Legend of Ransera

Kaiko stood on the bowsprit. Bucket in one hand, a small knife in the other. A nice breeze played with her short hair. The sun warmed her skin. Yes this is a nice day to go for a swim. She stepped to the side allowing herself to fall feet first into the water. On contact she began to transform into her Lycan form. Flipper-like appendages grew out of her back. Her feet came together forming a shark-like tail. Her skin turned blue as it turned slick allowing her to breathe through it. She tightened her grip and began swimming down to the sea floor.

She was not too far from shore so the swim was short. She stopped just above the sand and dropped the knife into the bucket. Then put both in the sand. She moved away from the bucket and started digging. The sand filled the water turning it murky. Visibility became limited at best as she relied on her hands to find her prey. She felt something hard in the sand and immediately sent both hands digging for it. Unfortunately it was not a clam but a bottle. Annoyed, she dropped it, moved forward a bit more and repeated the process. In the clouded water she realised that she had the ability to turn into a shark. And not just any shark, a sand shark whose main diet consisted of crustaceans.

Almost as soon as the thought came to mind her face became rounded. Her teeth became pointed and her eyes changed to black. Gills formed and her breathing changed. Besides the fins of the sea dragon slug she was now shaped like a shark. The major difference to note was the black blue and white coloring of her slug form. With the transformation she was now able to sense the heartbeat of many little fish. But more importantly she could now smell the clams she was looking for. She immediately put her snout in the sand and shook her head as she dug up the clam. She caught it in her teeth, careful to not crush it as she brought it to the bucket and dropped it in. One down, a bucket to go. She turned and began digging for the next one.

The sand would rise in the water thick like fog as she continued to dig. Finding her targeted prey was so much easier now. The few small crustaceans that were not clams became food to help maintain the shark appendages she was using. Her bucket was steadily filling up. One more and she transformed into her Lycan form. She grabbed the bucket with both hands and swam towards her ship. Getting to her ship she would grab the network on the side and began climbing only using her hands and slug stickiness. Top side she would dump the contents of her bucket into a barrel. Again she would dive into the water, bucket in hand but this time she left the knife. She again sat down the bucket and took on the shark features to continue the task.

The young mage from the college had been thrust into the conflict, perhaps to appease her dear sister or to further the Briathos family name. Blythe found herself elected and far from the college she viewed as a home. She still remembered a small number of them standing on sacred ground on the outskirts of Kalzasi. It was understood by all amongst the cloaks that sometimes different points of view put fellow students on the opposite side of the battlefield.

The pilgrimage to the Imperium was supposed to be a heartfelt farewell to friends and loved ones but throughout the journey her mind was solely focused on the contempt and bitterness between two rival factions who now found themselves on separate sides of the issue at hand. Young inexperienced leaders of there own little clicks who put themselves above the pack rather then for it as they jockeyed relentlessly for leverage and position to lay claim to the lofty heights of the moral high ground.

There was something to be gained, it was just a question of if she had the stomach for it as they scattered to the four winds like the seedlings of a dandylion. These people so vivid in her memory colleagues, acquaintances and dear friends would not all return to the college. Maybe made so by her own hand one day even. Although in truth not many put much stock in her as a kinslayer. Blythe could not conjure visual power like demons and fire, overlooked in favor of those that had proven themselves in grandiose spectacles of wizards duels. Sadly most of what she could do went unseen to the casual observer as her bewitching sorcery was a meddlers craft.

There was plenty swirling in her mind like a glass of brandy as she stood out on the docks haviing departed the vessel of her voyage several hours ago. Not much else to do but fidget the smooth stone between her gloved fingers as she sought to placate the devilry that had set fever to her blood.

She gave it a whirl as she cracked her hand like a whip and released the stone sending it skittering across the water tops rolling waves. Again and again she'd fetch these stones from the small pile shed amassed and skip while she indulged her sense of nostalgia. Perhaps the mindlessness of the activity gave the Briathos noble some heir of comfort as it put the gears of her mind to rest.

