be either possessed or otherwise controlled by whatever had escaped from the ziggurat. She seemed to be headed to some nautical coordinates off the coast of Ber, and while she had a head start of several days, the RNS Impossible was much faster than her hired ship, Dagger.In an effort to conceal their approach, the constables had Captain Rutger Smith approach the site under cover of darkness, with the landmass of Ber behind them to conceal their silhouette. As they drew within visual range, the constables saw three ships instead of the one they expected. A large frigate flying a black flag seemed to be defending an ares of sea where an underwater beacon had been placed. Two smaller ships (The Dagger and another ship flying a Ber flag) were waiting some distance away.The constables decided to ignore all the ships and sneak to the underwater site in the darkness. James cast a Water Breathing ritual and the constables had a marine row a longboat within a few hundred feet of the site. They dove into the water and descended the ocean floor fifty feet below. Malkie guided the others in the darkness.At the beacon, they found a series of lanterns that were magically holding back the water, providing a contiguous series of air pockets. Under the air pockets was an archaeological dig site. The seabed had been excavated to a depth of twenty feet, revealing a golden plate similar in design to the one at the bayou ziggurat. The area around the seal was protected by warding circles. A crane was on a shelf above the seal, in position to pull it out of the way.The constables began to investigate the site. Cazara noticed some sea life: a shark and a large octopus, but they both fled. After a brief review of their goals here, which included preventing the seal from being opened, Mort set a bomb on the crane. The bomb went off prematurely, catching Mort in its blast, but it did enough damage to the crane to topple it. After a few minutes, the shark returned with its druid master and a pile of guards summoned from the ship above. The guards did not ask any questions and simply began attacking. The sharks and guards posed little problem for the well-prepared constables, but Summer got carried away moving the diving-bell lanterns around with her Mage Hand spell. She chased the aquatic creatures with the air pockets, successfully dropping one of the sharks to the sea floor. Unfortunately, in doing so, she moved the lantern which was protecting the warding circle from the seawater.The leader of the team of guards, a tiefling woman, surrendered to Mort and began questioning him as to why the constables were destroying her dig site. The constables barely had time to question her in return when the seal suddenly blasted free of its portal, unleashing a flood of fishmen and a massive water elemental. The tiefling suggested that the two parties could save their conflict for later and promptly blasted a group of fishmen.The constables diced the fishmen in a matter of seconds, but the sea elemental tried to drown Cazara, even though she was still being affected by a Water Breathing spell. Apparently elemental living water was more powerful than James spell, as Cazara’s eyes rolled back in her head. James helped Cazara break free of the thing’s influence, and then Summer banished it to the Dreaming with a wave of her hand.The two groups worked together to rebuild the warding circles, and then the constables placed the tiefling, Finona Duvall, under arrest, taking her back to the Impossible.</blockquote>

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