A Merfolk Meeting

[Degren Brightforge]

Sitting by the water, Degren calls out to the open sea-- hoping for the emissary of the merfolk to arrive, so that they might further discuss preparations for dealing with the Golem.

[Hydraea Murdúchann]

[March 2, 2018 at 12:30 pm]

A tiny blue octopus swims close to the shore and eyes Degren suspiciously. It sits up on a rock and stares at him, unblinking (obviously) for a full minute.

[Degren Brightforge]

[March 2, 2018]

Degren looks around, confused. He looks left and right, checking that no one is within earshot, then bends down closer to the small creature, "Er... Hello?" he asks, tentatively.

[Hydraea Murdúchann]

The tiny octopus squishes downwards in an action reminiscent of a bow and cocks its mantle to the left. It looks, questioning, at Degren and some parts of its body being to glow blue and flicker in a pattern.

[Degren Brightforge]

"Uh... Alright. This is new. I'm gonnna assume you're from the nice mermaid lady, Hydraea... I hope-- otherwise, I'm just talking to a fish. Yep... Okay," He clicks his tongue awkwardly, " Alright, uh, listen, I was thinking, the last time we faced down that golem, we had the combined might of several fighters. Krond is big and strong, but he'll need some help to take that thing down. If you can, I can bring a fair few men to arms to come down and take care of it. Myself, Krond, Auron, Talia, even Datura, they've all volunteered to help. But, as we mentioned earlier, we can't breathe, much less fight, underwater." He finishes and waits for some sort of response from the Cephalopod.

[Hydraea Murdúchann]

The octopus looks slightly offended (as offended as cephalopods can) at being called a fish, however it bobs its mantle and flickers with a different pattern of blue lights when Degren mentions the golem. It looks scared.

When Degren finishes the octopus, looks over at a nearby fish as it swims past, then stares back at him and flickers with a new pattern of blue light. It looks up at Degren questioningly. Maybe it is wondering what Degren expects the Mer to do, maybe it just really likes fish. You aren't sure but you get the feeling its curious and may want more details about the situation. Or it might just be hungry.

[Degren Brightforge]

"... Alright. That doesn't really help here, I'm offering the merfolk... merpeople? Anyway, yeah, I'm trying to--- you know, is there, like, someone else I could talk with? You're- you- you're doing great, absolutely phenomenal, really, but, you know, uh... it's me, I'm just not good at this whole," he flails his arms around very slightly, " ... thing... you know?"

[Hydraea Murdúchann]

The octopus flattens a little in sadness, the lights on its body go dark for a second. Then it pops up as if it has had an idea, it appears pensive for a moment then looks up at Degren. The bioluminescent portions of its body flicker excitedly and it jumps off the rock landing with a plop on Degren's boot. It begins climbing up his body using its tentacles, tiny suction cups making soft sucking noises as it sticks to Degren's armour.

[Degren Brightforge]

Degren, horrified, stands absolutely still as the small creature crawls up him. He mumbles quietly, but makes no move to wipe the tiny creature away.

[Hydraea Murdúchann]

The octopus climbs up Degren's armour and looks him in the face. It bops him on the nose with a tentacle then scurries down his back and around his waist. It plops back onto Degren's boot and then launches itself into the water. It begins swimming away and is soon lost below the surface.

[Hydraea Murdúchann]

That night, as you go to bed you realize that your necklace and Knight's Crest are missing.

[Degren Brightforge]

"Aww, hell. Grayfeared's gonna be pissed I lost another Bard mark...and... wait, where are my things?" He narrows his eyes and turns his gaze out to the nearby water, " Clever girl..."

[Hydraea Murdúchann]

Weeks pass without an answer.

During the first week of the Month of Leaves, or the month first full moon of spring as Degren may know it, a tiny bottle with a message inside sits on the shore. On the shoreline some tracks made by tiny tentacles are visible leading to and from the water. Around the bottle, multiple blue seashells have been placed to draw attention to its presence.

[Degren Brightforge]

Degren walks back, fishing pole in hand, and notices the note" hm?" He pulls it open and reads the note.

[Hydraea Murdúchann]

The note is less of a note and more of a pictogram drawn, crudely, on what appears to be some form of vellum with a strange type of ink.

The message appears as follows:

A knight with a large shield, presumably Degren stands next to an octopus

The next picture shows the octopus next to a mermaid, it holds a necklace out to her

The mermaid is then shown swimming towards a crown made of shells

A moon cycle is drawn showing a full moon, a new moon, a full moon and a new moon with a circle around the last one

Below it is a picture of the mermaid surrounded by anemones next to a picture of Degren surrounded by flowers.

The mermaid then swims from the shell crown to a crude drawing of Degren

The last picture shows the mermaid next to Degren with the octopus and what appears to be a crude drawing of a man with a giant sword.

[Sponsored content]