After all the voyage had been long and now the noble was happy to at least find some comfort in the sights and sounds of the birds and tide even the taste of salt in the air added to her sensory bliss, as she was for all other purposes discontent. She was alone and exposed in a part of the world where she may have many enemies.

The longer she was collecting claims the farther she got from the boat and closer she got to the docks. Something small and hard tapped her back. Quick as a flash she turned and bit the rock. Almost immediately she regretted it as it hurt a tooth. She lost the shark attributes before spitting out the rock. What had caused the rock to sink. There were no fish above her. So perhaps it came from above the waves. She dropped her bucket taking note of where it was. She then swam up to the surface of the water and stuck her head above the waves.

Waves were always fun. The idea of bobbing up and down without moving unless you were near the braking point of the wave where one would find themselves tumbling in an unstoppable role. She loved playing in those waves. Head above the water she looked about. There's her ship. There's the shore line. There's a dock. She could see the person on the dock and swam closer. She could see the person was preoccupied with her rock throwing. Her body language stated frustration or mabe pain. Either way she was not happy.

Kaiko decided to let the rock incident slide. As 'kicking a horse when they're down' accomplishes nothing. Instead she decided to say hello and try to cheer up the other person. She hated seeing negative feelings. She dunked beneath the waves and swam closer. About 50 yards out she dove deep and turned before swimming as fast as she could towards the surface. She jumped out of the water doing a slight spin before landing in the water and repeated it a few times before hiding under the dock. She would wait a minute before dunking back under the water and again dive down deep before carefully aiming. Kaiko quickly began swimming as fast as she could. She would spring out of the water within arms reach of the person on the dock. She would hold a smile and wave before she fell back into the water. She would then swim to the water surface and poke her head above the water.

Her pale silvery eyes narrowed at the unexpected explosion from the rolling tides. The fledgling sorceress reverted to taking precautionary measures however as she began tapping into her reservoir of aether as she channeled the power through the runes of semblance and mesmer in consecutive succession. She wasn't sure what to expect and that made this feel dangerous, was this some kind of sorcery meant to finish her off?

She stepped back but did not fully commit as another display had come bursting from the depths. The movement fast and sporadic was it trying to flank her from under the docks? Her right hand veiled behind her navy blue velvet cloak clasped the handle of her double edged stilleto that hung lazily off her belt . Her grip was so tight her knuckles were beginning to turn white in anticipation of such a lunge from this coiling beast. Her thought was stun and stab an easy enough concept however it never came to fruition.

The final act of the sea critters performance was that of a close up wave before plummeting back into the water. Whatever this thing was it stopped moving, its frenetic energy and whiplash fast movement made trying to lock onto this mer folk a ridiculous experience.

But now that it stopped she could orient herself to, she didn't have words to classify. There was a tinge of embarrassment at least concealed as she thought she had been under attack, her hand let go of the helve of her steel and rather shakily it emerged from the fabric with a gentle wave in return.

Her focus was on the vibration and chimes of the creatures symphony through the magic of mesmer. There was something going on within the mers rhythm it was flustered but melodious and upbeat. What she young wizard could glean was that maybe it was upset about something.

Her eyes seemed to fixate on the fish lady as she took a knee tilting her head in observation of her aura. It was like this aura borealis of the soul a tapestry and silhouette of colors and shades thereof. There seemed to a pulse on the critters mouth, or was it a tooth? She could almost smell and taste the shellfish that she had been touching as that too emanated from her aura.

"Im Blythe, do you have a name" a brief pause to think politely of what to classify her as "shark maiden?"

When the sorceress realized she wasn't in any danger she relaxed a little, but there was something ethereal in those eyes that glowed feintly of the moon. As if the pierce of her gaze could see through her soul.

"Are you in pain? What did you do? Break a tooth on an oyster? Silly thing you gotta open them first."

The woman waved back. A sign that she wasn't going to attack. But she had noticed her reach for something beforehand. Probably a gun or sword. But the lady had let it go. Why would she be so ready to fight? Could it have been the same reason she was lost in thought earlier? Deciding she was not in danger Kaiko came farther out of the water. Revealing part of her first set of fens. Kaiko also tilted her head in curiosity of what the dock lady was doing.

"Kaiko." She said with a head bow. At the mention of pain she licked the hurt tooth. How could this person know she was hurt? She shook her head, noticing the shine in the lady's eyes. She disappeared below the surface of the water and went swimming towards where she left her bucket. It took a minute for her to find it but once she did, she picked up the rock that broke her tooth. She only did this because the lady had noticed something was wrong and asked. She took the rock and swam back to the dock.

She popped her head out of the water so as to not spook the lady again. She would jump just high enough to put the rock on the deck before dropping back down into the water. It had been a far enough drop for her head to fall back under the water. But she would soon pop back up.

"I reacted before I looked." She finally said. If Blythe chose to pick up the rock she would see that it was the first rock she threw and that it was scratched.

She swam a few strokes back to make it easier for her to see the dock person. "That's not why I came over though. I came over because you look deep in thought. A sad thought that left you mad." She said, "I came to ask if you're ok, perhaps help you feel better."

The young elfs head straightened out as she crinkled her nose it was the only betrayal of her now calm and collected composure. On one hand it displeased her greatly to have inadvertently hurt Kaiko. But on the other it infuriated her that she lacked the strength of compassion too reciprocate sympathy and apologize. It was a weakness of heart that if exposed could and would be exploited by her peers as they climbed to great heights scaling the backs of friend and foe alike with daggers in hand.

No, she would not allow herself to succumb to this because to open herself would be an invitation to inevitable betrayal. These were the all to familiar cat and mouse games that sorted the weak from the strong within the college.

The siltoris smile was genuine and full of warmth as a cold mind calculated how to carefully form a measured response to the revelation. Both semblance and the symphony played there respective rolls as bewitching starry eyes scrutinized her. Blythe could feel the magic and see it with better clarity, finally making the distinction as she had spent some time with her.

It was a curiosity, the black cloak knew that some mages could change shapes having spent what felt like a lifetime of exposure in the college.

She was appraising the value of Kaikos worth by merit of her word in silence looking for the symphony to falter as she was making judgements based on the probing wizardry within the purview of both her runes.

Something in her changed when she picked up the rock and strummed her thumb across its surface, feeling the indentation of where she bit it. A change of heart.

"Thank you, that was very sweet of you!" It was the most she was willing to offer as an apology as she acknowledged that Kaiko had set out to cheer her up." I feel much better already" A white lie with nothing but the best intention behind it.

"So what kind of mage are you, Kaiko?" It was an almost accusatory statement. However it lacked the tone as she ran her free hand through locks of platinum that shimmered with a radiant sheen.

"I'm a Rathari, Animus mage. Well kinda I only have 3 animals I can shift into. But 1 I would not Actually consider magic since shifting to a blue dragon comes naturally to me. But I could be a tiger shark and a very cute sea slug" Kaiko said. She had not taken any thought into the question or how odd it was.

Kaiko smiled. "Wanna see?" She would ask. Before the lady had time to answer Kaiko would dive below the water and swim away from the docks. Under the water she would begin to change. Her arms would turn to fins. Her body reshaped to that of a shark. She would break the surface of the water in a jump. This time when she was under she grew cerata from her back. It was the same color blue she had been before but now it also had some pink in it. She swam up to the surface

Kaiko would swim, with most of her body above water, towards the dock. She smiled as she jumped out of the water. She then leaned back in the water with both fens on her belly as she laughed. She was distracted from the tooth and now having fun. A sudden deep hunger made her stomach grumble. She immediately dipped below the water as she began looking for food. Many fish to choose from she began chasing and eating what she could. Little did she know that a medium fishing vessel had dropped a net there earlier. A net that they would soon be taking up.

Suddenly all was panicked as the fish realized that walls were growing around them as a net began to be picked up. Kaiko was slow to realize this but once she did she immediately went back to her lycan form. Full panic set in. If she was caught she could end up in a fish zoo. Or be held prisoner due to myths about mermaids or straight up killed if mistaken for a siren. As the net around her came out of the water she would yell for help.

Unfortunately there seemed to be a disconnect between herself and the other mage. It may have been a price she paid to dabble so heavily in psychological sorcery. Or it could have been her upbringing as she lived in the shadow of her sister Fior. It could very well have been the college and her professors or her peers, she had the prestige of being sworn in as a black cloak. And there was perhaps an heir of revulsion at the idea of handing out secrets so freely like a white cloak.

Kaiko may have been having a good time but this was sacrilege, her beliefs were being desecrated. She used magic blindly wildly and carefree without respecting the consequences of her actions.

The truth was she had seen many whimsical mages fail not only themselves but everything around them as they made catastrophic miss steps or miscalculations that ultimately costed the lives of everyone around them. Even on the less extreme side they always seemed to be at the epicenter of injuries.

The warmth of the elfs smile never wavered however as she watched the net close in around the animus mage. To her there was symbolism in this, a certain level of justice but on a primordial level perhaps natural selection. Whatever it may have been it resonated with her, that her core beliefs were ultimately validated.

Blythe simply turned and walked away from the docks as she gently discarded the smooth stone in hand. And in doing so dismissed the doubt of cast aspersions harbored within it.

There was no grand gesture of heroism, as the net began dragging Kaiko off. The warlock saw this with perfectly clarity this was not Blythes fight, Kaiko put herself in this position and it was her responsibility to get herself out.

The lady just walked away. Who does that? Kaiko would have helped the lady if she was in trouble. Kaiko could not understand this. It both enraged her and confused her but she had more important stuff to handle. Namely that boat and the net. If she had her knife she could cut it but her knife was on board her ship. As of her magic it was extremely unwise to try and change again. She did not want to be stuck as a tiny sea slug. Kaiko had to think of a way out of this.

Over the side she was pulled onto the boat. Sounds of surprise came from the men as the all backed away. One even called her a siren. She thought about countering it. She was in fact not a siren. She was Rathari. She did not sing sailors to their death. "Out o' my way" one said with the command of a captain. Heavy boot steps confirmed it. "What we gonna do cap'n"

"We'll scuttle her, sell her parts" Captain said. Kaiko started laughing. Deception was her best bet, and fear is never the right answer. Sailors are superstitious. They're good at sea tails and will do whatever it takes to prevent a curse. "Go ahead, kill me and take my curse." She would say through fake tears. Never tell a captain what to do. All knew that.

"And what might this curse be?" The Captain said. Kaikos left eye turned black as that of a shark. "To never find pleasure in the bottle and for others to never find pleasure in me touch." She said. The captain stepped mere feet from her face. She could clearly see his black boots. "I killed a siren who gave my captain the same warning. He only had the second part of the curse. We didn't listen," she said. "Our captain liked to drink and so none of us will ever find pleasure in a bottle again."

"Then what are ye suggestion we do with ya," Captain said. "To prevent the curse, simply let me free," Kaiko replied. The captain turned to his crew to see if they knew anything of this siren's curse. He would let her free and she would find her bucket and go back to her boat where she would change and sail away before they had the chance to change their mind.

If she ever ran into that crew again she'd likely buy them a drink. As of the lady she would likely sting if ever their paths crossed again. But for now it was full sail out of sight of the fishing crew.

Lore:
Animus: use of a shark nose.
Animus: don't bite a rock
Storytelling: a siren's curse.
Claiming: how to dig
Claiming: the use of a bucket
Claiming: locating them
Claiming: shells aren't food
Claiming: Claiming on to the ship
Points: 10, may be used for Animus
Injuries/Ailments: A hurt tooth
Loot: Clams!


Lore:
Intelligence; Asking the right questions is key
Intelligence; Kaiko is an Animus Mage
Mesmer; Using the symphony to detect hostility
Mesmer; Using the symphony to detect lies
Semblance; Discovering another has magic in there aura.
Semblance; What Animus magic looks like under an arcanic lense.
Semblance; Can smell and taste recent food items.
Semblance; The aura allows one to see the targets emotional state.
Points: 10, may be spent on Mesmer or Semblance
Injuries/Ailments: None
Loot: None

Notes: Kaiko really can't seem to catch a break